Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Given The Chance ❯ Time to Wake Up ( Chapter 33 )

Chapter #33

Time to Wake Up

 

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and Co.

 

Just something I've been wondering: Is Rock Lee's last name Rock or Lee. I've been reading a lot of Lee fictions lately and I've heard people say both, and I am getting confused… Help a person who's a little slow will you??!!

 

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“She's completely lost it,” Hale muttered under his breath.

 

`She's not even Cassandra anymore,' Gaara quickly caught the attention of Cassie's new onyx eyes, `and it's because she was close to me … it's because I couldn't protect her on the way to Konohagakure…'

 

“Gaara-sama,” Cassie cooed in a little singsong voice, “why don't we just go home, I'm so tired, and I can't stand hospitals. They give me the creeps!”

 

Temari turned to whisper in Kankuro's ear, “It has to be an illusion. Go check Cassie's room and make sure she's ok.”

 

Cassie walked up closer to Gaara and tried her best to adjust her smile. Those eyes of hers flashed as she reached out for Gaara's hand, and when Gaara pulled away she put on a little pout, “Aw, Gaara-sama, there is no need to be upset. Its no illusion, technically I am still Cassie-chan, but I wouldn't doubt your little demon friend has told you otherwise.”

 

Gaara scowled and back away from the girl, “Who the hell are you?”

 

“Temper, temper, we're in a hospital, honestly, for a Kazekage you have no manners,” chided the Cassandra imposter. “It would be very rude of me to wake Iwate-san right now, just when she started having a good dream.”

 

Daichi stepped forward uncertainly and reached for his daughter's hand, “Cassie, what's gotten into you?”

 

“Don't touch her,” Gaara warned.

 

Cassie sighed and shook her head, “Now you're just going to make this difficult aren't you Gaara-sama?”

 

“If you aren't my sister then who are you?” demanded Hale.

 

“I believe none of us have been properly introduced, but you need not know my name. Our introductions will have to take place later, for now I have a few loose ends to tie up,” her smiled disappeared and she began making quick hand seals. In an instant she vanished in a puff of smoke.

 

“Damn it! Temari get Neji and Sakura, I'm going to go after her,” Gaara ordered. He disappeared into a wave of sand shortly after, leaving everyone else slightly confused.

 

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Cassie scaled rooftops in single bounds with the rush of new chakra coursing through her body like adrenaline. Having a body again felt fantastic, even if it wasn't the one she desired, but she was patient, and knew that would come to her soon enough. Her objective now was to find a way to plant a seal on Gaara's body.

 

She landed just outside the village where she was not likely to be disturbed. Ignoring the fact that she still didn't have shoes on and it was tarring up the souls of her feet. Not that it mattered much because within moments all the injuries were healed by the new chakra.

 

“The two of you better have an explanation on what took so long,” Cassie crossed her arms authoritatively as she waited for the twins to reveal themselves from the shadows, “First you let that boy break my container, and then you take so long to find me again? Had you not found me again before sunrise I would have disappeared! The two of you have been cutting it much to close!”

 

The two young girls knelt respectively before Cassie and muttered a simultaneous apology to their master.

 

“Yang, I want you to explain your actions before. It was because of you my container was broken, you let Iwate-san into your memories,” Cassie snapped at the dark haired twin.

 

“That was not my intention, mistress,” Yang answered in an even tone, “I only wished to bring out her memories, but somehow her mind sought out mine.”

 

Cassie gave an annoyed sigh, “Our minds haven't merged yet, so there are still some thoughts of hers I haven't pried into yet. How much, exactly, did she see?”

 

Yang paused for a moment, “Nothing specific, I was surprised she even knew to brake the container… And she may have seen a little bit … she could have possibly seen a little of my past.”

 

Rushing toward Yang in a burst of speed Cassie grabbed her by her hair, and she pulled hard as she reminded Yang, “You don't have a past. You are just a puppet created by me, and the only reason you exist is to serve me! You're not even human, you're not much more than a doll actually, and you're just flesh animated by my chakra. Don't go thinking you have a will of your own.”

 

“G-Gomenasai, mistress, I was mistaken,” Yang looked hopefully to her sister, Yin, but there was no use in it. Yin truly was an empty shell, and an empty shell can't offer assistance. “…I meant to say that she could have seen my creation.”

 

“Very good, Yang. I'm not pleased about her seeing what she did, but it doesn't matter now. In all logic, Iwate-san is dead, she can't get in the way anymore,” Cassie released Yang, and the puppet returned to her place beside her sister. “Those pesky shinobi will be looking for us as we speak, and they may even have all the Sand-nin on alert right now. Yin, take care of them, I don't want any disturbances. Yang, you'll accompany me, we need to set a seal for our next target.”

 

“Hai,” Yin and Yang responded in perfect synchronization.

 

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There was no joking around this time. They weren't just looking for a missing person, they were tracking down a potentially dangerous Kunoichi, and so everyone was on high alert.

 

Even with everyone available looking, their search yielded no results, when she didn't want to be found, she would be found. That much was curtain anyway … so they just had to hope whoever was possessing Cassie's body actually wanted to be found, and the sooner the better. Who knew how much time the real Cassie had left, or even if she had time left at all.

 

“I've got good news and bad news,” Sakura informed Gaara as they continued their search. “I couldn't find out much about the seal, but I could get Neji to identify it from a list of symbols.”

 

That certainly caught Gaara's interest, “Do you know what it is?”

 

“Well, to tell you the truth that thing about not finding much was the good news, Gaara-sama,” Sakura bit her lip slightly before continuing, “There were some old documents outlining some events over fifty years ago. It seems there was a real problem with these new entities called Wondering Spirits, and they would mark bodies for use. It was always hard to identify because only people like Neji - and possibly Sasuke - could even detect it. These spirits are like parasites, and they need to take over bodies to survive because sunlight is fatal to them.”

 

There was another pause before Sakura continued, “Their attacks were efficient enough, but there were some catches. As far as we can tell they need to use physical contact to mark a body first, and when the spirit is out in the open it will seek out the mark like a beacon.”

 

`But then what on earth was with those twin girls…?' Gaara's eyebrows - or lack there of - drew together in concern, “Is there any way to reverse it?”

 

“The research had too many holes in it to be sure, and that is what leads to be actual bad news. The only way to get rid of the wondering spirit is to force it out of the body with a special scroll - which we don't have - and expose it to direct sunlight. No one who has had their body taken over had actually lived.” Suddenly all of Sakura's pausing made sense, and the fact that she had to force out the last word didn't making it sound any more reassuring.

 

Gaara cringed just listening to the pick haired medic talk. It was like Gaara's heart was being torn out, and it almost seemed worse than when Yashamaru betrayed him, `Shukaku wasn't lying…'

 

“But we're not just going to give up! We're going to find a way around it Gaara-sama, I promise!” Sakura stated with true determination, “Cassie-chan is important to all of us, and I know for a fact she won't go down without a fight!”

 

`Cassie was fighting for all she was worth to keep in control before, she fought so hard, and in the end she didn't stop until she was knocked out,' the red headed Kazekage set his eyes forward and his sand shifted in large ripples around his feet, “I'll never let her die. She's the one I have to protect, she's the one that makes me feel strong … and she's the one I love.”

 

“Aw, isn't that sweet, and people say demons can't feel love! I'm truly touched, Gaara-sama!” There was that taunting voice again, that cheep imitation of Cassandra's voice, and that superior tone to it was only making it worse.

 

Apparently Cassie suddenly felt the need to be found again, and she chose to make her presence known at a moment when she could only anger Gaara further. She sat calmly on a nearby rooftop, after acquiring some shoes and cloths that were most likely stolen anyway, and looked down on them with charcoal coloured eyes.

 

Gaara gritted his teeth to suppress a wave a rage, `Whoever that is will pay dearly to what they've done to her…'

 

“So sorry, it appears I've made you angry,” Cassie chuckled in fake surprise. She motioned for a familiar dark haired young girl, to step into view, and Cassie placed her hand on her as though the girl were a pet. “Gaara I believe you're well acquainted with Yang, one of my little helpers from the forest. If you're angry she'd love to hear any complaints you may have, and judging by the look on your face, I'd say you have a few.”

 

“What on earth…” Sakura muttered.

 

Yang jumped down from the rooftop gracefully and pulled out her sword. Yang was the mystery of the twins from the forest despite the fact that her sister was even colder and showed less emotion. She was a mystery because out of the two it was likely she hadn't shown the full extent of her power yet.

 

“Mistress wishes for us to fight,” Yang stated blandly.

 

Gaara gave a frustrated growl that just made Cassie chuckle again, “What, you wanted to fight me? And after I took such good care of this body too! Look, I was even kind enough to get some shoes and cloths for this body. I may have taken this body over, but it's still the same one that belonged to Iwate-san.”

 

Yang dashed forward in an amazing Lee-worthy burst of speed and her sword clashed into a solid wall of sand. She spun quickly to try and find another way through by racing against the sand. It almost seemed she would win, but the difference about this battle to the last one was that they were where Gaara had the advantage. The desert gave him more sand than he would ever need to fight with.

 

The sand very nearly wrapped itself around Yang's feet a great number of times, but somehow she was always just fast enough to avoid being crushed. That was when Sakura lent a little assistance by also attempting to fight. She had after all got the hit that physical contact was out of the question with the girl, and knew to avoid it at all costs.

 

Another wall of sand shot up, and this one caught Yang off guard. Though he didn't get the chance to completely capture her before she drew back he did injure her. Her limping and clinging to her sides was a tell-tale sign of broken ribs.

 

This just served to make Cassie angry, and she jumped down from her perch. She gently tapped the kunai in her hand against her collar bone, “It's not nice to break other people's things, Gaara-san. I'm sure you wouldn't like it if I did any damage to this body, but then again … your fetish for blood is known…”

 

“Don't you even dare,” there was a large amount of venom in Gaara's voice when he spoke, “Don't you dare hurt her!”

 

Cassie smiled again, “You still don't seem to realize that this body is all that's left. Gaara-sama, you are talking to `Cassie' right now and you don't realize it.”

 

The Cassie imposter sprinted forward, easily getting around Gaara's defenses, but that was mostly because his sand almost instinctively protected her. She was inches from his face when the sand finally wrapped around her ankles.

 

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“Mommy,” Cassie called happily as she saw her mom walk through the door. She ran the fastest she could just so she could wrap her arms around her mom that much quicker, “Mommy, you're home!”

 

Iwate Rita staggered slightly upon impact. When she regained her balance she returned her daughter's hug tenfold, “My goodness, Cassie, aren't you the energetic one today! I just went to take Hale to the academy, and you act like you haven't seen me in years!”

 

Young Cassie just smiled sweetly, “I just really missed you! It feels like you've been gone for a long time!”

 

Rita hugged her daughter tightly, “Well then I might just not ever let you go because you're so adorable and cute, and I don't ever want you to leave my side. You're going to stay with me forever and ever!”

 

“Forever and ever,” agreed Cassie.

 

Those particular words sounded nice and they repeated in Cassie's mind for quite some time. For some reason it was like she never thought she'd hear those words ever again, and Cassie almost cried thinking about it. Why was she so eager to see her mom again when she'd been gone less than a half hour? Why did it feel like if she let go that she'd loose her forever?

 

Later that day Cassie's mom took her out to the village to play with the other kids, and she was having fun. They listened and no one shunned her - for some reason she thought they'd find her weird every time she voiced an opinion, but no one did, and she was happy.

 

The ball they were playing with went flying out of the playing field and Cassie volunteered to go get it. When she stopped to pick it up she noticed something … a red headed boy, maybe a year or two older than her, standing off on his own just watching the other children playing while he clung to his teddy bear. She could also see how sad those unusual eyes of his were, and the shine they gave off from threat of tears. Why was no one else noticing the boy?

 

“Hey, do you want to play too?” asked Cassie as she waved him over to her.

 

He didn't move or even acknowledge he heard her. The only thing that happened was a single tear that rolled down his cheek.

 

Cassie blinked and tossed the ball aside to her friends. She wasn't sure what was wrong with the boy, but if no one else was going to find out why he was crying she would. Or at least she would have if her mom hadn't grabbed her arm to stop her.

 

“Don't go with him,” Rita ordered.

 

“But Mommy he's crying,” little Cassandra pointed at the boy, “I was only going to ask if he wanted to play with me.”

 

Rita's eyes narrowed, “You won't go with him. You're going to stay here and play.”

 

Cassie was slightly confused with her mother. She wasn't acting at all like herself, and her grip was unusually icy, “M-Mommy I think he need h-help…”

 

The unfamiliar icy grip pulled Cassie in closer and her mother's voice whispered in her ear, “You promised, you said we'll be together forever and ever, don't you remember? Good girls keep their promises. You didn't forget did you? Because … because I remember my promise Cassandra, I said I would never let you go…”

 

Something was wrong, something was very wrong… It was like she could sense the lie behind it all, and she was supposed to know something, she was supposed to know something important. Cassie's heart rate picked up and she began trying to pull away from her mother, but her - now painful - grip was holding her fast.

 

“Please, don't leave, if you stay with me you'll never be sad again,” Rita whispered into her daughter's ear, “If you stay nothing bad will happen, and you'll always stay in my heart…”

 

`Something bad … something bad will happen…' Watery green eyes widening, Cassie pulled away sharply from her mother, “This is a lie! You're not my Mommy! You can't be! My Mommy is … she is…”

 

Rita got to her feet and held her hands out to invite the nearly crying girl back to her arms, “You've been hiding your sadness for a long time, Cassie. Come to Mommy, and I'll make all your pain go away. You can stay here with me where you're needed, where you're wanted…”

 

“Someone needs me right now … someone wants me by their side … but who is it? Why can't I remember?!” The tears she'd been fighting for years were finally starting to pour down her cheeks and a small defeated sob escaped her.

 

“I love you…” For a moment Cassie thought it was her mother who said it, but it was a man's voice. Standing back where the boy had once been was a man who looked exactly like him, and like she boy he was just staring at her, but not in the same expression as before. His hand was held out for her and his look was gentle and soothing. Eyes filled with genuine love. “I love you…”

 

The red headed band turned to leave, and motioned for her to follow. She did so without thinking, but he was a fast walker and she soon lost sight of him.

 

“Hello?” called Cassie, “Where did you go?”

 

“Its time to wake up…” someone's hand on her shoulder made Cassie jump and spin around. It was another little boy, different from the one who became the man, but the similarities between them were almost scary. The only big difference was that the new little boy's hair was a much darker shade of red.

 

All of a sudden Cassandra was her proper age again, but she didn't take to much notice of it, “I-I've been asleep this whole time haven't I? That woman really wasn't mom after all…”

 

Why was it that, even though she'd never met the boy before, she was oddly attached to him? It was like an odd connection similar to the one she felt with the man from before, and it pushed her to wrap her arms around the boy. Almost like instinct she cradled the little boy in her arms and kissed the top of his head. It was like maternal instinct on overdrive.

 

“Who are you?” she questioned. It was an odd time to ask since she was mothering him like her own child.

 

“We haven't met yet,” he stated as he returned her hugs, “but its time to wake up… You have to keep fighting.”

 

Swallowing a lump in her throat Cassie nodded in agreement, “Someone needs me right now, and I have to go see him…”

 

* - * - *

 

That familiar cold and numb sensation prickled at the tips of each of Cassie's fingers again like before. She continued to fight the urge to fall asleep again, and slowly one of her eyes opened tiredly to the dark void space where Faceless had been hunting her.

 

This time Faceless's attention was not focus on her, but ahead of them where there was a foggy vision of what was happening in the outside world. She was laughing in amusement at the vision of Gaara directly in front of them, and tied to each of her fingers was a little glowing silver thread. With each subtle movement of her finger similar strings attached all over Cassie's body would respond and move her limbs. With another twitch of her finger Cassie's arm reached forward toward Gaara.

 

`You're not using me as a puppet, not in my lifetime!' Locking her elbow the stubborn raven haired young girl pulled her arm against the string. There was lots of pain shooting up the muscles of her arm, and when she resisted it pulled harder to force the movement, but she just yanked her arm back in return.

 

Snap. The string on her arm gave way with a wave of pain.

 

Faceless spun around, “What? You can't be awake!”

 

“Just watch me,” Cassie gritted her teeth and stepped back to pull against all the strings. Faceless was dragged forward a few inches from surprise, but she quickly regained her composure and wrenched sharply on the strings.

 

Snap, snap.A string on her shoulder and leg snapped causing more pain, but in return she got control over a few of her own movements.

 

“You know what, right now I'm pissed off as hell, and I don't think I've ever been this angry!” Hollered Cassie as she broke another string, “I'm through with all this bullshit! This is my body, damn it! NOW. GET. OUT!!!”

 

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Looking like she fully intended to lunge at Gaara, Cassie's body was stuck in a frozen stance. Her teeth ground together slightly, “What…? You can't be awake!”

 

“Just watch me!” Cassie responded to her own statement.

 

`She's arguing … with herself?' thought Gaara, `could it be that Cassie isn't `asleep' anymore?'

 

Cassie continued struggling against something invisible that was controlling her, and Gaara wasn't at all sure who was winning. He wanted desperately to help, but he didn't know if there was anything he could do without making it worse, `Keep fighting, don't give up, please don't give up … I need you with me Cassie, so please just don't give up.'

 

Falling to her knees Cassie still continued to struggle, more violently this time, but her hair was in her face so no one could tell who was talking, “You know what, right now I'm pissed off as hell, and I don't think I've ever been this angry! I'm through with all of this bullshit! This is my body, damn it! NOW. GET. OUT!!!”

 

One of her shaking hands reached up to her forehead and something silvery slowly appeared, growing from the point of contact like veins. It got brighter and brighter, and by the sound of her screaming someone was in great agony. Though, it was a possibility they were both in pain.

 

One of Cassie's large glassy eyes opened, but they were completely grey and zapped of colour.

 

 

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Sorry for leaving it right there. I know it's a lousy place to leave off, and I did want this chapter to go a bit further, but I kinda got carried away and made this a long chapter. Other than that all I have to say is Faceless is a bitch!!! Wow, it's sad when I hate my own character this much… oh well!!

 

Pix: (Gets out flashlight) die creepy person thingie!!!

Faceless: (Sighs) I hate being the bad guy, you don't pay me enough for this! I knew I should have taken the part of the mother in `High School Girl' when I had the chance…

Pix: (pokes faceless with a stick) You're an evil person…

Faceless: …I hate you so much right now.

 

Lil_Pix

Thank you reviewers:

 

Amique, Hinata 87, Dudekiller, Phightingpheonix36, BakaHanyouRahvin, GaaraFreak, Hiei81, SupersexyPooka, Gaara252, Wolfram01, Pyropixie and the rest. You all ROCK!!!