Chapter 25: Bloodied Sand

While some couples enjoyed each others love in-doors, some took their love to the warm night outside, Gaara and Sakura were hand in hand and walking down Konoha's main avenue towards their restaurant of choice, Ichiraku of course. The days were growing warm and Ichiraku did not have to conserve wood anymore. "I've heard great things about Ichiraku" He smelled a strong aroma of cooking beef Miso and fresh noodles. Sakura laughed aloud "No doubt you have heard all that from Naruto ..." he nodded in agreement, they took their seats and Ayame brought them their fresh Miso "The food is delicious thank you ... In Suna we don't have special things like this ... or at least i didn't" Sakura looked puzzled "What you mean ?" He gazed into his bowl "I was not allowed in public restaurants" Sakura felt bad for asking and kissed his cheek "You are with us now Gaara ... with me" he held her hand and smiled 'when he first came here ... tears were always in his eyes'

They payed their bill and walked out into the warm Konoha Night. It began to sprinkle above them, despite the heat. Gaara drew out his sand Umbrella and blocked the rain from her warm body, the rain became heavier and Gaara extended the Umbrella a bit wider by adding more sand. Had the rain not been so loud, they would have heard the footsteps of their pursuers. They came to a stop as they saw a large traffic halt on the main street, There were dancers and food carts all close together it seems people were having a street party "Let's go around this way" She pointed off to an alleyway which would by pass the street party. They entered the alley and further approached danger. high above them, a man clad in a dark leather overcoat, their shoulders were armoured with thick steel plating and the emblem imprinted on each shoulder depicted a Leaf village symbol ... with a heavy scratch running through it. he signaled to similar men on the opposite roof, there was forty-one of them in total "Target in sight, Boss Suchi ..." The man named Suchi nodded, he was dressed similar to his men but his trenchcoat was obsidian black and his shoulder plates were made of bone.

"Good ... if we pull this off, lord Zetsu will pay us handsomely"

/FLASHBACK/

Suchi had met Zetsu 2 days earlier, he was peacefully resting in his office, counting up his loot from a successful Carriage robbery, him being the boss of the "Deadly 41 Gang" meant he scored the largest amount of loot. The being called Zetsu had literally merged from under the ground shouting out "HAAALLLOOO !" he stood gracefully in-front of Suchi's desk "Would you like to count more ?" Zetsu sounded very humorous and kind despite his fearful appearance. "W...who are you ... !" Zetsu laughed, Suchi noticed Half the white bodied being was gone, as if melted away. "I don't want your demon work !" He felt the cold edge of a Kunai lightly press against his throat "YOU DON'T HAVE A CHOICE ..." The other voice sounded cold and hateful "OKAY ! I swear ..." The mysterious figure removed the Kunai and came into Suchi's sight, He was identical to the other one except his skin was black ... not white. The two looked each other than merged into one being. "We have a little job for you ayeee !" he threw down a sketching of a Boy and a Girl, they both looked like they were in their seventeen's or older. "Kill them and we pay you Ryo with any number you want ... do it and you will live like Kage's" The white one laughed aloud and the black one seemed annoyed, "Okay ... they both die and that's it right ?" The two men 'or one ?' nodded and disappeared into the ground.

Suchi walked out of his office into the large hanger bay of the Deadly 41's base "LISTEN UP YA GRUBBING BAKA's ! We got work to do... IT WILL BE OUR LAST JOB, IF YOU CATCH MY MEANING !" The bay came alive with movement and yelling, Leather overcoats were pulled on and Kunai were handed out and sheathed, Chakra goggles, which allowed the user to see at night were charged and turned on, filling the bay with fluorescent green lights. Metal was clicked into place as forty-one suited up to kill. Suchi watched them in amazement and grinned 'piece of piss ...'

/FLASHBACK ENDS/

Gaara hugged Sakura close to him, he felt something odd. His sand was tingling as if trying to warn him of something 'its probably the water interfering with my Earth Chakra' she smiled "You're a bit clingy tonight haha" he loosened his grip and looked sorry "Um ... did i say stop ?" she giggled and he smiled warmly "I don't know what i would do without you Sakura ... I love you" she was surprised, this was the first time he flat out said he loved her without any other words before or in between "I ... love you too Gaara" they embraced and felt safe around each other, they were s wrong. "Well well well aint this cute, huh boys ?" the men laughed. Both alleyways were blocked by twenty men, ten on each passage, the remaining twenty were above them upon the rooftops. A man stuck his out the window to see what the commotion was, one of the ninja above him reached down and slit the mans throat without a moments notice, two ninja leaped through the window and cleared the house, they emerged "all clear boss" The forty-first man emerged from behind his men, he walked towards the two teenagers with a wide grin on display "Now ... who do we kill first" Gaara shielded Sakura and dropped his Umbrella and pulled a protective hand sign

Suchi laughed "My friend ... im sorry to tell you this but ... well. do you see my second in command over there" He gestured to a man in full black with no armor or weapons to show his stature in the group "Well ... he's an associate to Orochimaru ... he has Genjutsu beyond your imagining" the man pulled away his goggles and revealed a glowing red-eye with similar patterns to the Uchiha "He's a hybrid Uchiha ... his Genjutsu is similar to Itachi Uchiha !" He gestured to Sakura who stood next to Gaara in a defensive pose "Which is why... Gaara of the Sand ... you haven't noticed that your girlfriend is dead" He signalled to the second in command and the Genjutsu subsided and disapeared. Gaara was lying on the cold concrete, he looked over to see Sakura flat on the ground with a Rope Dart buried into her chest, her blood spilled from the wound and turned the brown muddy puddles beneath her into crimson tides. Gaara screamed aloud "NOOOOOOOOOOOOoooo ! SAAAAKUUURAAAA !" His scream was heard throughout the city

"Boss the Shinobi are coming, should we just kill him ?" Suchi shook his head "No ... hes already dying ... look at his wound" Gaara had not yet noticed, his stomach had been cut open and the sand was keeping his intestines from falling out, he would be fully healed in a matter of no time, that is one thing they had not counted on. The forty-one men fled like lightning as the first Shinobi were in sight, Gaara stood and cradled Sakura, she groaned in agony and stared into Gaara's eyes "G..Gaara ... i lo...love you..." Her eyes rolled to the back of her head as she went unconscious "NO NO NOO ! i wont let you die" he formed a Stretcher out of sand and placed her body on to its surface, his chakra was weak and he could barely keep it up as he ran. The water was dissolving his make-shift stretcher and Sakura feel through the stretcher to the hard concrete, Gaara screamed trying to form his sand into a stretcher or bring in back into him but he couldn't, the sand was covered in blood and dirt and it was near impossible to control in this weather, he beat his fists against the ground in utter anger "WHY GOD DAMMIT !" he lifted her up and ran for Konoha Hospital.

Kakashi and Yamato had heard the scream and ran to Gaara's location , he saw the unconscious and bleeding figure of Sakura and let out a yell of anger and sadness "Gaara ! what happened !" Gaara ran alongside Kakashi as Yamato crafted a stretcher from a nearby tree "Here use this !" Gaara gritted his teeth "I don't know ... there were forty-one of them that's for sure" Kakashi's eyes widened "The Deadly 41 ... they are mercenary's which means they were no doubt hired by the Akatsuki ..." Gaara payed no attention, hired or not, they would all die.

The doors burst open at Konoha Hospital as They carried her in "BRING LADY TSUNADE ! THIS IS HER STUDENT SAKUA HARUNO !" Kakashi's mind was whirling 'They hired Mercenaries to kill Gaara and Sakura ... why ? Gaara is a Jinchuriki, they need him alive ...' Sakura was rushed to the OR immediately where Tsuande met up with the group "OH SHIT ! SAKURA ! What happened !?" Kakashi sighed "Enemy attack ... The Deadly 41" Tsunade's grip tightened on the steel bed and she crushed the holding rail beneath her grip. Gaara could only stare as his loved one was taken from him to the OR where he couldn't watch. He felt dark spots gather at his eyes and his knees buckled as his conscious and grief gave way. As always, Kakashi caught the boy and set him down on the waiting room chair 'his wound was serious but it healed quickly ...' he slept for a solid 3 hours before awakening in a hospital room next to Sakura.

He could hear the steady beep of a heart monitor, it was faint but it brought him to full consciousness, Tears were in his eyes and he wiped them away, he looked over at Sakura and they flowed out again. Her stomach was heavily bandaged, but her blood still seeped through the bandages. The rope dart had impaled her and damaged her heart as the leader pulled it free, it was uncertain if she would pull through. Gaara felt hot tears course down his cheeks, his teeth were gritted so hard it hurt. Kakashi and Yamato came in "About the Deadly 41 ..." Gaara cut them off with a stare "I am going to kill them all ..." his teeth gritted together tightly and he began to walk out of the room "How will you find them !" Gaara raised a palm and formed a Sand eye, he had placed one in the pocket of one of the men, it could act as a lookout and a tacking device, he knew exactly where they were.

He left the spare eye on the bed side table of Sakura's room, so he could keep an eye on her. He began his journey out towards the Deadly 41's hideout. Yamato shook his head "Kakashi ... we should have stopped him" Kakashi shook his head in response "We are leaf ninja ... we cant do this without orders" He pointed towards the general direction Gaara traveled "Like him, if i had not been a leaf ninja ... i would be slaughtering them all right now.

Gaara reached his destination in little over 15 minutes running, the complex was a large abandoned Smithing facility, where metal used to be melted into weapons of death for all of the 5 Great nations. He saw through his spare eye at Sakura's side, she was frothing at the mouth and shaking violently, Tsunade was restraining her with tears streaming down her face. Sakura's torn her wound open again and Tsunade screamed in frustration and sadness. They were loosing Sakura, she might die and leave Gaara all alone and it was all their fault. He felt his rage boil up until it exploded, He let out a roar that was heard miles around, it was half Gaara half Shikaku. his wrists bulged and twin rods of solid sand stone ripped from his flesh, making it look like he had two Katana's coming out his wrists like an assassin. His eyes turned black and his pupils a dark yellow. He would not give in fully to the Shikaku ... but he let its power consume him. The air alarm sounded as the Forty one departed from their sleep and prepared for an attack. Gaara let out a fierce scream of anger, it was no longer Gaara, but now it was the Shikaku who loved Sakura "I WILL RIP THE BONES FROM YOUR PATHETIC FUCKING MORTAL BODIES !" The Shikaku screamed and salvo's of Sand shards shot from Gaara's hands and destroyed the Transport vehicles and gas tanks surrounding the complex

"LET THE SLAUGHTER BEGIN GAARA HAHAHAHAA ! MY LEASH IS BROKEN AND I CRAVE BLOOD !"

Author note:

Hope you like the darker approach i am taking, the Shikaku was always more violent than the Kyuubi in my opinion and Gaara truly loses control. you certainly will get the blood he craves hahaahahah

Feedback :)

Luv - Phillip