Love's Misconstruities
Chapter 11
The next few weeks had gone by uneventfully. While the rest of the chuunin candidates practiced relentlessly, the Sand-nin were practically bored. Temari spent most of her time with Shikamaru when he was free and Kankurou tinkered with his puppets and held unofficial after-school training programs for some of the Academy students. Out of the three, Gaara was the one who trained the most, which was odd to his siblings since he was the undisputed most powerful member of their group.
"Gaara, where are you going?" Kankurou had groggily asked half way through the month as he caught the boy trying to leave their room at sun rise.
"To train."
"Again? Why? These guys don't stand a chance against you. Everyone knows you're stronger than the rest of the candidates."
The red-head had frowned at him then, saying, "A strong shinobi is such because he does not underestimate his opponents." This was a lesson that he had learned personally long ago from fighting Naruto. He'd left then, leaving his brother to contemplate his words. Later that day, Kankurou had asked Temari and Shikamaru to help him with his own training. It would manage to pay off. Shikamaru forced him to work on his foresight and Temari's brutal assaults made him brush up on his defense and long-ranged attacks.
When the day of the matches finally came, Kankurou's opponent from the Mist, Amatsubu, had proven to be stronger than he had originally thought, possessing an extensive array of water jutsu for a genin. Luckily, Kankurou had been able to use his newly polished abilities to poison him and bide his time by keeping him at a distance until it took its course. Having not wanted to use a lethal poison, the alternatives that he'd devised took longer to take effect. But Kankurou was patient and eventually the examiner had declared Kankurou the winner after his opponent had collapsed.
Meanwhile, Temari's overconfidence was her undoing. Despite Kankurou's warnings about the canine and his genin master, she'd figured them for pushovers since they were short to mid-ranged opponents. She'd planned on slicing them up from a distance with her wind jutsu but they didn't give her the chance. Had her goal been to kill them she would have fared far better, but as it was, she had no intention of using any of her fatal summons or jutsu. She was outnumbered and their speed and strength had overpowered her, forcing her into defeat. Still, she had put up a good fight, and the boy and his dog were not without their share of injuries as well.
Gaara watched Hinata's battle intently. It was a close match, but with the use of her original jutsu, she was able to render Shino's bugs ineffective and force him into close-combat. From there, he stood no chance. Once she'd disrupted the flow of his chakra, he lost control of his kikaichuu altogether. He'd fought to the very end and so did his teammate. She had earned her victory and Gaara was proud. But he didn't have time to congratulate her. His battles were next.
His first fight was against the Mist kunoichi, Hitoame. If there was one word to describe her, it would be dark—long flowing black hair, thick and solid navy face-paint around her eyes and mouth, and a black and navy outfit that looked like a wetsuit with fishnet on the lower sleeves and legs. She was definitely trying to look intimidating, yet it wasn't her appearance that made Gaara wary.
After he'd been defeated by Naruto, he swore never to underestimate an opponent again. That, and she, even more than her companions, had a wildness that dwelt in her eyes—one that he knew well. She had killed before, he could see, and she enjoyed it. When he had first looked into those ice-blue eyes as her Mist team confronted him after their matches had been announced, he knew that he had been targeted as her next victim.
"Begin!" the examiner shouted, quieting the crowd who sat on the edges of their seats waiting to be impressed.
Gaara stood with his arms crossed, waiting to see just what she had to offer. She seemed to have the same idea in mind. The two were having what seemed to be a staring contest, and the audience was beginning to grow restless.
"What are you waiting for?" Hitoame finally asked, a feral grin stretching across her lips. Gaara gave no response. "Hmph. Just as I thought. You're afraid. Ha! The infamous Sabaku no Gaara is afraid of me!" she taunted. Still, Gaara just stared, arms adamantly across his chest. "Good. You should be."
"Why is that?" the boy calmly asked. "You're obviously weaker than me. It took your team the entire five days to clear the Forest of Death. Mine completed it in 83 minutes," he baited.
"That's because you're unimaginative," she retorted, laughter dancing on her words.
"What do you mean?" Gaara asked with a frown, though all along he'd had a nagging suspicion of what had delayed them. After the matches had been decided he'd gone to inquire about the fate of the other Suna team and was shocked and angered by the news he'd received.
"We had the scroll we needed before the first day was over. I just couldn't wait a month to see some action," she began, grinning.
"What are you saying?" he pushed, trying to make her clarify...and he knew that she would. In her eyes, Gaara could see that she had been dying to gloat about this the entire month.
"Short and stupid, I see," she chuckled, causing Gaara's eyes to narrow. "I would think it was obvious. There's a reason so few teams passed. And that reason was us: the strongest genin team of the Mist!" Gaara merely glared at her. "I hope you put up more of a fight than the other Sand-nin did. You know, they begged for mercy at the end. How pathetic you Sand shinobi are. A symptom of a weak country," she insulted as she closed the distance between them. Gaara stood his ground as she walked beside him, stopping to whisper just loud enough for him to hear, "Someday, after I've seized control over the Mist, we will go to war against your pitiful village, and I will personally see to it that every last one of you weaklings is dead!"
'So, it was them.' The other team was one of the strongest genin cells in Suna, yet one of the members had died and the other two had been found unconscious. They were both still in comas despite the medical attention they'd received. Tsunade herself had examined them upon Gaara's request and had explained to him that they'd been deprived of oxygen for so long that they'd suffered brain damage. If they ever did wake up, they may never be the same again. Their lives as shinobi were most likely over and Gaara, feeling guilty for not taking the time to check on them as Kankurou had suggested, had sworn to avenge them.
"If that happens, you will fail," Gaara rebuked. "The desire to protect brings forth more strength than the desire to destroy. I'll teach you that," he firmly stated as he called forth the sand from his gourd.
"Ha ha ha… I think it's you who will learn a lesson from me! You're mine, Sabaku no Gaara!!" Hitoame declared as she jumped away and performed a series of hand seals. Her movements were quick and refined, but Gaara made no attempt to stop her. A thick fog permeated the battlefield and the temperature began to drop.
'To condense the moisture in the air to this degree… It's as I thought. She is no mere genin… She may even possess a blood-line limit.'
"Getting a little chilly for you, desert-dweller?" she called, her voice echoing from all around. "You should've brought a jacket, 'cause I'm not done yet!"
Gaara stood confidently in place, waiting as frost began to collect on his clothes.
'She's trying to distract me. She acts as though this is my first time experiencing the cold. While the desert can be unbearably hot during the day, at night it can drop to near-freezing. What a fool.'
The kunoichi took his apparent overconfidence as an opportunity, and by the time Gaara appeared to realize what was going on, a large volume of water had surrounded him. He jumped, but with the extra weight from his sand and the ice slowing his movements, he knew he wouldn't fare well. After a tense few minutes of the chase, his sand proving no match against her weapon of choice and merely turning into piles of useless mud-like clumps all over the arena, the water had caught him and encased his entire body in a liquid prison.
The fog quickly dissipated and the audience gasped at what they saw.
"Ha! Behold, the end of Sabaku no Gaara!" she declared, holding the water prison jutsu with one hand and using the other to form seals, creating several sharp icicles from the moisture in the air. "Die!" she screamed as the weapons pierced the binding liquid, stabbing the boy's struggling figure. "Ha ha ha… Examiner! It's over!" she breathed, sweat glistening on her brow.
"Says who?" whispered a voice from behind her.
Her eyes went wide and she slowly turned her head to glance at the figure inside her prison. Where there had been the figure of Gaara, there now existed only a mass of sand. She quickly dropped the jutsu and jumped away. "A sand clone?!"
Gaara sneered and raised his hand. The remainder of the sand in his gourd rushed at her with great speed. Hitoame dodged and managed to pull off one last jutsu which hurled balls of water at the boy, but they were easily blocked, though it cost Gaara more of his precious weapon. Despite her attempts, her speed steadily gave out as her body succumbed to the fatigue of using so many powerful jutsu with just a child's level of chakra. The sand grabbed her by the ankle and hurled her into the air only to swiftly bring her back, slamming her rigid body into the dirt.
"Ahhh!!" The stadium was filled with her cries. The sand crept around her legs and Gaara raised a hand.
"Sabaku Kyuu!" he called, tightening the sand around the lower half of her body.
"Ahh! No, wait-!"
"You should be proud. Because of your previous jutsu, most of the sand in my gourd is too wet to use. I only have enough to do this much damage. Looks like you may survive after all."
"No, stop! Examiner, I for-"
"Sabaku Sousou!" he screamed, closing his hand into a tight fist.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!"
The examiner jumped between them, giving Gaara a threatening glare.
"My lesson is complete," he finished, recalling the bloody sand from his victim. It was after a moment of hesitation that the examiner finally spoke up, though his voice was less than enthusiastic.
"Winner: Sabaku no Gaara…"
"Graahhh!!" the young girl screamed in anguish as the medical-nin ran out to attend her. "How?! How are you so strong?!" she managed to yell through clinched teeth.
"I wasn't able to save the other Sand-nin. The least I could do was avenge them. I refuse to let you harm my people for the sake of your bloodlust. As I said - true power comes from the will to protect."
"Your people… Ha ha… Fuck you… I'll kill you, just like I'll kill all those who've wronged me in the Mist!"
"You've managed to make enemies even in your own village?" he inquired, yet his voice held more of a curious lilt to it instead of a mocking one, as he too had once been a hunted outcast in his homeland.
As the medics reached her and began their work, a tremor of pain shot up her body and she winced, clinching her fists in the dirt. Still, she was too angry to ignore the boy before her. "Shut up!" she shouted over one of the medic's shoulders. "You don't know what it's like being born into the Mist with a bloodline limit! I was shunned by the entire village and had to fight to survive my whole life! No one would acknowledge me…not until I became their tool and proved useful to them. But someday I will grow powerful enough to kill those who've made my life a living hell… Do you think you could wrap your tiny little mind around how that must feel?!"
Gaara stared into the girl's rage-filled eyes for a moment before finally answering. "Yes, I know exactly how that feels."
"Bull shit! No one could understand my pain! Ugh!" she shouted, another tremor racking her body as the dirt below her showed a small pool of crimson. Two medics lay down a stretcher as the others were busily trying to wrap her legs and stop the bleeding.
"I thought so, too," Gaara continued. "But you may be surprised. I hope you can realize that someday…like I did. If you can learn to forgive those who have wronged you and show them that you are worth more than just the abilities that are inside you, then you will begin to understand where true power comes from." Gaara stared at her a moment longer, watching as she grimaced. He turned away once they put her on the stretcher. "If you are able to stand again, I suggest that you heed my words…because if you don't and someday are able to lead the Mist into a war against us, it will be I that you face—as Sunagakure's Kazekage…and then I will finish what I've started here."
If Hitoame wanted to say anything further, she hadn't the chance. It was then that she finally passed out from the pain. While they removed her, Gaara made his way back up to the waiting area and took the opportunity to speak with his injured sister who had insisted on watching the rest of the matches instead of going with the medics to have her injuries treated.
"You want my weapons pouch?" she repeated, surprised.
"Most of my sand is useless. You certainly don't need it right now."
"…Alright," Temari conceded, still a bit confused by the strange request. She undid the straps and handed it over. "…Gaara, if you could have…would you have killed that girl?" she carefully asked.
Gaara, knowing that no one in the stands could have heard much of their conversation, stared at his sister a moment before turning to leave. With his back facing her, he attached her pouch to his leg and replied, "We made a promise not to kill. I plan to honor that…for now."
Though he didn't see it, Temari's bruised face broke out in a smile as he left. It wasn't long ago when her little brother's mental state had been cause enough to never trust his word. He had been too impulsive, too unstable. He would say one thing when it suited him, then do the opposite on a whim. He was at the mercy of the demon inside him. But now things were different and Temari counted her blessings as Gaara left her to prepare for his next match. Though he was still dangerous, he was also becoming more reliable and predictable every time she looked at him.
Gaara's next opponent was Tsuyu, also of the Mist. Once they both stood before each other on the dirt of the arena, Gaara could easily sense his fear, despite the boy's attempt to hide it. He had been the shinobi who he'd thrown after the battles had first been announced, Gaara recalled.
"Begin!"
"She was the most powerful of your group, wasn't she?" Gaara asked, catching his opponent off-guard.
"W-what?" the smaller boy stuttered.
"You're afraid. I can smell it. You should be. Your fate will be no different."
"Sh-shut up! Y-Y-You're nothing without your precious sand, and that's all used up! You're not even wearing your damned gourd, so don't think you have the upper hand! Trying to psych me out won't work!" he finished, jumping back and beginning to perform a series of hand-seals, although not nearly as quickly as Hitoame had which only supported Gaara's previous statement.
Gaara took out several shuriken and threw them at Tsuyu who easily dodged, though it disrupted his jutsu.
"You're pathetic!" he called, resuming his comprehensive series of hand-seals.
Gaara shot him an evil grin and rushed forward, throwing yet another onslaught of shuriken his way.
"Too slow!" he called, jumping back even further. "You're never gonna learn!" he shouted when Gaara repeated the attack once more.
Again, Tsuyu flipped backwards, this time in front of the tree line. He looked up to see the shuriken ready to pass him by on his right, only to have another mass still heading toward him from within their shadow on his left.
'Shit, he faked me out! But…it doesn't matter. I can easily dodge this,' he thought, stepping between the two sets just in time to avoid being hit. It was then that he realized Gaara's true intention. The two shuriken groups passed him, but as they did, the thin and nearly invisible wire attached to them caught him in the middle and wrapped around the tree behind him, binding him to it. Gaara knew it wouldn't last long, howeveer, and threw another set of shuriken and kunai his way as he charged from the middle of the arena. "Shit!" the boy yelled, struggling to work himself free. He managed it at the last possible moment but still took a hit to his right arm. He winced but had no time to tend to his wound. Gaara was on him, not giving him any opportunity to perform hand seals. Tsuyu was forced to take out kunai of his own and defend himself.
Although both were normally mid to long-range combatants, Gaara clearly had the advantage in this short-ranged fight much to everyone's surprise. So far, Tsuyu had managed a hit to Gaara's forearm, but that was all that the red-head had allowed.
"How…? How are you this fast? Your profile said that you were slow! Have you just been faking it all along?!" Tsuyu asked as he struggled to keep up against Gaara's taijutsu.
"I have been carrying sand with me my whole life. Because of that, I was forced to become stronger and faster just to move normally. Without its burden, you are no match for me!" he explained, landing a critical stab to Tsuyu's left arm, paralyzing it. While the boy was distracted for that mere second, Gaara slid behind him into a crouching position and slashed the backs of both his legs. Tsuyu fell to his knees with a yelp, no longer able to stand.
"Forfeit," Gaara ordered the boy as he stood behind him.
"I can…ugh…still fight…!" he claimed, raising his trembling right arm and trying to perform a hand seal. Gaara kicked him in the back, forcing him face-first into the dirt. This didn't discourage the boy as he still slowly and awkwardly attempted his jutsu once again. Gaara walked around to his right side and pinned his trembling hand to the arena floor with a kunai.
"Gahh!!" he screamed, closing his eyes tight and clenching his jaw.
"Forfeit. Now. Or do you want to end up like your teammate?"
The young genin was furious as he contemplated his situation, his breath falling in heavy gasps in the powdery soil below.
"Fuck you!" he cried in a strained voice. "Why don't you just kill me? I've never heard of you sparing anyone!" He paused for a moment, coughing. He turned his head a bit away from the dirt and stared straight up at the boy kneeling next to him. "Why now? Why spare me?!"
"…Your eyes."
"W-what?"
"You don't enjoy killing."
"What…what are you-"
"I can see it in your eyes. You're not like the other two." The Mist-nin was silent, his eyes growing wider. "Fight for what you believe in, not the threats of your teammates. I'm giving you a chance to change. …But, if you don't want it…" Gaara said, putting a kunai against the tender flesh his neck. Tsuyu didn't react at all. His body language said it for him as he lay prostrate on the ground.
"I… I forfeit," he whispered with a grimace, just loud enough for the examiner nearby to hear.
"Winner: Gaara!"
Gaara put the kunai away and the two stared each other in the eye until the medical team finally removed him. He then returned to the waiting area, passing his brother in the corridor. He waited until the taller boy had passed him before speaking up. "Kankurou," he called over his shoulder, causing the taller boy to stop and glance back in kind. "Don't underestimate him."
"Heh! Temari said the same thing. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. Can't say the same about dog-boy, though."
Gaara had faith in his brother, of course, but Kiba had already bested Temari. He only hoped that his brother had benefited from his practicing with their sister and Shikamaru more than Temari herself had. It was true that Kankurou's first battle had been difficult, but Kiba was far more experienced than his previous opponent. They knew each other's fighting styles better. Plus, the odds were more even this time, being three versus two, and Kiba and Akamaru had an advantage in speed over Kankurou and his puppets. Still, despite Gaara's interest in his brother's fight, he found himself quite distracted as he realized that his next opponent would be Hinata. Sure, he'd known there would be the strong possibility that they would fight, but now it was real. In a matter of moments he would finally face her. How would she come at him first? How would he respond? How many times had he played out the possibilities of this battle over the past month? Though he'd developed plans for each person he may end up fighting, he had yet to agree on an exact strategy for this next one.
'This will be my toughest battle yet,' he thought, his heart beginning to race. It wasn't that he doubted his abilities, nor over-estimated hers. 'I promised never to harm her. If she comes at me with everything she has, it will be difficult to merely bind her and cause no injury. But with her abilities, my sand is nearly useless when it comes to that,' he thought, recalling how she'd nullified his Sabaku Kyuu. 'Her taijutsu is far superior to mine, despite how much I've practiced.' He idly wished he knew genjutsu, but its complexities were still beyond him.
It wasn't until many moments later that he was finally torn from his thoughts as the crowd began cheering loudly. Gaara glanced down to the area in time to see the examiner declaring Kankurou the winner of the match. He had managed to knock Akamaru unconscious from the look of things, maybe poisoning him. He had Kiba trapped in Kuroari, with Kurasu in pieces in the air getting ready to perform Karakuri Engeki, Kuro Higi Ippatsu. Kankurou could have killed the other boy but had stopped just short. He let Kiba out after his victory had been announced and as he exited it was clear that he was pissed. Still, he directed his anger mostly toward the medical team, yelling for them to help Akamaru. He was only calmed down once they'd told him that his dog would be fine.
After several minutes more, the two brothers passed again on the stairs.
"See! You had nothing to worry about," Kankurou bragged, though it was obvious from his posture that he'd come away a bit injured himself. If he'd learned anything from the battle it was that he needed to improve on his puppet's speed. He'd also do some research on tactics to strengthen his defense when he returned home, he planned.
"Don't get too cocky," Gaara warned, not stopping as he passed him. "I may be your next opponent."
Kankurou's grin quickly faded as he turned to face his brother's back. "You're wearing your gourd again," he commented. The red-head paid him no mind, however. His thoughts were elsewhere now as he continued his way back to the arena.
Hinata had waited for the very last second to come down. Once she did, it was obvious to Gaara that the confidence she'd had during her first battle was nowhere to be found. She stood across from him refusing to meet his concerned gaze and tapping her index fingers together, a nervous habit he'd hoped she'd be rid of by now.
"Next we have Hyuuga Hinata of Konoha versus Gaara of Suna. The winner will go on to the final match. …Begin!"
Hinata winced at the examiner's words, but other than that, her posture did not change.
'What is she doing? Is she really afraid of me? But why? I swore I'd never hurt her. Why doesn't she believe me? I've never done anything to indicate that I would harm her since that first day of training. …Perhaps…maybe… Could I have frightened her by what I did to the Mist-nin? Or…no. No, she was afraid before today. Ever since she saw Shukaku leaking out. I must show her that I'm not to be feared. I have to show her with this battle!'
"I-" he began.
Hinata jumped at the sound of his voice. "I forfeit!" she squeaked, cutting him off.
At this, the audience quickly erupted. It wasn't every day they got the chance to see a member of the Hyuuga, the strongest clan in Konoha, fight against one of the strongest, perhaps even the strongest, shinobi in Suna. Their disappointment and anger was tangible as their shouting, cursing, and booing ensued. But none of that mattered to the two combatants on the field. Their only concerns were for each other.
'Gomen, Gaara-san… You were going to forfeit, weren't you. In your weakened state you'd be no match for me. I don't want to embarrass you… You may stand a chance against Kankurou-san, but we both know that I would win this round,' the young girl thought, avoiding the shocked gaze from the angry boy before her.
"Winner by forfeit…Gaara…" the examiner half-heartedly announced to the noisy crowd.
She wouldn't even give you a chance, would she? Heh heh heh…
'I don't need your opinion.'
Betrayed in the end after all.
'Silence.'
I told you! That girl is afraid of us! No one will ever love you but me. I'm the one that protects you; shields you. Yet you still refuse to repay my kindness! And we even had the perfect opportunity earlier!
'Shut up! I will hear no more from you.'
Arg… Shukaku groaned as Gaara pushed him once again into the depths of his mind. Fine, but just you see. Your brother will probably forfeit, too! He knows you better than anyone…and fears you. The only reason he acts nice is to keep you passive. You'll see. You'll see…
"Our final battle: Gaara versus Kankurou, both of Suna."
Angry murmurs gave way to cheers from above as Gaara glared at his brother. At first Kankurou was taken aback by the gaze, not sure what to make of it.
"What's the matter, Kankurou? Too scared to fight me? After all, you know what I am truly capable of."
'What the hell is this all about?' Kankurou wondered, his eyes wide. He thought for a moment then tried to shake off the bad vibes he was getting from his brother. 'He must just be pissed about what happened. I shouldn't take it personally,' he thought, returning Gaara's gaze and adding a smug grin.
"Don't think I'm gonna forfeit, too. You're right that I know what you're capable of...both strengths and weaknesses. I won't be going easy on you, little brother."
At this declaration, Gaara felt the tension in his chest ease. His eyes lost their anger and his brow unfurrowed, bringing peace to his features, though it wouldn't stay that way. There was a battle to be fought and both boys planned on coming out on top.
"Come at me with everything you have. Don't you dare underestimate me," Gaara replied, grinning internally at his demon.
"Begin!"
Kankurou jumped back and wasted no time sending both Kurasu and Kuroari after his opponent. He began by having Kurasu shoot poison needles at his brother, but the attacks were met with a small wall of sand.
Gaara stood his ground, arms crossed over his chest as he frowned. Kankurou grinned and sent both puppets at him from either side. Gaara then broke his gourd down to sand and used it to supplement his defense as he took out two kunai and focused on Kurasu, letting his sand defend against Kuroari.
'So, he doesn't have enough even with the sand from his gourd to complete his absolute defense… He certainly doesn't have enough to attack me at the same time, then. I just have to keep him busy so he doesn't get the chance! I have the advantage in this fight. But, this is Gaara. I have to be careful. I'll use that attack…'
Kankurou pulled Kurasu back a bit then had the puppet shoot a poison gas explosive at him. To Kankurou's surprise, Gaara made no attempt to dodge it, nor escape the toxic cloud.
"Not a smart move, Gaara! This is a new poison that I created just for today. It isn't deadly, but it will paralyze its target within minutes! It's different than the one I used in the Forest of Death; the one you've been inoculated against."
The gas slowly cleared revealing the red-head who was obviously not impressed. "I figured as much. That was why I took samples from your puppets while you slept last night and asked Sakura-san to make an antidote."
"Wh-what?!" Kankurou shouted, both impressed and angered. 'Sakura, huh? The apprentice of Tsunade, the medical-nin of the Legendary Sannin! Damnit, I should've known to expect something like this…' he thought, fighting to replace his look of shock with confidence once again. "Heh…it doesn't matter. You're still going down!" he weakly taunted, quickening his puppet's pace and speeding up the assault.
After several minutes of the attack, Gaara managed a successful momentary escape from the puppets and charged at the puppeteer himself. But with both Kurasu and Kuroari on his tail, he hadn't much time. He jumped high into the air and threw what shuriken he had left at his brother in timed intervals, but Kankurou was able to expertly flip away and dodge them all. It hadn't even interrupted his control over the puppets.
As Gaara landed, he was pounced upon once again. With his kunai and sand, he dodged and defended against the two a while longer but eventually started to show fatigue as they danced around the arena. He was outnumbered and knew he couldn't keep this up for much longer.
Gaara tried several more attempts to outrun the puppets but, though he was much faster without his gourd, it wasn't fast enough. Kankurou was always right on him and refused to let him escape. The older boy was able to successfully rid Gaara of one of his kunai and wasted no time taking advantage of the opportunity, moving Kuroari in front of Kurasu, creating a temporary visual barrier.
The red-head did a back-flip while reaching into his borrowed pouch for another weapon, but the moment's distraction left him vulnerable. He did not seem to notice as Kurasu broke apart a hand and five fingers transformed into razor sharp needles headed straight toward him.
Had he a full gourd of sand he'd have had plenty of defense, but as it was the sand only blocked three of the projectiles. In a last-ditch effort, Gaara managed to turn slightly, but was still grazed by the last two on his cheek. Kankurou was already feeling like he'd made at least some progress before he realized that it drew no blood.
"…So, you decided to use your armor of sand this match," he commented, referring to how he had apparently not during his fight with Tsuyu since he had received the injury on his arm which drew blood. "I should be honored. Still, I would have thought that you'd be using all your available sand to defend in your first absolute defense and not resort to your second. You didn't used to be so cautious."
As Kankurou found time to chat, Gaara was further taking advantage of him. The red-head jumped away and his brother couldn't believe his eyes as Kurasu exploded into pieces.
"What?!" A singed segment of an arm landed at his feet and as he briefly inspected it, he noticed a small bit of paper wrapped around the wooden limb. "Exploding tags?! When-" It was then that he realized his mistake. Had this been anyone else, he would've kept the battle in closer range and made sure he had a better line of sight. But this was Gaara, and Kankurou knew him all too well. He'd seen that his brother had been trying to create distance between them but had allowed it since he knew how dangerous Gaara could be at times. Besides, Kankurou had overconfidently figured that with the training he'd done with his sister and Shikamaru during the past week that he was better acclimated to long-distance battles, but now he was staring at solid evidence of its clear disadvantage.
'Shit. Gaara kept retreating further and further away and even pushed me back with that shuriken attack. He's been positioning himself between me and Kurasu this whole time to block my vision of him. I should've figured he was up to something! He must've been loading him up with explosive tags all along! …I underestimated him after all. But this fight can still be mine. I just have to change my tactics a bit. He knew exactly where to place those tags to destroy any weaponry I might have used if Kurasu was in pieces. It's completely useless now. Crap! That's Gaara for you. But I'll make him pay for this!' He recalled Kuroari back to him and leapt into the tree line where he inspected his surviving puppet for tags before putting his new plan into motion.
Gaara tried to remain as stoic as possible as he patiently stood there with his arms folded, but he was betrayed by his body which forced heavy breaths from his lungs as he fought to catch his breath. It seemed he was approaching his limit, but Gaara was still determined. He used the opportunity to penetrate the dirt with his small remainder of sand in an attempt to use his sand creation jutsu.
"Like I'd give you time for that!" Kankurou yelled as Kuroari jumped from the shadows and charged his right side.
Gaara was forced to stop his efforts and flip to his left, assuming a fighting stance. Kuroari was desperately trying to grab him with its sawing arms, but this fight was still easier than before since there was one less opponent to worry about. He was out of explosive tags and had very few weapons left in Temari's pouch, but it didn't seem to worry him. Gaara had planned further ahead than anyone had yet realized. Still, it came as a surprise when Kankurou jumped from the tree line behind him and closed the distance between them, sandwiching Gaara in the middle of he and his remaining puppet. Gaara paid him little mind, though, assuming that he'd most likely stay an adequate distance away as he always did. His brother wouldn't want to chance injury. He was just being cautious of a possible attack on Kuroari like Gaara had managed earlier and didn't want to let his puppet out of sight. Still, he didn't rule out the possibility that his brother may try to launch an attack himself so stayed on guard as he defended against Kuroari.
As Gaara managed a slash across the puppet's mid-section, only then did he realize Kankurou's plan, and it was something he hadn't taken into account. Kuroari was encased in a small white cloud of smoke as Kankurou's figure was revealed, a fresh bleeding wound on his chest. Gaara's surprise was palpable.
'I've landed multiple hits on him and only now did he detransform. When did he get so good at holding a henge? It was never one of his strong points. Looks like you didn't disappoint me after all, brother. But now it's time to end this,' Gaara thought, a small grin growing on his lips as he turned behind him to find the true Kuroari there, opening up its chest cavity and preparing to grab and pull him inside.
Kankurou was stunned when sand burst from beneath his brother and created a vast wall that propelled outward, sending both he and his puppet flying to the ground. 'What? How?! Where did all that sand come from? There's no way he had enough time to create that much earlier. Then, when-'
As if reading his mind, Gaara answered. "Throughout all of my battles. …Have you ever known me to spend so much time chatting or prolonging a fight?"
"What? But…I didn't see you using your sand-creation jutsu until this match!" Gaara turned his attention to his brother's left. Kankurou followed his gaze and eyed the dirt next to him. He was stunned at what he saw. He broadened his gaze and only then was he able to make sense of things. Throughout the entirety of the arena there were tiny pairs of sand-filled holes scattered about. If Gaara hadn't pointed it out to him, he would never have noticed.
"Before these matches, I cut small holes in the bottom of my sandals. By using my armor of sand and concentrating the majority of it toward my feet while halving its thickness on the rest of my body, I can use it to penetrate the dirt. The amount of sand I can create using this technique isn't much, but with all the time I acquired by stalling, I have amassed more than is necessary."
"But you weren't even using your armor of sand during the second battle. Your forearm was bleeding!" He was met with a condescending frown from his brother. "You…you allowed yourself to get hit, didn't you. To make it seem like you were more defenseless than you really were." Gaara did not correct him so he knew he was right on target. "But, why? Why go through all the trouble? If you had all that sand, why didn't you use it-"
"Until now?" Gaara finished. "You may have thought ahead for each match, but I thought ahead for the whole tournament."
"You mean you've been struggling on purpose?! You made it look like you were having a hard time, but all along-"
"I was preparing for these last two battles," he finished. "I knew that losing sand during my matches with the Mist-nin was unavoidable so I decided to turn a weakness into a strength and bide my time. Now you are in no position to oppose me."
Kankurou gulped as Gaara bent down, slamming his hands onto the ground. Sand began to seep up from beneath the dirt and Kankurou was being sucked under. He tried to send Kuroari to his aid, but Gaara reached up with a hand and snared the puppet with sand, quickly encasing it before it could separate.
"It's over," the younger boy calmly stated.
"Alright, alright! You win! I forfeit!"
Gaara stopped short of burying him alive, leaving just his head sticking out.
"Winner of this year's second Chuunin Exam matches: Gaara of Sunagakure!" the examiner called from the top of the trees where he'd taken cover.
The audience cheered the young boy on, shouting countless praises at him. Even Baki and the few Suna councilmen who were observing in place of Kazekage were giving him a standing ovation. Yet, it brought him little joy.
'They only applaud the way I fought. They still only see me as a weapon. Their opinion means nothing to me.' No, the only person whose opinion mattered to him right now stood high above, her white eyes wide. When their gaze met, she promptly looked away.
'I…I underestimated him. He wasn't planning on forfeiting! I shouldn't have, either. He probably hates me now. …No, I doubt that. I'm sure I don't mean enough for him to even hate me…'
'She fears me. She won't even look as me! Fine… Then I'll make sure that she never has to look at me again!' he resolved, dispersing himself from the field.
"Hey! Hey!! Gaara! Come back and get me out of here! Gaara!!" Kankurou shouted in vain.
Translations/Term Definitions...in no particular order:
- Kurasu: Kankurou's first puppet, it is the offensive one which does the attacking.
- Kuroari: "Black Ant," it is Kankurou's second puppet which is used to capture the opponent inside its barrel-shaped center.
- Karakuri Engeki, Kuro Higi Ippatsu: "Puppet Performance: Black Secret Technique," Kankurou uses this technique after capturing his opponent inside Kuroari's torso then separates both Kurasu and Kuroari's limbs and, extending razor-sharp blades from them, he pierces the barrel, thus stabbing his opponent to death.