YAY new chapter! :D so long awaited lol

Chapter 13

The dark room was filled with an oppressive chilled air. It crept down his throat, tightening his vocal cords, like a skeletal hand preventing him from screaming.

Not that he had any desire to scream anymore.

Nobody was coming for him.

He was all alone.

Somewhere a drip of water echoed; the sound reverberating from the thick stone walls. Gaara drew into himself some more, his forehead resting on his knees. Shukaku was silent, which was unusual. The damn monster hadn't said a word since his defeat... how long ago was it? He didn't know. Time passed immeasurably in this place.

At least he wasn't in a cage anymore. The man, Danzo, assumed him beaten into submission and left him here to await his orders. HA! Acting was no problem for the likes of him. A few wimpers here, a few bows of the head there. The guy had no idea he was being manipulated. Well it was his fault for underestimating the host of a racoon demon. He'd learnt a few tricks over the years.

The only frustrating thing was... Danzo had control over his chakra. He couldn't even attempt an escape!

He cussed and got to his feet to pace again. Ten steps this way. Ten steps back. Ten steps this way.

He reached the opposite wall and stopped to feel along it. His hand soon found the heavy wooden door, the only entrance and exit to the room. He had a chance if he... but wait, that was too risky, what if he was caught? Danzo would know he'd been tricked.

But what was life without a few risks? He was a trained ninja, death was to be expected, even accepted. If he couldn't even take one risk, then he was not fit to call himself such.

He took a deep calming breath and leant his ear to the wood to wait for oncoming footsteps.

"Meeoooowph."

"Oh will you go away you stupid cat!"

"Meeoooooooooooooooowooowph."

"Stop following me!"

"Meowph."

"Say that one more time, and I'll make damn sure there'll be no mini-Mr Muggles in the future!"

Sakura paused in her search for her keys and quickly looked up from her bag to cast a furious glare at the person who was being so mean to cats. But there was nobody there. She looked up and down the street in confusion. There must be someone there, she had heard them!

She stepped out from her porch to get a better look and watched with some astonishment as a plump white cat sauntered past in the wake of a furious little orange fox. The fox itself stomped up the road with fur bristled and indignant expression on its face.

All coherent thoughts and logic fled her brain as she jogged to catch up and stand in front of them.

As it finally noticed her presence, the little fox's expression suddenly changed to 'cute and innocent' and it looked up at her. "Mew?"

She put her hands on her hips and frowned at it. "Oh no, don't play that game with me mister."

It narrowed its eyes at her. Then lifted its muzzle disdainfully as it strode past, completely ignoring her.

Offended by this obvious snubbing, Sakura marched forward and grabbed the little creature by its fluffy tail, bringing it to her eyelevel so she could stare down at it.

It stared back without blinking, infuriating her even more. She shook it a bit. "Speak! You horrible little thing. What are you?"

"I'm a fox. Obviously," he replied in a contemptuous voice.

"I can see that, I'm not stupid."

"Could've fooled me."

She gritted her teeth. "Are you a ninja fox? Who trained you? I want to speak to them! I'll give them a piece of my mind..," she growled.

It regarded her for a moment. She could almost see the cogs whirring in its simple little brain. Finally it sighed, and said,

"Naruto."

The idiot girl seemed lost for words. Kyuubi shifted uncomfortably in her grasp, it just wasn't nice to hold someone by their tail. He looked down at the floor, annoyingly far away and occupied by an even more annoying ball of fluff.

"Meooooowph?" said the fluff.

He glared at it and it gave its tail a swish. Stupid cat. This was all his fault.

But at least he could twist this to his advantage. A human could easily open doors that he couldn't reach. Perfect! A demonic smile pulled at his features.

Finally, the idiot girl found her voice. "Uh... hm... right... yes, ok."

He fixed her with a withering gaze. Honestly, humans could be so dumb sometimes.

"I'm going to meet him now, are you coming?"

"I... what?"

"You said you wanted words. Are you coming?"

Her mouth opened and closed like a goldfish. He tried not to laugh. She seemed to be struggling with the idea, indecision etching lines in her forehead. After several more painful minutes she inhaled deeply, closed her eyes and dropped him. "Yes."

"MEOOOO...mm...mmph!"

"Owww," Kyuubi groaned. His tail felt like it had been ripped off, but at least his landing had been soft. Mr Muggles lay spread eagled on the road with kyuubi lying across him with one paw muffling the irritating noises. Gathering himself up, he took a few steps to recover and looked back up at Sakura.

"Yes, I... I'm coming," she repeated.

He nodded and led the way, grinning triumphantly to himself. Mr Muggles shook himself and followed a few paces behind, completely unfazed.

The alarm hadn't sounded yet, which was good. That meant he hadn't been discovered yet. The guard he'd knocked out now lay in a crumpled heap in the corner of the room he'd escaped from, and would remain there for a good few hours if he was lucky. Luck appeared to be in good supply this day.

Gaara slipped soundlessly past more doors and sped down yet another corridor. Identical to all the others. 'Damn it, where's the exit?'

Footsteps echoed from behind. He quickened his pace, but then more footsteps echoed from in front. Cursing, he slid to a stop and searched for a way out. Only one door could be reached in time. He threw himself at it, his hand groping for the handle.

Kyuubi led the way out of the village, girl and cat in tow. It would have been an extraordinary sight had many people been around to witness it. As it was though, it was too early for most of the village and only four in total saw them at all.

Pausing only to catch the scent again, he changed direction and went into the trees. Barely a day had passed since he'd come this way before, and yet still his scent was fading. He should have marked the trail or something, he chastised himself.

The cat was being mercifully silent for once, as they weaved their way around trees, over roots, under branches. Paws padding silently over the fallen leaves. Only the girl made even the slightest noise, her boots crunching twigs underfoot with no regard for stealth. But then again, she had no idea this was a rescue mission.

With luck they would pass unnoticed until they got there. If they were unlucky... well at least she served as a distraction.

The sun had risen above the treetops now, casting speckled dots of light over the floor ahead. A sudden brightness caught his eye, something reflecting the sunlight, and he sighed with relief as he manoeuvred around the trap with ease. Traps were to be expected of course, this was ANBU HQ. Not really a tourist resort. He kept his nose out for more, just in case, and cast a watchful eye on the pair following close behind. It wouldn't do to give themselves away too early, though in all probability, they had most likely already been spotted and kept under observation.

Surreptitiously, he tilted his head up to sweep the branches above them for masked figures. None were apparent, but that didn't necessarily mean they weren't there.

The girl sighed suddenly, "is he much further, fox?"

"Shhhh!" he replied crossly.

She closed her mouth abruptly; then opened it again with a frown. "Don't you shush me! I'll have you made into a handbag."

"Will you be quiet! They'll discover us!"

"Who will?"

"They will," he said emotionlessly and pointed behind her with a paw.

Two masked, cloaked ANBU stood behind her with kunai drawn. They didn't appear to be very friendly.

Kyuubi bared his teeth at them and Mr Muggles raised his hackles and hissed. Sakura crouched and drew her own kunai, ready to defend herself. They stood assessing each other for a good few minutes until that unspoken signal sent both ANBU sprinting at the trio to attack.

Sakura dodged the first and parried a blow from the second, spinning round to unleash her own devastating blows. But the ANBU were fast. They ducked and weaved around her kicks and slashes with minimal effort. It seemed they would quickly overpower her; she was no match for them. One of them raised his kunai and aimed for her back as she was distracted by the other; there was no time to avoid it!

Suddenly a flurry of fur and claws assailed his masked face. He yelled and lashed out, sending Mr Muggles flying back a few paces to land on his feet, hissing and spitting. That was all that was needed. Gathering himself, Kyuubi launched himself at the nearest leg and sank his fangs deep into tender flesh.

The ANBU kicked and swung his leg round and round, trying to dislodge the fox, but it was no use. Kyuubi used this method all the time to bring down his prey; there was no letting go once he'd found his grip. Mr Muggles chose this time to join in again; scratching and biting at arms, hands, neck, whatever he could reach. Sakura was entirely occupied with the second ANBU but seemed to be holding her own.

Just then, two more masked figures entered the scene, kunai drawn.

'Shit,' thought Kyuubi. How the hell was he going to get out of this mess?

Suddenly a blur sped past, sending both new ANBU spinning headlong into a tree, but it didn't stop there. Bouncing from a branch, the blur swept Sakura's adversary off his feet to land motionless several metres away. Thinking now would be a good time to let go, Kyuubi sprang away from his prey just as the blur collided with it. Both blur and ANBU disappeared into the shadowy canopy and there was silence.

Breathing heavily and tensed for this new adversary, Sakura, Kyuubi and Mr Muggles stood side by side; staring around for the source of the attack. Footsteps crunched through fallen leaves ahead of them and a figure emerged from the shadows.

"You!" exclaimed Sakura, recognising him in horror.

Gaara regarded her for a moment then turned to Kyuubi. "Shukaku thought it was you. He's not said anything for days and then suddenly gets all excited..."

"Hmph! Thought you'd been taken captive too."

"We were, but we managed to escape somehow. That place is a maze; it was luck that we found the exit like that."

"Is Naruto still there?"

"Don't know, we didn't stick around to explore."

Sakura looked at Gaara then Kyuubi, then back to Gaara. Confusion etching her features. "Huh? What? What the hell is going on?"

They looked at her impassively. Mr Muggles contentedly licked his paws.

"Nothing that concerns you, now silence, the kyuubi and I are talking." Gaara turned back to Kyuubi.

Sakura's mouth was once more trying to become a goldfish.

"I've been experimenting since we escaped, and it seems as long as its just MY chakra we use, Danzo wont sense it. He's connected himself to the seal so he has direct access to Shukaku."

Kyuubi nodded. "I thought as much."

"But how is it that you're out here?" Gaara frowned, "how have you become separated from your host?"

He grinned devilishly. "Its a secret."

"Surely Danzo would have noticed. He's supposed to be connected to you!"

"No, he's connected to the seal. My chakra is still locked away inside Naruto, I merely transferred my consciousness into a conveniently present body. The crippled guy wouldn't have noticed more than a surge of chakra that apparently went nowhere."

Gaara nodded. "Clever."

"Aren't I?"

"But now what? You're stuck in that little body, what are you going to do now?"

"Well first, we're going to rescue my real body."

"...we?"

"Yes, you're coming to help."

"Says who?"

"Says me."

"And what if we don't want to. It seems we're better off when our natural enemy is separated from his chakra."

"Because, if you don't," Kyuubi stepped nearer and whispered in a threatening voice, "I will follow you to the ends of the earth and make your lives a living hell every minute of every day of every year for the rest of eternity." He lowered his voice even more. "And you will never find fresh underwear again!"

"Besides, I can kick your ass chakra or no chakra," he boasted confidently.

"Hmph," Gaara crossed his arms and appeared to be thinking about it, "fine whatever." He seemed to be a little paler than usual. "But only if you promise to leave us alone afterwards."

"Deal," Kyuubi agreed, mentally crossing his fingers.

The four of them picked their way through the trees again, with Gaara in the lead, followed by Kyuubi and a contented Mr Muggles. Sakura brought up the rear with a mixed expression of confusion and disbelief, still going for that goldfish impression.

All of a sudden a deafening explosion racked the sky. Smoke and debris rained down from above and a shockwave raced from up ahead to knock them to the ground.

"What was that?" squeaked Sakura, as they struggled to regain their feet and dust themselves off.

"It came from the ANBU building," Gaara replied, squinting into the distance at the cloud of dust rising from the forest. They picked up the pace as they ran towards it.

"I have a bad feeling about this."

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