Sakura's eyes were brimming with tears, as were Ino's. Choji had stopped munching and Naruto was quiet. Actually, the whole arena was quiet. 'Miyako' looked towards Gaara, his face was a mixture of pain, sadness and most of all recognition. She blinked and her eyes were brown again. "I'm sorry," she whispered her voice back to normal.
"So … you're … a … demon?" Shikamaru asked. Miyako nodded.
"I know it isn't that rare anymore I mean, now that there are ten of us, well for now, in at least five years the natural order of the world will be restored, only nine demons will walk the planet again, I will not be one of them," she spoke softly. "Why?" Gaara growled. Her head snapped in his direction.
"Like Neji said, you can't avoid your destiny, I know that now he has changed his mind but he was still right, my destiny will involve my death because I made my destiny involve my death, protecting you is not a part time job and even ANBU Black Ops would severely struggle. The only thing that is certain, is that the prophecy will be fulfilled," she looked at her bare feet.
"What prophecy?" Shikamaru asked.
"I made it myself, it is more like a poem, and it goes like this: I will protect you no matter what, my blood is yours to spill, my body is yours to break, my heart is yours to destroy but my soul is yours forever. And sometime in the future it will go like this: I will protect you no matter what, my blood is yours to spill, my body is yours to break, my heart is yours to destroy but my soul is yours forever. My blood has been spilt for you, my body broken, my heart has been shattered, my duty has been fulfilled, and yet my soul remains yours. The second part of the prophecy has been completed, the first one will be the last one completed then I will be free, I will soar upon the clouds and wait for Gaara to join me. That will be my true happiness," she explained.
"I won't let you kill yourself," Gaara yelled.
"Shut up, and let me finish my match," she snapped and turned back to Shikamaru. Carefully she placed the loop around her middle finger, so it was on the back of her hand. She aligned the bracelets on her wrist, black was the closest then blue then red. She wove the plaited string under the black bracelet, pulled it up slightly then put it under, knotting the black bracelet in place. She did the same with the blue one then the red. The green/yellow/blue string travelled up her arm to her elbow crease, in a perfect line. She pulled it tight then grabbed a kunai and engraved some symbols in her palm. Wind, Water and Fire. Blood freely dripped off her fingertips as she held her hand, palm down. "What are you doing?" Shikamaru asked.
"You'll see," she grinned wildly. She pressed her undamaged left hand to her forehead. "Mind Chakra, activate," she murmured as red energy began building up in her left palm. After several seconds, she placed her collected chakra into the red bracelet. Placing her left palm on her gut, she did the same thing, but this time building up blue chakra, "Body Chakra, Activate." Placing it inside the blue bracelet her hand flitted to her heart. Inhaling deeply she began storing black chakra. "Heart Chakra, Activate," she growled and winced, placing it in the black band. She pulled the plaited string tight and a feral grin replaced her painful one. Suddenly her hand began to tremble. "Not now," she gasped her face a mixture of shock, terror and pain. She grasped the top of her right arm but the tremors had already spread to her body. Her knees buckled beneath her as her eyes watered. "No, no ... father … save me … help … please," she murmured and clutched her head, screaming uncontrollably. "I recognise that, remember Gaara does the same thing, before that thing comes out," Kankuro whispered to Temari.
"I know, I'm worried, she said she needed medicine or else her body would fall apart," Temari choked.
"Temari, Kankuro, what's going to happen to Miyako, what's going to happen to Tora?" Gaara pulled at Kankuro's sleeve. Miyako's screams became louder and ear piercing. "We need to do something," Gaara looked innocent, completely innocent because he didn't know what was going to happen, was she going to die, or change or return to normal. For once Gaara was truly worried and even scared. "SAVE ME … HELP … DON'T LEAVE … YOU … PROMISED," Miyako screeched. Gaara gasped as a memory came flooding back, Miyako lay on the bed, her face covered with sweat, her face was twisted in pain and agony as she screamed for Gaara as she yelled for help. "Blood, she needs blood," Gaara whispered. 'And if her blood is good for me then I'm guessing my blood is good for her,' "Make me bleed, for Miyako's sake make me bleed," Gaara shook his brother. Kankuro gasped then nodded, he drew a kunai and cut his palm. Gaara watched in fascination as scarlet droplets flew through the sky. After pulling himself out of the daze, he jumped down out of the waiting zone and flitted to Miyako's side. "Miyako, look at me," he briefly touched her shoulder before she snarled and jumped back, then again she collapsed to the ground. "Sand Coffin," he said hoarsely as sand covered Miyako, holding her to the ground as he touched her cheek with his palm. Her skin slowly began absorbing his blood, her brown eyes glazed over and her body hung limp, only supported by the sand and his hand. "Stay awake, stay alive," he whispered into her ear. She blinked once and her face softened. "You stayed," she whimpered.
"Yeah, I promised didn't I," she grinned and removed his hand and the sand surrounding her. "You have a round to win, remember," he jumped back to the waiting area.
"Yeah, I remember, now where was I, oh yeah," she pulled the plaited string tight and cautiously got to her feet. "Triple elemental rasengan," she yelled as black chakra began to flow around her. "Fiery Mind, Attack," she threw a small ball of fire chakra at Shikamaru, stunning him and burning through the sand, setting him free. "Not very good are you," he smirked.
"Watery Body, Go," she threw medium sized, twin balls of water chakra, both knocking him over and damaging his arms. "Heart of the Storm, Complete," she threw a large ball of black, wind chakra forward. Forcing rocks to fly everywhere. It left a large canal in the ground as Shikamaru was hit, making him fly and knocking him unconscious. "I declare this match …" the proctor began.
"Stop," Miyako, snarled, "I have not finished," her eyes began to glaze red. He paced back two steps. She undid the plaited string and pulled it round so it was on her palm. She placed it under the black band, pulled it up, and wrapped it around her middle finger before knotting it half way. Using her extra long canines, she drew blood from each of her fingertips on her left hand and drew them down her right forearm, brushing the string. She stalked over to Shikamaru's limp body and placed her hand on his forehead. Grunting she pulled a string of chakra from her heart and connected it to the black band. "What is she doing," the Kazekage asked.
"The string round her middle finger is there to focus her chakra; she is using her ability and 'heart chakra' to heal Shikamaru. The rasengan that she did severs chakra veins, tears muscles, damages the brain, breaks bones and can rupture organs, I've only every seen it done once, it killed the last person who did it because heart chakra is almost impossible to tap into and life threatening unless you are literally dying and even then it is hard. She is using this chakra to heal the wounds she had inflicted upon Shikamaru, but it only heals the inside, third degree burns cannot be healed," the Hokage explained.
"So she is talented, but only because of a demon," the Kazekage purred.
"Yes but even without her demon, she is a formidable opponent," the Hokage concluded.
"I've heal him, the match is now over," Miyako told the proctor before walking off, towards the doors. "Where are you going," Gaara asked.
"You're going to break your promise, aren't you, I can feel it, I'm protecting Konoha no matter what, I don't care which side you are on," a tear escaped from the corner of her eye. "How…"
"I spied, that is the reason why I broke down a month ago because I knew that you would choose this path, I have now learnt to toughen up a bit but …" she turned and ran. "Miyako…" he breathed, trying catching up to her but she ran faster and faster and then she was only a blur.