A storm of sand and blaze (Gaara fanfiction and The Love Story He Deserves)

Chapter 2: The lonely feather

The high walls that surrounded the Demon Desert were now cracked and covered with poisonous thorny ivy. By that time, the burning orange sunbeams came from the west and the shadow of the fortress seemed like an abysm itself.

"Lord Kazekage," one of the guards spoke when they were standing in front of the fortress "I suggest we stay here till tomorrow's sunrise. We haven't rested and the dangers inside the walls are greater at night".

Gaara crossed his arms and closed his eyes for a second. They had traveled for almost a day without any rest. Their skin had been burnt by the furious sun and their lips seemed dry like the sand. Besides, he also needed a break. The amount of chakra he had been using to move across the desert was significantly high.

"We will rest for some hours". He stated as he opened his eyes again. "But we cannot stay here till the sunrise".

Both shinobi nodded and quickly started a fire. While they ate salted meat and crystallized fruits, Gaara stayed apart and took a sit on the sand. He tried to contact Shukaku by calling him inside his head, but it was useless. The beast didn't reply, leaving Gaara's heart under a bigger concern.

After three hours, the Kazekage stood up once again and called both of his guards by their names to continue their quest. Rui and Oi climbed the wall following Gaara's sand. Once in the summit, they had a total view of the place where the Chunin exams used to be. There were poisonous cacti all around, mysterious caves where gigantic three-tailed scorpions and ants hid, and sharp rock formations with tracks of old spider webs. However, there was no sign of the One-Tailed Beast. There was no possible way Gaara and the shinobi could not see such a big creature in a flat land like that one even if it was covered with some type of still life.

"Shall we enter, Lord Kazekage?"

"Not yet..."

Something is wrong... Shukaku couldn't lie to me. He must be here, somewhere.

Gaara narrowed his eyes while thinking, and slowly passed his eyes all over the place

"Wait, I can feel someone's chakra!" Rui exclaimed. "It's there. Inside the flower of that biggest cactus in the middle of the field".

"Are you sure it is a person's chakra?" Gaara asked staring at it.

"Yes, Kazekage-sama. He was trying to hide it, but it's a strong one".

"Stay back. I am going to handle this myself".

Both shinobi nodded and stepped back. Gaara raised one of his hands and the whole ground trembled. A fist made out of sand formed right next to the cactus and, with the strength of a crashing wave, it smashed the plant. A cloud of powder rose from the ground and from inside of it, like a shooting star, a blaze of blue and red fire flew swiftly to the top of the sky.

Once the cloud of sand vanished, Gaara and his guards could see it clearly. In front of the silver moon, a bird with the size of a person and feathers made of blue and red fire faced them opening its wings. Gaara opened his eyes widely. The two shinobi got ready to attack.

"Don't attack!" He commanded. "Shukaku told me about it".

"Hey!" The creature spoke loudly with an annoyed voice. "Sand Master! I was waiting for you! Was it necessary to wake me up like that?"

"Are you Kaji Feza?" Gaara asked.

"That's my name!"

"I wish to have a word with you".

"So do I" The bird admitted with a softer voice. "However, I would like to have some privacy".

The Kazekage frowned. Yet, after an instant of silence, he realized that Rui hadn't put away his weapon. His arm was tense, sustaining a bow and an arrow made of blue chakra.

"I said no attack...!"

Gaara's voice was interrupted by a fiercely hit of lightning. His sand protection could stop the attack, but Oi jumped behind him in a blink. With the second strike, he could scratch the chick of his master.

An ambush

Inside his sand igloo, Gaara could hear the arrow been shot at the firebird. The two shinobi weren't there to protect him but to get rid of him and ultimately get to the One-Tailed Beast. Had they suggested to wait till the sunrise to try to kill him in his sleep? At that moment, he felt the burning blood reach his head and furiously his fist of sand started to chase Oi. The blade of lightning could cut roughly through the sand and the traitor was able to flee continuously while running over the walls that surrounded the Demon Desert.

At that moment the Kazekage heard a painful scream cover the night. One of the arrows had hit the leg of the bird and Rui was pulling it with strength towards him.

"Gaara!" Shukaku's voice reached again his head. "Cover yourself now! The bird is gonna explode!"

"What?"

"Do it!"

The layers of sand of his igloo became thicker in some seconds and then he heard the terrible noise of the blast. The heat was so high that nothing could have survived outside. Some pieces of the sand layers cracked and fell down. Gaara looked around quickly and saw a thin silhouette free falling. One of his hands took control immediately of the desert sand and carefully, he caught the creature before it fell into the rocks.

The maintenance of his protection during the blast had consumed a lot of the Kazekage's chakra so he would have to hide inside the fortress while he recovered enough energy to go back home. He approached the bed of sand he made for the creature to check if it was still alive. However, when he was next to her, Gaara discovered it wasn't a bird but a woman who was laying over the sand.

Note: Fire Feather can be translated as Kaji Feza in Japanese.