Salt in the Wound

It was bump after bump as he ran, his arms tightly gripping onto my body as to not hurt me. Something which was just not working. I could hear another explosion somewhere to our right and I watched with terror as plumes of purple smoke rose through the air. “What happened?!” I asked, clutching onto his vest. He ignored me with an air of hard concentration that would not be broken. I clenched my teeth together as his hand slipped down near an open wound I had.

I hope he wasn’t planning on running all the way back to Suna, I would most likely be dead by the time those three hours were gone. “Gaara! Slow down for one minute!” I yelled, trying to wiggle my way out of his arms. Again I was met with nothing. It was stupid to struggle, I knew very well I wasn’t walking anywhere. My hands clenched harder as I felt myself slipping from his grasp, suddenly he pulled his hand upwards so that they were resting on the back of my thigh, forcing my knees to come closer to my chin. A small yelp slipped from my mouth at the sudden change, I could feel the hot blood seep down my leg and into my boot. “Where are we going?”

No answer.

I narrowed my eyes, trying to shut out the pain and getting irritated at his lack of words. “Say something dammit!”

His eyes shifted down to my angry face and he glared back. “Shut up.”

I would have said something sharp back but the pain was getting through my barrier, everything was turning hazy. I pushed my head towards his chest, trying as hard as I could to stifle my hard breathing with his clothes, it was nearly unbearable. He slowed down considerably and when I looked around I could see the ruins lighting up the sky from a safe distance. His touch was soft as he set me down, making sure to stable my stance with his hands. “Can you lie down on your stomach?” He asked me, I nodded and slowly lowered myself, his hands gently helping me down on the ground. “Where do you keep your medical items?” His voice was shaking slightly, a minor scare.

“In my hip pouch.” I said thickly, the ground was uncomfortable and I felt as if any moment I would break through and scream out in pain. Something I definitely didn’t want him hearing. He pulled out my med kit and sifted through it, pulling out bandages, tweezers, ointment, and stitching tools. Closing my eyes tightly, I growled as he cleaned off my wounds, not being as gentle as he could have been. I didn’t blame him though, fixing me up in open sights was dangerous, especially with what had just happened.

“Keep your voice down.” He said lowly. I was about to remind him I hadn’t talked since he had questioned me until I felt him trying to remove the shrapnel in my leg. My hand flew to my mouth, trying to silence the scream that was ready to fly out, his unsteady hand just proved that he was no medical ninja. Not in the slightest. “You seem a lot more in control of yourself,” I could sense the nervous smirk on his face, “you are still conscious. I’m impressed.”

How considerate, the boy was trying to distract me.

“Yeah well, you can’t fend for yourself unconscious now can you?” It was a struggle trying to talk with his hands hesitating over every stitch in my leg. It didn’t help that I could taste the strong iron flavor of blood in my mouth, realizing I had bitten my tongue on accident.

“I suppose not. Tell me, who told you about Suna? Do you have a partner now?” No matter how nervous he was he couldn’t suppress the blatant curiosity in that question. I laughed roughly.

“No partner. A bandit told me, his group was planning an attack on the visiting feudal lords.” I hissed after that sentence as he tied my knot and moved his soft hands up my back, lifting up my shirt to get a better look at those injuries. He took out my shards after cleaning and had me sit up.

“Lift your shirt.” He said while unraveling a long bandage.
I grimaced but said nothing as I lifted my top up to the start of my ribs. He inched closer, wrapping the bandage tightly around my torso, covering the three gashes I had on my back. He dropped a pill into my hand, and told me to take it. “This will help with the pain.” He stood up and dusted himself off. He waited for me to carefully get my shirt back down before offering his hand.

I didn’t want to, but I grabbed it anyway, grateful for his help.

“The faster we get back to the village the sooner they can fix these wounds up better.” I nodded and turned from him, his hand caught my shoulder. “Don’t be stupid, I’m going to have to carry you.” My head snapped back and I searched his face for any sign of humor.

None, of course.

I wasn’t even going to bother fighting with him over this, he was stronger than me, plus at the rate I could move we wouldn’t reach Suna for another seven hours. I nodded and let him pick me up bridal style, his hands sliding as far away from my wound as he could. He wasted no time, as soon as I was in his arms he was running faster than I had ever seen. Desperate so it seemed to get back to the village. I had no doubt we would make it back in less than three hours. The wind was dry and it burned my eyes as I tried to look forward, making me even dizzier. The amount of blood lost was taking its toll on me, things were spinning too fast and I felt as if I would lose my bearings any second. I hoped he wouldn’t think too much on it as I once again cradled myself close to his surprisingly warm chest. For the love of Kami, even his smell was intoxicating to me. I breathed him in, getting more and more delirious as my surroundings spun faster.

It’s nothing Gaara, ignore the fact that I’m so close I‘m practically molesting you right now, please.

I’m just tired is all.

I peeked out of one eye, looking up into his sharp face. Maybe it was the way the light reflected off of him, or maybe it was because I couldn’t even see straight, but I swore a small smile was tugging at the corners of his mouth.

It wasn’t long after we had set off did my eyes start to slip shut. The pain was dulling thanks to the medication and the wrappings not to mention his smell took me to a calmer level. This meant nothing, I told myself as I relaxed in his strong hold. This is absolutely nothing, even I couldn’t completely convince myself. His grip tightened on me and I could have sworn he picked up his pace. His running was smoothing out, no longer those spiteful bumps that had me biting my tongue, it was comforting to feel safe after being so close with death. And even I could admit, he made me feel like nothing could touch me.

I fell asleep fast into a black, dreamless void.