A/N: Ah, Why so late? I don't have any excuses to offer. I shall just say that it's the last weeks of summer; I have a social life, and a job to maintain. However, I have been neglecting updating like crazy on this story so I really do apologize.
Euphoria
Nervously, Sakura held her hands tightly in her lap; heart beat speeding up by the minute. Her stomach had a hollow feeling and her face was twisted up in a worried expression. After the discussion with Tsunade, she felt less than reassured.
It was the waiting that really killed her. She would be assisting Tsunade, however, not for several more hours. She needed to find something to fill that gap and she settled on going home and reading a nice book, though that didn't work out as planned.
She was currently in a mess, sitting stiffly in her kitchen chair, staring at the unprepared ingredients upon the table. She couldn't think about anything else and felt a sickening torture in her chest. It was as if she could feel his pain. God pray he wasn't feeling any.
A knock interrupted her worrying and she shifted her weight before standing up rigidly. Touching the cold knob, she pulled gently and swung it open.
"Good afternoon, Miss Haruno. The first interrogation has gone smoothly. We require some assistance in making some serums, would you mind coming with me?" A man asked her with a smile.
He was dressed in the standard medic-nin uniform and looked like he had just worked a midnight shift, though his attempt to reassure her was very sweet.
Sakura smiled and nodded slightly, before gathering her stuff. Putting the ingredients back in the fridge and their respected areas, she locked up and followed the man out of the building.
Serums…what on earth are they injecting into him?
Her mind struggled with the endless possibilities and she put a hand on her stomach to reassure herself.
"Miss Haruno, are you all right?" He asked her, pausing in his steps. She looked up and beamed a smile.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry. Let's keep going."
He nodded and the two set about a silent walk toward the hospital. Sakura flashed polite greetings and smiles to people she recognized on the streets but she couldn't shake off the worry that was engulfing her insides.
When the dot of a building began to enlarge, Sakura felt her body tense up. Walking with almost forced steps, Her body made its way into the white building.
"This way." The man led, turning within the maze of hallways, up the stairs, and to an isolated room in a lone hall.
Sakura could smell the fumes of chemicals and herbs as she neared the door and held back the urge to puke. The man grabbed a mask from off the hook by the door and held it to her.
Her medic instincts were sending off alarm bells. If what they were making required them to wear masks, would it be safe to inject into someone's body?
Taking it with shaky hands, Sakura allowed the man to enter first, before closing the door behind her.
The room was pure white, with several lights on the walls and ceiling. The whole area screamed of "sterile". Seeing several others already busily working, she snapped into focus.
"So what are you making?" She asked the man beside her.
"Here is the list of serums we've already applied to the body. Using this, we can tell what other substances can pass through safely. The problem we are having though is, we are making an A-34, which will restrain his conscious personality and draw out his subconscious out. However, this is a very complex thing to produce, especially since some ingredients required may interfere with the other serums."
Sakura's eyes narrowed, she didn't know what an "A-34" was. In Konoha, they never numbered or listed antidotes, serums, or any medicine in fact. She knew them only by functions.
Her quick mind set to work, processing all the serums she was taught, and there seemed only to be one she could think of that would fit the description. However, this was a very dangerous liquid to make. She knew if anything went wrong, Gaara would be in fatal trouble. Plus, she had only learned about it in theory, having never made one before.
Scientists created the liquid in question, long ago when they did experiments on the human psyche, though it has been modified in later years.
Once the user drank the liquid, the chemicals infused would travel up the brain stem, and into the prefrontal lobe of the brain, drawing out the personality of the user. His conscious personality would be restrained, and his unconscious personality will be pulled out through a series of tests based on mental and physical responses.
(A/N: Just a small disclaimer! I am in no way a professional in areas like psychology or neurology, so although the physical structures and functions of the brain are correct, The drawing out of unconscious personality and all that…just for the purpose of this story, I'm still just a fifteen year old kid, Haha! )
Sakura winced; this was something she was not looking forward to creating. It could be very dangerous.
"Won't this interfere with the other serums that he's already injected? It says here you had him under heavy anesthetic, and he's also had a fair dose of the truth serum from the interrogation squad. His body won't be able to handle much more…" She said strategically.
"B-20 has worn off mostly, it's just the A-12 we are worried about. It interferes with A-34." The man explained. Sakura flashed him a look,
" Ah, okay let me explain this way. The anesthetic was typical hospital level, and it wore off a while ago. The remains are just in his system still. The truth serum hasn't seemed to change anything, so we have opted just to use the A-34 to draw out his subconscious. Normally we would have just had the Hokage look into his brain with chakra, however, Gaara is a bit complicated. We are going to have to do it the old fashioned way."
Sakura sighed and tied her hair up with a hair elastic.
"If it has to be this way, I'll make it. Not that I don't trust your medics, it's just that I have a need to be in control when it comes to this kind of stuff." She explained.
The man nodded and said,
"I understand. We are here to assist if you need anything."
Sakura murmured a quick 'thank you' before diving into her work. Grabbing empty vials and bottles and setting them up, she turned around to find the extensive selection of plants already cut up.
Picking them out carefully, Sakura set it aside and went to boil some water in a small pot. Opening their medicine cabinet, she searched around the many glass bottles until she found three chemicals she needed.
A little over an hour later, Sakura had prepared the water. Several chemicals were added in, stirred in vigorously until a mist engulfed the pot. With her free hand, she gathered a small amount of chakra and began to put in the pounded leaves and a paste like substance.
Moving her arms around, her chakra molded and stirred everything together, until the water turned to a dark gold color, and looked more like liquid metal then water.
"I need you guys to put this on top of the stove and keep it heated until I'm done with the preparations for the second part. Make sure it's consistent, kind of like cooking a pasta sauce." She added with an attempt at humor.
The others offered a polite chuckle, though they knew how stressed she was on the inside. They followed her instructions as Sakura told the others to help her pick out some herbs and mix them together.
"Insert a little of your chakra into them, and really make sure they are mixed evenly. A slight imbalance can create different reactions in the body." She explained with a serious tone.
So the group of Medics worked until they could no more and finally, the labors of their work was a small glass vial of a murky looking substance, three hours later.
Exhausted, Sakura made her way into the instructed operation room, and her heart lifted slightly at the sight of Gaara, lying down on a table in the center of the room, with some medic nin surrounding him and Tsunade standing over him.
He had ink written all over his body, a circle all leading to his forehead, and he glanced up at Sakura with a slight smile, though his eyes were glazed over.
Alarmed, Sakura walked over and asked what his progress was.
"The others will leave in a minute, as I expect it will be dangerous for them to stay with us. They will watch the progress with the board members from that mirror over there." Tsunade explained to her pupil who nodded simply at this bit of information.
Sakura really didn't care that the board was watching, she just wanted to make sure Gaara was okay.
"I have him in a dream state though my chakra alone can't hold him there for much longer, we will begin the procedures now. Go get prepared." She said firmly.
With a nod, Sakura retied her hair and took a splash of water on her face with a sigh. Wiping it off with a towel, she felt refreshed as she made way over to the table.
With the elixir in hand, she opened his lips and poured all of it in. Tsunade immediately turned to the clock.
"It will take only sixty seconds to affect him. We aren't sure what to expect, so please, focus on the task at hand. Remember what I said to you on the roof." Tsunade instructed, adding the last bit quietly.
Sakura looked determined and simply nodded once. Holding her hands palms toward Gaara, and bending her knees slightly, she and Tsunade looked like mirrors as they both shouted out the release for the seal written over Gaara.
A radiant glow seemed to explode from within the building, and Sakura had to fight to stabilize her footing. She heard Tsunade shouting from the other side not to lose focus.
When the glow faded, Gaara lay there silently, eyes closed. Sakura's heart sped up for a moment, had it gone wrong? A panic rushed through her mind until his eyes snapped open and he howled out.
Feeling her teacher's gaze upon her, Sakura returned to her task and quickly restrained him with chakra binds.
The monster before them screamed and howled, jerking wildly on the table, slamming his body against the metal, almost sure he could break the bonds.
However, Sakura was one of the best when it came to chakra binds, since her control was perfect, and he would not be winning the fight.
"You will do as we say. If you do not, you may never see day light again." Tsunade began, and Sakura flashed her a worried look at her harsh words.
Gaara seemed to flash his demonic eyes at her and made a loud growl before sitting down.
Sakura followed Tsunade's example, and the two sat in opposite chairs on either side of him.
"State your name." Tsunade commanded. The boy seemed to howl in laughter before a raspy voice answered, surprising Sakura greatly.
"It's obvious who I am. Know your place, woman. I'm the kazekage here. You don't have rank."
Tsunade nodded simply, not even flinching at his voice.
"I am also not the one in binds. Now if you please, tell me, why do you want to be a kazekage?" She asked him.
Gaara seemed to roll his head before he returned facing her with a wide grin.
"It means I'm the strongest in the whole village."
Sakura frowned, this didn't sound like Gaara at all. She didn't want to believe he had a different personality, she wouldn't believe it.
"Is strength the most important thing?" She asked.
"Of course it is! What else do you need in life? All these fucking people, I don't care about them, they can go die if they want to. It's survival of the fittest. And if anyone challenges my place, I'll kill them." Gaara responded, smirking at the last bit.
"What is your reason to live?" She asked him, not even wavering once.
Gaara seemed to switch gazes to Sakura, before he chuckled loudly.
"To fight." He hissed out, with a maniacal glint in his eyes.
"Would you say you are like this all the time? Would you say you are a nice person?" Tsunade continued on.
Gaara howled with laughter at that one.
"Nice? HAH. Why do I need to be compared and placed into these boxes? I do what I like. I have no need to be nice." He explained with another laugh.
"What about your friends? what do they mean to you?" Tsunade asked.
"Friends are a joke. They don't care about you. They benefit from being with you, that's why they are with you. I don't see the need for friends. There is nothing I need from them, or them with me."
Sakura clenched her fist at this. She has been sitting through all his responses, choking back responses.
The Gaara she knew would never say those things. Maybe at one point he had not realized the importance of trust and friends, but he surely knew it now.
At the thought of him, her heart burned. More then ever, staring at this monster who resembled Gaara in looks made her want to puke.
"You are not Gaara..."
"He would never say that." She hissed out, fighting back angry tears.
Gaara tilted his head to the side and seemed to grin at her display of emotion.
"Please, girl. I AM Gaara. You've met some phony ass sugarcoated version of me. He's gone, dear! I've gone and took him away. This body is mine." He shouted with a laugh.
At that sentence, Sakura felt her heart drop.
Her eyes widened and she looked at Tsunade, who also looked surprised.
"What do you mean you ARE Gaara? "
"You are not. What did you do with Gaara? Answer me!" Sakura began to ask, a flurry of questions, worryin surging through her veins. Her head throbbed with pain, and her chest was tightening. She didn't want to believe him.
"Oh look! The blossom is panicking!" He began, cackling at her weakness.
" What do you think I did with him! He is nothing but a nuisance. He's gone, and he's never coming back."
"He stole my body! He took over, only because he had the one-tail. Now that's gone, he's a weak nobody and I'll make him pay for stealing my body." Gaara shouted, with a slam of a fist against the metal table, his breath hardening, as his eyes narrowed.
"Your body? What are you talking about! I don't know who you are, but this body belongs to Gaara. I won't let you hurt him." Sakura hissed out in anger.
"I AM Gaara. You haven't met me. You've only met that sorry excuse of a soul who took all his defenses down after his demon was gone. He is even too weak to have his own name!"Gaara scoffed.
A slap was echoed through the room.
Sakura stood over him panting, eyes red and watering.
"Don't talk about him like that."
Gaara hissed out in pain, spitting out blood as he glared at Sakura.
"YOU FUCKING BITCH. I'LL KILL YOU." He screamed, attempting to escape the binds and throwing his body violently up and down.
"Was it you?! That day, in the arena. Was that you who hurt Kiba?" She asked him, fists tightening.
"What if it was…" Gaara cooed with a sly smirk. Sakura looked up now, hot tears rushing down her cheeks.
"You son of a bitch. Give Gaara back, now. You are not him, and you won't ever be." She hissed at him.
He laughed.
"You don't seem to get it."
" I am Gaara. 100 percent me. You've only seen the idiot that imitates me. He's weak, pathetic, he's not Gaara. He does not deserve to be part of me, so I took him out."
Sakura's glare hardened as she glanced over to Tsunade who gave her a stern look before writing things down in a notebook.
"So, are you saying, he is part of you?" She asked quietly.
"Of course. How do you think he got so strong? It sure as hell wasn't him. It was all me!"
"Look girlie. Look at it this way."
" The Gaara you know is maybe 10 percent real. He is the parts of me that were too weak to form a body. A soul without a shell. Somehow, he got put into mine. I'm sick of it, this is my body."
"This is not your body. This is…HIS." Sakura said through gritted teeth.
"Give back Gaara." She repeated. The other Gaara seemed to laugh.
"Why? I don't want to. Besides, I don't even think I can."
"Thanks though, I guess. You are the one that let me out." He howled with laughter at Sakura's face as he told her.
"I let you out? What do you mean!" She demanded, face twisting in horror. Tsunade gave her another look and Sakura calmed down. She had a sick feeling in her stomach again.
Gaara chuckled,
"I never would have escaped his unconscious by my self. Thanks though kid, you practically did it for me." He said with another laugh.
This time Tsunade was the one to shut him up.
" If what you say is true, then Gaara should be in your unconscious. You realize we can reverse the effect easily." Tsunade stated.
Gaara laughed hollowly.
"What makes you think he wants to come back? Look at what you've done to him. He doesn't mind me in control, the spineless fuck. This is my body now."
Sakura looked up in shock.
"You're lying! Gaara wants to come back. He would never want you in control of his body."
"DON'T YOU GET IT ALREADY? I AM GAARA. We are one. I know he doesn't want to come back, and he doesn't want to see you." Gaara added with venom.
Sakura felt her heart shatter. She knew this other Gaara was another personality and definitely not Gaara, but it still hurt to hear that.
She gritted her teeth before she glared and spoke up,
"The Gaara I knew would never say anything hurtful to his friends. This is further proof you are not him." She said quietly.
Gaara laughed loudly and looked over at Tsunade.
"What's with this kid? Tell her to get a clue." He instructed with a laugh. Tsunade gave him a stern glance.
"If you are Gaara, what shall we call the other?" Tsunade asked him. Sakura looked up in disbelief.
"You can't believe him can you, Tsunade-sama?!"
"Sakura, be quiet." Tsunade said sternly, causing the girl to shut up immediately.
"I don't know. Who cares, he's never coming back." Gaara called to Sakura with giggles.
Sakura was on verge of tears once more,
It's not true. He is just bluffing.
"When did he emerge then?" Tsunade asked.
"When my parents died. They were getting in the way. Then he got in my way too. Him and that one-tail. They took over my fucking body and locked me up."
"How did he appear? In your mind?" Tsunade asked.
"Well obviously. He was such an innocent little body. If he hadn't had the demon, I would have killed him by now. Are we done with the interview, fuck this shit."
"Yes we are.We're going to do a couple of basic physical tests now." Tsunade decided several minutes later, as she set up several moniters.
Sakura pulled aside Tsunade,
"What are you doing?! Tsunade-sama, it's obvious he's unstable. We can't just let this continue! We have to bring back Ga-"
"Sakura, remember we can bring Gaara back any time we want. Do not get emotional." She hissed at her student, who stopped her talking with an embarrassed blush.
The physical tests began with simple one on one sparring. This Gaara did not seem to possess the grace of the other Gaara. However, his movements were all powerful, deadly punches and kicks and quick steps completely silent. During this,
"Are you a killer? Or would you consider yourself one?" Tsunade asked.
"I just love people's expressions when they are about to die."Gaara chose to answer with a cold laug, throwing a kick towards Tsunade's face.
"You monster..." Sakura hissed from the side, her hand gripped the pen tightly as she recorded his movements. How badly she wished she was the one sparring.
"I have enough information. Put him back under quick, I have to go make my report." Tsunade said, ten minutes later, stopping the spar.
Both snapped their attention to Tsunade. Gaara howled out immediatly and ran towards the woman, ready to kill.
Sakura reacted instantly and ran forward, slamming her fist into his shoulder, feeling it crack. With a satisfied grin, she threw him on the table.
Taking advantage of this moment of shock, the two women shouted the seal once more. A scream of most tortured pain occured, causing Sakura to almost regret what she had done, and then, the light faded and it went silent.
Now, after the chakra restraints were taken off, Sakura felt completely drained, only realizing now how much chakra she used up that day. It was beyong her limit.
"Go home and rest Sakura." Tsunade advised.
"No…I have to know the result…" Sakura murmured, wiping tiredly at her eyes.
"I won't be reporting till morning. I am writing my report tonight." Tsunade explained.
Sakura struggled before she gave in.
"All right. I'm going."
"Good. I'll see you in the morning." Tsunade said with a nod of her head before she turned away.
--
Hours later, during the odd hours of the night, Tsunade stared down at the complete paper in her hands.
"God I hope I made the right choice."
--
A/N: Ah, I think you are used to these endings by now. Haha! Anyways, I'm going to bed now, because it is the odd hours of the night for me as well. I love your reviews guys! You are all truly amazing. We're getting closer to the endingg, I hope you are excited. And by the way, how was this chapter? Okay? I was a little iffy on it.
Please r/r! Ciao! D.