Chapter 26: Black Lightning
The never ending rainstorm of Amegakure seem to rain even harder that afternoon as the group, guided by Seiriyu's secretary Mioka, walked through the main square of the capital city on their way to their final destination; the destination where Gaara's duel with Seiriyu was going to take place.
"So where is the duel supposed to take place?" asked Kankuro, breaking the silence that was encasing the group ever since they left the Dictator's Tower.
"The duel is going to take place in a small indoor stadium just a few blocks away from where we are now. Dictator Seiriyu usually has his duels in the outdoor stadium in the western part of the city, but putting your brother's abilities into consideration, he figured that the indoor stadium would be the better choice." answered Mioka as she looked at the puppeteer through her hood.
The cloaks that everyone were wearing wasn't really helping them, especially Gaara, who sealed his gourd in one of Izuka's spare scrolls before leaving the tower.
"Wow! Isn't he considerate?" said Ryu, not even attempting to hide the sarcasim.
"I know you all don't like the position that you've been put into, but our dictator means well." said Mioka as she turned her attention back onto the empty street in front of them.
"Mioka, even you have to admit. Seiriyu Kotowashi is a full blown psychopath who wants to destroy villages and take girls hostage!" exclaimed Temari as she gave the secretary a wide eyed look.
"I don't like the fact that he wants to take the Lady Sage against her will, but I still believe he is doing what's best for our nation." said Mioka in a cold tone as she continues to stare straight ahead.
Gaara and Izuka exchange unsure looks before turning back to the secretary. The group continues their trek to the stadium in silence. Along the way, they observe the surrounding buildings, noticing they are attracting stares from some of the citizens within the tall structures.
"Is it just me, or do I see a lot of fear in those peoples' faces?" asked Daisuke, breaking the silence.
"They know that a duel is coming. They all look out their windows to catch a glimpse of Dictator Seiriyu's opponents before they are never seen again." answers Mioka bluntly as she stops in front of large round structure. "Here we are."
The group stops right behind her as they look at the outside of the building. Gaara lets out a small gasp. Since she is the closest one to him, Izuka is the only one to hear it.
"Gaara, what's wrong?" asked Izuka with her mind.
"This is the same building from my nightmare." answers Gaara in surprise as he continues to stare down the building.
Izuka lets out a quiet gasp of her own as she brings her attention back to the large arena. Mioka turns to the group.
"Follow me. The battlefield is right this way." said Mioka as she walks up the small front steps to the arena's main entrance.
The group is led up the stairs, through the large main entrance, and through a dark hallway until they reach the end, where a lighted doorway beckons them forward. As they approach the end, a loud but sadistic voice welcomes them.
"You're finally here!" calls Seiriyu from within the battlefield.
The group walked out of the dark hallway into a Roman styled coliseum; Seiriyu grins from his position right in the middle of it. A katana in a black sheath is strapped to his back.
"Come on in! Don't be shy!" cackles Seiriyu as he beckons the group further into the arena.
"Will that guy ever shut up?" asked Ryu with a sneer as the group walked onto the sandy pit that was the arena floor.
"Apparently no." said Temari bluntly as the group stopped walking a clear 20 feet away from Seiriyu.
"Welcome to the Arena!" greeted Seiriyu with a conniving smile. He turned to Mioka. "Return to the tower Mioka. Your job is done here."
"Yes sir." said Mioka obediently as she walks back to the entrance.
"The rest of you can take a seat in the stands. There are plenty of options to choose from." said Seiriyu as he gestured towards the empty arena stands.
"Gaara?" questioned Kankuro as he looked at his little brother.
"Go ahead. I'll be fine." said Gaara as he looked at everyone's unsure faces.
"Alright then little brother; we'll be supporting you all the way from the stands." said Temari as she gives the young redhead a genuine smile.
"The family time is nice and sweet and all, but I'm on a tight schedule and I have a council meeting after this, so can you please just move it along?" said Seiriyu as he makes a shooing motion at the group.
"Fine then!" calls Temari for the rest of the group.
"Jerk." she mumbles under her breath as she walks towards the stands. Kankuro and Ryu stifle their chuckles as they follow after the wind mistress. Daisuke only shakes his head as he follows the three.
Izuka starts to walk after them when suddenly Seiriyu's voice stops her in her tracks.
"You stay right where you are, Lady Sage!" calls Seiriyu as he points to her back.
"What do you want with her now Seiriyu? She's not part of this duel." said a suspicious Gaara as he narrows his eyes at the dictator.
"On the contrary, Kazekage-san; since she is one of the things we are both fighting for, she is a part of this duel." said Seiriyu with his signature sadistic smile.
Seiriyu turned his attention back to Izuka, whose back was still facing him.
"Why don't you turn around so we can see that pretty little face of yours?" asked Seiriyu cockily.
Gaara was getting more and more agitated by the second as he listened to Seiriyu's words to Izuka. Izuka slowly turned her body back around and faced the dictator with cold eyes.
"Now what's with that look Lady Sage? I'm usually a nice guy, but when I get looks like yours, I feel like the bad guy." said Seiriyu as he crossed his arms.
"Oh really?" asked Izuka with sarcasm laced throughout her voice as she crossed her arms at the dictator.
"Really." answered Seiriyu as he outstretched his hand in Izuka's direction.
Gaara picked up that something really bad was going to happen. He turned to Izuka.
"GET OUT OF THE WAY IZUKA!" he yelled in a frantic tone. The yell startled Izuka as she started to move out of Seiriyu's line of vision.
"Too late Lady Sage; DARK NINJA ARTS: BLACK LIGHTNING!" screamed Seiriyu as he closed his hand into a fist.
Izuka managed to get out of Seiriyu's line of sight, but it was too late to prevent the attack. Suddenly, bolts of black lightning encircled her body and started to shock her to no end.
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" yelled Izuka in pain and agony as the black lightning continued to ravage her body.
"IZUKA!" screamed Temari and Ryu as they observed the carnage before them. Kankuro and Daisuke could only look on with shocked faces.
Gaara angrily turned to Seiriyu, who was smirking evilly at him.
"Stop this Seiriyu! Your fight is with me, not with her! Leave Izuka out of this!" yelled Gaara angrily as he unsealed his gourd from its scroll and placed it on his back.
"If you insist Kazekage-san." said Seiryu with a sigh as he unclenched his fist.
The black lightning ceased shocking Izuka's body and dissipated into thin air. As the last of the lightning disappeared, Izuka collapsed face first onto the ground with a painful thud.
"IZUKA!" exclaimed Gaara in worry. He ran over to her body and flipped her over. Even though small aftershocks of the black lightning still traveled throughout her body, Gaara wasn't affected by them thanks to his sand armor.
"Izuka?" Gaara questioned as he started to shake her awake. "Can you hear me Izuka? Speak to me."
Izuka weakly opened her eyes and looked up at Gaara's face, which was hovering a mere few inches above hers.
"Gaara?" she whispered before effectively passing out in Gaara's arms.
"What was that lightning?" asked Kankuro in a stunned whisper.
"That lightning definitely was not normal lightning." said Temari in a whisper of her own.
"I'll be happy to answer your question Sand Siblings." said Seiryu as he turned to the group in the stands.
The group moved their attention from Gaara and Izuka to the dictator.
"You see, the jutsu I performed just now can only affect jinchurikis like the Lady Sage." answered Seiriyu bluntly as he unstrapped the katana from his back.
"THAT CAN'T BE!" yelled Daisuke as he looked at the dictator with stunned eyes.
"But it is Advisor-san. The jutsu works in a certain way. The higher the tail amount of the beast that a jinchuriki possesses, the higher the shock quality of my black lightning."
"So, since Izuka contains the 10 tailed beast, she was shocked at the lightning's highest level?" asked Ryu in disdain.
"Exactly little dragon." answered Seiriyu. "All the other tailed beasts are over looked because of the fact that Izuka is originally the 10 tailed jinchuriki. Heck, your brother would have been affected too if he was still the one tailed jinchuriki."
"That's just sick!" exclaimed Kankuro as he clenched his fists.
"That's just business." answered Seiriyu calmly as he turned his attention over to Gaara, who was walking towards the stands with Izuka in his arms.
"Is she going to be alright?" asked Ryu as she observed Gaara placing Izuka on one of the stone seats.
"She'll be fine, but she will be unconscious for a while." said Gaara as he stood back up and faced Seiriyu.
"Gaara, what are you thinking?" asked Temari curiously as she eyed her brother nervously.
"Seiriyu needs to be stopped once and for all. I don't want any of you guys to interfere with the duel." said Gaara coldly as he continued to look at the cruel and girl shocking dictator.
"But Gaara?" exclaimed Kankuro.
"Stop it Kankuro-san." scolded Daisuke as he looked at the puppeteer.
"Daisuke?" questioned Kankuro as he looked at the advisor.
"If we interfere with the duel, we will only get caught in the crossfire, considering how unpredictable Seiriyu is. It's best to let your brother handle it." answered Daisuke as he too turned to Seiriyu.
"But Daisuke?" questioned Kankuro, but he was rebuffed by the advisor once again.
"No buts, Kankuro. You trust your brother can handle this, don't you?" asked Daisuke as he turned to face him.
It took a while for Kankuro to answer. "Yeah I do. We won't interfere with your match as you wish Gaara."
"Thank you Kankuro." said Gaara as he turned to face his elder sibling. He then turned to face everyone else before looking down at Izuka's unconscious body with a pained expression.
"We'll take care of Izzy, Gaara. You just focus on Seiriyu." said Temari kindly as she faced her brother.
"Thank you everyone." said Gaara as he turned back to Seiriyu. He started to walk down the small steps that separated the arena floor from the stands.
"Seiriyu, for Suna, for my friends, for my family, for Izzy, I will defeat you." thought Gaara as he walked on the arena floor.
"Even if it costs me my last breath."
End of chapter 26.
A/N: Please review and vote on my poll.