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Chapter Thirty
'That scroll...'
The idea of the scroll she was asked to deliver, from Kakashi to Gaara, seemed to have been cast aside as a problem not worth fretting over for now. She pushed it to the back of her mind, joked with the child not to be upset with her over it, and never gave the idea of its purpose much thought.
"Could you get more of this root?" Sakura asked one of the tenders next to her.
"Right away," they replied.
She was currently working on an antidote, yet one thing preoccupied her mind now.
'That scroll...'
How foolish, she thought of herself now. How could she have blindly tried to absorb everything around here, care for a boy and look for a solution, when the biggest clue she had to go on had been forsaken in her mind and only resurfaced as a joke to Gaara.
'That scroll…!"
She had forgotten one of her teacher's first lessons, that ninja should look underneath the underneath. The idea that Kakashi had sent her on a mission with that scroll was just a passing thought. He had told her before it was because he trusted no one else, besides Naruto, to deliver it to the Kazekage, but surely given her profession as a medic Kakashi could have found someone just as trustworthy who was a courier. Her eyes narrowed trying to recollect his words…
"Something Konoha has that Suna would like to borrow for the time."
...for the time."
"...time."
Sakura's eye twitched hearing Kakashi's voice ring in her mind, and she inwardly groaned. Had he been playing with words again with her, or was she just delving too far deep? Did the scroll she carry really manipulate time? If it did, what did Gaara, from her time, want with it? How was it Konoha had something so powerful? Alliances they all were now, but surely it would make Suna nervous knowing Konoha had such manipulative power, or how was it Kakashi saw no harm passing off the scroll to another place far from his watchful eye?
Again, Sakura groaned. It wouldn't be the first, nor last, time Kakashi's words or actions would make her do that.
Alright, she began telling herself, if the scroll was a leading clue, maybe even the cause, what next? She had lost the parcel coming here, but the idea that the scroll still existed here in the past didn't fly over her head. She had watched Kakashi retrieve it within the Hokage's office, locked away in an easy accessible box. She could recall the thin seal that kept it neatly rolled up…
It would be all too easy.
And that thought made her worry.
Something she thought may be all powerful was far too easy to take a hold of, at least simple for her, that it made her doubt the scroll could be the first step to a path leading home. Yet, there was nothing else to go on. At least if she had the scroll, it was something she could cross off her list of ideas how to get home if it helped none. She had nothing to lose.
Again, she narrowed her eyes in thought. Rasa had told her that he would help her with time, and there would be no better time than now to request a visit to Konoha...with Gaara.
This was another kage that made the rosette groan, but with distaste this time. She had no idea if her words, and hit, had given Rasa a more negative view on her, and she could just hear his amused laughter at the request of taking Gaara along. The option to leave behind the boy was quickly brushed away. She would drag Gaata along with her as long as she could. She could not say goodbye to him now, not when the scroll could be either a solution or not. She couldn't promise him she would return, and she could not yet say goodbye if the scroll would just have her returning to Suna in search for more clues.
She had cried once before to the thought of saying goodbye and leaving behind the small, redheaded child. While her departure was inevitable, if she had the power, she would do all she could to keep Gaara beside her until the very, last moment where she had to say farewell. She promised him to take him to see the cherry blossoms. Soon.
Leaving behind Suna in secret, with Gaara, would be her last option if need be. She wanted time in Konoha, at least to show Gaara her home, she knew that would be impossible with Rasa sending his men after her. Not to mention, she didn't want to tarnish the already imperceptible relationship Suna and Konoha had at this time. Taking the Kazekage's child, and weapon, to Konoha would not bode well over, especially if Rasa were to ever learn her ties with the village.
She was forming so many ideas, plans, and also thinking of what consequences that may follow that her attention was not properly placed at the task at hand.
"Sakura, you're using a water base once again. This can only be mixed in an oil base."
It was Chiyo that snapped Sakura back from her thoughts. The two had worked side by side, an opportunity such as this was wasted by Sakura's thoughts. In her world, Chiyo was gone, in this world, the old woman could probably share a bit more of her wisdom if Sakura could just leave the old woman with a good impression. Yet, she wasted it with quiet thoughts and stupid mistakes. The rosette sighed, stepping back from her work to once more fetch ingredients to start all over again.
"You're wasting our limited resources," Chiyo told her upon her return. "Please be more careful this time around. We can't afford anymore mistakes."
Sakura nodded to the woman then.
"Yes, Chiyo-baasama," she replied.
There would be no use arguing with her now. She was right, Sakura had used up the last of a root that only grew within her home village, this was their last chance quickly working up an antidote for Ken'ichi.
"Your teacher..." Chiyo began to say after some time of silence. "Her name was?"
Sakura swallowed hard. She knew who her resembling skills, knowledge, and quick work came from, and also knew Chiyo recognized it. Yet, she did her best to keep it hidden. The greenhouse attendees worked nearby, and Baki lingered with Gaara some rooms away where the cacti were that she didn't want her voice to slip to the wrong ears. Who was she to also think, at this time, that Chiyo would be as accepting learning her as Tsunade's pupil?
"My mother and father taught me all they knew," was Sakura's answer. "Whoever they learned from they did not share the name with me."
Professional, collect, working hard still on her task that it surprised the rosette to hear the old woman chuckle lightly to her answer. Her eyes went up to the older woman then, and she could see a playful smirk spread across Chiyo's face, lifting her wrinkles.
"Fine," the older woman replied," but if you ever see that woman again, you tell her I still don't like her."
Sakura's eyes darted to the sides of her, making sure the worker's paid the two no mind before Sakura offered a smirk of her own.
"Of course. I'm sure the feeling is mutual."
Another chuckle from Chiyo before the two continued their work.
"Chiyo-baasama," Sakura began. "I was told you were retired. What made you decide to help Ken'ichi-san?"
The answer, of course, was obvious to the rosette the moment Baki shared with her the familiar story of a poisoned, young man. Cjiyo did it for the sake of Sasori. Her ultimate goal was a chance to see her grandson once more, even if the outcome would tear apart her heart more since his secret departure. Sakura could sympathize with the older woman on an understanding level. Long ago, Sakura, too, had lost someone so dear to her, so close to her heart that she spent every waking moment working and searching for any clues or opportunity to find him. Her love for him continued her drive even when others told her to give up. Sakura got the happy ending, finding Sasuke with Naruto and convincing him that his place was with them and helping Konoha.
Chiyo on the other hand…
Well, Sakura liked to believe that the old woman found as much peach as possible until her last breath. She liked to believe Chiyo left this world content knowing she had stopped her grandson becoming more of a monster as well as bringing back Gaara to life to help lead the village to better times. She left the world accepting all those around her instead of scowling at those she thought to help themselves instead. Sakura always believed Chiyo found her happy ending, even if it involved destroying Sasori. Without her, Sakura would be dead. Without her, Gaara would be dead. That thought itself ached her heart now than it did in the past. To lose Gaara now…
"I just want to see my grandson's smile one more time..."
A vague answer was given, one that Sakura could pry the older woman into telling her more if she wanted. Yet, with the knowledge she had, she knew what Chiyo's underlying message was. There was no reason for her to push Chiyo when it was clearly spoken in in the old woman's tone that she would keep Sasori a secret from Sakura.
Sakura remained silent after that, and instead reached for the plant she set aside on the table. Instead of a cold, dried, crumbling leaf her hand found a smaller, warm hand. Her eyes widened, shifting to the small person who had sneaked up beside her.
Gaara was glancing over the table, eyeing Sakura's ingredients while also taking hold of one of the plants. His silent spectacle had ushered others out of the room except for Chiyo.
"Gaara!" Sakura exclaimed, lifting the boy away from table. "What are you doing? I told you to stay with Baki-san."
Gaara paid the woman no mind, allowing himself to be picked up in her arms while he studied the plant he had gotten a hold of.
"What's this one?" he asked. "I want it, can I have it?"
Sakura remained quiet to his questions, instead watching him in her arms as he brought the dried plant to his nose, and smelled it while his eyes went up towards Sakura.
"Nevermind," he offered the plant back to her. "I don't want it anymore. There are others that smell better."
Sakura chuckled lightly before setting Gaara back to his feet.
"It was never yours," she told him. "Go put it back on the table."
She gave the small boy a shove towards the direction of the table before turning to the footsteps behind her.
"Apologies," Baki spoke as he approached her. "The boy ignores what I tell him."
Sakura offered Baki a shrug and sympathetic smile.
"He is a brat," Sakura said before walking over back to the boy.
She shuffled his ragtag hair before asking him.
"Isn't that right?"
Placing the plant back, Gaara looked back up towards Sakura curiously.
"That's not nice," he told her.
"Not listening to Baki-san, or others, isn't nice either," Sakura told him before reaching for the bowl in front of her.
Gaara looked behind him towards the older man, narrowing his eyes at him before looking back up towards Sakura.
"I want to play with you..." Gaara whined.
Sakura continued to work on the task at hand as she spoke.
"Later, right now I'm doing something important. Please be a good boy and wait with Baki-san."
"No..."
"Gaara..." Sakura sighed.
"You know, it's been quite some time since I've seen him. Looking at him now..."
Everyone's attention went to the old woman who had stopped her work to watch the scenario unfold in front of her. Yet, her eyes now had solely fallen onto Gaara, and they narrowed the more she stared at him.
"Looking at him now," she repeated, "he reminds me of my grandson when he was his age."
The room was quiet to Chiyo's words. Baki had shuffled lightly on his feet at the mention of Sasori, Sakura simply watched Chiyo curiously while Gaara narrowed his eyes towards the old woman. Chiyo was new to him, just another enemy in his mind, and his stare silently tried to dominate her, secretly telling her that he could kill her if he wanted.
"Except those eyes..." Chiyo began again. "Those are Shukaku's eyes."
The aura shifted, and everyone felt it. Baki had taken a step forward, Gaara had widened his eyes dangerously towards the old woman while Chiyo began to sneer at his look. It wasn't until Sakura placed her hand on Gaara's shoulder, gripping it firmly, did the boy give Chiyo one last glare before placing his arms and head against Sakura's leg. The young woman did not even need words this time to calm Gaara down, and instead of Chiyo, Gaara glared towards the floor instead.
"Oya? I'm surprised to see him cling to you like that," Chiyo commented then. "Or that you let him."
Her thinking was misplaced, Sakura knew. She knew Chiyo's line of thought would not change until the day Naruto's words and love for Gaara would shine through to the old woman. One day, Chiyo would sacrifice herself for the little boy that held onto her now.
"Gaara is my friend," she explained to Chiyo. "I would never push my friends away."
Chiyo blinked a few times to Sakura's words, her passive gaze going unmoved.
"You would call a monster your friend?"
She could feel Gaara's fingers tighten on her skin, and Sakura brought her hand down to stroke his hair, coaxing him to relax.
"No," Sakura answered. "I call Gaara my friend because he is Gaara, not a monster."
Chiyo scoffed before picking at the bowl in front of her. At this point she continued to work, but not without speaking more of her mind.
"By protecting that child, you're protecting the Ichibi."
Now was Sakura's turn to narrow her eyes at the older woman. Though angry, another part of her ached to hear Chiyo say such things. Like with Gaara at times, Sakura fell back to the thought that the future would change her for the better. With that in mind, her eyes eventually let up, and she was able to speak calm and collectively.
"No matter what happens, I would protect Gaara with my life," Sakura spoke. "No matter how many people try to convince me that thought is wrong, I will continue to do so. I would do anything for my friends!"
Chiyo froze her work then, eyes widening as a silent gasped escaped her. From the bowl, to Sakura's eyes did Chiyo slowly bring her gaze up to.
"You..." she murmured suddenly, studying Sakura for the longest time.
Eventually Chiyo's eyes went back down to the little boy, and watching him still hold onto Sakura the old woman was able to regain her apathetic stare.
"You," she murmured again, staring at Gaara still. "You speak just like his mother had."
Eyes widened then, and even a silent intake of air was drawn by Sakura. She could feel the boy once again grip at her hard before slowly feeling him turn his head and eyes back towards the older woman. Even Baki grimaced a little upon hearing such a declaration. The memory of learning Chiyo was a part of the Ichibi's sealing process sparked suddenly in Sakura's mind. Learning the information back then had been nothing but of small interest to Sakura, yet remembering it now felt so much more prominent.
If ever any doubt in the song Karura left behind for her children, or if feelings for Gaara suddenly changed as her death quickly approached, clarification would come from the woman's next words.
"She died saying those exact words. Holding you close to her as she passed on."
The room was quiet with the three, but Gaara was the one to shift from Sakura's leg. He stood facing the woman now, though one hand still clung onto Sakura's shirt, and his eyes locked with the old woman's; passive gazes taking the other in. Sakura wasn't sure if Gaara had moved because of the older woman's words or if he held his gaze towards her with interest, or distaste. Surely he was interested in learning more about his mother now as Sakura was...The truth of it all, that is.
"Two births happened that day." Chiyo eventually mumbled. "A child, and a monster."
Her words had turned distasteful once again, yet Sakura could see no animosity in the woman's eyes saying such things. She spoke as she was simply stating facts, each word coming with an uncaring shrug. Chiyo said these things not because she aimed to hurt or irk the boy, but because instilled in her was a thought everyone in the village seemed to share. To Chiyo, Gaara was not a boy. Outwardly he may appear so, but he acted out as a monster. In the old woman's eyes, he was simply Shukaku in sheep's clothing.
"What a mess I helped create..." Chiyo whispered.
"You're right," Sakura suddenly replied then. "You have helped create a mess."
From Gaara did Chiyo's eyes move now towards Sakura, and she was slightly taken aback to see the courage in the rosette's narrow eyes as she suddenly challenged Chiyo's words.
"You, them..." Sakura said while nodding to the helpers some distance away. "This village, everyone...You all have helped create a mess by casting aside a lonely boy."
Even though she knew Chiyo would not share with her now, Sakura had learned far back about the troubles that had led Sasori to abandon his home. The old woman would not yet learn how deep Sasori's abandonment would lead up to, joining up Akatsuki, yet Sakura hoped Chiyo could sympathize with Gaara's situation by viewing the similarities he, and Sasori, had in the past.
"Guidance comes from those you love the most. When the ones who are suppose to teach you the ways of life suddenly disappear so early on, you can't help but question what it was they taught you exactly, or have them there to reassure you what it was they showed you. When they wonder if you were wrong, they no longer have the voice to tell you otherwise..."
Her words were soft, they even came out slow as Sakura tried to view herself in Gaara's shoes, or even Naruto's.
"That's when you turn to others, try to find the familiar guidance within someone else."
Sakura's eyes narrowed then at the thought of Gaara, desperately looking at those around him and waiting for someone to just simply stop and offer him a path to guidance. Yet, no one even dared to cross their eyes with his pleading ones.
"What is a child suppose to do when the world around them ignores them? How can they find the right teachings and path then?"
Sakura waited, but no answer came.
"Loneliness stems many things. Losing someone you care about can create a huge doubt in your heart. Being ignored, or forgotten, breeds nothing but despair, hate, pain, jealousy, confusion. Nothing good ever stems from being lonely forever. It will makes those lash out, or simply try to run away from the hurt."
Sakura swallowed hard then following her words, and once where Sakura's eyes were, on Chiyo, they now swam past the woman as she thought deeper on the idea. Absentmindedly, she drew the boy back closer towards her before running her fingers through his red hair.
"When you say you've created a mess, I believe it," Sakura murmured then.
Her eyes returned to Chiyo's then, narrowing once more.
"And I seem to be the only one trying to fix this mess."
Still silent, gaze still passive, it felt as if Sakura's words were in vain as Chiyo simply stared between her and Gaara. Yet with time, the old woman finally replied, and it made Sakura question the world around her once more.
"There are other means of cleaning up this mess. Ways that are done in secret," Chiyo replied, her eyes widening some towards Sakura.
Sakura blinked rapidly, trying to understand Chiyo's underlying message.
'Other ways?' Sakura thought. 'Is there someone else? What does she mean exactly in secret?'
Yet, before Sakura could ask anything, Baki spoke while taking a step towards Sakura.
"With all due respect, Sakura, Chiyo-baasama, I believe this conversation needs to end now and we refocus on the task at hand. Kazekage-sama specifically asked to do all we can, as quickly as possible, for Ken'ichi-san."
Again, Sakura could not see him, but given Chiyo's now narrowing gaze behind her, Baki was suddenly returning that same glare. He had stopped the two, but it was apparent then that he did so not because they had strayed some from their work, but because Chiyo was leading the conversation down a path Baki thought inappropriate.
'They're hiding something,' Sakura thought before reaching for the bowl and ingredients in front of her again. 'Is Baki just trying to keep village matters a secret still, or is there something more…?'
Sakura's eyes narrowed more as she felt Baki suddenly approach close behind her, and he addressed the boy who still hung to her as he watched her work.
"Gaara-sama," he spoke. "Let's go so that Sakura may work in peace."
'Is there something more…?' she wondered again, before her head shifted towards Baki,
She was able to nab the man's surprised stare with a glare of her own.
"It's fine," she told Baki then.
She reached for a plant on the table, offering the green for Gaara to hold. To his teal, curious gaze Sakura smiled.
"You can be my assintant for a bit and help me, right?"
Gaara's smile grew to a grin before he nodded enthusiastically towards the rosette.
"Un!" he replied, turning towards the table and eyeing the many plants and ingredients.
As Gaara's eyes left hers, Sakura returned the deep glare towards Baki.
"He will stay with me," she told him.
Her tone and eyes spoke silently to Baki then, she was sending him a secret message, and he received it loud and clear.
"I know that you're hiding something from me."
Yet, despite the message, Baki's eyes eventually let up and he nodded slowly towards Sakura.
"Very well," he replied to her. "I will be nearby if you need me to watch him."
With that, Baki backtracked to his spot in the room, and Sakura said nothing as she returned to working on the antidote under her. Silence was only broken when Chiyo, at one point, called for Gaara to draw near to her.
"Go on," Sakura had to usher him with a small shove. "She won't hurt you."
And deep down, Sakura knew that, despite her grim words or view on the boy Sakura was also aware of the big heart Chiyo carried.
Gaara went to Chiyo, somewhat reluctant, but met her with a piercing gaze that warned Chiyo not to try anything funny with him.
"Here," she instead told him, handing him a flower. "Pluck these petals for me."
Gaara took the blue flower before eyeing it, and Chiyo, back and forth.
"These too," Chiyo told him, offering him a few more flowers. "I'll need all the petals plucked."
Gaara took no more from her, instead cradling the one flower in his hand before his narrowed eyes scoured towards Sakura for reassurance.
"It's fine," she told him. "It would really help us, Gaara. The faster we get this done the better."
Sakura smiled a little more brightly then towards the little boy before speaking,
"You'd be helping us save a life."
Gaara's eyes widened in surprise then before gazing back at the flower in his hand. In his head, the idea of a savior, than a killer, played a bit in his mind. A battle of choices again quietly rang in his head, and the opposing coaches were Shukaku and Sakura.
"He's depending on us now," Sakura offered him more encouragement.
"He is just another being who will hate you," something darker whispered in his mind.
One last time, Gaara turned towards Sakura, spotting her sincere smile as it morphed into a small grin.
"Go on," she encouraged him.
With that, Gaara returned her smile with a small one of his own. It was becoming abundantly clear to him now whose guidance he would much rather follow now. Sakura's heart-warming smile was so much more admired by him now than Shukaku's dark, hunger for bloodshed.
All three adults were surprised as sand suddenly erupted from Gaara's gourd. No doubt their first thoughts at the sight were of worry, but it was Sakura who relaxed first at the sight when she spotted Gaara's smile. With the one flower still in his hand he formed a small seal, and a small claw of sand slowly reached for Chiyo.
The older woman did not back away or even bat an eye at the sight of the claw aimed in her direction, instead her eyes only blinked as the sand claw lurched and nabbed the flowers from her own hands. In another blink of the eye, his grains held each flower as multiple claws began plucking each petal carefully. Gaara continued to hold his seal, concentrating heavily at his protean, working grains before each small, sand claw dropped the blue, fragile leaves into the bowl on the table. Gaara gave a sigh after the task, perhaps using a little more of his strength than he was accustom to, but nonetheless offered Sakura a tired smile as she clapped softly at the display.
"Way to go, Gaara. You just saved us a lot of time!" Sakura cheered.
Chiyo was quiet as she picked the bowl, and a cup of liquid off the table, offering Gaara the cup next.
"Here," she told him. "Slowly pour it in while I mash them."
Gaara obeyed, holding the cup with both hands and pouring a small cup's worth before stopping to watch Chiyo mix the ingredients and waiting on her to tell him when to pour more. At first, they were each silent as they worked together, but it was surprisingly Gaara's curious mind who began to ask questions first.
"What is this?" he asked her.
And even more surprising to Sakura, Chiyo would answer him.
"Peanut oil. We can't add water to the mix."
Again, quietly Chiyo motioned for Gaara to pour a little more as she added more ingredients to mash in.
"This will save him?" Gaara asked, barely in a whisper.
Chiyo must have heard his quiet voice, and her eyes studied Gaara for a moment before she nodded.
"This will," she added. "Thanks to your nanny there."
Sakura smiled as Chiyo nudged towards her and Gaara followed suit.
"Sakura's not my nanny," Gaara commented. "At least I don't think she is...Does nanny mean friend? Because she's my friend. But if it means the same thing, she is my friend nanny. But if it doesn't mean the same thing, than she is my friend."
Chiyo couldn't help but chuckle to Gaara's overabundance of words. As much as she would deny it, Gaara's curious, young mind reminded her so much of Sasori's own at his age.
"I understand now," Chiyo commented then. "She is your friend then."
"Close friend," he added. "We'll get Kakigori tomorrow, and maybe go to the park."
"I see."
"Why are you here?" Gaara asked the old lady.
The old woman blinked to that question, pondering her answer before swallowing hard.
"Just helping," she finally answered.
Gaara hummed to that answer while he tried to imagine what Chiyo would possibly gain from just helping. When he couldn't find the answer, he instead questioned what had been plaguing his mind.
"You knew my mother?"
Chiyo's eyes widened briefly to that question, and even Sakura strained to listen in on the conversation then. It made the rosette realize then why Gaara had suddenly opened up so much to this new stranger in his life. She was knowledgeable of those linked to his past, and his curious mind searched for all the answers and reassurance he could grasp onto. He held on to validate himself, to give him purpose.
He searched for his reason to exist still.
"Briefly," Chiyo spoke with a nod of her head.
Gaara blinked, lips pursed as he poured more of the warm oil.
"Was she nice?"
Chiyo nodded.
"She had a very caring heart. Many people loved her. She sacrificed a lot just to make sure you would be born healthy."
Straying from her work, Sakura stopped to watch the two interact. In the back of her mind, Sakura wondered if Chiyo reminisced some at this moment, remembering her grandson at the age Gaara was now. She wondered if she had these same interactions with Sasori. She also watched Gaara's face morph to the answer Chiyo presented of his mother. Sakura reassured the boy that Karura loved him through the words she left behind on paper, yet Chiyo was able to reassure him more by sharing with him what experiences she had with Karura back then.
Yet, Gaara asked no more, and Sakura was thoughtful wondering what had made his voice suddenly silent. Yet, it wasn't until she watched Chiyo carefully pull the cup of oil from Gaara's hands did she notice the boy trembled suddenly. Even his hands did not fall as Chiyo freed his hands of anything, and soon Sakura could hear the small sniffles of a boy trying to hold back tears. Sakura was shocked, where had these tears suddenly come from? The young woman rushed to clean her hands, quickly moving so as to go over and console the boy. However, the older woman beat her to the punch, and even Gaara did not push Chiyo away as she brought him in for a tight embrace.
Where Sakura had confusion, Chiyo-baasama, it seemed, understood clearly where the child's tears had come from. Between the old woman's hold, and Gaara's words he choked to say, Sakura was flabbergasted.
A new emotion emerged in Gaara since Annaisha's death, one that Sakura was glad to see that he had not lost completely in himself. Yet, this new, raw feeling shook the small boy to the core. His outlet was always tears and an aching heart. The boy still blamed himself for the death of Karura, and before where the thought was nothing more to him than just that, a thought, the idea now settled a guilt heavy in him like a sinking stone, and his tears continued as he shook and wailed into Chiyo's arms.
"I want my mom!"
