While Dosu was being taken away on a stretcher, Naruto, Shikamaru and I made our way to the stairs. While the two of them walked quite a distance behind me, I had already gone ahead and tried to sort out my thoughts, more or less exhausted. Even though it still seemed crazy to me that I had won against Dosu...I was also quite happy about it. Now he had seen that I was not as weak as he had assumed.
But despite everything, the fight had also robbed me of a large part of my strength, since I had just used an incomplete jutsu and thus consumed a lot of chakra. A place on the tribune was now what I needed...no more incidents...or any threats from other ninjas. No. For once in my life, I wanted my peace too.
„You know young friend. For the sake of the feudal lords, it would be better if you lost the fight."
I looked up.
There at the end of the corridor were two ninjas standing around Gaara. But the latter did not seem in the least worried. But still, their words had made me suspicious, and I began to creep closer.
A soft squeak drew my attention to the sand gourd, whose lid was unscrewing further and further. Startled, my eyes widened. Gaara wasn't planning to...kill those men...was he?
Something silver flashed in the hand of one of them...and I quickly understood, because if the Suna-nin didn't give up, the two of them had orders to kill him. Inwardly conflicted, I remained in place, noticing Gaara's gaze brush me and shook my head slightly. Please don't. We didn't need a disaster of this kind yet.
„Hey, stop it. That's not the fine way to make someone want to give up...and besides...you're dealing with someone here who wouldn't even dream of it."
When the two men caught sight of me, they began to laugh derisively.
„A little girl...weakened from fighting at that...what do you know..." one sneered.
„In any case, I know one thing...if the Hokage finds out about you two trying to kill a genin just because he refused to give up so your greedy lord could get his money, there will definitely be some consequences," I threatened, knowing it was dangerous. But still...somehow, I had to prevent an outburst from Gaara.
A knife shot towards me, I dropped the body, but it would never have come to a hit, because a long sand arm had intervened and intercepted the knife. Horrified, I looked at Gaara, whose face was contorted with rage and murder. My fingers clawed at my thighs. I had only made it worse. It had all been for nothing.
The sand grabbed the first man, dragging him with it, wrapping around the wriggling body and crushing him until he became silent. I clenched my teeth and suppressed a retch. The whole hallway now reeked of sand, blood, and death. Cold metal against my neck was the next thing I felt.
The other man had grabbed me and was now holding the knife to my throat.
„Tora!", I heard the horrified voices of Naruto and Shikamaru shout.
No. Not those two as well.
„Stay where you are. I beg you. You're only making it worse," I coughed.
The man behind me shivered slightly, but still stopped in his tracks and looked Gaara in the eye, who was standing there at the other end of the corridor. His sand built up behind him like a threatening wave.
„Come any closer and I'll kill the girl," he said, increasing the pressure of the knife. Something warm ran down my neck and seeped into the thin shirt I wore under my jacket. How I would like to do something now, but I couldn't, I didn't have enough chakra left to use the shield or a similarly strong jutsu.
But I didn't want to beg Gaara for help either, my pride was too great for that.
Sweat was pouring down my face from fear, which was not directed at Gaara, but at the man who was threatening my life at the moment. The subject of a feudal lord.
„What are you doing now girl huh? Your friend back there...doesn't seem to want to help you anyway...and now we are walking very slowly towards the exit. Tell your friends that if they hurt me, you will die."
„I think they know that themselves. They're old enough to realise that" I gasped through clenched teeth, the knife cutting deeper into my neck. The man seemed almost indifferent to whether I would die here or not. The main thing was that he got out of it in one piece.
„You, on the other hand, have no idea who you're dealing with. And don't fool me. I know you're scared."
Sharp pain went through my throat when the man moved the knife. One step further and it would become dangerous. That much was certain. I gasped in pain. This was definitely not going to be fun once we were out of here. If we ever made it.
All at once the man stopped, unable to move, and I froze, guessing who had just intervened in the situation. Slowly the knife was pulled out of the wound and abruptly I put my hand in front of it. Rather, I pressed it against it.
„If my friends are hurt, I don't care about the situation. I will help them no matter how much chakra I have left," Shikamaru said.
My lungs screamed for air and my heart raced wildly in my chest.
Suddenly it was there. The sand. Wrapped itself around the body of the helpless ninja and dragged him along. But Shikamaru had not yet released his jutsu and so it pulled him along. With my hand pressed to my neck, I rushed towards Gaara, who watched the spectacle with an unmoved expression. His eyes shone with an eerie yellowish glow and were individually streaked with thin fibres.
No. That was not Gaara. That something inside him, had the upper hand.
„Shikamaru! Release that damn jutsu," I yelled, still running towards the Suna-nin. Suicide. That was the best word I could think of for my action right now. Surely, I was insane to face him completely unprotected at this stage.
„Crazy Tora," I whispered. "You're completely out of your mind. Do you even know what you're doing?"
„And what are you going to do now? Little girl? Gaara is not himself and you are alone."
It was Gaara's voice but not his words that just left his mouth and I cringed when I saw the look in his eyes. This demon...what was he...that he could take over Gaara like that. Was he...my gaze flitted to Naruto...no...
A sand claw pressed me against the wall, right at my neck. Horrified, I looked back and forth. The demon, he kept taking over. How could I wake him up?
Panic-stricken, my eyes raced around. To Shikamaru, who had managed to loosen his shadow, next to whom now sat a fear-filled Naruto, frozen as he watched the scene unfold before him.
„But Gaara is strong. Otherwise, he wouldn't have managed to push you back this long. Now I understand the burden that lies on his shoulders. What he had to suffer, I am also angry with his father for treating his youngest son in such a way. And I understand him because something similar happened to me...', I said.
Sand trickled to the ground. Very slowly at first, but then in many streams and in the midst of this disaster Gaara held his head in internal pain. My hand twitched in his direction, wanting to help him in some way. But which one. On the one hand I feared he might attack again and on the other...I would never be able to touch him after all, because the sand protected him.
Holding his head and trembling all over, the Suna-Nin began to move. His footsteps echoed loudly on the stone walls of the corridor. Not a single glance did he waste on my small trembling figure. Naruto and Shikamaru, who sat rooted to the spot on the floor, also remained unnoticed. Now he was just a tiny dot at the end of the corridor. But still no one dared to move a muscle.
Only when Gaara disappeared around the corner and his footsteps had faded away did Naruto and Shikamaru scramble to their feet and run to me.
„The wound on your neck needs to be dressed," Shikamaru said, and I nodded slowly.
„I'll go get someone," Naruto offered and was gone immediately after the Nara gave him approval.
Silence now reigned.
„What a monster. That guy is really crazy. It's a miracle he left you alive."
I smiled in anguish.
„Gaara himself is not the problem. It's the demon that lives inside him."
„What?"