Her Bold Defiance and His Jealous Desicion
Sorry this took so long!! My computer got a ton a of viruses, and soon the Start bar wouldn't even appear at the computer startup!! (Slaps brother on the back. Hard.) Yup. Little brothers and thier downloading crap. You gotta love 'em. Ehe he he... So we had to have it taken in to the shop. Why we didn't do this earlier is beyond me. I told my dad to take it in to be checked all the way back in May, but Nooooo. Ashley doesn't know what she's talking about when she says the computer's unusually sluggish. Ashley is a nimrod that knows nothing of her computer. Again, I'm so sorry for the three months of delay!!!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I am just a crazed, phycotic, dreamy, wishful writer of it, like many people. X D
Drip.
Somewhere in the darkness, water fell from some unseen ledge.
Drip.
Kiele furrowed her eyebrows, as if hoping that squinting might help her see into the abyss. She cautiously stepped forward, when something wet seeped between her toes. Though she looked down at her feet, she saw nothing but black. Wiggling her toes, fear made her heart pace quicken.
This liquid was not water... It was too thick.
Drip.
She gasped, stumbling backward, nearly losing her balance. The dripping sound was closer than it had been before. Terror consumed her very being.
"Gaara-sama!!" She shrieked.
The only response she received was her own voice echoing off invisible walls.
"Kazekage-sama! Where are you?"
She took off at a run, her footsteps and voice resounding from somewhere unseen.
"Temari-san! Kankurou-san!"
Tripping over her own feet, she experienced a face-plant. Her face was covered with the liquid. Screaming, the liquid filled her mouth with metallic taste. She spat it out, sitting up.
Drip.
Splat.
The blood struck the top of her head. Holding her breath and afraid of what she'd see, she gazed skyward. She saw nothing but black.
But when her eyes returned to the black in front of her, she saw something. A little boy in a loose-fitting tan tunic sat with his knees against his chest. Kiele opened her mouth to adress him, when she noticed the boy's shoulders shaking. He was crying soudlessly.
Kiele knew the boy looked familiar, but she couldn't quite place where she could have seen him before. His head was burried in his knees, so Kiele couldn't see his face. But his distinct hue of red hair was a near dead give-away.
It was Gaara, as a child.
A smile crept onto her face, running to the boy. She knelt down in front of him, gently lifting his chin with two fingers.
"You... You're..."
His face was streaked with red from tears, but there was no mistaking those black-rimmed eyes. Before she had a chance to react, Gaara lunged at her, teal eyes wild. He seized her forearms, and, dispite her age in comparison to his, she couldn't move.
"Don't leave me!!" He screamed at her.
Kiele's eyes widened, shocked.
"I've been left by myself for the last time!!" He cried, on the verge of tears.
Sand coiled around her, suffocating her.
"Gaara..." She breathed.
"I'll never be alone again!! You'll stay with me forever! I won't let you run away from me!!"
He brought her to his chest, sand keeping her from doing anything. He wrapped his small arms around her as best as he could.
"You'll never leave me alone again, Kiele!!"
"I'd rather..."
Gaara's eyes widened, becoming even more savage.
"I'd rather you die!!"
Kiele squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for death to come. She couldn't move, and the sand only seemed to get tighter and tighter. It would only be a matter of time before...
The sand fell to the ground. Gaara's arms seemed to grow, as they wrapped themselves even more around her frame.
"You'll never leave me alone again..." He repeated, his voice deeper, more calm.
"I'd rather you die."
Kiele's eyes sprang open. This deep voice, she knew well. Her eyes slowly opened, and she gazed up to see him looking down at her. The Gaara she knew... The Gaara she loved. The Kazekage. She burried her head in her chest and grasped ahold of his crison jacket, feeling tears well up in her eyes.
"Gaara... I was so scared, I was so...
alone..."
Suddenly consumed with fury, she tightened her gasp on Gaara's jacket, angrily threw him away from her. The young Kage stumbled on his knees as Kiele rose to her feet. Glaring down on his, her eyes narrowed dangerously.
"You left me so alone," She seethed.
"You never understood what I was going through with your father! You never even cared to try! I've tried to gain your acceptance... several times!! You promised when your father died, you'd let me come back to you! But you lied to me!! Ever since then, you've done nothing but push me away! Don't think I didn't notice! What's wrong, Gaara?! Afraid to have a woman get too close to your heart? That's your one fear, isn't it? Afraid that you might be wrong, that someone cares about you? Kazekage... No! You're no Kazekage! You're not worthy of that title! You're just like your father- a lying bastard!! I hate you!!"
Gaara sat on the ground, staring up at her with vaccant eyes. Kiele covered her mouth, astonished and frightened as she collapsed onto the floor.
"What..."
"What was that all about...?"
"... You may call me Takai."
"Takai, hmm? If you are so, then welcome to the team."
"What?! You mean you really intend to allow that thing to fight?!"
"Grr... You little ingrate! Look at yourself! You're practically a cripple! You do you think you are, to judge me? I am no thing, idiot, I am a majestic animal, you incapacitated green freak!!"
Kiele's eyes slowly opened. She felt a frown creep onto her face as she attempted to sit up, but her body was so drained she could hardly do so. She wou;dn't be of any use in battle. Not today. Then she noticed the demon. She recgonized that voice. It was one she often heard in her mind.
"So, when Takai-san leaves my body, this is how pathetic I become...?"
"Sabaku no Gaara..." Kimimaro recited.
At the sight of Gaara, her anger to suddenly curse her leige shocked her.
"Why am I... so... furious...?"
Gaara stepped forward, sand levitating about his gourd.
"As your name implies, I'm guess ing that you use sand," Kimimaro suggested.
Gaara didn't answer, and the bones protruding from Kimimaro's body sank back into his skin.
Kimimaro lifted his arms, and his finger bones shot from his fingers. Gaara's sand wasted no time in defending himself, and lashing it out at the Kaguya. Kimimaro jumped back and up.
"Hessadan!" He called, lashing his arms out.
More of Gaara's sand rushed in front of him, deflecting the finger bullets. Kimimaro landed in a handstand, then flipped sideways, backwards, and all ways, evading the sand's attempts, shooting Hessadan at Gaara again and again only to be blocked by Gaara's sand.
"Sabaku no Gaara... What a stupid name," Kimimaro spat, trying to intimidate Gaara.
"Without your sand, you can't do a thing!"
Kimimaro launched more finger bullets at Gaara, who blocked and whipped at Kimimaro with his sand, thus beginning another flipping session on Kimimaro's part.
"Carrying around that heavy sand is proof!" Kimimaro mocked.
"Kimimaro, eh?" Kiele pondered aloud.
"How foolish. Gaara-sama won't be beaten that easily."
Kimimaro landed, and Gaara glared at him past his sand defense.
"Suna Shigure."
"Not artistic at all," Kimmimaro replied snidely.
He tried to move, but sand around his feet held fast.
"As long as I have sand, I can do anything. You're the one who's a fool!" Gaara hissed, raising his hand and cupping the air.
Kiele gingerly eased herself onto her feet. She walked up beside Gaara, making several hand signs.
"Suna Futo- !"
The young Kazekage seized Kiele's fingers in mid-jutsu.
"This fight doesn't concern you. I already told you, stay out of it! Get behind Lee!" Gaara scolded, sending a sharp gaze her way.
Anger swelled withing Kiele's heart. Before she could even think about stopping herself, she yelled at him.
"No, Gaara! I will not stay out of the way!" She replied defiantly.
Gaara flinched. He hadn't been talked to like that, not since he had become Kazekage. He pushed off his thoughts, returning to the battle at hand. Kiele's cheeks flushed with embarassment.
"I- I merely mean, I want to help you-"
"Stay out of my way, Kiele. Try me if you think I'm joking."
"Y-yes, Kazekage-s-sama..."
Kiele's cheeks grew brighter.
Kimimaro cringed as the sand struck his body, piercing his skin.
"It's simple for me to create sand from the ground," Gaara announced.
Sand swirled and twisted around Kimimaro, enclosing his completely.
"You got him!" The green clothed shinobi cheered from behind Gaara.
"Not yet," Gaara replied, holding out his hand.
"Sabaku Sousou!"
He grasped the air tightly with his fist. The sand around Kimimaro compressed. Takai scowled.
"I see. Without me to suppress your memories, they are beginning to flow back naturally to you."
Gaara nearly fell over in shock. Kiele blinked.
"My... memories?!"
Takai turned to Gaara.
"Don't get your underwear in a knot," She adressed him.
"As soon as I reenter her body, I can suppress her memories once again."
Gaara nodded, frowning at the whole underwear thing.
"But- But I want to remember things!!!"
Her pleas were ignored. She heard the shifting of sand, and quickly turned to see Kimimaro's hand emerge from the sand, then slowly the rest of him thrust the sand aside.
"What impressive pressure," Kimimaro complimented.
"If I hadn't created those masks underneath my skin, I would've been crushed."
"Those bones..." Gaara mused aloud.
"He's a monster."
"What a troublesome body," the leaf shinobi agreed.
"I underestimated you, but I won't get trapped by your sand again," Kimimaro assured Gaara.
Gaara made several hand signs, and the wind around him picked up. A wave of sand began to rise from the ground in front of him.
"Ryuusa Bakuryu!" Gaara called.
Kimimaro stared in awe.
"Kimimaro..." Kiele whispered.
"Why are you trying to kill? I thought you were just going to stop him from hurting Lee-san!?" Kiele demanded, the sand crashing down on him.
He dodged and flipped, evading the sand until eventually it caught him off guard, engulfing him.
"... No matter who they are, you are not given the right to take someone else's life..."
Rock Lee stared, awed. Gaara's eyes hardened.
"Be quiet, or I'll personally shut you up."
The sand ran into the forest, knocking down trees. It no longer looked like a forest, but a sand flooded landscape.
"You did it!" Lee exclaimed.
Gaara glanced sidelong at her, then focused back on the sand. It had stopped, and Gaara placed his palms on the surface.
"Sabaku Taiso!"
The earth quake violently, nearly knocking Lee to his knees. Kiele balanced herself, kneeling onto the ground. A tail purged through the sand. Kiele shivered, grasping her forearms.
Gaara, on his knees, clamped his hands shut. Sand swirled and enclosed Kimimaro.
"Sabaku Kyuu."
Kimimaro easily broke through, then swirved and charged at Lee and Gaara. Kiele took a step back, afraid as Gaara thrust his hands forward, commanding his sand to attack. Kimimaro evaded every assult. Gaara placed his palm on the sand. It rose in his defense.
As if on cue, Kimimaro burst through the sand shield with ease, throwing Gaara aside.
"Oh no, Gaara-sama!!"
Kiele started to run after him, when Lee grabbed her sleeve
"Is that the limit to your so called "Ultimate Defense"?" Kimimaro questioned sarcastically.
"Rather disappointing, actually."
Gaara sat up, and the sides of his face began to peel and flake.
"I see," Kimimaro mused aloud.
"So you had sand covering you to begin with."
Lee rapidly jumped behind Kimimaro.
"He isn't your only opponent!" He cried.
"I'm here too!"
He twisted in the air, bending backwards. Kimimaro blocked with ease. He flipped his tail around to hit Lee. Gaara noticed and commanded his sand to block the impact. Kimimaro easily broke through, striking Lee in the back. Gaara's sand covered his face again, Lee hitting the ground. He sat up and glared at Kimimaro's back. Kiele wrung her hands tightly behind her back.
"That sand is a hinderance. I'll deal with you first, Gaara," Kimimaro sneered.
Kimimaro rached up to his back, and slowly unsheathed his own spinal column. He held it like a sword.
"Tessenka no Mai!"
He lashed it out at Gaara, and his sand came around him in his defense, Kimimaro's spine curving around Gaara's body.
"Flower!"
Kimimaro's free hand turned into a large spear like bone.
"This is the thickest bone in my body," Kimimaro explained.
"It'll easily pierce through you and your sand defense."
He coughed up blood. Kiele cringed.
Gaara's sand shot up and wrapped around Kimimaro's spine.
"Saikyou Zettai Bogyo, Shuukaku no Tate!" Gaara proclaimed.
Around Kimimaro's spine formed a giant monster that resembled a racoon. Kiele's eyes grew wide. Kimimaro ran his spear-like arm through the sand beast, spraying sand across the landscape. The two combatants struggled to stand thier ground, until Kimimaro's arm shattered.
"That's strong..."
"I collect the strongest minerals from underground, then pressurize them into dense sand around me," Gaara explained.
"You... that special jutsu... That's a Blood Line limit, isn't it?"
"Tha Kaguya clan's..." Kimimaro responded bitterly.
"And now, mine alone."
"You are the last of your clan?" Gaara inquired curiously.
"Then your clan will be finished off here and now."
"No," Kimimaro opposed.
"I may die, but it will not be because of you."
"Get away from here," Gaara commanded Kiele.
"Takai, would you?"
Takai looked as if her head might explode.
"I came out to help you, and now you want me to go back?!"
"I don't need you help," Gaara replied bluntly.
"But, Gaara-sama-" Kiele objected.
"Leave, now!" Gaara hissed.
Kiele opened her mouth to object again, when the demon soared at her. She grabbed her host's arm, dragging her behind a nearby tree, unnoticed but Lee and Gaara. They continued to watch the fight.
"I hold Orochimaru-sama's ambitions... and for that reason, I will stay in his heart forever," Kimimaro continued.
Suddenly, Gaara busted from the bone wrapped around him, and the sand beneath Kimimaro held him into place. It turned to quicksand, pulling him slowly under as he whipped around his spine.
"You'll sink two hundred meters inderground and be held there," Gaara taunted.
"With the sand's pressure on your body, you'll soon be unable to move even a finger."
Kimimaro went fully under, and the quicksand hardened.
"You did it!" Lee cheered.
"This time, you really got him!"
Gaara stared uncertainly at the sand.
"Sawarabi no Mai!"
Bone spears shot up, violently purging the surface of the earth. Kiele gasped, bones surrounding her. The tree fell, revealing herself and Takai to Gaara and Lee. Kiele gasped as she felt Takai returning to her body. The unexplainable anger she had felt towards Gaara vanished in an instant. The two leviated on a sand like cloud, and Gaara stared harshly at her. She began to run, when sand caught her around the waist and lifted her onto Gaara's cloud.
"We're saved, even Kiele," Lee stated.
"As to be expected from you."
"I told you to get out of here. You should have been a long way away from here... If you had listened to my orders."
Kiele bowed her head.
"I am sorry... Gaara-sama..."
Gaara looked troubled. Kimimaro had shaken him up.
"I'm only riding the sand that is always moving around me. The trick is knowing how to use it."
Gaara sighed and leaned forward.
"He was stubborn, but this is the end. He won't be coming back out again."
He placed his right hand on his knee, and his left on the cloud. Sweat ran down the side of his face.
"This is my limit. We're going down."
"This isn't brainwashing!!" A voice screamed.
Gaara's eyes widened. The three turned and saw Kimimaro.
"This person... Orochimaru-sama... It's all my own reasoning!!"
He rasied his spear-like arm. He plunged it down towards Gaara's eye.
"Gaara-sama!!" Kiele shreiked.
She threw herself in front of Gaara, her eyes tightly shut. She braced herself for pain to surge through her own eye. Lee raised his arms in his defense, gritting his teeth. When no blood-curdling scream came, and no pain, he lowered his arms and opened his eyes. He stared, shocked, at the scene before him. When pain never came, Kiele opened her eyes. She gasped. The spear was only centimeters from her eye. Blood trickled down Kimimaro's mouth, his eyes empty.
"He's dead," Gaara stated sullenly.
"We would have been completely defeated."
"That's not true," Lee argued.
Gaara, Lee, and Kiele sat against the trunk of a tree, away from the previous scene.
"My sensei told me that luck is also part of strength."
"That busybody..." Gaara retorted, rather rudely.
Lee sat up angrily.
"He's not a busybody!" Lee defended.
"That time, in the Chuunin Exams... it was my own weaknes. I'm grateful to you for saving me, but please don't talk about my sensei like that!"
"You're the same," Gaara replied.
"If the person you admire is insulted, you become angry. But, the person who is important to you isn't always good."
"But you don't have to take your someone evil as your important person," Lee argued.
"No," Gaara argued back.
"Even if you know the person is evil... people can't defeat loneliness."
Lee nodded, then looked across at Kiele.
"Speaking of which... I am assuming that Gaara here is your important person."
Kiele blushed.
"Yes, very much so. But I like Temari-san and Kankurou-san, too-"
"Maybe so," Lee countered slyly.
"But would you lunge in front of a ninja to take the hit for them just like you did for him?"
Kiele was speechless. Gaara sighed.
"Leave the subject alone, Lee," Gaara demanded.
He turned his attention to Kiele, his eyes steely.
"You've been unusually defiant today," He said.
"Yes, and I'm so sorry Kazekage-sama!"
Kiele shifted to her knees, bowing down. Gaara waved dismissively at her.
"Why is that?"
"I... I do not know, my lord..."
He saw theat Kiele was genuinely perplexed. But Gaara knew very well the reason of her defiance. Takai had said so earlier...
"I see. Without me to suppress your memories, they are beginning to flow back naturally to you."
"What is your report?"
"Tayuya of the Sound was successfully eliminated, Nara Shikamaru was alive."
"Sakon and Ukon of the Sound were both successfully elminated, Inuzuka Kiba and his ninken Akamaru were injured, but alive."
"Good."
"And... I suppose you killed Kimimaro?"
"Well... that's one way of saying it..."
Temari flinched.
"What do you mean, Gaara?" She asked.
"It would seem that Kimimaro was ill before we fought," He explained.
"He would have killed Kiele and me both... But he died of that illness before he could deliver the finishing blow."
Temari gazed over at the modest girl, sitting in a corner on the opposite side of the room with her head hung, reserving herself. Kankurou jerked his thumb towards her.
"What's wrong with her?"
"I scolded her earlier," Gaara replied.
"For what?" Temari asked incredulously.
Gaara sighed, casting a quick glance towards Kiele. She was pretending not to hear them.
"It doesn't matter. I've already said my peice in the matter, so it is no longer relevant."
"If you say so," Temari shrugged, in her 'Well-you-are-the-Kazekage-so-I-won't-question-it-as-much-as-I'd-like-to' tone of voice.
Temari and Kankurou's eyes connected, and it was as if some unspoken agreement had been reached. Kankurou walked over to Kiele, ruffling her hair as he spoke to Gaara.
"Hey, Gaara, would you mind if I took mousy here for a little while? It's good to be back home... Besides. I think you'll have your hands full with papers?"
He waved his hand at the monstrosity of beige and white that hid the Kazekage's desk from view.
"Sure," Gaara replied.
"Whatever."
"Alrighty little miss! You heard 'em! Let's go!"
He heaved a giggling Kiele over his shoulder and marched out the door with her. Walking over to the window, Temari watched the two head down the streets of Sune towards... where ever Kankurou was taking her. When Temari was sure they were gone, she spoke.
"Gaara... there's been something I've been meaning to say for some time now. Kankurou and I promised Hyuuga Neji not to say anything, but I don't think we ought to just let the matter go so- "
"Temari," Gaara interrupted, irritated.
"If this is a trivial matter, then I think it can wait until tonight."
"But that's just it!" Temari breathed.
"It can't wait! The Hyuuga, he- !"
Gaara looked up from his papers, head in his palm, uninterested.
"No offense to the Hyuuga... But I could care less about some rumour he's spreading."
He returned to his papers. Temari stressed. Her words ran together.
"It's not a rumour, it's true, Gaara! It's about Kiele!!"
Gaara froze. He placed his pen on the table. His sister had gotten his attention. Temari saw this and calmed herself.
"The Hyuuga... Kankurou was out drinking with Kiba, and some of the other older Leaf ninja. Neji was there only to make sure his sensei didn't get drunk. Kankurou said that they were talking... about women. When asked about it... Neji said that there was no woman he really loved."
"So what's the point of your tale?" Gaara demanded, his patience thinning.
"He said there was no woman he whole-heartedly loved... But when Kankurou pressed him, he admitted that there was just one woman that interested him."
Gaara's jaw clentched.
"And this woman is Kiele?"
Temari nodded.
"He wanted Kankurou to keep quiet about it, but he told me-"
"The Hyuuga was drunk," Gaara replied coldly.
Temari shook her head.
"Neji doesn't drink."
"So he is infactuated with Kiele. He'll get over it after a little bit."
"Maybe so, but..." Temari paused.
"Until that time comes, Neji has asked me for your permission to have her stay in Konoha to see if she is his "type"-"
Gaara placed his hands flat on his desk, rising to his feet.
"No," He responded cruely.
Temari shuddered as he glared at her as if it had been all her idea.
"Kiele belongs to me. As punishment for the actions of her parents. She will stay where I am."
Gaara took his seat once more.
"Send note to the Hyuuga telling him that permission is declined."
"But Gaara-"
"Enough, Temari. Do as I say."
"Gaara, you can't keep her locked up like some pet," Temari advised quietly.
"I wish you'd settle down and find love... But if you don't, that's on you. Please, if Kiele has a chance to find it, you should let her. After all... Her parents did pay the proce in the end."
"The assassination of Sharne Kalik and Natami Juliane was due to thier dishonesty to our father, decieving him that they cared for thier daughter, not for their alliance with Kirigakure."
Temari fell silent.
"Still, Gaara, you shouldn't keep her tied up like this... It isn't fair to her..."
Gaara bit his bottom lip.
"Fine," He finally announced.
"However, Kankurou will temporarily take up my duties as Kazekage. You will remain here as liason, while I accompany Kiele to Konohagakure... for one month only. The Hyuuga's feelings sorted or not, we will be returning then."
Temari's jaw dropped.
"Gaara! You can't just abandon your title as Kazekage, and then decide that you want it back later!! That's, that's-!"
"I cannot just give her to Konohagakure. They are in a weakened state now, and no match for Akatsuki if they decided to attack. I also cannot leave Kiele's life in Kankurou's hands. Strong as he may be, it has been made quite clear in Konoha that he cannot handle this Deidara, who is after Kiele for her demon. I, however, will be more than enough for him to handle. As temporary Kazekage, Kankurou will have all these ninja at his disposal, and if he has any problems, he may ask you, or, as a last resort effort only, he may send note to me for assisstance."
Temari bit her lip as she contemplated his reasoning.
"Suna... are you sure you should leave?"
"I trust the judgement of you and Kankurou."
"But you have just become Kazekage- !"
"We'll leave once I've passed this by the council elders."
Temari sighed.
"Alright," Temari agreed slowly.
"But be careful. And if we need you, promise me you will come right back, okay?"
"Sure," Gaara replied carelessly.
"Now if that is all, leave."
"Sure thing, Gaara."
As she shut the door behind her, Temari smiled to herself, wondering if there was another reason for accompanying Kiele. She was sure there were; reasons the Gaara she knew would never admit to.
Jealousy reasons.
And that's a wrap, people!! Come back for the next installment! I should the other out sometime this week, if I don't procrastinate!!