V2.C9. Invasion VIII – Sasuke vs Gaara

Chapter 9: The Invasion VIII – Sasuke vs Gaara

The clearing was a ruin.

Trees that had stood for decades were splintered and broken, their trunks snapped like twigs. The ground was torn and gouged, craters where massive sand fists had struck the earth. The air was thick with dust and the smell of chakra, the raw, hungry energy of something that had been sleeping for too long and was finally awake.

Sasuke stood at the edge of the destruction, his Sharingan spinning in the red of his eyes, his body tensed and ready. His wound from the Chidori had reopened, soaking through his jacket in a dark stain. His breathing was controlled, measured, the breathing of someone who had learned to ignore pain.

Gaara stood in the center of the clearing, his body covered in sand. His right arm was gone, replaced by a massive claw of compressed sand. His face was half-covered, the markings of the One Tail spreading across his skin like cracks in stone. His eyes were yellow, the pupils slitted, the gaze of something ancient and hungry.

He took a step forward. The sand around his feet surged.

Sasuke did not answer. He was already moving.

His body was a blur, the speed he had copied from Lee carrying him across the clearing in less than a heartbeat. His fist connected with Gaara's chest, the impact solid, the sand armor cracking. Gaara's eyes went wide, the first real expression he had shown since the transformation began.

Sasuke did not let him recover. His knee drove into Gaara's stomach. His elbow came down on Gaara's shoulder. His heel swept Gaara's legs out from under him.

Gaara hit the ground hard. The sand around him surged, trying to protect him, but Sasuke was already gone, already behind him.

His fist connected with Gaara's back. The sand armor shattered.

Gaara roared. The sound was not human. It was the sound of something that had been wounded and was now angry.

The sand exploded outward.

Sasuke was thrown backward. He hit a tree, the trunk cracking under the impact. He slid down, his vision blurring, his breath driven from his lungs.

Gaara rose from the ground. His body was changing. The sand was spreading, crawling up his arms, his torso, his legs. His left arm was transforming now, the human flesh disappearing beneath the shifting grains, forming into a massive claw identical to the right one.

A tail of sand grew from his back, thick and flexible, curling behind him like a serpent.

"Now," Gaara said. "Let us really fight."

He moved.

His claws swung through the air, massive and fast, each one aimed at Sasuke's position. Sasuke dodged, his Sharingan tracking the movements, but Gaara was faster now. His arms could stretch, extending to impossible lengths, swinging from angles that should have been impossible.

One claw struck the ground where Sasuke had been standing. The earth cratered. Dust and debris exploded outward.

Another claw swung from above. Sasuke rolled. The claw smashed into a tree, splintering it into fragments.

The tail lashed out, wrapping around Sasuke's ankle. It pulled. Sasuke was yanked off his feet and slammed into the ground. The impact drove the air from his lungs. His vision went white.

The tail swung him again, hard, and Sasuke flew into a tree. The trunk cracked. He hit the ground and rolled.

Blood dripped from his mouth.

"Your Sharingan cannot keep up," Gaara said. "You cannot see my attacks. You cannot predict them. You are already dead."

Sasuke pushed himself up. His arms were shaking. His vision was blurring. His Sharingan was still active, still spinning, but it was not enough. The speed of Gaara's attacks was too much. The range of his arms was too great. The tail was too unpredictable.

Gaara's claws swung again. Sasuke jumped. The claws passed beneath him, but the tail was already there, already wrapping around his waist. It squeezed.

Sasuke felt his ribs crack.

The tail slammed him into a tree trunk with enough force that the wood groaned and split. He slid down, his body screaming with every movement.

"Pathetic," Gaara said. "I expected more from the last Uchiha."

Sasuke tried to stand. His legs would not hold him.

On the edge of the clearing, hidden in the shadows of the canopy, Naruto watched.

His face was blank. His hands were in his pockets. His eyes were fixed on Gaara, on the sand that covered his body, on the claws that swung with such terrible precision, on the tail that moved like a living thing. He was not watching Sasuke. He was watching Gaara.

Sakura was beside him, her body tense, her hands clenched at her sides. She had watched Sasuke get beaten. She had watched him fall. She had watched him bleed.

"We have to help him," she said. "Naruto. We have to do something."

Naruto did not answer.

"Naruto!"

His eyes did not move. His face did not change.

Sakura grabbed his arm. "Naruto. Please. He's going to die."

"Look at him," Naruto said. His voice was quiet.

Sakura looked. Gaara was holding his head, his claws pressing against his temples, his body shaking. The sand around him was in chaos, surging and falling, surging and falling. He looked like he was in pain.

"What's happening to him?"

Naruto was silent for a moment.

"He's losing control," Naruto said. "The demon is taking over."

Sakura looked at Naruto. At his face. At his eyes, fixed on Gaara with a terrible intensity.

"Naruto. What are you thinking?"

Naruto did not answer.

Below them, Sasuke pushed himself up.

His body was broken. His ribs were cracked. His vision was blurry. His Sharingan was fading, the two tomoe spinning slower and slower. He could barely stand.

But he stood.

His eyes closed.

He was somewhere else.

The compound was quiet. Too quiet. The streets were empty. The doors were open. The bodies were everywhere.

He walked through the halls of his childhood home. The walls were splattered with blood. The floor was slick with it. He walked past his parents' bodies, their eyes open, their faces frozen in expressions of shock and pain.

He saw him. Itachi. Standing in the center of the room, his Sharingan spinning, his face cold and distant.

"You are weak," Itachi said. "You are too weak. You cannot kill me. You will never be able to kill me."

Sasuke's fists clenched at his sides.

"I will kill you," he said. "I will become strong enough. I will avenge them. I will destroy you."

Itachi smiled. It was a cold smile. "Then prove it."

Sasuke opened his eyes.

The Sharingan was back. Both tomoe spinning in the red of his eyes. And then, like a flower blooming.

Chidori crackled in his hand.

He moved.

His speed was incredible, faster than before, the lightning trailing behind him like a comet's tail. His hand drove forward, and the Chidori struck the sand arm of Gaara, cutting through it like a blade through water.

The claw fell to the ground. It crumbled into sand.

Gaara screamed.

Sasuke was already moving. His hand came up, the Chidori still active, and he cut through the tail, severing it from Gaara's body. The tail fell to the ground, dissolving into loose sand.

Gaara staggered backward. His body was shaking. His eyes were wide.

"What... what did you do?"

Sasuke did not answer. He was breathing hard, the Chidori fading from his hand. His body was screaming. His chakra was almost gone.

But he had done it. He had hurt Gaara. He had cut off his arms and his tail.

Gaara started laughing. It was not a human sound. It was the sound of something breaking.

The sand rose from the ground. The arms reformed. The tail reformed.

"Did you think that would stop me?" Gaara said. "Did you think you could defeat me? I am unstoppable."

He attacked.

His claws swung, faster than before, harder than before. Sasuke dodged, but he was too slow. The claws caught him in the chest, throwing him backward. The tail wrapped around his ankle and slammed him into the ground. The other claw came down, and Sasuke's ribs cracked again.

He was thrown into a tree. The trunk splintered. He slid down, unconscious before he hit the ground.

Gaara continued to laugh.

Sakura screamed at Naruto. "Naruto! Now! We have to help him!"

Naruto did not move.

"Naruto!"

He took a step forward. Then he stopped. His foot returned to the branch.

"It's not over yet," he said.

Sakura stared at him. "What?"

"Look."

She looked.

A burst of chakra erupted from Sasuke's unconscious body. It was purple and black, curling around him like living flames. The curse mark was spreading, the black lines crawling across his skin, his body trembling with the force of it.

His Sharingan activated. Three tomoe spun in each eye.

Sasuke stood up.

***---***

Next Time: The Invasion IX