Chapter 9: The Crack

"Rasengan!" Naruto shouted. Deidara and I managed to jump off the clay bird's back and land in the trees just as Naruto sliced its head off. "All right! Shadow Clone Jutsu."

I remained near Deidara as we leapt to the ground. Soon he was crouched behind the bushes, watching as Naruto clawed at the bird's head, trying to free Gaara. "Stay here," I whispered. I carefully approached Naruto.

"Gaara! Gaara! Gaara!" Naruto looked over his shoulder as Kakashi approached from the other side. "Kakashi Sensei, you all right?"

"Yeah somehow," Kakashi said. He looked at me. "How about you, Katsumi?"

"I'm fine," I said stiffly.

"Gaara," Naruto said, continuing to claw at the bird. "I'll get you out now." My heart ached as I watched him free Gaara. He still did not understand... or he refused to accept the truth. "Hey! Gaara! Are you listening?" He shook Gaara's body, trying to wake him up.

"Knock it off!" Kakashi said. "That's enough, Naruto! You should know." Naruto froze, his eyes wide with fear. I wanted to go to him but stood still. "That's right. You know, don't you? He's been dead for a while."

Naruto looked at Gaara anxiously. "Gaara! Hey! Hey, Gaara! Gaara!"

"I told you, didn't I? He's already dead."

I flinched when I felt the anger flaring from Naruto. Before I could stop him, he leapt behind the pushes and glared at Deidara. "I'll pound you!" he shouted.

"Fine, fine," Deidara said, slowly standing up. "I'll take you on again one of these days."

"You let your guard down." Naruto suddenly pounced on him and started pummeling his face.

"Oh no!"

"Naruto, stop!" I shouted in horror. I ran at him full speed and tackled him to the ground, forcing him off of Deidara. I immediately got up and gave him a hard look. "No, Naruto. It's over. You know revenge is not the answer."

But I soon realized that reason was not likely to persuade him. His eyes had turned red, and the Nine Tails' chakra was so strong I could almost see it. "Out of my way!" he snarled.

I glared at him. "Never! I won't let you hurt him."

"Then I'll have to make you move!" Naruto ran at me, but I blocked him with one of my lightning shields. He slashed at the shield with long claws before turning and running for Deidara instead. I quickly got in his way again. This time, I did not have time to bring up a shield, and he managed to claw my face. I ignored the pain as I grabbed his hands and tried to push him back. He was stronger and forced me to the ground.

"Naruto, enough of this! I know you don't want to hurt me." But I saw no trace of my best friend as we rolled around on the ground together. Whatever effect I had on him before was not working. Finally, he managed to tear his hands from mine and pin me to the ground. I looked at him with wide eyes. What was I supposed to do now? I did not want to hurt him.

"Hey!" Deidara shouted. "Nine Tails! Over here!"

Naruto lifted his head. A moment later, he jumped off me and ran away. I gasped as I scrambled to my feet. "What are you doing?!" Deidara stood facing Naruto, staring defiantly at him while the other advanced. "He'll kill you!"

Deidara gave me a serious look. "I love you too much to watch you get hurt."

For a moment, I was stunned. Next, I felt a rush of love for him. Finally, determination overcame me. I took the opportunity while Naruto was distracted to run at him from behind. I jumped on him and attached myself to him, wrapping my limbs around him. Naruto tried to scratch me, but I managed to grab hold of his wrists to stop him.

"Katsumi!" Kakashi called, but I ignored him.

"Run!" I shouted to a surprised Deidara. "If you're not in sight, he might calm down!"

Deidara nodded. He looked at me anxiously before running off. Once he was out of sight, Naruto did seem to relax a bit. I jumped off his back and took several steps away from. Fortunately, he made no move to attack me. Then he saw Gaara's body again, and his anger magnified.

"Katsumi, get over here!" Kakashi said in a commanding tone.

This time, I ran right to him. I stopped beside him and watched Naruto with wide eyes. "What's happening?" The Nine Tails' chakra was stronger than I had ever felt. It was a visible red that enveloped his body. And the chakra produced a red fox tail!

Kakashi's eyes narrowed at the scene. "Jiraiya warned me about this. It's Naruto's demon fox cloak. He is being taken over by the Nine Tails. He no longer recognizes friend from foe."

I bit my lip in worry. As we watched, a second tail formed. "What do we do?"

Kakashi held out a tag. "You can get close to him, Katsumi. Put this tag on him, and it will suppress his chakra. He will return to normal." I reached out to take the tag but then stopped as I remembered recent events. "What's wrong?"

I can't help but look at Kakashi suspiciously. "Are you sure this won't hurt him?"

He appeared confused. "Hurt him? Of course it won't hurt him. Why would you think that?"

"You said you wouldn't hurt Deidara but you did."

Kakashi sighed, and his expression softened. "I'm sorry, Katsumi. I thought Deidara intended to hurt you, but I realize now I was wrong. I should have trusted you. I only acted like I did because I don't know Deidara. I do know Naruto, and I will do everything I can to protect. You know I will never hurt him. You can trust me on this."

I stared into his eye for a moment before relaxing. Of course I trusted him. He made a mistake, that was all. "Alright. I'll do it." I took the tag from him.

Kakashi nodded. "Be careful."

"Right." I took a deep breath and turned to face Naruto. My friend was moving around wildly in anger, his chakra gaining in power. I ran straight at him, and he immediately tried to attack me. I defected his move with a lightning shield. I darted to the side to try again. It took some maneuvering, but I finally managed to use my speed and my shield to get close enough to him to place the tag on his back.

I immediately felt the Nine Tail's chakra evaporate in the air. Slowly, Naruto returned to normal and collapsed on the ground. I took a cautious step towards him. "He'll be fine in a minute," said Kakashi, now standing behind me.

"What happened?" Naruto groaned, clutching his head.

"You lost yourself for a minute," I said.

Naruto stood up and turned to face me. His eyes widened. "What happened to your face, Katsumi? Who did that to you?"

I hesitated. I glanced at Kakashi, but he gave me no indication of what he wanted me to say. "You did, Naruto."

Naruto winced as guilt flashed across his face. "I'm sorry. I must have been really out of it."

"It's alright. I'm the one who got in between you and Deidara."

Naruto looked around. "Where is Deidara?"

I frowned. "Good question." I closed my eyes and focused on finding him. When I did, I realized he was not alone. My eyes flew open with a look of horror in them. "Team Guy!" I turned to Kakashi. "Don't they know not to hurt them?

"Tsunade must have forgotten to mention that part," Kakashi said.

My eyes narrowed. I immediately ran in the direction of the group. "Where are you going?" Naruto shouted after me.

"To save Deidara!" I called back. I did not have to run far before I found them. Team Guy had cornered Deidara in front of his headless clay bird. Deidara moved his head as if he was going to do something, and then his eyes locked onto mine. Something in his face changed, and I understood what was going through his mind. He had a way to get out of this situation and save himself, but he would not do it because he did not want to injure me in the process.

Resolve crossed my face. I raced towards Deidara as Neji stepped forward to strike. I stopped in front of Deidara and pulled up a lightning shield just in time. Neji's fist was knocked back, and he let out a grunt of surprise. "Stop!" I said in a commanding tone, glaring at Team Guy. "I won't let you hurt Deidara!"

Team Guy recoiled in shock. "What are you talking about, Katsumi?" Neji said, eyes narrowed.

"He's defenseless. He can't use any jutsu. You have no reason to hurt him."

"No reason? Don't be ridiculous! He is a member of the Akatsuki, and we should take this chance to bring him down."

I stood my ground. "He's just trying to get away. He's not attacking you. No one will get hurt if you let him go."

Neji looked at me like I was dumb. "Stopping him now will save lives in the future."

"That's not necessarily true. What if he stops being the bad guy and becomes the good guy? If he redeems himself, he could end up saving more lives than he ever took."

Neji stared at me incredulously before scoffing. "That's not possible."

My expression hardened. "You don't think people can change? I think you would know better than that by now, Neji."

"He's a rogue ninja."

"He's still a human being, and I believe in him."

"I don't understand," Lee said suddenly, sounding confused. "What about what he's done? What about Gaara?"

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "That's exactly it, Lee. I can't lose too people in one day. Besides, don't you remember how Gaara was when we first met him? You didn't think he could ever change, did you?"

Lee appeared conflicted. "No, but-"

"I did. I was the only one who believed Gaara could change, and I was right. I saw the good in him before anyone else. And if I was right about Gaara, how do you know I'm not right about Deidara?"

Lee looked down at this, seemingly having nothing to say. "Katsumi," Guy said in a calm voice, "why is this so important to you?"

I took a moment to decide how to respond to him. I met his eyes with a steady expression. "Deidara is precious to me." Surprise lit Guy's face, and he said nothing more.

"That's enough, Guy," Kakashi said as he approached. "Tsunade has given Katsumi the authority to decide what happens to this one." He nodded at Deidara.

Guy immediately relaxed. "Well, if it's coming from the Hokage..." He nodded at Lee, Neji, and Tenten. "Let's catch up with the others." The ninja seemed hesitant, but they followed their leader in the direction Kakashi had come from.

Kakashi looked at me. "Katsumi, are you coming?"

I glanced at Deidara, who watched me with an unreadable expression, to Kakashi. "Can I have a few minutes to say goodbye?"

Kakashi stared into my eyes for a moment. Finally, he dipped his head in acceptance. "Very well. Do not take too long." Then he left, leaving me alone with Deidara.

All the tension left my body as I turned to look at him with relief. I immediately embraced him, wrapping my arms around him. "Ah," he said with slight surprise, "I'm sorry I can't do the same for you."

I pulled away from him and frowned as I took in his condition. "That looks like a problem."

Deidara smiled slightly. "It's alright. It's nothing Kakuzu won't be bale to take care of, hmm." His expression turned serious. "Listen, Katsumi, I'm sorry about all of this. I didn't know the One Tail - I mean, Gaara - was important to you."

"Yeah, I know."

His eyes narrowed. "But Itachi knew. Why didn't he tell me?"

I thought about it for a moment. "Maybe he was trying to protect you. You would have been in danger if you didn't go after Gaara, right?"

Deidara scoffed. "I find that hard to believe." He paused, seeming to consider the idea. "For your benefit, maybe." He sighed and shook his head. "I should go."

I nodded. I did not want him to leave, but I saw no other option at the moment. "Listen, Deidara..." I took a step closer to him. "I'm going to find a way for us to be together, alright? I just need to work with the Leaf Village a bit more. I know they'll come around."

Deidara's face darkened. "I wouldn't count on it. Even your friends turned on me today. What hope is there for the rest of the village? You're better off forgetting about me."

I shifted uncomfortably. Kakashi and Naruto's actions did concern me, but I understood why they acted that way and thought I could change their minds in the future. "I could never forget you, Deidara. I love you. Even if this is the end, I don't regret anything."

Deidara's eyes softened, and he smiled at me. "I don't regret anything either. I love you too, Katsumi."

Our attention broke by the presence of Kiku, who appeared calm as she trotted up to us. "Hey, Deidara," she said. She looked him over. "What happened to you?"

"It's not important."

"How are the others?" I asked the cat.

Kiku sat down. "Sakura and Chiyo are fine."

"And what about Sasori?"

Kiku swished her tail. "He's gone."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Deidara said softly, "but it's no surprise."

"Oh, don't misunderstand. He's not dead. He's gone. He said he was done with everything and ran away."

My eyes widened in surprise. "What does that mean? Where did he go?"

"Back to the hideout?" Deidara suggested.

Kiku shook her head. "He left his robe and ring behind. It seems he had some sort of breakthrough. I think he wants a new life."

Deidara's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What kind of new life could he have?"

I smiled. "Whatever it is, I wish him luck."

Kiku nodded. "Me too."

"Unbelievable," Deidara muttered. He let out a heavy sigh and then looked at me regretfully. "I should go."

My smile faded as I gazed at him. "Yeah, I guess so." I did not want to just let him go, but I did not see how I could be of any more use to him now. I had to find another opportunity. "Kiku, can you go with him and make sure he gets out of here safely?"

"I'll be fine."

"Just humor me, please. Kiku?"

"No problem!" said the cat. She stood up and trotted over to Deidara, who sighed.

"Fine, I'll take the escort," he said. He gazed at me with a faint smile on his face. "Goodbye, Katsumi."

"Goodbye, Deidara," I nearly whispered. Then we turned and went out separate ways.

I found Chiyo, Team Kakashi, and Team Guy gathered around Gaara's body. With the situation with Deidara over, my focus settled on Gaara, and I felt a heavy weight settle in my chest. He was really gone. "Katsumi!" Sakura said with a gasp. "You're alright!" She stopped before me, eyes wide. "What happened to your face?"

I had almost forgotten about the scratches on my face. Naruto looked away guiltily, while I shrugged off her concern. "It doesn't matter. It's not bothering me."

Sakura sighed. "Let me help." I did not resist when she used my medical ninjutsu to heal my face. "There. All better."

"Thanks."

"I assume Deidara is no longer an issue?" Kakashi said.

I nodded. "He's gone." I took a deep breath and approached Gaara. I felt my heart wrench when I saw him. "Now what are we going to do?" Gaara was gone, and there was nothing I could do about it. I had been unable to protect my friend.