The Scroll of Sunakagure
I have to do this. I have to beat him!
She moves swiftly through the trees, searching for her sensei.
"Kakashi! Show yourself!"
There is a little movement in the treetops above. Suddenly, a masked white-haired Jonin smoothly falls out of the trees above.
"There. Now you know where I am. Happy?"
The black and white haired Chuunin races after Kakashi with incredible speed, a kunai in each hand.
If I don't do this, I can never hope to become a Jonin. My dream of becoming an Anbu Black Op will fail if I don't kill him!
"Now now, Kaoru, no need to get frustrated. You'll get the hang of it."
Showing off, Kakashi sensei pushes his chakra to the bottom of his feet and walks up the nearest tree before Kaoru reaches him.
Perfect. He fell right into my trap.
"Tora ne tori mi, Paper Bomb Jutsu!"
Huh? - Kakashi looks at the branch beneath him. It's covered in paper bombs. Kakashi dodges the attack by quickly flipping backwards and landing on his hands onto another branch below him.
The two go on for hours, performing jutsu until they run out of chakra.
He sits quietly in the trees, carefully watching the chunin's moves.
Hmm…I see… She will be Jonin pretty soon… She is a powerful Kunoichi…
"Alrightt! Listen up now! Kiba Inuzuka. Neji Hyuuga. Kaoru Kasumi. Your mission is to take this scroll to Sunakagure. Kaoru, you are leader of this mission. Only you are allowed to carry the scroll. If you become unable to finish the mission, Kiba and Neji! You are to take Kaoru back to Konoha immediately! I don't care if you have to carry her dead body back, you are not to lay eyes on this scroll!" Tsunade slams her fists down on the wooden hokage's desk in her office.
"Jeez Lady Hokage, don't trust us?" - Kiba, with a smirk.
"No kidding, Tsunade. It can't be that important if you're sending out only 2 Genin and a Chuunin when we have other Jonin available." –Shizune is holding TonTon. She looks down as she says this.
"We will do what we can. Kiba, do not be disrespectful. She is the 5th hokage of the Village hidden in the Leaves. She must have good reason to entrust only Kaoru with this said scroll." -Neji, being his proper self.
"You got it Milady. I will have this scroll delivered safely to the Sand Village in no time!" –Kaoru, over confident.
"Now hold on just one minute. It's not that easy. This scroll is EXTREMELY important. You must deliver it to Lord Kazekage right when you reach the sand village. If this scroll gets into the wrong hands, the entire shinobi world could be destroyed. You will run into enemies along the way. Do not go easy on them. Take them down with full force! Do not fail me!"
"We won't, Lady Tsunade. You can trust us." –Kaoru
"Also, one more thing. This scroll is filled with traps of all sorts. It also has a powerful genjutsu on it. Kaoru, you need to Release it when it gets to the Kazekage." -Tsunade
"Got it." -Kaoru
"Now, Kiba. Neji. Get your things and wait for Kaoru by the front gate. I need to give her the scroll."
They nod, Kaoru stays.
"Lady Shizune, you too." TonTon oinks in dismay.
The three leave the room.
"Alright Kaoru. Here is the scroll." She hands it to her carefully. "Don't let anyone get to it. I'm trusting you Kaoru. I know you can do it."
The 5th hokage shows the Chuunin the tricks of the scroll, and then dismisses her. Kaoru joins the others at the front gate, and they take off.
I really hope we don't run into anyone along the way. I'm not in the mood for trouble.
They have light conversation along the way. About ¼ of the way there, Kiba stops.
"Huh? What's that Akamaru? He smells an enemy nearby. Really close. They could possibly be watching."
The three of them stop and look around. Neji uses his Byakugan.
"Alright you. Come out! We know you're there!"
A shady figure comes out of the trees northwest of them. She has long black hair and wears broken face mask tied with a string, and a long white kimono. A purple rope is tied around her waist.
"My my. Aren't you a clever group of ninja. I am Kinyuashi of the sound village. I'm sure you know what I'm after. Now hand it over, and you little ninja won't have to travel that long distance to the sand village after all."
"Orochimaru's henchman. Neji, you stay here and finish this one. Kiba and I will go on ahead and deliver the scroll before anymore of Orochimaru's men show up." Neji nods and gets into the Hyuuga fighting position. Kinyuashi throws a sound kunai and Neji gets close enough to use Gentle Fist, but neither takes the intended hits. Kaoru and Kiba run through the trees again.
Another one of Orochimaru's shows up, so Kiba stays behind to fight while Kaoru goes on ahead.
I will get to the village if it's the last thing I do!
Kaoru arrives at Sunakagure only 40 minutes later, running into no trouble. She asks around about the Kazekage, and a guard says he went off on his own again. Kaoru searched the entire village for him, and realized he probably is outside the walls instead of in. So she goes out and checks, finding him sitting on the east wall of the village. By then it is night time and there is still no sign of Kiba and Neji.
"It's about time I found you. Lord Kazekage, I have a special message for you. It cannot wait. It must be read in private."
The dark figure emerges into a spot on the wall that is covered with the moon's light. His red hair glows in the moonlight, his clear eyes staring back at Kaoru with a demon's intentions. Sand flows into the gourd on his back.
"Alright then. Come." Gaara leads Kaoru north along the wall. Within an instant, sand from the Kazekage's gourd flies up into the air around Gaara, surrounding him and protecting him from a kunai attack. Kaoru immediately pulls out her own kunai and holds it in front of her chest. 3 more kunais fly towards Kaoru. She blocks them with her own. Kaoru cannot see the enemy, it's too dark. But still, she throws shurikens in the direction the enemy kunais came from.
"Show yourself!" The enemy laughs, then seems to disappear. Kaoru cannot see or hear the enemy, and no more attacks come. She looks over to Gaara questioningly. He's looking in the direction of the enemy. His eyes move in a zigzag path, like he's following the enemy's movements. A moment of silence passes before Gaara thrusts his sand into the air and mutters the words "Sand Coffin!" The enemy was too quick, so he got away. Gaara had a disappointing look on his face. Kaoru still cannot see him, the land is shrouded in darkness from the night. Gaara runs down the wall, arms back, and Kaoru follows close behind.
"Can you see him?" His voice is deep and emotionless.
"No. It's too dark. Can you?"
"Kind of. It's dark, but I can sense his movements.. He's quick…Watch out, Behind You!" Gaara's sand goes flying past Kaoru, covering her entire back side like a shield.
Too late. The enemy had already driven a kunai into Kaoru's side, causing her to collapse on the spot. Gaara managed to get the enemy into his jutsu, and performed Sand Burial. The enemy was gone so he looked at Kaoru. It was too dark to see, so he picked her up and carried her into a spot of moonlit ground. Gaara examined the kunai, it was covered in poison. Kaoru was out cold. He picked her up and brought her back over the side of the wall, running straight to the medical building.
"Hurry, she was attacked with a poisoned kunai. I don't know how long she has." Gaara screamed this to the nurses with a worried tone of voice. He grabbed another nurse by the shirt and said deeply "Don't lose her."
"Y-yes Lord Kazekage. We will do what we can." The nurses rushed to bring Kaoru to a room. Gaara followed them in and watched them patch up her wound and give her an antidote.
"She should be will be out of her coma in just a few days, and ready to return back home."
"Thank you." Gaara said, looking down at Kaoru's body. As the nurses left, he sat in the chair next to the bed she was in. He stared at her, thinking.
Kaoru. It had to have been you. Anyone else, not you.. You are special, almost important to me. Why did the Hokage send you here by yourself? Or maybe…
Gaara rushed out of the hospital, knocking people out of the way. He rushed through the front gate and ran swiftly through the forest, his arms back, his gaze intense. Finally, he found one of them.
Am I too late?
He looked around, no sign of an enemy's finished body. Just Kiba Inuzuka, and a little white puppy, laying on the ground motionless. He checked Kiba's pulse. Faint.. He didn't have very much time left. If he took him straight to the village, he would be dead before he got there.
It's the only thing I can do. If I fail, forgive me Kaoru.
"Mystical Palm technique." Gaara learned this jutsu from a medical ninja from his own village. A white ball of healing chakra appeared in the Kazekage's hand, and he began moving it slowly over Kiba's body. He soon did the same to Akamaru. Feeling their pulse's again, They began to get back to pace.
They put up a good fight.
After turning Kiba over to the sand village's medical unit, Gaara rushed back into the forest outside of his village to find the 3rd ninja. Rushing through the trees, Gaara's only goal was to find Neji and bring him back safely. He didn't even notice the sound ninja creeping up on him. He eventually found Neji sitting up against a tree, breathing heavily. Blood trickled down the sides of his mouth. He looked up at the sound of an approaching ninja, and sighed in relief. Gaara slid out of the trees smoothly and knelt beside Neji.
"Are you able to walk?" Gaara stared at him, his eyes blank. Panting heavily, Neji could barely make out words.
"N-No.. She's still.. out there…" Neji closed his eyes then opened them again, using his Byakugan. He still had a little chakra left. Neji scanned the forest looking for chakra networks and signs of life.
"T-There, behind that tree over there."
Gaara turned around. His sand spilled out of his gourd onto the ground. He used it to uproot the tree Neji had mentioned the sound ninja was behind. Kinyuashi was revealed.
"Kinyuashi? How nice to see you again… I've been waiting for this moment for a very long time. You see, it's been a while since we met in combat. Since you made me feel….alive." Gaara definitely had the intentions of ripping this ninja apart until there was nothing left.
This isn't an easy kill. I can't just use Sand Coffin, Sand Burial, and kill her right away.
"Oh Gaara, I'm not looking for you, dear. I want what your little friend from the leaf village has. The scroll." Kinyuashi ran off and Gaara went for her, leaving Neji behind.
"You're not getting away with this so easily Kinyuashi! I will tear you apart and send you to the deepest part of the desert, and we will meet there again when I die. That way I can kill you twice!"
Gaara's sand flew out of his gourd with incredible speed and missed Kinyuashi's leg.
"Why so evil, Gaara? I thought you had changed? Or is it Shukaku talking?" She mocked him.
"Shukaku still lives inside me and will stay that way. He gives me his sand as a defense because if I die, he dies. And I won't die. The sand is my only power – my ultimate defense! It will kill you with 10x the strength than you ever imagined. I am more powerful than you will ever be, Kinyuashi!"
"Shuna Shigure – Sand Drizzle!" Gaara's sand plows down onto Kinyuashi like a thousand needles. This finishes her off quickly. Or so he thinks..
Gaara goes back to Neji and takes him to the sand village's medical building. After checking up on Kiba, he goes to Kaoru's room. She's not awake yet. Gaara sits in the chair next to her bed and sets his gourd against the wall.
Kaoru.. I'm sorry. This is my fault… I requested the scroll. I didn't know she would send you. I wasn't expecting Lady Hokage to send you. I'm sorry…
Gaara takes Kaoru's hand in his and holds it tightly. Kaoru stirs a little as if she felt his touch, but she doesn't wake up.
Suddenly, there was a crash outside the hospital. The walls shook. Gaara stands up and walks out the door and down the hallway to examine. The nurses and receptionist are running towards him, and away from a giant snake.
"Lord Kazekage! We need to get out of here!"
Gaara is surprised. The nurse grabs his arm but Gaara pushes her away. He uses a jutsu on the snake. It's not effective. Gaara realizes he's probably not going to win against the snake in a hospital, so he runs back to Kaoru's room and picks her up. He jumps out of the window and runs for a bit. He sees his siblings Kankuro and Temari, so he thrusts Kaoru into Temari's hands and turns around.
"Temari. Take her out the village to somewhere safe. Send out a messenger bird to inform the leaf village of the attack. And get the Anbu Black Ops out here! Now! And Kankuro.. stay here and fight with me, brother.."
"You got it, Gaara." Temari nods and leaves. Kankuro pulls out Crow and begins to attack the snake. Gaara uses jutsu on the snake, trying to slow it down enough until Anbu gets there. The sand villagers rush into the hospital to defend the patients while the sand siblings hold off the snake's attacks. 10 minutes later, Anbu arrives and takes over. They use a summoning jutsu and the snake is taken down quickly. Afterwards, it is calm. The Kazekage immediately begins sending out orders for the villagers. He appoints leaders to groups of his villagers to begin repairing the hospital and the nearby buildings.
"Kankuro, go check on the leaf ninja that came here with Kaoru. See if they're awake. Inform them what happened. We need their help as soon as they're recovered."
Gaara takes off towards the front gate of the village. He runs into Temari along the way…
"Temari, what did you do with her."
"She's with Kamakatsui, the medical ninja in the next town about 20 minutes away."
"Alright."
Gaara ran out of the village, his arms back while he flew through the trees. Soon after, he reached the next town over. He didn't know where Kamakatsui lived, but he would find it no matter what. He had to make sure Kaoru was okay.
There was something about this Kunoichi that he liked. He didn't know what it was. He was just interested in her. He wanted to keep her alive as long as he could. He felt the need to protect her.
"Kaoru? Are you awake?" Gaara softly spoke to her. Her eyes began to open slowly, and she smiled.
"L-Lord Kazekage.. W-Where am I..?" -Kaoru
"Suna was under attack so I told Temari to keep you safe. She brought you here. We're at Kamakatsui's house. He's a medical ninja."
"Oh…Thank you… Lord Kazekage.." –Kaoru
"No need to be formal, you can call me Gaara."
"But I don't know you well enough L- … Gaara."
"It's alright. I know you. I've watched you train before. With your sensei, Kakashi Hatake, the copy ninja." - Gaara
"Oh?" - Kaoru
"Yes.. well, are you feeling well enough to go back to Suna? We need your help, and I'd also like to get that scroll from you."
"Yes, Gaara. Let's go."
They said their thanks to Kamakatsui and headed out. When they got back to the village, Gaara led the Kunoichi to his office. When inside, Gaara sat down behind his desk and Kaoru laid the scroll down. Carefully, she placed one hand on the scroll and the other in a half tiger hand sign and closed her eyes.
"Release!" She then opened the scroll and made a few hand signs, bit her thumb, then forcibly placed the palm of her hand onto the middle of the scroll. Writing appeared in the scroll. When she was done, she took a step back and allowed the Kazekage to read it. He finished reading it and nodded to her, placing the scroll back on the desk.
Performing a few hand signs, Kaoru performed a jutsu on the scroll. "Forbidden Scroll Illusionary Technique, Genjutsu level 20!" She placed her hand on the scroll again and the writing disappeared. She immediately averted her eyes and closed the scroll. Putting it back in her shuriken pouch, she suddenly felt weak and collapsed on the ground.
"Kaoru!" Rushing to her, he picked her up and held her. "Are you okay?"
"Y-yeah, that jutsu just took a lot of chakra to perform. I'll be okay…" She then fell asleep from exhaustion. Gaara looked at her closely and studied her features. He stood up with the Kunoichi in his arms and walked out of his office. He had put the blue and white Kazekage hat on to show formality.
It was night time when the Kazekage arrived at his house. He barely used it, since he was always out in the office filling out paperwork and giving orders. He never slept because of Shukaku, so his bed was useless to have. Walking into his room he set Kaoru down on his bed and covered her up. He lit a candle and placed it next to the bed. Sitting cross legged next to the bed on the floor, he closed his eyes and lost himself in thought.
I am Gaara, the demon who only loves himself. I am a Jinchuuriki of the One-Tails, Shukaku. My mother died when I was born and my father was the Kazekage of the village I have now sworn to protect. I was alone most of my time living, ignoring the fact that my siblings did care for me. I fed off of the fear of others. I killed anyone who dared challenge me or get in my way. Countless souls were taken by my sand, and it was all because I lacked the love of a mother that I should have had. I killed the only person that loved me. I disappointed my father, without even knowing it. I wasn't acknowledged by my two siblings, Kankuro and Temari.
But now.. now it's different. Now everyone has acknowledged me, and looks up to me as I protect them. I still don't completely understand the concept of love. Yashamaru tried to explain what it was to me before…before the incident happened, when I was still very young. But it was never clear to me until now. Now, I think I know what love is.
He woke up minutes later, screaming in pain. He hadn't realized he fell asleep. Curling up into the fetal position against the wall and hiding under his Kazekage hat, he cried. It had been a long time since he cried like this. He never did it in front of the villagers, and barely ever by himself. Gaara didn't even know why he was crying. It was probably the terrifying dream he had. Shukaku never lets him sleep.
A moment later, he felt a hand on his left shoulder. With ears in his eyes, he looked over in that direction and saw something he wished he hadn't. Kaoru was standing there, covered in blood, smiling.
"I-It's okay, Lord..Kazekage…please, don't cry." He looked at her in horror and became speechless. "I-I'm here…to..protect you.." She closed her eyes and smiled at him, then dropped to her knees and clutched her own shoulder.
"K-Kaoru? What happened to you?" He calmed himself and crawled over to her, helping her stay up.
"Don't worry about it, Gaara. It's alright. Just…don't fall asleep anymore, okay?" He looked at her, shocked.
Did I do this to her?
He helped her up and walked her back to his bed. Leaving her laying on top the covers, he took the candle and walked out of the room and grabbed a wet cloth from the bathroom. In the candlelight he could see stains of blood on his hands. He washed them and brought the cloth back to his room, along with some bandaging. He walked into the room and started to clean up the blood off of her head and arms. The candle suddenly burned out so he went to get a better one with a brighter light. He lit it, placed it on the ground, and noticed some stray sand covering the floor. Some was also on the bed, and on Kaoru's clothes.
No…No…
Finishing cleaning her up and bandaging her, he used some medical ninjutsu to help heal the wounds. He couldn't do much since he wasn't properly trained in medical ninjutsu, but to his surprise she seemed to recover right away. She sat up and stared into Gaara's eyes for the longest time. Finally, she closed her eyes for a few seconds, then looked down at the bed and spoke.
"I forgot to ask.. Where am I?"
"My house."
"I didn't know you had a house."
"Yeah.."
"Oh, shit, Lord Gaara!" she ripped off the covers and stood up quickly, making herself dizzy. "I forgot about Kiba and Neji! I hope they're okay!" Starting to run out the door, Gaara used his sand to stop her.
"It's alright Kaoru. They're at the hospital, both of them are fine. It's you I'm worried about.."
"You're..worried about me? I'm just a Chuunin from the leaf village, and you're the-"
"Kazekage. I know. But…I've taken interest in you, Kaoru. You're not like other kunoichis.."
"But-"
"Look, forget it. I saved you. That was it. Now get some sleep. You're leaving as soon as your comrades awaken."
It killed him to say it, but Gaara walked out of the door without another word. As he closed the door he stood there, eyes closed, with his back against the door. He didn't want to leave her. But his feelings were becoming too overwhelming. He didn't know what to do. Should he tell her how he felt? Does he even know how he feels? He grabbed his gourd, strapped it to his back, and walked out of the house. He flew onto a house and then proceeded to the top of his office. On top the residence, there was a railing on the edge of it. He walked up to it and leaned on it, watching over his village. Sand started to spill from his gourd as he rested his eyes. He moved the sand throughout the air in front of him, creating random swirly designs as he willed it to. He often did this when he was alone. It helped him keep his mind off of things. All he needed to do was concentrate on the movements of the sand, making patterns as it went along.
Mother, what should I do?
"Mother, what should I do?" his voice cracked as he spoke this out loud. He knew he had power over the entire village, but sometimes he felt like it wasn't enough.
"Hey, Neji. Are you feeling alright?" Kaoru asked Neji with a smile, who just woke up in his hospital bed.
"Hello Kaoru. Yes, I am feeling better. Do you mind telling me what happened? All I remember is fighting with someone, and then I saw the Kazekage go after her…. Kaoru, have we completed our mission yet?" Neji said while sitting up in the bed.
"Yes. Our mission was a success. Don't worry about it, Neji. I'll tell you and Kiba later. Right now we need to get you both rested so we can get out there and help. I'm going to go check on Kiba. I'll tell the nurse you're awake." She got up and left. Neji looked out the window at the damage done to the nearby buildings. His window had a few cracks in it. He could see people picking up wood and buckets of white paint.
After notifying the nurse about Neji's awakening, Kaoru found Kiba's room and walked in. Akamaru was laying on Kiba's bed right next to him. He was awake. He greeted her with a loud bark.
"Hi Akamaru!" She picked him up and he licked her face, happy to see her.
"Hey Kaoru, what's up?" Kiba was already sitting up in his bed, smiling at the shinobi holding his ninja hound. She set Akamaru back on the bed and he sat down, looked up at her and barked again.
"Kiba, how are you doing? The Kazekage found you. I can see you lost your battle." She had a smirk on her face, teasing him.
"You didn't do any better! Look at you, all bandaged up. You look like you got attacked by a raccoon." He smiled back, gesturing to the bandages wrapped around her head and arms.
I pretty much did…
"Ha ha. Well anyway, are you up for repairing a village? The Sand was attacked yesterday. We managed to control it so it only damaged a few buildings and part of the hospital." She looked out the window as she said this, thinking it was probably her fault. She knew they were after the scroll.
"Yeah, sure. Let me get something to eat first, okay? You look hungry too. Want to come with? I heard the Sand makes great rice balls." Akamaru replied to this with a bark.
"No thanks, I have other matters to attend to. I'll see you around." She put her hands in the pockets of the jacket she was given and walked out of the hospital. Her regular clothes were covered in blood from Gaara's nightmare. Temari offered to wash them for her, so Kaoru was forced to wear one of Temari's kimonos and a jacket.
Walking out of the hospital, she studied the ruins of the buildings nearest her and part of the hospital. She hadn't been to the Sand Village in a long time, so she almost forgot the way to the Kazekage's office. Her power to sense people's chakra is like that of a dog's nose: every smell is different to a dog, and every chakra has a different energy to Kaoru. She knew where she was going once she picked up Gaara's chakra. And it wasn't to the Kazekage's office.
"Why did you leave me last night?" She sat down next to him on a tall building in the back of Sunagakure. The wind blew against their backs gently.
"Kaoru, what are you doing here?" He was surprised she would come back after what happened last night. But even so, he enjoyed her presence.
"I'm not mad at what you did. I know you can't help it. If I could I would stop your nightmares completely. But I wouldn't make everything perfect for you. You're like this because of your pain. And…I may not have felt the exact same pain as you did, Gaara. But I know how it feels to lose your mother at a young age." Wincing, Gaara turned his head away from her and started to tear up. She put a hand on his shoulder and he looked down at it.
"Why are you doing this?" His voice cracked. He didn't want to do this in front of Kaoru, but she forced it out of him with the words she spoke. Even mentioning the word "mother" made his heart shatter.
"Last night. You started to tell me something. But you didn't finish. I want to know what you were going to say."
"I'm sorry Kaoru. I didn't want to get you involved in my life. But-" He got up and walked slowly to edge of the building, placing his hands on the railing and looking out over his village. "I used to watch you while you trained. I so desperately wanted to come out of hiding and talk to you, but you can see how that wouldn't be wise of me to do." He closed his eyes and sighed.
"When I first saw you training, I became curious. You trained differently than other shinobi I've seen. You fight to the death. Even in training you know you must have the goal of killing your sensei to become stronger. But you always end up exhausting your chakra and having him carry you home. " He opened his eyes and turned around, facing Kaoru. Looking into her eyes he said, "I know you're going to change the shinobi world for the better. And I…I want to help you do it." He smiled, looked to the side, and blushed a little. "I'm not sure if I understand love yet, Kaoru. But I think I've fallen in love with you."
Speechless, she let the words sink in. She didn't exactly know what to do. Of course she was always interested in the Kazekage, ever since she saw him in the Leaf Village one day and overheard a conversation with him and Naruto. But did she really love him?
She turned around and started to walk down the stairs into the building, but he stopped her with his sand, once again. Walking slowly to her, his smile faded.
"Please, Kaoru." He sounded desperate. A little sad, actually.
"Gaara…" She closed the gap between them and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him. She whispered in his ear,
"I think you have too." He hugged her back tightly and started to silently cry, this time of happiness. When she pulled away she brushed away his tears. She stared into his eyes and then kissed him. He knew this is what he wanted. After all those years of loving only himself, it felt right for him to love her at that moment.