A/N: Okay, before I started this chapter I just wanted to clear up some confusion. Someone told me that they didn't understand why Gaara would risk another war with Yukigakure just for Sakura, because he just got out of a war. I apologize for not making myself clear before. Gaara planned to send a warrant for Sakura as a missing nin, and so he sent Temari and Kankuro to retrieve her. War and crisis avoided, not that Yukigakure would want to go to war with Gaara, who has united both Wind and Fire countries as one, and is the leader of all the ninja within. He is quite a force to be reckoned with, even more so than before. Anyway... Please forgive me for not making myself clear, and please continue on with the story. :)
~* Falling Inside The Black *~
Falling in the black
Slipping through the cracks
Falling to the depths
Can I ever go back?
Falling inside the black...
"Enter," Gaara stated at the knock on his door. After a bit of shuffling in walked Matsuri and Baki, the latter leading forth a shackled Kakashi by the arm. The Copy Ninja was in a sorry state, to say the least: his silver hair was tangled, he was dirty all over, and old battle wounds could be seen from his torn clothing.
"Sit." The Kazekage directed the silver haired jonin to the chair in front of his desk.
"Matsuri, get water." Said girl left immediately to do what was asked of her. She returned momentarily with two glasses, one for Kakashi and the other for Gaara himself. Matsuri handed the Copy Ninja the glass, and he took it gratefully before sipping from it through his mask. He gulped it down in only a matter of moments, and Matsuri took the empty cup from him. The Sand kunoichi then left them in peace, but Baki remained.
"Baki, you are dismissed as well." The older jonin's head snapped up to look at Gaara incredulously.
"But Kazekage-sama, that's dangerous-"
"I said you're dismissed." Gaara snapped with authority, not liking to repeat himself. Baki immediately shut his mouth and nodded respectively, though the conflict was clear in his eyes, and shut the heavy wooden door behind him with a seemingly inaudible click. Gaara knew that Baki would stand outside the door with the guards, ready to jump in at the first sign of danger, but Gaara also knew that wouldn't be necessary. Once again he motioned to the chair in front of him, signaling Kakashi to sit. Said man slumped down in the seat, as if he hadn't sat in days. He probably hadn't.
"Fancy seeing you here, Gaara." Kakashi waved his hand, gesturing to the Hokage's office around them. An air of disdain shadowed his comment, though he said it like one greeting an old friend midday at the grocery store. An eye crinkle was the only indication of his smile, real or not. Gaara remained emotionless and simply stared, ignoring the comment. Even if he were to reply, what would he say? 'Nice to see you too, some war we're having'? Dreadful conversationalist he was, even Gaara knew there was nothing acceptable to say in this instance. Besides, silence had yet to fail him.
"I want to make a deal with you." Gaara started, getting right down to business.
"And what can I offer that the Kazekage wants? You already have the two largest countries in the ninja world under your control... I wonder, would that make you the Hokazekage?" Kakashi tapped his chin with a finger in mock contemplation, but Gaara wasn't offended by his sarcasm. The Leaf jonin's cross attitude was understandable, all things considered. That was why it would be difficult making this deal.
"I was told that you were once going to be appointed Hokage, many years ago..." Kakashi's eye narrowed, inspecting him in silent contemplation.
"Something like that."
"I wish to rule these lands in a joint-partnership. I am not capable of controlling such a large land mass by myself, and you are the most qualified person for this job."
"And what makes you think I want to help you?" Kakashi said, voice suddenly serious. Gaara remained impassive.
"Because you are all that your people have left. Your elders are gone, you are lacking strong ninja, and Konoha would rather follow you than me. I will offer this land protection, for it is partially my own, and in exchange you must keep up trade. I wish to do this peacefully but if you even think about rebelling I will have no other choice but to destroy you... Just like your elders, who cut off trade and threatened to overtake my country. I advise you don't make the same mistakes they did." Gaara finished. He sincerely wished there would be no more conflict, but one could only hope. He would avoid it at all costs, but Gaara would fight if need be. And he would not fail. Both he and Kakashi knew this.
Kakashi remained silent, taking it all in. His visible eye flicked over to the Hokage monument, where Naruto and Minato's faces grinned back down at him. He saw the city for all that it was, broken and half deserted, in dire need of leadership and guidance. Kakashi shut his eye and sighed quietly. He knew what had to be done.
"I have some conditions."
"Yes?" Gaara asked, completely open and relieved Kakashi seemed to cooperate peacefully.
"First off, I want you to release all the ninja you have in custody and let them go back home." Gaara was silent for a moment, thinking.
"Done. But they will all be monitored and kept an eye on for the foreseeable future. If any of them are caught trying to escape or doing something else that is strictly prohibited, then they will be taken into custody once more. What else?"
"Secondly, I need to appoint a new council."
"I trust you'll choose appropriate members. Done. Anything else?"
"Thirdly... I lost something very important in the war. Some personal belongings that I'd like you to take full responsibility for and replace." Gaara raised a non-existent brow.
"And what would that be?" Kakashi was silent for a moment.
"...Get me back my Icha Icha's, and we have a deal."
"Damn, that woman can kick..." Kankuro grumbled, sitting at the foot of Sakura's bed with a pained sigh to massage his battered legs. His whole body ached, and Kankuro could already tell that he would incredibly sore the next morning. He scowled over at the pink haired woman whom he had put on the bed. Chakra restraints were wrapped around her wrists and ankles, ropes bound her arms to her sides and her legs together, ensuring she wouldn't break free again.
"You should have seen it coming. You don't seriously think a mother would go down that easily when her child is on the line, do you?" Temari snapped. When her harsh tone seemed to upset the child in her arms she fretted, ordering Kankuro to fetch a bottle from the fridge. Akira cried as the bottle warmed up in the microwave and Temari gently cooed to him. When Kankuro returned he offered Temari the bottle and she smiled.
"...Do you want to hold him?"
"Me?" The puppet master raised his eye brows and pointed a finger to his chest, shocked. Kankuro was known to do and be many things in his life. Being a puppeteer and a ninja, a teacher to the younger generations, a war general, a skirt chaser... But a nurturer? Kankuro shifted uncomfortably at Temari's proposal, unsure of what to do.
"Are you sure that's okay? He's Sakura's son..." He continued to give excuses as Temari stood and gently placed Akira in his arms. He held the child, still unsure, when the baby opened his bright tanuki eyes and gazed up at him curiously. Kankuro felt his heart melt in an instant, though he'd never openly admit it. He held the bottle to Akira and he gladly obliged, taking the nipple in his mouth before suckling from it gently and closing his eyes once more.
"Are you blind? He's Gaara's baby too, there's no doubt about that. This is our nephew, and we are his family... I still can't believe she hid him from us..." Temari glowered at the unconscious woman on the bed. Gaara had informed them that Sakura may be pregnant or already have a child, yet he had failed to mention that the kid might be his.
"I think it's understandable. I mean, this is Gaara we're talking about... Who knows how he'll react to having a secret, illegitimate child. " Kankuro grumbled, suddenly protective over his new-found nephew. Temari opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. Her brow furrowed as she thought, a small frown creased her lips.
"Gaara is still... Well, Gaara. He's still dangerous and volatile, but now he tries to control it a little more. I know what you mean... But in the end there's only one way to find out. " Temari slung a diaper bag full of supplies over her shoulder, bottles full of formula sloshing around inside amongst other things, signaling their departure.
"You take Sakura, I'll take the kid." Temari said, holding her arms out. Kankuro carefully passed Akira over to his sister before getting ready himself. As he readjusted Karasu on his back, Temari took a throw blanket from the rocking chair and folded it in half before tying it up around her left shoulder and under her right one. Placing Akira in the handcrafted baby sling, she tied it comfortably but securely behind her back so that the child was held to her chest. Temari placed the edge of the blanket over his sleeping face to cover him completely before strapping her fan to her back.
Kankuro pushed Karasu over to the left side of his back and hauled Sakura's unconscious body on the right, completely unfazed by the extra weight. He placed her tied hands around his neck from behind, her arms resting on his broad shoulders, and pulled her legs up around his waist by the back of her knees. Kankuro felt wary about unbinding her legs, but it was necessary in order to carry her back to Konoha. He would have drugged her again just to make sure she was truly incapacitated, but Temari had instructed him otherwise because the poison would affect her breast milk. Kankuro sighed, just waiting for Sakura to awaken at any moment and wreak havoc on him.
"Let's go, Kankuro." Temari shut the lights off once more and the two ninjas slipped out of Yukigakure undetected without leaving a single trace that they had ever been there to begin with.
It wasn't until hours later that Sakura began to stir to the sounds of low voices nearby. The drugs were still flowing through her system, Sakura vaguely realized. Though her head was fuzzy and she couldn't move her body very well, Sakura used her chakra to flush the drugs out of her system faster. When she did everything she possibly could in her current situation, simply waiting for the poison to leave her body, she strained her ears to hear the voices that had woken her. One was male and the other was female, Sakura vaguely noted. Still disoriented, memory ceased to come back to her until she heard a small cry, followed by the woman hushing a child. Sakura's eyes flew open, though she still couldn't make any sudden movements, and she remembered everything.
"Shhh, it's okay Akira... Aunty Temari is here, it's okay..." Temari said quietly and hummed an unfamiliar tune. Her attempts to soothe the child only made him cry louder, it seemed.
"Jesus Temari, what are you doing to the kid?" Kankuro grumbled irritably while plugging his ears with his fingers.
"If you think it's so easy then why don't you try?" She snapped back, offering him the child. Kankuro held Akira with uncertainty, confusion clear in his eyes.
"Maybe he's just hungry?" He suggested, but before he could retrieve a bottle Temari spoke.
"I already tried, he won't have any..."
"Perhaps he needs changed?"
"I tried that, too. No luck."
"He wants his mother." Sakura said coldly from where she laid on the ground.
The Sand Siblings' eyes flicked over to her then back at the fussy baby. Kankuro looked at Temari for approval, to which she shrugged at. After all, even if Sakura had Akira she still had no chance of escaping in her current condition. The Puppet Master then stepped forward and placed the baby, bundled up in a large blanket, into Sakura's awaiting arms. The mother held her child tightly to her chest and pulled the sleeping bag over them both, the child snuggling into the warmth of her chest. Almost immediately he ceased crying.
Temari and Kankuro looked at the scene in awe as they watched Sakura murmur sweet nothings to Akira, soothing the child with her loving words. Both the Sand Siblings mind's flashed back to a time when they witnessed their own mother hold and love a baby boy very similar to Akira, despite her fate and the fact that her death was caused by his birth... Despite it all, the mother had held her newborn son and looked upon him with eyes full of a love that was purely unconditional. That very same look returned in Sakura's eyes as she looked down at her baby.
Temari averted her gaze to the ground at her feet and Kankuro wandered back to the fire to sit down and stare at it. From the faraway look in his eyes, Temari could tell he was thinking the same thing she was. They couldn't let Gaara hurt that baby, nor his mother.