Chapter 39: Pushed to the Limit

Seiriyu stood completely surrounded as the Lady Sage, her dragon, and the Sand Nin stood around him, all poised and ready to strike.

"Surrender? . . . Like I would ever do that! Not in a million years!" exclaimed Seiriyu as he looked at Gaara in absolute rage.

"You are surrounded. We've immobilized your guards and your protégées. You are now alone in this fight. Give up while you still can!" exclaimed Izuka as she leaned on Gaara for support.

"Nice little speech for someone so weak. Allowing me to get close to you was a fatal mistake Lady Sage, and now you and your friends here will pay dearly for it." cried Seiriyu as he took his katana out and ran straight for Izuka and Gaara, but Temari managed to blow him away easily with her fan, sending him into a pillar that was holding up one of the balconies.

"Wait for our signal you two!" commanded Temari as she looked at her little redheaded brother and his girlfriend. "The rest of you, let's move!"

"Right!" called Ryu, Kankuro, and Daisuke in unison. Daisuke and Kankuro put the twins down on a nearby table before joining Temari and Ryu to take on Seiriyu, leaving Gaara and Izuka to themselves.

"Are you sure you're alright Izzy?" asked Gaara in concern as he observed the blonde girl, who was breathing heavily.

"I'll be fine Gaara. I'm just really tired that's all. I never should have let Seiriyu get that close to me." answered Izuka as Gaara wrapped an arm around her waist to steady her better.

"Don't worry about it Izuka. We needed to get Seiriyu's guard down so that we can hit one of his chakra gates. You played your role as decoy beautifully, now all we have to do is wait for the others to create another opening for us." explained Gaara as he looked on at the fight.

"But I'm afraid you're going to have to do most of the fighting. I don't think I'll be able to summon enough strength to continue." said Izuka as she looked him in the eyes.

"You can Izuka. I know you can do it." replied Gaara as he looked back onto the battlefield.

"I'll try, but I need to warn you. If I push myself too hard, I won't be able to control myself." replied Izuka as Gaara watched the change happen in her eyes. Her ice blue ones shifted to scarlet red and her ever invisible pupils appeared and became slits, signifying that she wasn't that far away from going into vampire mode.

"If things go badly for us, the other you may be our only hope to beating Seiriyu." said Gaara in defeat as he turned his attention back to the fight. Seiriyu.

"That may be so, but will you be able to stop me once everything is done and Seiriyu is defeated?" asked Izuka as her eyes returned to normal.

" . . . We'll see when we get there." Gaara said for an answer as he continued to watch the battle. Kankuro unleashed a barrage of kunai at Seiriyu from Black Ant's chest compartment, but Seiriyu managed to block them with his blade. Daisuke used a jutsu that created quicksand right at Seiriyu's feet, rendering him immobile for a short while.

"GAARA, IZUKA NOW!" cried Temari as she looked at the two. Gaara commanded a torrent of sand to wrap itself around Seiriyu, making him drop his katana in the process.

"Now he can't move. It's your turn Izuka." said Gaara as he looked at the blonde.

"Right!" said Izuka as she managed to stand up fully by herself. She summoned lightning to her right hand, and it formed itself into a bow. She brought her left hand perpendicular to the bow and as she did that, a spark of lightning formed itself into an arrow. She aimed the arrow right at Seiriyu's stomach, where the Gate of View was located. She fired the arrow and it struck its target, hitting Seiriyu square in the stomach. Seiriyu coughed up a large amount of blood as the arrow struck his stomach. The lightning bow dissipated from Izuka's hands and she fell to her knees completely exhausted.

"Izuka, are you going to be alright?" asked Gaara as he knelt down to his knees to tend to the Lady Sage.

"I think I will be fine." said Izuka as she continued to breathe heavily. She looked up to see Seiriyu looking straight at her, his eyes completely filled with malice as he continued to grimace through the pain.

"I see; you guys are going after my eight chakra gates. That was what you spoke to Shukaku about wasn't it? You spoke with the one tailed demon in order to find out my kekkai genkai's weakness." said Seiriyu as he narrowed his eyes.

"Gee, what gave that away?" said Izuka as she suddenly went into a coughing fit, much to Gaara's concern.

"Looks like someone really did push themselves too much." said Seiriyu as he chuckled at Izuka's predicament.

"Cut the crap Seiriyu. You can no longer move your limbs thanks to the sand you're trapped in. Once we strike your Gate of Death, it will officially mean the end of your kekkai genkai, you, and your planned invasion." said Temari with cold eyes as she looked at the dictator.

"Who said I couldn't move Temari?" asked Seiriyu with a smirk. Suddenly, his sand prison was no more as it was obliterated into thin air by his black lightning. Moving with blazing speed, he quickly cut through Temari's fan and slashed her right in her chest.

"TEMARI!" yelled Kankuro as he released Salamander from its seal. Along with Black Ant, Kankuro unleashed a second barrage of kunai at Seriyiu, but Seiriyu used his lightning like tentacles and batted the kunai away like flies.

"KANKURO; LOOK OUT!" yelled Daisuke as he stood in front of the puppeteer, just in time to be struck by Seiriyu 's lightning right in the chest. Another bolt of lightning rushed by Daisuke and struck Kankuro, his puppets, and Ryu. In seconds, they were all unconscious. Seiriyu smirked at his handiwork before turning his attention to the Kaekage and Lady Sage, both looking on in horror.

"Only two to go." said Seiriyu as he pointed his katana straight at the two, his black lightning swirling around his body.

"Gaara, what do we do now?" whispered Izuka in a voice so low that only Gaara could hear.

"What else can we do but fight?" asked Gaara in a strong voice as he commanded his sand to attack Seiriyu. Seiriyu's lightning met Gaara's sand blow for blow as the two hit. Seiriyu moved around the two combating elements to attack Gaara and Izuka head on. Izuka saw this and placed a hand to the ground, making the earth rise to form a rock wall, blocking Seiriyu's path. Seiriyu only smirked and ran up the wall, using it as a launch pad to lift himself in the air. He channeled his lightning into his sword and dived sword first, Gaara his intended target. Gaara saw this just in time and commanded some of his to block Seiriyu, catching him in a sand web. Instead of letting the sand hinder him, Seiriyu used it for his advantage, channeling the lightning through the sand, hitting Gaara and Izuka dead on. If it weren't for Izuka creating a purple barrier, protecting both her and Gaara from the attack that is.

"Izuka?" asked Gaara in disbelief as he watched as Izuka had her palms raised up, keeping the barrier up as the black lightning came at them.

"I won't be able to keep this up much longer." said Izuka as she continued to breather heavily, just as the barrier started to show signs of cracking.

"I'll handle this." said Gaara as he commanded his sand to catch Seiriyu, who broke free from the sand minutes ago. The black lightning ceased, letting Izuka relieve herself from using her barrier, which was staking a toll on her. When the barrier dissipated, Izuka collapsed right onto Gaara's chest, back first.

"Izuka! Stay with me! Don't fall asleep now!" said Gaara as he continued to command his sand, making it chase Seiriyu around the ballroom, but the dictator kept invading it every time.

"I'm . . . trying not to. But . . . Gaara, I'm beat. I don't have enough . . . chakra left in me to . . . continue fighting." she told him as she felt Gaara wrap an arm around her waist. "I'll collapse . . . any second . . . if I continue . . . to push myself."

"We wouldn't want to push the Lady Sage to her limits now do we?" asked Seiriyu as he overheard their conversation. "Push her too much, and she may end up in a coma."

"You be quiet!" said Gaara in a cold voice. The sand continued to surge after the dictator, successfully grabbing onto his ankle and throwing him into a nearby table.

"That should take him out of commission for a little while." said Gaara with a small smirk as he turned to Izuka. "Do you think feeding on my blood one more time will help give you back some of your strength?"

"Maybe, but I don't want to take away so much that it would weaken you." said Izuka as she looked Gaara right in the eye.

"Then take enough so that you would have enough strength to heal the others." said Gaara as he looked over at the others. Temari was unmoving as she lied in her own pool of blood while Daisuke, Ryu, and Kankuro lied on the ground unconscious, little slivers of black electricity traveling throughout their bodies.

"Okay" said Izuka as she turned back to Gaara. He unzipped his coat so that his neck showed once again. Izuka leaned her head to his neck, placing her lips right on his cool skin, sinking her fangs into his flesh and drawing his blood. Gaara let a small moan escape his lips as he wrapped his arms around her waist. It was done as fast as it started as she defanged herself from Gaara's neck, kissing the puncture marks closed.

"I'll heal the others, you hold off Seiriyu as long as you can." said the Lady Sage as she escaped Gaara's grasp and ran over to Temari first. Gaara watched Izuka until she started to heal Temari's wound before getting us from the ground and slowly walking towards Seiriyu, who was starting to get up from the shards of table he was on top of. The Kazekage quickly commanded his sand to hold Seiriyu down, binding his ankles and wrists together.

"Give up." said Gaara in a cold voice.

"Never!" replied Seiriyu as he cocked his head to the side. "I will never give up. I will not stop till I have my revenge and I've already got a part of it."

"What do you mean?" asked Gaara as he narrowed his eyes.

"Well, don't you see it?" asked Seiriyu as he managed to sit up in his sandy shackles. "I've taken your siblings and allies out of the equation. And your girlfriend is next."

Gaara's eyes widened in shock and horror as he turned his head to see the lightning that was enveloping Daisuke's, Ryu's, and Kankuro's bodies come together to form one large lightning bolt, Izuka the intended target as she continued to heal Temari's wound. It fired as soon as Gaara blinked.

"IZUKA MOVE!" yelled Gaara in his loudest tone of voice yet. He watched in horror as the lightning zoomed toward Izuka's back, stopping dead in its tracks an inch away from her as a wall of regular lightning blocked it's path.

"WHAT THE!" yelled Seiriyu in surprise as he looked on at the scene. "HOW CAN SHE HAVE THAT MUCH CHAKRA LEFT IN HER SYSTEM?"

Gaara never answered the dictator's question as he watched as Izuka stopped healing Temari's wound, even though it was still only half closed. She brought her arms to her side as a dark purple chakra aura enveloped her body. Her hair came out of its messy bun by itself, turning a silvery white as it fell down her back. Herhead slowly turned to face the Kazekage and the dictator and Gaara let out a sharp gasp as he finally realized what was going on.

That last attack pushed Izuka over the edge. The Lady Sage was gone for the moment as Seiriyu did something that few were able to do. Seiriyu made the vampire within Izuka come out of hibernation.

There is going to be some hell to pay.

A/N: Please review!