Please see first chapter for disclaimer, rating, warnings, pairings, etc.
Special Thanks: goes out to QueenP19, ASirensLullaby, McKazekage, TheGirlWithNoIQ, bubblewarrior32, sailorangelmoon1, rao hyuga 18, greetingsfrommaars, and lidianm for all your wonderful reviews and good wishes! Also thanks to everyone who has added and continues to add this story to their favorites and alert lists - you all are also amazing, and keep me motivated every time I see a new alert in my e-box!
Author's Note: Thank you all so much for all the well-wishes for me and my family. I'm happy to report we're all feeling much better! ...And as a thank-you, I present to you a special, early, update to make up for the long wait for the last one! Most of the remaining questions are answered in this chapter, and we get to see the aftermath of Orochimaru's attack and what impacts it has on our intrepid heroes - and their home. Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!
*~Chapter XXXIII~*
~Recovery~
He's alive. My husband is alive. The words kept repeating in Hinata's mind, a soothing mantra she clung to as she sat having her various wounds treated in one of Konoha's roomy med tents. She forced herself to sit still and not run back down to the little cubicle where Sakura worked to stitch and bandage Gaara's shoulder wound - especially since she knew her husband had refused anesthesia, though he had accepted pain medicine.
The combined uninjured forces of Konoha and Suna had either eliminated or imprisoned the rest of the Akatsuki's forces, and were well on their way toward doing damage control in the village. Even sitting in the med tent, Hinata could swear she smelled the smoke from the numerous fires burning throughout her home, the worst of which had decimated her husband's office and threatened the rest of the building.
But Gaara was alive. That was what mattered most.
After receiving some pain medicine of her own and being released, Hinata paused to check on Matsuri. Her maid lay on a cot, quite obviously asleep, but sans the pain lines bracketing her mouth and wrinkling her forehead earlier. A bulk under the blankets spoke of the cast around her broken leg, and a butterfly bandage rested over a particularly nasty cut on her cheek. Other than that, she looked to be in good shape, and Hinata breathed a sigh of relief.
She met her brother- and sister-in-law outside the screen hiding Gaara from view. "Are you both all right?" Hinata asked. She could see the white of bandages peeking out through several rips in Itachi's shirt, and he seemed to be holding his right arm carefully still, though he wasn't wearing a sling.
Temari nodded, her loose hair brushing over a bandage similar to Matsuri's on her own cheekbone, just under her left eye. "We're both fine." She eyed Hinata's various patched-up injuries, lingering longest on the line of stitches just beneath her hairline. "You?"
"Fine," she replied. Despite the pain medicine she'd already taken, her head throbbed dully, but she ignored it, repeating her mantra once more. My husband is alive.
The three stood in tense silence for a few minutes longer before the screen finally folded to reveal Sakura. The woman wore her pink hair up in a high ponytail and the sleeves of her green jacket rolled up to her elbows. Her hands and forearms, pink themselves from a fresh scrubbing, still bore a few dots of blood which made Hinata feel slightly sick. She had to smother the urge to lean around her friend to try to see past her.
"Lord Gaara got extremely lucky," Sakura reported. "The sword went through at just the right angle to keep from nicking an artery or severing any tendons. He twisted at just the right angle at just the right moment so all he needed was a few stitches." She shook her head. "I've never seen anything like it."
Hinata let out the breath she hadn't even realized she'd been holding. "May we see him?"
Stepping to the side with a soft smile, Sakura tilted her head back in the direction from which she'd just come. "As a matter of fact, he's been asking for all of you. And I doubt I could keep you out even if I said no. So all right - just be careful." She slipped away quietly as the trio moved to take her place.
Gaara sat up on his cot, legs stretched out before him. Bandages wrapped around his bare torso and up around his right shoulder; fresh bruises peeked out here and there above the sterile white cloth. Though pale, his face showed no hint of pain as he held out his left hand toward Hinata, motioning for her to come to him.
She went instantly, slipping her hand into his as he pulled her down for a quick kiss. Still holding her hand after they parted, he gently tugged until she sat on the cot next to him, legs stretched alongside his, tucked up against his uninjured left side. Seeming satisfied to have her within the circle of his arm, Gaara finally tore his gaze from her to look up at Temari and Itachi. "You are well?" His voice held an extra note of question on which Hinata sensed only they could pick up.
The two nodded, Temari meaningfully patting her stomach in answer.
"And you?" Hinata's question came out sounding oddly strangled, even to her own ears.
Gaara tilted his red head against hers very briefly. "Well enough, though Healer Sakura told me I have to remain here, at least for a few hours, to make sure the bleeding doesn't start up again." He frowned, obviously wishing to leave so he could be out among his people, helping control and assess the damage.
"Kankuro's out there," Temari said, obviously understanding her brother's expression. "He's got everything under control, Gaara. You need to do what the Healer said - even if you don't want to."
Sighing heavily, he reluctantly nodded his agreement before motioning for Temari and Itachi to have a seat on the end of the bed. "We'll have an impromptu debriefing here," he said. "But first..."
"Knock, knock." Tenten's head appeared around the edge of the screen, eyes shifting from person to person before settling on Gaara and Hinata. "Sakura said you wanted to see us?"
Some of the tension in Gaara's face eased as he nodded. "I'm glad she found you. Please have a seat."
Tenten fully entered, Neji only a step behind her. He, too, sported a few cuts and bruises from where he, Naruto, Lee, and a few others had fought their way up to the palace and to where Gaara and Orochimaru faced each other, clearing a path for Hinata, Tenten, Temari, and Ino to follow.
Hinata pulled her legs up slightly so her brother and his wife would have enough room to sit on the end of the cot, across from Itachi and Temari. The cubicle itself, already small, felt even tinier with six people packed inside.
"Firstly," Gaara said, nodding in Neji and Tenten's direction, "thank you for coming to our aid. But how did you know the Akatsuki intended to attack Suna, instead of Konoha, as it seemed?"
Neji repeated what Tenten had told Hinata and Temari earlier, ending with, "Lady Tsunade is still debating what sort of legal punishment Hanabi should face. Because she told us of the impending invasion, and due to her young age, she is having to give it quite a bit of thought, as this is a rather delicate and unusual situation."
Hinata noticed the tension in her brother's expression and knew exactly what caused it. She felt a similar tightness in her own chest at the thought of her young cousin facing any sort of punishment. Really, she had been the victim of a combination of circumstances and politics, though she had shown quite a bit of fortitude by going against the Akatsuki to warn Konoha of their allies' pending invasion. She wished she could see Hanabi in person, talk to her - tell her how proud she felt of her for what she'd done.
As for the equal amount of disappointment she felt, even despite herself - well, Hanabi already felt badly enough about what she'd done. There was no point in dragging her further down.
Gaara digested this information silently, offering only a nod of understanding and agreement before going on. "How fare your forces?"
Neji's expression did not change as he replied. "Very well. Out of the five hundred or so who came with us - including those whom you had sent earlier, milord - we appear to have lost seventy or so." He sighed, his expression finally cracking slightly. "I mourn every one of them, but I know it could have been so much worse."
Hinata clenched a handful of her torn, dirty tunic and wondered how many of those she knew. Obviously Neji, Tenten, and Ino had survived, and she'd seen both Naruto and Lee earlier. But what of the others, so many others - Kiba, Shino, Shikamaru, Chouji...? She feared asking and hearing a negative answer, so she kept her mouth firmly closed.
When she returned her attention to the conversation, Gaara had started questioning Itachi and Temari. "Have either of you heard from Kankuro yet about Suna's casualities, and the damage to the village itself?"
The couple shook their heads regretfully. "From what I saw, though," Temari said, "at least half the village is completely destroyed, and another fourth damaged."
Letting out his breath on a long, exhausted sigh, Gaara clenched his right hand into a fist on his lap. Hinata felt him flinch slightly, and his fingers immediately relaxed. She knew he had to be in quite a bit of pain for him to have made such a reaction, and she rested her right hand on his thigh comfortingly.
"So much..." he murmured. "Was any of that damage or destruction close to the shelters?"
This time Itachi spoke up. "On the way here, I saw people coming out of at least three. All of them appeared to be unharmed, though understandably shaken up. As for those on the opposite side of the village, where the most damage was incurred..." He shook his head. "We'll just have to wait for Kankuro's report."
Hinata's mind immediately went to the Elders and their families, most particularly Keiichi, the little boy who had haunted Temari so. Undoubtedly their shelter was close to the Tower - close to some of the heaviest damage Suna had received. Would their hiding place have held together well enough to protect everyone inside. Or...?
No, the thought was too horrible to contemplate. Even though she did not agree with the Elders' opinions on many things, she did not wish any of them - or their families - injured or worse.
Gaara's gaze shifted between his sister and Hinata. "And you?" he asked, voice carefully even. "How did you escape the explosion that took down the wall?"
"That's partly due to Soichiro," Temari said. "He thought ahead enough to have horses waiting for us when we arrived. We were able to make our way under the village much faster that way."
Hinata picked up the story there. "We did just barely make it past the wall before it exploded, though," she said softly. "We were just far enough away to escape the worst of it, though not the flying debris." She looked ruefully down at herself to prove her point.
"Matsuri separated from us - against orders, might I add - and distracted those pursuing us long enough for Hinata and me to slip into the cave," Temari continued smoothly. "Only a few minutes later, she, Tenten, and Ino arrived."
"We'd not been together too long before we heard another explosion. Then the lights went out, and the cave became unstable. We had to leave its shelter and return to the open desert. We headed out toward Konoha, but..." Hinata shook her head. "Two men showed up to stop us. Matsuri circled around and rode back toward Suna to retrieve some backup."
"Which showed up just as we were wrapping things up," Temari said sarcastically. "They all have impeccable timing." Her hand subtly shook, however, as it slid up her lap to rest against her stomach.
"I thought you were dead." Gaara's eyes flickered between Hinata and Temari, then briefly met Itachi's in a moment of silent communication before returning to his wife. "Both of you." His hand moved from her shoulder to cup the side of her head, careful to avoid her injury. "That was further helped by..." He carefully reached into his pocket with his right hand and pulled out a familiar necklace, though broken and splattered with blood.
With a soft gasp, Hinata lifted her hand to her neck...
...Froze when she felt the familiar cool stones and chains of her own necklace. She blinked at the one Gaara held, confused.
Her husband blanched as his own gaze went from the broken necklace he still held to the unbroken one at his wife's throat. "They've been planning this since-" He broke off abruptly, swiftly looking around at the others to see if they'd come to the same conclusion he had.
The broken necklace slithered from his grip and landed in his lap, the remaining opals shining in the light from the battery-powered lantern hanging from the ceiling above them.
"Sasori was here during my birthday," Hinata whispered. "It wouldn't have been hard for him to find out what you got me, and a short leap to figure out I'd wear it often. Most particularly for your own birthday party." The presence of the other necklace was proof - as if more were needed - that Orochimaru had been meticulous in his planning, and that those same plans had been in the making for quite a while.
It was a chilling thought indeed.
The last few pieces of the puzzle were sliding into place for all of them, and the picture the entirety painted was not a pleasant one.
"Orochimaru-" Gaara stopped, frowning as he fixed his gaze on the screen Neji and Tenten had pulled across the doorway behind them when they entered. "He killed my father, which I already knew. But what I didn't know was it was actually his plan - at least in part, perhaps in full, I doubt we'll ever know for sure - and not my father's to turn me into the ultimate weapon. When I changed his plans..." He trailed off.
Temari nodded slowly, catching on. "He must have started planning this then," she agreed. "So for seven years, he's been building up his numbers, perfecting his scheme..."
In hindsight, Hinata could see so clearly how Orochimaru, from a safe distance, had been pulling all their strings as if they were nothing more than marionettes. How he'd been dropping little breadcrumbs for them to find, deliberately guiding them into misconceptions and assumptions.
And, had it not been for Hanabi's overhearing a conversation and having the bravery to share it, the night might have gone much differently. He might very well have succeeded.
A sobering thought, indeed.
The plan had been put into motion, but thankfully halted before brought to completion. That did not, however, help all the people who had died, Hinata thought sorrowfully. There was nothing they could do to reverse the effects Orochimaru's plans had wrought upon their village.
They could, however, move on. Rebuild. Return to their lives, having learned from their mistakes and come out smarter.
As the six of them sat silently, staring at each other, they all made a silent pact.
They would never fall for such a trap again.
Kankuro arrived at daybreak, tired and dirty and obviously bearing bad news.
Some time before, Sakura had come back to check on Gaara, seen the crowd in his cubicle, and removed the screens on either side to expand the space. Though the six of them had kept talking for some time, Tenten had eventually curled up on the bed to the left and fallen asleep. Temari had gone to the one on the right and followed suit not long after.
Itachi and Neji had stayed up a while longer, but eventually joined their respective wives and also fallen into exhausted sleep.
Having been unable to fall asleep himself, Gaara looked up from his own wife's sleeping face at Kankuro's arrival, reading everything he needed to know instantly in his brother's eyes. "It's bad," he said softly, factually.
Hinata moaned into his neck at the sound of his voice, soft though it was, but did not wake.
Nodding regretfully, Kankuro dropped onto the edge of Gaara's bed and let out a long, exhausted sigh. "It's bad," he confirmed.
"How many?" Gaara whispered past the lump in his throat. He'd been coming down off his adrenaline-fueled berserker high as he and the others had made their way through, and then out of, the village to the cluster of Konoha's med tents set up a safe distance away. But even in his haze, he remembered what he'd seen during that flight - the fires, dead bodies, crumbled buildings and destruction everywhere. He had no doubt there wasn't a single inch of his village not touched by Orochimaru's attack.
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Kankuro shook his head and cleared his throat twice before finally wrenching out the words. "Including those from Konoha who came to help us and were lost-"
Gaara's gut clenched as his eyes slipped closed. I'm not ready to hear this. But I have to. I am the leader. This is my responsibility. My fault.
"-Almost two hundred."
My fault.
But Kankuro was not through yet. "Those numbers include over half of the Council."
A chill swept down Gaara's spine. He'd been fighting the Elders for years, all the while both disagreeing with and hating their tactics and strangling grasp on the outdated ways of the past.
But he had never, never - not even at his most furious - ever wished any of them dead. Especially not this way.
"How many are left?" He managed to force out the question after swallowing multiple times to clear the lump from his throat.
"Three, including Ryotaro." Kankuro's lips thinned slightly at the name, a brief flare of anger lighting his eyes.
Gaara remembered the last time he'd seen the old councilmember, exiting the hall with his great-grandson. "And Keiichi?" he asked. He's so young. Please tell me...
"Also fine. One of the remaining councilmembers is still alive, but he suffered grave injuries. Healer Sakura isn't sure he'll make it through another night. Ryotaro and Keiichi both suffered from a broken arm apiece. The last has three cracked ribs, but nothing life-threatening."
For years, Gaara had been looking for an opportunity to replace the aging Elders with younger - but still acceptably aged - councilmembers, not so attached to the old ways, able to see the advantages of turning away from some of Suna's more antiquated ways. But the only way for such a thing to happen was for the current ones to step down or die off, neither of which had looked likely.
Until now.
Grief ripped through him anew. So many things had gone wrong. So many had died. It shouldn't have been like this. I wanted it - so badly, I wanted things to change - but I didn't want it to happen like this. Not at such a horrible cost...
"What of the Tower?"
The brothers looked to their sister, who was busy quietly extracting herself from her still-sleeping husband's loose hold. At last she sat up, looking expectantly at first Gaara, then Kankuro, for the answer to her hoarsely-spoken question.
The middle sibling looked back and forth from older to younger. "Fire's out," he reported at last. "As are the rest around the village. But the Tower - and the rest of that part of the building, for that matter - will need to be rebuilt. As soon as things cool down, we'll be able to pick through and see if there's anything we can save, but I'm not holding my breath."
Temari pushed her tangled hair out of her face, wincing when she accidentally brushed the cut on her cheekbone. The skin around it was already starting to bruise, puffing the eye above almost half-closed. "And the house?" she pressed.
Straightening from his slumped position, elbows on his knees, Kankuro reached into the pouch at his waist and silently withdrew a cloth-wrapped bundle, which he then held out to his brother.
Suddenly finding it hard to breathe, Gaara accepted the bundle, unwrapping it quickly to find out its contents. He could discern nothing from his brother's uncharacteristically shuttered expression.
Though covered in soot and smelling of smoke, Gaara instantly recognized the item. The last time he'd seen it, it had still been sitting on the head banquet table, where he had quickly set it when the servant had interrupted his birthday celebration to bring him the scroll warning of Orochimaru's impending attack.
Now he stared down at the beautiful jade panther carving Hinata had gotten for him, knowing its having survived in such good condition meant the house part of Suna's central building must have, as well.
For the first time, a small flicker of hope sprang to life in his chest. Orochimaru had intended to obliterate Suna and destroy the Sabaku once and for all. But the statue cradled in Gaara's hands offered proof of his failure, and its presence provided proof of the existence of a foundation upon which they could rebuild their lives, their village.
They would come back from this. It would be hard, and it would take time. But they had come out the victors, and just as they would not forget the events of Gaara's nineteenth birthday, they would not let its memory haunt them, keep them down.
Suna would come back from this, better than ever. Of that, Gaara had no doubts.
*~To Be Continued~*
Author's Ending Notes: Thank you all so much for your well-wishes for me and my family! I'm happy to report we're all feeling much better! And as a special thank-you, I give to you an early update for Shadows, to make up for the late one earlier in the week! Sadly, I must report there will be one more chapter, and then the epilogue, after this - so only two more updates. But we're finally getting to the point where remaining questions can be answered, and other important and interesting things I've been excited for since way back at chapter one can come about. Thank you so much for reading this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope to see you again for the next update!