Gaara
Gaara stared at Sumara in astonishment. Did she really know how to kill the beast?
"Really, you really know how to kill it?" Naruto asked. Just from his facial expression, Gaara could tell he was feeling a little bit inconsequential.
Sumara frowned and her forehead creased in thought. "Well, the whole deal with me reading minds deals with being able to understand a person's spirit. If a ninja in my village never is able to understand the spirit of a person, or any other living being, then they'll never really ever be a good ninja. They will graduate, but just barely. It is very rare for this to happen, but it does. Anyway, my point is, if I can get in enough proximity to this beast thing and gather its spirit in my mind, I will be able to extract it into myself. But," she paused, her voice was very soft when she started talking again, "this jutsu is one that involves the loss of a life. If I were to channel this beast's essence into me, I will end up killing myself in the process. The only way to live through it is to just be extremely lucky."
Gaara had stopped breathing. He felt numb. He did not want anymore blood on his hands, especially Sumara's. There were ninja out there who died to rescue him, and he did not want more blood to spill. But what would happen if this did not occur? Would the beast end up killing everyone? It was the main idea of a battle, sacrifice the one for the benefit of the many
"Well, I guess we need another plan!" Naruto yelled, trying not to look totally uncomfortable.
"No," Gaara whispered. Naruto gasped, but Sumara remained indifferent. "If there was another way, Sumara would know. Right?" He glanced at Sumara.
She gave him a terse nod. "Of course." There was unease behind those deep blue eyes. Gaara knew that sense of unease.
"Naruto, could you go and get the others at that one restaurant I was telling you about before?" Gaara asked that blond ninja.
Naruto grunted, the universal guy sign of agreement and left.
Sumara
We were left alone, that red-head ninja and I. I walked over to his desk and looked at it. There was nothing on it but a few scrolls strewn around it. There was only one picture in his room, and I knew it was of Temari, Gaara and Kankuro, standing together. This was a room that really needed some TLC. But, I was not going to be the one to give it any.
"So, um do you want me to leave or something?" I asked him awkwardly.
His eyes shifted my way. Unlike the other day in that chamber, he looked at me. I saw him shift his weight from one foot to another in a weird little dance. Sometimes, I could not tell what was going on in that head of his. He took a small step forward.
"I," he began and stopped. Gaara's eyes shifted down his hands. He folded them and unfolded them before beginning again. "I can't let you do that jutsu."
This was slightly expected, but it being totally unexpected outweighed that.
I turned to face him, my body set for anything. "Why not? It's what I want."
He smirked. "If I've heard the saying correctly, you can't always get what you want. This is far too dangerous. You could die!"
"Yeah, I knew I could die when I decided to train as a ninja. This is a part of what I am."
I saw the sand begin to lift around him as he gradually began to get frustrated. "You, just, you just can't die!" The sand was beginning to gather more and more. "I can't let you die. People don't need to keep dying for this village. So many people died just to save me." He was beginning to break down. It made me hurt.
"Gaara, don't. I'll find another way, I promise."
I saw a drop fall to the ground. The sand particles fell to the ground in a pile. "Please, find another way. I can't have anymore people die."
Now, multiple drops were falling to the ground. Oh my God, he was crying. This poor guy, he seriously got served a bad deal in this game of cards we call life. I took a step towards him, my hand outstretched but he flinched away. "You don't know me," he murmured.
"No, I don't," I agreed. "But I do understand the feeling of people needlessly dying for you." I grabbed his wrist in my hand. He looked up at me with wide eyes. "Being alone and suffering does no good in making the pain go away. It will be there, I promise you. But," I paused, testing my words in my head, then tossing them away and speaking whatever first came to my mind. "Everyone needs someone to lean on."
I searched Gaara's mind at that moment for any sign at all. I was met with a wall of blinding pain and regret and then I dug deeper into his subconscious and I found it. His need. I pulled him into a hug and he did not fight me, only broke down further into sobs. I found the need for another person, that need we all have. I had that need and no one was there for me. I could tell by how Gaara had been and how he is now that he had never had that person too. We stood there, in silence except for Gaara's slight noises of crying. I just stood there and let it happen.