Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
"Talking"
'thinking/speaking to demon'
Flash Back
"Demon Talking"
'Demon thinking'
Translations
Okaa-chan is how a little kid might say "Mommy" but with more respect than "Mommy" carries because of the "O." Hope that helped you at least a little.
The next morning Hotaru awoke in Gaara's arms by a rather large crashing sound nearby.
"Gaa–" she was cut off by a hand over her mouth.
She turned to see that she was no longer in Gaara's arms but in the arms of some foreign person dressed in all black, even their face was covered in black material. She began kicking and screaming and biting the mans hand, he glared at her with his hateful dark grey eyes. She bit his hand leaving a hole burnt into his glove and burn marks where her teeth had been that were sure to leave a scar.
"Gaara!!" she screamed trying to get to him, she could see him fighting off about ten other ninjas dressed in black with around twelve more lying dead on the floor. He looked over to her and yelled an inhuman voice tainting his already rough voice "Hotaru! Fly! Leave!" He ordered.
She let her wings out pushing the ninja off of her and burning him to a pile of ashes in a mere minute before turning her attention back to Gaara.
"Damnit, Hotaru didn't you hear me?! I told you to get out of here!!" He bellowed killing off another Ninja as she rushed to his side to help him.
"No! I won't leave you!!" she yelled while drawing a kunai to fight off another Ninja that came flying at her from the stairs. She threw the kunai heating it into a white hot blade that would slice through the ninja like he was butter, which it did, right between the eyes, imbedding itself deep within his brain spattering blood everywhere as it hit the wall behind him and stuck. Two more ninja bolted down the stairs to replace some of their fallen comrades.
"How many are there?!" Hotaru yelled in frustration as she attempted to nail the other two with her white hot kunai only succeeding in killing one of them and just scathing the other who yelled out in pain at the sudden third degree burns to his side.
"I can't tell!! They're damn good at hiding themselves, shukaku couldn't even sense them until that bastard had you!" he yelled over all the noise in the room from sand shifting and jetting out to kill the seemingly endless stream of ninjas.
"Genjutsu!!" Hotaru yelled then forming the tiger seal yelled "Release!"
The Ninjas in the room all disappeared leaving the two alone in the room with three men in black cloaks with red clouds on them and straw hats effectively concealing their identities.
"Perhaps I should have used something a bit stronger on you two, perhaps Mangekyou?" one said dropping his hat to the floor to reveal a pair of onyx eyes and long black hair.
"Uchiha Itachi!" Hotaru snarled grabbing another kunai from the hem of her shorts, she had special compartments in them so she could store them there but wouldn't get cut by the sharp throwing knives.
"Hn. It's been a long time little one." he said smirking menacingly.
"Then one of you must be his man whore, Kisame." she snarled.
"Now now, Hotaru-chan, must you call names?" Kisame said dropping his hat to join Itachi's and revealing his blue skin and cruel jagged smile.
"You know them?" Gaara asked mildly confused.
"Acquaintances of my fathers, used to talk to them a lot, thought they'd be friends." she answered not taking her eyes off the menacing trio.
"Hn." Gaara responded glaring at the three, crossing his arms and glaring out of habit.
"Be careful, Gaara," she warned leaving out the honorific for times sake and pointing to Itachi with her kunai, "don't look him in the eyes, bloodline trait, sharingan." Hotaru then pointed her kunai at Kisame "Don't touch the sword, chakra sucker."
"Hn." Gaara responded taking mental notes.
"See now that's why we can't leave you out like this, you know us too well Hotaru-chan, un." the third one said lifting his hat exposing his face half covered by his yellow-blonde bang.
"Deidra, I'm not one of your play things! Gaara, don't get his clay stuck anywhere, explosive consequences, watch the hands, they bite." Hotaru informed her companion.
Gaara quirked an invisible eyebrow at her explanation but shook it off and continued to glare at them avoiding eye contact with the Uchiha.
"Monsters." Itachi said smirking.
"And you're not!!" Hotaru yelled angrily "Damn you, Itachi!! Damn you to hell!!"
She through her kunai, glowing white hot, straight at his stomach. Itachi disappeared only to reappear beside her knocking her out with a swift blow to the back of her neck and catching her, the sand wrapped around his form and began to crush him causing him to drop her only for them to both disappear in a puff of smoke. Gaara growled inhumanly as sand whipped around him dispersing the other shadow clones in a puff of smoke. He tore through the house half his face transformed to look like shukaku.
"Hotaru!!" Gaara roared as he crushed the front door in time to see the three holding a struggling Hotaru who now had a seal on her chakra visible on her now exposed stomach from the brutal ripping of the bottom of her tank top, and leather straps on her back keeping her from spreading her now painfully trapped wings. Tears poured from her eyes at her excruciating pain from both the seal, her bindings, and the thought of being ripped from Gaara. Her kunai now lay abandoned on the desert floor as she struggled helplessly.
"Gaara!!" She called out to him through tears.
"Let me kill them Gaara!!" Shukaku roared in Gaara's head "They can not have what is ours!!"
"Then do it!! Just don't hurt her shukaku!!" Gaara yelled out loud to shukaku
"I will and I will not." shukaku growled ferociously through Gaara's mouth.
Deidra threw a small clay bird into the air between the quickly forming demon and his group where it quickly expanded.
"No!!" Hotaru screamed sobbing "Gaara!! GAARA!!" she shrieked as they jumped onto the large bird.
–Kazekages' office–
"Kazekage-sama!!" a guard yelled bursting into the office to see said Kazekage staring out his window at the events unfolding.
"What should we do?!" the panicked guard asked
"Nothing, they're leaving aren't they?" He said simply
"But Gaara–" he started
"He'll follow them, then he might get himself killed," he said uninterested then he heard a girl shriek his sons name and smirked, "He won't kill anyone here, He'll definitely follow them, they've got his little demon whore, then he'll probably lose them, break, and then come back a shell of a person filled with hatred for the world and more easily bent to my will."
"Then they'll have the power of that little winged demon girl!!" the Guard said still panicking and now angry "and isn't he your son?! How can you be so cruel?! What kind of a Kazekage are you?!"
"She won't do anything for them, not unless Gaara tells her to." he said then watched more intently waiting for them to kill the girl and break his son, "by the way, you will now be put under arrest and a stripped of all rank for treason." two more ninjas dressed in the standard ANBU uniforms dropped from no where and then puffed away with the stunned guard. The Kazekage sat there anxiously, a true cold sadistic monster, waiting for the two who had only each other to be roughly ripped apart, waiting excitedly for them to break his youngest son.
–Gaara and Hotaru–
As the bird flew upward towards the heavens where Hotaru was rumored to have been banished from, the broken angel screamed the name of her dear friend and only love repeatedly.
The sand futilely attempted to catch the horrid white bird that carried away the one thing that it's master had.
"HOTARU!!" Gaara yelled through Shukaku's voice their voices mixing as the sand grabbed for the bird once again from both sides only to collide with itself roughly and shoot up after the bird.
'Be careful Shukaku!! You'll hurt her!!' Gaara yelled worried in his own mind so only Shukaku heard.
'Trust in me, I will not damage what belongs to us.' shukaku assured his container roughly as he continued to lash out at the bird that dodged the many blows gracefully as it's precious cargo cried out for it's master, tears falling to the desert floor like the rain had the night before, when Hotaru and Gaara had confessed their feelings which only fueled the sands attempts to catch that horrible white clay bird.
"HOTARU!!"He roared again
"Gaara!!" she responded reaching out to him with her now freed hand as she struggled to be free of Itachi's grip leaning over the edge of the bird. Itachi pulled her back onto the bird but let her stay conscious to torment Gaara with her cries and torture her with Gaara's futile attempts to save her, letting her know that he was just out of reach and letting her build up more hopes to be crushed.
They made their way away from Suna gaining speed, slowly losing Gaara. Hotaru began to struggle more violently.
"Let me go!!" she pleaded through tears, "Let me go!! Let me go to him!! Gaara!! I need him, he needs me!! Let me go!! I love him!! Let me go!! GAARA!!"
She could see that Gaara was getting farther and farther behind and would soon be out of earshot then she would no longer be able to see him and she didn't know if she'd ever see him again so she yelled out to him one last time.
"Gaara!! I love you!! I always will and remember that you'll never be alone, I will always be yours!! I love you so much, Gaara!!" she said her tears making her voice waver and crack as she felt the horrible tearing pain in her chest double, she felt like her heart was being ripped to shreds as she was pulled farther and farther from Gaara.
"Hotaru!!" Gaara's voice boomed like he was speaking through a microphone, "I love you!! And I will save you!! YOU ARE MINE THEY CAN'T HAVE YOU"
He turned his attention to the members of the Akatsuki that were had caught bound his dark angel and were taking her from him as he unleashed as much sand as he could with his depleting chakra onto them. "YOU CAN NOT HAVE HER!!" Shukaku and Gaara bellowed together voices mixing as they unleashed their final effort to catch the vile bird and it's pilots with their stolen cargo. It just barely scathed them as they flew out of sight, Hotaru's cries for Gaara echoing through the quiet morning then slowly faded as the sand around Gaara began to run down back onto the desert floor like water trickling away from the now broken boy.
Gaara fell forward as everything around him seemed to turn dark, cold, and menacing. He felt the long forgotten pain in his chest that Hotaru had healed three short years ago return tenfold as he was ripped to shreds by her sudden departure from himself. He hit his knees, tears stinging his eyes, on the newly formed mountain of sand and yelled out with all his pain "HOTARU!!" he yelled letting his head fall back towards the desert sky.
"Why?" Gaara sobbed "Why?!" he yelled in frustration.
"Why me? Why her? WHY?!" he slammed hist fists into the sand in front of him.
"It hurts," Gaara whimpered falling onto his side sobbing uncontrollably, "Hotaru... It hurts!" He whimpered clutching his shirt over his heart.
"Gaara," Shukaku panted it's chakra almost completely depleted, "we got something."
Gaara saw a small amount of sand trickling near him through his tears and grabbed what it carried just as it fell to the ground limp. He brought his fist close to his face and opened it to see her hair tie slash bracelet with the stone feather charm. Gaara cried harder as he remembered when she'd gotten it.
Flash back
Hotaru and Gaara walked through the busy market as people cleared a path for the two demon vessels. Hotaru walked cheerfully behind her stoic friend then she spotted something at a cart and raced over to it pulling Gaara by the arm like an excited little kid. She stopped at the cart and pointed to a small black elastic band with a small stone feather charm on it.
"Look Gaara-kun! Isn't it pretty?" she asked excitedly
"Hn." He answered then looked up at the frightened dealer, "How much?" Gaara demanded.
"Free! Take it!!" the old man yelled frightened.
"Really?" Hotaru asked looking at Gaara for permission who just shrugged.
"Thank you!!" she said politely as she picked it up and smiled sweetly at the elderly man.
"Leave!! Please, I don't want any trouble!!" He yelled backing into the wall behind his cart.
"Wait, I want to thank you!" Hotaru said rummaging through her pocket and producing a shard of crystal like glass like the one on her necklace. "It's got chakra in it from my chakra burning fire and Gaara-kun's chakra infused sand, it's really pretty and someone might like it so..." she placed it on his cart and backed away to return to Gaara's side looking down at her feet.
"C'mon," Gaara said gruffly to Hotaru while glaring at the man, "forget him." He ordered
She nodded as a few tears slipped down her cheeks and she quickly wiped them away.
"Why is everyone afraid of us? Why do they hate us? We didn't do anything to them!" Hotaru asked her hands fisting at her sides.
"Because, we are different," Gaara said glaring at the people scurrying to get out of their way, "and they're afraid of things that are different." He stopped talking for a moment then added in a low growl, "And I kill people."
"So do they!!" Hotaru yelled back defiantly.
"They kill for Suna and the kazekage, I kill for the Shukaku and his blood lust, we have different reasons." He explained in his monotone.
"But--" Hotaru started only to be cut off by Gaara
"Enough," He ordered, "leave it be."
"Yes, Gaara-kun." Hotaru said obediently dropping the subject, then smiled up at Gaara, "Can we get ice cream?" she asked hopefully.
"Yes." He answered an unnoticeable smile just barely tugging at the corners of his lips.
–End Flash Back–
"Hotaru!" Gaara called quietly, pain dripping from his voice, "Don't leave me alone! I need you!"
Gaara's thoughts then turned to his father as he momentarily thought about asking him for help to rescue his counterpart but he quickly dismissed these thoughts as he remembered how no one else had come to stop the Akatsuki from kidnaping Hotaru. He glared into the desert sky as he rolled over on his back spreading his arms out and letting his tears glide down the sides of his face as he watched the sun rise, reminding him of Hotaru.
"Hotaru!" he croaked one last time before slipping into unconsciousness.
–Hotaru–
"No!!" she cried "Let me go!! Take me back!! Itachi!! Deidra!! Kisame!! Why!!"
"I told you, un," Deidra said smiling wickedly at their captive, "you know too much about us, un."
"I promise I won't tell anyone!!" she pleaded with them, "I don't even know who you are!!"
"Nice try, kid," Kisame said turning his head to face her, "but we can't be sure of that, now can we, considering that you so easily gave information to that little sand boy."
"Please! I promise it won't do it again!!" Hotaru begged them new tears streaming down her face, "I'm sorry!! Let me go back to him!!"
"You weren't lying were you? You really did fall in love with someone, didn't you?" Itachi asked smirking, "How disgusting."
'Nibi!!' Hotaru cried out in her mind blocking out the cruel people around her.
"I can not break the chakra seal, my child." the enormous female cat demon said appearing before her behind the bars that Hotaru quickly wiggled between running to her demon.
'Okaa-chan, it's not fair!' Hotaru said crying into the demons fur, 'Why me? Why us?'
"Shhhhh, be quiet my child, it is all going to be alright." Nibi comforted her container nuzzling her cheek and lying down. Hotaru had a relationship with her demon that most of the other jinchuriki never would, Nibi had accepted her fate and taken Hotaru in as her adoptive daughter allowing her to use her strengths as her own. Nibi had a blood lust like no other but she managed to keep it at bay with Hotaru's missions
'Why?' Hotaru repeated over and over again into the fur of Nibi's chest.
"I do not know why, my child, but I know that Gaara-san will not let them keep you," Nibi said wrapping her tail around Hotaru's tiny form, "as he has said many times before, you are his, even though I like to think that you are mine you are his, and as you know he does not share."
'That's exactly why I'm so worried, Okaa-chan!!' Hotaru cried, 'Gaara-kun will die if he tries to save me! They're too strong for him, he's not ready for something like this! They'll kill him!!'
"They will do no such thing, you forget that shukaku has hundreds of years of experience," Nibi said, "and as I remember he also considers us as theirs."
'But he couldn't even catch the bird!' Hotaru cried into Nibi's fur.
"Hold your tung child, Gaara was to afraid that he'd hurt you if he fully unleashed shukaku so he kept some control over him, which is understandable," Nibi scolded her daughter, "considering how badly he wanted to kill you at first but I had a few good talks with him."
'You did?' Hotaru asked looking up at the cat demon, 'How?'
"We tailed beasts have our ways, child" Nibi purred.
'I didn't know,' Hotaru apologized, 'thank you Okaa-chan.'
"Now be strong, for Gaara-san, and stop your tears child," Nibi said wiping Hotaru's tears with her tail, "Do not give them the satisfaction of letting them know how deeply they have hurt you."
'Right,' Hotaru said wiping her tears for real, 'I will be strong for Gaara-kun.'
"That's my girl," Nibi purred, "now return to the real world, my child, and show them that they can not hurt you"
Hotaru smiled one last time at her adoptive mother then disappeared pulling her self out of her mind and returning herself to the pain of the real world. Her heart still ached but she didn't let it show and put on an emotionless mask that she had seen Gaara wear so many times before.
"When will we arrive at your... lair?" she asked no longer struggling knowing it would get her no where.
"Hn? Speaking again now are we?" Itachi asked looking down at his captive.
"Hn." she responded in a very Gaara like manner.
"Ugh," Deidra groaned, "another hn-er, Itachi-san you already contaminated her with your horrible answer for everything, un!"
Hotaru glared at the blonde.
"I will not be compared to the Uchiha who could not bring himself to kill his little brother." She stated sounding more and more like Gaara.
"You little!" Itachi said getting ready to deal a deadly blow to the girl.
"Itachi-sama," Kisame warned, "Leader-sama ordered us to bring her back alive, don't lose you temper and kill her."
"Hn." Itachi responded backing off.
"I thought it was weird that you didn't just kill me." Hotaru stated in her newfound monotone.
It was quiet for a while until they came to an cave like opening in the side of a mountain.
"We're here, un." Deidra said steering the giant clay bird into the opening of the cave.
They all stood, Itachi throwing Hotaru over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
'Gaara-kun, I'm scared!' she thought to herself being careful not to let it show on her face.
The bird shrunk back down to it's original size and the three outlaws all landed smoothly on their feet inside the cave. Anyone who might be watching would have only seen the silhouette of a large bird fly into a cave that could have been it's nest, and would be to afraid to investigate or just ignore it as wildlife.
They walked to the back of the cave where Itachi handed Hotaru off to Deidra who smiled at her trying to spark up some trust and she smiled back weakly.
'Better stop pissing them off and make the best of things, for Gaara-kun.' she thought remembering how Gaara hadn't wanted her to become like him and wanted her to keep her light.
Itachi flew through some hand signs then slapped his hand to the wall revealing an opening.
"Cool." Hotaru said as they walked through the door.
"Warming up to us now, un?" Deidra said looking st her.
"Eh, it's best to make the best of bad things." she said shrugging, "And Deidra, you guys didn't break my legs, I can walk."
"Who says you won't try to run?" Kisame asked.
"I'm not stupid, I know when I'm in way over my head, if I tried to run you'd have no problem catching me," she said rolling her eyes, "unless I magically undo the chakra seal and chew through the leather straps I can't do much, and incase you didn't notice, we're kinda on a cliff so even if I did try to run I wouldn't get far without killing myself and even then I'd just be at the bottom of the mountain thingy."
"She's got a point, un." Deidra agreed.
"Hn." Itachi agreed closing the opening with a few more hand signs.
"Fine then." Kisame agreed.
Deidra put her down, glad to be free of the extra weight.
"Thanks Dei-chan." Hotaru said grinning as Deidra frowned at the old nickname.
"Dei-chan?" Itachi and Kisame asked in unison quirking an eyebrow then bursting out laughing, well Kisame did at least and Itachi just kind of chuckled.
"Don't call me that, un." Deidra ordered.
"Ok, Dei-chan-sama." Hotaru said smiling innocently.
Deidra sweat dropped and Kisame fell back laughing while Itachi just smirked amused.
"You are disgusting, monster." Itachi said trying to upset her again.
"I liked you better when you just sat around angsting Ita-san." she said fake pouting.
Itachi glared at her, "You will refrain from calling me that, monster."
"I'm just saying..." Hotaru said raising her hands in the air defensively.
"Hey I just remembered something, remember when I first met you Kisame?" she asked.
"No, I don't seem to recall." Kisame answered.
"Aww, you gotta remember," she said as they turned a corner, "I pointed to you and said "fishy," I was like five, remember?"
"I do now." Kisame grumbled and glared at Deidra who was trying to hide his laughter.
"As do I." Itachi spoke up.
"You finally gonna be nice?" Hotaru asked looking to Itachi.
"No, Monster." Itachi responded smirking.
"Ugh, you're a lost cause." she said throwing her arms up in the air.
"As are you." he said smirking.
Hotaru stuck her tung out at him which wasn't exactly what any of them had expected.
"Hey, when are you guys gonna take this thing and these off?" Hotaru asked pointing to the seal and the leather straps.
"Why would we, Monster?" Itachi asked raising an eyebrow.
"Because, my wings hurt now and the seal stings 'cause Nibi is hell bent on breaking it," Hotaru said putting her hand on her hips, "and I can't pull the wings in without using chakra so could you please either undo the straps or release the seal for a minute?"
Kisame and Deidra looked at Itachi who gave them a look that said "I want nothing to do with this" then looked at each other hesitantly.
"What do you think I'll do, set your stone hide out on fire or fly away while in a cave?" Hotaru asked pleadingly, "I promise I won't do anything, my wings just hurt."
"Ok," they said giving in, Hotaru had a way of bringing out the best in every one.
"Thank you." she said smiling gratefully at them as they undid the straps.
She immediately stretched them to their full extent giving her the appearance of a dark angel "ahhh, much better, thank you, Deidra-san, Kisame-san." Hotaru said grateful to be able to spread her wings again.
She let them fall into a resting position looking even more like a dark angel.
"You guys didn't happen to grab my jacket did you?" Hotaru asked hopefully.
"Maybe, un..." Deidra said looking away from the group and rummaging through his cloak producing the white jacket.
"Wow, I was expecting you to say no." Hotaru said honestly as she slipped the jacket on.
"Why?" Kisame asked Deidra.
"Well, I remembered her from when the Akatsuki was first forming and I kinda felt like I should, un," Deidra said nonchalantly, "she's always had a way of bringing out the best in every body, except Itachi-san, un."
Itachi growled.
"Behave weasel-boy." Hotaru said crossing her arms.
"I wish to kill you, badly." Itachi said glaring at Hotaru.
"So did shukaku." Hotaru said then sighed and frowned sadly as she thought of Gaara.
"What ever happened to you crying and screaming about that Gaara kid?" Kisame asked
"I decided that I'm going to be strong for Gaara-kun," Hotaru said smiling brightly, "I know that he'll come for me one day but I don't want him to right now because he'll get killed, he's not ready yet. I know he's hurting right now and I probably should be too but I have to be strong until he comes for me." She finished still smiling at the stunned trio.
"You've got a lot of faith in that brat." Kisame said stating the obvious.
"I love him" Hotaru said smiling even brighter.
The three stared at her for a few minutes then were shaken out of their thoughts as they reached a large door.
"You're on your own now, kid." Kisame said as they stopped.
"Good luck, un." Deidra said smiling.
"Hurry up, monster." Itachi said glaring at Hotaru.
"O-Ok." Hotaru said momentarily losing her composure and staring at the door scared. Hotaru regained her composure and smiled before pushing the huge stone door open and walking in. The door slammed shut behind her causing her to jump and eep in surprise, losing all of her confidence.
"Hotaru, Jinchuriki of the Nibi No Nekomata." A loud male voice came from a large throne. Hotaru could make out the silhouettes of two people, one that looked female and one that was seated in the chair with glowing red-orange eyes.
"Y-Yes?" Hotaru answered timidly.
"You will now be in the servitude of the akatsuki, I am Leader-sama, you will address me as such," the person in the chair ordered, "You will obey me and do as I command."
"I'm sorry, Leader-sama," Hotaru said bowing her head and allowing her bangs to cover her eyes while dropping to one knee and allowing one arm to rest on her knee and the other to support her, "I obey only one master, I am sorry but I will not obey you unless my master orders me to do so."
"Ok, I will humor you," the man mocked her, "who is your master, Hotaru?"
Hotaru lifted her gaze to meat his, "A man named death."
This chapter is even longer than my last!! Please review!! I'm begging you, I worked hard on this!! Flame if you feel that I need to be flamed, please don't hold back.
Mitsukai: ftw?! I thought you were supposed to be shy Hotaru?!
Hotaru: I was being strong for Gaara-kun!!
Mitsukai: I swear you must have multiple personalities.
Hotaru: starts to cry
Mitsukai: I'm sorry!! hugs
Mitsukai: If you're wondering "ftw happened to Gaara?!" you'll see in the next chapter.
Hotaru: please review Mitsukai-chan's starting to go a little crazy and I'm kinda scared not to mention the fact that she got me kidnapped. Oh and by the way ftw is wtf backwards please do not be confused by Mitsukai-chan's oddness. smiles sweetly
Mitsukai: T.T you're horribley wonderful Hotaru, I thought I could avoid this by making you shy but that backfired.
Hotaru: I'm sorry!!