Suna no Mugetsu Re-ku

Mirroring of Fears

Accepting the change in Gaara wasn't something which happened over night, but Baki found himself taking care of the three siblings, and thus was one of the first people outside of Kankuro and Temari to notice the changes in the young sand Shinobi. On top of noticing the fact Gaara's personality calmed down, he also found that the child had various quirks, some of which mimicked the fourth Kazekage's own as a child. The fact Gaara neither understood social customs, or knew how to take care of himself became obvious quickly.

Thus if one let him be, he'd forget to drink or eat enough, just in the same manner Gaara almost never got enough sleep. Even know one could describe the young Kazekage as having a very childlike personality, and thus Baki developed a soft spot for the boy. The sight of Gaara reaching up to clutch his head made his instincts lurch, but not with the same fear as before. Despite the need for a Shinobi to feel no emotions there was pity, particularly if Baki had to kill or abandon Gaara on the spot, as this was something he didn't wish to do.

"It's not... it's different."

"Not good." Baki felt a twist in his throat when he would normally feel relief from Shukaku not protruding into the boy's mind. The man watched as Gaara's body suddenly lurched, and his foot sunk into the sand. Gaara's hand's moved to try and stop the sand, only for the whirlpool to worsen. Baki moved forward and hooked his arms under the boy's arms in an attempt to pull him out, and the man felt the strange feeling he felt only when it came to the three siblings. "You know he doesn't want you to rescue him, but that's not actually an option. You would never forgive you."

Instead of helping he felt himself pulled down into the sand, and soon the others were being pulled down. Eventually Gaara was pulled from his grip, and he himself soon felt himself pulled down to the ground and falling. Baki closed his eyes to prevent the sand from going in, and opened his eyes to see himself rushing to the ground, and noticed that Gaara was right underneath him. The man's eyes widened when he realized Gaara's sand wasn't forming a barrier between him, and the young Kazekage. The unexpected factor made Baki not react, and instead of feeling sand underneath him, he felt the soft body of the youth underneath him.

Worse yet Baki was sure he heard the sound of a bone snapping, or a muscle tearing meaning that landing on the boy caused some kind of damage. He pushed himself away, and took note of the situation. Gaara's arm seemed to be in a precarious position, and the boy favored one side. The Suna council elder noticed the vomit near the boy, and knew what small amount water the young Shinobi consumed earlier was now of no use. Gaara's sea foam eyes were wide, as if the boy were in pain. Most noticeable was the fact the young teen was unable to use his powers.

"It must have something to do with what sucked us down here." Baki noticed Gaara's mind was elsewhere, and called out to him. "Lord Kazekage?" The man's throat tightened as he watched Gaara's hand reach up to grip the place over his heart. "That's his sign that he's having a panic attack. He's not had one of those since, well, when we first decided to call them panic attacks rather then psychotic episodes." The man called out to the boy again. "Lord Kazekage..."

"Father..." Something felt off about Gaara's voice.

"I'm not your father."

"You saw father."

Baki felt his entire body tense up. "So, the issue here isn't that he thinks I'm his father. He thought I was calling out to Lord Rasa rather then himself, which means..." A sinking feeling hit the pit of the older man's stomach. "... that means he doesn't remember he's now the Kazekage. That isn't good, and it sounds like... it's fear I hear. I'd forgotten that there was a time when he feared that man. No, this is exactly what I feared when I came out here, that this feeling of fear would return. But..."

"Temari, Kankuro..."

"It's almost as if he's mentally regressed to the point right after the Chunnin exams. It must have something to do with these headaches, and his loss of his abilities must have something to do that as well. If he were to regress even more, he'd be back in that psychopathic state. But then, at least his powers wouldn't be an issue. Still, I can't let him return, not after all the work he's put in." The conversation went well, until he brought up Rasa again, and it seemed almost as if Gaara now feared him for some reason.

It was then that Gaara attempted to run despite the fact all Shinobi training should have told him to stand his ground in front of an enemy. "That means he doesn't see me as an enemy, so much as something that scares him." Baki moved forward, knowing he needed to react. His hand reached out, and grabbed the boy's wrist on the injured arm, hoping to stop him. He watched as Gaara contorted despite the injury, and slipped out of his grip. "That damn fool is going to get himself hurt even more."

With a swift movement he tackled the boy to the ground, and pinned Gaara down to the ground. He straddled the boy so he sat lightly on the boy's waist area, and held the boy's arms down. The child still continued to struggle, and thus Baki snapped out instructions. "Gaara! Calm down! You need to stop using your ability. Take a deep breaths, like we went over if you ever got like this. You do at least remember that much, right?"

Gaara took deep breaths, and his eyes darted up to meet Baki's, but darted away. Despite the deep breaths the teen still struggled to gain his composure. "Lord Rasa's dead. I'm your legal guardian, remember?"

"You saw the Kazekage."

The words choked out confirmed what the man was afraid of. "Gaara, the Kazekage I saw was you. You're the fifth Kazekage."

"No. He's alive. You're lying on purpose. I see it on your face." Gaara's Adam's apple bobbed down, and he still found himself unable to. "I messed up. I messed up again. I'm always punished. I don't want to see him."

"He's referring to the fact we're on the mission Baki's hands let go of Gaara's hands, and then touched the boy's face. The teens eyes finally came to look him in the eye. "Listen to me carefully Gaara. If Lord Rasa is alive, I will not let him harm you. I will lay down my life for this promise. Do you understand?"

Gaara's eyes narrowed, and his breathing became even. "I don't want you to die, sensei."

"Then I promise I won't let him kill me either." Baki moved away from the boy, and let Gaara sit up. He leaned back wondering exactly where they were, when the sound of someone moving made him look up to see the two other Shinobi that they brought with him.

"Lord Baki, Lord Kazekage..."

The Suna council elder watched as the panic returned to Gaara's eyes, and the boy attempted to bolt away from his companions again. Baki moved with a swift movement, and grabbed the boy. "Lord Gaara! Stop this instant, and clam down! He's not here!" Leaning over he whispered into Gaara's ear. "He's dead, and you're the fifth. If he's not, I made a promise to you."

The teen relaxed in his arms, and Baki lowered the young Kazekage to the wall. He carefully removed his own container of water from his hip, and held it out to Gaara. He watched the boy grab the contents, and make the movement to guzzle the water down. A quick hand movement stopped Gaara in his tracks, reminding him how easy Gaara became to teach after the Chuunin exams. "Slow down, or you'll make yourself sick."

Gaara closed his eyes, and pushed the flask back at Baki. "Can't. Stomach."

Baki closed the bottle, and a frown spread across his face. "We'll try again later."

"Lord Baki, what is wrong with the Lord..."

"Stop." The command was sharp. "Gaara, I want you to wait here. I need to talk to the others about something." The man stood up, and walked over to the two men. His voice lowered to a whisper. "I honestly don't know what is going on, but the Lord Kazekage is not able to use his powers. It's likely tied to these headaches he is having. On top of this his memory is shaky, and he doesn't remember being made Kazekage."

The two other Shinobi looked at each other, and Baki continued. "To be exact, I believe Lord Gaara's memories are being messed with by something. His last memory seems to be after the Chunin exam where we teamed up with Otoga."

"Does this mean we need to find what is effecting the Lord Kazekage, or find an escape route."

Baki looked at the ground. "I'd say escape is the best option, but as I told the two of you in the report, there is report of a monster in this area. The best option at this point is to scout out the area. I need you two to each go in a different direction while I stay with the Lord Kazekage to make sure his condition doesn't get worse."