A/N: At the request of RedEye00, I meant to include an omake at the end of this chapter which would feature the fights in the final tournament that got canceled because of the invasion. This chapter ran longer than I expected, however, so I decided to postpone writing the omake and put this chapter up instead. I'm still determined to write those fights, but it won't happen until next chapter, unless that one ends up being really long as well. Whenever the omake ends up happening, it will consist of the fights between Hinata and Naruto, and Ino and Shino. Once again, thanks to RedEye00 for the idea: I really wanted to write those fights, but I couldn't fit them in before the invasion started. I'm excited to share them with you as I envisioned them.
But to come back to this chapter, there's a lot less fighting, and a little more character development. We're getting very close to the end now: the Sasuke Retrieval Arc will be a two-chapter finale bringing the story to a close. I hope you enjoy and review!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
Chapter 19: A Fragile Hope
There was much to do in Konoha following the invasion. First, and most importantly, there was a memorial service honoring the brave men and women who had perished during the fighting. All of the shinobi, from the newest genin to the strongest jonin, attended the service. They wore long, black robes of mourning, and listened to the Hokage speak about their comrades' sacrifice.
Shikamaru looked hard at all of the faces, imprinting them on his memory. There was no one that he had known, but any one of them could have been Ino, or Asuma, or Choji. His throat tightened. He had to look to either side, just to reassure himself that his team was with him, and that they were safe. Choji was in the hospital, of course, but Asuma and Ino were standing shoulder to shoulder with him.
In the days following the service the reconstruction of the village began. It was a gradual process, involving many D-rank repair missions performed for no pay. Team 10, temporarily Choji-less, spent most of their time rebuilding houses that had been destroyed by Oto shinobi's mindless acts of violence, and stocking shelves full of medical supplies and non-perishable food. Often they ran into other teams of shinobi, mostly genin and chunin, and they would talk to each other, introducing themselves and getting to know their comrades.
It was a sad time, because the extent of the damage that the village had suffered was not insignificant. But it was also a time of hope. Konoha was unbroken, and as strong as ever - once the reconstruction finished, there would be no signs of the deadly struggle that had taken place both inside and outside its walls.
No signs except, of course, for the changed mindset of all the shinobi within. There had been peace for many, many years - only the older generation remembered what it was like to be at war. Now everyone knew that there was nothing about Konoha that was invincible. They could be drawn into war just like any other village, and once in battle nothing said they couldn't lose. It was a frightening revelation for many of the younger shinobi, many of whom had welcomed the idea of a life of danger, but were only now realizing exactly what that meant.
There were a few bright moments in the gloomy, overcast sky of reconstruction. For one, Shikamaru made chunin. As one of his final official acts the Sandaime Hokage promoted Shikamaru, summoning him to his study along with his father, Shikaku.
"You warned us about Kabuto," the Hokage had said, "allowing us to discover Orochimaru's plans. You performed excellently in the Chunin Exams themselves, and might have gone on to win the entire thing if not for the… unfortunate interruption. And you carried out an A-rank mission with no permanent casualties, even managing to capture the Kazekage's children in the process. I'd promote you for any of those accomplishments, but taking all of them into account I'd be insane not to make you a chunin."
Shikamaru had accepted his flak jacket with grave ceremony, and bowed deeply to the Hokage. "Hokage-sama," he had ventured, "if I may. You say I did three things that qualified me for chunin. But Choji performed just as well as I did in the Exams, and Ino would have if the matches hadn't been canceled. And during our mission, it was Choji and Ino who beat Gaara, not me. If I deserve to be made chunin, they do as well."
Shikamaru, who had been silently observing the whole time, had fairly burst with pride at his son's declaration of trust in his teammates.
And so, by the word of the Hokage, all three genin on Team 10 were genin no more. The newly appointed chunin were assigned together under Asuma, and their squad changed from Team 10 to Team Asuma. They didn't go on missions together, though, at least not during village reconstruction. Choji was still recovering in the hospital, and Asuma was frequently out of the village.
Most of the jonin ended up leaving, doing reconnaissance missions and carrying out diplomatic exchanges with the other shinobi villages. Shikamaru knew the reason, and explained it to his teammates. In the aftermath of an attack, all of the other Kages would be wondering whether Konoha was vulnerable. Especially the Tsuchikage, who held little love for Konoha after the late war. It was the job of Konoha's elite jonin to deliver the Hokage's message that Konoha was, and would remain to be, healthy and strong. And it was also up to jonin to determine through stealth that none of the other villages would try any covert counter-attacks or counter-espionage to test Konoha's defenses.
Therefore, in the weeks following the attack, Konoha's jonin were kept on a tight rotation of some very interesting and demanding missions. Meanwhile, the genin and the chunin got to put up new fences, repair and repaint houses, and generally do drudge work for the good of the village.
There was some excitement, however. In the absence of Asuma-sensei, it was up to Shikamaru and Ino to decide how they wanted to train. They had more than enough to work on by themselves, but they also took advantage of the free time to seek out the other Konoha genin and train with them. If there was anything that Shikamaru had learned from his mission, it was that knowing the strengths of your comrades was extremely important. The shinobi you were fighting with might hold a secret that would mean the difference between life and death. Naruto and, surprisingly, Hinata, had shown Shikamaru exactly that. Their strengths had taken him by surprise, which meant that as a leader he hadn't been prepared.
In the future, though, Shikamaru would fight alongside Naruto and Hinata any chance he got. He knew they wouldn't let him down. Shikamaru made it his goal to spar with every Konoha genin in his year, pushing them until he felt he had a good idea of what they could accomplish.
The excitement was more than just sparring, however. There was a constant flow of visitors in and out of the village. Ambassadors from other villages arrived, just as Konoha was sending its own ambassadors away. And there was an almost constant presence of a select few Suna shinobi in Konoha - it was the acting Kazekage, Baki, who was fulfilling his role as head negotiator in Suna's surrender.
Normally genin wouldn't be allowed to know what was going on in such high-level negotiations, but Shikamaru's father trusted him not to say anything to the wrong people. So Shikamaru learned that Suna had discovered the dead body of its Kazekage, and after being betrayed by Orochimaru they had thrown themselves on the Hokage's mercy. And he had been merciful, since it was very much in Konoha's interest.
It would have been within Sarutobi's rights to demand compensation, or even the deaths of any Suna shinobi who had participated in planning the invasion. Apparently that's what Baki had been expecting, and the stocky Suna shinobi had been amazed to find that the Hokage wasn't going to order his death. Rather than beggar Suna by demanding large tributes of gold or lives, Sarutobi took the opportunity to create a binding mutual self-defense treaty. And the forces of Suna, who had been expecting harsh retribution, found themselves with a new ally that had proven to be far more merciful, and far more reliable, than Otogakure. None of the Suna shinobi was more determined to repay Konoha for its kindness than Baki.
Of course, the Hokage had taken precautions to ensure that the negotiations would go smoothly. The Kazekage's children, who had been taken to the hospital following their defeat, were kept in isolation "until their recovery." The message was clear - if Suna didn't cooperate, they might lose the remainder of the Kazekage's family, and their best hope for continuity in their government. But even that bit of political maneuvering seemed to benefit Suna, as the famous Toad-Sage Jiraiya agreed to examine the seal that trapped Shukaku within Gaara. At the end of the negotiations, Suna would get back all three children of their old leader, and their greatest weapon would now have greater control over his Tailed Beast. It was little wonder that Baki, normally a stoic warrior who cared for little except the safety of his village, regarded the Third Hokage with reverence bordering on awe.
Near the end of negotiations, Sarutobi stepped down from his post. He sent out an official memo to all of the shinobi of the village, and his student, the Sannin Tsunade, became the Godaime Hokage. There was a day-long holiday full of feasting and song, when even the tedious D-rank missions were put on hold to properly celebrate the peaceful transition of power into Tsunade's hands.
Time passed by tranquilly as life in the village gradually regained some semblance of normalcy. Even if it was a bit boring, no one was likely to complain. Boredom, most shinobi would have said, meant that no one was trying to kill you.
The only exceptions to this happy attitude were Choji and Sasuke. Choji was recovering as quickly as could be expected, given how narrowly he had cheated death. Not even Tsunade could make him fit for duty in a day. And so Choji sat in a hospital bed, performing only the least strenuous chakra control exercises and eating food to regain his size and strength. Needless to say he was cranky, though "cranky" for the mild-tempered boy was not very intimidating.
The last Uchiha, however, was noticeably surlier than usual. He had not acknowledged any of the genin that had saved him from Gaara in the forest, only grunting and turning away when anyone tried to talk to him. Shikamaru tried to understand – he knew Sasuke was proud, and someone with as much faith in his own ability as Sasuke must not have appreciated being shown up by genin he had always considered as below him.
But it seemed that Sasuke's problems went deeper than that. He threw himself into training with a frenzy, becoming even more silent and remaining unresponsive to all of Sakura and Naruto's efforts to draw him out of his shell. He became more competitive, especially with Naruto, and walked around as if he was shrouded by some dark cloud.
Shikamaru didn't know what was riding the Uchiha, but he hoped that Sasuke would snap out of it soon. Maybe when Kakashi returned to the village, he could take his genin in hand. But until that time, Shikamaru and all the rest of the genin just avoided Sasuke as much as possible.
oOoOo
Ino found that the relatively large amount of free time she now possessed afforded quite a bit of time for thinking. She thought about a lot of things: her training, her team, her friends. But there was something else that kept popping up in her mind, even though she tried hard to resist. It was guilt.
The guilt stemmed from Ino's fight with Gaara, when she had manipulated him by using his memories to play off of his desperate yearning for friendship. She hadn't had a choice, but still Ino couldn't forget the child's face that Gaara had worn in his dream. He had worn such a heartbreaking expression of hope, and in the end his hope had won out against his suspicion. But Gaara had been right to be suspicious – after all, Ino had been trying to trick him.
She made no apologies for helping her team. They were her family, and her best friends in the world. But after spending so long inside his mind, Ino felt like she knew Gaara almost as well. And so her own actions kept on replaying in her mind, and she couldn't shake the sense that she had been as cruel towards Gaara as any of those children who'd refused to play with him. She'd been every bit as cold-hearted as the man she'd seen in Gaara's memories, the one who pretended to be Gaara's friend before trying to kill him.
Ino tried to keep her guilt hidden from her friends and family; she wasn't sure that they would understand. But she couldn't suppress it entirely, and it would crop up at the most awkward moments.
One morning, Ino was eating breakfast at the table with her father, when she had a particularly strong flashback of the fight. It was like getting punched in the stomach, and she couldn't avoid a small flinch. Her father, observant as always, noticed her twitch but didn't immediately comment. Instead, he politely focused on his own food, until he sensed that Ino had herself under control again.
"You know," Inoichi began, his voice determinedly casual, "at the last clan meeting, the Elders considered giving you a medal."
"What?" Ino asked. She had been expecting her father to ask what was wrong with her, so she was taken by surprise when he didn't, and had trouble making sense of what he'd said.
Inoichi nodded, smiling a little, as if he couldn't help it. "They're calling you the next Yamanaka genius. You're the youngest member of our clan to use such an advanced mind-reading jutsu, and you did it with only a few months' training."
Ino blushed, but hearing the praise from her relatives cheered her up immensely. If she'd been with Shikamaru and Choji, she would have reacted in a fashion considerably less mature, but since her father was there she only bowed her head humbly. "I'm honored to hear them say that," she answered, "but the student's success is nothing more than the teacher's skill."
Inoichi's mouth quirked upward wryly. "As the teacher, I'm going to choose to believe that you're sincere. Anyway, they asked me what I thought, but I said I couldn't be part of the process because I was biased in your favor. Still, at the next clan meeting I think you can expect some kind of recognition."
For a moment, Ino enjoyed the image of the Yamanaka elders presenting her with some shiny medal. The pleasure wore off quickly, though. What would she do with a medal once she had it? It would just gather dust.
More importantly, what did it matter if her clan thought she was a genius? A genius could still die in battle, and getting a swelled head would kill Ino quicker than anything else. Ino resolved that she was going to train harder than ever, not only with her clan's techniques, but also with the genjutsu training she had with Kurenai, and the ninjutsu techniques that she was steadily improving thanks to Asuma's guidance.
Ino's father wasn't done speaking yet, however. "I was a little worried, I'll admit," he said after a second. "When I told you that manipulating minds was dangerous, I wasn't exaggerating. And although I accept that you didn't have any choice, that doesn't mean that the dangers were any less. I remember my first probe into an enemy's mind, and I still carry the mental scars to this day. I don't think I'll ever forget the experience. I know you don't want your parents fussing over you, but I just want you to know that if you've been hurt by your mission, I hope you can confide in me."
Ino looked very carefully at her cereal. "I wasn't hurt, Dad. Not like Choji."
Her father's voice was sad, and resonated with the truth of experience. "There are more injuries than just the visible kind, Ino, and the injuries you can't see are often the ones that hurt most and last longest. But I won't lecture you any more, at least not while you're eating. Just know this, Ino: I am so proud of you. Your mother is, too. And you can tell us anything, if there's ever anything to tell."
Ino felt a little choked up, and started fiddling with her spoon to regain control over her emotions. Father and daughter ate in silence for a while, but finally the weight of Ino's guilt couldn't be contained any more.
It was like a dam burst, and everything poured out in a torrent. Ino told her father everything: she described her journey through Gaara's mind, and her eventual plan to wake Gaara up so that Naruto could defeat him. She explained her confusion and her guilt. Through it all, Inoichi only listened.
When Ino was finished, her father got up from the table and enveloped his daughter in a bone-crushing hug. "Ino," he said, sounding a little choked up himself, "I don't care if you're a genius or not – I'm prouder of you right now, than if you were more talented than the Third Hokage himself. What you've just told me is proof that your heart is in the right place. Even with everything that you've faced, you still have compassion. You can see past the outward appearance, behind the symbol of an enemy's hitai-ite, and recognize the person underneath. That compassion is something that no shinobi should be without – we must have the courage to protect our village, but we can't lose sight of others' humanity. The second we do, we become monsters, mindless killing machines with no purpose other than slaughter."
Ino drew comfort from her father's words, just as much as she drew strength and support from his embrace. She looked up at him, hardly daring to accept what he was telling her. "So it's ok that I feel this way? That I feel terrible about tricking my enemy? Gaara was trying to kill my friends, but I still hesitated when I thought that he might get hurt."
"But you didn't falter," Inoichi pointed out. "You did what you had to do. You felt compassion for an enemy, but you still carried out your duty. And look at what happened: not only are your friends still alive, but Gaara is, too. And now Konoha is creating a peace treaty with Suna. Do you know what that means, Ino? Among other things, it means that Gaara is no longer your enemy."
Inoichi hesitated before coming to a decision. He lowered his voice a little, and leaned his head closer so he could speak softly. "And I shouldn't be telling you this, but I trust you not to repeat it. Gaara and his siblings are still in the hospital, recovering. If you feel bad about what you did, maybe you could talk to him about it."
At first Ino shrank away, but the more she thought about it she wanted to speak once more with Gaara. He might never forgive her, but at least she could explain why she had tricked him. And she could say that while it had been a deception at the time, her offer of friendship still remained. When she realized that it was actually true, that she wanted to be Gaara's friend, Ino decided that she absolutely had to go to Konoha hospital later that day. She nodded resolutely to herself, her mind rapidly devising a plan.
She looked at her father, a glint sparkling in her eye. "You know," she began, deliberately casual, "Shikamaru and I visit Choji almost every day. I suppose it wouldn't be strange to take a trip to the hospital today. And if I were to get lost, say, and wander around for a bit, there's no telling what – or who – I might find. And if somehow I ran into someone, like a recovering genin from Suna, for example… why, it would only be good manners to talk with him, as a sign of my determination to improve the relationship between our two villages."
Inoichi watched his daughter fondly. Even now, she was thinking about how to keep anyone at the hospital from realizing that he had told her about the Kazekage's children. She was trying to protect him, even while she was hoping to make friends with someone who had once been her bitter enemy.
When did she grow up so much? Inoichi wondered, feeling slightly sad. His once brash daughter was now a confident, skilled shinobi, whose compassion and humanity both inspired and humbled him. I wish I could take credit for the transformation, but she did it all herself.
Inoichi maintained a straight face, continuing his daughter's charade. "That is completely logical, and in no way suspicious," he assured her. "And if you happen to run into anyone interesting at the hospital, please give them my wishes for a speedy recovery."
"Will do, Dad." Ino smiled shyly at her father, a little self-conscious about her sudden sentimentality. "And… thanks. For everything."
She stayed at the table just long enough to finish her cereal, and then ran off in search of Shikamaru. When she found him, they would go together to the hospital.
oOoOo
Gaara normally felt slightly disconnected to reality. Mother's voice, the whispering of the demon inside him, colored every interaction he had with other people, making the outside world seem strange and inaccessible. But never, in all his twelve years of living, had Gaara felt less in tune with his surroundings than he was now.
Staying in the Konoha hospital was like a dream. Everything that happened was so strange and unbelievable that in the end, the only thing to be done was to accept it. Gaara found himself composing lists of facts in his mind, an attempt to understand what was true and what was not. And the list was so shocking that Gaara felt as though he had been dropped into an unfamiliar world, where nothing he had believed to be true actually was.
Fact: he had been defeated. Fact: the shinobi who had defeated him had not killed him. Fact: that same shinobi, a blond genin named Naruto, had a demon inside him as well. Fact: Naruto fought to protect his friends. Fact: Naruto wanted, or said he wanted, to be friends with Gaara. But thinking about Naruto was so confusing, Gaara had to put that particular line of thought on hold.
Of course, the other list he had compiled was even less plausible. First and foremost on that list was the fact that, for the first time ever, Gaara was not vulnerable to Mother's voice invading his mind with its constant thirst for blood and destruction. Thanks to a weird-looking shinobi with white hair and a red outfit, Gaara had a new seal restraining his demon. And it seemed to be working. Gaara was alone in his own mind, and the relief he felt was like that of a blind man who miraculously learns to see, or the man dying of thirst who comes across an oasis in the desert.
And Gaara was beginning to convince himself that his siblings, who were his teammates and related by blood, might actually feel some measure of compassion for him. When he had woken up in the hospital, confused and disoriented, it had been Temari and Kankuro that he saw first. Temari had been crying tears of relief, and Kankuro had overcome his fear of Gaara enough to pat him awkwardly on the back and say, sincerely, that he was glad Gaara had woken up. With Baki's news that the Kazekage was dead, Gaara's siblings became the only family he had left.
His time in the hospital was strange and miraculous. After Jiraiya's visit, and his help with the seal restraining Gaara's demon, Gaara had been able to really talk to his siblings. He learned more about them, and more about himself. And after a bewildering visit from Naruto, of all people, Gaara began to hope, tentatively at first but then with more and more confidence, that his future held more than death and darkness.
There was one last thing that Gaara couldn't explain, and that was his memory of the fight against Naruto and the other Konoha shinobi. He didn't remember much of the fight, because he had already been transforming when the Konoha squad had arrived. In fact, he couldn't remember any of their faces, with the exception of Naruto. The entire fight was a blur, with two exceptions.
The first exception was when he had woken up, when Naruto defeated him and told Gaara why he fought so hard to protect his friends. And the second exception was his dream – the dream he had been in the middle of before waking up to be defeated by Naruto. Here, Gaara could remember everything that had happened; every detail of the dream was printed indelibly on his memory, like the names carved into the Konoha memorial stone.
He remembered the courtyard, the fountain… and the girl. He remembered her blond hair, her kind eyes – everything down to the baggy elbow warmers that she had worn. And he remembered what she said to him, about searching for friends. It had been because of that girl that Gaara had forced himself out of his Feigned Sleep jutsu, and had temporarily broken Shukaku's hold on him. And while it had led to Gaara's defeat at Naruto's hands, Gaara wouldn't have changed the outcome of that fight for the world. Everything had changed for the better, at the exact moment that Gaara had listened to the strange little girl instead of clinging to his defense mechanism of pushing the world away before it had a chance to hurt him.
Gaara hadn't told his siblings about the girl from his dream. He wasn't yet quite used to the new connection he had with Temari and Kankuro – he didn't want to strain it with wild tales of a girl appearing to him and telling him about how his siblings had fought for him. Sometimes Gaara thought she was nothing more than a figment of his imagination, or some part of his subconscious that still hadn't given up on the image of friendship and love. But if she was just a figment, how had she known about Temari and Kankuro fighting to save him? Gaara himself hadn't known until he talked to Temari and Kankuro about the fight, days later in the hospital.
It was a mystery, and Gaara could only chalk it up as one more miraculous thing that had happened to him since he came to Konoha. That is, until one day a few weeks after his defeat, when the girl from his dream came into his hospital room.
There was a boy with her, a dark-haired chunin with a spiky ponytail and a casual slouch. But from the moment they entered, Gaara had eyes only for the girl. She was years older than the girl from his dream, taller and more athletic, but her eyes were the same. It was, without question, the mystery girl.
"You!" he blurted out, not realizing how strange it would sound to the other shinobi in the room. The boy looked unsurprised, but from their respective beds, both Kankuro and Temari were giving Gaara strange looks.
The girl nodded, seeming apprehensive yet at the same time determined. "Me."
Gaara didn't know where to start – he had so many questions he wanted to ask. He opened his mouth, about to say something (he wasn't sure what), when the guy stepped forward and cleared his throat.
"Sorry to interrupt, guys. I'm Shikamaru. I was told that Temari and Kankuro are allowed to leave the room, if supervised by a chunin or higher. Would you two care for a walk? Want to stretch your legs, that sort of thing? I was hoping to pick your brains about what it's like to be a shinobi of Suna."
Gaara noted that Temari was glaring at the newcomer with the look she normally reserved for Kankuro at his most annoying. But then she looked from Gaara to the girl, and her frustration softened for a second. "We'd be happy to," she growled to Shikamaru, enunciating her words as if issuing a challenge. "Come on, Kankuro, let's go with pineapple-head."
"What?" Kankuro said, completely confused. "I don't get it. Why do we have to leave?"
Temari jumped off her bed, and whacked Kankuro on the head with her fan. He rubbed his head indignantly, and scowled at her.
"Because I say so, dimwit!" she retorted. She dragged Kankuro to the door, glaring daggers at Shikamaru the whole way. A second later the trio was gone, leaving Gaara alone with the girl.
"You're the girl from my dream," Gaara said at last.
The girl nodded, which caused her blond hair fall over one shoulder. "Yes. I'm Ino, from the Yamanaka clan. I was part of the team sent after Uchiha Sasuke."
Gaara listened to Ino as she explained about her mind-reading powers, and how she had been responsible for waking him when he had surrendered control over to Shukaku. She told him about her journey through his mind, and how she had felt about deceiving him. Gaara was having trouble reconciling the memory of the younger Ino with the genin before him, but as she talked he remembered brief flashes from the Chunin Exams. He vaguely recalled Ino's fight against Sakura, and her use of genjutsu. By the end of her tale, Gaara accepted it all.
"That's the whole story," Ino concluded. "I just wanted to see you again, to apologize for what I did. I hope you can come to forgive me, even if you don't want to be friends."
Gaara blinked at the word "friends." He marshaled his mental faculties, because there was something he wanted to say. He was extremely out of practice at articulating his feelings, so he wanted to make sure that he didn't screw this up.
"Ino," he began, "I accept your apology, but it's not necessary. I'm glad you tricked me. If you hadn't, I would never have learned how my siblings really felt about me. I would never have met Jiraiya, and he would never have fixed the seal on my demon. I would never have met Naruto, and learned that it was possible for… someone like me, to have friends. You did that for me – well, you and Naruto. Together, the two of you did more than save my life. I think you saved my soul."
Gaara kept his eyes trained on Ino's, trying to convey his sincerity and his gratitude. Ino blushed slightly, and ducked her head. "I… um, thanks. I'm glad you're not angry. I never wanted to be like the people who hated you because of something you couldn't control."
Gaara nodded his head, smiling ruefully. "Naruto said the same thing. He visited me almost as soon as I woke up. He was very… forceful… in his opinions. I think that if I'd said I didn't want to be friends, he would have fought me again, until I changed my mind. Now, I'm still adjusting to a lot of things. Everything's new and different, most of all myself. But I've learned one thing for sure – I like having friends. My brother and sister, Naruto… I almost can't believe they'd be friends with someone like me, but I'm going to do everything I can to keep them safe. And if you, you who have seen the deepest, darkest parts of my mind, still want to be my friend… well, I'd be honored. And I'd do my best always to be worthy of that friendship."
Gaara took a deep breath. That was the longest speech he'd ever made, and he was worried that he'd messed it up. But it felt good to get all that out into the open, and Ino was smiling happily.
She walked over to his bed, and stuck out her hand. "Friends, then?"
Gaara shook hands with her solemnly. "Friends. For myself, and on behalf of my brother and sister, I want to thank you for everything you've done, both for us and for our village. If there's anything I can ever do for you, whether as a friend or as a representative of Sunagakure, consider it done. I owe you more than I can ever repay."
Ino waved her hands in embarrassment. "No, you don't." Then a glint entered her eye, and she grinned wickedly. "But I'll keep it in mind. You never know when some extra help might come in handy on the battlefield. And here's something I know for sure – I'd much rather have you on our side than the enemy's!"
For a while, Ino and Gaara stayed in the hospital room and talked. As they talked, they shinobi from once-hostile villages, and became something else entirely: two friends.
oOoOo
Out in the hallway, Shikamaru was regretting his noble impulse to give Ino some privacy. Temari was maintaining a stony silence, and Kankuro kept shooting him suspicious glances, as if waiting for him to attack them again.
Shikamaru led them to Choji's room, where he hoped his talkative teammate could soften the mood somewhat. Kankuro went in, actually excited to talk shop with Choji. He had seen the Akimichi's fight against Neji, and he wanted to talk about how he had prepared to defeat the Hyuga genius. Choji was more than happy to talk – even though Shikamaru and Ino visited often, Choji was desperate for more conversation and activity. Soon the puppet-user and the injured Akimichi were chatting away, discussing aspects of their respective fighting styles.
But Temari stayed out in the hallway, and after a few seconds Shikamaru yielded to temptation and followed her out. He felt that there was some unfinished business between the two of them, even if Temari wasn't prepared to acknowledge it.
Temari was walking along the hallway, and stopped when she came to a railing that overlooked the hospital courtyard. She leaned on the railing, looking down at the grassy, open area, where some recovering patients were enjoying the fresh air. Shikamaru walked slowly, not muffling his footsteps so that she would sense his approach.
"What do you want?" she demanded crossly, without turning around.
"I was hoping to talk," Shikamaru answered honestly. He'd actually been extremely happy when Ino had proposed her plan of talking to Gaara. It gave him the chance to say a few words to Temari. Even though they had hardly interacted during the Exams, he felt a kind of connection to her. Maybe it was because she'd always seemed to be a step ahead of her competitors, or maybe it was the spark in her eyes that he'd seen a few times. Whatever it was, Shikamaru appreciated the chance to see her before she left for Suna.
Temari tossed her head crossly. "Ok – talk."
"How's Gaara doing? I heard the Sannin Jiraiya was brought in to try and give him more control over his demon."
At the mention of her brother, Temari visibly brightened. She even forgot to scowl at Shikamaru. "He's doing much better. He talks to us now, and he says that he can only hear his demon when he's very tired or upset about something. And his control keeps getting better."
"That's good to hear," Shikamaru answered. "It seems that both our villages have cause for celebration."
The moment after the words escaped his mouth, he could have punched himself. Her father had only recently died, and here he was saying that she should be happy.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't think. Of course, I didn't mean…"
Temari looked at him tiredly. "Don't bother, you'll only put your foot in your mouth more than you already have. It's all right, though – I'm not offended. Our father was never what you'd call the nurturing sort. His real child was the village, and for its sake he sacrificed the three of us. I regret his death, but I don't grieve. And the new treaty with Konoha will do more good for Suna than my father ever did."
Shikamaru didn't know what to say to this depressing revelation. He couldn't imagine what his life would be like without his parents. His mother nagged and his father was often aggravating, but both would cheerfully dodge in front of a kunai that was meant for him. Hearing about Temari's father made Shikamaru more determined to cherish the love that existed between him and his parents.
"So, uh…" Shikamaru began, trying to change the subject. "No hard feelings about… before?"
Temari looked at him askance. "Which before?" she asked wryly. "The time when you humiliated me in the eyes of my village, and nearly burned me alive, or the time when your pet Uchiha knocked me out cold in the forest?"
Shikamaru grinned sheepishly, and scratched his neck idly. "I guess both."
"You didn't kill Gaara, so I guess we can call it even. I won't forgive Sasuke, though – I want a rematch with that little prick. If I hadn't been out of chakra thanks to our tournament match, that arrogant ass wouldn't have fared so well against me."
"I believe you," Shikamaru said, and meant it. He guessed that if Temari had been fighting to protect Gaara, and had been at full strength, she would have been more powerful than most of the Konoha genin, himself included. Former genin, Shikamaru corrected himself. Sometimes it was weird remembering that he was now a chunin.
Shikamaru paused, then decided he might as well follow his instincts. "You know, if you want a rematch, with Sasuke or anyone else, you'd have to come back to Konoha."
Temari turned around, settling her back against the railing. She stared levelly at Shikamaru for a second, and sighed. "That might not be so bad. Not for a while, though. It's too green here, and the trees block out the sun. But someday."
He kept his voice casual, suppressing the strange happiness that surfaced when she didn't dismiss the idea out of hand. "I'll hold you to that. Should we go collect your brother? I'm guessing Ino is finished talking to Gaara by now."
Temari nodded, and the two walked together back to Choji's room.
oOoOo
It was a month after the Invasion, and Konoha was doing as well as could be expected. The treaty with Sunagakure was complete, and the delegation had left Konoha, along with Gaara, Kankuro and Temari. The desert village was bound by a mutual defense clause to come to Konoha's aid whenever it might be required, but it was a price most Suna shinobi were only too happy to pay.
Tsunade was settling into her duties as Hokage, and finding that it was every bit as awful as she'd expected. There were mountains of paperwork, endless meetings, and a bottomless sea of complications. Juggling the different factions on Konoha's council turned out to be a procedure every bit as difficult and exhausting as a complex surgery. But Tsunade had never been a woman to be run over by a bunch of opinionated busybodies, so while she engaged in many private bouts of rage, she carried out her duties to the letter. And with Sarutobi always close by, she had someone whom she could always go to for advice.
That afternoon, Tsunade had managed to fall asleep in a pile of papers. A thin line of drool ran from the left corner of her mouth, turning the top report into a soggy mess. That was how her chunin guards found her, when they burst into her office like the Death God itself was after them.
"Hokage-sama!" they shouted. They did a comical double-take when they saw Tsunade was sleeping, but when she jerked her head up they both came to attention.
"What?" Tsunade asked, her head foggy with the remnants of sleep. "And before you say it, I wasn't sleeping. I was absorbing the information in these reports with the use of a new Water jutsu I invented…"
"We have more important things to worry about," Kotetsu said. "Uchiha Sasuke has left the village!"
Tsunade sat upright, her drowsiness disappearing instantly. "When and how?" she snapped. "Was he kidnapped?"
Her mind was already racing, formulating the best plan of action. She had tried to make sure that Sasuke stayed occupied until Kakashi returned, but apparently she hadn't been careful enough. Somehow, Orochimaru had gotten his hooks into the last Uchiha, and that meant trouble. The key question was why Sasuke had left: had he gone voluntarily, or did Orochimaru have some kind of hold on him? And more importantly, who should she send to bring him back?
"We learned of Uchiha's defection from Haruno Sakura," Kotetsu's partner, Izumo, said breathlessly. "She confronted him, but he wouldn't listen to her. Apparently he has become obsessed with power, and it has to do with his brother, Itachi."
"Of course it does," Tsunade said impatiently. "But right now, the only thing that matters is how to get him back. All of the jonin I would trust with this mission are away at the moment. It's going to have be chunin and lower."
Then an idea came to her. She wasn't entirely sure why it made her feel so confident, but Tsunade had learned to trust her instincts – except in gambling, of course.
Tsunade pointed a finger at Kotetsu. "Bring me Nara Shikamaru with all possible speed. Izumo, prepare the authorization for an A-rank mission to be led by Shikamaru. The objective will be to bring Sasuke back to the village, by any means necessary."
The two chunin bolted off to carry out their duties, and Tsunade was left alone in her office, thinking. She didn't have to wait long, however; within four minutes, Shikamaru arrived behind Kotetsu, a worried frown on his face.
"What's the matter, Hokage-sama?" he asked immediately.
Tsunade cut straight to the chase. "Sasuke's missing. I'm putting you in charge of retrieving him. We don't have much time, so I need you to assemble your team and leave within half an hour. You can take any of the Konoha genin you would like. None of the jonin are here, and I don't want any of the other chunin making trouble about taking orders from a youngster."
Shikamaru grimaced, but he didn't ask her to clarify anything, nor did he look surprised. He simply processed the information presented to him, and proceeded to come up with a plan. To Tsunade, it was scarily similar to watching Shikaku at work. Right then, Tsunade knew she had made the right choice.
"You said no other chunin," Shikamaru began, "but can I take Ino and Choji? I know their strengths better than anyone else's, and they'll follow my orders without question."
Tsunade nodded permission, then decided she might as well add her two cents. "Have you considered Naruto? He may seem unreliable, but he has my full confidence."
Shikamaru didn't even wait for her to finish before nodding. "Of course," he replied, "Naruto was first on my list. He saved all our butts against Gaara, and he knows Sasuke better than anyone. Except maybe for Sakura, but she's too emotionally compromised for this mission. That's four of us, making a full squad, but I think two would be better. Is Shino around?"
"No," Tsunade answered, "he's on a mission with his father. But if you're looking for a tracker, I know Kiba's in the village."
Shikamaru nodded decisively. "He'll do just fine. And if any of Orochimaru's goons show up to guide Sasuke, they'll probably leave traps to foil pursuers. The best way to avoid them will be to have good scouts. Can I have Hinata and Neji?"
"Do you want them both?" Tsunade asked, a little dubiously. "There's bad blood between the two of them, after all, and you don't want any complications on this mission."
"I trust their professionalism," Shikamaru said. "I trust Hinata more, but Neji will understand how important it is to bring Sasuke back to the village. Just to make sure, I think the final member of our squad should be Lee. He's been training harder than ever since his loss to Neji in the finals, and having a teammate with him might make Neji more manageable. The most important thing is that with two Hyugas instead of one, there won't be any blind spots in our perimeter. And that brings our total to eight – two full teams of four."
"Then that's settled." Tsunade gestured at Kotetsu and Izumo, who were standing in the background and pretending not to be listening. "Take the eavesdropping goons with you, to help locate the members of your squad. There's no time to lose."
Shikamaru bowed deeply. "As you command, Hokage-sama." He turned to the other two chunin, directing them with a casual assurance that seemed completely natural even though he was so young.
"I'll get Choji, Ino, and Naruto," he said briskly. "They'll be at our normal training ground – Choji's been pushing himself hard ever since he got out of the hospital. The two of you find the other four: Neji and Hinata might be at the Hyuga compound, while Lee is definitely training somewhere with Gai-sensei. I'm not sure where Kiba is, but possibly in the Inuzuka kennels or training with his sister. Give them their orders, and have them meet me in front of the Main Gate before the thirty minutes are up."
The three chunin sprinted off, away from the Tower and through the village, in search of the members of the Sasuke Retrieval Squad.
Alone once again, Tsunade steepled her fingers together and sat back down in her chair. It was one of the worst parts of her job that she had to stay in the village – she was far too valuable to risk herself going on missions. Already, Tsunade knew that more than anything else, more than the paperwork and the meetings and the underhanded dealings of council members, what she hated most was waiting. Waiting just like she had so many years before, only to hear that her beloved Dan had perished.
Well, this time she had her own work to do, regardless of what happened. She didn't have the luxury of running away any more. But she knew that the deaths of any of the shinobi under her protection would cut just as deep as either of her old losses.
Keep them safe, Shikamaru, Tsunade thought. Be the leader I know you can be, and bring them all back home.