Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Glimpses of Fire ❯ A Mission ( Chapter 5 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Glimpses of Fire
Author: shattered-words

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, it'd be called `Gaara'. So, isn't it a shame that I don't own it?

Summary: There were many things that shaped the plans of a certain Nukenin, and one was a shinobi that was as destructive as fire. AU/Mentions of Shounen-ai/Yaoi/Yuri

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Chapter Five: A Mission~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

He flinched when her words reached his ears. The sand had completely covered her, and his intention was to let her suffocate buried within it. He had turned away as he had done this, not sure why.

Every time he had killed he had always watched and thus confirmed his existence. The thought that she might attack him never even crossed his mind. He wondered when he had grown to trust her so much that he was actually confident that she would never attack him even when he was trying to end her life.

He hesitated when he let himself think of her more. Gaara knew that she was about to suffocate but still couldn't convince himself to turn around. The thought that he actually cared enough about her that he didn't wish to see her die left him confused.

His lips pulled back to reveal his teeth as slight growl left his throat before he shook his head. It wasn't a possibility for that to have happened. He refused to even think of such a ridiculous thing, but even then, he couldn't turn! Even knowing that it would confirm that he was alive, and fulfill his purpose in more ways than one since she had been there since the beginning. He couldn't look.

Gaara closed his eyes and brought a hand to his head as he felt a sharp pain develop just behind his eyes. He gritted his teeth and his slender fingers passed through his short scarlet locks before grabbing them in an effort to dispel these thoughts.

All he had was loneliness, and this cold, harsh reality that there was nothing for him. That he was to be unloved, unafraid and his only purpose was to end life.

`I was scared.' Her words teased and tortured his mind. He quickly flung his arm out in front of him as if to dispel them and turned.

The sand that had imprisoned and lifted her up, fell away. He watched her limp body fall and land with a thud, and her arms and legs were stretched away from her slender form. When he approached, he looked down at her with cold eyes, but almost felt his heart stop when he didn't see her chest lifting with her breath.

Gaara's mouth fell open and he might have gasped before he was on his knees before her. Lifting a hand, he placed it over one of her cheeks and saw the bits of sand clinging to her face, which meant that she had shed tears.

He frowned angrily at himself, and brushed the sand away. He slipped a hand under her neck and lifted her head as the other one wrapped around her waist to pull her closer. He lowered his face close to hers, and listened intently as his heart beat accelerated.

Her lips were so close to his own, so he felt her warm breath caress his face when she finally breathed in and out. For an instant he was a tempted to lean forward, and it was confusing since he hadn't felt that way before.

Gaara let one of his hands move over her pale throat and he tried to will himself to let his fingers tighten and end her life. He couldn't do it. The thought of her fading from this world caused a pain to manifest within his chest. It was the same pain he had felt in his heart that night he had spoken to Yashamaru before he tried to kill him. He felt it every time the thought of her leaving crossed his mind.

The red head frowned as he looked down at her. His left arm was still wrapped around her waist and the right holding her head off the floor so her face was close. Her features were paler than usual and he had noticed that her lips had started to turn blue when the sand had released her. Luckily, now they were returning to their normal hue.

His eyes watched her mouth, seeing that the color of her lips was not like his. They were a bit pinker and looked softer. Gaara lifted his left hand after he had puller her smaller body more into his lap, and let the tips of his finger brush over her lips. He could feel the texture of them and realized that he had been right about them being softer.

Before he realized what he was doing, he was leaning down as he held his breath. He was almost afraid that she'd fade away, and a moment later his mouth pressed against her lips. He closed his eyes as he let himself become lost in the feel of her against him.

He was abruptly brought back to reality as he felt a sharp pain go through his head and he pulled away from her. A groan escaped his mouth as he gripped his head with one hand. The pounding agony moved from his head and slid down his neck as he tried not to scream.

The Suna no Yoroi started to crack and dissolve on its own as he started to lose control of his chakra and the biju sealed within. Shukaku threatened to consume him as he tried to break free. He could feel him pounding against his sub-consciousness, and he closed his eyes and tried to force him back. Gaara didn't know what would happen if he escaped now.

When he'd lost control the last time Shukaku had destroyed Eizan's house, and had also injured her severely. He was sure that if the Incarnate of Sand escaped it might end up killing her this time around. For some reason, that filled him with a cold dread.

Gaara quickly pushed her off his lap as she landed at his feet as he stood, and he stumbled out the door. Once he had closed it behind him he collapsed on his knees, lifted his face to the sky and screamed.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

When the darkness had started to subside around her she felt something pressing against her lips. Her heart skipped a beat before speeding up, and a few moments later the warmth left her. She woke up on the cold floor as a moan left her lips. She sat up and wondered if she had just heard the door slam. A scream that made her shiver shattered the silence.

She was on her feet a split second later and beside the red haired shinobi the next. “Gaara-dono!” she exclaimed as she saw him collapsed on his knees, hands gripping his hair as he continued to scream in agony.

His gourd had started to melt into sand and swirl around his body, and Eizan was worried when she saw that his skin had started to change already. She quickly grabbed and forcibly shoved him against the ground. He went easy, as she knew he would and she straddled his hips. Her hands flashed through seals quickly and then placed them over the nexus of the seal that kept the Shukaku inside of him.

`Fuuin!' Her hands glowed crimson as she concentrated on driving the demon back. She felt his changed chakra raging against her but she redoubled her efforts until she felt the biju retreating.

Eizan gritted her teeth as she felt the jutsu drain her chakra considerably. She knew that it would but she had no choice but to use the technique that she had learned from Chiyo-san, even if it left her powerless.

She didn't have the necessary training and experience to perform the jutsu so she used a massive amount of her chakra. Also, it was because of this that the jutsu was only a temporary strengthening which allowed Gaara to regain control.

After a few moments her hands ceased to glow and she fell off him. She landed on the ground with a moan, and she only had the remaining strength to shift her body until she was parallel to him. Her gaze stared up into the darkened heavens above and the stars sprinkled across its black surface.

She thought back to the first time she had used the jutsu and that the sand hadn't attacked her or risen up to defend Gaara, since she needed to grab a hold of him. Eizan wondered if that meant that the red head trusted her even if he had never voiced it. The thought was comforting to her.

Her hand lifted and reached out toward him. The sand lifted up but it merely caressed her fingertips. It meant that his shield was back to normal and would protect him until he regained consciousness. A smile crossed her face before her vision went black.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Eizan didn't know how long she'd been out when she woke up, but she realized that she was lying in her bed. Her eyes searched the room and found Gaara standing by the window. His arms were crossed over his chest and his eyes were hidden by his bangs but the rest of his face was expressionless. The had also reformed on his back once more.

She lifted herself to a sitting position, and he turned to look at her. While she couldn't see his eyes she knew they were fixed on her face and it almost caused her to shiver.

“Get some rest,” he said tonelessly before disappearing within his sand. He hadn't said it but she knew that he forgave her deception because after all, she was still alive.

She moved her hands over her face as she sighed and let herself drop back to a prone position. On any other night she'd have moved to a more secure room because of the assassins. However, she had noticed something that made her stay where she was. The assassins that always came regardless of her training, missions of time of day, hadn't come for some time now. That also meant that she hadn't seen the ANBU member for a while.

Then the unexpected announcement that they'd be participating in the Chunin Exam so close to the ceased assassination attempts made her think that they were tied. If the Kazekage had ordered their team to participate in the exam then he wouldn't send anyone to take her life, and Eizan wanted to know why.

She shifted to a more comfortable position and pulled the covers over her head. Her body was curled up as she closed her eyes and sighed. Eizan had already noticed that her clothes had been changed once again and that there was a clean bandage on her face where Gaara's foot had struck her. He had removed her Suna hitai-ate and placed it on the small night stand besides her bed.

Her room was very plain with a dresser where her clothes were stored, a western style bed, and the nightstand with a picture frame resting on it. The photo was of a younger her climbing from her brother's lap up to his shoulders as he laughed, and their parents behind them looking down with matching smiles. It was old and faded, since years back she had shed many tears over it.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The three kunoichi were training on their own the next day when they heard the sounds of exploding notes going off from the building that the Kazekage normally resided in. They also felt large surges of chakra from the same direction.

Eizan headed in that direction to find out what was happening as her teammates followed her. She knew that if Gaara's team was near then he would head there as well. Most likely he would go with the prospect of taking a life and confirming his existence.

When they arrived it was to see a few dead Suna-nin surrounding the Kazekage's building, and the signs of exploding notes going off. Also, there were several kunai and shuriken sticking out of the ground surrounding the building and the structure itself.

A frown twisted her features as she let her gaze pass over the areas as she wondered what had happened. She already had a pretty good idea of what had happened within this area but not who the perpetrators had been.

She was distracted from her momentary observation of the terrain when she saw Gaara arrive with Kankurou and Temari in tow. As he came to stop she appeared kneeling at his side and startled the two older ninja, but Gaara didn't even look at her.

“Two enemies attacked,” she muttered when he gave a slight nod. She inclined her head to the side to indicate the ground just a bit away from the craters. There were signs that two people had come from that direction, which led to a road that had a direct path to the Kazekage tower.

“It's possible that they knew the village, and how to get out and where the Kazekage was located,” she reported. Out of the corner of her eye she could saw Temari and Kankurou trying to figure out how she had come up with this. It was easy to see that they had rushed in by the length of their strides, and there was no hesitation so that meant they knew where they were going.

The scarlet haired shinobi nodded before moving forward and she stood and was gone again, appearing besides her teammates now. “Separate and look for anyone that looks suspicious or that is injured,” she told the two girls.

“Hai!” they both said and then they were moving to do as they were told.

Amane and Iwane had gone from the sides of the tower and Eizan entered through the front. Her eyes moved over everything as she tried to gouge how far the shinobi had gotten. It was clear that they had to be ninja of extremely high rank to have gotten so far into Suna.

She lifted her gaze as she saw a couple of Jonin hurry around the corner, and she was almost surprised to see relief on their faces when they caught sight of her. A frown twisted her face once again as she shook her head and continued to move on down the hall.

“Eizan-san,” one of them called out to her and she paused just as she had been about to turn the corner. She realized that they had used her brother's adopted name. If they had called her by her given name she would have kept going and ignored them.

“The assassins were after Kazekage-sama's life but failed. They fled when confronted by several enemies,” the one on the right informed her.

She had seen both of them before. The one that had spoken had short, spiky black hair and wore bandages on the lower part of his face. He was wearing the regular shinobi clothes, and his hitai-ate wrapped around his forehead.

The other one was wearing almost the same thing, and he had long brown hair pulled back in two short ponytails that reached his shoulders. His hitai-ate was at his forehead, but it was twisted so the symbol faced his left side.

They became uneasy after a moment when she didn't speak or expressed any type of emotion to the attempt on Kazekage's life. Her eyes bore into them since she had turned when they started to speak.

Now, her eyes narrowed and they found themselves stepping back. “It's a pity they failed.” She turned away and walked a few steps before stopping once again. “Did you at least manage to see who the assailants were?”

They were slightly stunned by her words, but the second one spoke up now. “Hai, they were Suna Nukenin and fled in the direction of the western training grounds.” He hesitated before finishing up what he was going to say. “Four Oinin are on missions and the fifth has been sent after them but Kazekage has ordered that you, along with Gaara-san go after them as well. He said that this is an A-rank mission.”

A grin spread over her features as she heard this and chuckled. The sound was crazed and malicious, and once again the Jonin instinctively stepped back. “Tell the old man I accept, but not to think that I'm doing this to protect his pathetic life,” she muttered.

She flashed through seals and disappeared in a swirl of fire. The two shinobi stared at the place she had been standing a moment before. They were convinced that the stories of her being a demon born of fire were true.

Eizan appeared kneeling besides Gaara and the boy stopped, but didn't glance down at her. He waited for her to report what she had found out. “They were Suna Nukenin and after the Kazekage, but unfortunately failed to kill him. He has ordered that I accompany you in seeking the assassins' lives. They have retreated to the western training grounds and are being pursued by a single Oinin,” she reported. She ignored his team mates as they listened quietly, but had enough common sense not to interrupt them.

He nodded and started to walk off in the direction of the western training grounds without another word. After a moment, she hurried after him before they started to pick up speed. His siblings were left behind to wonder what they were to do next.

Meanwhile, Amane and Iwane had seen her go off and knew to follow the last order given. They continued to look for anyone injured, since it was obvious Eizan and Gaara had gone after the attackers.

They quickly arrived at the training ground and moved behind the lone Oinin that was crouched down. Gaara didn't bother to take cover since his sand would protect him, and Eizan stood by his side. She briefly glanced down at the Oinin as he also turned to look at them.

He was wearing a black long sleeved shirt with the sleeves tucked into matching gloves that had a thin metal plate over the knuckles. Over the shirt was a beige armored vest that had compartments to store weapons, but that didn't restrict movements. He wore black pants secured at the ankles by shin guards, and he donned the black issue sandals that had minor modifications on the soles to allow him to walk more easily over sand without having to use charka.

There was a white porcelain mask that hid his features with the Suna symbol etched into the right cheek, and the kanji for `Harukaze' on the forehead. Eizan froze as she recognized the designs on the mask that represented his namesake. It had been a while since she'd last seen the Anbu member but it was definitely him, and she noticed that his brown hair had grown longer. `So, he became Oinin.'

Eizan knew that meant that his name would never come out in mission reports and only in death would his existence ever be acknowledge. She also knew that many times when a ninja became a Hunter they discarded their names and families. `Is that why he never came back?' She frowned a moment later. `Baka, he was never your family,' she snapped at herself.

Gaara's sand rose up to stop several kunai and shuriken thrown in their direction. His features tightened and then he glanced briefly in her direction.

Eizan tensed and nodded. “Hai, Gaara-dono,” she muttered. He clearly had deemed that their lives weren't good enough to confirm his existence, so it was up to her to dispose of them. She glanced quickly at the Hunter and then jumped forward.

The red head watched the Oinin follow his subordinate a moment later. His eyes narrowed before he formed seals for his third eye.

Eizan was blocking kunai thrown at her when the older ninja appeared at her side. “I don't need any help,” she growled. She lifted her hand as a fire ball shot toward her but it changed direction and hit a nearby cliff face.

“Too bad,” he responded in a muffled voice. He formed seals for the `Kaze no Yaiba' and the blade of wind ripped through the ground and slammed into one of the enemy shinobi as he yelled in pain.

She frowned and looked at the Hunter and could almost swear he was gloating underneath that mask. Eizan clenched her teeth and quickly bit her thumb and smeared her blood over her right palm before she formed seals of her own.

`Jigokuno Yaiba.' She lifted her hand and flung it forward. The same type of blade tore through the ground but this one was made of fire. It hit the remaining Nukenin and ravaged his flesh for several long minutes as his screams of agony filled the air.

Eizan and the Oinin's gazes locked over the distance, and she turned away when the former Suna ninja's cries died away. “I don't need your sympathy anymore,” she said and walked to the remains of the shinobi. She pulled off the burned and scorched hitai-ate from the remains and saw that there was a line through it.

She turned and walked back toward Gaara's side and only glanced at Harukaze once more. “Gaara-dono, it is done,” she reported as she showed him the single ruined headband. He nodded and turned to glare at the Oinin as he approached and then moved away.

Eizan looked at the shinobi hunter as well. His face was hidden from her eyes but she saw his body poised defensively as she smirked. “Mission complete,” she said and threw the hitai-ate at the ninja's feet before she turned to follow after Gaara.

The Oinin watched her until she was out of sight. He tilted his head backwards and arched his neck until the back of his head almost met his shoulders. A sigh left his lips as he closed his obscured eyes. “What have I let you become?” he muttered. He retrieved both hitai-ate, disposed of the remains and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The sun had already started to set when Gaara and Eizan were back at Kazekage Dairi (?). She bowed and excused herself, and retreated to search for her teammates when he nodded.

Amane and Iwane appeared when Gaara had left and they reported that the injured had been taken to the hospital, and there had only been four deaths and none of them being civilians. Eizan nodded and went to leave but something stopped her. She turned her gaze toward the Kazekage tower and she felt something chill her blood, but she quickly dismissed it.

“Time to train with Kazuyoshi-san,” she muttered with a sigh. Even if she disliked the man her parents had taught her the concept of formality. She wasn't very familiar with anyone but Gaara and her teammates. However, the term she used for the red head was more for respect.

The girls didn't ask how it had gone since they knew that the enemy wouldn't have stood a chance against both the red head and Eizan. At first they had thought the girl to be hardened after all the years of hatred from the village as Gaara had become, but they had been mistaken. The Ashikaga girl hadn't done her first kill until one of their missions with Enoki. She had tried to hide it at the time but she had been shaken by the experience.

It was another reason that they had become extremely protective of the younger girl. She always seemed like such a strong person but she was more fragile then she seemed. They had seen that proof every time her eyes landed on Gaara and an expression of pain crossed her face momentarily before becoming neutral once more.

Enoki was waiting for them and they immediately noticed that he was injured. He had most likely been one of the ninja defending the Kazekage. A slight frown tightened Eizan's features since it was a disturbing sight for someone as strong as him to be injured. The fire wielder refused to think that she was worried for his health since the man hated her.

`Why should I care about any one of them?' she asked herself. However, she knew that she was too compassionate to ever really hate anyone within this village. They may hate and try to kill her, but she couldn't cement her heart in stone as Gaara had done. It just made her sad.

She knew that the Chunin Exam was approaching but the Jonin cancelled their training for that night. Lately, however, she had noticed that he had started to show them more jutsu then when they had just started. Also, he wasn't completely hostile as he'd once been toward her. The Ashikaga wondered if perhaps he had simply resigned himself to having her on his team.

Also, Eizan wasn't too proud to admit that he was the main reason she had been able to develop `Jigoku no Yaiba'. It came in handy to be able to train with someone with his skill level, since the other shinobi either ignored or steered clear of her.

The young girl glanced at her two teammates who in turned glanced back and she smirked and shrugged. She stuffed her hands into her pockets and headed back into Suna. “Food,” she simply told them.

Iwane grinned and hurried after her as Amane shook her head and followed. Enoki watched them for a moment or two before he left. The Jonin and upper ninja had a meeting with the Kazekage to discuss the upcoming Chunin Exam. He knew what was intended for it and he couldn't deny that he was worried.

He understood that to survive it had to be done but he thought that the ninja were too young and might put the mission at risk. It'd certainly been an issue with the other Jonin but for an entirely different reason. Either way, tomorrow morning Gaara's team would be informed of the mission they would undertake while in Konoha.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Eizan went with her team the next morning to get their passports since they'd be leaving for Konohagakure in a few days. While there was a peace treaty that existed between Kaze no Kuni and Hi no Kuni, it was also stated in that same treaty that the ninja of their village were not allowed to cross each others' borders without the proper authorization.

The short kunoichi was also paid for yesterday's mission, but she told them that the money should go to Gaara. They informed her, however, that he had already been here earlier that morning and had gotten paid as well.

She frowned but took the money as she walked out of the building with Amane and Iwane. The pay for the mission had been higher since it had been an A-rank mission and more dangerous, and not like her usual D and C rank ones.

Gaara's familiar chakra signal reached her senses nearby and she sent the girls off to train by themselves. She told them she'd meet them later and jumped off. It was in the playground that Eizan found the red head and the same one where she had met Gaara for the first time.

When she caught sight of the scarlet haired shinobi she noticed that he was standing before the swing he had been sitting in then. Eizan realized that she was also standing in the same place where she had done so all those years ago. The same place from where she had gazed at the lonely soul that mirrored her own.

For several moments she let her eyes sweep over him starting with his black sandals that matched his pants, and the black shirt with the ends of his sleeves a fishnet. She could see the brown leather strap, knowing it crossed from his left shoulder to his right hip, where his Suna hitai-ate hung, and which his gourd could be attached at his back.

Over that he wore a long white sash that draped across his chest from his right shoulder to left hip, and then wound around the slender section of the gourd. The sash would finally come to wrap once around his waist and hang down the front of his body.

She noticed that his red hair had gotten longer, and now touched his shoulders slightly since he hadn't allowed her to cut it as she had when they had been younger. It had that tousled look where it appeared like he hadn't brushed it and yet still looked good on him.

Eizan closed her eyes to envision his face and then turned around. She didn't wish to disturb him and thought it best to leave him alone.

“Eizan,” she heard him call out as she had taken a few steps and she froze. It was the first time he had ever used her name, and he hadn't used her family name and had completely dropped the honorific.

She rubbed her hand against her flushed face and shook her head before moving in his direction. When she would have kneeled, he stopped her as he lifted his right hand. “Hai?” she inquired, finding this extremely strange behavior coming from him.

Gaara had been retreating more and more into himself these days and she feared for his sanity more than ever. She wondered if it had anything to do with the Chunin Exam. He turned to face her and she averted her eyes when she realized she'd be staring at him.

The red head meanwhile was observing her silently and he watched as she fidgeted slightly under his gaze. She had never done this before and it caused a frown to cross his face but it faded after a moment. “When we leave to Konoha in a few days we will carry out a mission,” he began.

She lifted her face but he had already turned away. “No one in the village must know of it and you must not discuss this with anyone.” His arms were crossed in front of his chest and as she watched, his fingers tightened until his nails were almost digging into the flesh. “You will get to the third part of the exam, and do as you are told. Also, you are to find out who is strong from that village. Gather as much information on these individuals as possible.”

Eizan was slightly surprised as she lifted her head to look at him but she only nodded. There was something strange going on and she suspected that this mission had a lot to do with it. “As you command, Gaara-dono,” she replied.

Again she felt a chill pass through her body but ignored it for the moment. She had no idea that ignoring it might lead her into darkness and suffering.-

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Translations:
1. Fuuin: a sealing method, Eizan used this to do a temporary sealing and keep Shukaku from emerging
2. Chiyo: a Suna elder, was ordered by Kazekage to use a possession jutsu to seal the Shukaku into Gaara
3. Nukenin: missing-nin or rouge ninja that have either betrayed or abandoned their villages
4. Oinin: hunter-nin; shinobi hunters, they hunt and kill missing-nin and dispose of their remains to keep the villages jutsu out of enemy hands
5.Kaze no Yaiba: lit. “Blade of Wind”
6. Jigokuno Yaiba: lit. “Blade of Hell”
7. Kaze no Kuni: Land of Wind
8. Hi no Kuni: Land of Fire
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
End Chapter Five