She hadn't batted an eye as she threw Gaara out of the way. Gasping in surprise when she saw it coming, she instinctually pushed him out of the way. There was no decision in her actions, just pure drive. An autopilot move. Even with such a split second decision she had even less time to defend herself as the attack continued on. Her eyes shut tight as she expected to be run through and die, holding her hands up in defense. When that moment failed to arrive, she was shocked to see a block of ice blocking the attack. Gaara looked up from the beach in a panic, expecting to see Setsuko dead on the deck but saw the opposite. She stood behind the transparent ice in relief that it had sprung up just in time to save her life, catching the blade of the sword that had attempted to stab her.

A mental sigh of relief was short lived as he noticed a clone sneaking up behind the Princess. "No!" he shouted as he stretched forth his hand. In the blink of an eye she was encased in a barrier of sand.

The ice that stood before her melted away and Gaara stood. Looking around her, she seemed shocked to be surrounded in so much sand. She couldn't see what was going on, all she could see was the second sword at her backside. On the beach, in the sand, Gaara was in his element. Anywhere there was dirt, where there was earth, there was sand. Lucky for him, the beach was made of almost nothing but sand. It was slower than the special sand kept in his gourd, but it would work nonetheless. He quickly leapt back onto the deck to face his opponent.

"Well, that's unfortunate," a male voice sighed heavily looking at the blade stuck in the sand. The man jumped over the casing and smirked evilly at Gaara, "And here I thought I could run the two of you through like lovers."

Silently Gaara stared at him, matching the evil stare the foe was giving him, "Who are you?"

"Ah ah," the man taunted with a shake of his finger, "I'm not going to give up my name as easily as Meroko did. That's something you'll just have to find out."

"So, you're an assassin," Gaara replied as he crossed his arms across his chest.

Glancing over at the sand shell protecting Setsuko he wondered if the assassination attempts would become more frequent now. This was the second one in a few days, although the first one didn't get as close to her as this one had. Maybe that was the point. He had had a strange feeling about that last encounter from the get go; maybe they attacked to surprise them and then retreat for a while to let them drop their guard. Now they were too far away from the village and any reinforcements that could come to their aid. Gaara turned his attention back to his opponent when he heard him move. There was a slick, devious grin upon his face. He hadn't made a serious move yet and yet he looked as if he already won. Too much confidence would kill him.

"Now then, time to get things started." He couldn't help the malicious snigger as he brought his hand up; Gaara was instantly on his guard. "Princess, I do hope you like painful memories because then we can enjoy this together." He snapped his fingers and there was a blood curdling scream that sprang to life from inside the protective shell of sand.

Gaara was a little surprised, "What did you do?"

The man chuckled, "What? Afraid for your little girlfriend?" he tilted his head to the side curiously but that evil smirk never faded. "Whoa!" Sand shot out at him causing him to dodge just in the nick of time. "You see, I have a specialty when it comes to genjutsu. All it takes is that single glance to plant my seeds; the more they grow, the worse it gets."

There was another loud scream from the sand. Gaara growled low as it echoed in his ears and another sling shot of sand shot out at the assassin. He needed to end this quick if he was going to free Setsuko from this genjutsu. At the same time he wondered what she was seeing that was causing her to be in so much distress. Then again, genjutsus were often horrible no matter what so it didn't really matter. Gaara's attention went back to the assassin as he picked up the sword that had been stuck in Setsuko's block of ice before melting. He held it up and pointed towards Gaara as if to say come and get him.

Not wanting to be an ungracious host, Gaara obliged the man's request. With a hiss, sand shot out at him at lightning fast speeds. Even though the assassin had been expecting him to attack, he was unprepared for just how fast Gaara's sand could be. He tried to doge but his shoulder was struck causing him to spin in the air before falling onto the deck. Slowly getting up, holding his shoulder, he hissed in pain as each drop for blood fell.

Setsuko screamed again as another memory passed through her mind. Along the back of her neck what looked like tree limbs were slowly forming up towards her skull with each passing minute and memory. With tears heavily streaming down her face, she dropped to her knees as she tried desperately to break the genjutsu on her. Her hands covered her face, wide eyes peeking through as they stared blankly at the sand beneath her body. As one memory began to fade away and her cries began to soften another limb took root, climbing up her neck and causing her to scream out again. Her whole body shook as she fell forward, her throat unable to scream anymore from pain. There was nothing she could do; she would be stuck in this genjutsu forever.

Through the pain, Setsuko heard a strange call. Something was crying out to her. It raged and cried with her as if it felt her pain. What could it be? She wandered through the corridors in her mind trying to look for the cause of the suffering. Waging through horrible images, gradually growing weaker and weaker as she progressed, she collapsed. Painfully bringing her head up, she was amazed at what she saw. A large sakura tree wrapped around a huge block of ice stood in the middle of what seemed to be a grassy meadow, with its roots digging into the ice with each new growth. What was this? The voice called to her. It was so soothing, comforting and warm. With shaky limbs she rose to her feet and slowly made her way closer to it. Stretching out her hand she touched the ice and it instantly sprang to life.

Gaara landed another blow to the assassin's chest as he seemed to stop dead in his tracks with his eyes wide and showing fear. His body slammed against the sand that protected Setsuko causing the wind to be knocked out of him. He looked up with a half cocked grin, coughing as he stood. This looked like it was it, his get away mark. He had to report what he saw back to his superiors. Catching his breath, he jumped up to land on top of the casing protecting the Princess from harm.

"Well, it's been real fun but I gotta go," he used the tip of his blade to give Gaara a mock salute.

The cracking sound of ice echoed through both of their ears causing both shinobi to look at the shell. In an instant the sand sprang to life, forming sharp dagger points and jetting upwards, impaling the assassin. Gaara was shocked, looking at the sand covered and mixed with ice. Standing at the center was Setsuko; she looked unharmed and very angry. Who would have guessed that she could possess such power! Sure he had noticed that she could affect the temperature around her, but on a scale like this? She looked up from her hunched over position and he noticed that her eyes didn't look the same. Her right arm moved up and then slammed back down as the assassin was impaled with another spike through the heart.

Slowly she walked out from under the ice covered sand, holding her head. Taking about four steps towards Gaara she collapsed from what looked like exhaustion. Gaara walked the rest of the way towards her, picking her up and taking her back to the sand village to rest and recover.

"Eye of the Master," a low, menacing voice spoke after performing hand signs. Dark gray eyes flashed open instantly and slowly melted away into a gold color, a scowl appearing on their face. "So Tonka was killed."

"Sir?" the sultry voice of Meroko spoke up as she emerged from the shadows.

With her mask now removed, her long blonde hair lay curtained against her back with bangs swept to the side in an elegant manner. Her soft cream skin was contrasted by the dark, navy blue dress she wore. The dress itself was strapless and reached the floor in a skirt that was tight at the hips and slowly flared out into a mermaid style. At the hips there were two circular cut outs on either side, showing off her slim figure and hips. Her neck was covered by a collar that spiraled down her chest a little in intricate designs that were lined in a lighter shade of blue to make them stand out; the long gloves on her arms having the same patterns and colors. Her white heels clacked against marble floors as she slowly stepped out of the shadows to look up at her master and his golden eyes.

"Yes Meroko, it's true. I saw it all," he said as he stood from the chair with which he sat. His hand slowly moved to behind his back as he walked closer to her, "And it seems I was right. Setsuko holds both the power and body within her."

Meroko's eyes slowly darkened as a malicious grin spread across her lips, "Does that mean I can finally cut loose?"

"Eager to fight someone?" he asked, his eyes slowly melting back into their original gray color as he looked back at her.

Pulling one of her dragon shaped daggers free she held it out, "Oh, you have no idea the kinds of scores I want to settle."

He chuckled, "Very well, but you will start closer to home. There are a few people I want to recruit before we make our way to the Princess."

"If it means I get my kill then I'm okay with that," she said as she resheathed the dagger and began walking away to change into an outfit more suited for fighting.

"Oh, and Meroko," her master spoke up before she was too far away to hear him. She stopped and looked back at him over her shoulder, "Only kill one of them if you can."

Meroko smirked back at him and disappeared into the shadows of the building. Her mysterious master walked towards the seemingly only window in sight and looked out at the vast, snowy landscape. Their base of operations would be moving soon, to put his trust in Meroko was unfounded. She was his most capable and trusted lackey; she would get the job done, even if she did go overboard.

Glittering blue eyes snapped open and had to readjust to the sudden light bombarding them. With a groan Setsuko threw the covers of her bed over her face to protect herself from the sun's rays. What even happened? she asked herself as she rolled over under the covers. As she began to close her eyes to go back to sleep they shot back open as the memories came flooding back to her. Throwing the covers off quickly, she sat straight up in bed just as quick and caused herself to get a head rush. Blinking rapidly, she shook off the dizzy sensation and looked down at her hands. The horrible memories that assassin made her live through. Her hands clenched into fists and she got out of bed, finding herself in her thin blue nightgown.

Walking out of her room she looked at herself, not remembering how she got into the clothes, "How did these get on me? I don't remember putting these on." Walking to her small kitchen she began to brew some tea when she realized she wasn't alone. Slowly turning around, she jumped in surprise when she saw Gaara sitting on the couch with his arms crossed across his chest and his eyes closed. "Holy cow! How long has he been here?" she asked herself as she picked up the pot that she had dropped in her surprise.

Slowly she made her way over to Gaara, inching closer with the small pot still in her hands. As she got closer she could see his chest rising and falling with each intake of air and wondered if he was sleeping. If he was, she had to admit that he looked really cute when he slept. Reaching out to him slowly, her index finger extended, she was about to gently poke him on his cheek when his eyes shot open in a flash. Setsuko screamed in terror and fell on her butt as she jumped back. Feeling her heart beating rapidly at the sheer terror she had just felt, she placed a hand to her chest to try and settle it down.

"Yeesh! Warn a girl next time!" she huffed as she tried to steady her breathing.

He looked down at her, "You shouldn't sneak up on a shinobi, unless you want to die."

She pursed her lips, looking up at him, "Death, right. Noted." She said as she stood up, dusting herself off. "So, I have a question for you." Gaara looked at her silently but curiously, or at least, she thought he did. "Do you know how I got into these clothes?"

Staring him down, she thought she saw the faintest of blushes come to his face, "Your clothes were ripped and wet from last night. You would have caught a cold."

"Are you….are you saying you changed my clothes for me?!" she asked as her own face grew hotter from embarrassment.

"I never said that," he retorted, crossing his arms across his chest.

Covering her chest, she closed her eyes tightly, "You're such a perv!" she shouted as she went to slap him.

Before her hand could connect to his face, he grabbed her wrist. Her eyes blinked open and seemed a little shocked at the glare he was giving her, "You're not a fighter so I highly suggest you do not attempt such an action again."

Her face contorted into a slight cringe as his grip around her wrist tightened before letting go. Bringing her hand to her chest, she rubbed her wrist and stared at him for a moment before swiftly walking back into her bedroom with the doors closing behind her. Without needing to be told, Gaara left her hotel room, the sound of the door closing echoing in Setsuko's ears. After he left she sunk to the floor, her back leaning up against the door and dropping her head into her hands. Her shoulders began to tremble as she softly started crying.