EDITED!
A/N: OMG HELLO PEOPLE! I survived my examinations and the torturous study days before that!
I am so sorry for not updating. School is hell and I've just started using my computer again. I had to reread my whole story to make sure my next chapter flowed with the rest so please bear with me if there are any repetitions or mistakes. Also do NOT hesitate to point them out because I have been separated from the fanfiction world for too long!
Oh, and I've decided to stop using Japanese words as its really troublesome to do so. I also do not know when to use -san, -sama, -kun, -chan that well either, so I hope you don't mind the change!
And without more nonsense, here's chapter 15!
-
Hurting
The sky was tinged with auburn and purple, the big orange ball slowly descending behind the walls of Sunagakure and its light slowly painted the walls of a certain bedroom.
Keimyou dropped his things in his room, pinching the bridge of his nose as he thought over Gaara's note and Temari's reason of being here for the last two days. His mission had reaped more information than he had wanted. He wondered the coincidence behind this, but simply dismissed it as such. Kicking his sandals off his feet, Keimyou felt something beneath his foot and reached under his bed. He pulled out a black notebook, the very sight of it making Keimyou gasp.
I should've brought it along! Keimyou thought angrily and flipped to page 86, the last mission log Seki's father had written and warned Keimyou to never show it to her. It seemed she had seen it anyway, and Keimyou's fear had been realized.
A small sound indicated that Temari had left Seki's room. Keimyou closed the notebook shut with a snap and walked out of the room, accidentally bumping into Temari on her way out.
"Oh! Sorry, Keimyou. I didn't see you..."
"Where's Gaara?"
"...Gaara? At home, wh-"
"Take me to him."
-
"Gaara!"
The three males turned to see Temari enter the house with Keimyou. Seki's uncle rose to his full height at the sight of Gaara's intense gaze and spoke with a clear voice, "Gaara, may I speak to you for a moment? In private?"
Gaara hesitated for a fraction of a second before walking up to his room, indicating that Keimyou follow with a nod of his head. Once in the room, Keimyou followed Gaara out through the window and on to the roof. As they sat down in silence, Keimyou wondered how often Gaara came up here, and whether the nights Seki were missing from her room, she was actually here.
"What is it?"
"Gaara, I need you to tell me in detail, everything Seki told you in her alternate persona. If you would like, I can shed some light on any queries you might have in exchange. I think you deserve to know this informaton as well, seeing as how Seki seems to know some things about you," Keimyou spoke in a rushed manner, his face pale but his maroon eyes gleaming brightly. Gaara could tell his emotions were running high and wild. He told everything as detailed as he could to Keimyou, while maintaining his stoic expression so as not to reveal his inner feelings during the fight.
Keimyou absorbed everything like a sponge, and seemed to understand something he knew now that Gaara had explained what happened during the fight.
"Keimyou."
Keimyou snapped his head back towards the redhead, taken aback by his politeness. Yet he could hear the tone of urgency and firmness within his voice. Keimyou set his mouth in a thin line and stared at the rooftops of the many houses in Sunagakure.
"Nibi no Nekomata has had more than one person develop an alternate persona of it after it had injected its poison into its victim. Usually, those victims either died on the spot or if they survived, went crazy and were killed by their own peers. Only one other person survived, was not killed and managed to develop an alternate persona of the Nekomata as a result of long periods under the poison's influence. That person lived in the Land of the Wind, near Sunagakure, and apparently, the Nekomata managed to easily slip into the Land of the Wind through his help."
"Is he still alive?"
"No, he was killed after the Nibi escaped . The Nekomata probably predicted his death, which was why it found its way into our clan and bit Seki when she was just born. Then it disappeared from this Land and was probably placed into another shinobi," Keimyou finished, remembering to avoid the word 'Jinchuuriki'. Gaara listened without changing his facial expression, and Keimyou smiled a little as he glanced at the young shinobi beside him.
"You know, Seki is much happier now than when she was in the Raion clan. Her family loved her, but never really understood her pain. So, I think having someone who understands you when you're all alone, gives a person much more happiness."
Gaara still didn't give any sign that he was even listening to Keimyou, but his heart started to beat faster. Keimyou smiled wider as he finished, "I think, that is love as well."
The redhead snapped his head to the side, seeing nothing but a trace of Keimyou's chakra just moments ago. He looked up to see him leaping over rooftops back home, pondering over Keimyou's last words.
-
Gaara entered back into the house as Baki walked towards the back room of the mansion. Mentally raising an eyebrow, he followed without a word, watching his siblings trail after their mentor. As they settled in the sound proof room, Baki heard the beginnings of a sand storm outside, closing the door to block out any disturbances.
"What is this about, Baki?" Temari demanded quickly, watching him with narrowed eyes as Baki walked to the front of the room. Gaara leaned against the wall impassive, although his heart hammered a little weirdly when Temari mentioned a certain brown haired kunoichi. "Is it about Seki? Are they going to use her?"
Baki shook his head, but was cut off before he could start by Kankurou, "What was the message the Kazekage gave you?" Gaara raised his head towards his brother, his turquoise eyes puzzled. Kankurou gave him a sideways glance while explaining what happened when Keimyou was talking to him.
"Baki received a message from the Kazekage. He insisted we had to talk without the risk of someone evesdropping."
"So your theory, it's nothing?" Gaara directed his gaze to Baki this time, making the sand Jounin feel slightly sheepish with embarrassment. Maybe he had gone too far and over reacted, assuming that Seki would be used during the Chuunin Examinations to be a tool for the attack in Konoha.
Of course, she's much more unstable than Gaara, Baki thought as he recollected himself. Seki after all, only had a brief exposure to her, special powers. Gaara was much more experienced in that aspect, and that was the reason for the Kazekage's choice.
But she will be used one day.
"Only the three of you will be attending the Chuunin Examinations," Baki declared sternly.
"What? What did you say?" Temari stuttered. Before she could ask more about Seki, however, Baki stated firmly once more, "For this Chuunin Exam, the Village of Sand will make you three take it," the lone redhead in the room noticed Baki did not use the word 'only'.
"But it is not so you can become Chuunin. It is so you can take advantage of the Chuunin Exam and crush Konoha."
"Why?!" Temari exclaimed. Her brothers, although surprised, suppressed their urges to yell (or speak, in Gaara's case). "Aren't Konoha and the Sand allies?" Temari did not feel comforted by the grim smirk on Baki's face, and concluded instinctively that he was about to explain the information he had just received.
"The alliance treaty is the problem."
"What do you mean?" Kankurou cut in before Temari could ask for herself.
"You Genins do not know the details," Kankurou rolled his eyes at Baki's condescending tone. "But after the treaty was signed, the Country of Wind's idiotic feudal lord, he forced us, Sunagakure, to reduce our armaments. He became a client for Konoha, when he should have been giving missions to our village. Also, he greatly cut the budget for our village and greatly reduced the number of shinobi for the country as well."
All 3 sand siblings did not miss the hint of venom dripping over Baki's next words, "When the head is stupid, we, the arms and legs, have a hard time. To maintain our power, our village had to raise the quality of each individual shinobi," Baki paused to look over at Gaara, who predicted the next part but still felt slightly angered when he thought of it.
"That's why shinobis like you were created, Gaara," Baki stopped, holding said genin's cold stare before he continued.
"The security of the Country of Wind is very low right now. But the feudal lord and his attendants do not understand that!" Baki punched the wall behind him, the photo frame above him tilting to the side as a result. "The Kazekage sensed danger in Sunagakure's power decrease, so he has concluded that we need to cooperate with Otogakure and destroy Konoha."
"This will regain the Sand's dignity, and we will let the idiotic feudal lord understand the importance of crisis management for this country!" Slamming his fist on the wall once again, the tilted photo frame dropped to the ground at Baki's second punch.
Save for Gaara, Baki saw the looks of astonishment and hesitation, the latter most apparent in Temari. He walked forwards to emphasize the degree of importance, one which he himself had not realized until today.
"If we waste any more time, the Sand will lose power to battle Konoha. Now is the time."
Over looking the other two, Baki faced Gaara squarely, although the latter did not, and said in a low tone, "This mission, Gaara, it depends a lot on your performance."
I'm sure you know why, Baki watched his team's youngest genin stare ahead, fully aware that the monstrosity within him was already thirsty for the amount of blood to be spilled.
"Aa," Gaara assured Baki, his own voice low and dangerous. Satisfied, the Jounin faced all three of them together.
"Once the mission is executed, we will go to war with Konoha."
Temari's heart skipped a beat, face paling as her usual loud, boisterous voice came out in a whisper, "Another war?" She looked down at her feet, unfortunate memories resurfacing, memories only the eldest of the sand siblings would have.
"The alliance treaty was created after so many sacrifices, and now it's going to be voided. And a lot of people are going to die again."
"Hey, Temari!" Kankurou quickly cut her, sensing the danger in talking back to their mentor now. Thankfully, Baki merely stated, "This is all the Kazekage's will."
"The Kazekage?" Temari looked up, hatred filling her eyes. Baki frowned and stared down at her.
"Shinobis are tools of war. The alliance treaty only threatened our existence," her eyes steeled, Temari could not deny the fact that Baki was right. And she hated that.
"This is a Super-A class mission. Proceed with caution."
"Hai," Kankurou and Temari answered, the kunoichi's voice weak with suppressed sighs.
-
Everything was covered in red.
No one was moving.
Her kimono and hands were stained.
Fearful eyes darted around the area.
She watched Enzeru reach out.
"Okaasan..." She whispered, tears flowing.
Enzeru stared at her with hatred in her eyes.
"Houseki...
...Bakemono!"
"MUM!" Seki woke up with a start, sweat rolling down her forehead and her neck, soaking her night clothes and making her feel sticky and warm. She glanced at the numerous bandages on her and ripped them off, kicking her blanket off the bed as she did so.
A cool breeze floated in through the window, lowering Seki's body temperature as she checked herself. All her wounds were fully healed, and her arms and legs were feeling sore fromlying in bed too long instead of after a fight.
Wait, fight?
Seki shook her, frowning as she tried to recall what happened, and why she was in bed covered with bandages. She heard a soft tinkling of cups from the kitchen, and assumed Keimyou must have been back from his mission. She racked her brains further, remembering images of a black notebook and flashes of sand. A high cackling laugh rang in her mind but she couldn't match a face with the voice.
Maybe I'll ask Keimyou, Seki thought wearily and got out of bed. She was halfway towards the door when she paused, sensing something amiss.
What's going on? Seki glanced around the room as if the answer was somewhere there. She opened the door quickly and went towards the kitchen only to see Keimyou preparing a meal for the both of them.
"Keimyou, something's wrong with me."
"Seki! Oh, gosh are you alright?"
"I'm fine, uncle, but theres something wro-"
"Dear child, you've been out for a week, I was so worried..."
"A week!?" Seki exclaimed. What did I do? Seki thought fervently, and that reminded her of her question. "Keimyou, my voice, my voice.."
"What, what is it? Your voice is fine."
"No, my voice, in my head. Its gone! And I think I heard it before I knocked out, before I..."
Seki's eyes widened as realization dawned to her. The sudden scenes of her father's last mission log, Gaara' face and the pummeling sand.
"..Uncle did I turn insane again? What happened to me, tell me what happened! Uncle!!"
"Seki, relax, calm down please!" Keimyou grabbed Seki's shoulders as she started screaming and crying hysterically. Her shrieks caught the attention of Temari, who was outside about to ring the doorbell. The blond kunoichi dashed in and kneeled down with Keimyou as the two of them tried to calm Seki down.
"Seki, Seki, listen, please, relax..."
"I went insane again! I went to kill Gaara! Temari I killed Gaara!"
"You didn't kill Gaara! Gaara's fine, he's at home, meditating!" The last word finally stopped Seki and she slumped on the ground. Temari quickly rushed behind her and supported the youg kunoichi as her tears continued to streak down her face.
"Uncle, what happened to me?"
-
Harsh winds were no surprise in the Land of the Wind, especially around Sunagakure. If anything, they were a blessing, for they provided the villagers a warning for the incoming sand storms.
As Gaara watched the villagers run inside to their houses, hoping for a sense of protection within their four walls, he allowed himself a small smirk and walked along the wall surrounding the village. Sandstorms were perfect for his training. He was intelligent, and knew that the ability to control the sand in a sandstorm would open up new skills he could develop in the future.
Chuunin examinations, Gaara thought, unknowingly excited as he stood beside the entrance gates and watched a large hurricane of sand grow closer towards the village.
A chance to prove myself.
The intensity of the sandstorm was evident by then, and he began to pour his chakra into the hurricane of sand. He had long ago perfected the skill of pouring his chakra into sand much further away from him, so the first hurdle had been overcome.
As the guards of the entrance gates closed the doors, and shunshin to their own homes, the red haired shinobi spread his legs apart and clapped his hands together. Then he stretched his own arms out and called out his own sand out of the gourd and cover himself. The danger of this training increased tremendously and Gaara was not willing to get hurt before the examinations.
His arms fully extended, Gaara willed his chakra to control the base of the hurricane, stabilizing its movement so that it would not shift closer. It took some time, but he finally did it. Slowly, he made his chakra spread towards the top, until he was in complete control of the hurricane. It took nearly half an hour, and by then, the winds were dying down.
Gaara released his hold on the sandstorm and sat down on the wall, watching the remains of the hurricane of sand be blown away by the evening winds.
Panting heavily, Gaara felt much more relaxed than an hour ago. His mind suddenly clear, he realized the real reason for endangering himself that was pushed to the back of his mind and replaced with the need to train.
Gaara didn't want to admit it, just as he denied the feeling of his heart beating, despite it making its presence known when Seki was around.
But in the growing silence, the teenager made his hand cover the left side of his chest.
-
Seki hugged her knees as Keimyou dug around his backpack. She stared out the window, and noticed the sandstorm from half an hour ago had died down. She squinted in the distance and notice a tiny figure on top of the walls surrounding the village. Before she could make out the colour of his hair, Seki felt Keimyou's hand on her shoulder and turned to face him.
"Seki. I want you to have this."
Seki looked down on Keimyou's other hand and noticed a small silver lighter. As she picked it up, she scrutinized the designs and intricate details of the lighter.
It was the same cat design as her left pant leg, except it was black against the silver background. Small jewels lined the edge of the cat and the silver background was carved with flowers and leaves. Seki flipped the lighter open and watched, entranced at the orange flame that burst out at the tip of the lighter.
"This fire, represents everything you are, Seki. Your appearance is like the outside of this lighter, complicated, beautiful. But your inside, the fire, is what makes you useful, makes you special, makes you, you. Keep that fire, and no matter what happens, you'll have no regrets."
Seki felt tears rolling down her cheeks again as Keimyou gave her a hug. She closed the lighter and sobbed softly into Keimyou's chest. Her knuckles turned white as she gripped the lighter, while her voice, although soft, was audible enough for Keimyou to hear.
"I just want to be a good person, uncle."
-
"Gaara."
Seki appeared beside him as Baki's words floated inside his mind. Gaara gave no indication he was aware of her presence, but did not shoft away as she sat down beside him.
"Seki."
"Yes?"
"How early did you start using your bloodline limit?"
Seki didn't answer, but pulled out her lighter, using her wind to hold the fire steady, and controlled some sand into the fire. Gaara blinked as he watched her struggle to control both elements properly, and reached out his sand to control the sand for her. Seki smiled warmly, thanking Gaara, unaware of the impact a small smile had on the redhead's breathing rate.
The two continued to melt and create glass in silence, until Seki decided to answer Gaara's question.
"I could use it since I was able to do jutsus.It seems just natural for me since young, but I know shinobis are supposed to take a long time before they can open their bloodline limit."
"...If you knew..."
"I couldn't do much about it, could I?" Seki gave Gaara a sad smile as they completed their first piece of glass. Gaara held it with his sand as Seki blew it cool with her wind.
"But Gaara, why are you asking me this?"
And the two fell into silence as the glass cat was dropped onto Seki's hand.
-
A/N: I wonder if the edited chapters are easier to understand?
Otogakure – The Village of Sound
-JE