"What is this?" Sakura wondered out loud, gazing at Gaara's nearly naked figure.

"It's a seal." Gaara answered flatly.

"I know that." Sakura snapped. It was obvious it was a seal, but she had never seen one quite like it. Gaara's entire body was covered in black symbols. Usually, once the seal had been set it faded away, like Naruto's curse seal, for example. "How long have you had it?" She asked, leaning closer to peer at the black lines.

"Four days." Gaara replied.

"Should I leave you two alone?" Tsunade asked, raising her eyebrow at Sakura. Sakura looked up at Tsunade blankly, and then turned her head and realized how close she was to Gaara's naked chest. She stood up abruptly and bowed to Gaara.

"My apologies." She said.

Maybe it was her imagination, but she could've sworn she saw a small grin on his face. "You're just doing your job." Gaara pointed out.

"I'm glad you realize that." Sakura replied happily and picked up his arm to look at the seal marks there.

"Don't flatter yourself." Gaara muttered quietly, for her ears only. Sakura glared up at him, but he just stared back at her blankly, as if he hadn't said anything. She wondered if maybe he hadn't. She had often felt, these past few years, that maybe she was losing her mind.

"Have you found the source of the block?" Tsunade asked Sakura.

Sakura looked up and shook her head, frowning. "It's very strange – I can't find any origination point."

Tsunade nodded, a grim look on her face. "Exactly – there is none."

Sakura looked at Gaara, and then looked back at Tsunade. "What exactly happened?" She asked.

"The assassination attempt." Tsunade said. "It wasn't an attempt to murder Gaara; it was this." She gestured at Gaara's body, covered in seals. "They simply sealed off his chakra."

Sakura frowned. "It should be a relatively easy process, unsealing it again. Except..."

"Except there is no specific seal." Tsunade finished Sakura's thought for her. "It's not simply a matter of a specific jutsu either. There are several points in the body that have been altered physically, forcefully, as well. This is much more complicated than any seal I've ever seen."

Sakura frowned. "That's not it. It's more like... it's not a proper seal. It's much more than that. To undo the effects of this will take a lot of work. Nothing should be done until it is all understood. Despite the fact that Gaara wasn't killed that night, it doesn't mean there aren't traps worked into this thing. There is always the possibility that if we try to undo something, make one wrong move, that we might destroy something else in the process."

Tsunade sighed. "My thoughts exactly." She walked across the room to the Kazekage, who had been quite forgotten for a moment, and pulled him to his feet. "We can help you." She told him. "But it will not be a simple matter. It could be weeks, months, before you are better again."

Gaara was silent, scratching his brow and frowning. At last he nodded and looked up at Tsunade. "Well, what choice do I have?"