Ascension (Sequel to Ruination)

[2] Ties That Bind

She started awake, chest heaving. Her skin was slick with sweat, she could tell when she wiped her forehead off. Hair clung to her skin as if it had been glued down. Golden eyes gleamed in the darkness, peering around the room looking for an escape. There was no escape. She'd been locked in here plenty of times before; she'd searched this place so many times. Searching would be futile since she knew there was no way out except through the door, which was sealed with a special jutsu she'd yet to figure out.

A small sound escaped her lips, the sound was so familiar. It was the sound of her weeping.

She'd felt weak so many times before. Now she felt powerless. As if the world was crashing down on her and she could do nothing to stop it.

They were going to capture Gaara and extract the Shukaku. That surely meant his death would follow soon after. A Jinchūriki cannot survive the extraction of their tailed beast. If she could've just stopped Sasori and Deidara from leaving...

She slammed her fist against the ground, creating a small crater where her fist made contact. "Dammit, dammit, dammit!" Gritting her teeth, she pressed her forehead to the ground. She couldn't even save the people she cared for. Gaara was going to die. A hoarse cry escaped her lips.

Tears slipped down a younger Yuzuki's cheeks as she stared at the headstone before her. The headstone was knocked over and crumbled, her mother's name cracked through the middle. How fitting? She thought, wiping her eyes as she glanced around.

Then, in a burst of fury, she charged a fist with chakra and pounded into the ground. A crater formed beneath her and she fell into the hole. Coughing, she glimpsed a head of red hair standing at the edge. His dark circles were prominent on his face, causing his bright eyes to stand out from the darkness around them. Sand poured from his gourd, wrapping around her waist and lifting her out of the crater.

She wiped rapidly at the tears gliding down her smooth skin, attempting to hide everything she was feeling so that Gaara wouldn't see how broken she was. The least she could do for herself was to keep her dignity in tact. For some reason, she felt as if showing emotions such as sadness and pain with tears was a humiliation. Although she knew it wasn't, it was the way she was raised as a shinobi. When Gaara set her on her feet, she crossed her arms over her body, hugging her arms to herself; guarded.

The red-head's seafoam eyes flashed to her tear-stained cheeks, then quickly averted his gaze. Everything about her appearance screamed she was in pain. Gaara, knowing she went through a great effort to hide the fact that she had been crying and in a fit rage, decided to let her be at ease and pretended that he had not noticed.

Yuzuki Hatake coughed twice, "Hey Gaara, what are you doing here?" There was a slight rasp to her voice and she inwardly cringed. The sand ninja gazed at her silently, trying to find the right words to bring her out of her guarded state of mind.

"I won't say understand what you're going through, because I don't. But I will say that I can understand what you're feeling, as I've felt them before, too."

Without a word, she slumped against the red-head that she had once considered an enemy. And the boy wrapped his arms around the girl he'd once considered an enemy. This was the only way he knew how to comfort her. He had had seen people do it in his village to comfort someone, and so he imitated them and let her cry silent tears into his shoulder. It was strange, how he had grown so attached to this girl. He had only met her a few times before now.

Either way, they had been through a lot and could rely on each other. After all, she did prevent him from turning into the Shukaku.

Yuzuki stared intently at the ceiling, her mind working on a way to get out of this predicament that she was currently in. She would give it her all to try to save Gaara. Since he saved her life after being ambushed by mercenaries sent from the Land of Tea.