Sand and Sun - Chapter 10

[temaridesertstorm]

The girl found herself in the dark again, this time facing the boy. He was dressed plainly in black, with blue eyes jutting out of the darkness. He looked at her sternly.
“Have you decided? Where will you go?” he asked, his voice calm and even.
“I …don’t know. I’m not sure what I’m doing,” she said, looking at where her feet should have been in the dark.
“Why would you say that? You know exactly what to do.”
She shook her head. “I don’t even know who I am. I lost all my memories.”
“That’s not a problem at all. The answer is very simple.” He leaned over, his face brushing lightly against hers. “You are who you are. That’s all that counts. You make a decision about what to do based on what you think, not on what you would do if you were someone else, or someone you were before.”
She blushed as he pulled away. “Am I…who you were looking for? Is that what I should know before I make my decision?”
“No. All you need to make your decision is the knowledge that your decision will affect many others, especially you. Once your decision had been made, you can never go back. Be careful about what you do, or someone close to you will be hurt. Either way, the outcome will be as such. You just have to chose who it is you must hurt, and who you must save.”
“But what if I can’t? What if I can’t choose? What do I do then?” she said, the thought almost bringing her to tears.
He smiled. “You’ll know what to do when the time comes. Don’t worry about it now. The time will come later on when you have to choose, but that time isn’t now. Think it over, and you’ll remember everything.”
Turning around, he walked off, leaving her alone in the dark.
Kira opened her eyes behind her blindfold, listening to the faint voices coming for outside wherever she was. Two were the voices belonging to the ninja who had kidnapped her, but another one was more familiar.
“She has nothing to do with this,” Gaara’s voice came faintly to her ears, “Just let her go.”
Hearing his voice, she stiffened. He had walked right into the trap. Why had he come? Just as she wondered why, the answer struck her: he came to save her.
“We won’t release her until you turn yourself in,” the first ninja said, “Is that what you came here for?”
Taking her chance, Kira began biting down on the gag, her teeth easily tearing through the fabric. Then, using her oddly flexible nature, she slid her hands underneath her and up over her legs, getting them in front of her. Biting down on the rope holding them together, she was able to loosen the rope and slid her hands out. With her free hands, she undid her blindfold and untied her feet. Wobbling to her feet, she crept over, still out of sight.
Gaara stood across from the two ninja, a deep scowl on his face. They faced him, standing not too far from her. Gaara’s eyes moved to glance at her for an unnoticeable second, and his expressed loosened a bit. He continued talking to the first ninja for a few minutes.
Suddenly the second turned around and saw her. Quickly nudging the other, both turned around. Gaara took a step back and his sand lifted up beside him.
Kira moved from her hiding spot, taking a step backwards. The first ninja tried to ran at her to attack, but he was held in place by Gaara’s sand. The second one was faster, quickly dodging the sand as he jumped towards her.
Taking a step back and pulling her fist with her, she rushed at the first ninja, punching him across the face. As she did, there was a crack when the first ninja’s jaw broke, and the second ninja’s foot came into contact with her back. Just as this happened, Gaara’s sand snapped up around the first ninja’s body, and proceeded to crush him. Kira toppled to the ground, and the second ninja landed on top of her, pressing her down with his full weight, a kunai digging into the skin on the back of her neck.
“Here’s the deal, sand freak,” the ninja said to Gaara, “You let me walk out of here alive, and I won’t kill the girl. How does that sound?”
Gaara’s expression didn’t change. “I won’t allow you to treat people like your pawns. I have a duty to the people, and as long as you stand in my way, I will not hesitate to kill you.”
The metal of the kunai sliced into the back of Kira’s neck. “That’s not the answer I was looking for,” he said.
“That’s your fault, because you’re about to die,” the Kazekage responded.
Looking up, the ninja saw that Gaara’s sand had crept up behind him and had hovered around him. Kira rolled onto her side and pushed the ninja into the folds of the sand, crushing him to death.
Gaara quickly walked over and helped Kira to her feet. “Are you alright?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” she smiled, “What about you?”
“I’m not worried about myself. I came for you.”
“Thank you,” she said, not letting him know that her vision was beginning to blur. Holding his hand tightly, she collapsed forward against him.
“Hang on,” Gaara’s voice came in though the haze of her consciousness, “You’ll live through this.”
“Thank you…” she managed, just before she passed out, entering the soothing blackness.