Author's note (2020/05/11):

Hi everyone, thank you all for reading! I hope this chapter is good, it was a challenge to write being that it's a transitory chapter to the final battle of the story - so it took a while to figure out the structure and dialogue (being that this is one of the original chapters I had to rewrite from scratch). This story is getting harder to write the farther I get lol we're over 260,000+ words in and there is still 6-7 chapters left.. oof.

I've also recently hit a snag in my writing, so I'm taking a 2 week break from updates so I can tackle the writer's block head-on without worrying about an illusionary deadline. I'm feeling burnt out on my writing creatively (I want to write an original story soon and I also write and record songs/music), so i feel "written out" or so to speak. I feel taking a short break would benefit me for the long haul, as I want to finish this story and my others I have planned.

Lockdown is weird and boring, so I hope you are all safe and healthy during these strange times.

Thanks for reading! xx

Content Advisory: mentions of violence and/or suicide

Chapter 72
Shield and Halberd

The wastes were grey hills of death and dread that early morning.

Dawn had not yet broken, the skies still dark and grey with the fading moonlight as the sun made no chance to break from the horizon. A pure wasteland by every definition, the Land of Claws was constantly shrouded in a dense lifeless fog of brutality. Across the sparse lands, there was no water, no forests, and no signs of civilization anywhere within the wastes. All that covered the landscape was earth devoid of fertility and the scattered bones of human travelers and cattle who met their demise. Even the desert lands of the Land of Wind had vegetation in cacti and sprawling shrubs, with small pools and the odd oasis hidden within the vast dunes. But they were a far cry from Sunagakure. Ishigakure was a day on foot from where they took refuge, away from any scouts or backup from the nearby village of the barbarian-folk under the elder Zenken. Even Ishi feared the wastes to some degree, and Tenbu had them alert and unnerved for months. The blackened wastes where the mercenaries hid were far enough from any would-be travellers, and Ishi would seldom send their well-armed men to a mine they were not sure even existed. Hopelessness was their only company.

Behind a grand wall of twisted black rock, Gaara lay Nomasaki on her back, carefully watching over her frail and fading state with worried eyes. His heart plead desperately for her to hold on, her dulled violet eyes near closed as he looked down at her bloodied face. She had the same look to her eyes as when he saved her that day, that fateful day seven years past when he first saw her. She almost perished in the desert when he found her, her body near swallowed by the sands as the buzzards circled high above. Sitting beside her now, he felt as if he were a buzzard looking down at her grip with death. As he watched her heave silently from her lungs, he saw her chest rising and falling, each time getting fainter than the last. The blade was still punctured through her, the blood staining her black tattered clothes and his hands that held her.

He had to think of something fast – or else.

A Kage he might have been in power and duty, but he knew next to nothing of first aid, and the backup squadron was hours away from arriving. Seeing her breaths growing scanter as time pressed on, he grew frantic.

"Stay alive… please… Keep breathing…!" He begged, his throat beginning to swell with dread. Never had he begged for something before, he realized, but if his old desert gods were listening, he hoped they would spare him grief. "Nomasaki, hang on… just a little longer…"

What could he do – what could he possibly do?

His brain wracked for a desperate answer, but none came.

Her expression was riddled with coma, her eyes dulled and breathing faint. The blade shimmered in the grey light as the red coated its steel, her life slowly leaving her. Shukaku's words suddenly rang through him – Magnet Release.

He knew he had no choice.

If he were to save her, he had only one option left.

Closing the wound was his only chance.

Hatching an impulsive idea, he placed his bloodied palm over the blade's hilt. He had to be careful. If he pulled too fast, she would bleed out and die in his arms. He had to act fast with what he had concocted. Even as he touched her, she remained unconscious and unresponsive to his voice. It shattered him. Pushing back the painful memories of Yashamaru and Shinto, his grip on the katana tightened.

"I'm sorry – I have to remove the blade,"

A weak cry of pain escaped her crimson lips as he edged the blade out from her abdomen. With the other hand, Gaara pressed into the hole the blade left, forcing his sand into the fleshy crevice. Focusing his chakra, he could feel the magnetism enter his pull. Remembering Shukaku's words from the desert, he let the hidden chakra from his veins take hold. Mania, iron, power – whatever it truly was, it was all he had to try.

Pouring into the minerals, the magnetizing gravity solidified the grains that entered her slashed skin. She winced as the sands closed the back of the wound, the clattering sound of her blade's steel ringing against the black earthen stone silencing her pain. Gingerly, his hand pressed into the open wound of her abdomen, his sand entering and hardening as it swirled into place. In the past, his sands had injured her, spilled her blood, lashed out at her – and now those sands were vying to save her life. Gritting his teeth, he pushed his power into her as he saw the blood no longer pooling. He shut his eyes tightly in desperation as the sands quelled under his stained hand, the wound closing.

The silence was deafening.

This had to work, it had to… – he thought, Please…!

Please... wake up...

Please...

Startling him, he felt something cold touch his cheek. A faint smile etched on her lips, Nomasaki looked up at him with the vibrance slowly returning to her eyes, the purple regaining the life it near lost. At first he feared it were a ghost, but the ghost had the touch of the living and not the dead. Death missed its chance at her for another day.

Meeting her face, his heart swelled with relief.

"Gaara…" She spoke, hazily. "You're… alive–! I knew you would come… I knew it," Her smile grew warmer as she felt the pain leave her. "I… couldn't tell if what I saw was you at first… but your chakra – I could feel it…–,"

Startling her slightly, she felt his arms wrap around her, pulling her up carefully with his sands. His warmth clashed with her cold, her heart pounding inside from his touching gesture. Holding in his grief, Gaara's ringed-eyes closed tight as he held her, keeping his tears of worry at bay. He was not one to cry or show much emotion, but he was forever grateful to see her face again. He did not know what he would do if fate had other plans. Devasted was an understatement.

Taking him in as her strength stabilized, she breathed in his scent and held him gingerly while her wound pulsed faintly as an afterthought.

"I'm so glad you're alright…" He said, his words low and choked. "I can't tell you how much I've worried about you…"

She nodded, her eyes closing with a smile as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"As I was with you… Thank you…"

Taking in his scent once more, she felt her body flinch from the sudden realization. His warm and drawing chakra was enveloped around her, its fibers linking with hers like the fire to her ice – just as she always remembered. Comfort, warmth, protection. Breathing it in, her heart blazed. She felt as if tears would pour out from her eyes. Letting go, she stared up at him wide-eyed and relieved.

"What is it?" He asked, his expression concerned. "What's wrong?"

She shook her head, smiling up at him. "It came back – my senses," Her eyes glistened as she examined her bloodied and trembling fingers before her. Perhaps the wolf was not dead after all. "Your chakra–," Meeting his glance, she nodded in sound relief. "I can feel it again – all of it! I can sense everything–,"

Jolting her, she felt a tremor seethe through her mind as she found herself looking back towards the direction of the mines. A shiver escaped her lips, her breath turning cold. Something was coming, dragging its way towards them through a billowing thunder on deaf ears. Startling her, she could not sense the Kumatsume she freed either – or Sana. Hopefully, they were safe. She did not even know what their chakra would feel like to begin with, but there was no other human presence on the winds.

Only dread remained.

"We have to get out of here and wait for others–!"

A sudden shock rumbled its way from her abdomen to her shoulder. Grasping her side tightly, her fingertips remembered the blade that was thrust into her flesh. A mortal wound. Without a second thought, she pushed herself through the genjutsu to grab her blade – only to plunge it within herself. A near grapple with death - it was a last-ditch effort that teetered on suicide. She carefully examined the sands that were filled within, the grains dimly shining in the fading moonlight above them. The sands were tightly packed, solid, and as if now a part of her. The pain was still there, but it was at least bearable enough for her to breathe and move scarcely.

And most importantly – she was alive.

No doubt in her mind, if Gaara had not arrived in time as he did, she would have been dead. She marveled at the sealed wound, perplexed greatly. "How did you–?"

"Magnet Release," He answered, his expression returning to its serious and stoic nature. "I used the strongest minerals I could gather in an instant and sealed the gash shut. It's impractical, but it stopped the bleeding. Once backup arrives, they can heal you properly with medical-ninjutsu."

"Backup?" She turned, hope entering her eyes. "You mean–?" Seeing him give a brief nod, she relaxed her tensed shoulders in relief. A sigh escaped her lips, her head dropping to her lap. "Thank heavens…"

Guilt marking his eyes, Gaara observed her state. All the wounds, the blood, the rips and slashes across her clothes, the scars. His heart sank to see her that way. He could not help but feel responsible, knowing the Tenbu's ultimate goal was his demise – and she suffered for it. Looking down, his shaggy red hair masked his closed eyes.

"I'm sorry…"

Catching her by surprise, she looked up to him, trying to see through the strands of auburn that hid his face. Nodding once, she averted her glance shamefully. "Trust me, I'm the one who should be apologizing…" Meeting his eyes at last, she gave a light smile. "We left on bad terms… thanks to my arguing and my... stubbornness... I'm sorry. This time, you win. I'll give you that."

Comforted for a moment, he pushed his feelings aside. They had to leave. Retreating closer to the wastes would make for a less risky move when the reinforcements arrived. While they hid by the mines, the scattered Tenbu guards could find them at any moment. A battle would inevitably be on their hands. He could handle it, but Nomasaki was still injured although conscious. The strong possibility irked him. His eyes narrowed slightly, seriousness returning.

"How are you feeling? Do you have much chakra left?"

"Yeah…" She nodded, putting on a brave face. "I'm lightheaded, but not all my strength is gone. I can still – urgh–!" Grasping her sand-ridden wound, she gnashed her teeth to shield her sprawling pain that still ruptured through her lower half. "That foul bastard… using a genjutsu on me to give over my Kekkei Genkai… It planted an illusion of my mother to trick me, to make me think I was entering the Pure Land… the monsters –!"

Bewildered, his eyes grew surprised. "That's why… You stabbed yourself - to end the illusion?"

A brief laugh escaped her clenched jaws. "You know as well as I do that I can't undo genjutsu on my own," She confessed, averting her eyes. "I… had to take matters into my own hands. It was… reckless of me… using the katana…"

"You did what you had to do, you're a shinobi."

"A shinobi, maybe…" She smiled, looking back to him. "But I have the blood of the wolf in me. I'm a wolf, too."

He found himself smiling back briefly. "You're right."

Turning towards the twisting hills that surrounded them before the wastes, dawn was still reluctant to make its appearance over the grey lands of death. The hills looked like claws, just as the land's namesake had been called. The air was still with impending dread, cool against them as they sat before another behind a great shadow of tall rock. Strangely, Gaara noticed a thought enter his mind as he pondered their options. It enticed him yet cursed him foolish to even entertain such a thing, but he persisted in his thoughts.

He drew his attention to the dim light beyond the hellish hills.

"We should leave… and take cover before the squad from Sunagakure reaches us."

"I can sense chakra," Nomasaki nodded, her eyes stern. "But it's dimmed. We should go as quickly as we can. Urngh–!" Her ribs stiffened, reminding her of her sealed wound. The grains rubbed against her insides as if sandpaper. "Sooner than later… before we're trapped." Noticing his pause on the horizon, his silence provoked her curiosity. "Gaara?"

The sound of her voice broke his daze.

Turning back towards her, he found himself averting her curious violet eyes. "It's nothing, just…" Before he knew it, the words started to spill out. "Do you remember… what you said, a few months back? The ultimatum… the one about… what the council wanted?"

She thought her heart froze from the memory.

"You said that… 'as long as it's when we can both decide, and not the council or the advisors. If it can be our decision… and our decision only'…"

"Gaara," Her eyes grew as she sat stunned. "What are you… saying?"

Meeting her surprised glance, he felt his heart warm.

"Nomasaki,"

His voice was as calm and stern as steel.

His 'Kazekage's voice', she thought to herself.

"When we make it back to Sunagakure after all this is settled, I'm going to... ask you a question… It's a question I wanted to ask for a while... since we were in Konoha, last time..." Closing his ringed-eyes as he looked down, he realized the gravity of the words he was about to speak to her that dimming night. Preparing himself to bear his heart on his sleeve was unlike anything he had ever done, but at that moment, he felt as if there were no better time. "And… you have every right to say 'no'… when I ask if…–,"

"Yes."

Surprised, he rose to meet her gaze with widened eyes.

"What?" He asked, as he met her calm and tearstained face. "What did you say?"

As if shyly, a small smile painted her lips. "You're asking me to marry you, aren't you?"

"What if I am?"

Carefully, acknowledging her wounds and their faint throbbing against her, she edged herself closer to him. Softly, she took his pale hand in hers and met his eyes, her touching gesture surprising him. Meeting his turquoise eyes, a warm smile formed on her lips, her heart fluttering.

"Then I say 'yes'," She answered. "…because I love you."

Taking in her face with her words, he felt as if he realized he loved her for the first time. Her long gold hair was dirtied and matted, her face scratched and cut, and she was covered in dried blood. Even at that moment, he thought she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her strength, her mind, her body – everything about her pulled him in from the start. Her eyes were just as strange when they first met, but he loved the way they looked at him all the same. They were the same color of the lilacs of spring, a flower of the far eastern lands where he saw them grow.

And her name was his favorite name.

'A blossom in the field' – a simple, quaint beauty that not even the 'demon who loves only himself' could resist with all his might. Wolf or not, he knew he loved her more than anything.

"Do you… mean it?" He spoke, surprised of her words. "Nomasaki… did you–?"

Smiling gently, she nodded. "Yes," She spoke, her hand gripping his gently. "Always."

Warmed, he felt his chest grow light as a smile etched its way across his lips. Hurt and dread had marked it only moments ago when death was upon them, but it was love that healed the wound. Softly, his sand moved them closer together in its comforting shield. Placing his hand on her stained cheek, he met her eyes and nodded back.

"Always."

Their lips met in silence as they embraced one another, their hearts joining as one for the first time in what seemed years. Her hold was just as comforting as he remembered, her hands gently clasped at the back of his neck as he felt her warmth pour into him. The sweet scent of her hair still lingered upon her, and her lips tasted of iron.

He did not care.

She was alive and that was all that mattered.

Holding the back of her gold head after their lips parted, he pressed his forehead against hers. He smiled softly. "I love you and I will always protect you… I promise."

Smiling back, her glistening eyes met his glance. After giving a loving nod, she felt a cool tinge to the air. Chilling her, she turned back towards the direction of the ginkō mines with a look of urgent dread. A presence was on the winds, circling them like a vulture to a corpse. "We should go – now!" She said, turning back to him. "That chakra returned, and something doesn't feel right… it's dangerous–!"

Noticing her urgent eyes, he prepared his sands. "I'll take us to the hills–,"

In a blinding burst of blue fire, the wall of black stone exploded before them. Protected by the sands that enveloped them, the blast pushed them far back against the shattered barren earth, the grains skidding from the pressure. As the sands receded slowly, Gaara stood to face the enemy. Their eyes went wide with shock at the sight.

Panting heavily and covered in blood, Koga stood with his fist thrust against the black stone at his side, an impact ring shattered upon its cracked surface. His clothes were ripping at the seams, his armor fallen and broken. Rising his head towards them, his darkened eyes slowly met theirs. His eyes were red with pure madness, insanity and hatred ringing true from his gaze.

"You bastard… you stole my sacrifice…" He uttered, blood leaking from his mouth as he spoke. "But no matter… I have enough of her… chakra… to use for myself…!"

Dread shuddered through them.

"You're mad!" Gaara shouted while Nomasaki clung to him, standing firm in his stance. "Your ritual can't be done! Surrender now and you will have an easy death." Glaring, he met the uneasy and shifting eyes of Tenbu's leader. "You've lost this fight. Stand down and accept your fate."

Grinning, Koga moved his arm out of the shattered stone and pointed it towards them. Before their eyes, they saw the eerie red glow appear along the rivets and carvings of his veins, pooling into an inscription over his open palm. The Reverse Sealing, Nomasaki could recognize it from her imprisonment. Her eyes were haunted by its glow, her spine shuddering from the memory of the pain the jutsu caused her. Her blood, her Kekkei Genkai – they had it, the ones who sought her for all those years.

They lost.

Clinging to hope, she strengthened herself to be brave. Glaring towards the mad and blood-soaked foe, she narrowed her frightened eyes towards him as the wolf inside her stirred and snarled at his vile chakra. His energy was as dark and unstable as the lands around them, twisting and writhing in the air between them. Her blood shivered under her palms, her fingers tightened their grip onto Gaara's sleeve as she sat beside him on the blackened stone.

"You don't have enough of my chakra," She found herself speak through grit teeth, the fear finally leaving her. "My Kekkei Genkai, my blood… I'm still alive! The jutsu won't work – and you'll die from it, I know you will. Your body can't handle nature energy, I can feel it with my senses–!"

Koga snorted in rage towards her, fuming. "You'll be dead soon enough, you vile bitch…! You and that tanuki you've clung yourself onto – I'll see to that!" A grin cracking against his crimson-laden face, he closed his fist as his muscles shook from the energy. "I'll you kill together… then move onto those slaves of mine you so graciously freed! Now behold – the power of Tenbu!"

Throwing his glowing red fist into his chest, the wind turned violent and cold. Fragments of the black stone swirled, blasting towards them as the sharp cold air whipped against them. From the glowing red that surrounded Koga, his figure was swallowed by the light. In an agonizing wail, his screams changed into something inhuman. Frightened by the feel of the chakra, Nomasaki's eyes went wide with the scent of what she felt.

A beast.

"What on earth – is that?! The chakra – it's so monstrous–!"

"Stay close to me!" Gaara shouted towards her, ignoring the winds. "We have to take cover before he blows up the mines–!"

Breaking against the winds, fine red beams of solid energy broke into the black stone around them, slashing everything they made contact within their path. Pure nature energy, she could sense it – and it was focused. Destroying everything in its wake as the violent winds whipped against them, beams made their way towards them. Before they had a chance to react, the glowing red beams were headed directly towards Nomasaki – the source of their siphoned power. Sensing their inevitable approach, Gaara's body moved before his mind could process its movement.

The air suddenly stilled.

Wide-eyed and shocked, Nomasaki looked up to him standing before her with a shield of hardened sand and minerals blocking the enemy's strike. Tiny droplets of blood sprayed against her cheek as she took in what stood in her way. Standing with his arms held out to strengthen the shield, Gaara's face cracked, the sands of his armor falling as he stood pained.

The shield was strong – but not strong enough.

Sprawled like a web, the red beams of focused energy pierced into the sands and were frozen – all but one. His body giving a pained twinge in held agony, the stray projectile was pierced through his stomach, its end thrust into the great wall of blackened stone that stood behind them, shattering the oily stone in a still silence. Her memory flickered before her, remembering that day in the snow years ago – when they faced Raigo and his lightning. Even the memory of his rescue of her in the forest of the Land of Rivers came to her mind, his back in her view while the sand protected them both. Gaara stood before her then, and nothing has changed.

He still protected her, putting his own life at risk.

Protecting her.

She felt the tears swell into her eyes as she breathed in the reality of his mortal injury.

"Gaara–!"

She could only manage to say his name.

"I won't be killed so easily… This… is nothing–,"

Gnashing his teeth to quell his pain, he commanded the sand shield to recede. His arms twitched in the fire that burned in his core, his blood dripping onto the stone below from his stained clothes. Focusing his chakra, he created a blade with his sands and the minerals within them. Crimson finding its way from his grit teeth, he sliced the glowing red wire from his body and stabbed the sand katana through the wound and stepped forward. A curse escaped his iron lips as he felt the grains push through and solidify within his open flesh.

In an instant, his wound was sealed.

Magnet Release once again saved another life, but this time it was his own.

Shukaku was right – and he was relieved he listened to the tailed-beast in time.

"Why…?" Nomasaki started, the sobs rising into her throat. "Why do you always put yourself in front of me like this? Gaara – you're not a human shield–!"

"I promised you I would protect you… always," Surprised from his words, she jolted behind him. Glancing back towards her shocked and saddened expression, Gaara met her teary violet eyes. Protectively, he gave her a strong gaze, its nature unwavering. "And I promised myself that I'd keep you safe, no matter what the cost…" He said, in a protective tone. "I'll be a human shield one million times over if it means you always will be protected."

Gritting his teeth as he turned back towards the glowing red aura of their foe, he winced from his deep wound, grasping it with his palm. The sands within it were not completely solidified, his flesh aching from the absence of tissue. As she watched him give a curse under his breath in pain, she realized the sands that healed him.

The same sands that saved her.

"How bad is it?" She asked, her eyes pained and saddened. "Does it… hurt?"

"It's bearable," He replied, easing his clutch. "I used my sands to fill the gash caused by the attack – the Magnet Release. I'll be fine for now." Pain rumbling through him, he fell to his knees, gasping for breath. Sweat beaded on his crumbling forehead, the sands leaking onto his strained lap. "The wound was… deeper than I thought… I overestimated the effects… damn it–! Urngh–!"

He near bit his tongue from the pain.

As it released into numbness, his clutch eased. Noticing her worry, he averted his eyes from hers. Her expression was pained, concerned, and still fraught with saddened panic. It was the same eyes that looked at him that day he was struck by the assassin in the snow those four years ago – eyes of worry and guilt.

"I'm sorry… for being reckless."

Startled by his choice of words, Nomasaki remembered that day well. She was healing him by the snowy riverside, tending to his wounds dealt by the lightning-release user. "You know… you didn't have to be so reckless," she said to him, and he answered, "What do you mean by 'reckless'?". The gravity of his words meant so much to her in that moment. Holding back her rising sobs, she bit her lip and nodded. Gingerly, she moved her hand to his, grasping it lightly. "I… understand, but…–," She said, her voice drawing his surprised gaze to hers. As their eyes met, a tearstained smile appeared lightly on her lips, her violet eyes stern. "We have the rest of our lives to be reckless – together... so don't you dare die!"

A faint smile etched its way onto his lips as he took in her caring and worried face.

He gave a nod, pushing the dull pain aside.

"I won't."

A deep rumble erupted before them.

Turning towards where Koga once stood, the red beams receded from their strikes upon the earth, returning to their caster. In the fading light of dawn, the red glow dissipated, revealing a ghastly shape surrounded in black red shadow. Nomasaki's eyes widened from the sight, her heart shaking within her chest of the chakra she felt. Narrowing his glance, Gaara viewed the sight in disturbance. Lumbering on all fours, a giant bear-like creature was towering over the shattered black stone. Its fur was as black as the oily stone at its clawed paws, its muzzle snarling and foaming as its dark human-like eyes met theirs at a distance. The Reverse Sealing worked – the man no longer a man, but a beast. Rising to its hind legs, the giant black bear roared, the winds whipping against them in fury.

"What the hell is that?" Gaara glared. "It's a monster."

Nomasaki shivered, the foul chakra chilling her as she stared the beast down. It was snarling towards her, and she could sense its anger. "Onikuma, a demon-bear from legend. I never thought the Kumatsume had forbidden jutsu of this scale… this isn't like the shapeshifting of my people at all – it's botched."

"Botched?"

She nodded, her eyes narrowing as she watched the beast carefully. "This is a ritual that used blood, my blood… it's a cursed jutsu, forbidden for centuries. They called it a blood ritual… I remember it from legends of my clan… 'those who use the blood of another to awaken the beast lose themselves in turn… cursed to madness and death'." She spoke, flatly. "Koga used that technique… His chakra – the beast's chakra, it's highly unstable–," She felt a shiver pass through her. "He didn't undo the seal placed onto his own bloodline... he tried to create something – a monster."

Roaring again, the great bear of shadow and death dashed towards them, its heavy paws thundering against the blackened stone. Shadows danced around it, turning the air cold. Before Gaara had a chance to use his sands, a powerful blast of wind struck the monster, flinging it back towards the mounds of broken stone with great force. Sensing a new presence on the winds, Nomasaki felt her heart grow light. Turning in their direction, her dirtied gold hair whipped her scratched face. Hope returned to her eyes, feeling the winds change.

"What is it?" Gaara asked, his eyes and face stern. "Is it Tenbu?"

"No, it's not–!" She shook her head. Perplexed, he turned to her as her face met his in relief. "It's them – the reinforcements – they've arrived!"

As he took in her words, the approach of their allies was signaled by the sound of their stance on the twisted stone behind them. Dawn was rising, and their shadows met theirs in their wake. Standing close behind them, Kankuro and Temari readied themselves for battle. The puppet of Sasori of the Red Sands clattered in its cloak while it stood prepared by its master, and the gleam of Temari's war-fan shone in the faint sunlight.

"Gaara," Kankuro spoke. "We'll take it from here."

"The others are close behind," Temari entered. "So we figured a reunion was in order, since it's been so long. Two years it's been, right? Since the war?"

Surprised and relieved from the sight, Gaara rose to his feet to meet them. Giving a slight smirk on his lips, he saw their glances enter his view. "Temari, Kankuro," He said. "Your timing is impeccable."

Sensing more chakra approaching, Nomasaki whipped her head towards the shinobi who appeared before her. With concerned brown eyes, Meiyumi met her glance urgently as the other Sunagakure shinobi scattered into the wastes for the lingering mercenaries of Tenbu.

"Meiyumi–," Nomasaki spoke, her eyes stunned to see her. "You're here–!"

"Take her somewhere safe to be treated, she's been wounded." Gaara commanded, his eyes stern towards the medic. "She's lost chakra, and we have a fight on our hands."

"But Kazekage-sama–!" Meiyumi objected, her shocked eyes focused on the blood coating his closed wound. "You're also injured! What about you?"

"Don't worry about me – heal Nomasaki." He answered, turning his attention towards the giant bear in the distance. "My wounds can be healed after this matter is settled, now go!"

With a dutiful nod, Meiyumi took her friend under the arm and left the scene. Before departing, Nomasaki looked up to meet Gaara's ringed-eyes one last time. His glance was stern and unbroken, concern coating his turquoise eyes. He gave a brief nod. Understanding, she knew she had no say in the matter. Vanishing with Meiyumi's Teleportation Jutsu, the two Suna kunoichi fled the battlefield. Joining his siblings, Gaara took his place in the middle. Catching the attention of his older brother, Kankuro shot him a worried glance.

"Are you sure you're well enough to fight this thing?" He questioned, his eyes narrowed. "Just because you're the Kazekage doesn't mean you have to put on a brave face. Temari and I can handle this, go get medical attention–,"

"I'm fine," Gaara said, eyeing the monstrous creature with a glare. "We're settling this together, whether you like it or not. We're taking our old formation… as the Sand Siblings."

Smirking, Temari prepared her fan. "Always so commanding – let's finish this, then."

Eyeing the snarling monster rise from the rubble before them, the three shinobi readied themselves for what was to come. The air fell still in the dim morning light, the growls of the giant black bear rumbling through the twisted barren lands like a tremor. Death clung to the air. Rising to its hind legs, the beast bellowed a bloodcurdling roar and struck the earth with the weight of its forelimbs.

Reunited in combat for the first time in years, they watched the beast charge towards them in a haze of shadow…