Chapter 80. Blood and Snow.

It was cold.

Gaara breathed out, watching as his breath formed a fog before him. This place was so unlike his village. There was white snow instead of golden sand, and it wasn't hot and windy but cold and windy. The winds didn't reach the cavers; they were just silent and ominous, say for the occasional screams.

Someone was hunting. Gaara stopped in front of a puddle of blood. Twitching forms that lay there might have been human; they were so mangled it was hard to tell. It wasn't his first time seeing this scene, but it's usually him that caused it.

"It's another Stone shinobi," Temari said, examining the headband. This makes eight." She frowned in disgust. "There's no reason to go this far," she growled.

They didn't look at him as they spoke. Gaara would go this far for no reason other than to satiate his blood thirst. He hadn't met anyone that was like him before; his father said there were nine others with monsters inside them. When he met them in that room, none of them looked like he did.

No. A thought accrued. There might be one that was like him.

"AHHH!"

Another scream rang out, the voice becoming louder as they drew closer. Temari and Kankaro book stood ready for a fight. A stone shinobi round the corner, a kunai lodged in his shoulder.

"H- Help me!" he cried as he tripped. She tried to crawl towards them, seeking mercy and salvation. The irony, wasn't lost on him.

Click, click, click.

Wood tapped on the stone floor, echoing through the caverns and making the stone Genin go pale. She scrambled back towards them, wrongfully thinking them the lesser threat. Temari looked at the genin as though he went mad, but Gaara looked ahead. He watched the bloody path the genin came from, the clanking of wood getting louder. His excitement rose, and the sand in his gourd burst out, ready to rip apart any threat.

He saw the emerald eyes first, glowing in the dim caverns and filled with hatred. The black hair and outfit came next, with long flowing hair and a kimono of mourning. He took note of geta and realized it was the source of the sound.

"My my," her voice was like velvet. "What do we have here? Kazekage's three beautiful children?" she looked past them to the cowardly genin hiding behind them.

"Well, this is awkward," she smiled softly at them, almost motherly. "Won't you hand over the scum?"

'How bout you hand over your scroll," Kankaro said, unraveling his puppet.

"Which one do you need?" she asked. They froze; was she so willing to hand over her scroll? Gaara's eyes narrowed. Something wasn't right.

"Huh, well, if you gotta know, we want the earth scroll," Kankaro confessed.

"Kankaro!" Temari hissed.

"What?"

"Hmm," the girl put on a thoughtful face. "I think that worm has that scroll, actually."

The stone genin flinched as Gaara's eyes locked on him. He had no reason to protect this man, and he did want to leave this cold place.

"I d- don't have it!" the genin cried. "She's the one with the earth scroll." he pointed at the black hair girl.

"Reverse psychology?" she said in wonder before breaking into laughter. "I love it! Maybe I'll cut off your tongue just for that!" her eyes were wild as she grinned at the cowardly man. Gaara didn't have time to react before a swarm of red butterflies flew by him. His sand didn't try to protect him as though realizing she wasn't aiming for him.

"AHHH! Ugh," the scream cut off with a wet splat, and Temari screamed. The girl cut off his tongue. A scroll with the earth symbol was carried from the genin's jacket and handed to Gaara. It was covered in blood.

"Sorry about that," she said, walking closer. "With this, you'll back off, right?"

He felt the weight of her killing intent when she got close to him. She was keeping it close to her instead of spreading it around. Was she trying not to aggravate him?

Gaara looked down at the bloody scroll, back up at her, and then down at the Stone shinobi. The genin shook his head in despair, his mouth dripping blood. He looked pitiful.

"Temari, Kankaro," Gaara called, making his decision. "Let's go." he walked off before they could protest, making his decision final. They ran after him after a moment of hesitation. They were always like this, fearful of disobeying him or angering him.

"I'll see you in the stronghold~" the woman called after them. "Gaara-chan."

Gaara glanced back once to see her cupping the stone genin's face before he continued on, ignoring the gurgling screams.

"It's faint, but it's him," Gaara flinched when he heard the voice. "That chakra definitely belongs to that man."

As the one-tail Jinchuriki, he often heard the voice of the demon he held. It was usually him telling Gaara to kill or to die or to sleep, so he can take control. But this was the first time he heard the voice speak like a normal person.

"Gaara what's wrong?" Temari asked, daring to touch him. He didn't slap her hand away this time but listened to the demon's words. "Him?" who was the demon talking about?
Gaara looked back the way they came. Shukaku only became like this when they interacted with the pink-haired girl. The Leaf village's Jinchuriki.

"Meet you at the stronghold."

He remembered her words. Clenching the scroll, he walked a bit faster.

"Let's hurry," he said before taking off running.

"Right!" his siblings chased after him. He would see her at the stronghold he was sure, then maybe he could figure out who "He" was?"

Hinata's body slammed into the ice-cold walk, knocking the wind out of her. Weak, she slides down the wall, her legs unable to hold her. She coughed blood as her byakugan faded from her eyes and her body slumped. She got caught off guard.

Her blurry vision revealed a cloud shinobi standing over her, his hands lit with lightning.

"Hinata!" Kiba cried only to groan as the enemy stepped on his chest. Shino wasn't much better, held by his hair and neck. She didn't expect the cloud genins to attack them. She overlooked them since she wanted nothing to do with them. She was a fool.

Hinata tried to stand, but the sandal on her injured shoulder kept her down. She groaned in pain as the remnants of the shock jolted her body.

"Tch, these Leaf bastards aren't all that tough," Tenga muttered, looking down at Hinata's downed form. Injured from her last battle, the Hyuga didn't put up much of a fight. It almost felt too easy. The image of the pink-haired witch flashed in his mind, and he clenched his fist. He shouldn't have thought everyone would be as strong as her.

Omoi looked over at Kurotsuchi, who leaned heavily on the wall. She was heavily injured from her fight with the Hyuga. Had they not stepped in, there was a real possibility she would have died.

"We can cash in the favor later," Omoi thought as he approached her.

"Hey, can you move," he asked. He could clearly see Kurotsuchi wasn't okay, but they would need to move soon.

"Why did you," Kurotsuchi asked, struggling to stand. He held her elbow and helped her to her feet.

"We have a bone to pick with the Leaf village," Omoi answered, supporting her. "Enemy of my enemy and all that."

"Heh," Kurotsuchi couldn't help but laugh. "For a village that prides itself in being peaceful, it sure has a lot of enemies."

"I couldn't agree more."

They both froze at the foreign voice.

From the darkness, she came, black hair long and flowing, dressed in a black kimono stained with blood. Her geta tapped against the floor as she walked.

"I'm getting real tired of cleaning up the Leaf's mess," another voice sounded behind her, and a clone came forth, also covered in blood.

"If it wasn't fun to see them beg for mercy, I wouldn't bother."

Five in total. They looked like Sakura with black hair and carried the same air. Omoi wasn't sure why she had black hair now, but he prepared for a fight.

Green eyes locked on Hinata's down form, and she tsked.

"They really went and touched the princess, huh?" she said, the air getting heavy. " I said not to touch the Hyugas unless you wanted to take responsibility."

Omoi suddenly found himself on one knee, barely able to hold Kurotsuchi.

"Gravity seal?" Kurotsuchi gasped in confusion.

"Oh, what am I saying? When has the cloud village ever taken responsibility?" Sakura sounded so disappointed as her clones walked forward. Tenga looked up at her with hatred as she pushed him aside and took Hinata into her arms. The clones collected Kiba and Shino also before disappearing back into the darkness.

Only one Sakura remained.

"I wonder if that old man will understand my feeling if I killed his granddaughter?" the words were a whisper, but in this empty space, they seemed to echo. Her green eyes locked onto the girl, and Omoi felt her trembling against him.

There was a pause as though Askura was listening to something before she sighed.

"I know she's useful," she muttered. "But she hurt Hinata; I can't let that go." she was talking to herself, or perhaps not. Omoi realized a while ago that she wasn't the real Sakura; with her long black hair and odd clothing, she was just a clone.

It wouldn't take much to kill her. If Omoi is quick, he could eliminate the current threat.

"Tch," Sakura cursed. "Fine," she came to a compromise.

"I'll just beat her half to death." was her conclusion.

Lightning roared as Tenga rose to his feet. Lightning spiked around him as he glared at Sakura with determined eyes. He slammed his foot into the ground, breaking it and disrupting the seal. Omoi sighed in relief once the weight was off his shoulders.

"Right, there's you, wasn't there," she spoke as though she had forgotten his existence. She seemed uninterested, angering Tenga more as the boy roared and rushed towards her.

His fist never reached her.

Wire stranded and rubbed against each other as Tenga got captured by it. There was another clone holding Tenga back with ninja wire.

Omoi's eyes widened as he remembered there were five clones. He placed Kurotsuchi down and stood ready for a fight. He came here knowing they wouldn't leave without a fight. After hearing Sakura was on a rampage, he thought teaming up with the stone genins would help him with his revenge. Locking them up in a cage was one thing, but picking a fight with their Kage was another. He wouldn't let it slide. And neither would Tenga.

Using his lightning-coated blade, Tenga cut through the wires as Omoi charged at Sakura. Drawing his sword, Omoi swang at her, aiming for her head. Instead of ducking as he thought she would, she spun around him, kicking the back of his knee in one fluid movement.

Omoi rolled and stood up in time to dodge her ax kick. The force of the blow cracked the ground, causing steam to fill the passage wall.

"Right, she has monstrous strength," Omoi thought, remembering the beating in the classroom.

Still, he was confident in his skills; he didn't have his sword then, and now he wouldn't lose to her, even if she was just a clone. Increasing his speed with chakra, he dashed for her again.

His swings were quick and deadly, yet she remained out of his reach.

With fluid movements, she dodged his attacks. Dancing around his body, she left a trail of black hair that he couldn't touch. He was getting frustrated when she landed a kick to his chest, sending him back into an icy wall that cracked on impact.

He slid down the surface, holding his cracked rib. His body trembled from the pain, but he got to his feet slowly. Through the mist, she approached, her geta giving away her position. He considered it psychological torture to have those damn geta tapping against the floor.

Without a doubt, she was taunting him. He looked ahead, where he heard the footsteps approaching, reading himself for another round.

"Where are you looking?"

Black eyes wide, he spun to his left to find her inches from his face. In a panic, he swung at her, but she was too close. She grabbed his wrist, breaking it and forcing him to drop his blade with a cry. He barely saw her catch the falling sword with her other hand before she stabbed it in his shoulder.

"Ahhh!" he screamed as the blade pierced his right shoulder. She grabbed his collar and threw him over her shoulder, using the force to dislodge the blade.

Omoi's blood dripped from his blade as she approached his downed form. He lay on his back, trying to think through the pain.

"How?" he groaned. Sakura was coming from the front; he clearly heard it.

"How oblivious can you be?" she asked him as he dug her heel into his injured shoulder. "Aren't you missing something? Or, someone perhaps?"

Omoi's eyes widened as he looked at where he last saw Kurotsuchi. She wasn't there, and neither were the stone and cloud genins. He was so preoccupied with the fight; he didn't notice their absence.

The sound of sandal stone echoed again, and the clone fighting Tenga emerged, dragging the boy through the mist. There were two of them!

He gritted his teeth and glared up at her. She was going to kill him. To think he would die in such a place.

Cold green eyes looked down at him as the clone tossed, Tenga's still form beside him. Tenga was battered and blooded as though trampled by wild bulls. Oddly enough, he was still breathing. The clone disappeared again and came back with Kurotsuchi's unconscious body.

"We should give Boss the honor of handling this one," she said through Kurotsuchi over her shoulder. They both looked down at him with complex expressions.

Before they left, Sakura stabbed his left shoulder with his sword, pinning to the ground. He screamed and tried to grab the blade, only to realize he couldn't move his right arm. He looked at her with wide eyes filled with fear. She made him a cripple. As a swordsman losing his arms made you useless. Her grin was vicious. "Just stay there like a good boy," Sakura said, turning to leave. "If you hate the feeling you feel now." she stopped looking back with eyes of death. "Get stronger. Maybe then you won't get your ass kicked by a clone."

They left, leaving him and his comrade alone in the cold caverns.

Omoi's eyes stung as his lips trembled. He refused to acknowledge the hot liquid running down his cheeks.

"I'm sorry, Sensei."

Sorry I'm late. Works has caught up with me. Might go on hiatus after the chunin exam arc.

Next chapter

April 20