Salt in the Wound

“This won‘t be difficult.” I told myself, my eyes narrowing. I had my kunai at my hip and was devising a game plan in my mind. I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach about this, but chose to ignore it. Throwing my hands together and closing my eyes, I made hand signs at an unusual speed. Something I was once praised for in my own village.

“Fleeting Light Jutsu!” I spoke loudly. Dark shadows moved down from my shoulders to the tips of my fingertips, spreading around us. In the blink of an eye, a pitch black shadow surrounded Gaara and I. An unfair jutsu, I would admit, considering how I could see and he was nearly blind. The look of his face changed slightly. His eyes furrowed and he held his mouth a little tighter, crouching and unfolding his arms. Jumping up, I pulled out three of the kunai from my hip and threw them straight at him. Unbelievably, a wall of sand sprang up, blocking my kunai. “What..!” I exclaimed under my breath. “How is he doing that?” I gritted my teeth together, I would only have to be better and faster than that. I crouched and ran with all I had, throwing kicks and punches, left and right, but every time I came close I was blocked by that sand.

“Is it better being blind?” I called out, enraged. “It must be easy for you, you haven‘t moved a muscle!” Snarling, I leapt again, landing right behind him silently. Far enough for the sand to not react but close enough for him to hear me whisper. “What are you?” I hissed.

“You’re weak Ishiko. It’s no wonder your village died out. Were they all as useless as you?” He said coldly back at me. He couldn’t see me, but he could sense me and our eyes were locked. My heart skipped a beat and once again everything came back. I stumbled backwards, nearly falling to my feet.

“How could you…” I whispered. “BASTARD!” I snarled and crouched over, staring him dead on.

I could feel the pain rising throughout me as my blood ran hotter. “You think you’re untouchable?” I growled, my voice distorted. My body was shaking uncontrollably as I began to change. My hands grew into claws and my eyes turned as red as hell itself. I ran my tongue over my teeth, cutting it in the process and letting the blood run down my chin. A guttural sound came from the back of my throat as my spine lengthened and the highest notches stood even higher. The darkness around us faded into an ashy grey, allowing me to look him straight in the face. “You think,” I looked straight into his wide eyes, “that you can evade my every move Gaara of the Desert?” I smirked at him, sensing a tremor in his courage.

I could smell it in his blood.

I laughed wildly before I began running. The sand had trouble keeping up with me as I swerved from left to right in a fraction of a second, target set. I leapt and went to grab him but was cut off by the sand suddenly, only able to swipe against his left arm, drawing blood to the surface. Jumping back from the oncoming sand I stopped as soon as I landed and examined my hand. Small lines of blood ran down my fingers, running even farther down my hand as I lifted it to my mouth. “It’s been so long…” I closed my eyes and ran my tongue down the length of my fingers, appreciating every drop. My eyes snapped open, a frenzy in my head.

“I can hear your heart beating Gaara. You‘re getting nervous, aren‘t you?“ My own voice got higher, unable to stop from breathing harder. I let out another snarl and sprinted towards him, expecting to kill him right there.

“Sand Coffin” He said lowly with his hand outstretched at me. His sand sped towards me and encased itself around my ribs, stopping me at once. His eyes widened and I could sense his own excitement. “Desert funeral.”

I looked down at the sand as it got tighter around my middle. A scream was rising in my throat as my ribs began to crack, slowly. When I looked back up at him, I focused on the blood seeping out of the gash in his arm and the intense bloodlust filled my mind again. Hitsuchi’s chakra built up. Whipping out of me with intense force, it broke through the sand that encased me. “How could it..?” Gaara whispered desperately.

I threw and arm back and sprinted at him for the last time, claws bared and aiming at his throat, before his sand could catch up with me I was face to face with him, my hand a mere inch from his throat. The sand clouded around us, the force of the chakra keeping it at bay. My face relaxed a small bit, looking at the shock in his young face and realizing the extent he had pushed me. “I can’t kill you. This isn’t me.” I took a step backwards allowing his sand to gather around him and watching as the chakra died away from me. It took less than a minute for the demon to recede and the pain suddenly came rushing at me. My hands flew to my ribs and it suddenly felt harder to breathe, I fell to my hands and knees gasping for air. Droplets of blood dripped from my mouth and on to the dirt covered floor. “Is this what you wanted?” I whispered. The pain intensified and I collapsed completely.

“Gaara, what happened? I couldn’t see a damn thing!” Kankuro jumped down towards Gaara, eyeing my huddled form. His mouth opened when he saw Gaara’s blood stained arm, but he said nothing.

Gaara took a step towards me, bending down on one knee and placing his fingers behind my ear. “Kankuro, we need to get her medical attention immediately. Alert the medics.” Removing his fingers he slipped his arms under me and lifted me with ease. “Now.” Kankuro ran off quickly.

“I’m sorry.” I whimpered, trying to push the pain of my broken bones away from me. “I’m sorry I can’t control Hitsuchi better.” He looked down at me, a surprised look on his face before it softened.

“You’re not expected to. You did better than I had hoped. It’s a hard process, regaining consciousness from a possession like that. But you managed to do it.” He walked slowly, being careful not to move me around too much, looking forward at all times. My eyes could hardly stay open anymore.

“What will you do with me now?” I asked softly.

“Fix these wounds again.” He paused and quickened his pace. “And after that, I want to help you learn to control Hitsuchi. You have potential to be strong Ishiko, you just don’t know how to harbor that power yet.” His voice faded out as I lost consciousness completely once again.

--From the point of view of Gaara--

The medics ran towards us, Kankuro not far behind. “Lord Kazekage! Are you alright?” one asked, out of breath.

“I’m fine. It’s her you need to tend to. Some bones are possibly broken and she’s lost a fair amount of blood already. I want her back to me as soon as possible.” He nodded and took Ishiko from my arms. “You are instructed not to speak anything ill to her. Keep her calm.” He nodded once again and I watched as they took her away on a stretcher. It was now just Kankuro and I walking back in the setting sun.

“She’s strong, huh?” Kankuro asked, breaking the silence. I nodded once.

“Stronger than I expected.”

“Hm. What now?” He looked over at me and raised an eyebrow.

“I will need your’s and Temari’s help to train her. She’s strong now but we can make her stronger. As soon as she is healed we will try this again.” I told him. He flinched at my words.

“Again? You’re going to kill her Gaara! This isn’t right.”

“Why do you care?” I questioned, glancing over at my brother.

“I don’t, I guess.” We walked in silence the rest of the way there.

Turning towards him, I bowed my head. “It would be best to get some sleep Kankuro.”

“Yeah, probably. See you around Gaara.” I turned away from him and continued up the steps. “She’s kind of cute isn’t she?” He said from behind me.

“I didn’t notice.”