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Many Hours into the Night…
A small wet drop of rain pelted Gaara's cheek causing him to open his eyes slowly. Another hit his forehead and he flinched as he tried to regain his senses. Slowly but surely the events of what happened came flooding back to him and his eyes opened wider. The ground beneath him was soft and damp. He slowly got the feeling back in his body and realized he was soaked. It must have rained hard while he was out and now was slowing down. He turned his head to the side carefully and saw dozens upon dozens of bodies lying on the ground. Were they all dead?
He turned his head to the other side and saw the same thing. He tried to lift himself up off the floor and managed to lean on his elbows before wincing and grabbing his side. He let his hand slide carefully across his maroon cloaked outfit and saw the crimson liquid on his fingers. He forced himself to sit up more and gasped slightly as pain erupted in his body. He closed his eyes trying to will the pain away but it remained. He looked himself over. He was cut up pretty bad and when he touched his head he realized it was bleeding as well. His clothes were torn up and he could only imagine what he looked like.
He flinched as something pricked his side and he grabbed at it pulling it out. He looked at it not knowing what the hell it was. Then his eyes widened. It was a scale from Kisame's sword Samehada. It was impossible to break that thing so why did he just pull a scale out of him? He looked around. Buildings were destroyed. People were lying everywhere in the muddy streets. Then he saw him. Kisame…or what was left. He was a few feet away from him. He was definitely dead. Samehada was snapped in two. That's when it occurred to Gaara why he was still alive.
When Deidara exploded Kisame was in front of Gaara ready to rip his head off with Samehada. Instead, the blast threw Kisame into Gaara which gave him the wound on his side and killed Kisame. Gaara was blocked. Gaara grimaced as he tried to stand but fell. He was far away from where the explosion initially happened. He looked around and something caught his eye. He bit his lip, practically drawing blood, and got up stumbling over to the wreckage. He pulled some back and his eyes widened.
"Tsunade-sama…" he choked out.
His throat felt raw. She moaned some and struggled to open her eyes.
"G-Gaara-sama…w-what…happened…?" she mumbled out.
Gaara took a deep shaky breath.
"D-Deidara…exploded…" he said in a whisper.
Tsunade opened her eyes slightly and then they widened.
"Y-You're h-hurt b-badly!" she choked out looking him over and began coughing.
Gaara shook his head and sat down next to her not being able to stand up for so long.
"I'll b-be alright…" he said softly.
Tsunade tried to sit up. She had a splint of wood lodged in her leg. She winced slightly sitting up. She had a cut on her head that was bleeding and she was cut up badly. She was exhausted. Tsunade looked around in horror.
"The village…" she mumbled.
Gaara grabbed her shoulder.
"It will repair in time…let's help your people…and mine…" he said carefully and she nodded.
They both helped each other to their feet and headed off moving wreckage off of people. Gaara and Tsunade caught sight of wreckage moving on its own and they both headed towards it. They pulled it off and found Lee and Sakura. Sakura was out cold and Lee was huddled over her. He lifted his head when the wreckage moved. He was cut up but he was mostly concerned about Sakura. She was in bad shape. He picked her up and carried her to where Tsunade had made a makeshift tent to keep the injured out of the rain. Lee laid her down and groaned falling next to her. Tsunade helped him up and his head hung low.
"Lee-kun...we need your help now so you must try to stay awake okay?" Tsunade said softly in his ear.
The usually energetic shinobi nodded dully and began to help them. Tsunade limped over to some more wreckage and pulled it away as Gaara and Lee went to others and pulled them away. They had found many injured greatly but alive all the same. Gaara helped Kankuro limp over to the tent. He wanted to go find Kat but his leg was badly injured and if he walked on it anymore Gaara threatened that it would be useless. He was also cut up beyond belief and all his makeup had washed off in the rain. Kankuro growled and made him promise he'd find Kat and Gaara promised. Gaara walked around and saw a piece of wreckage shudder faintly. He walked over to it and pulled it back. His eyes widened.
"Kat-chan…" he murmured softly as he attempted to bend down to the Mizukage.
Her arm was sliced open and blood oozed from the wound. She was also cut up badly. Her head swayed from side to side dizzily. She mumbled a few incoherent words and tried opening her eyes. Gaara tore a piece of his cloak off and wrapped the wound as tight as he could. She was pale and already had lost so much blood. He gritted his teeth as he lifted her up in his arms.
His vision became blurry and he had to lean against the wall of a building a few times but he managed to get her to the tent. Tsunade gasped when she saw the Kazekage bring in the Mizukage. Gaara stumbled into a chair with Kat still in his arms. He looked down at her exhaustedly. He shook her a little and she would groan now and then to let him know she was still alive. Tsunade made another place on the floor with some blankets she found in the wreckage.
"Gaara bring her here!" she said quickly.
Gaara groaned and lifted himself out of the chair painfully and stumbled over to Tsunade. He fell to his knees with her and laid her down carefully. Kankuro opened his eyes when he heard his brother's name. His eyes widened when he saw Kat lying on the floor in the condition she was in.
"Gaara, is she going to be alright?!" he asked frantically.
Tsunade checked her wounds and looked at Gaara.
"You made the right move tying this around her arm…you stopped the bleeding and may have just saved her life…" she said quietly.
Gaara nodded and looked at his brother, who nodded as well. Kankuro lay down by Kat carefully and slipped into a light sleep. Gaara went to go back out but Tsunade stopped him. He looked at her and she frowned.
"You barely made it back with her…you're losing blood and energy…you should rest," she stated in a motherly tone.
Gaara shook his head.
"You know I cannot do that…" he said softly.
Tsunade bit her lip.
"She saved us from literally turning into ashes…" Tsunade said quietly.
Gaara nodded.
"Which is why I am going to find her…" he said firmly.
Tsunade nodded. She wanted to help too but she had to maintain the tent and heal who she could. She was healing at a faster rate then the others due to the regeneration of her cells. It was making it easier to heal some wounds.
"Gaara…where are Naruto, Temari, and Hinata with the kids?" she asked softly.
Gaara shook his head slowly.
"I'm not sure…hopefully somewhere safe…away from here…" he mumbled and headed out to find more survivors.
Hours had passed and the tent was becoming full. Gaara ripped through the wreckage. His hands were getting cut up and the rain was getting harder. Gaara shivered slightly. The cold rain touching his body was causing a painful reaction with his wounds. He watched as blood ran off of his body and mixed with the water on the floor. The wreckage became slippery and when he would grab it, it would slip out of his bloody hands. He growled and tore a piece of wreckage off someone. He looked down and his eyes widened. He dropped to his knees and pulled the semi-conscious woman out of the wreckage carefully. He pulled her into his lap and held her for a moment, looking her over.
"Saya…Saya can you hear me?" he asked quickly.
The young shinobi groaned softly and tried to open her eyes. She coughed up blood and winced grabbing her shoulder. A huge chunk of metal was buried deep within her skin. He grimaced faintly at the wound and continued to observe her. Her head was bleeding and her clothes were torn up. She had gashes all over her body and he knew her chakra was depleted. She let out a painful moan and opened her eyes faintly only for a raindrop to fall and force her to close them again. Gaara covered her with his body. His energy was fading and he didn't think he had the strength to lift her. He pulled her close covering her with some of his robes. She opened her eyes again, a little wider this time.
"G-Gaara…" she managed to choke out in a whisper.
Her throat hurt every time she spoke. Gaara mustered a faint smile.
"I-Is everyone…o-okay?" she asked softly.
Gaara nodded.
"They're h-hurt…but t-they'll be f-fine…" he said as the rain now started to pound the floor.
Gaara winced as he stood up with her in his arms, covered by his robes. He barely made it back to the tent. Tsunade limped over to them.
"Gaara…is she…" she said as Saya cracked her eye opened startling Tsunade.
"I'm…alive…" she choked out.
Tsunade set another place on the floor for Saya. Gaara lay her down carefully. He grabbed an extra blanket and Tsunade inspected the shoulder wound. She winced when she saw the metal buried in Saya's skin.
"That's a pretty bad injury…" Tsunade said softly.
Gaara watched her expression.
"I have to get it out…it's rusted so if I don't get it out now…it could become infected…if it isn't already…" she said grimly.
Gaara nodded. Tsunade collected more towels and laid them out around the wound.
"Alright now Saya…I need you to try to relax…the wound is going to bleed a lot and it's going to hurt…I'm going to have someone restrain you and then pull it out okay?" she asked softly.
Gaara stared at her wide eyed. Saya was awake and aware. She was just going to pull it out without any kind of painkiller or something?! Tsunade seemed to read his thoughts.
"I have nothing medical with me…the medical supplies are in the hospital and the hospital is on its last leg…" she mumbled.
Saya groaned softly. Tsunade was about to call someone over to restrain the shinobi but Gaara stopped her.
"Let me do it…" he said softly.
Tsunade sighed.
"You cannot let go of her Gaara…she's probably going to scream…and be in immense pain…can you handle that?" she asked softly.
Gaara thought about it. He didn't trust himself and would probably stop the procedure himself if she cried out even once. Tsunade nodded and called for Lee. Lee walked over and was told his instructions. He nodded quickly and let his hands hold both of her arms while he applied some pressure on her lower half with his legs. Gaara didn't even like that. He was grateful he chose not to do it. Tsunade pressed a wet rag against Saya's forehead. Saya trembled slightly and Gaara wanted to stop the whole thing. Tsunade began talking to Saya about random things which confused him. Saya seemed to relax after a while and Tsunade still chatted on.
"So you see Saya…" she trailed off as she quickly ripped the metal from Saya's arm.
Gaara's eyes widened when she did this and Saya arched her back up, her screams echoing throughout the village. Gaara slammed his hands to his head not being able to take her screaming and closed his eyes. He wanted to help her. He wanted to pull them away from her and hold her tightly. He wanted to protect her. He opened his eyes looking at her. She was crying hysterically and struggling to move. Tsunade was trying to apply pressure to her shoulder which was gushing torrents of blood. Gaara visibly paled. Tsunade yelled to him.
"Gaara talk to her! Try to calm her down!" she yelled and Gaara leaned in close to her helping to stop her thrashing with Lee.
"S-Saya try to relax…it's over now…you're g-going t-to be okay…" he said softly in her ear and rubbed her head.
Her cries quieted and she began to tremble immensely. Her eyes opened painfully and met Gaara's. Tsunade applied the right pressure and the bleeding slowed down. Saya winced and tears fell from her cheeks.
"I-It h-hurts…" she coughed out looking at him.
He nodded not knowing what to say. He leaned his head to hers and closed his eyes trying to find words. His hand softly caressed her face and he nuzzled her head lovingly. Tsunade bandaged the wound as best as she could with what she had and stood up.
"Alright Gaara, you're next…" she said firmly.
Gaara looked up at her.
"I'm fine…" he said but she wouldn't hear it.
He groaned in frustration and removed his cloak slowly. She cleaned up most of his wounds. The cut on his head now had a small bandage on it and his stomach was wrapped in some kind of makeshift bandage. He sat up next to her after everything got settled. The night was almost over. Saya gasped softly catching his attention. He moved closer to her and looked at her.
"Saya…are you alright?" he asked kindly.
She groaned slightly and shifted her arm almost crying out again. She began to shiver and her lower lip trembled. Gaara stopped her and adjusted her so she was resting in his lap. Her body relaxed and she looked up at him dazed. He pulled a blanket over her and also laid his blanket over her. His hand caressed her cheek lovingly and she took it in her good hand and brought it to rest on her stomach.
"It's my turn to take care of you…" he said soothingly.
She played around with his fingers for a while before slipping into a deep sleep. Gaara rubbed her head softly and let his fingers roam through her hair before he let his hand rest on her stomach and he too fell into a light sleep.
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