The Unbearable Weight of Sand - NaruGaa

Cold Shoulder

Naruto

Silence. It was deafening as we ran across the desert towards Suna. Gaara was no longer in my sight, probably already to Suna by now considering how fast he fled once Kankuro was able to pry him out into the open. Well, I had a very small part in it too, unfortunately for me.

It was a series of knocks, then a slew of yelled profanities before the sand rolled out of the cave. It stopped just short of our companions then just stayed still.

"Naruto, what did you do to him anyway?" Shikamaru leaned up against the sand Gaara was surrounded in, weaved his fingers into his pockets and shot me a look that condemned me silently.

He knew me a little too well, was a little too smart and far more perceptive than I would have liked. For this situation anyway, as my assistant it was a great thing since I wasn't usually any of the later things and he helped keep me on track. "What? I didn't do anything." Lie.

I made a wish, I nearly broke him completely and I let him sleep. I did plenty.

"Troublesome."

I groaned. "Come on Gaara, enough already, we have a meeting we are already late for, probably, and you can't just sulk in that thing all day. Gaara!" I banged on the outside of the sand and it fell away, too quickly.

He stood there, arms crossed and looking like he was about to murder something. Or someone.

Likely me.

I swallowed nervously as his eyes scanned over the three other men and I noticed that he avoided looking at me completely. Not a glance, not his usual lingering stare he would give me, just... Nothing.

I'm not sure why but it bothered me, even though after everything I didn't blame him. Still, I hoped he would get over it soon.

Because... Because if he didn't...

He would talk to me again wouldn't he? My heart raced as the cold reality of our situation fully registered in my mind.

I really am an idiot. Like we could ever just be like before, after that.

He gracefully turned away from us and gathered his sand into a small gourd he then placed onto his hip with strands of hardened sand to replace the straps he usually used. "I see that you have faired well enough in the storm to continue on without me." His voice was deeper than usual, the gravel in it rougher. He sounded dangerous. "I will wait for you in Suna, I don't feel like playing anymore."

Playing? My eyes stung a little with growing tears at his words though I couldn't place why. Before anyone could say a word, he was gone. Only the trace of sand that whipped around as he charged away the only indication that he was even there to begin with.

But that was two hours ago. We were still a good half hour away from our destination and the silence was killing me. Barely a word had been spoken since Gaara ran off. Hell with it. I couldn't do it anymore. "How'd you guys find us anyway? I thought we were kind of in the middle of nowhere, tsch."

"You were, if it were up to me you would probably be in that cave still while we went to Suna for some trackers." Shikamaru fell back from his spot in our formation ahead of me to run by my side. "It wouldn't have made sense to spend days after the storm to try and hunt you guys down without any ideas of which direction you had even headed. When I proposed the idea on the first day it was quickly shot down. Thankfully, Kankuro had a trick up his sleeve, or rather he anticipated a possible need to hunt down Gaara. Junji here is an expert tracker. Didn't take us long at all to hunt you down. We have been following your trail for a few days now. It wasn't exactly easy with that storm raging on the way it was, you should feel lucky that I even bothered."