---ooo---
Hurt
This was not a happy day. Not at all. First, it rained on him as he headed to headquarters. Then, there's lightning. Now, the Eye goes and makes the meeting mandatory. Sasuke and the rest sat around the holo-screen, watching as a dim shape came into being. And dim it was. More of a silhouette, really. Their leader was as enigmatic as he was brilliant. Outlined, he had fashionably spiked hair, and thick, lumpy clothing that hid the body. His scrambled voice warbled unpleasantly from the built in speakers.
"Good afternoon, Shinobi." The Eye's only defining characteristic was his...well, eye. A single eye, white sclera, black pupil. The cheery voice, encrypted as it was, came through loud and clear. "Enjoying the weather, I hope? Rain's good now and again, eh?"
Sasuke scrunched down in his chair besides Neji, glaring slightly at the outline. "Did you have something to tell us? Chatting about the weather is not something I'm in to."
Throwing him a glare, Sakura pursed her lips. Turning to the leader, she smiled lightly. "He's just mad he got wet. What's the emergency?"
Humming softly, the scrambled voice let loose a sad little chuckle. "We...have an incident. Something that involves the group. If you'll notice, Hinata is not among us. And believe me, she received the com. She just didn't pick up, so I tracked her com-phone." The Eye held up a finger and wagged it. "I patched into Delphi's subsystems and did a quick, rather discreet dome sweep. Check it out."
The Eye disappeared, replaced by an aerial still image from the dome ceiling. It magnified twice to reveal the rooftops of an overgrown mansion. To the back, an enclosed garden's glass walls had been blown out by a massive influx of sand, the remains covered by torrents of sandstreams. In the middle of the arboretum, one pinprick of red light shone. It magnified again to show a boy's yellow head of hair, thick, bubbling red chakra flowing like molasses over his body. A few feet away from him, a red head was slowly being swallowed by sand. Off to the side, Hinata was slumped against a tree, eyes hidden by a curtain of dark hair.
For a moment, no one stirred. Finally, Akamaru barked once, then whined, nudging Kiba. Absently, the dog trainer set a hand on his friend's collar and scratched behind it. "What's..what is this? Isn't that red crap chakra? Wouldn't Delphi pick up on that?"
"Hn," grunted Shikamaru, leaning in a bit closer to the holo. "If chakra is visible, it's hyper-concentrated. Energy readings should be off the chart."
"So much for an omniscient City-mind," snorted Neji. Rubbing his bandaged forehead, he grunted. "Hinata's wrapped up in this. We can't leave her there. And that idiot's gonna get her killed, I just know it. I'm not about to be executed for failing to save her."
"Oh, don't pretend you don't care, Neji." Ino poked him lightly, garnering a nasty look. "This is pretty simple. We go, we save, we get back."
"No."
"No?" Sakura's forehead scrunched up. "Wha-Why? We can do it."
"You ability to do this job is...debatable." The Eye waved at her dismissively. "But that's not the point. It's about exposure. If Delphi's running blind, it's Akatsuki's work. Orochimaru hasn't moved yet, apparently. This would be a big enough fight that it'd take all of you. Right now, I believe Naruto can finish this by himself." He paused, the line going to static for a moment before he continued. "Well, actually, I'm not too sure that's Naruto anymore."
Tenten leaned back in her chair, twirling a blade idly on a finger. "So, what? you went through all this trouble to annoy the crap out of us by telling us not to help?"
"No." The eye closed for a moment, then opened. "I want you to watch. This is a Bijuu fight."
There was a collective murmur among the Shinobi. The Bijuu have awakened? When did this happen? Those are Bijuu vassals?
"Quiet," The Eye continued, waving at them, "Never mind the how's just now. We need to find a weakness. Naruto's included." He took a deep breath, then released it. "Because without proper restraint, Naruto himself is a threat. No one forget it." Another pause. Then, the image flickered to a live action shot of the mansion below. "Oh, and enjoy the fireworks. There are always bound to be fireworks."
---
A crack of lightning rippled through the manmade skies above, striking the ground, tearing up the world below. When the WeatherApp. was created, the innovators left nothing out, for when you leave nothing out, you have everything. There are less chances of being wrong about the complicated makings of nature's torrents and calm signs if you have all elements included. Long ago in the history of mankind, it was discovered that lightning is actually a discharge, a necessary release of built up meteorological energy. And so, the bolts of Zeus do not spare even a domed City-State.
Crackling thunder thrust Hinata back into awareness, where a pounding headache was instantly forgotten at the sight of two demons. She stifled a scream as what was once Naruto glanced at her and grinned lopsidedly, his eyes slanted, pupils elongated. But his attention turned back to his kin.
"Shukaku, Brother, it has been quite a few eons without having seen your face." Kitsune's molten eyes stare at his sand brother, long tongue lolling softly from between sharpened teeth. "You are well?"
Shukaku growled, his face still half human. But his eyes blinked once or twice, and a false, sandy smile cracked the face, little rivulets of grains trickling between teeth. "Ah, Brother, you speak condescendingly once more. Oh how long I have loathed your voice. But it does my heart good to see you stoop so low as to seal yourself within a mortal."
"Oh, but it does my heart better to see you sealed within a mortal unwillingly." Kitsune laughed, utterly overjoyed at his own clever wit. Naruto's face contorted into an unnatural foxy grin, the smile stretched far too long.
"Quiet, Traitor. You who have done the unthinkable dishonors himself further by making light of a Loyalist." The raccoon smile fell, leaving only a long, harsh snarl. "It is your fault we are sealed here. And it is your fault we are sealed Here. I know you understand the meaning between the two…Brother." The sandy, serrated tail whipped out like a snake, flashing out in cadence with the flashes of steely-blue lightning.
The Nine-Tails ducked, snagged the tail, and yanked. All ready, Shukaku's form had enveloped Gaara, and his form weighed as much as a small pickup. But Naruto's thin frame threw him as easily as a pinecone. The sand monster slammed into the far mansion wall, straight through, and out into a room beyond. Landing harshly on frayed tatami mats, he snarled as the blonde boy stepped calmly through the hole, and kept his Cheshire cat grin. "Ah, you can hardly blame me for what I did, Shukaku. And I would not venture to call what I did traitorous when, in fact, the Mother betrayed me first!" Lightning flashed again and again, turning the darkness to light like a strobe beam.
For the half second the room was illuminated, Kitsune's eyes beheld the trap too late. The sand poured down from the walls where it had been hidden, flooding and crushing. Naruto's skeleton would not handle it, even possessed as it was.
"Sand Burial!"
Without remorse, Shukaku's claw clasped shut, the room compacting instantly into a globular shape. For good measure, he ground his fingers, eeking out a dark liquid from the sand. "Oh, how the mighty have fallen..." Releasing, he chuckled and moved to pick up the body in the sand.
However, it wasn't Naruto's body. Several pigeons lay quite still, their bodies drained of blood, their corpses imploded and full of sand. "Multiple substitutions…" Furiously, he knocked them aside, and moved the sand, glancing about. A neat hole in the ceiling dribbled debris directly over the dead birds. Jumping recklessly, his ungainly body made a graceful landing in the room above. "Clever, very clever. You always had a silver tongue and a quick mind. But your narcissism will be the death of you yet. Pride cometh before the fall." Tanuki eyes skimmed the pitch black room, and snout sampled the air. With a grunt, he turned and strained to block the fist that found him. Gritting his teeth, he shoved back, and countered a kick. "The Mother weeps, or can you no longer hear her voice?"
"Her voice has long, long ago abandoned this humble Son of Hers," hummed a voice. Without warning, a pinprick of red light exploded into Shukaku's face, smashing a massive chunk of sand off. His feet left the ground and he slammed through a wall and back into the arboretum, flailing for purchase in mid air. Turning, he landed, sliding, knocking over several trees.
Lightly, Naruto's form jumped from the new window and into the tangle of vegetation. Everything dripped as he walked towards the wrecked trees, the leaves, the vines, the very glass sky itself. Raindrops sizzled as he walked towards the furrow Shukaku had left when he fell, pausing idly as he glanced left and right. The sand raccoon was gone. "Hm."
A layer of sand exploded from beneath him, knocking him back. Arms crossed before his face, Kitsune snarled as Shukaku's tendrils of sand drilled into Naruto's arms. The sudden pressure forced the forearm bones to bend grotesquely, then snap like kindling. He snarled in pain, before the tendril smashed into his side and up. With a sudden shattering, the glass ceiling exploded as his body traveled up and out onto a low roof. Cursing softly, he curled into a ball and rolled when he hit the roof tiles. With a snap, his arms reset themselves and he wiggled his fingers, just to be safe. They worked.
"Even now you do not regret your deeds? Your blasphemy is appalling." Shukaku's form had grown bigger, adding sand from the soil and surrounding area. He was nearly two stories high now, and as long as a motor home. His head was level with Naruto's body, and the massive mouth gaped. "It is little wonder that you now lose. She is with me yet." The snarl never left his voice. "You are not surprised, right?"
"Am I ever?" hummed the nine-tails, chewing on his lip with pointed fangs. He flipped out of the way as a massive paw took a chunk out of the mansion's side. Frowning, Naruto's body jerked as he dodged a large clump of debris. "And She was never with me. She cannot be betrayed then. She cannot be hurt! Because She...does...not…EXIST!" Drawing back his arm, he let chakra bundle and grow, growing hotter and brighter as Shukaku grew bigger and bigger. Thunder rolled and rain fell as they both gathered themselves for one final attack.
Tensing his arm, Kitsune grinned his long grin, and...twitched. "Hmm?" He tried to jerk Naruto's hand forward, but it simply wavered, as if held back. The chakra in his palm grew dim and blipped out of reality as Naruto fought for his mind.
---
Stay out of this, brat! Are you insane? He'll kill us both! Even as it is, I cannot access my full power.
Tough balls, Fuzzo. This is my battle as much as it's yours. That's my body you're trashing out there.
You would not be able to deal with this sort of power, fool. You are naught but an insect before one of us. Can you not comprehend this?
I comprehend plenty, and if I'm gonna die, I wanna know it's my fault and no one else's. Don't like it? Deal with it. Your seal's just a tad too strong. As long as I'm aware, I can control my body.
No! Wait, you imbecile! I propose a compromise!
Tch, fine. But I lead.
---
Naruto came awake with a start, eyes snapping wide open, just in time to see Shukaku end his growth.
Nearly a hundred meters tall, the Raccoon laughed hollowly in the deep, unaffected voice of a true monster. "Hohohahahaha, a child now leads you, Kitsune? Ohhh, how you're empire of dirt has fallen. Hahaha."
Clouds churned and flashed, growling their anger at the earth below. Naruto blinked, blinked again, wiping water from his eyes as he leapt sideways, his legs carrying much too far. His perspective was split. Rather, their perspective was split. His mind, Naruto's mind, was fully aware of all that was happening, and had total control over his body, but his chakra was not his. Kitsune boiled up from him like a frothy cauldron, his mind offering advice and whispers of suggestions to Naruto. They were, for the moment, one. It was disorienting to have thoughts from another mind race through yours.
But then again, it was utterly natural. The blonde boy couldn't help but laugh throatily, enjoying the full, raw, unhindered power burning him alive. Pain like rolling waves left him breathless and gasping for more. Eyes set ablaze, he leapt about the roofs, climbing higher and higher, Kitsune's growling voice emanating with his. "Ah, Shukaku, that's yer name, right?" The two-toned voice crackled and popped from the back of his throat, and he loved it. "I'm not interested in talking to you. You're downright boring. Lemme see Gaara. Now he's interesting."
"And why should I listen to you, boy? Didn't your mother tell you not to interrupt adults?" The tail came flashing down, smashing through the building like a hot knife through butter. "My host is just that, a host. He has nothing useful to contribute to the fight."
With a shuddering crack, the tail whipped into him, smashing him through spires and tiles, brushing his small body aside like chaff. Naruto gasped, his ribs popping and cracking beneath the tremendous strain. He flew from the tail like a rag-doll, landing against an ancient lightning rod. It pierced the flesh of his leg without difficulty, and snapped off cleanly, coming away stuck between the two bones of his calf. He...they yelped, skipped once on a roof, and smashed into a turret wall. "Ugh. I feel like a freakin' shiskabob." With one smooth motion, he tore the long metal shaft out, and slumped as the flesh healed painfully. "Ngh! Seriously, does it have to hurt this bad?" Standing slowly, he wiped blood from his forehead as Shukaku lumbered up onto the roofs, the entire building groaning beneath his massive weight. Ducking his massive head, he kept low as lightning flickered among the highest of the turrets.
"Hm. Heh. Now there's an idea." Stepping forward, he hefted the bloodied lightning rod and leapt to the highest point of the mansion. As he landed, a brilliant flash of electricity rattled down the turret and down to the grounded wiring. "This better not kill me." Flinging a piece of tile at the Raccoon Bijuu's head, he whistled shrilly. Slowly, the head turned to snarl at him, his tail whipping out again.
Without hesitating, Naruto slammed the lightning rod into the tail as he leapt onto it. Rolling off, he leapt for another rod, snapping it off at the base and coming up close to Shukaku's leg. Climbing inhumanly fast up the shifting sands, he slammed the second rod into the massive shoulder. The tail found him this time, cracking a leg and casting him off. Grunting, he whipped past another rod and grasped it. Ancient metal bent and broke from his momentum, letting him come away with a third lightning rod. Standing slowly, he snarled as his leg reset, then jumped. Landing on yet another turret, he stared down at the Sand Beast. "Fifty-four thousand degrees, five hundred MegaJoules, and three million volts of unaltered electrical current." A twitching, wicked smile crawled along his fanged maw, and he laughed. It was guttural, low, and grating, the sound of a human gone mad. Or a Bijuu having a laughing fit. "Can't say anything that isn't cliché right about now, so I'm not even going to mention fireworks."
Shukaku finally noticed him, and lunged, clambering up the turret and opening an abysmal mouth to scream his fury and arrogance at this insignificant little human. "Smells like ozone," cackled the hybrid mind as he jumped and landed squarely on the Bijuu's head. Setting his hand on the whipping sands, he raised the lightning rod with the other hand and laughed. Shukaku shook his head violently, growling incoherent curses as Naruto set his mouth beside the large ear and laughed. "Lightning always strikes…" he chuckled merrily, the metal rod raised unwavering in the winds. The sky sparked. "...at the highest point."
With a roar, the mechanical Zeus of the dome let loose his bolts. The current channel ripped down the metal rod, through Naruto's convulsing body, and into Shukaku's head. Leaping instantaneously to the other two rods, sand and soil erupted, melting and rehardening into glass in a matter of nano-moments. Electricity raged and rattled, crackling and burning, turning the Bijuu into a grotesque glass sculpture. Large patches of glass cracked and shattered as lightning struck again and again, as Shukaku screamed his pain and fury. As Naruto roasted alive.
Forty to fifty microseconds later, all was still. And slowly, slowly, sand and glass began to cascade, raining over the world and spreading to the winds. Shukaku roared and screamed and cursed as his essence was once again sealed within his vessel.
---
Gaara collapsed onto his side, wincing as he rolled through the sand. The Sand Bijuu slowly retreated, howling, into his mind, off to lick his wounds. Standing slowly, he stumbled, and watched as sparks leapt from his fingers. Clenching his hands into fists, he exhaled raggedly then fell to his knees. "Th-that's it then." Grinding his forehead with the ball of his hand, he snarled. "I'm still...not enough. Still not...good. Gngh!" Gnashing his teeth, he stood slowly and turned towards the smoldering body several yards away, collapsed once again in the arboretum. They'd been flung a good hundred yards from the roof and into the demolished garden. The last of the red chakra seeped from Naruto's body, healing fitfully as it went. A massive gash in Naruto's side was left gaping, however, leaking rivulets of blood. His entire body twitched and shuddered, convulsing fitfully in the earth, trails of grey-blue smoke running off his body. Water hissed as rain fell on his prone body.
"F-fool, you've left yourself exposed." Gaara took out a red-hot blade, yielding it shakily. It sparked in his impervious hand. "Now, now I c-can dispose of you. I can preserve my blood ties. I can keep...my family."
A long blade and a strong arm suddenly gripped him from behind, the tip pressed against the sand-skin of Gaara's neck. Chakra ignited the blade, as Hinata hissed into his ear. "Don't...touch...him!"
Frowning, Gaara cursed fitfully. In his weakened state, he would be absolutely no match for the minimally injured ninja. An Heir at that. This was a compromising position. "Hn," he grunted in acknowledgement. "Forgot about you. But are you really willing to kill, Hyuuga Hinata? After all, you are an Heir in direct opposition to this child's House."
"What are you talking about?" The voice behind him hissed, trembling slightly. "I'm not interested in mind games, Akatsuki terrorist."
She had no idea who this was? "You don't know? This is Naruto Uzumaki, Heir of the Uzumaki House. I believe your Houses have long been on unfriendly terms." Gaara kept his voice level, disinterested. "I'm rather surprised you'd protect him. After all, he's the single greatest deterrent to your House. A thorn in your side, if you will."
The blade on his neck trembled slightly, wavered, then strengthened. "No, I didn't know that. I don't care either, even if you are telling the truth." Hinata glanced over Gaara's shoulder. "He's a good man. Honorable. He threw himself in danger's way to protect me before. I'm just returning the favor."
Gaara winced as a soft touch to his spine sent chakra disruptively through his system. He gasped as he fell forward, paralyzed neatly. Hinata let him drop, before hurrying over to Naruto. Checking his pulse, she frowned at his erratic heartbeat, his dilated pupils, and shallow breathing. He wasn't even really unconscious, just unaware of what was going on around him. His eyes locked onto hers for a moment, azure eyes wide in pain. "This strange man, and his fierce desire for freedom does not make him a thorn in my side." Pressing a syringe into his neck, she watched as he slumped, relaxing visibly. Turning to stare at Gaara's figure, she clenched her teeth. "Just in yours." Laying Naruto's head down gently, Hinata stepped back towards the collapsed redhead. Yanking back on the shaggy head, she tilted his head to face hers. "Ready to finish this?"
He grimaced, furious and utterly consumed by his own thoughts. "Hn." His eyes trailed down to stare at the sand below his nose, wet and clumped. "I cannot believe it. In the end, I couldn't do it. I couldn't save them." Shaking his head slightly, the Sand Bijuu vessel grunted. "My reason d'être, my reason of being, will be gone now. And there was nothing I could do. Pathetic. Weak. Shell." Nodding softly, he stared at the ground, empty-eyed. "Finish it. I won't care anymore once I'm dead. I shouldn't care as it is."
Hinata's knife flashed. It grazed his nose, scraping sand off, and digging into the wet sand beside his head. "No."
"Fool, what are you doing?" Gaara snarled softly under his breath. "You're going to pay for any weakness with your life. That is the Akatsuki."
Slowly, she kneeled in front of him and stared straight into his dark-rimmed, sleepless eyes. "I am not the Akatsuki. I am not a murderess, believe it or not. That's your thing."
"You are soft."
"So are you, Mister Reason d'être." A chakra inflamed palm smashed into his forehead. "Now, good night and good riddance." The body before her relaxed further. "Save whom you have to save. Live for whom you believe you need to live for." Standing slowly, she yanked the blade from the ground and hoisted Naruto onto her back. "And I will do the same."
Seconds later, the there was only Gaara, his prone body lying in the spattering rain, drenched through and through.
The clouds above roiled and grumbled, but spat no more fire. Their work was done, their day was over. They had little care of what had transpired beneath them. After all, they were only clouds.
--------
I am particularly proud of this chappie. Dunno why, just liked it. I tried to keep Gaara IC, but it's incredibly hard because his situation is utterly different from the canon Gaara. It is to laugh. XD My greatest problem with this chappie is that I went straight for the solution to the problem, instead of having them duke it out uselessly. But then again, I like solutions.
Also, it's good to hear from you folks. Seems my (albiet small) fan base is still hanging about for this odd little story. As for the bird/worm refrences, well, those are utterly unintentional, believe it or not.
Anyway, today's song: Hurt by the esteemable (yet dead) Johnny Cash. If you don't know who that is, you need to...I dunno, shoot yourself in the foot? I'm against suicide and all that, so. XD This chappie title is totally unrelated to the story so far, and would have made more sense in another chappie, but I was listening to the song, and even put in a 'quote' from the song in. Yes, yes, it's a good quote. Impress me by telling me exactly where and what quote from the song I used.
See ya 'bout,
-Raz