Chapter 57: Reappearance
"Gaara, are you asleep yet?" asked Temari as she knocked on his bedroom door. Since she didn't get an answer, she slowly turned the doorknob and popped her head into the darkened room to see Gaara sitting on his bed, his legs already under the covers as he looked out his window. "Gaara, you should be sleeping right now, not staring blankly out your window as if you're waiting for something important to happen."
"I know, but it's been hard for me to sleep these past few weeks, for obvious reasons," said Gaara as he continued to look out the window. "I never slept when Shukaku was sealed within me, but I started to after he was extracted from me. I thought I was finally developing a normal sleep cycle, but now it's messed up again."
"I know it is hard to really sleep knowing that Izuka is being held by the enemy and all, but you'll be no use to anyone if you keep depriving yourself from some well needed shut eye." advised Temari as she leaned against the doorframe.
"I've survived over a decade of my life living with absolutely no sleep, I think I can survive another day." said Gaara as he let out a small yawn.
"Yeah, but during that time, you had a large mass of chakra shaped as a one tailed tanuki helping you to stay awake through those sleepless nights. You stayed awake because you feared that Shukaku would take over you if you ever slept. He helped you survive those years with no sleep, like it or not," said Temari as she shook her head. "You staying awake at night isn't going to be the same compared to how you stayed awake in the pass. You need your rest more than ever Gaara. Besides, wouldn't you rather fall asleep in the comforts of your own bed than on the unsecure landscape of a battlefield?"
Gaara slowly turned around to face her, thinking over her words in his head, soon concluding that his sister was right. Shukaku was the main reason that he was able to maintain himself so well despite the lack of sleep throughout his young existence, and now that he was no longer the tanuki's jinchuriki, he couldn't really guarantee it to himself that he could actually survive long without at least a couple of hours of sleep a night.
"You're right Temari . . ." said Gaara as he shook his head. "Who knows how useful I'll be in a fight if I don't get some rest?"
"I don't think you'll be useful at all, but that's just my guess . . ." said Temari as she grabbed hold of the doorknob. "Just promise me you'll try to fall asleep tonight . . ."
"I promise. . . Good night Temari." said Gaara as he began to get the rest of his body under the covers.
"Good night little brother . . ." said the wind mistress as she walked out the room, closing the door behind her with a soft click. After Temari left the room, Gaara turned and looked up at the ceiling, letting his mind go blank in his attempt to go to sleep. He stared at his blank ceiling until his eyelids felt heavy. He let out a deep breath as he let his lids fall shut, ready to let the darkness that is sleep overtake him.
"Gaara"
"Hmm?" mumbled the young Kazekage as he reopened his eyes and looked around, going wide eyed as he saw that he was no longer sleeping in his room, but was lying on the ground in the middle of a darkened hallway. "Where am I?"
"Gaara!"
"That voice . . ." said Gaara as he turned to the direction where the voice was coming from. "It sounded like . . . like Izuka's."
"Gaara . . ." said the voice as the sounds of footsteps began to reach his ears. He looked down the hallway to see a shadowy figure approaching him. When the person got close enough so that Gaara could see her better, he went wide eyed at who he saw. "Gaara . . . are you there?"
"Izuka?" Gaara asked her in shock as she approached him. She was dressed in a light blue nightgown that looked a little big on her, mostly because she looked skinnier than usual. Her hair was out of its usual braids and fell down her back till it reached the middle of her thighs. The insomnia rings around her eyes had grown a little larger than usual, giving her a more raccoon like appearance, but Gaara could care less about any of those things. He was just glad that he was seeing her again after missing her for months. ". . . Izuka, is that really you?"
"It is me, to a point . . ." said the Lady Sage as she shook her head. "This meeting isn't happening in real life Gaara. We're still in your dreams. You are still asleep."
"Oh . . . I should have figured as much . . ." said Gaara as he looked down at the ground. ". . . If this was real, we would be talking in my bedroom, not in the middle of a darkened hallway in a place who knows where."
"Sorry about the environment. This is the best I could manage . . ." said the Lady Sage as she let out a small yawn.
"Izuka, you said that you were really you, to a point . . ." said Gaara as he slowly narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean by that?"
"It is true that we are in your dreams Gaara, but I am not just some simple illusion your subconscious dreamed up . . ." said Izuka as she shook her head. "I'm talking to you through Shukaku's mental link."
"But we're too far away for the link to work." said Gaara as he shook his head.
"Sometimes a little persistence can go a long way . . ." said Izuka as she let a small smile come across her face.
"You've been trying to contact me . . . all this time?" Gaara asked her in slight shock.
"I have, but I can't stay long. I'm only able to maintain the connection for a few minutes longer, so I'm going to have to be quick . . ." said Izuka as she slowly brought a hand to Gaara's shoulder. "You have to be careful. Amegakure is sneakier than it looks. There are agents in each of the Five Great Villages, poised and ready to strike once they get the call, and I have a feeling the call is going to happen soon."
"Izuka, where are you now? We've sent teams into Amegakure in order to find out where they've hidden you, but they've come up with nothing. . ." said Gaara as he shook his head.
"Of course you won't find me there . . . Those teams were sent on a wild goose chase . . ." Izuka said sadly as she lowered her head.
"Goose chase . . . ?" asked Gaara as he raised an invisible eyebrow. "So, you're not in Amegakure?"
"Gaara, I never was in Amegakure . . ." said Izuka as she shook her. "I was never in the Land of Rain. . . I was never brought their to begin with."
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