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Gaariko's hands formed the last seal…
The red-haired kunoichi's hands clasped together and she let her chakra flow freely. She felt as all the energy was starting to spread from the seal on her left shoulder to the tips of her fingers. Still keeping her eyes closed, the girl put her right hand before her chest, the palm facing the floor. Her left hand stood a little lower from the other one, the palm turned towards the sealing. She had formed the symbol of In and Yan in which middle a golden ball of energy was beginning to form.
Sakura stood speechless, while all this took place. Her instinct told her to get as far as possible, but something about that light was so alluring. As the Sand kunoichi made the strange movements with her hands, the pink-haired girl saw with the edge of her green eyes something… something that wasn't quite right. The charm on Gaariko's neck, had disappeared, leaving only the empty chain, but the more shocking thing was that it had appeared on her left shoulder. It seemed like the skin there had absorbed the amulet and the shapeless scar had formed some strange symbols around it, that seemed to be like burned. It would have been a great tattoo if it didn't glow that much. Wait! How come it glows!?
Sakura's eyes shifted back to the hands of the other kunoichi. A strange sphere of golden light was slowly spinning between her palms as she was mumbling something quietly, that resembled a song. A very strange song to be frank…
"Gaariko-chan, what is happe…"
"Ssssh, Sakura. Just don't move or you'll break the circle." – The other girl said quietly, eyes still closed.
"Break what?" The Konoha nin gasped as black lines, snake alike, were forming a huge circle around the two girls and the still unconscious Kakashi, who lied almost forgotten on the floor. The black lines had finally finished the circumference but didn't stop there and from five directions they swept towards the Jounin's body, covering the visible parts of his body with the same markings as on Gaariko's shoulder.
"Sensei! What are you doing to him?" Sakura tried to move but the other girl's voice stopped her:
"He would be OK. Just stay where you are." Gaariko closed her palms to one another as the sphere of light seemed to be absorbed by them. "Sakura, don't forget that you have to stop me, when I heal your teacher. You just have to let a small quantity of you chakra flow through the black linings of this circle. That is all I ask from you, but remember, that if you miss your chance… Well, just don't miss it, right?"
The pink-haired girl swallowed nervously and nodded. She had no idea what was happening or what was about to happen and she didn't like it, but if it was for the sake of her teacher, she would do it.
"Good…Let us begin then!"
"The song of what?!"
Naruto blinked blankly towards Temari, who was still standing, looking completely awestruck. Kankuro seemed to slowly get the point of his sister as he stood suddenly.
"You are not meaning that technique! It was forbidden a long time ago and Gaariko knows it well! Why, the hell is she taking such a risk?"
"I don't know, but that is the smaller problem. You know what will happen if we don't stop it in time."
The cat-boy shivered just by the thought. His gaze fell on Gaara, who had frowned and was piercing the ceiling with his emotionless eyes. The boy pushed back his chare and stood up, attracting everyone's attention.
"I believe in her. Besides, that other girl is with her." And he opened the door of the kitchen, leaving the teens, Tazuna and Tsunami in complete confusion.
"What the hell is happening?" Shouted at once Sasuke, Naruto and Tazuna.
"Calm down, we shouldn't panic!" Shouted in one voice Tsunami, Temari and Kankuro and for a moment they all stood staring against one another, the tension rising even more as the song floated in the air and the golden light was seeping through the wooden boards. The Uchiha spoke first, his voice trembling with fury:
"What is this all about? Our sensei is up there along with our teammate. What is happening and what the hell is your sibling doing with them?"
"And what is this super technique you were talking about? Is it dangerous for Kakashi-sensei and Sakura-chan?" Naruto shouted in his turn.
Temari was still too shaken to say anything so Kankuro spoke:
"Listen, ungrateful pecks, our sister is risking her own life to help your sensei and you are not stopping to shout as if the world had come to an end."
Sasuke twitched at the word "pecks" but said nothing more and Kankuro continued explaining:
"Gaariko is using a very risky technique. Because of accidents in the past it had been forbidden. The user drains huge amounts of chakra from his body to restore someone else's chakra system that had been damaged. As a whole, it is the ultimate healing technique but there is one detail…"
Temari placed a hand on her brother's shoulder and he fell silent.
"What matters is that we must not let the things get out of control, because when using the technique, the shinobi loses sense of time, space and what's right or wrong. It even happens that the user is being turned into energy himself, entering the "patient's" body and taking control over it. That is why it was forbidden for the ordinary shinobi to use. Gaariko had to train for years to be able to perform it but the risk is still great. But as I said, we have to believe at her and hope that your teammate won't panic much after seeing her."
Gaariko placed her palms on the circle, drawn on the wooden floor and opened her eyes. They had lost their bright blue color and were now silver, vertical pupils cutting them into halves. The girl, still sitting on her legs pushed all the chakra gathered in her palms to the dark paintings and shouted:
"Ninja art: Song of the Golden Phoenix!"
The Amulet on her seal shined suddenly and the flow of chakra shook the floor once again. The tie on her red hair fell off and flaming locks fell on Gaariko's shoulders. The strange circle started glowing with golden light as well.
"Don't forget about what I told you…" said the girl as her body slowly started rising above the floor before Sakura's wide eyes. The light from the seal was now spreading along her whole body, causing all the clothes to burn brightly and fall on the ground as ashes. The whole upper part of Gaariko's body was now shining in gold, no clothes left to cover her naked torso, only her hair falling freely down.
'What is happening with her body? Her skin is like molted gold and her hair… Wasn't it shorter a minute ago?' Sakura stared wide-eyed as the other kunoichi's hair grew in incredible speed and was now covering her to her knees, just in time as the last pieces of cloth fell down on the floor burning out.
One floor below, they all felt the tremor and before anyone could stop him, Naruto jumped and dashed up the stairs, getting to the door, behind a golden light was percolating.
"Wait! Don't go there!" Shouted Temari from behind him but it was too late. The boy pushed the door open and entered the room with a shout. The bright light blinded him for a moment.
"Stay back! Don't come closer, Naruto!"
Sakura's shout made the blonde's eyes snap open immediately. Sasuke and Temari had just showed up at the threshold as Kankuro held Tazuna and his daughter in the kitchen below. It was too dangerous without them being up there.
"Sakura-chan! What is happening?" Naruto shouted back, trying to out voice the song that was even stronger here. His eyes finally got used to the brightness and he saw his teammate sitting on a huge circle and the silver-haired sensei lying in the middle of it. Sakura had turned her head towards the door, a serious and tense look on her face.
"Get out! Let Gaariko go her work!"
Just then, the new-comers noticed the strange red object, floating about five centimeters above the room floor. Temari's eyes widened:
"So it has begun… We could just wait now."
Sasuke stood speechless, trying to comprehend what he was seeing. The strange object seemed to produce the song and all the golden light. When the raven-haired boy looked closer, he noticed the unusual shape of that "thing". It looked like a golden torch with red flames, which seemed to grow bigger. "Let Gaariko do her work…" Sakura's words made the Genin realize that "that object" was non other than the strange Sand girl. Her skin was glowing brightly in gold and her red hair had grown enormously and wasn't stopping. Leave alone the fact that she was completely naked… At about the same time, Naruto saw her too.
The two boys' faces were bright red as they watched Gaariko spread her hands towards Kakashi and the soft whisper turned into tender speech:
"… and the wounds of a soul would heal as the river flow carries them away, the pain of your body is now mine. Give your blood to me; I'll give you life…"
'Blood? That is not good…' Temari pushed aside the two boys and shouted to Sakura:
"Knock her out! Now!"
The kunoichi panicked but quickly focused her chakra and send it to the strange markings on the floor. The song suddenly stopped and the black streaks disappeared. Temari used the moment to push the two boys out of the room. The door shut closed before their faces, just when Gaariko's body stopped glowing and she fell on the floor, the amulet appearing back on the chain on her chest. The heavy red hair covered her whole body as she breathed heavily. Sakura stood up and checked Kakashi's pulse. 'He's breathing and looks like he is sleeping. The wound on his hand has healed! Amazing…' The pink-haired kunoichi turned towards the other two girls in the room. Temari had given her younger sister a towel to cover her naked body and was now getting her on her feet.
"Do you have any idea how dangerous this technique is?! You must be completely out of your mind to try using it."
"I know, sis! Stop bragging about it! I just felt like doing it. Besides, I am much better than the last time, thanks to Sakura-san's help." She smiled towards the Konoha nin, still sitting next to the Jounin. "I'm sure you have a lot to ask, but I'm afraid I can't tell you much. This technique is forbidden and you seeing it was necessary. Your teacher should be completely healed and up on his legs in an hour or so."
Gaariko came closer to Sakura and stretched a hand, helping her get up. The Konoha kunoichi noticed that the other girl's eyes were back to normal in contrast to her hair, which was now reaching the floor.
"Oh, this?" She had followed the green-eyed girl's gaze, picking up a lock of red hair with a bright smile. "A side effect, but I don't mind changing my hairstyle once in a while."
"Leave your hair for later. Look who's come back to us." Temari said, pointing behind Sakura, where Kakashi was getting up form the floor.
How was it? Hope it wasn't too "fairy tale"-ish. Review and share your opinion with me.
