Suna no Mugetsu Re-ku

My Demons

One thing Gaara didn't expect was Baki grabbing the wrist of his injured arm, or tackling fact the man tackled him to the ground and began to restrain him. The man shouted out orders telling Gaara how to calm down, as well as avoid using his powers. Then came the words gaara hadn't expected. "Lord Rasa's dead. I'm your legal guardian, remember?"

A flicker of a memory crossed his mind, when he remembered Baki telling the three siblings that he would be taking over for their welfare. Kankuro had shown major disgust to such a notion, and Temari had glanced back at him with a worried look on his face. The man at that point in time had not known of Gaara's change in personality, and was surprised at what Gaara said. "I trust you, so I think that's fine." The young Shinobi felt his throat tighten up. "Except, do I still trust him?" His mouth opened. "You saw the Kazekage."

Baki then reminded him who the Kazekage was now, but the memory of coming after Rasa somehow surged forward, so the man must be lying. Gaara didn't realize his thoughts came out verbally, but Baki noticed. "Listen to me carefully Gaara. If Lord Rasa is alive, I will not let him harm you. I will lay down my life for this promise. Do you understand?"

"Father would kill him. Father is stronger." The boy narrowed his eyes at Baki. "I don't want that. I don't want that to happen to the person who was more like a father to me then my own father." The child still somehow managed to calm at this thought, knowing Baki was a precious person to him, and thus purpose was still there. "I don't want you to die, sensei."

Despite the calm, a storm came again and Baki found himself calming him down again as Gaara tried figuring out where Rasa was, as that was the only person who could be called Kazekage. The man whispered gently into his ear, reassuring him that things would be all right, but the sinking feeling that things would not remained. Gaara tried to drink, but his body simply didn't wish to do what he wanted to as the headache continued to pound at his skull.

A shiver ran down his spine as Baki left to speak with the two men, but soon the Suna elder came back, and gave the boy his space, only speaking when he noticed Gaara tensing up, saying Gaara's name a few times in the process. Neither one expected someone else to say the name of the fifth Kazkeage, and Gaara turned his head to see the person he least wanted to see there. The fact Baki was just as surprised did not help the situation, and then instinct kicked in.

Gaara found himself fleeing.

He headed down the tunnel, in the same direction that the other Shinobi headed in, and came to a set of tunnels. These tunnels were spaced ten feet apart, and were only a couple feet wide. To get into the tunnel one needed to step up into the circular area, and under normal circumstances Gaara wouldn't be headed in the other direction. The sound of someone screaming on the other end made the boy hurry into the tunnel in a crouched position, forgetting Rasa was behind him. The surface of the tunnel was rough, and gravely.

"That was the Shinobi who came this way." Gaara hurried along in a crouched position as fast as he could, and found the tunnel to be a hundred feet in length, and very dark compared to the tunnels he was just in. He came out of the end, and caught sight of a rather large underground tunnel which looked to be around a hundred feet wide. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the man who screamed trembling as he looked up at the monster in front of him.

The young Shinobi honestly couldn't blame the man for screaming, as the creature in front of him likely looked like the beast sealed with in him – frighting due to size, markings and ferocity.

In front of him stood a huge rat that couldn't fit into the small tunnels. The creatures eyes were white indicating the creature was blind, and the fur was matted in clumps, and some of the body looked to be scales instead of fur. Gaara couldn't decide whether this was actually scales, or badly infected areas of dry patches of skin. At the end of the tail was mutated to look like a weapon of some sort, and the claws were long. Slobber came from it's mouth indicating the creature was mad, but why remained a question.

"Get back into the tunnel." Gaara held up his hand, knowing what he needed to do.

"Ka... Lord Gaara, you can't use your powers."

"It's my job, is it not? It's also an order." One of Gaara's hands went to his forehead as his head pulsed, but the man did not comply. Gaara moved his sand at this point, and forced the man back into the tunnel. "Get Baki."

The creatures attention was now on him as he heard the man retreat. Gaara used his hand to motion his sand to follow, but the sand moved slower then normal, and suddenly the rat lunged forward, sending him flying backwards into the wall. The air rushed out of his lungs as he staggered to stay on his feet, and his hand instinctively rose up to try and attack the beast again. His mind felt numb, but he could still feel the need to protect that person he'd come for, though he struggled to understand why beyond the fact this was a purpose.

The sand raised up, and the rat used it's tail to twist and turn, bashing it down. Gaara felt a heavy sweat fall over his entire body, and his teeth ground together. One of the attacks got through, and he found himself tilting to the side as his abilities faltered. He also felt a wetness at the spot where the attack landed, as well as a pain.

This was when the gold colored dust came rushing forward, and Gaara's eyes widened as a mental shock set in. He thought for a second that a strangled cry had left his lips as he pressed his small body up against the wall. The creature however shrieked, and someone grabbed him from the side, and began to pull him back towards the tunnel. Gaara could feel the persons hot breath on his neck, and soon everything was in darkness as the person dragged him back into the tunnel. His thin body relaxed against the other person, and his eyes snapped shut against the pain.

The person finished pulling him out of the tunnel and, his eyes snapped shut as the man dragged him backwards. Two sea foam green eyes looked up into two brown ones, and saw the familiar auburn hair. Gaara bulked then, and pulled away, lifting his hand to use his sand to knock the person backwards into the wall behind. The young Shinobi darted away, and down the closest tunnel. His breath came in a raggid manner, and when he finally came to the midway point he sunk down against the wall, letting the soft skin of his hands brush up against the wall.

He was thirsty, hurting, and afraid.

Gaara felt the wave of nausea, and threw up next to himself as thoughts poured through his head. "Either way is bad." The young Shinobi could hear his breath coming in a harsh manner, and then heard the footsteps as someone moved in a crouched position. The person dragged him backwards, and Gaara's first instinct was to twist around in an attempt to dislodge himself from the persons grip. When that didn't work his fingers tried grasping the tunnel for something to hold onto, but instead the thin digits became scratched up.

On hand reached up to his clothing, and touched the hidden pocket someone came up with in case for some reason he found himself unable to use his sands as a defense. The fingers slid into the small, hidden pocket holding the kunai, and with a swift movement he twisted slightly from where the person held onto him around the waist, and attempted to plunge the blade in. The only confirmation was a temporary loosening, as well as someone yelling out his name. The yelling of his name confirmed that the person who had him was the clone of himself.

This time Gaara attempted to kick out at the man in question, and managed to knock one of the man's legs out from underneath him, but this in turn made the person fall on top of him, and let out an audible curse. Gaara found himself pinned to the ground from behind, and the person moved to a sitting position from behind.

"Gaara, knock it off!" The person then went back to pulling him out of the tunnel, and Gaara found himself unable to do anything.