Gaara coughed twice, a little white foam spilling from the corner of his mouth.
His eyelids, perpetually ringed with dark circles, felt as heavy as lead. It took all his effort to open them a crack.
Naruto leaned close, his face beaming, tears mixing with the dust on his cheeks into muddy streaks.
"Thank goodness... If you'd died on me, I would've never forgiven you!"
Naruto gripped Gaara's shoulders tightly, terrified that he would stop breathing again the moment he let go.
Sen Senju leaned against the stone wall behind them, chewing half a dried grass root he had picked up somewhere.
That burst of life force he had poured out had been more exhausting than plowing ten acres straight.
Pouring his own primal chakra into a bottomless pit was no pleasant task.
"All right, quit acting like you're saying your last goodbyes."
"This kid's an empty shell right now. One touch could take half his life away."
"Get a stretcher and carry him back. Wait too long, and not even a god could keep him breathing."
Sen Senju rolled his eyes and spat the grass root onto the ground, his tone thick with impatience.
Granny Chiyo stood nearby, leaning on her cane and staring fixedly at Gaara.
An extraordinarily complicated emotion flickered through her cloudy old eyes.
There was guilt, relief, and an indescribable resolve.
Her back hunched, Granny Chiyo shuffled to Gaara's side, her voice rasping like broken bellows.
"This child... The One-Tail has already been extracted from him."
"Even if he's still breathing, he's at the end of his rope. He won't last long."
"Boy from the Senju Clan, your Wood Release is remarkable, but the damage caused by extracting a tailed beast cannot be repaired."
"His life force is slipping away little by little. Can't you