Chapter 15: The Deranged Shinobi

"Ohhh..." moaned Kitai as she opened her eyes slowly, "Who had the nerve to chuck a brick at my head?" Her head pounded as she squinted because of the bright light. She tried to put her hands on her head, but realized she couldn't move them.

"What the...?" She looked down and suddenly realized she was tied to a tree. She looked up and saw the back of a guy with unruly dark brown hair, dressed in what looked like black shinobi clothes. They stood in the middle of a forest of pines. "Who the hell are you??" She glared at him as he casually turned and looked at her. Now that she saw him she saw that he had narrow pitch black eyes, a Mist head protector around his waist, and looked rather weak. She silently cursed herself for being able to get caught by this wimp.

"You barely woke up on time." He had a monotone voice that irked Kitai. She looked up at the sun and decided it must be near noon.

"Did ya have to use so much sleeping stuff??" she snapped at him. "My head feels like it's been under a steam roller."

"That's normal. And, actually, it should've worn off hours ago. You're a very heavy sleeper, even under unnatural circumstances." Kitai frowned, feeling stupid and embarrassed.

"What're you planning to do to me?"

"Nothing, as long as he comes."

"So this is about Gaara. What're you trying to do, get the upper hand by kidnapping me? That's so stupid, and pathetic." The shinobi grinned darkly.

"I'd be quiet if I were you." He turned and faced her, the manic grin on his face made Kitai shiver.

"You'll have to gag me." She shrugged as she looked away from him. His grin widened as approaching steps were heard. Gaara stepped through the trees into the small clearing.

"Gaara!" Kitai grinned. "Sorry I ditched you last night. You did find a room, right?" Gaara resisted the urge to smile and show any feelings towards her.

"I see Kitai's fine," Gaara glared at the shinobi. "Release her unless you feel like dying today."

"You've become a sort of legend, you know?" The creepy grin was still plastered on his face. "Ever since the Chuunin exam at the Konoha people had been talking of your great power. No doubt they were all shocked when it was reported that you had died." His eyes widened with excitement. "Imagine my surprise when I heard a bunch of drunken idiots talking about you last night."

"Release her before I rip your mouth off for being so annoying." Gaara's glare grew fiercer.

"But watching you," he continued, brushing off Gaara's glare as he stepped towards Kitai, "I realized that you had grown softer. Gaara of the Desert would have killed all those buffoons without thinking twice. Obviously being with this girl made you... different." Gaara clenched his fists in frustration as he got nearer to her. "I like your girlfriend. She's got a strong spirit. Too bad her body's so..." He reached into the pouch around his waist and took out a kunai. He slowly drew it across her cheek as the red line it left behind swelled with blood. "... weak."

"You're pretty messed up," Kitai gave a sick smile. "Freak." The edges of the shinobi's mouth curled up. He took a few steps away from her, then flung the kunai at her. Kitai didn't even flinch as it landed a few centimeters from her ear, cutting off a chunk of her hair.

"You really do have a death wish," Gaara said, his voice now full of menacing anger.

"By killing you, the strongest of the Sand," He faced Gaara. "I'll prove to my comrades that I'm no weakling." He charged Gaara, punching rapidly at all his weak points. Gaara, however, dodged all of his attacks easily as he stepped to each side. He turned slightly, then hit the shinobi's lungs by planting his palm in the middle of his chest. The shinobi was thrown back. He remained on the ground with his head down as he struggled to regain his breath.

"You're out of your league," Gaara growled. "Idiots like you should be content with C rank missions, and should stay away from monsters like me." The shinobi didn't look up, but Gaara noticed a grin creep onto his face. In a split second he had appeared in front of Gaara, and a moment later Gaara was thrown back by the force of the punch he received in the face. A crack formed on Gaara's cheek as he stepped back. So he had been holding back.

"Well, it seems we've been underestimating you," Kitai appeared behind the shinobi suddenly. "But you really shouldn't underestimate me either." He jumped out of the way, but she reached him in midair. She sent a flurry of punches crashing all over his body, then jumped away as he fell on the ground. He struggled to stand up, and soon Kitai was over him again as she kicked in his stomach. He staggered back and collapsed as he coughed up blood.

"Geez," Kitai looked disappointed and regretted going so hard on him. "You're really weak."

"I wasn't in trouble or anything," Gaara looked slightly annoyed. The crack in his cheek was gone. Kitai grinned at him widely.

"I know, I know. But, like I said, I can't have you saving me all the time. It's embarrassing."

"Fine," shrugged Gaara with a half smile, "Then next time you can take care of yourself." Kitai's grin got wider as she stuck her tongue out at him. Suddenly, the fallen shinobi started chuckling quietly. Kitai's eyebrows furrowed as she looked at him.

"You really think I underestimated you?" he laughed darkly as he looked up at her. "Anyone Gaara of the Desert travels with must be strong." His laugh got bolder. "I made the necessary precautions."

Kitai suddenly felt extremely lightheaded. The trees and shinobi in front of her started spinning violently and she felt like she was back on the Tilt-a-whirl. She shut her eyes tightly as she stumbled backwards. She felt her back connect to a tree, then she slumped down and held her head in her hands.

"What...?" she tried to talk, but she suddenly had the urge to throw up so she clamped her mouth shut.

"The kunai that marked you was dipped in poison," the shinobi laughed in response. "It's my specialty. The poison that you spread throughout your body yourself by attacking me is one of my special favorites. It targets the heart, and slowly paralyzes it. One by one your major organs will shut down as your heart beat gets slower and slower. In about six minutes only your brain will be receiving blood, but it won't matter since the lungs would have already shut down. This type of suffocation is ten times worse than any ordinary kind. This is actually the first time I've seen my poison at work." He seemed ecstatic as Kitai let out a shaky breath and slowly relaxed her muscles in an attempt at saving blood.

The shinobi didn't even realize he had been kicked as he flew back and nearly shattered a tree as he hit it. Gaara was standing where he had been seconds earlier. Gaara's slate blue eyes were livid with anger.

"I told you to shut up," Gaara said. "Since you will die."

"It's seems you've lost control of your emotions," grinned the shinobi as he stood up. "Excellent." He reached into his pouch again. However, instead of a weapon he drew out a needle instead. Gaara hid his surprise as the shinobi jammed the needle into his forearm and injected the black liquid.

"No holding back now." His voice had gotten deeper and his eyes had flashes of red in them. His muscles bulged slightly, stretching out his outfit. A hideous black chakra began to seep through the air towards Gaara. "Like it? I made it myself. It gives me a temporary boost that would put the Mizukage to shame."

He appeared in front of Gaara and served him brutal blows before he could even react. The sand armor flew off in pieces as he was pushed back. The shinobi stopped for a millisecond as he took a breath. In this time the sand poured out of Gaara's gourd. He put his hands in front of him and pushed them forward. A huge blast of sand rammed into the shinobi, sending him through a few trees. Gaara regained his composure as he let the rest of the armor slide off. It would take too much chakra to maintain it.

The shinobi plowed through a large tangle of trees and branches and faced Gaara once again.

"It's seems you're going to be a challenge, even with my special boost," he chuckled darkly.

"I'll say it again," Gaara answered. "You're out of your league." The shinobi frowned. He jumped to the left and flung kunai at Gaara, who easily dodged them as he followed him and ran to his right. The kunai went through trunks of trees that were in the way. Gaara sent a wave of sand through the ground. The shinobi jumped out of the way high into the air as he threw more kunai and shuriken. Gaara grinned. He had won.

Gaara sent a huge wave of sand shuriken through the air towards the shinobi. It would be impossible to dodge. Sure enough, the shinobi couldn't avoid a few direct hits with the shuriken. However, instead of going through him or skimming him, Gaara stopped them in his body. The shinobi landed painfully, then struggled to stand up.

"That's it," Gaara said darkly, "You've lost. All I have to do is un-grip my hand and every sand shuriken within you goes off like a tiny bomb. Imagine hundreds of grains of sand piercing your body in every direction." He held up his fist threateningly. He had been able to achieve a much higher level of control with his sand, now that it wasn't automatic and he could control it however he wanted. All the training with Kitai had really paid off.

"I guess I am weak," the evil grin was still glued to his face. "Here, catch." He tossed another needle to Gaara. Gaara caught it in his other hand, but didn't take his eyes off the shinobi. "It's the antidote for the girl. She'll be necessary to draw out your strength." Gaara gave him a look of skepticism. "You don't think I'll be the only one after you now, do you? Although I am weak, I'm still a Mist shinobi, and my death will be investigated. It won't be long before you're discovered, and there'll be a bounty on your head. You've obviously grown attached to her, and killing her would be the quickest way to make you reveal your true power. You're not undefeatable, it's been proven before. Too bad she'll have to suffer with you." His crazed eyes and grin bore into Gaara. He quickly undid his fist, and the shinobi dropped down, dead. Gaara wasted no time. He ran to Kitai and hoped he wasn't too late.

Kitai's head hadn't stopped spinning. The constant ringing in her ears drowned out Gaara's voice as he called her name. She was sweating profusely and could hardly breathe now. She felt a slight sting as a needle pierced her arm. She opened her eyes slightly, barely making out Gaara as she slipped into unconsciousness.

Kitai's body felt heavy as her mind woke up. She could tell she was leaning against something. She recalled the disgusting feeling she had earlier. So that was how it felt to die. She wondered if she was in a heaven or hell...

She dragged her arm across the ground and felt whatever she was reclining on. Bark. It was just a tree. She opened her eyes slowly. The first thing she realized was that it was dark. She followed her feet up to her legs until she was looking at her chest. She didn't look like a ghost...

She sat up, and realized she was by a river. Good, her mouth felt like sandpaper. Did ghosts get thirsty? She followed the bank with her eyes and saw a figure standing by it. Gaara. Well, he couldn't have lost to that loser, so she couldn't be dead. She slowly stood up and stumbled towards him.

"Hey," Gaara noticed her walking towards him. He held out a water bottle when she finally reached him and she took it gladly. "You're finally up." Kitai nodded as she gulped down water thirstily.

"How'd the fight go?" she asked when she had drunk the whole bottle.

"Fine. The guy was pathetic. I can't believe you were caught by him." This comment mildly surprised Kitai.

"Hey! He caught me by surprise! Besides, how was I supposed to know that I was gonna be attacked in the middle of a street in a strange town?"

"Aren't you supposed to be a shinobi? If you had kept your guard up, none of this mess would've happened." Kitai's eyes widened. There was something strange about him. He seemed more cold and detached than usual.

"Gaara, what's wrong? Did something happen during the fight?" She was worried about him. He shrugged and looked away. For once, he didn't want her to see how he felt.

"He just made me realize something, that's all."

"And what's that."

"That you really are just a liability." Kitai nearly dropped the water bottle in surprise. Gaara would never say that to her.

"I'm a liability? What do you mean?" She sounded scared. Gaara turned his back to her.

"You're more trouble than you're worth. What did you think I meant?" Kitai stared at him, her mouth slightly open.

"Tomorrow, I'm leaving Mist," he continued as he walked away. "You can go wherever you want. As long as you're not with me." Kitai's hands fell to her side as the water bottle dropped to the ground. She couldn't believe what he was saying, it had to be a joke. But, Gaara never joked around.

"Gaara!" She ran in front of him. She evened her gaze with his, but he looked away. "Do you... really want me to go?" Gaara was silent for a moment. Then he looked directly at her, his eyes unusually empty.

"Yes."

Kitai could almost hear her whole world crashing around her as she slumped down to the ground, and he walked away.