Fire style: Burning Love Jutsu

Chapter 33: Accepting the truth

"Good morning, children." Temari said as Gaara, Azamuku, and I walked down stairs. Azamuku had already showered and gotten dressed and upon being greeted, she turned and walked out the front door without any acknowledgement. "She alright?" Kankuro asked. "I'll be in the training field..." She said, closing the door. Her voice was low and broken when she spoke. Almost as if she, herself, had been torn apart. Gaara stared at the door, all signs of tired leaving his face. He ran back upstairs and put on clothes, grabbed his gourd, then jumped from his balcony.

"Guess I'm going too." I said, running out the door after him. I allowed myself to get into her head to see where she was. "Hey. How far is the training grounds from here?" I asked. "Running? Hm! At least twenty minutes." He said. "How the hell is she already there? She only left five minutes ago." I asked myself. I jumped to the top of one of the buildings and looked around, seeing explosions and clouds of smoke in the distance.

Pushing off, I jumped from roof top to roof top, heading in a straight line to the grounds. I felt her anger as I got closer. She wasn't angry at Orochimaru. She was angry at herself for falling for a clone and getting bitten. Her only thought process was to get stronger and train until she was exhausted. Gaara had realized I was on the buildings and began following me. I felt a burning sensation on the left side of my neck almost on my shoulder. "We need to hurry." I said. The burning got worse and began to spread to the entire half of my body. I tried to call out to her in her mind but was quickly pushed out of it. "No the hell you don't." I growled, pushing myself to run faster. The training grounds grew closer and closer as I pushed farther away from Gaara.

"Azamuku! Stop!" I shouted. Her speed was incredible. She was faster than I could ever be. Almost invisible. "MUKU!" I shouted once again. Her angered screams as she attacked the targets and training dummies were enough to give someone nightmares. "STOP!" I shouted, chancing it and leaping forward. My chest came into contact with her shoulder ad I wrapped my arms around her, us both falling to the floor. I quickly flipped her onto her back and mounted her, pinning her under me.

She was screaming about how she hated herself and how she didn't want to stop. She tried forming hand signs but the sand around her formed itself into cuffs and held her wrists to the ground. I got off her and watched her pull and fight against the restraints. "Calm her down. This is taking a lot to do with her strength." Gaara said. I knelt down at her head, placed both my hands on the sides of her face and touched my forehead to hers. "Muku. Please. Come back to me." I said, softly. I closed my eyes and began trying to push images and thoughts into her head.

"Sasuke. Move." Gaara said. I quickly looked at her wrists to see the sand falling off. Pushing myself away, she broke the hold and jumped up. Without a second thought, Gaara had tackled her to the ground. His face was emotionless as he pinned her forearms with his knees. He held her face as I had and looked directly into her eyes. "Muku. This is your brother. Stop this at once." He ordered. "Sasuke. Get over here and talk to her." He demanded.

I nodded and sat at her side by her head. "I know you can hear me. And I know you blame yourself. Don't." I said. Gaara held onto her head and kept looking into her eyes. "If you should be mad at anyone, be mad at the person who did this to you. Be mad at what he's leading you into. Be mad at what's to come." I said. The markings started to retreat as I spoke. "Use that anger to fight him. Use it to get back at him!" I said. "Gaara..." She said, tears forming in her eyes. "Sasuke...." She said, her voice cracking a bit. "I saw it..." She said. Gaara slowly got off her. "I saw me... You were both terrified of me." She said, laying there in disbelief.

Neither of us said a word as she stood up. "I have to do this... If I don't I will never control it." She said. "Gaara... I have to talk to you." She said, wiping her eyes. "If I don't now, I never will and the past will rear its ugly head." She said, clenching her hands into fists. "You have to go, don't you?" He asked, lookin at her. "Yes. And I swear to you. On my life. I will come back." She said. The look she had in her eyes. It was hatred. She didn't want to leave again. This seal was making her abandon her family once more.

"I want to come." He said. "You can't." She told him. "This is a journey Sasuke and I have to go about alone." She said. He looked at me suspiciously. Azamuku and I both turned around and grabbed each other's collars, pulling them down to show the seals. We let go and turned back around to see a pissed off Gaara that was also concerned. "I swear to you, big brother. He will pay for doing this to me. If he gets away alive, it'll be a mistake that won't happen twice." She said.

"When do you leave?" He asked. "Friday. And we'll be gone for a while. But I swear to you I WILL come back." She said. "How do I know? How do I know you won't die out there?" He said, his eyes filling with tears. She walked to him and reached into her shirt. She pulled a pendant out from between her breasts that was attached to a chain around her neck. "This was Aniko's. My birth mother's." She said. "It is my most valued item I will ever own. It's mine and when I have a child, I'm passing it on to them. And telling her story." She continued.

Her hands reached around her neck and unclasped the chain. "Muku... You've never taken that off." He said. She reached around him and clasped the chain behind his neck. "That is my promise to you. I WILL come back." She said. "I'll be damned if I die without taking a piece of my mother with me." She said. She hugged him tight. "You, Temari, and Kankuro meant the world to me growing up. And now I have a fourth person to add to that list." She said.

"I refuse to die and let you all down." She said, hugging him tighter. Gaara fell to his knees and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. I looked behind them to see Temari and Kankuro walking up to us. "I love you, little sister." Gaara said, letting tears fall. "You better come back! You promised!" He shouted, tightening his hug on her and bursting into tears. Temari looked at them and knelt down, taking them both in her arms, Kankuro doing the same. "I swear it." Azamuku said, softly.