Chapter 14

Connection

The air inside the hospital was cool and somewhat calm as Akina and Wakana prepped Gaara. The other Kages and council men watched form outside, through the window above the operating room as they did this. Matsuri was already in the operating room.

Inside the conference room the three stood, going over the procedure.

"Akina, you're positive this will work?" Gaara asked, a little unsure. She gave him a half smile, not even sure herself.

"No actually I'm not…but we'll try the best we can." She said, giving him a small smile. She turned then. "I'm going to the bathroom before we get started." She said, waving. She walked out of the doors of the room, heading down the hall. She quickly opened the door to the bathroom, heading inside. Standing before the mirror she turned on the faucets. The water calmly ran through the faucet as she gathered some in her hands and wet her face.

"Akina…" She said to herself. "Come on, get a hold of yourself…" She dried her face, and looked into the mirror. She noticed the differences in her facial features now. They were more defined. Much more…stronger.

"Do you really think you can defeat me?"

She gasped, spinning around to meet the face of the voice from behind her. There was nothing but air however. She breathed slowly, looking around.

"You've gotten weak."

The voice rang in her head then. She grabbed it in pain.

"The hell?" She gasped, falling to the ground as she saw the room spinning. "Who are you?" She said loudly.

"I am the darkness that lurks within the shadows of the world." The man's voice announced.

"Get out of my head!" She yelled louder this time. The room continued to spin and she began to hallucinate. "Out, out, out!"

"Fight for my side…I can give you everything you desire…" She blinked as her vision swirled again, shaking her head side to side.

Akina's vision blurred as she stood, feeling the voice fade from her head. She stood, shaking slightly. A nurse came into the bathroom, having heard the commotion.

"Miss Akina are you alright?" She asked hastily. Akina breathed out, nodding slightly. "Should I get Lord Kazekage or Kurosaki-senpai?" She shook her head then.

"No…I'm fine…just nerves I guess." She replied, standing up.

"Are you sure? I'm sure Kurosaki-senpai would be happy to check you over." She replied, giving a small but friendly smile. Akina smiled back.

"I'm perfectly fine, I will be seeing Wakana-chan later so I will ask her for a look over after the procedure."

"Alright then Haruka-senpai, in that case I shall see you later, have a successful procedure!" She said, bowing. Akina nodded.

"Please call me Akina, the honorifics are necessary." Akina called as the woman walked out of the bathroom. She stopped, looking back. A grin spread on her face.

"Okay…Akina-san, I should believe you already know who I am…" She said a little quieter. Akina blinked, confused. The nurse chuckled, leaving Akina to think for a while. Already knew who she was? She looked a little familiar but that was probably because she was from Suna… Akina sighed, shaking her head.

"I've got a patient to cure…can't be thinking of this now…" She mumbled, grabbing her hair band and tying back her short hair as much as she could. She took a deep breath and left the bathroom, putting the odd incident that had just occurred in the back of her mind. She opened the doors to the operating room where Gaara and Wakana stood waiting.

"What took you so long?" She asked, going over Matsuri's vitals once more. She didn't bother looking up to see the small glare she was receiving. "

"Just saw someone on the way back is all, not like we're in that much of a rush ne?"

"True…so what exactly are we going to do now?"

"I'll explain inside, it'd be better actually if I just showed you." She said, walking through the doors to where Matsuri lay. The other two followed, still confused somewhat.

"Gaara…come here." Akina said, gesturing for him to stand on her side. He did so, watching her every move. She let her hand float over Matsuri, using her chakra to map out everything.

"Let's target the liver first, see how well we can do that…" She said, opening her eyes. She looked up at him, giving a small smile and grabbed his hand gently.

"Don't be nervous Gaara, trust me." He gave a curt nod and let her place his hand where it was needed. "Now…what did you do whenever you were in danger of illness?" She said, placing his hand above Matsuri's liver.

"I used the sand to expel any danger to my health…that's what we're going to do now, correct?"

"I see you're still as sharp as a sand needle." She commented wryly. He sneered at her, annoyed already. "Just listen to everything that I tell you ok? Concentration is the key."

He nodded, summoning his sand. It lightly crawled up him and onto Matsuri.

"Alright…now this is what you have to feel for…" She trailed off, letting her hand rest on his as she let her chakra mold with his.

The prickling feeling in his hand came back and immediately felt the poison in her body. He grimaced on the inside, the feeling being etched in his mind.

"Gently pull it forward with your sand…" She told him and concentrated on the feeling of the substance rising. Wakana watched with interest as they did this, studying the technique for future use. "Good now…my turn…" She said coolly. "You're going to have to lift your hand with mine since I'm going to pull the poison from her body."

He nodded, keeping a deep concentration on the sand.

"Wakana…she's going to bolt up…I can't give her sedatives as you know so please help hold her down…" She said. Wakana nodded.

"Shadow Clone." She said, and the clones that appeared held Matsuri down.

"Gaara…whatever you do…don't listen to the screams do you understand me?" Akina said, giving him a look. "No matter what you hear don't let go." She said, letting her hand glow a deep green. "We ready?" Wakana nodded, "Alright…here goes…"

She and Gaara lifted her hands, Akina blocked out everything around her, visualizing every inch of the organ and felt her way around collecting the poison. She began to pull her chakra back and immediately Matsuri's eyes shot open for the first time in a while. A blood curdling scream erupted in the room, nearly making Wakana flinch. Gaara shut his eyes, wishing not to see one of his most trusted subordinates in such pain. He blocked everything out from his mind as well, concentrating only on the sand that gathered around any remaining poison he sensed.

Akina breathed out slowly, pulling their hands farther away. Wakana held Matsuri down, keeping the girl pinned to the table. The bubble of chakra, poison and sand finally appeared fully as Akina finally got all of it out of the liver. She opened her eyes, breathing out.

"One organ down…" She said, looking over to Gaara.

"You okay?" She asked, letting her chakra travel briefly through his system to make sure he was alright and somewhat relaxed. His eyes snapped open as his concentration was broken. He nodded.

"Let's move on to the next one…"

"Akina…senpai…" Was the weak voice from the table. Akina looked over, leaving Gaara's side briefly. She leaned over to get a look at the poor girl. "You came back…"

"Yeah…this is going to hurt but I'm going to try to get this done quickly…you have to try to bear with me though." She said, rubbing the terrified girls head. She nodded weakly. "I….We will not fail you…I swear." Matsuri nodded. Akina looked back at Gaara, giving him a nod. "The next one we're doing is the heart…I'm going to numb it first okay?"

"Why…can't…"

"Because then I won't know if I get all of it, I need to get as much as possible form your heart and then create an antidote with it…"

Matsuri nodded weakly, and then saw Gaara behind Akina. Akina saw her focusing on him and she smiled.

"Yeah that's right, he's saving your life."

"Gaara…sensei…than-"

"Save it for later Matsuri." Gaara said, interrupting her. He gave a small hint of a smile. "Next time I send you out on a mission I'm personally sending some sand with you."

Akina chuckled, making everyone else around smile as well, everyone those in the observation room. Even Onoki smiled a bit as well.

"Alright…let's go." Akina said, moving herself over to Matsuri's chest. She placed a hand over it, sorting out the poison from the cells.

"Ga-" He immediately slipped his hand under hers. A small smile tugged at her face from the contact. She put her thoughts aside and concentrated on Matsuri's heart. "Okay you're up…" She said, and soon felt the sand dissolving through her skin. He allowed his chakra combined sand to gather the poison, bringing it forward. Akina sensed he finished and began to magnetize the poison and bring it towards her hands.

"Almost got it all…"

Matsuri began to fidget, whining in pain.

"Hold on a little bit longer Matsuri…just a little longer!" Akina said loud enough for the girl to hear. She looked at Wakana, making sure she had a tight grip. "Alright…" She began to pull her chakra back, lifting both their hands again. She did this one quicker, knowing that any long amount of time doing this would deplete both of their chakra levels but also risk damaging the chambers of the heart.

Matsuri erupted into a fit of screams, trying her best at the same time to not move. Wakana assisted her by holding her down even tighter.

Akina ignored it as best she could, now beginning to breathe heavily form the amount of chakra she was using. Wakana noticed this as soon as she pulled everything from the heart muscle. Immediately she sent waves of soothing chakra to heal anything that may have been damaged.

A bead of sweat ran down Akina's face.

"Next…" She said, dropping the poison into a bin. Gaara looked at her intently, sensing the depleting chakra. They moved to the lungs now. Akina breathing increased after this one, knowing she would need a break soon. She closed her eyes, and then felt something against her face. She opened them to find something obstructing her view. She lightly grabbed it in her hand, removing it. She looked at the towel, smirking at it.

"You always knew when I needed something…" She whispered. Wakana smirked watching the two move to the next organ; the kidneys. "After this, I'll make the antidote…"

"What about the brain?" The gravelly voice of the man next to her asked.

"Too dangerous…you saw how I had to handle the heart…the brains ten times worse…" She said, beginning the process on Matsuri's left kidney. Within the next half hour they were done with what needed to be done. Matsuri's conscience remained now, and Wakana spent the next few hours in her room, just happy she was alive.

The Raikage and Onoki walked back towards their respective rooms, silence between them. It was broken however by Onoki.

"Curious interaction between the green brat and that bean sprout of yours." He commented. The Raikage scoffed.

"Yeah, and it'll be the only interaction between those two."

"Ho? After everything you won't allow them to be with each other?" He asked curiously. In his village, the option of dating or being involved with any one of a Kage stature was accepted and sought after by many. "Those two…have a chemistry that I haven't seen since that Hokage and his woman from the whirlpool land."

"Still…the life of Kage should not be sought after, you know that very well."

"Indeed, but you wouldn't be one to stop someone you don't particularly have a liking to from that kind of life…unless however…you're taking a brotherly approach to this bean sprout, especially since Bee went-"

"Like hell I am old geezer!" The Raikage yelled, moving to hi the old man, who simply dodged. The land didn't go well for his hip though…

"YAOW! My hip!" The old geezer yelled, a loud cracking erupting through the halls.

And with that the Raikage slammed the door to his room shut, blocking out anything and everything that was occurring outside of the room. The mention of his younger brother Killer Bee, upset the Raikage deeply, leaving the man in a terrible mood for the rest of the night.

Down in the hospital Akina sat in the lab, working non stop on an antidote. She heard the door open and didn't even need to look up to know who it was.

"Hey." She greeted the stoic man. "Shouldn't you be doing paper work?" She teased, looking up from her work. She raised a brow, smirking at his annoyed face.

"Finished it already, bean sprout." He teased back, though it didn't sound it form his gravelly voice. Akina twitched at the new nickname. She threw an empty vile at him, which bounced off his sand.

"I. Am. Not. SHORT!" She yelled, angrily turning back to her work. Gaara couldn't help but smirk at her demeanor. His smirk got bigger as she violently grabbed a second vile and threw it at him at lighting speed. Still to slow for his sand however.

"Enough with the smirk!"

He chuckled at this moving closer to her. Suddenly hands flailed out, nearly knocking him in the head. He ducked, knowing his sand would not be able to grab it form the close range.

"Got it!" She yelled, watching the poison sizzle away on the scroll she dropped the antidote on. "It's done!"

Gaara smiled, a small smile but still a smile. Leave to her to find out something no one else could. "Alright!" She said hopping off the chair. Suddenly she felt herself become dizzy, and had to grab onto the table to hold herself up. Immediately Gaara had his arm around her, supporting her.

"That's great, but I think you should let someone else administer it, you've used up a lot of chakra…"

"N-No I can do it." She said, standing up on her own. She grabbed the vile of antidote, and made her way towards the door. Gaara sighed at her stubbornness and sent his sand to find Wakana.

In Matsuri's room Wakana sat in one of the chairs, observing Matsuri as she slept to make sure she was alright. She felt something coarse and grainy move up her leg.

"Gaara…" She whispered, confused to what he needed. The sand tugged on her ankle, telling her invasively to follow. Curiously she got up and quickly followed it until she found the two of them walking down the hall.

"Gaara you called?" She asked, looking over at Akina. Akina smiled, standing up fully now and stood in front of Wakana. She held up three viles.

"Add this to the IV, and keep a close eye on Matsuri tonight, she'll wake up in a bit from the feeling of no poison in her so it'd be best if you were there." She said simply, handing her the viles. "I'm going to sleep."

Wakana was speechless as she took the viles.

"You….made the…in that amount?"

"Just go put in the IV and blabber about it later ne san." Akina replied, amused at her friends' inability to speak. "You owe me ramen." She said before collapsing on Gaara. Gaara watched the content smile on her face.

"I'm going to bring her somewhere she can sleep." He said, letting his sand pick up around them and in a flash they were gone. Wakana smirked, turning and heading back towards Matsuri's room. It was finally over.

Akina and Gaara materialized in the room Akina occupied in the Tower. He gently laid her on the bed, watching her sleep contently. He smiled, and turned to leave.

Akina stirred slightly, making him look at her once more. Green eyes cracked open, staring up at him a moment later. He felt his stomach flip as the depth to her green eyes became even more defined.

"Hey…" She whispered, already recognizing where they were.

"Hi…"

There as a small silence between them now as she sat up.

"I should go…you need rest and-" She pulled him onto the bed with a smirk.

"Mmm I don't think I'll let you go…" She whispered, breathing into his ear. "Four years without you has been rough on me…" She felt him shiver, and a smug smirk made its way to her features. It was wiped off a second later when he flipped her, smashing his lips on hers.

She responded eagerly, grinding into him and effectively eliciting a moan out of both of them.

"Akina…" He breathed in between kisses.

This time she flipped him, straddling him as she broke the kiss.

"Gaara, I've been away from you for too long…" She whispered bending over and kissing down his jaw.

"It's been too long…" He said, grinding into her this time. She moaned, rubbing against him wantonly. His hand made its way up her shirt, gripping the underside of her breast. She gasped at the feeling of his touch.

"Gaara…" She said, grabbing his attention as she pulled away. "As much as I would love and I mean I really would you have no idea…" She said, still out of breath. "Everyone will hear us…you know that won't go over well…" She pointed out. He sighed, knowing she was right.

"I wasn't going to go that far…" He protested.

"I didn't say you would…now you know me and when I get into something I can't pull away…" She reminded, smirking mischievously. A chuckle came form him as he rolled his eyes at her demeanor.

"Some things never change." He commented, receiving a thumbs up from her as he supported himself on his elbows.

"The other reason I stopped is because I know for a fact you do not have a single bit of protection for such activities on you and I really would like to avoid the whole child bearing thing since we're possibly fighting a really-" He sighed, cutting her off as he pulled her down by her shirt and kissed her again. When they pulled away she glared at him, playfully though.

"You're an ass sometimes you know that?"

"So are you." He reminded.

"Yeah but that's what I love about you so whatever." She said, smirking as she flipped off him and next to him on the bed. "Can you sleep a full night of sleep yet?"

"Sometimes…is that you're version of an invite to stay the night?"

"Maybe…" She teased, kissing him again. She felt a contented feeling wash over her and for the first time in a long time felt at home. She felt herself begin to tire once more from the exceptional amount of chakra she used. Sighing in content she leaned into Gaara more, kicking off her shoes and drifting into a deep sleep.

Gaara too felt himself falling asleep next to the person he wished to be with forever, a small smile graced his features as he drifted off, pulling her tighter against him.

Hello! I am back and better! I hoped you liked this chapter and I'll try my best to make 'em longer and awesomer and yes...they're will be a lemon eventually. There ahd to be some kind of fluff in this chapter so I hope it was good =] OH and HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY! (To be however)