Before I start, I want to give a HUGE thank you to "Naitachal666" and "Anonymous Flame" for reviewing! I really appreciate the advice you gave me, Naitachal666! Thanks a lot! I'm really glad that you like my story, Anonymous Flame! The inspiration you gave me was really helpful!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to the anime/manga "Naruto"; Masashi Kishimoto owns "Naruto". Any trademarks, characters, storylines, plots, etc. from the anime/manga "Naruto" belong to Masashi Kishimoto. I would also like to say that ratings, page formats, chapter scroll bars, etc., (this goes for all of my stories and this one as well) that my stories are using are all thanks to the website this story is posted on.

---SPOILERS AHEAD---

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---Chapter 5---

---Shattered Glass---

---Normal POV---

His head snapped up, a crazed grin on his face. His eyes were completely black. He now had yellow irises with black diamonds shooting through them around his pupil; Shukaku's eyes.

"But the fun's only started!"

Before the fast reflexes of the leader had even sensed anything, it was sent flying. It rolled backwards to break its fall, and then it stumbled forward slightly, getting its footing quickly. Gaara had thrown a punch. "…You're not tired yet, I can see…" The misty, monotone voice reverberated off of the hollow walls. "…All the more fun..."

The shadow of the creature splayed on the ground suddenly multiplied into five. They shot up into the air and swirled. The shadows seemed to melt into the figure as it stood; a new, darkly aura forming around it. The absorbed shadows almost seemed like… chakra?

The possessed Gaara blinked, only to open his eyes to stare into the worsened glowing pits of hell that were the creature's eyes. A spray of sand shot up against a punch, and another, and another. A roar from the being rattled Gaara's senses, and pain surged through his arm. The creature had slashed him. Sand blocked a low kick and captured its ankle, and the redhead dodged quickly around the wall and sand swirled around him, ready to attack. The being wasn't there. The sand wall crumpled.

A familiar whooshing sound caught Gaara's attention, and he turned his head slightly to see. A wall of sand had appeared behind him, forming accordingly to block the kunai being thrown. The kunai had a ghostly aura which was that of the leader's. It was the impulse of the Shukaku that was making him move now. 'He probably sensed that I was running out of chakra.' Gaara thought, feeling entirely exhausted of the valuable energy. The redhead mentally let the Shukaku take over, getting lost in unconsciousness. The figure appeared in front of him once more, kunai in its jaggedly formed hand. It shot towards the Shukaku-possessed-Gaara. The kunai's blade crumbled apart as the Shukaku bit the blade with rather sharp fangs that had mutated from Gaara's. It seemed illogical to bite the kunai, but the Shukaku was in an animalistic mode. It seemed that's what it would take to bring the creature down.

The redhead's face twitched into a sneer, fissures running finely along his face and arms. The already thin pupils that the Shukaku owned shrunk venomously. Leaping forward at the being, the redhead prepared to strike.

Pain ran though his side as he was knocked to the rocky floor. He skidded slightly, before coming to a stop. Pushing himself up, he looked for the source. A sharp blow to his back caused him to roll the other way. He got up quickly, retrieving kunai from their holders. One in each hand, he looked in every direction. Sand particles floated around his form. The beastly creature appeared in front of him, shadows crawling over his form and around the ground at its feet. The Shukaku slashed forwards with his kunai, hitting the air where the beast used to be. Getting hit a couple more times, his rage began to boil. The whooshing sound of the creature shifting spots amazingly fast rang in his ears again; he twisted, coiling his arm up, releasing the kunai like a slingshot.

And hit the creature's shadow.

A roar from the creature shook the giant rocky cavern, echoing. The doppelgangers had held out as long as they could, but now crumbled into sand piles. They were overpowered by the ninja. Kankuro was standing beside Karasu, his marionette. Wires made of chakra were wrapped around Kankuro's fingers, ready to control Karasu. Temari had finally found the strength to stand up forcefully, slouching from the pain that still lingered. She had unfolded her fan and stood, waiting.

Breathing heavily, the Shukaku turned to face the creature recuperating on the ground. Shukaku's massive chakra supply had almost nothing in it either. Gaara had to borrow much of it, using the sand in nearly every attack he made. Feeling exhausted, he hoped that the creature would stay down long enough for them to get out of there. It was very clear to him with the aura of their chakras that this was not a place to stay.

He began to move swiftly to the side, the Shukaku putting all of the strength he had left into speed. The ninja looked up at the sudden outburst of action, letting their guards down for a split second. Kankuro nodded, and moved Karasu to pick up Temari. They began to flee after the possessed Gaara. Shukaku suddenly stopped, his abrupt halt kicking up debris and dust. The followers also stopped, ninja immediately coming after them.

The leader of the hellish place stood in front of the entrance, glaring a deadly glare at the Shukaku like a basilisk. The dark aura around it grew ominously, as spidery, bony wings sprouted from its back. They unfolded quickly and spread, so that the entrance was completely blocked. Its shadow multiplied into five once more and formed a hexagon around the trapped Shukaku. The aura around the figure grew to cover it entirely, so it looked like a giant shadow. From the five shadows emerged figures exactly like the masked leader. The six shadows spread their bat like wings and swooped in on the redheaded figure.

The Shukaku saw nothing but darkness when he lost control over his senses.

---

Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi were jumping along the great branches of trees in the Konoha forest. They were on their way to Sunagakure to ask the Kazekage about where the Sand ninja had gone.

(IMPORTANT A/N: I've decided that I'm going to edit the second chapter; I'm going to change the Kazekage to Gaara's father, so that it makes sense.)

Kakashi had been ordered to travel with them. Although team seven was quite skilled already, the Hokage had made him go along too. Naruto figured that she had a powerful sense of things, and it wasn't smart to question her motives, since she was almost always right about such things.

After about a half an hour, each of the team jumped down from the very last trees. Meadows stretched afar, before the land would get rocky and sandy. They started across the grassy fields quickly.

Naruto hoped that the trip to Sunagakure would be peaceful and quick; he had a very bad feeling that something was going to happen. He seemed to get that feeling a lot these days, and that wasn't a good sign.

Creeping up to meet the traveling group were thick, dark clouds.

---

Gaara groaned as he sat up, his limbs feeling stiff from the fight. He felt very tired, his chakra still scarce. Blinking, but not getting rid of the blurriness in his vision, he looked around. He could see the outlines of Kankuro and Temari. Karasu lay in the corner, the marionette's form broken. His brother and sister were still unconscious.

The redhead remembered everything that the Shukaku did in the fight, and wondered how he got here. He stood, and let his eyes adjust to the darkness. Although he couldn't see much, he could understand the surroundings.

They were in a crevice that was fissured into the cave wall. Dark chakra sealed the entrance to their imprisonment, but it could be seen through with some effort.

The walls were rock. He slid down the side of a wall, and rested his head to his knees. Just thinking about the venomous creature that he and Shukaku had battled sent shivers up his spine.

'Hey.' Gaara thought mentally, closing his eyes.

'What do you want, brat.'

'Why did you lend me your chakra back there?'

'I wasn't doing it for you; I was doing it to relieve myself. You don't know what discomfort is until you're a spirit who's crammed inside somebody's head.'

'Right. Any bright ideas on how to get out of here?'

'We can't blast our way through, right?'

'The rock is completely solid, and the chakra seems too powerful to let such an act get through.'

'Then I've got nothing else to say to you.'

Both Gaara and the Shukaku had to restore their chakra. Although he still despised Gaara, he finally let him sleep. But that didn't mean that the Shukaku had to sleep. He crept into Gaara's unconscious mind, and set loose the worst nightmares that he could think of. After all, he was an evil spirit. And he quite enjoyed doing what he was made for.

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:Yawns: I hope that chapter wasn't as boring as the previous ones. I didn't make this chapter as long as usual.

As I've said earlier in an author note, I'm going to edit the second chapter, so please check back.

PUH-LEASEEE review! It really helps. Truly, it does. Really. Honestly.

:D .

Anyway. Thanks for reading. I hope to have the next chapter up soon, but we'll see.

Phoenix-Roar