Chapter 49: Wake Up
Gaara sat in a seat in between the beds of his siblings as he waited for them to wake up from their earlier battle with the escaping Rain nin. His thoughts were preoccupied, not just on his siblings, but on his girlfriend, who was now currently within the Rain nin's clutches at that very moment.
"Izuka . . . where are you?" mumbled the teenage Kazekage as he lay back in his seat. He let out a deep breath before standing up on his feet to stretch his legs. Suddenly, he heard a tapping sound from somewhere on his left. He turned around to see Ryu floating just behind the window, a small scowl evident on her face as Gaara commanded his sand to open up the window for her.
"Thanks for letting me in . . ." said the small dragon as she flew into the room. "I see they haven't woken up yet."
"Not yet, but the medics say they should wake up any minute now," said Gaara as he turned to his unconscious siblings. "Did you manage to find any trace of the Rain nin while you were out?"
"No; the Rain nin covered their tracks really well. I couldn't find any footprints or any hint of a scent from them anywhere," answered Ryu as she shook her head. ". . . I seriously want to pay them back for knocking me out earlier, and for kidnapping Izuka and hurting the others."
"I share your sentiment." said Gaara as he slowly walked over to his seat.
"Are you alright Gaara?" asked Ryu as she flew over to the monotonic teenager.
"I will be once we get Izuka back and figure out what Amegakure is up to," answered Gaara as he looked up at the floating dragon. "How are you feeling?"
"A little stiff in my right hind leg, but I'm fine for the most part . . ." answered Ryu as she landed on his shoulder.
"We're fine too. Thanks for asking."
Gaara and Ryu both turned to see Kankuro with only one eye open as he slowly sat up in his bed. They then turned to see Temari already up, but with her hand right along her right temple.
"What exactly happened to us again?" asked the wind mistress as she tried to shake the cobwebs from her mind.
"We got our asses kicked sis," said Kankuro as he looked at her. "We simply got our asses kicked by the Rain nin and let them get away with one of the most powerful teenagers in all of the shinobi lands."
"Oh yeah . . . now I remember," mumbled Temari as she slowly swung her legs over the edge of her bed. "Where are we exactly?"
"We're here at the medical clinic," answered Gaara as he let out a small breath. "After Mifune, the other Kages, and I found you and the other bodyguards all unconscious, we brought you all back here. Mifune went out with Lord A, Lady Mei, and a some of his samurais to continue the search for Izuka and the Rain nin."
"Have they come back yet?" asked Kankuro as looked at his brother curiously.
"Not yet; they're still out there somewhere." answered Gaara as he shook his head.
"Dammit . . ." muttered Temari as a grimace came across her face. "We csan't let them get away with this."
"And we're not going to . . ." Gaara said quickly to cut his sister off. "What . . . what exactly happened when to you all when you finally managed to catch up to the enemy?"
"Simple; we basically were lured into a trap,"Kankuro answered bluntly as he crossed his arms. "And it all happened so fast . . . one minute we thought we had the Rain nin cornered, and then the twins in the group pulled out this jutsu that well . . . is hard to explain. The next thing I knew . . . I was waking up here with you guys."
"How bad was the jutsu if it is so hard to explain Kankuro?" asked Ryu as she raised an invisible eyebrow at the puppet master.
"The hand signs . . . the twins moved their fingers so fast . . . it was all a blur." mumbled Kankuro as he looked up at the ceiling.
"The signs were basically unreadable. Let's put it like that," said Temari as she shook her head. "All of a sudden, this bright green light suddenly appeared all around them and it came toward us. . . We didn't have enough time to react. Everything faded to black after that . . . Sorry."
"Don't be . . ." said Gaara as he looked up at his sister. "We had no idea who we were messing with. Those people are so unlike the Rain nin that we are accustomed to hearing about."
"Yeah . . . I guess Amegakure really wanted to keep their new crop of ninjas under wraps and spring them on us as a surprise," said Ryu as she crossed her paws together. "This only shows us that we can't just rely on what we already know about the country and their people. The nin we encountered today are totally unlike the Rain nin of old . . . They've improved, by a lot."
"You can say that again . . ." mumbled Kankuro as a low knocking sound emanated from the nearby door.
"Come in . . ." Gaara said coolly as the siblings and the dragon turned to face the door. The door opened up to reveal a samurai dressed in the typical uniform of most of the lower ranked samurai in the Land of Iron.
"Excuse me Lord Kazekage, but the other Kages are calling for your presence. Lord Mifune, the Raikage, and the Mizukage have all just returned from searching the area." said the samurai as he bowed his head in agreement.
"I see . . . Thank you. That will be all," said Gaara as he dismissed the samurai. The samurai nodded his head in understanding before leaving the room, leaving the door slightly agape. "Let's go everyone."
"I hope they found something that will help us figure out this mystery." mumbled Temari as she got up from the bed and followed her brothers to the door.
"I hope so too Temari . . . I hope so too." mumbled Gaara as the group walked out the door, ready to hear the incoming, and dreary, status report that would be coming from their fellow ninjas.
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