Outwardly, I show no sign of fatigue, but internally I am gasping for breath. While I am still quite powerful, powerful enough to have been made Kazekage of Sunagakure at the age of fifteen and remain Kazekage for the past five years, this fight is taking a toll on me. Though I have told no one, I am aware of the decrease in my chakra since Shukaku, the one-tailed beast that was sealed inside of me before birth, was released.

I had been attending a Council meeting when I was informed of a potential threat approaching Suna. Though Baki had insisted I bring Kankuro or Tamari with me to neutralize the threat, I had refused. I had already been feeling restless for days.

While most of the bloodlust that stemmed from Shukaku had disappeared with him, I still feel… violent under a full moon. Something I have also kept from my siblings and advisors. I have to make them and my people believe that I'm not the monster I used to be.

So I had gone alone, expecting a quick fight against one or a small group of Missing-nin unsatisfied with my position as Kazekage, just outside the village. Instead, I had gone miles into the desert, far from my village, and been confronted with seven unidentifiable Jonin.

I had taken out four quite quickly, but the last three were good, very good. Almost on the same level as the Akatsuki. Against one of them I would have been fine, but with these three working together… Victory is proving more difficult than I had originally thought.

Their teamwork is flawless. Every time one is moments away from being crushed by my sand coffin, the other two attack from different sides, diverting my attention and forcing me to defend myself.

For one full hour we have been fighting and I am exhausted. I can't keep this up for much longer. I think. Something needs to change, preferably in my favor. I quickly glance in the direction of Suna hoping that Tamari or Kankuro will have come looking for me by now, but knowing they haven't. It isn't unusual for me to disappear into the desert for hours at a time. The fight goes on in complete silence from my opponents and I, the only sounds being the hiss of my sand, the dull thunks of shuriken and kunai against my Shield of Sand, and the very rare paper bomb attached to the end of a kunai going off.

Well, I think as the three Jonin back off about 15 feet for a moment, grouping together and facing me. If I am this drained, they must have used up all their chakra. The strange shinobi had stopped using jutsu's twenty minutes ago.

I take a moment to study them, attempting to figure out who these strangers are, but it's impossible. All of them wear loose, black clothing and white masks over their face. I can't even tell if they are male or female let alone what village they are from. None of their jutsu's had been anything I had ever seen before.

Suddenly, I see a movement coming in from my left. In my exhaustion, I have lowered my guard. It's a basic mistake that might prove fatal. It's one of the Shinobi trying to run me through with a sword and I quickly bring up a thick wall of my chakra-infused sand to block it. I lost the ability to control regular sand twenty minutes ago and am saving the very last reserves of my chakra to use once I formulate a plan to get me out of this mess. So far, however, I have drawn a complete blank.

A shadow from behind me has me spinning around, using the rest of my sand to stop it. A blade sinks into the sand and I can feel the first Shinobi's blade do the same. Thinking quickly, I shove the sand up both swords, encasing the two nin but removing my most of my defenses. I don't smile, not quite, but I tilt my lips up in a much more terrifying way. To them, I must look like the possessed demon I once was. I raise my right palm, about to close it and complete the sand coffin, when I feel something cold go through my torso. I freeze, then look down to see the curved blade of a sword sticking out of my stomach. I try to close my hands, killing at least two of the three remaining faceless Shinobi, it's no use. I have failed my village, and myself. My arms fall to my sides, the sand releasing its captives, and I fall to my knees. How did the sword get through my Armor of Sand? I wonder, as I stare impassively at the people grouped around me.

Cracks form all over my body, radiating out from the wound in my stomach. Small pieces of my Armor of Sand start to crack off my body, falling to the ground below. I stare straight into the eyes of my attackers, refusing to look away from death. I was death once.

In unison, all three stab something into me, two into my chest and one into my upper back. Pain radiates through me and I cough, seeing flecks of blood fly out of my mouth. I fall forward, my hands barely catching me before I hit the ground, and try to breathe through the pain. The shinobi have backed away a little, grouped in front of me once again, closer than they were before. It appears they are waiting for me to die. I will not give them the satisfaction of seeing me die on my knees.

I slowly, painfully, push myself up and shakily get to my feet, a snarl locked on my face, trying not to jostle the sword still sticking out of my stomach. Glancing down, I take stock of my wounds. A few inches above the tip of the sword are the hilts of two weapons that seem to be kunai knives, but hurt far too much to be so. Hot spikes of pain radiate out in every direction from the knives, not just where they rest in my torso. The same goes for my back.

With shaking fingers, I reach up to pull the weapon out of my left side. My fingers close around the hilt and I am about to yank it out when a hand covers mine. "Don't." A soft voice says, lips brushing my ear. I look around to see a girl standing at my side, with long black hair and unusual violet eyes. As I stare at her in shock, she winks at me and disappears. For a moment, I'm not sure if she was even real.

Then the shinobi start to fall. They make a good effort to fight her off, but she is brimming with energy while they have been fighting for an hour. She makes short work of them, then returns to stand in front of me. As I stare into her eyes the last of my energy leaves me and I fall, unconscious before I even reach the ground.