Scroll 10, Nightfall

Author's note: chapter is rated NC-17 for mature acts.

…

The moon was bright and shining into the window that was set in the male side of the Konoha building. The wind was cool enough to need coats – but only if one was out and about in the dead of night. One of those people was known as Yukari Uzaruki. She stood atop the squat, tan and brown colored round roof of the Konoha Building. She wore nothing but a shirt and short, ridiculously short underwear. Her long, ankle-long black hair fell in sheets down her back and legs.

Before her, stood Gaara wearing his usual attire of the tan Kazekage suit and his sand-filled gourd on his back. His arms stoically crossed against his chest as his sleepless eyes stared into her red orbs.

Nothing had been verbally said yet but the kunoichi had but no choice to obey the Kazekage as he had entered her room at twilight and exhumed her from her sick-bed. She knew, deep inside her mind, that Gaara, too, was a pervert; a very well hidden one at that. He had it out for her blood ever since she had stood up to him as he was about to kill Rock Lee. Having all been genin – her, Lee and Gaara – they shared a twisted, broken bond of something that had yet to be titled.

Indeed, it anyone knew – Konoha or Suna – that the Kazekage had abducted her from her bed to force her to stand nearly naked in the unforgiving elements of the Suna night, people would be more terrified of the Bijuu container than they already were.

"Yukari…look at me…" Gaara's warm eyes narrowed as the kunoichi before him turned away to look – rather uselessly – at the sound Barokendo produced as he angrily stomped around in the floors beneath her feet.

"Hai, Gaara-sama." Those judgeless crimson eyes turned away from the roof tiles and entered, once more, into his green eyes. That's when he made his move. The sand that had been poking and teasing her since five minutes ago thickened into a formidable force and curled soothingly around her form; forcing her legs apart. Gaara's aim: to finally get a taste of her blood.

The sand that was inexplicably connected to Shokaku within him curled slowly into her crotch, soaking up her cycle's blood as it flowed freely from within the kunoichi.

Yukari stiffened as she stood there; the odd, gritty pleasure shooting up her spine as Gaara's one-of-a-kind sand entered her.

"I…don't know why you insist on doing this to me, Gaara-sama. Naruto kicked your ass to get you to change." Yukari's mouth gasped out her words.

"A promise is a promise; even though I made it to myself, Yukari." Gaara's lips curled into pure delight as her blood's spice roused the Shokaku within. "I considered it fair to ask this of you rather than kill you like I first planned."

"…" Yukari only shuddered as Gaara's sand made its way into her untouched womb and soaked up the blood that was to be shed.

"Besides, you once had a challenge to show me the 'joy of life'. Consider it met."

Sand moved to intercept Yukari's shuddering scream of pleasure as the sand inside her exploded her nerves with a tingling pleasure.

XXX

Sheena started mumbling in her sleep, shaking a bit. If Kankuro was wearing anything, he would feel them being pulled on as Sheena got a grip on his shirt. If not, he would feel his arm being gripped tightly.

"No…please…father…stop…" She continued to shake in fear as her nightmare played itself out in her mind.

Kankuro, having avoiding any and all that he could for the rest of the afternoon, had resigned himself stuck as Sheena was glued it his hand. It took convincing to get her to remove her chain from around his leg; but to parting her from him completely was a lost cause. The puppet master ended up having to place Karasu between him and the girl as they went to bed.

Now the Suna ninja sat up with a resigned groan and looked at Sheena.

"Tch, now what, Girly? I'm right here…" Yea Kankuro was whipped and he knew it. But how to deal with it on other levels was something that still bugged him.

Sheena's mumblings just continued to get worse. She kept trying to grip Karasu, as though holding him closer would help. She didn't know it was Karasu though, she had fallen asleep without the puppet between her and Kankuro.

"Daddy; stop, it hurts…please…" She started to cry in her sleep, her grip on the puppet getting weaker as though her nightmares were starting to affect her physical state, though she still tried to grip onto it weakly.

Kankuro watched this and sighed in annoyance. Reaching over and sliding Karasu down so he could take its place, the Puppet-master placed a hand on Sheena's face and another on her shoulder.

"Hey, girly, what's wrong?" Poor, clueless Kankuro.

XXX

Usagi could feel herself get tapped on the shoulder, before hearing Jake lean in and speak into her ear.

"Barokendo's entered the building. I'm not sure why but he seems to be more pissed off than normal, so…I'm just warning you now so you can take whatever precautions you need. I'm leaving the moment he comes into sight. Good luck." And with that, Jake exited the room.

True to his words, there were stomping noises heard coming from down the hall. Wydra had, in her sleep, somehow ended up on Usagi's bed cuddled up next to her. Usagi's eyes opened as she rolled onto her back; staring up at the ceiling.

"Great rabbit turds, just NOW the jerk comes back!" Throwing the covers off herself and not Wydra, Usagi snarled as she grabbed her kunai pack and stalked to the door; not really wanting to tell the titanic jerk there was a castration threat in effect if he entered the room.

Usagi's timing: god sent; as she threw open her door to beat Barokendo – only by a few muscle twitches – as the ninja was about to open it himself. Unfortunately for the door; it swung outward and hit Barokendo square in the gut.

One of the laws of physics might be that every action had an equal and opposite reaction. As the door swung out and hit Barokendo, it immediately swung back in but it was in splinters, coming apart and falling to the ground. The next thing to happen was his large fist going into the wall, continuing through and stopping next to Usagi's head.

As the light in the room had been off but the hallway light on, Barokendo's figure looked a bit more evil than normal. The look on his face was destructive, as if he was just looking for the slightest hint to break things, break people; or break anything that moved in a way he thought didn't fit his skewed view of the world.

His lips were curled back in a soundless snarl, his eyes momentarily closed, indicating he hadn't even looked where he'd punched and Usagi could be in a lot of pain right now. He kept that pose for a moment, before taking a deep breath, pulling his hand out of the wall, and making the door frame a little wider as he moved into the room.

Appearance wise, he seemed to be back to normal. He had all of his spikes back, his coat was on again, and so was his helmet. It was still different though…there were large lumps in his coat that moved about. From the look on his face, his lips twitched with every movement, as though this addition to his appearance was the source of his irritation.

Wydra was frozen with fear, her eyes wide open but her body frozen on the bed as she stared up at Baro.

XXX

Shozaku was just laying there in his bed, eyes closed but unable to fall asleep. There was a lot on his mind, things that'd recently happened; his role as the leader of what remained of the Wheel-nin, Yukari; Yukari and Kakashi as a pair. The only indication he gave that he might be awake was his hand idly playing with a pair of dice at his side. He was debating on whether or not to get up and go see how his Yukari and Yamira were doing.

Shozaku yawned, finally starting to feel the hints of exhaustion overtake him. He moved to put his dice away in his pocket when he heard an old, familiar, and un-welcomed voice in his ear.

"Boss, you gotta see this…" spoke a shady voice that sounded like it belonged to a scrawny crack-addict.

"Spades, I thought I told you I was done with all that. This is the second time you've spoken to me, and that's two times too many."

"That ain't true boss, I saw yous doin summa ya old tricks t'dee, so Spades thought you might been back en ta biz…" the voice crackled a little, sounding like it had a throat infection.

"Spades, you've got ten seconds to tell me exactly what you're doing here, where you're not wanted, before I banish you like I should have five years ago…" Shozaku's voice was even, but his body language spoke murder.

To everybody else, it would appear that Shozaku was just laying there talking to himself like a crazy person. To Shozaku, there was a tiny figure sitting next to his head that could only be described as a miniature stereo-typical ninja, with a spade imprint all over his clothes, and spades attached to his side.

"Dat girlie yous did yor trick on, some guys movin' in on ya turf and it don' look lahk she lahk it nun." Spades rattled on in his strange dialect. This was something Shozaku had imprinted on him many years ago so people, on the off chance they could see him, couldn't decipher his speech quickly enough. Shozaku's eyes opened, and narrowed, as he looked at Spades.

"You tried this before Spades. If you're lying, this time you're not just gone, you're eliminated. Show me…" Shozaku said as he got to his feet. He followed Spades to the nearby window, and crawled out of it. A moment later, his head poked over the edge of the roof, witnessing what Gaara was doing. He sighed, turning towards the little monstrosity on his shoulder.

"Alright then Spades…you know the call for help signal. If I make it, go to this man." Shozaku listed off Kakashi's qualities. "And say this…" he whispered into Spades' ear.

XXX

Yukari's red eyes now glared at Gaara as his sand finished sapping her shedding blood and withdrew – not only did Gaara get a taste of her blood, but her other juices too, and it intrigued him enough to step forward to caress her face.

"You are spicy, Yukari-chan." Gaara's stern face softened as he looked at her as a boy would look a beautiful girl.

"You're done, now, Kazekage-sama, let it go." She hated the fact that her body had betrayed her deeply hidden primal fear of Gaara and gave into climaxing for him; for his sand. It wasn't even his flesh that did it; but the stupid, mindless sand.

Shozaku sighed. He knew the look on Gaara's eyes, he'd seen it more than enough back in his day. If he separated them forcefully, Gaara would only get angry and either try to get her back, or cause problems. Shozaku did take good note of Yukari's words, and hearing that, decided to pull himself up over the edge as though he'd just gotten there.

"You heard the women, Kazekage. Let it go. You don't wanna press your boundaries with Konoha now, do you?" Bringing up the tentative alliance between the villages was the best non-violent weapon he had at the moment.

Yukari's head whipped at Shozaku, then Gaara, then back to the Gambler; her face going red with rage, embarrassment and just plain simple fear.

"OH shit." She muttered to herself. "Kazekage-sama, if…if you're done here…I'm leaving…"

Gaara's murderous gaze – one he never used on Yukari – returned to his face as Shozaku interrupted.

"…Fine. I'll talk to your sensei at noon tomorrow about your mission; we'll establish a meeting time then." Speaking his intent in a cold, even voice, Gaara walked to the edge of the roof and allowed his sand to create him a platform. He nodded once to the two ninjas and left.

XXX

Usagi inhaled sharply and stood rock-still; until she was spoken to. Barokendo, a jerk he may be, had the look of a killer at the moment.

Barokendo growled loudly for a few seconds, before letting his hand fall back to his side. His eyes seemed to move around the room aimlessly for a few seconds, before focusing on Usagi, and then Wydra.

"Rabbit woman…you've got experience with horny women…how the fuck do I get this thing off me? And girl; I'm not going to kill it…but get your friend off me, or it won't be long until I can't help but bring this house down…" His eyes twitched, as the bump-shapes under his coat stopped moving, almost seeming as though they were trying to make themselves less noticeable.

"Uh…" Usagi's mouth hung open. "Give me a name…I can work with and I'll see what I can do." Her courtesan brain sped up a mile a minute as her thoughts raced.

"G…Gilligan? Is that you?" Wydra said, her fear seeming to just wash away with concern, curiosity, and confusion. She got off the bed, and turned to Usagi to speak. "It's my friend, she…I think she got attached to him like Sheena did to that puppet-guy, only worse…" she was at a loss for words for the moment.

Baro just sat down on the floor, shaking with irritation and rage but trying his best to remain calm and let the other two women take care of the situation. He sat down for their benefit, so they could reach or talk to Gilligan.

"Gilligan-san?" Usagi looked dubiously at the lumps that stopped moving. "Can I talk to you for a minute, please?" The kunoichi was unarmed and unthreateningly drawing out the third female in the room.

"Because, you know, I'd like to talk about it with you…the thing you're going through right now."

XXX

Elsewhere in the Village, Kakashi had finished talking to Shikamaru and Temari; and had sent a messenger hawk back to its perch in Konoha. The home-ward bound hawk carried his report and more – all coded – as Kakashi lumbered back to the building.

The moonlight illuminated his hair as the jounin watched, with his ears, the scene taking place both on the roof and within the building. Gaara had just walked by him, saying nothing as the large giant of a ninja, Barokendo, walked the opposite way; into the building – the big guy's rage was in a class all its own.

"Ooooook." Kakashi said slowly and allowed both the Kazekage and the Wheel Giant to pass him; one on his right, the other on his left – one leaving the building; the other entering it.

"I am going to not say anything here." Kakashi muttered quietly under his masked smirk as Barokendo silently – smolderingly - made his way up the steps.

Giving the titan a minute's leeway, Kakashi tiredly entered the building himself and opened the door into the room he and the Gambler Wheel Nin shared for their stay in Sunagakure.

XXX

When she finally got a hold of Kankuro, Sheena calmed down rather significantly and clung to him tightly. Not forcefully like she had been the day prior, but rather like she needed him. Her body slowly stilled until she seemed calm, then opened her tear-stained eyes and looked up at him.

"Oh…it's you…good…" She smiled weakly, and nuzzled her head against his chest. She spoke, though it was a little muffled, against him. "I was having a bad dream about something that happened awhile ago…I haven't in awhile but I guess yesterday kind of reminded me of it…"

Kankuro sighed and shook his head; now that his black cowl was off, his mud-brown hair stuck out like Sheena's previous hairstyle. "Bad dreams are gone now, can you please go sleep with the Konoha ninja!" A weak attempt to get her to go away. Kankuro still had a tough-boy image to maintain.

"As soon as a meeting is set up for the Konoha ninjas and their mission, I'll bring up….your concern." Kankuro the idiot; a boy clueless on how to handle a fragile relationship. "I'm sure your friends are worried about you…" Sheena shook her head, clinging to him a little more desperately.

"It's because you were here that the bad dream went away…please don't make me go. I don't wanna re-live what my father did again…please let me stay." Her voice sounded like it was tearing up a little. "And my friends already know…it's not something I really want other people to hear about." She gave a low whistle, wondering if Reena was around. The puppy also had a calming effect on her.

The black and white puppy started from the deep sleep it had been in and sat up to look at the pair of humans.

"Woff!" It said and stretched, before falling back over to sleep.

"Like the dog, said: to go sleep, it's the dead of nightfall and there's nothing else to do here." Kankuro smiled softly and ran a hand through Sheena's hair. "I promise I'll be here in the morning."

Sheena nodded, cuddling up to him. "Thank you…" She fell back asleep, significantly calmer than before. Kankuro would hear somebody knocking, quietly but firmly, on his door.

XXX

"We can help Gilligan…this lady is real experienced and I'm your friend…just come on out, I was really worried about you all night. Please?" Wydra pleaded, standing next to Usagi.

Barokendo's coat slowly shifted until it was the same shape as usual, no bumps or other crawly things moving underneath it. Gilligan, looking only a year or so older than she had just a few days ago, poked her head out from the bottom of the coat.

"I don't wanna come out…you'll think I'm ugly now…"

"Tch, I'll be the judge of that, Gilligan-san, now come out and let me clean you up." Usagi squatted down and smiled. "You're hungry; let's get some fruit or something…other than meat…"

She was dead if Barokendo made the connection of her jest…so truly dead. The kunoichi had a barrel full of an inkling of what Gilligan went through.

"I promise…I won't think you're ugly." Usagi nodded again.

Barokendo did make the connection, and he did give her a look. The only two things stopping Usagi's death; were promises he'd made to Usagi's safety, and the fact that she was helping him get rid of something; he hope more than just temporarily. He took a deep breath, and his body went momentarily still as a statue. At present, under whatever examination, he would appear to be dead to any not experienced with him personally.

Gilligan nodded. "I am kind of tired of meat…my jaw hurts…" Although the truth in that statement might be slightly more alarming than what most would think. She sighed, and began crawling out from the cloak. Strangely though, she took a piece of it with her, as it wrapped itself around her body, covering most of her features. From what little could be seen, she had a few oddly-strange bumps in a ring around her head, but without closer inspection in a better-lit area bumps is all they'd appear to be. She stood there, looking around.

"Uhm…can we go to a bath-house or something?"

"Of course we can, if you're both up to it, eh, Wydra-san?" Usagi crowed triumphantly as she extracted the girl from Barokendo, and earning her life back in the process – the titan would have surely snapped her neck at her humor.

"I'll get the towels and the pee-room is in there…" the red-eyed girl pointed to the adjoining room and twirled once; stopping to look at Barokendo's inert form. Then, giving him a kiss on the head – she being the right mean bitch she was – Usagi offered him a place to spar her tomorrow anytime. 'Don't worry about hurting me, you'd be amazed at how hard I am to get a hold of…' was her message.

Wydra nodded, getting a towel for herself before going over to tap Barokendo's still form. She stood there in surprise. She usually got an angry reaction out of him for that. She poked him for a few more seconds until Gilligan came out of the bathroom.

"Okay…I'm ready to go…" Gilligan said, the cloak still wrapped around her. Wydra smiled at her, then turned to Usagi so she could lead them to wherever it was they'd be going.

Usagi smiled and exited the room, escorting her two female charges to the first floor hot springs – for some R&R.

Gilligan nodded, walking uncomfortably close to Usagi-Yukari, as she noticed how empty it was. As they walked into the better-lit area, a more alarming thing might come to light. The little bumps on her head had fingernails on them. It was only a horrible mystery as to what she was currently hiding under the coat. She stayed silent for now, almost nervous to be here even though she'd asked to come.

Wydra gave Gilligan a comforting pat on the back, flinching for just a second when she noticed the details as well, but talking anyway.

"It'll be fine. We're all alone here, right Usagi?"

"Yes indeed." If the kunoichi noticed that Gilligan thought her to be Yukari, Usagi didn't mention it. "This is within Konoha property, even though it's within the Suna Village. We are still in our Konoha building, so the only other people here are Wheel and Konoha ninjas. Namely Shikamaru, but he's not here right now."

It was the truth as Usagi stripped down to her skin and turned to let the two other girls view her slender, knock-out form. The kunoichi, unlike Yukari, knew Wydra and Gilligan better in their new forms and tried to forge a friendship that she otherwise didn't care to with their brat-kid forms. It was a type of kindness to pre-teens coming into their womanhood.

XXX

After being unable to get his attention with the knock, Kankuro's door would be opened and a semi-large figure would walk in. If it had been locked, the sound of the lock being quietly broken could be heard before the stranger's entry.

Kankuro sat upright and hissed at the hulking figure that entered his room. He leapt out of bed, hands high in unarmed peace.

"Dude, I swear I wasn't touching her, man. She just had nightmares so I made her wake up."

Poor, poor hapless Kankuro…

What stood before him was a much different Baro. It was only about six feet tall, had normal hair, was relatively unscarred, and had normal hands. The biggest thing that would make him BaRoKenDo was the look in his eyes, the 'sit down and shut up' look.

"It is almost comforting how you treat sex and things of an intimate nature, and if you're not touching her after how she seems to think of you, then we have a problem. I already know what nightmare she was having, the same one with our father. I came only to say this because I know this kind of situation is rather…strange for you. If you do not want her, you tell me. She will not leave without force, and if you break her heart, I will pop yours. If that's understood, we will get a long; and to make things easier for her, is there anything you wish to know?" the voice also sounded the same.

Kankuro, a strong ninja in his own right; was powerless to address the situation. Sitting on a nearby chair, the Suna Sibling opened and closed his mouth like a landed fish. The turmoil in his brain was hard to sift through; so it was minutes until Kankuro came up with his first question:

"Why me, man? The girl's obviously crazy if she thinks a bum like me is worth shit."