Wordlessly and swiftly I got off the bed and put on my coat, straightening out my clothes and my hair in an effort to look unmolested. Gaara crossed the space between his bed and the door swiftly and opened it, enough so that he could speak with the person but still closed enough to let said person know that he was not welcome inside the Kazekage's room.
I didn't stall or wait to listen to what was so urgent, none of my business really. So like a good little shinobi I exited through his window, hopped onto the sill then pushed chakra out of my feet and landed in a half crouch on the roof. Taking in a composing breath I crossed the roof and dropped down the other side to the balcony of my room.
Stupid human… Seikatsu growled. My eyebrow quirked.
Now now Seikatsu…there was no way he could've known that we were there and even if that messenger boy did know… if it were important enough to interrupt the Kazekage then regardless of the Kazekage's activities he would've interrupted. No need to go Akai Satto (Red Flood) on a mere mortal… you'd of destroyed the entire village and all the people… you must remember that they don't know how to swim. I chided her sitting down cross legged on the edge of my bed. Closing my eyes I could see her, a beautiful crane, feathers that would shimmer different shades of blue, teal, and green, long graceful legs, a long elegant beak and sharp intelligent eyes. Seikatsu the seven tailed demon crane of Kiri no Kuni.
Heh… I could feel her anger slowly ebbing away. Your too damn smart kid… then again I suppose the jutsu I performed on Shukaku is going through it's aftershock.
Hmm?
Well… it's like with your Nanatsu Seiryoku Mawaru, how you can connect with a persons mind through the fourteen chakra points on each of your hands by threading them through the persons crown and brow chakra points… I did a little threading with Shukaku while we were separated in the boys mind; except I transferred some things to him and he transferred some things to me, hence the tanuki's hornieness and my anger.
Her eyes were smiling
Ah… I was surprised. I haven't felt you that angry since before the little… accident…
Yes. You know I've never really forgiven you for that…
We've been through this… it wasn't my fault.
Yes it was you stupid girl. Getting yourself severed… honestly.
I felt a slight tickle about halfway between my bellybutton and my crotch where I knew a jagged and discolored line ran around my hips like a low slung belt. Smiling I ran a hand over the cloth of my pants from my outer thigh to my knee. I could feel it but I couldn't, it was merely pressure as opposed to the actual sense of touch.
You know I've never stopped thanking you for that.
I should have just left you for dead… it's quite annoying that your sap my chakra and I'm constantly having to heal and mend your lower half just to keep you alive.
I scoffed at the bird.
Oh Seikatsu… you silly little creature… you and I both know that when I die, you die.
Yeah and if we don't submerge in water soon we are going to die.
Do you remember where that oasis was?
Seikatsu made a noise as if she had been severely insulted.
Are you kidding? I can feel it from here. Hell I can feel about twelve oases and every well within fifty miles of here.
What the hell are we waiting for? Let's go!
I opened my eyes halfway and slid off of the bed. "Perhaps I should leave a note…" Absently I scrawled a quick note that I'd gone to an oasis and not to worry if I wasn't back by…
Noon.
What the hell are you talking about? Noon is far to long. I don't want to have to travel through the desert mid day. We'll be back by dawn.
Pansy.
Tch. If you keep acting like that then we aren't going.
She grumbled in defeat but, giving in a bit, I wrote down breakfast as opposed to dawn. Folding the note with care I placed it on the sparse desk so that anyone who entered would easily find it, grabbed a water canteen and leapt onto the balcony. Cool wind whipped and slithered through my hair and around my body. In the month and a half since I'd been in Suna I hadn't left the village. Then again I didn't really need to… but one of the wells had dried up and the limitations on water usage got stricter. This was a necessary excursion, besides I'm sure no one would miss me.
Lead the way birdie.
I felt chakra rush upwards like a current of water from the base of my spine to my nose. I closed my eyes and leaned into the wind. The sweet, sweet smell of water thrilled in my nostrils and I felt a shiver of anticipation and excitement roll down my spine. I couldn't help it, with an excited squeal I swan dived from the fourth story balcony, flipped around in mid fall and landed in a half crouch on the hardened sand. Opening my eyes I took in a calming breath and walked towards the gate. The guards nodded to me as I passed by, I frequently went to the village at night so they were unconcerned about me. I forced myself to walk through the village, running would draw unwanted attention.
It wasn't until the village disappeared behind several sand dunes that I let my excitement take hold and more or less shoved chakra down into my legs so that I bounded over the dunes like a kangaroo rat. True this sapped up chakra but the benefit of having a demon like Seikatsu inside of me was that drinking water replenished her, thus replenishing me. Had I not been who I was and had I not had Seikatsu this little trek would've taken about two hours or so… but being who I was, I was at the oasis in about thirty minutes.
It was beautiful… palm trees, a few bushes some grass and a very large pond. Well it was only twenty five meters across, a mere puddle by Kiri standards but for the desert that was pretty big. I paused at the edge of the water… the way the moon light and the stars glinted off of it… I felt tears well up in my eyes and slowly find there way down my cheeks. The skin on my back and the portion of my body below my sever line rippled with Seikatsu's impatience.
Yes yes… I'm going I'm going.
I removed my torn jacket slowly, just to irk the bird; as the coat fluttered to the ground I carelessly lifted the sleeveless, black shirt over my head and dropped it behind me.
MOVE FASTER!
Patience is a virtue. I told her in an annoyingly singsong voice as I removed my shoes, hitai-ate and pants leaving me standing at the edge of the water in my underwear. I took a step into the water and my feet slowly lost color until they didn't exist anymore. I waded into the water and soon my body below the scar on my hips melted into the water. I was now just a torso in the middle of an oasis; but of course the water and lack of light was enough that a person at the edge of the pool wouldn't be able to see past my bosom anyway.
I would've liked to say that my swim and rejuvenation went without incidence, but if I said that I'd be lying and I'm not fond of lying.
"Well well well… what do we have here? A lost little girlie?" I opened my eyes to see nine rather grubby looking men surrounding the pond.
Ah shit.
In my eagerness to piss Seikatsu off and get into the water I had forgot to check around for people. And of course these weren't just any people, they were bandits.
Seikatsu... be reasonable now…they haven't done anything.
Her response was a rather feral noise and I could only sigh.
"I'd suggest that all you get out of here while she's still somewhat sane." Several of the men laughed. "I warned you. Have fun Seikatsu." The men all tensed looking around and suddenly a rope flew out of one of the trees and looped around my neck. Whoever was in the tree yanked back sharply and lifted my body out of the water. Looks of triumph from the bandits quickly turned to horror as a I dangled in the air trying to pry the rope off of my neck with a few organs hanging out from where my lower half should've been. Water slithered up the rope and a scream was heard from the man in the tree followed by an explosion of blood. The water that was still on my hair severed the rope and I plunged into the pond. My head didn't submerge so I was able to see the rope get sucked into the tree. After a few rustles the man fell from the tree only to stop halfway, the rope was around his throat and as his lifeless body swayed in the breeze; everyone present got a view of his entire chest cavity which looked as if it had exploded.
As if remembering that they had legs the men turned to run but the water in the pond swelled up and a massive claw like tube of water shot out, made a wide arc and turned into a tidal wave shoving the men back into the pond.
At this point I was more concerned with getting my vital bits and pieces back into place so you can see how those men's deaths' weren't the top on my importance list.
By the time I did look up all of the men were strung up by ropes from the sparse palm trees. All of them were little more the gristle then attached by skin. The pond was dyed red from all of their blood.
Ahhhh… The bird sighed in a satisfied manner. You know the only way this day could get any better is if you had let Gaara fuc-
Oh shut up…and gimme a hand here…I can't find my liver…
I felt the red water swirl up and a chunk of something was shoved back into my body. Sighing I closed my eyes and floated onto my back and starred at the sky.
Something's coming…
I felt the water current push against me and urge me to sit up, so I did. Something about the approaching energy felt… familiar. I blinked and there he was. His eyes were wide, his lips were parted slightly and he looked dazed. I felt the water push on me and lift my body up from the water, his eyes dilated slightly and he watched as the bloody water that had been dripping down my body seemed to fill into an invisible mold and my lower torso filled into it's normal shape and color. Gaara's eyes returned to normal size and he licked his bottom lip, I could tell he was struggling with Shukaku. Behind me I felt the water surge and swell up, then I felt it form and what looked like wings made out of water made a loose circle around my body in a protective manner. He closed his eyes and his body bowed forward slightly, the sand behind him rippled and he clutched his forehead in his hands.
They must've smelled the blood.
Seikatsu's head, made of water, moved so that she was right next to my head.
Watch. Don't look away. This is how we could've been. This is what could've happened. Watch and be grateful.
I did, and as I watched I barely noticed the water bring my clothes to me and dress me. I could feel something pulsating inside of his body and then he seemed to change… his skin changed, it hardened, and cracked looking very much like a shell of sand. At first he looked as if he were in pain, then… then as most of his body was that of a tanuki and he started laughing. It was loud, raspy, and very very scary; it was in the same deep husky voice that was half Gaara half Shukaku. As I watched this awesome display of power and how he changed… I was terrified.
It seems the blood and the full moon have gone to their heads… weak minded boys.
Ah but how quickly you forget who brought forth the blood.
Now is hardly the time for your smarmy remarks child.
Oh you jus don't have a good come back…wait... is he okay?
Oh shit!
The bloody water that had been Seikatsu tidal waved down over my head as a claw arm of sand shot forward where my body had been.
I blame you.
Less talk more fight.
The water pushed my body to and above the surface like a red pillar and I felt luke warm liquid surround me. I now resembled something close to what Gaara looked like, half my own body half the demon incarnate. Two bloody red water wings emerged from my shoulder blades, my feet and legs had turned into bird claws, and I knew that there were now seven tail feather at the base of my spine right above my butt.
"Seikatsu…" The boy growled as me and the bird stood atop the water drenched in blood yet calm as ever.
"Shukaku." Both of our voices rang out together as we addressed the boy and his demon. The part of me that was still me was scared, I didn't want to fight Gaara; but the part of me that was Seikatsu was shivering with anticipation, it had been so long since I'd had a good fight…
You know child… we're at a severe disadvantage.
How far away is the next oasis?
Twenty minutes at top speed. I doubt we'll make it in time.
A rather feral grin came to me. Slowly I knelt down, my index and middle fingers grazing the surface of the water. He looked at me with a quirked eyebrow and a smile to wide for his face.
"EEEERAH!" I brought my left hand forward in an upward diagonal slash sending a tidal wave of water towards Gaara. As expected sand rushed forward and met with the water turning it into a muddy wall. The water on my back propelled me forward with the other half of the pond water attached to my fingers like a giant ribbon. As the mud sluggishly moved aside I brought the other half of the water cascading down from above. Seikatsu and I smirked as the sand moved to block the water in a dome above him, then collapsed on top of him.
And now we go.
Twisting in midair the water on my shoulder blades propelled me high above the landscape; we had to get to another water source as fast as possible, the water that formed my wings was raining down with every movement. As we put distance between Gaara and Shukaku and enormous geyser of sand erupted forcing us to dodge chunks of mud. I chanced a look back to see a muddy and what looked like sleeping Gaara sticking out of a mountain of sand that was slowly forming into a tanuki.
Eeep…
Seikatsu laughed as we hurtled through the air dodging sand with a massive blood lusting sand demon right behind us. I had never been so scared in my entire life and the damn bird was laughing all the way. We twisted, dived, dipped, and did everything possible to avoid getting swatted to the ground. After what felt like forever I saw the tiniest bit of green and almost cried as I saw a glint of blue, courtesy of the full moon light.
It's do or die kid… Inhaling sharply the water folded inwards around me and we dropped like a rock in a diagonal line towards the new and slightly larger oasis. The force with which I dived into the water would have shoved a normal human's heart into their feet. But I must say, God bless my abnormality because when I hit the water it felt as if I'd just leapt onto a giant fluffy pillow. The second I submerged the entire oasis was engulfed in a tidal wave of sand. It was, however, to late to stop me. The water repelled the sand and where the pond once was stood a giant crane made from water with me, more or less, displayed on her forehead like a crest.
Shukaku's roar was like an earthquake, I felt it reverberate through my entire body and, yes, I was terrified. Seikatsu merely blinked at him.
"How like you Shukaku. So loud and annoying. Do you truly believe that I will lose to you simply because of the terrain?" Her voice was calm and very together. The sand demon chuckled a bit and that slowly rose to a full scale bellowing laughter.
"You stupid bird… I have no intention of killing either of you… at least not now… you and the girl will make interesting play mates for awhile." Seikatsu laughed.
"You're far to arrogant."
"And you're far to stupid. Look around you… I control all of this. Do you really think you can win?"
He has a point you know.
Yeah… you have to wake up Gaara… it's the only way to get the demon back inside of him.
Alright… do your thing Seikatsu… just give me a clean launch at him.
With the sound and force of white water rapids what looked like a snake tail made out of water gushed forward, sand rose up and blacked the water whip from smacking Shukaku in the face. I was sucked down into the body of Seikatsu and saw a water doppelganger take my place. The water around my was dark blue, nearly black, but I could faintly see a yellow orange outline that looked like Shukaku and a golden outline that was shaped like Gaara. Sensations of sand and water slamming together then becoming mud pulsated all around me and I could feel Seikatsu's power diminishing.
Alright kid… get ready… this is no holding back… you gotta hit him hard and don't let go until Shukaku's gone. Got it?
Yeah yeah just let's get this over with.
Right. Here we go!
There was a shriek that I faintly related to the sound of lightening and the bird charged forward. This was an all or nothing thing, most of the water had been transferred to mud, both the demon and I were reaching our ends. She charged forward, water rushed at the tanuki like a dam exploded and it was swamped immediately by sand. A the newest mud hill squished to the ground Seikatsu's body slammed into Shukaku's and I was launched out of her chest cavity straight up. I popped out of her head and dropped like a rock straight for Gaara. Sand rushed up to greet me but spiked torrents of water zoomed past me turning the sand to mud and causing a hole big enough for me to fall through. I pretty much body slammed into Gaara and his body bent backwards at an odd angle and I heard his back pop.
Just like Seikatsu said I didn't let go. I buried my head against his chest and grabbed my wrists so that my arms formed a circle around his waist. I didn't let go as the sand encompassed us and turned to mud, I didn't let go as I felt Seikatsu de-manifest and return, exhausted, to my body, and I didn't let go when I blacked out because of the oxygen sapping mud the was now wrapped around me.
