Chapter X: Dazed Sentiments

"Is this your family?" Kankurou asked holding the photograph and staring at each of the occupants with interest. The sun was just about to set, and he had been given a warm meal by the medic. She talked a lot about her job, and her home village, though Kankurou listened half-heartedly. He was feeling a lot better than before, and had more than enough energy to go back to the small camp they had set up. Out of curiosity, Kankurou had picked up the frame; a sort of strange recognition grew upon him. He could tell make out the young medic, though much younger, and could imply that the two other people were relatives of hers.

"Yes," she said smiling. "Those are my two younger brothers and that's my mother and father. My father's a merchant. He travels often to other villages with my youngest brother. There's my brother, you remember him right? And that's my mother's back at home, probably worrying about us," she said her lips curving to a smile. "Though my uncle always tells her that everything is going to be alright, she still can't help but worry, especially over my youngest brother."

She mentioned their names, and retold a few stories about her family. How her mother was so beautiful and very delicate with her children; how her father was ever so serious, but in the end her youngest brother could still put a smile on his face; and how her uncle was so understanding and full of wisdom. Kankurou looked down at the photograph one last time, a smile growing on his face as he listened to her stories, and carefully set the photo aside on the table. The family that should have been…

"I need a medicine," Kankurou said suddenly.

"But you are nearly done healing."

"One of my comrades got an infected wound. She has a fever that just won't go away." He told her the other symptoms, and the medic listened carefully, asking a few extra things before answering that she would be able to get the proper medication, but it would be best if she could properly see the person. Kankurou sat silently on the bed, and she took that as a note that the request was not possible.

"I'll start working right away," she answered instead, and began to take her leave. "It should be ready by tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Kankurou asked. He had hoped that she would give him the medicine now, and then he would be off. Two days was enough time. Noticing the apprehension in his voice, she reassured him that the medication would be ready early in the morning, and could he just get some rest for now? Another night wouldn't endanger his comrades, and it was fairly dangerous to be traveling at night, anyway.

He wasn't exactly thrilled about the plan, but agreed in the end.

The sun glowed brightly, the next morning, bathing the scene with orange, and at once the birds began to chirp happily for the start of a new day. "Damn, I hate birds," Kankurou muttered to himself, more than wishing to just open the window and throw something to stop the annoying squeals. Another sleepless night went by with his thoughts filled by on the whereabouts of his siblings. It just didn't seem alright that he was well attended to when they were in misery. He had just fallen asleep, when the sun had risen and the birds started yapping.

The medic was still asleep, since he heard no movement downstairs, but he made a note that as soon as he heard a door creaking he'd be downstairs in a hurry. Shifting on the bed, he tried to fall asleep, once more, but found his mind simply buzzing, so instead he took the time to look out the window.

He stared in boredom outside the window, sighing deeply as two hours melted away. A strong breeze blew, shuffling the trees and it brought back a stupid song Temari used to sing when they were kids. Temari had a terrible voice, and would get so mad when he told her, and just sing even louder. He made another note to have Temari sing that song when they reached home.

And then he saw it.

It was so dim, anyone could have missed it, but by chance he just happened to be looking outside. Two dark shadows, shifting off in the background, jumping from tree branch to tree branch. With a certain ease, the puppeteer pulled back the curtain, daring to look further outside. For a minute, he fancied the thought that it was some animal making its way, but how many animals did he know that could move with that speed? He craned his neck, feline eyes scanning as far as they could to the wilderness beyond, but the shadows seemed to have disappeared as suddenly as they had return. Paranoid, that's what he was becoming, a complete nutcase! He laughed at himself, adding to his theory that he was going mental, but then he saw it!

He was so close to the window, then, his breath steaming the glass surface. There was another flash, completely absorbed in the two figures beyond, he fell off the bed, and landed roughly on the wooden floor. His back ached from the impact, but he quickly spun around and flew to the door. Shit! What the hell are they doing here!

He opened the door, exactly the same time as the medic was about to enter. The contact was so great; she slipped and fell, a paper bag dropping on the floor. There was a questioning look on her face as she looked up at him. "You just seem to be in a hurry, all the time."

He muttered a quick apology, and helped her to her feet. "What's seems to be the problem?" she asked.

The problem was that two shinobi were heading here. Why? Kankurou hadn't the slightest clue, but he didn't want to stick around to find out why.

"Um… you see… I…" he stalled; panic seeping into his words, making it difficult to make up a story. Glancing out the window, he spotted a wagon slowly creaking by, carrying two large bags. An old man was sitting at the front, waving good-bye to someone across the street. He needed to move quickly! "I was wondering if you'd seen a large bundle I was carrying."

She looked as though she wanted him to collaborate, but as usual she didn't ask anything else. "It's in the utility closet."

Leading him to a small utility closet, Kankurou saw Karasu wrapped in its bandages. The poor puppet…it had been weeks since it was properly fix. Again he made another note, to get Karasu properly repaired ASAP.

About twenty minutes later there was a knocking on the door. Excusing herself, the young medic went downstairs wondering once again about the stranger she had taken in. He acted very peculiar, and seemed to always be in a hurry.

When she finally reached the bottom of the steps and opened the door, her brown eyes opened widely at the two strangers on her front door. One was a bit taller than the other with thin black hair. His partner had short blond hair that felt gracefully before his chin. Wearing the typical green vest of a chuunin, the Leaf headband shone out from their forehead more than advising that they were here on official business. There stood two official looking Leaf shinobi looking all too seriously.

According to one of the festival stand owners, there was a boy trailing down the streets, dressed in black and carrying a large bundle wrapped in bandages. After much questioning, the two chuunin eventually made it to a small house set a bit far from the town, by the edge of the forest. A young woman opened the door, a bit surprise at the two shinobi, but nonetheless she had a kind face and answered her questions. She replied that yes she had seen that young boy and yes she had brought him back to her residence in order to treat him. She stared at the two in puzzlement, and asked for the meaning of their questions. Official Business, they replied, ordered out by Konoha's council. They had reason to believe that this stranger, she treated, could be dangerous, and for her own safety she should show him to them.

It looked as though she wanted to argue, but she just nodded her head, and led the men into her home and up the stairs. "Please step aside, this could get dangerous," the older chuunin said, pushing her aside. Then, standing to the side of the doorframe, they stood silently. A quick signal and the door was thrown open, both of them racing inside the room, a weapon in hand and ready for combat, but stopped short.

"He's not here."

Indeed. It looked as though no one had been there at all. The bed was properly made, the floor was cleaned, and the window opened to let gushes of fresh air. Even the dirty bandages that were thrown away in the trash can were gone.

"He must have escaped out the window." They muttered something else, and with a quick salute dashed back downstairs and left her alone to her thoughts.

How odd, she thought, he hadn't seem dangerous at all. He was basically worrying about that person that he kept mentioning, he even asked about a medication…the paper bag that she had dropped when he had bumped into her. She dashed up the steps, only to find that it was missing too. He had left so suddenly, that she was a bit disappointed that he hadn't said good-bye. One of the few qualities that she like about being a doctor was the gratitude she received from her patients, but she supposed they all couldn't be like that.

Sighing to herself, she sat on the bed, and noticed at once that the picture frame had fallen down, probably due to the wind. Setting it up, a small folded bandage was underneath. Thanks, was the single word inscribed.

----

"Hey, you there! Stop!" The blond chuunin called out, spotting a small wagon in the distance about to reach of the gates of the town. The covered wagon kept rolling ignoring the calls of the shinobi, but stopped on its track when the two figures appeared in front of the road. An old man was on top of the wagon, holding the reins to an even older mule. A deep scowl formed on the wrinkled face of the man, and he narrowed his eyes disapprovingly at being blocked off. "What's the meaning of all this? Can't a man leave in peace?" His voice was raspy, and he was missing a number of teeth.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, sir," the older shinobi said sounding officially. "But we have reason to believe that these three Sand shinobi are dangerous, and for the safety of the public we have been order to restrain them." He produced from his pocket a black and white photograph of the ninja in question. The old man looked upon the picture for a minute before barking out in laughter.

"Dangerous? These are just a bunch of kids! I'd say to just let them be. What harm could the do?"

"They may be kids but we are required to take them into custody."

"What is the world coming to?" He yelled, throwing his hands in the air. "A bunch of kids dangerous? You Leafs should be ashamed of yourselves! Too busy slacking off and climbing trees that what I tell you, putting innocent people behind bars," he snorted in disagreement. "You should be putting real criminals away not chasing some kids." He said some other things about no sense of duty, and careless throwing resources away.

They both shifted slightly in embarrassment. "Look, sir, if we could just see what it is you are carrying."

"What do you think I'm SMUGGLING them out?" He shouted angrily.

"We're not saying that you're smuggling anyone out," he said smiling nervously, wishing he had never stopped the man. "It just may have been likely that they could have gotten into your wagon, that's all." But still the old man stared at him with suspicion, and looked as though he wanted to yell out more nasty remarks. "Please, sir, if you could just let us inspect your wagon, we'll make out way."

"Fine," he said angrily, feet falling onto the ground. He was much shorter than the two, and walked with a stiff foot, carefully clutching a brown paper bag. Moving to the end of the wagon, he pulled open the plastic. There was nothing there, except for three bags, and a few tools, along with bag of oat, apparently for the mule. "You see? Nothing!" He said irritably.

"What's inside the bags?" one of the chuunin asked, eyes examining all the continents. He touched the hammer, and it felt like a hammer. It wasn't some sort of shape shifted kunai or shuriken. Untying the knot, the old man pulled open the bag and took out a small red radish. "Radishes, or is that illegal to take?" He tied the bag quickly, and put it carefully to the side. The other two bags were opened and search, with nothing out of the ordinary found. Sighing, they apologized to the old man for having troubled them.

With a certain difficulty, the traveler took his proper seat and yanked the rein to the mule. It took off at once with the old man grunting something about Leaf being inadequate, slacking, and naïve.

And something about a Karasu.

----

"I humbly ask their release."

Baki didn't believe his request would be out of the question. After all, Temari, Kankurou, and Gaara were the Kazekage's children, and it could be expected, with certainty, that their release was favorable after the negotiations took place. But the two elder Leafs stared at him gravely, both their wrinkled faces looking at him as though he had said something that should have been kept quiet.

"I'm afraid that would be out of the question."

"With all due respects, elders, they are the Kazekage's children, representing the power and will of the Yondaime Kazekage, and not only that but the strength and nobility of the past Kazekage's and the Wind Country. Holding his children hostage, will only distress the spirit of the Kazekage, and our own people."

He didn't know if that last part was true, especially when Gaara came into mind, but still his students were almost considered nobility in Suna, and he had to use that as an advantage.

"I am aware that they are considered 'royalty,'" Homaru stated, adding almost a sort of sarcasm to the word, 'royalty.' He took a breath of air, whizzing a bit—due to his ever decaying health that comes of old age—before continuing. "However, as I see it, the Kazekage never took any interest in his children. I've seen the missions they were assigned, and to me, it seems as though he gave them the most difficult missions in his disposal. So I see why the Kazekage's wishes would be any different in death."

They uttered other things, but each word only upset him even more. He felt his hands curl into fist. A sort of anger overfilled Baki, knowing exactly where this was going. Konoha was resorting to keeping them as hostages. Any form of treachery, any sign of displeasure would boast their confidence and remind Suna that they are in control of the lives of the Kazekage's children. He never thought this could ever happen. Suna's best, holding highly reputations and excellent skills, be reduced to this? Relay on the will of the enemy? He would have laughed, if someone told him this was going to happened. But it was happening now, and he didn't think it was funny.

"The negotiations shall be breach if the Kazekage's children are not released… and the council of Sunagakure will consider this as kidnapping, and will act accordingly."

Again he didn't believe any of his words, especially when Gaara came into mind. Knowing the council, they would have agreed completely with keeping them imprisoned. They would try to release Kankurou and Temari, maybe, but as for Gaara, this would be a chance to wipe their hands off a problem that had plagued the village. But that wasn't the point. The point was that he seemed to have shaken the two council members.

Time seemed to have frozen.

Homura stared at him disbelieving, not even daring to believe that a war will be fought over three children. Konaru took the same action as her colleague, however she began to laughed bitterly, earning Baki to glance upon her in bewilderment. She laughed at some unsaid joke, for a few seconds, and then her face returned to its seriousness.

"The fact is your students have escaped from Konoha Strict Correctional Facility."

"All three?" He asked incredulous.

"Yes, they've all escape," Homaru continued seeing the shock on his face. "Two of our guards are dead, and there are many injured, including our ANBU. You have excellent students, Baki. But I'm afraid because of their violent behavior; they shall be taken to custody."

A day had passed since this talk, but still Baki was as shocked as ever. Temari, Kankurou, and Gaara had escaped, and not only that but they had managed to injure members of the ANBU? He knew they had strength, but he certainly didn't think they could have something like this. It must have been Gaara. He thought, but what surprised him a bit, was that all three of them managed to escape. He had almost assumed that it might have been Gaara, who escaped by himself, or Temari and Kankurou that escaped together, but the fact was that they all escaped together.

He didn't even know whether he should feel proud of his students for their increase in strength, or become angry at them for causing all this unnecessary trouble.

The jounin took a turn down the streets, already noticing that most of the buildings were rebuilt, and that the village was slowly coming back to life. He only wished that would be true for his village. Suna was in complete chaos with suspicion written everywhere. People were bewildered that someone could have impersonated the Kazekage, now there was a general fear that any one could be a charlatan. But the greatest commotion was the next successor as Kazekage. Unlike other villages, the title of Kazekage was lineage given to the oldest male, which would explain why the Kazekage ordered extensive training for his two older children.

That meant that Kankurou was to be the Godaime Kazekage. He laughed at the idea. Kankurou played too much, and would never take the role seriously, apparently the council thought the same, since they began to look back to the family tree.

Thoughts were put to a stop, as Baki noticed people running to the direction he was going to. That wouldn't have been strange, but the idea was that it was too early in the morning—for Leafs that is—to have people running about the place. Something must have happened, and at once his question was answered.

The street, where he was residing, was littered with curious bystanders, all whispering urgently and pointing to a large broken window. His sharp eyes gazed to the view, noticing glass splattered everywhere… and most importantly in his room. In a flash, he ran into the building, ignoring the shouts behind him urging him to stay, he sprung up the steps, stopping briefly at the reception. A few women were sobbing together, huddled and shaking in fear. To his left a few men talked amongst each other, while a shinobi scribbled something down.

"Hey you!" The shinobi said finally noticing Baki. He yelled something behind him, as he continued to make his way, but Baki didn't listen. Approaching the fourth floor, the Sand jounin hid behind the wall, quickly pulling out a mirror from within his pouch. The reflection of the mirror showed no one in sight, and so he ran full speed toward apartment 9, where he was currently staying at.

Broken pieces of wood, covered the carpeted hall, and he noted that the door had been torn, the doorknob thrown to the side, with the number 9 thrown to the opposite side. He entered warily, noting that a katana must have cut this door, and the size and height of the individual. Inside he saw further evidence to support his theory.

The sofa that had large cuts, and a few tables were complete destroyed. Papers were thrown about the place with a bookshelf tipped over. The window in front of him was broken, and bits of sand sprinkled on the countertops and floor. He saw a body, under the rubble of wood of a table turned over, a blotch of blood trickling down the side of his face. In an instant, Baki dashed toward him.

"What happened?" He asked, voice shaking with anger that someone could have done this to his own kind. They were here on a diplomatic mission, and had no ill intentions at all.

"Leaf wants war, Baki-san," he croaked, finding it too difficult to speak.

"What?" He asked still as confused.

"An assassin…. There's an assassin after you."

---

The wind blew softly, as a certain rustle in the air stirred the air, increasing as the morning sun rose. Gaara stood calmly watching, the sun rise, awaking the earth from its slumber into a fresh day. To an insomniac, time had no meaning; it was merely a unit of measurement. There were even some moments when he diffused days together, since they just seemed so long and tedious. But these last few days he had counted the number of times the sun rose. And today's was three.

It's been three days, since Kankurou left. And for the first time in his life, Gaara wondered what had happened to him. He fiddled for the moment that he might have been dead, captured by Konoha, or else collapsed under the tremendous pressure he put on himself. Gaara had noticed all of Kankurou's wounds, and a sort of fatigue, probably from a lack of food and sleep, over the older boy. Still he didn't think ill of him as before. Seeing his affectionate behavior and action toward Temari made him rethink about the way he looked at Kankurou, and made him realize that bonds could be made even in the most unlikely characters.

Love had never existed in his blood and flesh. Yashumaru had put on a good mask, but in the end he hated him, just like all the others. Kazekage-sama couldn't stand looking at him. And as for Kankurou and Temari, there was always arguing and insults with each other, followed by the terror that crept onto them when they saw Gaara. No one said it, and he could still remember the shock face that appeared on Kankurou's face when he asked him if he loved Temari.

…Until now he believed that, but apparently love did exist within his kin. It was just a shy thing that hid very well, and poked its head out occasionally. But he supposed that words were sometimes not important.

His eyes stared down at the sleeping Temari, the person that was so precious and dear to Kankurou. She hadn't awoken, but at least her fever wasn't as bad as before though the way she kept stirring and muttering random things, gave Gaara the impression that she was fighting a battle within herself. Delicately, he brushed away the yellow bangs that stuck on her forehead, and removed the wet cloth for another one.

She seemed so vulnerable, just now, wet and sick. It made him… it made him think about the fragility of life, and how he had been in Temari's state a few weeks ago. Perhaps, that was the closest he had ever been to death, and he thought considerably about it ever since his encounter with Uzumaki the meaning of his existence.

Love only yourself, and fight only for yourself.

Gaara had believed that this was the meaning of his existence. But now… he wasn't even sure anymore. What was the true meaning of his existence? Was he just a tool that could love no one else? No. Uzuamki Naruto was also a tool, and yet he found friends and love. It was possible, was it, for a person to have been feared so much and hated to possibly find love, and be needed by others? These same questions continued to fill his mind for the last weeks. And he was still stuck, still clueless.

He jerked his head suddenly. The sand feeling the footsteps of people walking some distance. He didn't know why, but he found himself running toward those two people, and he knew he shouldn't leave Temari alone, but he just had to see. He reached the branch of an old tree, and gazing down he saw two travelers walking down the dirt road. One was an old man with a long bush of white hair, while the other was a boy dressed in orange and bright blond hair. He walked sluggish, and kept rubbing his eyes.

"Gomen, I don't know why we had to wake up so early."

"Surely, you didn't expect we'd be going on some vacation or something? We need to find Tsunade as soon as possible."

"Yeah I know," he said not bothering to hide back a yawn. It looked as though he suddenly remembered something since he looked at the older man, eyes shining brightly. "Hey Ero-senin, when are you going to teach me that new jutsu?"

The old man sighed, muttering something about annoying brats, but quickly made an excuse that he would teach him in well time. The blond smiled happily, and started off in a prance, becoming much more alert now then he was a few minutes ago.

"Uzumaki Naruto," Gaara said green eyes staring carefully at the boy that taught him so much. "I think I understand…" he said despite the fact that the boy was too busy parading about the place, and not listening to the shouts of his teacher. "I think I… understand… what love is…if only a little. But I will keep trying."

"Huh?" the blond said looking behind him, only to see an empty tree branch.

"What's wrong?"

"I thought I heard my name," he said confusedly.

"Bah, alright we'll stop in the next town if your hearing things! Now hurry up!"

"Hey Ero-senin, wait for me!"

The wind blew, then, scattering green leaves and gold grains of sand.

--Mel