Puppetmaster

I blocked another round of poison-coated daggers with my iron sand. The fight with Surmaru was currently just trading projectiles but it was time I changed that. Iron sand was the critical weakness of puppet mechanisms, time to put it to good use. I forced the iron sand into spheres and sent them flying towards Sumaru. He immediately knew what I was trying to do and jumped out of the way. Looks like he was smart enough to know about iron sand.

"You think I would be stupid enough to get caught in iron sand? You clearly don't realize that I studied under Sasori of the Red Sands," cackled Sumaru. That was getting on my nerves. Why did he keep bringing Sasori up? It honestly sounded like he was under a genjutsu or brainwashed to constantly spout his name.

"Sasori abandon the Hidden Sand. He is nothing more than a traitor," I shouted bitterly. I formed two walls of sand threw them at Sumaru to crush him. An explosion blew the walls of sand apart and made me stumble. As I stumbled I realized that the little girl still cling to my leg. She looked absolutely terrified and who wouldn't in her place? My situation got worse as what looked to be two more rogue ninjas appeared to my left. The smoke cleared from the explosion and Sumaru stood there with one of his arms seeming to morph into a mini air cannon. His face was also a total mask of cold rage, veins popped out in his ugly forehead.

"Your dead kid," growled Sumaru. Both of his friends pulled out weapons, one a katana and the other a sickle and chain. Great, I could only wonder where my backup was at the moment. They were most likely taking care of other rogue ninjas but it would be nice to have some help. This plan was falling apart a lot quicker than I had thought it would. I sent a bit of sand into the ground below me to begin grinding up minerals to make new sand. It was a good tactic of Gaara's to literally make sand wherever he needed it. I would be putting it to use in this battle because I'd need more sand to take these guys down. Until then I'd do my best with what I have, as little as it is. I launched more iron sand spheres at Sumaru and exploded them when they got close. He kept on evading them, leaping and jumping all over the place. His two companions charge at me only to be met with a wall of sand. The one with the katana was crushed by the wall as it squeezed him into the wall of a house. It then sent him through the wall of the building, either killing him or severely injuring him. The one with the sickle and chain was a little bit more agile than his friend and managed to dodge the wall. He twirled the weight at the end of the chain and sent it flying at me. I formed a hand and grabbed it before it could even travel five yards. I made the hand yank the chain upwards which the rogue ninja was still dumbly hanging onto. He screamed as he was pulled from the ground, soaring through the air. He slammed into the ground with a sickening crunch. Both those two rogue ninjas had been weaklings, they hadn't even used any ninjutsu. Then again I hadn't given them the chance to use any, maybe they were stronger than I thought. Still, it made me wonder why Sumaru was traveling with them, was he the boss? Sumaru was definitely an experienced jonin level rogue ninja. Evading all my iron sand and not getting even a little in his mechanical joints was impressive. It was time to up the difficulty, I was going to use some of my new Jutsu. Separating sand from the rest of the pile, I formed three sand clones. They each took some of my sand to use in their own attacks. I may be a little weaker without the sand I lent them but now there were three of me. The sand clones immediately went on the attack and Sumaru didn't get a moment of rest. Yet he still managed to dodge all of the attacks directed at him.

"Looks like your not messing around. Guess I should get serious too," said Sumaru. His two bottom arms started to transform and meld together with his upper ones. Even his arm that was still flesh was encased by its lower counterpart. Sumaru's arms were now huge and had spikes along with blades protruding from them. Using Monstrous Sand Arm, I formed a relatively big arm of sand that was about the size of a two-story building. I swung the arm in a swiping motion, straight at Sumaru. Sumaru simply raised his left arm and opened his palm. The sand arm exploded before it hit him as a massive blast of air hit it. I struggled to keep it together and managed to reform it back to its shape. I really didn't want to have to spend more chakra on making another one. Sumaru's completely mechanical puppet arm must have formed an even stronger air cannon. The question was what the flesh and mechanical arm did on his other side. I made my sand arm make a fist, then swung it in a downward arc. Sumaru raised his arm which was half flesh and half puppet. The sides of it opened up and a concentrated chakra stream shot out. The chakra cut straight through my Monstrous Sand Arm like it was butter. He then followed up with a blast from his air cannon. The arm crumbled and I didn't even try to fix it this time. It would be a total waste of chakra. Judging from the use of his air cannon I assumed that it had a cooldown before it could be fired again. Why else would he have revealed what his other arm did? Frustrated that my attacks had been countered, I decided it was time to end this fight before I wasted too much chakra. I began to weave hand signs as I raised my iron sand into defensive walls around me. I wasn't sure how destructive this Jutsu would be but one could never be too careful. Rasa may be a horrible person but he certainly gave out powerful Jutsu.

"Sand Cyclone," I said as I competed the last hand sign. The air around me suddenly started condensing. It then began to rotate and eventually built up into a cone shape. It looked exactly like a tornado, with sand mixing into it. I formed three more of these so they surrounded Sumaru and then made them move towards him. The cyclones obliterated anything in their path, with several buildings crumbling under the pressure of them. My iron sand walls strained against the wind and sand being whipped around but held firm. Sumaru just stood there, unmoving and seemingly unbothered. His mechanical legs were shifting and changing which wasn't a good sign. Forget my defensive walls, I need the iron sand in the cyclones to clog Sumaru's puppet joints and mechanisms. I left only enough behind to defend me and the little girl and threw the rest in the cyclones. I noticed that anything that was put through the cyclone was shredded like it was going through a sandblaster. It would pulverize Sumaru if he was hit by any of them. I watched Sumaru stand there even as the cyclones got closer and closer. Was he just going to accept defeat? Suddenly his legs bent and he shot high into the air. He easily cleared the cyclones and used his air cannon to blow him set away from them. He had just turned my trump card into a huge waste. The sand cyclones met where Sumaru had been a few minutes ago and blew apart as they hit each other. A huge shockwave of wind and sand blew back at me but my iron sand protected me. I looked around and realized I now had to wait for my iron sand and regular sand to gather back up since it was scattered all over. The cyclones had done a really good job at making a mess, that was for sure. Sumaru landed and two scrolls popped out of his chest. He caught them both with his real arm and undid the ties with his teeth. With a poof, two small puppets that looked just like children stood at his feet. I readied my iron sand that I had kept with me for defense. My three sand clones that had used all of their sand in the Jutsu now charged Sumaru. They each had kunai and shuriken so they weren't completely hopeless. Two of them stopped and threw several shurikens at Sumaru. The other continued his charge at him, brandishing his kunai. The sand clone and shuriken never made it, the puppet that looked like a little girl with blonde hair opened its mouth. A screeching soundwave came out and stopped the kunai as well as made the sand clones fall to their knees. They quickly lost their composition and crumbled back into sand. The sound wave then hit me and made me fall to my knees covering my ears. It felt as if my eardrums were about to explode when it suddenly stopped. I looked and found the little girl who had been clinging to my leg passed out on the ground from the attack, blood coming out of her ears. The pain from the attack vanished and was replaced with the rage I had felt earlier.

"Like my little human puppets? I truly did enjoy making them," said Sumaru as he ran his hands across the puppets' faces. He was sickening, no other word could better describe this monster. He had taken innocent children and turned them into weapons. The other human puppet lurched forward as Sumaru flicked his wrist. He moved several of his fake digits and blades extended from the puppet's palms. The puppet looked like a boy with black hair and sad blue eyes. It was depressing to think that the puppet had once been a happy child. Right when the boy puppet went over the pile of sand that used to be one of the sand clones I formed a hand and went to grab it. It was much more nimble than I had thought it to be and evaded my attack. This puppet was faster than any I had ever seen before, it was obvious that it had been designed for that purpose. The puppet tried to slash at me with its blades but when a wall of iron sand rose to protect me it quickly retreated. Sumaru wasn't taking any chances with the iron sand. I didn't have enough mastery over the iron sand to get sufficient speed to catch the puppets. The boy puppet was too swift for even my regular sand which had now regrouped from the Sand Cyclone Jutsu. I had finally built up enough sand from grinding up minerals in the ground, time to kill this guy. I slapped my hands to the ground and used my Sand Tsunami. Sumaru tried to get his boy puppet out of the way but the Sand Tsunami was too vast for it to avoid and it was caught up in the wave. Sumaru's arm that contained the air cannon moved to point at the wave and the girl puppet's mouth opened. A combined attack of sound and air shot out and hit the wave. For a moment, the Sand Tsunami stalled under the force of their combined attack but it quickly fought its way through. Sumaru didn't seem to think that the wave would win against his air cannon and sound wave, since he hadn't moved. He now ran with panic evident on his face but it was too late. I grinned as I sensed the sick puppet master get flattened by the wave. I tossed him around, feeling his puppet body fall apart under the force of my sand. I yanked him from the Sand Tsunami and canceled it. Sumaru now only had one arm, both his puppet legs and puppet arm had been ripped off. Blood streamed from cuts on his face as well as his puppet body that held his mangled body inside.

"You brat, I would have won if not for your damn sand," sputtered Sumaru . Blood spilled from his mouth and his once heartless face now looked worried.

"Who were those kids you killed? Tell me their names, they deserve to be remembered after what you did to them," I demanded coldly. I could see the boy puppet laying in the sand a few dozen yards away from me with the girl puppet. Both were damaged but still recognizable. I doubted I would ever forget their puppet faces. Sumaru only laughed at my order, which angered me even further. Sand started to wrap itself around Sumaru at my command and raise him into the air.

"What are you doing? Stop this right now," he said with terror.

"Sand Coffin" The sand around Sumaru tightened just a little and I now had him in a firm grip. He struggled with his one arm uselessly, not realizing the hopelessness of his action.

"You went on and on about being Sasori's apprentice but in the end, you were defeated by a kid. You were nothing but a wannabe," I said without a trace of emotion.

"Your wrong, I will be rem-"

"Sand Burial."

His body exploded into blood, wood, and mechanical parts. It rained down and coated the ground around me. A fitting end for a monster like him. I lifted both child puppets with sand and gently brought them over to me. As powerful as they were, I didn't want them disrespected any longer. I encased them in a Sand Coffin then used Sand Burial on them several times. They came out as wood dust and a few scraps of metal. I didn't know their names or what they had been like before. Yet I still felt sad that kids who had their whole lives ahead of them had their futures ripped away. Who knows what kind of dreams and ambitions they once had. All of them were taken away by Sumaru.

"What did you do that for," asked Shukaku. His voice was full of curiosity and confusion. I guess he had been watching my fight with the puppeteer. I hadn't noticed him during all the commotion but he didn't exactly announce himself.

"Paying respect to the children that were turned into human puppets. I didn't want their bodies desecrated anymore," I said numbly. I wasn't really in the mood to explain to him.

"They aren't alive anymore, why care about what the dead might object to? They were powerful weapons," said Shukaku. Once again my anger was rising to the surface. I didn't have the patience to explain this to him right now.

"They were innocent children that were murdered. They don't deserve to have their bodies used as weapons to kill more people," I said. Shukaku went quiet as he thought about what I had told him. I pushed it off and walked over to the little girl who was still unconscious. I used my sand to pick her up carefully. Looking around, I saw a group of villagers running towards me from the direction that Sumaru had come from. An old man who had a nasty cut on his forehead ran up to the little girl laying on my sand. He grabbed her and then embraced her, tears streaming down his face.

"Thank you Hidden Sand Ninja, you saved my granddaughter," he sputtered out between his sobs.

"Where is the village head? I must speak with him," I demanded. The small group of villagers parted and a man that looked absolutely ancient walked up to me. He was short and had a wooden cane he used to walk.

"I am the village head. Your comrades are still engaged in battle with the rest of the rogue ninjas. They need your help," said the old man. I nodded, he answered the very question I was going to ask. My sand was scattered in huge piles around me, iron sand and regular sand mixed together. I recalled all my sand that went into my gourd and made the rest pile up around me. I created a platform from some regular sand and stepped onto it. I raised myself up into the air and made all the rest of the sand follow me. It was quite draining to lift so much sand into the air but it would be worth it for what I was planning. From my view above the village, I could see my team engaged in an uneven battle with the rogue ninjas. There was roughly a dozen rogue ninja fighting just the three of my teammates. Baki and Temari's huge wind-style attacks were the only thing keeping them alive. Most of the rogue ninjas couldn't get close enough to attack. The few that did seemed to be picked off by Kankuro and his Crow puppet. Half a dozen rogue ninjas lay dead or dying on the ground. That brought the total number of rogue ninjas to about twenty-one. Quite a large group, considering they were able to go unbothered for such a long time was surprising. It was time for this to come to an end though.

"Sand Meteor Shower," I said as I formed the regular sand into baseball-sized spheres. They began zooming down toward the ground at an alarming rate. I made sure to not direct any toward Baki, Kankuro, or Temari. The first wave of sand spheres slammed into the ground with such force it left small craters. Several rogue ninjas were instantly killed by the sand meteors hitting them directly. Others screamed in pain as they were injured from the impact of the spheres hitting the ground. It was soon over and I lower myself onto the ground. I recalled all the sand that had been in my scrolls, leaving only the sand I had made for the Sand Tsunami. Once I reached the ground I found that one of the rogue ninjas had hastily erected an earth barrier to protect himself. It hadn't been strong enough to completely protect her but she was still alive. She crawled out of her earth barrier towards me, a look of desperation on her face. I made no move to help her, her fate was sealed for what she had been a part of. She crawled a little longer before passing out. I turned away and found my team walking up to me. All of them looked to be uninjured, lucky considering how outnumbered we had been.

"Lord Gaara, are you alright," asked Baki with concern. Leave it to him to worry about me over himself.

"I'm fine Baki-sensei, my opponent was challenging but no match for me," I said. Temari and Kankuro didn't even say anything, both of them were exhausted. Crow looked damaged in several parts and one of his arms was hanging on by a thread. Temari's hair was all ruffled from her wind style and she had sweat dripping down her face.

"What do we do now," I asked as I surveyed the destruction. What would this poor village do now that it was almost completely destroyed? Many of the inhabitants were also dead or injured from the looks of it.

"Let us take care of that you've done plenty for us," said the village head. The old man was surrounded by a much larger crowd than before. Many of them were still shocked or crying from the attack. There were a rare few faces of amazement or appreciation within the crowd though.

"We can still help sir, we created this mess," said Baki as he gestured to the carnage. I winced a little because I had been pretty heavy on destruction during my fight with Surama. My Sand Cyclones alone had taken out two houses and caused several others to be damaged.

No, the damages are a small price to pay for all of our lives. You get going on whatever journey you are on," said the old man sternly. The villagers around him all copied the same expression, none of the willing to bother us any further. I doubted that even if we stay and tried to help we would be stopped at every turn. I looked around and decided the least I could do was get rid of the bodies as well as all the sand I had created. In one giant sweeping motion, my sand swept up the bodies of the rogue ninjas. I floated it through the air and away from the village until it was hard to see before dropping it. I turned back and found many villagers looking at me in awe of what I had just done. Others seemed relieved to either not have to move all that sand or to touch the dead bodies of the rogue ninjas.

"Did you get a good look at all of their faces? I'm sure most of them have bounties in the Bingo Book that the Hidden Sand wouldn't mind collecting," said the village head. Glancing at Baki, I was relieved to see him nodding. I would have hated to walk all the way out to where I had tossed the bodies just to confirm if they had bounties.

"We will be on our way then," said Baki. He probably realized we had wasted enough time with the rogue ninjas. We were now at risk of being late to the Hidden Artisan village. With that, we left the small village and continued on our way.

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(( Hello, it's me again. I just wanted to thank you all for reading this far and I hope the notes I have been leaving are not too bothersome. I just wanted to ask for some feedback on this chapter since most of it is a fight. I want to know if this chapter was lacking or what I can do better in these fight scenes. Please let me know.))

Sincerely, Silent Storm