Disclaimers are in previous chapters.

Sen crouched beside Gaara as they sat on the roof. "You ready?" she whispered as she ran her fingers through his hair gently.

Gaara nodded, gulping slightly.

"All right," Sen said. "Lay back and relax."

"Stay close?" Gaara replied softly.

Sen nodded and threaded her fingers through his as she pushed him onto his back. "I won't leave your side," she promised. She kissed his forehead gently and began running her fingers through his hair once more. "Just relax."

Gaara nodded and closed his eyes, slowly drifting to sleep.

Now comes the hard part, little one, Nanabi said.

I know, Sen replied.

All right, little one. If you're ready, we'll go inside the seal. (1)

I'm ready.

When Sen opened her eyes, she found herself in a dark place. The only light seemed to be coming from Gaara, Nanabi, and herself. She ran her fingers through Gaara's hair, noting how peaceful he looked asleep. "All right. Now what Nanabi?" she said.

"How'd you get in here?" a voice screeched, accompanied by a pair of golden eyes. "Nanabi."

"Ichibi."

"Gah! Don't call me that! I hate that. What's she doing here?"

"I brought her here," Nanabi answered firmly.

A small growl issued from the shadows. "Whatever. Do what you will." Shukaku emerged from the shadows and moved towards them. "Just stay out of my way."

"Don't you touch Gaara!" Sen growled.

A blue ear twitched and an odd shudder passed down the golden pelt, making the blue spirals appear to swirl. Shukaku laughed. "Let me guess," he chuckled. "You're going to stop me? You don't have the chakra to stop me, brat."

"Why do you think I'm here?" Nanabi said evenly.

Shukaku narrowed his eyes and uttered a more feral growl than the first. "I don't mess in your seal, Nanabi, so don't fuck around in mine!" he spat.

"Fine," Nanabi said. "I'll leave it to Sen. You remember what I told you before? About your bloodline?"

Sen nodded; she still hadn't moved from her position near Gaara, her fingers still tightly interlaced with his.

Shukaku narrowed his eyes once more. "Bloodline? What bloodline?"

Nanabi rolled his eyes. "Your memory was always as weak as your number, Ichibi."

Shukaku snarled and bared his teeth. Without warning, he lunged forward, slinging Sen and Gaara away from each other. He then snatched Gaara up in his claws.

Sen growled, "Get your damn paws off of him!" She charged him, lunging atop his head and avoiding the swiping tail and claws. She grabbed an ear and jerked. Hard. "Let go!"

Shukaku snarled. Then he blinked. "You..."

"Finally dawning on you, eh?" Sen spat.

"Grr. Bitch. I'd almost forgotten about the Katimi's Kekkei Genkai. Shit! Let go of me!" Shukaku snarled.

Sen frowned and jerked again.

"Okay, okay!" Shukaku whined. As he released Gaara, the seal's realm disappeared.

Gaara lay on his back, panting. He sat up. "You broke your promise," he said.

Sen sighed. "Gaara, I did-"

Suddenly, Gaara grabbed his head.

Don't start, bastard, Shukaku spat. She's the reason you're here.

Gaara opened his eyes to stare at Sen. "You stopped him?"

"Yeah," Sen whispered.

Gaara reached out and took her hand, gripping it tightly. "Could we...?"

"Only if you're willing," Sen replied. "Oh, and before I forget, Nanabi told me that after Shukaku understands that I'm not leaving you for him, there's less chance he'll try to take control."

"Right," Gaara said. He lay down and curled up with his head in Sen's lap; he slowly closed his eyes and fell back asleep.

Sen watched him for a little while, slowly running her fingers through his hair.

Gaara rolled onto his side, but remained asleep, one hand finding Sen's and grasping it firmly.

A/N: (1) Gaara's seal is never really described in any great detail like Naruto's so for this, I suppose you could say I took a bit of artistic liberties with the description.

Deidara: Art?

What are you doing here? You're not even in this chapter!

Deidara: But art is in the brief second of the explosion!

Sasori: Will you listen to this idiot? Eternal beauty is true art.

Shut up both of you and get out of here!

Sasori: Don't I get to be in the next chapter though?

Yes, now get your butt there.

Sasori: All right. *disappears*

Deidara: Danna! Wait! *disappears*

*sighs* Thank God... So, yeah, like Akatsuki's red headed puppet master said, next chapter you get to see the Kazekage and the Puppet Master's confrontation.