The Awakening
Chapter 3: Spare My Life
Author: Innocent Attraction
Characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto

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Spare me my life. If that's all you can give to me, I'd rather have that anything. I don't care if you take all my possessions or everything I have. Just spare me my life. Spare me that one minuet thing. My life is all I have. One life to try to make a difference in this world or fall between the cracks. I won't have another chance at this. If there was any time to beg you for my life, this is the moment I need to. Before you take my life, please spare me. Please save me from deaths' arms if not for me but for my family and loved ones. Let me be saved this one time.

It was quiet in the hospital wing as the sun began to rise through the window. As the sun peered in her face, Temari woke up, stretching her arms out after sleeping on the couch in Gaaras' room. He still hadn't awaken. "Good. Maybe Shukaku will actually give him some peace. He needs it after that violent attack," she says to herself. She stands to her feet, checking on her little brother. His body was still covered with bruises and cuts. His left arm was still covered in a cast. It surprised Temari that Shukaku had allowed Gaara to become injured this time around. Usually, the sand would protect him. But this time, it didn't. It resisted. "This had to be Shukaku's doing."

She walks towards her brother as he soundly sleeps. She strokes her fingers through his red hair, smiling at him. It's been so long since she could do this. In fact, the last time she ever got to be this close to Gaara was when he was just a toddler. He was sick, and wanted his older sister to keep him company. That's exactly what she did. She stayed with him until she knew he'd be ok without having to be monitored for the night. Her father made Kankuro and herself watch him, in case Shukaku decided to awake in the middle of the night and take over his physical body. It was dreadful. It left dark circles under her eyes for years. Now that she was finally able to get to sleep, she felt better. Though at this point, sleep was the least important thing on her mind. "Why did the city let them do this to you, Gaara? You're the last person that ever deserved this kind of fate." A slight teardrop formed in her eye. All the years of watching him suffer made her sick inside. But she couldn't do anything about it. Her father was the Kazekage. What would she even be able to do?

Suddenly blinking his eyes awake, Gaara looks up at his older sister. "Where am I," he asks a bit confused as he looks around the room.

Temari pushes her thoughts aside. "You're at a hospital, Gaara. Something happened and you were rushed here. You've been in a kind of coma state for almost a week now."

"What happened to me," Gaara asks. His voice is fearful and concerned. He slowly rose up, Temari removing her hand away from his hair.

Temari looks at him. "Does he honestly not know what happened to him," she says to herself. "I certainly can't forget it, but how doesn't he remember?" This surprised her a bit. "Shukaku awoke and attacked you. At least that's what Baku thinks. No one is really sure, but there might be a risk that your sand demon has woken up again." Temari pauses for a moment, letting Gaara take this all in and hopefully remember what happened. "You were pretty beat-up when I found you. You seemed unconscious, like it had happened a couple days before or something. You'd been locked up in your room for three days." Gaara's eyes are wide and frightened. He seems as though he could actually cry. He remembers what happened before that. He just couldn't remember what happened afterwards. He even remembered the whole attack. "Are you ok, Gaara?"

"I'm fine," Gaara says, still thinking about the entire night. He could remember almost everything about it. "Shukaku…he woke up. He kept whispering in my ear that he needed blood. Fresh blood. Blood that didn't taste wasted and used. I kept telling him no. I didn't want to kill anymore. I was done being an image everyone feared, but he didn't like that answer. So he removed my sand armor and attacked me. He held the sand away from me so I couldn't block me beating myself up. He made sure I was near-death before I could stop. I don't remember anything after that."

Nearly ready to cry, Temari looks at her younger brother with so much fear. "So Shukaku did lash out against Gaara. But he knows he can't kill Gaara. Otherwise, he'd be lost forever as well. But why? It all doesn't make any sense," Temari thinks. She turns her attention once more to Gaara. "If Shukaku can control Gaara when he's awake, it means he has more control over him when he's asleep. We have to handle this situation now."

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Kankuro stares at the clock hanging on the office. 12:23. "Temari should be home right now with news about Gaara. I hope he's doing ok. Last we heard, he was still beaten pretty bad and might've suffered a broken rib. Lets hope Shukaku didn't attack while Gaara was in recovery. He could kill him if he wanted to." Nervously pacing the floor, Kankuro fiddles with his fingers and talks to himself. When Temari stands at the door, Kankuro walks over towards her. "What took you so long?"

Temari didn't immediately answer. She didn't think she honestly could. It was harder to admit what was happening to Gaara than Kankuro might be ready to hear. Temari takes a deep breath in. "You might want to sit down for this, Kankuro." Kankuro seems startled. He doesn't hesitate though. He knew this news was obviously big if Temari's face looked this worried and concerned. "I think Shukaku is able to control Gaaras' defenses. Usually the sand would defend him from attack; even if he was attacking himself. But this time, he didn't. Gaara said it was as if Shukaku took control of his body and made him attack himself. He didn't understand it at all. I think Shukaku might actually be growing stronger."

Kankuro just stares at his sister. He can't find any words to say anymore. I surge of fear went down his spine. He knew this was probably the worst news he could get when it comes to Shukaku. It was hard enough with Gaara growing more and more unstable. With Shukaku now able to take control of him while he was awake and have full control of his movements, Gaara was fighting a battle he might not be able to win. "So what are we going to do?"

"I don't know," Temari says. "I honestly don't think there is anything we can do. We've tried our best from the beginning to control Gaara the best we could and make sure nothing too drastic happened during important events. But this time, I don't think there's anything we can actually do this time." She turns her back from her brother, holding her arms close to her body. "I'm scared, Kankuro. Just when we get him back, Shukaku is trying to take over him again."

Kankuro stands to his feet and walks over to his older sister, wrapping his arms around her and comforting her. "For right now, Gaara's ok. He seems to be in good condition from what Baki described when he saw him last time a couple days ago. He doesn't seem to be getting weaker. We have to rely on that as best as we can."

"Shukaku is only doing that because he wasn't aware we'd weaken himself as well. He's letting Gaara rest so he'll be rested as well. Then what do we do? Watch helplessly from the sidelines?"

"Temari, I know you're worried. I know you are," Kankuro says. "But for now, we don't have much choice but to be positive for what we have. Gaara is ok right now. He might have a bit of a battle later, but for now he's ok. If anything happens to him, we'll be right there for him. He's a lot stronger with controlling Shukaku. He met Naruto Uzumaki. Naruto changed him. You know that. Gaara won't let himself lose to Shukaku."

Temari smiles at her brother. Apparently, Kankuro had grown up more than she was honestly aware of. She admired his strength during this difficult situation. She sighs. "I guess that's all we have to rely on. That doesn't mean I won't worry about him, but I guess you're right. I heard some ninjas wanted to talk to me when I came in. I'll see you in a little bit." Temari looks at her brother one last time then exit's the office.

Kankuro smiles until Temari comes out of view. On the outside, he tried to appear as positive as possible. On the inside however, his world was starting to crumble under his feet and his strength was quickly diminishing. He knew Gaara would only get worse from here on in. He knew this; he'd been thinking about this since the first time Gaara lashed out on him. He had to remain strong though, even if he didn't feel so strong. "Gaara, lets hope Naruto made a difference in you. You can fight through this and make it through. I know you can. You're so much stronger than any of us. Don't let Shukaku overtake you, little brother. I don't think I could see you like that again. I don't think anyone could see you like that again…

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You're not strong enough to take me, Gaara Sabaku. In fact, you can't fight me without losing your life. And if you die, I die. I don't think you want that to happen do you? You can't fight this battle and win. Eventually, you will become that dark, sadistic child who everyone feared when his name was brought up. You will become that child with the scent of blood that followed him everywhere he went. You will become that cold-blooded killer that didn't feel a single thing. You will become me once more. You can't control me; I control you. You can't hide from me. You can't hide anything from me. I know you. I live in you. I am you.

Gaara raises up in his hospital bed, his heart bounding in his chest. A bit of sweat drips from his forehead and down his cheek. He looks around the room, making sure he was alone. "Another nightmare," he says. "I can't let this keep happening to me. This has been going on long enough. But if I keep trying to resist him, he'll attack me until there's nothing left. I don't want to die fighting a demon I feel as though I could never control. I can't let myself lose to him." Gaara looks out to the window. The window faces his house. He looks more determined. "I can't let myself lose this fight…for them. I don't want them to experience that same fear they had to endure because of me. I love them too much to let that happen again. I can't let it happen. I want to be like Naruto. I hope what Naruto taught me sticks with me through this.

Gaara, shifting over so his feet barely touched the ground, pushes himself so he can stand on his feet. He walks over to the window to look at his village. Being kazekage, he had to protect the village, but how was he going to protect the village when the enemy he would fight would be himself? How was he even going to manage this when he didn't know what exactly he was supposed to do? At least Gaara knew one thing; the next few months ahead, there wouldn't be much peace in the village. This battle was far from over; it was just beginning.

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End of Chapter.
Please review and tell me what you honestly thought of it.
I spent a lot of time trying to think of an idea for it.