Chapter 40: Goodbye Seiriyu!
Izuka's eyes shifted from their usual ice blue, to scarlet red; the pupils becoming visible and stretching to become slits. Her silver hair fell down her back and stretched all the way to her knees as she stood up from her spot on the ground and she even looked a few inches taller. She turned toward Gaara and Seiriyu, never making a sound as she moved. Both Gaara and Seiriyu stared at her awestruck at her unearthly beauty as she stared at the two with a stoic expression on her face.
"So this is the monster that lives within the Lady Sage."
Gaara abruptly turned to Seiriyu, who continued to stare at Izuka.
"Instead of being cloaked in her tailed beast's chakra, she becomes a hybrid of who she was." says Seiriyu as he snuck a look at Gaara. "Half bat, half human. A vampire; a freaking bloodsucker. And you are actually dating her? Commendable."
Gaara turned around to see Izuka right in front of him, her expression never changing as he took an abrupt step back.
"Did you really just take a step back?" asked an incredulous Seiriyu as he looked at the Kazekage. "You must be afraid."
He was soon shut up by a crisp slap to the face at the hands of Izuka herself. Blood fell down Seiriyu's chin as he spit out some blood and a couple of teeth on the ground. He turned his head back to Izuka and was instantly startled by how she stared at him. Her eyes were filled with anger, hatred, and complete distaste for the dictator. He felt like a meek, small child as Izuka's stare bore down on him. It was soon too much for him to take as he looked away and stared at the ground.
"You can't even look me in the eye." said Izuka in a subzero voice as she stared down at the dictator with absolute malice in her eyes. "You pathetic little weakling."
"WHAT YOU SAY YOU B-" Seiriyu wasn't allowed to continue his sentence as Izuka promptly smacked him in the cheek once again.
"Watch what you say Seiriyu, or else you will be losing your tongue next." she said to him as she slowly crossed her arms. She turned her attention to Gaara, who was standing a couple of feet away from the two, watching as the events unfold before him.
"Gaara, please check on the others. I'll handle this rat myself." commanded Izuka as she nodded her head to the others. Gaara looked at Seiriyu before turning to face Izuka. They locked eyes before Gaara nodded his head in understanding. He ran over to the others, leaving Izuka alone with the dictator. He reached the others just as Daisuke, Ryu, and Kankuro were all waking up.
"What the hell happened? Gaara?" asked Kankuro as he looked at his brother.
"A lot," Gaara answered bluntly as he ran over to Temari, who was still unconscious. "Daisuke, I need you to heal Temari."
Daisuke slowly got up from his spot on the ground and ran over to the Kazekage and his wounded sister. He knelt down in front of the wind mistress and began to heal the rest of Temari's wound.
"This wound is already half healed. Whose work is this?" asked Daisuke as he turned to Gaara.
"Izuka" answered Gaara as he turned away. Everyone else except for Temari followed Gaara's gaze and all looked on in astonishment at what they saw.
"Is that really Izuka?" asked Ryu as she looked on in astonishment as her stare continued to be glued to Izuka's back.
"Yes; she was pushed to her limits and her half vampire self awoke from hibernation." answered Gaara as he continued to stare at her and the dictator. Izuka continued to stare down at Seiriyu with her stare as cold as ice, never moving her body in the slightest bit. Seiriyu, on the other hand, looked completely different from when Gaara first left the two. Gaara saw that Seiriyu didn't look cocky or resentful; he looked downright scared for his life.
"He's has such a reaction by just looking at Izuka's stare. I can't imagine what he must be going through, even though he does deserve it nonetheless." said Kankuro as he retrieved his puppets with his chakra strings. Gaara nodded as he watched as Izuka finally moved out of her crossed arm position. She reached down to touch Seiriyu's cheek, but as soon as her fingers barely touched the prone porcelain cheek. She took her hand back and threw him into the wall with one swift flick of her wrist. The wall cracked into pieces, but never truly broke through when Seiriyu hit it. Seiriyu collapsed to the ground as some of the wall pieces fell on top of him. The others were stunned beyond disbelief as they watched the entire seen unfold.
"Just like that! I can't believe it! She just threw him like a rag doll!" said Kankuro in astonishment.
"Her power is unbelievable. I couldn't even sense a trace of her chakra when she was not moving, but with that one movement of her arm, I did feel it. And it was incredible." said Daisuke in disbelief as he continued to heal Temari's wound. Gaara didn't say a word, but stood up from his spot on the floor and began to slowly walk over to Izuka.
"What the hell are you doing Gaara?" asked Kankuro as he called out to his brother, but Gaara didn't listen as he continued to walk over to Izuka, stopping when he was five feet away from her.
"You better not be planning to interfere Gaara." was all Izuka said as she began to walk over to Seiriyu. "If you try to come in between me and the dictator, I willl crush you along with him."
"Izuka, I want to be the one who ends this." said Gaara as he looked at his girlfriend. Izuka stopped in her tracks and slowly turned her head to look at Gaara.
"Why?" asked Izuka as she placed her hands on her hips.
"Seiriyu wanted revenge on Sunagakure because of what my father did to his clan. If anyone should end him, it should be me." answered Gaara as he started to gather his sand back into his gourd. Izuka snuck a look at Seiriyu, who was starting to get up from the ground, before turning to Gaara.
"Fine, but do not mess this up. You won't get another chance if you do." said Izuka as she walked passed Gaara and over to the others, taking them by surprise.
"Thank you." said Gaara without looking at Izuka. He walked over to Seiriyu as the dictator sat on the ground to catch his bearings.
"You want to finish me off instead of letting your girlfriend do it? You must be an idiot!" called Seiriyu in disgust as he clutched his cheek, which was bleeding profusely.
"I'm no idiot. I want to end you to finish this endless saga. You are a tortured soul Seiriyu. You will not stop till you get what you want. As Kazekage of Sunagakure, I have to do whatever is in my power to protect my village. And if that means I have to kill you to do it, then I will do it without haste." answered Gaara as he crossed his arms.
"You bloody imbecile!" called Seiriyu as his left eye twitch. Running on full blown adrenaline and rage, he jumped from the ground and lunged for Gaara with a kunai in hand. Gaara jumped out of the way and without turning around, sent some sand to attack Seiriyu. When he heard the sound of metal touching the ground, Gaara turned around to see his sand sticking out of Seiriyu's chest, right through his Gate of Death.
"This can't be . . ." muttered Seiriyu as he took his last breath, his body slumping down to the ground as the sand left his body.
"It was your own ignorance and lust for revenge that brought your downfall." muttered Gaara as his sand returned to his gourd. He turned to face the others to see that everyone was staring at him with somber faces, except Izuka, whose face was still a neutral mask, and Temari, who was still unconscious as Daisuke continued to heal her wound. He walked over to the group after making sure Seiriyu was fully dead, his face a unreadable mask itself.
"Are you okay?" asked Kankuro as he sealed away his puppets.
"I'm fine. . . I'm just glad it's finally over." said Gaara as he crossed his arms.
"Not entirely . . ." everyone turned to Izuka as she looked toward the exit. "We still have the invasion force to deal with."
"It's handled."
Everyone turned to the exit to see the Amegakure Council members walk into the room, all of them with somber looks on their faces.
"You have defeated our dictator in battle. None of us wanted this war to even happen, but Seiriyu used his power to overrule us to try to get what he wants. Now that he's dead, as head council member, I officially decree that the invasion force is canceled." said a council member with a long beard that almost touched the ground. "We apologize for all that has happened here in these past few days."
"You can rightfully apologize by appointing a leader that has the country's best interest in heart instead of his own." said Izuka matter of fact as her silver hair shone in the light.
"Understood Lady Sage." said the elder as he bowed his head. A small murmuring noise could be heard throughout the room and everyone turned to see Temari weakly opening her eyes.
"What's going on?" she asked as she looked around the room. Her eyes instantly went to Izuka, who was now passing the Amegakure elders and walking toward the exit. "Is that who I think it is?"
"Yep!" answered Ryu as she and the others watched as Gaara quickly followed after her. Gaara followed Izuka until they reached the empty 1st floor lobby, where they saw the rain pouring outside. The purple aura reappeared and enveloped Izuka's whole body, her vampire side disappearing as she returned to normal. Before she could fully fall on the ground, Gaara managed to catch her in his arms.
"Izuka, are you alright?" asked Gaara as he watched Izuka's face in concern. Her eyes were closed as she slowly breathed in and out to catch her breath. Soon enough, Izuka slowly opened her eyes to see Gaara clouding her vision.
"Gaara?" she breathed as she placed a hand to her forehead. "What happened to me a few minutes ago?"
"You went to that other place . . . again." said Gaara for an answer as he continued to hold the girl in his arms. His eyes went to the rosary connected to Izuka's amulet. The jewel within the middle of the rosary was pitch black instead of its usual purple.
"This rosary is getting weaker and weaker each time I go berserk." said Izuka as she sat up in Gaara's hold, looking out into the pouring rain as she did so.
"To tell you the truth, you were a lot more reasonable this time around. You actually allowed me to deliver the final blow on Seiriyu instead of doing it yourself." said Gaara as he helped Izuka to her feet.
"That doesn't sound like Ryuna." muttered Izuka as she placed a hand underneath her chin.
"At least everything is over. Seiriyu is dead, the invasion has been canceled, and everyone else has made it out okay." said Gaara as he put a hand on her cheek too bring her face to face his. "We've won Izuka."
"Good, because I'm officially beat." said Izuka with a tired sigh as she leaned her face into Gaara's hand just as Gaara wrapped his other arm around Izuka's waist. They both shared a small laugh before staring into each other's eyes. Gaara pulled Izuka's face to his and their lips connected for a kiss, one filled with celebration, passion, and relief as the rain continued to pour down on the Rain Country.
While all this was happening, somewhere outside the city, there was a horse drawn carriage carrying the Rain Daimyo and his two assistants back to his castle.
"Sir? What do we do about the invasion force if Dictator Kotowashi is defeated in battle?" asked one of his assistants as she looked at the Daimyo.
"It's regardless whether or not Seiriyu wins or loses, the invasion will go on. We'll just have to bide and plan our time more wisely. Mark my words girls, not only will Sunagakure fall, but so will the other Four Great Shinobi Lands too." said the dictator with a smirk as the carriage continued to leave Amegakure in the distance.
End of Part 1!
Part 2 starts next chapter! Please review!