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.
Ok, I admit it - I LOVE long reviews. I don't think there are any fanfiction writers out there who will refuse a good, long review. Keep 'em coming and I'll do my best to keep this on schedule!
To say that the Raikage was angry about Gaara's withholding of information, even for such a brief period of time, was an understatement; he was completely furious and threw a tantrum worthy of his title. Tsunade herself was not pleased with Gaara's actions, but she knew his reasons and spent a good hour or so trying to calm the Raikage down so they can re-evaluate the situation.
While the war council conferred over the new information, Gaara summoned his Commanders once more to discuss new field strategies. If Kabuto had managed to summon four Kages, who knows what other great shinobis of the past might he had resurrected to his twisted cause?
Sakura did not stay for long after handing Katsuyu over to Gaara; after making the slug promise that she would not try attacking the Kazekage again, of course. Shizune was expecting her to report for medic duties over an hour ago.
Imagine her surprise when she returned well after sundown, just in time to see the Division Commanders leaving Gaara's tent. Even if a break for dinner was accounted for, it still meant that the meeting had gone on far longer than she had expected.
It was clear that this new information had thrown a considerable wrench into their plans, and tactics had to be re-evaluated.
Shikamaru exited the tent with Gaara close behind. They had just stopped at the entrance and were conversing quietly when Sakura rounded the corner and saw them. Gaara tilted his head in acknowledgement while Shikamaru lazily waved a couple of fingers at her.
"As I was saying, Nara-san, you need to get that shoulder looked at."
Ah. She had definitely left an impression on Shikamaru.
"I'll go first thing tomorrow morning, Kazekage-sama. Right now, there is a lot of work to be done if we are to proceed with offensives tomorrow."
Gaara did not look impressed. He glanced at Sakura and said to his second-in-command, "Then I shall ask Haruno-san to heal you. You will find it easier to concentrate on your plannings."
Shikamaru looked as if he had just swallowed a lemon whole – something which Gaara found odd considering how sweetly Sakura was smiling at her Konoha comrade.
"Let me take a look at that shoulder, Shikamaru," Sakura beckoned him closer.
Caught between a rock and a hard place, Shikamaru had no choice but to walk towards Sakura, lest his refusal roused any suspicions. Sakura motioned him to turn around, which he obediently did. He automatically took off his flak jacket and pulled his shirt over his head, exposing his upper back to her.
Sakura, whom Gaara had noticed to have a tendency to have small fits over people getting naked in front of her, seemed to be completely nonchalant about nudity when it came to her performing the role of a medic. Activating her Mystical Palm Technique, she ghosted her hand over an ugly-looking bruise that had purpled over Shikamaru's shoulder blade.
After a short while, the chakra glow receded from her hands, and Shikamaru heaved out a sigh of relief.
"Thanks, Sakura," then he leaned over and scowled, mumbling, "Considering that it was you who did this to me and all."
Sakura beamed at him, and leaned in to whisper right into his ear, "You're welcomed. And if you tell such jokes again, Shika-kun, I promise that next time, you'll find yourself so impacted into a hay bale that they'll be prying you out with pitchforks."
Shikamaru could not repress the visible shudder that ran through his body. Muttering one last "thanks", he picked up his clothes and walked off, putting them on as he did so.
Gaara cocked an invisible eyebrow at Sakura, "I didn't know that you were on such good terms with Nara-san."
"Shikamaru's team and mine often work together. Sometimes we play shogi as well," she explained, "He's a very strong opponent. I only managed to win against him twice."
Gaara nodded in acknowledgement, and walked back into the tent. Sakura followed after him, only to stop dead in her tracks the moment the tent flap closed behind her.
"Gaara. What. Is. That."
"Do you mean to tell me that you don't know what a bed is?"
Sakura could only stare at the pristine wooden-frame bed that now stood where her cot was mere hours ago. The sand-cat was curled up on it, presumingly dozing away. When she finally found her voice, she had to hold back her disbelief.
"We are breaking camp in the next few hours and you still went ahead and got a bed for me? Gaara, the cot was sufficient!"
Suddenly, another more horrifying thought struck her.
"Wait. The bed is all made, and you only just finished your meeting a few minutes ago. Are you telling me that you had it set up in full view of your Commanders while you were discussing strategies?" Sakura all but shrieked.
Gaara, for the life of him, could not see what was causing Sakura to go into hysteria. He most certainly did not have other shinobis in the tent when they were going over sensitive information, so Sakura's concerns were unfounded to begin with.
Still, it would be wise to give her a proper explanation before she destroyed the bed, if her heaving shoulders were any indication to go by.
"The sand-cat set it up for you after everyone left."
Wait… The sand-cat what?
Sakura blinked," Mr. Fluffy-kins… set up my bed for me?"
"That's correct."
"The sand-cat. He carried my bed from goodness knows where. And he assembled it and put on fresh sheets for me," deadpanned Sakura.
Gaara nodded.
"Prove it," Sakura crossed her arms over her chest.
Physically, Gaara did not move a muscle, but the sand-cat stood up as if commanded and turned to look at Sakura. It then disintegrated into a cloud of sand that obscured the bed, only to part and reveal a neat stack of wooden planks, a mattress and folded sundry in its place.
Sakura mouthed a soundless "wow".
The sand cloud swirled around the room languidly before it drifted back to the bed. In the blink of an eye, the bed was back in place, looking completely spotless and untouched.
Re-materialising, the sand-cat stretched and arched its back, then leapt back onto the bed to continue its disrupted nap.
"Are you satisfied now, Sakura?" A corner of Gaara's mouth was quirked.
Mentally, Sakura slapped herself out of her stupor. Judging from the frown now etched on her face, Gaara felt it was safe to assume that she was displeased, for one reason or another.
There was no way she could ignore the possibility that having a sand-animal padding around was a drain on Gaara's chakra. If he were to be injured or fall in battle because he had used even the slightest portion of his chakra on the sand-cat, it would be on her conscience for life.
"Gaara, how much chakra are you using to maintain Mr. Fluffy-kins?"
"None." There was no way he would ever say the cat's unfortunate name aloud.
Sakura walked over to her bed (it still felt odd, think of it as hers) and lifted the sand-cat up into a shoulder cradle. Lightly, she probed the sand-cat with a bit of chakra, and she was surprised to find that aside from the initial chakra boost that Gaara had given his sand to shape it, there had been no new injections of chakra in the sand-cat since.
The look she sent Gaara's way was one seeking explanation, so he replied, "Shortly after Shukaku was removed from me, I performed experiments to find out how much control I had left over my sand. I especially needed to know if I was still able to create and mold moving objects without having to constantly inject chakra – a tremendous drain and an obvious distraction in battle. In one of them, I created a small pack of sand-mice and sent them out without supervision. Most of them turned back into sand within twenty-four hours. The few that somehow managed to maintain their form after that period were blown out of the house by Temari."
Sakura could just see Temari wielding her gigantic fan and sending a bunch of squeaking rodents flying out the front door. She could not blame her for doing so.
"What happened to the other sand-mice?" she asked.
"They are mostly running around Sunagakure, helping me keep an ear among my people. They report my people's plights and help me run the village more smoothly," then Gaara added, "My people are well aware of the presence and purpose of my sand-mice, and I've even had a few of them kidnapped by my kunoichis as pets. They all escaped in the end, though."
Sakura stroked the sand-cat's back, eliciting a rumbling purr from it.
"So Mr. Fluffy-kins is most likely to disappear tonight?" She sounded saddened by the news.
Gaara said nothing. He had made a few sand-cats as well in the past, but none of them made it past twenty-four hours on their own. He looked at the kunoichi and the sand-cat she was cuddling so tenderly, and decided that it was best not to tell her about those experiments.
Sighing, Sakura gently deposited the sand-cat back onto her bed before fishing out a pouch from her jacket. She promptly held that out to Gaara, who lifted one hand to receive it in.
"There's no guarantee that I'll be able to make you the chakra-replenishing tea every night once the war commences, so I asked Shizune nee-san to help me come up with a pill version of the herbs," Sakura said, "It works like a soldier pill, but focuses on your chakra reserves and does not come with similar side effects."
Gaara was about to make a comment about being glad that he would no longer have to smell the herbs each night when the unmistakable scent wafted from the pouch and hit him like a ton of bricks. He fought back the urge to gag, but Sakura saw through it nonetheless.
"I know, I know – it smells terrible. Just pinch your nose when you take it – I promise the taste is nothing like its smell," Sakura waved her hand dismissively.
Gaara did not dignify her with a reply, instead choosing to wrap the pouch in a spare swatch of cloth before tossing it into his desk drawer and slamming it shut. He then turned away from Sakura, arms crossed behind his back.
"Sakura, I'll expect to have the tea tonight."
"Of course, Gaara."
For the first time in over a week, Gaara did not make a single comment about the aroma of the tea.