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Chapter 4: Sand and Shadow

Rain poured down relentlessly onto the depressing stone pavement, forming murky puddles and little streams which meandered down the streets. A single lone figure dressed in black stood in front of two tombstones; one well-weathered with age and the other newly erected. The figured stood in deafening silence for a long while, gathering his thoughts and contemplating on his next move. His face displayed not the slightest bit of sadness, but instead his purple eyes burned with unmatched fury. Kano took a step forward, then, kneeled down next to the newer grave.

"Father, you raised a monster," he said, reaching out to touch the tombstone. "Was this the real reason why our clan forbids the birth of daughters? She is a curse. How can a child kill both her parents?"

A younger man stepped out from the shelter behind and walked quietly towards the drenched man stooping by the grave. He stopped only a few paces away from his brooding cousin, considering what he should say and do.

"I'm going after her," Kano was the one who spoke first.

"But Kano, your place in here with the family. Let me remind you that you are now the head of the Takakuro clan."

"I do not need reminding! Tomeo, I know my place. And as head of the clan, I shall kill our enemies!" The older man turned as he snapped angrily at his cousin.

"I apologize…" Tomeo started to leave, he was fearful to experience Kano's rage.

"No, no… Don't leave. I'm sorry," Kano signaled for his younger cousin to stay. "I have decided. I shall seek Kyoshi out… and destroy her. You will stay here… you will be in charge of the clan while I'm gone."

"Perhaps we should seek vengeance later, when things have settled down. I have already reported the matter to the Raikage. Kano… I am not as capable as you are. I don't know if I can handle such a huge responsibility."

"Then you shall learn. Tomeo, there aren't many Takakuros left. I fear she may come back to wipe us out when she is stronger. I must kill her before she gets too powerful, I have to leave now," Kano told the other Takakuro as he stood up, facing him. "Tomeo, do not follow me. I promise that I shall return as soon as I am done." He bowed to his younger relative and departed for his journey at once; leaving a very worried and very wet Tomeo in the rain.

Only a few rays of light managed to penetrate the thick Konoha foliage, illumining the sparse undergrowth of the forest. Kyoshi smiled, she liked the shadows and the calm of the forest. She could not stand being around people too much, it was tiring to entertain them and she disliked their natural curiosity. She sat in there, in shadows, reflecting the unpleasant events that she had experienced for the past few days. Her future now seemed uncertain, she knew that she could not stay in Konoha forever, her brother was sure to come after her sooner or later. Kyoshi suddenly stood up; her eyes darted about her surroundings, trying to determine the disturbance in the wooded area. The forest around her had grown deathly quiet as the singing of the birds and crickets came to an abrupt stop. Even the rustle of the leaves seemed to have vanished and the air become uncomfortably still. She could hear the pounding of her heart quickened as she began to sense something sinister among the vegetation, a being which she recognized as pure evil. There! Kyoshi told herself, hastily tossing a kunai in that direction. The long haired girl immediately jumped from her earlier position when she saw her kunai drop from the trees.

What is that sound? Sounds like… sand? The moment Kyoshi realized this; she noticed a large trail of sand coming right at her. She quickly dodged the incoming sand and looked up to see her attacker. It was a boy with dark red hair and darkly lined eyes about her age, not a demon that she had expected. She promptly shifted her attention to the attacking sand, it kept coming at her. I can't keep avoiding this. Maybe if I hit him. The female ninja directed multiple needles at her attacker. Kyoshi watched in disbelief as sand from the gourd that the boy was carrying immediately moved out, forming a shield around him. Needless to say, that her poison needles did not hit their intended target.

"Why are you attacking me?" she shouted at the ninja still standing on the branch of the huge tree.

"Let me remind you that it was you who threw a kunai at me," the boy yelled back, obviously none too happy being attacked.

"I sensed something evil…"

"What are you doing here? Spying on Konoha?" Gaara interrogated the female.

"What? I'm staying in Konoha village at the moment…"

"Liar, I've never seen you before!" The red haired ninja accused as he started to attack, his chakra laden sand surrounding her.

Crap. Kyoshi surveyed the quick moving sand around her. If I moved faster then his evil sand, I could reach him. She leaped towards him moving at lightning speed, Gaara's sand began shifting around him, as though confused. He fell back suddenly from a powerful blow, his sand preventing him from hitting the ground below. He got up, only to face a second more powerful strike as his sand quickly crowded around him.

"Arrghh," Kyoshi cried out. Too slow. Her enemy's sand nearly crushed her leg; she had taken too big a risk. Her second kick may have been stronger but it had slowed her down, giving time for Gaara's sand to do considerable damage to her left leg. Blood flowed freely from the tiny wounds all over Kyoshi's stronger leg; the cloth that covered her slender leg was fully torn off. Fresh blood appeared to send the foul sand into a frenzy as it moved towards her at an even faster rate. The female shinobi forced herself to move even faster, but her injured leg hampered her movement. Kyoshi release several needles again, watching the sand moving into position to defend their master. However, instead of deflecting them like before, Gaara watched in disbelief as the inky needles penetrated the tiny gaps between the shifting sands and proceeded to hit him. He did not feel the piercing of the needles when they touched him, but he soon knew the damage they had caused. Each one of the inky needles drained a little of his chakra. Realizing this, Gaara willed for his sand to return to him, so that it surrounded him, forming an impregnable ball of sand. Heh. No more gaps for your irritating needles to penetrate. Let's see what you'll do .Kyoshi smirked and stared at the large ball of sand before her. Coward. Hiding in the shadows will only kill you.

"Kumoriiii!" The teenaged girl declared as her eyes and lips turned pitch black, the area surrounding her looked as if it grew a couple of shades darker. "Die!" She muttered under her breath, focusing on the person within the ball of sand.

Gaara shuffled uneasily in the darkness that surrounded him, he thought he felt the shadows move around him, which was absurd as he was in total darkness. Then he felt the familiar tugging, the draining of his chakra. How is this possible? She's draining me at an alarming rate. Outside, Kyoshi watched her opponent as she felt fresh chakra flowing through her, her wounds on her left leg began to close and heal rapidly. She hoped that the boy would give up soon because she had no intention of killing this stranger.

"Hey Sakura-Chan! Do you know where Kyoshi-Chan went? I've been searching for her all day!" Naruto greeted the female ahead of him.

"She told me that she wanted to go training. I think she went to the forested area nearby. Like area 5 or something."

"Training? Kyoshi-Chan's a ninja too? I didn't know! Come on, let's go train with her!" Naruto grabbed Sakura's armed and practically dragged her along towards the forest before them.

"Stop it, Naruto! I want to meet Sasuke for training!" She removed herself from the blond boy's grip and started walking away.

"Sasuke can join us! Lookie there. It's him. I wonder why he came this way!" Naruto pointed at Sasuke. "Sasuke-baka! Let's go to the forest to train!"

"Of course he's here. I was supposed to meet him here, you moron!" Sakura was furious; she wanted to train with Sasuke alone. But no, that stupid Naruto had to spoil it all.

"The forest?" Sasuke questioned.

"Yeah, yeah! Kyoshi's training there!" The blue-eyed boy replied enthusiastically, he was already heading out. Kyoshi… training? Sasuke thought to himself. This should be interesting. Sakura's shoulders slumped in disappointment as she watched Sasuke-kun following after Naruto.

"I think I see her!" Naruto shouted, running ahead.

The trio stopped in utter shock to see a standstill between Kyoshi and a ball of sand. Sasuke's eyes widen, the strange purple eyes of the female shinobi were now like two dark coals and her lips were the shade of shadows. He felt the hairs on his back stand stiffly as he noticed her darkened surroundings.

"Hey Gaara! So you've met Kyoshi! And you're training together, how selfish of you! Having all the fun!" Naruto yelled at his friend from the sand, oblivious to the tense situation.

"What?" Kyoshi and Gaara said at once, the girl turned to Naruto, breaking her shadow hold on her opponent. The sands quickly parted, revealing an almost drained Gaara.

"You're friends?" The boy carrying the gourd asked incredulously.

"Kyoshi's new to the village," The blond boy informed his friend. Gaara looked at Kyoshi, breathing hard from his ordeal, asked, "So you're not a spy?"

"I told you before didn't I? Lucky Naruto's here. I could've killed you."

"Nah, I was just soft on you 'cause you're a pretty girl. You wouldn't have stood a chance." The red haired ninja said, smirking at her, expecting a clever retort. He received none.

Yeah, so Kyoshi can manipulate shadows, that's why she loves them so much. Gaara appears to be a little weak but I'm sure he would have fought better if he knew about Kyoshi's draining abililties, also 1) Kyoshi can drain chakra at lightning speed 2) Gaara didn't use his more powerful abilities.