Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Combined Elements ❯ Sound vs. Sand ( Chapter 2 )

Combined Elements

 

Chapter 2: Sound vs. Sand

Gaara sat at a desk in his office, with a whole stack of papers hiding him from view. His white and blue robe was an odd contrast to his short, deep red hair. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair, bringing up his hand every now and then to touch the tattoo above his left eye. Being Kazekage wasn't always exciting. Most of the job consisted of paperwork and writing. He felt as if his eyes were going to pop by reading any more documents, and he wasn't even half way yet.

 

He sighed deeply, and turned his head to look out the window. His light blue eyes swept over the rounded, sand buildings of the hidden village of Sand. Everything was peaceful; the people were busy with everyday activities down in the street. Gaara found himself wishing he could join them, but the pen he held in his hand was a constant reminder of his duties. The people down there needed him, as their Kazekage, and the thought of that made him feel satisfied enough to keep working.

 

Suddenly, the door flew open, and Kankuro, Gaara's older brother stumbled inside. His face was covered in sweat, which ruined the intricate designs that covered it. He was completely out of breath, and had to lean against the door to keep his balance. Gaara appeared from behind the stack of papers, and shot a questioning look at his brother. Kankuro took a deep breath and talked. “There is an enemy shinobi outside the wall. Temari and the guards are currently fighting, but this guy is really powerful. He seems to use sound as a weapon…” He didn't get a chance to finish his sentence, because Gaara was already out the door. Kankuro watched his brother vanish down the hall before allowing himself a short rest.

 

****

 

“Kamaitachi no Jutsu!” cried a female voice. Temari stood in front of the guards, her huge, iron fan swept in front of her as she raised slicing whirlwinds. Behind her, a large sand wall separated the fighters from the rest of the village. About 50 meters in front of Temari stood an extremely large man who was wearing a heavy black cloak. His hair was gray with age and he had countless wrinkles covering his face. In his hand was a tiny, round whistle with three holes. In response to whirling mass of wind approaching him, he raised the whistle to his mouth, covered all but two holes, and blew. The sound that emitted from it was loud and sharp, causing all of his opponents to cover their ears in pain. It was almost possible to see the sound waves traveling through the air as it dispersed the winds, leaving no evidence that Temari had ever done anything.

 

The guards stood, watching in astonishment. Finally, one of them managed to whisper, “How? It's impossible.” Temari frowned. How is he able to disperse my winds with mere sound? It doesn't make sense. I hope Kankuro hurries up and gets Gaara. I'm still too weak from my last mission to defeat this guy.

 

The old man looked at Temari tiredly. The whistle was still positioned at his mouth, and he moved his fingers slightly before sounding it again. This time the sound was even higher in pitch than the last, but quieter. The guards stared as they actually saw the sound vibrations with the naked eye, racing towards them. Temari's eyes widened as she flipped her fan over to cover and protect her entire body. Her mind was frantically trying to think of a way to protect the guards behind her, but it was too late.

 

Most of the guards had just enough time to throw up their arms and protect their faces when the sound waves hit… a thick wall of sand. When all the sound had faded away the wall collapsed, and at the same time, Gaara landed in front of Temari. “Leave him to me. I'd like you to get everybody currently outside the walls, inside. Replace the normal guards with Jounin level shinobi.”

 

His voice was as calm as his appearance. He hadn't had enough time to change into fighting clothes. The Kazekage robe fanned out from his body. He carried his sand gourd on his back, arms crossed comfortably and he kept his eye on the enemy.

 

The old man smiled and removed the whistle from his mouth. “Kazekage of the hidden village of Sand: Gaara of the Desert. I've been waiting for you.” Gaara frowned at him, and continued to examine the old man. It seemed the whistle was his only weapon, since it didn't look like his body could withstand much close combat. The cloak could easily hide other approaches to battle though, so it was best not to assume too much. “Tell me what you want. I have more to do.” Although he said it with confidence, Gaara flinched at the thought of more paperwork. Hopefully this battle would last a little longer so he could enjoy himself.

 

“My master has business with you. He would like you to join him once again in the destruction of Konoha, as his equal partner. Should you refuse he has asked me to destroy the whole of the Sand village and spare not a single soul except yours.” With this, he brought the whistle to his mouth again, but did not use it.

 

Gaara didn't move; he did not even flinch. From what the man had said, he concluded that Orochimaru must be the `master' he was talking about. His main aim was to destroy Konoha, and he had attempted to use Gaara before.

 

“This is a waste of my time.” The sand that had fallen on the ground earlier shot forward, speeding towards the old man with deadly force. Using the same note as he had used to disperse Temari's wind, the old man sent out three shields of sound in front of him. The sand collided with a huge crash, leaving a large cloud of dust behind. The first two shields were penetrated and dispersed, but the third one held, stopping the sand before fading away.

 

Gaara watched, trying to figure out the old man's tactics. He kept at it, continuously bombarding the man with waves of chakra-infused sand. It had as little effect as the first attempt, since the man seemed to posses amazing breath control and was able to keep blowing the whistle whenever attacked.

 

Suddenly a wall of sand shot up in front of Gaara, bending back slightly as the attack hit it. He hadn't noticed that as the man blew his defensive note, he changed his fingers slightly to allow a direct attack to follow. The sound had been so low that it couldn't be heard, and it didn't come in visible waves, but rather in piercing needles. Gaara realized all this in an instant as the sand sunk back to the ground, revealing the old man once again standing on front of him.

 

“I'm impressed. Very few have ever been able to block my piercing sound needles.” The old man grinned, revealing several missing teeth. The whistle was still at his mouth, ready to be used for defense or attack in an instant.

 

Gaara did not reply. It would be a waste of breath. Slowly, he raised his arm, sending a massive amount of sand towards the old man. It curved around, moving with incredible speed to cover the old man completely. “Sabaku KyÅ«.” His open hand pointed towards the mound of sand, waiting to make sure the opponent was completely encased. Then, Gaara closed his hand into a fist. “Sabaku SÅsÅ!” The sand compressed with a loud crunch, exerting incredible pressure to crush the man with his whistle.

 

He waited, watching the sand mound in front of him. It was doubtful that the old man would be defeated with a technique like this, but it could reveal another technique if there was one. At that moment, the mound exploded, together with a large release of high-pitched sound. The old man had covered himself in a shield of sound. Interesting.

 

The whistle was brought back to the mouth. However, this time the old man did not release a single note. He closed his eyes and started playing, a very depressing song, something which you could find at a funeral or the like. Every note he played emitted a different type of wave. Some were fast, some were slow, most were visible, and some were not. The air became a mass of sound waves, controlled by the man's chakra to move in whichever direction he indicated. Suddenly, the song ended with a single, wailing note. He stretched out the note, keeping it in the air. Everything seemed to stop, even the wind. Then, as the note started fading away, all chakra controlled sound waves, sped towards Gaara.

 

Gaara glanced around. The sound waves were everywhere: in front, at the sides, and at the back, maybe even below ground, but he wasn't worried. Sand flew out of his gourd, encasing him in a large ball of hard packed sand. Inside it was dark and humid, but this did not bother him. He could hear the sound waves bouncing off, some slicing partly through, but none even coming close to reaching him. Gaara covered one eye with his fingers. “Daisan no Me!” Outside the ball of sand, some leftover particles swirled around each other, compressing until they formed a complete eyeball. He could now see everything that was happening outside, while remaining safely inside his shield.

 

The man looked slightly stunned that his attack had been defeated so easily. The whistle was clamped in his hand, which hung at his side. Suddenly, the whistle started trembling and shaking in his hand. His eyes widened in surprise and confusion. The whistle exploded, and some sand fell to the ground. At the same time, Gaara dispersed his shield, smiling. “How did you…?” The old man stared at his hands, where some broken shards of the whistle still sat. “Every time I attacked you with my sand, I had some small particles enter your whistle. These build up, eventually allowing me to build up the pressure inside…” Gaara moved his feet to stand more steadily, and brought his hands together. “RyÅ«sa BakuryÅ«!” The sand at his feet rose higher and higher, to thrice the size of his opponent, creating a large wave of sand. There was no escape. The old man could only watch and pray as the massive wave of sand approached.

 

When all the sand had settled, the old man was nowhere to be seen, buried under several layers of sand. Just to make sure, Gaara crouched down, placing his hands on the sand at his feet. “Sabaku TaisÅ!” The sand that covered the man compressed, crushing him. It was over.

 

Some sand trickled out of Gaara's ears. He had used it to shield himself against the sharp sounds that had hurt the guards and Temari. He collected the rest of his chakra-infused sand, stored it back in his gourd, and turned around without another glance. He'd have to send a message to Tsunade in Konoha, to tell her that Orochimaru was moving once again. And then… well… then he still had a lot of paperwork to do.

 

 

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this FanFic except Saara Mizu and some of the minor enemies. The rest belong to Masashi Kishimoto.