Chapter 12 (Save Yourself, I'll Hold Them Back)

Gaara's gaze is locked on Akira, her ashen face, smiling just moments before, now decorated in bloody red splashes, and he feels warm wet blood splatter on his own face. He feels the sticky liquid start to drip down, clinging to his skin, the scent of iron heavy around him. He feels his jaw unhinge, feels his limbs starting to shake, and before he's fully aware sand protects him from another kunai, blocking it before racing up the tree in long spiraling tendrils.

He hears a strangled scream for a second and the ronin is dead. Blood soaked sand starts to fall around them but Gaara doesn't notice, doesn't realize that they are still out in the open, still surrounded by bodies and death. He is solely focused on Akira.

He can taste the telltale metallic tang on his tongue, is still staring at Akira's pain ridden expression, but doesn't see her face.

No... he does see her face.

He sees her smile, the kind warm one, just moments ago.

Now bloody.

Now bloody.

Bloody red.

Shukaku cackles madly in the depth of his mind, an echo growing louder. Gaara feels himself tense at the laugh, at the image before him, as the blood on Akira's face starts to drip and run down it coating her lips, and streaking her skin. He watches as her smile stretches too big, too wide, for it to feel comforting. He still tastes metallic iron on his tongue, feels the tremble in his limbs, and everything seems to dim out as he sinks down into sand, slowly being consumed by it. Until everything is black.

And bloody red.


Akira can taste iron on her tongue as she swallows the blood in her mouth, the warm liquid like sludge down her throat. She grimaces and lets out a shaky breath, before swearing violently as she pulls the kunai out of her chest. Between her chunin vest, mesh armor, and other layers, the slash is shallow enough and more of a flesh wound as she heals it. Still, it is more luck than anything that it isn't worse, that she is alive and she shudders. She feels her heart pounding in her chest and her hands shake a little as she presses her chakra covered hand to her chest, and is soon, thankfully, simply sticky with blood. She is vaguely aware that Gaara has killed the ronin that has injured her but she scans the surroundings quickly again anyway. She looks at Gaara who has sunk back on his heels head down and arms heavy at his sides. She lets out another shaky breath, frazzled from the brush of death, as she shifts forward towards him.

"Gaara, hey, look I'm ok." She whispers gently, even if she knows it's a lie, before reaching out only to have sand bind tightly to her wrist. It's course against her skin and she winces from the squeeze.

She hears a growl come from him, and realizes something is different, not right, as she tries to pulls back.

"What-?" She freezes and doesn't have time to react to the yellow diamond eyes that lift up to meet hers. Her eyes can only widen as "filthy" is growled in a voice that is not Gaara's, and a sick snap rings out as her arm is slammed toward the ground.

Akira's mind goes blank and she barely realizes she's screaming at sight of bone jutting out, at the shooting pains that go sharply up her arm, as Shukaku lazily tilts Gaara's head back at her. A slow crazed smile spreads across his face.

He is free.

And watching Akira's face twist in pain, is so... delicious.

She looks up from her wrist meeting his eyes, and it's only a second, only a second, before she's thrown across the clearing. Sand hits her chest leaving her stunned and it's all she can do to cradle her wrist as she's launched. Air leaving her lungs when she hits the ground hard, and she's scrambling to her feet more on instinct than anything else. Her knees wobble, blood trickles down from her injury as she looks at the shell of her friend.

"Shukaku." She winces from the pain of breathing, coughing hard and throaty, and from the waver in her voice. Her side is sore but her ribs feel unbroken as her legs twitch to run. She hugs her wrist to her chest, favoring it as she watches him with terror wide eyes.

Gaara's mouth is still in that lazy, crazed grin, as sand slithers around him. Shukaku laughs hauntingly as he moves Gaara's body, shifting his weight awkwardly in movements that are jerky at best as he rises.

He's not used to having free reign in a body in quite a time, and it's obvious from the jointed, sharper movements, so unlike and unnerving, from Gaara's fluid ones.

"G-Give Gaara back!" She shouts wrist still pressed against her chest, as he snorts.

"He was never really here." He says in a low voice, so much rougher than Gaara's baritone. "Human emotions are so…easy to twist and confused. You made him feel something, and I," he grins as he looks at her pointedly. "I twisted that."

Akira feels her heart drop at the news, at the words. He twisted how Gaara felt? Was...their friendship a lie? "I-I don't believe you-."

"Oh but I think you do. You're so afraid now." He took a sharp, hard step forward and she jumps back instinctively. She winces hard more disgusted at herself than anything.

"I-I'm not-."

"LISTEN WHEN I SPEAK!" he roars before she can finish as a wave of sand slams into her again, this time throwing her to the side as she yelps. It smashes her wrist a little, sending more ache through her but it doesn't stun her.

This time she rolls with the hit, the wave, careful of her wrist as it throbs in movement. She sits on her knees, cradling her wrist, legs shaking underneath her. Her eyes are locked on the sharp white bone, the torn skin and muscles and how she can just barely move her little finger with blood dripping down onto her thighs. Muscles twitching, aching to run, while the rest of her is frozen, wanting to fight but the terror in her soul is enormous. She hates this. Hates that the power radiating from this beast is so overwhelming she can barely get a handle on herself. She closes her eyes in self-loathing wanting nothing more than to feel some semblance of control again. But what could she do against this monster? He's twisted their friendship and she knows she can't win. She's not looking at him, when he speaks again in a low voice.

"I'm going to kill you. Then with your death, I'll make him sink into despair, and I'll use it to bind him back until I'm done with that village. They will see him for a monster if any of them survive, and he'll have no where to go. He'll be my prisoner! MINE!" he roars as Akira sits still, paralyzed it seems. The shaking in her legs has stopped and he takes a deep breath, wanting to taste her fear in the air.

But he is wrong and it is not fear he tastes.

"I made him a promise," she says in a quiet voice, and the snap of her wrist setting is loud in the silence. "I am afraid," she admits as she rises, shakily to her feet. "But I'm not leaving him. I'm not letting you erase everything he's worked so hard to achieve." She looks at him then as she turns to face him, dropping down into a fighting stance. Feet spread, hands raised, ready to fight.

"I won't let you take him." She says as Shukaku narrows his eyes, her voice is still wavering at the end, her hands have tremors in them. The fear in her body is evident.

And yet in her eyes is that of fire and steel.

He smirks, and raises the sand up, but she is already signing, and she jerks a chakra charged hand towards him.

"Seal Reinforcement Jutsu!" she screams the name and he jerks back, surprised at the jutsu. He hadn't realized she had been training with her mother-.

The charka charged in her hand disperses, and she blinks.

Everything in the next few moments come in a clarity and stillness that leaves Akira in a weird state of scared and calmed. She watches as the charka, without proper direction disperses quietly and quickly. She's aware of Shukaku's yellow diamond eyes widening and then narrowing a heartbeat later, while his sand that half encased him, trying to stop a jutsu before it activated fully now launches toward her in dangerous lethal spirals. She looks at her hand surprised, sees the light that is dancing on her skin from where it shines through between the leaves of the tree above. She looks up to seem the spirals as they draw closer, see how some rays of light shine through on Gaara as well. The pair of them dappled in shadows and sunlight.

In that moment everything is frozen as reality sets in.

It hadn't worked.

Akira lets out a breath, all she can really do now, as Shukaku smiles and the sand slams into her.

Shukaku cackles crazed as sand covers Akira. It swirls and moves around her throat, arms, legs, eyes. It's suffocating, it's encasing. It scratches where it slithers against her, grating against her skin, it's dry, and the iron scent of it makes her hair stand on end. How many bodies have been crushed like this? What number is she going to be added to? The thought makes her squirm harder, strain against it harder. She doesn't want to die like this, by this slithering, moving, mass of sand and she wants it off. Her muscles burn and her wrist aches where she wrestles but it's unyielding, unending, as it slides between her fingers, and she's surrounded, unable to move and she feels it start to squeeze.

She hears a muffled straggled cry, and grunt, and suddenly she's free, and barely gulps down any air before the sand is pushing, shoving her away into the treeline.

"Ga-." She starts, her mind finally catching up, but she can barely get a syllable out before he's shouting.

"Akira, run!" His mint eyes met hers and she can see black slowly consuming his left one as he cries out and clutches his head.

"I'm not leaving you!" Gaara looks at her pleadingly but she's determined as she tries to turn against his sand.

He catches sight of her trying to get over the guiding waves. Her hair is stuck to her face in places, wet with blood, and angry red scratches from the sand covering any exposed skin. Her dark brown eyes met his again, the fire and steel still in them, and they look so bright even far away. She's a mess and in this brief span of time, this snippet of eternity, Gaara sees Akira as she's always been. She is a mess of loyalty and kindness, of promises and metal. Gaara is glad for the snippet, for the minute moment of reprieve, because as his head pounds he finds it easier now to push her away harder. Akira calls for him again as Shukaku relentlessly attacks his psyche with everything he has, and Gaara can't focus, can't do much more in this losing fight if he is worried about Akira.

"YOU HAVE TO! Run! Please!" She pauses a moment, at the desperation in his voice, at the look in his eyes as the black slowly fully consumes his left eye. She looks like she wants to say something but then she turns, running into the trees, into safety.

Akira runs into the woods, letting the fear drive her faster and farther away, and doesn't care about any branches that claw at her. Doesn't care about the scratches on her face from the sand and the thorns that pull at her clothes. Her arms are pumping at her sides as her mind spins while Gaara screams follow her. Her feet pound hard against the forest floor, her breath loud in her ears and her legs feel weightless. She hears one last cry she as jumps into the branches, hears how it changes midway into something more animalistic, into more of a roar than anything, and she shudders. She doesn't look back as she runs, doesn't see the haunting yellow eyes following her.

She can feel them just fine, and they drive her farther away.


She runs until her throat burns, until she has to stop as she collapses against the trunk of a tree. High in the canopy of emerald leaves.

Her wrist is sore as fuck.

Her breath is coming out half in shaky sobs, and the other half in pants. She leans harder against the tree, a bloody hand against the rough bark, and she knows she needs to calm down. Knows she needs composure.

But she can't seem to grasp it as her breathing gets harsher. She curls in on herself, head between her legs as she pants, and sobs and feels herself breaking. Akira closes her eyes and counts her heartbeats, hysteria is close at hand, and she can't afford to panic.

She can hear some rustling behind her. Can hear Shukaku as he hunts her in the forest and all she can do is sit here and shake and cry because she has failed.

All this talk of helping him. Of making this promise, and she has no idea what she has done wrong with the jutsu. No one to help her.

She presses a hand to her mouth, trying to keep quiet, and feels tears prickle at her eyes. Panic and hysteria, she could dispel with breathing exercises. She doesn't know how to combat despair.

She is going to die here.

"Squeak?"

Akira blinks, half-startled and half-worried she's hallucinating, from the little noise in her ear and turns to see Chizu on her shoulder.

"W-what are you d-doing here?" she asks surprised as Chizu points to the blood on the tree with her little paw. Akira blinks surprised and sinks a little lower. She hadn't even realized she had summoned the little mouse.

"I'm sorry-." She's cut off as Chizu squeaks again, and scampers down to Akira's hand, now in her lap. She pulls on Akira's finger looking at her worried. Akira blinks and hears ground give way, as a tree nearby starts to shake violently. Leaves spiral down it in a flurry of movement. She sucks in breath, fear and adrenaline hitting her, before quickly scooping up the little mouse and taking off. She lost enough chakra that she doesn't have much to conceal as she hides quickly just as the tree she was on is torn loose from the ground.

Below amidst a swirl of destructive sand, Shukaku scans a tree, effortlessly turning it around and upside down almost lazily as he hold the one Akira was once on to the side. Akira feels her jaw unhinge, her eyes widen and her muscles tense again, as he tosses the tree he had ripped up away, as though a child disregarding a toy in favor of the one he holds. She watches as he takes a deep breath and grins. He can smell the blood from the girl, and when he sees the hand print smiles even wider, more sadistic.

Akira watches his face change, catches sight of the dark stain of blood on the tree, and quickly makes the connection. She swears under her breath as she strips free of her layers until she is only in her bindings. She quickly checks her clothes and deciding that her vest is really the only one not terribly soaked, she zips it up. She glances towards Shukaku, seeing as he now slowly stalking towards their general direction and she gulps slightly relieved. It appears he couldn't pinpoint their exact location, and she bundles the clothes and moves her arm up, ready to throw to lead him away.

Chizu squeaks in protest as Akira looks at her frantically before looking back at Shukaku who is turned in another direction. Akira lets out a huff of air, relieved before making sure Chizu is secure and dashing off again, clothes under her arm. "Well what is your plan?" she asks in a quiet huff as the little mouse touches her chin in thought.

When they land again Chizu scrambles down, her scroll out and quickly writes a kanji on the paper. Akira blinks seeing it and shakes her head.

"Chizu I already tried that jutsu. It didn't work, I fucked it up." She laments softly but Chizu merely shakes her head and carefully tears the kanji out of the scroll.

Akira watches as Chizu strikes a little paw out in front of her with the kanji facing out. She looks at Akira, pretends to sign, and does the motion again. Akira's jaw goes slack in disbelief and a part of her wants to scream at her stupidity. She tries to be rational and give herself some credit but can't muster any. She only just mastered her mother's cancelling techniques and had only trained a handful of weeks for this new one.

"I'm a complete dumbass." She mutters numbly as Chizu winces but nods nonetheless.

Akira lets out a shaky breath and rubs at her face, she feels the slightly dried blood smear under her fingers. Her wrist is still sore but it was manageable. When she looks at Chizu again she gives a hard nod. She knew where she went wrong. Knew what she had to do now and closes her eyes.

She has a fighting chance, if she can just get a plan to go right.

"Ok, so he can smell the blood on the clothes. I'm sure he thinks I showed my hand, but he doesn't know that I have you." She smiles at Chizu, grateful for the little mouse who puffs under the compliment. "Will you please make some of mom's cancelling seals?" Chizu nods, she knew all of Kana's seals by heart after training with the woman. Akira bites into a soldier's pill and is careful to hide the new wave of charka as it washes over her along with hope.

She can still keep her promise if all goes right.

"Ok I'll give you a run down of the plan, nod if you agree." Chizu nods as she works, and Akira's go up to her head, redoing her ponytail, securing her growing hair. "And Chizu?" the little mouse pauses and looks at Akira who smiles despite being so completely rattled earlier. "Thank you. I couldn't do this without your help." Chizu nods and despite the fur Akira swears she can see a blush.


Shukaku could smell her as he stalks the forest in a leisurely pace. He stands upon a swirly mass of snapping destroying sand lazily tossing trees like twigs. He could smell the slowly drying blood on her clothes and skin, and he smiles. He's toying with her, really, going at this pace. If he really wanted her dead, he could easily sink this whole forest into a desert and crush her that way. But no. He wants to try and savor this. He wants her to try and save Gaara.

It'll be so much more satisfying to kill her up close. To make Gaara see everything.

He tilts Gaara's head back and breathes deeply through his nose. Shukaku must channel chakra to it since his own body is trapped but it works well enough to get her scent. He turns towards it now, and after a moment grins.

"I will find you. I will kill you. Are you really that stupid that you think running will work? Do you still intend to save him? He was never your friend. He never felt anything towards you. He wanted to. Badly enough that he couldn't see it was fake." He can't help up chuckle at his own cruelty as he touches down on the forest floor. "He thought growing close to you. That it would help his loneliness. But instead," he touches a tree that stinks of blood lightly as sand quickly covers it, sinking beneath the bark, deep into all the crevices it could and hardens. "It just helped me in the end." He finishes as the tree explodes but Akira doesn't fall out. He merely turns taking another breath and keeps moving.

He's getting closer.

"I know you can't do anything useful. Gaara might not know what your whore of a mother can do, but I do. And I would recognize it if you could do anything remotely like her." He's on top of her now. He can smell the blood strongly here. Can practically taste the fear on Gaara's tongue as he smiles. "You are nothing. Can do nothing. But," he pauses as his sand snakes up the tree. Silent and terrible, deadly and strong. "Die.

The tree is torn to pieces and ribbons of fabric, soaked with blood, rain down. Shukaku narrows his eyes as he sees this and frowns.

"You're right." He hears and glances behind him. Sand swirls around him, ready. "I'm nothing like her." He turns to the side, the direction changing as he tenses and lowers. "But I know enough to stop you!" she yells, and he realizes how she misdirected him.

Three Akiras' jump from the trees launching toward him and he merely smirks at her stupidity.

She has come to face him. To fight against her inevitable butcher.

The sand swirling around his feet snaps up as he spreads his arms out, fingers splayed toward the direction of the two facing most toward him. Sand lashes out hitting them hard in the stomach and the throat. He grins sickly as the clones give off a 'pop' and he hears a grunt behind him. Sand snakes its way around Akira's wrists, cuffing them together before slamming her into a tree. She coughs, blood coming to her lips as Shukaku walks up to where she hangs. It's vibrant on her lips compared to the dark red dried version that speckles her face. She squirms a moment against the sand, feet braced against the bark, but it's useless.

"You really think that would work against the Great and Mighty Shukaku!?" he laughs, and he leans forward, close enough that he doesn't need chakra to smell the blood on her lips.

"No," she says softly her voice rough and raspy from the hit. "But I know you want to watch me die." He snorts leaning back. He doesn't miss the tremble in her arms, or the way her breathing is strained to be even.

"Right. I'll give you that." He hits her throat again hard as he grips it, pressing hard against her windpipe as she coughs and struggles to gasp.

"A-and I-I know," she grunts out as he raises a brow letting up a little. "That it will be your downfall." He tilts his head to the side, a smirk on his lips.

He has her by the throat, trapped. Gaara is suppressed and can see everything happening. He's won. "And how will it be my downfall?" he taunts letting up on her windpipe as she gasps while fingernails dig into the flesh. Letting her know that she was still at his mercy.

"Because you missed the mouse on my shoulder." Shukaku's brows furrow, and he scans her shoulders but it's too late.

Chizu presses a small piece of paper against the sand where Akira is hanging, and he feels a wave of chakra being poured into his sand. It's strange and different and suffocating. His tenses at the feeling knowing it belongs to this girl as his sand falls from around her wrists. The hand gripping Akira's throat is jerked back as Gaara slips through his grasp, making his body freeze and Akira leaps forward, tackling him into the ground.

He hits it hard, can feel Akira's body clamoring over his and his head rings from being slammed, from Gaara gaining some control, back aching from the ground and gourd, still in disbelief.

He lost the control over his sand.

This girl has broken through his ultimate defense.

And Gaara managed to slip through his grasp.

He looks up at her where she has him pinned, half on his side due to the gourd, and can only watch in horror as she signs quickly and presses a seal over his forehead. She is bloody, sweaty and disgusting and he withers under her, but it is too late.

Shukaku watches Akira's bloody lips as she pushes chakra into Gaara's body and shouts.

"Seal Reinforcement Jutsu!"

Gaara's eyes roll to the back of his head as Shukaku is forced back, but not without collateral, and Akira slumps forward, unconscious. Chizu scrambles over, securing the seal that threatens to flutter off before sitting back on her haunches.

Now all she could do is wait.


Something isn't right when Akira wakes up. It's dark outside and the sand under her feels different than normal. She presses against it, trying to sit up but only sinking further against the rough sand, and tries to see anything against the darkness. No constellations peak out, no source of light. Just sand and darkness. Akira lets out a shaky breath, unease filling her as she once again tries to scan around. She and Gaara were on mission, she had tried to seal Shukaku, but now they were in the desert? Akira goes to move, to stand when sand latches onto her limbs like ropes, one tendril covers her mouth before she can call out. Fear fills her as she feels the sand wrapping around her, begin to drag her down underneath the blanket, down past the darkness and she strains to be free.

It pulls her down, down, down and she feels tears leak out as she closes her eyes against the sand as it pours over her face.

Her lungs burn with the effort not to breath it in, she's still being pulled down underneath the sand. Her body is shaking, and she can't stop the tears but she waits. Something is pulling her down, and she will not go easily. She feels the sand give way on her legs first, feels it lighten on her arms, and then she's stopped, and no longer blind, and suffocating as sand unwraps from her mouth. She gasps and she desperately drinks in air, coughing as she sits on her knees and jerks away when something brushes her shoulder.

"It's me. Come on." She relaxes slightly at Gaara's voice before whipping around.

Cyan colored eyes meet hers, and she stares a moment relief hitting her before suspicion as her eyes narrow.

"How do I know-?"

"Your brother shoved you through a glass door once." He says hurriedly as Akira lets out a shaky breath, wanting to throw her arms around his neck but stops herself. Now isn't the time as she crosses her arms.

"Ok. Good enough." She mutters still uneasy, confused, and unsure about this whole situation before looking around and jerking back with surprise.

It's her room.

Akira feels her jaw slacken once again as she turns around in the room slowly. First a dark endless desert, and now here? She glances at the books and pauses, only some of them have titles. Some of them seem blank, and as she looks around she notices other details messing. The scratches in her bed post, the dents in her desk, and she realizes this place is her room, but not.

"Wha-?" she doesn't have a chance to ask as Gaara shoves her shoulder hard. "Hey!" she shouts instead as she looks at him surprised and hurt.

His brow is furrowed, and his jaw is tense with anger when he glares at her. "I told you to run. I told you to get away!"

"Yeah I know but you don't get to shove me!" she says hitting him back as he stumbles surprised and now even more annoyed. Sand slides against her bedroom floor but doesn't rise, doesn't do much more as Akira watches tense. "I wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for Chizu, and I made you a promise!"

"That promise was made based lies and misdirection!" he hisses, "You owe me nothing! I tried to get you away from me for a reason!" he stops for a second seething, his chest heaving and his eyes narrowed tightly. Akira is expecting him to scream, to shake her, to do something. It's the most upset she's ever really seen him and she isn't sure what she is expecting but it certainly isn't him falling onto her bed with a huff of defeat.

Gaara instead seems to curl in on himself, as though he was just hit in the gut as he looks at her, guilt, terror, and sadness in his mint eyes. "I almost killed you, Akira. I almost killed you, and you're still fighting even after- after it was all a lie." He gulps hard as he looks down and away from her, and for the first time Akira sees Gaara's eyes water. "I didn't want to see you hurt, and knowing now that this was a lie..." he trails off as Akira stares in disbelief.

"You really believe him?" she asks quietly after a moment sliding down next to him. The setting, the events going on are still surreal, still weird and different but she has to get through to Gaara before moving on.

"It wouldn't be the first time he manipulated me. And besides," he looks at her with hard cold eyes, his lashes still wet. "I am a monster, how could I ever feel anything for you, unless it was faked?"

Akira jerks back, it wasn't a jab at her, not really, and she understands that. But for him to doubt himself, to think he is this much of a monster.

"If this is fake, if Shukaku is right, then why are you so upset by the news?" she asks, and he freezes for a moment. "Even if he was manipulating you, is manipulating you, there is enough realness to fight for. And I know this because," she moves to kneel in front of him when he looks away from her. But his eyes are still down in his lap as she speaks. "Because I know that Shukaku doesn't have a favorite mug with swirls on it. You do. I know he doesn't drink bitter savory tea. You do. I know that he doesn't know my brother's name, my favorite place in Konoha, or even has the patience to learn those things. Gaara, you do." She moves to a stand and Gaara's eyes don't follow. She huffs in irritation. "And Shukaku doesn't give two shits about the Suna, you do! And if you still think everything was fake then fine. But it was real for me. All of it. And you," she huffs again, finally fed up with his not listening, not looking at her. So, she reaches for him before he can realize it, hands sliding over his cheeks bringing his head up before roughing gripping the back of it, forcing his forehead to collide with hers. Pain bursts in his mind a moment, before he blinks it away surprised at her actions and at her expression.

Brown eyes look like fire in the soft yellow light, and tears well in them as she looks at him. "You are still my best friend. And I'm not going anywhere without you." She finishes, voice soft between them and he can feel her breath on his face. Her grip goes soft as well as her eyes as the tears finally trickle down, fingers sinking into his hair.

Gaara stares at her shocked and reaches for her before he realizes it as he wipes away a tear, cupping her face. She smiles weakly and leans into the touch as he sighs.

"I'm sorry."

"It's ok, I know." She places a hand over his, and sighs, "Where are we?" she asks. She knows she shouldn't ask now, should save it for later since it won't help them leave. But they both need a moment.

Gaara pulls back as Akira sits next to him. A part of him is still reeling from her words, her actions as he speaks. "When Shukaku takes over, he tries to keep me trapped. I made a place he cannot access. It changes sometimes. But usually it is a place where I feel..." he pauses before looking at her. "Comfort."

Akira blinks and feels her cheeks heat. "I'm glad I give you that." she gives him something of a smile. "Now," she says grabbing one of his hands that have settled in his lap. "Will you help me get us out of here?" she gives another half-smile when he nods, and she takes a breath.

"Ok, we need a plan, so let's start with what we know." She says. "The jutsu I used is intended to help strengthen the seal it is used on. Usually, from my understanding, you use the jutsu on a seal, and then touching the seal can reinforce whatever the seal was intended for. Sort of like an added support." She explains as Gaara interlaces his fingers and leans forward, thinking. "All we have to do is touch the seal now, and I'm assuming Shukaku dragged me in here to kill me. But," she looks at him a light in her eyes. "we can use that to our advantage." She sighs as Gaara groans.

"No wonder you get injured on so many missions." She blinks at him surprised as he looks back at her, his mouth quirking up a little as she smiles at him fully then.

"Let's discuss this further then, if you're insistent on being bait."


Gaara notices Akira flinch from the sand as they travel up and fights the feeling of guilt in his gut. It isn't his fault he reasons, as he looks up at the dark mass against the void with steel in his eyes.

This isn't his fault.

He isn't the monster.

He feels Akira squeeze his hand and he squeezes back.

Shukaku looms over them, almost indistinguishable against the void behind him, but Gaara has had practice picking out his form over the years. Akira squints and blinks next to him straining, she grips his hand a little harder as the sand under their feet starts to stir.

"Hold on." Gaara says pulling her closer, their arms brushing, just as a wave of sand rushes them and he steps forward, raising his arm with the motion as he lets his own sand rise in combat.

His own sand slices through the wave, crashing through it, just as a blinding piercing light is turned on. Shukaku chuckles hauntingly where he stands as the light dims to a soft glow while both Gaara and Akira cry out from sudden blindness and pain. Shukaku barely moves as sand circles back around and hits the duo from behind. Sinking them into the torrent of sand.

They are clinging to each other's hands, finger straining to keep their grip as Shukaku snorts.

"Time for your funeral, girl." He growls and smiles as sand starts to encase her. He's amused at the look of terror as tendrils draw themselves up her body, over her face, arms, legs. It's almost a laughable sight to him, as Gaara watches with a horrified look at the sand that wraps around Akira's face and arm her lone uncovered eye widening in fear. Gaara tries to act, squeezes her hand tighter and moves his sand to stop the tendrils, to prevent her death. Gaara and her share a single look a fractions of a second as the tendrils stop.

But it isn't enough.

Shukaku laughs as Akira is crushed, head caving in, arms being torn in half before Gaara's eyes.

And disappears in a 'poof' as smoke drifts out between his trap.

Shukaku blinks reeling back in surprise for only a second when Akira bursts through the sand on the other side of him. He feels kunai sink into his side, but he barely registers the tiny pin-pricks of pain as he roars in annoyance at her being alive.

Akira leaps back and into the air as sand shoots upward into a spiraling tornado. Shukaku focuses on her now, wanting to kill her as he makes towers and walls of sand to try and slam into her.

"Akira!" Gaara calls out rushing his own sand to her aid as she lands on it safely and is taken higher away from the cascades of sand while Shukaku growls.

She signs quickly, fingers flying as she kneels on the moving mass needing to focus on her chakra as Shukaku's sand finally reaches her. It spills over Gaara's sand forcing his down as she's dragged back onto the desert floor. Tendrils wraps themselves around her ankles, forcing her put, to finally die. Akira feels the sand dig into her skin, feels the tiny pinpricks of blood that start to rise where it grips her. She's almost to the bottom and fear prickles in her heart as it looms ever closer. But Gaara's sand which has been fighting back against Shukaku's, has slowed it down just enough to allow her to finish as she feels the hair on her arms start to rise and feels the familiar pinprick of energy as she cries out, "Lightening Burst Jutsu!"

Lightening streaks out from her hands slowly her impact and turning the tendrils to glass. She flips backwards lands on her feet lightening crackling off her skin where she stands. Shukaku moves a paw to slam into her, to get rid of this annoying ass pest when she dashes away, the electricity surrounding her, and giving her some cover as sand races to catch up. The sand under her feet smokes and shards of glass come away with each step. Shukaku glares, paw still raised, and starts to turn back to where Gaara is, back so he can mock him when he kills this bitch, when sudden blinding pain hits him from the side and he roars. He whirls back around to see Akira running past and wonders just how she had hit him when she raises an arm up and points towards him still running. Lightening arches away from her, brilliant in this light, before hitting the kunai she had sunk into his side. The kunai he had ignored.

Akira runs sliding on the sand, just skirting past his paw, and feels the rough course sand under her hands. She shifts and points at Shukaku again letting the electricity in her veins spill out toward the kunai she threw at him. She turns away running again and for a moment feels bad about destroying some of Gaara's sand. Shukaku's sand felt course, cold, and suffocating, while Gaara's sand felt soft, almost like a comfort, and warmed by the sun.

Shukaku roars "Fucking die already!" before summoning a giant wall of sand then, to finally, finally, kill this annoying bitch. Akira pauses wide-eyed, fear tangible in those dark eyes, the fire and steel before gone as she stares at the massive wave of sand. Of death.

"Gaara!" she calls out worried, scared, as she spins on heel and tries to run away. Shukaku turns back to Gaara ready to achieve his victory, ready to taunt and smirk.

Just in time to see Gaara get to the seal behind him and slam his hand over it.

Shukaku's eyes widen as the gate behind him opens, and Gaara, standing before it on his own sand, dives down quickly as something flies out and Shukaku roars. Heavy golden chains with bright white paper seals hanging off, wrap around his body, arms, legs. He fights, squirming, howling against them to the best of his abilities. The chains tighten with every movement, every lunge he makes. He's the Great and Mighty Shukaku. The One Tailed Beast of Suna. The chains don't care who he is though as they begin dragging him back behind the gate. Back into his cage where he will truly be trapped. No memories to warp, no thoughts to twist. Just a chakra vessel at best.

His claws try and find traction, but sand slides and gives way like water. He spots Gaara and Akira standing together over in what they think is safety, once more holding hands, clinging to each other against the sight of him. He sees red and stops fighting the chains as he thrashes to get closer to the two. If he's going behind the gate, he will not go alone if he can help it. Shukaku roars as he slams himself into the ground, just inches away from them. Claws so tantalizingly close when Akira pulls Gaara further back, shoving herself between the two of them, as Shukaku shrieks once more when he realizes he can't reach them. He roars and thrashes until the gates close with a thud and his screams seem to echo and haunt them as Gaara and Akira stare.

They manage a glance at each other before the seal on the gate shines brightly before intensifying, blinding them, forcing them to turn away as everything goes to black.


It isn't darkness but a beautiful bright blue sky that Akira blinks awake to; her body feels battered but otherwise she's alive. She lets out a sigh of relief and moves to sit up and reach for Gaara. She's sure her tackle probably injured him and they should get to cover soon-.

Her shoulders are barely off the ground, her arm already moving towards where Gaara is supposed to be, when a hand clamps around her throat and shoves her back down her eyes closing and wincing from the impact. She smacks at the arm with her reaching hand, and tries to buck, to get away but it's iron on her throat. She feels a body press against hers, pining her as she claws at the hand on her throat. Her eyes squint open-.

Yellow diamond eyes bore into hers as Shukaku snarls morphing Gaara's features once again. His teeth are edged, sharp and pointed and she can feel his breath on her skin.

"You're not winning this unscratched." He growls Gaara' s eyes wide and crazed as the hand on her throat tightens, his thumb on her windpipe crushing, his other hand pressing her arm down, not caring about the one scratching at Gaara's arm. "I get the last word." Akira barely gets out a straggle cry as his other hand comes up over her face. Her own trying and failing to stop it. It presses hard against her nose, and face and she can see his eyes, behind Gaara's fingers and she watches as he snarls a command, feels warm chakra pool in the palm over her face.

"Undo."

Shukaku watches with glee as her eyes roll to the back of her head as chakra slams into her head, her mind, and she spasms and shakes. He moves his hand from her throat as she struggles to gasp, to breath. She drinks it in desperately, her eyes still rolled, her body still shaking and he moves off and crouches near. He watches as she stills a moment, as her eyes come into focus just for a moment and she takes in another wild gasp. When she gets enough air, Akira screams, terrible, bloodcurdling, haunting and it soothes Shukaku as he is dragged back into the recesses of Gaara's mind and Gaara's body falls to the side. Back behind his gate, alone, but pleased nonetheless.

Akira goes unconscious besides Gaara, and Shukaku rejoices.

They might have caged him, contained him for now.

But he has won.

-End- Song Choice: Save Yourself, I'll Hold Them Back by My Chemical Romance gave birth to this scene. When I first heard this song, my playlist was on shuffle, I wasn't even thinking of this story when I heard this song and just HAD to write this scene. It is partially the reason this story is so fleshed out now, and is growing quite nicely. Almost everything is planned if I don't think of better scenes. But yes this song inspired this scene, and originally it was Gaara who fought Shukaku while Akira saved him. I thought it was more fitting if he saved himself. But once again sorry (not sorry) for the little cliffhanger.

Also I just want to address, Shukaku is terribly cocky, and was playing with Akira and she just had to distract him until the seal was touched. If she fought him one on one for a length of time, she would die. Both times she had help, and both times were running out the clock. Just wanted to state that I tried to get the results I wanted while keeping everything in the realm of reason.

Also updates will be a little longer now since I want to have a buffer of chapters. I am currently writing Chapter 15, still have to edit 13 and only just finished 14, and with finishing up my last year of undergrad it's been a ride.

Well I hope you enjoyed it! Until next time!