'Hello, it is a pleasure to meet you Shukaku.'

He? They? It? No, not "it", never "it", Shukaku is someone.

'Why are you here, human?'

I cast my gaze over the thick chains that bound him down, coiled around his body and nailed through his limbs. Inclining my head has me staring into pitch black eyes quartered by a golden star. They shine with uncanny intelligence, madness glittering at the edges.

'Do try to answer my question, puny mortal.'

Shivering erupts as I try to stifle the unwilling shaking, nothing could have prepared me to meet a bijuu, even if someone had warned me. The anime does not do these beings justice, they truly are worthy of their titles:

Demon.

Monster.

Freak of Nature.

No, they are forces of nature. It is not they who don't belong, it is humans.

Shukaku deserves an honest answer from me, so I give the most accurate one I can muster,

'I am...I don't know who I am.'

The chains rattle, slithering and pooling below the bijuu like venomous snakes, hissing as he bends down even further.

One foot away.

Six inches.

One millimeter.

He shifts his head until one large eye focuses on me,

'You look like her. But you are not her. You do not have her fire...or any chakra for that matter. You, insignificant wretch, have my esteemed self's attention.'

The Ichibi turns, looking at me with his other eye, a permanent grin wrapped on his massive snout. He inhales, the wind tugs at my clothes only to be plastered back as a blast of wind sends sand tearing at my...Karura's...face.

I startle, surprised, before I force myself to be still, mindful that Shukaku is nearly touching me and can swallow me whole before I can blink,

'You can tell?'

He withdraws, his head rising up and chains grinding together, sounding with mocking metallic laughter,

'Tch, of course, I spent nearly nine months with that insufferable woman.'

Shukaku freezes for a split second before slamming both feet in down his immense head once again inches from mine,

'That stupid, vapid BITCH. AlWayS wHingING ON AnD ON her FLIMSY little WORRIES. She never SHuT her DAMNED mouth.' Wind screams in my ears, threatening to tear this body into pieces, Shukaku pauses again before reaching a hind paw to scratch at his ear, seeming to have already forgotten his outburst. I don't dare to move, having hunched in on myself in fear and to prevent myself from being blown away. Though now...I'd rather have been blown away.

'Anyway, where was I? Ah, that woman, interesting little thing, boring as hell. She never did much beyond tittering about imbecilic topics. Always so deathly silent. Always so LOUD. I wasn't bound to her, but I could hear her, especially when she was alone. I HATED her.'

I know, I know, silly old me...I just can't help...no..no, no. It'll be fine. You're over-thinking things Karura.

I'm worried.

Yashamaru? Nii-san...sometimes, sometimes I just don't know. I get this bad feeling...and Rasa...he's so busy now.

I'm worried.

Temari-chan! When did you get here?

I'm worried.

No, of course! Okaa-san is fine, see? Why don't you go play with Kankuro-kun? Your brother must be bored.

I...I'm worried.

Rasa… What? Oh...nevermind. I'm sorry for disturbing you, Kazekage-sama.

I fear...my life will come to an end soon.

I'm sorry.

I shake my head to clear the foreign thoughts, they're Karura's...when she was pregnant? She was..very, very worried about something. And then she said something about dying...she apologized. Why did she apologize?

'That inane woman was insufferable, shutting her up wasn't enough. Limited as I was, I still had my chakra. I spent months, hours, oh so many hours...inching my chakra through her coils. Slow enough that no one would suspect. "It's natural," They said "Just effects of the baby holding...that." What a bunch of FOOLS.'

The Ichibi's paw slammed down, sending debris dangerously close to me,

'HAHAHAhaHaHahaha! Idiots! All of them. I poisoned her to death from the inside, wearing down her organs, killing her chakra points…until finally. FINALLY. I reached her heart just as she went into labor. All that was left was to watch the fireworks EXPLODE.'

He falls silent.

One minute.

Five.

Ten.

Half an hour.

Nothing.

My curiosity overcomes me, I venture closer to the tailed beast, his eyes tracking my every move like I'm a mere beetle who caught his interest.

I stop at his massive paw, examining it with interest.

Shukaku is silent.

It's made of sand, intricate patterns, probably seals, winding around it and the rest of him like a chaotic mess. It suits him.

I...reach out a hand to see if I can touch him, or if he's like everything else and Gaara is the only exception along with that one strange instance in which the scalpel moved. The moment my hand makes contact I feel a crushing weight flattening me, choking me.

I didn't realize I needed air until I no longer had it.

Terror overcomes my senses when I realize how vulnerable I am, even in death.

Contractee is unable to fulfill the contract in current state.

Reconfiguring.

And then.

Nothing.

I can breathe.

Uproarious laughter fills the entire mindscape, shaking the sand, collapsing dunes,

'HAHAhAHaHahaha! FASCINATING.'

My vision is filled with his colossal eye, pure madness glinting from it.

'You'll do, little mortal. You may not be Karura and I do not know how you are here...but,' Shukaku grins, shark-like teeth stretching impossibly wide, 'You will be my new entertainment.'

'Thank...you?' I'm not sure how to respond, this is not a situation that I expected. Who would? Getting eaten by a bijuu and then when that failed, offered to be their entertainment like it's a privilege?

'Good! Now, entertain me.'

I stare up at the bijuu blankly, my mind in agreement with my expression,

'What?'

'Be entertaining, do something. Scream. Beg for mercy? I don't know. I'm BORED.'

Well, that was a drastic attitude change. I shuffle through my mind for something interesting to do,

'Uhhh. Okay? How about a story?'

Shukaku tilts his head in consideration, causing a chain reaction of his bindings to echo his inquisitiveness, a far cry from his menacing demeanor just a few moments ago,

'Acceptable.'

I take a deep breath,

'Well, it begins like this:

Once upon a time, there was a war. It was bloody, people dropped like flies and the death toll was like a rising kite cut from its string. The water on the battlefields was permanently the color of rust, the dead and dying screaming like animals to be slaughtered—'

Shukaku interrupts impatiently, though he seems happy about the gory details,

'Get on with it.'

So I oblige,

'Desperation ran high. And so, an equally desperate plan was conceived. Soldiers who never died, immortal and eternal. But humans are not made to be such, so how do people create these soldiers? The government gathered children for their experiments as they were youthful. Concealed from the public, these experiments were conducted on the innocent children at a secret base hidden deep in the woods—'

'—Circle you, circle you,

Stay with us and play forever.

Circle you, circle you,

Close the door and leave us never.

'Til we see the rising sun,

This is only the beginning.

Circle you, circle you,

Aren't we having lots of fun?

There's a home within the forest clear,

Hiding secrets that no one can hear.

Shred the broken body from the mind;

Immortality through death's design—'

'You're an interesting mortal.'

This was late into the night, the false sky still the same shade of eye-watering blue. Gaara hadn't been doing much throughout the days. Babies mostly cry, eat, and sleep. Especially since if there is no family to play with them. Sometimes the babies in the incubator room are paid visits by the nurses or family. Gaara is in his own little cot in the far corner, away from the rest of the babies. No one ever visits him, the nurses do their jobs, but nothing more.

'Am I now?'

I've gotten more comfortable with the Ichibi's presence, he's...unusual company to keep.

Chains rattle softly as he shifts into a different position, putting his vast head between two towering paws. The tattooed seals on his back also move, twisting and stretching while he displaces two large sand dunes to accommodate for his movement.

'A fascinating mortal.'

I lean back, dodging a stray chain that hurtles toward where my head used to be, Shukaku chuckles at my displeasure,

'I'm glad it makes someone happy.'

He laughs louder, sand pluming out in waves before settling back down again in ripples.

'So, boredom alleviator, want to hear a story from me?"

The hairs on my neck rise as the killing intent drops the normally arid temperatures of the desert to freezing.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, something snaps.

Yo! I'm back with another chapter! Look at me being productive!

Yup.

Shukaku killed Karura.

MC is wrong, he's just crazy, no acts, nada. Pure insanity.

Why is it so hard to write insane characters? WHYYYYYYYYY.

crashed [Wait] [Close]