Gaara Sakura: Leaf & Sand's Alliance

Chapter 14: Kazekage vs. Kazekage

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The fourth Kazekage was pretending to not notice the Third Eye that his son had summoned to spy on him and his companions. He knew that if he sees it, Gaara would obviously be astonished by how his eyes can see clearly.

On the other hand, Onoki landed on top of the surface beside the red-haired Kazekage, who specifically told him not to restrain himself. Yet, Onoki reminded him of what he said about forsaking yourselves.

"Chh. I'm here to get back the principles I threw away a long time ago," the old Tsuchikage stated determinedly.

Gaara looked at him in the left corners of his eyes and didn't say anything.

"We can't retreat any further, we've got to make our stand here," Onoki stated.

"Agreed," Gaara said.

"The two of us can launch some long-range attacks and observe how they respond," Onoki explained.

On the other side of the desert, the rest of the previous Kages were still waiting for the right moment to attack them.

"Here they come. The two of them," Muu said, narrowing his eyes slightly to the far off distance.

Suddenly, a massive sand came flooding over the rocks and hills, much to their shock, especially Raka.

"Woohoo!! That's a buttload of sand! Who's village do you think behind that one is?" Mizukage asked laughing out loud hysterically.

"That's the power of Shukaku, the one-tail. Has he already used the false sleep technique!!" Raka thought curiously in mind.

He then glared and decided to counterattack using his gold sand, which started to clash with the regular sand all at once.

"It stopped..." the third Raikage said.

"Gold is heavier than the sand. By mixing it into the wave, I was able to pull its movement. I used the same trick to stop the sand's Shukaku. The last time, it broke free and went berserk," Raka explained firmly.

On the other hand, the red-haired Kazekage appeared above them while he was riding on his sand.

"Gaara?! It wasn't Shukaku. It was him?!" Raka questioned himself in confusion.

"Father, it's been a while," Gaara greeted monotonously.

"Gaara. Where did Shukaku go?" Raka asked concernedly.

"Gone forever. I'm no longer the jinchuriki you created," the red-haired Kazekage stated calmly.

"You're not a jinchuriki...? How is that possible?" Raka interrogated frustratingly.

"I died when the Shukaku was extracted out of me by the Akatsuki who control you now. But by the efforts of lady Chiyo and my friends, I came back to life," Gaara answered.

"So that old lady would do such a thing? And your friends?" Raka asked and continued on to mock. "You of all people have friends?"

"You tried to kill me six times and every single time I grew to fear and hate you. But now, I do not hate you. I even understand what you were trying to do. I am Kazekage now. It is the duty of a leader to protect the village and eradicate any threat to his home," Gaara stated sternly.

"You are Kazekage?" Raka repeated as his eyes widened in disbelief.

"Charisma oozes out of people without eyebrows, you know! Hot damn! I don't have eyebrows, either!" Mizukage yelled out in distress.

"How about that tiny goatee of yours, Mizukage?" Muu pointed out.

"Your son, eh? He's a good shinobi," the third Raikage stated.

Hey, if you are going to kill somebody, kill that bandaged bastard first! I'll even cheer you on!" Mizukage insisted.

From that moment on, Gaara and Raka continued to stare at each other while they both reminisce their past. The time when Gaara's mother died while giving birth to him and Raka couldn't do anything but to seal One-Tailed Shukaku inside his son's body in order to save the village from its beast's rampage. Everyone called him a monster in which he started to believe that he was one. Until the pink-haired kunoichi came into his life, his whole perception of himself became different from what they all see in him. She was a light to his own darkness and that his father was not capable of doing.

"This Edo-Tensei jutsu. Perhaps, there was some value to it after all. I will determine your worth once more, this time by my own hands. Can you surpass me?" Raka said in a daring way.

Gaara didn't respond right away as he began to wait to attack.

"Onoki, you must stop me. Numbers don't matter for a Jinton user like me. You are the only one who can," Muu commanded.

"I know, sir. But I have no intention of doing that this time," he refused.

"I see. You didn't turn out to be such a hard-headed old fool, after all," Muu commented.

All of a sudden, the father and son immediately used their sand to counter on top of each other, creating a mass of flood around them.

"All of you charge!!" Onoki ordered the army.

"Let's go, everyone! Yeaah!!!" Temari and the others cried out in unison.

"Hailsand!" The red-haired Kazekage exclaimed as he raises up his arm quickly that forms into multiple stones and and strikes down towards the Kages.

However, Raka shielded them with his golden dust sand, but didn't notice that the sand was wrapping around his legs beneath him in which he had to look down.

"What?! He already lifted his sand above the gold!" He thought surprisingly.

Gaara continued to lock the other Kages without hesitating to remove the sand away from their bodies. Then, Raka hastily attacks him with the golden sand once again, whereas a huge gigantic hand made of Gaara's sand came in to deflect. The fourth Kazekage's eyes became saddened as he realizes that his wife protected their own son.

"You still live inside of this child, eh," Raka said, frowning in mind.

Temari was running towards them as she saw her dad in disbelief. "Shit... That's dad!"

"You've truly grown, Gaara. The only thing a parent needs to do is to trust in his children. That's all and that in itself has true value," Raka bowed his head down where his voice started to soften.

Gaara was starting to get traumatized as his eyes widened in shock of what he was telling him.

"That's what you meant Karura, isn't it? It appears that I didn't have an eye for value after all," Raka continued on sadly.

"What are you talking about?" The red-haired Kazekage questioned in confusion, but mostly he was getting desperate enough to listen more.

"The sand will always protect you. It's not Shukaku's strength that you wield, but your mother's," Raka answered while he started to think about Karura's promise to their new born baby at that time. He then lifted his head up to look at him straight in the eye sincerely by saying. "Gaara... Your mother truly loved you."

The red-haired Kazekage slowly froze on his spot in astonishment. He wasn't able to move right when his father had confessed to him.

Not a single word was spoken of a lie, but rather it was the truth.