50 Reasons Why

Chapter Nineteen

                  "Do you ever think about death, Gaara?" Her voice came out a soothing melody.

"When I was younger, I use to dream of dying," I responded after a moment. I could hear her move next to me in the bed and I felt her eyes on me. I looked over to see her facing my direction. Her blue eyes moving over my face, searching for any emotion or expression. She landed on my eyes and the pools of blue melted underneath my gaze. It was an ocean with the waves crashing carelessly and freely among each other.

"And now?" She questioned, her blonde eyebrows shooting further up.

"No." I responded immediately and her eyes leapt with joy. A giant smile came over her face and I couldn't help but feel a twitch of my lips at her response.

"Good," She responded before falling back down on the bed. Her eyes trailed up to the ceiling and my eyes did so as well. She sighed softly. "I think about it sometimes. What it would be like if I was to die on a mission-"

Three pairs of footsteps could be heard bouncing and echoing through the walls of the cave. Deep breaths and pants accompanied these footsteps.

"Gaara," the voice of my elder brother calling me. It was a warning, a 'what if'.

"We will make it." I responded immediately.

"-At first, I didn't think nothing of it. If I was to die while protecting my village, there should be nothing wrong to it, right? I didn't think of how it would affect the others around me, my teammates, my family and my friends.-"

"Gaara, wait!" My sister warned as six figures appeared before us. Three shadow clones of the two rogue ninja. Immediately, my sand flew from the gourd of my back towards the clones. The figures leapt out of the way.

"-Then there was a mission where I almost died in the hands of the enemy. I was knocked out and I awoke to the worried faces of my teammates. Of course, Shikamaru called me troublesome for falling on the mission, but his worry couldn't be masked. I then realized how I would feel if I lost my teammates.-"

One clone jumped towards Kankuro and he already had a kunai in his hand. "Temari, to your right!" He warned.

"-The hurt-"

She jumped in time and landed a kick on the clone's face. A "poof" was heard as it disappeared from the impact.

"Gaara, nine o'clock!" She called and my sand flew in the direction, with another "poof" being heard with it.

"-the anger-"

Four more vanished and we were moving again. Only thirty seconds was wasted. The light could be seen at the end of the tunnel. We were almost there.

"-the sadness.-"

A small cry could be heard down the cave.

"Gaara," Kankuro repeated louder.

"Ino, hang on." I whispered aloud.

"-I will do anything to protect my village and keep my teammates, friends, and family alive. If I die, it better be something extraordinary. Because I'm a tough bitch, I won't go down easily. I can guarantee you that."

I was ahead of my siblings and I entered the opening. There I saw it. She was in their grasp and her chakra was being drained from her body. Her eyes were closed but her mouth moved. I couldn't hear her, but I could read her lips: "I'm so sorry, Gaara".