ICHI 00.0: Oasis Lost

[Shu]

"The desert is a place riff with death. It can be harsh and without mercy. You embody that desert, Shukaku, with each grain of sand. But even the desert is capable of giving life. I understand your hate and your rage. Allow me the chance to be that oasis, to try and cleanse you of that anguish."

Those were the first words that Gaara spoke to him after the war was over. The first words spoken to him after he was sealed within the former Kazekage once more. The beast had never laughed so hard. However, the word oasis seemed to stick out to him. For whatever reason. Little did he know that single word would be integral to the redefining of their relationship and Shukaku's views of the world.

ICHI 00.0: OASIS LOST

"You've been quiet lately," a woman announced, seemingly to herself as she walked through the desert. She was of average height with an athletic build, the standards of a kunoichi. She had decorative paint upon her face, and short black hair. Her attire was simple, comfortable, and concealed under her cloak. "Is something the matter, Shu-san?"

There were a stirring in her body, akin to nausea. It was a familiar sensation, unfortunately. For whatever reason she seemed to have struck a nerve.

Don't speak to me in such a friendly tone, the tanuki's voice echoed in her head. It's disgusting.

"Oh hush," the woman chided as she continued to walk. Her companions looked back at her but quickly knew that she was paying them no attention. "We have known each other for nearly all my life. Ever since my grand-uncle decided to train me to be your next host. I've earned the right to call you Shu-tan if I wanted."

At that moment she suddenly found herself pulled down into her subconsciousness where the Ichibi pinned her against the ground with his claws. Nevertheless, she remained unshaken by this sudden power play. Rather she simply looked Shukaku right in his golden eyes as he snarled. It was then that she understood.

"I miss him too," she said as she slowly pried herself from the sand. Six years ago, almost to the day, the world lost one of its greatest shinobi, Sabaku no Gaara. There were none in the village that were more shaken by his death than these two. In the past sixty years Gaara made it his life's mission to try and help Shukaku with the issues of his hate, very much like Naruto had accomplished with Kurama. It seemed to be a hopeless venture at first. Absorbed by his bloodlust Shukaku and driven by his rage, Gaara's words often fell on deaf ears. It wasn't until after the second year did the first step toward progress began. Like water rushing over a rock Shukaku's madness seemed to erode. The return of his mental clarity allowed for Gaara to actually speak to Shukaku for the first time. Little by little, a change began to occur in the Ichibi. By the time of his death Gaara had managed to create a change of heart in the beast.

Through the anger and pain Gaara had become an oasis for Shukaku. The one person that made him forget the horrors of his life. The second human he ever cared about, whether he would admit to it or not.

"I can never replace him. I know this, but I ask that we continue to honor his final wishes. I will never use you as a weapon. I seek camaraderie not power. I possess enough of that on my own," she said as she flexed a little. "All I ask is that you not let the kindness you possess to be swallowed by your lingering hatred."

Shukaku could not help but roll his eyes, or rather made the attempt to do the motion. She may have been his grand-niece, but the girl really took after him. Sheesh, you are just as long-winded as he was. Always oasis this. Oasis that. I got it already! he muttered with feigned annoyance. Broken records, I swear. The whole lot of you.

"Rinkō-dono, wake up," one of her companions said as he stirred her from her dive into the subconsciousness. It was not uncommon for her to just stop like this. They had grown accustomed to directing people around her in this state. But this was not a time when they could wait for her chat with the beast to come to an end on its own.

"What is it, Hoka?" the jinchūriki questioned a little bitterly.

"Company," her second companion answered and pointed to a nearby dune. Standing atop it was a tall man with dark cornrowed hair with braids in the back. A dark smirk was present on his face as a few more people began to appear, surrounding the trio.

"Greetings!" the dark haired man called out. "We have come to offer you a deal. The jinchūriki for the insured safety of your village. What do you say?"

...to be continued

[Shu]

Normally, a statement like that usually elicited some sort of response. Especially when the safety of the village seemed to be on the line. Yet Rinkō remained deadpanned, as if waiting for the punchline to some dumb joke. Her squad mates showed a little more sense of urgency, creating a perimeter around the jinchūriki and keeping an eye on their guests. With the exception of their apparent leader there were seven in total, the variety in their builds implied they were prepared for a multitude of situations.

"Perhaps that was a bit too harsh a sentiment," the man said as the tension he created was obvious. Glancing to one of his subordinates they simply shrugged. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Gunsenkai Shōgo, and we are the Bijūtsukai. We are an organization dedicated to seeing stability return to the world."

"And what does that have to do with me?" Rinkō questioned.

"Absolutely everything!" Shōgo said jovially. "We aren't so misguided as to believe we can stop wars or bring about world peace. No, no. That's simply part of human nature. But that is not," he said pointing towards Rinkō. Or rather the beast that resided within her. For the first time he managed to provoke a response from the woman, albeit a simple glare. "The Bijū have ravaged this world. Nothing more evident than the last great war. The villages have attempted to control their power through the creation of the jinchūriki, but it's a flawed system." One of the subordinates let out an audible cough, letting his leader know he was monologging. "Er, right. We seek to seal the beasts away permanently. So that the world can be rid of their destructive power once and for all. What do you say? Will you help us?"

"I'll pass," she responded simply and took notice to the shinobi that had them surrounded, as they prepared themselves to the inevitable fight to come. The feeling of nausea returned but she smiled. Don't worry. I won't let them get to you, she whispered to Shukaku.

"I guess Ōjin-san was right," Shōgo said with a sigh. "Guess we move to Plan B." His expression darkened, regretting that things had to turn this way. "Take them down." At the command two fireballs and a wind blast were launched at the trio by the man's subordinates.

"Hoka. Umari," she said as a faint smile tugged at the edges of her maroon painted lips. Her teammates did not even acknowledge her verbal cue, having already began preparations as soon as Shōgo finished speaking. Umari, an average sized woman with auburn hair, finished her hand seals and slammed her hands on the ground. A cylinder of red chakra erupted around them, creating a barrier that seemed to laugh at the feeble attacks. Once the barrier was up Hoka, a blond haired male, finished his own hand seals and summoned five large pots that encircled Rinkō. The pots were large and each were filled to the brim with a black, sand-like substance. "Thank you," Rinkō said simply as she dropped down into a meditative stance, closed her eyes, and focused her chakra throughout the pots while chanting.

"Why can we never just come home after a mission?" Hoka griped as he started to lend his own chakra to the barrier.

"Are you going to complain the entire time?" Umari asked. The barrier was hit by a few more rounds of jutsu before the dark haired man ordered them to stop. It was apparent that they were just wasting their energy trying to penetrate the wall of chakra. As annoying as it was, they would have to wait until Rinkō was ready to fight.

The wait would not be long.

Rinkō's chanting came to an abrupt stop and the black sand began to shift. Opening her eyes the jinchūriki rose to her feet, eyes locked coldly on Shōgo. He wanted to take Shu away? Fine. He would not be the first to try. But he would soon regret his decision. Despite being the jinchūriki of the Ichibi she had never drawn upon his power in the six years he resided in her body. Part of the reason being the promise she had made to the tailed beast. But more than that, she was a monster in her own right. The black sand erupted from the pots and formed into five spheres that hovered above Rinkō. Heralded as the Sandaime Kazekage's reincarnated she was well deserving of the moniker Kuroeisei, or Black Death. Accompanied by her teammates Shōgo and his crew would would suffer at the hands of Sunagakure's strongest three man cell.

"Let's begin," Rinkō said simply as the barrier dropped.

...to be continued

[Shu]

Wasting no time Hoka went through a quick series of seals, and with the clap of his hands a fūin on the backs of Rinkō's and Umari's necks appeared. "Let's finish this quick," the man said as he knelt down and closed his eyes. Hoka was a renowned sensor within the village, but he gained most of his recognition for being the strategic mastermind of Rinkō's team. With his vision no longer distracting him he was able to sense enter into what he called his "true sight." As if he had left his own body he attained a bird's eye view of the battlefield. The fūin he marked his teammates with would allow them to link up with Hoka, allowing him to "paint" high priority targets for them and cut down on verbal commands.

With the link established Rinkō could feel all eight Bijūtsukai and had a general sense of all their locations. This was all she needed. The performance could now begin. As if by command two of Shōgo's followers cast aside their cloaks, revealing two short-haired female twins, both brandishing sickles and chains. In unison they raced down their sand dunes, eyes locked on Rinkō.

"Your sacrifice will be of great use for our cause," one of the sisters said as she whirled the chain of her weapon.

"Yeah, you painted bitch. The world doesn't need any more monsters running around," the more crass of the sisters said as they narrowed in on their target.

Rinkō's deadpan returned with the painted comment. It was clearly a crack on "painted women" being an old term for a slut or prostitute. And like the reference, the joke was old. It had been said by enemies, friends, and haters alike ever since she adopted the face paint in remembrance of her grandfather. Indulging the provocation Rinkō dashed forward to meet her attackers, black spheres floating behind her.

The first wave of combat began near instantaneously. The large weight attached to the end of one of the chain cut through the air, aimed at Rinkō's chest. With a swift veer to the left the attack was dodged, opening her up to a follow-up by the other sister. Iron sand raced from one of the spheres and blocked the sickle that was about to cut into her skull. The next moments were a display of how graceful these women were when it came to combat. Iron sand and chains snaked through the air at the behest of simple arm movements. But just as quickly as it had started this fight would end. "Thank you for the warm up," the jinchūriki said, her tone was icy but hinted she was enjoying herself.

Or rather, what she was about to do.

Jumping back from her attackers Rinkō extended he right arm. "What was that, bit--" the crass sister was cut off as her own chain snaked itself around her neck and tightened. See, Jiton, or Magnet Release, gave her the dominion over all metals. The iron sand had already been treated with her chakra so it was easier to use. So she embedded grains of iron sand between the joints in the chain links to lessen the chakra strain. Plus, killing the bitch with her own weapon offered a much higher level of catharsis. With a flick of her finger the chain shot up, snapping the woman's neck, and leaving her dangling in the air for a few moments before being dropped in the sand. The sister wouldn't have much time to process the death of her sibling. With her other hand Rinkō motioned upward and dozens of senbon made of iron sand, created from the iron sand knocked away by their weapons, shot up from the desert floor and riddled the woman's body. She muttered something and fell lifeless to the ground. I do enjoy watching you fight when you're mad, Shu said with an amused smirk. So ruthless. All cause of a joke.

"Joke implies that it was funny. Besides, I'm hoping the others would get the hint," she said as she glared up at Shōgo. "Don't fuck with me," Rinkō announced and glanced around to see how the rest of the fight was going.

Things were going as expected. Hoka was safely contained behind a multi-layered barrier, created by Umari but was being sustained by his chakra. In the meanwhile, Umari was living up to her title of Gunjisangyō, or Defense Contractor. For any offensive brought against her or Hoka she was able to offer up the appropriate countermeasure. Barriers, Doton, Fūton, weapons, you name it and she had access. Paired with Hoka's guidance her defense was absolute. Much to the annoyance of Shōgo's lackeys.

"Fall back," Shōgō ordered as he began to clap, applauding the performance Rinkō and her comrades displayed. "It's no wonder Sunagakure places such high hopes in you. All the rumors don't do you justice," he commended. Looking at his remaining allies it appeared their numbers had dwindled down to four. Conventional means of fighting were utterly ineffective against this group. But that was the beauty of Plan B. Shōgō had already accounted for that. "But I know your weakness," the Bijūtsukai said with a dark laugh and snapped his fingers. His remaining subordinates moved so that they had the trio surrounded once more. In a unified motion they all drew blood, ran through a string of handseals, and then slammed their hands on the sand.

"A summon!" Umari and Rinkō said in unison as the fūin spread under their feet. While there was no outward result of the technique there was a definite shift in the sand.

"This isn't good," Hoka added in as he could sense the chakra below their feet. It was large. Whatever it was.

"Let the feast begin~!" Shōgō called out.

The sand beneath began to rumble before instantly caving in on itself. Rinkō, Hoka, and Umari tried desperately to gain some sort of footing but the speed at which the sand was being pulled down was too strong. Even attempting to use chakra was pointless since the sand kept changing. In the attempt to buy them some time to think Umari created a couple of large rock slabs, so that they could have some sort of stability. See, despite how coordinated and well-timed their teamwork was or how diverse their abilities were they were not a very agile group. And without proper footing they lost their greatest strength, control.

A thunderour roar came from the epicenter of the death pit, which was still too far down to see. Oooh, an antlion. Sure is a shame you can't control sand, ain't it, Rin? Shu teased, knowing well that she would never ask for his help. If he would even allow it was something he was not even sure about himself.

"Shut it, Shu!" she barked. "Just sit back and watch!" Closing her eyes she exhaled deeply. She stopped trying to fight against the situation. They were being sucked in by a giant insect. Fine. Whatever. Shit happened. She was not about to allow herself to be written off so easily. Her lineage would not allow it. Extending her arms out she made use of her Jiton, summoning all of her iron sand to her. Ten spheres erupted from the sand, hovering above the trio. "Trust me?" she asked as he looked at her teammates.

"Only as much as you trust yourself," Hoka said with a nervous laugh. He could feel them getting closer to the beast. It's massive fangs now visible in the darkness.

She laughed and without wasting any more time Rinkō went into action. With a few simple gestures from her left hand two of the spheres scattered apart and coated their bodies. With a few more she plucked them from the sand, where they were now hovering thanks to her Jiton. As if aware that its trap was now foiled the antlion let out another roar. Bursts of sand started to shoot up from the pit in their direction, but like a master puppeteer she maneuvered everyone and her spheres out of harms way.

Feeling no need to endanger her teammates any more she sent them up to the top of the pit. Those other guys were up there, sure, but Rinkō had faith they would be okay. In either case, she needed to focus on dealing with her current pest problem. Gathering her remaining eight spheres of iron sand into one she created a giant triangle sphere.

"Kekkei Tōta!" she called out as she began to alter the properties of her Jiton. The grains of iron sand all began to buzz and glow white hot, illuminating the hideous beast below. It roared once more. "Shimetsuton!¹"

...to be continued

---

¹Shimetsuton = Annihilation Release

[Shu]

Shimetsuton, Annihilation Release, was the culmination of a decades long quest. Her grandfather, the great puppeteer Kankurō, and mentor, Subaku no Gaara, would spend hours regaling her about the Fourth Great War. Since the age of five she was fascinated with the powers of the Jūbi. It goes without saying that it was the driving force of her growth as a kunoichi. With her Jiton she could come close to using the chakra weapons Obito once wielded, but it wasn't until she developed her own kekkei tōta that she could harness even a fraction of the Jūbi's sheer destructive power.

It was her greatest weapon. A testament to her genius.

"Kekkei Tōta! Shimetsuton!" Rinkō called out as she fired the white hot triangle towards the antlion's maw. It connected without fail and the creature hissed horribly, thrashing away in pain as the triangle passed through its body. Each grain of iron sand grinding it away and incinerating it on a near molecular level. The sand that poured over the remainder of the corpse turned the glass before being covered by the rest of the falling sand. Lowering herself to the bottom of the pit she dropped to her knees, panting heavily. That was the thing about trump cards. They often did just as much harm as they did good. In this case, even for her the technique was extremely taxing on her chakra reserves. It also was incredibly self-destructive, leaving no traces of iron sand in its wake. All she had left was what little she used to allow herself and her teammates to simulate flight.

Annihilation Release. Seriously? That's the name you came up with? Shu asked as he laughed, unabashedly loud too.

"It's just a placeholder!" Rinkō said in her defense, her face red with embarrassment. "Until I think of something better."

Don't lie, idiot! You said it with such enthusiasm! he continued to taunt, his laughter unending. Fucking loser.

"I don't recall asking your opinion,_bastard" she retorted as she stood to her feet and dusted herself off. She had rested enough. There was still the matter of the Bijūtsukai to deal with. Now was not the time to sit around conversing with her inner demon about the symbolism of the name Shimetsuton and the beautiful simplicity it carried. Using her Jiton once more she flew herself out of the crater. Closing her eyes she allowed herself to focus on the chakra signatures above, thanks to Hoka's seal still being active. From the looks of it, Umari and Hoka managed to finish off the rest of their attackers as she could only sense two signatures.

Reaching the top of the pit she smiled as she slowly landed on the ground. "Good job, guys," she said as she turned to face her teammates. However, he smile quickly faded as Hoka had Umari pinned to the ground, a sword through her torso. "What the hell?" she asked horrified as a strange magatama pattern spread across Hoka's skin.

"Seifuku no Hōseki," Shōgō whispered into Rinkō's ear. He then pressed his hand against her back, inserting the chakra bead he had created into her body. "Jewels of Subjugation. Allows me to implant my desires into anyone I wish. Best part is that they think the idea is their own," Shōgō explained. It was pointless though. Rinkō's eyes had already glossed over as the jutsu began to work its way through her mind.

"Unseal...the beast," she muttered in a daze. Her hand hovered just above her heart, the location of Shukaku's seal. Applying chakra to it she groaned as a sharp pain started to overtake her.

Shu noticed the change immediately, and pulled her back into her subconsciousness. The fuck are you doing with my seal? he questioned with a raised brow.

"Unsealing...the beast," she answered, but it was clear that she was having some difficulty understanding herself. "No, that's not right." She shook her head and looked up at the giant tanuki. That's right. She had to protect him. If the seal broke then that would be impossible.

"You really are impressive, Jinchūriki-san. Nobody ever puts up a fight against my jutsu," Shōgō said as he entered into her subconsciousness as well, walking behind Rinkō. Upon his appearance the tanuki snarled and sent his tail to crush the invader, but stopped when realizing it would do just as much harm to Rinkō. "Loyal. Never would have expected that from the Ichibi," he said with a chuckle.

"I won't let you get him," Rinkō said as she struggled against his control.

"I highly doubt that," Shōgō said as he increased the power of his jutsu. More magatama spread across her body. She screamed in mental and physical anguish as she once again started to undo the seal. Tears steaming down her face.

Stop it! Shu barked. He had to help her. Or did he? She was the only obstacle standing in his way of freedom. Even if he liked her, begrudgingly, she was still his prison. He was conflicted. Freedom or family? Greed or mercy?

"SHU-SAN!" Rinkō cried out, now on her knees in agony. It broke her heart to be forced into this situation. She never wanted to have to use his power. That was the promise she had made to him. But she could not fight off Shōgō alone. "Help...me," she pleaded, looking directly into Shu's eyes.

What was he doing? Of course he had to help her. How could he forgive himself if he allowed anything to happen to the girl. Gaara and her were the only ones that cared about him. So what if he got free. It would be pointless if she wasn't there to ramble on and on to him.

Spears of sand erupted from Shu's astral body, but before he could launch them Shōgō raised his hand.

"Too late~" he said as he took complete control of Rinkō's mind and she went silent. The remainder of the seal was forced open, expelling them from the mental plane.

Wasting no time Shōgō immediately put some distance between himself and Rinkō's body as the sand began to shift. Like a tornado the sand swirled violently until it took the form of the one-tailed tanuki, which let out a roar upon its completed emergence.

"And now you're mine," Shōgō chimed as he leaped towards Shu's face, landing on his muzzle. With a large magatama chakra gem in his hand he attempted to slam the jewel into the beast. Before he could accomplish that sand had coiled around his body and bounded his movement.

"No. You're mine," Shu said grimly as the sand rapidly enveloped the Bijūtsukai. Channeling his chakra into that sand he started to perform the jutsu that he had been preparing in case of just such an event, Tanukitsuki. It took only a matter of seconds before the jutsu had been completed and Shōgō's body had been sealed into the sand, which then returned to Shu's body. Unlike in the past where he would gradually eat away at a host's personality Shu wasted no time. He devoured the man's mind in one bite, leaving his body nothing more than a husk for Shu's personal use. Wasting no time in testing out the capabilities of his technique the giant sand tanuki dissolved into the desert, leaving a golden-eyed Shōgō in its place.

"Not bad for a first attempt. Wouldn't you say, Rin?" he chuckled and then realized his error. Where was she? With a wave of his new hand waves of sand were cast aside until he found his former host's body. Racing to her Shu frantically searched for a pulse. "Hey, hey! How are you supposed to be my oasis if you're dead?" he snapped at her. Then he found it. A pulse. She was alive! But even he, a beast whose only specialty was murder, knew that she was fading fast.

So, he did the only thing that he could think of. He sealed her into his body with the Tanukitsuki.

However, unlike with the Bijūtsukai her mind was not active. Whatever Shōgō had done to her had damaged her mind. She would be able to survive thanks to his jutsu, but he could do nothing to bring her back now.

As part of the jutsu all of her memories started to open up to the tanuki, but it just made his sorrow that much deeper. She had loved him her entire life, well before it was decided that she would be his next host. And it was because of him that she was gone. A tear rolled down his cheek. If he had not hesitated. If he hadn't betrayed her she would still be fine. But now it was too late. His oasis was lost.

...fin