The Wandering Sand
It is known that Shukaku was once a priest whose powers were known far and wide. But when he became a demon, what happened to his followers?
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Chapter One- Foreshadowing
The young tanuki girl kneeled by her grandfather's bedside, her tattooed face hovering over his, eyes alighted with worry. She peeled the strip of moist leather from his forehead and dipped it back in the bowl of cool oasis water, chasing away the heat. She pulled it back out and let the excess drip off before placing the leather back on the elderly man's wrinkled brow. Her ringed tail, the color of burnt sand and dates, highlighted with faint traces of gold, twitched softly with each breath she took.
Her father, the chieftain of the tribe, sat on the other side of the reed mat, holding the dying man's hand. Thick black rings outlined his dark green eyes, three markings trickling down from the rings to his jaw like wet paint gone astray. The markings were bold against his deeply tanned skin, contrasting the necklace of skulls around his throat.
The old man between them gave a raspy gasp in his sleep and they looked at one another, fear and heartache evident in both sets of eyes. Suddenly, the old man's eyes opened, wide and bloodshot.
"Grandfather!" the girl exclaimed.
"Father…" murmured the chieftain.
The old tanuki's eyes flickered over the two younger ones. "Time…" he rasped.
The girl looked puzzled. "Huh? Gran-" She stopped when her father placed a hand on her shoulder, silencing her. She looked up at the leader, who shook his head quietly. They turned their attention back to the dying man.
"Time… there's not much left… Something… something terrible has happened." Fear filled his eyes and the girl grasped his hand, comforting, rubbing her smooth palms over the wrinkled flesh. His eyes focused on her. "Tsuna…" she looked up at the sound of her name. "The children… how many newborns have there been since I fell ill?"
Her eyes widened briefly and she lowered her head, tumbles of sandy yellow shading her eyes. "There have been…none, Grandfather. It's almost as if a curse has befallen our people. No female has been able to conceive another child, and those that had already conceived miscarried."
The elderly tanuki closed his eyes. "I see. Then it was more than just a dream…"
She looked up abruptly. "A dream?" she whispered.
The man nodded stiffly. "There was mist… swirling mist covered the sacred grounds. There was a common tanuki on the temple steps… it was dead."
The chieftain gasped. "Our people's creation place on the other side of the desert!" he murmured in alarm.
The dying tanuki continued. "There was a man walking through the mist… a human. He was walking away from the corpse." The old man squeezed his eyes tighter. "He was nigh impossible to make out in the mist, but I remember he had hair that was as red as fire, and when he turned around…" his back eyelids slid open and his face became grave. "He had Lord Shukaku's eyes."
The younger tanuki gasped, their eyes widening to the impossible.
"Father Shukaku…" The chieftain breathed.
"The creator…" Tsuna murmured in shock. She and her father exchanged glances.
The dying tanuki inhaled shakily. "I… do not know… what has happened, but… Lord Shukaku… is… is in grave danger. That… the human is the key… I don't know how…" His body jerked violently, and tears began to fill the girl's eyes.
"Grandfather! Stay with us!"
The old man grabbed the leather strap binding the girl's chest and pulled her down to face him. "Without Lord Shukaku we all shall die… without him… we…. We cannot exist. We are born from sand, and when we die, so we become sand again… you must… you must… save… you must save… Shu… Shu… Shuk… ka… ku…"
"Grandfather!" Tsuna cried, watching in horror as her beloved grandparent shuddered beneath her and fell still, his eyes glazing over and making his green irises cloudy gray.
Beside her, her father bowed his head in grief and prayer.
"Grandfather! Grandfather!" She cried his name out pitifully and buried her face in his chest, sobbing. Streams of sand rose from the ground and whipped around the tent violently as her emotions overflowed, proof of her grief.
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Tsuna woke with a start. She shot up from her mat, sweating and panting. The hand woven blanket fell away from her, exposing bare, creamy breasts to the darkness. She exhaled shakily and placed her head in her hands.
A week. It had been a week since her grandfather, the tribe Seer, had died. The only thing he had left behind was a warning, telling her that Lord Shukaku, her people's creator, was in some sort of peril. It was devastating knowledge.
The great sand priest was the very being that created her people, the Suna no Tanuki. To them he was practically a god; he created and formed them from the very sands that they thrived upon. As long as the former priest still had some connection with his children, they would continue to live and grow, but if that connection were to be severed…
She shivered as a chill breeze swept through the tent flaps, caressing her bare body with icy fingers. She picked up a poncho and wrapped it around her body before going outside. There was no way she would be able to get anymore sleep this night. The numerous rodent skulls attached to the hem of the cloak clinked together, making a strange, haunting tune. Her ringed tail twitched between her legs.
She looked up at the sky, which was slowly turning a deep shade of purplish-blue. Dawn was only a few hours away. She clutched her elbows and inhaled deeply, the smell of cool sand filling her completely, very lightly hinted with salt from the ocean less than a mile from their camp. Wind blew through the area, jumbling the various feathers and animal bones woven in her hair. Ah, there it was. The thick smell of freshly dried blood reached her, proof of the previous night's sacrifice.
Flashback
Drums. Drums and fire were practically all one could see while spinning to the traditional Blood Dance. Everyone danced around the great bonfire, males and females and kits alike, their bodies glistening with sweat and blood. The nine drummers pounded on the leather-skin instruments enthusiastically, sending up sprays of red liquid whenever they struck a beat. Their sharp teeth bore grins.
A small boy, his ears just recently starting to change into more human-like appendages, ran around naked and squealing, his tail flicking behind him like a blood-soaked banner of war.
Sitting in front of the great fire was a dais, upon which Tsuna's father stood, dagger glistening with blood as a young male fell dead to the ground, a smile marring his blood-flecked features. A middle-aged woman ran up to the chieftain.
"Oh! Me! Take me, Totaku-sama! Take me!" she swooned. "I wish to give my blood to Father Shukaku! Oh, please, kill me next!"
The chief gladly fulfilled her wishes.
End Flashback
Tsuna smiled softly at the memory and "hmmed" as dawn slowly approached. The soft sound of footsteps on sand reached her ears and she turned, coming face to face with her father. His traditional clothing had apparently been left behind in his tent, only a necklace of animal skulls and a sheet of cloth adorning his body. Faint traces of blood still stained his fingers. The lack of cloth to hide her face was not unnoticed, but he didn't seem to mind seeing as no one else was awake.
"The dream again?" he asked. She merely nodded, causing him to sigh and run a hand through his chestnut hair. Tsuna lowered her eyes, feeling weak at her inability to be self-aware during her dreams.
"I just don't understand it." She said sadly. "I've always been able to control my dreams, but now…'
Totaku placed a hand on the young tanuki's shoulder, his long, claw-like fingernails scratching the poncho softly. "I do not believe it is your fault." He assured her. "My father's words were true, something has happened to Lord Shukaku. It is possible your dreams are trying to tell you something."
Her shoulders tensed. The gift of Seeing… it was something she had the potential to possess. Both her grandfather and mother had been Seers in the tribe. The ability to foretell the future, past, and present through dream… as rare and respected as Seers were, it was not a talent she wished to possess.
As if sensing her distress, Totaku gave his daughter a hard look. "With father dead, we no longer have a Seer, Tsuna. You cannot resist if the spirits choose you as the next prophet. I will not let you reject them if that happens."
"But the blade is what calls to me, Father!" she exclaimed. "To run across the sands like drumbeats on the wind, the thrill of battle, and the spill of blood in Shukaku-sama's name, sweet and warm, that is where my skills lie and where I feel most alive! I… I can't imagine just giving it up so quickly!"
He squeezed her shoulder. "I know, daughter, but we need a new Seer, especially during these times. I won't force you to change now, of course, you haven't shown any strong signs of having the Sight yet, but you need to be aware and accept that you are the most likely candidate."
She lowered her eyes and turned away from him, looking out across the desert. He stood next to her, tail stiffening. "Riku-san returned from the human village last night."
She inhaled sharply. Riku was one of several Shifters in the group. Individuals that had the ability to disguise their true appearance, Shifter tanuki usually were sent out to explore human village to gather news of the world outside of the desert and to make sure that the tanuki's existence stayed secret.
"It seems that he had found a lead as to what has happened to Shukaku-sama."
She turned to her father with wide eyes. "He has? Truly?"
The chieftain nodded. "It is not much, but it seems that Lord Shukaku is somehow connected to a human named 'Kazekage.'"
Tsuna frowned. "What a strange name… Wind Shadow…"
"Nevertheless…" He sighed heavily. "Daughter… I want you to go and search for this human and find out what he knows. As my daughter, you have the ability to Shift, though not as drastically as other Shifters." He turned to her, forest green meeting gold-flecked emerald. "Without Lord Shukaku, our people will collapse and crumble until we are all sand once again. As his children of the sand, we must save him from whatever misfortune has happened."
Tsuna bowed to her father, while inwardly her heart leapt. "I will do as you ask, Father. When am I to leave?"
"As soon as you are ready." He said softly.
She straightened and smiled slightly at the older tanuki before running back toward her tent.
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"Sand Shuriken!"
Spinning blades of chakra-hardened sand buzzed through the air, spinning toward the target with deadly precision, only to thunk into the wooden chest of a puppet at the last moment. The target was gone.
Chill jade eyes, ringed with black like a tanuki, looked out over the sand for the enemy he knew was near. Not to the left, right, or above… behind! He whipped around, sending a sheet of sand into the air just in time to block the fist aimed at his head. The hand skimmed by his ear instead and quickly backed off.
The black-clad man, his face painted with purple kabuki-paint, backed a safe distance away and smirked. "You need to be more aware of your surroundings, Gaara. I almost got you that time!" He leapt aside as a stream of sand rushed toward him. "You have to work that sand on your own now. You don't have Shukaku to do it for you anymore!"
"I know that, Kankuro!" The redhead growled as he forced the puppet away with his sand, blocking several projectiles as he did so.
"I don't think you do, otouto. You'd be sleeping more if you did."
"Shut up and fight."
And indeed it seemed the puppet-user's light jibe was enough to push the redhead to his old ferocity; the marionette was decimated in minutes. Kankuro groaned as he gathered up the pieces of his beloved weapon.
"Jeez… overkill much?"
"No." The fire-haired man deadpanned, crossing his arms.
Kankuro sighed, sealing his half-destroyed puppet back into its scroll and placing it on his back along with the others. "We were only supposed to be practicing, Gaara, not trying to actually kill one another."
"Hn."
The paint-faced ninja rolled his eyes at his younger brother. It had been six months since the Akatsuki kidnapped Gaara and extracted the Ichibi no Shukaku from his body and their family was still recovering from the incident. Gaara had to take time to sleep; without the demon's regenerative abilities, he suffered from the symptoms other, non-Jinchurriki insomniacs went through, and they were less than pleasant. In all respects, getting used to sleeping probably wouldn't have been so difficult if the redhead didn't have trouble wrapping his mind around the knowledge that Shukaku really was gone, and his overall fear of sleeping didn't help either.
Kankuro, on the other hand, was still recovering from being poisoned by the infamous Sasori of the Red Sand. The poison had targeted and caused extensive damage to his muscles, the most critical being that to his heart and liver. The puppet-user trained as often as humanly possible to try and get back to his old strength, but whether he liked it or not, he would never be back to his prime.
He snorted to himself. It seemed their older sister, Temari was the only one that really managed to come off unscathed by the whole incident, though to say that she was certainly more protective of her brothers would be a serious understatement. The woman was like a damn hawk!
"Kazekage-sama, Kankuro-sama."
The two males turned, meeting the eyes of their former sensei.
"Ah, Baki-sensei," Kankuro started.
"What is it?" Gaara interrupted bluntly. Kankuro suppressed the urge to sigh in exasperation.
The half-masked jounin knelt. "We've captured the man who was suspected to be a spy, Gaara-sama, but… there's something odd about him. The council requests your presence."
The redhead exchanged glances with his older brother. "What is odd about him?"
Baki developed a troubled expression. "It is strange. He seems to be using some sort of henge, but we can't dispel it." Both younger ninjas narrowed their eyes. A henge that no one could dispel? "And we suspect that… he may not be human."
"Take me to him." Gaara ordered.
Baki nodded and stood. "The council is interrogating him as we speak. Let's go."
The three males took off, Gaara's eyes narrowed in thought. The knowledge that he was now Bijuu-less had spread much faster than anyone had anticipated and several smaller countries had already been trying to infiltrate and find weak spots in Suna's defenses. They had dug out and executed thirty-two spies this last month alone.
Everyone knew that it was only a matter of time until the village was attacked.
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The tribal-looking man growled deep in his throat as the council members looked over him, subtly trying to work his hands out of the heavy iron shackles binding him. One of the men guarding him whacked his hand harshly when he nearly managed to slip free. The prisoner yelped in pain before hissing threateningly, his gold eyes glaring and sharp teeth bared in an inhuman manner.
"I'll tell you humans nothing!" He spat. Whatever technique was being used to hide his true appearance shimmered briefly as yet another ninja tried and failed to dispel it, brown hair flickering to blue-black for less than a second.
The flame-haired Kazekage narrowed his eyes. The so-called "spy" that had been caught was a strange man indeed. He didn't seem to be from a ninja village or any civilized village at all, though he somehow was up to date with all of the rumors and news that one would find in any of the larger, more populated villages.
"Why are you here?" Gaara repeated for the Nth time.
The prisoner glared. "It has nothing to do with you, ningen, so mind your own business!"
Gaara crossed his arms. "On the contrary, if it has to do with my village, it has to do with me. Tell me or I will use force."
The man made a clicking noise. "I'd like to see you try."
No sooner had the words left the prisoner's mouth than a blade of sand shot up from the floor, slicing into his arm and creating a deep gash. The man screamed in pain as his bone was exposed, blood quickly flooding the wound. The council members hid their shock at such brutality.
"Ningen!" The prisoner screeched. Breaking away from the men guarding him, the man leapt over the table, bolting straight for Gaara. The guards quickly hauled back on the chains, forcing the man to a stop at the same moment Gaara put a kunai to the stranger's throat. His jade eyes were chips of ice.
The golden-eyed man hissed. "The winds of change cannot be stopped. If we cannot stop it, what makes you think a pathetic human like you can?"
Gaara narrowed his eyes further, pressing the kunai against the man's neck, drawing blood. "What are you?"
The prisoner smirked. "Pray that you never have to find out. We are born of sand, and when we die, so we become sand again." Before anyone could react, the prisoner jerked his head forward and into the kunai, slicing his throat wide open.
Blood sprayed everywhere and Gaara quickly stood and backed away. The man collapsed onto the table and twitched several times before falling still. Crimson fluid dripped off the table like sticky syrup. There was a bright flash on the man's forehead and his henge came back full, as if sealed there. A simple strip of paper appeared on his forehead and fell away, strange kanji written upon it.
Temari and Kankuro came up behind their youngest sibling, disturbed expressions upon their faces. Temari handed Gaara a handkerchief, her eyes fixed on the fresh corpse as her redheaded brother began wiping away the blood sprayed on his face and clothes.
"Gaara, what's going on?" She asked quietly.
The redhead frowned. "Something's coming."
End Chapter One
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Holy crap, look, it's another plotbunny. . HOW MANY of these do I have now? Jeez… well, I hope you liked this first bit! What do you all think? If you haven't guessed, this will be GaaraOC. Three guesses who the OC is. It's a no brainer.
Okay, so this chapter left a lot to the imagination, bleh. Sorry for the evil cliffhanger. Hopefully, I'll be able to update this at LEAST once a month, but with my babysitting job and other fics in the works, we'll see what happens. I don't plan on making this super long, so you all know. I've already got fics like that in the works and don't want this one to totally take over. . Although I absolutely DO love this particular bunny!
If anybody wants a plotbunny, I've got a couple dozen of them. Just ask and specify what kind you want! Romance, adventure, self-insert, which character-centric, etc… I have practically everything.
Read and review! And check out my other fics when you get the chance!
Flames will be given to Gai and Lee to fuel their youth.
Ja ne!
Mysteri