Tomorrow Blossom (Sasuke Uchiha) - Book One - Trade Mistakes

Chapter Nineteen- Ready To Go (Get Me Out Of My Mind)

"Gaara?" she asked tentatively, causing Kankuro to look up. The redhead suddenly leapt up with a hiss, upon hearing something that the other two did not. His sand enveloped him, "Gaara! Stop!"

But the boy was gone before his siblings could stop him.

Gaara was distraught, urgent. That scream had made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end, and the raging presence inside him growl. Despite being barely aware of his actions, his teleportation found himself before a girl with grey-blonde hair, and hazy red eyes, watering from the pain that had made her scream. The presence that Gaara had sensed inside her before pushed to the surface, and her hair bled black as her eyes gleamed.

"Kill them!" Sachiko ordered in a double-timbred voice, and for some reason, Gaara had no choice but to obey. He could feel the sand brown leaching away the teal in his irises, as the sand from his guord struck out and crushed the man that held the girl with the character of a woman. Once the enemy was done with, the sand cushioned the girl's fall, resting her gently against a tree. The redheaded jinchuuriki positioned himself swiftly between the injured girl and the threat, snarling at the two remaining sound-nin. But before his sand could target them, they fled, disappearing into the trees and leaving their scroll behind.

Without a word, Gaara picked the girl up in his arms, freezing as she hissed in pain.

"Stop! What are you doing with Sachi?!" a vaguely familiar voice shouted, and the sand nin turned his head slightly, gaze resting on the girl's teammates for a second, before he started to walk again. "I said stop!"

"Sasuke..." the voice of the girl croaked, and it was obvious to Gaara that she was clinging to consciousness by her fingernails, "It's fine... he's helping..."

The black haired boy had caught up by that point, strange markings seeming to pull back from his skin; Gaara glared at him menacingly as he moved close- the boy, Sasuke Uchiha, glared right back.

"Don't fight..." a hoarse voice broke their contest, and both boys looked down at the limp girl before them. "Just finish this God damn exam... while I... sleep a little..."

With that, Sachi, delusional from the pain, turned her head into Gaara's chest and shut her eyes, falling asleep instantly. The two boys glared at each other some more, before setting off. With both scrolls pocketed, they need only get to the tower.

Neither of them noticed the red-orange glow of Naruto's eyes...

-*-*-

Temari and Kankuro were surprised, to say the least, to see their younger sibling enter the hall carrying a girl. But he said nothing to anyone, even ignoring her teammate's angry shout to leave her alone.

"If he hands her to you she will be in even more pain, Sasuke." Naruto spoke up in a rough, strained voice, sweat beading on his brow as he brought one hand to grasp his head, exchanging stares with his fellow jinchuuriki. He then mumbled, under his breath, "And oh, God, how it hurts."

Gaara nodded slightly, causing incredulity to leak into the blonde's pained expression, stunned. He couldn't believe that Gaara felt the pain that he felt and still remained so stoic, especially when so close to Sachi. The blonde found that the closer he was to the girl, the more intense their shared pain, and the harder the beast inside him struggled.

The final days of the exam passed slowly, the remaining teams slowly trickling into the hall in dribs and drabs. Gaara didn't set the girl down once, carefully supporting her with sand when his arms grew tired. And the whole time, Sasuke had scrutinised the redhead intensely, a range of emotions flitting through his mind, from sadness and worry to the extremest of jealousies. He wanted to be the one to hold and nurse the poor girl, but daren't move her in case he caused her even more pain.