Shooting Straight

Chapter 33

To be honest- Arrow was so caught up in spinning his genjutsu for Temari, like a master weaver at work, to keep track of the time that had passed; seconds, minutes, hours- he wasn't sure either way. He spun her a genjutsu of them back in Sunagakure- spending their days together as nothing had ever happened; he took her far away from the chaos around them. Even as Gaara's body morphed even more into the beast residing within- Sasuke's curse mark rendered him immobile as it consumed him while Naruto and Sakura made an entrance, saving Sasuke from death at Gaara's hands.

Half aware of reality- Arrow could vaguely hear Sasuke moaning in pain as Sakura tried to tend to him. Arrow looked down to where his teammates were stationed; they hadn't seen him yet, and he wasn't sure if he wanted them to. His number one priority was to keep Temari's body out of harm's way- and keeping her in a safe genjutsu, where he could look after her mind too.

By the time he thought to look at the battle again- he found Sakura trapped against a tree with Shukaku's dismembered claw. Sasuke was completely useless after wearing himself out and Naruto was getting the shit kicked out of him- but before more than a few minutes had passed, he saw hundreds of Naruto shadow clones and Gaara's body being thrown to the forest floor, leaving a crater where it landed.

"To take on Gaara in that form? Kid's got a death wish." Arrow scoffed under his breath, watching as Naruto flew down at Gaara from above with some cheesy hero-line.

A battle cry breached Gaara's lips as his body transformed again- taking out Naruto and all his clones in one fell swoop as he fully took on the size of the sand spirit, leaving him towering hundreds of feet over the tree-tops. Sand covered Naruto's weak, chakra-depleted body- Arrow looked away so not as to have to see the unfortunate demise, only to have to settle his balance as the earth quaked beneath him.

A frog- large enough to match the size of Gaara's perfect possession, with none other than Naruto Uzumaki standing atop it. Then a full-scale battle between the giant toad, and the spirit Shukaku- who'd been fully unleashed after Gaara fell asleep. Taking this as his cue to leave, Arrow pulled Temari over his shoulder, briefly contemplating taking Sakura with them, but ultimately deciding to move without her to sit out the rest of Naruto and Gaara's battle.

~~~

The battle ended with Naruto headbutting Gaara after both had been depleted of their chakra, crumbling the transformation Gaara had achieved and sending them both sprawling to the forest floor, beaten and bloodied.

While attempting to clear out from the area- Arrow came across a defeated Kankuro, lying helplessly on a branch. Kankuro looked up pitifully as Arrow stopped to tend to him. He'd finally realized that the clash of weapons and the tremors from the ground had ceased- meaning Naruto and Gaara's battle had come to an end, and Arrow was sure it resulted in the Uzumaki's untimely death, even as formidable he may have come to be. He looked towards the direction he'd just come from- wondering if he should risk going back to get Gaara.

With the danger seemingly passed- Arrow had no reason to keep Temari in his genjutsu, so he released it and caught her up to speed as he helped Kankuro up. He'd become acutely aware of his main role as physical support in the attempt to crush Konoha- and he'd had no time in battle since his match. Temari rested a reassuring hand on his arm as he hoisted Kankuro up, supporting half the puppet-masters weight, and Arrow looked to her for a reminder of why he was still there.

"Come on, we have to go find Gaara." Temari offered her best attempt at a smile to Arrow, who nodded in understanding. Kankuro, unwilling to let Arrow help, stood on his own and began their trek to the clearing they'd last seen Gaara.

~~~

Sasuke stood crouched beside Naruto, who had yet to get up off the ground- glaring daggers at Gaara and his two siblings but mostly focusing on Arrow, who took place behind Temari. They were prepared for another fight to break out but were halted at the sound of Gaara's voice commanding them to stand down. Arrow watched with curiosity reflecting in his eyes as he stepped forward to take Gaara's arm over his shoulder- blatantly ignoring Naruto and Sasuke's eyes drilling holes into his forehead.