Welcome to Chapter Thirty-Six. In this chapter, Gaara and Sakura meet Sasori and Deidara.
This will probably seem like a filler chapter, but I hope everyone enjoys it.
This chapter will focus on Gaara, Sakura, and Sasori.
A big thank-you goes out to everyone who reviewed and/or added this to their alerts/favorites list.
I don't own Naruto.
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Chapter Thirty-Six: Damage
Gaara stared at Sakura, confused. "Weren't you supposed to be with her? What happened?"
The Konoha-nin's eyes grew steely, her hands clenching into fists. "It doesn't matter. Let me focus on healing her." Without waiting for the redhead to answer, she placed her glowing hands on Aoi's chest. Her eyes widened. "I've never seen something like this before! There are chakra tendrils wrapped around her heart and lungs, and they're all connected to the device that's embedded in her chest."
"Why is she bleeding?" asked Gaara.
"The device is no longer attached to her skin; it's free to move around. The tendrils are also constricting around her organs, digging into them," explained the medic.
"Can you remove it?"
"I don't know," answered Sakura. "The tendrils are digging into her organs, so if I try to take the device out, they might constrict even more. But if I leave it in, I guarantee she will die." She pinched the bridge of her nose. "I just wish there was a medic who understood how it worked."
After she said this, Aoi's eyes started to open. "Gaara…sama," she rasped, blood oozing out of her mouth. "Go to my pants…look in the left front pocket. Get the…wireless earpiece. Talk to my…team. They'll know what to do." Her eyes closed again, though she stayed conscious.
Gaara knew that she was in an incredible amount of pain. He was suspecting that her 'team' was composed of Akatsuki members, but if one of them knew how to help Aoi, he would risk meeting them. He couldn't just let the girl die; it wasn't in his newfound nature.
Despite the incredulous look Sakura was giving him, he did what Aoi requested. As he was just about to press the button on the earpiece, the pink-haired girl held up a hand. "Stop. What if this is a trap, Gaara-sama? The Akatsuki are ruthless!"
The leader of Suna wondered how the kunoichi knew that Aoi was with the Akatsuki. He had a nagging suspicion that she caused the brunette to be in this state, and that sent a twinge of nausea through his stomach. Without giving it another thought, he pressed the button.
"Aoi?" he heard a man's voice ask.
"She's not available at the moment," Gaara said politely.
"What? Who the hell are you? What did you do to her?" The voice got harsher and louder.
"I am Gaara, and I did nothing to her. Something did happen to her, though, and she said for me to contact you, whoever you are. One of you knows all about that device on her chest, I presume."
Everything went silent on the other side of the wireless. Gaara heard another voice, also male, that was muffled in the background. "Danna? What happened? Why's your face all serious, un?" The Kazekage heard the first voice retort with, "Shut up, brat! Aoi's hurt!" Once again speaking to Gaara, he asked, "Where are you?"
"At the hot springs by the seafood restaurant." Gaara was wary of giving his location out to strangers, though he knew it had to be done.
"We'll be there as soon as we can." With that, the earpiece went silent.
"Aoi's team is on their way," stated Gaara.
Sakura's face had no expression on it. "I should have been able to heal her. I'm the apprentice of Tsunade for Kami's sake! But this damned device is such a puzzle! Damn that snake bastard!"
"What?" The redhead was confused.
"Orochimaru was the one who implanted the device."
At the thought of the older man's hands on Aoi, Gaara's teeth clenched. During 'Operation Destroy Konoha', he had seen what the sannin was capable of. He hoped that the snake did nothing else to her.
While the two were waiting for the brunette's team to arrive, Sakura healed the girl's wrist and stopped the bleeding from the wound on her chest. "This should lessen some of the pain."
Finally, Gaara sensed two people entering the women's bath. He whirled around, standing face-to face with Aoi's team. His heart sank as he saw one of them. Sakura was right.
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Sakura narrowed her eyes at the two men who entered the bath. She recognized Iwa no Deidara from his page in one of Tsunade's bingo books, yet his companion was unknown to her. Logically, if he's Deidara, then the other one must be Akasuna. But the short redhead that stood next to the blonde looked nothing like the old, hunchbacked man that was listed in the bingo book as Sasori.
When the two saw Aoi, they ran to her, concern showing on their faces.
That can't be right, thought the pink-haired girl. They're members of the Akatsuki; they shouldn't care about some chakra-less girl! She became even more surprised when Deidara kneeled down, brushing the girl's hair aside gently, palm-mouths licking the tears off her face. A feeling of shame bubbled through her as she saw the redhead kneel next to her as well, a pained expression on his face. He's in love with her, she realized.
That expression suddenly turned into one of rage. "Who did this to her?" he spat.
Sakura didn't want to admit that she hurt the girl, but she knew that if she didn't, the Akatsuki members would tear through Suna, looking for their comrade's attacker. Taking a deep breath, she made her decision. "I did," she said quietly.
The redhead's eyes widened, the angry look on his face increasing. "You bitch!" he snarled, swinging a fist towards her.
The pink-haired kunoichi put her hand up, waiting for the punch. Suddenly, a flash of yellow appeared in front of her, and she realized that the pain of the hit never came. Widening her squinting eyes, she realized that Deidara was standing in front of her, his hand stopping his partner's punch.
"I know you're upset, Sasori no danna, and for a good reason, but now is not the time, un. You and the girl need to focus on healing Aoi before she…" He let the sentence trail off.
So he is Sasori, thought Sakura. But how can that be? He's supposed to be thirty-five, yet he looks my age. She looked at Aoi. If he's in love with her, and he's that old, how old is Aoi? I thought she was fourteen.
She was snapped out of her thoughts when she felt someone shaking her shoulder. She blinked, looking into Deidara's visible blue eye. She suddenly felt ashamed for what she said about him. He was an Akatsuki member, yet he stuck up for her.
"Help my partner heal her, un," he said. "If she ends up dying, it won't end pretty for you."
Sakura knew this was a warning. They're going to kill me if she doesn't live. She nodded, and once again placed glowing hands on Aoi's chest.
Sasori put one of his hands on the device, closing his eyes in concentration. They snapped open after a moment. "The device is completely detached from her skin. It would be best if it were removed. Girl!" This was snapped at Sakura. "Is there any way for you to neutralize the chakra tendrils while I remove the device?"
"I will try my best." The medic didn't look Sasori in the eyes. She wanted nothing to do with him. She closed her eyes, focusing all her energy on trying to null the tendrils. When she felt the chakra in them slowly weakening, she shouted, "Remove it, now!"
She opened her eyes and saw the redhead grab the device with his glowing hand and gently pull it from the wound. Aoi let out a moan, but her breathing remained the same. After a couple more minutes, the tendrils were pulled out as well, glowing a pale blue color that was stained with blood.
Sasori threw the device to the side and focused on trying to heal the wound. "Just don't kneel there, looking stupid! Help me!"
"R-right!" Sakura placed her hands on the wound, which had started bleeding again. Sasori placed his own on top of the green-eyed girl's, and together, they slowly healed it.
After this was finished, the medic scanned the rest of Aoi's body for any other injuries. Satisfied with her work, she removed her hands, wiping them on her skirt. "She's stabilized."
Sasori nodded, gently picking the brunette up bridal style. "We're leaving now, but don't think you're off the hook, girl." That part of the sentence was snarled. "We weren't planning on harming anyone, but if Aoi's pain worsens, I'll make an exception. You'd make an excellent addition to my collection." With that, he spun on his heel, walking out of the bath.
Deidara gave both Sakura and Gaara an apologetic glance. "We really didn't come here to attack your village, Kazekage. Keep the earpiece; it's how we'll stay in contact with you, un. Once Aoi is better, we will discuss why we're really here. Goodnight, Kazekage-sama." He nodded at Gaara, then followed his partner out of the bath.
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Gaara was surprised that an Akatsuki member would address him so politely. When he looked over at Sakura, he saw that she was also puzzled.
"Well that was…interesting," she said, her green eyes narrowing. "Do you think they were just putting on an act?"
"No. I think they were genuine," the young Kazekage stated. "You know more about them than I do, however."
"I think you might be right, at least about Iwa no Deidara. He didn't seem to be lying; his breathing pattern seemed normal," replied the kunoichi. "Both of them seemed to act different than how I expected them to, though."
"More human?" Gaara questioned.
"Exactly. Both didn't seem like the coldhearted criminals they were supposed to be; they seemed like an ordinary team of shinobi," answered the medic.
"You were reminded of Team Seven, weren't you." This wasn't a question.
Sakura's eyes slightly widened. "Was it that obvious?"
"No," the redhead explained. "I guess I'm just getting better at reading the emotions of others." Changing the subject, he continued, "Do you have any guess as to why the three of them are here, if they're not planning on attacking?"
"My guess is that it has something to do with the Shukaku," said the pink-haired girl. "Especially because Aoi-san said that she had 'friends' who could remove it."
"That makes sense. This entire incident is just so bizarre," stated the leader of Suna.
"I agree. And while we're on the subject of Aoi, do you know how old she is?" Gaara noticed that Sakura looked slightly worried.
"She's eighteen," he stated. "Why do you ask?"
"It's just that I saw how Akasuna was looking at her, and even though she might be our enemy, I didn't want her to get assaulted by him or something."
"Sakura-san, I believe that Aoi-san and he are, what you would call, together."
"Why the hell would you think that?" the green-eyed girl looked confused.
"Before you arrived, Aoi-san was saying his name while she was semiconscious. She even said that she loved him."
"What? How could someone ever fall in love with an Akatsuki member?" Sakura looked incredulous.
Gaara answered this hesitantly. "I do not have much experience with this sort of emotion, but if Akasuna treats her with respect, kindness, and affection, does it really matter what he is affiliated with?"
"But he's so old! That would be like me falling in love with Kakashi-sensei!"
"Aoi-san seems to be the type of girl who knows what she's doing," replied Gaara. "I'm not worried about her."
"So you still trust her, even though she is with the Akatsuki, the organization that attacked Naruto-san?"
"Did Deidara and Akasuna attack him?" asked the redhead.
"Well, no. Hoshigaki Kisame and…Uchiha Itachi…did," Sakura quietly answered.
"Then maybe these three are different."
"But what if they're not?" pressed the kunoichi. "What if this is some sort of plan of theirs to lure you into a false sense of security, and then attack you and the village?"
"You seem to be very distrustful of Aoi-san," Gaara noted.
"She betrayed you! She's with the organization that's against the five great shinobi villages!"
"I trust her," he stated simply. Despite her affiliation with the Akatsuki, the brunette was one of the only people that truly understood him. He had a gut feeling that she would never harm him. I really hope I'm right; I don't want Suna to suffer because of me. Looking up at the sky, he realized how late it was. "It's after sunset, Sakura-san. We should be getting back."
Eyes narrowed, the pink-haired kunoichi nodded. "Are we going to tell your siblings what happened?"
"No." Gaara didn't like it, but he thought that the less people who were involved, the better. "Don't tell them just yet."
Sakura just nodded, her lips stretched into a thin line. She silently walked out of the bath. Gaara did the same.
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Deidara and Sasori, who was carrying Aoi, easily snuck back into their hotel room. Said redhead gently placed the unconscious girl on his bed. I'm so sorry, Aoi. He wasn't expecting for the brunette to get hurt as badly as she did. That Haruno girl is going to pay! He found his fists clenching, and his heart speeding up. His anger was increasing, and he realized that if he didn't calm down, he would do something he would later regret.
He was thankful that Deidara started talking; this distracted him from his raging thoughts. "Do you think she's going to be okay, un?"
"Truthfully, I don't know. That device wasn't really supposed to be removed." When he glanced at Aoi once more, he realized that she was still only wearing the bloodstained towel from the bath. Shit! Her clothes are still at the bath, and her bag is at the Kazekage's. He didn't want the girl to be cold, so he put a blanket over her.
Deidara, who sat in the chair next to the bed, brushed her hair away from her eyes. "Danna?" he murmured. "She's burning up; I think she has a fever. What do we do, un?"
"I don't know," stated the puppet master. "This might be her body's way of reconfiguring itself because the chakra device was removed."
The blonde nodded. He was about to pull the blanket above her chest when his eyes widened. "She's bleeding again."
Sasori removed the blanket and slid the towel down a bit to expose the entire wound. He noticed that the deep incision had indeed started to bleed, and that the edges of it were red and puffy. He tried to heal it again, only to realize that it was too deep for his limited medical skills to fix.
Rummaging through his bag, he found what he was looking for: a needle and some thin metal wire. Though the wire was for repairing puppets, it was the only thread he had at the moment, and he needed to sew up the incision.
As he sealed up the gash, Aoi started to whimper. Deidara held her hand while the puppeteer finished his work, which seemed to calm her down. Once Sasori was finally finished, he grabbed a towel from the bathroom and cleaned off all the blood on her skin.
"Why did that girl hurt her, un?" the Iwa-nin asked, looking sadly at the semiconscious girl. "Aoi isn't the type to harm anyone."
"It's simple, Deidara. It's because she's with the Akatsuki. And Haruno somehow found out. You do know that in most villages, even being associated with our organization is considered traitorous. It didn't matter that Aoi didn't hurt anyone."
The bomber nodded in understanding. "I just find it sad, though, un."
For once, Sasori wholeheartedly agreed with his partner on something.
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And that's the end of Chapter Thirty-Six. I know it wasn't my best; I was working on AP GoPo homework while I was writing this, lolz.
When Sasori and Deidara show up at the hot springs, they were not wearing their Akatsuki cloaks. (That would make them too conspicuous, XD).
I really hope everyone wasn't OOC; I rewrote the scene at the hot springs like three times.
The scene with Gaara and Sakura after Sasori, Aoi, and Deidara left was to show their different opinions on the whole situation, as well as to show that Sasori and Aoi's relationship is not considered conventional.
I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter.