Scroll One; Chapter Nine:

Broken

"This one is an Akatsuki as well?" I wondered aloud, my eyes locked on the black and crimson cloak Kisame wore, as well as his headband. A line had been engraved deep into the Kirigakure symbol.

A deep thunder of a laugh came from Kisame's throat as he tossed his blade up into the air. It seemed to linger high above him in an endless flip as he pressed his palms together. "Water Style: Exploding Water Shockwave!" He reared his head back and from his mouth came a waterfall, lifting his body excessively above us. The sword finally fell and Kisame caught it gracefully in his palm.

My legs began to shake as the fish man came toward us, creating a gigantic wave. I focused my Chakra into my feet, following the rest of the team as they jumped high into the air to avoid him. Luckily, Kisame surfed right on by, allowing us to land back on the large rocks we had found safety on.

"I don't get it," I pondered, keeping a tight grip on the hilt of my tachi. "He could've easily sliced through at least one of us with that attack."

As if I had jinxed us with my thoughts, water slashed painfully onto my back. It definitely wasn't ordinary water. From behind us, Kisame rose from a spitting spring of the raging liquid, sending it crashing down toward Tenten and Guy. Like before, they jumped to avoid it.

"Move!" Tenten called from the air. Lee grabbed my wrist and yanked me sky bound just in time for the water to miss sweeping me away.

Kisame was toying with us, sending the waves smashing back and forth. The only thing we could do to save ourselves was to keep jumping.

"Do you remember me now?!" Kisame roared to Guy.

Lee and I landed on a flat rock behind their sensei while Neji and Tenten landed on another about ten feet away. I was entirely sure that we were all wondering where all the water came from. There was no way Kisame could've stored it all inside his body.

"This technique of his requires an ungodly amount of Chakra," Neji commented.

With another creepy laugh, Kisame disappeared into the water. The five of us searched around the surface nervously. I tried to silence my breathing, trying to listen for his body underneath. All I could hear, though, was the sound of the waves smacking against the rocks we held base on.

In a quick moment, another tsunami arose, heading directly for Guy. Again, we jumped to avoid it, but instead of the water falling as it did before, it kept coming, bringing Kisame with it, his sword ready to attack. Once he was close enough, he swung at Guy. With a swift motion, Guy delivered his foot into Kisame's face, which promptly fell apart as water. Another Kisame sprung up behind him.

"A clone," Neji hissed as we landed on the rock.

I struggled to see over the water above us. I heard shouts and grunts, and before I could realize that he had moved, Lee was high in the air, kicking Kisame's sword out of his hands. Kisame yelled in surprise, suddenly facing Neji, who pulled his palm back and yelled, pushing it forward with an invisible force, "Eight Trigram Air Palm!"

I could only stand back and watch as Kisame flew through the air, holding his own hand out. As if it had a mind of its own, his sword returned to his palm. He thrust it into the water, slowing his sailing body down.

Tenten chuckled beside me and only then did I notice that she had unrevealed the large scroll she carried on her back. An explosion brought my attention back to Kisame, who had been attacked by one of her spike bombs. Unfortunately, just before the paper bomb attached to it detonated, he had dived underwater, avoiding the fire and the kunai knives that shot out in every direction.

"Where is he?" Guy questioned after two minutes of absolute silence.

"In front of us," Neji replied. "And coming closer."

Slowly, a mess of blue hair sprouted from the water's surface. "I'll give it to you, you brats are a lot more trouble than you're worth," Kisame growled, his entire body eventually emerging. "In fact, you're incredibly annoying."

"Counterattack time," Guy told us. "I'll go in first and as soon as his guard is down, you move in!"

"Okay!"

"Yes sir!"

"Yes sensei!"

"Got it!"

"Are you so much of an idiot to think I'll lower my guard that easily?" Kisame questioned. "So be it. You can learn the hard way." He began sprinting toward Guy and as I watched them attack and dodge, I felt as if my feet were glued to the rock.

"Don't do this now, Kyan! Do not freeze up now! Gaara needs you!" I mentally yelled to myself. It was no use. My palms became sweaty and my knees started to feel as if they were going to give out.

I stared in pure helplessness as the team attacked Kisame. Although their weapons and jutsus were fantastic, none of their blows injured him. So how could I, someone who wasn't even qualified as a Kunoichi, have any hope to help defeat a member of the Akatsuki?

"That weapon," Guy muttered to himself, but loud enough for the rest of us to hear. I'd noticed it, too. Every time Kisame was attacked, he was able to block using only his sword.

"If I can get his sword away from him. That should be something at least I could do!" I thought as I ran full-force toward Kisame, my hand gripping tightly on the hilt of my tachi. I wasn't sure if I heard Neji yelling for me to stop. An intense ringing blocked my ears.

"Weak," Kisame grumbled, swinging at me with his blade. I wasn't prepared for his speed or lack of effort. The only thing I could do was sloppily block his attack with my own sword. The end result was definitely not in my favor as I was tossed like a doll into a rock.

The back of my head slammed against the solid surface and my body tumbled into the water. Once I shook off the static feeling, I fumbled around for my sword and rose to the surface, taking in as much air as I could hold within my lungs. My teammates had commenced their attacks on Kisame, seeing as Guy had successfully separated him from his weapon. I sighed in relief.

"At least my efforts didn't go completely wasted," I told myself, using the rock to hoist myself from the water.

Just as Neji, Tenten, and Lee assaulted Kisame, water clones appeared before him, acting as shields as they caught punches and kicks. I yelped in surprise as I was grabbed by my hair. Flailing about, I turned to stared at the ugly face of another Kisame clone.

"You stupid smelly fish!" I screamed, straining to land my own punches in his nose. It felt as if I were punching running water, doing absolutely no damage.

"Water Prison Justu!" the real Kisame yelled. From the clone, a sphere of water formed around me, halting all my movements and my breathing. I struggled against it, watching in horror as my teammates suffered the same fate.

The ripples of the water made it difficult to see outside of the bubble. My chest began to burn as my lungs screamed for air. The ringing in my ears became defeating. My head felt as if it were going to explode. I tried to focus on Guy, but before I knew it, my memory was fading in and out. I remembered Guy and Kisame attacking back and forth, looking over to Tenten's unconscious body floating, and a blinding white light. Maybe this was death?

()()()

I stared into his eyes, ignoring the darkness behind him. "Gaara," my mouth formed. I reached out to him, but my hands faded right through his body. He watched me as if I was someone he didn't know.

Gaara turned his back to me and as I tried to grab onto him, he began to walk away. I called after him, screaming his name over and over again, until finally, the darkness had swallowed him whole.

()()()

"…hear me? …Kyan! …it again, Neji."

A pair of lips crashed onto mine and a gust of air was forced into my lungs. A stinging pain immediately shot through my throat. Involuntarily, my body flipped over and I coughed out water and stomach bile. The gasping breath of air forced me into a state of light-headedness.

"Oh thank goodness," Tenten exclaimed in relief. I crushed my palms into my eyes, wiping furiously. As I looked around, I counted my teammates. Three of them. Guy was missing.

"Where's Guy?" I asked frantically, watching as Neji wiped his lips with the backs of his hands. "Oh, and thank you, Neji. Don't worry, you didn't steal my first kiss."

"I wasn't exactly worried about that," he defended, giving me a hard glare. "Guy-sensei is over there." He pointed with his elbow to a figure in the distance.

Lee and Tenten helped me to my feet. At first, I felt horribly dizzy, but after a few steps I was able to walk on my own. Instead of gazing down on a dead Kisame like I was expecting, Guy was staring down at a man I'd never seen before in my life. A bloodied Sunagakure headband replaced the scarred Kirigakure one.

"What is this?" I questioned.

"A jutsu of the Akatsuki," Guy explained. He shook his head in annoyance. "We need to hurry."

"Agreed," I replied. "Gaara could be…" I couldn't bring myself to say it or to completely believe it. He was Gaara, the Kazekage. He couldn't die. There was no way.

()()()

"This?" Tenten questioned as we came to a large rock. Again, Neji activated his Byakugan, sensing for Chakra within the cave.

Beside me, Guy panted softly. I chewed on my bottom lip, contemplating my next moves. "Are you okay?" I decided to ask him.

"Of course I am! Never been better!" he declared, giving me the worst fake smile I'd ever seen.

"Look, you don't have to lie to me, you know. I do have some medical training. Let me heal some of your cuts. It's the least I can do for you."

As I took Guy's hands in mine, I felt my skin tingle against his. Slowly, his cuts vanished and the forming bruises hid themselves. "The least you can do?" he repeated. "What do you mean?"

"Well, back with the fake Kisame," I started, moving to his other hand. "I didn't do anything to help you guys. Lady Tsunade told me I would be a liability. I can see where she's coming from now. I know I'm not really Kunoichi material, but thank you for bringing me along."

"Look at what you're doing right now, Kyan," Tenten said, pointing to my glowing hand. "Not Kunoichi material? Who are you trying to fool? If it hadn't been for you, I doubt Guy-sensei would've been able to get the sword away from Kisame. And a person who isn't made for the Shinobi world wouldn't be here right now, trying to save a fellow comrade. They would be back home, serving food in a restaurant."

I turned to her smiling face, tossing her words around over and over in my head. Maybe she had a point? Three years ago, I never would have pictured myself fighting to save Gaara's life, or fighting at all. I always figured I'd work in the restaurant day in and day out for the rest of my life.

"Gaara is on the other side of that boulder," Pakkun, who perched himself on Lee's shoulder, said as he pointed with his paw. I finished treating Guy and pressed my hand on the gigantic rock.

"Gaara, just hang on."

"This isn't going to be easy," Guy reminded us.

"What do we do?" I demanded to know. Anything to get on the other side – to get to Gaara.

"We smash it to pieces!" Lee replied, receiving a shake of the head from Guy.

Sounds of water behind us caused me to turn around to face Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura, and an unknown old woman. I studied Naruto, who didn't hold the same features as before. The scars on his cheeks were more defined and instead of the piercing cerulean color of his eyes, they were stained crimson.

"Looks like we were just a step behind you guys," Sakura commented, giving me a friendly smile. "Kyan, I didn't expect you to be here."

I shrugged, returning a grin. "Well, you know, its Gaara."

"Hey, who is she?" Tenten asked, pointing to the old woman.

"Oh, this is Lady Chiyo, an advisor from Suna," Sakura introduced. The wrinkled woman, Chiyo, lifted her hand into a peace sign and gave an almost toothless smirk.

"Its to meet you," she said.

"Okay," Guy announced, throwing his hands high above his head. "Let's go something about this giant rock! First, Neji, what do you see?"

We all turned to Neji, who had been searching past the rock the entire time we'd been talking. His white pupils flicked side to side as he let out a long breath. "It looks like a large cavern, but…I just…I can't make out what's going on in there. There are so many people."

"What about Gaara?!" Naruto and I asked simultaneously.

"I'm trying to find him now," Neji replied. Silence. So much painful silence that after a minute, I yanked on his arm.

"C'mon!"

"Kyan, knock it off!" he snapped, swatting me away. "I…What is that thing?" He pulled himself back, his Byakugan retracting.

"What?" Naruto demanded to know. "What did you see?!"

"I don't…I don't know. I can't describe it." He seemed to be in a daze.

Lee huffed and pressed his fists together. "Then for Gaara, we must go in there and see for ourselves!"

"When I touched the rock," I started, pointing to it, "I wasn't able to fully come into contact with the surface. They have a barrier on it." I raised a finger to an obvious seal that had been placed on the boulder.

"So, what's the plan?" Neji asked.

"Its apparent that we must first get rid of that barrier," Guy replied as he looked at it himself. "We need to, firstly, figure out what sort of barrier it is."

The nine of us stared at it for a long while. I had no clue how to figure out what kind it was, so the wait was killing me. I just wanted to get to Gaara and get him home. Knowing him, he was probably starving to death.

"A Five Seal Barrier," Kakashi finally said.

"Agreed," added Lady Chiyo.

"There are five seals around the area that are contributing to this barrier. The first is before us, so the other four are scattered somewhere else."

"Let's just find them and rip them off. Doesn't sound too hard," I suggested.

"They need to be taken off at the exact same time," Kakashi informed me. "Unless they're pulled off simultaneously, the barrier will remain."

Frustrated, I yelled, "Then how are we going to find out where the other tags are?!" It just seemed like every time I thought we were getting close to Gaara, a new obstacle would pop up. I was tired of it.

"Neji," was all Kakashi said.

Neji activated his eyes once more, breathing out slowly as he searched around for the rest of the seals. Once they were found, he hurriedly gave the coordinates. Guy swung his backpack over his shoulder, digging around in them and as he pulled out small earpieces, he grinned proudly.

"I knew these would come in handy someday. We can communicate with these," he told us, handing them to Kakashi, Neji, Tenten, and Lee. "My team is the fastest, so leave it to us."

"Please hurry," I asked of him.

"Of course, Kyan!"

After Guy had assigned his students to a point, he gave me a reassuring smile and ordered them to scatter. Before I was finished blinking, the four of them were gone. Pakkun, too, had decided to say his goodbyes and disappear in a puff of smoke.

"Kyan," Naruto said, turning to me, "why are you here? Didn't Lady Tsunade deny your request to come?"

I nodded, pressing at a bruise on my forearm. "Yeah, she did," I replied. "But she changed her mind. Honestly, I was going to come anyway, even if it meant going rogue. I can't just sit around knowing Gaara is in trouble."

"You sister is the one who married young Kankuro, is she not?" Chiyo wondered, advancing toward me. She took my face in her hands, staring awkwardly at my eyes. "Yes, you two have the same eye color and shape."

I took a step away from her. I didn't exactly enjoy people I didn't know touching my face like that. "Uh, yeah. Haketa's her name."

"She's a fine lass," she complimented. "Although, my only encounter with her was when she was hysterically crying over Kankuro as he squirmed in pain. Poor girl."

The image of my sister hunched over Kankuro like that sent sharp pain through my chest. I felt incredibly sorry for her. I couldn't image the kind of hurt she was in, nor could I imagine the roles reversed in which I would cry over Gaara's broken body. It wouldn't happen. He's Gaara, the Kazekage. Protector of thousands of people. He was strong.

"The moment the barrier is gone," Kakashi ordered, "Sakura will destroy the boulder at the entrance. That will be our signal to charge inside and rescue Gaara."

I stood near Naruto, avoiding Chiyo's grasping hands. She had the urge to touch my face, commenting on my resemblance to my father. I didn't want to hear anything about him. Not right now. There were more important things to be dealt with.

Sakura took her position in front of the boulder, her arm held back and ready to burst through it. Kakashi knelt by the seal above us, his hand ready to rip it off. The muscles in my legs tightened. Just a few more seconds, and I would be with Gaara again.

In a few moments, everything would be okay.

"Now, Sakura!" Kakashi yelled, ripping the seal off. Giving a loud yell of encouragement, Sakura ran the few steps and delivered her fist into the rock. A large crack rippled upward from the contact point and the entire thing came down in shattered earth.

We rushed inside the dark cave, blinking rapidly to adjust our eyes to the sudden change of lighting. My body instantly froze at the sight before me.

"We're too late," Kakashi muttered.

Two cloaked men sat before us. One hunched over with his face covered by a hat, and the other, a blond, sat on top of Gaara's body. My hands became numb and I could hear my heartbeat in every single part of me. Gaara laid motionless, his eyes closed. I watched for breathing, but because of the man on top of him, I couldn't tell if he was.

"GAARA!" Naruto screamed, his voice transforming into something deep and demonic. "GET UP! WHY ARE YOU JUST LYING THERE?! WHAT, ARE YOU DEAF NOW?!"

The blond man before us laughed. "I think maybe you should know," he told us with a sly smirk, "that Gaara here is already dead."

At that moment, I forgot every single aspect of myself. All I wanted – more than anything – was revenge.