Chapter 22: Gaara's True Face
"Kuso..." Temari said gritting her teeth when she saw Sasuke in front of them.
"You can't escape..." Sasuke said smugly.
"Sasuke's movement has stopped... There's still a little ways to go but..." Pakkun said trailing off.
"Alright!" Naruto said eagerly.
"What is this... This clump of numerous scents... This is... There's someone else beside us chasing Sasuke..." Pakkun said worried.
"Don't worry it's just Shino" Sakura said shrugging her shoulder.
"You're a sensor?" Pakkun ask shock.
"Hai..." Sakura said smirking at him.
Kankurō removed his puppet from his back "Temari take Gaara and go ahead" he said glaring at Sasuke.
"Hai" Temari said reluctantly taking Gaara from kankurō and wrapping his arm around her neck before running away.
"Guess there's no helping it, I'll be your opponent..." Kankurō said a bit unsure.
"No! I'll be your opponent" someone said on the branch beside Sasuke.
"It's you..." Kankurō said gritting his teeth.
"Shino? Why are you here?" Sasuke ask raising an eye brow.
Shino pointed at him "Before you left the arena, I used some female bugs to spread their scent on you. The scent of the female is nearly nonexistent… Only the males of the same species can trace the faint scent of such females, although the males themselves have the stronger scent…" Shino rambled "Uchiha Sasuke… You chase after Gaara, after all, your match with him was yet to be decided, I'll take this one…since I was supposed to be his opponent anyway."
"Hn" Sasuke said nodding at him once before jumping away.
A dark chuckle came from kankurō "You guys have no idea... I don't think you guys have experience... True terror!"
Gaara slowly open his eyes "Temari, put me down..." He said weakly.
"Oi Gaara, you're awake?" Temari said looking at her younger brother before stopping on a branch.
Gaara grip his head in frustration.
"Gaara..." Temari thought staring at Gaara with a worried expression "The thing that was inside his body is about to wake up... I have no idea when it's going to fully emerge... This is bad, I'm alone out here, I can't handle that thing alone..."
"Temari, Scram" Gaara sad glaring at her.
"Nani?" Temari ask her eyes widen.
"Just get lost! Mind your own business!" Gaara said gritting his teeth while pushing her away with force that she flew away from where he stood before glaring at Sasuke who was on top of the branch above the tree in front of him.
"I don't know the motives of your village... But I will stop you!" Sasuke said crossing his arms on his chest.
"Kuso... Isn't that Sasuke? That Kankurō... Is he..." Temari said biting her lower lip.
"Also... I want to see your true face" Sasuke said narrowing his eyes.
"What is it that drives you? Why do you seek the power...?" Gaara ask curious.
Sasuke stared at him for a moment before answering "It's none of your concern... Just get lost... Don't get in the way of my training."
Gaara turned around but before walking away he said "Your eyes have the same look as mine... The same with your girlfriend except she already has the power, also like me she will kill the person she wants to kill without hesitation... Even He doesn't want to mess with her... And don't forget Uchiha you're my toy!"
"Oh no..." Sakura thought biting her lower lip until it bleeds, "Kuso... Sasuke, you better not do anything stupid... You can't win against Shukaku..."
Sasuke narrowed his eyes as he watch Gaara fell on his knees while clutching his head, His face seemed to be getting cracks in it and after a while Gaara stood but looked so much different.
"It's starting!" Temari thought her eyes widening.
Gaara ran towards Sasuke swinging his gigantic demon claw at him, Sasuke dodge his arm in a nick on time and jumped behind a tree but one of Gaara's talons scratched his shoulder.
"Is he... A monster..." He thought while holding his wounded shoulder as blood oozed out from it.
"ARE YOU AFRAID OF ME!? UCHIHA SASUKE! AFRAID OF MY EXISTENCE" Gaara/Shukaku yelled in a sadistic way.
"Hold it... What do you mean? Sakura is nothing like you and what the hell do you want from me?" Sasuke said gritting his teeth.
Gaara looked at him in the eyes "You're in a relationship with her and yet you know nothing about her, I know that you know that she will never hesitate on killing someone, the death of others means nothing to her if it means getting what she wants, and her power... You saw what she's capable off... As for you, your eyes tell me that you know what true loneliness is... Further more, you also know that such solitude is the worst possible pain in the world... I've told you, you have the same eyes as I do... The eyes filled with hatred and death, the longed for strength... Just like mine, your eyes tells me you wish to kill the one who put you through hell called loneliness..."
Sasuke started to get anxious which Kakashi noticed.
"Alright... Time out... Gaara, is it?" Kakashi ask "I don't care what you think you know about Sasuke, you shouldn't talk as of you could see Sasuke's inner self... And as for Sakura... I really don't know much about her... But what I do know is she actually show mercy..." He said unsure about the last part.
Gaara chuckled darkly "Mercy? I was there when she controlled her puppet to cut off Zaku's arm, I know for the fact that she knows I was watching and she knows that I won't stop her from killing them..."
"But she didn't kill them, now did she?" Kakashi ask in a challenge tone.
"No she didn't because she sense a cold chakra emitting from her teammate..." Gaara said halfheartedly.
Kakashi didn't say anything because he knows that Gaara's right.
"WHAT'S THE MATTER? ARE YOU AFRAID OF ME?" Gaara yelled "HAS YOUR FEAR OVERTAKEN YOUR HATRED, THE KILLING URGE? IS YOUR REASON FOR EXISTENCE AS PUNY AS THAT? IF YOU CRAVE FOR AN ANSWER, COME AND GET ME!"
"It was intentional... Only I was left alive... But for what reason? No... I know why... He let me live so that he doesn't have to feel guilty about killing the entire clan... My brother Itachi chose me to be the avenger... The sole reason for my existence... Is to hunt him, destroy him!" Sasuke thought his chidori becoming stronger than before.
Sasuke and Gaara run towards each other their attacks ready, Sasuke with his chidori and Gaara with Shukaku's arm, Sasuke's chidori was able to split Shukaku's arm in half.
Gaara started laughing maniacally "I see... So that's what it was!"
Temari's eyes widen "Impossible! He countered the transformed Gaara!?"
"... The reason I'm so excited... I just got the answer... It's this pain..." Gaara said clutching his bleeding arm "Defeating a man strong enough to hurt me and utterly destroying him... That's what gives me an even greater sense of existence!"
"Hn..." Sasuke said smirking smugly.
"Not once but twice, he wounded the invincible Gaara... He's a monster... No... The real monster is... After all Gaara has transformed only his right arm so far..." Temari thought shaking with fear.
Gaara laughed again making Temari and Sasuke confuse.
"I WANT MORE!" Gaara said the tail of Shukaku emerging from behind him and his arm was whole again.
"What the hell is he? He keeps changing forms..." Sasuke thought utterly curious.
Gaara using his tail swings himself towards Sasuke increasing his speed.
"He's faster than before!" Sasuke said backflipping in a nick of time in order to avoid Gaara.
"We have to move faster" Sakura said urgently while increasing her speed, she could just leave them and go on ahead but she doesn't want them to know how worried she is.
"Why?" Naruto ask confuse also increasing his speed.
"Sasuke's chakra is pretty low, he won't be able to use any higher level Jutsu like the Chidori but you know him, he doesn't know the meaning of limits, he will try to use Chidori again and if he did... He'll lose he's remaining chakra and Gaara will be able to kill him like a bug..." Sakura said in a monotone "And I can sense a dark chakra... I forgot to tell him that if he exhaust his chakra the seal I placed on his curse mark will be useless..."
"He's using it?" Naruto ask his eyes widening.
"Matte! How in the world can you sense that?" Pakkun ask amaze.
"Like you said I am a sensor..." Sakura said smirking at him before looking at Naruto with a serous look on her face "He's not using it... Yet..."
Sasuke breathed heavily before dropping on his knees while gripping his neck "Kuso... The curse mark again... I can't move" he thought paralyze.
Gaara run towards Sasuke his gigantic demon claw ready to kill him, but before Gaara could reach him someone kicked him away.
"Sasuke!" Sakura said appearing beside her boyfriend "The curse mark... You were trying to use it weren't you..."
"S-Sakura-chan..." Naruto said standing on top of a tree bush while looking at the creature in front of him.
"Nani?" Sakura ask raising an eye brow.
"Who, who the hell is that?" Naruto ask pointing at Gaara.
Sakura gave him a blank look "That's Gaara you baka..."
Naruto's eyes widen as he remember Gaara's word.
"I came into this world stealing the life of a women I would have called my mother... Having this body possess by an incarnation of sand... I am to become the strongest shinobi... I am... A born monster..."
Sakura gritted her teeth "Sasuke, you have to stop using the curse mark... If you keep this up the seal I place on it will be useless..."
"I... Have to... Control this..." Sasuke thought trying to stand up but his body was having a hard time comprehending.
"YOU GUYS! WATCH OUT!" Naruto yelled urgently.
"DIE! UCHIHA SASUKE!" Gaara yelled swinging his gigantic arm.
I'm really really sorry I haven't updated for how many weeks... My laptop crash and I misplaced my USB flash drive... I needed another job so I could have enough money to buy a new one...
And I'm so sorry if the chapter is short...
Review please...
-xoxo-