Fandom Naruto the sands skip a beat. (by enzer and believing heart)

[MJ ._.]

Gaara was deeply in thought. He still couldn't comprehend the context of love. Since the day that Shukaku was bitten up by Kuram, he had tried to change his perspective and understand his environment anew, and so far had managed to accept the kindness and care from his siblings and had experienced pure friendship after meeting Naruto again. Although, Chio's and Kirisuto's sacrifices for him were hard to digest. Chio had given up her life to make up for sealing the beast in him and turn his life into hell. But Kirisuto had no reason to risk her life for him. She wasn't even in debt to his country, and yet she had gone through a lot to save his life. He wondered if she had done it to save Shukaku. That could explain a lot and yet wasn't enough. He took a deep breath as if he had forgotten breathing while thinking then sat straight. "Your story is very interesting and raises so many questions. Do you feel well enough to discuss them?" He asked her.
[To save our time and let to story go on, I imagine that she said yes.]
Gaara nodded. "Thank you." He said and frowned as tried to choose his words considerably. "First, I should have you know that I don't blame you for your choice. I guess I can understand you about issues with biju. These beasts have been given to us whether we wanted them or not and from that time there was no way back. We have no choice but to get along with them. You made a wise choice when you decided to keep Susami satisfied. That's better for everyone...that's expected from a jinchuuriki." He paused a little to let his words sink before sending the next wave that could be harsh for a maiden's feelings. "But on the other hand, these kinds of decisions might require sacrificing your own will, don't they? How much have you sacrificed for Susami? Haven't you ever met a guy you'd like to be with? If Susuami could easily go on her way and leave you be, would you still live in Sunagakure and stick around me?" He asked seriously and tried to read her face. "Of course, you don't need to answer me immediately. You might need some time to ponder about it. Or you can refrain from answering since I'm asking this as a fellow jinchuuriki and not as the kazekage. I'm just trying to sort out my feelings by comparing them with yours. Before this, I did the same with Naruto and his ideals helped me a great deal. I noticed that I truly wanted to be accepted by the village and so my best option was showing them that I can protect them with my powers...and so here I am...and today you are the one who has saved me." He added softly.
Gaara cleared his throat to change the mood before shifting to his next question. "I'm also curious about Susami shrine and her dancing technique. I'm sure Shukaku knows about that but he is such stingy cheap fellow that asking him would be futile." He shook his head. "More importantly; how can I help you to fix the seal and regain your balance? It really concerns me to see you in trouble. And I'm responsible for that too...if I was stronger...or if I hadn't sent you on that mission...I was too reckless..."

 

[enzerubebii]

Kiri nodded and when hearing his words got upset "Not...much..she helped me more than i helped her... as you saw.. without her... i can get very sick...Before i was chosen.. i wasnt even allowed to go to school.. Im actually jealous of you that you could go as a child..i would have dreams of libraries.. i would know everyones secrets..even if i never wanted to..I would also get wild fevers.. they say you can die from very little chakra.. i wonder what they say about to much.." She blushed really red at his second question "S-S-SOMEONE I...I...I.." she looked away she could hint her crush with the second question. "Well if i do become stable enough for susami to leave me.. which..i know is possible someday.. i do wish to stay here.. like i said i wanted to open a cafe here..not just because mother asked me to..i really want to.. i like making tea and cakes. not as much as cacti and i would be happy as a friend if you would be a regular.." if not somthing more someday.. she thought and when he make the comment about her saving him she smiled while blushing "Well i care about you.. when i thought you would kick me out...or just treat me as just a tool.. you treated me like a human...gave me a chance...ok one of your friends im still kinda mad at...and i MAYBE wanna punish him just once with lax tea..with your permission of course."
She cleared her throat and when asked about susamis shrine she closed her eyes giving it some thought. then said "When you sleep.. you will see 7 red gates before you..walk under each one and then you will see a door that feels cold as ice. but made of jade.. open it.. and you will be in her shrine.. and if someone says yes... we can practice also since were asking questions.." She looked at him with curiosity and excitement "What is it like to move sand?! I bet when your bored you just make shapes and solve complex puzzles!If there is anything i love more than baking,making tea, and growing plants,and entertaining, its puzzles."

 

[MJ ._.]

"Sorry, I arbitrarily compared you with myself. That wasn't a wise thing to do. I should have asked you for more details first." Gaara spoke after listening to Kirisuto's story. He noticed he blushing as thought of her crush and assumed that she already had someone but it was rude to push her to confess who he was. "I guess you and Susami have reached a mutual agreement. I'm glad for you. Yet, I'll help you find a way to choose your path without sacrificing your options for her." He indirectly promised to help her marry the man she loved instead of marrying Ichibi's host for sake of reibi. He was glad that she liked his village truly and slightly smile as she said she still wished to take her revenge on Sora. "I don't interfere with trivial matters like that. That man knows how to hold himself anyway..." he answered in that regard. "As I remember, he was supposed to help you set up your cafe. Of course, only if you still want him to." He added as a reminder.
"Actually, I don't have time to get bored. But I save some time to attend my cactus pots. It was a pleasant surprise to find out that you like cacti as well. Most people prefer flowers." He seemed gentler while talking about his plants. "You had a good point; we should continue our secret training. I would like to learn about the techniques you mentioned sooner and I bet those tailed beasts would love it too. But, are you ready for that? What can it do to your balance? I don't want you to push yourself." He said concernfully.

 

[enzerubebii]

Kiri smiled and nodded at the agreement. thats what she was trying to explain from the beginning. And made a playful evil giggle at the 'he doesnt care' and then nods "Yes i still want him too I just wanted him to have a small reminder of why its not nice to touch a ladys things without permission." Then she smiled "Oh i love flowers as well but my favorite was the moon cacti.. they flower too in such a preety way and i know of a technique to fuse these beauties with the moon flowers and it makes a beautiful sight." When he asked about how it would help stablize her she smiled "Ill be fine..ish.. us training will help stablize the seal and the ribbons.."


a bird flew to soras window with the mark of tsunade and pecked at it. she was interested in the ninja with the rare chakra condition and wanted to ask Sora for information and was requesting a meeting with him if he was available.

 

[MJ ._.]

"Then it's decided; we'll meet tonight like before and you can tell me about ribbons and dancing. Those two will have their playtime too." Gaara said. "Also, I'd like to show you my cacties. So, please get well soon." He added then stood up. "You'd better rest to get better soon. I need to go back to work too." He said before leaving the room.

 

[enzerubebii]

Tsunade walked in and saw Sora. She smiled at him. For a serious guy he was cute dork. She walked over. "Naruto told me about a girl with unlimited chakra and the fabled no tail. I honestly assumed he was joking until i heard some tales. I did some research on my end in the village.. I dont know how deep you gotten..so i decided if i wanted to help you help this poor woman, it would be best if i met you and showed you any notes i found about his condition cause its rare..." She took out a few files and showed them. "According to what i found.. she is the vessel of somthing powerful.. Has this...no tails...said anything about the other tailed beasts either not trusting her or did? cause of her chaotic means.."

 

[MJ ._.]

Sora was evaluating files of chounins who had a chance for junin rank, when heard a bird pecking on the window. It was rare for him to receive messages that way so he thought that bird might have come for Gaara. As he left his desk to approach the window, he noticed hokage's symbol on the tiny parcel she had carried. That definitely had to be a message from hokage to kazekage. With this assumption, he opened the window and let the bird in.
The messenger sat on the desk and held her leg forth; letting him taking the note off it. Sora though that that message couldn't be top confidential if Konoha had trusted it to a bird, so he arbitrarily took and read it. Much to his surprise, the letter was written to him and not the kazekage. He read it twice to make sure of it and then literally panicked. "Why me?! She should meet her equal instead, shouldn't she? Is it a prank or is it a trap set by Tojuro's gang to brand me as traitor and get read of me?" He asked himself. "But I'm in good terms with the council...and if it's real it'd be bad to ignore hokage...but should I tell kazekage about it? But I'm not even sure if it's not a prank..." He pondered about it for a while until decided to meet Tsunade and see why she had asked to see him instead of Gaara. He could tell about it to Gaara after making sure about her intentions of the meeting. Another weird issue with the message was that she hadn't suggested a rendezvous. He took a slip of paper and scribbled a single word on it; Glassy Lake. It was name of a small lake between land of sand and land of fire. He fastened his message to that bird's leg and set it off.

Sora left the village secretly and went to the Glassy Lake, wearing casual outfits and covering almost half of his upper half of the face by a fishing straw hat. There was a teahouse near the lake and a local musician was playing a traditional melody. He dropped a coin in musician's bowl and sat on a bench in front of the teahouse. Soon, an old woman brought him a tray of green tea and white dumplings without asking him if he needed anything. He assumed that those were the only drink and food that she could offer and if he had occupied a bench then he had to be a customer. He placed her payment in the tray since he wasn't sure when he was going to leave. There was still the probability that he was being pranked. Meanwhile, he heard footsteps and looked at the direction of the sound to see Tsunade approaching, to his amusement. He stood to welcome her and then they were sitting on that bench to talk business.
"Naruto told me about a girl with unlimited chakra and the fabled no tail. I honestly assumed he was joking until i heard some tales. I did some research on my end in the village.. I dont know how deep you gotten..so i decided if i wanted to help you help this poor woman, it would be best if i met you and showed you any notes i found about his condition cause its rare..." She said then took out a few files and showed them. "According to what i found.. she is the vessel of somthing powerful.. Has this...no tails...said anything about the other tailed beasts either not trusting her or did? cause of her chaotic means.."
Sora listened carefully. What she said was matter of high importance. Suna preferred to keep Reibi a secret from other villages but the moon village already knew about her and if each biju knew her the way Kurama did then every important village in the world had some information about her. Since Naruto had met Kirisuto and even sent her a message, then he couldn't hide Kirisuto's powers from Tsunade. "Please, allow me to check these briefly..." He said and began reading the files she had brought him. "Some of these information are new to me. I sincerely thank you for trying to help but...why didn't you discuss it with kazekage directly? I'm sure he'll appreciate your effort." He politely asked Tsunade after reading those files. He had read Kirisuto's diary but still didn't know everything about her; especially about the moon clan. But before starting a collaboration with hokage, he needed to know why she had preferred to talk to him.

 

[enzerubebii]

"Well thats why i wanted to talk to you.. I also heard the poor girl was ilegally 'sold' To the Kazekage. The gardner of a tea house is demanding judgement and would not only pay a high amount for his judgement but be forever discounted to anyone of the sand and leaf villages. That is how desperate this mother is..She even sent her Son and her friend to assure her safety. So I told the Gardner..that i would agree to help snuff out the father if the sand village did..and for all i know Gaara is asleep. So i came to the 2ed person i trusted..you..And if you got a issue with that.. then i guess someone doesnt want chocolates next year." Tsunade teased with a smile.

 

[MJ ._.]

Sora was sure that Tsunade wasn't there just because Gaara was asleep. Kazekage wasn't famous for his beauty sleeps. On the other hand, he had a hunch that she wished to hear more than Gaara would tell her. It was a troublesome decision; he could talk on his own accord and please hokage while it could displease kazekage, or he could take the files and leave answering to Gaara which could make Tsunade lose her eagerness in collaboration. Sora preferred to take the risk and keep one of the Sanin as aly of Suna. "Your ability to gather this much information is admiring. I'm sure kazekage will do better with your help and he knows more than everyone in the village about that girl...well, you already know her name. I'll rely the information to him and will try to set a proper meeting for this issue but right now, I only can give you my personal view of the situation. They might not be accorate, still this is the best I can do right now." He explained his condition before speaking about the main subject. "Would you please keep everything I say between two of us? That girl will kill me this time if she finds out..." He turned to look at the owner of the teahouse as she approached them to place a second tray down for Tsunade. Sora picked his cup and sipped a little to delay until she was gone. "According to my personal deduction, Kirisuto san is more of a refugee than a sold geisha. Her brother and friend came to Suna to pay her a visit...that boy is a real brut...and she was really happy to meet them but doesn't want to go back with them. She eagerly desires to live in Suna and what scares me the most is that...well, I may sound silly, but I think she has found somthing in Gaara sama. At first, I thought she is sticking to kazekage since she might be a spy, and after some resueach I found out about a special bound between Reibi and Ichibi. But then...I've noticed that the girl has feelings for Gaara sama. She has intimating powers and unstable energy that can be very dangerous but yet she is a young girl with soft heart. Unfortunately, he strong emotions affect the power inside her so kazekage is helping her to adjust her heart. I'm not sure how they do that since they don't meet oftenly. Still, I have a gut that something is being developed here and I'm afraid about how things are going to end up. Afterall, everything is unclear right now." He aused and stared at his cup thoughtfully. "Aside from professional view...I wonder how one can like living in that garden. That Garderner is practically using her daughter to make profit. And I've heard that more than a murder has happen among them recently. Apparantly, one of her flowers has killed the rest mercilessly." He shook his head then looked at Tsunade. "May I ask you something as a woman not the hokage? If you were a mother, would you let your daughter to walk on a redline and only be proud of setting a gurad to save her from being deflowered? Won't that cause a trauma on the poor girl if customers keep beging and she keep batting them away each time?" He sighed as tried to dismiss those thoughts. "Battlefield is cruel and merciless. No parents wishes for their childern to face a fear of death and losing comrades...but people who creat an emotional battlefielf and send their children to get mentally hurt in a place where there had been no war to fight...dispicable! I don't know how the village is going to answer that gardener, but as long as Kirisuto san doesn't wish to flee from our village, no one has the right to ask her out. That supposed to be mother is a monster, if you ask me." At this point, Sora noticed that he had straied from the main topic and had told Tsunade about his personal feelings. Thus, he kept quiet and and made himself busy by drinking his lukewarm tea to send his anger off.

 

[enzerubebii]

Tsunade sips her tea "Yes i see your point.. however, your letting sterotypes get in the way.. let me ask you.. was it the mother or the father that encouraged the men? I heard from the desperate mother they never allow such tainted flowers to be in their garden and they have the choices of leaving if they desired for their health. Her husband.. was the reason behind the murder cause of one thing the mother brought up." She looked at him seriously. as in a 'i think those murders were a inside job.' "Not all her flowers are female..And as for your question.. I wouldnt however tea house in question isnt on the red line. Its on the Silver.. Only payment they desire more besides money is information.. if things went to far during the gathering of said info they had the right to silence them by knocking them out or death. other than that they are just a teahouse.." She then smiled teasingly "And why did you ask?Were you thinking about me having a daughter with you?Ill admit they would be a maneater..and if so its a big no cause you would kill them before they even looked at her."



Kiri was in susamis shrine and was mending almost the last bits of the ribbons. and placing them on her statue. "There. now all thats left is mending the formula.." She began walking to the back row on the rose colored walls.. "Well maybe its better to rewrite it...I mean we did find shukaku... and your mindset has changed.." Susami nodded and she reached her hand to the wall and began rebuilding the last pieces

 

[MJ ._.]

SHE WOULD! Sora has received a clear answer from Tsunade but at which price? He regretted letting his tongue loose. It was too late to remember that she was an avid gambler and heavy drinker so it wasn't far from her to check out every social spot in the world. And the way that she had defended the gardener made them wonder if she was a friend of her. She probably had bought information from that teahouse before. Sora felt that their conversation had turned to 'walking on eggshells for him. There was no going back so he decided to play the awkwardness off with a joke. "Do I look like a father who'll only have daughters?" He laughed without looking at her directly then put his cup down as concentrated on the most important issue. "I'm the team that you sent to save Kazekage has reported everything they've found out about Akatsuki in detail. There is one person who was in the cave during the ritual. What he has witnessed is unique since both Gaara sama and Kirisuto san were almost unconscious during the extraction." He started explaining about Gedomazu and its ten fingers. Then he told her about his guesses about each person that held an Akatsuki ring. "...and now that Sasuri is out, that unknown masked man might take his place. Lan says that he can disappear and reappear wherever he wants. I don't know what sort of jutsu he uses to perform that. He and the one with two different voices are enigmatic; we don't have a clue about their identities." He finished sharing the latest information about Akatsuki like that. Again, he was about to go back to his personal deductions of the situation. "Until now, five biju have been captured by Akatsuki and unfortunately nations didn't show a serious reaction... After learning about the extraction ceremony, I remembered the pattern of attacks against jinchuurikies. The Akatsuki has a habit of capturing two biju within few days and then lay dormant for a while. It was like; 4&5, 3&6, 2&7. Adding this to ten fingers of that giant statue, I can conclude that they need to keep both hands balanced. This means, if they have come to take Ichibi then their next target must be hachibi. I was thinking about sending a warning to Kumogakure. Also, the day that they manage to capture both Ichibi and hachibi, they'll aim for reibi and kyubi. Apparently, they are uniting all chakra beasts in that statue...but why? What is their final goal?"

 

[MJ ._.]

Gaara had been waiting for Kirisuto mentally but she hadn't come to his dream yet. It was odd that he was dreaming due to his will. It wasn't normal for him to control his dreams but seemed that Shukaku had learned a thing or two from Susami and Kirisuto. "See...that's the door. Open it already!" Shukaku kept nagging but Gaara wasn't sure about entering Kirisuto's mind space. On the other hand, if Shukaku could help Susami become stable, then Gaara had to listen to him and go to visit her inside her dream. He knocked on the door but nothing happened. So, he cautiously opened the door. At first, he only saw white emptiness. But after stepping inside her world, he was surrounded by reflections of her emotions and memories. He didn't know what to do them thus focused on finding her present self.
Shukaku was leading the way. He said he could sniff Susami where ever she was. Gaara didn't notice when a shrine appeared in front of them but Shukaku wasn't surprised at all. Shokaku went to the shrine and called out: "Susami! Why don't you come out to greet me?"

 

[enzerubebii]

Tsunade laughed "No, maybe 3 sons and a daughter....and a location to hide the bodies of the people who made her cry...And dont like.." she then gave a cute look "Dont you want a daughter with these looks?" she giggled again and then she slipped "Damn youre cute when your flustered!" After hearing what he knows Tsunade looked at him "My guesses is that there gonna try to fix a mistake...but learning about kiris...talents..they might realize they may still need the ten tails but have enough in just that girl....Bugendai is a rare condition and with that much chakra.. they can revive Kaguya..and restart a war..No wonder miss nagano was scared about her secret.." Tsusade looked at him "Think about it Sora.. that girl is the perfect vessel chakra wise and she is a prime one if she has a special talent like the sharingan..if any of her 'children' were in the Akatsuki and sensed her.. they will do ANYTHING to get her.." then she looked concerned "How many know about her secret? If it was up to me I would let her have the freedom her mother promised however for safety since she might be attacked be under guard for some time.. maybe have a roommate here in the village.If anything besides personal needs she souldnt be alone."

Susami whined "Shukakuu my hostess gave him the invatation meaning he was aloowed INSIDE!" She then gave them a kind but intimidating smile "Wipe your feet please.." then went to kiri who was concentrating on rebuilding susamis seal. "Almost done susu... i redid the seal involving emotional attachments..and hopefully gaara didnt stray..." susami smiled teasingly "Oh you mean he wasnt suppposed to go to the tween years? I mean you were so cute when we met. learning to dance my flower dance while crying cause you had a break out and the higher flowers bu-" kiri stopped and hits her "THAT WASNT A FUNNY MEMORY YOU MEAN CAT!"

 

[MJ ._.]

Sora was trying hard to keep Tsunade's cute gesture out of his mind. Damn! She is being unfair! He thought as felt the weather getting hot and pulled his straw hat closer to his face to protect it from warm air or rather hide his distracted eyes from her. She definitely was teasing him for fun. Yet, his brain was calculating that four children meant at least four successful dates with her. He reminded himself that such a relationship between him and hokage was impossible and that she was actually older than his mother. He had to focus on the danger of Akatsuki again. "Reviving Kaguya? For real? I thought that's only a legend. But if she is real and her body has been sealed on the moon...how setting her free is going to help them? According to the legend, she was sealed since she was planning to destroy the earth and all humans with it." He was confused and couldn't believe that some human would want to do something as cruel and stupid as that. "When you say children..." he hadn't heard about them before so had her explain about them. "Then, they're inhuman...of course they'll sacrifice everyone to revive their maker. But what is in it for Akatsuki? I can't accept that they're following some monster blindly. Unfortunately, all Akatsuki members might know about her chakra. They almost broke the seal." He replied then nodded to her advice. "If her brother and friend would like to stay with her that will do. Her brother is strong. And we can assign a roommate for her if they leave. That won't be a problem." He agreed with her suggestion. "We've been trying to root out Akatsuki members and get rid of them one by one. But so far, all our agents have disappeared. The most suspicious place is the village hidden in the rain. We had agents infiltrate there. There is no sign of Hanzu but also no sign of his death. No one talks about it and those who ask just disappear in a few days. That leader with circles in eyes that Lan has seen in the cave probably lives there. My guess is that he has killed Hanzu secretly. He was in a good relationship with your Danzou. Doesn't he have more elaborated information about coup in Amegakure and the reason behind it? If we find out what their leader is after, we might be able to act more tactfully in future."

 

[MJ ._.]

Shukaku was inside and squeezing Susami in his arms before she could finish. Gaara ignored his stupid behavior and entered after him. "I know, I asked her to show me those ribbons. But I don't want to distract her when she is doing something so important." He answered then silently watched Kirisuto doing her task. When she stopped to smack her cat, he thought that he needed to calm her down. "Don't worry, we didn't pay much attention since we were in hurry to find you two. Shukaku practically ran all the way to meet Susami." He told her then got one step closer to her ribbon works. "So...can you explain how you mend them? This isn't like any sealing jutsu that I've seen before." He changed the subject.

 

[enzerubebii]

tsunade smiled getting up and putting her money on the table "then we are in agreement. i look forward to talking to you and the kazekage again in the future. Keep me informed in anything happened." Tsunade would admit her behavior was unbecoming but she wasnt getting any younger if she did leave a baby behind. she would at least be happy who the father would be. Then she thought about the girl and how she risked her health to protect the kazekage. "Interesting. most nin put themselves 1st instead of others and yet she did the opposite.." Tsunade then smiled. "Maybe she is like kaguya.. just better than her.." and with that she leaves back to konoha. her guars appearing surrounding her.


Kiri smiled and pointing to the pinkish white ribbons "Thats Priestess chakra. When used properly all i do is ring this bell and well.. lets say nobody can touch me.. i could had used it bfore but i was scared at the time..i have praticed other ways of using it and as long as i am at peace with myself that.." she then pointed to the the dark chakra. "wont drive me to dispair and split me from susami agressively..and before you ask..it didnt happen the last time.. we were just upset.. at the same time.. and as you can see all those ribbons.." she pointed to what looked like an infinate hourglass with no beginning or end. "Feeds that. My infinite chakra. Before susami..that thing was more on fire...now..im just glad its stable.."

Susami wagged her 'lack' of tail and nuzzled shukaku "Can we start pleaseee?" Kiri sighed "fine." Then she saw Susami turn into a cat woman with a miko outfit "Shukaku turn human! I know you can do it! how are we supposed to teach them the dance proper if your so big!" kiri blinked "Wait...you...can..do that?" "Uh duh!How else were we gonna get food from humans? Mochi is my favorite!"

 

[MJ ._.]

"Please, be my guest." Sora offered but Tsunade wouldn't pick her money anyway. He nodded in response to her request. "I'll try to hold a meeting between five kage but I need your support to convince them to attend the meeting. Especially the current Tsuchikage isn't being cooperative with Sand at all." He explained. "Like Kaguya...I need to study more about her." He wondered why she was talking about a monster of the past with so much interest. Maybe because she too was a strong woman. He still wasn't sure if she really was the mother of all shinobi since that information had been stored in Konoha ages ago and for people of Suna was like tattered tales. "It was an honor to meet you today. I hope to meet again soon." He bowed respectfully and waited until she had gone then returned to the village as fast as he could.
(Rest of his part remains until Gaara is back at work.)


"No I didn't! That was only your habit." Shikaku refused to confess playing childish pranks together with Susami in the past. Yet, he transformed into a young man wearing clothes that resembled his tanuki skin. "I'll do it only here. Don't expect to see me outside like this."

"It's...literary infinite?" Gaara whispered to himself as watched the hourglass in awe. He put two and two together and reached the same conclusion that Tsunade had in mind. "Kirisuto san...do you think that man they called Pain has found out about it?" He asked seriously.

 

[enzerubebii]

Kiri hesitated and nodded sadly "L-like i said.. its a rare disorder...when i was diagnosed..mother was scared for me.. but raised me to be a artistic geisha hoping the prophecy wont be true.. that i would be a weapon of chaos..and only someone who truly cared would snap me out of its curse...my father thought...the best way to avoid the prophecy..was to get rid of me..and make me someone elses problem... hence why im with you...and why i try to not step out of bounds. But now that that man you call Pain knows.."Her eyes began to water and the dark chakra ribbons began to vibrate.. she was scared. "Im scared... im really scared... im scared for my family...im scared for the friends i tried to make...and im scared to hurt any of them.." Susami ran over and hugged them. "Kiri...calm down its okay... were safe...Now come on.. how about we do the lesson and we will all feel better okay?" Susami asked and when she saw thedark chakra calm down she saw kiri nod and susami sighed in relief. "Okay.. the 1st lesson is learning each others soul song. Me and Shu shus are different than yours cause our past isnt yours. we may had played a part in it but we werent there all the time now were we?" Kiri shook her head no. "No one at a time...I want you to each dance with your soul.. dont worry about any chakra draining.." Kiri nodded and when she closed her eyes and made 2 fans appear and as music began to play she danced like she was telling her story. how she was sick most of her life.. how she wanted to play with the children but her chakra sickness forced her to stay inside. All she did was read, learn the way of the geisha, and cook. when susami arrived to her she was stable for school sure but.. she was alone.. besides Yuki and luna..she was alone.. nobody liked her.. called her a freak...the sacrifice.. she was even bullied to wear white in school to symbolize it. and the teachers did nothing to stop it cause they feared susami as well.. when she stopped dancing she sighed.. "That..felt good to tell in dance instead of words.." susami clapped proud of her and looked at gaara "Now its your turn.. its okay to be shy.."


Meanwhile deidara was exhausted! the whose meeting was just chaos from the scolding to trying to track them again.. and not to lose the damn girl next time. NOT HIS DAMN FAULT! And stupid Tobi for insulting him and holding his severed arm hostage..he sighed and looked at Zetsu looking at the sky. "Hey zetsu..."Deidara called out walking over to the half faced man. "Do you have any idea why pain was so interested in that werido chick? I mean she went into my BRAIN for heavens sake! Talk about an invasion of privacy!"

 

[MJ ._.]

Gaara felt like soothing Kirisuto but Susami did it before he could and seemingly it had worked really well. He had no idea that a biju could help the host this way. He wasn't into dancing and hadn't watched many performances but he could feel Kirisuto's feeling probably since he knew her pain. He had directed his anger toward his father because his source of misfortune was the biju he had sealed in his son but Kirisuto had been born with misfortune and had no one to blame for it. That could be more painful than hating everyone, he thought. He had a few words to tell her about it but he already had lost his chance to talk about it. When her dance was over, he clapped along with Susami. "I'm not an expert but that was very beautiful. I think you have an especial talent for dancing." He said. "Now it's your turn.. its okay to be shy.." Susami encouraged him. "It's not about shyness. I don't know how to do what I've never done before. My sand always dances in battle before me and it shows everything I would like to say." He replied. "Even if I try now, I'll be copying some movements from memory, and that doesn't represent my feelings." He explained how different their mindsets were. From his point of view, Kiri was a professional who had trained for years so he didn't expect himself to be able to do as she had done.

 

[enzerubebii]

Susami smiled "Then dance with your sand not like how kiri dances.. if you did that you would be a copy cat..nya." Kiri sat next to susami and smied at gaara "Please Gaara.. i let my emotions out for you.. as..embarrassing as they were.. just let your emotions flow with the sand like how i told my story with my fans. I promise i wont be harsh.. ive seen worse.." Susami and kiri both shivered remembering a preformance. "WAY WORSE." they said in unison.

 

[MJ ._.]

"Sorry, I didn't consider your emotions. You're right; I owe you this." Gara said as was touched by Kiri's encouragement. "The worst guy ever has witnessed my emotions. It's no problem to share them with you." He added as glanced at Shukaku. "Pft...I'm your only companion so bear with it!" Shukaku replied mockingly. Then, Gara tried to take it easy and let his emotions show themselves since he had hidden them for long. They weren't beautiful after all and after each flight, he had a shocking fall until getting emotionally matured. 'This isn't a fight.' He reminded himself and let his hands loose as the sand gently floated in the air. He closed his eyes and tried to remember his first emotions; those of a naive innocent child. There was someone whom he loved and believed that he loved him too. There was the warmth he could feel from that back then when he knew nothing. His hands gently moved among the sand and touched many of them as if searching for a specific grain. Even the ignorant child wasn't completely happy. Soon, he realized that he was the black sheep of the family. The relationship between his sibling wasn't the same when they were around him and his father wasn't more than a name. The child felt lonely and yet longed for their love and attention. The sand poured down like a spring shower and his hands hopelessly struggled to keep some in fists. When he was old enough to go on strolls out of the house, he learned that other children weren't allowed to get close to him. He found out how dangerous he was. And started hating his protective sand. The sand moved fast in swirls but HE didn't move. The boy still had a home to take shelter in since his uncle always told him that the sand was his mother's love that was protecting him. But, days came when assassins came to murder him and the sand always killed them first. On that ominous day, it finished his beloved uncle who told him with his last breathes that he had never been loved. Gaara still was still while the sand was as unrest as angry bees. He was alone. If no one could love him; he still could. He chose to love himself. He needed to be strong and love no one to be needless from receiving it from others. He was a lonely beast and that was his fate. The sand went back to him, covered him, and took him away from the outside world. Then, he moved. His body hadn't learned dancing and only knew martial arts but that was enough. He started slowly with confusion and doubt. His head held low and his moves were passive. He continued and the armor of sand moved away from his body inch by inch. He was getting faster and more aggressive and as he kept up the pace the sand protected him in a transparent ball as if he was dancing in a crystal ball made of sand (unclear view!). In the climax of that piece, he obviously was hitting the ground with anger and slapped the air frustratedly until came to a sudden halt. The sand fell like a pile of dead moths and he fell on his knees in the middle as glared at the golden grains in bafflement. Again, he stood and raised his arms. His sand rose obediently. He danced again but gently and with more confidence. This time, the man and the sand were dancing together in complete sync. He had been defeated once and learned a lot from that. He had seen another wounded soul that had chosen a different path. That person was stronger than him so he was going to change his point of view to see what he sees in life and in people. Once more, he had dared to allow himself to want to be loved. He deserved that like everyone else. He just had to gain it the hard way but it wasn't impossible. At the end of his performance, his steps were sure and his mind was calm and focused. He had found his goal and his way and that was the essence of peace of mind. But yet, something was amiss. He couldn't take back what he had lost; his mother, his uncle, and his father, or even lady Chio. He wished he could show them how he had passed his sorrow and taken control of his life in his hands. He wanted to become a better kage than his father but he wasn't there to see it happen. There was an empty place that needed to be filled. He always thought that it could never be filled since it had been left by his parents. But now, after confronting all his emotions in a few minutes, he felt that he was ready for a new connection. A new friendship or a new link. There was a unique empty spot that couldn't belong to his parents since it wasn't there when he was younger. Maybe filling that place could put an end to his eternal loneliness. Gaara took a swirl to face Kirisuto and stopped dancing. The sand moved aside and he reached his hand out toward her silently. His gaze on her was serious and warm.

 

[enzerubebii]

kiri watched and was a mix of emotions from concerned, to scared but back to calm and she felt his feeling of wanting to learn to love. sussami tapped shukaku excited seeing susami get up and gently take his hand and give gaara a smile with her eyes longing at him...like she was hiding a secret since she arrived but was happy to let it out. she fell hard for him. and as they danced the music played and as she moved her fans with his sand and used her yin she saw it.. it was a glance but she saw it the mirage of horses. running around sakura trees like they were finally free. and ready to make their own story. when done kiri blinked in confusion at what she saw and susami cheered "YESSS! SHU SHU DID YOU SEE IT THEY CAN DO THE DANCE!" Kiri blinked looking at them "that was it?" Susami shook her head "That was just a piece.. you guys opening your true hearts to one another is just the start.. welcome to your balance path.." "Balance path?" kiri asked confused and susami nodded "Yes.. that is the way of the true mirage.. Kiri tell me when you tried it before.. how did you do it and what did you feel?" kiri blinked at that "Well..i stood up strait..head bowed at exactly 90 degrees.. hands covered in my sleeves but to my chest where my heart was there was a pink mist...and even though it worked.. i felt.. dirty doing it alone for some reason... like yes i was using it to protect myself.. but.." "You felt like it wasnt made for just dancing alone?" Susami asked and kiri nodded. then susami looked at gaara "And gaara.. now that you know her little...well obvious secret.." Kiri blushed red making the cat chuckle. "How do you feel?"

 

[MJ ._.]

Gaara was about to ask if he had managed to convey his feelings properly but after witnessing Susami's enthusiasm, he already knew that his effort had brought an acceptable result. The rest of their conversation was quite enigmatic. He was pondering about the pink mist when Susami questioned him. "If you mean the infinite chakra, then I have to confess that I'm worried for her. She is going to be targeted doubtlessly, so we have to come up with a plan to defeat her enemies and keep her safe." He aswered sinserly.

 

[enzerubebii]

susami sighed "Well.. shrines werent built in a day... Lets get started..Shukaku.. youre up.." Kiri then got scared "Wait what!" Susami then smiled "You heard me...You wanted to know about this and now that we know its possible to revive it.. were refusing to hold back" then kiri just stared as the cat stepped WAAAAY for back and shouts "YOUR NEXT LESSON IS TO MAKE A MIRAGE TO AVOID SHU SHU!!!!! HAVE FUN HONEY AND DONT MAKE A MESS OF MY HOMEEEE!" "ARE YOU FUCKING JOKING I HEARD FROM YOUR SCROLLS HE NEVER SLEEPS!" susami smiled and just observed "JUST PLAY NICE AND TIRE HIM OUT!" kiri grumbled but if this was what they planned on doing to teach them the true secret of their mirage than so be it..there had to be a clue to this.

 

[MJ ._.]

"Heh, I like this job!" Shukakucracked his knuckles as got ready to tackle. "I have been taking him under control so far. What's going to be different this time?" Gaara asked. He was able to defeat Shukaku when they were in his sealed space but now they were in Susami's shrine and wondered if that was going to make a difference.

"Obviously, she has a rare talent. But if you have something to ask from the leader ask him directly." The white Zetsu answered humorously. "Get that girl and the plan will go on faster than you can imagine." Black Zetsu added to encourage Deidara to show more determination in finding Kirisuto. "I could help you find her but that Sunagakure is a barren land. It's really hard for me to seek her chakra there." Said the white Zetsu.