Standard disclaimers apply. I'm just borrowing these characters for a little while.
Author's note: Kishimoto-sensei's plan is to fit the entire 4th Shinobi War Arc into a matter of days in the Naruto timeline, but I'm taking the liberty of extending it since war is never so quick and clean-cut. Events from the manga will be added, removed or shifted around. Please pardon my impudence.
Thanks to everyone for their reviews. If you notice any typos or other errors, please PM me instead of leaving it in a review - it looks weird once I correct the error and it's no longer there :D Also, Greyshield, I agree that it's not correct to pluralise Japanese nouns, but it just looks and sounds better that way, so I'm sticking to that for now.
FYI, updates may come slower as I need to catch up on the manga and we move into the actual war (wait, we're still at the preparation stages only?).
Upon returning to their camp, Gaara summoned the other Division Commanders and gave them a rundown of tomorrow's movements. Instructions were relayed to break camp by daybreak and have everyone moving at once. The Ambush Squad, led by Kankurou, will begin the offensives on the first morning after their deployment.
"Intelligence has reported that we can expect to see the results of Kabuto's Resurrection Technique which he had no doubt learnt from Orochimaru," began Shikamaru, "The exact number of risen dead is currently unknown."
Then he nodded to Gaara, who rose from his seat and gave his first orders as Regimental Leader of the Allied Shinobi Forces, "You may recognise comrades and loved ones, but remember that they are nothing more than hollowed puppets – unwilling souls tied to immortal bodies. Seal them or destroy them at all costs. Do not waver or hesitate, because the enemy will not."
"Do we at least have an inkling of whom some of the resurrected are?" asked Darui.
"Yes," came Gaara's reply, but he did not elaborate any further.
Sensing that they would not be able to pry the information from their leader, the Division Commanders turned to his proxy and right-hand man, Nara Shikamaru.
Troublesome.
Shikamaru chanced a look at Gaara in an attempt to read his expression. Almost immediately, he dismissed everyone and excused himself from Gaara's tent soon after.
When he was finally alone in his tent, Gaara sighed, shoulders finally sagging after being held tensed for so long. He lifted his hand palm-up in front of himself, his Third Eye materlising and blinking up at him. Gaara looked back at it for another moment before crushing it in a burst of sand.
He should relay the information right away – it was his basic duty as a field general.
But how do you come to terms with the fact that your own father, who had tried to have you murdered multiple times while you were just a mere child, was now walking among the living? Even if he was just a puppet; even if he was but an ensnared soul tied to an unwilling body.
Unconsciously, Gaara brushed at the kanji on his forehead.
How, indeed.
Shikamaru did not walk very far after exiting Gaara's tent. He took a slow left turn to where Sakura's tent was. Usually, he might have moved off to the medic tents to find her because she should be at work at this hour, but somehow, her chakra signature was coming from within the tent.
"Sakura?" He called out. It would not be polite to enter a lady's tent without first announcing himself.
There was a sound of papers shuffling in the tent, and a cough, and a slightly dusty-looking Sakura finally lifted the flap of her tent to greet him. From the look of things, she was currently busy sealing away her books into storage scrolls.
"Shikamaru? Is something wrong? Do you need healing?"
It would not be wise to discuss his concerns with her with Gaara so close by.
"May I speak with you?" He tilted his head towards Gaara's tent, "Privately?"
Puzzled but always willing to lend a ear, she nodded. But before she could step out of the tent, Shikamaru stopped her by gesturing to her neck.
"I'm sorry, but that means Katsuyu-san as well."
Sakura frowned, but did not question him. She reached into her collar to gently pluck the slug out and placed her on the floor of her tent before nodding to Shikamaru.
The young Commander tucked his hands into his pockets and headed towards the edge of the camp, and Sakura followed after him, the curiosity in her getting the better of her by the minute. A few shinobis cast them odd looks as they walked past, but most were too busy breaking camp or preparing their weapons arsenal.
Shikamaru finally came to a stop near a knot of shady trees and leaned back against it. His laid-back attitude was starting to get on Sakura's nerve, and she angrily placed both hands on her cocked hip.
"Shikamaru, what is so secretive and important that we must come all the way out here, when we should both be packing up?"
Shikamaru looked at her, unfazed by her fury; he was just too used to being around short-tempered women to be bothered.
"It's about Gaara-san."
He watched as the anger melted from her posture as she stepped forward, worry radiating from her entire being. Shikamaru would have been tempted to give the rumours flying about a little more weight, if he wasn't already familiar with how Sakura was always concerned for all her friends.
"We had a meeting just now to go over enemy numbers," he explained, "As you know, Kabuto has been using Orochimaru's resurrection techniques to raise dead shinobis. Knowing exactly who these revived shinobis are will give us a huge tactical advantage because we can be prepared for their various special attacks."
"Do we know who these shinobis are?"
"That's the problem: he knows, but he doesn't want to tell us."
Sakura had to pause to digest the information. The level-headed Kazekage who had somehow managed to form an alliance among the Five Great Shinobi Nations, deliberately denying them of a crucial advantage over their enemies? It did not make any sense at all.
"Sakura, I need you to get him to talk."
Sakura blanched, "Shikamaru, are you asking me to betray his trust and go badgering him for information that he obviously does not want to share? Beside, what makes you think he trusts me enough to even want to talk to me about something like this if he can't talk to his own ranking officers?"
Shikamaru sighed, pressing his fingers to his forehead. When he lifted his gaze back to meet hers, Sakura was surprised by how absolutely serious he looked.
"I've heard that you brew him a herbal tea every night since the first day of our encampment," his solemn facial expression was the only thing stopping Sakura from leaping at his throat, demanding him to stop harassing her with rumours like every other shinobi, "Tell me – how does he drink it?"
Sakura paused, surprised by the question. Was Shikamaru feeling alright? Did he not know how to drink from a cup?
"Well?"
"He takes it straight down," she mimics swigging a cup of tea, "Then always makes some comment about how terrible it smells."
"And he does not test it for poison beforehand?"
"Excuse me? Are you implying that I intend to harm the Kazekage?"
Shikamaru held up both hands, feeling the anger coming off Sakura in waves. He didn't want to be punted halfway across the camp by an irate and very strong kunoichi.
"Sakura, listen to me first. You have not eaten any meals with him, so you probably don't know this, but Gaara-san personally tests his food and drinks before consuming them. He appears to be very proficient in poison-detection. At every meal that I've eaten with him, I've never seen him skip the testing even once."
This was completely new information to Sakura, and she could only gape at Shikamaru, "But… but his people love him! The other Kages respect him! The Allied Shinobi Forces…"
"… Are full of people to whom he owned a blood debt from his childhood," finished Shikamaru for her.
The Ultimate Weapon.
A born and bred killer.
Sakura swallowed visibly. She was getting an inkling of what Shikamaru was implying, and she did not like it one bit.
"And yet Gaara-san takes your tea straight down without doing any preliminary testing. Tell me that isn't trust," said Shikamaru.
She felt oddly desperately to find an explanation for Gaara's behaviour. Perhaps it was because Naruto was his first true friend, and since Sakura was one of Naruto's closest people, he felt that he could trust her as well?
Sakura gave that exact rationalisation to Shikamaru, whose only response was to sigh dramatically.
"Sakura, the bottom line is that he trusts you. I know you think I suspect the two of you are having a more-than-professional relationship and am trying to exploit that, but that is not the kind of person I am."
Was he some sort of a mind-reader?
"Besides," Shikamaru smiled almostly cheekily at her, "I don't believe in anything unless I see it with my own eyes. So until the day you come waddling over, swollen to the size of a small hippo, complaining about varicose veins and demanding sour cream on salted watermelon skin, I won't even spare those rumours a second thought."
Sakura couldn't help it – she grinned right back.
"You're the best, Shikamaru."
"Now don't come giving me a hug, Sakura. Or the next thing you know, there are going to be rumours about how you are cheating on the Kazekage with his second-in-command," Shikamaru smirked.
Sakura grinned as she 'playfully' slapped Shikamaru's back, "You are such a kidder, Shika-kun."
It was a good thing that Sakura had reined in her super-human strength – Shikamaru only crashed through two tents and bounced off several hay bales with all the grace of a rag doll.
Shikamaru's talk with her had given Sakura the strength to approach Gaara's tent, fully intent on helping him extract the information he needed. But as she drew closer and closer, some of the internal courage seemed to slip away.
She had to force herself to flare her chakra once she was outside of Gaara's tent, to announce her presence. Even if she was sleeping… correction – even if she was bunking with him, it still seemed odd to just walk into the tent without announcing herself.
"Come in."
Maybe it was the fabric of the tent distorting Gaara's voice, but Sakura thought that it sounded a little raspier than usual.
She entered the tent, surprised by the sight of Gaara sitting in relative darkness. The tent material did let in some light, but certainly not enough even in broad daylight. Gaara was seated at his table, fingers steepled in front of him and looking forward unblinkingly.
"Gaara, is everything alright?"
"Why won't it be?" He replied a little too quickly, still not looking at her.
"Well, you're sitting in the dark all by yourself, for one thing. And you have tensed your shoulders so rigidly that you're going to have a cramp by tomorrow."
Gaara grunted, but whether it was a sound of acknowledgement or a dismissal, she couldn't be sure.
So Sakura marched right up to him, spun his chair around to face his back, and proceeded to dig her fingers into his back muscles. She managed to get a few good rubs in before Gaara figured out what was happening.
She felt Gaara's jolt of surprise before he growled out, "What are you trying to do?"
"A tension massage," she explained, "Your muscles are all knotted up and stiff. As your personal medic, I cannot have you walking around with a muscle ache."
"My muscles don't ache," he tried to get away from her touch, but Sakura's grip was just a little too strong.
Probably a chakra-enhanced hold. And yes, that was the sound of his chair starting to splinter.
"Not yet, they don't. But keep brooding in that cramped up position of yours and you'll be hunchbacked in your old age."
"Haruno-san, I do not need a massage. Get your hands off me, or I will…"
"You will what? Kill me? I think I can give you a solid run for your money, Kazekage-sama," Sakura challenged.
Gaara tensed even further, and for one frightening moment, Sakura feared that she may have pushed him too far.
But just as suddenly, he seemed to sag completely under her touch, letting her hands work over his upper back without any sounds of protest this time. Sakura took advantage of this to give him a proper massage.
"Gaara," she began, "You don't have to face everything alone. You have all of us with you."
"I know."
They continued in silence, the only occasional sound emitting from Gaara when she pressed a little too hard into his back, and her whispered apologies.
"My father is alive."
His revelation was so sudden that Sakura's hands stopped. She had completely forgotten what she had promised Shikamaru, having been so caught up in her medic-mode.
"Gaara?" She probed, hoping for further explanation.
"Kabuto's tainted technique has been used to resurrect a number of deceased Kages. One of them is my father."
Sakura felt the air leave her lungs in a silent gasp. Naruto had hinted to her about Gaara past, though he had never actually talked about it. She did know about the Fourth Kazekage's attempts on his own flesh and blood's life, though.
"Gaara, I…"
She had no words. How could she? She was civilian-raised; she came from an intact family that loved her. She could not proclaim to understand what he must be going through, because it would be completely untrue and insulting.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, placing both hands gently on his shoulders.
Had he even been hugged before? Surely not as a child, and as Kazekage even fewer would dare come close enough for such a venture.
Slowly, so as not to startle him, her hands slid forward and she bent over to press her cheek against the top of his head. Her arms awkwardly encircled his chest from behind, the back of the chair getting in her way. Gaara had stiffened at the gesture, fulfilling her suspicions that he was not used to such a touch.
She was surprised by Gaara reaching back to encircle her waist, pulling her closer. His arm trembled ever so slightly, and she instinctively held him even tighter.
They stayed like this for an unknown period of time, the buzz of camp activities from the outside fading into the background. The only sound left in the world was their breathing, which had gradually synchronised as the minutes ticked by.
"Thank you."
He placed his other hand gently on hers before pulling completely away. The cool air in the tent came rushing towards her entire body at once – cutting and unwelcomed.
She almost missed the warmth of his touch, but she remembered their respective standings, and it was no longer an issue.
"Sakura?"
"Yes?"
"I need you to get Katsuyu-san here. I have important information to relay to the war council."
Sakura had accomplished her mission, but one thought occurred a little too quickly for her liking: she had completely forgotten that this was only an assignment in the first place.