A/N: I don't believe I've ever mentioned the color of Kooisi's hair. If I have, feel free to review and inform me. Wow, this was meant to be a quick chapter but it ended up being the longest running.

Keiko sent up a hex to the gods, why did those idiotic head-smacking idiots feel the urge to put all the negative karma on her? Surely the other people in this building had done enough wrong to warrant a good karma-filled whooping? Then she frowned, that karma was probably how they ended up here kidnappers for hire.

How much good karma did she need to build up before the gods felt the urge to save her sorry ass?

"Feel free, it's not like I have anything better to do." She smiled at him and Gaara came into the bedroom using chakra to force the water out of his clothes and into his hands, the liquid fluidly moving into a sphere. Once he stood dry the ball was dropped into the sink. "What would you like to talk about?"

Gaara gave her a guilty look. The Kazekage had to admit he felt bad about dragging the medic into his problems but after last time he knew he couldn't very well run blind about until he bumped into yet another mercenary. It just wouldn't do for him to get himself killed in a foiled escape attempt. He sat down on the corner of the bed and watched Keiko retract into a corner herself. Neither of them wanted to have this discussion but neither could avoid it. Gaara needed an ally and Keiko needed to get out.

"What you want." Gaara broached the subject softly. If he came into this topic guns up and blazing then he expected the medic would bolt. "And what I need." He let the words hang a moment before meeting Keiko's unfailingly calm gaze. She stared for a moment before looking away and Gaara continued. "I need to get the hell out of here and you want the same. We have different reasons but the endgame is the same."

"So you want my help then?" She grumbled. Gaara nodded and sighed.

"I wouldn't ask but-"

"You've finally clicked that this place is big. Really big." Keiko fell back on that, providing a dignified cover for Gaara's request. He nodded and Keiko refused to acknowledge the grateful look in his eye. She'd spent the bulk of her life around the political world and the Kages. She knew exactly what emotions they hated showing and what emotions they allowed if tempered.

Emotions were not things that Kages enjoyed experiencing. Keiko understood the logic and reasoning behind it, she hated emotions as well. So she knew exactly how to react to everything Gaara did and said with creepy precision.

"And a lot like a labyrinth." He added for good measure. "I need a guide." He frowned. Keiko studied the Kazekage with a new-found interest. He'd been ready to tell her the truth, but when she provided the lie he played off that instinctively. She almost growled, another thing to be filed into the reasons why Gaara Sabaku is a brilliant man category.

"Why the hell should I help you, you realize that should this little plot fail I'll be killed in a very not-pleasant way." She glared at the bed angry at everything. Life for putting her and Gaara here, Han for hurting Gaara enough for her to have to fix him up, Tadashi for organizing this. She was just in general pissed off with life. But hey, isn't everyone? She brought her hand back to her scarf then hissed, that little tick of hers had to be discontinued.

"I know and you aren't obligated to help me. If you won't help me get out of here, then please at least tell me how to get to my gourd. Just that is enough for me."

Keiko knew it wasn't. Sure he'd be more protected and he could probably take out the people in the building like that, but he'd still be lost and he'd still be trapped. He could work better if he was armed but he needed to taken out of this building alive, and that idea in itself could be called to doubt. The Raikage was an unpredictable man and he could probably kill Gaara to protect his country. Any 'help' he was sending could be to help him along to the other side.

Ultimately it came down to this; Gaara needed the helping hand of someone from this side and she was the only available option.

That and she felt bad for him.

"Your gourd is in Kooisi's room. She wants it for a trophy." She hesitated, this wasn't a good idea on her part, "and you need me or you'll be trapped down here."

Gaara looked up from the bed covering. Suspicion glistened before he saw resignation in Keiko's eyes. She was going to do it! His spirits leaped momentarily before he started thinking. Kooisi's room, perfect. She wanted a trophy, that was fine, so did he. He wanted her head on a silver platter.

"Meaning?" He met her gaze and forced himself to keep a steady face. Keiko nodded and glanced to the side.

"I'll help."

.

.

Kooisi was sitting in her room feeling extremely pleased with herself. The Fifth Kazekage's gourd of sand was sitting in the corner looking rather rejected while the Kazekage himself sat in Keiko's room trapped and miserable. She reclined deeper into the chair she was sitting in. She ran her fingers through recently washed silver hair. She'd just finish cleaning the dirt out from the root - blood is so hard to get out of hair as thick as hers.

She got to her feet and padded over to the gourd. She tried picking the thing up without chakra-strength and damn near threw her back out. She used a bit of chakra and dragged the thing over so she could sit and examine the damnable thing at close range. It looked plain enough, just a gourd full of sand. Sand that happened to be infused with what would surely equal like 60% of her chakra. For him it was probably like 10%.

Kages. She scoffed bitterly. She admitted that once she realized he was actually like likable she had felt a twinge of guilt for doing this to him. But once the carnage happened and everyone was dead and he showed he had a vicious side. All such guilt had been erased and she had felt nothing for the, what, 11 lives she'd paid.

The money they would be getting for Gaara would surely be worth those deaths. She clapped her hands together as if she was wiping the dust off and in doing so washed her hands of any kind of feelings for the red headed man. She ran her fingertips over the cork and slid it open slowly. The sand inside rushed out and circled the gourd as Kooisi flew back into the wall. She frowned when she realized the sand was just hovering, almost waiting.

Strange, she thought, maybe it knows that it's master is just down the hall. Can sand know something like that?

She walked over cautiously and prodded one line of the sand. The grains parted around her fingers and slid to avoid her touch. She giggled softly, so it doesn't like being touched. So much like Gaara. She started to run her hands over and around the sand watching as it parted to suit her motions every time.

She walked over to her stereo and hit play. A pop song started playing and Kooisi began dancing through the sand, smiling when it bent and shifted with her. If you weren't really paying much attention then you'd probably assume that she was controlling the sand. How awesome.

She turned her back on the door and spun elegantly. Unbeknown to her, her music was drowning out the sounds of death. Gaara and Keiko had left Keiko's room; Gaara armed with a katana and Keiko her whip. They were making their way down the hall at a rapid rate to prevent anyone from raising the alarm.

When she stopped spinning Gaara stood framed in her doorway, the picture of fury and justice. She halted immediately and drew in a breath to scream loudly. Gaara rushed forwards and clamped his hand over her mouth. She gasped and went to bite his hand but Gaara tightened his grip on her jaw and hissed, "Don't you dare."

Kooisi closed her mouth and nodded to signal her silence. Gaara lifted his hand and she growled. "How the fuck did you find me?"

The red head's mouth curled into a menacing smile and he laughed quietly. "The sand called to me." He lifted a hand up and the sand came dancing - a cruel mockery of her. She gulped once, she knew pissing off Kages was a dangerous business but she'd thought Tadashi had this under control!

"You'll be caught. You'll go back to your cell and what will you have accomplished?"

"I'll have accomplished killing you. That's good enough for me right now." Gaara smiled bitterly and Keiko appeared in the doorway. Her ratty scarf was spattered with blood, barely visible if you weren't looking. Keiko herself was splattered with blood. Kooisi's mouth dropped open and Gaara smiled warmly at the medic.

Kooisi spluttered, "You betrayed-"

"Everyone, yes. Well I'm a traitor, it's what I do don't you know. Betrayal and trickery they come in a package or didn't Tadashi tell you?" Keiko spat the words out quickly. "Gaara will you kill her now? People could come." The girl fiddled with the ends of her sleeves, the blood dripping off them and slapping quietly against her rings and bracelets. She stuck her head back into the hallway and scanned it fast.

"Fine. I would have liked to draw this out," Gaara tried very hard to ignore how much like his younger self he sounded, "I'll make it fast." Gaarawrapped the sand around her head and her shoulders and with a flick of his wrist, snapped Kooisi's neck. The duo leaned their heads back into the hallway and checked it over.

"You're too damn noticeable." Keiko breathed chakra onto her hands then pushed them through Gaara's hair. He pulled down a spike and his eyes widened at the black coloring. "Don't freak. It won't last but it'll help hide you better. Red hair sticks out in a place like this." Gaara took the gourd and strapped it to his back, the sand immediately curling back into it and shifting happily.

"Now where?"

"Straight for two corridors, right on the third, left on the fourth." Both shinobi plotted this mentally then ran, They cleared hallway by hallway in a hurry.

"Duck!" Keiko yelped and Gaara dropped forwards, breaking his fall on his forearms, he looked up and then closed his eyes when Keiko's whip snapped through a person. When the man's top half fell forwards Gaara rolled right to avoid being landed on. He pushed to his feet and took a fleeting glance at the man's face recognizing him in seconds from the Bingo Book. He stole the katana in his hand and twirled it expertly before throwing it into an approaching man's neck. He jerked it out then flew around the left turn.

"Keiko?" He hissed as the medic joined him. She wiped the blood off the end of her whip and fast as lighting put more poison into the little metal cap. They let themselves rest for seconds, catching their breath and creating a mental map. Gaara scoffed at the irony of that statement. In the acadamy he stressed that maps were important, knowing where you were and where your allies were was vital to the survival of shinobi. He had absolutely no idea where he was or where his allies were. The only ally he was aware of was standing a foot away.

"Gaara. Listen to me." Both fugitives flew back into the darkness and hid. The voice was immediately recognized at Tadashi's. "Gaara, I know you can hear me. I have something to tell you about our mutual friend Keiko."

"More my friend then his." Gaara risked a quiet jab at the man. It was about an 95% chance that he was unheard but still it would be smarter to not risk it. He didn't quite care right now, if Tadashi found him then he'd kill Tadashi. Simple.

"She's a killer Gaara. I know you think she's innocent and in over her head. But you are looking at the woman who murdered the 5th Mizukage. She was his healer, his doctor and his sister. When he trusted her with his life, she killed him!" Gaara looked up, expecting to see a casual denial instead of a horrified expression.

Keiko couldn't believe it, she knew he'd do all sorts of things to get what he wanted but she never assumed he'd say that for the whole place to hear. She'd convinced everyone but him that she was an innocent. It was meant to be her protection in the case of the Great Nations finding them. She looked up to meet Gaara's eyes and what she saw made her sick. He looked torn. Torn between rage and betrayal.

"Tell me he's lieing to me." He growled from the dark corner he was in.

The medic tried to shoot out a lie or better yet the truth, but nothing came out. Gaara kept himself hidden and they both stopped breathing when a sentry walked by. The guard continued on his walk and neither released the breath they were holding until the guard had gotten a good distance away. Even then they breathed it slowly and quietly.

"I can explain." She managed to whisper the words to him. Gaara tensed every muscle in his body like a snake when the guard came back down the hall. When the man passed Gaara sprung like a cobra and snapped his neck. He dragged the body down a corridor and reappeared just as fast.

"You may want to start." He snarled. The medic flinched, she knew that the Kages didn't talk much but they were still all immediately bonded because of their shared responsibilities. Not many people can say they hold the lives of some thousands of people in their hands. So when you come across the rare Kage-killer, it never comes across well. Understandably she supposed.

"My brother was out for a walk, he'd asked me to come but I was busy with other patients. So he was alone. We thought he'd be safe so his ANBU squadron for protection wasn't focused. He was attacked by a group of rogues, they damn near ripped him apart. The ANBU realized what was happening and got him to the hospital. The troublesome thing about killing that many people in one go, one person always escapes. Always.

"The one who escaped happened to be a extremely advanced medic nin. Much like myself you see. The bastard found me in the hospital and gave me a bottle of water laced with a potion. It allowed him to link our systems and in effect, control me. So the fucker made me down a few sleeping pills. He put me to sleep but took control of my body. When the ANBU summoned me to treat my brother-"

"-They summoned an assassin in disguise."

"-he treated him, yes. But he slipped into his system sort of a end-all drug. It disintegrated his brain. My brother's life ended a week later. My brother's personality was destroyed in 3 days. I couldn't do anything." She scowled.

Gaara went through the story. It was believable, and if he was wrong in putting his trust in her then he killed her when they reached the outside. He ran one hand over the deep red locks on his head and looked at the red drops falling off his fingertips. He hid a flinch at the amount of blood on his hands. He hated killing, tried to avoid it ever since he gave it up when he was a kid. Every once in a while when the crimson liquid proved to be overpowering he could swear he'd hear the voice of the Raccoon demon in his head laughing at him.

But that's irrelevant. He could commit murder to protect his fellow Kages. If Keiko really did kill the Mizukage then she deserved the death penalty. It's just wrong place wrong time that he's the one dispensing it.

"I believe you. Now get me outta here." He rose from his position in the dark and Keiko murmured.

"3 rights, a straight then a left."

And they were back at it.