Me: Um, hi readers. Hope you aren't too mad at me for not updating often enough?
Naruto: I'm pretty sure they're going to kill you....I could be wrong though.
Sasuke: *cough*Not likely*cough*
Me: Thanks duck butt. Very reassuring.
Sasuke: ….......(smirks)
Me …..........
Naruto: So uh, aurthor dude what you got for us today?
Me: Ah! There's the beauty! It's Gaara centric!
Naruto: Holy crap! You got it done?! Damn. Now I don't get to see you strung up by sand anymore. (pouts)
Gaara: About time......
Me: Heh heh heh (scratches the back of head) yeah.....here it is Kazekage-sama.
Gaara: …...If it's not good.............
Me: Yeah I know. I'll go get my first aid kit just in case.
The Yondaime Kazekage stared at his children through the screen that separated them. His daughter Temari, the eldest. She had potential to become very powerful. His son, Kankuro. He was on track to become the next great puppet master on par with Akasuna no Sasori.
Then there was the monster. His youngest offspring, Gaara. 'What does it take to kill you boy?' the man thought. He'd contracted dozens of assassins to kill the jinchūriki since the age of six. The first one had been his brother-in-law, Yashamaru.
'And the fool died for nothing' he thought. That had been the night Gaara finally snapped. 'And he made killing the brat that much harder'. Indeed, after that night the youngest child of the Kazekage became cold and murderous. He'd started to kill to "Prove his existence".
'Oh he exists' thought the Kazekage. 'Well, maybe he won't after this mission?' he mused.
"You sent for us Kazekage-sama?" asked Baki, the sensei of the Wind Shadows children. The kage nodded "Yes, I did. I have an assignment for your team. It has come to my attention that there is a bandit encampment near the northern border of Kaze no Kuni. We are lead to believe that there are a large number of nuke-nin in their midst."
Baki raised his head. "So the mission is to find out if this information is accurate?" he asked.
"No" the Kazekage replied "Your mission is to eliminate them. This is classified to be a B-Rank mission. You will leave at thirteen hundred hours tomorrow."
Temari and Kankuro was shocked. Their father believed that they could accomplish a B-rank mission. 'This seems out of character for father' Temari thought 'what is he up to?'
"Begging your pardon Kazekage-sama, but I do not think this team is ready to carry out a B-rank mission" Baki said "Would it not more prudent to give such a mission to a team of Chunin or a couple of Jonin?"
"Are you questioning my orders Baki?" the Kazekage asked in a dangerous tone "Because if you are, than I think Gaara would disagree with you."
Baki, Temari, and Kankuro turned to look and the red head. His eyes were becoming blood shot. "Yes mother" he began whispering to himself "I will give you blood. You'll have all the blood they have..." he trailed of into groans while he grabbed his head.
Baki nervously turned back to the Kazekage. "Very well. I accept the mission. We will leave at thirteen hundred tomorrow" he acknowledged the order.
"Good. I expect very favorable results. Dismissed."
They rose as team and made their way to the door. They filled out one at a time, Gaara first, next Temari, then Kankuro, and finally Baki.
'Yes' thought the leader of Sunagakure 'very favorable results.'
One of his attendants approached him. "I apologize Kazekage-sama, but there is a man here that wishes to speak with you" she said hurriedly, her face not making eye contact with him.
He sighed. "Tell him I will see him at a later date" the Kazekage told the woman.
"Why don't we speak now, Kazekage-sama?" came a man voice. The Kazekage's guards stood instantly before slumping over along with his attendant. The Kazekage's eyes narrowed sharply. "Who are you to barge into my office and attack my guards?" he questioned sternly.
Silently, a young man emerged for the shadows. Long gray hair, black eyes, and large glasses were the most prominent features the Kazekage took note of. "I come representing the leader of the newly founded Otogakure" the figure said, emerging into the light.
"My name is Yakushi Kabuto, and I come bearing a proposition from my master that you might be interested in hearing."
Village Entrance – Next Day
"Does everyone have their supplies?" Baki asked. He received an affirmative nod for both Kankuro and Temari. Gaara just stood still, not even bothering to answer. Baki appraised his students for a minute. 'Why would Kazekage-sama give us a B-rank mission to complete. They aren't ready, unless...' his thoughts drifted as he set his eyes on Gaara.
'Unless it's another attempt on his life' Baki concluded. His realization didn't startled him. It was no secret to the older shinobi that the Kazekage wanted the boy dead. The Jonin sighed mentally. 'I don't appreciate this Kazekage-sama' he thought. 'If this back fires, the demon could emerge and kill us all.'
Resigning himself to his fate Baki faced forward. "Very well" he said loudly "then let's get going."
The team made their way from the village with Baki in the lead, followed by Temari, then Kankuro. Gaara stepped forward to follow, but stopped. He twisted his head back and observed his father watching him from farther back.
The two just glared at each other for what seem like hours before Gaara snapped his head back and sprinted off to catch up to the others.
The Kazekage turned away and suddenly dissipated into sand.
Inside his office, the Kazekage received the memories of the clone. 'Hm. If he survives, then he might just be useful to the village again' he cold hearted man thought 'If not, oh well'.
Nuke-nin Encampment
"So, what exactly are we doing here again?" asked a young man with black hair. The headband he wore indicated he was a shinobi and the slash across the insignia indicated he was a Kumo nuke-nin. He wore a dark gray shirt and black pants. A mask covered his face.
"We are here because we were give a contract, you idiot" replied a bald, much older shinobi. The insignia that adorned his headband was that of Iwa. It too had a slash across it. He was clothed in dark green and brown.
His reasoning was that he wanted to blend into the forests that adorned the northern borders of Kaze no Kuni.
"No, no. I know that. But who is the contract for? You never told me or the others that" the younger man retorted. Yotogi Arashi, the former Iwa shinobi, sighed. "Fine, I'll tell you. Then you can go ahead and tell the rest of the camp. Got it? 'Cause I don't feel like repeating myself."
"Yeah, yeah no problem" Nadare Ishi, the Kumo nuke-nin, waved off his comrade "Just tell me already." The other man grunted "Fine. The target is the Kazekage's youngest son. You'll be able to spot him pretty easily. Red hair, dark rings around his eyes, and absolutely scary looking."
Arashi just stared at the other. "The-the Kazekage's son?! If we do that won't he, you know, have us killed?!" he panicked.
Ishi shook his head. "No he won't" he replied. The former Kumo ninjas eyes bulged. "How can you be so sure?!" he questioned in an elevated voice. "Because idiot!" the Iwa nuke-nin yelled "He's the one that hired us!"
En route to Nuke-nin encampment – Five pm.
Baki called a stop so that they could all rest. "We should be there in a few more hours" he said to them as they drank from their canteens.
A few feet from the other three, Gaara silently looked out at the seemingly never ending desert. 'Yes mother' he thought 'I will give you blood soon. I will let you enjoy yourself.'
Temari cast a glance at Gaara. Despite the fact that he was younger that her, he terrified the fan wielding kunoichi. The villagers and ever her own father called him a monster.
'He's only a monster because of them' she thought. 'I bet if we had be allowed to treat him like the brother he is, he wouldn't be ready to kill us without thought.'
Kankuro just drank his water. He usually pretended that his little brother wasn't around. 'It's easier that way' he always told himself. He had seen the demon before.
Flashback
A ten year old Kankuro was returning from training with Chiyo-sama when he heard the scream of a man nearby. It was suddenly silenced. Running to the alley were he believed the scream he came face to face with a scene that would stay with him forever.
Both walls were covered in blood. He couldn't see who had screamed, but he did see a shadowy form farther back in the alley. "Wh-wh-what is that?" he said aloud to himself.
As if hearing him, the figure began shifting. When it stopped, a pair of eyes opened. They were yellow and star shaped. The young Kankuro jerked backwards and tripped. He heard the thing in the alley come charging towards him.
He squeezed his eyes closed and began praying for someone to save him. "Stop" came his father's voice. He pried his eyes open to find his father standing in front of the alley.
He was about to say something, when his father spoke again.
"Enough Gaara."
Kankuro looked over at the thing in the alley and watched as sand began to crumble away, revealing his little brother. His eyes widened when the young boy looked over at him.
"Kankuro" his father said, making him jump "return home. Now."
That was all the man needed to say. Kankuro shot up and walked as quickly as possible. He walked because he had been taught that predators usually attacked if the prey ran.
And at that moment, when Gaara's eyes made contact with his own, he'd felt like prey. jinchūriki
Flashback end
Kankuro shivered at the memory. He'd later told his sister about the experience. She didn't believe him. 'Go ahead and believe whatever you want sis. You'll see one day and then you'll agree with me' he thought.
After an hour and a half Baki stood "Okay. We've rested enough" he said getting the attention of his team. "Let's continue onward."
The elder siblings nodded. As usual, Gaara did nothing. Baki motioned to move out and they all took off together heading north.
Nuke-nin encampment – Midnight
"All right people. Are you all ready?" asked Arashi. He received affirmatives all around. Most of the group was of simple bandits or low level missing ninja. A dozen or so, like him self, were Jonin equivalents.
'Heh. No matter what, the brats as good as dead' he thought to himself. "Now remember! Only the red head kid is to be killed. The other's just rough up a bit. Once there reasonably beat, we retreat and wait to receive payment form the Kazekage. Understood?" he yelled. The entire came coursed with approval.
Arashi turned to Ishi and received a nod. The trap was set.
Now they waited.
Nuke-nin encampment – One am.
Baki was the first to enter the camp. Finding it empty he motioned for the others to join him.
"It appears as if the knew we were coming" he spoke wistfully. A rustling in a near by bush caused Team Baki to raise their guard. A kunai came sailing out of another bush to the right of the first.
Temari blocked it with her fan and proceeded to blast the offending shrub and occupant away with a roar of "Kamaitachi no Jutsu."
See their comrade blown away, the bandits and weaker nuke-nin jumped out their hiding places and surrounded Team Baki.
One of said nuke-nin bravely charged Gaara in hopes of impressing those around him. Before he even got within ten feet of the Shukaku vessel, he felt sand wrap around him.
'The pressure!' he thought to himself. The others watched as the young boy raised his right hand in a crushing motion. Gaara raised his left hand and made a seal and whispered "Sabaku Sōsō"and fully closed his right fist.
The man had but a brief moment to scream before he died.
The shower of gore sparked panic in the regular bandits. Before they knew it, sand began to envelop them as well. The nuke-nin jumped out of danger as quickly as possible before they were caught too.
Temari watched in horror as Gaara became more terrifying than she'd ever seen. 'He looks crazed' she thought, 'over come with blood lust'. With another rasp of "Sabaku Sōsō", Gaara coated most of the encampment in blood. The blood put out the camp fires.
She sudden disappearance of the light source temporarily blinded Temari and Kankuro. The sound of the Nuke-nin charging forward caught their attention as they waited for their eyes to adjust.
Baki hadn't been affected by the loss of the light. He watched as the fools charged Gaara. 'They seem absolutely focused on killing Gaara' he thought 'Now I'm absolutely sure that Kazekage-sama was behind this.'
The weaker missing-nin put all there effort into evading Gaara. Their actions began to aggravate the already unstable boy. 'Kill them all! Let me have their blood!' the voice raged in Gaara's head.
'Yes mother! I will kill them for you!' he scream mentally. He stopped his attacks and let the sand return to him.
The nuke-nin took this as a sign of chakra exhaustion. "Now is our time to strike!" cried Arashi "Let's get him!" The young Kumo missing ninja led the charge of weaker genin and chunin ranked shinobi at Gaara. A few of the head strong Jonin followed too.
"No you fools, stay back!" yelled Ishi. He and most of the Jonin stayed behind. Combat experience severed them well.
An epiphany suddenly struck Ishi. 'The boy is a jinchūriki!' He'd meet both jinchūriki of his home village briefly. Both time's he'd felt some odd chakra emanating from them.
He felt the same kind of chakra from the boy. "Get away from him!" he yelled again, producing the same results.
The sand that Gaara called back to him had form a sphere around him. Inside the sphere, Gaara had begun running through the seals to unleash the demon inside.
"Jin, Saru, Hebi, Saru..." he whispered to himself.
Outside, the nuke-nin closed in and began to pound at the shield with a barrage of kunai, shuriken, and explosive tags. The metal weapons struck the ball of sand and bounced off. The exploding tags made contact and sheered off a few layers of sand but nothing more.
"Jin, Saru, Tori, Ryu..." he continued "Nezumi, Saru, Jin Nezumi, Usagi, Tora, Tori, Jin..." 'Almost mother. Almost!' he screamed mentally.
"This isn't getting us anywhere! Use whatever jutsu you know! Blow the sand ball wide open!" roared the former Kumo-nin. 'Can't believe I have to use an actual jutsu for a kid' he thought forming half a dozen seals, he finished and yelled out "Raiton: Raikou Dageki".
Several large lightning blots shot from Arashi's hands towards Gaara. Inside the sphere, Gaara opened his eyes. 'It's time' he thought. The sand exploded outward in every direction.
The nuke-nin raised their arms to shield their eyes. Baki, Temari, and Kankuro did like wise. The sound of the lightning striking gratified the former Kumo shinobi.
The sand died down and he looked to see his handy work. His blood suddenly ran cold.
There, in the distance was not a child. Where the Kazekage's youngest son had stood before, now stood nothing short of a monster.
"W-what is that?" he questioned aloud, not truly comprehending the beast before him. It turned its head and made eye contact with him. The killer intent struck him like lightning bolt.
He fell backward and landed on his butt, all the while shivering in fear. 'N-no! I-i don't want to die!' he screamed in his mind. He watched as several of his comrades continued to charge forward. He tried to call out to them, to warn them. But no sound came.
The missing-nin that continued forward suddenly found themselves encased in sand just like the bandits had before. The sand began to crush them inch by inch, starting at their feet.
The nuke-nin died slowly.
The sand then snaked it's way over to Arashi. The young man's life ended before he realized it.
Temari watched as her little brother transformed into the monster their father had put in him. Seeing his sister speechless, Kankuro whispered to her "I told you so."
The surviving missing-nin stopped in their tracks. Some began to take steps back. The movement caught the attention of the Shukaku vessel. He shot forward, aiming for the survivors.
They all turned and fled. And Gaara gave chase.
Missing-nin were picked off one by one or as small groups. The shrieks and screams of shinobi and kunoichi echoed through the darkness. And moments later, they stopped. Silenced forever.
Temari and Kankuro were frozen stiff, fearing any movement would bring the demon down upon themselves. Baki stayed still as well, for he knew that movement at this point in time would most certainly kill them.
Twenty minutes passed.
Ishi knew he was the only one left now. After the initial slaughter, the monster had found the group of Jonin he had stayed with. Together, they had held him off. Then the demon began separating them and picking them off one at a time.
'I've got to get out of here' he thought to himself. His heart was beating faster than ever before in his life.
A sudden rustling of bushes tore his mind back to reality. A rabbit hopped out and started chewing on the grass. The man closed his eyes and aloud himself to sighed in relief. Opening them again, he watched as the rabbit was wrapped in sand and dragged away.
Drops of liquid began to fall on him. 'Well, at least it's not blood' he thought, looking up to see if where it was coming from.
And came face to face with the transformed boy. The monster grinned and fell onto his victim. The Iwa nuke-nin known as Nadare Ishi screamed at loud as he could, before sand tore down his throat.
It filled his body and he fell unconscious from the pain. Once he was packed with sand, Gaara ordered the sand to expand. The missing-nin exploded as a result. The possessed Gaara was covered in blood and guts from his prey.
'No! There all gone!' the Shukaku roared 'I wanted to have more fun than that!' 'I'm sorry mother' the red head said to the demon 'Next time I will kill them slower.'
Slowly the sand fell away from his body and reformed the gourd on his back.
Temari shivered when the outline of her brother approached. Gaara stopped in front of Baki and stared at the Jonin. "I've completed the mission" he spoke without emotion. Baki nodded and turned to the other two. "Very well. Let's head back to the village."
They both nodded without speaking and turned to follow.
Sunagakure Entrance – Three pm.
Team Baki returned home a day later. The Kazekage meet them as they entered the village. "I take it the mission was a success?" he asked Baki. The Jonin nodded. "Good. When your team has rested, I wish to speak to you about the upcoming Chunin exams."
The elder siblings bowed to their father and followed Baki. The Yondaime Kazekage turned to his youngest once the others were out of ear shot. "Is there something you wish to say, Gaara?" he asked.
Gaara eyed his father with absolute disdain. "Next time you wish to try and kill me" he started "I would suggest more powerful shinobi." He then turned and walked away.
The Kazekage narrowed his eyes as he watch his experiment leave. 'Yes. You will be very useful Gaara' he thought 'You will be the opening act in the destruction of Konoha' he said to himself as he began to laugh mirthlessly.
The sound echoed through out Suna. Despite his confidence, the Kazekage had no inkling of the future that was about to unfold.
Me: So....?
Gaara: It was....okay.....
Me: So, does that mean I don't get hurt this time?
Gaara: …..Yes.......
Me: Sweet!
Gaara: Not by me at least......
Me: Ye.....wait...what?
Temari: You made me look like a coward this time around! I'm gonna beat you with this fan!
Kankuro: Yeah! I'm gonna beat you with my puppets too!
Me: …...
Temari: …...
Gaara: …...(snorts)
Kankuro: That hurts guys.