Thank you so much to my reviewers QueenOfBunnies, DemonMiko_Jenna, and Shoulda_Been_Grace. A few of you (earlier) had been asking for fluuuuufff. Well, I hate to tell you this, but that doesn't happen for a bit, but when it does, you'll be drowning in it. ;D I'm going to tease all of you and let you know that I made more fanart of Toshiko with Gaara and in other situations, but I won't show you them until those things happen. ;3 They aren't on my DA either, so don't bother checking. Love you guys! 3
The morning after, I was up in a flash. I couldn't help but feel excited for the prospect of fighting Gaara alongside my former teammates. It had been a while since we fought together, but I'm sure our teamwork is just as good now as it ever has been.
I made sure my water canteens were full and that I was thoroughly hydrated before heading out to the oasis. This was the one day I was positive I didn't want to be caught without any water resources.
Quickly, I made my way for the oasis through the village. There were already people out and about, but I didn't pay them much attention.
I met Masaru on the way; he was strolling along at a lazy pace, enjoying the views and the surprisingly not-too-hot weather. Hands shoved in his pockets, he glanced over at me as I fell into step with him, "Hello, Toshiko."
"Good morning, Masa-kun. Are you prepared for our fight with Gaara-san today?" I nudged his shoulder and smiled.
He raised a ginger brow, "Of course. When am I ever not prepared, Toshiko?" He nudged my shoulder back gently.
I laughed softly, "That is very true, Masa-kun. At least you aren't like Nana-chan!" We laughed together and fell into a comfortable silence. A few minutes passed as we both admired the village.
"Here comes scatter-brains…," Masaru nodded towards the left to where Nanaki was racing towards us, a cloud of dust following behind her.
"Tooooshi-chaaaaan! Masaaaaa-kuuuuun!" Nanaki tackled Masaru, though he didn't budge. He was so used to Nanaki's antics that they didn't bother him much anymore, but that didn't mean that Nanaki didn't like to try.
She had a massive grin on her face and clung to Masaru's back, wrapping her arms and legs around him, "Ready for our fight, guys?"
I rolled my eyes playfully, "When are we ever ill-prepared, Nana-chan?"
She paused and thought for a moment, "I suppose that's true… Great! This will be awesome!" It was quiet.
We all busted up laughing, just like old times.
I wiped my eyes free of laughing tears and grinned, "I miss you guys. We will have to go on a mission after we beat Gaara-san." I winked and they both smiled back.
We had finally arrived at the oasis, Gaara and Baki were already waiting for us. Nanaki hopped off Masaru's back and walked with us for the last few feet.
"You better be ready Gaara! We aren't going to hold back!" Nanaki was giddy with excitement; it was entertaining watching her squirm in anticipation.
The Jinchuriki narrowed his eyes. He wasn't used to being so openly challenged. I laughed, "Stay here for a moment you two. I'll be back in a moment." I walked over to Gaara and his caretaker, a grin on my lips.
"Don't underestimate those two, Gaara-san. You'd be surprised what they can do when they put their minds to it," I pulled off my glasses and polished them up. "Baki-san, would you be so kind to be the moderator? Allow anything, unless it means imminent death."
The sensei nodded. I hopped back to my teammates as I placed my glasses back on my nose. We waited for the signal.
…
…
"Begin," Baki said one word and jumped back onto one of the rocks by the oasis to keep an eye on the battle.
I stepped backwards behind my two teammates, they didn't move a muscle as we all waited for something to happen. Nanaki slipped four shuriken from her pouch and threw them at Gaara with precise aim. As expected, Gaara's sand caught the weapons with ease.
"Kai!" The weapons specialist clapped her hands and yelled; three large explosions blasted through Gaara's sand, sending a massive dust cloud into the air. Masaru and Nanaki took the opportunity to disappear; I didn't bother, I was no good at hiding my chakra.
My hands moved quickly, removing the caps from my canteens in one swift motion and performing hand seals, ending with the seal of the ox, "Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu!"
Water rose from my canteens, forming into a long slender dragon. I thrust my hands forward, sending the dragon towards Gaara. At the last moment, it dove to the ground, soaking the sand around and under the red-head, forming a thick mud.
"Doton: Arijigoku!" Masaru's booming voice echoed around us the moment my technique was complete. Gaara's eyes narrowed and looked around, trying to figure out where the ginger was. He started ripping the sand away from the water around him, but the water just sunk deeper into in sand.
Suddenly, the ground underneath shuddered and collapsed in a ring, causing a quicksand like effect in the process. Gaara jumped away from the trap, only to be met with more weapons from Nanaki. She had opened one of her scrolls and was summoning the weapons hidden inside at an alarming rate.
Gaara's absolute defense easily caught all of the objects, even sending them back to Nanaki. She flipped a sai out of its holster on her belt and deflected each and every one, a grin on her lips the entire time.
Four Masaru's erupted from the sand, sending kunai with exploding tags at Gaara. Sand caught them in mid jump, sending them crashing together; rocks and boulders shot away from the collision. The Doton user's Iwa Bunshin were unrivaled in Sunagakure.
In the meantime I had jumped onto the surface of the water in the oasis. I didn't have much chakra left and resorted to using the water available instead of creating and manipulating my own. I dipped my hands into the water, pulling out fist-sized disks of water, and threw them at my opponent, "Suiton: Mizu Shuriken!"
I threw as many as I could as fast as possible, slowing down Gaara's sand until I had a better opening. Gaara was focused on Nanaki, as she seemed to pose the most threat to him. Just as his sand would be about to capture Nanaki, one of my water disks would soak that area, giving Nanaki a chance to move out of the way.
Gaara's eyes travelled to me without his body moving. I gulped softly. Sand shot towards me at an alarming rate, but I held my position. "Doton: Doryuu Heki!" The real Masaru quickly stood from below the sand, his favorite hiding place in the desert, and slammed his hands into the ground. A large rock wall shot into the air, blocking Gaara's sand at the last moment.
"Now, Masa-kun!" I yelled and shot towards him. He held out his hands, fingers laced together and ready. I jumped onto his hands. He propelled me into the air as I jumped; our combined momentum allowed me to travel much higher into the air than usual.
I forced my remaining chakra into the last attack I could perform as I formed the required hand seals. "Suiton: Mizuame Nabara!" I shot my favorite attack at Gaara for the second time. I soaked as much of his sand as I could, forcing extra chakra into the starch to harden it further, "Nana-chan!" I fell towards the ground, drained of chakra. My part was over.
My eyes widened as sand clustered under me, slowing my fall and catching me. Gaara's eyes were on me, distracted for only a moment. I was placed gently on the ground.
Nanaki grinned, "Yes!" She sprinted forward, disappearing due to the amount of speed. Appearing for only brief seconds, she sent punches at Gaara that the surrounding desert sand could barely block. Masaru joined in on the barrage. Though not near as fast as Nanaki, his punches were powerful enough to break through the sand.
"You're going up!" Nanaki suddenly laughed and kicked upward, landing a hit squarely to Gaara's chest. I heard a grunt from the red-head, I doubted he had gotten kicked in the chest many times before. She flipped both her sai out and chased after the flying Jinchuriki, slashing at the leather and cloth holding Gaara's gourd.
Gaara's large accessory fell from his shoulders and headed towards the ground. Sand from the desert caught it and started going after its master. Gaara's eyes were wide as Nanaki slashed at him, cutting into skin and clothing.
I noticed Gaara's skin start to crack and shatter, his sand armor was faltering under Nanaki's attacks. She suddenly flipped around with one of her legs extended, readying for a final attack. Just as her leg was about to connect with Gaara's skull, sand erupted and surrounded her leg, trapping the weapons specialist in its grasp.
Nanaki gasped as her eyes widened. Gaara's sand had caught up with them much faster than she had expected and lost the advantage. Suspended by sand, the Jinchuriki was safe, Nanaki, not so much.
Gaara's sand armor started repairing itself, filling in the cracks and holes. He knelt on his sand platform, clutching his head with his eyes closed. Nanaki was panicing, squirming and slashing at the sand starting to surround her.
My eyes widened, "Nanaki!" I thought through the adrenaline building up and looked at Baki. "Do someth-!"
CRACK!
Nanaki screamed as her collar bone snapped from the pressure of the sand on her body.
Well, there's the eighth part in this series. ;o Oh my goodness, what's Gaara going to do now that he broke Nanaki's collar bone? More importantly, how is Toshiko going to react to the whole situation?
Review! ;D Cause I allllways update faster when I get loads of them.
