Above is Gaara (12), straight from the manga.

Ohayo, minna! Enjoy! :)

When Our Tails Are Tied- Part Three: Look At Me- Section 1

Konohamaru had never had a reason to run so fast in his life.

Only one thought was going through his head as he ran from what would be the most terrifying thing he had ever seen in his short life:

I now understand why Boss puts us through such torturous training regimes, for which I am now very thankful for.

Ko screamed in terror as Sakura chased him down in a cloud of pure rage. Moegi and Udon ran after their poor friend.

"Run faster, Ko!" Moegi yelled.

"Run!" Udon urged.

"WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE I'M DOING, YOU GUYS?!?!" Ko screamed, barely keeping ahead of the raging pink monster.

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU, YOU TWERP!" Sakura screeched.

"NOOOOO!!!!!" Ko cried, tears streaming down his face in waterfalls. Despite his blurry vision, Ko kept running as fast as he could. He was too young to die...

In all but three seconds, Konohamaru heard a light gasp behind him as the Killing Intent from the girl was abruptly stifled, and he heard a sickening crack as he collided with a pained yelp into what felt like a cement wall. Ko gasped in pain as he smacked off of the surface and crumpled into an aching heap on the ground.

Before he could even groan in pain because of his bruising shoulder, someone grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, pulling him skyward roughly.

Ko could hardly hold back his yells as the stranger shook him angrily, jostling his probably dislocated shoulder. Ko's terrified eyes looked up to the stranger, whose painted features twisted into an ugly snarl.

"Why won't you watch where you're going, you little brat." The man growled. His head was hooded in black, and his face was decorated in scary purple and white warpaint.

"I-I'm sorry! Let me go, p-please..." Ko gasped, his shoulder making his eyes water in pain.

Ko could hear the pink-haired girl say something and another girl's annoyed voice from somewhere nearby, but it was muted as he saw the strange man's face change to one of dark amusement, and he felt horrified as the grip on his shirt tightened.

The man gave a laugh. "And why would I listen to either of you?" he smirked, replying to the banshee girl's comment. "I think I should teach this little brat a lesson.." he laughed.

Konohamaru forgot all about his dislocated shoulder as he began to writhe in panic. This guy was going to hurt him! "N-NO! Let me down, PLEASE!"

He whimpered as the hooded boy gave him another shake. "Shut it, kid!" he growled.

From another view, Naruto had just rounded the corner. He was searching for his friend Konohamaru who had been chased off by his pink-haired teammate in a fit of rage. For some reason he had a terrible feeling that something was about to happen, so he had to protect Konohamaru with his life, even if that meant taking the hits for him from an enraged fangirl. Insert shudder here.

When Naruto was about to turn the corner that the two had disappeared around, he heard the worrying voice of the girl who was murderous just a second before.

"W-Wait! I-It was my fault, please put him down!"

Naruto's anger rushed to the surface, only one thing in mind: If they hurt him I'll turn them INSIDE OUT!!!

Naruto dashed around the corner, seething. He saw a tall boy with a cat-eared hood holding Konohamaru up by his collar, and said boy's face was scrunched up in pain and fear. Behind the cat-boy was a blonde girl with a giant fan as a weapon. Sakura was standing a few feet away from them with her fists clenched. When Naruto saw the arrangement, he growled lowly, marching forward and past Sakura angrily.

"Put him down you freak!" Naruto said hotly, now standing halfway between Sakura and the newcomers.

The cat-boy narrowed his eyes. Ko reacted to his voice, seemingly in a daze of pain. "NARUTO NII-SAN!!" he screeched, "HELP!"

Sakura choked as an enormous amount of killer intent thickened in the air surrounding them. She felt as if she should hear- no, COULD hear the intent practically whispering excited crazed instructions on who to kill, how to kill, how painful, for how long-

Sakura fell to the ground with a horrified look as the killer intent overtook her, filling her head with the promise of death.

As Sakura fell, Naruto took one murderous step towards the black clad boy, who was quivering in fear, though he still held up better than Sakura. The blonde girl was frozen wide eyed, as she had only felt this from one other person.

Naruto took a deep breath as he tried to reign in his killing intent, just barely stopping himself from flashing them his red eyes for Ko to see (something else he now had to control along with anger, thanks to Sasuke at the bridge in Wave).

The killing intent lessened, although just barely.

Suddenly there was a cold hand pressed against Naruto's chest, stopping him from proceeding.
Sasuke Uchiha had appeared, probably drawn towards the immense amount of the killing intent, annoyed that it was stirring up the civilians and the jounin.

"What are you doing, dobe?! The civilians-"

Dark eyes locked onto Naruto's own, and Naruto growled again. "I swear to fucking Kami, Uchiha... If you don't get out of my way..."

Sasuke froze, eyes widening. "Its... You're him." he said unnerved.

Naruto grinned ferally, eyes flickering between colors. "Yeah... And if you don't move... You'll be Uchiha confetti."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed before his stubbornness took over. "No. You have to calm down."

Naruto snarled. "NO?!-"

Sasuke glared. "The ANBU are coming, you better stop before they notice." he said. Naruto growled, raising his hand to bitch-slap the Uchiha into the next generation before he froze, alarm bells ringing.

Here.

Close.

Near.

Close, very close.

Naruto's thoughts ran wild, but his body remained frozen, What is that? That feeling... Near. It's close, very close..

Naruto's thoughts had stopped making sense as soon as he felt that strong chill again, one thought simply repeating itself as he stood there. Close, very close. Where? Close, so close...

Sasuke didn't know why Naruto had stopped responding, but took advantage of the fact that the KI had stopped. He turned to the two Suna nin (judging from their hitai-ate) with a full force glare.

"Put the boy down," Sasuke said. "Before I let him do what he wants with you." he jerked his head back towards Naruto, acting as if he was the only thing holding him back.

The cat-boy slowly lowered Ko down to the ground, and the boy was doing pretty good to have been held up in the air with a dislocated shoulder.

Naruto dimly acknowledged Sasuke ordering Sakura, who had somewhat snapped out of it, to help Konohamaru up and helping him away. His mind was still reeling.

Where? Close, so close... Where?, He thought. Naruto inhaled sharply as his senses zeroed in.

There! Right there! Close!

Sasuke noticed, looking at him warily before turning to speak to the cat-boy. "I don't care what you are here for, but you just assaulted the Hokage's grandson. You can get imprisoned for that."

Cat-boy waved his hands nervously. "W-Wait! I didn't even know he was-"

"Kankuro." Cat-boy flinched as a soft voice interrupted him.

Naruto and Sasuke turned in time to see a red haired boy standing upside down on a nearby tree branch dissapear in a swirl of sand. He reappeared directly in front of the two Genin, facing the Suna nin.

"You're an embarassment to our Village..." the boy said. His small frame was dominated by a large gourd which seemed to be made of a dark colored sand.

Naruto's eyes had glazed over while looking at the boy's red hair, but Sasuke narrowed his eyes. Why would a kid that skinny turn his back on two possible opponents? No way he could believe himself to be that powerful...

Cat-boy, Kankuro, was shaking like a leaf in fear. "G-Gaara! I-I didn't-"

"Shut up." the red-head stated. "Or I'll kill you." Kankuro quickly snapped his mouth shut and stepped back, lowering his gaze to the ground.

The red haired boy slowly turned around. One darkly circled eye made contact with Sasuke's, before he turned completely, revealing a watery teal color to show in his pupil-less, emotionless eyes.

Naruto's mouth was glued shut, he felt as if knew this kid...

"I apologize for my siblings' incompetence." he said, his tone uncaring. "It will not happen again, I am sure."

In that one moment, Gaara's eyes flickered from Sasuke's to Naruto.... Then flicked lazily back to the dark haired boy.

In that one second when their eyes made contact, Naruto's mind was assaulted with memories of a long forgotten dream.

°

Watery teal eyes looked up at him with a sense of distrust. "Why are you being nice to me?! I'm a monster!"

°
"Show them they don't mess with us! We better, and stronger, and they be mean to us!? No way! Don't let them be, ototou." A confident nod, a pat on the head.

°
"You said you won't be yourself anymore! Will I ever see you again?" A brown teddy, large sad eyes.

°
"...you make me myself again, okay ototou?"

(A/N: Lol, just like Rick Riordan, I found a cliffhanger discount. 😂)