Reverberations (Kakashi x OC, Gaara x OC) -- Book 3

Chapter 3: The Demon Dog Appears

Hours went by with no improvement. The healers continued working around the clock. One would come periodically to change the IV and place a clean towel across her forehead to cool her off. She was starting to sweat as her temperature rose. The poison continued spreading slowly across her body. The most disturbing part was that her demonic features began to sharpen as it did so. Gaara had an unsettling feeling that was part of the virus purpose.

At some point the next day, Gaara had to leave her as much as he didn't want to. He went back up to his office and met with Kakashi. Gaara paced impatiently which was something he didn't typically do. Kakashi watched him, equally unnerved.

"I have a suspicion after watching this progress that Orochimaru's goal might be to force Keiko's Yokai form to appear. It could just be a coincidence of the illness. I know that sometimes it comes out when she's under duress," Gaara said.

"It's definitely a possibility. I don't really know what Orochimaru plans to do with that though. I thought he wanted her to create his next vessel?" Kakashi mused.

Gaara nodded. "She mentioned something about Kabuto taking her and Sasuke's DNA. We raided the facility after she recovered from confronting Itachi and came up with nothing. Perhaps it's some sort of test?"

"We definitely can't rule that out," Kakashi said.

Two ANBU operatives appeared in the open doorway. " Kazekage-sama ," one said through a masked face, "there's trouble at the hospital. Keiko- sama , she's...out of control."

Gaara and Kakashi looked at each other wide eyed and took off toward the hospital, the operatives falling in step with them.

Windows shattered as they heard a roaring howl. Supplies flew through the broken windows and they heard people scream. A large white dog the size of a house slammed through the concrete wall. It snarled and brow furrowed over blood red eyes. It was foaming at the mouth. Townspeople ran down the street shouting. More of the ANBU joined Gaara and Kakashi. "What do you want us to do with her sir?" the captain asked.

In response, Gaara released sand from his gourd and it swirled into the sky, surrounding the giant dog. The dog snapped at it furiously. Wind vibrated around her, trying to keep the sand at bay. 

"I didn't even know she could use wind," Kakashi said. He had thought those capabilities were limited to her sword, Zenmai. 

"Well, she can fly," Gaara replied absently through his concentration. 

The sand pressed in hard around her, trying to overtake her chakra flow. For a while, it seemed like Gaara was winning. The sand completely surrounded her and hardened into a shell. He wasn't sure what he could do after that, but at least if he kept her contained, they could prevent any further damage and try to figure out how to subdue her. For a few minutes it seemed like it was going to work. Gaara turned to the operatives to give them further instructions before they heard the cracking. They all turned around and watched as the fissure spread across the surface of the trap and pieces began falling inward. The dog burst from inside the sand prison and roared again before taking off into the air. Shingles flew from the roof of the hospital and crashed to the ground below from the force. They all watched frozen as he rose higher over the village. Kakashi and Gaara realized at almost the same time that she was heading in the direction of the Village Hidden in the Leaf.

D   

"Damnit. We don't even know what she thinks her objective is," Gaara cursed.

"Or if she's even aware of what she's doing," said Kakashi darkly.

At this point, most of the guard had come out of the woodwork and Gaara started assigning them tasks to secure the village. After he was sure that the townspeople would be taken care of, he and Kakashi and took off after Keiko.