Chapter 12: Here Comes the Pain!
"Ha! I'm not afraid of you even if you are the Kazekage." laughed the man with the gruff voice, who apparently was the leader of the motley crew of bandits.
The guy was wearing worn out black pants, a ratty old gray sleeveless shirt, and black sandals. He had storm gray eyes, a scar over the right side of his lips, and his brown hair was tied up in a ponytail that reached his mid-back. He held a katana in a sheath on the right side of his pants.
"We're not going to let you capture us!" exclaimed Temari as she readied her fan.
"We'll see about that." said the leader. He turned back towards his bandit crew. "Y'all ready?"
In response, the bandits yelled and screamed in anticipation. It had been a long time since they fought anybody.
Many people didn't travel through the rockier terrain of the bleak desert because that was where the bandits were usually found. Gaara and the group decided to travel through the rockier terrain because it was the shortest way to the Wind Daimyo's palace.
Kankuro scooted over to Daisuke's position. "You can fight, right?" he asked.
Daisuke turned to the puppeteer. "I can fight. Don't let my looks deceive you."
Kankuro only nodded and returned back to his original position.
Gaara turned back to his siblings and Daisuke. "Are you all ready?" he said in his usual monotone.
They all nodded their heads yes.
"Alright then." said Gaara as he turned his attention back to the bandits.
The leader of the bandits took his katana out from its sheath and raised it high in the air. "ATTACK!" he yelled.
The bandits all yelled in response and started to charge towards the group.
"Not on my watch!" yelled Temari. She swung her fan and made a gust of wind that blew all the bandits clear out of the cave. Gaara, Kankuro, Daisuke, and Temari all ran to the cave's entrance to see the bandits all struggling to get up from the ground.
"Divide and conquer. Make sure that they don't get back into the cave!" exclaimed Gaara. The other nodded and they all separated.
Temari landed right in front of a few men who were still trying to get their bearings together as they stood up.
"Too easy." exclaimed Temari. "Futon: Tatsu no Oshigoto! (Wind Release: Great Task of the Dragon)" With her fan, she made a huge wind gust that sent the men flying into some sand dunes.
Kankuro walked nonchalantly to a few guys that were about twenty feet from the cave. He unsealed Salamander and sent kunai flying from Salamander's underbelly right at the men. The bandits couldn't block all of them and they were all soon defeated.
"PUPPETS RULE DUDES!" screamed Kankuro as he made himself and Salamander disappear from the area.
Daisuke was surrounded by three menacing looking bandits. One guy held an axe, another held a wakizashi (short sword: Soi-Fon from Bleach uses one), while the third held a hammer.
"What are you going to do, Mr. Advisor? We got you surrounded." said the bandit with the axe.
Daisuke only smirked. "I'll show you. Ninja Arts: Blank Body Jutsu!" He pressed his palms together and became invisible. The three bandits were confused.
"Where did that advisor go?" asked the bandit with the wakizashi.
Before he could get an answer from his fellow bandits, the bandit was knocked out cold.
"Be on gua-." said the bandit with the hammer, but before he could finish, he too was knocked out cold.
"Oh shit!" exclaimed the bandit with the axe. Suddenly, he felt someone tapping on his shoulder.
"Bad idea, wise guy." said the bandit as he turned around with his axe raised above his head. But no one was there behind him.
"What the-." he said, but was knocked out before he finished. Daisuke then reappeared before the fallen bandit.
"Looks can be deceiving." he said as he walked away from the fallen trio.
Gaara was the only one of the four to not move from the cave's entrance. Currently, Gaara and the bandit leader were having a stare off. After a few more minutes of staring, the bandit leader smirked.
"You're not going to attack first, are you?" he said in his gruff voice.
Gaara didn't respond or move. He just continued to stare down the bandit leader.
"Well, I don't blame you. I am an entirely new enemy to you. You don't know my skills, so you're hoping that I would attack first. That way, you would be able to analyze what I can and can't to do and then figure out a way to defeat me. Did I get that correct?" said the bandit leader.
"You're smarter than you look." said Gaara.
"I was at the top of my class during my days in Suna's ninja academy." returned the bandit.
"So you're a rogue ninja?" asked Gaara.
"Call me what you want. It doesn't affect me in the slightest bit." said the bandit leader.
"What is your name?" asked Gaara.
"Kizuo Matatashi." replied the bandit leader.
Gaara's eyes opened wider in surprise as he remembered reading the name among his large piles of paper work.
"You're name's familiar." said Gaara coldly as he returned to his normal expression.
"It should be. I tried to assassinate the Fourth Kazekage before I graduated from the academy."
Gaara only glared in response.
"You know, without the purple face paint, that puppeteer looks almost like the Fourth." continued Kizuo. His eyes widened in realization. "It all makes sense now. That puppeteer is one of the Fourth's kids, most likely the middle one. I heard that his first born was a girl, so it's probably that fan user over there. And if I remember correctly, the last one was also a boy. The last one was known to have hair as red as blood and dark rings around his eyes."
He pointed his katana at Gaara. "That's you isn't it."
"Isn't it obvious?" asked Gaara coldly.
Kizuo only laughed. "You're right. I can be slow sometimes." he said nonchalantly.
Gaara only stared.
So this guy tried to assassinate my father, huh? Even if he seems like a goofball in person, I better take him seriously in this fight. Gaara thought.
"Well then. I'LL STRIKE FIRST!" Kizuo shouted as he ran straight for the Kazekage.
Gaara commanded his sand to block Kizuo's katana as he aimed straight for Gaara's head. Kizuo continued to strike at Gaara, but every time he tried, his attacks were blocked by Gaara's sand. Gaara used his sand to push Kizuo away and the sand did as it was told. Kizuo jumped before the sand could touch him.
"That's some mighty fine sand you got there." panted Kizuo.
Gaara didn't answer. Instead, he commanded his sand to attack Kizuo.
"Going on the offensive huh?" Kizuo said as he leapt away from Gaara's sand.
"You should just surrender. Thanks to our surroundings, I have the advantage in this battle." said Gaara as he continued to attack Kizuo with his sand.
"That may be true, but I already have figured you out." said Kizuo.
"Oh really?" asked Gaara, trying not to show any sarcasm.
"Yes. I know your weakness and I am not talking about water." said Kizuo as he jumped out of the way of some sand bullets.
"What do you mean?" said a confused Gaara.
"Don't play dumb with me, Mr. Kazekage. I saw you grit your teeth when my fellow bandit talked about the Sage. You're a tad protective of that girl, aren't ya?" said Kizuo with a knowing smirk plastered across his face.
Gaara's eyes widened for a split second before Kizuo could notice. Going back through the years since the Chunnin Exams where they first met, Izuka and Gaara have always looked out for each other as best friends. They became each other's training partners and when Gaara became Kazekage and Izuka became the new Sage of the Sixth Paths, they were each other's lookouts whenever fan boys or fan girls were nearby. All in all, a close bond grew between the two.
"You would not address her like that in my presence!" said Gaara with a bit of venom in his voice.
"I was right. You are a protective one. It seems so unlike you after the past you've had." said Kizuo knowingly.
Gaara was stunned when he heard this new info. "Are you a stalker or something?"
"Nope. After my first failed assassination attempt, I continued to observe your father in secret throughout the years so I would have another chance to kill him, but that bastard Orochimaru beat me to the punch. I left Suna soon after his death. It wasn't all in vain though. I was able to learn all about you and your siblings' abilities." said Kizuo still with a smirk on his face.
Kankuro, Temari, and Daisuke had already finished their battles and were now observing and listening in on the standoff between Gaara and Kizuo. Kankuro growled in frustration.
"He's been observing us for years! How did we not notice him?" he asked.
"Who knows? Right now, we need to let Gaara handle this one." said Temari as she crossed her arms.
"WHAT?!" screamed Kankuro. "We can't let Gaara fight this battle alone, especially when that Kizuo guy knows Gaara's abilities!"
"Don't forget. He knows OUR abilities too. And probably our weaknesses as well." retorted Temari. "Besides, that Kizuo guy must be powerful if he was able to attempt an assassination on our father. We would only be liabilities if we joined in the fight."
Kankuro turned away, defeated. "I hate it when you're right." he finally said.
Daisuke could only listen as he continued to watch the standoff between Gaara and Kizuo.
"Now Lord Kazekage, let us fight for real this time, shall we?" Kizuo put his katana back into its sheath and started to do some complicated hand signs.
Gaara narrowed his eyes in anticipation. This is where the real battle begins. He thought.
Kizuo finished his hand signs and pressed his palms together. "Here I go. WATER STYLE: BARRACUDA BARRAGE!"
To be continued
End of chapter 12.
Author's note: I would have gotten this uploaded sooner, but because of Hurricane Sandy, my internet connection was down for a few days. Review and vote on my poll, which is on my profile page. The battle continues next chapter.
By the way I got the name for Temari's jutsu from the Narutopedia website. Give credit where credit is do my friends