𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐊𝐀𝐙𝐄𝐊𝐀𝐆𝐄'𝐒 𝐊𝐄𝐄𝐏𝐄𝐑 | gaara

Part 20

*Your P.O.V*

You lie, incapacitated, on the floor of a stone cell Nishi and Kita had thrown you into a while ago. You're not even sure of how much time has passed. It could've been a day, a week, or even a month since you first got here, and you wouldn't know the difference. You're susceptible to cold as the flimsy white garment given to you by the brothers did little to protect you from the harsh nights. You hear the door of your prison open, and sense one of your two tormentors stick their head in.

"Hey! Are you dead yet?!" comes Nishi's voice. You grin and look up at him from where you lay on the ground.

"Not quite yet. Sorry." He fumes and slams the door behind him, storming away. You chuckle to yourself as you hear him yelling to Kita, and cough up a little blood. What a time to be alive.

You grimace, and make to sit up, propping yourself against the cold stone wall of your enclosure. Everything is dark: there's no window or anything. It's like you're in an underground cave, and there's no brighter tomorrow for you anywhere on the horizon. You tilt your head back and look at what you assume to be the roof, thinking.

How long has it been? You close your eyes, but it makes no difference. It's just as dark as it would be with your eyes open.

Days. It's been days, and no one had turned up to save you. It's as if everyone had just forgotten about you.

You want to cry, but the tears don't come. Instead, they stay bottled up within you, and a fresh wave of despair overcomes you once more.

*Temari P.O.V*

I jolt as I see Risa begin to come to her senses. Her eyes flutter open, and she looks at me drowsily.

"Temari...?" I lean forward.

"Yes, it's me! How are you feeling?" Her eyes widen and she sits up sharp, then winces in pain and looks down at her heavily bandaged abdomen.

"Never mind me, where's [Name]?!" she yells, making to get out of bed. I rush to calm her down, and she swats me away, sitting back down with her arms crossed.

"We've been waiting for you to regather yourself," I say as professionally as I can. "After all, you asked us not to set off in pursuit without you." She gapes at me, and a vein pops on her forehead.

"WHAT?! ARE YOU SERIOUS?! I'VE BEEN KNOCKED OUT FOR DAYS AND NO ONE'S GONE AFTER [NAME]?!" She grabs me by the collar and begins shaking me with such ferocity that you can't even tell she's supposed to be critically injured.

"FORGET THAT! WHERE'S THE KAZEKAGE?! OH, I AM GONNA SNAP HIS HEAD OFF WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON HIM-" She looks towards the doorway, and Gaara and Kankuro come walking in. Speak of the devil. Risa glares at Gaara and points an accusing finger at him.

"You!" she shrieks. "YOU!" She leaps out of bed and lunges at Gaara with her bare hands. His sand wraps itself around her and holds her in mid air, struggling as it holds her in suspense.

"Calm down, Risa-chan!" I say, striding forward to try and calm her down. I glare at Gaara. "Put her down!" His sand slowly brings Risa to the ground, and as soon as her feet are on the ground, the sand withdraws completely and floods back into Gaara's gourd. She sinks to her knees, holding her head in her hands.

"How long have I been out?" she asks quietly. I exchange looks with Kankuro.

"Um... four days..." I say cautiously, fearing that I'd set her off on another unprecedented rampage.

"Four days..." she murmurs. "Four days, with no leads whatsoever on where [Name] is. That's absolutely brilliant." Kankuro steps forward.

"Actually, we know where she is. Remember that guy you battled? Well, when we got to where you were, he wasn't dead, just unconscious. But yeah, long story short, he was dying. But your brother- Ichiro, right? Yeah, so Ichiro did this amazing jutsu, like it was so ama-"

I cut off Kankuro and look at Risa, who's now looking up.

"Okay, so the guy you battled was half dead, but before he died, your brother performed a mind jutsu of some sort on him and managed to extract information on your sister's whereabouts. We could've gone straight away, but we decided that we should re group and wait for you to gather your strength." I manage a small grin at Risa, and hold out a hand.

"I guess great shinobi run in your family, huh?"