42 Showdown

Yua froze in her steps, hand hanging mid-air, just off Gaara's cheek.

She expected a lot of things to happen that night, but the sound of Rin's voice, confronting her, wasn't one of them.

"Step away from him."

Her eyes raced through her options. Too late to go back now.

Instead, she took a breath and exhaled. "Well, good morning, sunshine."

Yua's movements were slow and purposeful, as she turned to greet her younger self. "Don't you look... haggard?"

Rin stood with one arm gripping the other, a barrage of slash marks and bruises up and down her body.

She spit out the blood pooling in her mouth. "I've had a rough night."

"Clearly."

The silence hung thick in the air, neither party knowing what to say. Their eyes spoke volumes; Rin's devastated and angry, Yua's surprisingly calm.

"Mother, what's going on?" The question was quiet and innocent.

"Would you believe me if I said, this was all a test? Trying to see how much you'd progressed in your jutsu?"

Rin's eyes narrowed.

Yua sighed and placed her hands on her hips. "No, I suppose not. Too bad you woke up so soon. I was hoping for a lot more fun than this."

"Fun?" Rin pointed a broken finger at Haru's body and winced at the pain shooting up her arm. "You call this, fun?!"

The older model smiled. "At the moment, no. But I'll tell you one thing that was."

She was suddenly in front of Rin, her words dripping with venom. "Bringing back your boyfriend from the dead. Sliding my fingers in his brain. Twisting around his memories of you. That was fun."

Rin shoved herself away, stumbling over her own feet.

Her chakra was almost gone, the feeling of dizzy weakness nearly overtaking her vision.

She had to shake her head to fully gain her focus again. "You did this? You brought Haru back? Why? I don't understand. I don't understand any of this!"

Yua rolled her eyes. "Of course, you don't. You never see anything outside of your little world, do you? Have you even noticed that your current affair is here and hasn't moved a muscle since I spoke to him? You didn't even deny my words. How sad."

Her attention turned to Gaara, who was indeed standing so still, she barely registered he was breathing.

She glared. "I know that's not really him. He can't be here. That's one of your tricks."

"You think I would muster up such a fine specimen for you? Look around, child. I've created a world of horror, not pleasure."

Rin hesitated. "He's really here?"

"Apparently. If you didn't bring him here and I didn't, maybe there's something more interesting about the Kazekage than either of us realized?"

Rin ignored her query and stumbled over to the stunned man. "Gaara... what are you doing here?"

His pale eyes regarded her. "You pulled me in."

"What? I didn't. I couldn't. I've been casting on Haru, there's no way I could do that on two separate minds at once."

"You did and I'm here."

Rin's hands came to his arms, feeling the chakra sliding off him in waves. Of course, that's what happened.

She turned her attention to the woman she considered family. "My chakra was depleting, thanks to you. I must have latched on to the strongest being nearby and pulled him in with me. Did you know we could do that?"

Yua crossed her arms. "No. It seems you have a trick up your sleeve. Not that I should be surprised."

Rin assessed her options. "I need to send you back, Gaara. You can't stay on this plane for much longer."

"You need my chakra, correct? I'm staying until you're done."

"You can't help me with this. You have to go. Now."

"I'm staying."

Yua clapped her hands. "Well, not that this isn't a touching scene, but you may want to snap out of it and pay attention to the other man in your life, Rin. I don't think he's much left for this world."

Haru groaned and it sounded painful.

Rin left Gaara's arms and rushed to her friend, who was trying to stand. "Haru, stay down."

Her hands pushed his shoulders down and came back red and sizzling.

His eyes found hers. "Rin? What's going on?"

Pieces of his arms came off in her hands, skin worn away, as if she were burning him.

He grunted under her touch, pushing her away from him.

Tears welled in her eyes. "I... I don't know. I don't understand any of this."

"Crying already? That didn't take long." Yua's voice was cold.

Rin looked from her hands, to her mother. "What's going on? Why are you here? Why did you bring Haru back like this? How did you even do such a thing?"

"Let me answer all your questions in one gesture."

She walked over to the wall of Haru's mind and extended her hand.

Out of nowhere, a whip conjured in her grasp, hooked at the end with a metal claw. She raised it above her head and slashed it down the wall, tearing an angry looking gash.

Both Rin and Haru screamed, the fresh wound on their backs spurting blood.

Gaara winced at the motion, but stayed where he was, trying his best to find a way to conjure up his sand in this place.

Rin panted, electric bolts of pain shooting down her spine in waves. "Bitch."

Yua smiled and addressed her. "Is that any way to speak to your mother?"

"You stopped being my mother when you reanimated my past boyfriend and trapped my current one in his brain."

"Hm, technicalities."

Rin raised up on her knees, holding the wound that ripped her skin down to her waist. "So, you found a way to link Haru and I in his mind. What damages him, hurts me as well."

"Obviously."

"How?"

Yua balanced the whip in her hand. "Do I really need to teach you how your own jutsu works? It's no secret that our host can harm our waking bodies. That was your first lesson."

"Drain our chakra, yes. Damage us mentality, but not physically. More importantly, why am I the one hurting him?"

She grinned. "Why indeed?"

Rin rose to her feet. "I'm not here for your riddles. Tell me what you've done."

"You don't make the rules here. You're going to sit back and listen to me. Unless you want to lose both of them?"

"What?"

Yua tapped her wrist. "Time is running out, little sparrow. Gaara is feeding you his chakra by the minute. What? Thought I wouldn't notice? The stronger you grow, the weaker he becomes."

Rin's eyes turned to the Kazekage, who shook his head, trying to convey he was fine, but she noticed the sheen of sweat on his brow.

The sight made her stomach turn.

She refused to be responsible for bringing Gaara more pain in his life.

"And we both know your precious Haru's body is deteriorating, as we speak. How long would you give him, Rin? Medically speaking?"

She looked down at Haru, who was curled in on himself, the pain of whatever she'd done, amplified.

He'd grown weaker and weaker since the first time she saw him. Though she didn't want to admit it, she knew he wasn't meant to last beyond his mission and time wasn't on their side.

Rin held her arms around herself, standing beside Gaara, her voice much calmer than she felt. "All right. You have something to say to me? Now is your chance. Tell me why you've done this."

Yua paced back and forth at her leisure, trailing the vicious whip along the floor, as if she didn't notice it leaving small cuts along her victim's bodies. "Hmm where do I begin?"

"Why not how you were able to harm Haru through me? What forbidden jutsus have you been practicing?"

"In good time. I don't feel like explaining myself that far yet."

Rin felt a heat rise on the back of her neck.

Yua was purposefully wasting time, making both Haru and Gaara weaker, but there wasn't anything she could do to stop her, at this level. She needed to keep her talking until she could figure out their next move.

"Fine, how about when you decided to kill me?"

"Ooo fun topic."

Rin's mouth hardened. "When was it, Mother? When I didn't stock the shop's pantry to your liking? When I picked herbs under the full moon instead of the crescent? What was my great sin to warrant this kind of betrayal?"

"It's nothing you did, child. It's what you didn't do."

Rin's gaze narrowed.

Gaara felt his limbs growing heavier. His chakra was fading faster than he'd thought possible.

Rin could sense it too; she was feeling more alive with each passing moment and that spelt danger for him.

Her eyes flicked from Haru, to Yua and back to Gaara. She had to do something and do it quickly.

She knew just the thing.

Crossing her arms, her voice took on a tone that almost sounded bored, if not vindictive. "What didn't I do that upset you so, Mother? Was it when I refused to fall into your madness or when I didn't push Orochimaru out of my bed?"

Yua froze.

Nailed it.

Her mother's jaw tightened with clenched teeth. The whip in her hand lashed out, striking the floor and slicing an open gash across the pair's chests.

Haru whimpered. "Rin... don't."

She winced at the now searing pain, raising a hand to her chest. "Seems that struck a nerve. I knew you were jealous of us, but I didn't know it went that deep."

Yua stalked from her position and grabbed Rin by the jaw, holding her in place. "You selfish little bitch! You didn't even want his attention and you had it anyway! You were his pet and I was cast off as nothing!"

"That's not my fault."

"Nothing ever is, is it? Sweet, gentle Rin, with your oils and ribbons. It should have been me! I'm superior to you in every way! You were made as an accident! A freak experiment!" Yua screeched.

She tossed Rin away from her and raised her whip to strike the wall again.

When she did, Rin's hand came into Gaara's, her words quick and frantic. "Get out of here."

"What?"

"Now!" She raised up on her toes and planted her lips on his.

Gaara froze at the sensation, but when he opened his eyes, he was back in the waking world.

His breath came out in heavy gasps, sweat pouring down his face.

The Kazekage searched around the massive lab and found it just as empty as before, except for the girl in his arms and the man in hers.

"No! Rin!" He roared, shaking her.

Both she and Haru were covered in fresh wounds, their bleeding forms staining the white floor, but she didn't wake under his touch.

Gaara held Rin's face to his. "Take my chakra, Rin. Take it and beat her back. Please."

His voice echoed in Haru's mind and Rin tried not to acknowledge it.

She'd already hurt him enough.

Yua stopped her enraged whipping and noticed the light, that was Gaara's chakra, was missing.

She stared at the whip in her hand and back at her daughter, laughing to herself. "Oh, that was very clever. You got under my skin and bought time for your lover to escape. I'm almost proud."

Rin began to circle, her steps careful. "That's one less problem, now it's you and me."

Yua raised her arms, so that the whip was tight behind her back. "You know that if you try and harm me, you'll never save Haru."

Rin's eyes turned down to her friend, who was fading away as they spoke. "I was never going to save him. You know that."

"Maybe." Yua matched her circling, the wicked smile never leaving her face.

"So that's what all this was about? That sick bastard, Orochimaru? You knew it wasn't my choice. He claimed me, not the other way around. I didn't ask to be made. I didn't want to be his plaything."

Yua snarled. "That makes it so much worse. I was cast out for a younger model that wasn't willing. You had untold power at your fingertips. The favor of the creator. The opportunity to be his vessel and you didn't even want it. You're a spoiled thing, Rin. Spoiled and stupid."

"What can I say? I guess Orochimaru doesn't like his women crazier than him."

With that, Rin extended her hand and conjured up a katana, the only weapon she'd had any interest in pursuing during her training.

Yua regarded her blade with a manic smile. "Well, well, look who found her teeth."

"I don't want to do this."

"I don't care what you want. For once, I'm going to make sure you won't get your way. You think I'd let you come here, seduce the Kazekage, and gain power over the Sand AND the Sound's leaders? No. You won't have that chance."

Rin braced herself for her mother's whip, shuffling her feet to the side. "Then come at me and I'll show you which of us is the superior model."

Yua cracked her shoulder, assuming her snake-strike position. "All right then, little sparrow... give Mommy a kiss."