“I found them,” Hinata announced, “they’re three miles up ahead, but… there’s a strange thing in the clearing. I can’t see what it is.”
“Are they wounded?” Shikamaru asked.
Hinata shook her head. “No… I don’t think so… I don’t know. There’s something strange.”
“We have to move in,” Kankuro said, “Gaara and Taryn are there. Those enemy ninja are after the one tailed beast. We need to get there before they draw him out.”
Shikamaru nodded. “We’re moving in. We’ll take the same formation as we did when we left Konoha, only this time, Sakura will go in the front team. We don’t know how urgently they’ll need medical treatment.” Sakura nodded. Shikamaru looked at Kankuro. “Is there anything I need to know?”
“Be careful,” Kankuro answered, “if they manage to draw out Shokaku, even we don’t know what might happen”
“What’s going on inside?” Naruto asked. He glared at Yodan.
Yodan chuckled. “The cage is made out of steel. The sound waves that are floating through it will resonate throughout the whole cage. Inside, it will magnify ten times. It will slowly drive them insane… thus driving out Shokaku.”
Naruto grew a horrified expression. He knew exactly what would happen. He remembered last time the one tailed beast had come out. Gaara might have a certain tolerance regarding his sister, Shokaku did not. Naruto wasn’t sure why this was, but the one tail seemed to harbor a deep grudge against her. “You can’t do that!” Naruto shouted at Yodan.
Yodan only laughed. “What did you want to do against it? Huh?”
Naruto gritted his teeth and jumped on top of the cage. He started hitting it with his fists and when that didn’t work he used his kunai dagger.
Nothing worked.
The cage didn’t budge.
He couldn’t even scratch it.
Stubbornly he continued hitting the cage.
Taryn pushed her hands against her ears when the sounds inside the cage became louder and higher. She watched Gaara concerned. He had covered his ears as well, but it wasn’t enough to block out the sound. She wasn’t sure how much longer he could hold out. He was already losing focus. She saw it in the way his cramped fingers dug into his skin and the tension in his jaw. He sat slightly hunched and was desperately trying to control himself.
The noise inside was a horrible screeching and Gaara tensed. He started trembling and a faint hint of insanity showed in is eyes. Taryn pulled her hands away from her ears and locked them over his in an attempt to block the sound from him.
“Don’t,” Gaara said through is teeth. It wouldn’t help one bit. She would only get hurt. “Don’t,” he said again, but she didn’t seem to hear him over the sound from the cage. It wouldn’t take long now. He could already feel himself weaken. A little longer and Shokaku would break free. And he would be thrilled to find Taryn locked in with him.
Another sound wave hit him and his head started throbbing. He uttered a scream.
Taryn crawled closer to him, as if her very presence could protect him from insanity.
Gaara’s body shook in an attempt to fight of the one tailed beast. He glanced at his sister. Was that blood coming out of her ear?
Before he could give it further thought, he could feel the transformation beginning.
Taryn gasped when she noticed Shokaku surfacing. The one tailed beast shimmered behind the boy’s eyes and then they flashed back to Gaara’s. He was gritting his teeth and shut his eyes in pain. His body tensed again and Taryn felt nails dig into her arm. She cried out.
Shokaku was back.
Gaara was gone.
Taryn ignored her wounds and concentrated on her brother. She had to prevent Shokaku from breaking out completely.
Gaara screamed again and Taryn locked her arms around him. A dark chuckle rose from Gaara’s throat. Taryn felt herself being thrown aside. She hit the wall of the cage. A little pale she watched as Gaara’s face slowly changed form.
“Let them out!” Naruto yelled while hitting the cage with is fists. He jumped to the ground and kneeled. With his hands he started digging a hole to get underneath the cage.
When Yodan noticed what he was doing, he stopped laughing and attacked Naruto.
Naruto jumped out of the way, but had no other chance to get close to that cage again. He had to protect his own life now or he wouldn’t be of use to anyone.
Matsuri watched from her hiding place. She was frightened. All those dreams about becoming a shinobi… she had fooled herself. How could she ever have believed she could be a fighter. The first time she was in trouble, she cowered behind a rock and let others do the work for her.
She glanced at the cage. She wasn’t sure what was going on inside, but she was concerned about Gaara. He had been kind to her and she had repaid him by getting him in danger. There had to be something she could do…
She looked around the clearing and her eyes landed on an object on the ground. She frowned confused for a moment when she recognized it as her weapon. How did that get here? She was certain she had dropped it in Suna. Now that she thought about it… she had seen Gaara toss something aside before the cage locked him and Taryn in. Had he carried her weapon with him? Why? Did he honestly think she could be of some use? But she was just a kid…
Naruto barely managed to get away from Yodan’s attacks. “Why do you want to protect the host of the one tailed beast so much?” Yodan asked, “what is he to you? Why would you care about a monster?”
“Gaara is not a monster!” Naruto growled, “he is my friend and I’ll protect him with my life!” Yodan chuckled. “One life it is,” he smirked and lifted his hand. “What?!” he suddenly shouted when a chain wrapped around his arm. He looked to the side and saw Matsuri standing there. She had a determined look in her eyes.
‘Weapons can be used to protect loved ones,’ she thought.
Yodan laughed. “Will you look at that. The little girl has some spunk.” He wrapped the chain around his hand and gave a firm pull on it.
Matsuri flew forward and fell to her knees. “Gah,” she gasped.
“Matsuri!” Kankuro’s voice suddenly called.
All three of them looked up and saw Kankuro and the others run up to them. They came to a halt and gasped when they saw the large metal tank.
“What’s that?” Sakura asked.
“Gaara is in there!” Naruto called, “and Taryn too!”
They jumped when the cage suddenly broke down. A half transformed Gaara stood in the clearing. Behind him lay an unconscious Taryn.
Matsuri’s eyes widened and she gasped.
Naruto turned to her. “Go,” he said, “hide somewhere safe.”
“But…,” Matsuri protested, “Gaara-sensei…”
“He’s trying to protect you!” Naruto shouted. He turned back to Yodan who held a kunai dagger ready.
Matsuri stared at Naruto and then at Gaara. “Protect me?”
Kankuro and Temari walked up to her and escorted her to the others. “You stay here with us,” Temari said.
Neji narrowed his eyes and studied Yodan carefully. “There is flow of chakra streaming between Gaara and that ninja,” he noted.
“They want to steal his chakra,” Matsuri told them, “that ninja is after Shokaku’s chakra.” Everyone looked at Gaara who was still only half transformed. Behind him, Taryn wasn’t moving.
“Taryn-sama,” Dante gasped.
“Don’t worry,” Naruto said, “Gaara won’t hurt her. She’ll be fine there.”
Kankuro looked at the boy surprised. It was true, but the boy had no way of knowing that.
Gaara heard Naruto’s words too and he remembered a few earlier words Naruto had spoken in Konoha. It seemed such a long time ago.
“I’ve got people that care about me now… people that are important to me… and I won’t let you hurt them.”
‘Could it be that simple?’ Gaara thought ‘is that what makes him so strong?’ He glanced at Taryn behind him. She wasn’t moving. He knew the wounds she had were caused by him. He hadn’t meant to hurt her, but he hadn’t been able to contain himself. He sighed relieved when he saw her chest rise and fall.
He turned back to Yodan and concentrated. Slowly he willed back his transformation.
From a distance the others were watching.
“Won’t that make him weaker?” Shikamaru asked.
Kankuro nodded. “Still,” he said, “he chooses to fight with power he can control instead of power he cant.”
Dante formed a few handseals. “Hold on everyone,” he said and directed his jutsu at the ground. A platform rose and lifted the group up, keeping them safely out of the sand’s reach. On the ground Taryn stirred and slowly came to. Her vision was a little blurry and she was vaguely aware of the fight around her. Something was wrong though and she couldn’t quite place it. She ignored the wall of sand that rose up next to her, shielding her from Yodan’s attack. Something wasn’t right… but what?
Yodan stared at Gaara stunned. “How did you do that?” he asked, “your sand was gone. I saw it myself.”
Gaara smirked. “Didn’t you know? I can use what ever sand I want and fuse it with my chakra.” His eyes turned cold. “Now die.” He closed his fists and sand locked all around Yodan. “Sand funeral” Gaara called and watched the sand crush the enemy.
“It’s over,” Kankuro sighed.
Just then something stirred under the sand and Yodan broke free. “Did you think it was over?” he laughed, “this armor I wear protects me. You have no way of wining.”
Gaara stared at him. When he heard a faint sigh coming from Taryn, he narrowed his eyes at his opponent. “You made him hurt my sister,” he growled. He raised a hand. Sand flew up from the ground and grew shape.
“There’s a huge amount of chakra emitting from Gaara,” Neji gasped, his Byakugan still active. “It’s Shokaku’s spear,” Kankuro said wide-eyed.
Gaara aimed and threw the large spear at Yodan. The impact broke his armor and Gaara grinned.
Yodan’s eyes grew wide with fear. Gaara raised a hand again, but it was obvious it cost him a lot of effort. He knew this would be his last attack. “Sand funeral,” he said and closed his hand. Sand locked around Yodan and he died screaming.
Gaara stumbled on his feet. He knew he had given more than he could and he fainted.
“Gaara-sensei!” Matsuri called and ran up to him. The others followed suit.
Kankuro looked at his younger brother. ‘You did it,” he thought, ‘you protect everyone.’ He remembered what Gaara had told him not so long ago. That he wanted to bond with others, be acknowledged. ‘’I’m sure you’ll succeed.’ He glanced at Taryn. She had put Gaara’s life over her own again as she always had. But he wasn’t jealous. Never had been. He understood. And he knew she would do the same thing for him and Temari. Gaara was just more important to her. “They need medical attention,” he said.
Sakura was already kneeling beside Gaara. “I don’t know…” she said, “I think they need to get to a hospital. I’m still a student.”
“We’re closest to Konoha,” Shikamaru noted, “we’ll bring them there. If that’s alright with you?” He looked at Kankuro.
Kankuro nodded. “Yeah.” He was looking at Dante who kneeled next to his sister.
Taryn looked at Dante with an exhausted expression. She was close to losing consciousness again. She saw his lips move as if her were talking and frowned at it confused. Why was he acting this weird?
Then her eyes widened and she looked around.
There was no sound at all.
Not the wind, not the others moving about, not even her own breath.
She looked at Dante again who eyed her concerned. His lips moved again and then she understood what was wrong. When she had protected Gaara in that cage, he noise had affected her and torn her eardrums.
She was deaf.
***
Taryn peeked around the corner of Gaara’s room. Her four year old brother was sitting on the floor cross-legged. Dark circles were under his eyes. Circles that seemed to grow darker every day.
Taryn sighed. She knew this sleep deprivation was the only way to prevent the One Tail to take control, but it was hard on Gaara. A boy his age needed sleep to grow.
The sand was aware of her before Gaara, but as usual it stayed dormant when she approached. “Nee-san,” Gaara said surprised when he noticed her.
She smiled at him warmly. “What are you doing?” she asked curiously. She had only returned from a mission three days ago. Of course no one had tended to him during her absence. They fed him and her father spoiled him with gifts, but no one really took care of him.
“I was watching the stars,” Gaara answered. He watched as Taryn sat down next to him. “Shouldn’t you be sleeping nee-san? It’s the middle of the night.”
“Don’t worry about me, Gaara. I’m not tired. I can go days without sleep.”
Gaara sighed. “But you don’t have to,” he said, “I wish I didn’t have to.”
“I know,” Taryn said softly. She ruffled his hair and hugged him. “You now what,” she said, “tonight you don’t have to.”
Gaara looked at her confused. “What do you mean?”
“You can go to sleep tonight,” Taryn said, “I’ll watch over you.”
“No,” Gaara said frightened, “he’ll come out again.”
“I won’t let him,” Taryn promised. She gently pushed Gaara’s head against her shoulder. “I’ll make sure he won’t come out. I’ll protect you from him.”
Gaara was silent for a moment. “He doesn’t like that,” he said, “he’s angry with you.”
“I don’t care,” Taryn said, “I’m not afraid of him. Go to sleep, Gaara. I’ll watch over you and I won’t let him come out. I’ll stay awake all night. I promise.”
“I don’t want him to hurt you,” Gaara said softly.
“He won’t,” Taryn assured him. She stroke his hair. “Sleep Gaara. Nothing will happen to you. And not to me either. Trust me.”
Gaara yawned. “Okay,” he whispered and closed his eyes.
***
Tsunade eyed the girl in the bed thoughtfully while making some notes on a chard. Taryn was still asleep, but she would wake up soon.
Ever since Taryn had returned to Suna, Tsunade had spent a lot of time researching the Third Hokage’s reports on this girl. What she had found in there had astonished her. She shook her head. This girl was too old for her age and too young to be burdened with the responsibilities she was currently carrying.
Though… the Fourth Hokage had been young too…
Tsunade sighed. She knew Taryn had unofficially taken up the responsibilities of Kazekage. And even though the village was momentarily leaderless, she had been able to fool the rest of the world in believing otherwise. And with this last mission, she had proven Suna could still defend itself.
This girl may be young, she was a natural leader.
Slowly Taryn’s eyes fluttered open. “So you decided to wake up, did you?” Tsunade asked. Taryn turned her head towards the woman. “Why is everything so loud?” she complained.
“We managed to fully restore the damage in our hearing,” Tsunade said, “a thank you would be nice.”
“Where’s my brother?” Taryn asked.
“He’s waiting in the hallway,” Tsunade answered, “I’ll send him in.” She left the room and a few seconds later her brother came in.
Kankuro.
Not Gaara.
He nodded at her.
“Gaara?” Taryn asked.
“He’s fine,” Kankuro assured her, “he defeated that freak on his own, without Shokaku. Matsuri is safe too.”
Taryn sighed relieved. “Is that Temari I hear outside?”
Kankuro nodded. “She’s in the hallway with Dante.”
Taryn frowned as she thought about what he had said. What he had not said. “Yamaru?” she asked, but she already knew the answer. She swallowed. “He was the first to greet me when I returned home,” she said, “did you know that?”
“I’m sorry,” Kankuro said softly, “he fought well,”
Taryn nodded. There was a lump in her throat. Another grave in Suna. She hadn’t even known him that well.
“Taryn?” Kankuro asked concerned.
“Where’s Matsuri?” Taryn asked quickly.
“She’s with Gaara. I think she’s officially his number one fan now.” Kankuro grinned.
A faint smile appeared on Taryn’s face. “That’s good,” she said and closed her eyes.
“I’ll let you get some rest,” Kankuro said, “we’re leaving in the morning, Are you well enough to travel with us?”
Taryn gave an exhausted nod. “Yeah. I’ll be fine by morning.”
“Okay,” Kankuro said and shortly pressed her hand, “I’ll see you in the morning.”
“So where is he?” Gaara asked. The six of them were gathered at the gate to say their goodbyes. Once again it was Shikamaru that saw them off. “I was hoping to speak with him before departing.”
“You just missed him,” Shikamaru answered, “he left this morning with Jiraya. That idiot wants to come back stronger than ever.” He rolled his eyes.
A faint smile crawled on Gaara’s face. “Some other time then,” he said. He glanced at Taryn. ‘I’ll train hard too,’ he thought, ‘and become someone that deserves to be acknowledged.’ Matsuri looked at Gaara with adoration. ‘Gaara-sensei, you are my idol. One day I want to be as strong as you. I’ll continue training and make you proud.’
Taryn placed a hand on the cascade that carried Yamaru’s body. ‘Goodbye,’ she thought. It was a three days journey back to Suna and there she would have to inform his family. She wasn’t sure what she was going to say. This part of her job was always the hardest.
She looked up at Gaara. He had grown so much. He was no longer that angry and isolate person. He had overcome his transformation by himself and he had proven himself. He was worthy.
Slowly a plan formed in her head.
All she had to do was convince the council…