Chapter 4: Troubled Relations.
Gaara lied there looking up at the sky, exhausted. He looked at the woman hovering over him. Her expression was that of a curious puppy that was concerned with her master. "What are you exactly?" he managed to ask between breaths.
She pushed a few stray locks of brown hair behind her ear and looked away. "I am rou-yasha. This forest is actually home to many spirit creatures but I am of the wolf clan. Dairouchimimaru was my father. When I was just a young cub, I … left the forest to be with people." She stood up and looked towards the bloody wolf still being held up by the pillars of stone. "So…that's the truth."
"I see." Gaara closed his eyes. Kirae took some bandages from her pouch and began to tie them around her arm. They both remained silent for sometime, allowing Gaara to lose himself to his thoughts while his body tried to recover from the exhausting fight.
Kankurou landed in front of the group of Grass Ninja. He held Karasu in one hand, still wrapped tightly in bandages. Gaara landed behind the group. The bewildered eight jounin of the rival country looked cornered.
It seemed that the intelligence was correct. They were spies. The information that they had acquired the nine months that they stayed in Sunagakure no Sato was vital. They absolutely could not let them get away. It had been Kankurou's idea to allow him and Gaara to pursue the enemy. He assured the reigning Kazekage that with his brother's help, they alone could eliminate the enemy quickly and efficiently. At first the younger man wanted to have some kind of extra help. At least a medical ninja but Kankurou would not be swayed.
"Gaara, the more people we put on missions the more put the village at risk. We're already at capacity for missions. This is something that I know we can do," he assured the red-haired shinobi. "Besides, I have faith that you can pull this off. Of course, I'll be there with you every step of the way."
There was an audible sigh. Gaara looked at the mission scroll in his hand. "All I'm saying is that what if we can't do it alone? You'll be in danger and-" A heavy hand clasped his shoulder.
"We've been in tougher situations. I have all the faith in your abilities, even if you don't," Kankurou replied warmly. "I trust you with my life. I mean as many times as you've threatened to kill me in the past you've saved me."
It was settled then. Gaara couldn't and didn't want to argue any further. He would just have to try his hardest to ensure that the mission was not a failure but eight men? He rubbed his eyes and stood up. "I'm going to get ready. Make sure you have a lot of rest and eat well. I want you at a hundred percent tomorrow."
Kankurou gave a salute and smile. Gaara walked to the library and found a nice corner to sit in. He stared at the mission scroll before unrolling it and reading up on his opponents. Every last one of them was jounin. They had seen more missions than the two remained Sand Siblings and at least two were former Anbu. He groaned and rolled up the scroll.
"We're in deep-"
"SHIT!" Kankurou exclaimed as a flurry of needles passed by them. "They don't play nice."
Gaara uncrossed his arms. "Neither do we." He closed his hands in a seal and made the ground quicksand beneath the Grass ninjas. All but one escaped to the air before he could grab them tightly. The one that hesitated soon found his life flashing before his eyes as he rapidly sank into the ground.
The leader of the spy team created a seal himself and the grass beneath the Sand teams feet began to act like glue. Kankurou tried to move his feet but the Grass held on to him not matter how moved. Their enemy was highly skilled in ninjutsu. It would be a hard battle.
Gaara hissed and tried to impale the leader on a spike of sand but the Grassnin simply dodged easily and landed some distance away.
"Afraid yet, sand dogs?" he mocked. "Sending two low level ninjas such as yourself after us. It's an insult!"
Kankurou sneered. "Having Grass scum in my village is a bigger insult. A better name for your village would be 'weed'. Tch. Nothing but an annoyance."
A female among the group grabbed a kunai from her pouch and threw it at the immobilized puppet ninja. He took it full in the arm. Gaara looked at him, though his expression did not change from apathy. Kankurou took a hold of it; blood seeping between his fingers then pulled it out.
"Is that all you've got?"
The leader of the Grass ninja made a motion for three of his men to attack. They ran forward weapons drawn but suddenly the two ninja's on the side fell to the ground. When they looked back to their feet the saw two hands holding onto their ankles Sand spikes erupted from the ground impaling the ninjas. However, one turned into a straw double and the other simply disappeared into a pile of grass.
The owners of the disembodied hands were none other than Karasu, Kankurou's primary puppet and his newest addition Kurokumo. The latter looked like a ballerina in black with the wild black hair typical of Kankurou's puppets.
"Are those your toys that we've heard so much about," said one of the grass ninja. He wore bandages across his chest and arms. In one of his hands, he held on tightly to a scroll. "It's all right here. If you don't want your secrets to get out, why don't you try and kill me?"
Kankurou smiled and twitched his fingers. "Keep them off of me, bro." Gaara nodded and began his assault on the uninvolved adversaries. Kankurou sent in Karasu first.
The Grass ninja performed the hand seal for dog. "Ka-ton! Wind Spear." He opened his hands and a spike of wind came out. Kankurou flattened Karasu on the ground and the spear shot passed him. A tree behind the sand ninja fell over as the wind spear impaled it.
The hooded sand ninja gave out a whistle. He twitched his hands and Karasu flew forward. The grassnin blocked and held the puppet at bay, staring into his empty eyes. "Is this all that you have?" he grunted pushing the puppet back. "I'm still not impressed."
Karasu's mouth opened up and sprayed a green liquid at the man's face. Instantly, the sound of sizzling skin and his screams filled the air. The sand ninja clawed at his face trying to wipe away the acid. When he tried to open his eyes, he saw Kankurou standing in front of him. " A-!" There was no time to respond as he was punched in the jaw.
Gaara was busy frantically trying to defend from six ninja single handedly. If there were all intent on attack him alone, it would not have been so difficult but instead they were trying to attack Kankurou as well.
He created a sand clone to hold on of the grass nins reducing his load by one. Two of the others came at him while a third used ninjutsu to create a cloud of grass that obstructed Gaara's vision.
Kankurou's sent in Kurokumo after the fallen and now blinded grass ninja. The fallen man got to his knees just in time to see the ballerina dancing around him. He watched as best he could to try to discern what the next attack would be but as he looked on he felt himself feeling soothed instead. He shook his head harshly. Genjutsu. The purpose was to lure him into false sleep. The man rose to his feet and watched the ballerina through one eye. He would be ready for her attack but suddenly the doll stopped and slumped over like a music box toy.
The puppet ninja snapped his hands back. The Grass ninja found his entire body immobilized by strings. The purpose of the deadly dance was to make him watch for an attack that did not exist. The entire time she was laying a trap. The strings tightened. He gave the ballerina marionette a filthy look. It seemed to shake with laughter as she straightened up. "Requiem for a Fly!" he hissed and pulled the strings taught, there was hardly a scream as blood rained from the man who was now in pieces.
"KANKUROU!" Gaara called out from behind him. Through the grass he saw just in time the rain of needles aimed at his back. Though he sent the sand to cover him he was not in time. Kankurou fell to the ground, seemingly hundreds of needles sticking out from his flesh.
The ninja that attacked picked up the scroll that Kankurou had acquired from his opponent. She laughed and kicked his body. "Is the power of Sand?" she scoffed.
"No…" Gaara hissed shaking. A wave of sand burst out from him dispelling the blinding ninjutsu. "This is." Simultaneously, sand clones of Gaara appeared from behind the Grass ninjas and held them tight. He did a series of seals and the bodies of sand surrounded all but the heads of their captives. "Mirage." Each of the Grass jounin found their arms, covered in Gaara's sand, take a kunai from their pouches. Like Kankurou's puppets the each started to move towards their comrades.
"Ah…stop!"
Gaara ignored their protests. He didn't flinch as they stood in a circle, and then stabbed their comrade beside them in the head. Each of them died instantly, falling like dominoes. He ran over to Kankurou who was coughing and looking at the misty gray sky.
"Kankurou," Gaara waved his hand in front of his face. "Can you still hear me?" His brother gave him a nod and tried to speak but coughed up blood instead. Gaara put his hand on his brother's face. He was growing cold. "Why? Why did this have to happen?"
The older man smiled patted Gaara's shaking hand. "Hey, stop looking so freaked out. We've been in tougher situations before."
"No, dammit!" He couldn't stop the tear the fell from his eye and onto the purple face paint of the person below him. "You always do this! You always but all your faith in me but I keep telling you that I'm not as good as you think. But I couldn't do it this time, Kankurou, and now you're going…" He covered his mouth, feeling sick.
"Don't puke on me," Kankurou attempted to joke. "I'll be fine. Just get me back to the village. What's the worst that could happen?"
Gaara clenched his fist and backed away. The sand surrounded the injured shinobi and raised him off the ground. He didn't answer Kankurou's question. Instead, he rushed him back to Sunagakure, an uneasy feeling arising in his stomach.
Kirae returned and knelt beside Gaara. She put his arm over her shoulder and helped him to his feet. "Shall we return? I could take you to the village to recover for sometime, if you think that's better."
Gaara shook his head indicating that he'd rather head back to Sunagakure. Kirae nodded and began to walk off with him. The forest was no longer dark and life seemed to be slowly returning to the shadows. The red-haired ninja looked at his partner. She didn't look back. He looked forward at the path ahead of them.
Kankurou looked his little brother over. It looked like the fight had been tough for the both him and his Anbu assistant. "So, was it as the villagers speculated?" His voice indicated that he didn't want anything to be left out.
"Indeed, there was a demon by the name of Dairouchimimaru. He appeared to be a two-tailed wolf demon. He was amassing an army of humans for a reason that we were not able to find out. The humans were disbanded." Gaara glanced at Kirae. She her jaw was clenched tightly shut. "Kirae's speed was essential in warning the villagers of the danger. She was instrumental in keeping the demon at bay until I could fully unseal the Shukaku. She also used her elite skills as an Anbu to wake me afterwards. I believe more Anbu in this situation may have been too much in retrospect." Gaara bowed and put the mission report in front of Kankurou.
The Kazekage rubbed his temples. He couldn't believe that Gaara was telling the truth but he knew fully well that Gaara did not lie. Still, he was thankful that they were able to complete the mission with few casualties.
"Well, done. You've done more than save a few villages and my ass. You're practically heroes for eliminating that beast so efficiently," Kankurou mused standing up to approach them.
"I'd rather my name not be involved in this matter," Gaara stated. His brother gave him a disappointed look but nodded in agreement "I'll be going."
"Wait, a sec. Gaara, I want you to take a week to rest. You can stay with me; we have plenty of room."
Cool green eyes rested on him. "Is that an order as Kazekage or a request as my brother?"
"Both." Kankurou gave a weak smile. Gaara took deep breath.
"Only on the condition that you train with Mokumaru during that time," he responded. Kankurou smiled and nodded. Gaara left Kirae bowed to Kankurou and chased after Gaara. Once outside she took his wrist for a third time since they met. He clicked his tongue in annoyance. "What?"
"Why didn't you tell him about me?"
He shrugged. "It's not important. The mission was completed."
"But-"
"Do you want me to tell him," he asked with a glare. She shook her head. "Then shut up about it." He took his arm back and kept walking. He felt something cold on his hand and looked down. A dark brown wolf had its nose pressed against his hand. He sighed and crossed his arms but he didn't scold Kirae for following him.
Mokumaru was outside playing with his yo-yo when he saw Gaara. "Uncle Gaara! I have a new technique!"
He stopped and nodded for the young boy to show him. He tossed a yo-yo into the air and it stayed there suspended. He looked at Gaara, with a serious face. He crossed his arms like his uncle was always doing and closed his eyes. "That's as far as I got."
Gaara smiled a little. Mokumaru was proud of every accomplishment he made. He was also proud of his family. At school, he didn't so much as brag about being the Kazekage's son but instead used it as a tool to help others. He ran around breaking up fights or helping the elderly villages "as the Kazekage's son". Kankurou was proud of him even though he didn't seem to have enough time to tell him that.
"Keep working on it, Mokumaru," he patted him on the head as he passed. The young boy looked down at the wolf that followed his uncle.
"Is he yours?" he asked pointing.
"She belongs to herself. She's just keeping me company," Gaara answered. Mokumaru retrieved his yo-yo and hopped down to examine the dog. When he realized that she was as big as he was he looked a little freaked out. "She won't hurt you."
He growled in thought. "Well, according to my observation, I don't think she's a dog at all." Gaara and Kirae looked shocked. Was it that obvious? Gaara looked at Kirae but could see nothing other than her enormous size that labeled her a demon. Mokumaru was very perceptive. "I think she's a wolf." Or not, he mused with a sigh. It was a close call, though. "She's too big to be a normal dog." He gave her a tentative pat on the back. She wagged her tail. Thought she had two, she kept the other tucked under her body.
"That's right. She is a wolf and her name is Kirae."
Mokumaru nodded in approval. "That is a very good name. I approve." He rubbed her muzzle. "Can I play with her?"
Gaara sat down on a nearby bench. "You should ask her." His nephew looked from him to the wolf.
"Mmmm… Kirae-san, do you want to help me train?" The wolf barked and licked him on the face. "Haha! Okay. Let's race! From here to the end of the street and back, okay?" She barked again and hopped around excitedly.
"On your marks. Get set." Mokumaru grinned and got down on the ground in a crouch. "GO!" He took off and Kirae trotted after him trying not to get ahead. She stayed behind him all the way down the street. On the way back she picked up the pace to be just beside him. Sweat poured off of his face as he pumped his legs harder. When they reached their goal, she pulled out ahead and beat him. Mokumaru collapsed on the ground.
"She won," Gaara noted.
"I wasn't ready!" Mokumaru said defensively.
"You're the one that said go." Gaara's nephew glared up at him after that remark. "Well, you did."
"I know but…" he started but ended the sentence in a grumble. Kirae licked his face and made him laugh. "I like her! Are you going to keep her?"
"She's not mine to keep."
"Well, Kirae-san. I hope you stay stick around and keep training with me," he bowed at her. Gaara rubbed the back of his neck. Was this really Kankurou's child? If so, where did he get his manners? Certainly not from Kankurou. Kirae barked in response. "I'm no Inuzuka but I think that was a yes," he said while nodding sagely.
After Gaara's 'sentence', as he sometimes called it around Kankurou, he was ready to leave immediately. He was just outside the gates when his brother called out to him. He was panting and holding his chest.
"Wow. Being Kazekage takes a lot out of you," he panted. Mokumaru ran up beside his father and gave Gaara a dirty look.
"You were going to leave without saying good-bye again?" he whined. Gaara looked apologetic.
"Gaara," Kankurou began, "leaving so soon?"
"Do you have another mission for me?"
His brother shook his head. "I was just hoping you would stay around a little longer. I hardly get to see you these days. You just come and go like a ghost."
"It's how I live."
Kankurou gave him a familiar look as he approached and grabbed Gaara's shirt. "Would it kill you to listen to your older brother sometimes?" No response. "Take care of yourself, all right?" He growled dropping Gaara. "Geez, you're a pain sometimes."
Gaara straightened his shirt. "I know." He looked back once more at the city and saw a large wolf looking at him expectantly. There was a slight frown on his face. He didn't want a traveling companion. "I'm going," was all he said as he left. The yellow eyes of Kirae burned into his back as he walked away. It became unbearable after a few steps and he stopped.
The Kazekage scratched his head at this. Suddenly, a sharp whistle pierced the air. He was about to open his mouth when a brown streak passed and a large dog stopped beside Gaara. His brother began walking again wordlessly.
Fumi ran around the fields chasing the deer. It was one of her favorite past times. Sometimes her father called her his 'little collie dog'. Temari was always worried that Fumi would end up trampled by a stampede of deer but Shikamaru assured her that it would take a giant wolf or nine tailed fox demon to make his deer stampede. His wife was still nervous every time Fumi went out like that and watched from the porch.
"She's fine," Shikamaru said, wrapping his arms around Temari's waist from behind. She tilted her head on his and continued watching. "Come back inside."
"You just want me to fix dinner," she stated flatly. This caught the pony-tailed ninja by surprise.
"What? I-I-…do…not."
"You do too." Temari reached back and pulled his ponytail. He released her as she walked past him and back inside.
Hmph. She thinks she knows everything, he thought bitterly to himself. Why did I marry her? Temari looked back over her shoulder and winked at him. "… Oh yeah," he grinned.
"GAARA!" Shikamaru looked up as he daughter screamed his brother-in-laws name from across the yard.
"STOP YELLING!" he screamed back.
"YOU'RE YELLING!" she retorted. They glared at each long distance. Shikamaru growled under his breath. "IF YOU BREAK YOUR OWN RULES IT'LL BE TROUBLESOME IF YOU EXPECT ME TO FOLLOW THEM!"
"STOP-" Shikamaru caught himself and rolled his eyes in exasperation. He looked to his left. Gaara was sitting on the fence railing, watching them with his expressionless green eyes. Beside him was a dark brown wolf. "Ah, Gaara. Long time no see."
Gaara looked at him and nodded. "Where's my sister?"
The lazy jounin jerked his thumb in the direction of the house. "Making up poison," he said sarcastically. "You know how her cooking is." He walked up to his brother-in-law and patted the dog. "Nice wolf."
"She's not my pet. She just follows me around."
Fumi had reached them by this time and immediately climbed up the rail into Gaara's arms. "Presents?"
Shikamaru hit her on the head. "Stop that. I didn't raise you to be rude."
The little blonde girl rubbed her head. "Troublesome," she muttered. Gaara tilted her chin up with his finger.
"You've gotten bigger. How's that tessen of yours?"
She was all too happy to hop off of his lap and head for the house. "I practice everyday! I'll be back!"
The two men were left alone. "She's such a troublesome child. She loves fighting-"
"Like her mother," they both said in unison. Shikamaru laughed. Fumi came out carrying the fan.
"Mommy, taught me to cut down small trees! I can cut down that one!" the little girl said, pointing to a sapling not far from them.
Shikamaru growled. "No you won't. So that's what happened to all of my trees I planted! I thought the deer were doing it at first."
Fumi pouted. "I need to practice, daddy!"
"Not on my landscaping!"
"TROUBLESOME!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. Shika rolled up his sleeves and started to walk towards her. His expression was dark and menacing. She squealed and ran for the house. It was rare that she did something bad enough that her father would give her a spanking, not that she couldn't agree that she deserved, but still, she still didn't enjoy them.
Gaara chuckled a little. "She doesn't just take after her mother it seems."
Shikamaru snorted derisively. "There's no way I was that much trouble."
After sometime, they went inside where Temari had finished cooking and set the table, to include Gaara. She never made a big deal of his visits. She knew he didn't like that kind of thing.
"How's Kankurou?" she asked nonchalantly.
"Fine. Fat. He's been busier than usual these days though," Gaara sat down. Kirae sat on the floor beside him.
Temari filled his plate with rice and curry. "How's Mokumaru?"
"Stupid," Fumi interjected. This was awarded with another hit on the head from her father. "Ow, troubl-"
"Stop using that word!" Shikamaru warned. She fumed silently.
Gaara ate several spoonfuls of curry. "He's advancing fast in his lessons. I might even be better than Fumi by now." The little blonde looked mortified. Temari nodded.
"She's been getting bad marks lately," she commented idly, taking her seat across from her brother. Fumi stuffed food in her mouth and looked deflated.
Temari looked over the table at the wolf. "Nice dog. Where in the world did find her?"
Gaara shrugged. "She's a wolf. I didn't find her, we just kind of met." Kirae wagged her tail as she looked at Temari with bright yellow eyes.
"She's gorgeous. Well, any friend of yours is a friend of ours," she took a few rolls and tossed them to Kirae. The wolf caught them in the air and devoured them in a matter of seconds.
The rest of dinner was eaten silence. Temari examined how much Gaara had changed. He was still quiet and reserved but she could tell that he cared very deeply for his family, friends, and even Sunagakure. It was a rare treat to see him smile but unlike when he was young at least he smiled at all. Yet, still there was a lingering sadness to him. She felt guilty leaving Sand after she married Shikamaru. It meant abandoning Gaara and Kankurou, though admittedly it was the former that she was most worried about. When Kankurou had gotten badly hurt in a mission, she had to come home to care from him. Gaara was beside himself with worry, though he hardly said a word.
He was a handsome young man of twenty-three now. She lamented that he wouldn't find a girlfriend. Why did he stubbornly persist in being lonely? Sure he was still young but she was worried about him.
Fumi clapped her hands together, breaking Temari out of her reverie. "Gochisou sama!" She climbed out of the chair and grabbed Kirae. "Come on and let's go outside. I'll teach you to round up deer." Shikamaru gave his daughter a look of concern as she tugged on the wolf's fur.
"Hey…don't be so rough and pushy," he warned. "Be nice and she'll follow you willingly."
The little girl stared at him for a moment with emerald green eyes. "Oh. Um… Puppy-puppy, come play with me? Um…Please?" She cooed sweetly. Kirae stood up and trotted over to the door. Fumi giggled and followed. She paused when she passed her father. He looked at her curiously. She climbed up the chair and kissed him on the cheek before running out the door. The action took him by surprise but he smiled.
"Brat…"
Fumi ran over to a head of deer grazing under the honey colored light of the setting sun. "We have to take them into the barn so that wolves don't eat them." She paused as Kirae tilted her head. "Well, I don't think you would eat them just maybe your friends and that would be troublesome for dad."
The little girl examined the dozen or so deer in the yard. "We use their horns for medicine and I think we'll harvest that big male in the middle tomorrow so we have to be careful he doesn't poke us with those antlers." Kirae barked. The deer looked at them.
"You've got their attention now. This will be fun. Okay, we have to be fast. My record is three minutes with this number of deer." Fumi cracked her knuckles. On the count of three… One. Two. Three!" The both dashed off but Kirae ran so fast she left a trail in the earth. The deer bolted towards the forest for cover but she intercepted them. Fumi was stunned at the wolf's speed. In a flurry of hooves and fur, the oni in disguise had the deer in the pen leading to the barn in less than a minute. Fumi had to shake herself from her reverie and ran to the pen to close the gate. Kirae panted happily.
"You're really really really really really-"Fumi took a deep breath. "AWESOME!" She hugged the wolf tightly around the neck. "I gotta tell mom and dad. Let's go!" They ran for the door together, Kirae trailing lazily watching the little Nara's ponytail bouncing as she ran. Fumi didn't see the man at the fence as she ran inside but Kirae did and stopped to look.
His dark brown hair was wild like a mane on top of his head. His dark eyes bore the same feral spirit that was her nature. There were two large red triangles painted on his cheeks. Standing at his feet was a large white dog with floppy ears. He could have passed for a wolf, Kirae mused. The human frowned at her wordlessly. She looked at the door, where Fumi was replaying the whole chase with the utensils still left on the table. Gaara had his eyes closed, as though he was asleep. Kirae decided to go inside.
"Don't move," warned the man with a deep and dangerous voice. The oni paused in midstep giving him a sidelong glance. "I know what you are, rou-yasha." Kirae gasped. She walked away from the porch and walked towards the ninja. The dog gave an admonishing growl. She stopped.
"You're perceptive," she responded still in wolf form. "Inuzuka."