This originally started as me wanting to write ShukakuXGaara but then it turned out much easier said than done. So now it's more Shukaku being reflective and only if you squint can you see the shonen-ai.

Separation

Shukaku was awoken from his slumber by the almost foreign sensation of pain. It was almost unbearable this pain; it felt as if his spirit was being torn in two. Shukaku couldn't remember ever feeling like this, didn't think he could begin to describe the agony he was in.

Was it his agony though? As the sand spirit stretched his senses towards his host he found that the boy was suffering just as much as he if not more. Somebody was performing a ritual upon them. The demon could tell straight away that it was him they were after. He could feel his spirit being separated from his host's in the most brutal way possible. It was no wonder the boy was crying out in pain. Or at least he would have been if Shukaku's spirit wasn't being sucked out through his mouth by the ritual.

Shukaku thought it typical that his host would get into trouble when he was taking a nap. The one time the boy encountered something he couldn't handle and the sand spirit had been sleeping. If the boy wasn't so determined that he would fight with only his own power then Shukaku would probably have been able to have a good fight. He'd have to remember to rant at his host about that later, once they had gotten out of this mess.

Shukaku stretched out his senses as fully as he could. The sand spirit almost recoiled in pain as his consciousness fully connected with Gaara's, but he managed to resist the urge. He looked out through Gaara's eyes and took in what he could. His essence was also being removed through the boy's eyes and so was obscuring the redhead's vision. Still, Shukaku could make out the statue his essence was being drawn towards. Getting out of this one might be slightly harder than the tanuki originally anticipated.

Shukaku…

The voice was weak and riddled with pain. Shukaku felt a rare twinge of sympathy for his host but pushed it down before answering the call. "What is it boy?"

What's…happening?

"Apparently some fool is trying to extract my soul from your body."

Stop it?

Shukaku realized the boy must be in real pain if he wasn't using full sentences. Usually his host was a stickler for grammar but now that pretence had been thrown out the window. "Don't think I can. Your pathetic human body isn't responding because of the pain and the ritual is stopping me from taking over."

What will…happen?

"When I'm removed? You'll die." He could have put it more sympathetically but why should he? His fate wasn't going to be any better. A lifetime of imprisonment in an inanimate object was not fun. Being stuck in a teakettle had been hell and then being forced into a human body only slightly better. At least when he was stuck in his current host he had someone to talk to and torture mentally. You couldn't mentally torture a tea kettle. He was pretty sure there would be no mental torture where he was heading next either.

How long?

Shukaku considered this. "A few days probably." It was a grim thought as the closer he got to being fully extracted the more it was going to hurt for both of them.

There was silence then. Shukaku wasn't sure whether this was because the pain had incapacitated his host or whether the boy was fed up with talking to him. Some part of his cold, sand covered heart hoped it wasn't the first reason. Over the years of being stuck inside the wretched human body Shukaku had grown to tolerate his host. Not like (because as a demon the only things he liked were death and gore) but tolerate.

Originally he had hated the boy for being weak and searching desperately for acceptance from the fools around him. But then his host had seen the truth about humans – they were scum who would rather kill you than look at you. After that his opinion of the boy had risen tremendously. With his host's mind in turmoil he was finally able to talk to him, to demand that he give the sand demon blood. The boy had thought that it was his mother demanding this of him and Shukaku had gladly taken on the role to get his host to do his bidding.

Unfortunately the one request Gaara refused to comply with was relinquishing control over his body. It was a pity that Shukaku only got out into the real world when Gaara was on the brink of madness but the demon had learned to cope. The boy killed regularly and allowed the tanuki to revel with him in the glorious blood that was spilt. It kept Shukaku content. Not happy, but content.

Then the blond brat came along and ruined everything. His host was never the same after that. The killings became less frequent, practically stopping when the boy became the damn Kazekage. All he seemed to do was paperwork and muse on the blond brat; he never once spared a thought for his next kill.

Even though the boy had become incredibly boring the sand spirit couldn't bring himself to hate him. He had proven entertaining over the years; Shukaku always laughed at the memory of his host's teacher giving him The Talk. The boy had been so mentally flustered, especially when Shukaku had made the situation worse by suggesting that he should do it with the blond brat to see if they'd spawn little half demons. Shukaku once again cackled maniacally at the memory.

Shukaku wondered if he'd miss his host if he was extracted. As he'd said before, he'd miss torturing his fragile mind; but would he miss Gaara as a whole? Probably not. As much as he tolerated the boy he wouldn't care if he was gone. He was the great Shukaku of the sand and needed nobody but himself! Although, if he was granted freedom from captivity, he'd probably spare the boy. Not out of kindness, of course, Shukaku just knew it would be much more hurtful for him to see his village destroyed than to die straight away. As much as his host feared death, he feared being alone much more. It was a human fear that showed how truly weak the vile creatures were. Shukaku hated weakness and he hated humans. He still didn't hate his host though.

Time passed and soon only a scrap of Shukaku's essence remained inside Gaara. The shackles that had chained them together and marked them as prisoners of each other since Gaara's birth were at last breaking. Maybe that was why Shukaku tolerated his host? They were both unwilling prisoners who had been forced into this arrangement. They were in the same situation and silently sympathised with each other. Their relationship was symbiotic – Gaara used Shukaku's chakra to defeat his opponents and the sand spirit used Gaara as a medium to feel the thrill of the kill. If he looked at things this way then Shukaku decided that he perhaps might miss Gaara. Not that he'd ever tell the kid that though – it would ruin his reputation as a fierce, despicable, monster! His host probably knew all of this anyway though; he was smart (for a human) after all.

As the demon's consciousness faded he whispered, "So long boy. I hope you don't get screwed over in death as badly as you did in life."

The link between them was cut and there was no reply. Gaara was gone forever and Shukaku was doomed to an eternity of being sealed in stone. They were host and tenant no more.

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