Chapter 14
Sasuke was sweating profusely. He looked ahead at Kankuro and Sakura. Their voices were like echoes and they were becoming fuzzy. He shook his head to try to make his sight sharp again. He could feel the blood pounding in his head and felt the pulse in his right shoulder. He tried to focus on the scenery in the distance but everything was a confusing mess of colors that didn't make sense. He also couldn't think straight anymore. He looked ahead at Sakura and for a second, thought about telling her that something was wrong. No. No way he would rely on her. She was supposed to rely on him. No? He remembered the dreams and brought his hands to his face, drenched with sweat. He had to lay down. He was tired; that was all. Maybe if he told this lie to himself over and over again, his body would believe it. Sakura turned to him.
"What do you think, Sasuke?" she said, laughing. "Sasuke?"
"Hm? Sorry, I w-wasn't …" he started in a slur, almost losing his balance, "... paying attention."
Sakura instantly felt a cold sweat running down her spine.
"Sasuke, what's wrong?"
"Nothing. Just n-need … just need ..."
Sakura shrieked as Sasuke collapsed. She reached out to him in panic; he was extremely hot.
"Sasuke, you idiot! Why didn't you say anything!"
Kankuro kneeled down beside him and listened to his breathing.
"Something is wrong with him."
"You think?" she answered sarcastically. "Sasuke! Tell me what's wrong! Hey! Sasuke?"
"He's not responsive …"
Sakura stripped him down from the neck. She saw the cut. It was black and slithering down like roots to his chest.
"Infection?" suggested Kankuro.
Sakura shook her head, thinking back at the guy who licked the blade. He was the one Sasuke was fighting with.
"Poison," she whispered, trembling, "OK …" she said to herself taking a deep breath, "Breathe … Kankuro, you know those little white flowers that look like drops of water?"
"Yes! Like the ones we saw by the river we passed!"
"Go back there and bring me a whole bunch, quickly! And also some of the bark from the willow tree we passed a few minutes ago. Please, hurry!"
Sakura removed Sasuke's cloak and shirt, rolled them and placed them under his neck and head. His eyes were half closed, not staring at anything in particular, and he was short of breath. She clicked her fingers near his ear but he did not seem to notice, neither did he notice when she moved her finger in front of his eyes. His mind was already gone.
How did it get worse so quickly!
She puts her hands over his body and waved them around to find the critical spot to heal first. His heart was not steady. She decided to start there. A green hue dropped from her hands and entered Sasuke's chest. He took a deep breath, feeling the instant pressure relief. She gave him a quick glance once in a while to see if he was conscious. He was still sweating a lot.
Kankuro came running back with the items Sakura asked him for.
"Get the collapsible bowl in my bag, wash it quickly with some water from my gourd and once it is clean, give me all the flowers and put them in my mouth."
Kankuro did not dare to question her instructions.
While he rinsed the bowl, she continued.
"I'm going to make a paste with these flowers and apply to his wound. While I do that, if you could put water in that bowl you just washed and soak the bark in it.
While she used both her hands to transfer healing chakra into Sasuke's body, Kankuro put the flowers in her mouth. She chewed the bitter flowers for a minute or two and spat the greyish paste on his chest. With one hand she started to spread it on the cut on his shoulder, pushing deep in the wound. His teeth grinded from the pain.
"Sorry Sasuke … it'll burn."
She imagined the paste already being absorbed by the wounds and making their way across the roots formed by the poison, going through the hearts, pumping through all the body. She kept pushing and massaging the painful wound as she saw Sasuke reacting to the process.
She put some of the paste in the bark water mixture and mixed the whole thing with one hand, rubbing the bark inside the water. It turned greenish brown quickly. Her other hand was still helping his heart beat steadily.
"Can you help me lift his head up? He needs to drink it."
Kankuro obliged, but as she slowly poured the liquid in his mouth, it ran back down his chin.
"Crap! Kankuro, hold him tight …"
She put the bitter water in her own mouth and gave it to him by mouth, forcing him to swallow the concoction. He choked on it the first few times his body eventually took the liquid. She did twice more … than gave him the rest from the bowl, seeing that he was swallowing on his own.
Kankuro watched the whole thing mesmerized … this woman is amazing!
It wasn't how she dreamed their first kiss would be.
"This water mixture will help with the fever and the healing. Kankuro, we can't go any further. If I let go of his chest, he could go into cardiac arrest. Go on without us … and if you could find some help to bring us back I would really appreciate it!"
"Got it! Leave it to me!"
She wondered if Sasuke would be ok by the next day.
How long do I have to help his heart beat like this?She knew she wouldn't be able to go on for too long … she wondered if she could hold on until the morning. She would use the small amount of chakra she had stored, shown in the tiny diamond spread on her forehead. It took a long time to gather, but she would do it for Sasuke's sake.
Kankuro, before leaving, built his tent around her and Sasuke. Then he left his water portion to Sakura.
"Are you sure?" she said.
"I'll be back in Suna in the morning, no … before that … I'll go as fast as I possibly can. I'll send help. Take care until then." He turned to Sasuke. "You too pal!"
Sasuke did not respond.
Aby woke up. She was curled up under the blanket. She was still wearing yesterday's clothes and remembered the events. She shivered at those memories and hid her head in the blanket where it was safe and warm. It took her a few minutes to shake it off. She had to switch her mind to something pleasant. She could still smell the stench of the guys. It was all over her clothes; her torn clothes. Gaara saw that. She remembered the glance he gave her when he placed himself between her and the creeps. Just how much did he see? Enough to cover her. She yawned and sat down.
"Ow!". Her body was aching, but her mind was much sharper. She looked at the shirt. It was not covering anything. She shivered again. She couldn't shake the memories off; their voices, their hands, his mouth … she put the blanket over her head again. She needed to think of something else. Nothing else really happened … thanks to Gaara. Boy, was she thankful. But he saw her … and he brought her back. She took the blanket off her face.
And he held me in his arms.
It felt really good. She smiled and removed the blanket altogether. She was supposed to take a bath, she guessed they thought it best to let her sleep. She was such a mess. She was glad Gaara talked some sense into her. She turned to the mirror and saw her face. She had a bruise on her forehead and arms.
She heard a couple of knocks on the door and the same young maid came in.
"How are you feeling today, miss?"
"Better thank you, but where can I take a bath?
The maid led her to a huge room with a huge bath held on feet, adorned with dozens of colored bottles. She thought most of them were some kind of bubble bath. Some were body perfumes, soaps, shampoos, lotions, creams, etc.
She giggled; she didn't believe Gaara used all this stuff. Maybe the female staff were allowed to wash in here?
Maybe Temari used to … or his mother? How old was that stuff?!
She stripped down and entered the water, overflowing with bubbles, the fragrances appeased her and she let the hot water do its job. Even Queen Elizabeth is not pampered like that, she thought with a smile.
She got out an hour later and joined the group who were talking noisily. There were more people this time. Gaara was the first to see her. He gave her a greeting nod, relieved to see her relaxed expression.
"Abigail!". Sofia screamed and went to meet her with a concerned look on her face.
"Are you ok? What happened yesterday? I mean, 'eyeliner guy' told us a little but …"
Eyeliner guy?!
Gaara glanced at Sofia, with a scornful frown.
"I'm fine! Much better! See?" Aby twirled in the new clothes she was given. "The bath helped a lot. Thank you for yesterday, Gaara!"
The group looked at him startled. Yashiko was a little flustered that she would call him by his name, without using a title, or honorific at the very least, but Gaara didn't seem to be the least bothered by it. He just nodded humbly.
She went to sit at the table and her eyes sparkled when she recognized the new couple.
"Oh! You are Temari! AND SHIKAMARU!"
Temari got excited.
"See? They told us she would recognize us instantly! She really knows us!"
"Hazel and Matthew? How are they?!"
Gaara smiled as Aby beamed with joy; which was not unnoticed by Temari.
"They're fine! We still have to decide if they will come here or if we'll escort you to Konoha." Shikamaru said.
Sofia pulled Aby's sleeve.
"What did you say his name was?"
"I'm Nara Shikamaru. This is Lord Gaara's sister, Temari, my wife.
Sofia thought for a moment and her eyes grew bigger. She remembered …
"Oh! Are you the puppy that wouldn't allow 'eyeliner guy' to sleep?"
They all looked at her, surprised.
"... HUHHH?!"
Shikamaru was so red he could have blended with a tomato.
"Sofia, what are you talking about?" asked Aby.
"You told us the other day that Gaara had dark circles around his eyes because he had insomnia, because Shikamaru wouldn't let him sleep? And then, he left him so he could sleep again, but you thought he was wearing eyeliner to keep a fierce appearance.
Aby digested her words and finally understood. She burst out laughing at the silly thought that Shikamaru was driving Gaara with insomnia. She shook uncontrollably while crying with laughter.
Gaara on the other hand was all flustered, so was Shikamaru.
"Hey! Who's wearing makeup?!" Gaara said, furious.
"WHO'S GAARA'S DOG?!"
Now it was Temari who was laughing uncontrollably, picturing Gaara going to her room, going through her makeup and applying eyeliner.
"BWAHAHAHAHAHA"
Aby was trying to say something but the words were not coming out. She was hysterically laughing.
The rest of the group started to catch the contagious laughter. Obviously, Sofia missed some important piece of information about all this. The maids started to peek in the room to see what the commotion was all about.
Aby calmed down eventually, wiping away the tears rolling down.
"It's name was Shukaku, not Shikamaru! And he was not a puppy! He was the one tailed beast. A raccoon demon that was sealed inside his body from birth. He would threaten to destroy everything and take complete control over Gaara if he fell asleep."
"Oh!"
"His power would be at his maximum when I was asleep," added Gaara, still feeling insulted. "So I taught myself not to sleep so I wouldn't destroy the village … well, so he would not destroy the village; so yeah, my eyes were a lot darker back then."
Akio smiled at Aby and Sofia who were both staring at Gaara's eyes for obvious reasons.
"I am NOT wearing makeup!"
Temari almost fell off her chair, but Shikamaru held her.
"Watch it stupid!"
"Hey, you! Who's stupid?"
"Well, why are your eyes still dark?" shyly asked Aby.
"Why does Naruto have whisker marks?"
"He was born with them because of Kurama … ohhh!"
It suddenly made perfect sense. She was 'face palming' herself for not even thinking about it before. A birthmark from his Kiuubi; his demon was a raccoon, so he was born with black circles around his eyes.
Sofia 'face palmed' herself as well.
"Shukaku! … I'm sorry … The names sound alike …"
Shikamaru grumbled to himself, while Temari was still laughing.
"So you don't have Shukaku anymore?" asked Sofia.
Gaara explained how it happened. Sofia was very intrigued. She didn't know anything about Naruto's Characters and story, but she was getting very interested.
"Shukaku is no longer in me, but he still roams around, freely. We speak from time to time."
"You are friends now?"
"Tailed beasts were misunderstood creatures for a long time. Naruto made it possible for this relationship. Being around humans for hundreds of years changed their opinion about us. We were, after all, using them as possessions and weapons, instead of respecting them as beings. Once Naruto understood that, he was able to appeal to their good nature and create a bond between them and us."
Aby was listening to him, her cheek, resting on her hand, admiring his hand gestures as he was explaining all this. She remembered his hands gently holding her face, then she sighed and looked away. She reminded herself that he was out of her league.
"Amazing story!" shouted Chris when he came into the room. Gaara watched him and instantly looked at Aby.
"Hi!" he said to her while sitting down beside her.
"Hey!"
"I'm sorry about yesterday. Really, I am."
"I know" she smiled.
"When he said you were not back I got very worried. Then you came back and you were hurt and looked like … anyway. I'm so, so, so sorry …"
"I know, it was a misunderstanding, don't worry about it!" she said smiling.
Gaara sighed in frustration and looked away.
Temari watched the exchange and her brother's reaction. He was usually very good at hiding his emotions. There was something new here … he had told them what had happened. Honestly she thought the girl was a little naive to trust so easily.
Chris smiled at Aby and put the purse in front of her. She smiled back and took it.
"Thank you!"
"You're welcome," he said softly. He looked at a basket full of bread beside her. Instead of reaching in front of her to get one, he purposely went from behind, brushing himself against her back and balancing himself by putting his hand on her shoulder.
She thought the obvious gesture was cute. He took a piece and put it in her mouth. Shikamaru and Gaara looked disgusted. Temari raised an eyebrow. The guy was not holding back! She glanced towards Gaara; His face was blank again.
Hmm
Tori's voice came through the door. She was followed by Toshiko and Akio.
"Birthday Cake! Birthday Cake!"
"What? It's still morning!" said Chris.
Tori pulled her tongue at him.
"I think she waited long enough," said Gaara, amused.
"Is it someone's birthday?" Kankuro appeared in the doorway; out of breath and dirty.
"Oh! Kangaroo!" Announced Sofia happily.
"It's Kan. ku. ro! What is going on? Oh! Tema! You guys are here too!"
"Yes! I had something to …"
"It'll have to wait, sis … Gaara, something happened …"
Aby gave Tori and Toshiko a huge piece of cake. She watched Gaara and Kankuro talk, a concerned look on their face.
Sasuke and Sakura, she thought.
Gaara asked a maid for his travel cloak.
"Something happened to Sasuke. Sakura is trying hard to keep him alive …"
"What? What the …" Shikamaru stood up. "I'm coming too!"
"Fine"
"Lord Gaara!" Baki suddenly showed up in the doorway. "Are you going somewhere again?"
"Sakura and Sasuke are in trouble, in Wind Country territory. I need to-"
"I understand my Lord, but you have been away from your position for quite a while already…" Baki watched him with a serious face, hoping he would get the hint."
Gaara stared back in complete shock, he suddenly felt sick.
"My Lord," started Baki, cautious of his position. "Before going, I suggest you stop at your office and … analyse the situation … before it gets out of hand …"
Gaara's face turned white. He completely forgot about his duties! How? How did HE forget about the Kazekage's duties! He froze, not knowing what to do.
"Baki …"
"Say no more. I will go. Yashiko, you are coming too!" said Gaara's old sensei.
