Chapter TWO
Today was one of Sakura's three days in the hospital. Due to the training she had received from Tsunade, she had decided to help out there, for compared to Konoha, the medic nin in Suna lacked both knowledge and skills.
Contrary to popular belief, Sakura was good at teaching, almost as good as she was in learning.
Also, Gaara liked watching Sakura gently help the Medic nin through one process or another.
He would compare her faint but gentle smile with the one she showed and reserved only for him, and he would feel a childish sense of triumph.
Not that he would ever admit it.
Gaara had just sat down in his office chair when a loud explosion filled the air. After a split second of a shocked pause, Gaara was out of his seat and was headed to the door when there was a rapid knock. Temari didn't wait to be granted entry. She slammed the door open and marched in. Grabbing Gaara by the shoulders, she shook him a few times, as if to make sure he was awake, before she started screaming in his face.
"Snake!" She said. "A summon, I think. Anyways, it's attacking the outer walls of the village!"
Gaara knew one person that summoned snakes huge enough to shake the whole village. He grabbed his sister by the arm and teleported them both onto the inner wall.
True enough, a huge snake was tearing at the outer walls of the village. He could hear the screams of terror coming from the civilians, while teams of Genin and Chunin ran around, trying to help with the evacuation. The Jounin teams were gathered on nearby roofs, rapidly planning their approach. Suddenly, there was another puff of smoke, and this time, three huge snake appeared within the walls. It let out something that was more like a roar and one of them slammed its tail down on the roof of a building, sending the shinobi assembled there scattering.
"Sort out the shinobi that are Jounin or above." He ordered.
Temari bowed and Gaara rose himself into the air on his sand. From his height, he could see Sasori organizing a platoon of Puppet users. He kept looking until he caught sight of a flash of pink. Sakura was streaking across the street with two young boys under each arm. She landed in front of a woman who he assumed was the mother, then called over a Chunin to take the three of them to safety. Once they were far enough, Sakura turned her head to look up at him.
Even from the distance, he could see the bright green of her eyes. He made a simple gesture with his head, a sharp jerk in the direction of the other snakes, and she nodded.
Gaara lifted both his arms, and the sand moved to do his bidding.
A huge wave of sand rose up between the huge brown snake outside the walls, cocooning it and pushing it away from the village.
There was a loud crash, and Gaara looked on in amusement as Sakura kicked two of the snakes out of the village, then grabbed the third by its tail and threw it out beyond the walls with her chakra enhanced strength. He used his sand to fix the wall temporarily, knowing that it would be dangerous if one suddenly managed to slip past them.
A team of shinobi had assembled on the walls. They began hurling long range attacks at the three snakes, and Gaara decided to take care of the brown one first.
The snake was struggling in the sand, somehow managing to shake off Gaara's sand bindings.
He saw a streak of red from the corner of his eye, and he created a platform with his sand, using it to help Sakura launch herself into the air, nailing the downed snake with a hammer blow. Gaara could feel the flare of chakra just before it made contact, and he could see the snake's skull shatter under her force.
He had just turned to finish off the other snakes when Kankuro appeared behind him, breathing heavily.
"Kazekage-sama, there are teams of enemy shinobi in the village. Their headbands say that they are Oto-nin." Gaara narrowed his eyes, knowing the name from when Tsunade had sent a letter to warn him about this new village. "There's also some freakishly strong dude in the village. We can't get close to him. His bones pop out of his skin and he just blocks everything..." Kankuro continued.
Gaara's jaw tightened. This seemed to be a planned out attack. "I'll tell Sakura to draw back." He said.
Kankuro bowed his head and vanished back to the village.
Gaara sent out more sand to restrain the snakes, then used his sand to message Sakura, who had been healing an injured Suna shinobi She fixed him up, got to her feet, bowed in his direction, then disappeared back to the village.
Kankuro greeted her at the entrance of the village. Without a word, he lead her quickly through the streets and into a clearing. A group of Suna shinobi were circling a single enemy shinobi.
"It's him." Kankuro was saying. "None of us can..."
But Sakura had already tuned him out, the familiar chakra signature of the man in front of her leaving a ring in her ears.
Though she had only met him once, Sakura instantly recognized him.
Of course she did.
He was, in a way, her father.
Kimimaro had felt the rapidly approaching chakra signature of the girl he had met once in Orochimaru's base.
He knocked back a pair of Suna shinobi dismissively, then turned fully to face the girl that had been built through his chakra.
The girl was staring at him with a blank face, but he knew she recognized him.
The two of them stared at each other for a while, not even breaking eye contact when another Suna Shinobi attacked him with a barrage of weapons. His bones blocked them, and he chucked a bone in his direction without even looking.
Sakura slowly lowered into a battle stance.
"Go help with evacuation." Sakura murmured.
The shinobi in the area looked at her uncertainly, and she narrowed her eyes just a little. "Go." She repeated.
She received a series of bows and all of the shinobi previously gathered around him vanished.
The Kazekage's brother, though stubbornly remained. "What will Gaara say if I leave you alone?" He chuckled.
Sakura simply nodded.
"It has been a while, Kimimaro-san."
Kimimaro nodded, seeing the faint traces of the innocent girl he had once met a long time ago, blinking up at him. She had been so pure, so white, that she had been easily stained.
"It was Kabuto." He found himself saying. "He wants you back."
Sakura's face showed a flash of surprise, before she masked it. "I...see."
"You know him, Sakura?" Kankuro asked.
Sakura slowly nodded. "He is the source of my life." She said, then dropped gracefully into a stance. "Please standback, Kankuro-sama."
She shot forward, already comparing her powers inherited from him with his. Put next to the original, she was a defect, but Kabuto had hammered knowledge of her original into her.
She shot out chakra strings as she went, weaving a web with her chakra. She aimed straight for his chest, knowing that her first attack wouldn't be able to bypass his defense.
She needed to see his strength first.
Bones shot out of Kimimaro's chest, catching her fist before it made contact. She ran chakra through her limb, and the bones shattered, but it gave Kimimaro enough time to land a harsh kick to her side.
Sakura had strengthened her bones before flying into the fight, and she managed to roll with the attack, her own skeletal structure taking the strength behind the blow.
She saw Kimimaro moving towards her again. Since she was midair, she wouldn't be able to make any dramatic movements. However, she tugged on her chakra strings, using them to pull herself away from Kimimaro's next attack.
She kicked off the ground, knowing that her weight would give her an advantage when it came to agility. She soared over Kimimaro's head, bearing down on him from above. She raised her fist, channeling her chakra into her arm.
She shattered through several of Kimimaro's bone defense, and Kimimaro only managed to dodge the blow to his head because he leaned back at the last second, and directed Sakura's attack towards the floor.
The ground shattered under her fist, and Sakura kicked a huge slab of stone towards Kimimaro without a pause.
Kimimaro raised his own fist and shattered it.
Their deadly dance continued.
Fists clashed as they wove around each other.
However, they were interrupted by a single piercing whistle. Instantly, all the Sound shinobi in the area drew back and vanished.
Kimimaro, who had been about to move in for another attack, instantly pulled back.
Sakura didn't follow, but she didn't relax either.
"He will come back for you." Kimimaro said. "This is just the beginning, and he won't stop."
He then vanished in a puff of smoke.
So, things are starting to move!
Also, we have a new fanfic up, so if you haven't checked it out yet, please do so.
Red Strings of Fate:
Kill the Kazekage and leave Suna. That was the plan, until he runs into a girl at the scene, looking curiously at the body of her father. Her exotic pink hair and gem like green eyes. She was perfect. Her inherited Magnet Release and the Ichibi Jinchuriki that tagged along was just a bonus. Little did he know that the extra package would be the best thing that ever happened to him.
Darque: Kimimaro! I just love him.
Raven: I know. He's really cool.
Darque: Yup. :) Oh, by the way, who are your most favorite NARUTO characters? Right now, mine are Gaara, Sasori, Toneri, Yagura and Neji (Not in any particular order) I always talk about mine, but I don't hear you saying anything.
Raven: Well, apart from the fact that I haven't watched/read NARUTO...Anyways, can I just say that I like all of them?
Darque: Sure. I mean, I love some of them enough for both of us.
Raven: Yeah... I noticed that you liked all the guys who had some problem or another.
Darque: Uh...what?
Raven: Nothing but the truth. You have issues.
Darque: Issues?
Raven: Never mind.
Read and Review!