Alright, I finally managed to get the next chapter finished. Now, for those of you who've read 'A Suna Story' you'll know that I hate it when Gaara dies. Since I'm the one writing this, He's not going to die. I can't write that into the story. I've done it once in one of my other stories and I can't do it again. That's just all there is to it. He's one of my favorite characters and it would kill me to kill him. Sorry if this bothers anyone but I can't do it. So I'll let you get to the chapter now.
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Ch. 11: Akatsuki's Attack
Gaara spent a great deal of his time in the Kazekage's office now. Though the council had taken care of the more mundane decisions, there were a few things that only the Kazekage was allowed to take care of. Since there hadn't been a Kazekage for the last few years, there was a lot of work for Gaara to do. Aya saw to it that he remembered to eat and didn't stay pent up in his office all day. That was no easy task. Gaara seemed determined to work himself to death. It took incredible about of tenacity and stubbornness from Aya to drag him from his office every day.
"Come on, Gaara. It's almost sundown. You can do more fun paperwork in the morning," she told him.
"Aya, I've got to finish this."
Aya tapped her foot, "Gaara, there's a such thing as being too responsible. Put the paperwork down and go home. Otherwise I'll stay here all night and pester you. Then I won't get any sleep either. You know that will only make you feel guilty."
With a sigh, Gaara stood, "Alright." Something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. He looked out the window.
Aya saw him frown, "What is it, Gaara?"
"Get someplace safe. We're under attack."
"But the alarms aren't going off."
"I know. Go someplace safe."
Aya nodded and rushed away. Gaara called up his sand and prepared for battle. It took little time for him to reach the roof of the building. When the enemy landed on the roof he was ready and waiting. The blond man looked surprise to see him. Gaara carefully kept his face bland, not that it was difficult. He had lots of practice after all.
"This is as far as you go," he informed the intruder in a blank voice.
The man grinned and jumped into the air and landed on a huge clay bird. Gaara moved a second too slow to stop him. With careful manipulation, Gaara had his sand chasing after the man. The man had his bird moving quickly to outrun the sand. He just needed to stall for a little bit longer then he would be able to fight back. The intruder had his bird moved up into the air higher and higher. He glanced back at Gaara.
Gaara saw that he was getting nowhere so he pulled his sand back and formed a cloud with it. He jumped onto the cloud and rose up to meet his enemy. This guy would be very difficult to beat.
"I gotta say, you noticed me pretty quickly," the man complimented.
"Birds like that don't exist in this desert," Gaara explained as he considered his strategy. He didn't know this man or his fighting style.
"I see," the man replied slowly.
Below the village was on full alert. Not only did Aya rush out of the Kazekage's building shouting that they were under attack but others had noticed the sand and the bird floating in the air. Kankuro walked into the Kazekage's office to find that his brother wasn't there. One of the shinobi told him what was going on and he rushed to see for himself. All over Suna villagers were watching the sky for the next move. Aya rushed into Gaara's office and saw Kankuro by the window.
"Kankuro, what do we do?" she demanded.
"I don't know. We can't help him up there," Kankuro replied in frustration. They rushed out onto on one of the roofs so they could see better. A group of shinobi rushed out with them.
Meanwhile up in the air the intruder prepared for his next move, "I guess my stealth moves failed." He grinned, "But thanks to that I don't have to wast time searching for you."
Gaara decided not to wait for the man to attack. That last comment only proved that he knew about Gaara and was here for him. That put Gaara at a disadvantage since he knew nothing about his opponent. Instead he called upon the sand from below and formed a large wave of sand.
The man stared in surprise and said to himself, "As expected, he has the advantage. This could get ugly."
Kankruto, Aya, and a group of Shinobi rushed out and stared as Gaara attacked. Aya placed her hands over her mouth and watched in horror. "Gaara," she whispered.
Giant sand hands chased after the intruder with deadly intent. The man turned and flew back towards Gaara. It was time for his own attack. He dropped several bombs but not one made it to Gaara himself. The intruder tossed more but again, Gaara stopped them with his sand.
'He uses strange explosives. And they're a type that can be controlled from a distance,' Gaara thought to himself. That could make things difficult on him. Both of them were distance fighters and he still had to protect the village as well as himself. He kept his sand chasing after the man.
The man formed two clay birds into bombs. He made them move as fast as he could towards his target and they made it all the way to Gaara. The blond man detonated them. The explosion was huge and formed a huge ball of fire in the air.
"Gaara!" Aya and Kankuro shouted together.
When the smoke cleared they saw that the sand had moved to protect Gaara. Aya released a relieved sigh. She was glad to see that Gaara was alright. Even from inside the ball of sand Gaara was able to control his sand. A large wave of sand began to close over the intruder, and he couldn't escape in time. Now there were two balls of sand floating in the air.
Below Kankuro said, "It's over."
One of the shinobi sighed with relief, "As expected of Lord Kazekage."
"Yeah! As long as Lord Kazekage is here, our village is safe," another agreed.
Kankruo smirked then suddenly frowned, "No."
Aya gasped when she saw the explosion come from the ball of sand containing the intruder. She saw a blond man fall out of the the hole the explosion created. Sand chased after him, grabbing his leg and yanking him back towards the ball of sand. Before the sand to catch him again he created yet another clay bird. Aya was glad to see he wasn't having an easy time beating Gaara.
"That idiot. No one escapes Gaara's sand," Kankuro said.
Aya nodded in agreement. Gaara was Kazekage for a reason. She watched as the man was forced to dodge large arms of sand. Even though she had the upmost confidence in Gaara, she kept thinking about the first time she saw a fight. It had been between Kankuro and Temari. As an observer she hadn't been able to tell why Kankuro had lost that fight. It made her nervous that something so small that she couldn't see it could cost Gaara this fight. She hoped it ended soon.
"Kankuro!" They looked over to see Baki and a team of shinobi land next to them. Baki stepped forward, "Is Gaara fighting? Where is he?"
"Yeah." Kankuro turned and pointed at the floating ball of sand containing Gaara. "He's over there."
Aya was surprised to see that Baki actually looked worried for his former student. "Gaara..."
The group watched the battle between the blond man and Gaara continue. Suddenly the sand caught the intruder's arm. Aya turned and covered her eyes. She couldn't watch. Kankuro and Temari had told her about Gaara's special technique, the desert coffin, and she didn't want to see it. The explosion had her opening her eyes again and looking up again. The blond man had tried to force the sand to release him by using and explosive but it didn't even make a dent. There were cheers from the villagers below as Gaara crushed the man's arm. Rather than being caught again, the man allowed his arm to be ripped off. Everyone cursed the man. He had gotten away.
Aya watched the man. He was up to something. She didn't like it. Then she saw that he had something in his hands, but she couldn't tell what it was. That really made her nervous. Everyone could only watch as the fight continued.
One of the shinobi with Kankuro and Aya was looking through binoculars. "Black cloaks with red clouds." The shinobi looked at Kankuro. "Judging from the way he's dressed, the Kazekage's opponent is a member of Akatsuki."
"Just as I thought," Kankuro grumbled.
"Kankuro."
Gaara's older brother glanced back at Baki, "What?"
"Gaara is using his 'absolute defense' sand to fight," Baki replied. "We have to assume that the enemy is highly skilled. We also need to consider what to do if Gaara loses control."
Kankuro looked surprised then irritated. Aya glared at Baki.
"We need to consider a scenario where Shukaku comes out. The villagers are in danger," Baki said bluntly.
Kankuro grinned, "That won't be a problem. Gaara will never harm the villagers. No matter what."
Aya nodded in agreement.
Hajime looked at Kankuro and Aya with some doubt. Then he looked up at Gaara and for the first time wondered. Maybe Aya had been right all along. Maybe Gaara had changed. He was fighting for the village right now after all. Why would Gaara do that if he didn't really care about them?
"You're needed by everyone here, Gaara," Kankuro mumbled as he remembered a conversation he had with his brother before he had become Kazekage. Gaara had told him why he had changed and wanted to be the Kazekage. "You're the Sunagakure's Kazekage!" he reminded his brother.
Aya smiled then added her own voice. "Gaara! You better be careful! I still need you!"
Gaara's eyes moved to her for a moment then back to his enemy. 'I can't afford to lose,' he thought to himself. 'Aya will be the one to suffer the most if I lose.'
Below, Baki watched Gaara for a moment the turned to the shinobi around him. He could do more than just stand there. Gaara was working to protect the villagers and Baki could make the job a little easier. He turned to a shinboi standing next to him. "Issue an emergency summons."
"Yes, sir," the shinobi replied then rushed off to obey.
Baki moved to the next one, "You, take two squads and guard th reservoir!" He didn't even wait for a reply. Baki marched down the line of shinobi barking orders to them. "Seal all roads leading into A-Block! There's no reason to think that there's only one enemy. Whatever happens, do not slack on battle preparations. Have the medical teams create a barrier and get all civilians inside immediately! Hurry! We can't afford a single casualty. Got it?"
Once again Suna began a hub of activity as people moved to obey Baki's orders. Aya moved closer to Kankuro. If anyone tried to make her move she would hurt them. No way was she going to wait behind some barrier just because she was a civilian. Besides, she wanted to see what was happening with Gaara's fight. She looked up at Gaara. 'Please be careful, Gaara.'
Baki watched the movement of the shinobi. "We will support Gaara...No, Lord Kazekage with our full strength."
Aya turned to him and smiled, "Thank you, Baki."
He shook his head, "It's only right."
Hajime looked back up at the fight above them and then turned to Baki, "I'm going to help protect the civilians. That will be Gaara's greatest concern so the more protection the better."
Baki nodded.
Aya looked at Hajime in shock.
He saw the look and grinned, "Hey, I know how to admit it when I'm wrong. Gaara is fighting for us now. Not against us like before." With that he rushed towards the area the civilians were being held in.
Everyone looked back up. The man had expanded some large clay object and it was falling towards them. Aya took an impulsive step back. It wasn't the object that had her afraid so much as the look on Gaara's face. He looked...worried. 'This isn't good,' she thought with concern. 'Gaara's never worried.' She heard others around her begin to mumble questions as they watched the clay object fall. What was that thing? Suddenly she heard Baki's voice.
"This is bad! Everyone, retreat!" he shouted.
"It's too late," Aya whispered as she saw the intruder above move his hand.
The object exploded. Aya closed her eyes and screamed Gaara's name as waited for the pain to come. Nothing happened. She opened her eyes and saw a sand wall above her. She gapped at it. Gaara had protected them with this. She wasn't the only one. Everyone seemed in awe of what their Kazekage could do when needed. Suddenly many of them found themselves grateful that he was on their side now.
Aya sensed someone come up behind her. She looked to see Yura, a member of the Suna council, standing there. "Hello, Yura."
"You should be someplace safe, Miss Hayashi. You are Gaara's greatest weakness after all," Yura informed her.
She looked back up at the fight then back at Yura. He had a point. She didn't think she was Gaara's greatest weakness, but he would lose concentration if she were in danger. "Alright. Lead on."
Yura smiled, "Follow me then."
"Kankuro, I'm going with Yura," she informed Gaara's brother.
"Alright. Be careful."
Aya watched as she walked. The man had sent one of those smaller bombs after Gaara and almost got him. Luckily Gaara was able to close the hole in his defenses before it got him. Then something went wrong. She didn't know what it was but something exploded inside Gaara's sand defenses. She stopped walking and stared in horror the ball of sand that contained Gaara's body. It was melting. She let out a sigh of relief when she saw Gaara's eyes open. He began to move the sand in order to keep the village from being damaged. The village began attacking the intruder. They wouldn't let him get Gaara. Then the huge cloud of sand that had protected the village was gone and Gaara's body began to fall. He had lost consciousness.
"GAARA!!!" Aya screamed. "WAKE UP!!!"
He was someplace dark and didn't know how to get out. Fog was all around him and swirled to hid everything from his view. A voice called out to him. It was familiar and sounded so sad. He didn't want that voice to be sad. Maybe if he followed the sound he'd be able to keep it from being sad. Gaara followed it and saw light. There was a face there. Blue-green eyes and dark hair. He knew her. Ayame Hayashi. A thought surface in his fogged mind. 'I can't afford to lose.'
Sea foam eyes snapped open and saw that he was about to land on that man's bird. He rolled in the air and avoided the bird. Gaara knew he had nothing left to fight with but neither did the man. As long as he could avoid being caught, Gaara still won. Every time his enemy tried to catch him, Gaara simply avoided him. A huge gust of wind came from below and knocked the intruders bird off course. Gaara looked down to see Temari her fan. She released another gust of wind, determined to protect her brother. He also saw that he was close enough to the village that he didn't need to worry now. That was good because he was losing consciousness again. Kankuro and Baki jumped up and caught Gaara before he hit the ground. There was a cheer from the village.
Aya had been watching from her vantage point with Yura. She smiled, "He's okay. Gaara's okay."
"You should be more worried about yourself, Aya," Yura said.
She turned, "Huh?" Aya's world went black.
That's it for now. Let me know what you thought.