When Gaara came to the fear clenching in his gut screamed for him to open his eyes, to fight, to run, to do anything but lie wherever he was. The shinobi in him warned him that he could lose precious information if he was awake early then anticipated. So he kept his breathing level and his heart rate calm. He wouldn't dare try focusing chakra because if nothing else that would give him away.

"Are you a complete moron! You never should have done that!" A voice was yelling. Loudly. He never understood what it was about yelling that people seemed to enjoy, he'd learned early in life that you were scarier if you were quieter. Why? Because it made the other idiot listen. A sharp intake of breath indicated another yelling fit. "You could have killed him, if he died then you would have been joining him fast. Got it."

Gaara felt his heart jump in response to someone's hand on his face. They turned his face up to the light and Gaara tried very hard not to react to the cold touch. "Get out." The voice that had been yelling was quiet now, so several pairs of feet retreated quickly. "Gaara, you're good but not good enough, open your eyes."

Jesus that voice cracked like a whip. Gaara reluctantly opened his eyes to met dark green/brown ones. Her hair fell off her shoulders gracefully and tickled his face. It matched her eyes, it was so dark but so fine. "Who are you?" He went for threatening but his voice refused to work and he felt as though he was choking for a second or two before this woman ran her fingertips over his throat.

"Better? Gaara, can you breath?" The woman's voice was concerned and Gaara nodded. For the moment he ignored that this woman was using his first name, not his title.

"What was that?" He murmured. Usually he knew his body's responses very well but he had no idea about this one.

"That was what's left of those two idiots chakra fucking around with your system. 60% of the time chakra doesn't meld properly and it can have adverse effects on both the giver and the receiver. The latter is you. Their chakra is in your system and doesn't know where to go, so it's trying every escape."

"My throat." He nodded. The reasoning followed logic so he closed his eyes again and took in the facts, filing them away for further research. "I take it my system rejected them?"

"Oh yea. Any hope you have of being followed here is doubtful. You were apparated here in a hurry, you started convulsing and damn near died. You actually killed one of the medics here when your chakra lashed out." The woman seemed almost happy about this idea and Gaara moved to sit up, glaring when he realized his shirt was gone.

"May I ask-"

"I had to cut you open. Their chakra was trying to rip you apart to escape, and yours wouldn't let me closer then a foot. I couldn't do a precision extraction, so I did a general one and just uhh," she drew a finger down the front of her torso. Gaara's eyes widened and he threw the blanket that lay on top of him off.

Nausea was his first reaction. Running the length of his torso was a slice clearly made by a katana. "You cut me open." Gaara muttered the phrase more to himself then this apparent medic-nin."

"Luckily, I could put Humpty back together again." She smiled ruefully at him and Gaara frowned. Who the hell is Humpty? Yet another thing to be further researched when he was free.

"I am okay, correct?"

"Correct. I am a damn good medic. Not as good as the Slug Princess was or that apprentice of hers but damn good. You should be glad I'm here. I saved your life." She ran her fingers over the scar and nodded. "Yea, you're a Kage, one call to Konoha and Sakura-san herself could get rid of this scar for you. I'd keep it though, good reminder. I find scars," She stood and gathered a bunch of fabric off the floor, "remind us that we're not immortal."

She turned on her heels and walked out. Gaara waited until he heard the door close then lept to his feet and murmured a small fire jutsu for a little bit of light. It was practically a lighter's flame and he cursed himself for not being more dedicated to practicing the fire arts. It was enough though. He took measurements of his prison and found it to be 9 feet by 6 feet. He pressed his hands to the wall and scowled.

Cold and wet. He was underground. That narrowed his chances of being found. He pressed harder and decided it was rock. So a cave? He sniffed the air and nodded. Definitely cave, he could smell the richness of the minerals in the soil behind the stone. He turned back to the place he'd woken up on and his eyes widened.

Someone had cut a damn stalagmite in half. The circle it left was big enough for him to lay on and he immediately looked up. There were several other circles, though not quite as big, on the roof. So this room had at one point been a small area of the much larger cavern. He glanced at the circle he'd been on and frowned. That one had been rather large, so this had to be quite the damn cave. His chances of being found, kept getting lower.

He stared at the door then nodded and put the light out. He bounced in place for a second then swung a chakra enhanced kick into the door. It cracked and he smiled. "Gotcha." He did the same routine again, only this time with a little more power in his kick. He heard voices yelling and running footsteps so he kicked harder and faster. "Please, please. Come on! Break!"

The door flew open and Gaara held his tongue when he was slammed into the wall by what looked like two more walls. Gaara refrained from reacting when he realized that the 'walls' were just giants. He'd seen big guys - Choji was by no means small - but these two were huge.

Behind them walked in two people. The way everyone looked at them told him that these two were running this operation. Kooisi he recognized. The man beside her he didn't. He had silver in his eyes, though the base color seemed almost orange. His hair was a light green and hung in his face. The kind of hairstyle that Sasuke would have called 'a mop'. He just called it a mess.

"Nice try. We wondered whether or not you'd risk it." The way the man said it clearly implied that there was something to risk but the red head did not want to know what there was. His men were dead, there wasn't really anything he could be risking.

But everyone was clearly waiting for him to take the bait. So he glared pointedly at the two men holding him up like a rag doll. Both men looked back at there leader and upon his nod, dropped Gaara like a stone. He balanced himself elegantly and made a show of dusting himself off and pushing his hair out of his face. He knew Temari would've balked at antagonizing hostage takers but he would not make it seem as though he were under their thumb.

"What do I call you? I know her; Bitch. How about you." He ignored the annoyance that flitted across their features when he ignored the barb entirely. "Bastard?" He offered the name with a good-natured smile.

"We'll go with Tadashi and you shouldn't have kicked the door."

"He's not going to bite. Gaara isn't interested in being mind-fucked willingly." The woman from earlier walked in and pushed him back onto the makeshift seat. "Keiko Atsuko is the name, and before Tadashi growls at me. I heard you got slammed into the wall. If they injured anything then I'll tell you. Lift your right arm." Keiko began giving him quiet instructions which Gaara willingly obeyed.

Even if she was with the enemy, she didn't seem to obey the rules they set and anyway you're always supposed to listen to the doctors orders. "What's the mind-fuck?"

"There was a shinobi sitting behind the door. The door would have shattered and killed him. He's a hostage as much as you are." Keiko murmured softly, Gaara schooled his features into indifference and Keiko smiled. "That's right Gaara. Show no weakness. How utterly Kage of you." She smiled bitterly. Keiko finished her assessment and nodded to herself. She tightened the ratty red scarf around her throat and pushed the sleeves of the black coat she wore up to her elbows.

"So are we going to tell him why he's here?" She stood in front of him deliberately and for a spilt second he let anguish show. He could have killed a innocent trying to escape. When the dark haired medic murmured that, mortification had flooded his system. No wonder they did that. If he had killed that shinobi he wouldn't have dared tried kicking out the door again.

He would've have waited and sprung when some idiot opened the door. No matter what they threw at him, he wouldn't just sit here and wait for them.

"I know why I'm here. Kooisi already played this hand with me. The Raikage, you're going to use me for the money he can pay to cover up the fact that he lost me in the first place." Gaara stood up and moved to lean against the wall nearest the door. Tadashi walked closer and smiled at him.

"Are you okay with this?" He raised one eyebrow and leaned on the wall beside Gaara. Keiko smiled and thought to herself, this was he got me, insults and attacks then praise and compliments. As much as it pissed her off, Keiko was here half willingly half not. She couldn't work for any shinobi village again, not after what she'd done. And these guys paid well. This would be the biggest pay-off they would have so far. She could betray these guys, take the money and run. She wasn't a fanatic to a cause, these guys were. But luckily, she was a murderer surrounded by murderers who taught her to fight against them. She knew their weak spots.

"Okay with what?" Gaara quirked an eyebrow. Tadashi pushed off the wall and stood in front of the Kazekage, he leaned forward and smirked when Gaara pressed himself back against the wall.

"Being paid for." The way he said it, Keiko immediately associated it with the whores who hid in brothels. Clearly Gaara felt the same. Because he threw a punch into Tadashi's jaw and smoothly dodged the two thugs who tried grabbing him. He threw a kick into Kooisi's stomach. The Kazekage slipped out the door and started running down the hall. He froze for a second at a fork in the road and turned left.

"Gaara!" He could hear the taunting voices from behind him and kept running. "You won't escape!" He rounded a corner, grasping the corner to slow his momentum and slid on the dirt. He froze in place at a dead end then turned and kept going in the next direction. Best case scenario; he could end this now. Worst case; he could get himself lost in here and they'd have to hunt him down.

He had warned them that he wouldn't make this easy.

He spotted a room ahead, a room with sunlight spilling in and hurried towards it. He snatched a cloak off the hook nearest the door and threw it over his bare shoulders. He pulled the hood up and kept his head down. He didn't know what was in the sunny room so he wouldn't just walk in. He'd sneak.

Gaara kept his reaction restrained at the sight of the room. It seemed to be a kind of lounge. There was easily 100 men in the room. Mercenaries, he knew it. This was the muscle of the operation. He went over to the window and heard his pursuers rush into the room. "The Kazekage has escaped. He's loose. Find him." One of the two 'walls' deep voice boomed over the room and he heard the room empty.

Well, almost empty. He heard the sound of boots on the floor, then loud music startng to play.

"Did I make it that obvious?" He asked the only other occupant of the room. He pushed the hood down and turned to face the man.

"Oh yea. To me at least. That's my cloak." The man smiled and Gaara hexed. He seemed to be jinxed, nothing was going right. "Nice try though, you fooled everyone else that you were just another mercenary." The man shut the door to the lounge and Gaara stared. The only light left in the room were the rays of sun through windows small enough to make columns of light. "If you're scared, lemme know. I'll just yell for the guards, you go back to your cell and that slim chance you have of escaping goes away."

Gaara went back through his memory and created for himself a mental rendering of the room. Where the couches, tables and foot stools were. Anything that could hinder or help him. "So I fight you. I win and I'm free."

"You lose and I get to choose your fate."

Gaara's guard jumped up when he heard the assassin's voice right behind him. "Either I kill you. Or I ransom you off myself. To anyone buying." The red head growled. That could put him anywhere. Either right back where he started or with the highest bidder. It wasn't a fair bet, this man probably knew all about him. All Gaara knew was that he was fast and he was quiet. Uneven odds, a lot to lose. This sounded an awful lot like a bet Sasuke would jump on. He loved it when the odds were against him.

He weighed his options for a second before deciding that he had nothing lose. Hostage here or hostage there. Here at least he had a chance of besting this guy.

"I accept the terms. You'll secure my escape or just not sell me out?"

"I'll get you out of here. By the way, so you know who you're cursing the name is Han."

"Gaara. Will you allow me the use of my gourd, if it's near?" He paused when Han put a knife to his throat and lifted his chin. He'd appeared in the light patch Gaara was standing in and whipped the blade out in seconds. Gaara sent up a prayer of thanks. He trained with Rock Lee. Speed did not scare him.

"Don't negotiate with me. I'll let you use anything you want." Han disappeared back into the darkness. "But your gourd isn't here. Tadashi's got it locked up somewhere on premises. Bad luck, friend." Han smirked and his yellow eyes twinkled merrily. Gaara immediately likened this man to a hyena. A laughing hyena, they both just assumed they were superior and mocked the other guy.

He was clearly skilled in taijutsu, and he knew Gaara was more of a ninjutsu kind of guy. He thought he had the didn't count on Sasuke Uchiha and Rock Lee's training sessions. 9 times out of 10 they'd be completely taijutsu based.

Ready...set....go. They both jumped out of the light and Gaara focused his chakra to his ears. He could hear the air cutting to his left, so he raised both arms, one to block the fake-out attack, the other to catch the real attack. Han spun around him at the last second and attacked the right arm. Gaara gripped down and sent a punch towards his knee to try and hinder him.

Han pushed off his free leg and kicked Gaara's arm upwards. Once they were free they both fled to opposite areas. Han took cover near the couch and Gaara was up on the ceiling. They both kept their breathing quiet and hidden, now that the initial clash was over, they both knew the other wasn't someone to underestimate. Now they'd be more cautious.

Gaara sprung, throwing his voice from his new location on the coffee table to the other side of the room. "You're good."

Han threw his to be right behind him again and laughed. "You're more then I expected."

Gaara felt a hand close on his throat just in time to throw his hands up and smack it away using the pressure point on the thumb. His other hand came up and threw Gaara down into the table. Gaara felt the wood slam into his back then splinter around him. Several pieces hit his back and he could feel the blood running down his skin. He put one hand on the wrist to pin Han's hand to his chest so he couldn't escape then flipped them both over and pulled Han into an arm bar.

Han hissed and murmured a jutsu before slamming a hand into Gaara's thigh. Immediately the Kazekage rolled away and landed himself in a patch of light. He cursed and dove out just as Han dove in. They both rose to their feet and Gaara assumed a defensive stance while Han took offense. The two threw combos at each other, both trying their hardest to be the fastest.

"Now!" Han hissed and Gaara felt pain shoot through his leg. He brought his arms up and blocked what would've been a rib-shattering kick, he felt his forearm crack though. "That jutsu will spread pain through you until you can't move." Han stood in the light of one window while Gaara stood in the other.

Gaara prepped himself for the next blow when it came and felt his forearm actually shatter. Both he and Han knew that all Han had to do was keep this kicks coming and eventually Gaara's arms would drop and he'd be beaten. The red head cursed, he could keep going but he would ultimately lose.

"Can I give up?" He asked quietly. It hurt his ego to ask but he had no alternate option. It was either give up here and let Han do whatever or have absolutely no ability to defend himself at the next place.

"Of course you can." Han was grinning. Gaara nodded to himself and lowered his arms. Han smirked and stopped the assault before pointing to the ground. Gaara nodded and knelt down. He held back the shiver when he felt the cold kunai running along his shoulders as Han walked behind him. "Close your eyes." Han's smirk turned into a triumphantly wolf-ish smile.

Gaara shut his eyes and felt the blade rest just on the hollow of his throat.

"I'll make it fast. Killing you is worth more then money." Han chuckled and pulled the blade away and Gaara waited.

"Han, back off." Keiko's voice. "Gaara keep your eyes closed, focus on staying conscious and ignoring the pain." Gaara remembered his opinion from earlier, that she sounded like a whip snapping. Now he knew why, he could hear the wind being sliced and the leather hitting the floor where her whip was moving.

"Do you care so much about him, they are similar I admit, you killed your-"

CRACK!

Gaara flinched as reality dawned. Han was too close. Her attack couldn't be aimed around Gaara and his eyes flew open as he remembered her words, Focus on staying conscious and ignoring the pain.

The whip sliced through Han's arm and slammed into Gaara at the same he yelled.

"Wait!"