Disclaimer: I do not own any Naruto characters, though I wouldn't mind if I did.

Chapter 38.

Naruto was in a foul mood as he stood in front of Tsunade, along with Kakashi and Sakura. He couldn't believe the Fifth Hokage at all. He hadn't been back in Konoha more than three days and he was already getting lame missions assigned to him. For the past three days since he had been back, surprises were popping up all around him. He had been surprised by the way Sakura now looked and how strong she had gotten. He had been surprised to learn that Temari was in the Leaf Village, rounding up some Leaf Ninja to go to Sunagakure, where he learned Gaara was. He had tried begging Tsunade to let him go but she immediately stated that he wasn't to go just yet. She wanted to, and he could seriously quote her on that, "Warm you up a little first, Naruto."

He hated her for that.

Of course, to learn from the other Konoha Ninja that Sakura and Gaara were now an item came as a complete shock to him. He couldn't believe it though. Sakura and Gaara were together. He had stood still for a very long moment, staring into space with the look of shock. It took Kakashi actually knocking him on the head, since Sakura was a little nervous of doing it. She hadn't wanted Naruto to find out just yet but Kiba just had to go open his big, fat mouth.

But after the moment of shock passed, Naruto grinned at her and hugged her tightly, much to her shock and bewilderment. "Man! Thank you so much, Sakura-chan! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!!" He had bellowed.

Everyone stared at him with astonishment that he was actually thanking her for being with Gaara. They had thought he might start pouting and whining. In truth, Naruto was a little upset about it but then again, he came to the conclusion that he would have rather seen Gaara win Sakura's heart. When Kiba asked him if he was sick or something, Naruto just smiled faintly and shook his head. "I'm not happy it wasn't me who got to be with Sakura, yeah. But then again, I'm very happy that it's Gaara. All our lives, Gaara and I believed that we would be alone and never find someone to love us like that. Gaara had it worst than me. I'm glad that you're giving him this chance, Sakura. He's a really good guy and he'll treat you a whole lot better than You-Know-Who." He said softly, not wanting to even mention Sasuke's name.

Again, everyone was astonished of how much Naruto had grown up after three years of training with Jiraiya. None of them could believe that this was the Naruto they had all grown up with and trained with. He had changed.

But then again, when he got a very sly grin on his face and asked Sakura if she did something inappropriate with Gaara yet, they all went back to dryly looking at him or laughing when a flustered and angry Sakura sent him nearly flying across the entire village from hitting him so hard. It had to be Tsunade to heal all of the broken bones that her pink haired apprentice gave him.

And during those three days of being back in Konoha, Team Kakashi had been formed again, with the three teammates. Kakashi, of course, had to test the two to see how good they had gotten since they've been away. He put them through the bell test, which took almost a whole day and night to do. But after pulling on a dirty trick against Kakashi, namely Naruto threatening the silver haired Jounin that he'd tell him the ending of the new Icha Icha book, both of the young ninja beat their Jounin sensei.

Now, they were reinstated as Team Kakashi and was getting ready to be put back on missions.

Of course, Tsunade was trying to shove the lame missions back onto them; such as cutting lawns and chasing down that stupid cat, Tora, who kept on escaping its fat owner. And of course, Naruto immediately rejected the missions she was trying to bounce onto his head, pouting dryly on the ground while both Kakashi and Sakura was sweat dropping miserably.

"Okay. Maybe he hasn't changed too much." Sakura said dryly with a sigh.

Before Tsunade could lose her temper on the energetic knucklehead ninja, the door slammed open and in came a messenger, looking very frantic and holding a scroll in his hand. He looked as if he had just been threatened by a wild animal and it was chasing him into the office. "Lady Hokage! Emergency message from the Sand Village!" He cried out leaping towards the Fifth, who frowned with surprise before snatching the scroll. She unrolled it quickly and read what it said.

A second later, her eyes widened and she grew pale as she had a look of horror on her face. She looked as if someone had just died. Or was very close to. Her hand shaking a little, she dropped the scroll onto her desk and she sank down into her chair.

"Tsunade-shishou?" Sakura asked frowning with concern. "Shishou, what is it? Is it from Gaara?"

That definitely had Naruto's attention. He immediately stood up and looked to Tsunade, who winced at the name before retaining a serious look on her face as she met his eyes. That look in her eyes scared Naruto. He did not like it at all. With a stony face, Tsunade turned her eyes onto Kakashi, who also was frowning with concern. "It's from Baki. Or something like that. Last night, Gaara was caught by the Akatsuki. He fought with the terrorist, Deidara and lost the fight. The Akatsuki are taking him to their hidden base to extract Shukaku from him."

Both Naruto and Sakura's eyes widened as their hearts nearly stopped beating in their chest. They both grew the same shade of white from the terrible news. Even Kakashi looked horrified. They couldn't believe it. Gaara had been defeated. He had fought the Akatsuki on his own and he had been beaten. Tears filled Sakura's eyes as she covered her mouth and slowly shook her head. Like Naruto, her heart had only started to crack from the heartbreak. But unlike Sakura, Naruto's face darkened and his eyes flickered almost to red as he clenched his fists so tight that his nails bit into his palms, causing them to start to bleed. He was not going to let the Akatsuki get away with this. Never.

Pain. That was what Gaara felt as he felt himself gaining consciousness. He felt excruciating pain in his entire body. His entire body felt as if it had been severely burned and then had salt rubbed all over it. But what surprised him the most that he was still alive. He would have expected that he would have been killed already.

Then again, he didn't really expect to wake up in a pitch black room, chained to the wall.

Gaara weakly opened his eyes and looked around the black room, trying his hardest to see where he was at. He tried to move his arms, but found that they were shackled tightly above his head. He could barely move at all. He was just too weak at the moment. He couldn't really tell where he was due to it being so dark. But by the feeling of the wall, he was in some kind of cavern. The walls were a little rocky and it felt like someone had cut out this room. He could barely hear a trickle of water near by and it just quenched his thirst a little. His throat felt so dry and scratchy. He could smell blood in the air as well as mold. It made his nose crinkle to think that this could have been the Akatsuki Headquarters. 'Shukaku……you there still?' He thought, though he knew it was a stupid question to ask.

'……If I wasn't….you'd be dead right about now…..' Shukaku growled with irritation, though he also sounded weak.

The young red head winced as he tried to shift himself up into a more comfortable sitting but it just sent a rack of pain his way. He tightly closed his eyes and held his breath until the pain resided. However, holding his breath only made him see yellow spots behind his eyelids and he felt a little dizzy. 'Shukaku….where are we?' he thought to the demon, reopening his eyes and trying to take a look around again.

The demon made a growling sound and Gaara could almost see him twitching his tail with irritation but he didn't lose his temper. 'Not a clue. I couldn't take over this body while you were out. I think the Akatsuki might have given you something. Drugged you while you were out. Drugs don't do well with the Tailed Beasts. Even they can work on us if applied right.' The sand demon growled at him. 'But I did hear a little bit for you. From what I could tell, that lame brother of yours came after us and the Akatsuki. He got into a fight with Sasori, but the clay bomber didn't stay long enough to watch the fight. He took off with our body." It was here did the demon hesitate from saying anything else.

Gaara didn't like the sound of the sand demon's voice though. He felt a wave of dread roll over him at the thought that Kankuro had come after him, to save him. What had happened when he did? 'Shukaku? What happened to Kankuro?!' he thought frantically.

The Sand demon was quiet for a very long time, leaving Gaara on edge. That was not a good sign at all. Usually at this point, Shukaku would have just taunted him with the answer. But judging by their connection, what the demon had to say, Gaara knew he was not going to like it at all. 'I'm not entirely sure. But when Sasori caught up an hour later, Deidara did ask. And Sasori said that he had taken care of Kankuro without any problems at all. I can only guess that…..I can only guess that Sasori killed him.' He stated very quietly.

There had only been a few times did Gaara ever felt the terrible pain in his chest and they had all come from terrible situations. The time that he lost control over Shukaku and murdered many ninja. The time he nearly killed Rock Lee. The time Tenten had approached him with such hatred in her eyes. And even the time Yashamaru tried to kill him, forcing him to try and run away from the Leaf Village. His heart was shattering in his chest. He knew it had to be. The pain was so unbearable. To think that his older brother was killed for trying to save him, it hurt so badly. Tears filled his eyes as he squeezed his eyes and he let out an animalistic cry.

"Kankuro!" Gaara hissed painfully. "No…." He leaned his head back against the rocky wall, not caring if it only added onto his pain. He didn't care that tears were now trailing down the sides of his face, mixing with dirt and blood. His mind was only on his brother. "NO!" He roared into the darkness.

There was a long silence in the dark room, other than Gaara's own painful sobs. It did make him a little happy that Shukaku didn't take the pleasure of his pain. The demon was actually being very quiet. The demon knew better than to say anything about Kankuro's possible death. His host was too much in pain right now to taunt him. He knew that Gaara couldn't take any wise cracks from him at the moment. So he would keep his mouth shut.

Just then, a low squeak in the room made Gaara's eyes fly open and he looked into the darkness; glared more like it. The sound was more like a door opening. He sensed someone coming into the room. No, not someone. More than someone. There were two sets of footsteps entering the dark room. So there must have been two people coming into the room. Still, it was too dark to see right now. So he couldn't tell who was there. But seeing the position he was in, it had to be Akatsuki.

And sure enough, two forms moved a little closer where he could make out the form of someone wearing those ridiculous black cloaks with red clouds.

"Who's there?" Gaara growled, threateningly. A cold chuckle was his answer as the owner moved a little closer to him. He still couldn't see who it was. That is, until he saw a flicker of red. It was a familiar red. Something he remembered from the day Sasuke had fought Naruto and left the Leaf Village. "Tobi." He snarled between his teeth.

Heh, heh." Came Tobi's voice before the sound of a match being struck. The sudden burst of light hurt Gaara's eyes, making him flinch and close his eyes. But after a moment, he slowly reopened them to see Tobi lighting a candle so that they could see each other. Tobi had not changed very much at all through the past three years. He actually looked the same. He wore the same clothes, had the same hair style, wore that stupid orange mask that Gaara found himself wanting to break, along with the face under it. "Welcome to the Akatsuki, Gaara. I do hope you're feeling all right. From what I've heard Dei-Dei did a real number on you. He actually tried to blow you up for crushing his arm. He got into trouble for it, but not too much because you're still alive."

Gaara narrowed his eyes coldly at him, his teeth starting to bare at him. He wanted nothing more to break the chains binding him and rip this Akatsuki agent apart. But then his eyes caught sight of someone standing in the darkness behind him, making him frown and look over Tobi's shoulder. He froze seeing who it was.

It had taken him a moment to realize it was not who he thought it was. He had thought it was Sasuke for a moment. But then again, this Sasuke was much older than the real Sasuke. He most have been a decent few years older than him. Maybe ten years older. He was much taller and he had very long, raven black hair falling around his pale face. The dark eyes peering through the long strands of hair was so lifeless and cold though. Not what Gaara was used to. But either way, he knew that this could only be the elder Uchiha brother, Itachi.

"You." The young red head hissed, his eyes narrowing at Itachi.

Itachi didn't react at all but stare lifelessly back at him. He looked Gaara right in the eyes, not saying or doing anything at all. But Tobi, however, merely glanced over his shoulder at Itachi before chuckling dryly as he turned back. "Oh, that's right. You two have met before. Well, I didn't exactly expect you to remember him though, Gaara. After all, you were only a baby at the time. But then again, Itachi does have the knack of leaving terrible marks on people." He then rest his elbows on his knees while remaining bent down in front of the young red head. "Itachi, don't be rude and just say hello. It's been a while since you've seen Gaara, anyway."

The Uchiha didn't obey though. He just kept his mouth shut but stared Gaara right into the eyes.

Not caring either way, Tobi shrugged before turning his masked face back towards Gaara. He was chuckling again, as if he found something very funny. "Well, well, Gaara. You sure got yourself into a real mess this time. Didn't I tell you not to go back to come back until you were ready to face us?" he remarked.

Gaara glared at Tobi fiercely. He didn't want to be scolded by the likes of him. He didn't really understand why he was anyway. Wasn't he apart of the group who had wanted to capture him and kill him? "Why do you care, Tobi? I came back to the Hidden Sand Village to drive the whole lot of you out of that place and free the people from you!" He snarled at him.

Tobi snorted as he slowly shook his head, not offended at all that Gaara was growling at him like an animal. He actually seemed to have found it funny. "And yet, you were savagely beaten by Deidara, who happens to be one of the weakest of the whole lot of Akatsuki and now you are here, in the Akatsuki Headquarters, or at least one of them, chained to a wall, waiting to be murdered." He then lashed out and grabbed a fistful of Gaara's hair, nearly pulling some strands out by the roots. It only made the young red head grunt in pain as his head was yanked back and then slammed into the wall. He was really seeing stars after that. "I told you not to attack the Akatsuki until you were strong enough, Gaara." Tobi said now, very coldly. He was no longer cheerful as he had been again. It was the same voice he used years ago. The first time he showed his true colors to Gaara. "And now, within an hour or two, you are going to begin the process of dying."

The red head winced as his hair was being pulled but he wasn't going to give Tobi the satisfaction of showing his pain to him. So mustering the coldest look he could, he met the one eye in the mask, defying him if not challenging him. "Why haven't you began yet then? I'm surprised you haven't." He said coldly.

Tobi tilted his head to the side before roughly leaning against Gaara's head to stand up. He didn't answer for a moment as he turned away and took a few steps away from the young red head. Then he turned back around, folding his arms. "Unfortunately, we had a little trouble before we got started. You see, two of our members were on a mission to gather another Tailed Beast and they lost her. So they were distracted for a moment as they tried to find her." But then Tobi shrugged as it was no big deal. "They'll have her soon. I'm surprised they even lost her. She's a slippery little cat." He then dropped his arms again, chuckling when he saw interest Gaara's eyes. "Don't be worrying about the other Tailed Beast, Gaara. You should be more worried about yourself. The Extraction of Shukaku is going to begin very soon and it's going to kill you. And because Naruto Uzumaki is on his way here now, we will need to prepare the Extraction of Kyuubi next."

Gaara's eyes lit up with surprise to hear that Naruto was on his way to rescue him. So his best friend was coming. In a way it frightened him more than it excited him. If Naruto showed up at the Akatsuki Headquarters, it would mean he would be next to die. Unless Jiraiya managed to train him correctly, that is. But he was sure he had. "Naruto…."

"Don't worry about your friend, Gaara. He'll be joining you soon enough." Tobi said coldly before he turned away and started towards the door. "Now then, I will leave you two to sort something out. Itachi requested that he saw you before the Extraction. Which is probably why he defied orders to stay right where he was suppose to and came here. Against his orders. Well, either way, he'll be returning to his mission as soon as he's done talking to you." He remarked before waving over his shoulder and leaving the dark room.

It was very quiet as Gaara glared up hatefully at Itachi, who stared dully right back. Neither one said anything for a very long time. They only looked right into each other's eyes. But then Gaara narrowed his teal eyes at the Uchiha and dipped his head down. "Uchiha." He hissed. "You murdered my mother."

Itachi's head shifted only a fraction, tilting to the side while looking Gaara right into the eyes. "And what if I did?" he asked quietly.

Gaara just growled at him, now pulling at the chains, hoping that some how that they would break so he could attack Itachi. He wanted nothing more than to take the Uchiha down for what he had done. He distinctively knew that this had been the reason Sasuke went to join Orochimaru in the first place. If he could kill Itachi on his own, just maybe Sasuke would return to the village. "I'll kill you, Itachi Uchiha! I will rip you apart for killing my mother!" He snarled at him.

Itachi actually startled chuckling as if he found Gaara's remark hilarious. He only shook his head as he looked dryly right into Gaara's teal eyes. "I really cannot say on how many times I've heard that before." He then shook his head, no longer chuckling. "But I suppose before you die, I should tell you the truth. I didn't kill your mother." He told him.

The news surprised Gaara, making him freeze with alarm and stare at Itachi Uchiha with disbelief. How could he could he believe that? Temari and Kankuro had told him that Itachi killed their mother?

There was a pause before Itachi turned away, looking at the far wall away from Gaara. He seemed to be thinking about what to say to the young red head but then he tilted his head back towards him. "I did not kill the Lady Kazekage." He repeated. "Sasori did." And then he began explaining what really happened fifteen years ago, the day that Gaara was brought to the Leaf Village.

~Flash back~

There was too sudden black flashes running along side the Lady Kazekage, all the while she was running with her children, carrying her precious youngest son. She was bleeding pretty badly from the kunai wound that the young Itachi Uchiha had given her but she chose to ignore it. She just kept on running while glancing to the side at the two Akatsuki chasing her and her children. She knew that they were in trouble. And when the shark looking Akatsuki, Kisame Hoshigaki reached over to grab her, she jerked to the side to run around a tree so that he would crash into it.

It worked.

But then Itachi Uchiha grabbed a hold of the young one, Kankuro, yanking him to a stop. The Lady Kazekage had no choice but to come to a halt with Temari, glaring at the young ninja. With a pained look on her face, she shoved her baby into Temari's arms and gave her a light shove. "Temari! Run!" She ordered. Her daughter gave a stunned look and even started shaking her head but she looked fiercely at her oldest child. "Temari! They will kill him! You are the fastest runner of our family! RUN!!" She screamed at the girl. Temari flinched but then she bolted as fast as she could away from the clearing. Almost like the wind, she vanished into the trees with her screaming baby brother in her arms.

"Get the demon carrier, Kisame!!" Itachi yelled to his partner as he held onto the struggling boy. He watched his partner bolt after the girl, only to have stop when the Lady Kazekage jumped into his path, creating a Sand Cloud. He gritted his teeth as he watched both of the women run towards them.

"Let my little puppeteer go!" The Lady screamed along with her clone.

Itachi threw Kankuro hard to the ground, whom hit his head on a rock and he was out cold immediately. He had not really wanted to harm the woman any more than he already had. He knew that the wound he had given her was enough to slow her down. But it looked like she still had some fight in her.

Suddenly there was a flash of silver from behind him and a large, metallic scorpion tail lashed out striking the Lady Kazekage through the chest. A terrible scream of pain and death erupted from her as blood began trailing down her front and the tail. Both Itachi and Kisame whirled around with alarm only to see the cold stare of Sasori as he had his puppet's tail lift the Lady's body a little before tossing her to the side like a rag doll. She hit the ground hard, leaving her gasping in pain and choking on blood as it came out of her mouth. She shuddered with remaining life leaving her before she was still again.

Itachi, however, gritted his teeth and gave Sasori a nasty look as he straightened himself. "Sasori! There was no need to kill her! She was weak as it was, so therefore there was no need to take her life!" He said acidly.

Sasori turned his cold eyes onto the raven haired Akatsuki member, before whipping out his scorpion's tail to throw the blood onto the ground. Then he had it curl back into its compartment inside the puppet. "Why so angry, Itachi? Did that worthless woman mean something to you?" He snorted when Itachi glared at him. "Don't be so soft, Itachi! She was the enemy and she refused to give us the Shukaku! We sacrifice those who have no meaning at all or are not useful to us! She was only in the way! Now, gather up that little brat and let's go find the Shukaku!" He demanded, now hurrying along past him.

Itachi glared after Sasori but then let his eyes flicker over to the Lady Kazekage's dead body. He knew that she meant nothing to him, but he could not help but feel a flicker of pity roll over him. In a way, he saw his own mother lying in the pool of blood. He felt pity for this woman, for all she was doing was protecting her baby from them, even if he had been trying to get a hold of him, himself. But with a sigh, he returned to his cold stature and picked up the boy, Kankuro, before following after the other Akatsuki. It was time to finish what he had started.

~End Flashback~

"So…..there it is. The truth. I may have inflicted a few terrible wounds on your mother, myself. But I did not take her life." Itachi finished explaining to Gaara, who was staring off at the wall with a stunned expression on his face. In a way, the Uchiha could not blame this young Leader for being so surprised. He had only been a baby at the time and his siblings hadn't known their selves of who really killed their mother. So all of that time, Gaara of the Sand had hated Itachi Uchiha for something that he did not do.

Gaara swallowed hard as he took in the information. He had the truth of his mother's killer. It had been Sasori, the fake Kazekage. His mother's real killer had been Sasori of the Red Sand, The Greatest Puppet Master. It hurt to hear of the way she had been killed but it only enraged him more. He swore he was going to survive this and kill him, if not die doing it.

Gritting his teeth, the young red head turned his teal eyes onto Itachi, giving him a hateful look. "You may have not killed her, but you did cause my former teammate pain. The mere memory of you destroying your own clan has driven Sasuke away from the Leaf Village. It has hurt Naruto and Sakura, and that I can not forgive at all." He spoke with a growl. "Anyone who hurts them, they will deal with me. In a way, by hurting Sasuke, you've hurt them. I will see to it that you pay for it."

"……" Itachi hummed, his dark eyes narrowing a little in thought. "You cared about Sasuke, yes?"

The young red head blinked only once, still glaring at the Uchiha but he dipped his head into a nod. He had to tell the truth and tell Itachi that he did care a little about Sasuke. They had been teammates and they had been through a lot together. "Yes. He was a friend." He said darkly. "That is until he ran away to Orochimaru. And I will see to it that he's brought back to the Leaf Village, with Naruto and Sakura."

Itachi tilted his head away from Gaara, looking a little thoughtful before he turned his dark eyes back onto Gaara. He was quiet for a very long time as he thought about something, not sharing his thoughts at all. He seemed to be making a silent decision. But after those long several moments, he slowly nodded before moving a little closer and bending down in front of Gaara, who tried to kick out at him. Gaara knew it was a lost cause and it was dangerous but he really hated this ninja. He wasn't at all surprised that Itachi caught his foot before lashing out and roughly grabbing him by the neck. Like Tobi had done before, Itachi shoved the young red head hard against the wall, almost causing him to black out from the painful impact. The Uchiha just shook his head, looking very dangerous as he gave Gaara a look of warning. "Don't do that again." He warned darkly.

"Get your hand off of me!" Gaara growled between his teeth. The result was only Itachi tightening his grip on the young leader's neck, choking off his air a little. The dark haired Akatsuki member just shook his head, with a cold smirk on his face. That made Gaara feel a little uneasy. But it made him frown when Itachi began forming a hand sign with his free hand. "What are you…..?" he choked out.

Itachi didn't answer but close his eyes for a moment, muttering something way too quiet for Gaara to pick up. But when he opened his eyes, Gaara felt a wave of terror roll over him as he met the fiery red Sharingan eyes. The flashback of meeting those eyes as a baby came back and even tried to jerk away from Itachi, who wouldn't let go at all. He just kept a firm grip on his neck before reaching up with free hand and touching his forehead; the Kanji marking of Love. Within Gaara's head came a blinding wave of pain, causing him to cry out in pain and close his eyes. He felt as if his head was splitting in two. He could not stop the yell of pain from erupting his lungs, which Itachi ignored.

After a moment's pause, Itachi released Gaara, now stepping back and leaving him with his head aching terribly. "When you survive this whole ordeal with the Akatsuki, deliver this message to the Kyuubi. And you might as well as do it yourself as well. Save Sasuke." He told him.

Gaara was too much in pain to be surprised. He only let his head fall onto his chest while panting heavily. He slowly lift his head to look up at Itachi again, only to see the Uchiha's fist flying at his head, hitting him from the side. He could not keep himself from flying into the dark of unconsciousness.

While floating into the darkness of unconsciousness, Gaara found himself once again in his mind world of the dark desert. He still felt pain all around him as he laid on the black sand of his mind desert. He could only stare up at the black sky, wondering what had just happened and tried to remember what Itachi said to him. It was a blur to him. But there was one question going on in his mind the most.

How was he going to get out of here and protect Naruto from the Akatsuki?

Gaara knew for a fact that if he couldn't beat the Akatsuki, how would Naruto? He knew that he had always been a little more skilled than his best friend when it came to the ways of the Ninja. It was a fact that Naruto mostly got lucky in fights. He didn't have too many skills when it came to fighting and he usually just went with fists of fury when it came to beating the enemy. But he knew that if Naruto fought against the Akatsuki, there was no way he could beat them.

'Brat.'

Gaara lift his eyes and found Shukaku hovering over him, looking sourly down at him as he laid there. The sand demon looked rather grumpy that he was just lying there and not doing nothing. "Go away." The red head muttered.

'Are you just going to lie there and let the Akatsuki win?! Are you seriously going to let them take me from you?! If they take me, you will die!!' The Demon growled at him.

Gaara forced himself to sit up and glare up at the sand demon. He really felt like he didn't need to explain himself to the demon. "And why would you care what happens to me, Shukaku?! Why would you care?! The Akatsuki will take you from my body and you'll still be alive! But me…..I'll be dead! I will die! So why would you care?!" Tears filled Gaara's eyes as he glared up at the sand demon. "You've never liked being inside of me as it is, Shukaku! You've always hated it! And soon, you'll be free!"

'Free?!! Is that what you think?! If the Akatsuki extract me from you, yeah, you'll die! But I won't be free! I'll still be held prisoner! I don't care what happens to you, yes! I never liked you, you weak, human brat! But I'd rather be trapped inside of you than be trapped inside of an Akatsuki or whatever they are planning!' Shukaku roared at him.

Still glaring at the sand demon, Gaara shook his head. "Why, Shukaku?! Why would you want to be stuck with me?!" He demanded.

The Sand demon continued to glare at him, yet his hackles raised a little and his tail twitched furiously. He seemed to having trouble explaining what he really wanted to say. But after a moment, the demon's eyes narrowed, yet not in anger or suspicion. There was actually softness in the demon's eyes. 'Because you have compassion for others, Gaara.'

The mentioning of his name stunned the young red head. Never had Shukaku ever called him by his real name. At least of what he could remember. It was always "Brat" or "Weak Human", but never "Gaara."

'Believe it or not, we, the Bijuu, have feelings. Even that blasted Nine Tailed Fox does.' Shukaku went on, his black and yellow eyes looking into Gaara's teal colored ones. 'And we do tend to grow attached to things and people. I may not like you, Gaara, but I have grown attached to you. You are my host and if you die……' The Demon sighed, his eyes closing. 'I will feel like I did not do what I should have during these many years. Protect you. You and Naruto Uzumaki has shown me this. We should use our power to protect, not destroy. We should save, not kill. The compassion you hold in your heart for your friends and that girl, Sakura, has reminded me of something from my former life.' Shukaku reopened his eyes and looked back at a stunned Gaara. 'I don't want to leave your body, boy, because you have such compassion inside of you and it has changed even me. Me, the One Tailed, Blood thirsty Beast of the Nine Bijuu.'

Gaara stared up at him with surprise but then after a long moment, he stood up and faced his inner demon with a sad look on his face. He stared up at the sand demon for a moment. "Shukaku……"

Suddenly there was a wave of pain rolled over Gaara, making him cry out and fall down to his knees, clutching his head. He felt as if his brain was being sucked out of his ears. He saw many flashes all around him and a terrible storm began to kick in all around him. Funnel clouds began to swirl in the dark desert all around him and the sky was full of flashing lights. Looking up, he saw that the flashes were actually images of his memories. They were images of his life.

"Wh-what is…..is hap-happening?!" Gaara cried out, still clutching onto his head.

Shukaku looked around, growling and snarling at the funnel clouds but then he looked sadly down at Gaara. 'It's begun. They are trying to extract me from you. You're dying, boy. These are just the last flashbacks of your life. Your life is flashing before your eyes.' He growled before moving closer to Gaara and wrapping his tail around the young ninja, who was in great pain. The demon made a terrible sound of a wounded animal as he wrapped Gaara into his tail. 'It will take three days to completely remove me from your body. When the desert around is gone, then so shall I. I am the Desert within you. And when it is gone, I will be.'

"Shukaku!" Gaara found himself yell in his pain as he curled up into a ball. In a way, he saw himself as a child again. He saw himself as a lonely eight year old boy, curled up in a ball and crying from being alone. Alone with a demon behind him.

'Kid, it's been fun being with you. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you better.' Shukaku growled softly as he wrapped his claws around the curled up boy on his tail. His own eyes closed, waiting for himself to be removed. He and Gaara knew very well that there was no way to stop it now. Not in this black world they were stuck in. The only possible way for it to be stopped was someone on the outside. Someone had to stop the Extraction. But how could anyone save them now?

Gaara opened his eyes and looked into the flashing dark sky, watching as his life passed before his eyes. He saw himself growing up under Jiraiya's kind and loving eyes. He saw how he had been alone most of the time with children making fun of him because of his red hair and dark rings around his eyes. He saw his memories of meeting Naruto for the first time. Then he saw how they had stuck together, fighting off the many dangers that came their way.

Meeting Kakashi for the first time.

Fighting Zabuza and Haku.

The Chunin Exams.

Temari and Kankuro meeting him and looking surprised that they had found him.

The pain during the Chunin Exams.

The losing control over Shukaku and the demon terrorized and killed many ninja during the Second Exam.

Nearly killing Rock Lee during their match in the Preliminaries.

Tenten screaming at him in hate.

The mind reading sessions with Ibiki Morino and learning about his brother, Idate.

The fight with Naruto and having his senses brought back to him.

And of course, the night with Sakura, when she finally told him that she cared about him in a way that he could only dream of.

"Sakura…….Naruto….." Gaara murmured as the last bits of his life was flashing and disappearing into the darkness. He saw that the dark desert around him was just getting darker and fading into blackness. He felt Shukaku's spirit fading away as well and even heard the sand demon growling in pain as he tried to cling onto the young leader. "Temari……Kankuro…..Baki……Jiraiya…..I'm…..sorry……" He muttered before looking at his hand, noting how it was fading. He knew that this was it. He was dying. The pain was fading away, and he knew it was too late to fight.

He had lost the battle.

Author's Note: I hated doing this chapter. I cried the entire time, while typing it out. No joke. Of course, I think it was because I was also listening to the Naruto song; Sadness and Sorrow while typing it out. Just for background music. lol. Anyway, I promise, it gets a lot better from here on out. Something will happen.