Siblings of the Sand – Chapter One
Cell 13
ancient-relic
Gaara stared at the hole in the foliage where the strange, short girl had disappeared off to. Where did she come from? And those other two?
Then, of course, there was the strange sensei that he couldn't for the life of him remember… What a strange group.
Gaara shook his head, ridding those thoughts from his head. They were far enough away now that he couldn't even sense their auras.
"Gee, they move fast." Kankuro said, narrowing his eyes at the same blackness in the trees that Gaara was staring at.
"How do you figure that?" Temari said, sarcasm overflowing from her voice and into her posture as she placed her hands on her hips.
Kankuro was either very good at ignoring his sister, or was completely ignorant. Gaara figured it was both.
"I mean," he waved his hands at the wreckage that they had left behind. "Look at this! Those three are powerhouses. And all the while, they moved and fought, in like, perfect synch!"
Temari sighed, and turned away from the blood. "I know. And while I was watching them, I had this really weird feeling. That this was some kind of routine. And that they hadn't really… tried." She struggled to find the right word.
"And don't even get me started on that macho chick!" Kankuro laughed. "Now that," he grinned, "was one sexy girl. What kind of kunoichi have you ever come across who can fight like that and look so good surrounded by blood?"
Temari looked at Kankuro with a disgusted look on her face. "Pig! How can you think about things like that with such carnage falling all around you?"
"Eh…" Kankuro shrugged. "I guess it's a guy thing. I mean, look at Gaara!"
"Gaara's different." Temari said, stressing the word.
Gaara turned his eyes on her, a fierce glare catching her by surprise and making her look like a deer caught in the headlights.
"And what," he said, "is that supposed to mean?"
"Ah!" Temari started. "Well, it's just that…"
Kankuro looked at his sister with a smile. She'd been asking for it. He decided that she'd suffered enough, so he stepped in.
"Us guys." He said, sounding quite pleased with himself, "Aren't bothered by a little bit of blood. We have priorities- which is why we can think about… other things, while such… bloody things are happening around us."
Gaara narrowed his eyes further at his brother. What crappy reasoning… "That has nothing to do with it. You can only think about things, because you have a one track mind." He said, turning on his heel and walking away.
"But the girl… she has grabbed my interest." He tossed over his shoulder, waiting for his siblings to catch up as he distanced himself from them, and the carnage. This would need to be reported to Baki.
"What…?" Temari said, looking at Kankuro, who wore an identical mixture of shock and horror on his face. Similar thoughts were running through both of their heads.
Gaara… interested in a girl?
Kagome moved through the trees with ease behind Kagura, as she leapt from branch to branch.
I wonder what Gaara-nii is thinking about now. Is it me? Does he remember? Kagome mused, her heart telling her that she should turn around.
She didn't though, because she knew better.
They had killed Suna shinobi, even if they were the ones sent to eliminate Gaara. That was enough to send a team out and after them, until they were either caught, or killed.
And what about her father? Had he gotten her message? At least if he failed, he wouldn't see another minute. Kagome thought darkly, thinking about the little paper bomb that she had placed on his back. It had a timer, and was due to go off any minute. She sighed.
Miroku and InuYasha exchanged looks while they watched Kagome sigh ahead of them. Something was bothering her- that much was obvious. She wasn't being the usual chatterbox that she normally was…
"M-m-m-my Lord!" the man panted, dashing into the Kage's Office, knocking over a pile of paperwork with the motion.
The man sitting at the desk looked up rather irritably, and spoke in a quite voice. The day had been long, and it wasn't even over yet. Mildly, he wondered how his son disposed of his newest plan against his life.
"The ninja you sent to dispose of Gaara-san." The ninja said, wheezing. "He has returned!"
The Kage looked at his messenger with wide eyes. A long-range attack had worked? He was almost certain that something like that would have been rather simple to dispose of, considering Shukaku's aura-sensing ability.
Rising from his seat at the desk, he asked, "Where is he now?"
"Dying on the floor in the front hall. You must come quickly!" the ninja ushered.
"Do not think to order me around." He growled, and quickly disposed of the lesser ninja with a well-aimed kunai.
The man crumpled soundlessly to the ground, and a waiting maid came in to carry the body away. The Kazekage swept out of the office, leaving the girl to her business, as he moved down to the front hall.
He was baffled. How could he have succeeded and failed? Was Gaara still alive? Or was he dead? And what about his eldest children, Kankuro and Temari?
Sure enough, he reached the front hall to find a man crumpled on the floor, surrounded by medic nin, and others who had been in the area at the time.
"Remove yourselves from this man at once!" he commanded, as he strode forward. Not daring to contradict his authority, they moved as he moved to the man's side, and peered down at him.
"What has happened?" he asked, rather curious. His arm was broken, and he was bleeding from several lacerations on his arms and other open skin. He had his eyes squeezed shut, and he coughed up blood before speaking at all. Even then, it was in an undecipherable rasp.
"S-she was t-the-re." he mumbled.
"Who?" he demanded.
"A strange girl…" he coughed. "Short, but strong."
The Kage paused. Short but strong? Not much to work with. The ninja continued after hacking up some blood.
"G-green eyes, b-b-blue black hair. S-she wasn't pleased with what her father was doing to Gaara." He paused and coughed up some more blood, took a shuddering breath and continued. "S-she stated she would h-hunt her father down and t-t-torture him before killing hi-him if…"
The Kazekage narrowed his eyes at the man as he struggled to breathe for a moment. He looked right back up at him with wide, terrified eyes, as if he was scared to repeat what the girl had told him.
"Continue!" The Kazekage barked, glaring at the man at his feet.
The man took a deep breath, and spoke as clearly and fluently as he was able to. "She said that she would hunt, torture, and k-kill her father if she ever found out that she was trying to hurt her little brother again."
The Kazekage was silent. Everyone held their breaths as they stared at the two men in the center of the room. Not many of them could comprehend the truth behind the ninja's words… so none knew quite what to think of it.
However, the Kazekage knew what the man was talking about. He was talking about his fourth child, Kagome. He had banned her after his experiment failed several years after she was born.
Taking the work that had turned out positive; he had sacrificed his wife, and successfully created Gaara, a year after Kagome's testing failed. Kagome, her team, and her jounin sensei, Kagura, had disappeared several years ago, off the radar of all ninja communities.
The Kazekage figured that someone had finally killed them… but apparently, that was not the case. The four were well and thriving. However, a sudden fizzling noise startled him, and he looked down at the man on the floor.
His eyes were glazed over, and half rolled into his head. He was dead. Smoke was rising from beneath him, and the Kazekage stepped backwards. That devil child! He cursed, quickly casting a substitution jutsu with the nearest person… a lowlife who was delivering the mail.
With a shuddering boom, a small explosion ripped through the room, sending a heat wave and a blast of smoke. The roof above, from his favourite meeting room, caved in, burying the bloodied remains of everyone who was unfortunate to get caught in the direct path of the blast.
Glancing disdainfully at the bag of mail that he still had in his hand, the Kazekage grabbed a letter that was addressed to him. It was accented with a wild scent that could not be described… and he knew immediately that it was from Kagura.
Dropping the bag down on the front hall desk, he was about to walk away, when Gaara, Temari and Kankuro walked into the office, wearing concerned looks. For the most part, anyhow… Gaara was most often the exception. And again, in this case, he was.
"Oi!" Kankuro hollered. "What happened here? Looks like some dropped a bomb on you."
Temari whacked him upside the head. "Sorry for the interruption, father…" she apologized. "We were coming to report several deaths to Suna nin that we witnessed, when we saw your office go up in smoke."
"Deaths?" the Kazekage inquired, tucking the letter into the folds of his sleeves. Could his day get any better?
"Yes." Gaara spoke up then, taking a step towards his father with narrowed eyes. "Three nin, all about our age, popped through the border in an unguarded area. Though they claimed to be from Suna, when provoked, they killed several Suna ninja who were… going about their business."
Kankuro jumped in. "Yeah! They just slaughtered them like it was nothing. And when that girl, Kagome came with that weird blade and-"
"I have heard enough." His father cut him off. "Are you three on a mission?" he asked. "Where is Baki?"
"Here, my lord," Baki replied, materializing at the Kazekage's elbow.
"Good. Whatever else you had planned… forget. Your mission… above any and all else… Track down Cell 13, and kill them. Every single one of them- including the jounin… And I want their bodies brought back as proof."
"Wh-what if we can't kill them?" Temari asked, nervous at the thought. If her suspicions were correct, then they'd be formidable opponents.
"Then bind them, wound them… poison them… do whatever you must to bring them back to Suna. I will kill them here." The Kazekage answered.
"But… why?" Kankuro asked, clearly puzzled.
"They are suspected criminals… for high treason, and for killing several Suna ninja. Beyond that… well." He laughed lightly. "The list goes on. They are fugitives… wanted dead or alive."
Gaara stared at his father. Something was not right. Lots of things were not right.
There was something about that girl, Kagome, who was not right. There was something about her teammates, and her sensei that was not right. There was something in the way that she moved… the way that she fought… the way that she killed. There was something strange in her aura… and something in her voice… and something in her eyes. There was something strange about that girl… and everything and everyone that she represented.
Something strange…
And now, his appearance had ruffled his father's feathers. Something about her was bothering him. And what about that letter that he had hidden? Gaara could see faint aura residue… from that girl's sensei.
Something was not right. Lots of somethings were not right. In fact, everything was wrong. And with a last, spite-filled glance at his so-called father, Gaara turned his back on the man, and walked out of the crumbling building, vowing to get to the bottom of things.
You know, that's an awful lot of somethings… for such a simple-minded killer, a voice stated suddenly, piping up from somewhere between his ears.
Gaara resisted the wave of blood lust that rushed over him with the presence of the great tanuki in his mind.
You speak in riddles, youkai. Gaara responded, clenching his teeth together. If Shukaku were somehow able to override his mind (aka, distract his thoughts) then he would certainly forget his task. His vow.
I know what you are up to, little human. I will stop you. And then, I will kill you, for keeping me imprisoned in here. Shukaku threatened.
Gaara mentally scoffed. You keep saying that. And yet it never happens. You will not gain control of this body again. Gaara willed, forcing his anger into a drill shape in his mind, and forcing it through Shukaku's bloodlust like a nail through wood. Do not forget whose body this is. I have control.
That will not last long, little human. Remember that when you are on your deathbed. And remember that when you cannot solve your little problem.
Gaara stood silently, a little ways down the path leading away from the Kage's office, waiting for his brother, sister, and teacher. Shukaku's presence faded from his mind, and Gaara felt the bitter red leaving. His eyes cleared, and he saw Temari and Kankuro rushing to meet him, with Baki strolling leisurely behind.
"We have to gather our things, and leave immediately." Temari said, repeating orders that her father had given them.
It's not like I need to pack much anyhow. He thought grudgingly. Turning on his heel, he watched as Temari, Kankuro, and Baki continued walking.
"I'll meet you at the house." He said, not waiting to see if they heard him or not. With a wave of sand, he disappeared. He had to visit the library.
Kagome sighed for the umpteenth time that day, as she lounged in the shade under a tree, well away from the fire. It was something that woke him up… being near an open flame. And it wasn't like the cold bothered her, either. Because his element was fire, she wasn't often cold. That was why she wore what she wanted, whenever she wanted- the cold was never a problem.
Miroku looked over to Kagome from his seat at the fire, where he was whittling sticks away that would be great for cooking the fist that InuYasha was hunting.
"Kagome-chan," Miroku said, putting down his kunai and branch, and walking over to where she was sitting beneath a tree. "It is very clear to me, and everyone else, that something is bothering you."
"Don't worry about it, Miroku. It's no big deal." Kagome replied, twisting her hair over her shoulder, and beginning to re-braid it.
"Please, allow me." Miroku gestured, pointing at her hair. Kagome sighed again, and complied, turning so that Miroku could do his thing.
Running his fingers through Kagome's hair to separate the strands, Miroku smiled to himself. Kagome loved to have her hair played with. If she wasn't going to tell him straight out, he'd have to braid it out of her.
Grabbing a jeweled comb out of Kagome's hip pouch, Miroku began running it through her long, blue-black hair, in a steady, rhythmic motion. Kagome was lulled by the simple pattern, and she relaxed against Miroku's hand, as he skillfully made his way through the knots and tangles in her hair.
"Mmm. That feels godly." Kagome mumbled quietly, her voice low, like a contented cat's purr.
"I know." Miroku chuckled. "That was the idea."
"What do you want?" Kagome asked, her voice still quiet.
"What's troubling you?" Miroku asked equally quietly, dividing her hair into segments so he could braid it.
"It's nothing, really. Just… seeing my brother again, I suppose…" Kagome sighed, passing Miroku a hair tie so that he could hold the braid together after he had braided it.
Miroku accepted the tie, and continued to wind Kagome's hair. "That's it?" he asked, his voice skeptical.
"No…" Kagome sighed again. "But it's complicated."
"Try me," Miroku grinned into Kagome's hair.
"You know… that my father tested on me, right?" Kagome questioned, waiting for Miroku's nod. "Well, I didn't turn out right. According to my father, anyhow… he thinks that all his testing on me was a waste."
"But… what was he testing for?" Miroku asked. He was fairly certain that he knew what Kagome was taking about… but he wasn't entirely sure.
"You should know this already, Miroku. He was testing human's capabilities to be jinchuriki… the hosts of demons." Kagome stated, her frown tangible in her voice.
"Right," Miroku said. The topic wasn't well known… but because he traveled with Kagome, he was almost constantly… exposed to that information. He knew for a fact that he was one of the few who knew so much about being a demon host.
"Anyhow, he first tested a female's capability… but because he was the Kazekage, he couldn't test on a child from the town that he ruled over… naturally, he picked his own child." Kagome paused for a moment, reminiscing on her childhood.
Twelve Years Ago…
Kagome sighed into her blanket. Life wasn't fun. Her big brother, Kan-kun, was no fun anymore. Just because he finally got to go to the ninja academy with Temari-chan… he was ignoring her.
Even after he had promised to play with her, Kagome found that he was making up more and more excuses. Silly things like, 'I'm training…' or 'I have to study for a test…'
Temari had already been at the academy for a year, being accepted before Kan-kun. Something about having a power affinity for the wind…
Kagome knew about her affinity. She had an affinity for fire. Her father had told her so. That he knew she had something special inside of her that helped her with fire.
However, she had never felt a connection to the open flame, candles, or any other form of fire. Temari practically glowed when the wind came through the streets… Kagome could see her happiness licking around her form.
Looking back around the room that he father had put her into, Kagome snuggled deeper into her blanket. The walls were white, but every foot or two; there was a strange hole in the wall. The holes were even on the floor and the ceiling. The holes were rather intimidating, Kagome found. Instead, she curled up in a ball in the centre of the room, hugging her blanket around her form.
She couldn't even remember how long she had been in the room. Her father had wordlessly put her in here, and shut the door. There was a window in the door, but there was no way to open it, or the door. Kagome wasn't even tall enough to reach the window, anyhow.
Suddenly, Kagome noticed the strange smell in the air. It was acrid, hurting the insides of her nose, and all the way down her throat. Gagging a couple of times, her head snapped up when she heard a strange rumbling coming from all around her.
Standing up, Kagome scampered over to the door, and began banging on it with her little fists.
"Daddy! Daddy, I don't like this anymore. I want to go home! Please, let me out!"
Her pleas were ignored though, because no one came to her rescue. Looking frantically around the room, Kagome looked for another way out. However, there were none. No seams or cracks in the walls. No other windows, doors, or openings…
The rumbling was near deafening now, and Kagome squatted. Suddenly, she noticed her blanket lying in the middle of the room. She couldn't leave it behind! Dashing back, she bent over to pick up the blanket.
However, her hand instantly retracted like she was burnt. She was burnt. Her blanket was too hot to touch- she could feel the heat radiating off it. Sobbing, Kagome turned her hand over, to see how bad it was. Blisters were already forming, her skin pink and even reddish in places. However, it was quickly disappearing… she gasped as she felt the pain subside. However, she didn't have a chance to do anything else, when the room exploded into fire around her, long tendrils of flame licking at her little form from the holes in the wall.
Present Time…
Kagome shivered. Miroku's hands seemed strangely warm as they rested comfortingly on the back of her neck.
"I'm all done." Miroku said softly.
Kagome nodded, before continuing. "He tested me for all sorts of things… how fast I could heal… if I could withstand his element… And a whole bunch of other things. When I finally snapped, he took over, and we tore through our mansion, destroying everything. I killed my nanny, and most of the servants. It was then that he decided that I was unsafe, and assigned me a team, and a sensei, and told us to leave and never return."
"I remember that…" Miroku said suddenly, pulling Kagome closer to the fire when she shivered again.
"Uh-huh. And that of course, only made him angrier… we tore through some of the village, looking for my baby brother. Temari and Kankuro tried to stop us, but he snapped Temari's fan, and took over the winds. When I found him, I instantly realized what my father had been doing to him- my brother was now the same as I was.
The same thing that he had been putting me through- Gaara was being forced to withstand, and at an even younger age… It was a scary thought. I was so young... My body couldn't handle the strain that his power put on me, and I collapsed before I got to his room. I didn't even know what I was going to do once I got him, anyhow…" Kagome sighed.
"That was where Kagura-sensei, InuYasha and I found you." Miroku snapped his fingers, remembering. Kagome nodded.
Reaching out her hand, Kagome watched in grim satisfaction as the flame curled to her will, twisting and flowing like liquid water about her wrist. However, the fire exploded into a flurry of sparks when her concentration snapped, and her head whipped up. Kagome's braid whipped Miroku in the face.
"See if I ever braid your hair again…" he muttered, rubbing his nose.
"They're tracking us!" Kagome hissed, looking to the west, where they had just come from. She could feel their aura's flaring as they got closer- and Gaara's was stretching away from him, trying to meet hers. Similarly, hers was exploding around her form, as if it was trying to break free and meet his.
"What?" Miroku gasped- his eyes wide. "Are you serious?"
"Yes." Kagome said grimly. "Hurry- and go find InuYasha. We have to leave, now." Miroku nodded, and dashed off into the trees.
Again, Kagome turned to the fire, and put her hand in front of the flames. They curled away from the logs, and wrapped around Kagome's form, coming dangerously near to her hair, and clothes. Raising her hand to the sky, the fire shot into the air like a flare, flashing a strange blue, before fizzling out with a crack.
An answering wind whipped through the clearing, as Kagura appeared, gliding above the treetops on a magnificent white feather. As soon as she jumped down, it disappeared, presumably returning to the strange ornament in her hair.
"What is it?" Kagura asked curiously. Something was up if Kagome had to use her signal.
"They're following us." Kagome said, jerking her thumb over her shoulder. "I think Gaara has tapped into his ability to track auras."
Kagura looked worried. "Then how do we loose them?"
"Can they follow us into the sky?" Kagome grinned. "Two of us, one of them…right?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Two of us that have access to the sky," Kagome said irritably. Kagura grinned in response.
Gaara shoved a couple of books on Suna's history into his bag, along with his change of clothes. Since he didn't sleep, he'd read. He knew those strange green eyes…
Temari barged into the room, catching Gaara by surprise. Of course, he countered it neatly by turning abruptly and glaring fiercely at his older sister.
"What?" he asked irritably, grabbing his little bag, and walking out of the room. Predictably, Temari followed him.
"We're ready to go. Baki-sensei is really impatient, and he wants to get moving. I came to find you." Temari said, rushing to keep up with her little brother's pace.
"Fine then," Gaara replied briskly, and held out his bag for Temari to take. "Put this with everything else. Who is carrying the bag?"
"Kankuro's starting…" Temari said unsurely. "Why?"
"If anyone goes into my bag, I'll kill them. If anything happens to this bag, I'll kill the first person I see, no matter who it is."
"O-okay," Temari stuttered, taking the bag gingerly from her brother. It weighed a ton. What was in there- a sack of bricks?
Gaara stepped out the front door, waiting only for Temari to give Kankuro the bag. She repeated his message, and Kankuro turned pale under his face paint. "Let's go then," Baki appeared with a bag on his back.
Turning north, he began walking. Kankuro and Temari followed, but all three of them stopped when they noticed that Gaara wasn't following them. "What's the problem, Gaara?" Temari asked, sounding anxious. She really didn't like going on long missions with her brother…
"That's the wrong way." Gaara said abruptly, and pointed east. "They're heading in the direction of Konoha."
"And how do you know that?" Baki asked, sounding rather miffed. He always knew where to go, and he had it on a very reliable source that a strange figure flying on a white feather was heading north.
"You can sense them, can't you?" Temari gasped. Gaara had displayed superior abilities for sensing aura's earlier, during their first contact with the strange Cell 13.
"No." Gaara said, looking at Temari strangely. "But that's the direction that they headed in, and I can follow the residue that their aura's left behind. They are all strangely large, so it shouldn't be a problem."
Kankuro and Temari looked at Gaara with a strange expression on their face, and turned to Baki expectantly. "Well?" they asked him, looking at him accusingly. He was always right.
"Follow Gaara," Baki ground out. Just wait until their path turn to the north… Konoha. Hah!
Gaara was about to start walking, when he froze. They weren't as far away as he suspected… and there was a huge burst of the jounin's aura. They were on the move!
"Quickly." Gaara hissed, and his sand swooped out, and scooped Kankuro, Temari, and Baki up. Forming in a platform under him and his team, they immediately rose over the trees, and began speeding east.
Kagome watched as Kagura floated ahead of her, Miroku and InuYasha tucked safely behind her on her feather. This was the kind of flying that she lived for- the offensive kind. Turning in mid air, Kagome looked for signs of her brother. There were none yet- but she knew that if he had unlocked his aura sensing ability, that it wouldn't be long until he caught up with them. Pushing herself higher into the air with a flick of her wrist, Kagome landed neatly on the tip of Kagura's feather, upsetting the balance for a moment. InuYasha yelled in protest, and Miroku's face looked a little green, but they quieted at the serious look on Kagome's face.
"They're coming for me. Father's orders, I'd assume," Kagome mused aloud, looking at her sensei.
"And what are you going to do about it?" Kagura questioned, "Because I'm sure that you're aware that this is your fault."
Kagome glared, but nodded. "Yes, I know. You're going to go ahead to Konoha, as planned. I will stop them."
InuYasha and Miroku protested avidly. "You will not!"
Kagome looked shocked for a moment, before turning her sharp green eyes on the boys behind Kagura. Both of them were staring at her with intense eyes, and Kagome almost smiled. However, there was no time for smiling, seeing as how there were four ninja's fast heading their way, in an attempt to take their lives.
"You cannot risk letting him out when we're right on the border. You should know better!" Miroku chided.
"The pervert's got a point." InuYasha said, staring at her with his fierce amber eyes. "You would likely start a war! Neither side would know who to blame the damage on."
Kagome's eyes flashed, but she settled just as quickly, and a grim look made its way across her face. "There's going to be a war anyhow, you know." She said softly.
Kagura looked on silently, forgotten despite she was sitting between her three students. Her mind was focused on her brother, though, and what he was planning, who knew where. Her mind was brought back to the feather, however, when she felt Kagome tense.
"They're here."
Gaara sped on, heedless of his team's cries. Rather, Kankuro's cries. Temari stopped the harsh turbulence from hitting her and Baki, but did nothing for Kankuro, who was gripping the sand, like a lifeline.
That girl with the green eyes was starting to bother him now… the familiarity and the obscurity.
There.
A bright flash of green sparked in his mind's eye, and he looked ahead to see a white speck floating in the sky. A black speck dislodged itself from it, and plummeted towards the ground, and stopped just before the tree tops, as if it had landed on the ground, and not in mid-air.
Temari gasped. "Air Walking! That's a mega-advanced technique! Not even the elders of the village managed to do that- at least not for more than a few seconds!"
Kankuro scoffed, readjusting his hood, as well as Karasu on his back. "Whatever. I bet it's just some kind of illusion."
"You would be surprised." Baki spoke up, narrowing his eyes at the figure.
Gaara watched in silence, as two more figured separated themselves from the white one, high in the air, before landing on the same plane that the first figure had. The white speck danced off, and Gaara turned his attention to the three at the trees.
"You deal with them. I will fetch the jounin." Baki replied, narrowing his eyes, before disappearing. "Do not let him out."
Gaara groused at the order, but didn't do so vocally. Such a thing was unbecoming. And besides. Shukaku had awoken with the flash of that girl's aura. He had better things to do.
His sand suddenly disappeared beneath his siblings, and both of them were sent falling, down into the trees. They were still about a few hundred feet away from the other Cell, but that was not a problem. Temari whipped her fan open, and promptly disappeared, and Kankuro flicked a wrist, and his puppet strings announced Karasu, as Kankuro himself disappeared as well.
Gaara promptly followed, turning in the air as sand surrounded his form. Kankuro shook his head from beneath his cover, and frowned at his brother's brash action. He was not acting like himself at all. He'd admit that he thought the strange girl was rather (very) good looking, but even so, Gaara had never really shown the slightest interest in the opposite sex. Why was he starting now? And with such dangerous opponents…
Kagome frowned. All three of them had dropped down into the trees, and the jounin had disappeared- presumably off to go find Kagura. Miroku and InuYasha were sitting beside her on the little plateau she had created, and looked rather bored, to say the least.
"We're right here, waiting. Why don't they come out, already?" InuYasha grumbled, fingering Tetsusaiga's hilt. "I mean, what's the point of stealth at this point in the game?"
"Stealth can give them the advantage of surprise, you dimwitted excuse for a ninja." Miroku replied, opening his eyes. His legs were crossed in a lotus position, but he wasn't actually meditating.
"Why don't you two stop bickering, and go be stealthy yourselves?" Kagome snapped, her patience wearing incredibly thin. "The puppeteer is over to the right," Kagome pointed, "and the girl is hiding high in the tall trees to the left." She pointed again.
"And what of Gaara?" Miroku asked quietly, rising and placing a hand on Kagome's shoulder.
"I will deal with him." Kagome said, her expression darkening.
InuYasha and Miroku had no chance to say anything more, as Kagome allowed the plateau of air to dissipate, and they fell into the trees below them.
Kagome watched as they disappeared, before she dropped into the trees herself, waiting in a small clearing for her brother to appear. She did not have to wait very long, as Gaara stepped out from the trees, moments later.
"Who are you?" he asked, watching her with sharp eyes, and his arms crossed. His gourd was uncorked, but the sand lay silent and still, lest it startle the girl into attack.
Kagome stood there, mimicking her brother's position, though remaining silent. She crumpled inside- he really didn't remember her. It was obvious, with the way he was questioning her… it was as if he was accusing her.
Gaara started towards her, pacing in slow, steady movements. His eye wandered down to the little bracelet that she still wore- a ragged string, and a little fang.
His eyes followed her arms back to her face, only to meet a pair of deep blue eyes. His pace was startled, and he stopped walking. Lines around her eyes were beginning to form, in a strange comma pattern. The lines of her face got sharper, less childish, and her expression hardened further.
"Who are you?" he asked again, slipping into a position where he could move in any direction.
"My name is Kagome," she replied, her voice low and unnatural. "And you should stop this, right now, and go home before I do something that I might regret."
Gaara glared. Who did she think she was, ordering him around? Did she not know who he was? Sand stirred to life behind him, eager for blood at his anger. Soon, mother. Wait a moment longer.
Kagome caught the movement as the sand began trickling out of his gourd, and pooling at his feet.
"On second thought," Kagome laughed darkly, "Maybe I won't regret anything." Another voice chuckled along with hers, at a frequency that humans couldn't pick up. However, Gaara was startled to find that Shukaku picked it up, and passed it along.
Are you sure you know what you're doing? This is a battle that you shouldn't be walking into blindly.
What? Shukaku was saying something non-threatening? It was a first. Shukaku never said anything helpful. Ever.
She is not everything that she claims she is. There is more.
Gaara was about to question the complete oddity of Shukaku forewarning him of something, when a searing heat caught his attention. Kagome had disappeared, a blaze of fire in her wake. He stepped away from the glow, and turned at a chuckle from behind him, his sand swirling away from him to follow the voice.
"Foolish little Gaara." The voice laughed from the trees. His sand circled around him, lacking a target. "Is it too hot for you?"
Temari tensed as she heard a twig crack below her. She hadn't picked the best position, since she didn't know who was coming, and which direction they were coming from. Leaves were blocking her view of everything beneath the tree tops, and she was at a loss for what to do. Should she risk moving, and giving away her position to get a better vantage point? Or-
She didn't have time to decide on another option. A clap signaled the burst of air that pummeled her high above the trees. She struggled in the strong current, her own ability over the air feeble in comparison to the strength of the wind. After a few moments, and several hundred feet into the air, she managed to get her fan out, and open, before disappearing behind it.
Thinking quickly, she calculated the purple one's approximate position, and appeared behind him, several feet away, concealed in the trees. He was standing, staring high into the sky, completely unaware of her presence.
"Gee, I must have sent her pretty high up, because I can't even see her any more… Whoops." He shrugged.
Temari sent a twister flying at the young chunin, and his body was sent flying into the tree. His body slumped to the ground, and disappeared with a 'pop', leaving a leaf behind. Temari groaned, and smacked her head. She had given away her position, again! Another clap and roar of wind drew her backwards, and straight into a warm body.
"Well, now. Hello there, pretty! Sorry, but even though I'd rather do something else, I have to do this." Warm purple eyes twinkled down at Temari, and despite the circumstances, she blushed vividly. She only remembered feeling a sharp pain in her neck, before the purple eyes disappeared into blackness, and she saw no more.
Hefting Temari's body over her shoulder gently, Miroku chuckled. "Piece of cake."
Kankuro sat on a branch, waiting for someone to find him. He was uncharacteristically quiet.
InuYasha sniggered, and jumped out of a tree, above, and landed a kick to the unsuspected Kankuro's head, sending him flying. "Ha-HAH!"
Kankuro, still silent, smashed into a tree a dozen feet away, and slumped to the ground in a rather unnatural position.
"Damn, that was too easy!" InuYasha crowed, happy with his easy victory. His laughter stopped, when Kankuro rose, and stood, facing the tree. With a snap, his head slowly turned on it's shoulders, creaking and groaning, until he was looking at InuYasha. Except it wasn't Kankuro anymore- it was a grotesque puppet's face, a mad grin stretched lopsidedly across his face.
"Damn, it was too easy!" InuYasha cursed, and jumped away as the puppet launched itself at him.
He swung around, flipping from tree branch to branch, dodging flying projectiles of all kinds as they landed with solid thuds into the branches that he vacated.
"I've had enough!" he shouted suddenly, and turned around, waving Tetsusaiga in the air. However, the stupid puppet who'd been swinging behind him like a frigging monkey on strings was gone.
InuYasha frowned, and squinted. Where was the bloody puppet? Where was the bloody puppeteer? A flash of black.
Ah. There.
InuYasha turned suddenly, and slashed to the side, then up. Karasu fell limply to the ground, his strings cut. InuYasha could see them, glowing faintly blue, as they hung from several trees, circling around until they came back to the spot where he had seen Kankuro.
Except Kankuro was gone.
Turning to the puppet, InuYasha swore. Loudly.
The puppet was gone.
Sliding Tetsusaiga into its sheath, InuYasha continued to swear under his breath. He really hated puppets.
Gaara stood still, his sand still circling around him. Kagome would appear randomly in the trees, but she'd be there only for the briefest of moments, and she'd be gone again, so his sand was not being of much help.
However, the trees were smoldering, and withering away with each time that Kagome passed through them. Her aura, which was only appearing to him for moments at a time, was raging like an out of control fire, and was leaking a rather potent form of chakra, which was killing all the life around them.
As soon as this had occurred to him, Gaara had remained still, waiting for Kagome to show herself when he had enough time, and room, to react. Now, as all the plants were blackened and smoking, he was sending his sand out slowly, so it leaked into the dead foliage, camouflaged by the cinders.
Kagome appeared again, stopping right in front of where his sand was disappearing in to the foliage. The fool.
She's not a fool. And she's not alone.
Can she not see the sand?
She can. Watch.
Gaara raised his fist, ignoring Shukaku's voice.
"Sabaku Kyu!"
Closing his hand with a snap, the sand from the foliage rose up, and swarmed about Kagome. However, she remained in the same position, her arms folded, and staring straight at him with a morbid grin.
The lines of her face were sharp, the bottom of her nose, and mouth a strange shade of black. It looked like it was hardening. Her eyes were black as well, and her hair had streaks of blue and red, on either sides of her face. A third comma-shaped mark was forming on her forehead, where a strange bump had formed.
Here she comes.
A burst of heat erupted from inside the sand, and it melted. It didn't crumble, or fall away- it simply rolled off her form, like water off a duck's back. Flames were rolling off Kagome's figure, and they made her look even more ethereal. Blue black fire burned her shirt right off, leaving behind black tank top that she had worn underneath. Her hakama were singed, and burnt off until they were little more than shorts. The gold on her boots, her arms, and her arm coverings were unharmed.
Flames entangled in her hair, and burned in place on her shoulders, creating fiery wings behind her. The lump on her forehead trembled, and cracked open.
It was an eye.
The blue eye was spinning madly, and upon closer inspection, Gaara was shocked to see the Sharingan twirling in its depths.
The man-made one.
What?
Let me out!
No!
Shukaku forcefully took over Gaara's body, and the change rippled through him instantly. He got taller, and his hair lengthened, turning a deeper red at the roots, and lightening at the ends. Several curled markings spread from his eyes, and more did around his wrists. Fangs and claws ripped out from tender flesh, and Gaara screamed.
His eyes, now more of a golden coloured green, stared at the Sharingan eye out of pointed pupils. Kagome's three eyes stared back, and a grin spread across her face in challenge.
"God-! DAMN IT!" InuYasha yelled, catching a glimpse of wavering blue flame and smoke from where he had left Kagome. "She let him out." He muttered to himself.
"Who is "him"?" Kankuro asked, his voice coming from Karasu's mouth.
"Keh." InuYasha replied, spitting blood out of his mouth, before wiping it with a sleeve of his haori. "None of your business."
Karasu made an odd clunking sound, and spat a poison gas at InuYasha, causing him to jump out of the way.
"Oi!" he shouted, a sleeve all that was protecting him from the gasses.
Karasu lunged at him through the haze, a poison tipped blade coming out of his mouth. Large wooden arms caught around a surprised InuYasha, and held him still. The poisoned blade took a few inches off of the end of his hair.
"GRAH!" he kicked Karasu off, and swung Tetsusaiga around.
"KAZE NO KIZU!"
Five beams of yellow light ripped through the air like claws, tearing up anything and everything in their path. Quickly, InuYasha sheathed his blade, and made the sign of the ram. He focused the energy until they were tiny beams of light moving in their reckless path, and directed them at the puppet.
However, they moved right around Karasu, and each of them attached themselves to a string, and traveled all the way down the length of the chakra lines, until they met Kankuro with a resounding explosion. Smug, InuYasha grabbed the puppet, and he slung the unconscious body of the puppeteer over his shoulder and headed in the direction of Kagome's chaos, slowly picking his way through his own.
"InuYasha!" Miroku called, waving merrily.
"Oi!" he called in reply, making his way over to his teammate. Miroku stood there patiently, both the giant fan and Temari slung over one shoulder in a similar manner to how InuYasha was carrying Kankuro.
"You look horrible. Did he actually put up much of a fight?" Miroku questioned, looking at the debris that covered InuYasha's haori. He also took in the split lip, his uneven hair, and what was going to be a real nice shiner. Kagome wouldn't be too happy with having to mend InuYasha's haori again, and there looked to be more than a dozen rips, of varying sizes.
"Oh, shut up. You're just happy because you've got a female butt in your face." InuYasha retorted.
"At least mine is female." He replied with a grin, before walking away towards where Kagome was facing off with her younger brother. "She let him out?"
"Yup."
"Well, let's go take a look at the damage we'll have to cover for…"
"Right behind you."
Kagome's wings flapped wildly behind her, stirring up winds that sent flames eddying through the air. Gaara gathered his remaining sand, and sent it to work, and taking apart the glass, grain by grain. He didn't even know if it was possible, but Shukaku was in control- and he couldn't do much to stop him.
"Futon: Renkudan!"
Though it should have been impossible, massive bullets of air came shooting out of his mouth, and he sent them flying at Kagome's fiery figure.
"Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu!"
Kagome sent her own fireballs at him, and they connected in mid-air with his air bullets, canceling most of them out. However, one of them got past her wall of fire, and connected with her left shoulder.
Instantly, there was a large hissing sound, and all of the fire surrounding her sizzled, before engulfing the air in thick, black smoke. There were several loud cracks, as her body fell through the air, and landed on several branches on the way down. Trees shuddered as a fierce wind ripped through the forest, ripping up several of them, and sending them flying into others, knocking many more down.
Fire licked out in an explosion as Kagome hit the ground, and then, in a burst of smoke, everything was silent. Shukaku released his hold on Gaara. Surprised, Gaara collapsed, and his sand circled him before disappearing into his gourd. His legs were too weak to hold him. He was bleeding from his fingers, and from his mouth where fangs and claws had emerged.
Staring into the cloud of smoke that was where Kagome was lying, silent, Gaara recognized where he had seen her eyes. He saw himself, and Shukaku in his mind, and he followed the changes that had happened to him when Shukaku took over. He saw Kagome, and her changes, and looked at her green eyes.
They matched his.
With this last thought, the darkness that threatened his mind took over, and a laughing Shukaku was the only sound he heard.
tbc
EDITED: 05/12/11
