A/N: As promised, the next chapter! I had it beta read by my brother, and he thought it was okay. I'm crossing my fingers as I'm posting this up! (Okay that's impossible to do, but I am trying!)
There will be some explanations made, and more questions raised. I can answer some if you'd like, but not all otherwise it would ruin the story.
Once again, thank you very much for your constant reviews! It made me write faster, and so, enjoy this chapter! It's a rather kick ass one. XD
Hurting
Prey are animals attacked and eaten by other animals.
Gaara, is no animal.
But he is my Prey.
-
Gaara's eyes flicked open at the sound of the doors of the training grounds slamming. Seki stood before him, her disposition calm and collected. Had it not been her magenta eyes, Gaara would have thought that he was being paranoid for nothing. Said shinobi stood up from his meditating form, and unwillingly faced his opponent. Seki smiled, baring her fangs as well as her claws as she folded her arms.
"Sabaku no Gaara."
Gaara blinked, turquoise eyes reflecting the confusion he felt within. So far, he had not heard Seki speak in her insane state before. Not to mention, Seki's voice was a slightly higher pitch, and sounded even more menacing than Shukaku. Then again, Shukaku was a drunk idiot...
"Have you ever heard of Nibi no Nekomata?"
Seki's voice, no, her insane voice, made Gaara shiver inwardly. He frowned at her, allowing her to continue.
"The Nekomata is a two-tailed demon in a form of a cat, known to reanimate and control the dead as well as breathe fire. Dear Seki however, didn't manage to inherit these powers. She had her own, which was good enough for me. At least she had the one trait that would bring me out."
"...You? You're the..."
"Grudges. The Nekomata is well-known for holding grudges and having revenge until it was satisfied. Although Seki isn't powerful enough to have the power of bringing life to the dead, I'm sure she could try to send you to join your dear uncle."
"Wait! You're the Nekomata?"
Seki raised her hands in a thinking pose, scratching lightly against her chin. "Not exactly, after all, only a bit of my poison seeped into her brain. I wasn't put into her like the Shukaku was to you. However, she's been using quite a bit of my power recently. I'm pretty thankful for that, those long periods under the influence of my poison somehow formed an alternate ego of me."
"...How!?"
"I'm not sure of that myself. Maybe Seki could find out for me. We've become pretty close friends since she arrived at Sunagakure. Except she probably think of me as a harmless, little voice in her head."
The red-head wondered why he was becoming so angry as he realized the Nekomata's poison was using Seki. Making Seki do things she didn't want to do.
"I'm sure now, Seki would want to take revenge on the murderer who killed her precious father. She would hate him so..."
"NO!"
'Seki' dodged the ball of sand easily, chuckling at Gaara's expression.
"I can't control her for too long, you know. The amount of time I get to control her reflects on her stamina, as well as her want to be controlled," 'Seki' grinned evilly and positioned her palms above one another. Gaara watched as white halos formed in between them.
"Seki loved her father, more than anyone in the world. I wonder if she hates the person who took him away?"
"URUSAI!" Gaara yelled as he sent balls of sand to block the flying halos. He raised his arms and swung them towards the Nekomata in Seki's form, his sand following. The Nekomata responded by leaping away, her 'claws' protruding as she stuck onto the side of the wall. She grinned.
Let the fun begin.
-
Baki walked out of the meeting room, feeling insecure As he waved good bye to all the other council members, he froze when the Kazekage himself walked out. The most powerful shinobi in Sunagakure paused and turned his head towards Baki.
"Is anything the matter?"
"Iie," Baki stiffly replied, bowing respectfully before doing a shunshin out of the building. The Kazekage merely chuckled at the fading cloud of smoke where Baki was moments ago and continued on his way.
"Oh yes, she is going to be very important for the future of Sunagakure."
Meanwhile, outside the mansion, Baki frowned slightly as he contemplated finding the Sand Siblings.
I suppose they would want to hear the good news.
Although, the way the Kazekage said it seemed to be more bad, than good.
-
"Kaze no Rensei Hari!"
"Sabaku Kyu!"
'Seki' shot flying air needles that drilled into the air, slicing the sand through its air pockets into shreds. But sand cannot be sliced, and it joined back, gripping 'Seki' as it did. Gaara glared at the Nekomata, his blood boiling as he resisted the urge to hurt Seki. Once 'Seki' realized Gaara was hesitating, she laughed and swirled within the sand's grasp, disappearing into the air.
"My, oh my Gaara, how are you ever going to win if you let your emotions control you?"
Gaara spun on his heel and watched 'Seki' crawl along the wall. She flew and struck against Gaara's sand, speed increasing, rather than decreasing, with the passing minute. As 'Seki' swung her feet at Gaara's head, Nekomata's voice came out of her mouth, evil intentions of distracting Gaara dripping with every word, "Be like me, or Seki. She has completely no emotions to distract her now."
Heat rose up Gaara's neck as he willed his sand to fly towards 'Seki'. Laughter he once considered melodious was heard as 'Seki' disappeared and reappeared behind him. Aimlessly flinging his arms around, Gaara sent rivers of sand everywhere. He controlled not only his own sand, but the sand beneath him as well, and it was definitely harder to embed chakra into sand that was not his own.
Why isn't she tired? Doesn't she embed chakra into the air?
"Dear Seki doesn't waste any chakra when she embeds them into the air," Nekomata whispered dangerously close to his ear, Gaara turned as a wall of sand came up, blocking 'Seki' from approaching any closer.
"Only when she does jutsus like -"
Gaara followed her in doing a shunshin with their own elements, both of them arriving at either ends of the training grounds.
"- these," 'Seki' lowered her arms and placed them on her hips, staring at Gaara. The latter stared back, panting slightly. He narrowed his eyes, watching her body movements for any hint of fatigue. When he found none, the red head formed sand shurikens that were small than normal, and shot hundreds of them at her. 'Seki' grinned and embedded her chakra into the air, creating a wind shield that, instead of covering her body, formed a wall.
But air is everywhere, and 'Seki' could not control all of it. Several shurikens managed to get past the wind defense before it was completely formed, causing superficial wounds on her arms and legs. However, 'Seki' looked down upon them as if they were failures, rather than a small success on Gaara's part.
"For your advantage, however, I'd share a piece of information."
Gaara frowned suspiciously.
"Seki grows weak because her stamina isn't the optimal stage. She can't handle the chakra as it works for her."
"What do you mean?"
"Pretend our chakra is our... brains," 'Seki' pointed at her head, and Gaara raised one invisible eye brow. "Most people create more brains so that they can use them, so they become clever. Seki is stupid. She uses her own, but just using her own makes her weak. Hence, her brain isn't that clever yet, so she'll probably drop after a couple of hours."
Its been nearly an hour.
"So, I guess I'll have to kill you within the last hour," 'Seki' finished, her mischievous grin returning, giving Gaara no time to prepare himself as she disappeared into the air.
-
"So she's accepted in our team!?"
"Sort of, Temari..."
"As a reserve? Will she be able to compete?"
"I'm not quite sure, but..."
"Do we need to scout for two members for her then?"
"Well, there are plenty of guards to accomp-"
"Are you sure she will no-"
"LISTEN UP!"
Temari shut up, while Kankurou chuckled from the side. Baki sighed and rubbed his forehead. As he sat down, Kankurou sat up and stared at his sensei.
"Baki, is there something you should tell us?"
Temari blinked, surprised at Kankurou's serious tone. She too, turned towards Baki and questioned him, "Is there something that was not allowed because of Seki?"
"No, it was what was allowed."
"What?"
"What?"
"Baki..." Temari started. Baki raised his hand to shush her.
"The Kazekage let Seki represent Sunagakure much too easily. No questions asked," Kankurou suddenly remembered the time he took the Raion documents to his father. But before he could open his mouth, Baki cut him by saying, "And I think, I know why."
"Why, Baki?" Temari asked, dead serious. Kankurou leaned in as Baki tried to find the appropriate words to explain. He sighed once more.
"There's no other way than putting it bluntly, I suppose."
-
15 more minutes.
Gaara sent a pile of sand towards the kunoichi as she flung the last of her shurikens at him. His sand defenses blocked the weapons without fail, and Gaara managed to catch 'Seki' as she shunshin to his front, swinging her arm. Turquoise eyes widened as a sudden blow of sand connected with 'Seki". As she dropped to the ground, the Nekomata hissing furiously as sand crept up her legs and anchored her down. Before Gaara could get to her however, 'Seki' had formed several seals.
"Kawarimi no Jutsu!"
Cursing, Gaara released his sand's hold on the wind clone and his gaze swept the area, waiting for 'Seki' to reappear.
10 more minutes.
Gaara whipped around as he heard the shuffle of feet, but frowned when he realized it was intentional. He scrutinized 'Seki', unknowingly comparing the person she was now, possessed somehow by the Nekomata, and the person she had always been. A malicious glint in her magenta eyes shook Gaara back to reality as her hands moved fluidly, shooting air needles from every angle possible. Although his sand defence blocked all of them in time, Gaara noticed that they disappeared almost at the instant they touched the sand defence, and they were smaller than usual.
"I guess spreading her chakra everywhere isn't a good idea. Makes the weapons weaker," 'Seki' mused. She clasped her hands together and let her index and middle fingers stick out.
"Futon: Rensei Taifuu!"
At the familiar sight, Gaara poured his chakra into his sand, enclosing himself inside an orb of sand. As the sand slowly covered his view, Gaara could see the same thing he saw before: air spiraling around her fingers as it grew taller and bigger. It seemed to be much more massive and surpassed even the height of the fences that surrounded the training grounds. The red head saw so much before he was completely enclosed.
"Daisan no Me," Gaara whispered and placed his fingers over his right eye. Outside, a floating eyeball no bigger than a palm emerged, unnoticed by 'Seki'. Through his third eye, Gaara could see 'Seki' move the typhoon towards the ball of sand Gaara was protected in. Strangely, the typhoon seemed to have shrunk when 'Seki' moved it, but when it found its target, its strength grew tremendously. Gaara felt the impact on the sand as if the typhoon was striking him instead.
The Nekomata shrieked with laughter and embedded more of Seki's chakra into the typhoon, strength and size increasing until everything was getting sucked in. Fallen kunais and shurikens that she had used floated and zoomed straight towards the ball of sand, only to hit against it like a piece of plastic. The sand had hardened to the extent of it being as impenetrable as iron. Without air pockets.
Gaara watched the outside and felt the insides of the ball shake slightly at the pressure of the typhoon. He growled softly when he saw a tiny dent being formed on the ball and planned his next attack.
5 more minutes.
As sudden as a gust of wind, the typhoon destroyed the ball of sand, throwing 'Seki' back towards the wall. She recovered and mid air however, and landed as gracefully as possible, all four limbs crouching as the combination of smoke and sand started to clear. 'Seki' coughed and spat, all the while keeping an eye on the pile of sand that had formed after the ball was crushed. Even under all that sand, the Nekomata could see there was no body.
"Leave Seki's body."
Gaara's cold, piercing tone would have scared the daylights out of anyone. But the Nekomata wasn't anyone and she smiled, even though Gaara could not see her. The kunai he used, pushed against her throat as she tried to chuckle, silencing her. He could sense the deteoriating presence of the Nekomata, but 'Seki' shook her head.
"I can never leave her, Gaara-kun."
Within a second, 'Seki' whipped round until she was just nose to nose with Gaara, her fangs shrinking to its original size. The Nekomata retracted the claws and let Seki's hand slide down Gaara's chest, leaning in as she whispered in the stoic boy's ear,
"I am part of her, forever."
-
The atmosphere was tense, but no one knew how to counter it. The deafening silence was only broken as Gaara arrived home. As if it were a warning bell, Gaara immediately noted the awkward aura around his siblings and his sensei.
"What's going on?"
"Gaara, about Seki-"
"I need you to help me take care of her for tomorrow. Her uncle won't be back until the day after," Gaara cut Temari. She blinked twice and then nodded curtly. She left after one last glance at Kankurou.
Coward. She's scared of telling Gaara.
Kankurou broke out of his thoughts when his youngest sibling slid into the seat beside him. After a few moments of staring, Gaara turned to Baki, "What happened?"
Baki glanced at Kankurou, before replying, "Gaara, this is just a theory of mine, but..."
-
After Seki returned to normal, Gaara had sent her straight home. He carried her the entire way, as if afraid if he let go she would get hurt again.
He placed her body on the bed, night had fallen and the ever bright moon found its way into her bedroom. The light it shone revealed the little cuts and wounds Seki had attained when the Nekomata possessed her, and Gaara managed to treat most of them with the First Aid kit he found in the dining room, as well as the note by Keimyou.
As he placed back the kit, Gaara took a glance towards her room, where he could see her peaceful form lying on her bed. A sense of relief overwhelmed him, for a reason that he wasn't sure, or he would rather deny. After salvaging a piece of paper and a pen from Keimyou's room, he scribbled a message for Seki's uncle and left.
Missing a small black notebook that lay innocently under Keimyou's bed.
-
A/N: How is it? I have been itching to write a chapter with a lot of fighting. It seems much more interesting than my last few eh? Anyway, I don't think I'll be updating in a while. The holidays aren't meant to enjoy, with this much homework and activities! Groans. Anyhow, I will try to update before the end of this month.
Kawarimi no Jutsu – Body Replacement Technique
My favorite animal is cats by the way. I found some pretty interesting information about the Nekomata, so I thought I'd share it here:
Nibi no Nekomata –
Nekomata or Bakeneko; It was once believed that after a cat reached ten years of age, it would develop profound magical powers, typically exhibited by the tail splitting all the way down to form two tails. By gesturing with its tail, Nekomata can animate and control the dead to do their bidding. It is well-known for holding grudges, and must be appeased by attention, food, and respect. Very rarely, the Nekomata are also said to breathe fire. It can also change its shape into that of a human, and even devouring its own mistress in order to shapeshift and take her place.
Although the two-tailed demon in Naruto series is depicted as a Nekomata, it doesn't seem to exhibit the same abilities as the legendary creature as it has fire-based abilities. However, this is an indirect reference to a Japanese belief that spirits of the dead manifested as airborne flames.
This information and plenty others have changed my ideas for the plot. I hope it will be better of course. Thanks again for all your reviews!
-JE