Losing Control

"Gaara."

Who was calling my name? Where was I? All I could see was eternal darkness, not a single thing in sight. Had I died? The last thing I remembered was Isori stabbing me through my chest.

"Gaara, wake up you imbecile," said the voice. It sounded very familiar, who was it? How could I wake up if I was dead anyway, that didn't make sense.

"We aren't dead, how dense can you be? Do I really have to wake you up myself," grumbled the voice. I was starting to get annoyed by this voice, who was it to judge me anyway? Also, why was it referring to me as we?

"RELEASE," roared the deafening voice.

Suddenly, I was pulled from the pitch-black abyss and was standing in a clearing. I was in the Forest of Death, I was with Kankuro and Temari. Wait, we were under attack, what happened? I glanced down to find no hole in my chest even though I swore I remembered that punk Isori stabbing me.

"Gaara, snap out of it! It's a genjutsu," yelled another familiar voice. I whipped around to a sight that brought me straight back to earth. Kankuro was fighting Migaki with Crow, a very uneven battle since Migaki could read Crow's move before even Kankuro finished it. Behind them, Temari was facing off against Isori with her iron fan. Her shoulder was bleeding slightly so she must have ripped out some of her stitches. Isori was being repelled by Temari's wind-style attacks but just barely. He was extremely quick, almost as fast as Rock Lee without his leg weights. Migaki was throwing kunai at Kankuro who had his eyes glued to the ground. Why was he fighting while not paying attention to his opponent?

Then it hit me, genjutsu was what he was trying to avoid. Migaki had put me under one the second I had looked into her Sharingan. Isori stabbing me had been an illusion, but who had released me from it? Kankuro and Temari were busy fightings so they couldn't have possibly done it.

"Quit standing around and start fighting," yelled Shukaku. His voice clicked and I realized it had been him who had released me from the genjutsu. That was why the voice had said we, Shukaku had been talking about us sharing a body.

Shaking off my fogginess, I summoned my iron sand and regular sand from my scrolls. I sent a wave of regular sand at Migaki and then made a wave of Sand Shuriken for Isori. Both of the Uchihas leaped away to escape my attack, giving Kankuro and Temari a much-needed pause.

"Don't bully my siblings," I said to them. Migaki looked at me with a shocked look. Isori grimaced and then glared at me. I didn't see Toziwa anywhere, I needed to watch out for him.

"How did you get out of my genjutsu? Only a jonin-level ninja could possibly escape my Sharingan," said Migaki angrily. I shrugged, sending my sand at her again. Migaki just barely managed to jump away before my sand slammed into the ground where she had stood. Isori charged me but was forced to leap away when a volley of senbon from Crow flew at him.

"Kankuro, you and Temari take care of Isori. I'll handle Migaki and the other one who is hiding," I yelled to him. They nodded their heads and immediately commenced a combined attack of Wind Scythe and Kankuro's projectiles. I turned back to Migaki but I closed my eyes. Looking at her again would only trap me in another genjutsu, it seems to be her specialty. I had toyed around with fighting by just using my sand as my sight, it was rough but not impossible. I used my Sand Sensor Jutsu, spreading particles all around the clearing. I now could feel everything, all while keeping my eyes closed. My reaction time would still be cut short but I wouldn't be put under a genjutsu again by looking in Migaki's Sharingan.

"Fighting me with your eyes closed? I'd say it's a foolish idea but I can see all of that chakra-infused sand you've spread around. I take it's some kind of sensor," said Migaki confidently. I gritted my teeth, I wasn't fighting a fool or a weakling. I'd have to overpower Migaki if I wanted to win this fight. She was far too smart to fall for any simple trick I could think up.

"Don't think just because you can see my Jutsu means you can defeat me," I remarked. I formed several iron sand needles and shot them at Migaki. She weaved side to side, nimbly dodging between the iron sand needles. She then threw several kunai at me but my sand shield caught them. I vaguely sensed Migaki's expression go bitter at her perfect attack being so effortlessly blocked. It was pretty cool how precise the Sand Sensor Jutsu could be, detecting even the slightest details.

"We would've easily knocked you out when you were in my genjutsu if your stupid sand wouldn't have blocked us," she said with gritted teeth. So that's why I hadn't been harmed physically, they couldn't even touch me. Migaki threw several more kunai and shuriken but all of them were stopped. I stood there with a smile, trying to grab Migaki with my iron sand or at least injure her. It wasn't that easy though, Migaki was just fast enough to avoid it while sending attacks at me. Currently, I didn't have enough sand to encircle her so she couldn't jump away. I was working on that though, grinding up the earth beneath me all while attacking Migaki. I wondered if she had even noticed more and more sand joining my sand shield. Migaki threw a shuriken wildly that completely missed me. She then threw a curved one right after it that hit the one before it. It corrected its path, shooting straight for my back. It was pointless as all the attacks before it, the sand shield raised and blocked the shuriken right before it would have sunk into my back.

"You are quite good, it's not easy to make calculations like and then actually apply them," I complimented her.

"Shut up, how is it possible for your sand to always protect you even when you can't possibly know what I'm going to do? It's impossible," she shouted.

"Stop throwing a fit," I said coldly. Putting sand in both of my hands, I hardened it and made Sand Spears. I threw one straight for her leg but I only managed to graze her. The other I threw for a direct hit but she dove out of the way. Migaki suddenly perked her head up and then scrambled away desperately. I frowned, I hadn't even done anything yet. Why was she running away?

Pain shot through my whole body all of the sudden, causing me to fall to my knees. What was this? My sand shield should've stopped anything or anyone from getting too close. I could sense the sand shield activating now that I was in pain but I didn't think it even knew what it was trying to protect. I decided to open my eyes, Migaki was gone so genjutsu wouldn't be an issue right now.

When I opened my eyes, a purple mist filled my vision. This mist must be what was making my whole body ache. I scrambled forward which inky caused further pain throughout my body. The pain worsened with each breath I took of the toxin, I could feel my strength waning.

"Shukak-"

"Fine, I'll lend you my strength," he said immediately. If I didn't know any better I would say he sounded concerned.

Power flowed through my body and I felt sand coat my right side. My eyes shifted from mine to Shukaku's, enhancing my vision. The effects of the toxin eased to be bearable, giving me some relief.

"Hurry up and get out of this purple mist, my power doesn't make you immune," said Shukaku. I nodded, then I took my right arm which was now Shukaku's, and extended it forward. It zoomed away, slamming into something a few seconds later. I grabbed whatever I had hit and retracted my arm quickly. I was thrown forward, flying through the mist until I escaped it. Now in clear air, I landed sideways on the tree I had latched onto to free myself of the mist. Looking around I saw Toziwa and Migaki staring up at me in fear as well as amazement. I could see purple mist emitting from Toziwa's mask, it must be some kind of special ability of his.

"You've got to be careful Gaara, that mist is no joke. It clogs up your body, slowing you down as well as giving you painful shocks," warned Shukaku.

"Since when did you become so caring," I snarled. I wasn't in the mood for this right now, I was aching pretty bad. Shukaku growled, a wave of anger suddenly washing over me. Hate flowed through every fiber of my body and it felt good, even replacing almost all of my pain. It wasn't my anger or hate but it didn't matter to me right now. Shukaku's partial transformation expanded forcefully almost over my whole body except for my left leg and the right side of my face. Everything else was covered in curse mark sand. I couldn't think straight, every bone in my body was screaming with fury. Then I sensed a presence appear behind me. I glanced back and saw the glint of a blade rushing toward me. The tanto collided with my partial transformation and bounced off. My sand was far too tough in this state for the blade to puncture Shukaku's armor. Using my newly formed tail, I grabbed Isori and wrapped him up. I brought him right out to my face where u could see him shaking in fear. His Sharingan stared into me but I didn't even feel a little afraid.

"What are you," he asked unsteadily. I tightened my tail around him further, causing him to cry out in pain.

"I'm your worst nightmare," I responded with a ghoulish laugh. Tightening my tail around him even further elicited a scream. I merely smiled at the sight, too far from being in control to care.

"We should rip him in half for targeting us," said Shukaku. I smirked in agreement but a part of me wouldn't allow it. Something inside screamed that this was wrong, that I couldn't do this. I tried shaking it off but it just wouldn't go away.

"Isori! Are you okay," shouted Migaki concernedly from below. Looking down I could tell before Toziwa and Migaki were worried but they couldn't help him. Kankuro and Temari were keeping them busy, making it unable for them to assist Isori. A question popped into my mind and I realized how was the perfect time to ask it.

"Why are you targeting me? I thought at first it was just coincidence but we've run-ins for them to be a coincidence," I said to him with my jagged voice. I could feel my anger waning a little bit even though Shukaku was trying to maintain his control over me. I pushed him away, the answer to this question was more important.

"I don't know what you're talking about," said Isori weakly. He was barely able to breathe with my tail wrapped around him so tightly. My anger flared up a little again, my patience wearing thin.

"Cut the crap and tell me already. Your mom threatened to kill me if I didn't stay away from you and you seem to be everywhere I go," I snarled at him. Isori flinched when I mentioned his mom, he must know something.

I wouldn't be getting an answer, two figures suddenly leaped from the trees and slammed into me. Pain throbbed where they had hit, barely enough to even make me feel it. Shukaku's armor was too tough for whatever they hit me with but I was still thrown off balance. I lost my grip on the tree and plummeted down to the ground. Extending my right arm, I grabbed a low branch and swing off of it. I landed safely on the ground with a thud, Isori still in my tail.

Three people landed in front of me, all much older than your average genin. They did look confident or even nervous, all three of them stonefaced. Two guys and then a girl farther back, one of the guys had a scar across his face while the other had a crooked nose. All three wore Hidden Lead headbands, something that wasn't a coincidence.

"Let Isori go," said the scar-faced man neutrally. I scowled, these three definitely weren't genin and if they were they were easily the best here. I didn't need to see their Jutsu or their fighting, their demeanor said it all. Even high-level jonin would be startled by my current appearance but these guys hadn't even flinched. It was like someone had warned them about it.

"And if I don't," I said with a growl. The three Lead shinobi didn't even respond, they advanced forward within the blink of an eye. A poof of smoke covered the scar-faced man briefly, which then cleared to reveal a katana in his hands. I raised my hand and formed it into a round shield. The other two ninjas appeared on either side of me, behind my shield. They were too quick for me, I didn't have a good enough response time even in this partial transformation. The katana cut a quarter of the way through my sand shield before being stopped. Chakra radiated from the blade, explaining why it had even been able to cut through any of my sand shield. There two other ninjas suddenly appeared on each side of me. Both wielded strange kunai that also glowed with chakra. They plunged them into my gut and twisted them. I felt a slight twinge of pain, my armor hadn't been enough to stop the kunai entirely.

"I'm taking over," said Shukaku. A huge force pressed on my head and made me scream in pain. I tried my best to repel him but I couldn't, he was too rageful and I was too weakened.

"Get off of me," said Shukaku with my mouth. Everyone froze, the three ninjas attacking me even flinched. They all had the same look of terror on their faces, especially Kankuro and Temari.

"Shukaku, don't do this," I begged him.

"I'm just going to have a little fun," said Shukaku with a deranged laugh.

Two new arms shot from my chest and grabbed the woman and the man who stabbed me with kunai. The arms moved with a speed greater than I could possibly use them at. The two ninjas slammed sickeningly into a tree, briefly staying there for a few seconds. The tree then split under the pressure and the two ninjas went straight through it. Then the woman and the man hit another tree with such force their bodies formed human indents in the tree. Shukaku released his grip on the now lifeless corpses of the two ninjas, pulling the extra arms back into my body. The scar-faced ninja leaped back in fear. He scrambled towards Temari and Kankuro, who stood by there unmoving. By the time they came to their senses, it was too late. The ninja had grabbed Temari and now held a kunai to her throat. Kankuro moved his fingers to use Crow but the man jerked the kunai closer when he saw. Blood dripped down Temari's neck from the point getting too close to her skin.

"Back up or this brat gets it," shouted the man. Kankuro backed up to stand near Migaki and Toziwa. All three of them seemed to be absolutely stunned by the events of the last few minutes. Isori was still wrapped in my tail and had completely given up on trying to escape.

"Let me handle this," I told Shukaku.

"Why should I? I can kill him myself."

"Because I'm the only one of us that can handle it delicately. You've had your fun, you've messed with my head, now let me take control," I roared at him. Shukaku merely grumbled at my heart-filled response.

"No."

One word and everything came crashing down on me. I shouldn't have asked for his power in this state, I'm far too weak to completely force him out of control. I had let his anger wash over me and handed him the keys to my body.

"Let Isori go," yelled the man. He still shakily held the kunai to Temari's throat while everyone else stared on in worry. Kankuro didn't want to move because the man might kill Temari. Toziwa and Migaki didn't want to move because they were worried about what I would do to Isori. I could tell Shukaku had no intentions of complying with the man. He was going to get Kankuro and Temari killed, I needed to do something.

"Shukaku, I'm done playing around," I said to him. I began throwing my conscious at his in a bid to gain control. Shukaku fought back, slamming into my conscious with his to try and hold on. I managed to grab a slight bit of control, just enough to move my body. Using my tail, I threw Isori towards the scar-faced man. Isori hit the ground hard, rolling to lay right in front of Temari and the ninja.

"What are you doing," roared Shukaku. Another wave of anger passed over me that made my grip on my body slip. I desperately fought back and barely managed to keep command over my body.

"I can handle this," I told him. I wasn't even sure if that was directed toward Shukaku or myself.

"Now back away," yelled the scar-faced man. I went to move my legs but found I couldn't, Shukaku wouldn't let me.

"Kill him," shouted Shukaku. My tail suddenly moved on its own accord and shot into the ground. I felt it extend away from me and towards Temari and the man.

"What are y-"

The man was thrown off his feet as my tail erupted from the ground beneath his feet. The tail went straight through his chest and out the other side of his body. Blood spewed from his impaled body and splattered the ground crimson.

"There, I took care of it," said Shukaku roughly. Not a sound escaped my mouth. I watched blood drip down the lifeless body of the man, wondering what his life had been like. Temari stumbled back from the body in horror, as did Kankuro. My tail suddenly retracted from the corpse, traveling back underneath the ground until it was back to normal size.

"Why did you do all of this," I said, my voice cracking at the end. Shukaku's consciousness halted, stopping all of the force it was pushing on my own conscious.

"What do you mean? Isn't this what you wanted," asked Shukaku with a confused tone.

"No, I didn't want to murder all of them," I screamed at him. It was my anger that was now flowing unchecked instead of his.

"But they are enemies, you've killed plenty of enemies before," said Shukaku nonchalantly.

"This is different," I said raggedly. He snorted and then laughed. My frustration was starting to mount at his lack of respect for me.

"Quit trying to fool yourself Gaara, this is a violent world. You just don't like how violently I killed them, don't you? Easy to be all high and mighty when killing those rogue ninjas or rebels, since they deserved it. Just because these humans deserved it a little less doesn't mean anything," said Shukaku coldly. My gut twisted at his words not in disgust but in fear he was right. It felt hard to justify killing them when two were bloody spots on a tree and the other had a gaping hole in his chest. Why was I so angry about killing these ninjas? They had attacked me first with lethal intent but it still unsettled me.

"Snap out of your stupid trance, that Uchiha boy is getting up."

I looked to find that Shukaku was correct, Isori was now on his feet. His expression radiated hate and his eyes were ablaze with rage.

"No wonder they wanted us to take down a monster like you. You're just as big of a threat to the village as he said" Isori spouted with a crazy look. They? He? Who were these people he was talking about and why did they want me dead? I could assume the ninjas I had just killed had snuck into the exam for the very reason of eliminating me. They definitely weren't genin, they were far too battle-hardened.

"I'll make you a deal, if you promise to obliterate this Uchiha I'll let you have control," said Shukaku. He sounded very annoyed, not at me but at Isori.

"Deal," I said without hesitation. At least Shukaku and I could agree on one thing. Isori Uchiha needed to be taught a lesson.

"Toziwa! Migaki! Don't forget what our real mission is," yelled Isori. He then picked up his tanto that had fallen to the ground earlier, ready to fight me. Migaki and Toziwa didn't move, they were looking at me nervously. They seemingly had more sense than Isori since neither of them looked like they wanted to fight.

"Who sent you to kill me," I asked Isori. His face twisted with frustration and he launched himself at me. He sure was quick, zipping across the distance between us in a block of an eye. Isori stabbed straight for my chest but obviously hadn't learned his lesson. His blade barely made a difference, piercing only an inch into my armor. I grabbed him and lifted him off his feet. I noticed his Sharingan wasn't activated, he must be running low on chakra. The Sharingan sucked a lot of chakra from a person's reserve and Isori had shown no restraint while using it.

Suddenly, Toziwa was right next to my face. His palms were level with my eyes and purple mist abruptly started to spew out of his sleeves. I began coughing harshly as the mist enveloped my face. Lashing out with one of my arms, I sent Toziwa soaring into a tree. He crumbled to the ground, out of action. A shock of pain slammed into my head from the mist, causing me to release Isori. He leaped away while I stumbled backward from the mist.

"This stupid damn mist," complained Shukaku. After he said that, power flowed through my body and relieved much of my pain.

"Shukaku, you're going to wear yourself out if you keep taking in all the toxins from the mist," I warned. Shukaku shared the risks of combat when in this partial transformation. It would damage him just as it did me when he shared his abilities.

"Worry about yourself Gaara," he said.

"Migaki, combo move right now," yelled Isori. Migaki snapped out of her trance and sprinted to stand by Isori.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu," yelled Isori. A massive fireball shot from his mouth, rushing straight for me. Migaki weaved several hand signs and then sucked in a large amount of air.

"Wind Style: Forceful Gale," said Migaki. A huge current of air blew out of her mouth and pushed into the fireball. With the combination of wind supporting fire, the fireball tripled in size. I shot my hands into the ground, rushing to complete my counter before the fireball got to me.

"Shukaku's Sand Barrier," I roared. An enormous wall of Shukaku's curse mark sand shot up in from of me. It stretched to the top of the trees, completely blocking out the fireball from my view. I watch the barrier crack and crumble around the edges but it held firm. I released it after several seconds, throwing up a huge cloud of dust. I stood there in the haze, waiting for it to clear.

"Looks like you can at least use my powers a little, somewhat poorly at that," commented Shukaku. I wasn't sure if that was a compliment or an insult, to be honest.

"It's not like I get to use them all the time," I muttered.

"My powers are too magnificent to be used by you for every whim," said Shukaku arrogantly.

A shadow moving quickly through the dust brought me back to the real world. The figure launched itself at me, a kunai in its hands. I lashed out my right arm like a whip but the figure leaped into the air to escape it. Free of the dust, I now saw it was Migaki who was attacking me.

"Wind Release: Air Bullets," she said while weaving hand signs.

I knew all too when what was coming next, I raised both my arms to protect myself. A force slammed into me, sending me skidding backward. Right as I was about to come to a stop another air bullet hit me. It sent me flying back just as the one before and I could feel my partial transformation being picked away.

"She's picking through our armor, you need to do something," complained Shukaku. I grimaced as another bullet hit me, that one had gotten through to some of my skin.

"What do you suggest then?"

Shukaku didn't reply but I suddenly got a flash of some sort of memory. It must have been from Shukaku, the Jutsu certainly was strong.

"Use the Jutsu I just showed you," he ordered. Seeing as I didn't have any better options, I decided to listen.

"I can't weave hand signs while in this state," I said as I blocked another air bullet.

"I'll help you, just hurry up before my curse mark armor fails," he grumbled at me. I leaped into the air, easily going above the trees due to my partial transformation. I sucked in a huge gulp of air and then activated the Jutsu.

"Wind Release: Air Bomb"

The air condensed into a single sphere and flew from my mouth. It hit the ground going at breathtaking speed and exploded. The explosion made a massive shockwave that sent Migaki soaring into the air. She disappeared into the forest with a crash as I landed back on the ground.

"Don't move another muscle."

I swiveled to see a sickening sight. Isori had his tanto pressed up against Kankuro's throat. Temari lay unmoving behind them and Crow was a charred mess.

"We should've killed him earlier," growled Shukaku.

"I'm starting to agree with you on that."

I noticed Isori certainly wasn't looking too good. His face was bleeding with several cuts and his arm was shaky. He also had two daggers in his right thigh, probably from Crow. I wasn't sure why the poison wasn't taking effect but I couldn't worry about that right now. Lastly, his Sharingan wasn't activated so I could assume he didn't have enough chakra to use it right now.

"Gaara, whatever this guy says don't do it," said Kankuro haggardly. He was also looking much worse for wear but not as bad as Isori. Isori jerked his tanto a little, blood then dripped down the blade from the small cut he had made. This situation was almost identical to the one earlier with Temari and the scar-faced man. I went to maneuver my tail into the ground but Isori spotted me.

"Don't even think about it, I already know what your thinking. Get out of that accursed state right now or I slight his throat," shouted Isori. He sounded quite unhinged, I shouldn't mess with him.

"Sorry Shukaku, we are gonna need to play by his rules for right now," I told him.

"Fine, we can just kill him later then."

I retracted my parish transformation state, the curse mark armor converting back into sand. After a bit, the only part of me that was covered was my right arm and the right side of my face. I noticed that my body for the most part was unharmed but I did have bruises or shallow cuts in some places.

"That's enough, now take your kunai and stab yourself. I'll let your brother go after you do that," said Isori. A question popped into my head, how did Isori know Kankuro was my brother? Did that also have to do with whoever had sent them to specifically take me down?

"Do it already you sand ra-"

Isori didn't finish his sentence due to the fact Temari's folded iron fan slammed into his head. He dropped his tanto and stumbled a few steps before Temari slammed her iron fan into his face a second time. She was swinging it like a bat, not wanting to use her wind style in case Kankuro might get hit by it.

"Don't you ever touch either of my brothers again," screamed Temari ferociously. She raised her iron fan to strike him again but Kankuro held her back.

I launched my right arm which was still partially transformed and grabbed Isori. Retracting my arm, I brought his bloodied face to be a few feet from mine.

"Who sent you?"

"You can go to hel-"

I cranked my arm back and then whipped it forward as hard as I could. I extended my arm as fast as I could, sending Isori through the thick trunk of a tree. I kept going, sending him violently into another tree before bringing him back.

"Nice work," commented Shukaku with a laugh. Isori was even more battered and now had a dozen more bruises and cuts on his face. He was halfway between unconscious and conscious so I needed to move quickly.

"I'll ask again, who sent you after me? Anything but the truth and ill send you through another few trees," I said roughly.

Isori rolled his head to look at me through his swollen eyelids. I could tell he was thinking but it didn't take him long to sputter out an answer.

"The Foundation."