Frostbitten Sand
Frosty Reception

Rasa sat up, a cold sweat dripping down his back and arms as his entire body ached. One hand reached up to cover his eyes, his body leaning over, and the man's breath coming in heavy breaths. A knock came at the door, and a nurse peeked into the room. "Lord Kazekage? Are you all right?"

"I'm just stiff, and sore." The man looked down at his lap, his eyes closing as Rasa attempted to erase the image from his dreams from his mind, but the image wouldn't leave even when he swallowed. In his dreams he saw Gaara in front of him, blood dripping for from his forehead, asking why the man hadn't protected him.

The nurse, however, did not back down. "Are you sure Lord Kazekage? You look very pale. I could go and get you something to kill the pain."

"No. Dulling the pain just dulls the mind. I need to have my senses about me, so I can take care of my duties." Rasa continued to look at his lap, his mouth twisted into a frown. "Gaara? Why hasn't he come back to visit me again."

"I was under the impression Lord Kazekage, that your son was forbidden from coming to lesson any emotional strain. Not just for yourself, but your son."

Rasa pulled one leg up in an attempt to make himself more comfortable. His mouth didn't open to say anything, but his mind went rather fast. "That makes a lot more sense then the way Baki put it. This said..." The man finally spoke again. "Gaara is doing alright though?"

"Lord Gaara? He's been doing quite well while you've been in a comma. You could say he's a different person."

"I see." The man looked at the bed. "So he doesn't need me. Still, I can't shake that feeling." Rasa's hand clenched around his pant leg. "Still, I'm going to be released today." The man heard the woman clear her throat, and his head darted up. "What?"

"Why don't I go ahead and get the head medical-nin for you."

The woman left, and Rasa found himself lost in his own thoughts which resulted in him not seeing the medical-nin coming into the room with another person. "Is there anyway Lord Rasa, that I might be able to talk you out of going home just yet?"

"There are things I need to do." The forth Kazekage noticed the man was accompanied by Baki. The look the other shinobi gave him told him that the man was far from pleased. "Something is bothering you Baki?"

"You've not exactly given us much time to plan for your transfer from the hospital to your home. I'm not even able to give your children time to prepare."

"I'm wanting to see with my own eyes how Kankuro and Temari are doing, but apparently I've also been forbidden from seeing Gaara." Rasa watched Baki's mouth open up. "You don't have that right."

"Lady Temari requested Lord Gaara not see you for the time being. She asked me to avoid him as much as possible, so that I'd be unable to pass on your request for him to come and see you."

"Besides that, I've also noticed no other patients on the floor, as well as the Anbu at the entrances. The entire floor is under lock down, not being used to it's fullest extent. I'm under the impression the council is attempting to keep the fact I've woken up under wraps, so if I leave when people don't expect, it is for the best, and the floor can be reopened for proper use."

Baki stared at Rasa for a few minutes. "Perhaps you should set aside thinking in a political manner, and instead be a bit more concerned about your own needs."

"I think you know full well why I can not." Rasa stared at Baki for a few minutes, but couldn't figure out why the man was so willing to push, where at one point in time he was not."

"Then if the head medical-nin gives you his leave, I will be organizing the Anbu for you to go home this afternoon." Baki looked at the medical-nin, hoping that the man would do something about Rasa leaving.

The medical-nin however let out a sigh. "I will let you out, but on the following conditions Lord Rasa. First, avoid over doing it. You're already pushing yourself to much as it is. Second, you will until I say otherwise have a nurse checking in on you."

"I agree to those terms, at this point in time." Rasa massaged his shoulder in an attempt to try and drive out the soreness, and stiffness. "And Baki, don't let my children know I'm being released. The older two are avoiding me, and I really don't appreciate the fact I've been prevented from seeing Gaara over the last few days."

"Then I will let you know when we're reading to move. Likely it will be later in the evening when things begin to slow down. Please be patient until then, and don't try doing anything on your own." Baki made a bow, before slipping out of the room.

Rasa pulled himself towards the headboard, and propped himself up. His eyes drifted to the cactus among the gifts people managed to sneak in over the last few weeks, and next to the cactus sat the book which had been found on the floor soon after he woke up. One hand reached out to touch the spine, and then pulled back.

"I really wonder what is up with Gaara. He seemed quite pleased when he talked about his cactus. I'd forgotten he had his mother's smile. Still, I don't know how mentally stable he's actually become."

Through the door frame Rasa could see light filtering in telling him the time of day. Baki soon came back in the evening like he promised bringing with him a change of clothes, and Rasa changed quickly into regular clothing while Baki waited in the hallway. The forth Kazekage then hobbled out of the room using his crutches, and looked at Baki wondering if the man had kept his promise.

"Don't worry. I didn't like not telling them, but I didn't. They're likely not to be pleased, Kankuro and Temari that is."

"You think then that Gaara will be pleased to see me? That's really not like him." Rasa pulled the hood of his clothing around his face.

"Are you glad to be getting home, Lord Kazekage?"

"Glad?" Rasa frowned at the question. "I'm not sure why you're asking such a question. Shinobi aren't supposed to feel emotions, and simply do what duty calls them to do. It's my duty to go home." The man caught sight of Baki looking away, and the discomfort on the other man's face was obvious. "What?"

"I don't think your transition is going to be an easy one, Lord Kazekage."

"Why? I'm already back on my feet after two to three weeks like I wanted."

"I wasn't referring to your physical transition, but something else. I'm not sure how to explain what I mean by what I said though."

The walk back to the Kazekage household remained silent, and Rasa couldn't help but feel uncomfortable around Baki. He at first thought there was some distrust, and that Baki was no longer loyal to him. The other man's loyalty though remained unquestionable, so the reason lay elsewhere. The two arrived at the back door connected to the kitchen without any interruptions, and Rasa reached down to the doorknob, only to hesitate.

Eventually though he opened the door, and stepped in. The kitchen lights were off, and the room dim. A light filtered in from the other room, and Rasa overheard Kankuro and Temari speaking. He relaxed upon hearing his daughters words.

"It's your first time trying this type of thing, and you're doing quite well, so you shouldn't beat yourself up Gaara."

"If Karura were alive, that's how she would have spoken to Gaara." Rasa's grip tightened around the crutches, and he hobbled over to the doorway, and then over to the opening to the front room near the front door. Neither of his three children noticed him, or Baki standing there, and he watched the activities carefully.

A few wooden toys sat next to Kankuro as he fiddled with putting one together. Temari held a doll in her hands, and was watching over Gaara's attempt to sew a rather odd looking teddy bear together. Rasa's eyebrows rose up as he wondered what the children were up to, but then his answer came. "Come on. I'm sure the child in the medical ward won't care. They're stuck in there, and they don't exactly get many things."

"Yes, but..." Gaara stopped speaking, and then set the table onto the table. The red haired shinobi turned his head so that his sea foam green eyes looked at the two men in the doorway. The boy didn't say anything, but Gaara noticing the two drew the attention of the two older siblings. Looks of shock appeared upon their faces while Gaara's that he shared with his mother appeared again, ever so faintly.

Kankuro's mouth twitched, and Rasa took in the two older children. Rasa took in the other two, and felt his stomach lurch. "I wasn't in a comma for only two months."

"You!" The eldest of his sons stood up, a finger pointing at him as Kankuro's voice elevated telling the forth Kazekage the puppet ninja was furious at seeing him. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Do I really need to answer that question Kankuro?"

"Don't you dare pull, 'I'm the Kazekage on me' here! It's been two damn years since you went into a comma, and you're not the Kazekage anymore! And as far as I'm concerned you're not our father either! I'm out of here!" The teen brushed past Rasa at that point, nearly knocking him off his feet.

"So you're still small..." Rasa found himself upable to say, "small for your age", as Temari interrupted with him.

"Don't." His eldest turned her head towards Gaara. "Hey, could you stay with me in my room tonight Gaara?" Rasa took a deep breath at that point, but somehow bit back his desire to lecture Temari on the matter.

"But..."

"I need to talk to him alone."

"You said..."

"I'm going to keep my promise. To do that though, I need to talk to him a bit. Alright?"

Gaara glanced up, and Rasa could see the young teen was agitated. The man's memory drifted to the memory of agitation being a sign that his son was about to lose it. Gaara however calmly left the room. Rasa took a deep breath. "Temari..."

Rasa watched as his daughter looked him right in the eye. "Please don't lecture me. You've not been in our lives the last coupe of years, and even if you had, well, you weren't exactly a very good parent."

"I am quite aware of the fact my parenting skills need work Temari." The man hobbled over to the table on the floor, and wondered how he would be able to sit down to speak with her. "The fact I've not been around doesn't mean I can't ask you questions."

"Like what?"

"Gaara sleeps in the same room as you?"

"And that bothers you because?"

"Isn't he to old for that? He's fourteen after all. It wouldn't be such a big deal if the two of you were the same gender, but you're not."

"Gaara's completely clueless about those kind of things, so you don't need to worry about that. Even if he did, he's not that type of person." Temari watched him carefully, and then opened her mouth again. "Look, you know as well as I that Gaara has insomnia. He's not having nightmares like he used to, but he still struggles to sleep. Staying with me helps him sometimes to sleep, or at least relax, and he's not been sleeping at all the last couple of weeks."

"Couldn't he though stay with Kankuro?" Rasa watched as Temari gave him a dirty look, and looked away trying to avoid a look he remembered his wife having when he did or said something off kilter.

A silence fell over the room. Temari finally cleared her throat. "Look, I promised Gaara I'd give you a chance, but I wasn't exactly prepared for you getting out as soon as you did. As Kankuro noted, it's been two years, over two years. You can't just waltz in and expect us to be fine with you coming back into our lives. And..."

Rasa braced himself for what Temari had to say.

"Gaara should never have to apologize for being alive, even to you."

One of Rasa's eyebrows rose up. "That's another thing I am aware of."

"Then why didn't you say anything to Gaara when you saw him the other day."

The memory of Gaara apologizing for being alive popped into his head. "I didn't ask for him to say what he did."

"You still didn't correct him!" Temari's displeasure was all to evident.

"And what was I supposed to say to him, Temari?"

His daughter stared at him, a rather baffled look on her face. "What should you say? You don't know?"

"No. I've never known what exactly to say to him, what will set him off, or be accurate what he'll actually understand." Rasa saw the look on Temari's face, and looked away. "I already admitted to you, that my parenting skills leave a lot to be desired." His eyes darted down to the toys. "What are you three up to?"

Temari glanced down. "Christmas presents for some of the children stuck in the hospital."

"So then, I guess we can try to settle things over Christmas?"

His eldest remained silent for a bit. "No. I know you're suggesting spending Christmas together as a family, but the thing is there are plans already. We're going to have visitors from Karakura town. It's a political move actually. You understand those kind of thing, don't you?"

Rasa's mouth twisted into a frown. "Political? Over the holidays? Temari, who is the new Kazekage? You wouldn't do such a thing?"

One of Temari's eyebrows went up. "Do such a thing? I believe the idea originated with the council. I also believe you should know full well how they are."

The man took a deep breath. "Perhaps it's best that I retire to my room. I'll see you and your brother's in the morning."