Naruto Fanfiction by Modingbeli
A War to be Fought
Chapter 2: Trial by Fire
The crossing desert was especially unsafe when alone and twice as dangerous when you were trembling from dehydration. The sand was hot under his feet; he could feel the heat radiating from the ground through his sandals. Gaara's torn muscles struggled to stay upright; his core muscles ached and his pectorals felt sore. He could see the village in the horizon. The exhausted body fell on his knees exhausted, out of energy, chakra. If this was his survival test, then he had already failed. Death would reach him before he could arise once more.
He was shocked back to life as he felt insect like movement under his shins. A cold sweat went down his neck. Desert scorpions. They weren't exactly merciful. The insect was already out into the open again. Its tail was high above its head, its legs moving across the sand in a spastic fashion. Gaara drew in a quick, hot breath. The animal froze and turned halfway around. The fact that it was about the size of his foot didn't help with his nervousness. Using the sand was completely out of the question. He relaxed visibly when the insect decided it probably wasn't worth its time. With great difficulty, he waited for it to pass before breathing again.
Moments later, he could hear and increasingly abundant noise in his ears. The pattering sounded as if someone was running towards him. Scorpion horde. What the hell?! Now Gaara was scared. If they even as much grazed their stingers over him, he wouldn't ever have to worry about Shukaku again. Gathering his wits, and ignoring his body's protests, he got up and ran west like a madman.
The pain in his legs dissolved into the sand. The numbness slowly creeped up his body; it wasn't long before his thoughts were stunned between his ears. He collapsed into the hot afternoon sand.
When Gaara awoke, the moon was again high in the sky.
"Nnng…" As his hand passed over his stomach absently, he thought how long it had been since he had allowed himself to sleep. Survival instincts kicked in; his body drooped to the ground. He looked around. No blood, or any life for that matter. Suddenly, he became aware of his surroundings. Though he wasn't been threatened, was he still a threat to himself? Had Shukaku really been sealed? He remembered the golden chakra that was imprisoned inside his Manipura, the chakra center of power. Did Shukaku's chakra belong to him now? So many questions; he had to return to the village so he could begin the search for this man.
Gaara pulled his legs Baddhakonasana position. His heels were close to his body and he felt warmer now. Putting his hands in his lap, he took a couple deep breaths. Comforting positions gave rise peace. Attempting to isolate himself from his body, he looked into himself. He almost stopped breathing when he realized that Shukaku was asleep; asleep a couple days before the zenith of the lunar month.
His hands performed a single hand seal. He needed to gather chakra. Since he had burned off his meager dinner (a meal no less), hunger now gnawed at his insides. As the youngster analyzed his situation, he realized that he would be able to start home again in a couple hours after he managed to think straight again. As his body trembled, Gaara realized that he didn't have time to recover enough chakra to deal with the desert chill and his hunger. Looking back, he realized that the Chunnin exam was cake compared to this madness.
The moon was now high on the horizon; it was early in the morning. The sun was starting to stream from the east dunes. Thought the canvas coat hadn't helped protect him against the night temperatures, it had become an object of comfort. Tightening it around his small body, Gaara rose up with great difficulty and started his journey back home. The village was now in sight so this couldn't be any more difficult.
Finally the entrance was in front of him. Sunagakure didn't have a 'gate'. It's structures simply dissolved into the desert. There was simply as checkpoint with a flag to signal one's arrival. Luckily for Gaara, there were no sandstorms today. After reaching the nearest building, the youngster fell to the ground. His running up and down the dunes had not been a good idea. Gasping for air and water, he tried to remember ever working so hard.
So this was why he was so weak; because he let the sand do everything for him. Though he had mastered all the basic Sand Clan techniques by the age of 6. His body was incomplete. Gaara growled. He needed to get physically stronger. Not stronger than everybody else, but strong enough for himself. Struggling to lift himself up, He dragged his body through the ruined wall and headed to the Outer Main. Suddenly he felt a knife at his throat.
"Well. If it isn't the little demon." Damn it. They had to try to kill him again now. "Whew! What happened to the Great Gaara of the Desert? Met your match out there?" Gaara growled. He focused his attention on the body that held the knife to his throat. He was behind him. His killing intent was extremely weak. There was another in the shadows ahead of him. From the angle of the knife he predicted that the man was behind his right elbow. Feh. Fool.
The movements that proceed happened in a flurry to the human eye. As he ducked down, he threw his right arm on the ground and swept his whole body to the left in an attempt to trip the man. His left arm met air and he received a kick in the chin. His already weak body fell unceremoniously backwards to the ground. With his throat muscles suddenly clenched Gaara struggled to breathe. What was this pain? Just give up and die. Yes that would be easier anyways. A hard foot met the side of his mouth. His body rolled. He struggled lift himself up. "Don't underestimate us. We have the advantage here."
He held a shaking hand to his mouth. Blood. He looked up. He saw his enemy's face; bandages around the neck, sand kinai-ate around the head. They weren't Chuunins and that reassured him. All he needed was to get a good hit in one of the vital areas. He couldn't focus enough to lift a single grain of sand. Neither was his body ready to sustain any attempt at unlocking his berserk state.
"Don't get up. You'll only find it that much harder the next time." The man advanced again. "We will kill for what you did to Kurai. He didn't deserve to die."
Gaara shook his head. "I…don't know who you're talking about."
"Of course not. You've killed so many that it doesn't matter anymore." His brother approached from the shadows. He had a bandaged arm; it was atrophied. "You did this to me, you bastard. I'll kill you myself."
Ah, Desert Grave.
"Wait. Lets make him feel pain first. So he can understand."
The man rushed Gaara before he could formulate a plan. He received a fist in the forehead. His mind was swimming with pain. He had to stop this now. Charged with a sudden rush of adrenaline, he stopped the second blow from the knee with his trembling arms. He pushed the man off-balance and executed a kick his groin. While the man fell to the ground in pain, Gaara felt more exhausted than before. His brother threw a kunai at him. Gaara couldn't move. His eyes went wide as he stared at the weapon now flying towards his face.
Time slowed and he could hear the agonizing pounding in his ears. His adrenaline filled blood was running through his veins at a ferocious rate. The kunai was now only inches away from his face. His eyesight wavered once before he caught the motion of the blade, he realized that he couldn't quit here. He still had to prove his strength to that man. To die was to lose.
Gaara ducked only to receive a crushing blow to his chest. His weak frame collapsed. Another kick followed. His body flew a couple feet to land crumpled on the ground. He coughed up more blood. All he could hear was his frantic heartbeat. He opened his eyes only to find himself loosing focus again.
"Weak." The able brother threw another kunai. This time, Gaara had no time to react: it entered his upper left arm. Pain shot through his body. He screamed. Not from the pain, but from the incredible mind numbing sensation of not being able to retaliate.
"Let's just end this."
"Yes, let's make his pay for what he did to Kurai…" Suddenly, he started to move his hands: Ox, tiger, bear, and tiger. It was basic fire technique. Gaara's mouth fell open from exertion. He couldn't keep this up. He was hyperventilating to support his overstressed muscles. Damn it I can't die here. I still need to…
Flames surrounded him, the heat assaulted him: his canvas coat was on fire. As he struggled to toss off the sheet, the flames fell on his shirt. Burning through the thin material, He felt the fire on his newly made seal and he screamed.
For 7 seconds, on this clear morning, all that the Sand Village heard was this primal scream of pain.
Somewhere, higher up in the ruins, a dark man smirked.
The flames were put out almost instantly. The two brothers faltered back from the shockwave of chakra released from the meager young man in front of them. He turned to face them, shirtless. His eyes were blank; on his abdomen there was a glowing gold sun seal. Suddenly before he could register movement, the man was flying backwards from a punch; he couldn't tell where Gaara was. Before he could hit the ground, Gaara crouched and charged his brother. The head butt aimed below his ribs threw him down. They didn't get up.
Gaara suddenly fell to the ground, exhausted. His muscles, stiff from lactic acid were at their limit. That last push had completely sapped him. It burned to even think about chakra. As he attempted to sit while catching his breath, the sun was still rising.
Temari look outside the house gates again. Gaara had been gone for two consequent, risking being declared as missing if he didn't return soon. Wouldn't the old men like that? Though her demeanor betrayed nothing, she was worried for her brother. His gourd had been found and now rested in his room. She waited impatiently for the hunter-nins to bring back her brother. Isn't that a little much? The order had been sent out by the council but at their expense. He wouldn't be punished; He was the village's trump card. She chewed her nails nervously as she felt Kankura behind her.
"No use getting nervous. The bastard is safer out there than here."
"Yeah but Baki wasn't too thrilled he left again."
Suddenly, with uncanny speed, two Sand hunter-nins appeared at the gates carrying small brown body. No blood. She sighed. All was well. And Gaara was … sleeping? The youngster's body was dumped unceremoniously on the ground. The warriors were obviously wary of him in his sleeping state.
"We found him like this at the ruins; shirtless, canvas sheet near him burnt. He had fainted near the Outer Main." Their clipped reports were freely given and thus their presence was no longer required. "This is going to cost Kayou a lot of funds. Hunters aren't cheap." Kankurou nodded, "And it's not even like they worked hard."
The girl asked, "Should he be sleeping? Won't that demon awake?"
Baki appeared in front of them. He felt the body that was still cold. His hand passed over the shirt holes, his eyes widened in recognition and horror. Someone had performed a guard seal on Shukaku. How would he explain this to the council?
"I'll take care of the body." The two siblings blanched when they saw the look that passed through the man's eyes.
"What happened?" Baki hoisted Gaara up like a sack of potatoes.
"Don't report this the elders." His form blurred into the sand as he teleported elsewhere.
The dark room made it possible to not be noticed from the outside. Besides there was no way Gaara could escape from this one. The illusion technique fell away to show the familiar mask of a Leaf ANBU. Foolish children. They would not live to see this one die.
His job was much easier now that the boy was sealed. As his kunai aimed for Gaara's heart, a hand caught his and growled.
"Cease and desist."
He was staring into red eyes. The ANBU member realized his mistake too late. He was already caught. Those eyes. They were like…Kurenai! As the genjutsu manipulation started, he felt his own kunai slipping from his hand. "Who a-are… y-y-you?"
The grave man smirked. "Kaworu Yuuhi." The solder started to choke. Death by asphyxiation was his specialty: Very clean. The body fell down uselessly, the victim brain-dead.
Yuuhi leaned down and awoke Gaara. Half lidded green eyes met an amused face.
"Welcome home."
End Chapter 2
Author's Note: Reviews, comments of all kinds, and advice are appreciated. Email me if you have questions.