Tsuki Ona glared down her enemy with immense hate. Pulling all the moisture out of the air, she controlled the frost to crystallize into ice lances in each of her hands and stepped closer to Oishi. He would come to her, she knew. Now that he got what he wanted, the pawn took action by lunging above her head to strike down hard. She smirked and disintegrated to snow as soon as the blade hit the top of her forehead.

"What?!" Oishi exclaimed. "A clone!"

Once his feet touched the ground, a sharp pain struck both sides of his torso. It was cold at first, then melted away with his warm blood. He groaned from the sensation as he pulled away to keep his back against the cave wall. With his free hand he felt against his wounds. Lots of blood poured out and resembled itself.

The broken bloody ice that remained on her arms were in the way. She flicked her wrists to rid it off and waited for his next move. She didn't even break a sweat. This man was cocky to fight, but he had no idea who he was up against. Oishi began to laugh maniacally.

"Oh my! That was quite a blow...Hehehe... It looks like I get to use my jutsu after all."

Quickly, he tossed his long sword high into the air and clapped his hands together. With a few hand signs thrown in, he took a deep breath in and blew out what looked like white smoke. The air surrounding them no longer felt cold but turned warm and humid. Fog covered the entire area, blinding Tsuki from seeing his next attack, but it didn't phase her. Oishi grinned and leaped to his sword. He passed his chakra into his weapon, creating one thousand duplicates and sent them spearing down towards her.

She assumed that this fog was meant for that disadvantage, but she had a trick or two up her sleeve. Spreading her hands apart, she formed a strong ice dome over her and Yumi's body. The swords clanged and thudded against it, not a single one able to get through. When the sound finally stopped, she decided to open the cocoon, but not just that. Knowing full well he would be ready to attack again, she formed another tornado of ice spears to break the dome for her. It exploded like a bomb blowing away the fog. Chunks of frozen water shot like bullets within her radius. Even Genzo had to doge them to survive. Oishi covered his face, but that wasn't enough to protect him. He was thrown off his feet against the wall. His spine shattered at the impact and the ice she drew managed to crack his lower ribs into his diaphragm. His insides were flaming in pain from hemorrhaging and time was running out for him.

Genzo knew that there was no way Oishi would be able to survive this, but what could he do now? They barely made it out alive going against the Hokage in the Leaf Village, but this was a whole different ball game. The girl was no longer a scrawny little weakling like she was when they found her. It was the spirit herself using her grown woman's body as a host. The cocky attitude of his partner was going to come back and bite him in the ass one day, he knew that, but watching it happen before his eyes was terrifying.

Tsuki Ona took on her offense by clasping her own chakra together within her hands and placing them on the ground to transfer the jutsu. The sand froze a solid path that traveled fast towards Oishi, who at this point sat there helpless. He could no longer feel his legs to get up and move. The impact was much worse than anticipated. In a final attempt, he threw his sword directly at Tsuki Ona, but she was able to form a wall of ice to shield it just in time. The ice crept under and encased all around him. It formed the shape of an Iron Maiden with a hole across his eyes to see his killer before the inevitable death. She formed several strong shards beside her with forcefulness. This was going to be the beginning of her revenge.

After infusing it with her chakra, she sent it to her trap by the command of her hand. There was no escape for him now. The shards surrounded his prison awaiting the final blow. Genzo immediately drew his dual swords and ran towards her. She scoffed at him for being stupid enough to interrupt her first kill. So he wanted to die already? She sent one of her shards right through his heart. He stopped in his tracks and fell to the floor dead in his own pool of blood. She smirked giving him credit for his attempt, but her attention went back to Oishi. The trap he couldn't escape from was cold indeed, but he was shaking from fear instead. His partner lain dead right there and her attack was so fast. The only reason she was going to such lengths to ride this battle out was because of him provoking her. She wanted him to die slowly.

Now the Master would have no guards to bring back the Elemental or have anyone to tell of her location. He admitted his defeat to himself and quietly prayed for his partner's forgiveness for meeting his end. He underestimated her. She was truly powerful. No wonder his Master wanted her.

Tsuki Ona slowly stepped closer to the Ice Iron Maiden. Oishi trembled with each sinister step she took. Why didn't she just kill him already? He couldn't do anything. Her eyes were like daggers bearing into his soul.

"You and your men will all pay for your sins." Her voice was as cold as her heart. No remorse.

She walked away, not waiting for him to fess up any final words, seeing as how he wasn't worth them. Looking back she snapped her fingers and one by one the hovering shards speared through cracking the Iron Maiden and into his body. Oishi screamed in the pain, but it only worsened from there, for each icicle continued to bore deeper into his skin instead of melting away. It branched outward tearing flesh from the bone and puncturing every organ. The torture was immense as it seemed to grow longer with each tear. With her last finger snap, his body was split apart. The ice Maiden filled with so much blood that it oozed out of the small window, his only sight of the world he was departing, into the sand. Tsuki Ona smiled with delight.

'How barbaric...' Yue said from within her mind. It was sickening.

"You have no idea what I'm capable of child."

Tsuki Ona turned to Yumi's passed out body. Her wounds were still present as she didn't heal them yet. She must have run out of water. Yue felt a stroke of fear at what she was going to do next. Possessing that hatred for humans and Yumi was now all alone with no way to defend herself.

'Don't hurt her!'

She remained quiet and summoned another ice shard. Their shared stomach dropped. As Yue watched it come towards her best friend, she frantically screamed for Tsuki to stop.

'Please! I won't get close to her anymore! I let you out because of her, please just let her live!'

Out of nowhere, the shard broke into small chips that fell into drops of water across Yumi's lips. She absorbed the water like a dried out sponge. It was enough to sustain her, but she still needed to rest. Her eyes remained closed. Yue was dumbstruck at what just happened. Why would she do this for Yumi? Why did she let her live?

'I don't understand.'

"Kappa is my family. He dwells within her... I would have allowed you to remain friends with her."

'Kappa is her elemental?'

"Yes."

'But why would-?'

"Yue!" Called a voice from within the cave. Her head turned to see the living bodies of two men, one of whom she did not want to see. It was Gaara and Kankuro. Inside Yue was ecstatic to see him, but at the same time was also devastated. They knew he would come anyways, but after seeing that horrifying aftermath against the Korishi men, Yue feared the worst to come for Gaara. He would die if he came.

'Gaara! You need to get out of here! Tsuki please just tell him to leave! Don't harm him!'

She ignored her.

Gaara crushed his compass back to sand, no longer needing it and looked around to assess the situation. Kankuro observed Genzo's lifeless body on the ground. The ice spear was still intact with his skin as he watched it slowly melting. They looked to the Iron Maiden that was now a gut filled bloody mess. Surprise slapped across their faces. Tsuki Ona stood over Yumi in defense, her eyes staring down the red headed boy.

"Yue what happened?" Gaara asked stepping closer to her. Kankuro yanked his little brothers arm back.

"Wait! Are you sure that's Yue?"

His teal eyes scaled her up and down. Despite the change in her hair, she still looked like the same old Yue. Her face no longer had a soft complexion. Was she still mad at him for what he did?

"That's what I'm hoping..."

"Wow. You really fought them off Yue." Kankuro congratulated with a smile. She remained silent.

Given the layout of the cavern, Gaara felt insecure about how everything went down. Her training was proof enough that she couldn't ever be able to create something as skilled as the Ice Iron Maiden and to have spears impaling both kidnappers. She couldn't even doge Yumi's attacks, let alone some random opponent. And by the looks of it, she came out alright. This wasn't like her at all. Maybe it wasn't Yue.

He walked towards her, but as soon as he was within five feet's distance she reacted by emitting two ice daggers by her side. Both men raised their brows with questioning.

"What the hell?" Kankuro could only assume it was because she was still pissed at Gaara, but that couldn't be it. Gaara didn't deserved to be killed for it. This had to be the power Gaara was talking about, so she couldn't be the same Yue.

'Tsuki please don't do it!' Yue screamed.

"Leave..." she ordered in her chilling voice.

"Yue?" Gaara stepped closer reaching out to her. Tsuki Ona threw the daggers at his feet to stop him.

"Don't come any closer."

"Hey, Yue!" Kankuro yelled "Gaara came all this way to help keep you safe!"

"Well isn't that nice of him." She formed two more daggers at the ready. "Now leave!"

"Yue, I'm sorry for ordering you like one of my guards. I realize now that my actions were out of arrogance and I shouldn't have treated you like that. You are more than a shinobi of the Sand." Gaara explained. "I'm sorry that I angered you. I deserve to be stabbed...But I want you to know that I was only thinking of your safety."

Inside Yue felt on the brink of tears, her heart lifted so much. 'I forgive you...'

Tsuki was not moved by his words. Actions speak louder. It annoyed her to hear Yue say that. Being inside someone who is just too forgiving was unnerving, but then again it was because of being her host that she had to live alone for so long. Pity is the only reason Tsuki considered allowing him to live. Seeing him come all this way for her, she was certain he would follow wherever. Right now was not the right time to deal with him. She had work to finish, so she threw her dagger directly to his face to get him to fuck off. Immediately, his sand blocked the hit.

"What the- ?!" Kankuro yelled at her. "Look I know he messed up, but listen to me Yue-"

"I'm not Yue!" She blew up like a geiser with blue chakra. Sand lifted off the ground with the icey wind as her eyes glowed bright with anger. The boys took charge of their defenses. Kankuro unstrapped Crow from his back and connected the puppet strings with his chakra from his fingertips. Gaara's sand reacted around him, but he forbid it to attack. His brother stood by idly awaiting his command.

He should have prepared for this. The time had finally come and he was too late. The Elemental had taken over Yue's body, but how did it happen this time? Yumi looked as though she had suffered much in the battle, and he could only assume Yue gave in to power to protect her. The only thing he was afraid of at this point was whether or not she would come back.

"Yue! I know you're in there! You need to-!"

"It's futile boy! She's gone! I am in control now!" She interrupted him. He remembered Yumi's trick during training. It worked somewhat then, but she was relentless.

With a wave of her arms, she jutted out several ice kunai and speared them. This was becoming more of a pain trying not to kill them. Surely the Kazekage and his first man would be able to tolerate her small blows, but why didn't they leave? The sand and Crow blocked them both, but Gaara still didn't give the order to attack. He stepped to her again.

"I don't want to fight you." He stated.

"Stay away!" She screamed hastily and burst a ice wind directly to him. The force knocked Gaara off his feet to the back cavern wall, but his gourd cracked to cushion the impact with sand.

'Gaara!' Yue screamed within. What could she do but to watch Tsuki go against him? He couldn't die like this. Not in front of her.

Finally, Kankuro had enough of this crazy bitch. He wasn't going to wait for Gaara's orders, so with his fingers he manipulated the puppet's hidden poison daggers to attack. Hit after hit it attempted to puncture her, but her speed was too fast for him.

He should have brought more equipment along with him. With Gaara around, he didn't think he would need much help as a bodyguard, especially against his own girlfriend. Kankuro hoped it wasn't going to come to this. The poison smoke bomb might be the only chance they have to slow her down to a weakened point, but that could end badly. This decision had to be given a little more thought since they were in a confined area with too many people around that could receive potential damage. Kankuro only brought enough serum for one person.

"Kankuro, stop this!" Gaara shouted, recovering himself from the fall. His older brother paused to reevaluate if he should listen to him or not. The ice demon saw another opportunity to send them away. Tsuki Ona pulled all the water surrounding them to make large monster - like snow hands and clasped hold of the puppet. Using her chakra to increase the density of the snow, the wooden puppet began to crack. Snap! Snap!

'Shit!' He exclaimed in his head. Kankuro tried to move it out of her trap with his chakra strings but it was no use. It crushed the tool into a useless pile of scrap wood. He instantly felt a strain in his chest.

"Crow!" Was all he could say. That is going to take forever to put back together. "Damn you!"

"Kankuro!" Gaara called again, stepping up to his place. "That's enough. Find a way to Ms. Hashigumi and get her to the infirmary."

"I can't leave you. She's too powerful." He explained. He knew Gaara didn't have the heart to harm her, but with all the damage she caused could be dangerous for his little brother. It looked as though she made very little effort. Who's to say he will make it out alive? What would the village do without him?

"I know more than you do about what's going on with her. Somewhere deep inside...she's still there. This is my burden. It's not safe for Yumi in her state. I'll hold her off and you take Yumi out of here."

"But Gaara-"

"That's an order...If anything happens to me, I leave the title of Kazekage to you."

"Gaara..."

"Trust me. I know what I'm doing."

"Right." He nodded.

Gaara stepped forward and summoned his sand at her feet to ground her. Tsuki jumped away from the attack with a smirk. What a ridiculous way to fight, she thought. He admitted he didn't want to fight, but that didn't mean he wouldn't if he had to. He had to assess the situation again. From what he can recall - Yue was protecting Yumi, failed, resorted to her power and is now possessed. Watching from afar, he noticed that she wasn't actually going all out in this battle. Given the results of the two kidnappers going against her, she could have easily wiped them out. And with that, she is still protecting Yumi. But why?

'She isn't trying to kill us...She wants us to leave...' Gaara thought. 'What's her motive?'

'Tsuki please! You've done enough! Don't hurt them anymore!' Yue pleaded. She was hoping to God that Gaara knew she was being possessed, that her body's actions were not her own. How could she live with herself if he hated her?

"Shut up, Yue." Tsuki said. Gaara immediately focused when he heard that.

"So she is in there..." he said. Tsuki Ona just glared at him.

'Yes, Gaara, I'm in here! Can you hear me?!' Yue called.

"No he can't hear you." Tsuki explained. "Be quiet already."

"Tell me..." Gaara began "What is your motive?... All this time, you haven't been using the maximum of your powers..."

She remained silent.

"At any time you could have killed us just as brutally as these two." He pointed to the corpses. "Judging from your defenses, you're not out of chakra yet. Why do you want us to go? You can leave all of us if you bring Yue back."

"She isn't going to come back... Not until I've finished what I need to do." Tsuki Ona said.

"What is it that you need to do?" He asked.

"These weak little pawns answer to one man. He's the one who destroyed Elementals for their power...I will be the one to finish him."

"Revenge..." he whispered thinking back to how he used to be when Shukaku possessed him. Were they so different?

"I've spared your lives. To me, you humans are nothing but power hungry scum. If it wasn't my pity on Yue I would have done away with you just like I did with her last family."

"You killed Reo and Mameha..."

"What?!" Kankuro was in shock. Deep down he knew that she had something to do with his suspicious death, but to think that it also involved her own guardian. How could this happen?

"Yes. That old bag was trying to control me through Yue. The less she used her powers the weaker I became, and her getting close to that boy would have been the end for me."

"How?" He asked curiously.

"If Yue ever conceived a child, I would immediately be passed on to it and would no longer reside in her. I couldn't wait another decade behind human eyes watching your race become more insignificant. My main focus is the Korishi. They have been after me for years and will continue to do so until I've stopped them."

'You killed Reo and Nanna...All because you thought I would get pregnant?!' Yue questioned.

Gaara cocked his head and folded his arms, not entirely understanding her intentions. Allowing them to live because of feeling sorry for Yue, but not for killing Reo and Mameha? That didn't make sense. It had to be more than just pity. There's something beyond that she isn't telling him.

"What is your name spirit?"

"Tsuki Ona."

"Tsuki Ona, will you allow my colleague to take Yumi back to the Hidden Sand Village for medical help?" Gaara asked, not forgetting about her. Kankuro slowly approached the three of them with his arms up to show he was defenseless.

"She doesn't need medicine." She said.

"We can't just let her lay out here! What if her wounds get infected?!" Kankuro shouted hatefully. What the hell was she thinking?

"She can heal herself fine, she just needs water and rest. Her powers will do the rest."

"She can heal herself?" Kankuro repeated dumbstruck. There was clearly more information to be told about these creatures.

Tsuki Ona felt the need to conserve her energy and allowed herself to calm down. The wind around her died down as she released the moisture back into the air. Her eyes stopped glowing, signaling the power seal completion. If she wanted to, she could go back inside Yue's mind to fully recover, but knowing that goody - goody brat, she would do everything in her might to exorcise her out. Then her plans to end the Korishi would never come to be.

Gaara observed her transformation from top to bottom. Her hair remained white and her eyes were still a cold icy blue. All in all, she looked human. He paused when he noticed her arm. Dried blood streamed down from a nasty wound on the shoulder. At what point in their battle did she get hit, he wondered. What bothered him the most was why she didn't heal herself yet?

"You're injured."

Tsuki looked at the damaged shoulder. It was just as black and bloody as before and the pain still remained. She covered it with her hand to suffer through it. This was not the time to show any weakness.

"It's nothing." She said.

"Why don't you heal yourself?" Kankuro asked.

"I can't."

Gaara reached out to her cautiously. She pulled an ice dagger aimed directly over his jugular in retaliation. Her eyes glared at him like an animal asserting dominance after feeling threatened. Gaara stopped. He refused to block her, not that he needed to since he already was wearing his sand armor.

"Don't touch me."

He removed his hand and backed away.

"I can help you with that." He explained as calmly as he could. He had to choose his words extra carefully now that he was dealing with someone more dangerous.

"I don't need help. I'll be fine as soon as she wakes up."

"Can Yumi heal you too?" He asked.

"Yes. I need her for my plan...As for you two, you'll only get in my way."

"I'm not leaving Yue." Gaara said. She scoffed at him.

"You humans are pretty daring. Do you know what you're getting yourself into?"

"I promised her that I would protect her."

"And look at where she's ended up! You allowed two Korishi spies to infiltrate your village and kidnap not one, but two Elementals! If it wasn't for Yue giving into my power, they would both be dead or worse handed over to the Korishi Leader!" She snapped at him. "So tell me Lord Kazekage...have you really protected her?"

He was at a loss for words at that remark. It was meant to spite him, he knew, but unfortunately it was the truth. He couldn't keep her safe. What kind of Kage was he?

'Tsuki that's enough! We wouldn't be in this mess if it wasn't for you!' Yue yelled angrily.

"You think I wanted to be inside you child?!" Tsuki barked back.

'He wasn't able to keep his promise, but it means more that he was willing to leave the village behind to come after me. I too am responsible for what happens to me, not just him. Doesn't that count for something?'

Tsuki sighed running low on patience with this girl. "What do you see in him?" She whispered.

Gaara interrupted their conversation wanting so desperately to hear Yue speak to him. "Tsuki Ona. Yue is still inside you correct?"

"Yes."

"Can I speak to her?"

"No. I told you already. She will return after I've ended the Korishi."

"Because if she were to come out, you would go back in right?" He corrected. She was quiet.

'He's pretty intuitive for a human..' Tsuki thought.

"I need to tell her something. Please let me talk to her." Gaara pleaded.

"You cannot speak to her. Though I can't say she would want to talk to you anyways after all that you've done." She meant the fight.

His chest ached that it could very well be the truth. Maybe she was still mad at him.

"Please..."

She sighed in irritation. "She can see and hear you. Anything said or done to me is inflicted on her as well. Just say what you need to..."

"Very well..."