Hello readers!
I have returned from my long trip to India some time ago and wrote about 1000 words of this story during the plane trip where I just wasn't tired enough to sleep (plus, my friends were walking around, drawing on sleeping peoples' faces then taking black-mail pictures) so I decided to stay up. I had a great time otherwise!
Now, on with the story! I kinda left you guys hanging with that huge cliffy in the last update and I apologize for it! I was necessary though! Thanks for being patient and reviewing! I love you all!
I do not own any characters of Naruto! I only semi-own my island (kudos to Alexander Dumas for that one) and random ninja people (Masashi-sama invented the species after all)!
I had to do loads of medical research for this chapter, but I apologize if it isn't 100% correct. Yeah, I'm not that patient with research.
Read on!
Yay for line breaks!
"Nothing."
The word echoed across the deck. Everything seemed to stop, including time. All that was heard was the sound of an occasional gasp as people got the message.
Nothing.
Yuudai stood up.
"What the hell do you mean, 'nothing'?" he shouted.
The captain glared at him until he sat back down, then whispered into his walkie-talkie again. He was communicating with another ship's captain, and they were exchanging updates of their searches.
After a minute, the man sighed and put the device back into his pocket before turning back to his own team.
Nothing. That was all they had heard.
One word that meant so much, but explained so little.
It was 'nothing'.
And 'nothing' was definitely not enough for all the shinobi in the area.
"We captains have discussed the situation. It has been days and we haven't found any sign of life-..."
"So what? We have lost so much, we have come this far! We will keep on searching!" interrupted a young chuunin, getting up furiously.
"The storm has wiped away any signs that could have been! We realized that now. Anything that remains will be at the bottom of the ocean. Our boats aren't strong enough to cross the entire ocean, not even knowing where to search! We thought that we could have found a wreck but... nothing... Besides, supplies are running low."
The jonin was correct about his last point. The Kazekage had given them the bare minimum, especially for so many men. Just enough for only about one more day, counting the trip back to the village, and they had already been cutting back on consumption of goods. But no one had pointed it out to the powerful man before leaving. They all secretly feared him too much.
The young chuunin, however, refused to give in.
"What about the second search party groups? They should all be arriving any day now! We cannot give up so easily so fast! It has hardly even been three days!"
"Kazekage-sama has instructed us to return as soon as possible, with or without finding anything. It is too dangerous for the village to have so many shinobi leave for a mission at the same time. It leaves Suna unguarded. Orders are orders!"
The entire deck's atmosphere seemed to turn to ice. So little time, with so little information. Some of the people started to wonder why the Kazekage had given them so little hope and possibilities, even with the safety of the village in consideration.
"This is insane!" yelled the young man across the space. "We have to find those people! I will not stand for this! The entire village will not stand for this! Those people could be alive, waiting, praying for us! My sister could be alive! I don't care what Kazekage-..."
"Silence!" roared the jonin, making the chuunin cower and bow his head in shame and anger. "I am the leader here! And you may not speak of our village's ruler in that manner! As a shinobi, you must respect orders and put your home first! You mustn't be selfish! You are not the only one who had family on that boat! Many people did, including I! But if we starve out here, do you really want the village to have lost more shinobi, men and family?"
Nobody answered.
The chuunin, after a moment of silence, lifted his head and took a deep, ragged breath.
"You are the leader and you make the decisions on this mission. You want to abandon. To give up. Shinobi don't give up, they wait for the right time. If you were to continue on this mission, I would continue my hard work... I would struggle to live on little, because the rewards will be so much bigger. Our village... Home is where the people you love are. And some people are missing."
Silence roamed across the deck yet again and, after a moment of thought, Yuudai stood up.
"We will all remain hopeful. We are willing to live with the little we have left. We will never give up on our village's faith in us!" he said, looking out into the endless blue sea.
Slowly, every single ninja on the boat stood up, eyes on their leader, waiting for him to cast his deciding vote.
Blinking, the jonin turned around, took out his communicator radio and talked into it, loud and clear.
"Turn all the boats around and head back for shore." There was a pause as the person on the other end of the line said something. "No. We will wait for every single one of those backup teams to arrive, restock a lot, then head out again... No. Kazekage-sama said to return as soon as possible, not to return after a few days. Anyway, it isn't possible to give up so quickly when all our shinobi are so enduring and hopeful... Yes. Pass the message on to the captains of team 2, 4 and 5."
The jonin switched off his communicator and turned around to face the assembly of ninja.
Suddenly, the entire crowd erupted into applause.
After a minute, the leader silenced them.
"Enough. Kazekage-sama hasn't forbid us to have a 2nd search, or to prolong the mission. Back to your posts."
Everybody immediately bowed and obeyed.
The captain returned to his controller's cabin and gazed out the window, in the general direction of the shore.
They could go back, collect food, resources and welcome their backups, then sail out again.
After all, they were shinobi.
Shinobi never gave up. They only waited for the right time.
Kankuro had fallen off of the waterfall.
Temari and Gaara both gawked in shock at where he was standing a moment ago, before he had disappeared.
Then, reality sunk.
Their brother was gone.
The two teenagers quickly exchanged a composed look, but they could both see the horror in each others eyes, before running out of the cave and down the slope.
Both of their minds were in panic. Temari felt like she was in a dream where all noises around you were all fizzed up. Gaara felt like a huge, gray blanket was thrown into his mind. Everything around them seemed like a unreal rush and no thoughts could be processed at that moment.
Except for one.
Kankuro.
When the two teenagers arrived at the bottom of the cascade, they both threw themselves into the water, searching for their brother.
The cold splashing helped them snap out of their shock, so that they could move and think more swiftly and clearly.
Suddenly, finding something, Temari let a out scream, before taking a deep breath and ducking underneath the waterfall, trying to ignore the slight pain of having the heavy curtains of silver liquid crash down onto the top of her head.
Her hand closed around an arm, and she tugged at it until she successfully pulled Kankuro out of the water.
With Gaara's help, she carried his motionless body out of the pond and placed him onto the dry sand.
The redhead then backed away to give his sister some space. He knew that he couldn't be of anymore help at this moment. He had never learned any first aid, or had any medical training at all. Never tried to learn anything that could have helped someone other than himself, because himself used to be all that mattered in his eyes. Gaara mentally bit his lip in guilt.
Kankuro didn't move at all, and his skin seemed an unhealthy white color, except for a crimson red gash on his forehead. The two conscious ninja feared the worse.
Falling off of a waterfall from so high up wasn't something that most people escaped unharmed... or alive.
Temari quickly checked the boy's pulse, on his wrist, neck and next to his windpipe.
Gulping, she then shakily placed an ear to her brother's chest. Her breath got caught in her throat, then she sat up again.
Tears started streaming down her cheeks and she covered her mouth with a hand.
"Gaara..." she whispered, turning her eyes towards the young jinchuuriki, who looked back at her, then at his immobile brother, not knowing what to think.
"Temari... is Kankuro..." Gaara's eyes widened in shock. He couldn't say it. Why couldn't he say it? He had used that word so many times before. Death, something he normally inflicted on others. "... is he OK?"
"Gaara..." Temari wiped her tears away with the back of her hand, and, finding that right now, no words seemed to want to leave her mouth, she gently took the redhead's hand and placed it on Kankuro's stiff chest.
Gaara felt the coldness of his brother's skin underneath his fingertips. He felt that he was touching a smooth ice cube.
Freezing, wet, hard and lifeless.
But then he felt it.
The tiny, tingling feel of a heart drumming faintly in the older boy's ribcage. Nearly imperceptible, but still there.
Kankuro was...
"... he is still alive." said Gaara, looking up at his sister, who still had tears running down her face. She knew that shinobi shouldn't show any emotions at any time, and she was good at it. But at this moment, she simply couldn't help it and she smiled, nodded, before indicating Gaara to move aside so that she could place both of her hands on Kankuro's chest, and to shove it gently but firmly a few times, until the boy coughed up some water.
"Kankuro! Kankuro, can you hear me?" cried the kunoichi, running her fingers through the puppet-nin's brown hair.
Kankuro didn't move a muscle or open his eyes, but his chest started to rise and fall more freely, now that his lungs were empty of water.
Temari then gently starting feeling the boy's skull, chest and limbs. She blinked a few times.
"Gaara? Could you please bring me the medic pouch? I left it by that tree." she nodded her head to show him. He did, and the kunoichi emptied the contents of the bag onto the ground.
"Not too bad... He only has a dislocated shoulder, a nasty cut that will need stitches, heavy bruising all over his body, a small fracture on his left radius and four broken ribs. Judging by the way he is breathing, I don't think that he has punctured any vital organs. It's a miracle. I hope that moving him didn't aggravate his injuries." she diagnosed, watching as Gaara slowly digested this information. Temari pushed chakra into her hands and moved Kankuro's shoulder back into place, then started bandaging his arm. Yes, it was very lucky..."It is very likely that he has a concussion. We will have to see when... if he wakes up. And he probably will be sore for months..." she bit her lip.
If only she was back in Suna right now, then she could have brought her brother to a hospital for professional help. But since she was stuck on this island, she had to do her best with what she had and what she knew.
"This is amazing... He shouldn't even have survived that fall... He didn't even break that many bones... How is it possible?" asked Temari, mostly to herself.
Gaara blinked a few times, wondering the same thing as his sister. Then, it struck him.
"Temari. Before Kankuro fell out of the cavern, I remember..." he trailed off, turned around and slipped into the water, leaving his sister confused and curious.
"What? What is it?" she questioned.
Before answering, Gaara shoved his arms into the water, checking to see if his theory was correct. It was, and he pulled out an armful of wet sand.
"I summoned all the sand in the clearing to stop him from falling, but it melted when it touched the water. All the sand ended up piling at the bottom of the waterfall, cushioning his fall..." said Gaara, frowning. This was probably the first time that his sand had saved someone's life, instead of taking it.
The jinchuuriki wasn't too sure what to think or feel. He didn't know how to react to the fact that his brother nearly died, but survived.
All that he knew was that he was most definitely not upset or disappointed that Kankuro was alive. He was... relieved. Incredibly relieved.
Temari blinked and gasped.
"Wow. Oh wow. Gaara... You saved our brother's life...again." she finally managed to stop crying and turned to smile at her youngest sibling.
Gaara slowly climbed out of the pond, not knowing whether to say something, to nod, or to smile.
He just shrugged nervously, not looking directly at his brother and sister.
When Temari had finished to bandage Kankuro's lower arm, tied it in sling and noticed that the blood gushing out of his forehead was starting to make Gaara uncomfortable, she realized that she hadn't brought a thread and needle to the waterfall. She searched the contents of the medic pouch, knowing that the rest of the bandages were back at the camp, for something to use to stop her older brother from bleeding to death. Not finding anything, she tore a strip of her shirt to use instead.
"Gaara... We have to bring him back to the camp. I need to stitch him up. Can you lift him up with your sand without moving any part of him?" asked the kunoichi, wiping her bloody hands on the ground and shorts.
The jinchuuriki nodded, did a hand seal and lifted his palms towards the sky.
All of the sand underneath Kankuro slowly levitated into the air, making the boy seem as if he were lying down on a large, beige bed, slightly stained red from the blood that had poured out of his wound.
Temari nodded at Gaara, then they started walking back into to their camp, making sure that Kankuro wasn't moved too much.
It took them nearly two hours, but they were eventually back in their little sheltered clearing, with their unconscious brother in tow.
Gaara carefully made the sand set the puppet-nin down onto his bed of leaves.
Temari followed him and rummaged through the ripped backpack in the corner of the hut, taking out what she needed. She then exited the room, lit a small flame in the fire-pit and sterilized the needle.
The redhead made a quick mental note of what his sister was doing, in case he would have to do the same in the future. He secretly hoped that none of his siblings would be falling off of waterfalls again, and not only because Shukaku loved the smell of a dying person.
Temari returned and threaded the needle before grabbing a small, clean cloth to wipe the blood off of Kankuro's forehead so that she could see his wound.
She bit her tongue.
"Kankuro... Please wake up soon, but not right now... I hope that you won't feel this..." she sighed and started stitching the gash up.
Apart from one or two winces from the boy, he showed no signs of being conscious or feeling the needle.
Time slowly passed, Gaara and Temari both silently counted how many stitches it took to close up the wound as they appeared underneath the kunoichi's agile hands.
One... Two... Three...
In the end, they counted fourteen stitches, then the cut was finally closed.
Both teenagers let out a breath they didn't know they were holding.
Temari cleaned, disinfected and properly bandaged her brother's forehead, then it was over.
All they had to do now was wait for him to wake up.
Many hours had passed and Kankuro had not even stirred.
Temari was working on a late lunch for Gaara and herself, always keeping a close eye on her brunet brother.
Blinking and looking away, she sighed.
The redhead noticed.
"What?" he asked, detaching his eyes from the tree he was scrutinizing.
His sister shook her head and bit her lip, glaring at the food between her hands. She wanted to scream, cry and punch someone, but her self control was better than that.
"I just... can't believe he is in this state again... And it's my fault... again. And that you saved his life... again." she muttered, running her fingers in her hair.
Gaara gave her a long look, before getting up and slowly, uncertainly walking over to his sister to sit beside her.
Temari didn't look up at him.
"Do you wish that I didn't save him?" asked the jinchuuriki.
The kunoichi gasped and snapped her head towards him.
"No! I didn't mean that... I just mean that... This is the second time that Kankuro ends up in such a horrible state because of me. The first time was when he ran out of the camp and got lost, stuck in the freezing rain. Because he wanted to make me happy. And you saved his life. And now... He looks as if he is going to die again... All because he tried to save me! I was going to fall, but he pushed me back! It should have been me instead!" Temari growled at herself in anger.
Gaara lifted an invisible eyebrow at her.
"I am sure that Kankuro would never regret saving your life." he said, tracing shaped into the sand he was sitting on.
His sister stared at him for a long time, before gulping down a lump of tears that threatened to spill.
"That is the problem! He saved me again... And I am here now, fine, and he is there... He is only there because you saved him! If it weren't for you, our brother would be dead! Why? Why am I always the one to end up causing this?" cried Temari, clenching her fists. "I'm telling you! The next damn time, I'm the one that's going to be protecting you! It won't be you, or Kankuro! You are my little brothers! I'm your big sister! And I keep failing... Again and again..."
She turned her head away from her little brother so that he wouldn't see her cry again.
She hated this so much. She hated everything. Being unable to help. Being the one to watch as her siblings risk their lives to protect and save her. Crying. She hated crying so damn much. She was stronger than this! She was always stronger than this! Why not now? Why did she feel like the weak link? Why could she cry now, in front of Gaara, over Kankuro's immobile body? Just like she had when she was in the cave with the redhead, watching as the rain fell, and Kankuro was out all alone in the night. And she was crying again.
Temari roughly rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand, looking back at the food she was preparing.
"Here. It's ready." Without turning around, she handed Gaara his meal, which he took.
After a long silence, the boy finally spoke up.
"You aren't failing... You... feed and care for us. You managed to make sure that Kankuro was alright. You bandaged, healed and stitched him up. I would have been... unable to." Gaara winced a little as he admitted his weak points. "That doesn't seem like a fail to me. If you were a failure, then Kankuro and I would probably be dead. If your goal is to protect us, then you are doing fine."
Temari gawked at Gaara in awe.
He truly had changed. He had changed the second that boat sunk. When Shukaku had invaded his mind. When Kankuro was lost in the rain and he had comforted her. When they were at the wreckage site, and he had buried the bodies. And now, yet again.
"The kunoichi wiped away the last of her tears, smiled widely at her little brother and, without any hesitation this time, gave him a one armed hug, juggling her lunch in the other.
"You are actually pretty good with words and speeches, little brother. With that talent, you could convince our father to hand over the position of Kazekage to you! Uh... Maybe not. But still! Don't keep to yourself so much! Talk! I actually like listening to you when you speak about-..."
Suddenly, a groan came from the small shelter.
"Kankuro!" gasped Temari and Gaara, both leaving their half eaten food on the ground and rushing into the shelter to a puppeteer who was breathing in an almost hysterical way.
His eyes were unfocused, terrified and wandering around the cave ceiling, as if trying to find something.
"Kankuro!" spoke the kunoichi again, this time firmly. "You have to calm down and take deep breaths!"
The brunet didn't seem to hear her, but he started relaxing anyway, until his chest rose and fell in a more peaceful manner.
Then, the boy took a sudden deep breath, groaning in pain as his broken ribs poked his inside.
He shifted his eyes towards the opening of the shelter, seeming to notice his siblings for the first time. His eyes widened with fear, pain and confusion.
Gaara knew that look. He had seen it on his own face whenever he used to look in the mirror when he was a little kid.
Why? Why me? What happened? Why does it hurt so bad?
"Temari said that you have heavy bruising all over your body, a fractured arm, dislocated shoulder, broken ribs and a cut open forehead." said the jinchuuriki, answering his brother's mute question. "She also mentioned a concussion. Do you have a concussion or do you not?" asked the boy naively.
His sister sighed and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Gaara... Kankuro is probably in major shock. That fall put an enormous amount of strain on his body and mind. Give him some time." whispered the girl before turning to the puppet-nin with a smile. "Don't use your energy to talk if you don't feel well. Try to get better, OK? Now... Are you thirsty, Kankuro?"
The boy's eyes widened, clearing indicating that yes, he was parched.
Gaara got up, picked up a pan from the bag-pack and started to walk towards the river. His sister smiled after him, before remembering something.
"Oh! Wait, Gaara! Kankuro isn't in a very good state, so it is probably a good idea if you boil the water well. He might throw up if you don't. Thanks."
She turned back to the brunet, who eyed Gaara as he did as Temari had instructed.
The jinchuuriki, all in the not-so-sanctity of his mind, was glad that he could be useful to Temari.
Watching her heal and care for Kankuro made him realize on how very much he missed out on, and how very little he knew about the art of helping another.
Sure, he had saved his siblings spontaneously quite a few times since they had arrived on this island, but he still didn't know the basics about healing. He had no idea that giving raw river water to a person who was physically, mentally, exhausted and weak was a risk that he shouldn't take.
He had no idea why he suddenly wanted to know these things. It wasn't as if he would want to heal anyone... or if anyone would let him touch them.
He could help his team, at least.
Gaara had seen Kankuro take care of Temari on the first day here, when she was the one who had been severely injured.
He had seen Temari take care of Kankuro twice now.
And, of course, he remembered so well when they had taken care of him, when he had been unable to even feed himself after having Shukaku invade his mind and attack his siblings.
Gaara realized that if Temari and Kankuro had been injured at the same time, leaving him in charge of their well being, he would not have been able to do anything.
He could save, but not care for.
It almost made him feel like the weak link for the first time in his life.
And he refused to be the weak one.
The boy boiled the water before handing it his sister.
"Thank you Gaara. Could you help me make him sit up without moving any of his broken bones?" she asked.
The redhead nodded.
After a few minutes and pain-filled groans from the puppet-nin, they had managed to hold him up.
"OK. Kankuro, the water is very hot, so you will have to wait a short second. And don't take big sips, you'll overload yourself." said Temari, finding a small metal cup in the bag-pack to use.
God, how she loved this bag-pack.
When the boy had finished all of the water, his siblings helped him back into a more comfortable position.
Kankuro still looked a little fearful and confused, that was to be expected after what had happened, but Temari and Gaara both started to get a little worried.
"OK, Kankuro... You can rest. Gaara and I will be right here, so if you need anything, just let us know."
With that said, the the jinchuuriki and Temari both quickly finished their forgotten lunch. The blond had asked the puppeteer if he was hungry, but he had looked away with a strange look on his face, and the kunoichi had guessed that that meant 'no'.
In the next few hours, Temari and Gaara both made sure that Kankuro had all that he needed.
Whenever they tried to talk to him, however, he just looked away, looking confused.
Finally, Kankuro coughed lightly and said in a rasped voice:
"H...Hey."
Both of his siblings immediately rushed to his side.
"Kankuro! You can speak again! How are you feeling?" asked Temari softly.
The brunet looked from her to Gaara.
"Uh... Hm... Pain. Better I g..guess. Thanks. You... You guys are cool... but... Can I ask you something? Don't get mad..." spoke Kankuro in a soft voice, licking his lips every few seconds. He found that it made it easier to talk.
Temari and Gaara both frowned and exchanged a look.
They both got a strange feeling that something wasn't right, but didn't admit it out loud.
After a small silence, the kunoichi beamed at her injured brother.
"Of course, Kankuro! What is it?" she encouraged.
The boy looked warily but guiltily between the two young people who were both staring at him, waiting. He feared their reaction, but sighed, gulped, and opened his mouth.
"Um... Who are you?"
Oh, great, yet another cliffy. I didn't do it on purpose this time, but I had to finish this chapter before leaving the country at the end of the week (Asian New Year break). Who knows when will be my next chance to update?
Well, hope you liked it! A little more is known about Temari and Gaara's feelings about the situation. Hopefully, their insecurities will make them seem more human.
And Kankuro... poor Kankuro...
Well, read, love, and review if you feel like it! I'll give you cookies!
Plus, have you read my other story 'Hinata and the Orange Juice!'? If you didn't, you could check that out, and if you already have, then I'm letting you know that you can expect an update for that story in the near future. Yay!
XOXO ~~~ HimekoUchia
