The sudden appearance of that idiot Gaara had met on his first day here had already been irritating enough, first because Gaara hadn't detected it thanks to his pathetic lack of chakra, and secondly because somehow his arm had been restored by some skilled healing ninja. But not even those two things could compare to the sheer outrage he felt at the fact that fool so dared to get in Gaara's way of finishing off the half dead boy on the forest floor.

The act of sheer stupidity, it was all so familiar, so reminiscent of that one moment in which that older fool in the eyesore tracksuit that had jumped in to save the life of his student for no good reason. It was a memory that felt so impossibly far away from his present reality- he had been robbed of that kill!- but the resemblance between the two incidents were so striking that--

"Hnnngh!"

He could feel the chakra approaching him. Immediately, he knew its source: Temari. The sand waned in its approach, falling, as though suddenly lifeless, on the ground looking perfectly harmless. He would not be robbed of this kill. He refused to let this one go. So was Temari coming to stop him? The notion was ridiculous.

Without even turning to look at Temari, as he knew perfectly well that she was standing right there, he delivered a violent backhand with his arm to force her away.

"You stay out of this!"