Chapter 20: The Best Laid Plans
Naruto awakened slowly only to see Ino perched over him "uhnn…my head…" he said softly. Ino helped him up "Naruto we're under attack by millions of puppets, we need your
demon fox fire!" she said. Naruto nodded and saw his friends outside fighting for their lives, his anger flared at whomever would dare threaten his friends like this. He growled and let
out a roar as his red chakra engulfed his body, and a red tail of chakra grew from him. His mouth filled in with razor teeth and his nails extended into claws. Gaara nodded "kill them."
He said succinctly. Naruto nodded and he disappeared as rivers of fire erupted around the puppets reducing them to rubble. Gaara frowned as Sasuke passed out from chakra
drainage. Sakura passed out as well, she had given him all she had. Gaara cursed, his artillery was out. Kismet appeared, battered and bruised, her swords broken and collapsed
"I…I'm sorry….Gaara." she mumbled
before hitting the ground. Gaara cursed again, his infantry was gone.
All that keeps my battle plan in line is that idiot fox boy…and
I do not
like that…he thought sullenly.
A giant yelp was heard and a certain idiot fox boy came plummeting at Gaara's feet broken and bruised. Gaara tapped the unconscious boy with his foot "Idiot…" he said as he l
ooked passively on at the army of brown wooden puppets. "Death comes for all eventually….but today…..I do not wish to die……I have purpose…..to kill everyone else." He said a
s he looked down at his right palm where the weird scar was. It flared in response to his determination and he closed his eyes, summoning all of his will power. He tugged down at the
very desert's bottom, straining from the use of chakra. The desert's mouth started to cave in, dragging all the puppets under, opening wider and wider to acommadate the mass of
puppets. The tangled mass of wood and eyes clacked as they were knocked against each other, their eyes rolling and their limbs contorting. Gaara sighed with relief as the desert sands
claimed them beneath its rolling waves of golden salt. "Sabaku…Taiso!" (A/N: Desert Requiem) A giant shockwave rippled through the entire desert as enormous pressure was forced
upon the mass of millions of puppets. A massive crunch was heard and Gaara's chakra supply emptied having not fully recuperated from his battle with Itachi.
The Desert Prince sat back exhausted on the sand. His breaths came in gasps as he had used way too much chakra in the past two days and it was starting to affect him. Suddenly he
saw something off in the distance, a wooden hand shot up from the ground. No…he thought as the arm pulled itself up and the body it was attached to poked its creepy head out of the
sand. The three eyes lolled and looked Gaara right in the face, its creepy mouth jawed open and shut and its other hand climbed out. Then suddenly more arms appeared, and more
and more. Gaara watched stoically So…this is how I am to die…All the puppet's blades slid out of their arms and they slowly dragged themselves toward Gaara.
Gaara watched, staring them down as they approached one by one. A puppet pulled itself up near Gaara and stabbed its blade right into Gaara's chest. Gaara's eyes widened in pain
but he said nothing. I…I…feel…pain…this…he looked down towards the blade now covered in crimson blood this is my blood…"FOR KAZEKAGE!!!" a female voice yelled. A
blur of fur and clothes crossed Gaara's sight as a fist connected with the puppets head splintering the entire thing into wood splinters. Gaara didn't look up, he was too preoccupied
with the blood spilling out of his chest. This is what it feels like to be hurt? Not bad…compared to the feeling I feel everyday in my chest…Puppets exploded in the backround
from the flash of fur slammed into them one by one too fast to be cut by their blades. Suddenly, all the puppets froze and stopped working, collapsing in place. "Hakke Hyaku
Nijūhachi Shō" (A/N: Eight Trigrams One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms) was heard yelled by Neji. Suddenly the flash of fur subsided and appeared in visibile form next to Gaara.
"Sabaku no Gaara?" she asked concerned as she reached at the sword in his stomach and pulled it out fast, blood gushed newly with force. She clenched her right hand in the tiger
symbol and extended her left over his wound. "Fox Healing Technique Level 3" she said as a burst of green energy entered Gaara from the odd girl. The girl got up slightly dizzy from
the effort of fighting and the huge chakra cost of healing Gaara. Gaara's wound closed up as if by magic and didn't even leave a scar.
Gaara looked up to see for the first time the pale skinned, very attractive girl who had rescued them. She had blondish brownish hair with fox ears and a fox tail which was majoritively
red but with an undercoat of black. She was wearing jeans and a simple t-shirt, she turned around unexpectedly and made eye contact with Gaara. Her hazel orbs seemed to hypnotize
Gaara as he could feel his sheets of emotional armour want to fall off, his green eyes fought back though; their cold and uncaring gaze prompted her to break off the eye contact. "Who
are you?" Gaara asked impatiently as he stood up slowly, his chakra regenerating. "What's in a name?" the girl countered "What does it matter who I am? Shouldn't it matter what I
am than anything?" she said with a smirk. Gaara tired of this exchange and asked Shukaku who responded with she was…from your past…her name..is En'Ioko Gaara nodded
remembering the particular girl sans the tail and fox ears.
"En'Ioko….what are you doing here?" he asked softly. The girl stiffened at the mention at her name but relaxed and turned around "I was sent to escort you home to your palace
where Kazekage awaits you." She said softly. "There has been a rebellion by your brother Kankuro and the crown will need your help in dealing with his treachery." She said softly
almost sadly. Gaara shook his head "and I would help why?" he asked. She smirked "Cause you owe me one for saving your life here." Gaara growled "you could have let me die and
id be a happier man." He said softly as he turned around and gathered the sand back into a gourd on his back. "maybe you would be, but then your friends would be dead too." She
countered, slightly disturbed at his uncaringness about losing his life. "and? I should care why?" he said once more.
What happened to him? Why is he like this? Was he always like this? I can't remember…… I don't think so cause then he wouldn't have saved me that time…her thoughts
trailed off but then she resumed the present. "At least help if for nothing else….for your future kingdom." She said hesitantly. Gaara turned around "I couldn't care less about anyone or
anything, just get in the car and we'll talk about it later." He said cuttingly as he flung the bodies of his defeated friends into the back of the car with his sand. Neji came back and was
about to say something about the foxy girl who had joined them but saw the emotions on Gaara's face and decided to leave it alone.
Gaara got into the driver's seat and gunned the engine as En'Ioko got into the passenger seat. She looked at him and his stony gaze on the horizon, operating the vehicle on instinct
alone. His red hair got in the way of his vision First thing I do when I get home is get a bath and a haircut…and sleep…if I can find my meditation chamber…his thoughts
wandered. En'Ioko looked over at the blood thirsty prince and started doing what she always did…..analyze. Her hazel eyes swept over Gaara getting a feel for him. Red
hair…reflects his blood lust…green eyes…deep green eyes…he'd hiding a lot from everyone…but his gaze is empty, he must know how to shield…or…he is truly empty…
Gaara kept staring forward grumbling inwardly about the stupid autopilot going out on the troop transport. His perceptions were still expanded by his contact with the desert sand, he
could feel the vibrations in the sand made by everything moving, he felt the sun baring down on it, he felt every crevice of the desert….he felt as if he were the desert and in a sense he
was. His eyes dared to take a peak to the side of him to see the kitsune staring at him as if studying him. Go ahead and look…you'll see the same thing everyone else does…he
thought somewhat sullenly a monster…
"You don't talk much do you?" En'Ioko said with her sort of annoying high pitched cheerful voice. The Sand Prince merely growled in response, En'Ioko's fox ears perked up and
she growled back in a series of tones as if trying to communicate. Gaara was confused and tilted his head to the side peering into her hazel eyes with his sea green emotionless eyes as
if to say "What the fuck?" The kitsune giggled and drew her hands and legs up onto the seat. "You don't speak animal?" she laughed uttering another series of growls and purrs,
curiosity dancing in her eyes like flames. Gaara shook his head and turned his attention back to the road "No I don't, and I suspect that I would never want to." He said icily. The
kitsune laughed "but English is SO LIMITED!!" she pointed out "its so much easier to communicate in animal." She said with an enticing look on her face. "Well I don't know how to."
Gaara said paying her no more attention. En'Ioko smirked and said "Then I'll just have to give you a crash course…." She purred with delight and then said "repeat after me." She
growled. Gaara growled in response, En'Ioko purred and Gaara grimaced as he tried to purr. She giggled at his attempt and was surprised to see what she thought was the beginning
of a smile beginning to form on his mouth but then it was erased as if by magic. "That doesn't seem too hard." Gaara sighed bored. En'Ioko smirked "That's only the basics, there's
tone and depth and of course…" she trailed her nails along his arm "body language." She raised her eyebrows and perked her fox ears.
Gaara shook off her charms "I don't want to learn this anymore." He said as his sand rose up and threw her hand off his skin, slightly cutting her. The kitsune growled and licked her
wounded wrist, "maybe some other time then…" she murmured intent on pursuing this mysterious man. After an hour of silence the palace grounds came into view, ivory white walls
with gigantic spires topped with gold and jewels. The gates opened for the troop transport and the vehicle drove into the private gardens where a man robed in white with a red signet
on his hat that shaded him from the harsh sun's glare. Gaara got out of the transport and walked up to the front staring into the eyes of Kazekage, the royal guards were edgy at best.
The back opened up and the beaten bruised and tired Sakura, Sasuke, Neji, Kara, Ino, and Naruto climbed out. The kitsune knelt before the Kazekage "m'lord I have brought your
son back to you safely as you commanded." The old tired man reached out and scratched behind her fox ear making her tail wag "good work, En'Ioko…you may rest now…" she
nodded and got up. She walked off to the side entrance but not before stealing one last glance at Gaara You're hiding something beneath that calm venire and I will find out what
that is…the kitsune thought as she walked into the palace.
The guards were disturbed by the blood shot green eyed monster in front of them, the teen age Gaara was even more terrifying than he was at birth…..if that was possible. He was
calmly staring the old man down, arms crossed over his chest defiantly. The dusty dry wind blew across the dunes, ruffling his blood red hair and irritating his eyes that still had those
trademark sleep deprivation circles around them. Most were frightened by the Kazekage's wrath…..but not this teenager. The Kazekage turned to the companions of Gaara who had
lined up to flank him on both sides "Welcome to Sunagakure." (A/N: Hidden Village Among The Sand) Sakura and the rest thought he was smiling cordially but could not tell because
of the white veil covering all of his face but his eyes which were harsh and critical "I've made provisions for you, go retire to your rooms for the evening and my servants will fetch you
when supper is ready, we are always pleased to welcome our allies from Konoha." He signaled to the guards "Show them to their rooms." Most of the guards took the weary travelers
to their rooms, still leaving an honor guard for Kazekage or Gaara…no one was quite sure whom they were supposed to be guarding from whom.
Before being led away Hinata stole a glance back at Gaara to see him still defiantly standing there, wind at his back making his baggy clothes flutter in the wind and making him seem
even more imposing than he really was Good luck Gaara-kun…she thought timidly as she walked off with the guard.
The Kazekage looked over to his remaining guards, who were quite loyal to him, and realized that even after all this time they were still afraid of Gaara. Good…then Gaara has yet to
be forgotten…he thought as his harsh eyes crossed over to his son looking him over, suddenly several shiruken appeared out of nowhere heading straight for Gaara, the sand rose to
block it but instead of just blocking it, it formed a sand clone of Gaara which promptly threw it back to Kazekage. The sand king looked surprised and managed to catch the shiruken
in between his fingers "So…you have gotten faster…and stronger…" he said quietly to himself. He snapped his fingers "guards…leave us." He said softly. The men bowed and left
immediately glad to be free of the sight of Gaara.
And then there were two solitary figures about twenty feet away from each other, staring each other down. Cold green soulless eyes meeting brown critical analyzing eyes, Gaara's
sand clone dissipated into sand and blew away in the desert breeze which ruffled both Gaara's black t-shirt and black jeans and the Kazekage's pure white royal robes. The red
setting sun was directly over Gaara's head casting him in an eerie red light, bringing out the color of his blood red hair, shadowing the rest of his white skin making his green eyes glow
an otherworldly color. The sand danced around the two masters of the desert, he truly is the master of Sand…as it was ordained…Kazekage thought as he could feel through the
sand that Gaara had grown in strength but not in emotional strength but he is still unready…
The blood thirsty sand demon looked at his 'father' with his cold soulless eyes analyzing him. Same as always father…cold…analyzing…distant…his eyes narrowed and jealous…
He straightened up and quickly shot a stream of hardened sand at his father, the old man smirked under his veil and with a dash of his hand broke the attack on his calloused hand.
"Not strong enough Gaara….you're still unfit to rule….you're lucky I'm so healthy…otherwise your shame would be known to all the villages as your home roasted in the fires of
conquest." He said in a biting tone. Gaara's eyes narrowed "So you say old man." He said spitefully, his eyes and body full of hate derived from his childhood memories of failed
assassination attempts by his father's minions. And so the two men sat there in the fading sunlight, content to speak more through eye contact than words, exchanging mental blows
rather than physical….it was a battle of wills…and a test of emotional endurance. Finally after three hours, Gaara simply turned and walked away into the palace tears stinging the sides
of his eyes slightly and the pent up emotions on the verge of breaking loose. He realized he couldn't stand it any longer and with a melodramatic swirl of sand, he disappeared in front
of the palace guards, appearing almost instantaneously in his room from the chakra controlled sand.
The old white robed king stood in the same place he had been since Gaara arrived smirking "You may be the prince of sand Gaara….but I still rule here….whether you like it or not."
He said softly as he walked off into the sunset towards his royal quarters. Thinking to himself He will need someone……he does need someone…otherwise…he will never be fit to
rule…one cannot rule a country if they cannot rule their own emotions…but where to find one such girl…His thoughts flashed back to the glances he had seen Hinata and
En'Ioko give him …where indeed…
--end---