Hmm... I wonder who's going to show up.
Despite my desperate wish to seek out Gaara and see what he was up to, maybe even try to enter his mind again, I headed towards the training grounds. I fully intended to sleep in that bed tonight, but I couldn't do that without a guilty conscious if I still had so much bottled-up energy.
The first thing I did, once I reached my destination, was produce fifty shadow clones. They looked at me with smirks, knowing what I planned to do. Without a sound, we all attacked. But there was a catch. Every time a clone went down, I produced two more. This way, I exhausted myself without using too much chakra at once that might cause an explosion. Sadly, I quickly grew bored with this strategy. It wasn't challenging enough. The clones disappeared too easily.
I sighed and crossed my arms. What else could I do? I could try practicing more advanced ninjutsu, but did I really feel like doing that? If I did, I'd damage the grounds. Of course, they were just training grounds. It wasn't like there was anything irreplaceable here. I stretched my arms over my head and drew chakra to my palms and the soles of my feet. I focused the chakra there before I formed a complex set of hand signs. "Blast style: firestorm jutsu!" I ordered.
The jutsu worked, and the damage to the training grounds was massive. I had never thought that the jutsu wouldn't work; I just hadn't imagined that my chakra control would be so effective. Instead of flattening the area, I just blew a hole in the ground. More like a crater, I corrected myself, staring around me. I simply smiled. That gave me the opportunity to try a different jutsu.
Focusing my chakra only to the palms of my hands, I placed them in the center of the crater. Then, I tried to infuse my chakra with the earth, to loosen it and make it rise. It was a difficult trick and took a good half hour to do, but I succeeded. By the time I was done, the only evidence that the crater had ever existed was the lack of grass on the rock. I didn't know any jutsu to grow new grass.
Next, I went on to a different jutsu. It was a hidden technique I was developing. My idea was to be able to summon my chakra from my body to produce a clone of myself, but in nine-tailed fox form. The difference between this clone and a shadow clone under the transformation jutsu, would be that it could take multiple attacks. It'd be more like having a companion than a clone, since I also wanted it to be able to think for itself.
I sat cross-legged on the ground, focusing my chakra again. I made a new set of hand signs and whispered ever so softly, just in case there was someone spying on me, "Nine-tailed replication jutsu." A tiny, rather useless looking nine-tailed fox appeared. It lay on the ground, paws over its eyes. I sighed and released the jutsu before performing it again. It took me five tries before I produced a replication that could stand and walk around, but it acted just like a shadow clone.
Suddenly, I heard a twig snap in the distance. "So there is a spy," I growled, shooting a bolt of chakra at the sound. There was a loud thwack as it hit its mark. I prayed silently that I hadn't hit anyone of importance. Of course, my guess was that I hit either Gaara or Naruto since I hadn't heard their thoughts approaching.
"You missed," a cold voice stated as a shadow emerged from the forest. Gaara stood before me, arms crossed.
"More likely that your sand blocked it," I countered. He cocked his head to the side but nodded. "What do you want?" I asked as I redirected my attentions to my technique. My clone disappeared and then a new one appeared as I tried again.
"What are you?" he asked as my nine-tailed fox self circled him with a bit of curiosity. It was still acting as a clone though, not of its own free will. I used it to sniff him, so that I might be familiarized with his sent again. He stuck his hand out and put it atop the clone's head hesitantly. The clone was small, only reaching up to his knees. I growled inwardly. I could do better than that, even if it was still a regular clone.
"I told you that doesn't matter," I replied as I tried again. This time the creature was bigger, but useless again. I puffed at my bangs. Would I ever get it right? At least my chakra is draining, I thought optimistically. If I kept at it, it'd only be an hour before I could go back to Sakura's and sleep.
"Is this a summoning jutsu?" he demanded, hoping to get at least one straight answer from me.
"If I tell you, will you answer a question for me?" He considered it for a moment before nodding. "No, it's my own, special technique." I let the useless clone go and summoned a new one. This one could walk around and was as tall as Gaara, but it was missing three tails. Well, that's not going to work. "What demon do you possess?"
"Shukaku of the sand," he answered without a hint of emotion. I nodded and tried again. The clone was perfect. Right height, right amount of tails, and could move around. But, of course, it couldn't be that easy. Before she could move more than a step, a sand bolt shot right through her. I turned around and glared at Gaara.
"What was that for?" I demanded with a hiss.
"I want to fight you." I froze. What?
"Why?" I asked a little softer.
"Because you're not afraid of me and I want to teach you why you should be." Well, this sucks. But I don't think I have much of a choice. It's either fight or be killed.
"You asked," I muttered, standing up. He narrowed his eyes. Before he could make one move, I performed my nine tails jutsu as a defense.
"That's not going to stop me," he warned, but I saw the recognition of the jutsu in his eyes. "NariNinetails," he finished with a hiss. So his memory hadn't failed him after all. Gaara made a hand sign and bolts of sand flew at me. The tails did their job and blocked them, at the expense of their destruction. The tree roots were blasted apart, something I had never seen before. I growled on the inside. I didn't want to kill Gaara but I knew he was more than capable of killing me if I held back. I skipped over the idea of using taijutsu; his sand was too fast.
"Blast style: firestorm jutsu!" I ordered. I was tired enough already that my chakra didn't explode with the release of the jutsu, for once to my disappointment. I knew I wouldn't touch Gaara with that attack. In fact, I found myself staring at a wall of sand instead of the boy. I sighed in frustration. What can get around his defense?
"Multi-shadow clone jutsu!" I said next. I only produced a hundred or so, and we were all weaponless. Great day to leave the staff somewhere, Nari, I scolded myself. I sent them to attack as a unit while I disappeared into the woods. I didn't know what he would do to defeat the clones but I was sure I didn't want to be with them when I found out. And I was glad for that decision. He crushed them, each and every one of them. How did he know none of those were me? Did he know?
"Come out, come out, NariNinetails," he called. "Or are you too much of a coward?" My ego took a hard blow but I didn't emerge. I knew my limits. Sasuke was an easy target, Gaara was not.
"Please work, please work, please work. Please work!" I whispered as I tried the nine-tailed replication jutsu again. A little beast popped up, about the size of a small wolf. I was disappointed for half a second, until I realized it was staring at me with intelligent eyes, independent eyes. I reached into its mind. It had my memories, my way of thinking, but its own thoughts. "It…Worked!"
I'll distract him, you attack, it ordered me. I nodded a comply and started sneaking around the edge of the training grounds. The clone ran out and growled at him. Gaara glared at it, confusion in his eyes. He shot a sand bolt at its heart. She just barely managed to move out of its path, but it scraped her hip. She didn't disappear. "So you can use a transformation jutsu and hold it," he assumed. Not quite, her and I thought simultaneously. It took all my self-control not to fist pump the air.
Now! she ordered as she charged. I attacked from behind with a massive amount of chakra built up around my hand. My fist collided with a hard wall of sand and I heard my clone's whine of pain as she hit the opposite side of the shell. He was completely surrounded by sand, in a small ball again. I pulled my hand back, shocked that I hadn't even cracked the wall.
Before I could retreat, the sand snuck out and grabbed me. I struggled with it, trying to escape the incredible grip. No matter what I tried, I couldn't go anywhere. I was slung around and hit the ground hard at Gaara's feet. My clone did too. The sand crawled up around our bodies. The more I struggled, the tighter it encased me. There was no escape. I looked up at Gaara instead. His two hands were open, directed at us.
"I wonder who the real one is," he muttered. He closed his right fist and a piercing scream rang out in the night as my clone disappeared. I felt a stabbing sensation in my head. Apparently, that was a slightly more dangerous jutsu than I had anticipated. "So you're the real one," he sighed, glaring down at me. "I was hoping you'd be stronger." I gulped but didn't allow the fear to show in my eyes. I simply stared up at him, wondering when he was going to crush me. To my surprise, the sand began to recede. When it was gone, he gave me one final glare and turned around to leave.
"Why?" I called as I stood up, dusting myself off. He paused. "Why not kill me when you had the chance? I'll find a way around your defenses. I will. The next time we battle, it'll be you at my mercy."
"Because you weren't afraid. You were never afraid of me." With that, he disappeared. I sighed and smiled, bending over to catch my breath. My head was pounding from my clone's death and I was exhausted. I left the training ground and headed back to Sakura's house. I crawled in through the same window and closed it before collapsing on the bed. It was exactly as Sakura had described it, and, before long, I was fast asleep.
Thank goodness Nari knows how to hide her fear, right? Well, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed. Please review!
