Love Me Until You Die

A/N: Hakke Hyakunijuuhachishou – One Hundred Twenty Eight Palms of the Hand (This is Neji’s advanced form of ‘Hakke Rokujuuyonshou’ or ‘Sixty Four Palms of the Hand’). It’s my understanding this technique is only used in the anime, so if you’ve only read the Manga this might be new to you.

 

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Gaara had stayed by his side for a while; he’d even been speaking to Naruto while he watched him sleep. His mint-green eyed never left Naruto’s face, not when the blond ninja had begun to thrash, clawing himself in his pain, tears and blood spilling from him. Tsunade had told him Naruto would often mutilate himself after receiving the transfusions, most likely because Kyuubi was reacting to the donors invading power rather then Naruto’s.

 Gaara had nodded stoically, still standing his ever-vigilant guard over his friend. More tears fell from those beautiful blue eyes, now hidden from everyone. His occasional moans and cries turned gradually into screams, pleas to spare people, and it ended abruptly, one final cry of anguish that deeply unsettled the Kazekage.

 And then just as fast, Naruto’s red and swollen eyes cracked open weakly, dry from his depleted well of tears. “Gaara?” He whispered faintly, and the redhead crept closer to the bed. “Uzumaki.” He greeted, his voice stern yet dull, as usual. He could not find it in him, though he deeply wanted to, to reach out and touch Naruto. “Your quite loud in your sleep, good dreams?” He asked, and the blond chuckled quietly, a sad smile on his lips. “Well, good for one side of me.” Cam Naruto’s dull replay, and Gaara nodded as if he understood.

 “So what brings you here, Gaara?” It took several moments for the desert shinobi to respond, but he did, eventually. “I came to…h-help a friend.” He stumbled faintly over the confession, and watched with interest as Naruto’s eyes lit up in familiar cheer. A chuckle rumbled through the tan exposed chest of he, bursting from his cracked and dry lips. Black-ringed eyes met his directly, and Naruto smiled. He turned his head to meet the Sand leader squarely. “Tsunade could really use it.”

 Gaara was struck with a strong impression of a child Naruto being dropped on his head quite a few times. The thought made the corner of his lips twitch upwards faintly, and Naruto further interpreted his actions wrongly. “Still, you should be careful, she’s not as young as she looks.” He whispered, and winked with a wide grin on his face.

 Stoic and dark Gaara was very hard-pressed not to chuckle at the Konoha ninja’s face of terror as Hokage Tsunade stormed through the door, her fists raised and shouting at the top of her lungs. “WHAT’S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN, UZUMAKI?”

 All color in Naruto’s face drained. “Ah? You were listening to my conversation? Aha, Hokage! Wait! Deathly ill! Dying! No, don’t do that! What are you going to do with that knife? Hokage! HOKAGE!”

 Naruto collapsed back into his bed trembling and exhausted. Gaara had drifted towards the wall during the ordeal, Tsunade brandishing a scalpel whilst explaining to Naruto ever so politely the dangers and consequences that will inevitably fall upon one when revealing a woman’s age. Safely out of the Hokage’s destructive range, Gaara looked on, feigning indifference but highly amused.

 At the end of her lecture, the angry woman ‘tapped’ Naruto, nearly knocking him from his bed. As he rocked back into place, Tsunade hmph’d and whirled, over her shoulder she called, “And Naruto, you idiot-boy. The Kazekage did not come to see me, he came for you.” And walked out.

 Naruto’s blue eyes snapped wide-open in wonder, slowly drifting towards Gaara, who was staring intently out of the window. The blond scratched the back of his head curiously, staring at Gaara in amazement. ‘Has he really come for me?’ Naruto pondered, still scratching his head. A smile graced his lips, and he chirped, “Tee-hee, why didn’t ya say so earlier?” Gaara turned towards him slowly, speaking softly.

 “I did, you misperceived.”

 Naruto’s smile faded, ringing in his ears were Kyuubi’s words. ‘Just a wolf, as gentle as all the others, just misperceived.’

 He stared at the crimson haired boy in confusion. Maybe that had been meant for Gaara, and not him after all? Just a wolf…well, no, Shukaku was a raccoon. Gentle? Naruto had witnessed first-hand the carnage Gaara could cause with, quite literally, simply closing his fist. It was the word ‘misperceived’ that bothered him the most. He could not help but feel that the Kazekage had genuinely been misperceived for…well, all of his life. Did he really want to fall under the same category himself?

 Gaara shifted, studying the preoccupied Naruto. His facial features were heavier then he last remembered, as if a great burden had fallen on the young shinobi’s shoulders, haunting him. Had this infection caused so much stress for him? The Kazekage filed this away for later examination, instead studying the tense way Naruto sat, as if he were waiting for the death itself to claim him.

 'Naruto…what happened to your spirit…your courage?’

 Naruto was still heavily mulling over the word predicament when Kyuubi made his move. As usual Naruto struggled, trying to conceal his discomfort from Gaara. ‘Stop it you damn fox! Stop it! He screamed inwardly, Kyuubi’s laugh was his answer. The fox pushed and pushed, happily feeding Naruto’s newly rebuilt supply of personal chakra to the creatures, all the while replacing it with his own. Naruto fought him as long as he could, but Kyuubi was to be victorious.

 He clutched at the shirt covering his heart, and Gaara watched on, concerned at the now visible struggle. “Arrghhh…” Naruto moaned, slamming backwards into the bed forcefully. He shrieked as Kyuubi supplied him with images of Gaara’s body, broken and bloody…tantalizing.

 “Damn it, go away fox!” Naruto roared, Gaara jumping to his feet in suspicion. Tsunade had returned, but upon hearing her patients cries she forgot all about the meal she was carrying. Tsunade bolted through the door, dropping the plate of food at her feet, ignoring the shattering porcelain. “Kazekage! Get away from him!” She said, roughly dragging Gaara back from the convulsing and screaming Naruto. “Kyuubi! KYU….DAMMIT, LEAVE HIM OUT OF THIS!” Tsunade paled at Naruto’s pleas, “Gaara, please, whatever happens, do not let him get near you!” She whispered hurriedly, before pressing her hands together and disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

 Gaara’s circled eyes widened in confusion, ‘Why would she leave me here if he’s dangerous?’ Gaara slowly backed away from Uzumaki, his teal eyes narrowing in calculation as the whisker scars on Naruto’s cheeks elongated, and his teeth began to taper. “Kyuubi! Kyuubi stop!” The panic in Naruto’s voice put Gaara on true edge, and his sand began to swirl at his feed in preparation.

 A blood-chilling roar jutted forth from Naruto’s lips, his eyes curving into predatory slits, claws sharp, and his hair swirling wildly in the rush of free chakra. Her presence was so sudden the young Kazekage nearly punched her in panic, but he was relieved to see the Hokage was back. She knew more about this situation then he. It seemed Tsunade had brought reinforcements, but only one Jonin? Obviously she was not accustomed to the sheer power Naruto exuded when his demon was allowed to reign.

 Come to think of it, even when pitted against him Gaara was only able to witness Naruto when he was in control of the fox’s power, he had never witnessed Kyuubi block out all form of conscious from the boy he possessed, and simply do what his will bid. Gaara watched as Naruto’s transformation continued, the chakra-consumed tail suddenly poking out from behind the hunched form of its host.

 Tsunade did not waste any time, they had to reach him before Kyuubi took complete hold. She slung the Jonin at her side towards Naruto with deadly force. Gaara blinked, had the Hokage just offered a human sacrifice? His thought was rebuked as familiar cry rang out, and he nodded in understanding.

 “Hakke Hyakunijuuhachishou!” Neji Hyuuga said calmly as he sailed towards Naruto, his fingers already zoning in on the most vital chakra points. Of course. “Naruto’s demon cannot overpower him if his chakra cannot freely flow?” Gaara questions, and Tsunade nodded sadly for an unknown reason. “This is the only way we can control Kyuubi’s recent back-to-back struggles for dominance, we desperately need to find a cure.”

 The Kazekage tilted his head in thought, “I thought the demon was sealed, how is it he is breaking free of his own free will?” The Hokage shook her head, “Kyuubi is sealed…to an extent. Naruto, as you’ve seen before, can unleash him at will. He does that by ‘borrowing’ enough of Kyuubi’s chakra until the scales are tipped and more of the demons chakra is flowing through him then his own.” It immediately clicked to Gaara. “So the face that the demon is replacing Naruto’s devoured chakra with his own…this means the demon does not need Naruto’s permission since the gate is already open?” Tsunade nodded, “Precisely”.

 Gaara glanced at Naruto once again, shocked when a second tail poked out from behind him. Only once before had he witnessed a multi-tailed fox, and that had been in the forests outside of Konoha when he’d been fighting Naruto after the Chunin exams. At the time he had not given thought to it, but now he was beginning to understand some characteristics of Naruto. His stamina for one, perhaps the boy would have been hyper without a pissed off demon trapped within him, but the fox surely had some help with that.

 The scars on his cheek, just like Gaara’s eyes. A dual-voice shriek shattered his comparisons and Gaara’s eyes shot up, staring as Neji counted out his attacks on Naruto’s body. Why had he used so many? There were only sixty four points in the body, hardly need for twice that many attacks, but the Kazekage was not that dull. He could see already that Neji was being forced to strike each point twice to shut it down. Naruto sure was resilient to defeat.

 Kyuubi’s demonic howl coupled with Naruto’s cry of pain filled his head, and Gaara winced. That haunting cry sounded so familiar…yet so distant. Ever since Shukaku had been taken from Gaara the demons voice still rang in his ears sometimes when he let his guard drop, but that cry…that scream of one wanting to be let free and one wanting to let the other free but unable to…that scream would forever haunt his memories.

 “Naruto.” He said, walking towards the still convulsing boy, and watching approvingly as the dual tails shrunk back into their cage. Naruto twitched, tears streaming down his cheeks, and with concern Gaara faintly noticed for the first time that the strikes Neji had landed were not wholly fresh. He stopped at Naruto’s bedside.

 “How many times have you done this to him?” He asked in shock, his eyes staring at Naruto’s now exposed arms and legs. The tan skin was littered in purple bruises, the fresh ones. Black bruises, the old ones, were outshining them. He had Tsunade’s breath hitch behind him, and her sudden wave of sadness earlier made sense to him.

 “Right now? Were working on three times a day.” Gaara’s breath hitched in his throat and he swung around once more to look at Naruto, who was blacking out. How much longer could the boy stand against such abuse, before he became paralyzed? Before he died? A twisted knot began to form in the Kazekage’s stomach as he gazed down at the blond ninja in despair hidden by his sand.

 ‘I will help you, my friend.’

 

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