I'm sorry this took long than expected guys. I wrote it, looked at it, deleted the first half and then rewrote that. Then my Beta reader was busy and I was sick. Things happen, blah blah blah.
The importain thing is that you have a 13 page chapter to read. enjoy!
Chapter 24: Confession
The one thing Kira had always hated about her ANBU mask was the lack of ventilation. Sure she could breath just fine, there was no problem there, but whoever designed the Leaf styled ninja mask had been more worried about other things. She supposed being able to seeing your full spectrum and making sure it wouldn't fall off were far more important than any discomfort the wearers own breath might cause. But it was there.
It was a personal sauna of hot air that never ended as her breath hit the mask an inch in front of her and was forced back onto her face. Most of the time is didn't bother her, but with how hot it had been lately it only made wearing the damn thing more annoying.
Curse Shura and his stupid veil counting as a mask.
"Everything alright?" Aya's voice was muffled from behind her own ANBU mask, the blond having changed formation slightly to get close enough in order to talk privately. Off hand, Kira wondered if her friend's face was as sweaty as her own. It had been a long time - before the war - since she'd been on a real ANBU mission with her teammates. One could say this wasn't a normal mission, she realized, her eyes darting to the side and slightly behind to catch the shadow of Gaara running beside her. In some ways, it was like her job hadn't changed at all. Team Fukurō had been assigned as the squad to escort the Kazekage across the land to the Hidden Leaf. After talking it over with Kankurō and Kira, it had seemed best to send more than just Kira along with the redhead due to the situation at hand.
Kira remembered talking with Gaara about the events the day of the fire and how it had been decided to send some ninja out to look into it. There were weird happenings near the border of the two nations. It had started with random village raids in the area that had occurred in the last month or two. Nothing extremely valuable had been taken, mostly food and normal everyday supplies. Except those ninja had been gone over a week now when it should have only been a few days at most. It wasn't too uncommon for ninja to not check in during undercover or investigation missions due to the fact that they had to not look suspicious. Gaara had said to give them a few more days, and they would have, if not for the fact that later that same day they'd received a letter flown in by hawk from the Leaf, or more precisely, from Kakashi, the current Hokage.
The letter had detailed that a ninja squad had been returning from a mission and had stumbled upon human remains near the border. After investigating the corpses, they had come to the conclusion that a fight had broken out and that the deceased were Suna ninja three days expired. Descriptions and names from the belongings had matched up with the squad that had been sent out to investigate the raids. They were dead and they'd been laid out where someone would find them.
They were a message, and with the incidents so close to the border it had been agreed that the two Kages needed to consult on the matter at hand before proceeding. If all went as planned, Gaara would stay in Konoha to discuss further trade agreements with Kakashi, while team Fukurō went to deal with the problem. Kira had no doubt that they could handle whatever was going on. The last group had been newer, unseasoned ninja and the rank of the mission had only been C. Now that mission had been changed to S rank given the deaths and ANBU were trained for high-risk missions.
Still, something about all of this still bothered Kira, but the shadow user couldn't put her finger on it. Maybe it was just the normal anxiety of being out on a mission again after playing guard for so long within the walls of Suna.
Looking back to her friend Kira gave a slight nod of her head. "Something about all of this just seems weird, like we're missing something." It was weird, having to try and figure out missing pieces to a mission again, another thing she'd been getting rusty at. Funny, how fast those skills dull.
Aya nodded in return, understanding and then looked forward again. They were running in a normal formation, the two girls in front of their village leader and Shura bringing up the rear. They'd been on the move for nearly a day and a half and the sun was beginning to dip into the horizon ahead of them on their second day. Trees and rocky dirt had replaced sand a half hour before, but they wouldn't be crossing the border for another two hours.
The area around them was considered a no man's land as even though they hadn't crossed the border they were about half way between villages. Kira knew from years of studying maps that there was a small village about an hour to the east of them and if their mission wasn't so critical they might have been detouring to an Inn there for the night. As it was, that wasn't the case, one Kira mourned silently. She'd love to sit down and take off her brace for a bit, the damn thing collected sweat better than her mask did.
"Halt," Gaara's voice rang through an hour later and like horses being reined in, the ANBU team did just that, all of them turning to look at their leader. Kira tilted her head curiously at the sudden change but Gaara didn't give much away with his plainly calm expression. "We made better time then expected. We should stop for the night, once we get over the border we could run into trouble." That was true, with little to no resistance and the Land of Wind calmer than normal; they'd made a lot of headway. He looked to Kira's teammates. "Make a perimeter and scan the area for threats, we'll get camp set up."
It wasn't what the plan had been before but when the Kazekage spoke, people obeyed. After only a quick glance at each other, Aya and Shura flickered away leaving the shadow user with her friend and boss. Kira shifted on her feet for a moment, raising a brow that went unseen behind her mask. She couldn't blame Gaara for being cautious, but something about this seemed different. She watched him run a hand through his hair after a moment, something he only did when he was agitated or worried.
Things had been tense the last few days, but it was a kind of tension Kira wasn't used to, one she didn't like. It was almost like a thin wall had been placed between Gaara and herself, barely there but still noticeable. Like a random itch that showed up when you were concentrating on something.
They hadn't had a lot of time to talk since the fire and the night she'd fallen asleep in his quarters. She'd lost track of how long he'd held her and it had been like ripping off her own skin when she'd finally pulled away. He meant everything to her and what he'd done that night had only made it more apparent to herself.
She wandered off hand if maybe he'd figured it out too, if maybe that was why the filmy wall had come up. He'd figured it out and now didn't know how to deal with it. Didn't want to reject her outright.
She wasn't sure he even knew how to reject a girl…
"Kira?" His voice, as normal, snapped her from her thoughts instantly and she blinked, turning her eyes from the random spot on the ground she'd been staring at. Gaara had removed his pack and his gourd and now stood with his arms crossed in that kind of-sort of relaxed stance of his.
"Hm?"
"Are you alright?" he questioned and it took Kira a moment to realize why he was asking. Her stance had shifted, moving most of her weight to her right leg and off the newly recovered one. Oh. She blinked and quickly evened her weight back out. She hadn't even noticed, hadn't done it out of pain, more out of habit.
"Yeah. I guess I'm just use to certain stances these days." Odd, how quickly one's habits changed due to injury. Gaara's eyes lingered on her leg for a moment and she sighed. "I'm perfectly fine, it doesn't hurt at all. I promise." She felt like she was repeating herself. Gaara had spoken with her in length about whether or not she'd be alright for a mission like this. Even after reports saying that she was fully healed he'd seen her limp, seen her favoring her leg like just now. He hadn't like it much when she'd pointed out that the medical ninja had said she's probably always have a limp, if not some nerve pain.
She was fine, just different. A different neither of them liked.
Finally, the sand ninja nodded his head and turned his gaze, leaving Kira to unpack for the night. She set her back near one of the few trees and then bent down, pulling out rations. After a few moments of silence she figured she should ask something that bothered her.
"Hey Gaara?" She called, titling her head to look to the redhead who glanced at her. "Why… you never use my ANBU codename when it's just the two of us," she explained. It was a rather large breach in protocol, even if it was just the two of them. They were out in the field. Anyone could be listening. She could only guess he used it – and he didn't use it much – with the others to not show favoritism. "You could be putting things at risk you know…"
He gave a small nod, considering her question and when an answer didn't come within a few moments, Kira turned back to unpacking. Once she was set up she could take the brace off for a few minutes and relax.
"I suppose it's because I don't like the name," Gaara answered finally, and Kira felt a small shock run through her at the words and looking over to him again, her hands in mid-motion to close her bag back up. Gaara met her eyes with those stormy sea green ones of his and she was caught. Again. "You were given the name Kyote by my father and your trainer along with that mask. We both know neither of them were giving it to you as an honor." He paused for a moment as if to try and find the right words, then he shook his head slightly and continued. "It doesn't suit you."
Didn't suit her?
The name Kyote referred to the sand scavenger canines that are seen in packs around the Land of Wind. It had been a cruel, backhanded honor, singling her out as an outsider left to pick at the scraps left by others. It had been a name hung on her mask and her ANBU title, as she didn't have one like Shura did. In a way, Kira had been thankful of the allies; it was a way to separate herself from what she did with the mask on, leaving the person under it detached from the actions, even if she knew that really wasn't how it worked. Kira had told Gaara once that she should hate the mask, but that she didn't because of that separation.
She never really thought about whether it suited her. Not as Kira. It had been a hateful nickname from Korin yes, but she'd never seen it as her own because the people she cared about didn't call her that when her mask was off. Did it suit her? Gaara apparently didn't think so. It wasn't her name, so how could it?
"Well, it's not really my name," she pointed out after a few moment, latching her bag shut and moving to stand back up. She'd need to gather some wood for a fire, but she wanted to finish this conversation first. "It's just a call sign. Honestly, it could be anything. It doesn't need to suit me." It was the best answer she could come up with. She'd ponder the question at a later date.
Gaara was still looking at her carefully but seemed to relent slightly and so she started walking around the area looking for stray branches while keeping an eye on him at all times. Where wasn't that much to pick up and she thought about radioing her teammates to see if they could gather some on the way back.
"What will you do, when you find out the name you were born with?" His voice makes her pause where she's reaching for the com in her ear, and she stops walking, looking to him again, a frown on her hidden face. What was he talking about? The name she was born with was… Oh. He was talking about the family and the life she couldn't remember. The one Shikamaru was helping her find. It made sense that she'd have a different name, wouldn't it? After all the name 'Kira' had been give to her by her adoptive father when she'd come to the village at age five. She'd have had a different name before then.
One she couldn't remember.
One that might be given back to her.
Kira bit her lip. What would she do with it?
"I'm not sure," she admitted, starting to make her way over to the redhead slowly. She paused halfway to deposit the few branches she had into an area good for the fire. Carefully, she nudged at a branch as if to get it in the right spot with her foot. "I think it would be nice to know, to finally solve that mystery but I don't think I could ever use it." She heard him shift towards her, but not really move and Kira kept her eyes on the wood, unable to get herself to complete her intended journey.
"Why?" His question didn't surprise her, not really, and she found herself smiling ever so slightly.
"If you found out your name wasn't really 'Gaara', would you change it?" she inquired, waiting a few moments but got no answer. She hadn't expected one; it wasn't an easy question to answer. "Even if my real parents didn't name me 'Kira', it's the name that has been mine for too long to just give up. It's what everyone I care about calls me, its the name the people who raised me gave me. To turn my back on that… it would be like saying I hadn't loved them. Saying it meant nothing when it meant the world." For a child that couldn't remember anything, didn't know who she was or what she liked, having a name was like being given an island in the middle of the sea. Finally, Kira looked up at Gaara and slowly pulled her mask off. It seemed silly to keep it on when he was using her name. "Why do you ask? Not fond of that name either?" She meant it as a tease but the young ruler looked startled and furrowed his pale brows.
"No," he stated evenly, eyes locking with hers instantly and it was that feeling again as of late that hit her. Of not wanting to look away, so different from what it was normally. "Truthfully, I don't think any name could ever fit you better."
Heat rushed across her face and Kira wished she'd left her mask on, but the fingers holding it at her side were tingling and unresponsive. He liked her name. Such a simple thing, but it meant a lot, at least to her. Still, it was interesting that he'd bring all this up.
"Why'd you ask?" she voiced, raising a brow and it was Gaara who broke their shared gaze this time, not her. He seemed worried, a thumb and forefinger rubbing at the fabric of his other sleeve from where his arms were crossed. He gazed off into the direction they were heading, past her.
"I just thought, that if you found out you still had family, maybe you would change things," he explained. "You've never known where you came from, it would make sense if you would want to see it." He was worried she'd leave Suna. He didn't have to say it, Kira knew him well enough to read between the lines of his words. She reached up and pulled at some of her hair that was drifting over her shoulder. She could see why he thought that, with what had been going on. The fire, the rumors, the whispers behind her back. Some people had turned on her and someone didn't want her there.
"It would be interesting to see," she agreed and saw him stiffen just slightly. "But my home is Suna, Gaara, even with everything that's been going on…It's everything I know. I couldn't just leave it behind like that." She wouldn't just leave him. Finally finding her feet again, Kira made the rest of the trek over to him and stood beside him, hands behind her back. "You told me the night of the fire that I'd always have a place beside you," she reminded him. "It meant a lot to me, to hear that…do you really think I'd disregard it so easily?"
"I know you feel obligated, and we are friends," he pointed out and she frowned, looking over to him, slightly annoyed. Duty. Kira did take her job seriously, but she had a feeling Gaara thought she was beyond committed to it. Maybe that's what it seemed like, given how she felt about him. It was painful, to have him thing that. It clawed at her like an animal on the inside, pleading to be let out. Her fingers twitched and her mask fell to the ground.
"Even if I wasn't you're guard, I'd stand by your side Gaara," she stated, somehow not wavering at all, as if that clawing sensation gave her strength. Maybe cause it was the truth, a truth she'd tried so hard to keep hidden. Nothing should be kept hidden forever. She felt his eyes on her, but she'd looked forward again, hands clenching together behind her. "Even if I wasn't a ninja I would."
"Because we are friends?" A true enough reason, but one that burned her, because it wasn't what she wanted. Kankurō had asked her once what she wanted, and she pushed those thoughts down in favor of what Gaara needed. The puppet master was right, she let her own wants go left to die too often, but the clawing truth was something that refused to die. She felt a small smile replace her frown.
"Yes but… Most people aren't like Naruto," she mused, lips twitching at the thought of more people like that reckless blond.
"You speak of his reckless determination to follow what he believes in?" He waits and Kira nods her head. "It's true that he has made a lot of choice that are not wise, and I agree that you aren't like him. I don't believe we could rely on each other as we do if you were. It is a bond we have that not many do." He was confused and Kira couldn't blame him. A small part of her screamed at her to just come up with a simple reason, to explain this differently, but now that she'd started all of those worries and reasons for not saying it seemed small. Small because the words 'just friends' were a lie and Kira hated lying.
"We do," she agreed with a nod and met his eyes once more. "We are friends, but I…for me there is more than that, something hard to explain but more important than anything. For me there's nothing in this world that could make me want to leave your side." It had never been harder to speak what she wanted to, not in her whole life, it made her feel like she was trembling with the force of the words that she couldn't get out. "It's what makes me want to see you happy, despite my own feelings, and what makes me jump in front of you, even when I know you'd be fine." So she did what she could, knowing Gaara wasn't stupid and leaving him to decide on how it should go.
The world seemed very still then, and Gaara was even stiller, his unblinking gaze locked on hers and she found herself immobile as well. She'd said it. Not those exact words, not really, but she'd said enough…hadn't she? Now she'd have to deal with whatever came next and that alone made her worry more than each passing second of silence that loomed around them.
If nothing else, please let them stay friends.
Gaara swallowed visibly after a time, after a long enough period had passed that her hands were hurting from being clench so tight. His lips twitched and he opened them to speak and she couldn't breath.
"Kira…"
Static bounced off the walls of her left ear in a sudden, sharp burst and Kira winced along with the redhead, his words cut short in an instant. She'd nearly forgotten about the coms set she was wearing. "This is Jade, Kyote, Kaze, come in," Aya's voice crackled through the connection, something loud crashing in the background. That really didn't sound good and a glance at Gaara told Kira he agreed, a hand pressed to his ear. Her hand flew up to her ear bud in seconds, clicking in the small button farther down the wire to open the channel.
"This is Kyote, we read you Jade. What's your status?" As if in answer, another loud crackle of static filters through and to match it Kira heard a low boom from outside the mic. She whipped around in an instant, hand going for her weapons as she spied a plume of airborne dust rising from the trees ahead. It was pretty clear even without the verbal answer that they weren't alone in the area. Opening the channel again, worry over took her thoughts. "Jade? Eyes? Do you copy?"
More static answered her but after a few seconds Aya's voice came back over the line, choppy and broken. "Ca-'t… Sur-und-d. Be C-reful-" The sound cut off, even the static went silent and Kira felt herself stiffen at that, still eyeing the slowly dissipating cloud of dust. They'd either gone out of range or something had broken the communication line. She clicked the button again anyway.
"Jade? Jade please respond!" Nothing, not even a whisper or crackle. Kira cursed and picked back up her mask, turning to Gaara. He was frowning, worried and alarmed, but calm, always calm. "What should we do? We need to help them." Was it possible the people who had killed the Suna ninja from before had expanded their reach already?
Gaara nodded his head, picking back up his gourd and turning back to her. "Yes, it appears they may need our help." Him saying that only made Kira worry more. Her teammates weren't pushovers; they were ANBU. If they were in trouble…
Pulling her mask back on, they left their bags where they laid, not wanting anything extra slowing them down. They both kicked into a run towards the dust still billowing in the sky, the sun nearly red behind it. The closer they got, the louder the sounds of battle became and Kira wondered how far out her friends were fighting. Had the enemy driven them back in order to separate the team? It was a rather common but effective plan.
Something about the air changed as they passed into a line of trees. It was stifling, hot but not like the heat back in Suna. She blinked against the bright light that was the sun, blood red and sinking within the horizon line.
Then she realized they were headed north.
Shock and fear hit her square in the chest as she realized that wasn't the sun at all. "Look out!" she snapped looking to her side where the redhead ran next to her. Gaara seemed to realize the same things she did in those few seconds. Reflexively Kira acted, stopping her forward momentum and throwing herself to the side as Gaara did. She crashed into him seconds later as something grabbed at her middle and shoved her to him just as the bright red light became a fireball in her vision. It was bigger than she was use to seeing and nearly as red as Gaara's hair.
They weren't far enough from it. Yet they were still falling through the air and as helpless as a baby bird. Kira heard herself scream in that realization and dimly heard Gaara grunt.
Sand covered them. One second Kira had been staring at fire, the next her vision was blocked, then taken as she was enveloped in a barrier of sand and sudden darkness. The fireball struck them broadside, accelerating their fall to the ground and heating up the sand instantly. Kira was reminded of her burning house then, of the heat left in the remains of it even after the flames were out. They hit the earth, the sand under them breaking apart with the force, knocking the wind from both of them, the slightly distant sound of the flames hitting the earth as well, echoing in her ringing ears. Kira forced herself not to inhale too quick or else get a breath full of sand.
It was all over in a matter of moments and Kira could hear her heart beating frantically, nearly over taking her breathing. It was still dark around her, Gaara's sand shield having remain up around them, protecting them. She didn't need her eyes to know she was half laying on top of Gaara. They'd crashed into each other after all and she could feel the rise and fall of his chest on her arms and head. Any other time she would have turned scarlet at such a position but those thoughts were far off now, her mind working on facts and strategy rather that emotion. He must have used his sand to pull her close in order to shield them both in time.
"You alright?" she whispered, unsure of how long they could stay like this. The enemy couldn't be far behind that attack. Something moved across her upper back, a hand she realized, when it curled around her shoulder. He was silently checking for wounds she might not openly tell him about and Kira found herself frowning at that.
"I'm fine," he answered after a moment. "Are you?"
"Yeah," she breathed out, shaking her head slightly. "Your shield was up just in time." Any slower and Kira could have easily been burned. "I'm really starting to hate fire..."
Her comment got a soft, breathless sound that might have been a hum of agreement from him and after a moment he sat up, forcing her to sit back on her legs. She heard him shift, his hand leaving her shoulder and Kira realized he was about to drop the sand. She pushed herself into a crouch and slipped her weapons from their holster.
The sand dropped around them in a small circle and Kira blinked against the light. She was indeed right next to Gaara, close enough that their shoulders were nearly touching, torsos facing each other. Kira glanced behind them first, over Gaara's shoulder, and gaped at the smoking blackened earth where the fireball had hit. It was large enough, that a direct hit would have easily smothered either of them. A few small twigs from what must have been a brush still held tiny flames on them and indeed they were blood red.
The scuffle of footsteps behind her and Gaara stiffening had her turning around. She might have been facing where they'd come from, but he'd been looking at where danger had come, and now it was here. She turned half way, eyeing the single ninja wearily. He wasn't wearing a shirt which left the rippling muscles under pull tight tan skin easy to see. His hair was long and pitch black, held back in a wrapped tail and pulled tight on his scalp. The most startling feature was the twin painted slashes that ran through both eyes - one over each - in a slightly tilted angle that drew an invisible line to where they might have met at his hairline if they hadn't stop and inch over his eyebrows. They were as thick as two fingers and dark red, just like the fire he had through.
"Well now, I have to say that was some quick thinking there Kazekage," he mused, his voice oddly boisterous and smooth despite the severe look to him. He stopped a good two yards from them, arms hanging loosely at his sides. Kira saw no visible weapons, or head band - slashed through it or not - though such an attack screamed ninja. "I had heard your defenses were nearly perfect, but I hadn't expected you to save her too. Aren't ANBU supposed to be able to take care of themselves?" he purred and Kira stiffened, having nearly forgotten she was wearing her mask. Maybe she hadn't needed to worry about swallowing sand. "Though, I had been told you were quite the pair, so I shouldn't be surprised."
Gaara, who was crouched in much the same position as her, though facing the enemy completely, didn't take the bait he threw at them. Instead he simply held the fire user's gaze with experienced, calm eyes. "Who are you?" he asked smoothly and Kira could hear the smallest of rustling from the grains of sand around them as they moved. The man actually seemed to think about than answer, a smirk playing at the edges of his lips.
"Oh, no one you've heard of, but you can call me Mu if that makes you feel better." His eyes shifted from Gaara to Kira and hummed. "I was really hoping to catch you off guard and finish this quickly. That little blond my siblings are playing with was interesting."
Aya. He was talking about Aya. Kira's hand tightened around the grips of her tonfas. Slowly, Kira moved to her feet, standing to her full height and taking a small step forward. She needed to get to her friend and help her. Mu hadn't mentioned Shura, so there was no way of know what was going on there, not until she got there. She glanced to Gaara who had followed her lead, standing and crossing his arms like always. A small spiral of sand trickled out from the gourd's opening, swirling around him in an almost loving fashion.
"Oh well," Mu mused out and then took another step forward. Sand met him first, shooting out from the ground in second and crashing over him. The fire user jumped backwards, forced to dodge as wave after wave of crushing sand chased him back. A diversion, of that Kira was sure and so kept her eyes of him as she spoke.
"Plan?" They could probably easily take him together, they'd been training to work as a unit and maybe it was time they did just that. Gaara shifted on his feet slightly, but appeared to have other ideas.
"Go find your team," he ordered evenly, causing her to nearly flinch. She wasn't used to direct orders like that from him. "If his siblings are as strong as him, they might need your help. We don't know what odds they are facing." True, siblings could mean two people or four or more and while her team was strong, they weren't specialized in head on fighting like other ANBU teams. Kira was their most offensive member with Shura and then Aya after that. Still, she wasn't too keen on his plan.
"What about you?" were of course, the first words out of her mouth despite that order, along with her eyes flickering to his face. He didn't look at her, concentrating on keeping the man busy for these few moments. How could she just leave him here when she was his guard? "Gaara-"
"I'll be fine," he cut in, stopping her protest before it could get started. "A one on one fight is even odds." For a moment he did shift his eyes to her, face passive but eyes endless. "I need you to trust me and go help your team."
"I do trust you," she whispered, nearly hurt by the accusation, but knowing he was right. She needed to think about the others, not just him, just liked he'd said before. She was too narrow minded when it came to him. Aya was in trouble, as was Shura. It was her best friend and the only father figure she'd ever really had or the boy she loved? Kira swallowed against a dry throat.
Loved.
She'd told him she was in love– well not exactly but close enough – with him no more than ten minutes ago, yet, is felt impossibly far away. She wondered if it would ever be brought up again. Something in her chest ached at the thought of it being ignored and the fact that she'd probably go along with it if that's what he chose to do. Forcefully, Kira stopped her train of thought and shook her head before it got any farther. This wasn't the time or the place to think about that.
Think about it when people aren't in danger.
"Alright," she conceded quietly and inched her footing towards his shadow. Once her left foot was touching it she took in a deep breath. "Be careful." Her voice came out softer than she intended it to be, laced with the worry she tried to beat back. He didn't look at her, but she saw a muscle in his jaw flutter for a moment.
"You too." They were the words that made sense, but they weren't the ones Kira wanted. Don't be foolish, she told herself, though she knew it was in vain.
She took one more step backwards and let the shadows pull her into their world.
…
He'd been in the middle of his battle with Mu when seemingly out of nowhere, help had arrived in the form of Team Guy. The fire user had been more challenging than Gaara had first thought, the man's flames burning so hot it turned his sand to glass. He hadn't been in trouble but having Mu kicked soundly in the face by Lee wasn't something the young ruler was going to turn down. A very quick conversation had occurred while the enemy collected himself, stating that the Leaf ninja had been on their way back from a mission when they'd felt the battles taking places. Information had been swapped then Guy had ordered Tenten and Lee onward to help out Team Fukurō. Mu hadn't stood a chance with the elder taijutsu user's help, though he had put up a fight. The man was dead now, left in the burn, upturned battlefield while his opponents headed for his siblings.
They were getting closer to the next battlefield, close enough that Gaara had seen two different strikes of lightning attacks in the last three minutes. Blood red lightning. Well, if the attackers were related, then maybe it made sense.
"It appears my students have yet to put an end to their fight," Guy mused from beside him. For once the green ninja wasn't smiling, his face solum with worry. "Just how many are there?"
"I'm not sure," was Gaara's reply and he himself felt the curl of worry in his chest.
"Have any idea who they are?" Guy asked. "I have never seen chakra that is lit red like that before."
Neither had Gaara.
"It's a mystery that will have to wait for another time," the redhead stated. The last thing he wanted to do was get into a debate when his friends - when Kira - were likely in danger.
Kira. What she'd said before the attack-no. He couldn't think about that right now. If he did he wouldn't be able to keep his head where it needed to be.
"Roger that," Guy relented with a nod, apparently knowing when not to push someone who was more than likely distressed. And Gaara was, even if he tried to keep his face blank. His hand was gripping at the complexly weaved strap in red and gold across his chest. Gold, just like her eyes, yet two of those twine strands had suddenly snapped during his battle and since then dread had chewed at his insides.
It felt like Gaara's legs were made out of lead, he couldn't run fast enough through the last few trees - one of which was snapped in half, insides still smoking and charred splinters dusting the ground - fast enough. When they finally did, they were met with a open area littered with too many figures on the ground.
The first thing that drew Gaara's eyes were the moving figures. Tenten and Lee were fight two female ninja, one of which had red lightning coursing down a double bladed spear. The other was throwing water at them, water that's tinted so red at first it looked like blood. From what he could see of the battle it appeared to be an even fight but Guy looked ready to interfere and Gaara knew this needed to end now before anyone else was hurt. He didn't let himself look for the members of Team Fukurō, didn't let his mind recognize anyone on the ground. He only noted that there are four others, only one of which was kneeling near another while the other two lay still. He focused his eyes and nodded to Guy who sprinted into action surprising the water user fighting Lee with a downward kick to the shoulder that sent them crashing to the ground.
Gaara's sand lashed out at the lightening user as Tenten managed to smash the end of her weapon into the woman's face knocking her off balance. She didn't even get a chance to stumble as sand crashed into her and pushed her back against a nearby tree, pinning her there.
Only when she was trapped did he realise the she looks a great deal like Mu, from the tightly pulled back hair, cornrows on her scalp, to the bright red marking slashed over her eyes. She screamed in anger, lightening crawling over the sand briefly before shorting out due to it being a poor conductor.
"God damn you! What the hell did you do to my brother!" she shouted from across the way as Tenten gave the redhead a grateful look. He ignored the nameless ninja and nodded to the weapon user, turning his gaze to the other fight. It was all but done, not that he expected much else. The other woman was laying on the ground her left arm twisted at an odd angle and her eyes shut. Lee was straddling her back and pulled both arms behind her limp form to bind them as Guy watches over him. He noted after a quick glance over the unconscious woman, that she's identical in appearance to the one pinned to the tree.
"Kira!" Tenten's voice had him turning his gaze, following her as she bolted across the battlegrounds to where two of the figures are. With the threats out of the way he finally lets himself put names to faces and realises the two close together are Aya and Kira, the former being the one kneeling over the latter. It takes him another moment to realise Aya is pressing a hand to Kira's left leg and that blood is pooling around the girls, his ears finally picking up on and paining sounds coming from the shadow user now that the battle sounds have faded. He followed the weapon master over, arms dropping from their crossed position as her nears them.
His blood froze in his veins.
The sounds he had been hearing were actually sobs and something close to a scream but they sounded off, muffled do to the fact that her mask was still in place. It was the kind of sounds someone made while in agony yet were still trying to stay quiet, a choking, gasping half scream that was tormenting to listen to. Her entire form was tense, hand white knuckled into grass as Aya pressed her hand firmly over her knee trying to stem the flow of blood. They'd injured her damaged leg. Badly. The remains of her metal brace laid near by, blacked and bloody, and third degree electrical burns covered the vicinity of where the brace had been, covering her knee and several inches up and down with bleeding chard and blistering skin. She has other less substantial wounds, a large cut on to her right forearm and bruising all up and down it along with torn up knuckles on her hands. They seem unimportant in comparison to her leg.
Aya noticed him arrive first and looked relieved and devastated at the same time. Her mask was gone as are the ties that held up her long blond hair. Half of the locks are stained red, blood flowing down the side of her face and neck. Her right arm was slack at her side, the shoulder limp and clearly dislocated. Tears are in her blue eyes and her jaw is clenched as she used her one usable hand to press down on Kira's leg, trying to keep it still as it twitched and jerked, the shadow user too delirious to realise she shouldn't be moving it.
"Oh thank the Gods," Aya breathed as the two remaining ninja come over. "Quickly, I need someone to help me get my shoulder into place. I can't help her with one hand," she demanded, apparently not caring that her leader was right there, too concerned about her friend. Guy gave a sharp nod at that, walking over to the blond's side.
"Not a problem, I'll get you back in working order," he assured her, laying a hand on her arm and back. He then looks to his two younger teammates. "You two go over to their leader and start trying to get him out from under that tree. I'll join you shortly." They both looked to Gaara then to Guy and nodded their heads, doing as they're told even as they cast worried glances at Kira. Gaara followed them briefly with his eyes, confused as to who he was talking about but then sees Shura laying still as stone across the way, a thick trunk over his lower body. He appeared unhurt for the most part but he was certainly out cold. "Lord Gaara," Guy says, drawing his attention back. The man has a thick eyebrow raised slightly, but the humor is still gone from his face. "You're going to need to keep that leg straight while she works."
Right.
The sand user didn't hesitate, reaching out with his hands knowing his sand will only crumble do to all the blood. He replaces Aya's hand above the knee and then put his other inches below where the burns end and braces it down. His hands are wet with warm blood instantly and once again he's stuck staring at the wound like he can't believe its real. With Aya's hand gone, Gaara can see where most of the blood is coming from. Kira's knee looks wrong, concave somehow and there's a large deep slice across it that's edged in blackened skin. He finds himself willed back the urge to gag, mind racing and trying to piece together how this could have happened. Passively he heards Guy tell Aya to hold still and then counts down from three. There's a crack and Aya hissed in pain but then let's out a haggard 'thanks'. Throughout all of it Gaara is trying to ignore how Kira is screaming and whimpering, her leg trying to twist out of his hold with more strength then he thought she'd have while the other was half bend, the heel of her shoe wedged into the dirt.
He felt like he couldn't get enough air into his lungs, like he's slowly suffocating with how tightly constricted his ribcage felt. There was a quiet buzzing, a ringing that sounds oddly like Kira's sounds of pain. Her scream. Agony. Kira was in agony and he was the one who'd ordered her to this battle.
"Sealing Art: Pain Seal!" Aya's voice cut through his mind and he looked up in time to see her hands together, two fingers pointed up and touching a sealing tag in her hand. It's glowing blue and then she quickly slapped it down onto Kira's injured leg above Gaara's hand that rest near her knee. The tag pulses and then black lines of script fan out around it, encircling the whole of her leg.
Once the seal was in place, Kira's clenched limbs quickly loosen and then went slack, muscles still twitching from leftover adrenaline and pain. A gasp spilled out before she goes quiet except for her harsh breathing that echos off the inside of her mask. A small amount of his own tension fell away at that and he carefully removed his hands, perfect outlines of them left behind in blood.
Behind him he could hear Rock Lee and Guy - he hadn't even realised the old man had left - working on the tree as they grunted and shouted encouragement at each other, the sound of Tenten's exasperated voice cutting in once in awhile. Hopefully Shura wasn't too badly hurt but even if that were true he'd still need medical attention. He wouldn't be the only one. Kira's leg wound was still bleeding badly, though he knew that would decrease soon as Aya held another sealing tag and was forming hand signs quickly, her breathing become more heavy as the seconds past.
"Gaara?" The voice is quiet and rough, a shredded version of itself due to screaming but he still recognized it at Kira's. He looked up to her face from where he crouched. He couldn't see her expression, but the mask still left enough movement for her to have tilted her head slightly to look at him. The hand closest to him twitched and lifted just slightly for a few seconds before dropping again. The redhead was stunned; he would have thought she'd have passed out as soon as her body was relieved of some of the pain, but it was clear she was still at least lucid. He should move, answer her, do something but he couldn't seem to get anything to work right.
"Sealing Art: Clotting Seal." Aya's voice seemed to jump start him again as the blond placed the tag directly over the bleeding wound. Quickly the paper turned red with blood and then clear, a blue glow edging it as it sunk into the skin around it creating a web of chakra designed to stop blood flow. The blond sagged and fell onto her butt, breathing hard, sweat running down her face along with the blood. She was near her limit and needed medical attention too, but he knew she wouldn't stop till her entire team was stable. Gaara took that time to finally move up towards Kira's head and knelt there, placing his hand over the top of her twitching one. It was cold as ice and that worried him.
"It's me," he answered, glancing to the side at the blond but Aya doesn't seem to be listening. In fact she'd turned from them and was digging through her pack. She knew then and he nearly smiled at that. Returning his attention to Kira he let his finger curl slightly over her hand. "Everything will be fine now."
A few ragged breaths pass before she speaks again, finger twitching again even in his hold. "Can you take off this mask?" she asked quietly and Gaara realised just how uncomfortable she had to be with it on. Nodding slightly he reached up and grabbed the bottom part, slipping it off her head and setting it to the side. Her eyes were closed and her skin was pale and streaked with sweat and what might have been tears. "Thanks," she whispered, eyes cracking open to look at him. "Sorry, I guess things didn't go as planned..." She appeared dazed as she spoke, her words dragging from her like someone who was drunk. Without the pain, the lack of chakra and blood loss was taking its toll quickly. Gaara shook his head slightly, ignoring the crashing sound behind him of the tree being moved and then dropped to the ground quickly.
"You don't need to talk right now," he assured her, knowing it was probably taking everything she had to just do that at this point. She looked at him through her half lidded eyes, the golden color washed out like fog over the sun. "You'll be fine," he repeated, if only because he couldn't think of anything else to say.
Aya chose then to make herself known again, appearing on the other side of Kira with bandages and quietly wrapping the cut on the arm near her. She looked haggard, but from what he could tell she used her own jutsu to stop the bleeding on her head wound. All of this was hard to swallow, as team Fukurō shouldn't have been taken down like this. Now that Kira wasn't screaming and the danger had passed around them, Gaara made his questions known.
"What happened?" his words are flatter than he meant them to be, but all of the anxiety he'd been having has come to a point in his mind. Aya just nodded her head, expecting the question and maybe even the tone.
"Shura and I were attacked by five ninja, all of which had strangely powerful jutsu. One of the men broke off early in the fight to go ahead after you and Kira." She was talked about Mu then. He waited quietly for her to continue, his eyes going back to Kira's only to find them closed again, her mouth still cracked open to breath. "Kira showed up a few minutes later and that made it three against four. We thought we'd be fine but the water user had a hidden mist jutsu and they seemed to realize Shura would be the biggest problem. Three of them went after him at once and then at some point he ended up where he is. Even when Kira summoned her Familiars we became overwhelmed quickly, each of us fighting off two at once. We both took down one each at some point and I'm not sure what happened on her end. All I know is at some point the lightening user realized Kira had a leg brace and then started deliberately going after it. I heard her scream and that gave them enough of an opening that the water user knocked me into a daze. Next thing I knew Tenten and Lee had shown up."
Details were missing but Gaara had enough information to figure out what had happened. This group of ninja had known far too much about Kira's team and had known how to pick them apart quickly. This hadn't been a random run in, this had been planned. Glancing at Kira's knee again Gaara felt a sharp jolt of anger claw through him, much stronger than when he'd seen flames take Kira's home. Exploiting weaknesses were part of getting the upper hand in a fight but Kira had hardly any other wounds. It hadn't been about winning it had been about torture. Surely at some point Kira had been unable to fight but her leg showed signs of brutality beyond that.
Nothing in this world that could make me want to leave your side.
Her words were still clear as day in his mind and while he pushed them away during the fight he found them back at the forefront of his thoughts now. Gaara'd been so startled, so shocked that he hadn't been able to even think about how to respond to her admission. She hadn't said the words exactly, but what she had said was enough to give him the clues to put it together. Her words had been close to what his sister had said and what he had realized the night of the fire. She was in love with him; it seemed too foolishly easy to tell now that he'd figure it out. Easy, yet hard to know the truth, to know she felt that way and not being able to fight past the shock and the joy and the fear of what those words meant because everything had turned on its head.
Because he loved her too.
It was something he'd had little time to really let sink in since the truth had hit him like a brick days ago. He hadn't known what to do with the information and had hoped to speak to Temari about it. He hadn't thought it possible she'd ever feel the same way, and yet, that's exactly what had happened. If he'd been given time then maybe he could have responded, but that hadn't been the case. Instead he'd sent her here, to this battle and these rogue ninja had done this to her. He didn't know who to blame more, himself or them, but the anger clawing at his insides only seemed to climb further up and out.
How dare they do this to her.
A sudden scream had him looking up and Aya flinching. The women pinned to the tree was struggling again, gasping for air. After a moment a part of the sand grew darker with blood and Gaara reeled slightly, realizing he'd willed the sand towards Sand Coffin without even realizing it. His hand twitched and the sand softened slightly again, leaving her to pant and choke in pain.
Aya met his gaze and he saw shock but also approval, not horror. The other's hadn't seemed to notice, but Gaara couldn't find it in him to care. He wasn't sorry, not one bit, if anything he was confused and maybe a bit startled by the suddenly anger and then it's effect on his sand right after appearing. He wasn't use to his emotions being in control of him like this.
Finished with Kira's arm Aya stood up and wobbled slightly before silently moving towards the Leaf ninja and her recently uncovered team leader. She wasn't a healer, but Aya was the closest thing on hand they had and she could at least figure out if he would be okay.
Gaara let his attention go back to his friend, to the girl he loved, using his free hand to slowly reach out and touch her hair. He wasn't sure there was much he could do for her, but at his touch she opened her eyes slightly again and tilted her head into his hand.
"I'm glad you're okay," she whispered after a moment and a twinge of pain ran through him at that. He wanted so badly to say the same to her but the more he looked at her leg the more he found it hard to even form the words. He carded his fingers through a portion of hair that had come loose from it's tail and braids.
"I'm not going anywhere," he promised her and she met his gaze with a look of longing but didn't voice what ever she was thinking. Instead she closed her eyes again and turned her head into his hand even more.
-grins-
Well I gave you what you wanted... sort of?