Chapter 63: Hospital Visit

"Sunagakure has just appeared in my sight," Ryu called out as she pointed to the village just up ahead. "I should be crossing past the village's border within the next five minutes."

"Head straight for the Kazekage building once you do," Temari ordered as she continued to polish her battle fan. "Out of all the places in the village Kankuro could possibly be at right now, the Kazekage building has to be the top one. He must have spent a lot of time debriefing the rest of the council on every single detail of the mission since he arrived back home with his team."

"It is easy to imagine them scrutinizing every detail Kankuro provides them in his report," Baki said with a nod of his head. "Izuka is the Sage of the Sixth Paths after all, and the mission to secure her recovery is a very delicate situation."

"One that both the Tsuchikage and especially the Raikage were shocked to learn about when that attendant came into the room with that message." said Baki as Ryu finally flew into Suna airspace.

"Shocked? Sheesh, the Raikage looked so shocked that he almost pummeled the table and a nearby wall with his good hand," Temari said with a shake of her head. "If it wasn't for Lady Tsunade, C, and Darui, there wouldn't be a meeting room after that Kage meeting."

"He does have a slight tendency to get angry when he feels like he should know information that his allies know as well . . ." Baki said with a nod of his head as they neared the Kazekage building. "Tendency isn't really the right word to use, but you know what I mean . . ."

"I didn't want to keep the plan a secret from the other villages, but the longer we kept it to ourselves, the better the chances were to finding Izuka," Gaara said as he finally jumped into the conversation. "Luckily for us, keeping the mission a secret proved to be beneficial in the end."

"You got that right little brother . . ." Temari said in agreement as they reached the Kazekage building. Once Ryu landed on the building's roof, the Kazekage, his sister, and their mentor descended to the ground from their perch on Ryu's back. Once the dragon reduced herself to her smaller size, the group walked over to the entryway, where they were met by two guards. The two guards respectfully bowed their heads at their leader before moving out of the way, allowing them passage into the building. They made their way down to the Council chambers, but it was empty, so the group made their way to Gaara's office to see Kankuro waiting by the side of it. ". . . Kankuro."

"Ah . . . You guys finally made it back," said Kankuro as a smile graced his painted face. "How did the meeting go?"

"It went well, more or less," said Temari as she placed a hand on her hip. "Where's Izuka?"

"She was taken to Suna hospital. She wasn't physically hurt, well, from my viewpoint," said Kankuro as he took off his signature hat. "However, she is a lot weaker than when we last saw her back in the Land of Iron."

"Weaker?" asked Baki as he raised an eyebrow. "How weak are we talking about Kankuro?"

"She was barely able to stand," Kankuro said as he took a deep breath. "Izuka can stand for at least a minute before she has to sit down again. Whatever those Rain cronies did to her has caused her a lot of physical strain."

"And what about her mentality?" Temari asked as Ryu winced at the line of questioning. "Is that still intact? She didn't seem, you know, crazy, did she?"

"From what I gathered while I was talking to her, she seemed relatively fine," the puppeteer said with a strong nod of his head. "Although, she didn't really want to talk about what she had to go through during her months in captivity."

"That's understandable . . ." said Temari as she observed her redheaded brother from the corner of her eye. Gaara remained silent as he listened to the conversation, but Temari still noticed the small hint of worry in his jade eyes. "I know the Council would like to meet with us to discuss things in regards to the Kage meeting and Izuka's recovery, but that's going to have to wait till tomorrow."

"Temari?" Baki asked in a warning tone. "The rest of the Council isn't going to appreciate this. They're going to want to meet with us immediately."

"They'll meet with us immediately, and when I say immediately, I mean first thing tomorrow morning immediately," Temari said with a smirk as she stood next to Kankuro. "For now, Gaara, Kankuro, and I are going to visit a good friend of ours over at the hospital and you're not going to tell us otherwise."

"I recognize that tone of voice you're using Temari. That's your 'I'm going to do my own thing and nothing's going to stop me' tone," Baki said with a shake of his head as Temari shot him a smirk. "Fine, be that way. Go on and visit Izuka. I'll handle things here while you're gone then."

"Thank you Baki," Temari said with a grin as the turban wearing ninja walked down the hallway. Once he was out of their view, the wind mistress turned to her brother, still with the same grin on her face, "So then, are we going to go visit Izuka or not?"

"As if we're going to waist this chance," said Ryu as she let a grin show across her face. "We better get moving before one of the Council elders finds us."

"Good plan . . ." said Kankuro as they began making their way down the hallway. "Gaara, is something wrong? You've been silent this whole time."

"It's nothing Kankuro . . ." the young Kazekage said with a shake of his head. "I just have a lot on my mind, that's all."

"That . . . That's understandable," mumbled Kankuro. That would be the last thing that any of the Sand Siblings would say as they made their way out of the building and traveled over to Suna Hospital. Once they reached the large structure, Kankuro led them inside. He led his siblings up to the top floor, where they traveled down a hallway until they spotted the door which was guarded by two jonin. The jonin bowed their heads before moving out of the way of the three siblings. Kankuro knocked on the door three times before opening it just enough that he could poke his head inside. "Izuka, are you awake?"

"I'm awake . . ." Izuka said as she slowly opened her eyes. Kankuro nodded his head before opening the door wider, revealing Temari, Ryu, and Gaara in the process. "Hi guys . . ."

"We're not disturbing you or anything are we?" Ryu asked hopefully as they group walked into the room, the dragon's eyes appraising Izuka's skinnier appearance. Gaara couldn't help but realize that his girlfriend looked exactly how she did when she appeared in his dream.

"No . . . It's been pretty boring in here to tell you the truth," Izuka said with a shrug. "The medical tests were a pain in the ass though . . ."

"It's just a precaution Izuka," Temari said with a smirk as she sat down in the chair right next to her bed. "After what you probably had to go through, I can understand why. Have any of the council members tried to speak with you?"

"No, but I'm expecting visits from them in the oncoming days . . ." Izuka mumbled with a scowl on her face.

"Gaara, is there any chance we can delay any potential visits from the members of the council?" Ryu asked hopefully as she flew onto Izuka's lap. "Surely you can give her a few days' buffer can you?"

"Thanks to Temari, there will be a council meeting held tomorrow morning," Gaara said in his usual tone of voice. "I'll talk with them about giving you a few days before accepting their visits. However, some may prove very persistent in wanting to interview on what happened while you were in captivity."

"Aren't council members always persistent?" Izuka mumbled, sarcasm dripping from her voice as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "It's just in their nature, well, from my viewpoint."

"You make a good point there," Gaara said as he leaned against the wall. "But right now, I have a pretty good feeling that I'm not going to like tomorrow's meeting, not one bit."

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