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© "Naruto" is created and copyrighted by Kishimoto Masashi and owned by Shueisha Publishing Co., Ltd. and TV Tokyo.
Enjoy.
Alive And Victorious
Chapter 4. Paying off the debt
Kankurou patted his own stomach, nicely full after the hearty supper, and sighed with content. Temari snorted under her nose, watching his blissful expression.
"Okay, you know the rules," she mocked.
The puppeteer glared at her and raised himself from his seat. He began to gather the dirty dishes when he heard the front door creaking. Both siblings froze. The stifled clatter followed the creaking noise, and then they heard someone's weak voice.
Kankurou felt an unpleasant jerk in his chest. Even if he couldn't distinguish the words, he was certain he had just heard his younger brother's voice. But that was impossible. Gaara was on the mission, supposedly coming back the next evening at the earliest.
The puppeteer glanced at Temari and carefully put the dishes down on the table, when Gaara appeared in the doorway, carrying Matsuri's lifeless body on his back. Kankurou gasped, and Temari stepped back, furrowing. Gaara raised his eyes at them, glassy, feverish eyes, unnaturally large and ghostly-looking in that pale face covered with drops of sweat.
"Kankurou... help me..." the redhead panted, his legs visibly wobbling.
The siblings jumped towards him. Kankurou couldn't help but feel amazed after hearing for the first time the words Help me coming from his brother's mouth.
Temari gently supported Matsuri's limp body and turned her to see the girl's face. Matsuri's eyes were closed, her skin pale with the cold sweat breaking out. Her breathing was dangerously slow and she choked, when the older girl touched her throat.
"Gaara!" Temari exclaimed when Kankurou was trying to unstrap the gourd from Gaara's back. "She needs to be treated immediately!"
"I—I know," Gaara answered hoarsely, pushing away Kankurou's hand from the straps. "I don't... trust them. I... needed... you. I—"
He went silent. The puppeteer moved his finger along his brother's forehead and licked the thick sweat, wincing.
"Man, you need to go to the hospital too. I don't think I have ever seen someone dehydrated to that extent. It's a miracle you can stand at all!"
He turned to Temari, who darted towards her room without any delay. She came back quickly, placing the fan on her back and fastening the pouch to her belt. Gaara and Kankurou watched her lifting the unconscious girl. The puppeteer helped Gaara lean against the wall. The tiny ribbons of sand were snaking up the redhead's calves as if attempting to cover his body. Kankurou frowned and cast a questioning look at his brother.
"It's... Shukaku..." Gaara explained quietly, his eyes half-lidded. "He's... trying to—"
What a mess, the puppeteer thought, nodding.
"Go," he said to Temari. "I'll take my puppets and we'll be there in no time."
He ran towards his room, his mind buzzing with tons of questions. What in the hell had happened? His brother was on the simple C-ranked mission with Matsuri. Did the rank suddenly change? Did the mission go wrong? But how? They were not supposed to come back in such condition! Not even mentioning how great their speed must have been to reach the village the day earlier!
Kankurou felt certain suspicions growing within him when he remembered council's attempts to get rid of Gaara. He would know later if it was the case, but there was no time for inquiring. He grabbed Karasu and Kuroari and threw them on his back. He hurried towards the kitchen where Gaara was kneeling on the floor. Kankurou flung his brother's arm over his shoulder, briefly wondering when he saw him in such condition for the last time. Must've been after fighting Takumi nins...
They ran out of the house, or rather Kankurou was running, dragging Gaara along. He got a canteen from his pouch and handed it to the redhead.
"Drink," he ordered, "before you collapse."
o0o0o0o
Gaara needed all his willpower not to lose consciousness. His head was spinning, his lips were dry like the desert itself, his muscles flabby. The level of his chakra was dangerously low and Shukaku was determined to take advantage of it. The demon was charging from the inside of Gaara's mind, struggling and howling, and the redhead's skull seemed to split at any time.
He was barely aware they reached the hospital. Kankurou briefly stopped, asking one of the medics about something, but Gaara couldn't understand the words. He dangled inertly over his brother's shoulder, completely focusing on his inner battle with Ichibi. The puppeteer went ahead and they quickly reached the room where apparently Matsuri was being treated. The screen was blocking their view but Temari was standing by the wall, observing whatever was going on at the other side of the screen. She noticed them and nodded. They slowly went inside but the kunoichi stopped them with a wave of her hand.
"They're examining her," she explained shortly.
The other medic nin entered the room and approached Gaara, obviously ready to examine him too. The redhead scowled and moved away. "I'm fine," he growled and turned to his sister. "Temari, what's with her?"
"Still unconscious," fell the answer. "What happened?"
"The senbon," Gaara choked out. "She jabbed herself with it."
The siblings and medic nin stared at him, bewildered.
"Wha—" Kankurou started and immediately broke off at his brother's expression. "Wait, you mean those senbons she has got from me?"
The redhead nodded, forcing himself not to clutch his head with his hands. Kankurou drew a chair toward him and pushed him onto it.
"I administered two full doses of an antidote to her," Gaara panted and shook Kankurou's canteen, listening to the lapping of water inside. Unfortunately, none came. Temari hastily gave him her own canteen and returned to her self-assigned post by the wall.
"This is bad!" Kankurou murmured. "Two doses are not enough in such case!"
"I know," Gaara snarled, frustrated. "But I couldn't dose her with even more of it! It would've killed her!"
The puppeteer put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed – the firm, steady grasp Gaara could put his trust into. The redhead inhaled deeply, glad to have his siblings by his side.
"For how long is she unconscious?" Kankurou asked.
"Thirty hours."
"Oh shit!" the puppeteer released his brother's shoulder and began to pace in circles. "I hope she had started to develop immunity as I instructed her or things will go awful!"
"Gaara," Temari interjected. "Where did it happen?"
"Suigen Forest," the redhead answered wearily. "Yesterday morning."
The puppeteer froze in his steps. Temari gaped.
"What?" they asked in unison.
"I covered the distance in forty hours. I would have done it faster, but I couldn't make it without a rest. And I couldn't use Hyourougan."
"Oh man..." Kankurou whispered. "You're crazy."
"It explains such a serious dehydration," Temari commented dryly. "If you would use the pill in your condition, you'd have died."
The puppeteer stepped towards the screen and Temari gripped his arm, stopping him.
"Don't go there," she warned.
"Hey, if you need to know the poison's ingredients, I can help you!" he called. One of the medical nins showed from behind the screen, holding some papers. Taking advantage of the general commotion in the room, Temari leaned over Gaara and murmured: "What happened?"
"ANBU assassination squad," he wheezed and Temari's eyes widened slightly. "They took her hostage to make me surrender. Matsuri managed to escape and—"
He turned from Temari and his head fell on his chest. Shukaku was attacking him mercilessly and he had to crush demon's will with his own, and he needed all his strength and determination to do that.
He owed it to his student.
o0o0o0o
Gaara walked slowly along the corridor in Kazekage's Tower. He entered the administrative part of the building and headed for the conference room where the council was just debating. He decided to turn directly to them and try to talk some sense into them, or, in case it wouldn't have worked, threaten them.
He shook his head, knowing the threats were out of question even if their last machinations almost got Matsuri killed. He couldn't afford threatening the elders even if he was seeing red just thinking about them. He had to show them he controlled himself and they should rethink his father's idea to get rid of him. He had to prove them it would be more useful for them to have him on their side.
The guard standing at the doorway turned around at the sound of the steps and grew pale when he had seen Sunagakure's most feared monster approaching him but he mustered his courage when he saw the boy was pacing directly towards the conference room.
"You can't go in there," shinobi warned with a trembling voice, instinctively straightening himself. "The council debates right now."
The redhead came to a halt and raised his head, eyeing the taller shinobi. "I know," he answered with a deadly low voice. "That's why I'm here." He moved again and the guard wasn't that stupid to block the door. Instead he escorted Gaara inside. The redhead stopped right after entering the room and looked around, watching the elders. Those who have been facing the door, held their breath and glanced at him, apparently scared. The others began to turn around and one after another were letting out the startled gasps, seeing their guest. Only Ryuusa stayed calm and observed him curiously.
"Honourable elders, excuse me for the interruption, but—" the guard uttered but Gaara waved his hand and the shinobi went silent immediately.
"What is it?" Jouseki said angrily. "We have a meeting here. Why do you interfere?"
The redhead stepped closer and the councilman moved back, raising his hand like he meant to block the hit. Gaara would really like his village's elders were not such despicable bastards. They were mere cowards, cowering fearfully when the would-be victim of their machinations faced them. They were glancing at his gourd like they've been expecting the sand to flow from it at any time.
"I wanted to ask you something," he said, looking at their faces.
Ryuusa nodded slowly.
"Go ahead," he commended.
"How many shinobi are you going to sacrifice before you finally admit you can't kill me?" Gaara shot and the councilmen averted their eyes, shocked by his boldness. Jouseki bit his lip and began to play with his quill.
"You know it is only my good will which prevents this place from becoming a living hell," Gaara said, turning back. His words still seemed to sink in when he approached the doorway in silence and glanced at them above his shoulder. "You could try to win me over to your side, you know," he continued seriously. "Don't you think we could accomplish a lot together?"
With those words he left the room, leaving the council and the guard frozen still, with their jaws dropped.
o0o0o0o
Matsuri opened her eyes slowly. She found herself in an unknown room which clean, white walls and the characteristic smell floating in the air let her guess it was a hospital. She looked around, not raising her head from the pillow, and hissed, when the sudden sting of pain seared through her left shoulder. Memories emerged with the pain; the mission, ANBU, the blackmail. Her inflexible decision to save Gaara even if she had to pay the highest price for it.
She made it. Admittedly, she had thought she was done but then she came back, lying on the moist forest floor, with her sensei kneeling by her side. She could feel he was dosing her with the antidote. She had held her breathe then, having never seen that expression on him before: eyes darkened from hatred and bloodlust, teeth bared in a wolfish grimace, the sand spiralling dangerously at his feet... and blood. The drops of blood on his pale skin, the sticky, red stains on the white sash.
At the sound of her gasp his eyes searched for her face and the hatred faded away, replaced by anxiety and concern.
"Matsuri," he whispered in a wheezing voice. "Are you fine?"
She had shaken her head because she was everything but fine. Her heartbeat was unsteady, her body covered with cold sweat. Every muscle ached like she had been flogged. She began to develop immunity to poison according to Kankurou's instruction, but it could be not enough. She had jabbed herself at the side of the neck, close to the carotid, and the poison had been diffusing fast.
Gaara had taken the second syringe from the pouch and jabbed at her thigh with the needle. The ribbons of sand were still dancing and rippling around him and Matsuri pushed away the thought about what had happened to their fifteen opponents, or more. Had Gaara killed them all?
Her sensei had thrown an empty syringe away and gently lifted her inert body. He wasn't touching her wounded arm, but she cried nonetheless. She had been in so much pain. Her eyes had been burning and the migraine had been becoming unbearable. She was praying only for being put down onto the cool forest floor and wait until the pain would vanish, but Gaara had been dragging her along even though he could positively hear her miserable whimpers. They had been moving very fast. Occasionally, Gaara had been letting her drink from his canteen, but he himself wasn't drinking at all. Matsuri could have felt she was weakening and with the last effort she asked the question bothering her the most. "Did you kill them?"
"Only two," he had said with a strange lilt in his voice.
She had nodded then and drifted into darkness.
Now she awakened in the hospital. It meant her sensei managed to save her. She was so proud of him, and so grateful. She scanned the room more intently and sighed with relief after noticing the characteristic roughness of the adobe surface under the white paint.
She was home.
o0o0o0o
Gaara put his palm on the doorknob, searching for the right words, but he couldn't find any. At the other side of the door, in the hospital room, a person who decided to sacrifice her life for him was lying. In fact if she hadn't been lucky to have him by her side she would have been long gone.
The medics were saying she wasn't in danger anymore. The poison seriously damaged her body but the antidote prevented the worst from happening. Since she had started to develop the immunity in advance, her organism was being able to metabolize the poison quite effectively. What awaited her now were many weeks of the intense rehabilitation to entirely clean her system from the poison and heal the wounded tendons. Few months without missions and training meant great reduction in the physical fitness. She would have to work hard to return to form again.
But the only thing that mattered now was that he managed to save her.
He knocked, waited for the answer and opened the door. Matsuri looked at him when he entered the room, and smiled. It wasn't the smile he knew. There was sadness and resignation in this smile, not like Matsuri at all.
He stopped at her bed and gazed down at her.
"Thank you," he said, looking into her eyes. Matsuri nodded sadly. "Thank you for everything," he repeated, meaning anything she had done for him, for his reputation. The girl sighed deeply and smiled again, more heartily this time.
"How are you?" the redhead asked.
Matsuri raised one shoulder in a half-shrug, like she didn't know what to say.
"I have been better."
"You didn't have to do that," Gaara said softly and she glared at him, obviously annoyed.
"No? What was I supposed to do then? I had to pay off the debt."
Gaara furrowed. He pulled one of the white wooden chairs close to the bed and sat down. Matsuri gripped the edge of the covers, when he looked at her, apparently waiting for the continuation.
"Gaara-sensei, do you remember when Shitenshounin kidnapped me?" the girl inquired and the redhead nodded. Of course he remembered. Such events were rather hard to forget. "You came to help me, even if I was abducted by shinobi powerful enough to dare to challenge you," Matsuri explained. "And you saved me. Now I saved you. I paid off my debt. So please, don't tell me I didn't have to do that."
Gaara nodded, sunk in his thoughts. He has never been thinking about that incident as the debt Matsuri had to pay off. He had just saved his student. Any teacher would do the same thing. It was natural. He paid the high price for it, but he didn't regret it. It seemed Matsuri's line of reasoning was identical. She just saved her teacher. Any student would do the same thing. It was natural.
She paid very high price for it, but she didn't regret it at all.
o0o0o0o
Matsuri walked slowly towards the tombs. She felt much better now, even if the rehabilitation hadn't finished yet. There were few reasons why she just couldn't wait when she'd be able to train again. The most important reason was the letter from her family. They informed her with great regret that they couldn't afford to support her any longer. Matsuri had never thought about humiliating herself by asking them to change their minds. They didn't care for her at all, and she herself wasn't particularly fond of them as well. She decided to thank them for their previous support and officially offer to give them back the money when she would earn enough to be able to pay the debt. That's why she had to start training as fast as possible, to become chuunin and then jounin. The higher rank meant more difficult missions but also more money. But before she could gain chuunin rank, she had to use the money she managed to save, and it wasn't much.
The girl sighed deeply, approaching her grandfather's gravestone. If he would lived, if her parents would lived, everything would be different. She felt so lonely now, and scared of what the future had up its sleeve for her. She knew she wouldn't get lost. Sunagakure, like other shinobi villages, had the fund for the orphans and shinobi who were disabled. But the thought of using public money raised the shame and discomfort in her.
The grandfather Aoba never wanted her to become a shinobi. He had been always hammering into her head how hard and thankless such a life was. His dream had been for his little granddaughter to marry a nice young man – not shinobi in any case – and give birth to many children he could nurture and spoil. When Matsuri could see him just after the mission, tired and wounded, she agreed with his wishes. But sometimes, when she could watch him training, when she could listen to the stories about big citites, weird people and green places where there were rivers flowing and the rain was falling, then she had been really thinking shinobi's life was so exciting.
Then the grandfather died. She could vividly remember the night when she peeped on him, watching him taking on his flak jacket and carefully checking on his ninja weapons. In the dim moonlight she could see his hands were shaking and his face was covered with sweat. A sudden realization hit her then – her grandfather was scared almost to death. He licked his lips and took a deep breath, and she watched with her heart pounding his tall figure leaving the house and disappearing into the night.
She hadn't seen him ever again.
He had been burned like other Suna shinobi and buried fast, like his death was something shameful. During the burial ceremony Matsuri's father was eyeing the gravestone with his lips pursed. Her mother was weeping, hiding her face in her hands. The family had gone back home, not exchanging even one word, and hastily packed their belongings. A week later they had left the village without looking back.
The end of the chapter 4.
The next chapter: The troublesome teacher
A/N.
Suigen=source of the river, fountainhead
Suigen Forest - the place not existing in Narutoverse, created by me for this fic's purposes
Hyourougan=military rations pills
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