Chapter 2
Gaara appeared in the lobby of Sunagokure Hospital in the center of his own personal chakra-made dust devil. He still held the wounded ninja as carefully as he would a baby. The girl's head lolled back against Gaara's bicep, and her breath was coming in short, shallow gasps. She was still bleeding heavily from the deep gash in her back. Even Gaara's sand couldn't absorb it fast enough. God, that girl had a lot of blood. A lot of blood? Why in the world would he think that? Hell, he was the ninja who killed his enemies by crushing them and spraying their blood in a fine, crimson rain. How could he think that any amount of the sticky, red fluid was too much?
Gaara had no idea; maybe it had to do with the girl. The mystery ninja whom he now held as he stood in the lobby of the village's hospital. There was something…not odd per say, but…something special. Yes, that was it. There was something special about her. This young woman, who'd appeared out of nowhere, evoked something deep within Gaara. He did not know what it was, but he got a feeling that perhaps this mysterious girl might have something to do with him. Some strange connection. Maybe, but maybe not. Who knows?
Around Gaara, everybody in the lobby, be it medic nin, patient or visitor, stared in bewilderment at the young Kazekage. What was he doing here? He had never had any reason to come to the hospital before. Who was that in his arms? And why in the world was there a hawk-a giant hawk-perched on the Kazekage's shoulder? Not that nobody had seen a bird before. There were plenty wheeling around in the sky every day, but that bird was just too big to be normal. All activity had stopped as people stopped to stare.
"Dammit. What are you all staring at?" Gaara snapped, "Is it that unusual that a person comes in needing help? This girl needs medical attention." Nobody moved. Everybody was stunned by the fact that the Kazekage was standing in the lobby of a hospital, and they were even more stunned by his tone of voice. Gaara was usually so soft-spoken. "Did you hear me? This girl needs medical attention. NOW!"
Normal hospital activity resumed and an elderly medic ninja hurried over with a clean white gurney to take the wounded girl from Gaara's arms.
"Oh my," the medic nin murmured as she gingerly set the young woman on the gurney, "that's a lot of blood. What happened? Somebody get me an IV prep and a bag of O negative! We need to get this girl to the O.R. STAT!" The medic turned to Gaara, who was still partially soaked in blood that was obviously not his own. "Don't worry, Kazekage, sir. We'll save her. The young lady probably just needs a transfusion and some rest. Of course, there's no harm in making sure that's the extent of her injuries. Could you, ah, perhaps, shed a bit of light on the situation? I've really no idea what is going on here." Without waiting for an answer, the medic nin rushed off with the gurney carrying the unconscious girl.
Gaara was left standing in the middle of the Sunagokure Hospital lobby in the midst of all the usual hustle and bustle. He slowly shook his head and muttered "Neither do I" in a very belated answer. Then he turned and walked slowly, as if in a dream, to a chair in the corner of the lobby, where he sat to wait and see what would happen.