I DO NOT OWN NARUTO! NOR DO I OWN SHIKA! Own Kaharu, though! YES!
Chapter 6 – A Night With Gaara
"What's wrong?"
I jumped and turned to where the door was. "Oh my god, Gaara! You scared me!" I cried, gaining back my composure.
He smirked. "Awe…did I scare the little chuunin…" he teased, before walking over to my bed. "But seriously, what's wrong?"
Sticking my tongue out immaturely at his earlier comment, I laughed. "Nothing's wrong! I was just thinking about how good of a friend you are!"
Gaara smiled a teensy bit. "Really?" he questioned, surprised. "You actually think that?"
I smiled softly. "Ya…" I murmured. "You'd do all you could possibly do to help me, after all…"
Gaara smiled softly. "Ya…and so would you, Shikamaru…" he walked back over to the door. "Night…get some sleep…you'll need it…"
Chapter 7 – Gaara's Gift
I felt someone gently nudge me. "Come on, Shikamaru! You have to get up!" the voice snapped.
Voice? VOICE! OH GOD! I quickly shot straight up, only to end up face to face with a certain Sand Village konichi! "Sorry," I muttered, embarrassed she had to wake me up.
"Whatever," Temari groaned, bored. "Gaara told me to wake you up. He left an hour ago. You have exactly a half hour to get ready. Later!"
I watched her leave before tidying myself up. I also snacked on the food Kaharu gave me.
Temari popped her head through the doorway. "You ready?" I jumped and faced her. Boy, does she spook me out! I Quickly nodded. "Great!" Temari grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the room so fast that I barely had time to grab my backpack!
"My bros are waiting at the gate. Kankuro is going with you. He has a mission in the Grass Village," she explained, pulling me through the empty streets. "Gaara has something he wants to give to you. And before you ask, no, I don't know what it is. He wouldn't tell."
When we made it to the gate, I could see two shadowy figures. On closer inspection, I could tell it was the Sand brothers.
Kankuro looked quite different. I guess he was the only sibling that thought it was suitable for a big change. He wore black pants and a black bunny hug. He didn't have a hood over his head hiding his unruly short brown hair, any more. It was kind of like Kiba's hair, actually. Instead of the puppet that was close to his side strapped to his back, he had a pack of summoning scrolls. He also cut with the purple face paint, if one could believe it!
"Hello, Nara…" Kankuro drawled pleasantly. "I guess we are going to be comrades for awhile."
"Ya…I guess so…" I murmured softly. Even with all the changes, Kankuro still looked evil!
"Don't worry, Nara. I don't bite," he snickered. "I just glare holes into peoples' faces, backs, you name it!" He smirked lightly at me.
Gaara laughed quietly. "True enough, Kankuro…" He turned to face me. "Shikamaru, I have something for you. Come…" the young Kazekage stated.
He led me away from his siblings. "I shouldn't do this, but I know you'll need extra strength. I'm going to raise your chakra level." He looked straight at me. "Hold out your hands palm up."
I quickly obeyed his quiet order. Gaara set his slightly smaller hands onto mine so our palms were touching. I could feel the sand ninja collect his chakra before a burning feeling entered my hands painfully. Soon I could feel the burning through my entire body. That was when Gaara lifted his hands off mine.
"Does it hurt?" he asked solemnly. I nodded. "It will stop in a few minutes. Just wait for your body to get used to it, ok?" He set a hand on my shoulder reassuringly. I could tell the 13-year-old Kazekage was in pain, too. His breath was uneven and he was shuddering slightly.
The burning sensation left, but Gaara still had it. "Are you ok?" I asked.
"I'm fine. Be ok…in two…hours…" he muttered before passing out. I luckily caught the light sand ninja before he hit the ground. I had to admit, I felt honored that he would risk this all for me.
"What happened?" Temari cried, running up to me. She was staring at her little brother's unconscious form worriedly. "What did he do?"
"He said he's be fine in two hours," I informed the worried 15-year-old. "He'll be ok…"
Kankuro walked up. "If Nara says he'll be fine, Gaara will be fine," he told his older sister strictly. "I know that Nara could easily switch to being a medic-nin if he wanted to. He has the training."
"How?" Temari whispered, taking her little brother from me. "How do you know medical stuff?" She held the 13-year-old in her arms, gently cradling him.
I blushed slightly. "My mom wanted me to know a bit of it just in case. She trained me." I turned to face the puppet-nin. "How did you know?"
"I'm a ninja." Kankuro turned away. "Let's go, Nara."
"'Kay."
We set off to the Hidden Grass Village, leaving Temari to care for her brother. Lord knows he'll need it.
I'm going to be gone this weekend so I tried to finish a chapter. So there you go! Better be happy! I spent an entire hour on it!