A/N: Two chapters in one day?! Crazy! But I'm energized! Pumped! So I decided to grace you all with a second chapter.

Enjoy!

"Ma'am," the soft voice of a nurse broke the silence of single occupant.

There was a strained grunt, "What?"

"You have a visitor."

"I said I didn't want any visitors."

"I'm sorry but, he insisted."

Setsuko strained her neck a little to look over her shoulder. She was more than a little surprised at who she saw standing beside the nurse. "Gaara?"

The nurse looked between the two, "I'll leave you two alone." She bowed and left, shutting the door behind her.

The room the two teens stood in was a good size, definitely bigger than her room. The walls were white like everything else here, but the floors were a nice polished wood; sleek but not slippery. There were many chairs and tables scattered about and even more small tracks with metal bars for people to use for physical therapy. The tracks themselves were about six feet in length, with the bars following. Gaara watched from the door as Setsuko white knuckle gripped at the metal bars while slowly shuffling along the track. It had been two weeks already and she was already forcing them to let her do physical therapy to get her right leg working again. He was slightly impressed.

"What are you doing here?" her voice broke the silence as she grunted with each step.

Gaara didn't bother to make a move, "We need to talk."

He could see her body tense just a bit. She stopped briefly, looking down at her feet that were slightly pigeon toed as she tried her hardest to walk straight. He wanted to talk? Her head came back up, looking ahead of her, "There's nothing to talk about."

"You think going home to die is going to solve everything?" He was far too direct, but it needed to be said. It didn't help at all that Temari had burst into his office, again, and screamed at him to do something. And how could he let her do this? She screamed a bunch of nonsensical things that him left him more confused than anything else.

"No, but I won't let people die because of me," she replied dryly. Never once had she bothered to look back at him, trying hard to keep her focus on strengthening her leg.

His lips tightened a bit, "And what about all the people that have already died for you?"

Finally she stopped and glanced back at him, but never actually looking at him. "I won't let anyone else die for me! I'm not worth it…" Slowly she turned back to face the wall in front of her. Even though it hurt, she forced herself to stay standing as she inched a foot forward, still desperately trying not to think about what they were talking about.

"What makes you think that?" He was truly curious.

Again she stopped. "Without Yukiuta's chakra, I'm a nobody. I'm just a regular person like anybody else. That's all I've ever wanted to be too; just like everybody else. You don't know what that's like."

Gaara mentally scoffed. He knew exactly what that was like. Finally he took the steps necessary to be beside Setsuko and looking at her dead locked, although she timidly avoided his gaze. "I know the feeling well." He wasn't angry. He wasn't even irritated. It wasn't like she knew anything about him, which was probably why they both felt awkward around each other. She had opened up to him, but he hadn't done the same. "Do you remember me asking you about Jinchuriki?"

Setsuko glanced over to him, nodding a little reply.

"Well, Jinchuriki are, for lack of a better term, human sacrifices. They're people who house the spirits of Tailed Beasts; that includes their chakra and their bodies. In total, there are nine of them." He paused a moment, breaking eye contact with her and bracing himself on the metal rail she used for support. "Jinchuriki are regarded as scum and people often look at them like they are the demons themselves." Memories of his lonely childhood flashed through Gaara's mind. "They never have friends and even their families turn their backs to them in disgust and fear. But what people tend to forget the most is that Jinchuriki are people, just like them. They live, breathe, eat and feel the same as everyone else. They aren't the burdens forced upon them…"

She stared at him with sympathetic realization as his words drifted into silence. The way he spoke about the situation. She could feel the past pain in his words, the hope of being accepted, the need to want people to look at him as a person and not a Jinchuriki. "You're one of them, aren't you?"

He shook his head. "I was, not too long ago. Shukaku, the one tail, was sealed inside of me before I was even born and as a result…" he almost seemed to choke on his own words. "As a result, my mother died giving birth to me. When a Tailed Beast is extracted from its host, the host…well, they die. I was revived because my friends, they never gave up on me but I understand, better than you think." He allowed for another pause as he tried to word his next sentence. "I understand that need to want to scream at everyone in sight, to show them that you're there. That you're not what they think you are but knowing that they will never seen you like that."

"Gaara…" she softly cut him off, feeling that he had said enough. Even though his face never once showed it, she could hear everything in his words. It spoke volumes to her about who he was, who he is now and how he felt.

He finally found the courage to look up into her big blue eyes that he loved so much. Never had he seen eyes like hers and they always left him breathless.

Setsuko was about to speak again when the door slammed opened and Kankuro was standing at its threshold with a look of anger, "We have a problem."

All three of them made their way through the hospital as fast as they could, which wasn't much because Setsuko was still having trouble walking. Gaara had helped her most of the way, but she was stubborn the entire time and insisted she could do it on her own. Whenever he would oblige her, she would topple over about three times before he was helping her to her feet and they were walking together. Kankuro led them down three hallways before opening a door and seeing Temari standing in a room next to a young teenaged girl.

She was young, possibly no older than fifteen. Her body was a complete wreck! She was covered head to toe in cuts and bruises, her brown hair a tattered mess and her green eyes puffy from crying while one was swollen shut. From the sheets on her bed, she looked up and was shocked to see the Kazekage walking into her room. Even though it was almost impossible, she tried her hardest to bow to him. Temari looked over at her brothers and Setsuko, who seemed to be pushing away from Gaara as they entered.

"What's going on?" Gaara asked, seriousness in his tone as he looked at the girl. He recognized her but couldn't remember her name off the top of his head.

She looked apprehensive, feeling intimidated that Lord Kazekage was standing in her room and asking her what was happening. Temari leaned over, "It's okay. He's not going to bite. Just tell him what happened."

The girl pulled at the sheets nervously, "It's my baby sister Lord Kazekage." She paused, biting into her bottom lip. "She was taken a few hours ago by a group of people I have never seen before." Her eyes began to sting as tears threatened to fall. "I don't even know them! They knew her though. They knew her name and where we live; they even knew my name." She bravely stifled her crying, taking deep slow breaths. "They said they wanted a necklace she wore, but when she refused to give it up, they took her."

"What's her name?" Setsuko ventured to ask, fearing that she already knew.

The young girl looked up from her sheets and into her eyes with worry and fear. "Tobari." Both Gaara and Setsuko felt their hearts skip a beat at her name. That cute little kid of the playground! "Please!" the girl shouted, folding her hands together, "They said they would be waiting at the south end of the village. You have to save her! She's the only person I have left!"

Setsuko turned to Gaara, the look on her face telling him that there was nothing he could do to stop her. He knew how she felt, but was reluctant given her current state. She was in no condition to be taking on a group of assassins. Given that only the two of them knew of the little girl, and Meroko the assassin, it was an obvious ploy to trap Setsuko and kill her. With amazing ease, she shuffled out of the room and began making her way to her own, using the wall as a support. Kankuro and Temari looked at each other as all three of the Sand Siblings left the girl and followed after the angered blonde.

How could this happen? Why were they doing this? That poor innocent girl! She had nothing to do with any of this and yet she was being held hostage. This was all her fault! Setsuko dropped her head as she made it to her room, feeling the strain of her guilt and pain overwhelming her. Bracing herself against the frame of her bed, she felt dizzy and physically sick. The only thing that had moved her was her own will to help that little girl. An image of that sad little girl raced through her mind and she sighed heavily. This was all her fault!

"This is dangerous you know." Gaara didn't even bother trying to talk her out of what she was thinking of doing. He felt the same way honestly. This was their responsibility.

Hearing his voice snapped her back to reality and she began fishing for her clothes. "I'm aware."

"Then you know this is what they want you to do?" He had asked but he knew it was more a statement than a question, yet for some reason it had come out that way.

"Yes," she nodded as she removed the patient robes she was forced to wear. Kankuro and Gaara quickly turned away, both lightly blushing. "But I'm not going to let Tobari die because of me. I refuse to let that happen!"

Gaara stepped in front of her after she had finished getting dressed. His gaze was just as serious and determined as hers. "I'm coming with you then."

Normally, she would have flat out refused his help. Lucky for him though, this was no ordinary day. "Alright," she nodded, squeaking lightly as his arm was immediately wrapping around her waist.

"Temari, Kankuro," he turned to face his siblings. "Make sure the ANBU and Jonin are on standby. We don't know if we'll have a catastrophe on our hands."

"Right." The two of them nodded and left quickly to send word to all available ninja.

In a flurry of sand, the two teens were whisked away and headed towards the southern half of the village. It had to be one of the least guarded places in the whole village; the very outskirts of town. There was no wonder they would choose a place like this to make demands. It didn't take them long to arrive at the south half of the village, but the span from which the kidnappers could be was vast. Setsuko's eyes roamed the large canyon wall from one end to the other, and she couldn't even see either end. The sand slithered its way back into Gaara's gourd and he too followed her gaze. Honestly, they had no idea where these kidnappers were and it was an unpleasant thought that Tobari might already be dead.

Gaara's green eyes shifted to Setsuko's damaged body. She seemed so serious, so angry and yet, the air around her was afraid. What could she possibly be afraid of? Was she afraid of dying? He remembered the feeling well. It wasn't something to fear, but he could certainly understand dying so young was. He wanted to reach out and comfort her; to silently tell her that there was nothing to fear. To tell her he was there by her side. But it was the wrong place. The wrong time. Things like that, would have to wait for another day.

"Well, well, well, look at what we have here!" They both knew that voice by now. Craning their necks, they saw the assassin that had been plaguing them through this entire time with Tobari in her arms. She held a blade to the little girl's throat, "Don't you two just look so cute together. I hope you guys worked out all your demons."

She cackled when she saw each of them tense. "Let her go!" Setsuko shouted.

"Ooo, and if I say no?"

"I'll make you."

Meroko laughed, pressing the blade against Tobari's neck and causing her to whimper. "That's possibly the greatest joke I've ever heard!" She saw Setsuko take a step, "Ah! I wouldn't if I were you Princess. You see, I didn't take this little brat without a plan." Five more bodies stepped to her side, two on her right and three on her left. "You see, I came prepared!"

Gaara and Setsuko watched as three of the bodies disappeared. Gaara tensed, noting that they had gone further into the village. He hoped that Temari and Kankuro had already gotten the other ninja ready.

"You want her so bad?" She grinned under her mask, pushing the little girl to the other woman a few feet away from her. Her hands moved with such speed that neither of the teens could see them. After they were finished, she grabbed the other dagger on her back and slammed them into the ground, "Twin Ice Fang!"

From the spot where each dagger met the ground a flurry of ice and wind sprang forth. Around them the temperature dropped causing the moisture in the air to turn ice shards. The icy storm formed into two separate full bodied dragons. They swirled around each other and roared to the sky before flying off towards the village. Setsuko and Gaara watched as the dragons flew through the sky with such terrifying grace, smashing through buildings and homes as they followed the trail of the three that had left beforehand. Gaara felt his body tense again. He needed to be there protecting his people! A hand placed itself on his shoulder, causing him to look back.

"You can help them by stopping her," Setsuko said as if reading his mind.

He nodded a response and they both turned back to see she was gone.

"Wha…Where did she go?" Before she could even blink, the ground was rumbling and knocking Setsuko to her knees.

Gaara held out a hand to help her up, looking over at the gaping hole in the canyon wall.

She took his hand, following his gaze. "Gaara…"

"That's new." He didn't let go of her hand right away, almost forgetting about it until she cleared her throat. His eyes looked down at their hands and he quickly pulled his away. "We should get going." He didn't wait for her to answer, already making his way inside.

"Wait!" She called after him. Why does he always do that, she asked herself in a pout as she followed him.