Author's Note: Wow, Ryu didn't hear that? Oh well! Better luck next time Sandman! And I hope that wasn't too much of a groan-maker for the Pro-Gaara. For the Pro-Kiba guys, keep your fingers crossed! Oh, and I've decided to take a page out of good ol' Kishimoto's book and start doing chapter-ly cartoons about myself and what's happened while I've been writing. That'll be coming next chapter though. Man, my hand hurts!! I sat for four hours straight typing all this!! Hope you like them! Happy Reading!!
-Ryu
Quicksand
Sirym didn't need to say it twice. Gaara willed the sand to rush forward in a quick, crushing wave. Aki flipped backwards a few times then was able to make it to a tree. Gaara sighed, willing the sand to follow him, snaking around the tree. The sand grated against the tree's trunk, working like a saw against the wood.
The tree started to fall forward, and Aki was forced to jump out of it. He vaulted over the incoming sand, and grabbed hold of one of the cracks in the wall of the arena wall. He propped his feet up against the concrete and jumped, the sand following. Gaara frowned where he stood; he was fast. What, did everyone have to copy Lee's inhuman speed?
The sand would eventually catch him. He would eventually catch him and put the poison maker out of his misery. The sand followed the boy as he made a few clones, quickly dashing his into fluttery bits. Aki spun on quick feet and threw a flurry of senbon at him. The sand caught the senbon, grinding the metal into dust from the pressure it wielded.
Gaara rolled his eyes; that had been completely pointless. He made the sand follow him faster, blocking and ripping apart anything he sent at him. The boy insisted on throwing more poisoned senbon and ninja weaponry at him, in the vain hope of catching him off-guard at some point. This was slowly aggravating him, so much so that he wanted to reach out of his protective circle of sand and punch the boy with his own fists. Aki made more clones, much to Gaara's annoyance, and they all moved in closer than before.
With a sigh, he waited for them to get close enough so he could reach them at arm's length. Then he sent the sand upwards around him in a sudden wave, closing around him in a protective shell. The painted points of senbon dug into the sand, but none reached him. He made the sand explode outwards, careful to find where the real Aki was, and then reached out of his sand. He grabbed the boy by the wrist and swung him into his ready and waiting fist.
He hit him with his own strength along with the sand that covered him. Fragments cracked and peeled off his knuckles. Aki was thrown a few feet away from him by the blow and the sand quickly caught him in mid-air. It swung him into one of the stadium's walls while Gaara ran to where he would fall, laughing at his opponent's pain. Punching him had felt fantastic; he wanted to do it again. Aki was scrambling and fighting to get out of the sand's clutches, his nose broken and bleeding accompanied with a swelling where Gaara had punched him.
He took out a katana and started to hack at the fluid element, Gaara coming closer all the while. The sand twisted around the metal, crunching it until it broke in his hands. Aki blinked at the sudden loss of his weapon, and then looked up as his opponent was practically on top of him. They both started to physically fight. Aki swung his legs and used his acrobatic skills to the limit. Gaara patiently blocked with his arms, pieces of hardened sand coming off of him along with the sand coming to his protection.
The sand armor was slowing him down a little. He wished he could just shake it off so he could pound the boy into the ground, but it was a vital part of his defense against the poison. There was a flash of an opening and he quickly took it, punching him in the stomach and then using his leg to kick him into the dirt. The cruel grin sprang once again onto his face. One more hit and he would be done with his revenge and could move on to beating the boy senseless to protect Ryu from his poison in the final round.
Up in the stands, Kankuro was cheering like he had lost his mind and Temari was a little confused.
"Whoo! Get him, Gaara!! Show him what Suna's made of!!" he shouted with the din of the crowd, standing up from his seat. Temari looked at him.
"Why is he using his fists?" she shouted to him, trying to make herself heard. "He's fought plenty of times and I've never seen him lay a hand on anybody!"
Kankuro looked at her incredulously.
"Temari, remember what that guy did to you! Gaara's kicking this guy's ass to get him back!"
Her eyes widened in understanding, and she immediately jumped on top of her seat, jumping up and down on top of it.
"GO GAARA!! PUNCH HIM!! DROP-KICK THAT VIPER'S ASS FROM HERE TO THE LAND OF WAVES!!" she shouted at the top of her lungs while dancing on her seat, making the people stare at her for her sudden enthusiasm for violence.
She suddenly swayed and quickly sat back down. Kankuro quickly asked if she was okay, but she waved him.
"I just got dizzy, that's all."
She decided to stomp her feet and continue to shot for her younger brother instead of jumping up and down like a mad-woman. And drop-kick Aki her brother did as he used the sand to sweep both of them up so he could use the height to his advantage. He raised the boy up and then dropped him with a swift kick with his heel. The boy dropped, headed for the ground. Gaara was then able to smile normally, he was now satisfied. He watched Aki do some hand-signs and a huge growth of vines burst out of the ground and caught him. He jumped off the sudden foliage and threw every manner of ninja weaponry at the floating ninja, including the smoke bombs he had used on Temari. Gaara slowly let himself go down as the sand dealt with the poison covered weapons. The sand blocked and ground everything into a metallic dust, and Gaara had devised a way to deal with Aki's smoke bombs. He formed sand into the shape of hands which caught and caught all the bombs he had thrown. The sand then enveloped these as well, little flashes going off to signal the bomb's detonation, and integrated the smoke into itself, making little purple granules of sand.
Once Gaara landed, he sent the sand at Aki, tsunami style. It swept him along, the Grass ninja shouting as the course current scratched his skin like miniature knives. Gaara scratched his shoulder; funny, why was he suddenly itching everywhere? It was making him really uncomfortable…
An explosion of pain in the back of his head suddenly blew apart his sense of reality.
"AAAAARRRRGH!!" he cried, holding his head.
The sand suddenly went limp and writhed where it was, releasing Aki from its strong hold. It felt like he was being stabbed with a steak knife in his head. More stabs of pain made him fall onto his knees, howling. Shukaku roared inside him, feeling his pain and waking up more from that then the rage he had earlier. Gaara feebly tried to capture the sudden surge of power from the demon, but the pain shattered his mental defenses. It felt like he had been lit on fire and Shukaku was trying to crawl out of him to escape it.
NO!! Gaara shouted in his mind, trying to stop the demon from taking control. If it took control, it would force him to fall asleep and then everyone would be in danger, his brother and his sister as well. And Ryu. In the stands, there was chaos as the ones from before recognized Gaara's concentration throes and growling shouts of pain. Temari and Kankuro were quickly trying to get down to the arena to calm Gaara down, but the panicked crowds weren't making it easy. Aki seemed slightly alarmed, but didn't want to throw away this opportunity to finish off his opponent.
He started to slowly creep closer to the thrashing Gaara, who seemed only capable of holding his head in agony. Ryu stood stalk still in the waiting area, her hands glued to the railing, her eyes wide in horror. How could that boy have done this to Gaara?! How cruel did you have to be?! Anger started to well in her toward Aki for doing this both to Gaara and Shukaku, knowing the pain they both must be in.
The sand started to concentrate around Gaara, hardening and liquefying at the same time as his control was slowly being eaten away. Tsunade had stood in her seat, ready to jump down and knock Gaara into a coma in case he lost control. But the red-head wasn't about to lose yet. He suddenly roared in both anger and pain.
"THERE IS NO WAY-!!" he shouted. "I'M GOING TO LET YOU RULE ME AGAIN!!"
He thrust his arms out, trying to scatter all the sand so Shukaku would have no way of using it form. Sweat had already started to drip off him in great streams as it was taking all his concentration to do something that would have been so simple before the poison. Ryu couldn't stand it anymore as he continued to cry out in pain. She jumped from the waiting area and took off at a run as soon as she hit the ground. Aki saw her out of the corner of his eye, and reacted without thinking. He started to chase her, but was then jumped on from behind and knocked to the ground. His hands were tied before he could say anything, and he saw Sirym standing over him.
"Don't even think about using an escape jutsu!" she warned. She then took off after Ryu. "That girl is not part of this fight!"
"Ryu Akihara, stop this second!!" she commanded as she chased after the speeding kunoichi.
A huge rush of sand stopped the jonin, and she had to quickly dodge it. She looked around the sudden road block at the racing girl. Ryu skidded to a stop next to Gaara, grabbing a hold of his shoulders. She knelt to look into his face. He looked so horrible she wanted to cry when she saw how much pain he was in.
"Gaara!!" she pleaded. "Can you hear me?!"
He peered at her, barely able to see through the splotches of white in his vision. He nodded the smallest bit, his head throbbing with any movement. He moaned in pain, keeping all his concentration on keeping the sand away.
"Gaara! Where is your seal?! I can help keep Shukaku from emerging if I make a temporary seal on him!!" she said urgently. By using her own chakra to make a seal, she could help control Shukaku.
"H… H…" His breathing was so labored he could barely speak. He took in a great gulp of air, moaning as he did.
"HEAD!!" he suddenly shouted, nearly blowing Ryu off her with his roar.
Ryu quickly brushed aside his sweat drenched head and looked at his tattoo, which now seemed to be glowing a sickly red color. She quickly gathered chakra in her fingertips and gently touched it. Gaara felt Shukaku revolt violently inside him at the same time the largest spike of pain came. His concentration slipped for half a second, but that was all Shukaku needed. Gaara suddenly looked to Ryu, his eyes wide with panic and fear.
"RUN!!" he shouted desperately.
A quick expression of puzzlement was on her face, but she was suddenly thrown from where she stood as the sand had materialized in the blink of an eye into an arm. The arm extended so much so that it pinned Ryu against one of the stadium's walls. She cried out in the sudden pain, but quickly focused on trying to move. The sand suddenly squeezed her, making her yelp. That's when Tsunade and Jiraiya decided to step in.
They both jumped into the stadium, and Gaara looked to them, his eyes wide with panic and pain. Tsunade started to move toward him to knock him out when he shouted to her.
"No! Please!!" he begged. She stopped as the boy was completely terrified. "If you do something to me it will only make things worse!!"
Jiraiya stepped forward, whispering quickly. "If I summon a toad, it can grab the girl while you deal with calming Shukaku down," he said decisively, already forming the hand-signs.
Tsunade suddenly out a hand up. "Wait-!"
Ryu roared in rage where she was pinned. Her eyes snapped from purple to yellow then an angry mauve color in an instant. She quickly made hand-signs for the sealing jutsu Dr. Masuda taught her for emergencies, and slammed her small hands down on the sand arm. Gaara howled as he clutched the side of his head, Shukaku screaming in protest at being forced back inside him. The sand started to recede as Ryu pushed at it, the purple seal growing as she fed it chakra.
She panted as she pushed, and was half-way there to Gaara when the sand suddenly formed into a mutant crocodile shaped head with burning eyes. It roared at her, and Ryu knew she was looking at one of Shukaku's forms. A sand-fist suddenly pounded the head from the side, scattering the shape and she looked to Gaara, who stood panting, still clutching his head. He tried to smile at her. Don't worry; I won't let him hurt you. he wanted to say, but his mouth wouldn't move. The head started to form again, but Ryu gathered more chakra and slammed a hand down on top of it.
"Oh, no you don't!!" she snarled at it.
She gave a great shove, strengthening it with her wind, and the sand arm was blown into small dunes. Gaara fell forward, and would of it the ground if Tsunade hadn't jumped forward to catch him. She gently put him on the ground, and took his pulse. Out cold, she thought. Probably from pain. She looked up to see that Ryu had collapsed as well, but Jiraiya had gone to see about her.
Ryu shook her head; she could feel a mountain of a headache coming on. She looked up to see Aki getting out of some ropes. Anger roared in her chest, and she air slid as fast as she could over to him. Aki soon found himself being bored into by fierce mauve eyes.
"YOU!!" she roared at him.
Aki was equally angry with her, his mismatched eyes mirroring her own emotion. "What about me?!" he challenged. "You interrupted my match!!"
Ryu pointed an accusing finger at him. "You tried to kill my friend!!" she snarled at him.
They were both suddenly grabbed by the backs of their shirts, and pulled upward. Sirym was glaring daggers at the two teens.
"BOTH of you are in big trouble!!" she growled at them.
She glared at Ryu. "You!! Interrupting an exam match!!"
An equally smoldering glare at Aki. "You!! Misconduct on the field!!"
"I should disqualify the both of you right now!!" she snarled at them.
Tsunade put a hand on Sirym's shoulder. "Sirym, I think that's enough."
The jonin sputtered. "But-!! They-!!"
The hokage sighed. "Put them down come with me please."
Sirym bit her tongue and put both teenagers down. Ryu glowered at Aki, who glowered back, folding his arms. Tsunade led Sirym over to the side.
"Sirym, we need to continue the exam." she said urgently. The woman gaped at her.
"What?! But Lady Fifth, you saw what they did!! And Gaara is in no condition to be declared winner! I think we should cancel from here!" she said.
"And say what to the other villages?" Tsunade demanded. "That the Leaf Village, once again, screwed up the chunin exam just because of one haughty poison wielder?"
She looked at Tsunade, looking downcast. She sighed, rubbing her forehead. "But really, Lady Fifth…"
"Don't argue with me Sirym." Tsunade said decisively. "The exam goes on."
But the jonin wouldn't be beaten so easily. "On one condition, Lady Fifth, please," she said.
"What is it?"
"Give them only one hour to fight, and that's it. I won't have that kid causing any more damage, and the girl will most likely try to kill him for what he's done to Gaara." she said, looking at her levelly.
Tsunade looked at her for a beat, and then shook her head. "I should have listened to Ibiki," she said, looking at her. "He warned me that you were stubborn."
Sirym smiled at her. "Only when I need to be."
Tsunade allowed herself to smile. "Give the audience an hour to recover so we can straighten things out and calm everyone down." she said.
Sirym nodded and stepped into the center of the arena. What was left of the audience was still churning nervously and shouting above one another. Sirym took a deep breath.
"ATTEEEEEEEEEEENTIIIIIIOOOOOON!!" she bellowed, stretching the word out good and long.
Her voice echoed, reaching everyone's ears. Tsunade had to keep herself from laughing out loud; the girl always amazed her with how naturally loud she was. She never needed a microphone for anything. She probably didn't even need a phone to call her friends either. The crowd realized the seriousness of the moment and calmed down. Sirym took another deep breath.
"THERE WILL BE AN HOUR INTERMISSION BEFORE THE FINAL MATCH!! AFTER THIS, THE STADIUM DOORS WILL BE CLOSED AND NO ONE WILL BE ALLOWED IN OR OUT!! USE THIS TIME WISELY!!"
Sirym put a hand to her head, feeling dizzy.
"Phew!"
Ryu had ditched Aki to see to Gaara, who was now being picked up by the medic nin. She watched anxiously as they put him on a stretcher. Unlike Kiba, he showed no movement at all. It was almost like he was dead. Aki approached from the other side and handed three bottles of antidote to one of the medics. He avoided looking Ryu's way.
Ryu followed them inside to where the medical rooms were, and watched anxiously as they put Gaara down on a bed. She sat down next to him, wishing he could at least breathe just a bit heavier to prove that he was a little more alive. She thought of Kiba in the next room. Ryu bit her lip as her feelings squirmed; it was fair! How come she had to watch her two best friends fall like that?! She grabbed hold of Gaara's lukewarm hand, and squeezed it.
"Gaara," she whispered. "Please hang on; I don't want anything to happen to you. I couldn't bear it…"
She heard the hastened clack of sandals and looked up to see a panting Temari and Kankuro.
"Is he alright?!" Temari asked immediately, skidding to a stop next to Gaara.
Kankuro looked into his little brother's face, worry making more a statement on his face then the paint. Ryu looked from one sibling to the other, not really knowing what to say. They were just as freaked out as she was from the sudden poison attack.
"It looks like it'll be okay once they figure out how to give him the antidote," she said. "But since the sand protects him from needles and things, they can't put an i.v. in him."
Temari looked at Ryu; the girl sounded like she might go into a blind panic at any moment. Her eyes were unnaturally wide as she looked at them.
"They'll have to give him the antidote orally, I guess," she said. She then noticed Ryu's white-knuckle grip on Gaara's hand.
The poor thing, she's flipping out completely, she thought sadly. Temari took a seat on the bed while Kankuro pulled up a chair at the end. He cupped his chin in his hands, looking completely still except for his vibrating feet. Ryu's anxiety kept running circles through her. She looked at Temari.
"But I don't get it," she said, voicing one of her nagging questions. "How did the poison get to him through the sand?"
Kankuro sighed. "It was the sand," he said. "The sand is part of him so when it absorbed all the poison, it eventually got to him too."
Ryu looked to Gaara once more, feeling like the room was slowly being choked by anxiety and worry. Her mind and heart were trying to outrace every worry in her. It was just too much; Kiba and Gaara taken out in one day by the same force and she was powerless to do anything. She bit her lip, nearly making herself bleed from the pressure, and squeezed Gaara's hand once more, trying to steady herself. Her anxiety got the best of her, and her nervously charged body forced her to stand up.
"Um… I'm going to go check on Kiba," she said.
Temari looked at her, seeing worry and stress reflected in her eyes. She nodded, and Ryu left the room. Kiba was right next door, and she knocked before going in. She then had to choke down a gasp when she saw the empty bed. His mom was still there, picking up his coat and carrying Akumaru in her arms.
"W-what happened to Kiba?" she asked, her voice unsteady.
She looked at her. "They took him to the hospital so they could keep a better eye on him," she said. She looked drained and weary.
Akumaru cocked his head at her and whined, concerned about all the roiling emotion he smelled coming off of her. Ryu sighed.
"Okay…" she said, and left.
Ryu walked away and leaned against a wall, trying to stop herself from shaking. Taken to the hospital?! That meant he was in serious trouble and she couldn't go anywhere near him. She was terrified of hospitals and what was in them. Needles, knives, operating rooms…
She looked over at Gaara's door, her willpower starting to crumble. She bit her lip, trying to keep everything together, but then everything inside her broke instead. She couldn't take it anymore! Ryu spun on her heel, and air slid as fast as she could to the bathroom she had seen. She slammed the door behind her, and ran into a stall.
Once there, Ryu nearly screamed. She felt like she was having a mental breakdown, her heart so much from all the stress in the last two hours. She started to cry, losing herself in tears. She felt like she had after the fight with Kiba, weak and hurt. She was crying so hard, she started to hyperventilate, trying to catch her breath amidst the emotional shudders going through her.
Temari kept watch over Gaara, holding his hand after Ryu had left. The medic nin had already come in and administered a diluted version of the antidote so it wouldn't be too hard on his stomach. She just felt tired and numb after today's fiasco. At least it was over for now, and her mind had started to settle.
Her little brother was tough, she didn't doubt that. He had survived years of mental struggle and had been able to come back. She had watched him come back from plenty of difficult missions unscathed. A little poison wasn't going to do him in. She looked up at the clock; it had nearly been half-an-hour since Ryu had gone to check on Kiba. She looked to Kankuro.
"Do you think you can keep an eye on him?" she asked.
He looked at her in question as she stood up. "Where are you going?"
She walked to the door. "I'm going to look for Ryu. She seems to be taking this pretty hard." she said. Kankuro nodded to reassure her.
She left, looking around the hallway for her. She then noticed the empty room next to Gaara's. Alright, so she didn't go see Kiba, she thought. She continued to wander, going past the women's bathroom. She paused there when she thought she heard choked sobbing coming from within. A heartstring twinged inside her as she thought of who it might be.
She opened the door and walked in, the crying becoming louder from the echoing effect of the bathroom walls. She tapped open the first stall and saw a heaving Ryu, crying her eyes out for the world. Temari immediately felt sympathy for her.
"Oh, Ryu…" she said, mourning the girl's grief.
Ryu looked up, hearing the voice, her eyes red and puffy. Her face was the uneven color of red and white, flushed and pale at the same time. Her lips trembled and tears insisted on spilling from her overflowing lids. She hiccupped pathetically at being discovered. She looked completely miserable.
"Do you want a hug?" Temari said, feeling like it was the only thing she could do.
Ryu's face twisted as fresh sobs climbed from the emotional cavity in her chest.
"Yeeeees!!" she wailed, her voice being beyond her control at the point.
Ryu got up and was quickly hugged by a caring friend. Temari wasn't exactly used to giving out hugs but she recognized the hurt in Ryu's eyes. She patted her back.
"Ryu, it'll be alright." She said, trying to comfort her. "Gaara's tough, a little poison won't get him."
"Yeah, but-!!" Ryu turned her tear streaked face upward.
"Temari, he looks dead, and he's all pale, and he isn't breathing, and they can't give him the antidote normally so we don't know if it will work right and if it doesn't he'll-he'll-he'll-!!"
It all came out in a frightened rush of worry, Ryu dissolving into sobs again as the thought of Gaara's never returning to consciousness raked her heart across coals. To never see his gentle smile again nearly broke it.
"And Kiba's in the hospital!!" she managed to get out. "That means he's in big trouble and-and I can't do anything!!"
She started to wail again, she couldn't help it. She felt horrible; completely powerless and useless. She looked at Temari.
"Temari, how could he?! How could that horrible boy do something like this! And I couldn't do anything!!"
After this last burst of self-pity, she seemed to quiet down, seemingly satisfied to just cry. And the only thing Temari could do was stand there and comfort her by letting her do so. They stood there for about five minutes when the older thought that maybe it was time to calm her down and prepare her for her fight.
"Ryu," she said, trying to softly encourage her. "Yes, it is horrible, but you have to have faith in Kiba and Gaara."
Ryu looked up, listening if still not weeping.
"They're tough, especially Gaara. You don't think he's nearly been killed already? And Kiba? Well, he's nearly died plenty of time too, and he's still alive. And I don't think either of them would want you to cry over them." She said.
Ryu bit her lip, trying to stop her tears. "W… Why?" she asked, her voice shaky.
"Because they'd want you to go out there and show that boy you're no push-over just because he screwed with your friends. I have a feeling Kiba would be pretty mad if he saw you like this, and would want you to tear that boy into pieces for what he's done. Gaara as well."
This small pep talk started to help Ryu think straight again. She still felt miserable over Kiba and Gaara but more or less angry with Aki. No, more like furious the more she thought about it. He had landed the in this situation, and she wanted him to know what it was like to be in that kind of pain. She whipped her face dry, and looked stubbornly at Temari.
"You're right," she took a deep breath, trying to steady herself. "I'm going out there and kicking that guy's ass for what he's done."
Ryu looked determinedly at her after this small self-assertion. Temari smiled at her.
"There's the Ryu I know!" she said happy that she wasn't an anxious mess anymore. At least on the outside.
Ryu gave her a tired smile, seemingly recovered from her emotional overload. Temari walked her back to Gaara's room so they could stay and keep an eye on him. Also, they could buoy each other's morale. Now all they had to do was wait for Ryu to get called up to fight.