WARNING: Mild blood and gore ahead.

Chapter Seventeen: Tireless

There was a time back when Kira had been under the training of Korin Isley when she had been put through the section's test of endurance. A torment of sorts, where he put other young Scorpion Section members up against her one after another with no breaks, no time for water or food or rest. Kira had fought for three straight hours, battling against seven different opponents that she had either subdued, or knocked out before moving on to the next one. It had been a test that had nearly broken her, and after the last opponent she had collapsed onto the ground, barely able to move, and felt pain every time she breathed. Korin had scoffed, waving off her next would-be opponent, and then left her there on the floor of the arena. Later, one of the people she'd beaten had given her water and then helped her limp back home. Kira never found out if the ninja had done it out of some shred of humanity they had left, or if Isley had ordered them to do it.

As hellish as it had been, she'd almost prefer it over her current situation. Kira let out a ragged breath, sweat dripping off her skin and onto the ground; sweat that Kira was rather sure was tinted blue from the paint on her face. She had no way of knowing how long it had been, but she did know it had been long enough that the sun was more than halfway behind the horizon and that she was running out of energy and chakra. Her hands were slick and trembled slightly due to the drop in temperature.

"Shit," she hissed out, earning concerned glances from the two spirits at her side. This was not going well and Kimimaro looked perfectly fine. Any damage she had inflicted had quickly healed, and now he looked at her with what she could only call pity or disdain. She wasn't sure which one was worse, though she knew for a fact he wanted to kill her, no controlling justu needed.

Telling him that the person he'd sworn his life to was dead hadn't been her brightest idea. He'd outright refused to believe her and now wanted to gut her for saying such slander. It was making him slightly more reckless; Kira had almost gotten a tag on him twice, where before any attempts had been denied by way of being skewered alive if she got too close.

Kira had never thought in all her life she would wish to be back with Korin, but she kind of did now.

Kimimaro gave her a small smirk, bones grown out of the skin on his left forearm in tapering spikes. She imagined that hitting her, goring into her skin and shredding it, and winced.

"It is a sad truth that the human body can only work so long without rest. This justu I'm under, it gives an unfair advantage and that I do regret. You have been a good opponent, if not enraging." He spoke as calmly as ever, the malice he felt for her an underlining edge barely heard. He was honorable. Kira commended him for that, but she wasn't ready to give up. Would never be ready to give up.

"This isn't over yet," she stated, reaching into a pouch and taking out a small handful of tiny blue food pills. She chewed them mechanically, barely tasting the attempt of blueberry flavoring that hardly masked the herbs and food supplements. They were a special blend meant to help regenerate chakra faster and give her energy. They worked fast; even now she felt returning strength in her arms again, found it easier to ignore the pain of injuries she had slowly been accumulating. She needed more time, a few moments of time. She needed to distract him and keep him from attacking. Maybe find a way to get the bloody seal tags on him.

She thought about how Sasori had simply been gone, not sealed. Thought about how somehow, finding peace, finding common ground, clarity, seemed to free the dead from the justu. Was there a way to reach Kimimaro the same way? Maybe. It was a thought that had been rolling around in her head since the fight had started.

"We're not that different you know," her statement caught him off guard, like she'd hoped, and he paused what she assumed had been the start of an attack. He frowned at her, staying silent, waiting for more. She gave it to him. "We were both able to stay where we wanted to because of a purpose, something that made us valuable. Made us tools. My abilities were the only reason the late Kazekage let me stay in Suna."

Kira remembered the first time she realized that. She'd been twelve, just out of the academy when Rasa had called her to his office. She hadn't ever thought about the reason she'd been able to stay before, too young, naive and wide-eyed to ever think it could have been anything other than just kindness. Kira hadn't thought anything of it when her mother had steered her towards becoming a ninja; she'd wanted to follow in the footstep of the man that gave her a home.

That had all changed that day for Kira. The truth had shattered her life, given her guidelines that she couldn't ignore. She hadn't been told specifics only that she was meant for something and that if she didn't comply that she would be banished from Suna. She'd been told to stop seeking out Kankurō as well, or endure the same punishment, not that it had become an issue once her training had started. She hadn't had the time or the energy to do much else other than train and sleep.

"And what was that purpose?" Kimimaro stated flatly, annoyed that she would have the gall to compare herself to him. "My loyalty to Orochimaru is not something easily matched. I was not forced. I was happy to have that purpose."

That's what Kira had thought too for a while. She convinced herself that her job of guarding Gaara was fulfilling, that she didn't need to ever see the outside world. "It's not that you were happy, it was that it was the only thing you have ever known. It still is, because once again you're being told what to do, being put in your place. That's how I was too; I was there to make sure Gaara didn't hurt anyone, that he was kept out of trouble and I did that for years. It was all I knew till things changed and that job was no longer necessary."

It had been confusing and Kira had been angry, but Rasa was gone and so was Isely and so she didn't have anyone to report to. She'd tried, kept watch on Gaara, and gone to the village elders and for a time they had humored her. When it became clear that he wasn't the same as before though Chiyo had taken her off the assignment, told her to take some time while they figured things out. She had been lost and so angry, had tried to keep watching him even though she didn't need to. It wasn't until she'd been assigned to Team Fukurō that things had changed and she'd started to realize there was more to life.

"Gaara?" He sounded just like when he'd hissed out Naruto's name, when his features had darkened for the first time. "That sand user is still alive?"

Kira frowned at him, arms dropping slightly in surprise, a wave of confusion over taking her. "Of course he's alive," she confirmed eyes hardening at his expression that only got darker. Kira thought back to the report of that battle again. Kimimaro had almost killed Gaara, but had failed due to the fact that moments before his strike would have hit he had passed on. Was it possible he hadn't known he'd failed? "You died," she said quietly, hesitating, wondering if he would react the same way he had when she'd told him about his master. "Your last attack stopped before it hit."

He stared at her, his weapon falling to his side, eyes wide and jaw clenched so hard it was visible from where she was standing. Then, after what seemed like hours, but was probably just a few minutes, Kimimaro took in a sharp breath and Ru growled beside her sister.

"I see...I suppose I will need to finish then." It wasn't a question, it was a statement. Something Kira couldn't allow. She bristled, her two pack mates doing the same.

"I can't let you do that," she warned, hands tight on her weapons once more. He narrowed his eyes at her.

"I see now. You are like me. Gaara is your Lord, your purpose, as you said." His words felt like a slap and Kira took a step forward instead of back, no matter how much she wanted to. He was right. That was how she had looked at Gaara for a long time, even after her assignment changed. Even if it had lessened, even if she had gained other purposes, other meanings to her life, he had still been the center of her world. It was why she had spoken up that day, why she'd been so upset she hadn't been there to save him. That had changed though and it had been Gaara who had changed that.

"No. He's my Leader, the ruler of my village, but he's not my purpose." As she spoke, she could feel the pull on her skin from the dried paint. Even if she was his guard once more, it was different. Very different. "He's my friend, someone I care about. That's the reason I'll stop you."

The bone user stared at her for a moment; their gazes locked, and Kira knew, felt, that he really didn't understand. It made her sad, if only for a moment.

"Whatever the reason," he spoke evenly, "it doesn't matter. You will not stop me. If I must go through you first before finding him, then I will." With his words a black pattern spread over his skin and his body morphed. His skin darkened and thick bones grew from his back along with a tail that reminded Kira of a lizard. The spikes on his arm grew together, forming a spearhead that reached past his hand. Lastly, a large thin spike was pulled from his body with his other hand and suddenly he held a sword.

Kira took a startled step backward, shock running up her spine into the crown of her head and then down into her chest like a live wire. He was a monster, that was the first thing her mind came up with as he let out a snarling howl, his eyes wild and murderous. Her second thought was that this must have been the curse mark she had read about. Somehow that didn't make her feel any better.

"That is dark chakra," Ryoko growled, her stone and moss ears going back. "It is not natural."

Kira gave a short nod but didn't dare to look away as Kimimaro let out a ragged, feral breath and locked eyes with her once again. A very long second passed and then he was moving, lunging at her, seeming to have lost the grace in his steps. She jumped backward, blocking the sword with one Tonfa, the sound grinding at her ears and mind as they slid together. He'd gained speed and strength, just as she had read and now Kira had to be defensive or she would die.

Ru launched herself at him, stone teeth wide and latched onto the arm with the bone lance before he can use it, biting deep and pulling backward. Her sister was right behind her, leaping over Kira with amazing height and using her front feet to hit him straight in the chest, claws ripping apart paper skin. Their co-operative movements worked and Kira was able to get away as the bone user crashed to the ground, both stone dogs on him, ripping at him.

Kira reached for a seal in her pouch and rushed forward, but the ground started to shake and then pillars of sharp thin bones broke through the earth from Kimimaro, piercing through both sisters in several places, stringing them up several feet in the air. Kira was caught by one bone spear that cut her right shoulder as she dodged away, leaving a gash that bled instantly.

Looking up at her teammates she panicked, and then cursed under her breath. "Are you alright?" she asked as Kimimaro stood back up, the tears and slashes in his skin and clothing repairing at a rate that seemed even faster than before.

"Fine, but we're stuck," Ryoko snarled out, struggling. Ru wined, biting at one of the bones. "We'll figure it out Kira, don't lose focus!" The warning was too late, and in those seconds of time Kira had lost focus, if only for a moment.

She saw the lance coming at her and ducked, only for the sword to come slicing at her. She jerked backward, bone biting into her cheekbone and up into her forehead, but somehow avoiding her eye. Her hands weaved signs and a wall of stone and mud erupted from the ground between them, giving her a moment of time to think, to breath. How can she get close to him?

How?

Her eyes went to the shadows her wall made and she rushed to them, just as Kimimaro broke through. Stone exploded apart as the shadows swallowed her up and Kira found herself in the inverted world. She let out a long breath, trying to calm herself as she watched through the windows of shadows on the ground as Kimimaro landed on the other side looking for her. His monstrous eyes swept the forest, his tail of bones swiping violently behind him.

Maybe she should say there, in a world only she could travel to. It seemed like the better option for a moment before she remembered why she needed to stop him. With every minute she stood in the negative world her charka was slowly being drained, and once it was gone she'd be expelled and helpless. A few moments then, just a few to catch her breath.

Just a few…

The world slowed and the weight of hours of fighting started to fall down on her. Her mind crawled with thoughts. Panic was giving way to simple white noise in the back of her mind. She really wanted to sleep, to rest, but she couldn't. She had to finish this…

A startled scream broke through her mind and Kira jerked up straight from her slowly slouching stance. She turned, glancing through the portals to look at what she had missed. Kimimaro was farther away now, and it seemed a group of the samurai she'd been fighting with had come to try and help her. One was already motionless on the ground; another was in the bone user's hand, his sword dropped for a moment. Kira stared for a moment, paralyzed. How long had she blackout for?

No. Not now. No time to think about it, to regret.

Just move.

She moved, jumping out of the shadow a tree casted, and bolting at Kimimaro, blade out on her tonfa in one hand, sealing tag in the other. First get the soldier free, and then deal with him. Her arm swung down as she made it behind him, blade aiming to lop off his arm and free the man. His arm wouldn't be gone for long but it was something.

There was a loud, metal tearing sound when her weapon hit, except it didn't hit his arm. Bone plating had formed at her area of attack in moments, to quickly to really see, far too fast to stop her attack. Her tonfa snapped, blade shattering and wood splintering apart at the force of her blow. The bone was hard, too hard, and Kira felt the shock of it up her arm, forcing her backward and making her reel on her feet. The tag in her other hand was all but useless as she tried to slap it on him and missed, fingers inches away.

From the corner of her eye she saw Kimimaro smirk and then the ground tumbled again and Kira heard a curse and a scream echo in her head as she tried to jump away and landed hard, falling on her back. White spikes appeared above her and Kira let out a scream as she flinched away from one and barely missed another as she rolled. The third and fourth hit, one cutting into her side in a glancing blow, the other piercing straight through her right leg, barely an inch bellow her knee, nailing her to the ground.

There was no scream to go with that kind of pain, only agony, silent and raw and shocking. She gasped in silent words, lurching upright and clutching at her knee, wrapping her hands around the bone and trying to yank it out. The bloody thing was long, the other end of it disappearing into the ground feet from her like a blackberry bramble. Blood was already running down her side and pooling under her legs. Her opponent turned to face her, his prey still in hand, still clawing at his choked throat feebly.

"I had a feeling you'd try to help them, your honor and ideals wouldn't have let you stay hidden, just like that sand user," Kimimaro spoke running a hand over one of the bone brambles. "You can't help them though, not now that you're trapped. That ability of yours, I'm guessing you can't take other people with you, where ever you go, or else when you first showed up you would have taken that boy into the shadow, not blocked my attack."

Kira scowled at him, teeth clenched to hold back a scream. True, all true. How had he figured out her Shadow Shift ability so fast? She couldn't move anything living with her into the negative world. When she tried they just got left behind. Glancing down at her leg, bone wedged there, she realized that if she tried it now, the bone wouldn't go with her. It would get yanked out, causing more damage to the already inch wide hole. She was rather sure the bone was the only thing keeping the artery in her leg from bleeding out in moments. She was trapped. He had played her perfectly and now she was at his mercy. She glanced at the broken tonfa near her, ripped in half and shattered. Its twin laid by her other leg where she'd dropped it. Not that it would do her much good now.

"Fine, you have me," she managed to gasp out, glaring at him. "Now let him go." She looked to the still struggling hostage. Kimimaro raised a dotted eyebrow and looked at him. Two long seconds passed before he answered her.

"Your not in any position to make deals," he mused eyeing the lingering forces around them. "Besides, they will all die anyway."

Kira only had a moment to let his words sink in before her heart fell into her gut.

Stop him, please someone…move!

"No!" Her scream tore her throat but the bone user simply slid his eyes back to hers and then blood splashed on the ground around him, and splattered onto Kira's face. She flinched and looked away from the body now filled with holes from spikes like the one in her legs, like the ones holding her two partners in the air.

Helpless, there was nothing she could have done to help. She heard the sound of the few other samurai take steps back, gasping in horror and anger. Kira looked back at the monster in front of her and glared. He was a monster, and now, he was going to kill her too.

There was nowhere to run.

Her chakra was all but gone.

She was done for, but she refused to die scared; she wouldn't give him that. Kimimaro seemed to understand and pulled his spear arm up. "In the end, my loyalty out won over your own." He took a step forward.

"Kimimaro?" The voice was new, confused and oddly soft spoken for being so deep. The bone user paused and turned his head to the side. Kira, unable not to look, followed. A boy stood there, with tanned skin and bright orange hair. His eyes were dark and something about him gave Kira a sense of weariness.

"Jugo?" Kimimaro said evenly, a slight confusion to his voice. "Why are you here? Did he let you out of the tower?" He spoke in a manor that told Kira these two knew each other. While she wasn't thrilled about him showing up, his appearance at least meant she was spared. For the moment.

"No," Jugo answered, shaking his head. "Orochimaru is dead, Sasuke killed him a while back. He's the one who freed me, and as you told me, I have followed him ever since."

The irony of those words were lost on her as something from above dropped on her shoulder and tumbled to the ground. A piece of stone? Kira looked over at the palm size mass, slowly taking in the moss dotted on it and the perfectly shaped hole of an eye socket. Kira looked up to where her allies had been and found only remains of stone and root bodies that were slowly crumbling away. Where had they gone? Kira hadn't released them and she didn't feel them return on their own, yet, the glow of yellow and green was nowhere to be seen.

"You lie!" Kimimaro snarled taking a step toward Jugo. "Who else would have brought me back? This is his doing!"

"That is what we are here to find out. Sasuke is headed to their location as we speak."

"Not-"

The ground exploded around them. Kira winced and barely caught sight of Ru leaping from the debris, her form new and perfect, her body smashing into Kimimaro hard and fast, dragging him to the ground. In the same moment, Kira's eyes were drawn to her side where Ryoko had appeared, green eyes pulsing.

"Kira!" Her jaw snapped around the bone pinning her leg down, and bit into it with so much strength her lower jaw shattered. Her job was done though, and now there was only a few inches sticking out of her leg from the top. "This is our last chance, do it now!" Her words mean everything, and Kira only had a moment to realize that the sisters had used the idea Kankurō had given them days before, and then she was up, pulling her leg loose from the ground in one hard yank. Blood splashed out, and Kira nearly blacked out from the pain, but the bone stayed in place so she threw herself forward, stumbling on her feet, hand in her pouch around her last sealing charm.

Kimimaro had just thrown Ru off, and was on his knees, Jugo shouting something at him, distracting him. It was her last chance, and Kira would not miss it, no matter what. She stepped hard on her crippled leg and faltered, but pushed off with her other. Kimimaro reeled his gaze to her and lifted his weapon arm, but it was too late. Kira's hand smacked his raised arm, slapping the seal on it with quick precision. A tiny burst of her charka glued it in place and Kira was thrown backward moments later, Ru having launched herself at Kira, dragging her back to a safer distance.

Kimimaro screamed as the sealing tag did its job. His joints froze in place, and Kira watched from her place on the ground as the curse mark receded, the boy reverting back to normal and his charka disappearing. Jugo was still standing yards away, his face calm and unreadable and he was saying something, but Kira couldn't hear it, couldn't seem to hear anything but the echoes of sound. Ru and Ryouko were in front of her guarding her as the two boys conversed with words she couldn't hear.

Blearily, Kira shifted her gaze up at the now dark sky and grimaced. The moon somehow looked golden to her blurring vision. It reminded her of the promise she'd made, of orders she was supposed to follow, and she realized she couldn't follow them.

She hoped he would understand.

…

Gaara moved on sore muscles and bruised skin in a way he wasn't sure he had ever had to before. Back when he'd been knocked out, captured, and killed, Gaara hadn't really felt any of the pain, only the sharp impact of a bomb near him and the straining need to protect his people, then nothing. Now he felt every inch of pain, every cracked bone and cut in his skin. He'd been certain Madara – the real Madara, not the one who had begun this war but the one who had been brought back to life and then somehow stayed alive when the justu had been broken – had killed him. He'd been sure that every one of the Kage had been dealt fatal blows, yet he was standing, as were the others, all thanks to the Hokage and her healing abilities.

She'd brought them back from having a foot in the grave but hadn't been able to heal them all completely, instead settling for only fixing the damage that was life threatening. Now Gaara stood near Shinkaku of all being, Madara fighting the first Hokage, the tentails ripped from it's host. The young leader was exhausted to the point of not being able to really feel it anymore. His fingers tingled and his head hurt, but he was alive. At least for the moment.

This had become a very strange war, even by shinobi standards.

He wasn't sure where anyone else was. Kankuro had never shown up. Neither had Kira. He wasn't even completely sure where his sister was. A part of him whispered that they could all be dead, and Gaara had to shove that thought away if only to keep his head from not spinning.

No bodies, no death. He chanted that for a moment, telling himself that until he saw their bodies he had to believe they were alive. Keep focused on the people he could see, on the danger in front of him.

Naruto had already gone after Madra with a fleet of ninja behind him and Sasuke next to him. He eyed the purple glow of the Susono, not sure how he felt about Sasuke's apparent change of heart. He wasn't sure he believed the rogue, but knew he didn't trust him. Not that it mattered right now, not when he was helping them. Trust could come later. Shinkaku had asked him if he was Naruto's friend and the redhead had answered without hesitation, but that word, friend, brought others to mind now as he gathered his strength.

Gaara glanced down at his hand. The paint had all chipped off in battle, but it was still stained sky blue. Gaara had a feeling that if Kira had shown up, she might have very well punched the Uchiha in the face, or at least tried. It was an amusing concept and something the sand user kind of wished had happened.

It hadn't though and Gaara forced his thoughts to the present again, knowing he was still needed and with the onetail's at his side, maybe he still could turn the tides. They'd already lost a great deal of people, Neji and everyone left at their base of operations included. There wasn't a soul left on this battlefield who wasn't grieving silently. They just had to make it through all of this; Gaara believed that they could, it was just a matter of doing it. After this was all done, he would watch fireflies and they could all put this war behind them.

That just couldn't come soon enough for him, or any other around him.

It always really bothered me that Jugo and Kimimaro were in the same vicinity of each other during the war at one point, but never actually met up, which I had thought would happen, else why mention he was brought back at all? But alsa...filler is what we got instead.

SO I FIXED IT.

Poor Kira, out of the fight already...

Be sure to tell me what your guys think!