Um…a fight scene chapter. It took me forever to write. I feel so stupid with Kanaroe using an ordinary knife (though it's definitely not a butter one). I just couldn't think of anything better or more creative. Sad, ne? Anyway, I didn't know whether to withhold this chapter a few more days. I actually had it written on Sunday, but didn't want to update too much at once. I figured I might as well post and get to work on finishing the next chapter. I think 2 more chapters should do it, or maybe 3.

ruby-sama aura-chan the neko-jin's yami – Gaara does have bad mood swings. I thought Neji was pretty bad until Gaara came along. That demon really messed up his mind I think. Least that's my excuse. And I doubt Itachi is going to be in this fic. I don't really know what to do with him if he came in. Maybe in the sequel, though I doubt it.

Burning tree – 'hugs you' I'm so happy you love it. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and I'm glad I struck up the courage to post it. Lol, Neji's probably considering bolting as soon as he gets the chance, but he has so many mixed feelings for Gaara. Gaara isn't helping matters by acting all 2-sided….or 4-sided…wow he has a lot of personalities. And Sasuke's trying. He's going to do his best to save Neji-chan. I think Gaara just needs to find a nice psychiatrist.

kawaii kitsune-kun – Yeah, Gaara is twisted and confusing. And once again, Neji isn't two-timing, he's still at a deciding point. Though he is a little nervous about Gaara and his creepy mood swings, he is attracted to him and Gaara's random passes aren't helping.

Chapter 27: Expulsion

Sasuke quickly moved to block the knife with his kunai again, while clutching the fresh wound in his side. Kanaroe still had hardly a scratch on him, and Sasuke could already feel himself becoming slightly dizzy from blood-loss. Naruto was getting absolutely pummeled, yet kept getting up every time to take on Gaara's siblings again. Things were not looking good for the two leaf-nin.

Even using his sharigan wasn't giving Sasuke much of an upper hand. He still was just barely able to block Kanaroe's attacks and counter with his own. Kanaroe didn't give him enough time to use anything but hand-to-hand combat. Sasuke felt his mouth fill with blood as the knife managed to get past his defenses and penetrate again. He coughed and spat it out onto the ground. Things were starting to blur. Again, he just barely managed to raise his arm to block, but couldn't dodge the kick that sent him flying back into the wall.

"SASUKE!" he heard Naruto scream, but it sounded so far away. It hurt to move, and Sasuke watched through hazy eyes as Kanaroe approached. He had failed Neji. He had failed Naruto. He had failed himself.

He shut his eyes to the finishing blow. Sasuke knew there was no more strength left in him to block it. All he could do was hope that it came swift and clean. He sat there, but nothing came. In fact, everything had gone silent. Sasuke had to crack his eyes open to convince himself that he wasn't dead already.

Kanaroe had sand wrapping around him, and his attention was now focused on his new attacker. "Gaara," he growled.

The redhead stood there, sand pouring out of his gourd, with a deadly look on his face. Temari and Kankuro had stopped attacking Naruto, and instead watched their brother. Sasuke felt arms wrap around him gently.

"It's going to be okay now," a voice reassured the injured nin.

"Neji?" Sasuke raised his eyes to meet the clear white ones of the Hyuuga he had been frantically searching for.

Neji smiled down at him. "Everything will be fine." Sasuke followed his gaze and watched as Gaara approached Kanaroe.

"You traitor," snarled the man, struggling against the sand.

Gaara said nothing and raised his hand. The sand around Kanaroe began to tighten.

Kanaroe grinned sadistically. "You honestly think you can kill me, Gaara? If so, you're going to have to try harder than that." The sand began to splinter and crack as Kanaroe broke through it. He stalked up to Gaara. "You'll pay for your treachery, boy."

Gaara had to leap away as the earth suddenly burst from under him into sharp spikes.

"You're far from invincible." Kanaroe circled Gaara, who stood in his place, following the man with his eyes. The nin suddenly leapt at Gaara. Each strike he used was blocked by sand that swirled all around the redhead. This didn't seem to discourage Kanaroe a bit, and he continued to attack. Sasuke could see that his lips were moving in some sort of chant. The sand seemed to become more dispersed, allowing Kanaroe enough time to penetrate the outer shield.

Gaara leapt away from Kanaroe, dodging his blows and trying to keep his distance. The sand drove at the exile in an attempt to throw him outside of the circle of protection. Kanaroe appeared to have a faint aura surrounding him that deflected the assaulting sand.

Gaara narrowed his eyes and backed away. "How can you…"

Kanaroe laughed. "I know far more about your protection than you do yourself. With this," he said, gesturing to the aura, "It can't touch me."

The sand-nin continued to dodge the attacks of Kanaroe, though he didn't seem to be as unconcerned as before. Temari hurried forward to help her brother, but the sand swirling violently around the two kept her at a distance.

Kanaroe struck Gaara with his fist, causing the sand-nin to go flying and skidding into the ground. The man drove his knife down, and Gaara quickly rolled over so that it stabbed into his gourd rather than himself.

Neji found himself breathing rather rapidly. Gaara wasn't doing nearly as well as he had expected. Kanaroe seemed to know precisely what he was doing, and even the stoic Gaara was beginning to look slightly worried. The same force that served to protect Gaara also protected Kanaroe from everyone on the outside. The fight was now down to the two of them, and the exiled nin was protected by his aura from Gaara's attacks with the sand.

Gaara's eyes were gleaming a frightening shade of green, and the look on his face made Neji's skin crawl.

"Did you miss me, Shukaku?" grinned Kanaroe, advancing on Gaara.

The sand-nin was snarling, backing away and keeping Kanaroe at as much of a distance as possible. "How do you know so much about my demon?" Gaara asked, narrowing his eyes, "Enough that you are able to overcome my defenses?"

Kanaroe chuckled. "I am a man with the future always in mind. It was merely an insurance in case I came into an incident such as this."

"You…" Gaara's voice held a low rumbling growl.

The exile smirked. "Yes. I am the one that put that demon, Shukaku, inside of you."

Gaara suddenly leapt at Kanaroe with lightning speed and punched him hard in the gut. Kanaroe's feet skidded against the ground at the impact, and he laughed as he grabbed Gaara's fist, flinging him back.

"What? No hard feelings? After all, it's because of that demon inside of you that you became so strong and well protected. Many ninjas would give an arm and a leg for such power."

Gaara panted in rage, his fists shaking as he regarded his former boss. "They haven't been through what I have. All this time, you were the one…you were the one that did it."

Kanaroe smirked. "Yes, it's fun being the guinea pig, isn't it? Of course, you grew much more powerful than any of us had foreseen, and with your inability to control yourself, you soon became regarded as a threat to your own hometown. And as the one who had physically sealed the demon, I was exiled. Forget the fact that those were my orders, but now that I look back, I probably would have done it anyway." Kanaroe grinned. "You really are ungrateful for the power I have bestowed on you."

"It's a farce," growled Gaara. "What is power when you're not the one in control? I never wanted this."

"Yes, you have become quite troublesome," remarked the nin. "Perhaps I should do as you wish." Kanaroe grabbed Gaara by the shoulders and his hands began to glow brightly.

Gaara let out a pained and violent shriek and struggled in Kanaroe's grip.

"GAARA!" Neji leapt to his feet and went bolting towards the two of them. A strong wind blew up as the glowing intensified.

"NEJI!" Sasuke tried to get up but fell back against the wall, clutching his side.

Temari and Kankuro were both trying to get to Gaara like Neji, but the sand and wind around Kanaroe and the redhead was too vicious. Naruto was watching wide-eyed at the events in front of him.

Neji was hit to one side by the swirling sand and forced himself back to his feet, shielding his eyes from the wind. Gaara was spasming in Kanaroe's grip. Neji had to get to them. Gaara was doing this for him, and it was because of him that this was happening to the redhead. Neji fought against the sandstorm swirling around in thicker and thicker masses around the two ninjas in the center.

Neji couldn't see clearly, but something large was coming out of Gaara. It looked insubstantial, yet still hellishly frightening. Was this the demon? It roared and there was a bright flash of light and an explosion.

The Hyuuga went flying back with the force and slid hard against the ground. His head felt like it was going to split and he couldn't see through the dirt and debris that now hung heavy in the air after the blast. Neji managed to somehow stumble to his feet. His chest tightened in terrified worry. Gaara had been right there where the explosion had taken place. Fearing the worst, Neji ran to where Kanaroe and Gaara had been standing.

The wind and spiraling sand had all died down, so it was not difficult for Neji to get through. Gaara and Kanaroe came into sight as the dirt settled back to the ground. They were locked in hand-to-hand combat. Kanaroe was lashing his knife out at Gaara, and the unarmed sand-nin was dodging it and trying to fend himself off with his own fists. His gourd lay shattered on the ground.

"It's much harder without the protection, isn't it?" Kanaroe asked, advancing on Gaara and slashing his knife at him. Gaara blocked the blow with his own arm and the blood coated the shiny metal and dripped down the boy's arm. Neji could see other bad knife wounds in other places on Gaara.

Despite them, Gaara was still fighting back with an almost renewed life. His eyes were cleared, and Neji realized that what he had witnessed was the expelling of the demon from Gaara. Now without the extra protection, Kanaroe was trying to finish him off.

Kanaroe saw Neji approaching and grinned. "Well, coming to the rescue, are you? You can't help him now."

"Neji, get out of here," Gaara said, placing himself between Kanaroe and the Hyuuga.

"I'm not leaving you," Neji said firmly.

"Neji."

"No."

Gaara gave a small smile.

They both faced Kanaroe, who seemed rather amused at the turn of events. Without warning, he lunged at the two nin. They both managed to just get out of the way in time, but Kanaroe didn't stop or even slow down.

Neji could see that Gaara was having difficulty dodging Kanaroe's attacks. They came incredibly fast, and the sand-nin was already slowed by his previous wounds, which were all still open, and bleeding badly. He also wasn't accustomed to being in close combat situations without his sand also acting as a defense.

Knowing this, Kanaroe was aiming most of his attacks at Gaara. Neji didn't know how much longer the sand-nin could hold out. He was focusing so much attention on trying to distract Kanaroe from Gaara that he wasn't prepared for when the knife swept his way. As it came to him Neji realized that he wouldn't be able to dodge it in time.

Instead of the blade searing into his chest, Neji felt warm arms wrap around him. Gaara stiffened as the knife drove into his back, and buried his face into Neji's shoulder, breathing heavily. Neji was safe.

Neji stood in shock and horror, still taking in what had just happened. Gaara's normally bright eyes were faded and cloudy. He looked up at Neji and mustered a smile. "Sorry I got you into this."

Neji just stared in disbelief as Gaara went limp in his arms.

Yes, I altered a few things. Once again, this is an A/U and I made it Kanaroe as the one who had implanted Shukaku inside of Gaara. I'm scared of the reviews I'm going to get for this chapter. Please don't hurt me for what I did to Gaara! 'hides'