Chapter 13

Let the Ninja Hunt Begin

As Sasuke and Gaara fought, I didn't know who to cheer for. On one hand, I wanted to cheer Sasuke on because he was my brother. But on the other hand, I wanted to cheer Gaara on because I loved him. At one point during the match, Gaara made a ball of sand around himself and started to chant. I knew what was coming next.

"Gaara…" I said to myself in a worried tone, "Don't do it. Please don't do it. Don't turn into Shukaku. You promised…"

I felt tears start to fill my eyes. I could tell Temari was staring at me in confusion.

"How do you know about Shukaku?" Temari asked in a confused tone.

"I know about it because I have the half of Shukaku Gaara is missing," I replied, as I wiped tears from my eyes.

"There's no way you have the other half of Shukaku," Kankuro remarked.

"Are you sure about that?" I commented, "Why do you think Gaara would fall in love with me? The only way that could even be possible is if we shared the same demon."

"She's got a point Kankuro," Temari commented with neutral ora around her.

"I guess she does," Kankuro replied in a discouraged and annoyed tone.

Kankuro hated it when either Temari or I was right.

"Chidori!" Sasuke yelled out as he made vibrations showing he was running toward the sand ball protecting Gaara.

"Oh no! Gaara's in huge trouble," I said to myself with a worried tone and nervous feeling in my gut, "Watch out Gaara!"

I sensed Gaara heard every little word I said, but Sasuke didn't. I figured he wouldn't, though. Vibrations that Sasuke made showed that he hit the sand ball and went right through it a direct hit to Gaara. I gasped in horror and shock. The ball of sand started to disintegrate back into Gaara's gourd as he stud there with a bleeding right shoulder. I ran out to stop the match, but I was stopped by Guy sensei. He walked me back to the waiting area when we got there Guy sensei walked over to the rail with me and put his hand on my shoulder in a comforting way. He had confident and serious ora around him. I wondered why he was up here.

"Guy sensei, what are you doing up here?" I asked curiously.

"I wanted to ask you something important," he told me.

"Well, what's up?" I asked impatiently.

"I just wanted to know why you fought like you did."

"What do you mean?"

"You fought with determination, courage, and strength. What were you trying to prove?"

"I wanted to prove to the world that I could be a great ninja without my eyesight."

"I see."

Guy sensei then realized how that could be insulting. I knew he wanted to apologize, but I was one step ahead of him.

"It's ok," I assured him, "I know it wasn't intentional."

"Oh, all right then," he replied.

Then, there was a tingle that went up and down my spine. I told Guy sensei to go back to where he was before and that I sensed trouble down there. He complied with my order. I sensed a jutsu being used. It was meant to put people to sleep. I did the hitsuji hand sign (the ram hand sign) and yelled out the word release. I, in turn, wasn't affected by the jutsu's effect. I ran down to find Kakashi sensei and Sakura to make sure they were ok. When I got close to them, I almost ran into Sakura while she was waking up Shicamaru and Naruto. There was another ninja hound too, or so Nerugui told me. Nerugui informed me that the dog was a brown bulldog and that he was summoned by Kakashi sensei (go figure). When Shicamaru and Naruto were awake, Kakashi sensei gave us a new mission.

"Go find and help Sasuke track down and take down Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari," Kakashi sensei commanded, "You got it?"

"We got it," Sakura replied for us.

Guy sensei made a hole in the wall behind us. Everyone jumped through, except me. I hesitated to go through the hole. Kakashi sensei noticed my hesitation. But I went through after Sakura called to me.

"Asami, hurry up! We've got to catch up with Sasuke!" Sakura called to me.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" I yelled back as I ran to catch up with them.

Once I caught up with the others, I sensed someone following us. I told the others that we were being watched. We came up with a plan where Shicamaru would distract the stalkers while the rest of us find Sasuke.

"Are you sure about this Shicamaru?" I asked him in a concerned tone.

"Yea, I'm sure Asami," he assured me.

"All right, just be careful," I told him.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine," Shicamaru commented, "Now go, before you lose Sasuke's scent."

"All right Shicamaru. Bye!" I called as Sakura, Naruto, Nerugui, Sophie, Kakashi sensei's dog, and I ran off after Sasuke.

We eventually found Sasuke fighting Gaara. Sakura, Naruto, and Kakashi sensei's dog joined into the fight while I, being the fearful child I used to be and seemed to still be some-what, hid behind a tree in concern and panic. I just couldn't fight Gaara like this. It's not because I liked him, but because I was afraid of him hurting me. And that horror soon became reality…