Frostbitten Sand
Shattering Egos

Gaara hated council meetings.

Baki knew this despite the fact the young fifth Kazekage rarely if ever showed how much he hated the meetings. The old men and women on the council always had something to gripe about, and the young Kazekage didn't know who he could trust outside of Baki. The fact his former sensei hadn't told them Rasa wouldn't be getting out of the hospital didn't phase the auburn-haired teen, nor did the fact Baki didn't pass on Rasa's requests to see him.

Sometimes the way Gaara never questioned Baki's loyalty bothered him, particularly when the man knew Rasa would have in his son's position actually had some kind of doubts. The man quickly remembered the young Kazekage tended to view things in black and white, something Baki and Gaara's siblings were constantly working on. Thus, the man found himself retaining his mentor status with the young Kazekage but also taking on a guardianship role.

Some of the other members of the council did not like this, irritated the son of the previous Kazekage looked up at the man. Baki however never once thought about personal gain. Originally his mind was set on remaining loyal to Rasa, but over the last year or so he found his loyalties shifting towards favoring Gaara, and the young Kazekage's siblings. Baki justified this position as what Rasa would have wanted, and yet the possibility of arguing with the forth regarding the wellbeing of his children did not set well.

The man could not place his finger on why.

Rasa was back in the picture, and despite what Temari and Kankuro said, the man did have a say in the everyday affairs of his children. Already the fourth showed signs of feeling alienated by all three of his children, Temari, and Kankuro out of choice, but with Gaara the reason was different. Rasa had noticed the change, but didn't know what to think of the change, let alone have a finger on what was going on. There was no telling what would happen. Certainly the fourth's interactions with the council would have been different.

Things started off fine, but quickly the same elder who questioned whether the shinobi from Konoha should be coming. Gaara's eyes widened, almost in amusement, but then the same elder brought up the same argument again.

"Apologies for saying this Lord Kazekage, but I don't think the previous Lord Kazekage would have liked the plans we've made. It was foolish of us to have even thought of these plans as a good idea. We got caught up in the zeal right after the Chunin exams. There are a lot of things we did because we were caught up in a zeal that we need to now question."

Baki flinched, knowing full well the man was now questioning whether it was a good idea to make Gaara the fifth Kaze kage. He watched the seafoam green eyes of the fourteen-year-old widen. Baki almost thought Gaara knew what the man was getting at, but then the auburn-haired teen said something else.

"We can't cancel at this point. The representatives will be here in a weeks time, and then it will be a week or two until the holiday. On top of this, the village has known about this for a couple of months, and the villagers are looking forward to it."

The man looked Gaara right in the eye, something Baki knew the young Kazekage didn't like. The auburn-haired teen had learned not to avoid eye contact with the council but also keep his cool. This time was different. "Let me rephrase what I'm trying to say. Lord Rasa is no longer in a coma, and he's even recovered enough to go home. It stands to reason that we should be considering whether or not it is better to have you, or Lord Rasa as Kazekage. You are, after all still inexperienced."

The young Kazekage's eyes widened, his entire body freezing up. Gaara's mouth even dropped, and then his eyes dropped to the table. "I don't disagree with what you say." Baki knew a ton of emotions were rushing through the young man's mind, but the older man couldn't read the boy's mind. "This is not my decision either, so I would rather focus on what I can do. For example, we need to discuss the medicine that the fourth sent us."

"That medicine?" The elder looked rather displeased and opened his mouth to complain. A messenger shinobi came, stopping everyone from speaking.

The man walked over to Joseki, whispering into the man's ear. Baki watched as the other elder on the council started, and his entire body tensed up. The man sighed, then spoke up. "Apologies, but Lord Baki is being called away on important business. That means we can make any decisions today, although we should continue this situation. I'll be sure to inform you of the rest of what happens."

Baki noticed the look on Gaara's face, the hint of panic rising to the surface. The man took a deep bow. "I'll take my leave. I'm also sure you'll be fine without me here, Lord Kazekage." The man stepped aside, his thoughts beating himself up. "Please learn to have more confidence in yourself Gaara. Your inexperience has not been an issue yet."

The man instead trained his focus on the young shinobi in front of him. "Why was I called away?"

"Lady Temari requested your help at the Kazekage's residence but asked that the Lord Kazekage not be informed. It must be important, but something she does not want to bother the young lord with."

"Rasa..." Baki felt an agonizing annoyance settle in, and he waved the messenger away, heading straight to the place where the three siblings lived, now with their father in addition. He stepped into the kitchen, receiving a glare from Rasa for not knocking on the door. The siblings' sensei found himself more bothered by the fact the auburn-haired man's leg wouldn't stop twitching. "You overdid it, didn't you?"

"Baki..." Rasa's tone of voice let the man know the comment was unwelcome, as did the continued glare.

The man decided to focus instead on Temari, and saw the face of the seventeen-year-old twist up, and tighten. "What do you mean by he overdid it?"

Baki took a deep breath, his eyes darting back to Rasa, who continued to glare at him. "Do not say anything else Baki."

The man opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Temari's voice strained. "Baki! Please!"

"Your father pushed himself to get out of the hospital." The man looked Rasa right in the eye. "You'll likely find from the doctor who comes that it was recommended he not leave, but he did anyways." Rasa's brown eyes darkened, indicating the other man wanted to kill him. "Apologies but your daughter was going to find out either from me, or the doctor. You did send for someone."

"Despite the fact, I told her not to."

"If you didn't outrank me in status, I would seriously sock you right now. You need some sense knocked into you." Baki glanced to the door, hoping the doctor would get here soon.

Temari though had other ideas. "You! Why the hell did you get out early like you did! What purpose does it serve! I told you yesterday, did I not, that you didn't give us enough time to prepare? Do you think you can just come in here as if nothing happened? You...

"Temari..." The color drained from Rasa's facial features, and Baki felt his own body tense.

"Don't Temari me. I've every right to lecture..."

"Trashcan. Please."

The seventeen-year-old stared at her father, but then hurried over to the bin, bringing it over in time for her father to grab the bin and upchuck. Baki watched Rasa's entire body began to shake, and the younger man realized the man was showing something the forth rarely ever showed to someone - fear. A knock came at the door, and Baki turned to let the head medical ninja in. The man gave Rasa an exasperated look. "I told you not to overdo it. Actually, this is the repercussions of you pushing yourself like you did the last two to three weeks."

Rasa looked the man in the eye. "Are you sure it's not..."

Baki winced as the forth's body revolted again, making the auburn-haired man need to use the trashcan.

"It's not..." The head medical ninja stared at him. "No. You've not caught something. You were in the hospital." The man walked over to the leg which twitched and touched the limb. Rasa's entire body jolted, and a few curse words snapped out of Rasa's mouth. The medical ninja touched the fourth's shoulder, shaking his head.

"As I thought, all of your muscles have tensed up. That includes your stomach muscles, so I'm going to give you a muscle relaxer, and then Lord Baki will help me to your room so we can get you into a hot shower. After that, a tea to further calm your body down, and let you sleep."

Baki took a deep breath, not liking the fact he was now playing nursemaid to the previous Kazekage. He shook his head and sent an apologetic look towards Temari. The doctor lifted up Rasa's clothing so he could give the man the dose of muscle relaxer. A look at Temari revealed a large amount of hurt he'd not seen from his young student for some time now.