He could try to flee with Gokudera's body while Gaara was distracted, but that would mean abandoning his savior he hasn't even thanked yet. Not to mention it wasn't his style to run away.

Ryohei walks over to Temari and says in a restrained voice so he wouldn't attract the attention of any other potential victims to Gaara's sand, "...If you have enough strength, go get octopus-head some help."

Ryohei turns towards Gaara and starts to unravel the bandages around his arms. Then he proceeds to take a boxing stance.

"Kid. The one you've got the extreme problem with is me right? Leave the others out of this."