Gaara lay perfectly still, but his body ached. He opened his eyes. The last thing he'd seen was darkness over-taking him.

Now, Gaara saw Temari and Kankuro's face. They were leaning over him and the ache was gone. Was it the ache of the heart? Gaara didn't know.

"Where am I?"

"On the battlefield." Temari helped Gaara sit up. "You can't fight anymore, you're low on chakra."

Gaara touched his side where he was sure Sasuke had gotten him. Instead of a hole, he felt his bare skin. It was gone. Touching his ear, Gaara heard his hand coming. He swallowed without pain and realized the three, critical hits were no more. Had he been under a Genjutsu?

"What happened?"

"Several things, sir." It was Star. He was kneeling beside Temari and Kankuro. "Sir, give her authorization to kill."

His eyes snapped open wide. "What?" Gaara was looking at Star now. Gaara didn't like anyone to kill. But he was assuming Star was referring to Temari. He didn't want her to kill anyone, not even if it was for his sake.

"Give Yakushi Hoshiko 'Wolfe' permission to kill Sasuke. She's currently holding him off so he won't come to kill you."

"She's alive?!" Gaara was frantic now. If she was alive, then what had he seen?

It was clear in his memory. Hoshiko's motionless body was leaned up against a slab of stone that had been part of the Kazekage Tower. She was in a pool of so much blood that her body wasn't bleeding anymore. Gaara had felt for a pulse and found none. He'd knelt by her side for a long time before he decided she was dead. Had he been mistaken?

"Yes, by a miracle, sir." Star touched his mask. "Something saved her when nobody was looking. We're not sure what, but we did find this." He held up the exact same rosary Hoshiko always wore under her cloths. Black beads and a pendant. The pendant was a circle and a triangle. "We think it's something to do with the cult-like religion Hidan of the Akatsuki is from."

Gaara closed his eyes. That same rosary was around his neck, holding his ties to Hoshiko quite firm. "I give my permission to force him into a retreat. Nothing more."

Star bowed his head and Gaara watched him leave.

In the distance, Hoshiko was pushed away from Sasuke by his lightning, but she was still standing. She lifted her head and closed her eyes again. It was getting harder and harder to breath, but her father had managed to get all the sand out of her lungs. Hoshiko had to use her own techniques now, though. Sasuke could easily dodge any other technique that he'd seen, except her's.

She needed time to focus. She couldn't just kill him, she didn't have the authority to authorize her own killing. It had to be concentrated into a singular or she'd end up locked up for life.

"Wolfe! You have permission! But not to kill! Just to push him back!"

Her eyes snapped open. Then a wild tech like her's would be perfect. She gave a little shout to say she'd heard so Star could retreat and she faced Sasuke again. "You're going down this time, Sasuke."

She started to form hand symbols and Sasuke tried to stop them. She avoided him and kept going, doing the symbols on the run. Sasuke kept up with her, trying to stop her. When she completed the symbols, her hands formed the Seal of Fire. Her head protector shredded away, save for the metal, and her shoes were torn away as well, shredded and disposed of. Surprisingly, her cloths stayed, but her gloves vanished.

Her scars faded away and her eyes became a firey red with green rims.

"What in the world?!" Sasuke asked. "No matter. I'll cut you down just as easily as I did Gaara."

Hoshiko stood with her right hand over her head and her left hand in a lose fist before her. Her right foot was on it's toes and her left foot, being to forefoot, was flat. "We shall seen, Uchiha Sasuke, we shall see."

When the blade touched her left hand's knuckles, the blade began to turn red. Sasuke gasped and pulled back.

"Your body! Is it on fire?"

"No." Hoshiko remained in her stance. She'd taught it to Gaara, but not the reason why. It wasn't a reason for regular Taijutsu. It was meant for when Hoshiko actually used her real ability, her unique ability. All her cloths had been made fire-proof for this reason alone. "I can charge my body's heat. Over time it builds and when I release it all, my body's skin becomes hotter than fire and becomes quite tanned."

Sasuke noticed it now. Her skin wasn't so pale. It was starting to turn copper-tinged.

"But my body also reverts back to a normal body. It's not as frail. But it's a double-edged sword. My outside is tough as nails, but my internal body is slowly freezing. The longer I use this technique the more my body dies." Hoshiko's eyes were bored, but it was obvious she was trying to keep herself from charging. "So, will you come to get what you came for?"

"Yes." Sasuke raised his blade. "I can't use this more than just this once. This will decide the fight, won't it?"

"Yes, it will." Hoshiko put her right heel down and lowered her body to the ground. She brought her right fist down and forward. That momentum caused a huge blast of heat to emanate from her body and knock Sasuke back a step. "I won't let you take this village from me, nor this life. There's still something I need to do before then."

Sasuke's blade ripped with lightning and Hoshiko's body sparked embers that bounced off the sand. The two ran and clashed. The explosive energy sent sand flying in all directions. Sparks as large as baseballs went flying into the air and thunder rained from the clear skies.

"You know, you're nothing like Kabuto?" Sasuke said.

"Nobody can challenge a brother who stepped from his older brother's shadow." Hoshiko smiled and the two fell away, into their own darkness.

It was over.