Gaara's Wolf

Trapped

Song is "Shadow Moses" by Bring Me The Horizon. I think it's fitting. It'll likely be quoted a few times. In this chapter, regular text is third person point of view and italics will be for Abby's point of view. That's all. Enjoy!

Gaara feels hopeless. He can't fight without his sand, and his sand is soaking wet. Eddie and Aleks go for one man, while Temari and Kankuro gang up on the second. That leaves the third for Gaara.

"Something deep inside me feels wrong. I think my boys are in danger."

Eddie and Aleks are struggling. The man they're fighting is twice as strong as they are. Man One drives his fist into Eddie's gut, knocking him back.

"Eddie got punched. Ow."

Kankuro's puppets aren't working. Their joints are clogged with mud. Temari's fan is too big to spread out in the small cave. They work together, relying on other Justus they never took the time to master.

"Please be okay, boys."

Gaara can't do anything except weakly block Man Three's punches. The man kicks and Gaara flies back. Nothing is going right.

"If you guys need me, summon me, dammit."

Aleks and Eddie both fly back and join Gaara on the floor. The three quickly scramble to stand. Gaara's trying to look intimidating but he can't pull it off when fear is surrounding him.

Kankuro and Temari are getting pushed back and they join the group so the five of them are together facing the three men. Temari has a strange look in her eyes.

Gaara knows Temari's various looks. He pays attention to these things. He cares about his siblings, even if he doesn't realize it himself.

Eddie and Aleks have an idea. They simultaneously do the hand signs. In unison, "Ninja Art: Cave-In Jutsu." Eddie touches one wall and Aleks touches the opposite, and the ceiling above the men cracks and falls.

"That should do it," Kankuro comments, a bit in awe. It doesn't do it.

The three men are injured but manage to push the rocks up and stand.

The fight continues.

"I hope Eddie and Aleks are okay. Whatever. I'm not going to worry about them. I'm sure they'll be fine." Aga agrees with me. I continue to walk. I'm not in the mood to run.

"We should get there by nightfall, don't you think, Aga?" I can feel her nod. We're going to my old village, the one that was destroyed.

We visit the Soul Village every once in a while. Aga says it's a reminder of what once was. She says it shows us how far we've come.

I remember being six years old and running for my life. I was so scared. For the first time, I felt hopeless, abandoned, useless. I felt alone.

I've never been alone, of course. The wolf demon was sealed inside of me just a couple days after my birth. She's always been with me. She's the reason I'm still alive. After all, if she hadn't killed those men in the kitchen, they would've killed me and I wouldn't be here right now.

Ayuga's been talking a lot lately about males. Boys, boys, boys. She thinks I should find someone and settle down. I think she's on something.

After I got cornered by that boy and his sand demon, I went back to Eddie's house. Ayuga was hesitant at first, but she spoke to me of Shukaku, the One-Tailed Beast.

The battle rages on. The five Sand Ninja are definitely on the losing side. Eddie and Aleks are using the Jutsu that Abby taught them.

"Water Clone Jutsu." Clones of Eddie form from the rain water. They're quickly slashed away.