You're not the only one.... ×Book 1×

73. I'm not going to just hurt him....

'Rather fail with honor then succeed by fraud'

-Sophocles
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As we continued leaping from branch to branch we started hearing strange inhuman sounds and the crashing of trees.

"That's Sasuke-kun!" Sakura exclaimed as we neared closer "it has to be!"

"Alright then" Pankum said "I was given orders from Kakashi to simply lead you there. You kids got it from here?"

"We got it datteybo!" Naruto said firmly "thanks for all your help!"

Pankum nodded and with a puff of smoke he was gone. I heard another inhuman like growl and I saw something sail through the air and slam hard into a tree. I couldn't help but wince knowing that was Sasuke.

"DIE!" A loud and monstrous voice yelled as something charged at Sasuke.

Naruto raced forward and with one swift kick he sent the thing flying back and slamming into a tree before it could touch Sasuke. Naruto, Sakura, and I landed in front of Sasuke and held our weapons out as the thing Naruto had kicked back slowly began to stand up. It was some sort of monster; half of its body was like a giant sand claw laced with bright blue veins and the other half of its body looked like....

I leaned slightly closer and squinted my eyes as I tried to make out the creature.

Wait, is that....?!

"Gaara?!" I said in disbelief as Naruto turned towards me.

"Gaara" Naruto said confused "that's not Gaara, is it?"

"Why" Gaara said slowly with a growl "why do you protect people?! WHY?!"

Naruto raised his Kunai, but I grabbed his arm and stared at him.

"What?" He said confused.

"Don't attack him" I said "let's just try to talk to him."

"He tried to kill Sasuke!"

"And he thinks we're trying to kill him! You don't need to fight your way through everything Naruto!"

"Why do you even care so much!" Naruto asked, glaring at me.

"Because I just killed someone!" I practically shouted at him "and I don't want to see anyone else get hurt!"

Naruto's eyes widened and he frowned slightly before nodding and lowering his Kunai.

"So when we get back to the village" I concluded, my voice shaking slightly "everyone will be okay. No one will be dead and Granddad will sort everything out! Granddad will make everything better, he's always there for us."

Naruto grinned slightly and nodded as I grinned back. I'm sure once we get back to the village Granddad will calm everyone down.

"Tell me why" Gaara said angrily "TELL ME WHY YOU TWO ARE ALWAYS TRYING TO SAVE PEOPLE!"

I jumped slightly at his loud tone but regained my posture and exhaled deeply.

"That's called love, Gaara" I said slowly "love makes you protect the people you care about. Love is the reason Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, and I are such good friends, because we love each other. I know firsthand the feeling of loneliness one feels when they have no one to love, that's why, we want to protect Sasuke."

Gaara stared at me for a long time with absolutely no emotion whatsoever on his face. I think I shocked him; Naruto and I exchanged looks and he shrugged before nudging my shoulder.

"Gaara?"

"That's" he began slowly "the....DUMBEST THING I EVER HEARD!"

We all jumped and Gaara extended his hand as a large burst of sand came from his hand and shaped itself into a claw. I gasped in surprise but the claw sailed right past me and grabbed Sakura before latching her to the tree she had been standing in front of.

"SAKURA-CHAN!" Naruto exclaimed, running over to her aid.

"Gaara, calm down!" I said hastily.

"THAT'S DUMB!" He yelled "THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS LOVE! THERE'S ONLY HATE, LUST, AND GREED!"

"Gaara you're not being reasonable" I exclaimed, trying to remain calm.

"YOU DON'T KNOW ME" he shouted angrily "YOU WOULDN'T UNDERSTAND! YOU DON'T KNOW THE PAIN I'VE BEEN IN!"

"Gaara" I said softly "help me to understand that. If you just tell me why you feel this way I can help you. I've been in pain before too; I know what pain feels like."

He stopped shouting for a minute and stared at me. His anger from mere seconds ago was slowly ebbing away.

"Why can't I hurt you?" He said more to himself then to me "every time I try I just can't do it."

I opened my mouth to respond but no words came out; I don't know how to respond to that at all. Gaara extended his arm and pointed it at me as he cocked his head to the side like he was thinking about something.

"If I can't kill you" he said simply "I'll just keep you."

What?!

I stared at him surprised as yet another burst of sand erupted from his hand and extended towards me. Before I even had time to scream, the sand engulfed me and the next thing I knew I was trapped in a ball of sand. I nervously bit my lip and began pounding on the walls to no avail. The sand stayed firmly in place and I began to panic.

"Naruto!" I shouted, beating more furiously on the wall.

"RUKA!"

I heard loud pounding from the other side of the wall, but the wall didn't budge an inch.

"I'll use a Jutsu" Naruto said "give me a second!"

"I wouldn't if I were you" Gaara said with a sinister chuckle "especially if you use a fire Jutsu. The sand will just absorb the Jutsu and Ruka will be burnt to a little crisp. If you do a water Jutsu you'll drown her. The only way to get her out is to kill me!"

There was a heavy silence after that and I leaned closer to the wall only to here Naruto breathing heavily like he usually does when he's very upset or very angry, and at the moment I don't think he's upset.

"Naruto" I said softly "are you going to hurt him?"

He was silent and I thought he wouldn't answer my question. Finally, he exhaled deeply and said something that made fear prick inside of me and made my heart leap in my chest

"No. He tried to kill my friends and now he's trying to keep my girlfriend. I'm not going to just hurt him....I'M GOING TO KILL HIM!"
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Me: Wow! That's the end of an amazing chapter. 73! I hope you guys enjoyed it!

Ruka: Naruto is so possessive

Me: Yeah, it's a bad habit of his

Ruka: It's actually kind of cute...

Naruto: Who does he think he is?! Trying to take what's mine!

Ruka: Ok, hold on! I don't remember becoming a piece of property that you can just claim!

Naruto: *Stutters* I-It wasn't like that! B-Believe it!

Sakura: Story_of_Fate13 doesn't own Naruto

Me: Later guys!