Influenza—Noun;
An acute, commonly epidemic disease, occurring in several forms, caused by numerous rapidly mutating viral strains and characterized by respiratory symptoms and general prostration.
Cool, pale hand resting gently atop the blonde woman's' forehead, Gaara frowned lightly—the man sitting on the edge of the bed his wife lay on. "Your fever still has not gone away Ami…" the twenty five year old Kazekage retracting his hand, laying it on his lap as he looked down at her in mild concern. She was supposed to be his guard while he left for the Kage Summit—though he had a feeling that she was not well enough to walk around the village without making herself ill enough to go to the hospital, a trip through the desert would be a horrible idea. While her fever was not life threatening to say the least, and she seemed to have a bad flu at the worst, traveling through the deserts of the Wind Country and surviving required being in top shape.
Looking down at the blonde as she curled herself up under the covers—a soft groan escaping chapped lips as sore muscles strained to make her body move, the corners of Gaara's mouth tilted down into a frown. Sea foam green eyes watching as she shivered lightly, the man found himself half tempted to skip out on the summit to make sure that Ami was well tended to, though he had a sneaking suspicion he would never hear the end of it from the woman if he did so.
As much as he loved her, he had to admit that she was quite the nag at times. If she found out that he had skipped the Kage summit to take care of her, he would not hear the end of it for several months if he did so.
Sea-foam green eyes looking over to his former teacher as the older man stood in the doorway, Baki giving a small smile and nod—the taller man taking a few steps closer to his former pupil, hand resting on the shorter man's shoulder. "I'll look in on her while you, Kankuro, and Temari are away. Don't worry Gaara." A light pause as he gently squeezed the Kazekage's shoulder in an attempt to comfort the worried man "So just go, alright? She'll be fine. Ami's been sicker and come out the other side perfectly healthy."
A small nod at his teacher's words, Gaara placing a small kiss to his wife's temple "Alright. Thank you Baki. You are in good hands Ami—so get better." Chuckling lightly as Ami groaned in response, Gaara straightened up before directing another nod at his former teacher, "Thank you Baki."
The tall man watched as Gaara left the room, brown eyes trained on the white robes on his back before looking down at the blonde woman in bed, offering her a light smile before speaking softly. "We'll get you healthy soon Ami, don't worry." A small smile on his lips when she gave a small nod and another groan.
She would be fine.
Green eyes opening slowly, slender hands drifting to rub crust from them as Ami sat up in bed—chapped, pink lips turning into a scowl at the strange taste that was making itself known in her dry mouth.
Scratching her head for a few moments before slowly getting out of bed—the bottom of the blonde's feet hitting the cold tile of her bedroom, Ami glancing at the wall clock, wondering why her husband was not in bed with her at this early hour before remembering that he had left for… something important, she was fairly sure.
Her mind, at the moment, felt almost fuzzy—she was unable to quite put a word on it. Perhaps it was the fever, but she could not quite get herself to think clearly. Stumbling towards the dresser—hands resting on the top, tips of her fingers pressing into the wood a bit as she stared into her reflection. The woman frowned lightly as she looked at herself, dark circles and bags under her eyes, skin pallid, covered in a light, cold sweat.
Voice coming out of her lips hoarse, soft, and ragged, "I look like shit…" a small pause, feeling her stomach flip in her abdomen before she groaned and continued, "I feel like shit…"
About to make her way to the bathroom to take a shower— sweaty hand running through dirty hair when she heard a noise from downstairs, the woman stopping in the doorway between the bedroom and bathroom as she took pause to try and determine who was in her house, hearing two very distinct, muffled voices.
A man and a woman she was fairly sure?
The male voice did not sound anything at all like Baki—the jonin had a very distinct, rough, gravely voice. This new voice seemed softer, gentler…
Silently making her way to the nightstand, reaching into the drawer and taking out the dagger within—slender hand gripping the handle of it tightly as she crouched behind the dresser, out of sight from anyone who would walk into the room. Ami held her breath, doing her best to clear her foggy mind enough to think of a tactic as she heard someone walk up the stairs and towards the master bedroom—was it the man? The voice was slowly becoming more and more distinct.
Hearing the woman downstairs, muffled, feminine voice ringing out just enough that Ami knew that it was indeed the man coming towards her.
A light frown on the sandy haired woman's face as she watched her younger brother crouched in front of the door to their old home, Karura wrung her hands together as he began to pick the lock with an old hairpin he had found on the street — what if her husband, Kogane was no longer Kazekage? They would be breaking in. Teal eyes taking survey of all the buildings that had seemingly popped up out of nowhere since she could last remember—all the old landmarks that had seemed to change or be gone completely, Karura was fairly sure that quite some time had passed since she had died. "Yashamaru—I don't think we should be doing this. We could be trespassing."
"We knocked, no one answered. And I am certain that whoever is Kazekage now, if it is not Kogane, would understand why we did this once we explained it to them. Besides, this was the last place we both lived right? We may find out where Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara are." Giving his older sister a small smile as he opened the door, holding it open so she could walk in, "Don't be worried Karura, it's alright."
Stepping inside, the sandy blond man could not help but find himself a bit disappointed at how much had changed since he last remembered—furniture had been moved or replaced, the walls seemed to have been repainted… it was quite different than he remembered. Though, Yashamaru mused, Karura must have been more shocked than he was—she died six years before he did, and judging by the look of surprise on her face, he was right.
Gentle hand patting on his sister's shoulder, Yashamaru gave her a small, comforting smile, "You look around downstairs, alright? I'll go upstairs and see if I can find anything Karura." Walking up the stair's searching for any indication of his nieces and nephews living there, frowning at everything he found.
It was not as if he expected everything to stay the same, but he had not expected everything to change this much. A look in Kankuro's room found that it had been turned into what seemed like a guest bedroom—all things personal removed. Checking in on Temari's room, then his own old room—a small bedroom right next to the playroom that the Fourth Kazekage had kept Gaara confined in—he found that Temari's room had been depersonalized as well, while his seemed to be turned into a small study.
Stepping inside of his old bedroom, sandals padding softly on the tile floor, frown deepening ever so slightly as he looked at everything—a small desk with calligraphy brushes and paper where his bed had been, bookshelves of all sizes lining the wall. Blond man inspecting the bookshelves a bit closer, eyes narrowing in mild confusion as he realized every scroll or book on the shelves seemed to be about either demons, or fighting techniques of the Minamoto clan.
The man extracting a scroll from the bookshelf, taking a closer look at the extremely elaborate chakra seal that was on it—there was no way he would be able to open this, it seemed as if it was for those who were in the clan. Replacing the scroll, standing still as he wondered a bit why that surname seemed so familiar—gut instinct telling him that it had something to do with his nephew Gaara, though that did not make much sense as he thought about it more. A small shake of his head, assuming he would remember it later, Yashamaru left the room, closing the door softly behind him.
Opening the door to Gaara's old playroom, eyes narrowing slightly—it had been made into a large bedroom. Taking a few more steps inside, he found himself even more confused. There was no way that this room was Gaara's. His youngest nephew was unable to sleep—if the redhead slept then Shukaku would be released.
Hand raising to run through his shoulder length hair, frowning softly as he scratched at his scalp a bit in confusion before letting out a sharp yelp as he was shoved violently against the wall—indigo eyes meeting fierce, bloodshot, green ones as a blonde woman held a dagger to his neck, blade pressed against his windpipe as she growled "Who are you, and why did you break into my home?"
Instinct from his experience in the ANBU kicking in Yashamaru pushed the woman away with ease, getting into an offensive stance as the blonde woman fell to floor—eyes narrowing before he launched himself at her, "You shouldn't attack without a clear plan." wrenching the dagger out of her hands as he pinned her to the floor.
Teal eyes rimmed with black sclera narrowed slightly as Karura walked around the lower level of the mansion, so much had changed! A light frown on her lips as she walked into the kitchen, remembering the times she had spent cooking with her young children—though, at Temari and Kankuro's age it tended to be her cooking and making sure that the two of them did not make too much of a mess.
A light sigh escaping from her lips, feeling a soft pang of longing for her children in her chest—Karura let the tips of her fingers trail gently over the countertop as she walked around, taking in every sight, pausing her walking as she noticed a picture frame situated on the counter. Slender hand picking up the metal frame, examining it closely, she could not help the smile spreading on her lips as she realized who was in it.
Black rimmed eyes, bright red hair, she may not have been there for more than a few minutes after she had given birth to him, but Karura knew very well that this was her youngest son Gaara. Though, the main reason behind her smile was what he was doing in the picture—kissing the cheek of some blonde woman in a wedding kimono, Gaara dressed in Kazekage robes. He was married—he was the Kazekage—both he and whoever his wife was, both looked so incredibly joyful in the picture.
It was all she wanted for him, and more.
Holding the picture close to her, Karura quickly made her way upstairs, intent on showing her younger brother the photo—hurrying up when she heard a large thump.
Woman bursting through the door of the room that she had heard the noise come from, shocked to find her brother crouching over the woman from the photograph, dagger in his hand, ready to strike. "Yashamaru! No!" rushing forward—picture and frame falling to the ground as she dropped it so she could grab her brother's hand and keeping her from stabbing the other woman. "That's Gaara's wife! Don't attack her!"
"Yashamaru?" looking at the man above her in confusion, Ami stared at him in confusion for a few moments before looking at the woman who had just burst in as the man slowly got off of her, dropping the knife onto the tile floor. Pale hands trembling just a bit as she pushed herself off of the floor, standing as best she could on her own. "You are… Yashamaru…?" seeing the man nod, Ami looked back to the woman, "Which makes you… Karura…"
Trembling hand running through bright blonde hair, not sure if the strange lightheaded feeling she was experiencing was because she had been shoved to the ground, because she was still sick with the flu, or because her husbands dead mother and dead uncle were standing in front of her.
Stumbling backwards until she was sitting on the bed, Ami rested her elbows on her knees holding her head in her hand as she tried to make sense of this situation before looking back up at the two before her in confusion, "Am I… hallucinating…?"
A.N.: Sorry this is so late to be updated everyone! Life got a little hectic, but I'm back, and I'm going to try and update much more frequently!
