Chapter 20
Kazekage's Return

Surrounding her was a realm of white.

The light murmur of an infant and a sobbing woman graced her ears, drawing her to the sight she saw within an old and worn doorway. Snow blanketed everything around her, leaving only the faint silhouettes of the people on the porch. Nomasaki could only see the back of the woman, noticing the long golden hair straight away. It is my mother, she realized, And the baby... it's me. Shocked, she tried to see why the woman was sobbing. A sudden glimpse of a hand touching the infant's cheek alarmed her. Soothing the infant, a man stood as still and silent as a shadow. She could not see his face through the falling gentle snows, but she caught a faint glimpse of his hair colour. Apricot. His voice was low, calm, and rich with promise, but she could not make out the words he spoke to his child and its mother.

It was him - my father.

As if in a moment, the snows blinded her vision and she could see no more.

She walked aimlessly in the realm of white, until the feeling of crunching snow beneath her feet turned to grains of sand. The air turned hot against her cheeks while she tried to search for a way out in the endless void of silence. Far away, she saw someone standing with their back turned to her. Striking her memory, she cautiously continued on. Pausing on the grains at her feet, she thought she heard a voice.

"I am a monster..." The voice kept repeating. "I am a monster... and my life held no meaning..."

The person became clear to her in her sights.

A sand-ridden wind passed, and she saw the young man with crimson hair only within an arm's length away. "G... Gaara-sama?" She asked, stunned. The figure gave no response. He appeared as if the last time she saw him, clothed in his burgundy jacket and grey flak jacket. His back was still turned in her direction, glancing down at his open palm as the sands flowed through his fingers and pooled to the white ground where they stood. "Is it... really you?"

Silence answered.

And the winds rose.

"I am alone, now." He said to himself, not even hearing her words. "I am alone... once again..."

Before her very eyes, Gaara soon disappeared within the rising winds. He became one with his sands and vanished amongst the infinite grains into nothing. Her eyes swelled up with tears, propelling herself to reach out and grab him before it was too late. But he was gone before her fingertips could touch him or merely graze his sleeve.

Gone.

"Gaara!"

Nomasaki shot up from her sleep, gasping in the forest air.

Feeling her racing heart in her chest, she slowly calmed down her breaths. It had been awhile since her last nightmare, but she was unsure if it was a nightmare or a warning. First, the image of the young family haunted her more than she could grasp. And second, the thought of Gaara crumbling away into nothing terrified her. Was it a genjutsu? She thought, trying to piece the faint memories together. For all she knew, it could have been a trick by Kenzō and his subordinates. The presence she sensed hours ago seemed to fade into the night, but she still held paranoia for when they would eventually cross paths. Startling her thoughts, she quickly formed the hand-sign to sense the Kazekage's chakra.

Her heart sank.

"I... can't sense Shukaku." She realized. "His chakra... it's... gone."

Her hands slowly fell to her lap, her fingers trembling while she forced herself to contain her rising sobs. Her dream was true, and it was tortuous. Either he disappeared with his captors to another place or he was in the Pure Land. She reluctantly went with the latter. She knew from Temari and Kankurō's conversation at the dimming campfire earlier that jinchuriki die after their tailed-beasts are extracted, and Gaara would be no exception if it were to happen to him. The worst had come to pass like a twisting knife in her heart.

He was dead.

Her defiance was in vain. The secret mission, finding Gaara alive, and the presence that was tailing her – all three of them wrestled amongst each other in her thoughts as she struggled to contain her emotions upon the bed of grass underneath her. Rising silently as the scent of embers entered her nostrils, she could tell that it was merely the early hours of morning – the dark sky of the night clashing with the soft blue of the day as she turned towards the horizon. Around her, her comrades lay asleep on their sleeping bags, not a single sound rising from them other than the soft hum of slumber on their breaths.

I will tell them later... when they wake...

Rising from her makeshift bed, she left her flak jacket and ninja tools behind and hid amongst the towering pines to depart for a hunt. The call for the hunt propelled her, but also the prospect of distracting her long enough to avoid shedding tears. "Don't waste time over crying from dead men" she heard Shinto say once, but that did not stop her from pausing along the trees to sob silently to herself. She cried for her mother, she remembered, and her village lost in a sea of flames and blood - and now for Gaara. It felt to her all she ever knew was loss.

Shedding herself of her human skin, she became the familiar wolf-form she knew and dashed within the green forest. Humans could shed tears, but wolves could not - that in itself was a comfort. Making her way towards the heart of the forest farther up the hilltop, the wolf waited within the dark thicket as she scanned for incoming prey. As her claws dug into the dirt beneath her, an unsuspecting rabbit came into her periphery. While the wolf inched closer in the thicket, a faint snarl escaped its jaws as it arched its back in preparation to strike. As the rabbit turned towards the thicket in alert, it quickly turned itself away. But it was too late. Within an instant, the rabbit became the hunted and soon rested within the wolf's jaws. It was ages since she made a hunt – and she missed the excitement it brought her.

Setting up a small fire by the riverside, a human Nomasaki washed off her bloodied hands in the cool waters of the stream with her black sleeves pushed up to her elbows. She forgot how filthy it was to clean the animal – and it amazed her how much she near forgot. It felt as though an eon passed since she last hunted in the mountains. She used snares and kunai then, she remembered. Sometimes, Hanone would return with a fresh kill of boar for her to cook over the hearth. Keeping a watchful eye over her kill, she breathed easy that the wolf did not accompany her to save Gaara. Hanone would have none of that. He would most likely return himself to his scroll on his own will – as he would do from time to time. Hanone appeared when he saw fit and would leave when he saw fit. Such a stubborn beast, she thought. She did not want to imagine his reaction to her departure against his wishes. Returning to the firepit, she stoked the flames with a stick as she examined the cooking of the meat – waiting for it to become crisp and ready for eating. Surely her team would not mind if she was late.

Then, it came back.

The presence she felt only hours ago was once again right under her nose. It chilled her instantly, her body jolting as she sensed their looming presence on the cool winds. It was all too familiar, and now it was close enough for her to strike with a stone. Standing up on her feet, she turned to face them, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"You know, having a fire can attract enemies. Didn't you learn that when you were a genin?" Glaring at the masked man as he approached from the thicket, she stood her ground as he circled her. Tojiru. As Kenzō's right-hand, he also acted as if he were a vulture. Fitting, she thought to herself. "Then again, you were never that bright to begin with. You are a mutt, after all."

She sharpened her glare. "What do you want, Tojiru? As you can see, I have my hands full."

"Oh, I can see that," He remarked. "As do I, yet… here I am."

While he continued to circle her, she examined the cracks of his porcelain mask, watching each curve as he turned his head towards her. His mask was carved into the likeness of a fox, its slanted eyes of trickery boring through her as she refused to show her back to him – following his charade by the flowing river. He had a reason for showing up – and she knew exactly what it was. "Why aren't you wearing your mask? You said you were on a mission, didn't you? I don't think I heard you mention that last time we spoke... If Moro has his tracker-nin out in the open within Kenzō-sama's permission, where is your mask?"

Lie - lie good, she convinced herself, My life depends on it. She clenched her fists. "I… forgot it."

"Lie! You should know you can't fool me," He sneered. "I can tell by that stupid look on your face that you're lying through your teeth... I can see it in those foul eyes of yours, those ugly intrusive eyes of a beast!" His eyes glared at her, satisfied and amused. "He's dead, you know. That Gaara, the Kazekage everyone thought would continue on the Fourth's legacy. Shukaku was stolen from him by the Akatsuki and now he rots in the earth."

Her chest seized. "How do you -?! How could you possibly know that?"

"Like you, I'm blessed with sensory skills that can detect the presence of chakra." Tojiru said, his voice calm and menacing all at once. "You ought to know the scent of a tailed-beast... but I think you're so blinded by that fragile hope of yours that you're in complete denial of its absence. Am I not correct?"

Saddened, she averted her eyes. Hope. "That may be... but Gaara-sama may still be alive -,"

"Shut up. I'm sick of your pathetic words!" He barked. "Kenzō-sama is your master - my master! You answer to him - not to some abomination of an experiment! He's dead anyways, so what good is he to you now?"

Seeing her fate standing only a stone's s throw away, her violet eyes prepared herself. "Is this where you plan to kill me? A comrade of Suna?"

Tojiru scoffed. "We were never comrades!" Swiftly, he whipped out his katana from his sheath on his back, its silver blade gleaming in the scattered rays of the rising sun. Edging closer to her, his circling became more sinister as he pointed the sharpened blade towards her, preparing to make his snake-like strike at the traitor. "Any last words, traitor?"

Standing her ground, she clenched her fists at her sides, containing her fear for her imminent fight with her estranged comrade. She had no weapon, she had no kunai – she left them at the campsite. All she had were her bare hands and her jutsu – and the wolf within. A wolf is not afraid, she remembered, A wolf devours fear. She prepared herself, entering her combat stance into the dirt.

"Very well… it's death, then!"

Dashing towards her, he slashed his katana towards her. Dodging it swiftly, she landed a kick towards his mask – only to be blocked by the blade. Their attacks cancelling each other out, they distanced themselves on the secluded forested battlefield. Forming a series of hand-signs, Tojiru called forth a water-release jutsu – the dense waters from the stream shooting out from the river towards her in great speed. Sensing this, she countered with an earth-release defence – summoning a wall of earth from the forest floor, shielding her from the water attacks. Quickly, her masked foe leapt over her defence and landed behind her, swinging his katana to her back. Dodging it hastily, her mind grew frantic. She had no blade, she remembered - nothing. Before she could counter, she felt his fist crack against her cheek, sending her to the ground as the red haze sprayed from her lips. Another strike landed her face, and another, and another. She felt the grip of hands on her flak jacket's collar, his hold tight and merciless as she was forced under him. The eyes of the vulpine stared her down, envious and hateful.

"You went against your mission, wolf. After all we did for you, you still proved to be nothing but a filthy-blooded foreigner! A beast-blooded, she-wolf bitch!" He readied his katana, the blade gleaming in the scarce sunlight of morning. Nomasaki grit her fanged teeth as she tasted the iron on her lips, eyeing Tojiru with fear-laden contempt. Her hands grasped his like claws, digging into his hold and trying to force his hands away to no avail. As he saw her struggle, his eerie mask crept closer to her in a cast shadow. "You make a mockery of us tracker-in, disobeying the way you do... What if Kenzō-sama ever found out? Oh well... At least I'll be the one to get the satisfaction of killing you first!"

His blade entered her frantic vision.

Wolves do not fear, she remembered, A wolf devours fear.

Just as his blade came down she rolled her back upon the rough grass, kicking his stance as she regained her footing over him. Before he could react, she grabbed the hilt from his palm and turned his blade against him, piercing him through the neck as he coughed blood through his grinning vulpine mask. As he collapsed to the ground below, she fell to her knees – distraught by what she had done. On his back, his mouth spurted blood, painting his all white mask into a mess of crimson and death. She landed a fatal blow onto a comrade – Kenzō's right-hand, of all people. A comrade. Her second kill - a shinobi she shared duties with. Her widened eyes frantic at the blade she thrust into him. His bloodied lips quivering, he shook with his final gasps of breath.

"Traitor… You… traitor…!"

"Tojiru –!"

He knew – he knew everything.

Shocked, she stared at his corpse as the air left his mouth for the final time. Before her, her comrade lay in a pool of blood, and it was all her doing. Had she been found out by Kenzō already? She was not willing to stick around to find out – there could be more after her. More like him. Her face stung with the bruises that were beginning to form, the cool air striking them with warning. As she sat horrified on the grass, her mind frantically sought a way out from her reality.

Tojiru was dead.

Dead.

As she examined his remains, she took off his mask with trembling fingers so she could look upon the face of the man whom she killed. Tojiru's broken nose bled dark blood, and his mouth was left open from his final gasps of breath. Startling her, she heard a hissing sound and looked to see the hexagram on his tongue burn away into nothing. So he has one, too. Just as she thought, only death could free her from Kenzō's service. She wondered what secrets he could tell in the next life, what top-secret assignments he was given while alive. What treachery Kenzō commanded him to commit.

Someone would surely find out, whether it be a farmer of the foreign land where he died, or Kenzō himself. A tracker-nin was missing from his post and his comrades would without a doubt start looking for him. She was as good as dead herself. Standing on her quivering feet, Nomasaki wiped the blood from her lips and swallowed her anxious shivers. She had to do something - anything. After saying her final rites silently to her fallen, she shoved his lifeless body into the coursing river, watching him disappear into the fast-flowing waters that led into the heart of the Land of Rivers. A suitable burial for a tracker-nin such as he was, lost forever to the waters below to never be found again.

She could never go back...

As she returned to the campsite with the cooked rabbit-meat, she noticed her comrades were already awake. She misjudged their sleeping, and the evidence was right in front of her. Startled slightly by her sudden appearance from the thicket, Temari turned towards her as she was packing up her things.

"Nomasaki! Where were you?" She stammered, bewildered. "We woke up and you were gone."

"Oh," Nomasaki began, averting her glance. "I was… hunting. Here,"

Examining the cooked rabbit with a suspicious glance from her green eyes, Temari looked up to her. "Alright, I guess we should eat before we head out."

As the Suna shinobi gathered as a group to share the cooked rabbit, Temari caught herself analyzing the appearance of her strange ally. As she looked over her clothes, she noticed there was a small spurt of blood splashed upon the black fabric of her pants, the crimson gleaming on her leg from the scattered sunlight of the tree leaves above. It was clearly too much blood to simply come from a mere rabbit. It had to have come from something else, Temari deduced. She saw a faint bruise along her jawline in the scattered sun through the leaves above, its fresh yellowing a signal of warning to her seasoned senses. Narrowing her gaze, she grew suspicious of her comrade's recent absence into the woods. She was hiding something. "Do you sense any chakra nearby?" Temari asked. "How close are we to Gaara?"

Nomasaki suddenly grew silent. The hollowness to her heart returned, reminding her of the dream she had where he disappeared into the sands forever. Averting her saddening glance to the forest floor, she hid her growing sorrow as best as she was able. "I... can't sense Shukaku's chakra anymore..."

Temari looked at her, shocked. "What -?! Are you saying that... the extraction -?"

Nomasaki nodded sullenly. "The jutsu is most likely complete, it had to... The Akatsuki, they've... succeeded..." And it might be all my fault, too.

"Where's Gaara, then? Can't you sense him?" Hearing Kankurō's rage-filled demand drew her glance away. She stood her ground and stayed silent, fighting off the tears that dared to creep into her throat. After giving no answer, he walked up to her and grabbed her by the shoulders firmly. "Where's Gaara?! Tell us where he is! Answer me!"

"Kankuro, stop!" Temari shouted, her tone firm as iron. "She's right. If she can't sense Shukaku, then that means the enemy has it in their clutches. That being said, we should continue our path to where it was last detected." She turned away, her voice growing quieter and fragile with fragmented hope. "Gaara may... still be alive."

Miroku entered, his voice grave. "If he had Shukaku extracted, the chances are slim as it is."

"He's still our Kazekage - and my brother! We have to do whatever it takes to bring him home, either dead or alive." Temari affirmed, her green eyes brave and face washed of loss. "Let's move out. We don't have any time to waste." Standing and preparing her fan, she eyed her silent sensory-nin. "Nomasaki, search for the chakra of the Konoha shinobi. They may have found him before Shukaku's chakra disappeared. If we can track them, we can find Gaara."

Keeping a calm face, Nomasaki nodded. "Right. As you say, Temari-senpai."

In only a few short hours, the Suna-nin reached a clearing from the towering pines.

Stopping within the grassy plains of the enemy's territory, the group of Sunagakure shinobi paused. As she stood against the soft winds of the grassy hillside, Nomasaki closed her eyes and formed a hand-sign – entering deep focus. Within her senses, she scanned the area for any signs of life. Her mind bounded endless within her reach, to the hills, to the plains, and to the rivers. Suddenly, her lilac eyes jolted open as she could begin to detect distant chakras within their reach – all of them familiar in a strange yet comforting way. Then she felt the powerful chakra of the jinchuriki from Konoha, the host of the nine-tailed fox. is chakra was a loud and vibrant as the sun itself - although a subtle darkness lingered within. It had to be them, no question about it.

Noticing her expression of shocked relief, Temari turned towards her. "What is it?" She asked, urgently. "Do you detect something, Nomasaki?"

Nodding, Nomasaki focused her senses towards the far east of where they stood, sensing the scattered chakra of their Konoha allies along with one of their own – the familiar elderly woman who at first refused to help. They were all together within the same region, congregating on a distant grassy hilltop only kilometers away. They were resting, she concluded. Catching her off guard, she also sensed the chakra of the elder medic and puppet-master who chastised her only days ago. Chiyo the Elder.

"It's the Konoha shinobi… and Chiyo-sama!" She replied. "I can sense them! Ten kilometres northeast of here."

A presence stilled her.

Suddenly, her heart fluttered in her chest upon sensing the chakra. That chakra. Puzzling her, she felt it slowly re-emerge from its familiar realm of nothing as if a light to a newly-lit candle. The presence was cold at first, but the essence of life was faint upon its awakening. There was no mistaking it. It was him. And the Fifth Kazekage was alive. She could hardly comprehend the instance, her heart still convinced of his death that early morning. Although only a faintly beating presence, she could feel the vague but obvious chakra of the one they were searching for. However, something felt strange to her. Something felt ominously off, but she could not put her finger on it.

"I… I think I can start to sense Gaara-sama!"

"What?!" Kankuro shouted, whipping his head towards her. "Are you certain?"

"It has to be," She nodded, ending her hand-sign. "There's no mistaking it. I can feel his chakra, but just faintly. It's him."

Averting her gaze, she pondered about what she could also feel in that area with her Kekkei Genkai. The fading presence that would inevitably reach its end, both surprising her and saddening her as she sensed its dying aura. The chakra that was beating close by belonged to that of the nine-tails jinchuriki, but unlike the dying aura, theirs was vibrant, strong, and full of life. Soon, she realized that the dying chakra belonged to Chiyo. The other familiar chakra she sensed was depleting and fast. Death was soon evident, and judging by the chakra signature, it was only a matter of time. But… Chiyo-sama's chakra is… disappearing… What's going on? What jutsu...?

Facing the squad of Suna shinobi before her, Temari stood before them – her expression serious yet determined in nature. "Then let's get a move on!" She commanded. "Quickly, everyone! Our Kazekage needs us!"

As the team of Suna shinobi sprung forward towards the grasses, Nomasaki stood still in silence. Watching the backs of her comrades, she wondered if she in fact made a dire mistake. Tojiru would never bother her again – but his absence would make Kenzō highly suspicious as a result. She had led her comrades into uncertain danger from her impulsivity. Despite the relief she felt from Gaara's faint chakra on the winds, her eyes held onto dread as her mind replayed the events from the morning.

"Nomasaki?"

Turning from the voice, she saw Temari giving her a narrowed glance in curiosity. Distracted from her thoughts, she met her green eyes with a timidly-held greeting. There was a hidden tension to her eyes, guarded by her slate expression of duty. Thankful for her friendship from their jonin training together, Nomasaki felt her gut twist with discomfort as she remembered the sight of Tojiru's body drifting down the forested river. She owed her friend more than secrets – especially secrets that involved her own flesh and blood. She wanted to tell her everything that was troubling her – Kenzō's plans, her hidden treachery, and Tojiru's murder. There was no telling how she would take it, but she knew that Temari would rush to Gaara's side to inform him of everything – increasing the danger to them both. Not to mention, their relationship would forever be shattered.

If Gaara was found – and found alive, she reminded herself.

The mere thought of him not surviving his capture made her feel a swell of emptiness and grief, startling her greatly. As his dutiful assistant and sensory-tool, she held the young Kazekage in high regard and respects. But her previous budding friendship with the young leader was beginning to take first place in her order of internal titles. She was his friend first, his assistant second. Since coming closer to him after the first year of his reign, she sensed an air of kindness and wisdom within him that surprised her. The silent shinobi with the brooding ringed-eyes was becoming a dignified young leader, and he had all of her unwavering respect and admiration. She did not know what pained her more - the chance of him dying at the hands of the Akatsuki, or him finding out she was a spy of the resistance. The burned seal on her tongue reminded her of that fact.

What made her all the more disturbed with herself was the memory that she drew blood only days before. Never having killed anyone in her young life, her kind heart trembled inside from the recollection of her fast-thinking counter to the ninja controlled by the jutsu of Sasori of the Red Sands – one of Gaara's captors. Her hands were bloodied by his fall, her mind unable to remember his name. Although a sleeper agent put inside a trance, her heart felt weakened from taking his life.

Second-thoughts of her chosen path soon followed, reminded of her weaknesses and her falters as a rookie tracker-nin. Even in death, Tojiru's taunts towards her character cut her pride like a rusted blade. Looking back to the grassy fields of green as the winds blew past, Nomasaki's glance saddened. "Temari-senpai," She began, her tone low. "I think I understand now..." Moving her eyes towards the horizon, she narrowed her eyes. "The higher-ups... they pushed me through to jonin-level where I clearly wasn't ready."

"What do you mean?" Temari questioned. "You have the skill. Your sensory abilities are like none other I've come across, at least."

Swaying the flaps of her flak jacket, Nomasaki kept her gaze fixated ahead. The words grew heavy in her heart. "I can track, that's for certain. But... let's be honest – if I had stayed in my homeland, I would have never thought twice of becoming a shinobi. I... don't think I was cut out for it." Hanging her head low, she closed her eyes in shame. "I haven't even made my first kill until that night when the Akatsuki attacked... How could they promote someone like me to jonin rank? It doesn't make any sense."

"It doesn't have to make sense," Temari answered. "Sunagakure needs as many shinobi as it can muster, especially right now. You're an outsider... from a village that no one remembers. The fact that they took you in as they did should be able to tell you enough." Turning to her friend, her glance grew sympathetic. Putting aside her prior suspicions for a moment, she looked upon the strange-eyed foreigner with understanding. "Killing doesn't make you a shinobi - it makes you a killer. What makes you a shinobi is your strength to put your life on the line for your comrades." Following her gaze to the fields, a light smile appeared on her lips. "That's what you're doing now, right? You came of your own free-will to save Gaara, my brother." Catching her by surprise, Nomasaki turned towards her. "Remember – you were Gaara's first choice for his assistant." Temari finished. "He recognizes you as someone fit to bear the title of 'shinobi'."

Finding herself smiling, she returned her gaze to the field. "I... guess you're right. Thanks, Temari-senpai."

"Now," Starting down the hill, Temari looked up to her. Her expression was smug in determination once more. "Let's go find Gaara. He can tell you himself what he thinks of it, and I'm sure he'll be relieved to see us at his side."

"Right," Nomasaki nodded, smiling lightly. "Let's catch up with the others." After a communal nod, the two kunoichi of Suna departed through the grassy landscape, heading towards their leader's chakra marker…

Deep within the awakening abyss of his psyche, Gaara slowly opened his eyes as he could hear a voice beckon to him.

"…Gaara …Gaara!"

…Who…? Who is he calling…?

As he began to slowly flicker his eyes open, he felt the warmth of the white air around him as he stood in the void. Closing his eyes to the call, he gave in to the black, his eyes perceiving absolutely nothing but the dark, empty realm. Suddenly, his ringed-eyes of turquoise widened as he felt someone touch his shoulder.

The darkness fleeing from his vision.

In surprise, he turned his head back to see the one who awakened him from his sleep. Beside him, Naruto sat close by, his ocean blue eyes closed halfway in joyful sadness.

"…Gaara…" He spoke, quietly, his lips forming a gentle smile of relief as he seen his friend rejoin the living once more.

"Naruto…!" Gaara spoke, his voice quiet – weakened from his deep slumber. Gathering himself, he looked around where he sat – his eyes widening from the sight. Surrounding him on the grassy field of the Land of Rivers was nearly a hundred Sand ninja - his villagers. Close by were the shinobi from Konoha and his siblings, coming to his immediate aide in both concern and great joy. "What is this?"

Happily, Naruto smiled, masking his past grief for his loss. "We all came running," He replied, with a soft chuckle. "To your rescue! You had us worried!"

"You sure did!"

When Naruto and Gaara turned, they saw Kankuro stepping towards them with his hands placed in his pockets. "You caused us a ton of grief, little brother." He said, a relieved smile on his painted face.

Nearby, Temari smirked to herself for a moment at their exchange. "Don't act so superior." She scoffed, somewhat annoyed. "Gaara is the Kazekage! Shut all your mouths… you brats!" Annoyed by her lecture, Kankuro glared at his older sister while Naruto looked on in slight embarrassment. Leaning in closer to her youngest brother, she examined his current state of weakness – watching him slowly regain control of his movements with a concerned glint in her

green eyes. "Gaara, how are you feeling?"

Slowly, Gaara tried to stand, his hand trembling on his knee as he tried to prop himself up from his seated position – gritting his teeth as he could feel weakness tremor throughout his limbs. Surrendering, he relaxed his muscles, accepting that he did not yet possess the strength to stand on his own. Although he had cheated death, his body was still facing the repercussions.

"You shouldn't move so suddenly," Temari advised, her eyes narrowing at his panting appearance in the grass. "Your body hasn't fully recovered from the rigor mortis yet."

Slumping back down, he decided to ultimately save his strength – still shaken by his previous bout of battle with the Akatsuki and the effects of the extraction jutsu that left a numb hole in his mind – his mind not yet able to process exactly what happened.

"Gaara-sama,"

Surprised from the quivering soft voice, Gaara turned towards the call. Standing in the crowd of onlooking Suna ninja that surrounded him, Nomasaki stood with her hands clasped in front of her chest with her lilac eyes glistening with forming tears. Never had he seen her cry before, the sight startling him from his sudden awakening. Surprised and confused as to what was currently going on, he stared at her with a blank expression of bewilderment.

"Nomasaki," Gaara spoke, quietly. "Why are you… –?"

To his surprise, she suddenly embraced him in her arms, burying her sobbing face into his shoulder to muffle her tears of joy. Although her embrace was sudden, it was also careful and trembling. The warmth of her flak jacket radiated into his cold clothes and skin, alarming him of his brief departure from the living. Holding him close, her tightly shut eyes desperately tried to contain her tears, but they nonetheless persisted down her cheeks.

"I missed you…!" She whispered, her voice broken by her tears. "So much…! I was so worried…"

As she silently sobbed into him while she held him close, Gaara's eyes widened from her hold – surprised and unable to process the affection and relief she displayed to him, but he was accepting. When Naruto saw them, he smiled warmly – knowing full well how worried she truly was about the Kazekage and her pleas for his rescue. She was his assistant, but she was also something worth much more.

She was his friend.

Close by, Kankuro and Temari gave them soft smiles with sympathetic glances, relieved that the situation had finally come to an end. The young Kazekage was saved, and most importantly - he was alive. Suddenly, Nomasaki's senses jolted through her mind – unable to detect a certain sinister and powerful presence.

"Wait," She said, as she let go of him – looking at him in deep concern. "Your chakra! I can't sense Shukaku anymore… What happened?"

While he sat before her, he mulled over her question, wracking his mind for an answer that would not come. Suddenly, his ringed-eyes widened greatly as flashes of his memory flew before him – his descent from the desert sky, the crumbling of his sand armor, the agony caused by the extraction jutsu, and his untimely young death – his vision then suddenly returning from the darkness as he awoke surrounded by his comrades. He could hardly absorb his recollections, stunned by the fact that he had Shukaku removed from his body permanently. "That's right." He said, as he realized what happened. "The Akatsuki… they took it, and it… killed me. They stole Shukaku…"

Shocking her, her eyes filled with concern at his words, completely aghast by his reveal. Had he truly died and was brought back? The thought frightened her to her core, but deep down she wondered if it was true. "So it was true, then..."

"What's true?"

"I dreamed you died, and when I woke up... I couldn't sense Shukaku's chakra any longer." Her words surprised him. "Are you… alright?" She asked, worriedly. "Can you still use the sand?"

Looking at his hands, he watched his fingers move as he opened and closed his palms, examining his muscle responses to his desire for normal movement. "I'm not certain, but… that can come later." He stated, marveled by his moving hands after remembering his death. "I'm… still surprised I'm here right now."

As she watched him gather himself on the grassy hillside, she looked upon him with a perplexed and somewhat frightened tint to her lilac eyes – her mind shaken by the thought of his tailed-beast extraction and his death at the hands of the Akatsuki – and his evident resurrection. Through her senses, his chakra felt different to her than their last interaction, as the once-burgeoning presence of Shukaku could no longer be felt at all, its threatening presence absent - it truly was stolen. As she sat before him, she could feel his chakra in the air around them, her body calming as she took in its presence – it felt warm and secure to her now and was his chakra alone Surrounding them as they sat lost in their own thoughts, the Sunagakure shinobi in the crowd rejoiced, relieved to see their leader was safe.

Prompting her to step aside, Nomasaki took note of the young girls who desperately tried to get closer to the awakened Kazekage. Their eyes glared in her direction before Temari was able to shield her younger brother from their excited onslaught of praises. It was then that she realized that there would be absolutely no escape from the consequences that awaited her in the village. A near hundred shinobi were surrounding them, all of them seeing her within their sights. Watching her. No doubt someone with ties to the tracking unit would surely report her to her superiors. Death was on the horizon. She could sense the chakra emanating amongst the grasses, but for a moment she decided to pretend that she was not one of Kenzō's spies - but Gaara's assistant.

His friend.

Hearing Naruto converse with Kankurō, something in their words alarmed her. Turning to where Elder Chiyo was, her heart sank in her chest. She could not feel a single fibre of the old woman's chakra in the air around them. She was dead. It was that jutsu she used, she realized, She traded her life... for his. Something in the way she looked at Chiyo being held by a weeping Sakura prompted Gaara to follow his eyes to where her gaze went. In only moments, he understood.

"Chiyo-sama!" A Suna-nin yelled, grief tinting their voice.

"What's wrong? What's happened to her -?" Temari turned. She froze. Seeing the sight close by, she suddenly caught the glimpse of death. "Is she...?"

"She's only sleeping," Naruto smiled. "She'll be fine when she gets home -,"

"No." Kankuro interrupted, eyeing Chiyo sadly.

Naruto raised a brow. "What do you mean 'no'?"

"That wasn't medical ninjutsu, it was a life-transfer jutsu. Chiyo-sama... is dead." Kankuro answered, shocking Naruto into a saddened silence. "It was a jutsu to bring the dead back to life... but it only worked in exchange for the life of the caster. It was a technique developed by the Suna Puppet Corps to breathe life into puppets, spearheaded by Chiyo-sama herself. However, it was deemed to dangerous to continue research and was made forbidden."

Nomasaki edged closer. "That explains the chakra I felt... It felt as if chakra was leaving her." She averted her eyes, sadly. "I... didn't realize that such a jutsu existed, or could work for that matter." She looked to Naruto, her face firm with calm to keep the tears at bay. "If not for your help, Naruto... Chiyo-sama would have never been able to bring back Gaara-sama."

Unsure of what to say, Naruto looked to her as he grasped for words amidst the loss around them. Temari watched Sakura mourn for the late puppet-master sympathetically. "Just as I thought, Naruto... you have the power to change people. Chiyo-sama wasn't the kind of person to save Gaara."

"Chiyo-sama entrusted the future to you and Gaara, Naruto." Kakashi entered. "It was a death befitting a shinobi."

Reflecting on her last words, Naruto remembered them well - "Suna and Konoha... may their future be different than our time". "Yeah," He nodded, giving a light smile to his sensei. "Now I get what she wished for."

"Gaara-sama!"

Directing their attention to the Kazekage, the young leader struggled to barely lift himself from the grass. His body was still fragile from extraction, his stamina nonexistent and his mind ruled by delirium. He still felt as if he were a ghost amongst the living. "I'm fine," He uttered to a concerned kunoichi who tried to help him. Surprising him, he felt someone hold him up from his shoulders. Turning, he saw Naruto at his side and Nomasaki at the other, each of them helping him stand. Appreciating their kindness, he straightened his back and watched Sakura and Elder Ebizō mourn over Chiyo's earthly husk she left behind. "Everyone," He said, his voice low. "Pray for Chiyo-sama."

Only the wind spoke within the silence.