Welcome and sorry for the wait!

I'm not giving up on the story or anything, I've just been going through a writer's block. Also, I was waiting for the ending of Shippuden and trying to figure out where my plans for this story are going to interrupt the main storyline which I didn't want to do in the beginning. Now, I've decided to go AU xD

I don't want to promise you guys fast updates, as this is my baby, and I want to take real good care of it. So, quality first, alright? :)

Anyways, thank you all who faved, alerted, reviewed and waited for this chapter! I hope I'm living up to the expectations :D

Playlist:

Maduro – Karakas

Solace - Blood Oil Gold

The Name of Life - Joe Hisaishi (Instrumental - Piano)

I give you Chapter 8:

In which Gaara decides on his priorities…

Kisara had spent her free time while waiting for the shinobi meditating. Some of the smaller spirits approached her, curious. She had smiled and played with them. They were like small animals, cute and easily frightened. She knew, however, that they could grow. The smallest of spirits had a potential to become humanoid, if they didn't get cleansed. The cleansing was usually done with the Spirit Water. The same water that the shinobi group was told to bring back. The Water makes the energy balance itself out, so it triggers the cleansing process, allowing the tortured spirits to go into the Ocean Above. The humanoid spirits, the powerful, bloodthirsty ones, they didn't care about the Ocean. They just wanted to keep as much of the power that they have collected as possible, and the Water helps them do so.

Kisara stood up from her position on the soft grass. She looked around the peaceful forest. She could see the sun rays change colors. Urgency gripped her, even though she herself wasn't rushing back. She found herself wanting to help these shinobi succeed. It wasn't something that the Wanderer could explain well. It was more of a gut feeling, rather than a conscious decision. She reminded herself of Eileen's words. The shinobi are killers.

But killers or not, the Priestess was testing them, which meant Kisara's cooperation. And she knew the Spirit World. The time in the Material World wasn't the same as here, on the other side. Sometimes the two were the same, sometimes one rushed, sometimes it lagged. She didn't know which or when, it was random. The uncomfortable feeling in her stomach didn't stop and she felt her leg start bouncing. They better be almost done. And then the shinobi group arrived.

They flew in on a sand platform, which dispersed and entered back into the redhead's gourd as soon as they landed. Kisara dismissed her curiosity, she would ask about it later, and motioned them to follow her.

"Hurry! No time!" She said for good measure, struggling with the words of the foreign language. The trainee noticed the state of the shinobi in mere seconds. She grabbed one of the tall, unconscious one's arms and helped the redhead carry the man.

The leader seemed fine. No big wounds or anything, but he did seem rather exhausted. Kisara knew how dangerous it was to use inner energy, chakra as the shinobi said, inside the Spirit World. One had to know the tricks and cheats to overcome the immense energy of the Spirit World, before being able to use it properly. Yet this man, this shinobi, he must've used it on willpower alone. That was impressive, the Wanderer concluded.

The other conscious man seemed scared. That was the coward that everyone was talking and laughing about. He was covered in the blue blood of the giant flies, so he had to have done something. Then again, the woman in his arms was covered in it, too. She seemed a bit out of it, but it didn't look bad. The kunoichi was aware, Kisara could tell. Her attentive eyes were darting around, calculating something.

The group made it to the clearing in record time. Small animal-like creatures scattered as they hurried to the still circle of trainees. The priests and priestesses to be were standing in the same spot where the group had left them, almost like statues. However, they were giving off a kind of an aura, a certain energy, that made the clearing seem even more serene and calm. Kisara ushered the shinobi into the circle that still had joined hands. As soon as they entered, the spirit birds and butterflies that had settled down on the statue-like trainees flew away.

"Stays there. We goes back." Kisara said, nodding both to herself and to the shinobi. She grabbed Eileen's and Komachi's hand and connected back into the circle. This time, Gaara was watching. He saw her mouth open as she started chanting and then, her fellow trainees followed the suit. In the darkness that spilled after the dying sun, like a tidal wave, blue light came from almost nowhere, making the Kage close his eyes. It was over. They hadn't made it on time. Still, his comrades were there. He still had a duty to his people, no matter what happened with the Wanderers. He felt Kan's weight disappear from his shoulder and the redhead opened his eyes, alert.

They were back in the round room that they had eaten breakfast in. All the shinobi were back in the positions that they had started in. Kan had fallen to the floor without support, still unconscious. Shura landed on her knees, breathing heavily. Toru crouched beside her, checking up on her wounds. Gaara stood still, taking in the situation. The circle of trainees stopped chanting and separated hands. Kisara ran forward first, going to Kan. She turned him onto his back carefully and checked his vitals. They were strong. The trainee turned to the slowly dispersing circle of her friends and told them something in the Wanderer language. The small girl, Ari, nodded and ran off towards the metal staircase.

"What's wrong with him?" The Kazekage demanded, crouching next to Kan. She gave him a reassuring smile.

"He be fine. He touches water. Water makes dream. Priestess saves from dream. Not worry. He safe. We saves him on time." Kisara bent forward then, murmuring something in Wanderer tongue into Kan's ear. Gaara stayed next to her. Sure, he trusted the trainee on some level, but he was ready to act at any moment if necessary. The Kage was aware that the shinobi probably couldn't cure something that came from the Spirit World. He needed to trust the Priestess with this.

"Bring him to the Healing rooms." Speak of the devil. The Priestess looked to be in a hurry. She motioned with her hand and the trainees moved. Zed and Komachi helped Gaara pick up the war veteran and they carried him towards the back of the room. From there on, everything was a blur. The group had gone through a series of corridors, but the Kage didn't manage to follow the path. At some point, he remembered that Toru and Shura had stayed behind. He figured that they could fend for themselves for a while. Besides, Lim and Chaizen had been in the room when the shinobi had arrived back into the Material World.

Kisara's hand gripped Gaara's shoulder with surprising strength. He gave her a questioning glance, but she didn't speak. The Wanderer gently made him let go of his limp comrade, allowing her fellow trainees to carry him away. Kisara pushed him back gently. Gaara managed to tear his eyes away from Kan's immobile form that was vanishing behind smooth, white and pale blue drapes. The Kage gave Kisara a warning glance.

"Sits." The girl explained, pointing behind him. Gaara turned, and truly, there were a couple of very comfortable looking pale cushions there. The Kage suddenly became aware of the numb state of his body and the beads of sweat that were running down the side of his face. He allowed Kisara to make him sit down. "He be fine. Waits."

The Wanderer gave him a reassuring smile and then went into the white drapes, too. Gaara sat there, numb, for a couple of moments. His body felt heavy, tired, like he used to feel back when he had just started training to become a shinobi. That had been a long time ago. He supposed that the Material World and the Spiritual World had some differences. If using chakra in one made him feel like this in the other, he didn't want to imagine what wounds sustained in one felt like. Besides, he could deal with chakra exhaustion. Since meeting Naruto he had tried and then stopped relying on his Bijuu for the huge power. He was strong on his own, without the beast. He had suffered from depleted chakra and gotten back onto his feet too many times to count. He would do so again. For Suna. For his people. He was the Kazekage.

Gaara pushed himself up suddenly, ignoring the way the room spun when he did so. He walked forwards, pushing the white drapes away to look through the see-through pale blue ones. Now that he was closer, he could see some kind of small balls of crystal on the drapes. They glinted as the sheets moved, reflecting an array of colors around them. He could see Kan on a bed similar to the ones that they had slept on, except in white and blue. He looked peaceful. The Priestess was there, bent over him. She had discarded her decorated haori and was in plain white clothing, hair pulled back by a simple ribbon. She was mumbling something in an unknown language, her hands hovering above Kan's body, one at the man's temple and the other over his stomach. The three trainees were running around, carrying clothes, bowls of water, different scrolls ad instruments to and from the bed.

Gaara looked at Kan's face and saw that it was at peace. The war veteran actually looked like he was finally relaxed. The Kage walked back to his seat and lowered his tired body back down. Gaara knew almost all of the shinobi in the village, by name or position. He knew about Kan. The man had participated in the Second Great Shinobi War as a child and come back a hero. The War had made him harsh, merciless and even paranoid. The Council had recommended the man be removed to a position of lesser status. They had wanted him off the field. Gaara could see why. An unstable man who could have a panic attack in the midst of battle wasn't one that you wanted to put in a team. However, Kan hadn't showed any indignation of doing so. In fact, he was dealing quite well with his post-traumatic stress disorder in Gaara's opinion.

The Kage often assigned Kan with Shura. They were a good combination. Kan was a skilled and suspicious war veteran, while Shura was a kind and more down to earth person. She came from civilian background, but both her and her brother had chosen to become shinobi. Her brother was quite infamous, after all. The man had graduated young, and became Chunin at the tender age of twelve. He later joined the assassination squad, better known as ANBU and now is a team leader. Takeuchi has often been compared to the great Uchiha Itachi of the Sharingan.

Compared to her brother, Shura was quite ordinary. Her shinobi skills were average, showing no real talent for any jutsu. Her chakra reserve was rather small and her ability as a spy was also very low. She was a down to earth, kind and peace loving person more than anything. Gaara really couldn't see why someone like Shura had followed her brother's footsteps. She was an average, though it pained him to even think, expendable, shinobi, however, to Gaara she was valuable. There wasn't another person that could quite bring out Kan's potential as Shura. And he, in turn, awakened her own will to protect. They were a team that Gaara had spotted right away.

A warm hand placed itself onto Gaara's shoulder, bringing him out of his mind and back into the real world. He looked up from his seat on the cushion only to meet Lim's wide eyes. The youth looked sympathetic, almost sad. He plopped down next to the Kage, ungracefully.

"Shura and Toru good. Lord Chaizen and Kara help." The Wanderer struggled with the foreign language. Gaara didn't speak, he gave a small nod, though. He needed a distraction. Usually, he was good with stress. He handled it well. He had always been on his own, not really worried about anything except his own skin. However, now that he had to care about others, it was different. They didn't have the protection of Shukaku. They were so fragile. So human. Not long ago, he would've slaughtered them, just to feel alive. He would've watched their blood pour in between his fingers and soak his sand heavy. He would've loved the copper that he could taste on each grain that fell into his mouth by accident or not. He would've enjoyed the days that his gourd would remain heavy from the blood. It made him feel alive. He knew that he was carrying another creature's life force right there, near him. He had prevailed. He had been victorious.

But, that was the wrong way.

There was simply so much more. Now it wasn't the gore and the crimson that made him feel alive. It was the smile on Temari's face when he walked into a room. It was the teasing tone that Kankuro spoke in quite frequently that made him feel warm inside. It was the blushing glance that he would get from Matsuri as he passed her in the corridor. The small nod from Baki. The bow of the old lady at the end of the street whenever he walked home. The little black haired boy that stared at him with big eyes when he got lunch at his father's shop. The smile of Naruto Uzumaki that appeared in his mind whenever he did a good job. The sensation of satisfaction in his stomach at the smallest of things. That was worth living for. Those things made all the pain and anger and suffering worth it. If this was what waited at the end of that torturous tunnel called his childhood, then, he would go through it again, just to feel this. Just to realize what living was.

"He is out of danger." A melodic voice said from somewhere in the front. Gaara looked away from one of the twinkling blue gems to meet the wise eyes of the High Priestess. There was a moment of silence as the two simply looked at each other. Lim's eyes went from one to the other, attempting to assess the situation.

"Thank you, High Priestess." The young Kage spoke finally, pushing the elephant out of the room. Lim grinned wide, his good mood returning. His hand collided with Gaara's back, meeting the sand armor. He paid it no mind and kept smiling. The High Priestess spoke with the Wanderer shortly and he gave her a nod, standing.

"Later food eat?" Lim asked, turning to Gaara with his usual wide smile. The resemblance was uncanny in the redhead's opinion. Yes, the meeting between Naruto and Lim would be quite disastrous, despite the language barrier. Gaara gave the youth a nod, agreeing to his clumsy proposal, and the Wanderer ran off in the direction of the wide room. There was silence once more as the Priestess undid the ribbon, letting the free strands of her decorated hairstyle cascade down her back. The woman was beautiful, dazzling. If he were anyone else, he would've been tempted. But, he was Gaara.

"Shall we talk? Our conversation is long overdue, Kazekage-san." She was mocking him, he could tell. Her tone was playful, informal. The High Priestess considered his position to be ridiculous and unnecessary. He had expected this earlier. He knew that the Wanderers didn't approve of the shinobi. He had done some research on the past interactions between their people. Wanderers stealing, shinobi retaliating, the two forces colliding, their beliefs making their coexistence harder. There weren't grounds for a treaty. There was no reason to make a deal with the desert dwellers. Except, Gaara wasn't as short sighted as the Council. These people knew the desert like the back of their hand. The Wanderers didn't limit themselves to one place either, some clans lived outside of the Kaze no Kuni. They had knowledge, experience, skill and they knew the back roads. They were an opportunity that he was not going to pass. The Priestess could ridicule his title all she wanted as long as she agreed on his terms. He didn't like to play politics, but that didn't mean that he couldn't.

The Kazekage followed his hostess down a corridor, going the opposite way from the one that Lim had taken. She led him in silence, moving white and blue drapes out of the way and holding them so he could pass. Somehow, without her haori or trainees with her, just walking like this, she looked younger. Gaara noticed that there was a small smile on her face as she walked. He wondered what that was about. There was truly nothing to smile about. Maybe she was happy that they hadn't managed to bring her the Water in time. The skins were still attached to Gaara's belt, dragging it a bit lower that where it usually hung. He had seen the last rays of light hit the clearing right before Kisara and the trainees took them back. He knew that he had failed. But, he wasn't about to give up. He had needed to care for his comrades. They were his priority. If that was what brought him down in her eyes, than it wasn't him that was wrong.

"What is Kan's condition?" The redhead broke the silence as they walked, her barefoot steps echoing softly around them. The Kage walked soundlessly, like a true shinobi.

The Priestess looked back, her twinkling eyes meeting Gaara's stern green ones. His tone had been even, too, demanding respect. He may be young and he may be the leader of the desert shinobi, but, he wasn't weak, the woman could tell. He oozed power. She gave a small twitch of her raised lips.

"He should wake up in a couple of hours. The River of Dreams that you stumbled upon was quite dangerous for him, it seems. Perhaps it was fate that brought it there to you?" Gaara felt his non-existent eyebrow rise. Brought the river to them? "It is always better to face your demons, rather than leave them to fester." She continued. Did she know about him being a Jinchuriki?

"We all have demons inside of us and live with them every day." Gaara said calmly, in his usual monotone. He didn't see the way she smiled wider.

"That is all too true." The High Priestess pushed one last drape aside to reveal the end of the stone hallway. It was the bottom of some sort of a vine-covered tower. The grey stone was covered in cracks and the green, brittle branches spread everywhere, little, sweet smelling white flowers growing on their tips. The Priestess took a rope ladder that Gaara hadn't spotted and began climbing. The Kage followed, a bit baffled by the informality of their short trip. He didn't let it show on his face, schooling the indifferent mask that he prided himself in.

They soon arrived to the top and into the chambers of the Priestess. Gaara took a moment to take in the room, surprised at the modesty of it. No matter how poor the Wanderers were, they had their treasures. One would expect their leader to live in luxury.

"Please." The Priestess showed him to the cushions on the floor, as Gaara was beginning to see was the Wanderer custom. He sat down, the scent of the pipes enveloping him. The graceful woman walked around the room, setting up one of the smaller pipes. It was a pale rose color and delicate looking. She set it up and placed it on the table which already had a teapot and cups on it. She had expected his visit.

The woman took a breath from the freshly lit pipe, enjoying the aroma. She let it flow out slowly through her nose, allowing the scent to stay longer. The Priestess than handed the pipe to Gaara. The young Kage accepted, taking a small breath. He supposed that his previous experience with cigarettes made him suspicious of the pipe.

"How do you like my people, Kazekage?" The woman asked suddenly, breaking the calm silence of the room. Her voice was even somehow, almost nostalgic. She was at peace, Gaara could tell, but her peace was sad and lonely. She looked like someone who had acknowledged their fate and was accepting it. It puzzled him.

"They are very much different from the people of Suna." Gaara spoke slowly. The woman poured tea, as if they were talking about the weather. "They are wild, free and spirited." The young Kage concluded. He gave her a small nod, accepting the offered teacup.

"Yes, they are." The High Priestess was smiling gently, sadly. "They are so naïve, Kazekage. They believe in what our religion and tradition teaches them, and they are afraid to know the rest." The Priestess gave a gentle sigh. "My beautiful, ugly, fragile, brave and wonderful brothers and sisters. They are my children and my parents. They are my eternal love and my only worry." Her all-knowing eyes met his, suddenly, locking Gaara in his spot. It was rare to see a gaze so powerful, so wise, old and soulful. "You know of what I speak, Kazekage."

Gaara didn't reply. He chose to evade the unspoken question. "I am looking forward to your judgment, Priestess." He told her in his monotone. The fear was gripping his insides, but Gaara was showing none of it. Fear was a beast that you defeated, put in a cage and buried in the deepest part of yourself. He would fight tooth and nail for Suna. And now, Suna needed this deal with the Wanderers. He needed to stop fighting inside the Nation to be able to prosper and fight the outside battle.

The woman laughed merrily, her head thrown back freely. A couple of moments passed before she answered. "The test to bring the Water is given to every single clan leader to show their worth. Most never come back. Those that do, they are successful." The woman gave a small pause, watching Gaara's reaction. She was a clever one, the Kage thought. Saying that she needs the clan leaders to agree on everything, yet allowing him to show his level of skill. By putting him on the same level as them, she was moving their hand, willing or not. The Priestess, too, wanted this deal. The young Kazekage could tell now.

"The sun had set as we came back." Gaara spoke, his eyes never leaving her.

"In the Spiritual World, yes." The woman chuckled. "Time flows differently in different worlds, Kazekage. It is fickle, unpredictable." Gaara took a moment to process that. The concept alone seemed impossible to take in. Time was something that allowed him to exist. Time allowed him to make sense of the world and have semi-order. Gaara suddenly felt a great deal of respect for the Wanderers. They were people who acknowledged the instability of time and allowed themselves to live with that fact.

"Sunagakure has passed your test then, High Priestess." The young Kage stated proudly. "Shall we set the terms of our agreement?" He was pushing it, and he knew it. However, the Priestess had already shown her will to make an agreement. And frankly, Gaara didn't need to be polite, he had had the upper hand during the whole visit, foreign territory or not.

~~~~pb~~~~

Shura sat in the Medical Wing numbly. She was staring into the distance, not really seeing anything. The Wanderers had moved them from the main room into this one. She had watched, numbly, as her own feet moved as if she wasn't in control of herself. Everything was far away, floating. However, she was alive, that was all that mattered. They had all made it back alive.

She could hear Toru complaining to one of the Wanderers treating him how he didn't need medical attention. Her own wounds had been treated recently. She could slowly feel the cold medicine starting to prickle on the open skin. She was glad that she could. The pain meant that she was still in this world. The Material World.

There was a noise in the back of her head. It sounded like humming of some sort of a bird. It simply filled her with golden happiness and energy. Shura looked around, searching for the source. Her movement was sluggish and clumsy, but she pushed herself. The Wanderers around her allowed her to leave the stone room, exiting through the pale drapes that jingled when she moved them. Toru was too busy arguing with his healer to notice her escape. Shura needed some time to herself. She wasn't feeling well. She had almost failed the Kazekage. She had almost failed her team.

Shura knew that she couldn't compare to the Kazekage or to Kan. Her skills were ordinary to say the least. She had good chakra control and some taijutsu knowledge. She had become Chunin by being quick in the mind department. However, compared to shinobi from ANBU or Jonin level, she was nothing. Shura had always known that she would end up working in the Academy or at the Kazekage Residence.

The sound came from her left again and Shura turned. Sure enough, there was a small bird, sitting on the window still and singing. The kunoichi watched it for a moment, studying it. The animal was beautiful. Its small body was a myriad of colors, ranging from soft greens to strong golden shades. It seemed oblivious to the kunoichi's presence. It was simply singing its own beautiful song. It looked so serene in the madness of Shura's loud mind. She suddenly wished to switch places with the carefree bird.

"They aren't too frightening, are they?" Shura whirled around to meet the eyes of the old tribe leader. The short woman stood barely to Shura's breast, all wrinkled, but somehow young looking. The woman's hair had kept its dark color, despite her clear age, and it was woven in a tight braid that ran all the way down her back. It wasn't decorated by anything, like many of the others. The woman's clothes were rather plain, too, lacking the different colors and designs that the other Wanderers wore. No, this clan leader had a simple gold and dark purple design of songbirds on her ceremonial dress. This was the woman that had saved Shura's life.

"I've never been scared of birds?" Shura's Wanderer tongue was a bit rusty, but she managed. The accent that Chaizen and his tribe had was thick and it had widely influenced the kunoichi's own speech. The woman had a gentle smile on her face. It had always been strange to Shura, how this old woman looked so old, yet seemed so young. She practically shined with energy.

"Maybe." The clan leader said, heading towards the kunoichi. Shura didn't really understand the meaning of that. Then again, the old woman had always been cryptic. "He sings beautifully, does he not?"

"Yes." The two women watched as the bird sang, not bothered by their presence at all. "Is he here all the time?" Shura asked the old clan leader. The woman didn't look away from the bird. Her eyes were gentle, yearning.

"He comes and goes."

"How come he doesn't fly away? Isn't he afraid?" The kunoichi questioned. It wasn't normal. The bird wasn't tame, yet it didn't fly off when Shura came closer.

"Why should he fear what he knows and understands?" The woman walked forwards, reaching out to the bird. It stopped singing for a moment, looking at the hand with intelligent eyes. It stared at Shura and then at the clan leader, taking them in. It seemed at ease with their presence. "Fear is born from the unknown, kunoichi Shura." The woman spoke calmly as the bird nudged its head against the outstretched hand in affection. "And you are afraid of much." The old clan leader looked at the kunoichi, the bird nestled nicely on her shoulder now. Shura felt that gaze like a force that hit her. The words rang true and she felt her eyes prickle and her throat close in on itself.

"Am I ever going to be good enough?" The kunoichi asked, her tears freely falling now. The bird flew off from the old woman's shoulder, as if upset by the change in the mood. It headed straight for Shura. She sucked in a short, sharp breath, prepared for the pain of the sharp beak. However, it never came.

The songbird passed through Shura's abdomen, taking off down the hall with a loud cry. A Spirit, the kunoichi realized with fear creeping down her already sadness-broken spine. She sank to her knees, not feeling the hard stones slam against her knees.

"You were always good enough, kunoichi Shura." The clan leader walked forward silently, her robes rustling as she moved. And then, Shura was enveloped in the scent of sweet Wanderer pipes and healing herbs and the warmth that radiated from the short woman made her feel just as safe as she had felt back then, broken in a foreign Wanderer tent in the middle of nowhere. How strange it was, that she associated these nomad tribes of the desert, the unsafe and wandering people, with home and protection.

Shura remembered crying for a long time, like she had cried as a child during the War, as the old Wanderer sang in an ancient language, accompanied by the healing song of the strange Spirit Bird.

Thank you very much for reading!

Onto the reviews:

The Kazekage of Suna: Thank you very much for the lovely review, I always wait for yours with anticipation! :D Hopefully, you haven't given up on me because of my long absence :P I'm quite picky as well, so I completely understand xD

LittleEcho12: Aweeee, thank you! Her speech will get better in time, though :P

Rain-kawa: Thank you so much! I thought up the plotline while thinking back on my trips to Israel and my future trip to Egypt, so I was very inspired by the people I've met and will meet and wanted to do them justice. Also, I've been doing a lot of belly dance recently (the music in the playlist xD) and it just gives a certain atmosphere.

I only realized the frequency of this story type once I published four or five chapters and then, I was like, screw it xD But, thank you for saying that I'm differentiating well! That makes me soo happy :D

I'm often worried about my portrayal of Gaara, as it aims for his a bit more human side, rather than the shinobi one. Because, this is the period where he goes from awkward teen to awesome Kage and I'm trying to explain his development :) He is a lot harder to write than I thought that he would be xD I may be in over my head…

Kisara is a tad MS, but I'm hoping to keep her as original and as human as possible. Hopefully, I'll do a good job. Thank you sooooo much once again for the lovely reviews and re-read that definitely kept me writing!

cathyscloud9: Thank you very much for the review and sorry for the long wait :( Hope you enjoyed!