Leo: The big 4-0! XD Such a joyous day! ^o^ Well, here are the scores:
Gaara: 12
Sasuke: 11
Leo: Wow, the Gaara fans showed up last chapter. W00T! Hehe, disclaimer time!
Tsunade: Leo does not Naruto: the anime, the manga, the movies, the games, the merchandise, or any of the talent and she never will. Ever.
Leo: …Good to know…Commencing story.
Misaki's POV
"Gaara?" I was surprised and speechless, how did he even get here? Well, come to think of it we were pretty close to the border and Suna was just outside of Konoha…
Gaara didn't answer but instead stalked forward so he was in front of Lee and me. "Gaara of the Desert?" Lee seemed to be just as confused as I was.
"Gaara? So it was you…" Kimimaro held out his hands, his finger bones shout out of his fingertips like bullets. I wasn't surprised when Gaara's sand instantly came up in front him instantly blocking the bullets. I was surprised when the bullets still came out on the other side of his sand. I cringed imagining myself in that situation if it could get past Gaara's sand then those bullets would have gone straight through my head.
"You're too hasty…" Gaara didn't seem bothered by this at all; he spoke calmly to Lee, "When you fought me before you had more speed and edge to your moves…"
I got up and helped Lee up while I was at it, the sand that had cushioned our fall quietly filtered back into Gaara's gourd. I waited for Lee to answer Gaara.
"As if you had nothing to do with it." Lee jerked his thumb at his chest, "I'm not holding any grudges but I've been through a lot because of you."
"…" The sand that was shielding Gaara also filtered into his gourd, "I see…"
"…Uh, hey, Gaara. Not that I'm complaining but…why are you here?" I asked curiously.
Gaara glanced at me from over his shoulder, "I owe the Leafs a large debt."
"…Hmph, I see." I nodded remembering everything that had transpired between the Sand and the Leaf. I shifted into a comfortable stance trying to ignore the blood dripping from my arm where Kimimaro had stabbed me with out of his rib bones.
"I'll handle this." Gaara spoke up.
"No! You guys can be the backup, I'll do it." Lee spoke up before sprinting forward.
"Hey! This is my fight! I got here first!" I yelled out just as Lee tripped and hit the ground. Gaara had decided to grab unto his ankle with his sand.
"Please let go!" Lee yelled before he flinched openly.
"Didn't I tell you not to fight? You're still recovering, idiot!" I pointed out. I stepped forward to fight when I felt the grip of the sand on my arm, I flinched feeling the grainy substance rubbing against the wound Kimimaro had dealt me. "That hurts, dammit!"
"You can't do anything right now." Gaara shuffled forward to stand in front of Lee again, "I'll handle this."
"Gaara of the Desert, like your alias states you use sand…" Kimimaro observed.
"This guy's attacks are based on bones; he can throw them like he did before or grow them out of his body. He can use them anyway he wants. Be careful." I informed him, I sighed in relief when the sand finally slid off my arm. I held it gingerly; I didn't want to waste chakra healing it so I just left it alone, it wasn't bleeding much anyway.
Kimimaro's fingertips slowly split open revealing more of his finger-bullets. Gaara reacted quickly sending a wave of sand at him, Kimimaro' flipped backward evading the attack while sending the bones at Gaara. The protective wave of sand came up as usual successfully protecting Gaara from the attack.
Kimimaro ducked under another wave of Gaara's sand sending another handful (Haha, see what I did there? Handful, literally a handful of bones? XD) of bullets in his direction. Of course, Gaara's sand came up and protected him yet again.
"What an idiotic alias…you can't do anything without sand. That's why you carry around that heavy gourd." Kimimaro scoffed.
Little globs of sand instantly started to collect in the air easily surrounding Kimimaro. When he tried to move away again, he was surprised to see that he had sand covering his ankles, grounding him.
"…But if I have sand, I can do anything." Gaara held out his hand in that familiar half closed hand sign. "You're the foolish one. It doesn't take any effort for me to create sand from the ground."
The sand came up to cover Kimimaro while the little gobs in the air came down in an explosion of sand.
"You got him!" Lee yelled.
"Not yet." Gaara said. He closed his hand into a tight fist. Little spurts of blood shot out from Kimimaro's sand coffin. I cringed but at the same time I wondered if we got this guy. The pressure from Gaara's sand might not have been enough to crack this guy's bones and kill him.
My question was answered with a hand slowly pried its way out of the sand. He pulled himself out of the prison and stood before us, I noticed patches of his skin had been ripped off completely revealing the bone underneath. His curse seal had been activated so a lined pattern was covering his body.
"…That's not attractive…" I muttered to myself a disgusted frown on my face.
"Those bones…he's another monster." Gaara commented.
"That's a troublesome body."
"What pressure…if I didn't create these bone masks under my skin I would've been crushed. I took you too lightly…but that sand will never catch me again."
Gaara responded my shifting his stance and putting his hands together. I put my arms up to brace myself from the wind blowing in my face. There was a huge wave of sand that washed over Kimimaro and the trees surrounding the field, I wasn't surprised when a few of them snapped and were wept away in the tsunami.
"Did you get him?" Lee asked in astonishment.
"No…" Gaara slammed his hands into the ground, I nearly fell over when the ground beneath us shook and a ripple was sent over the whole expanse.
"Whoa…" I grinned, Gaara had become way more powerful than the last time I saw him; it was amazing, really. Despite the gravity of the situation I still found myself grinning.
"How persistent…" Gaara muttered.
"What? He's still alive?" Lee and I said in unison. I spotted a movement in the sand. Kimimaro was lifting a large log from one of the trees off of him. I paled when I saw the huge tail protruding from his body.
"What is he…?" I couldn't even fathom how someone could survive two of Gaara's killer attacks. Any other normal person shouldn't have lived let alone move.
Gaara held out his hands, a swirl of sand surrounded Kimimaro and tightened when Gaara closed his fists. I wasn't surprised when Kimimaro easily broke out of the coffin like last time and started running at Gaara. I was grossed out when I saw his new appearance. His skin had healed but it had started a sickly gray. The area around his eyes had turned a pure black as had the whites of his eyes. His pupils had enlarged and only his iris was white. He had six huge tusks-like bones sticking out of his back and more followed his spine down his tail. It was honestly, hard to look at.
Gaara brought up a wall of sand; Kimimaro easily broke it down delivering a punch to Gaara that sent him flying back. His sand naturally came to cushion his fall but I could still see the damage judging by his cracked sand mask that covered his skin at all times.
"Is this the limit of your 'absolute defense' that has garnered such high praise? But then again, you were covered in sand to begin with…"
"He's not your only opponent! You didn't forget about me did you?" I appeared behind him with a kunai in hand, I went in to stab him in the neck; I broke the skin but only met hard bone below the surface. I gulped when I saw him lift his tail as if he were to hit me, I was surprised when the sand cushioned the blow but I was still sent flying back. I groaned touching my cheek. That was going to leave a bruise and probably a black too. But I had made an interesting discovery. His body hadn't adapted to his metamorphosis yet, his moves were slower. A lot slower, if he was as fast as before his tail would have probably shattered my cheek bone with the momentum. "Dammit, anything I try physically just doesn't work! How can I possibly beat a guy like this?" I cursed.
"Take this!" Lee took the chance to kick Kimimaro in the side of the neck, he received the same results as I had and he was dealt with the same way. Kimimaro just flicked his tail at him.
"That sand of yours is starting to annoy me, Gaara. You will be the first to die. Then, I'll kill your companions." Kimimaro reached back and grabbed a hold of the bone that was starting to protrude out of his back, as he pulled it out I was disgusted to see him holding his spine. It never got better each time I saw it. If anything it got grosser. "Dance of the Clematis."
He whipped his spine at Gaara; the sand instantly came up around Gaara as his spine surrounded him.
"Flower." The bones in Kimimaro's arm began to pop out again as it slowly morphed into a drill of sorts. "This is the thickest bone in my body; it will pierce through you and your pathetic defense."
I was surprised when Kimimaro suddenly cough up blood, then I remembered what he had said in the forest. He's only using the power of his will to keep moving, eh? "So it's not just the metamorphosis, he's dying…"
Gaara seemed to notice this but didn't say anything about it, instead, the sand slithered together into a large mass around Kimimaro's spinal cord. It was a miniature version of Shukaku with fat cheeks and a traveler's hat.
"Wow, the ultimate spear and shield. I wonder which is better…" I realized that this was Gaara's ultimate defense and Kimimaro's thickest bone, it was a real match. Kimimaro took his spear-hand and pushed against the mini-Shukaku. Sand went flying into the air as the drill slowly, inch by inch pierced the shield. Finally, with a crackling sound his drill thing shattered.
"HA! YOU LOSE!" I cheered before I realized the gravity of the situation. "…I mean…you were overpowered…yeah…"
"It's solid, indeed." Kimimaro murmured.
"From underground I collect the strongest minerals; with chakra I pressurize them into dense sand around me." Gaara informed us.
"…" Kimimaro just coughed up blood again.
"…You…that special ability, it's a bloodline limit, isn't it?" Gaara observed.
"The Kaguya Clan…now it's mine alone." Kimimaro rasped.
"You're the last of you clan, that means here and now your clan will be finished." Gaara said determinedly.
"Heh…maybe…Because of my body' illness, I won't last long but that destruction won't happen for I am not alone. I fulfill Orochimaru-sama's aspirations. I will stay in Orochimaru-sama's heart forever." Kimimaro seemed proud that he was helping out some evil snake guy.
"Yeah, right. You're being brainwashed. That's a load of crap! Orochimaru's only using you. He'll forget all about you, once you're dead." I yelled out.
"What?" Kimimaro turned to me and glared, obviously enraged by what I said. I only smirked at him, I wasn't about to take back any of what I said. It's the least I could do or him; tell him the truth before his demise.
Gaara formed a seal and the sand wrapped around him moved outward snapping Kimimaro's spine. The mini-Shukaku dissolved back into regular sand.
"How'd he snap his bones?" Lee seemed confused.
"Kimimaro's out of chakra. I think he has regular old bones now." I nodded, that would explain everything.
The ground beneath Kimimaro dissolved into sand. I was satisfied to see his figure sinking lower into the sand. "You'll sink to a depth of 200 meters underground and be held there. The pressure of the sand clinging to you will unable you from lifting even a finger.
"It's finished, it's over now, right?' Lee asked nervously.
"Something tells me that this guy won't be subdued until we kill him." I sweat dropped. This had to be the fourth time we 'killed' this guy but he always comes back.
"Dance of the Seedling Ferns." I heard a muffled voice. I rolled out of the way just as bones shot out of the ground, I grabbed unto Lee yanking him towards me just as a bone shot out of the ground where he was lying just a moment ago.
"Crap, we're gonna die!" I panicked as bones shot out getting closer to where we were, I startled when I was lifted into the air on a floating platform of sand.
"You…You saved us. It's amazing that you're able to do something like this!" Lee breathed.
"I was always able to use the sand to carry me. It's a simple task." Gaara brushed it off.
"That doesn't matter! You're still epic!" I laughed happily the adrenaline taking effect. "I could hug you!"
Gaara glanced at me awkwardly, I laughed again at the look he was giving me, "He was a stubborn person, but this is the end. He won't come back out." He changed the subject.
"It's not brainwashing." A familiar voice came from behind us; I spun around to see Kimimaro's spear-hand pointed at my nose. His torso was coming out from some of the bones behind us, "It's all my own reasoning. WHAT THE HELL WOULD YOU KNOW?"
He pulled back his arm; I ducked and put my arms up to brace myself but was surprised to feel no pain. Instead, I felt a drop of a wet substance plop against my cheek and run down my jaw. I looked up to see the blood coming from Kimimaro's mouth.
"…He's dead." I put a hand against his cheek; the skin was hard but cold. He was gone.
"We would've been completely beaten, wouldn't we?" Gaara was the first to speak up. We were leaning against some of the standing trees on the other side of the clearing. I was wrapping my arm up in bandages. There hadn't been a word said since Kimimaro had died.
"No that's wrong. My teacher once said to me that luck is a part of real strength." Lee answered.
"That busy-body…" Gaara muttered.
"He's not a busy-body! Stop talking about my sensei that way!" Lee flared up when Gaara insulted Gai.
"You too…if the one you admire is insulted, you become enraged. If the one you admire is important to you…you fight for them." Gaara murmured half to himself and half to Lee.
"…He was the same as Naruto…" I finished Gaara's thought for him.
"Only…the person that's important to you isn't always good."
"Well, you don't have to take someone bad as your important person." Lee said.
"No. Even if you know that they're bad…a person can't defeat loneliness." Gaara interrupted. There was a long silence after that. All three of us had our own loneliness, Lee was alone in the fact that he couldn't do ninjutsu, Gaara was alone because of his bijuu, and I was alone because of my family.
"…Hey, Misaki-chan…" Lee's voice broke me from my thoughts.
"What?"
"Why did you let Naruto go by himself?" I met Lee's gaze evenly.
"Why?" I repeated to myself, "…Naruto…is the only one who can stop Sasuke. Even if I did come…I couldn't do much to persuade Sasuke. Like Sakura, I've done the best I could. There's nothing left I could do."
"…I see." Lee said. "So Naruto's really the only one who can stop him?" He mused to himself.
"Yup." I said, getting up, "Let's have some faith in him and let him do this alone. They've been itching to fight lately anyway. C'mon let's go, you need to get back to the hospital before Tsunade has a cow, Lee. Gaara, you brought Temari and Kankuro, right? They're probably back in Konoha too. Let's go." I offered them my hand. Lee accepted it easily while Gaara just stared at it for awhile. I sighed; I reached down and grabbed his hand myself yanking him to his feet.
"…Okay…" Gaara seemed caught off guard. I grinned and let go of his hand before heading back in the direction of Konoha.