Chapter 16
Disclaimer
I do not own any rights to Naruto (story or characters). Just the characters I make up along the way! I have full love and respect for Masashi Kishimoto!
Just A Quick Warning
There are parts in this chapter that can get a little gory and dark. Also, I have never written action scenes before in my life, so this chapter was a new frontier for me.
Also, I don't have anyone editing this. If you find something majorly wrong please let me know.
I hope you enjoy! 🙂 XOXO
இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—
Thick blood coated Gaara's hands as he pressed down on the wound. He could feel his hand shaking against her skin struggling to keep his grip firm. He tried desperately to keep her awake but Yuumei was fading away before his eyes and he was helpless. Her wet fingers were weakly wrapped around his own trying to press tighter. The other hand was lying on her chest clinching her goggles like they were a lifeline.
He shouldn't have removed them. Gaara knew he was breaking the promise he made to Yuumei, but when he found her lying as if dead barely breathing he reacted on instinct. Yuumei's eyes were open now, staring up at him through long lashes that fluttered against her cheeks. Gaara was left wondering why she had been so afraid, because if she wasn't already beautiful, now she took his breath away.
Round cheeks held almond shaped eyes turned slightly up at the corners and framed with thick lashes. Like the sun shining on the desert sand, her eyes were a warm amber that faded into a deep gold. Delicate lines circled her pupil in loops that made a beautiful pattern in her iris. Gaara had been waiting to see behind those dirty goggles, but god if he didn't wish it was under different circumstances. The sounds of the battle around him were loud but he couldn't look away. If he did he was afraid she would disappear forever.
"Stay awake," he whispered watching her struggle to breathe.
Something was wrong. She should have been healing herself by now, her body's natural abilities kicking at the moment she was wounded. Instead, she was barely holding on, blood falling from her lips with each gurgling breath. Her chakra was trying to move through her to where she was bleeding out, but it withered away before it even reached the wound.
"Yuu-chan!" Kaiyo yelled drawing his attention from Yuumei's face for the first time. She came flying across the sand racing to Yuumei's side. The instant that her hand touched Gaara's he could feel her chakra rushing through him and into Yuumei, the skin beneath his palm tingling. When the wound was closed he no longer needed to hold on to her throat, but Gaara couldn't seem to find the strength to let go. If he removed his hand he knew Yuumei would fade away, like a mirage.
"G-g-Gaara," Her gasp had his eyes flying to her face, but it was her touch that shocked him the most. They had always been tactile with each other but for some reason feeling the touch of her fingers against his skin startled him. Her skin was cool as she ran the pad of her thumb across his cheek her goggles abandoned in the sand. Leaning into her touch he tried to fight the agony tearing at his heart. Tears were burning his eyes as he blinked them away.
"S-stop h-him," she whispered before her eyes closed and her hand fell back to her chest. For a moment Gaara panicked until the strong beat of her heart thumped against where he pressed against her skin. His thumb rubbed against her pulse using it to calm his racing heart. As much as he wanted to hold her, protecting her from anything that would dare harm her again, he was still the Kazekage. Releasing her into Kaiyo's hands Gaara turned his attention back to the fight.
Sasuke's blade connected with the man's glaive sending sparks flying. Naruto came in from the side clones holding two rasengans and aiming for the man's chest. They missed as the man dodged but while Naruto was charging Sasuke had reacted changing positions with one of them and sending his blade upward towards the man's chin. In the last second, the man dodged but not fast enough. The blade nicked his face tearing at the fabric that covered it revealing the man beneath.
"You humans are pathetic," he hissed swiping at the blood on his skin, "Taking things that you have no understanding of."
"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked. The man's grey eyes looked over the blonde sweeping from head to toe his nose upturned like something about Naruto offended him. Naruto's chakra flared red, his eyes flashing crimson for a moment as the Kyuubi let his presence be known.
"Funny how humans are so quick to turn to demons when they are weak. But a demon is no match for a god," Naruto growled under his breath at the man's words. Pale eyes crinkled in amusement at Naruto's reaction before turning to face Gaara. A grin spread across his face turning it into something inhuman.
"What do you want," Gaara asked forcing his face to remain neutral despite the rage filling him. Gaara would be damned if he let him leave alive.
The sand was vibrating at his feet with the force of his anger. Gaara could feel it moving around him ready to crush the bastard. Kankuro was watching him with a look on his face Gaara hadn't seen in years. He knew it should worry him seeing Kankuro's fear, but anger was clouding his judgment.
"The Shimon. Bring it to me and I might allow you to live a while longer. Don't and the woman won't be the only death today," the man chuckled flipping his hair over one shoulder. The long pallid strands whipped around him like spikes in the wind. There was no humanity in his eyes, the cold lifeless slate that looked down on them like they were beneath him. It left Gaara's skin crawling.
"We don't have it," Sasuke said eyes swirling as he watched the man closely. The way the man laughed felt like death bells ringing across the sand. He swung his glaive around knocking some of the blood that hadn't dried off.
"Are we really going to play this game, Uchiha Sasuke? You think I don't know you have it?" He addressed the raven-haired man. Sasuke's eyes narrowed, the only sign that he was shocked at the man knowing his name.
"I've researched all about your clan, human. I know about their knowledge, their power. Something like that doesn't come naturally. You have the Shimon, whether you know it or not," He sneered cracking his neck before turning gray eyes back to them.
When he moved, launching himself across the sand it was faster than Gaara could follow. One moment he was standing there and the next his glaive clashed with Sasuke's sword. Naruto attempted to counterattack but the man must have been holding back before because Naruto was backhanded with such force that he went flying across the sand. Sasuke was barely blocking the blows pushed further and further back towards the walls of Suna.
Losing his patience Gaara's sand reacted moving like a living thing beneath his feet. It twisted around the man's body tightly stopping the blade of his weapon inches from Sasuke's face. Gray eyes locked with Gaara's jade looking murderous at being stopped again.
"Demon," He hissed trying to break Gaara's hold. Gaara squeezed his fingers pressing in on the man with enough force to break the bone. Seeing the image of Yuumei bleeding out in his mind pushed him to squeeze harder. The man coughed up blood as the sand crushed him, Gaara putting all his anger into his attack. Sasuke took the time to pull his sword aiming for the man's heart with a downward thrust. The masked man tried to move but Gaara refused to let the man escape. His blood would coat the sand same as Yuumei's, payment for the life he almost took.
"YOU PATHETIC WORMS!" The man screamed in rage, his eyes bleeding to black.
The air seemed to freeze at his words before energy began to pour out of him in pulses. It spread across the sand hitting Gaara like a blow to the chest chocking off his air. He fell to his knees gasping at the pressure of the dark energy. The sand holding the man fell away Gaara unable to mold Chakra to keep it in place. Sasuke's blade fell from his grip as the raven-haired man struggled to breathe. When he was fully uncovered the man in white punched Sasuke in the face once, twice, three times before picking him up and sending him flying into the village wall.
The man dusted off his tattered clothing glaring down his nose at them, blood dripping down his chin. He didn't have time to revel in his victory though, because Naruto came out of nowhere punching him in the face. It was like watching slow motion as the man's face contorted before he went flying. The moment Naruto connected with his face the dark energy stopped and Gaara could finally breathe again. When he opened his eyes again, Gaara could see Naruto standing next to Sasuke covered in the Kyuubi's chakra as he helped his friend to his feet.
"YOU VERMIN!" echoed across the sand and before Gaara could blink the man was back gripping both Naruto and Sasuke in each hand and pressing them against the wall. His skin was covered in black marks that seemed to pulse in the same dark energy as before. It was like they were sinking further and further into both men's chest as he pushed harder.
"You think you can stand against me, me?! I am Omoikane, A GOD! You are nothing but pathetic WORMS!" He punctuated each sentence pressing further and further into their chests until he was up to his elbows. Sasuke tried swinging his sword and Naruto reached for the Kyuubi's chakra but it was it late. The black chakra was back sucking the energy from the air. Naruto's chakra cloak blinked out of existence and Gaara could see Sasuke's eye go back to dark brown.
There was no escaping the pressure of the man's chakra. It was sucking the life right out of Gaara. To his left Gaara watched Kankuro standing guard over the girls, his arm wrapped around Kaiyo like it could protect her. Yuumei lies at their feet pale and unmoving in the sand. Gaara should have thought about the village, about his people only miles away unaware of what was going on in the desert. And yet, there was only one thought on his mind and it wasn't Suna.
"Yu-yu-," He gasped trying to move towards her, but his legs buckled sending him falling to his knees once more. His vision began to darken at the edges, his body unable to fight against the pressure any more.
"S-STOP!"
இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—
Everything stopped. The moment Omoikane heard her voice his chakra snapped back to his body like a rubber band. Turning he watched in shock as the woman stood, dark brown hair swaying around her face in loose strands and a sheen of sweat coating her skin. She looked different in full shinobi garb, but her eyes were the same.
"Y-you have to stop," she gasped. Somehow, she had managed to stand on shaking legs one arm wrapped around her chest and the other using her knee as leverage. The man next to her was reaching for her weakly trying to regain his breath.
He had followed Kaiyo around since they parted ways in the market the day before. Omoikane couldn't seem to get her words out of his head. She was just a human, it made no sense. Everything about this woman was what Omoikane hated. She was weak, and mortal, and beneath him. And yet, her voice soothed him like no one ever had.
Even the pain that was always there, reminding him of his failures and the cold hands of his Lord seemed nothing compared to the warmth of her brief touch. Not since his mother died when he was just a boy had Omoikane felt so... safe.
Kaiyo moved around the village always with a smile on her face greeting each person like she knew them by name. It baffled him how she could be so happy when her life would be over in a blink of an eye. The melody of her voice echoed in his head repeatedly driving him crazy and fighting the words of Lord Erai.
Memories of his mother holding him close and letting him play with her glittering fan filled his thoughts. Omoikane remembered now, the loving memories of his mother holding him close like Kaiyo had done. His mother had been beautiful, like a flower preserved by time so delicate and fair. His mother's face appeared to him now, overlapping Kaiyo's like a mask. In shock, Omoikane dropped the two-man he was holding, their bodies falling like rag dolls forgotten.
"N-no," He gasped taking a step away from her.
"It's okay," she soothed moving closer.
He was helpless to her approach stuck between wanting her touch desperately and afraid of what it would do to him. A voice in the back of his mind yelled at him to just kill her barely a whisper as the woman's voice drowned it out. She was human and needed to be wiped off the face of the earth, but it was too late. This one weak human had done what the skilled shinobi around her had failed to do. She defeated him.
When her arms wrapped around him holding him tight something broke inside Omoikane, something that felt a lot like his heart.
"It's okay now, I won't let them hurt you anymore," Her words were stronger now as she spoke, hands warm against his back as she embraced him. Omoikane could feel tears welling up in his eyes, warm against his cold soul and foreign to him. Shaking in her grasp he reached up gripping the cloth of her vest desperate for something to ground him.
Kill her! a dark voice shouted in his ear.
"NO!" Omoikane shouted pushing Kaiyo away with enough force to send her sprawling on the sand.
Kill her! The voice continued to hiss pushing Omoikane to act against his will. He fought against it, the force of the man behind it making it harder and harder to breathe.
Omoikane should have known there was no escaping Lord Erai. From the moment the man laid his cold hands on his body it belonged to him. If he went back a fate worse than death waited for him, but he couldn't stay either. He was tainted by the devil himself.
"Omo-" Kaiyo started but he raised his glaive and she startled eyes going wide. There was still time. Time to take his fate into his own hands, to save someone instead of killing. He smiled at Kaiyo, a real smile. There were tears streaking down his face now, nothing holding them back. As he raised his weapon a warm tingling filled his chest and he knew what he was doing was right.
"Thank you," his whispered and with her face the last image he saw he stabbed himself in the heart.