Chapter Seven:
Uneasy
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(Y/N)

These past few months have contained the best days of my life. It was great being a part of a village again, especially one that didn't use their ninjas like the leaf. Gaara trusted me enough to not attach the collar to me anymore. I was allowed to go on missions but only with Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro. I had grown closer to Gaara and his siblings, especially him. I did indeed have a crush on him, how could I not? He was everything you could possibly want in a guy. The only thing that sort of bothered me was the age difference. We were only three years apart but Kazekage or not he still is a minor. I did know his sister was dating a boy named Shikamaru from the leaf who is Gaara's age in secret.

I twirled my red sand ninja headband in boredom. The bed was cold without Gaara. He laid in here every other night while I slept. I didn't want to bother him too much so he hasn't been in here in a week.

I've been uneasy for the past few weeks. Zetsu has been watching my every move and I felt uncomfortable knowing he was lurking somewhere where I couldn't see him. I didn't know anything about the plans Pain had. It could happen in an hour, tomorrow, a week, a month, or even a year. I wanted to give Gaara a heads up of what's to happen but then Zetsu would report that to Pain and we'd be done. No matter what my main priority would be protecting Gaara.

Speaking of Gaara, the poor thing was most likely sitting at his desk doing paper work. I felt terrible that he couldn't sleep properly.

'Maybe I'll pay him a visit.' I thought to myself, getting off the bed and exiting my room, dragging my blanket with me

I knocked on the door and entered when I heard Gaara say "come in". Just as I suspected, he was sitting at his desk doing paper work. Once he signed two more papers he put down his pen and sighed.

"Tired?" I asked

"Exhausted." He corrected, putting his head in his arms. I frowned and sat next to him on the spinning chair.

"Gosh it's freezing in here." I yawned, putting my blanket over him "I can literally see my breath."

"I agree." He replied

"Mm... I'm gonna go to bed, night Gaara." I stretched my arms before exiting his office

I heard him say goodnight before I shut the door. I felt lazy and used my crows to teleport myself into my bedroom. I landed on the bed and immediately shut my eyes. I haven't had nightmares in three days straight and it was the best feeling in the world. I just hoped they wouldn't return tonight.

I released one last yawn before allowing myself to drift off.

★ ★ ★

I woke up when I heard a bunch of people yelling in the hallway. Once I heard someone say something about a flying clay bird I knew the were here.

'Gaara!'

I got out of bed and sprinted down the hallway, activating my sharingan. A loud explosion caused the building to shake, I feel onto my stomach. I got up as fast as I could and exited the building out the second story window. Once I landed on the ground, I saw Deidara's clay bird in the sky along with Gaara's levitating sand. I felt something stab me in the shoulder. I pulled the sharp object out and saw it was a needle with purple liquid drops left inside. That damn Sasori! This was his poison!

I felt dizzy and sick but I knew I had to stay strong and prevent them from taking Gaara. I continued to run towards them as fast as I could, enduring the pain building up all around my body. I felt another sting, this time on my leg. I pulled the needle out and stared at Sasori.

"You should know better than to ignore me." He said

"You're right, sorry about that. Fire style: fire ball justu." I made the hand signs and shot fire at Sasori to distract him for a second. I casted another justu to allow my crows to teleport me up to Gaara. I felt my throat become dry along along with my lungs becoming itchy.

"Gaara! We have to get you to safety now!" I tugged the back of his shirt

"(Y/N)?! No, I can't worry about that I have to protect my people!" Gaara replied

"You don't understand! If you won't they'll... They'll.." The poisons side affects started to become extremely painful. I clenched my eyes shut as I fell on my knees, wrapping my arms around my abdomen

"(Y/N)? Are you alright?" Gaara asked

Once he was caught off guard, Deidara took the opportunity to send another explosion our way. Gaara's sand protected us last minute and prevented us from falling off.

"Go to the infirmary, (Y/N), you need to be treated. I can handle this." Gaara said, giving me one last smile before using his sand to carry me down on to the ground

"Gaara no!!" I reached my hand up to him as his figure faded from my sight. Once I was on the ground, his sand went back to him. I attempted to perform a justu but failed. The poison Sasori put in me disturbed my chakra flow. I should have known Pain would send him. I felt myself fall to the ground as my vision began to be blurry.

I saw Sasori's figure approach me outside of his puppet. He brushed his red hair back and smirked at me.

"Pain said you had no more use for him since you found the one tail for him," He grabbed my (H/C) hair and pulled my head up, forcing me to look him in the eye. "Tch, an elite ninja like you had gone to waste. That's a shame."

"Fuck you." I managed to say

"You wish." He replied, throwing me back on the ground. I grunted as I felt the impact.

"Don't kill him you bastard.." I said

"The ritual will kill him itself." He responded before kicking my face