Kapitel 40: Conflict in the Mindscape
"Calm down," I shouted to Chomei. The enormous insect refused though, continuing to thrash in its cage. Fu looked very unsettled, she was staring at Shukaku with worry. I guess it was one thing to see a drawing of a Tailed Beast and another thing entirely to actually see it. This was off to a climatic start but I was certain I could turn this around.
"Chomei is acting totally different than he normally does," remarked Shukaku quietly.
"What makes you say that," I asked curiously. I didn't know too much about each of the Tailed Beasts and their personalities so Shukaku would have to be my guide.
"Chomei was always much milder than the rest of us. He didn't mind humans except for when they started encroaching on his territory. His sealing must be to blame," explained Shukaku. I nodded, being sealed away had pretty bad effects on the Tailed Beast's mental state. The Eight-Tails was extremely violent before Killer Bee calmed him down, same with Shukaku before we had teamed up. Several Tailed Beasts drove their jinchuriki to near insanity in an attempt to escape their prisons. Shukaku no longer acted like that constantly but I still had quite a bit to work on. That was the reason I had made this mindscape bridge between Fu's and my own. I wanted Fu to start becoming friends or at the very least get on good terms with Chomei. Having a Tailed Beast watching your back was incredibly useful.
"Fu, this is Shukaku," I said as I gestures to the enormous Tailed Beast. Fu gave a small wave while Shukaku grunted back. How nice of him.
"This is Chomei, though I'm pretty sure you already knew that," said Fu nervously. Chomei was still slamming into his cage every couple of minutes, a very annoying pattern.
"It's nice to meet you Chomei," I yelled to him. He stopped his thrashing and gave me a cold look with his insect eyes. There was obviously not much kindness in his heart for humans anymore.
"Your Shukaku's jinchuriki, that much is obvious. Why have you made this bridge between mindscapes? I have nothing to say to you," he rumbled. Chomei then turned his back to us and flew away. He couldn't go very far but the message was clear. Fu didn't even dare to look at the giant insect, she obviously was afraid of him. It wasn't like she had no reason to be afraid of him though, I guess I was just used to Shukaku being relatively nice.
"Chomei, get back over here," I said firmly. The Tailed Beast stopped, slowly turning around to face me. It may be a mistake talking to him like this but I needed to make a change fast, I wasn't sure how long this bridge between mindscapes would last. The buzzing of Chomei's wings increased dramatically until the sound of them was deafening. A massive gust of wind slammed into me and sent me flying backward. Sand shot out of my gourd, grabbing me and then grabbing the ground. I looked up to find Fu on her knees, her hands gripping her head in what looked like pain.
"You have no idea what you're doing do you? The risks of linking two minds is far greater than you could possibly know," boomed Chomei over the sound of his wings. Gritting my teeth, I managed to pull myself back down to the wet ground. Chomei might have a point, I had definitely gotten ahead of myself on this whole ordeal. Now I had to try and minimize the damage of my stupid decision.
"Gaara, you made this bridge between Fu's mindscape and your own," reminded Shukaku. What was that supposed to mean? Was he reminding me of just how stupid of an idea this was? Shukaku didn't seem too affected by the powerful gusts of wind that Chomei was creating, so I guess snide remarks were how he was helping me.
"So what? Are you going to sit there and mock me while I get pummeled," I asked with gritted teeth. Holding onto the ground was getting harder and harder, Chomei wasn't going easy on me.
"As usual you have missed the point. This battleground isn't real Gaara, and since you made it you can manipulate it however you want. Usually the other linked mind would have some say over the bridge but I think that girl isn't going to be objecting," said Shukaku with a growl. He was right, Fu was curled up in a ball on the floor with both her hands gripping her head. She seemed to be in immense pain from Chomei's little tantrum. Another result of my foolish decision to play with fire.
"So how exactly can manipulating the bridge between us help me in this situation? I can't exactly reinforce Fu's seal to stop Chomei," I replied.
"You can't tighten the seal but you can beat him here. That should weak his hold on the girl and return her to normal. As for what you should make, that's up to you. This fight is your own, you must finish it yourself," Shukaku said with an odd tone of calmness. Usually he was so eager to fight but now he actually wanted to sit this one out? He wasn't wrong about this fight though, I had started it and now I needed to finish it.
"I grow tired of this human, I thought you would at least put up a fight," mocked Chomei from afar. I glanced back at Shukaku and was surprised with what I saw. His eyes weren't wild or menacing, no, they were calculating. Shukaku was looking at me with heavy judgement, he was definitely waiting to see what I would come up with. A smile broke through my guarded expression, one of true happiness in the face of danger. Time to prove that I wasn't just words, that I could back up my brash claims.
"Chomei! All I wanted to do was talk yet you so readily resort to violence. I did not realize you were so uncivilized," I yelled to him. Chomei bristled at my comment, obviously not liking to be insulted.
"It is you damn humans that have made me this way, don't you dare forget that brat. I used to soar through the skies before the First Hokage captured me and used me like a bargaining chip," roared Chomei. The Tailed Beast had stopped flapping his wings, he was up to something else.
"It is your own ignorance and hate that imprisons you Chomei. We don't need to fight in order to decide who is right," I said calmly. The enormous insect simply hovered in the air, his body shaking in what I assumed was anger. Chakra suddenly began to seep from his body, red as blood. It pooled beneath him and spread to touch every corner of his cage. A scream pierced the air, Fu had begun thrashing on the ground nearby. I raced towards her to see what was wrong but stopped in my tracks mere feet from her. Chomei's Tailed Beast chakra was enveloping her, it squeezed and forced its way into her.
"From what I can tell, you are quite fond of this girl. Thanks to you, her seal has weakened temporarily because of the creation of this bridge. I finally have an opportunity to dominate the skies once again, all thanks to you," chuckled Chomei. My fists clenched until they turned white, hot rage flowing through my veins. He was planning on taking Fu over and escaping. The black void of space around me began to warp and change, turning from black to a light brown. Bit by bit, the void changed entirely to a light brown and began to crumble to rest at my feet.
"What are you doing? What is that," questioned Chomei as he finally noticed what I was doing.
"I learned just a little bit ago that since this bridge is my creation, I can change anything I want about it. Something you might want to know is that I am called Gaara of the Desert. That nickname isn't just for show," I informed him. As cheesy as it was, I loved every bit of that statement. The brown powder that the void had turned into was sand, heaps and heaps of sand. The mindscape around us had turned into a true desert.
"Sand? That is what you've come up with? I understand you can control it but please, do you think sand is going to defeat a Tailed Beast? You are quite foolish, I can't believe Shukaku would ever lend you any of his power. He must be getting soft," said Chomei with a slight chuckle. I shook my head, I didn't care if he underestimated me but now he had insulted Shukaku on top of everything else. I was done with talking, it was time to show Chomei just how wrong he was. The sand around me shot forward in a massive wave, coming from every direction and surrounding Chomei. It swept his Tailed Beast chakra back, creating a massive pool of it around Chomei's cage. The red Tailed Beast chakra still clung to Fu though, the sight of her thrashing around was sickening. I crouched down next to her while using the sand to prevent more chakra from latching on to Fu. Touching chakra from a Tailed Beast wasn't a good idea so I couldn't pry it off Fu with my hands. Using my sand might hurt Fu since I didn't know what the removal of the chakra would do to her.
"Gaara, allow me to give you a slight hand since this involves your friend," grunted Shukaku.
"Just tell me what I can do to get this off of her," I told him. I grimaced as Chomei violently fought back the waves of sand that were crashing into his cage. They were keeping his chakra away from Fu and me, as well as stopping any wind attacks from reaching us.
"Transform your arms and create a ring around her with them," instructed Shukaku. Power flowed through my arms, a feeling that was starting to feel normal with how often I used it. Within seconds my arms were turned into Shukaku's curse mark arms. I molded them to be in a circle around Fu, just as he had instructed.
"I'm going to have to do the next part myself," said Shukaku.
"What do you m-"
A jolt shook my body and I felt my left eye roll back into its socket. My arms also voided all feeling, as if they had just been chopped off. Was this what Shukaku meant by doing the next part himself? He had taken me over before but nothing to this extent, at least not while I was conscious. I didnt realize that I had opened my seal so much to allow something like this to happen. Maybe I was getting a little lax with Shukaku. My mouth suddenly moved without me telling it to, a warp between my voice and Shukaku's escaping my throat.
"Shukaku's Curse Mark: Chakra Absorption," said Shukaku/me at the same time. The blue curse marks on my partially transformed arms suddenly leaped onto Fu's skin. They crawled all over Fu until almost her entire body was coated with them. It reminded me too much of Sasuke's curse mark state, a power that he received from Orochimaru to try and become stronger. Shukaku's curse mark didn't work that way as far as I knew, I barely knew what it did at all. It had never injured me in any way which was the only reason I wasn't too concerned with it jumping all over Fu's skin.
"What exactly are you doing with your curse mark," I asked curiously. My voice had thankfully returned to normal, Shukaku had given back control to me it seemed.
"Haven't you listened to a word I've said during any of our talks? My curse marks are what hold my body together since I'm made of sand. They also have many defensive purposes and sealing abilities," boasted Shukaku. I nodded, Shukaku's Grand Sand Mausoleum was quite possibly one of the strongest seals around. It had held Madara Uchiha for several moments before he broke free using Susanno. My attention was diverted from Shuakku when I noticed that the Tailed Beast chakra was rapidly being sucked away from Fu. The red chakra disappeared into the cursed mark ring surrounding her, stopping her suffering. Right as the last bit of red chakra left Fu, the cursed marks disappeared from her skin.
"That move is usually used to drain an opponent of all of their chakra but it works perfectly to dissipate Tailed Beast chakra," explained Shukaku. This Jutsu might be very handy in the future, I would have to try and figure out how to use it on my own later. Checking Fu over, I was relieved to find she was breathing steadily and didn't seem too injured. I lifted her with my sand and flew her to where Shukaku was standing.
"Please keep an eye on her while I finish this," I told him. Shukaku nodded and I turned back to face Chomei. The giant bug was still fighting my huge waves of sand to no avail, it was pretty difficult to beat something that never broke or shattered. Breaking into a sprint, more sand emerged from the ground below me. The sand lifted me into the air until I was level with Chomei, about two dozen yards from him and his cage.
"Chomei, this is your last chance to stop. I didn't come here to give you a beating," I said calmly. Despite all that had happened, I still wanted Chomei and Fu to work together. It had been my original reason for coming here and still was my objective. If Chomei refused though, I would have no choice but to battle him.
"I'll give you this human, your use of sand is unique. Perhaps I misjudged your capabilities but I wouldn't believe for a second you can defeat me. I give a damn about your reasons for coming here," Chomei responded. I grimaced before raising my hands. The mindscape suddenly began to shake, sand raining down from above.
"Then whatever happens next is your fault Chomei, I warned you," I said. Chomei roared in defiance, preparing himself. Sand piled up until it was taller than the cage that held Chomei, an intimidating sight at the very least. I could never defeat Chomei at my current level in the real world, but in a space that consumed no chakra and I could do anything with? Those odds were much better.
"Sand Tsunami."
The sand unleashed into a huge surge, slamming into the cage and quickly filling it to the brim. Chomei tried his best to keep it at bay with his wind-style gusts but it didn't keep the sand back for long. In this mindscape bridge, the sand was endless which meant that my power was almost infinite. The sand finally slammed into Chomei, crushing him from all sides. I felt him squirm and thrash against the massive amount of sand pressing against him. It didn't matter though, I simply put more force behind the sand. Chomei stopped thrashing and grudgingly allowed me to hold him. I lowered my hand and shook my head, this fight was over.
"That was boring," complained Shukaku.
"I agree with you there but better boring than getting beat," I replied with a shrug. A boom responded through the mindscape suddenly, causing me to jump. I craned my neck around and found the cause of the sound pretty easily. A massive tear in the dark mindscape loomed over my head. The bridge wouldn't last much longer, it would soon fall apart.
"You don't have much time left Gaara. I've done my best but without your friend being conscious we can't keep this bridge up by ourselves," warned Shukaku.
"Don't worry, there is just one last thing I need to do," I reassured him. With a flick of me wrist, I lowered my sand platform down to Chomei's cage. I then released the pressure I was exerting on Chomei with the sand. The sand exploded back at me but stopped before it hit any part of me. Chomei roared angrily, thrashing around in his pile of sand.
"Knock it off, the fight is over Chomei. Shukaku and I will be gone soon anyway since this bridge won't last much longer," I told him. The giant bug halted his thrashing but still looked pretty unhappy about being submerged in sand.
"I'm getting tired of hearing you talk, what is it now," snarled Chomei.
"The reason I came here is that I wanted to help both you and Fu," I said without flinching. Chomei eyed me warily, it's hard to believe someone you think is your enemy. I wouldn't be too trusting in his position either. It didn't matter though, I needed to tell him what I came here to say before I ran out of time.
"Help me? You can't help me," snorted Chomei. I sighed, how could one creature be so resistant and rude?
"You said earlier how you feel trapped and that you wish to soar the skies again. You can still do that," I said. That caught Chomei's interest, a flicker of interest entering his expression.
"How am I supposed to do that while stuck in here," asked Chomei skeptically.
"You can do it by helping Fu, using her as your eyes and ears while keeping her company. Don't try and lie and say you've never been lonely either," I said sternly. Chomei bristled at my comment while Shukaku chuckled in the distance. Chomei whipped his head to start daggers at a laughing Shukaku. I cracked a smile, Shukaku always knew just how to annoy someone.
"Shukaku, why do you let this human walk all over you? Do you have no pride or dignity anymore? You used to demolish every human you laid eyes on, you cursed their very existence," yelled Chomei. Shukaku's laughter stopped but he still had a smug grin on his face. I wasn't sure why the tanuki was in such a good mood, maybe because I had beat Chomei? Probably not, the fight would have been very different in the real world.
"You really don't get it Chomei, though, I don't blame you. Not too long ago I was just like you, angry at everything. I still get angry and get into bloody rages but I feel almost as free as I was before I was sealed away," said Shukaku smugly. He really feels that way? All this time I assumed Shukaku just went along with me for murderous fun. It seemed I was wrong though, he actually had a much deeper reason.
"What are you talking about? How can you be free yet stuck in a cage," argued Chomei with confusion.
"A cage you say? It did feel like that for quite a time before Gaara loosened the seal a little. Now, I see, feel, and hear everything he does Chomei. I feel the warm sun on my skin, the cool night breeze on my face. Most importantly, I feel the rush and the pain of battle," cackled Shukaku with joy. Maybe he was a little psychotic but still, this was a pretty heartwarming confession to me.
"I don't believe it, the proud Shukaku reduced to a pet," snarled Chomei. My fist clenched until my hand was white, the mindscape suddenly crumbling and tearing even further.
"I don't even think you deserve to be called a Tai-"
A massive sand fist slammed into Chomei's face, a solid uppercut. The giant bug didn't even get to comprehend what happened before a sand fist slammed into him from above. The process repeated, bouncing Chomei up and down until he was a blur. The landscape crumbled and massive canyon-like openings coated the landscape.
"Don't you ever talk down to Shukaku, got that? Quit acting like you are above him because you are not, not until you realize the true meaning of his words will you ever be his equal," I shouted to the bug. A massive snap resounded through me and the landscape collapsed.
My eyes bolted open and I found myself on the floor. My body ached a little but what was really killing me was my head. A headache like no other was pounding my head.
"That's what you get for playing with something you know nothing about," laughed Shukaku. I groaned, just hearing his voice sent spikes of pain through my head.
"Maybe don't be so loud," I groaned. A booming laugh as a reply told exactly what he thought of that idea.
"You handled Chomei quite well, I'm surprised you figured it out," complimented Shukaku.
"I doubt if win in the real world but it sure did feel good. It got pretty intense in there towards the end," I said softly. Shukaku didn't reply but I didn't expect him to anyways. He never liked expressing his feelings toward me one on one. After laying on the wood floor for several more minutes the headache finally eased up and I found the strength to get up. Fu's small cabin was now a disaster, it was as if a tornado had ripped it apart on the inside.
Then I saw Fu was lying face down in the ground. Panic flowed through me, and shot from my gourd, and carefully picked her up. I flipped her bed back upright and set her down on it. A small gash on her forehead dripped blood down her face but other than that there was nothing wrong with her. My panic was replaced with guilt, a sigh escaping my throat. Grabbing a rag from her kitchen, I wiped the blood off of her face. I grabbed some bandages from my satchel and carefully wrapped her cut. Using my sand, I straightened Fu's cabin back to near perfection. I guess Chomei's Tailed Beast chakra had leaked out into the real world, causing the damage I saw. Exhausted, I collapsed into one of the chairs I had just set back upright. A look out the window showed a setting sun, meaning is been here an hour or two. I let loose another sigh and leaned back in my chair.
"I really messed this one up," I said aloud.
"What are you whining about," asked Shukaku. I hadn't expected him to answer me but I was kinda glad he did.
"The whole mindscape thing, I was in way over my head," I explained to him. Shukaku let loose a snort, one followed by a chuckle.
"You certainly were, you're not skilled enough to make your dream of being Kazekage come true yet Gaara. When you are, maybe you can try something like that again but until then you need to remember who you are. Your still quite young and inexperienced, your natural skill has been making up for that until now. You can't get ahead of yourself," advised Shukaku. I winced, could he be any more crushing if he tried? Then again, hearing what you needed to hear and what you wanted to was completely different. I wanted to hear I hadn't acted rashly and immaturely but that's not what happened. Shukaku was simply telling it as it was, he wasn't sidestepping the pain of the truth. It was kinda odd how wise he sounded, and how good the advice was. Shukaku wasn't normally very nice or helpful but lately that had been changing.
"Thanks for saying that, I needed to hear it," I said half-heartedly.
"Don't get so down on yourself Gaara. Your quite the human and quite the shinobi, almost on par with most jonin's I would say," he said with a mental shrug.
"I'm flattered since most shinobi you've met in your life were the best of the best. Then again, most of them died shortly after meeting you," I said dryly.
"You are correct about that, outside of the First Kazekage there weren't many that could stand my power," boasted Shukaku.
"Don't get ahead of yourself, you're not invincible," I reminded him bluntly. Shukaku went quiet after that but I could tell he wasn't angry, he just didn't want to bother answering. Shukaku may be a proud Tailed Beast but he wasn't dumb enough to refute that statement.
----------------------------------------------
I rested for another couple of hours while also keeping an eye on Fu, hoping she would wake up. Unfortunately, not once did she show any signs of coming out of her unconscious state. Her cabin was put back into a near-perfect state after I spent an hour going it over by hand, straightening and fixing things that had been knocked over that my sand hadn't gotten. The box full of necklaces for all of us jinchuriki had been knocked over, scattering them all across the floor. I was careful to make sure that I didn't miss any, Fu obviously held these very close to her heart. The funniest one was probably the necklace made for Utakata, the Six Tails jinchuriki of Saiken. Saiken looked like a weirdly shaped rock with two sticks poking out of it for his image on the pendant. Fu had probably tried many times to get it right but still had it ending up looking wrong. Personally, I wouldn't have even attempted to draw an image of the giant pile of slime that was Saiken. It didn't matter to me though, I wasn't the Six Tails jinchuriki so I didn't have to wear such a silly-looking pendant.
"How long are you going to mope around this cabin? I'm certain we can go find some people to kill if you just went and looked," complained Shukaku. I had to admit, even I was getting a little impatient waiting for Fu to wake up. The downtime wasn't appreciated when there was almost nothing for me to do to pass the time.
"Until she wakes up," I informed him. Shukaku let out an exasperated sigh, a clear message of his impatience with waiting on Fu. I shrugged it off and pulled up a chair next to Fu's bed. My gourd hit the floor with a thud as I u slug it from my back so I could sit. Sitting down, I knew too well I couldn't stay here all night. Baki would get concerned about me and would want to know if I had any information that might be of interest. Still, I didn't want to leave Fu alone, she would be hurting and probably scared when she woke up. It wouldn't leave a good impression at all if I just up and left.
"Why are you so concerned about this girl? We only met her a short time ago yet I sense you value her just as much as your siblings and close friends," observed Shukaku. Butterflies fluttered in my stomach and my face felt a little hot. Why did Shukaku have to so blatantly question my feelings? Especially when I didn't even know why I was acting this way.
"Because she is just like me, a jinchuriki. That alone gives us a huge connection," I explained to him. Shukaku snorted and then let loose a laugh, one that made me frown.
"What's so funny about that answer? It's true isn't it," I asked him.
"You don't honestly expect me to believe that is the whole reason, do you? After just meeting her you're ready to jump into her mind and try and knock some sense into her Tailed Beast. Yet, you didn't try that with the Nine-Tails and his jinchuriki," pointed out Shukaku. I gritted my teeth, damn Shukaku for being so observant. Then again, he definitely wasn't an idiot when he was calm.
"As I said earlier, I got ahead of myself on this one. With the whole incident with the Nine-Tails and his jinchuriki, I thought I could get a better outcome with Fu," I said as firmly as I could. This conversation was too awkward for me, Fu was laying right in front of me and we were talking like she wasn't there.
"Quit lying to me and yourself Gaara. You find her attractive, simple as that," said Shukaku with a deep laugh.
My hands well into my face as I wished I could curl up and disappear. Why did he have to be so straightforward?
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein