Sorry for taking so long to update! I've been distracted with the NaNoWriMo challenge [check my profile for the update!]. It's coming along smoothly so far, but I have a lot more to do before I succeed! Wish me luck!
Naruto and all the characters in this story - except for Ryu and Maia - belong to Masashi Kishimoto.
Chapter Twenty – The Return
I left my room three hours later, having found myself halfway through the whole recipe of the poison. It was exhausting, picking my brain as I was to unlock the code within. I had a nurse show me to Kankuro's room. He was conscious and alone. I carefully, so that I wouldn't sit on my hair, took a seat near his bed and the nurse saw herself out.
"How're you doing?" I asked, facing Kankuro. He looked so very different without his makeup and eared-hoodie. I hadn't known his hair was a sandy-blonde, because it had always been covered by the hoodie.
"Tired. How come you're moving around?" He asked, turning his head towards me.
"I've been playing with poisons since I was a genin. The instant his poison hit my system, I knew it. However, I didn't have the exact antidote, so instead of waiting for an unfamiliar poison run through my veins, I downed as many of my antidotes that I could so that it would go slower. I slowed it enough that it didn't affect me nearly as bad as it did you. Did you drink the potion I sent you?"
"Yeah, I drank it. What was that?"
"It was a healing potion. I've taken two since I was poisoned, and I don't dare take anymore. I have so many anti-toxins in my veins right now that if I took anymore, I'd risk becoming sick. I'm surprised I'm not already sick. I think Sakura's method of extracting the poison had something to do with it." He nodded. "You should be moving around soon."
"That's a relief." I grinned at him, completely understanding.
"So; do you realize how different you look without that makeup of yours?" He sighed. I assumed someone else had asked the same question.
"It's not makeup! It's face paint!" Kankuro huffed. Then, in a more civil tone, he added, "I've been told. I don't see anything wrong with that." I shook my head.
"I wasn't saying it was bad; I was just making a statement. I didn't even know your hair was sandy-blonde until I walked in here today. I just thought I'd say something."
"I see. Well, I'll stick to my face paint if you don't mind."
"I don't mind at all."
"And look at you, you're one to talk. How long is that hair of yours anyway?"
"It touches my ankles now."
"My paint, while it is different doesn't make it possible for the enemy to use something to their advantage!" I stuck my tongue out at him.
"I use a special spiked cord that I braid into it." I made to stand up, but the exertions on my heavily-taxed body didn't let me. I sighed and sank back in the chair. "Guess I'm staying here." I covered a yawn with the back of my hand. "Do you mind at all?"
"Nope. Not like there's much I could do about it anyway, now is there?"
"You're quite right. Very well then, I think I'm going to nap. You might want to do the same – so that your body can heal faster."
"Yeah yeah." I leaned back in the chair and let my eyes fall shut.
I awoke to the sound of the door slamming open. I turned, curious, and saw Temari standing in the doorway, breathless. Kankuro was sitting on his bed, now dressed in his usual clothes. His face also had his paint – makeup! – upon it, so she knew she'd been out for awhile.
"They've found Gaara! Follow me!" And with that, she left. Kankuro, at the sound of Gaara's name, was instantly alert and followed quickly. I rose from my chair with a slight stretch before I too was out the door. My muscles weren't happy, but they weren't about to collapse. Rest did the both of us some good, since Kankuro was going at a pretty good speed as well. My hair was still loose and flew out far behind me, but there wasn't much I could do about it. I didn't have a ribbon or a hair tie to pull it back with.
We ran a good distance across the desert, and once we were within sight of a pretty good sized crowd, Temari sped up to get there faster. The two of us sped up too, but she managed to get there first, shouldering through the crowd, who had just started to cheer. I saw people crying, hugging, and laughing in relief. Apparently Gaara had survived. When we managed to get to the clearing around Gaara, Temari was kneeling before Gaara who was sitting up in front of Naruto. Behind them I could see Team Gai and Kakashi.
"You caused a big fuss." Naruto said to Gaara with a grin.
"I'll say." Kankuro ditched me to walk towards his brother. "You had me worried, little brother."
"Who do you two think you are?" Temari demanded. "Gaara's the Kazekage! Show some respect, you lowlifes!" She then shoved Naruto out of the way to speak to Gaara. "Gaara, how do you feel?" To answer, he tried to stand, but couldn't muster the energy. "You shouldn't start moving around yet." Temari protested. "Your body is still very stiff."
Two girls started chattering at each other about Gaara and how wonderful he was. They exclaimed how they'd protect him, and shoved me forward. I stumbled and nearly fell, but Temari caught me as she turned to stop the two girls from passing. I moved from her and turned, shoving the girls, who were trying to look at Gaara, away.
"Leave him alone, you empty-headed fools. He doesn't need you crowding him." I growled. They just gave me a glare that even Gaara would envy and I sighed. Idiots would be idiots. I turned to see Kankuro and Naruto talking to each other, leaving Temari to defend Gaara. I was too tired to argue with them.
"You should thank that old lady over there, not me." I glanced over to a woman who was held in Sakura's arms. She looked like she was sleeping, but I could tell that her chest wasn't moving. She was definitely dead. "She saved Gaara with an incredible medical ninjutsu. She's passed out now, but she'll come around when we get back to the village-"
"No. You're wrong." Kankuro interrupted him. Naruto looked, as always, confused.
"I'm wrong? About what?"
"It wasn't medical ninjutsu. It was a life-transferring technique. Elder Chiyo is dead." Naruto looked shocked.
"What do you mean?" Naruto demanded.
"It's a ninjutsu that allows you to bring back the dead, in exchange for your own life." Kankuro explained.
"No way!" I heard Tenten gasp. I looked up towards my teammates. Lee and Gai-sensei wore identical expressions of calm, while Neji looked down slightly. Tenten looked slightly shocked.
"Many years ago, the Puppet Brigades were conducting research on how to bring their puppets to life. Elder Chiyo was in charge of it. They were able to figure out the theory behind it, but, in the midst of their research they decided it was too risky. They made it illegal to conduct the research on humans and forbade anyone the technique." I turned my gaze from my team to the old woman in Sakura's arms. She spoke softly to the man behind her as tears streamed silently down her face.
"Naruto, you really are a strange person. You have the power to change people. Elder Chiyo was always saying that she didn't care what happened to the village. She wasn't the type of person who would do this for Gaara."Temari said quietly to the blonde-haired annoyance.
"Elder Chiyo has placed the future in yours and Gaara's hands. A splendid end, befitting a true shinobi." Kakashi added.
"Just like the Third." Naruto declared.
"That's right." Kakashi agreed.
"I really understand how she felt now." Naruto said, almost to himself. A gasp.
"Gaara-sama!" One of those brainless girls was standing over Gaara, trying to help him as he began to rise, but he waved her off. Good for him. He almost fell over, but Naruto grabbed his arm and helped Gaara all the way up, before releasing him. He looked at Sakura, who, after a long moment, looked up towards him.
"Everyone, pray for Elder Chiyo." Gaara whispered, but everyone heard him. I closed my eyes and bowed my head, paying my respects for the woman who'd given her life to save the Kazekage. After a long moment of silence, we all made our way slowly home. Naruto and Kankuro helped Gaara, who was still weak after being revived, and four shinobi carried Elder Chiyo on a stretcher. I fell back until I was among my teammates Neji, Lee, Tenten, and Gai-sensei.
"What are you doing here, Maia?" Neji asked from next to me as we made our way back to Suna.
"I was on a mission with my team to escort a woman to Suna. The night we arrived was the night Kazekage-sama was abducted. I went with Kankuro to try to save him, but we were both felled by some creepy guy with a nasty poison. I'm planning on replicating it. Anyways, I was in the hospital up until I arrived here. My genin are still somewhere in the Sand-village, along with all my things." The male nodded.
"And what are you guys doing here?" I asked, curious. I had known they were coming, but I didn't know why.
"We were sent as backup for Team Kakashi." Tenten's voice replied from behind my left shoulder.
"I see." With all the shinobi, we managed to get back to the Hidden Village in the Sand in about thirty minutes – since we slowed the pace for Naruto to help Gaara along. We were greeted with all of the Sand shinobi and villagers grouped outside of the village. They cheered loud enough that we could hear them from a good distance away.
"That's what I call a warm welcome." Kankuro said.
"Oh yeah." Naruto agreed.
"Look at how many people there are." Lee added in amazement.
"Just what you'd expect for the Kazekage." Neji told him.
"No doubt." Tenten agreed. I merely nodded as people started running to come join us. We were forced to stop as they reached us. Lord Baki forced his way to the front.
"I am happy you are safe."
"Thanks to these people." Gaara told him.
"Naruto Uzumaki, I thank you." Baki said.
"Huh? I'm not the one who… I mean, I hardly did anything at all, really." He admitted.
"Lord Kazekage, your people are waiting to welcome you home." Baki told him. "Go, lead the way." The large mass split before him.
"Alright then, shall we go?" Naruto, Kankuro, and Gaara took a few steps forward.
"No, wait. Not yet." Gaara declared, looking , back over his shoulder towards Elder Chiyo.
"Yes, you're right." Temari agreed.
"Let us honor the memory of Lady Chiyo. A moment of silence." Lord Baki called out, and everyone bowed their heads as the four shinobi, accompanied by Sakura and Lady Chiyo's brother, walked through the part.
"I'm going to go get my things from the hospital. Do you think you could find my genin, Neji? You'll find them faster than I can." He nodded. "Thanks! Tell them to meet me in our guesthouse." With that, he used his Byakugan to look around, and I headed towards the hospital. I went to my room, where all my things were. I got a brush from a nurse and tugged it through my tangled hair. Once I'd finished and had braided it around the cord, I packed my things into their appropriate scrolls. I carefully sealed the poison I was working on, along with all the instructions I'd gotten through so far, before tucking it into its scroll. I glanced around to make sure I had everything before sliding the scrolls onto my back. I tugged the two holsters on, tied my hitai-ate to my thigh, and then checked out.
I found my team in the guesthouse.
"Neji-oniisan told us you'd find us here. He also said that Team Gai and Team Kakashi would be leaving soon, and said that we should come too." I nodded.
"Thank you, Hanabi. We will be leaving as soon as you all are ready, so get all your things ready to go." I announced.
"But, Maia-sensei, are you okay to travel? I heard you were in the hospital." Nobori asked. I shrugged.
"I was poisoned by an enemy, but I managed to counteract parts of it. Sakura got the rest out and gave me an antidote. That, coupled with two healing potions, and I'm good as new. My stomach wound isn't even that bad anymore." I told them. "I'll be fine to travel. Be ready."
"Yes, Maia-sensei." They chimed.
By the end of the hour, my team and I left the guest house with all of our things. I was in a clean outfit – I'd been stuck with the same dirty one I'd arrived in the day Gaara was taken – and I was quite content. We met up with the other teams, and we found our way to Lady Chiyo's grave. After one last moment of respect for the lady.
"Everyone, say your farewells." Kakashi ordered. My team bowed their heads along with the rest of us, and then, after a minute, we turned to leave.
"Let's go." Gai-sensei said.
"Right." Lee agreed. All of us, except for Naruto and Sakura began to leave. We turned back to look at them.
"Sakura! Naruto! We really should be going!" Lee called.
"Right!" Naruto yelled back, and turned to come with us. Sakura stepped forward to touch the gravestone, before joining back up with us. We made our way to the entrance, where we said our goodbyes to Kankuro, Gaara, and Temari.
"Well, so long." Kankuro said.
"Uh, yeah." Naruto agreed. He and Gaara stared at each other for a moment. "I guess this is where people are supposed to shake hands and get all choked up, but I've never been very good at that either. So let's just leave it-" He stopped when he saw Gaara offering his hand to shake. After a long moment, Naruto clasped hands with Gaara, and they shook. On closer inspection, I could see the sand particles swirling around their joined hands. The eleven of us left then, heading back home to Konoha. Gai-sensei was supporting Kakashi. The two were lagging behind the rest of us.
"Can't you two go any faster?" Tenten demanded, looking back at them. "Hurry up, will ya?" A cry from Kakashi made us all look backwards.
"What happened?" Neji demanded. Kakashi was now on Gai-sensei's back, and Gai's pack was on his chest. What in the hell was wrong with these people?
"What the-?" Lee was confused. "I get it! A training exercise!" Lee was now excited.
"So, you wanna see faster? I'll show you faster!" Gai-sensei yelled, and then ran past us. "Make way, make way!" I felt bad for Kakashi. "What's wrong, slow pokes, can't keep up with me? Let's go!" He seemed so happy now. So weird. Lee stood with his backpack on his chest, leaned over slightly.
"Neji…"
"Forget it!" Neji growled. I laughed. I couldn't help it. This earned me a glare from Neji, but whatever. His face had been too funny.
"Come on, you guys." I called. "We'd better get moving or we'll never get home."
"Right." The nine of us followed after my crazy sensei and the poor guy on his back.