Temari and I stand on the roof. Black Ant, Crow, and two wooden puppets rest nearby. Kankuro waits at the top of the stairs with Salamander's metal shield protecting him. We decided to hope that Izo can't use metal jutsu like Ri instead of wasting time preparing a myriad of wooden weapons.
I wish I could find out how Baki and my shinobi are faring. With any luck, there won't be too many casualties. I stare off into the distance, worrying, but I know exactly the moment Izo arrives. I turn to face him as he and one other ninja with blonde hair and dark eyes melt out of the shadows.
"Lord Gaara!" Izo calls out. "How nice to see you again." I ignore his greeting, instead looking at the ninja beside him while sending out my sand to make sure no one is sneaking up behind me. I'm momentarily disappointed to see Izo's companion is not Ri and glance around to see if she is here, just hiding out of sight in the shadows.
Izo chuckles. "Looking for my sister? She's not here. I had my… friends detain her. She is proving quite troublesome." He frowns. "It would seem that you have made quite an impression on her. I never dreamed she would tell you of my surprise attack. No matter. Once you're dead, the sand shinobi will fall as well."
"Well it's a good think Gaara isn't going to die." Temari says, pulling out her fan. "I hope you're prepared to though."
A delighted laugh bursts out of Izo's chest. "You have a lot of spunk, don't you? It's almost a shame you are going to die as well. I think I would have enjoyed talking with you."
Temari narrows her eyes but doesn't answer.
"Let the fun begin!" Izo announces, then fades back into the shadows. My sand dives in after him and I see Temari and Kankuro's puppets attack the other ninja. I turn my attention away from them, trusting my siblings to keep the other guy busy, and focus only on Izo. As I discovered last time, my sand coffin won't work on him so I instead send sand bullets in the direction he was in last. When the bullets hit nothing, I stop and cast my sand around the roof in a thin mist, trying to feel where he is hiding.
He's behind me, creeping closer to try and grab me. I wait until he's a hairs-breath from placing his hands on my shoulders and jump up, my leg lashing out in a kick to his jaw and flipping backwards away from him and landing in a crouch.
Izo staggers backwards, his head snapping back, and almost falls over. Steading himself, he gives me a grotesque grin, his jaw already starting to swell. I sent a piercing tendril of sand towards him, to run him through, but it barely touches his chest before falling apart and turning useless.
Thinking quickly, I once again spread my sand out thinly like I did when I was searching for him. The sand outlines his form but doesn't become unusable like the spear of sand and the coffin did. That means Izo must be able to stop chakra flow, but only a concentrated amount of it. My special sand is imbued with my chakra so I can't use it to attack him. That means using regular sand wouldn't work either because my chakra flows through that as well as long as I'm manipulating it. That must be why Ri didn't want Izo to touch me. If he can stop the chakra flow in sand, he must also be able to stop chakra flow in the body. However, as I noticed the first time we met, he doesn't render my sand useless forever. It's almost like he stuns my chakra because I regained control over the sand I used to attack him ten minutes later.
For the first time in my life, I find myself wishing I had properly learned taijutsu. Ninjutsu and genjustu aren't going to work against an opponent that can stop chakra. Though how he does it, I'm not sure. He doesn't have the Byakugan so he can't see the points in my body. In any case, I've never heard of a Byakugan stopping chakra flow without the ninja physically hitting chakra points.
Rock Lee, that strange leaf ninja, would have a better chance at defeating Izo since he doesn't have to use chakra in his attacks. I need to try and use the limited amount of taijutsu I do know, at least until I come up with a better plan.
I run at Izo, surprising him, and slam my fist into his chest, using my sand to push my arm forward and add to the power of my blow. Izo flies backward, slamming into the railing and almost flipping off the roof. At the last second his hand shoots out and grabs one of the bars and he hauls himself back up. From the painful way he breaths and holds himself, he must have broken at least a few ribs.
I wait as he pulls himself together then glares at me with an insane expression I know very well. It's same look I get when I'm on the edge of losing control. With a scream, Izo sprints towards me, leaping up and sending his foot flying towards me. My sand tries to block the kick but his foot smashes through it, connecting with my chest. I respond with a kick of my own which slams into his knee. Bloodlust fills me, making me stronger. Pressing my advantage, I use me sand to lift and push me forward, punching and kicking every part of Izo I can. There's no grace to my attacks and Izo manages a few powerful strikes of his own before giving up. He falls to the ground, motionless and I drop down as well. I start forward, about to use my bare hands to separate his head from his neck, when a terrified scream pierces through my bloodlust and distracts me, just for an instant, but it's long enough.
Quicker than I can see, Izo leaps from the ground and wraps his fingers around my wrists. A savage kick to the backs of my knees sends me to the ground. Panicking, I call my sand to wrap around Izo and crush him, but it just falls harmlessly around me. Regaining control over myself, I twist and struggle, trying to break free of his hold but he's too strong. I can't get away.
"How are you so strong?" I grit out, still trying to pull out of hands.
Izo gives a maniacal laugh. "I am the greatest assassin of this time. Do you really think I don't have a few tricks up my sleeve?"
Hot needles fill my veins and the sand that still writhes around me falls to the ground.
Glancing around, I see all of Kankuro's puppets, except for salamander, are smashed and laying in pieces across the roof. Temari stands in the middle of them, muscles locked and a terrified expression on her face. It was her scream that diverted my attention.
With a low cry, Temari falls to the floor in a faint. Salamander's shield collapses, and reveals an unconscious Kankuro. The shinobi they were fighting moves forward, coming to stand almost directly in front of me. I have failed. Again. I do not deserve the title of Kazekage. If I cannot even protect my siblings, how can I protect a village? I only regret that I will never see Ri again.
"Do it." I say in a low voice. "Kill me. It will be a mercy."
"With pleasure." Izo snarls. The shinobi in front of me raises two kunai, one in each hand. His muscles tense, about to throw the knives. I close my eyes, waiting for the cold steel to pierce my flesh. Without even my Armor of Sand, I am utterly defenseless.
"No." My eyes fly open, heart lifting at the new voice. It's Ri, expressive Ri, not blank Kara. She stands a few feet to my left clutching the rail for support. Blood trickles slowly down her face from a cut above her left temple and a laceration down the ribs on her right side speckles the ground with blood every breath she takes. It's her right leg that worries me though. I can't see anything wrong with it, but she can't put any weight on it at all, supporting herself with her left leg and the rail.
"Brother, don't do this." Ri locks eyes with Izo, her tone pleading. "Let Gaara go."
"And why should I do that?" I can't see Izo's face but I can tell he's sneering at her.
"Because this isn't you." Ri says desperately. "Remember when you swore to protect me after our grandparents died? You swore you would never let anything hurt me again. Killing Gaara would wound me more than if you slit my throat with your own hands. I have come to love the desert and this village. Please don't let our enemies destroy it."
Izo is silent for a long time. Suddenly his hand, still wrapped around my wrists, start shaking and I begin to believe he is actually thinking about what Ri said. I shouldn't have. Izo bursts out laughing, an insane, high-pitched laughter. Ri face hardens, turning stony as she looks at her brother.
"A pretty speech." Izo chokes out between gasps. "A good appeal to my better nature. But I think you've forgotten, little sister. I have no better nature." He directs his next words to the shinobi who still holds the kunai knives ready to strike. "Kill him."
Everything moves in slow motion. Before the ninja releases the knives I see Ri sprint forward, face twisted with pain as she steps on her right leg. Three knives fly towards me in quick succession, rotating slowly towards my throat but before the can connect with my skin Ri is there, shielding my body with her own. Izo screams with rage as the kunai bury themselves in her stomach and releases me to catch his sister as she falls to the ground. I'm frozen in shock, my muscles locked and eyes wide with horror.
Izo kneels on the ground, supporting Ri as she wraps her right hand around the hilt of one of the kunai sticking out of her. "Izo," she murmurs, giving him a shaky smile as she places the palm of her left hand on his cheek "I love you brother." Before he can reply she jerks the knife out of her torso and buries it deep into his chest. He falls back with a strangled cry and I lunge forward before Ri hits the ground, cradling her to my chest.
Her eyes lock on mine, searching for something. She must find whatever she's looking for because a peaceful expression crosses her face. She opens her mouth to say something but instead gives two quick jerks and falls limp. Her eyes fall shut as a trickle of blood makes its way down from the corner of her mouth.
"What happened?" Temari's horrified voice comes from over my shoulder. "Where's the guy I was fighting?" I look up quickly, berating myself for forgetting about my other opponent, but he's gone. I hear Kankuro walk unsteadily to Temari's side. Looking back down into Ri's white face I say "Take her to the hospital as quickly as you can. I will follow shortly." Without a word Kankuro bends down to gently lift Ri out of my hold. He and Temari disappear over the rooftops.
I stand and step forward so I'm standing over Izo. His eyes are closed and his chest rises and falls in short, shallow pants. I still can't feel my chakra but I don't need my sand to make him suffer. Before I can do anything his eyes open and I hesitate at the look in them. Instead of the madness that has always been present, there is a sort of dismayed clarity. "My sister," he wheezes, "is she dead yet?" I bristle at his implication that Ri is certainly going to die.
"She won't die." I tell him. "She's going to be just fine."
Izo give a short shake of his head. "Those… kunai. Not normal." They must be the same sort of poisoned kunai I was stabbed with all those months ago.
I drop to my knees beside Izo and lift him by the front of the shirt. "What's the cure? You must know. What is it?" I demand, shaking him.
Izo pulls at my sleeve weakly and I let him slump to the roof once again. "She's the cure." He chokes.
"What's that supposed to mean?" I roar and almost reach down to shake him again.
Izo coughs, spraying a mist of blood into the air and doesn't answer. The light begins to fade from his eyes and I start to stand, feeling desperate. Before I can get all the way to my feet Izo's arm shoots out, his right hand clamping down around mine with more strength then I would have thought he still possessed.
A searing pain radiates through my palm, like he's branding me, and I growl in pain, trying to pull away. It's like our hands are fused together though and I can't rip mine away. The scorching pain spreads up my arm shooting into my head and I scream, stars dancing in front of my eyes. Before they disappear I hear Izo whisper "Take care of her. And tell her I'm sorry."
I look down at Izo as the stars fade completely. He stares glassily at the sky, his chest still. With a curse, I follow my siblings' path to Ri.
When I arrive in the hospital room a few minutes later, Temari, Kankuro, and two doctors stand around Ri's bed. She lays on her back, unconscious and looking so pale and delicate I feel like just the slightest touch might shatter her. A monitor next to the bed beeps every few seconds.
"What can be done for her?" I ask and everyone, except for Ri, jumps and turns to face me.
"Lord Kazekage," a doctor begins "her situation is dire. We tried to remove the kunai but," he frowns, looking perplexed "there was nothing there. The hilts came out as soon as we touched them, but there are no blades. To find out more we would have to run tests, but she's in critical condition. She has a deep, jagged cut down her side, deep enough that we can see scratched bone just by pulling back the skin. The tendons behind her right knee are almost entirely severed. Her organs are failing, she has severe internal bleeding, and her heartbeat is so slow and irregular it's a miracle she's still breathing. I'm sorry," the doctor looks away "but there's nothing we can do. She has sustained too many injuries."
I close my eyes and take a long, deep breath to keep from losing control. It's not the doctor's fault. My eyes snap open and I say "Leave."
"But," Kankuro protests and I glare at him. Temari places her hand on his arm and guides him from the room. The doctors follow them out, closing the door behind them. I approach the bed, grief and sorrow swirling inside of me. Ri. She gave her life so I could live. I reach out to stroke a finger down her soft cheek. The moment my skin makes contact with hers a blinding white light shoots out from behind my eyes and the hospital room disappears.