Chapter 35: Time to Talk
Seiriyu and the Lightning Twins both looked down at the ground to see a faint green light emanate from within the record room.
"I see. The Lady Sage must have transformed into one of her other elemental forms. I wonder which one she chose this time around." replied Seiriyu as he looked up at the door.
Aki and Maki didn't respond or speak a suggestion.
"Anyway, there is no point for changing your looks Lady Sage! You and the Kazekage should just give up now!" exclaimed Seiriyu as he pounded his fist against the door.
Neither Gaara or Izuka responded to Seiriyu's demand.
"If you give up now, I'll go easy on you and make your punishments quick!" said Seiriyu in a teasing tone.
Still, no one answered from within the room.
"Maki! Aki! Break down the door!" commanded Seiriyu as he moved away from the door.
"Yes sir!" said the twins in unison as the two stepped forward.
The twins summoned bolts of lightning to both of their palms. The bolts of lightning grew bigger and bigger and combined to form a ball of electricity that was twice the size of their heads. The twins used their combined strength to hurl the ball to the door. The door instantly broke free and crashed to the ground with a sickening slam. The ball of electricity soon evaporated into thin air.
Seiriyu smirked at the twins' handiwork.
"Nicely done" commented the dictator as he walked into the now darkened room, the twins following after him.
Seiriyu looked around the totally dark room and tried to sense out Gaara's and Izuka's chakra, but to no avail.
"What the hell!" he exclaimed in surprise as he looked at the twins. "I can't feel the Lady Sage's or the Kazekage's chakra anywhere within this room. Aki, bring some light in to this place."
"Yes sir" replied the female twin. She raised up her left pointer finger up into the air and summoned a bolt of electricity to the digit. The bolt then shot up to the center of the ceiling and formed itself into a spherical shape, illuminating the room as it hovered in the air.
"WHAT THE?" exclaimed Seiriyu in surprise as he looked around the room, seeing that plant vines were covering every single inch of the walls and half the floor. There were even some vines growing on the ceiling.
"All I see are plant vines! No Lady Sage or Kazekage!" exclaimed Seiriyu in seething anger as he started to chop some of the vines with his katana.
And that's when the vines fought back.
The vines came to life to grab Seiriyu's right hand, which held his katana, and his legs. The twins rushed to his aid, but were soon caught in the vines as well.
"What witchcraft is this?" asked a frantic Seiriyu as he continued his attempts to pull himself free.
"You don't like what I've done to the place?"
Seiriyu turned his head around to see Izuka and Gaara appear before him. Gaara was slightly smirking at the dictator, but the dictator's attention was targeted at Izuka's new look. Izuka was wearing an emerald green, long sleeved, hooded crop top with an x across the front, loose long pants, and her usual heeled sandals and fingerless gloves. Her hair was now in two unbraided pigtails and her amulet was now in the shape of a green sunflower. Plus, her eyes were now emerald green.
"I'm guessing this is your earth form and that the vines are all your doing?" asked Seiriyu with a tired expression as he continued to struggle with the vines.
"That's right." answered Izuka calmly as she showed him her earth weapon, which was a scythe that held one curved blade at one end of the staff facing one direction while a second curved blade was at the other end of the staff facing the opposite direction of the first.
"That's one impressive weapon you got there." commented Seiriyu as he looked at the scythe.
"Thanks!" commented Izuka as she followed Gaara as he walked away from Seiriyu.
"Where are you two going?" asked Seiriyu as the two walked over to the door.
"To get answers, but don't worry Seiriyu. You and your twin protégées won't be bored for long," commented Gaara as he stopped in front of the doorway. "Izuka if you may?"
"Certainly" answered Izuka in a cold voice. She waved her hands to the vines on the wall opposite Seiriyu and the Lightning Twins. The vines moved on command and slowly made their way over to the three.
"Enjoy!" called Izuka with a smirk as she followed Gaara out the door.
"Like this is going to be the end." whispered Seiriyu through clenched teeth as he watched the vines slowly approach the three.
Meanwhile, Gaara and Izuka made their way back to the stairwell and climbed down the stairs to the 20th floor to their old suite. After they entered the suite, they piled some of the furniture in front of the door to serve as a barricade.
"What should we do now?" asked Izuka as she placed a lamp on top of one of the chairs.
Gaara dropped a chair he held in front of him and turned to her. "I'm out of ideas. Escaping from the record room was all that I could come up with."
Izuka sent him a glum look before letting out a sigh of defeat. "I have to do it."
"What?" asked Gaara in mild confusion as he turned to Izuka.
"Mioka said that Shukaku was the key to finding out the weakness of the Kotowashi Clan's kekkai genkai. If we're going to find out what it is, I need to talk to Shukaku." said Izuka as she gave him a determined glare.
"Absolutely not!" responded Gaara as he gave Izuka a cold glare.
"I have to if we're going to stop Seiriyu." responded Izuka in a cold tone of voice as she walked further into the room. She was soon stopped by Gaara, who grabbed her left arm to stop her from moving.
"Izuka, you haven't been the Sage of the Sixth Paths for very long. I know you've said that you've been getting along with the tailed beasts ever since the war, but you're not on equal terms with Shukaku. He's not going to help us without getting something in return." scolded Gaara as he looked Izuka in the eyes.
"That's why I'm not going to just have a simple mental conversation with the tanuki. I'm going to travel into my inner world to speak with him." said Izuka as she managed to get her arm out of Gaara's grip.
"That's not much better Izzy!" cried Gaara in agitation as he stared his girlfriend down. "With you in your inner world, Shukaku has a greater chance to manipulate you, take control of your body, and create havoc on everybody."
Gaara took off his sand gourd and sat in one of the chairs that wasn't being used for the barricade.
"I just don't want you to go through what I had to go through when Shukaku was within me." he finally said as he placed his head in his hands.
"Gaara," whispered Izuka as she walked over to his side. "You're right."
"For what?" asked Gaara as he looked up at Izuka with solemn eyes.
"About the fact that I haven't been the Sage of the Six Paths for so long, and since I'm the only Sage of the Sixth Paths on this planet, I have to learn new things on my own as time goes. I knew that I had to confront Shukaku eventually and I guess it's going to be sooner rather than later. I have to speak with him in order for us to stop Seiriyu," explained Izuka as she placed a comforting hand on Gaara's shoulders. "You understand, don't you?"
Gaara looked at Izuka's hand on his shoulder before looking away. He did understand the situation, but he still didn't like the idea of Izuka speaking to Shukaku alone.
"I do understand. I trust you Izuka, or whatever name you go by in your Earth form." said Gaara with a sheepish smirk.
"You know what? I'm going to ditch the other names I use. Just call me Izuka from now on, plain and simple." said Izuka with a grin as she walked to the center of the room.
"It's a deal, as long as I still get to call you Izzy." said Gaara as he got up from his seat and retrieved his gourd.
"Eh, whatever." said Izuka as she sat on the ceramic tiled floor Indian style.
"How do you even enter your inner world?" asked Gaara as he stooped down to kneel in front of her with his gourd perched on his back.
"I enter via two ways: when I sleep and when I meditate." said Izuka as she closed her eyes and raised her arms to her sides while her finger only touched at their tips.
"Izuka?" Gaara's call broke her out of her focus momentarily.
"What is it Gaa-?" asked Izuka, but she was cut off as Gaara's lips claimed her own in a passionate kiss while her eyes were closed.
Izuka crawled into a kneeling position and wrapped her arms around Gaara's neck without breaking the kiss while Gaara wrapped his arms around her waist. Their lips molded perfectly against each other as Izuka soon moved her arms so that her hands rested on either side of Gaara's cheeks. They soon broke their kiss to catch their breaths.
"Gaara, what suddenly brought this up?" whispered Izuka as Gaara continued to maintain his hold on Izuka's waist.
"For good luck" answered Gaara as he moved a stray hair strand of Izuka's behind her ear. He soon tightened his hold on Izuka, bringing her closer to his chest for a tight hug. "Be careful."
"I will. I promise I will make this quick." she said as she looked him in the eyes. She pecked his lips for one more kiss before Gaara let her go. She returned back into her meditating position, raised arms and all.
"Make sure no one disturbs me while I'm out of it?" replied Izuka as she looked at Gaara with earnest eyes.
"I promise." replied Gaara with a nod of his head.
Izuka replied with a nod of her own and closed her eyes to concentrate. The next thing she knew, she was in a large corridor similar to the one that led to the Nine Tails prison, except the floor was completely covered in sand. In front of her were two large brass doors that stretched up to the tall ceiling. A sealing tag that had the wind kanji written on it surrounded by a few other kanjis in a circle was smack dab in the middle of the doors. Behind the doors, a large sand tanuki greeted her with a sinister smile.
"Hello Shizukara!" called the tanuki with an equally sinister voice.
Izuka gave him a cold look before answering him.
"Hello Shukaku"
Meanwhile, back in the Wind record room, Seiriyu and the Lightning Twins were dusting themselves off after they freed themselves thanks to their combined lightning attacks.
"Well wasn't that annoying?" asked Seiriyu as he grasped his katana tightly in his hand. He then turned to the Lightning Twins, who were waiting patiently at his side.
"Let's continue the hunt shall we?" he asked as he walked out the door.
"Yes sir." answered the twins as they followed after the dictator.
End of Chapter 35
A/N: Please review