The Suna genin entered the gates of Konoha and began heading quickly for the Hokage's headquarters, planning to get as many details as they could on the mission. All they knew was that they were to help a bunch of genin and a rookie chuunin in an A-class mission.
"OH! It's you three!" a shrill voice called. At first the Suna-nin ignored it, assuming it was someone referring to another group, when a rookie with short pink hair and a quiver Jell-o would envy jumped in front of them, kunais at hand. "What are you doing here again!" Sakura shrieked, looking incredibly shaken and as though she'd been crying recently.
"Oi, you're that rookie with the loud-mouth and that show-off, Uchiha!" Kankurou stated, folding his arms impatiently. "Get out of the way; we're in a hurry!" Sakura only grew more defensive, scowling at him and sniffling. She looked ready to cry again, despite the scowl and the tough posture.
Temari sighed. "Look, we're here to help this time. We need to see Hokage, can you help us find him? Quickly?" she growled, looking impatient. Sakura didn't look ready to trust them. Temari groaned, "Look, kid, if we meant harm again, we would have attacked you, instead of standing here, talking like rational people, which is actually irrational, because we're in a hurry! Didn't you hear Konoha and Suna are allied again!"
"The Godaime is a woman..." Sakura grumbled, seeing the logic in the other's words. There was a chance that the Suna-genin was trying to trick her into taking her to the Hokage, but even if that was the case, not even these three stood a chance against Hokage-sama. She turned, still keeping more awareness at the danger at her back and her kunais at hand, and began leading them towards the tower again. They obviously knew to go there, but navigating the halls to find Tsunade would difficult, though Sakura had the luck to know that the Hokage was busy at work in conferences there, rather than roaming the city.
"Whatever, little leaf-nin," Temari said as the Suna-nin followed at a careful distance that would allow their guide a little comfort.
It did not take long to locate Tsunade, who seemed pleased to see the three, to Sakura's surprise. As Sakura listened, Tsunade filled in the Suna-nin and gave Sakura orders to lead them back out the gate to pick up the others' trail. As they were about to leave, she called them back for one more moment. "I was not here for the Chuunin exams, but I have been told what happened. And by the descriptions I was given... Would you three be the team that arrived for the Exam and caused so much trouble?" she asked.
She appeared only curious, but Temari and Kankurou couldn't help but be a little embarrassed. As Temari was about to answer, Gaara stepped forward. "We were. Most of the damage was my doing. Gomen, Hokage-sama," he said, bowing very slightly.
Tsunade shook her head, resting her hands on her hips. "How ironic. Well, get going, we don't have time to lose!" she said, making shooing motions with her hands. "Scat!"
"Another one!" Temari asked, dropping down next to Neji's unconscious form. When they'd come across Chouji they'd been undecided on whether to split up and have someone take him back to the village, but he was more dead than alive, and they needed to move on to help the others reclaim Sasuke. Temari checked Neji's vital signs - he was no better than Chouji. If possible, Temari suspected he was worse. The two weren't even worth wasting Chakra on to try to stabilize their condition - to do so would take much more chakra then even the suna three could come up with. She pulled away shaking her head. "We'll have to leave him, too."
Gaara lingered a moment after the other two. He didn't want to kill anymore, but perhaps a mercy killing was in order. "Ah!" he cried out as a headache hit and ran to catch up. The Konoha-nin did not appear to be in pain anymore, and Gaara did not want to kill if he could help it, for fear he'd be unable to stop again. "Naruto!" he murmured, knowing that the other was on this mission. If he could help, he wouldn't just be aiding Konoha, but Naruto, too. He would help Naruto if it killed him.
Kiba sighed relief. Thank Kami-sama; he wasn't dead yet. The puppet freak had showed up, and his buddy the sand freak wasn't here. "Be careful! These guys aren't pushovers!"
"How troublesome. Saved by a woman," Shikamaru groaned, though he couldn't help being grateful in his heart. He was all out of strategies.
"There you go babbling about your man and woman nonsense. Baka!" Temari said nonchalantly, studying the situation.
"Sa-Sabaku no Gaara..."
"Can you walk?" Kankurou asked Kiba, eyeing him rather distastefully.
Kiba pushed himself onto his feet. "Yeah," he muttered, bending over to pick up Akamaru. However, the action threw off his already precarious balance and he tumbled down with a painful thunk. "Ouch!" he yelped, wincing.
Kankurou rolled his eyes. "Wait here – I saw a river near by, I'm going to go wash the blood off of Kuroari and Karasu…" Kiba was about to ask who Kankurou was talking about when he saw the puppeteer gather his puppets. He nodded quietly and began doing what he could for Akamaru.
"If you need my help, tug on this," Kankurou said, tossing a kunai to the ground at Kiba's feet – a string of chakra ran from the handle to Kankurou's left index finger. Kiba eyed it a moment as Kankurou walked away and gave it a curious tug. He heard Kankurou sigh some short distance away. "What?" the suna-nin called back, sounding distinctly aggravated.
"So it really works…" Kiba said, grinning a little. That was a nifty trick.
"Of course it really works!" Kankurou yelled, sounding very angry now. Kiba heard his footsteps resume and some mutterings that he imagined was curses. He turned back to Akamaru and dug some pills out of his pouch and gave a few to Akamaru – painkillers (not like he needed them at the moment), things to stimulate healing, blood clotting, et cetera. He tore fabric from his jacket (the bandages he carried were soaked, but his jacket, luckily, wasn't) and began splinting broken bones where he could.
Kankurou scrubbed angrily at his puppets. Fighting was fun, the battle was fun, but now that it was over it was just the mundane part of the mission – he was back to babysitting. Well, gee, that was a change from the norm – not. And now it was some pathetic little leaf-nin… Well, at least he didn't have to worry about death threats from this kid. That would be a welcome change.
He looked over his puppets – well, it wasn't perfect, but for now they were clean enough. When they got back to Suna he'd give them a thorough cleaning and oil the joints and polish and… he smiled a little. His puppets and Temari were the only comforts he had, really. He could spend days locked up taking care of them and practicing jutsu with them.
He felt a tug at the chakra string at his hand – shit, was that kid in trouble? He grabbed his puppets, glad he'd been finishing anyhow, and ran back to the clearing where he'd left the leaf-nin. Kiba was sitting over his dog and looked absorbed.
"Hey, do you have anything for bruises? Cuts?" Kankurou heard the boy ask quietly.
"You know, I could kill you for that!" Kankurou growled angrily, more relieved than anything else that the kid was okay and that he could actually threaten him for pissing him off, instead of sucking up like he had to around Gaara.
"Do you?" Kiba asked, glancing up at him as he ran a gentle hand over Akamaru's back.
Kankurou sighed, "Just a little," he said, digging around in his pouch for it and tossing it to Kiba. "We don't need it much with Gaara around. Well, unless he's the reason we need it… But it's the best stuff available in Suna gakure…" he explained briefly. Kiba took a whiff and wrinkled his nose – it was potent: not bad, but clearly strong. He applied it with painstaking care and tossed the empty container back to Kankurou.
"Can you walk now?" Kankurou asked, stashing the little pot quickly.
Kiba sighed and tried to stand again, picking up Akamaru carefully. "Yeah," he said. "I took a soldier pill while you were gone – that should give me enough strength to get back to Konoha."
Kankurou flapped a hand dismissively. "Whatever. Let's go," he said, leading the way at an impatiently fast pace. Kiba tried, but it wasn't long before he found himself lagging behind. "Can't you go any faster?" Kankurou complained, leaning against a tree to wait for Kiba.
Kiba growled at him. "Excuse me for being badly wounded and having an injured dog to carry," he quipped, angrier at his own inability than anything else. He'd fought so hard and then this freak had shown up and KOed those freaky brothers in moments.
Kankurou sighed. "I'll have to carry you then. I want to hurry up and get back." He said. He was too impatient to have to keep waiting for Kiba – not that it mattered how soon he got to Konoha but he wanted to get there and then get where ever else he was going and again after that… "C'mon," Kankurou said, gesturing for Kiba to put his arms over Kankurou's shoulders so he could carry him like he did Gaara.
"No way, I won't be able to support Akamaru properly with one arm!" Kiba said after he realized what Kankurou meant. Kankurou sighed and rolled his eyes. He really wasn't thrilled about this but… "Then I'll carry you bridal style or whatever – but not a word or you're so dead."
Kiba snorted. "As if! I don't even want you to carry me, you're the one pushing it!" he retorted. However, he was beginning to feel a little dizzy – it was just as well Kankurou was going to carry him.
"Yeah, well, we need to get you and your mutt back to Konoha for medical attention, and if you keep lagging like that, your damn dog is going to bleed to death!" Kankurou yelled, getting defensive. He had to admit, it was freeing to be able to talk and act like this without worrying about Gaara. A small part of him was even having fun.
He'd struck a nerve – Kiba looked at Akamaru anxiously. He thought Akamaru was stable now, but what if… He couldn't afford to lose Akamaru… "Okay, just make sure you don't jolt him…" Kiba said, uncharacteristically quiet again.
Kankurou's eyes widened – he saw a tear drip from Kiba's face to the dog. His words never affected anyone besides Temari… That was a weird sort of power, and he kind of regretted it, really. After all, this guy was just a kid and his pet was wounded and he'd just made him cry….
He scooped Kiba up carefully. "Oi…" He began running, picking his way carefully so he didn't jolt his burden anymore than necessary. "Gomen nasai."
Kiba shook his head. "Whatever."
Kankurou realized suddenly how infinitely annoying that word could be, and he instantly understood why Temari got so angry with him over it. "What's your name, anyhow, kid?"
"Inuzuka Kiba… you?"
"Kankurou."
Kiba glanced up, a bit surprised. "Family name?" he asked.
"We don't use it," Kankurou said, not without some bitterness.
"Why not?" Kiba asked idly.
"Because… Gaara's insane but he's right about family," Kankurou said.
"So… you're Sabaku no Kankurou then?" Kiba asked, stroking Akamaru's ear.
"No! Just Kankurou!" the suna-nin groaned, tired of explaining and wishing he hadn't brought it up in the first place. "Gaara's the only one to use 'sabaku no' in his name. Temari and I are just Temari and Kankurou, okay?"
"Oh. Sure." Kankurou was really miffed, though he couldn't say exactly why. Kiba looked around. "We're almost there – good!" he said, smiling and clearly relieved.
"Yeah, good – this is where you get off," Kankurou said, setting Kiba down with less than perfect care.
"Hey, watch it!" Kiba growled, stumbling a little before catching his balance again.
"Fine, kid," Kankurou remarked nonchalantly, shoving his hands in his pockets. He was just glad not to have to carry him anymore – it was awkward carrying another guy bridal style. 'Specially a kid like the Konoha-nin.
Kiba growled, "The name's Inuzuka, Kurou-chan."
"Hey, I just saved your life, you little punk shit, so don't you pull that shit with me!" Kankurou warned, glaring death at the kid.
Kiba smirked, "What, are you going to kill me for it?"
"No, but I can sure beat the shit out of you for it!" Kankurou yelled, looking like he was ready to kill, although he had a little more restraint than that. A little.
"Watch it, Kurou-chan! It's not fair to fight someone wounded like me, and if you kill my dog I'll carpet my room in your hide!" he said, sneering at Kankurou. Kankurou glared and turned around.
"You can get back to the village from here, I'm going back to find Temari!" Kankurou yelled back. Kiba laughed at him and went into the village, hurrying – he was eager to get Akamaru checked and hear any news there was from the others.
Wow… Shikamaru thought. Sugoi… Temari's power was amazing – he was surprised, seeing this, that he'd beat Temari in the chuunin exams. "Domo…" he said, surveying the damage. Temari grinned proudly. It was nice seeing the chauvinist brat who'd defeated her before surveying her work with awe now. "We weren't allowed to show our full power at the chuunin exams – we weren't really there to be chuunin, anyway."
Shikamaru scowled. "Yeah, you came to try and destroy us…" he grumbled.
Temari scowled back. "I told you; it was just an order. I don't want war, and neither do my brothers. Kazekage was the only one who wanted that, and he's dead now, thanks to Orochimaru."
"Oh…" Shikamaru said. "I'm sorry for your loss…" he muttered. It had been hard on Konoha to lose Sandaime. He imagined it would have been much the same in Suna.
"Don't be. He wasn't a good leader. And he was a worse father," she said, almost breezily.
Shikamaru was surprised a moment. "You're Gaara's older sister then?" he confirmed.
Temari nodded, leading the way back. Shikamaru fell in with a natural ease. He didn't feel like leading – mendoukuse. "And Kankurou's the middle child," she added.
"It wasn't hard on you?" he asked. The loss of a parent, even a bad one…
"If you knew him, you'd understand," she'd said. "Please don't ask…" she'd added, sounding tired.
Shikamaru shrugged. "That would be troublesome for us both…" he said. They traveled on in relatively comfortable silence for a while.
Temari brightened. "Look, there's Kankurou!" she said, pointing.
Kankurou waved. "Oi, Temari-chan! Who's that?" he asked, waiting for them, casually propped against a tree.
"Shikamaru. How were things for you?" She asked. "No problem here."
Kankurou snorted. "A joke. It was harder to get that little Konoha-nin back home than the fight." He shrugged.
"Which nin?" Shikamaru asked, suddenly remembering the comrades left behind and realizing the Suna-nin might know something of their fate.
"Inuzuka. Whiny shit, I could have killed him if my purpose hadn't been to help," Kankurou complained. He rolled his eyes.
"And he's okay?" Shikamaru asked, trying not to let on how worried he was.
Kankurou shrugged, falling in step as they caught up with him. "He was hurt pretty bad but he'll be fine. He was more worried about his mutt. I don't know much about animals but the dog did look to be in bad condition."
Shikamaru was only slightly reassured. On the bright side, if Kiba'd had enough energy to annoy Kankurou then that was probably a good sign. "What of the other nin? Did you see any others?" Shikamaru asked.
Kankurou and Temari shared a glance and it was all Shikamaru needed. "We encountered two on our way out here – both seemed to be beyond hope so we continued to see if we could be of more use elsewhere," Temari said as gently as she knew how. Sadly, she was not accustomed to being gentle.
"Kankurou-kun, did you see them when you took Kiba back?" Shikamaru asked.
The suna-nin shook his head. "No. I figured the medic-nin found them and took them back or else…" Kankurou had still less tact than Temari, but even he realized that his other suspicion – that their bodies had already been disposed of by hunter-nin – would be better kept to himself. He didn't want to have another hysterical Konoha-nin to take care of. Shikamaru pressed on faster.
Gaara lowered his head in thought. After a moment of the two sitting in what might have been called companionable silence between a more familiar pair, Gaara stood and offered his hand to Konoha's so-called beautiful green beast. "We should go. You were in no state to fight to begin with," he said calmly, though there was touch of regret that no one but perhaps Temari would ever detect.
Lee smiled weakly, taking the hand and pulling himself up not just a little shakily. "Not my fault. I had to help!" he protested, following as Gaara led the way back to Konoha and the other Suna- and Konoha-nin.
Gaara nodded. He would not have understood before, but now it made sense to him. Something else also occurred to him - something he realized he should do. "Gomen, Rock Lee-san."
"Huh?" Lee asked, confused. What could Gaara be apologizing for - after all, the strange boy had just saved him. If anything, Lee should thank him again! "What for?"
Gaara seemed hesitant - he did not want to detail his faults, but it seemed the leaf-nin was a touch thick. "It is my fault you were in such an unfit state," he explained in a careful tone, realizing how weak he suddenly felt. Perhaps this was wrong, perhaps there was nothing better for him than to be a monster, perhaps what made Naruto strong would only be his undoing. It was an uncomfortable feeling, and the speculation weighed suddenly very heavy in his mind.
To Gaara's surprise, Lee actually laughed. "Don't worry! You could have taken my life then, but you didn't, and now you've saved it! I told you, I'm not holding that fight against you. I'm just glad Tsunade-sama became Hokage. If it wasn't for her, I might not have been able to be a shinobi anymore."
An immense weight that Gaara had not even been conscious of seemed to suddenly lift itself from his heart. "I'm glad, then, that you can still be a shinobi too," he said, and Lee happened to notice his eyes. Though a smile was still beyond Gaara, there was a certain new light in his eyes. Lee realized that it had been the lack of such light that had made Gaara stand out against the Konoha-nin so much before. It was a light they'd taken for granted, the light he'd briefly lost. He wasn't exactly sure what to call the light, but he thought it might be hope.
Lee grinned. A debt, huh? "Are the other two with you?"
"They stayed behind to help the other Konoha-nin. We should meet them on the way back, if they aren't already at Konoha again," Gaara explained. He was very glad he had been stopped from killing this strange kid at the hospital.