I found my team on my way back to Suna in the area surrounding the village. Jiro had his forehead protector tied strangely around his head like a bandana to keep his brown hair out of his eyes. He was the one who saw me first. "Lady Ketto, is it true? You found the body of the Kazekage?"
"I did." I said. The image of Rasa's deceased body flashed in my head. "That's why I need to talk to the three of you. Now that the Kazekage's body has been recovered, there is no need for you to stay in Suna with me."
"I thought we had more time." Mitsuru uttered.
"Why can't we stay?" Jiro whined.
"Think about it Jiro, we don't know how long negotiations are going to take now that the Kazekage's body has been recovered." Shozouki said. "I'm sure it will take several days for the council to even agree to see Ketto again, they'll insist that they have time to grieve before continuing negotiations and while that goes on we are better off in our own nation. We should return home and report to the Mizukage for further missions."
"Besides Jiro, did you forget that after Lady Ketto is done here she won't be returning to Kirigakure with us anyway?" Mitsuru said. He turned to Jiro to make sure he was listening. "Though, I bet you were counting on going with her weren't you?"
Jiro's cheeks got redder than they currently were from the heat. "You can't prove that!" he snapped.
"Why are you blushing then?" Mitsuru prodded. "You thought she would change her mind and take us with her? Admit that going after two of the seven ninja swordsmen is too much for us even with Lady Ketto and Shozouki with us. We'll only slow them down if we did go with. We should just leave it to Lady Ketto, don't you believe in her abilities?"
"I'm not questioning Lady Ketto's abilities!" Jiro snapped. "It's just we're a team, we should do it as a team. Can't you understand that?"
"I just said that it's out of our league." Mitsuru glared at Jiro and Jiro glared back at him.
Shozouki stepped in between the two of them. "That's enough, Mitsuru is right, you're not ready. When we get back to Kirigakure, I can train with you until Lady Ketto gets back. Or we can do other missions until she comes back so we can build up your strength. Besides, the Mizukage said that this is something Lady Ketto has to do on her own."
"Thanks Shozouki." I thanked. "Do you think you can set out today? I don't want uncle to think we were slacking considering you were just supposed to escort Baki, Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara home with me. I'm sure he'll understand if you told him that I told you to help locate the Kazekage's body then he'll understand."
"We can be ready in a few hours." Shozouki said. He relaxed his stance between Jiro and Mitsuru being that they stopped glaring at each other. "We should head back to prepare now." Shozouki turned and started heading in the direction of Suna, I followed after him. I saw Jiro and Mitsuru look at each other before they each took up positions on either side of me.
"Lady Ketto, you know that Temari and Kankuro may be affected by this don't you?" Mitsuru questioned.
"I know, I realized that when Kankuro ran to me after I fell next to the body." I said. "From what Temari told me their father seemed pretty absent in their lives. It's similar to how I was raised, uncle Yagura was hardly there, I saw more of his subordinates than him. Zabuza was distant emotionally, but still, I understand that both Temari and Kankuro loved their father despite his lack of being there. I think they loved the idea of having a father and that is what was most liked."
"Just remember to be patient." Jiro said. "Remember that everyone grieves differently. You care for them right, as their friend?" I nodded. "Then make sure they don't fall to despair."
I didn't think of the grief of Temari and Kankuro, I promised Rasa that they would be strong but that was in reference to their physical strength not their emotional strength. It never occured to me until now that I may have to comfort them like how I comforted Konohamaru. Would it be awkward to be that open with them?
"Actually, have you ever had to comfort someone?" Mitsuru asked.
"Once, when I found Konohamaru after the Hokage died." I said. "I held him while he cried. We talked about Hiruzen and happy memories that Konohamaru had with him and when Konohamaru started crying uncontrollably again, I sang to him."
"That's pretty good for someone's first time comforting someone." Jiro said. I could feel him staring a hole into the side of my face. "It means that you are human."
"Did you think that I wasn't before?" my head snapped in his direction making him uncomfortable. His mouth tried to form words, but he was unable to speak..
"That's not what he means." Mitsuru butt in. I turned to look at him instead. "It's just surprising that you know how to comfort someone considering your detachment from your emotions. We were expecting you to be cold-hearted in a situation where you should have comforted someone."
"That may have once been true, but I'm working on it." I said while looking straight ahead at Shozouki's back. "I know how to act in those kinds of situations, I'm slowly understanding how those people may feel in that moment even though I can't connect that feeling to myself. Sometimes it's confusing and I know I definitely don't understand, yet I still try to do what I can."
"That's good." Mitsuru said. "That's how I feel a lot of times too. Jiro is better at this kind of thing."
"I would like to thank the two of you." I started. "For helping me come off as… less threatening? More human? I realize that when we first got here and it was revealed that I was the Demon of the Mist, I didn't do or say anything to ease their worries until Jiro said something about it."
"Don't worry about it. What are teammates for?" Jiro said. If I looked over to him I'm sure he would have his big goofy grin on his face which would just look even more weird with his forehead protector on the way it was. "I think you'll be just fine here on your own."
"Why wouldn't I be?" I wondered.
"The same reason we just talked about. You're immensely strong, I'm not worried about that, but when it comes to your relations to other people it gets complicated." Jiro chuckled awkwardly as if he just said something he shouldn't have.
"It's okay, I understand." I said.
Together the four of us arrived at the crack in the wall to reenter Suna. We walked through the village towards the Kazekage building. While we walked, I noticed the expressions on the faces of the people, could word of the Kazekage's body have spread that fast?
Once inside the building, I walked with Shozouki, Mitsuru and Jiro to their rooms while on my way to Temari's room. I wondered if she would be there or if I would have to look for her somewhere else. Before I could knock the door opened and I was pulled into Temari's room. She pulled me over to her bed and hesitated when she realized I was still wearing my sword belt. I reached up to unbuckle it, and was pushed into the comforter on the bed the moment the buckle was undone and the swords clattered to the ground.
"Is it true? You and Kankuro found my father's body by accident?" she asked. She settled herself on the bed next to me. "How did it happen?"
"I was helping Kankuro train, he was using his chakra strings on me and he had me jumping from one rock to another in the sand sea." I started. I got more comfortable on the bed and crossed my legs to sit. "We were farther out when the rocks started to be farther apart when Kankuro ran out of chakra and I fell right in between two bodies on the other side of a sand dune."
"How was his body placed?" she asked. I could see the tears in her eyes threaten to spill over.
"We don't have to talk about it." I didn't want to accidentally say something that may have been insensitive, so I thought it would be best if we didn't say anymore.
"Please tell me." she requested. "I want to know."
I sighed, it's okay to talk about if she insists right? I mean she really wants to know, will I deny her that? What if she needs to know in order to fully accept it and move on? "He was laying on his stomach with his arms to his sides. It was like he was thrown forward after he was killed."
"He was just tossed aside." Temari's tears started to fall. "He was the Kazekage and he was left as if he was no better than the sand he was buried in!"
"I'm sorry Temari." I placed a hand on her shoulder, I remembered that uncle Yagura said sometimes a touch was all that was needed to comfort someone. Temari fell forward, wrapping her arms around me and we both fell backwards on the mattress. I wasn't expecting this. It's all very sudden, I tried to not seem too uncomfortable when I wrapped my arms around her too, I hope she didn't notice my hesitation that might just make this more awkward.
I should have been prepared for something like this. For some reason, I thought Temari wouldn't have showed as much emotion. She's showing more emotion than Kankuro did and I already know that Gaara won't shed a tear.
I don't know how long we laid here, me in silence and Temari as she sobbed, but it felt like centuries to me. It was probably only a few hours. There was a knock at the door. I wasn't able to detach myself from Temari and she didn't seem to be getting up anytime soon so I was going to leave it until they knocked again. "Lady Ketto are you in there? We are ready to depart." Shozouki's voice came through the door.
"I need to go." I said, I tried to pry Temari's hands off of me before attempting to sit up.
"Please don't go." she said.
"I just have to see them off. I'll be right back, promise." I said. Very reluctantly, she let go of me. I was then able to get out of the bed and cross the room to the door and slip out before Temari could change her mind. I let out a heavy breath.
"Are you okay?" Mitsuru asked.
"I'm fine. I just wasn't expecting to be anyone's comfort pillow." I grumbled. "I really just have to wait until she cries herself to sleep, then I can sneak out of her hold. Anyway, you're all ready?"
"Yeah, we restocked our supplies and are ready to head out." Shozouki said.
"Good, take your time getting back to Kirigakure there's no rush. Make sure you tell my uncle that I ordered you to help search for the Kazekage's body." I said.
"I will, we should get going then." Shozouki and Mitsuru started walking off, but Jiro was still standing across from me. The other two didn't stop to wait up for him, so I assumed this was their way of giving Jiro a moment alone with me.
"I'm still not okay with you taking on The Heartless Pair on your own, now I've gotten more used to it because I know I won't be able to change anyone's mind." his face was the most serious I've ever seen it. Even the mischievous sparkle in his dark brown eyes disappeared. "I don't care if they were your sensei's in the past, you need to show them what The Demon of the Mist can do. Fight seriously from the very beginning, don't give them any openings, just fight them the same way I heard you fought in the Kiri-Kumo war all those years ago. I better see you in one piece back in Kiri in no time." then he grinned widely, the sparkle back. "I believe in you Lady Ketto." he ran off after Shozouki and Mitsuru without waiting for my reply, not that I had anything to say to that. I had Kushimaru and Jinpachi pushed out of my mind until now, though I should start thinking of them again. I don't have much time left until I have to face them.
I turned around and reentered Temari's room to see her sitting up on the bed watching the door expectantly. Tears were still streaming down her face, but her crying stopped. "They're leaving without you?"
"Yeah, remember I have a separate mission after I'm finished in Suna." I said. I walked over to the bed and sat next to her. "Are you okay now?"
"Not exactly, but I will be." she wiped the tears off of her face with the edge of her blanket. "I'm sorry for grabbing you. I just needed someone to be here."
"It's fine, it's just something I'm not used to." I was quiet for a moment before saying, "Do you want to be left alone?"
"No, don't go." she quickly responded. "I don't like being alone. How can you stand it?"
"Hn, I've always been alone. I'm used to it." I leaned back on the bed using my elbows as support. "Sometimes, I think about what my life would be like if I wasn't alone all the time and I'm not sure what to think of it. I feel as if I would be uncomfortable, but lately I've been getting better at not feeling that way."
Temari laid down close to me and said, "Tell me about your relationship with your brother, do you miss him?"
"My relationship with Zabuza is complicated, it won't make you feel better."
"I don't care. I want to know you better. You already know about my relationship with my brothers and I won't ever get to meet Zabuza to see the two of you together. Tell me about him." she urged. "I think you feel the same way I do right now being that your brother has passed."
"Zabuza was twelve years older than me so it was hard for us to find something to bond over, but we did share the same dream of becoming strong shinobi of Kirigakure. Neither of us ever thought of becoming the Mizukage, we actually both wanted to be one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. We both showed a compatibility with one of the blades only we weren't deemed ready. So we trained together nonstop. I was five and Zabuza was seventeen when he decided we were going to train with each other. First, I would have to get to his level and then we started more advanced training." as I spoke about him I remembered specific moments when we would train. The first thing Zabuza did was help me develop my chakra so that I could perform the water dragon jutsu. I was already using my coral for years, but Zabuza thought that the poison of the coral was cowardly and that's why he taught me to fight like him. After I had that perfected we started training with katana's and slowly moved our way up to bigger blades because at that time he already had his heart set on the executioner's blade and he wanted to pass that on to me after he retired. "The only care Zabuza ever showed me was his want for me to be strong like him. He never showed me affection or talked to me about personal things, we would only ever talk about our training and the missions we would go on. We never kept secrets from each other though he never expressed his want to leave the village, so I guess he did keep something from me." I finished with a mumble.
"Still, you loved him right?" Temari asked.
"I guess so, they weren't strong feelings of love but I did care about him to some extent, I definitely didn't want him to die. I was proud that he was my brother, I didn't have anyone to show him off too or anything. Still, he was precious to me. Yet all my life I've been surrounded by death, so when Zabuza died I wasn't affected as I should have been."
"You didn't cry? Not even when you went to the land of Waves?" she asked.
"I cried when I was in the land of Waves, but for different reasons." my elbows were tired so I sat up cross legged on top of the bed facing Temari. "I didn't cry because I missed him, I cried because I thought of what our lives would have been like if he was still alive and he loved me. I remember imagining a smile on his face as he would tell me that he was proud of me. Or imagine him defending me while on a mission because he didn't want anyone to hurt his baby sister, but that wouldn't have been right. That wouldn't have been in Zabuza's character so I got over those thoughts. Still, it's nice to think of."
"You grew up knowing that your brother didn't love you." she looked so sad as she said it, almost as if she was defeated but this didn't have anything to do with her so I wasn't sure why she would care.
"That's right, but Naruto was there when Zabuza died and said Zabuza's last words were a request to Naruto to tell me that he loved me. So the whole time I thought Zabuza could care less about me he actually loved me. I should have noticed it sooner, why else would he put so much time and effort into training me to become a deadly ninja when I was just his bratty kid sister?"
Temari sat up mirroring my position, "You know Ketto, I always wanted a little sister."
"What does that have to do with anything I just said?" I wondered.
She took my hands into hers and looked deep into my grey eyes with her darker teal ones. "You haven't had a normal family experience, things are obviously different in Kirigakure. I haven't had a normal family experience either, but now I can try and make things right with Kankuro and Gaara so that we can be the loving family that we should have been. Would it be okay if I called you my sister." a gentle smile crossed her face as she finished.
"Why would you want to do that?" I asked.
"Because, you need to have someone openly care about you and I want to be the one to do that." she said.
"You're serious about this." I said. "You know, you take 'making your own family' quite literal."
"I know, I just want to surround myself with people I feel comfortable around so that we can all get closer to one another." her smile widened. "So, what do you say?"
"It's fine if you call me sister." I gave in. I think it would be nice to have Temari close like this. It's still a bit awkward when she says things with deep meaning about me, like when she explained that I was beautiful and that she was going to tell me that all the time until I was used to hearing it. It's all a bit awkward, but it also feels strangely nice knowing that someone cares enough about me to tell me how they feel. "You don't seem as sad anymore."
"Neither of us can do anything about our past, but we can change our future." she said. "I doubt I'm done crying about my father's death, however in this case it's best if I move on."
"It's good that you've come to that conclusion." I praised her.
"You know it's getting later in the day, I should make something for us to eat." she said. "Are you hungry?"
I wasn't, not really anway, but I replied, "I could eat."
Her smile appeared again. "Good, I'll start to get things ready if you would like to find Kankuro and Gaara?"
"Sure, I can find them." I pushed myself off the bed and decided to find Kankuro first, I had a feeling that I already knew where Gaara was. I wasn't sure where I could find Kankuro. Would he be making preparations to bury his father? Is it possible to even bury someone in the desert? Or would they have a special burial?
I decided to go to the entrance to the village in hopes of one of the ninja there knowing where Kankuro would be. I received curious looks from the villagers, there was even a little girl that approached me. She was wearing a beige colored dress with a burgundy colored shawl wrapped around her waist. Her dark blonde hair was in a side ponytail and her brown eyes were filled with kindness. She held her hands behind her back and slowly brought them in front of her to show a large yellow flower, a marigold.
"This flower is for you." she held it out to me. "It's pretty just like you are." she smiled widely to show that one of her front teeth were missing.
"That's okay, you don't have to give me a flower." I tried stepping around her to continue to look for Kankuro but she moved to get in my way again.
"Please take the flower, it'll look so pretty in your hair." she insisted.
"Fine, I'll take the flower." I held out my hand for it only for her to pull away from me.
"No, I want to put it in your hair." she looked away from me as she said it. She took her free hand and waved her hand as if she wanted me to bow down. I took a knee and she rushed closer to me. She pushed my forehead protector down so that it rested around my neck. Then she put the flower in my braid in between the part that was braided and the part that was not. "There, it looks just as pretty as I thought." she stepped back from me. "I'm Miri, who are you? Are you from somewhere else?" she patted my forehead protector around my neck.
"My name is Ketto, I'm from Kirigakure in the land of Water." I said.
Miri gasped, "Do you get to swim in the ocean?" she had sparkles in her brown eyes. She leaned closer to me with her hands clasped. "Have you seen a rainbow?!"
This little girl really is talkative, but I guess I can humor her. "I swim in the ocean all the time and the rainbows are really big." When the sun does peak through the overcast sky there is a rainbow that is always present with all the mist.
"Ah! I want to see a rainbow!" Miri pouted.
"Miri, are you bothering this woman?" both Miri and I turned to see a ninja with a turban covering his hair and cloth hanging down on both sides, I felt as if I've seen him before but I couldn't be sure.
"I just wanted to talk to the pretty lady." Miri said.
He turned to me. "Sorry about that, Miri is pretty outgoing. I'm sure you have somewhere you need to be, can I help you find your way being that you're not from the village?"
"I don't really have a specific location in mind. I'm looking for Kankuro and I'm not sure where to start, but I'm sure I'll be able to find him." I said. I got off of my knee and stood up while brushing some dust off of my bandaged legs.
"Lord Kankuro is at the funeral parlor with Elder Ebizo." he said. "If you want, I can take you to them?"
"If it isn't too much trouble, that would be nice." I said.
"Daddy, can I go with?!" Miri asked. She batted her eyelashes, "Please?"
"No, go to your mom. I'll be right back." he said.
"You're no fun." she pouted, but she did turn to leave.
The Sand ninja made sure Miri was going back home before he turned to me, "This way." I followed him down several streets. If I had to find this place by myself, I know I would have gotten lost. We didn't come across any of the main roads that lead to the center of the village or anything. There didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to the way in which all of the streets were constructed so I didn't bother having to memorize where we were going, I would worry about that later.
I followed the ninja into a shop that had a sign saying Solace Funeral Arrangements in red. The first thing I noticed was Kankuro yelling, "Why would it matter how he died?! He's dead, end of story!"
"I'm sorry Lord Kankuro, but it's required of me to ask if you would like a full autopsy of the body before funeral arrangements are made." an older man said. I assumed he was the mortician and the owner of this shop.
"I don't need to know." Kankuro ground out. "I just want him buried as soon as possible. Who knows how long he's been out there."
"Hey, Kankuro are you alright?" I asked.
His head snapped in my direction the discomfort of the situation showing on his face, but now he seemed more angry than when he was shocked before. "Ketto, what are you doing here?"
"Temari sent me to find you. You should go to her." I didn't say that it was only to eat, otherwise I think I would have a harder time trying to get him to leave.
"I'm kind of busy at the moment." he frowned and looked back at the older man. "Can't we just cremate him and get it over with?"
"Lord Kankuro, I don't suggest that. Being that Lord Rasa was the Kazekage everyone will be expecting a burial." the man said. He was calm, I'm sure he's had to deal with many family members of the deceased before.
"Kankuro, it's alright." I placed my hand on his shoulder only for him to tense up. "I'll take care of things here with Ebizo and you can go to Temari. There will be nothing for you to worry about."
Kankuro slowly relaxed into my touch. "Ketto, I'm sorry to have you do this, but it's just too hard for me. Are you sure it's okay?"
"Yeah, it won't be a problem." I turned Kankuro around and pushed him towards the shop door. "Don't worry about a thing. We've got this." He didn't resist and was soon out of the shop. I turned back to the other three in the shop and said, "Of course there will be an autopsy. Do you need to have a medical ninja for that?"
"I can perform one myself, it would just take more time." the old man said.
I turned back to the ninja that escorted me here. "I'm sorry, but I never got your name."
"I'm Moto." he said.
"I know that you were on your way home, but could you stop by the hospital to request that someone assist this man with the autopsy?" I asked.
"It won't be a problem. I'll be on my way." he also left, which left me with Ebizo and the mortician.
"Ebizo this will be my first sand burial, so could you help me?" I asked.
He chuckled a little bit before saying anything. "We haven't done sand burials in decades."
"What do you mean? How do you bury your dead then?" I could feel a crease forming between my eyebrows. If they don't bury their dead in the sand then how do they do it? The ground isn't firm enough to bury anything.
"The wall serves as protection against enemies and the natural elements, but it's also where we bury our dead. Within the walls there are grave sites, shelves lining every inch of the inside. That is where we bury our dead. Or at least that's where the more notable shinobi of the village are buried. There is a cemetery where the ground is stable enough where the bodies won't rise up for the others." Ebizo said.
"The notable ninja are buried within the wall? Is that so the bodies are protected from graverobbers?" I wondered.
"Precisely, though we don't have too much of a problem with grave robbers anymore." he said thoughtfully. "Audun, do you think you would be able to have the Kazekage's body ready in three days time?"
"That will be plenty of time." the old man now known as Audun said.
"Good, that should be enough time for any concerning parties to get here for the funeral." Ebizo said.
"Who would you invite other than the people of Suna and the feudal lord?" I wondered.
"The land of Fire has selected a new Hokage, Tsunade Senju. I think that it would be the perfect time to do negotiation between the lands of Wind, Fire and Water, don't you think?" Ebizo asked. He looked at me expectantly awaiting an answer.
"Yes, that's agreeable." I said. "Is there anything else that needs to be done here?"
Audun spoke up, "I would need a fresh pair of clothes and a robe to bury the Kazekage in. Otherwise, I can take care of everything else."
"I can have someone stop by tomorrow with that." I said.
"Alright, then that's everything that needs to be done here." Audun said. "The two of you are free to go."
"Thank you for your help." I bowed my head to him a bit before leaving with Ebizo.
"Allow me to escort you back to the Kazekage building." Ebizo suggested.
"The company would be nice." I replied. Maybe if I was walking with someone then no one will stop me like earlier?
"It's refreshing that you didn't know that we no longer do sand burials." he said.
"About that, don't tell Kankuro. He'll probably regret letting me stay behind." I said.
"I won't." he chuckled a bit more. "It's really remarkable of you to help out during this time. My sister likes you because of your willingness to help us. You remind us of ourselves when we were younger, we just wanted peace, but we were forced to fight for the sake of our village."
"I think that either way that's what ends up happening." I said. "The people in power don't have the means to make that happen so their people are the ones forced to fight for a little bit of peace. The thing is that when they are fighting many people are losing their lives, so their want for peace seems hypocritical."
"I agree, but if we don't fight our loyalties will be questioned." Ebizo sighed. "We can never win."
"There's not much we can do." I said.
"You're right." he said. "Chiyo and I have already decided to help you connect the land of Wind with the land of Water. Baki also agrees with the idea of it. We just need to convince the other council members that it's a good idea for us to have these bonds."
"I'm not trying to dissuade you, but why do you think it's a good idea?" I wondered.
"We may not want to admit it, yet it's painfully obvious that the land of Wind does not have any strength." he started, "Our military strength is significantly lacking compared to that of your nation. For more than a decade now the feudal lord has been sending requests to the land of Fire and other nations instead of to its own ninja. We lack the experience to back our scant military strength. If another war was to break out, we would be blindsided and I'm sure many lives would be lost."
"It's more of a strategic decision for you, I understand." I'm not sure why uncle Yagura insisted on having ties to the land of Wind, but I didn't mind being here and setting that up for him. I can't help but wonder why we would need to be allied with them… What could possibly happen where we would need their help? I think uncle Yagura knows more than he lets on and he won't tell me.
We came up to the Kazekage building without me realizing. We took all of the back streets here and I didn't really know where I was until I realized we were already here. "I'll leave you here. I'll be seeing you Lady Ketto." Ebizo gave a small wave and walked off leaving me by myself in front of the Kazekage building.
I entered the building and found my way to the dining area that we ate breakfast this morning. Only Temari and Kankuro were present. Kankuro was sitting at the table waiting for food while it looked like Temari was just finishing whatever she made.
"Gaara's not here?" I asked. I felt for his chakra only to feel it faintly above me, he must have been on the roof again.
"I tried to get him to come eat, but he said he wasn't hungry." Kankuro said. He had his elbows on the table in front of him and had his face resting in his palms. "I didn't want to force him to come in because I thought he would hurt me."
Temari sighed, "I wish he would be more open with us."
"I can get him." I suggested.
"Are you sure?" Kankuro looked to me. "It's okay, it might be less awkward if he wasn't here."
"He's going through the same thing as you right now. He may want to be alone, but don't let him. You'll never fix your relationship with him if you leave him alone." I said. I turned my body to leave the room. "I'll get him, I'll try and be quick."
I still didn't know the way to the roof, so I got there the same way I did last night. I climbed out of the first window I found and used concentrated chakra in my feet to walk up the side of the building. Gaara was sitting on the edge of the building looking off towards the setting sun. My sandal scuffed the surface of the roof and Gaara said, "I don't need anyone to check up on me."
"That's good to hear, I didn't come to check in on you." I said. I walked across the rooftop towards him. "Temari made food, it's time to eat."
"I'm not hungry." he didn't even look at me as he said it.
"I don't care if you're hungry or not, I'm not really hungry either, but I'm going to eat because it will make Temari happy." I stopped behind him.
"They won't care if I'm not there, so I'll just stay here." he said.
"I don't think you understand, I didn't come out here just to tell you it was time to eat. I'm going to take you to them." I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him up.
"I just want to be alone." he insisted. "Just leave me here."
I tossed him over my shoulder and started walking down the way I came up. As I walked across the rooftop I noticed Gaara's sand rising around us, but it didn't move to grab me. It rose towards us yet didn't touch either of us. "You need to bond with them. They're going through the same thing as you right now, they may not feel the same as you or maybe they do. This is your chance to connect with them."
"I don't care about connecting with them." he said. He tried pushing himself off my shoulder, but I had a tight grip. "Let go of me."
"I will, as soon as we are with Temari and Kankuro." I responded.
"They're afraid of me, I don't want to cause them pain. I can see it every time they look at me." Gaara stopped trying to push away from me, which made my journey down the side of the Kazekage building easier.
"Maybe you should stop threatening to kill Kankuro." I suggested. "That's probably part of the reason he's afraid of you. He knew that you seriously wanted to kill him. Zabuza and I tried killing each other on a daily basis, but that's different than this."
I knew I wouldn't be able to enter the building through a window if I was carrying Gaara and if I let him go I had a feeling that he would try to get away so that he wouldn't have to face his brother and sister. So, I just walked all the way down the side of the building and entered through the front doors. Anyone that we passed on our way to the residential area stared at us in awe. They were probably amazed that Gaara didn't kill me for touching him yet. I'm actually surprised that he didn't put up a bigger fight.
When I entered the dining room Kankuro was the first one to see me carrying Gaara over my shoulder. He started to choke on the water he was drinking and then started laughing uncontrollably as he pointed at us. Temari looked up from setting the table and had to cover her mouth to try and hide her laughter. I set Gaara down on his feet and he sat down at the table with a blush dusting his cheeks.
"I can't believe you just carried him in here like a sack of potatoes!" Kankuro was laughing, he was laughing so hard that tears formed in the corners of his eyes.
"Shut up." Gaara mumbled. He tried turning his head to look away from Kankuro only to face me and look away with a darker blush on his face. I was confused by the action, but I didn't care to ask about it so I sat down at the table to eat.
Temari seemed to get ahold of herself and went to the kitchen to get the food she made. First, she had a dish filled with rice. She gave each of us a portion before setting the bowl on the table and going back to the kitchen. This time the bowl was filled with meat in a brown sauce. When she gave me some I leaned forward and smelled the spices in the sauce, another curry.
"Is something wrong Ketto?" Temari asked.
"No, it's just that you make lots of curry." I said. I picked up a spoon and gave myself a spoonful. The sauce while being spicy was also savory, I liked it, this is different from anything I've eaten in Kiri.
"The green houses here are mostly for medicinal herbs, but we also grow spices. We don't have any vegetables. We purchase rice from the land of Fire and we have our own livestock, so whatever we can make with that is what we eat." Temari said. She sat herself down after making her own plate. "What about you? What are the kinds of things you eat in the land of Water? Lots of fish?"
"We don't eat fish as often as you think." I said. "We have lots of agricultural land on several islands within the land of Water. In Kirigakure every building has gardens planted on the rooftops to make up for the lack of physical land. In more rural areas there is cattle farming and rice fields, we have a little bit of everything when it comes to food."
"A little bit of everything?" Kankuro questioned. "That sounds delicious, can you imagine all the food I could eat Temari?"
I felt a small smile stretch the corner of my lips. "Something tells me that you are willing to eat pretty much anything."
"Almost anything, I don't like spinach." he said.
I shrugged my shoulders, everyone had something they didn't like to eat. "That's fair, I don't think I could eat a turtle. Some people think it's a delicacy or something." The only reason why I wouldn't want to eat a turtle is because Isobu is a turtle. I respect him too much to even want to attempt to eat one.
We ate in silence, I didn't think it was awkward but Kankuro and Temari kept glancing at Gaara as if he was going to up and leave or something. Temari sighed, "I think we should talk about us. I don't want us to be like Ketto and her brother, they went through their whole lives knowing that they were unloved when they had each other, they just didn't know how to show that they cared about each other and now he's dead. I want the two of you to know that no matter what happens that I love you both equally."
"Is that true?" Kankuro asked. He looked to me to wait for my reply.
"Yeah, Zabuza was more focused on turning me into a weapon for our village than being a big brother." I said. "I didn't mind, I wanted to be stronger than I was."
"Still, it isn't right." Temari said. She shook her head and continued, "Gaara, I'm sorry that Kankuro and I haven't really been there for you while you were growing up, but I love you and there is nothing you can say or do to get me to change my mind."
"What would you know about love?" Gaara asked glaring at Temari.
Kankuro and I glanced at each other from our spots knowing that this could possibly get messy.
"What does anyone know about love?" Temari said. She grabbed the fabric covering her chest. "All I know is that knowing that you are all alone with no one to talk to thinking that everyone hates you makes my heart hurt. I-I'm afraid of you, but you're still my baby brother. I still love you." Gaara stood up and left the room, Temari ran after him. "This isn't something you can walk away from!"
"That got awkward." Kankuro looked after Temari. "I should go before she comes back, ever since we came back to Suna she's been expressing how much she loves me and it's starting to make me uncomfortable. She's not acting like herself."
Kankuro left, I decided to start clearing off the table so Temari wouldn't have to do it. I had the leftovers put away and started doing the dishes. The sink was filled with bubbly water and I just applied more soap to a sponge. First, I scrubbed all the plates before rinsing them and moving on to the silverware.
As I scrubbed I thought of the scene between Gaara and Temari, I probably would have acted the same way as Gaara if Zabuza told me that he loved me. Either that or I would have called Zabuza a liar. Actually, I don't think Zabuza would have ever told me that he loved me even if he had a chance. He was too prideful to do that.
I finished washing the dishes and set them out to dry before draining the water from the sink. I lifted my hands and focused on absorbing the water into my skin only to not have any luck. A gentle sigh pass my lips as I shook the water off my hands, droplets of water were extracted from the bandages on my palms and dropped into the sink. If it's this hard to absorb water into my body then I shouldn't pull the water from my body for jutsu's. My body still hasn't fully recovered from when I pulled the water out of my skin and hair for a barrier against Gaara's sand during the attack of the Leaf. I was sent to Suna soon after and the dry air didn't help, I'm just happy that the skin of my lips isn't flaking anymore and my pale skin doesn't look dull.
"Ketto, thank you for cleaning up." I turned towards Temari as she spoke.
"It's not a problem, you seemed a bit occupied." I said.
She sighed and looked a bit defeated. "Gaara locked himself in his room and won't talk to me."
"That might have been too much for him." I said. "You need to think about it from his perspective, he went for so long knowing that no one cared about him and then you come out and say that you love him? He probably didn't know what to think about it."
Even when I found out that both Jiro and Mitsuru cared about me I was pretty nonchalant about it. Actually, I still don't really acknowledge their feelings. I just let them believe what they want too, I could care less what anyone feels about me. There are only two people that I want to acknowledge me and one of them is dead while the other has probably seen more capable shinobi. I have a long way to go if I want to be stronger than him.
"Could you talk to him for me?" she asked. "He seems to like you. I don't think he'll push you away."
"I guess I could talk to him." I sounded a bit unsure, I didn't know if I could talk to Gaara about someone else feelings. It seemed weird, but it also seemed like it was something that needed to be done. "You said he was in his room?"
"Yes, I'll show you." she grabbed my wrist and pulled me after her. "Thank you for doing this."
"Yeah, no problem." I let her pull me towards her room. Only we stopped at the end of the hall, this must be Gaara's room.
"I'll leave you here. Good luck!" she smiled and waved as she disappeared in her room leaving me in the hallway alone. I knocked on the door to Gaara's room and waited for a response. After a few minutes with no response I spoke up, "Gaara, I know you're in there. I can feel your chakra."
Faintly, I could hear the sound of sand moving before the door opened. I stepped inside his room and saw a small sand cloud fall to the ground by the door. "What do you want this time?"
"I've just come to see if you were okay." I said. I looked towards him to see him sitting on the ledge of the window sill. The rest of his room was lightly furnished, there was just a bed and a dresser. It didn't really look like anyone lived here, but then again if Gaara can't sleep then he wouldn't necessarily have a use for a bedroom.
"I'm fine, you can go now." he said. The whole time he didn't even turn to look at me. I closed my eyes for a second knowing that I would want him to leave if our roles were reversed, but for some reason I feel as if I should stay. I opened my eyes again and walked across the room. I settled myself in the middle of his bed with my legs crossed. Gaara still didn't turn to me. "I believe the door was in the other direction."
I let out a puff of air as I held in a chuckle, a smile now on my face. "It was, yes, but I needed to tell you something."
"And what was that?" he questioned.
"If Zabuza would have told me he loved me I probably would have reacted more negatively. I can almost guarantee that I would have tried punching him in the face for even attempting to lie to me." I revealed. At this time Gaara finally turned to look at me. "Then again, Zabuza would never have told me in person. Actually, he never did tell me in person. He told Naruto to tell me that he loved me. What I'm trying to say is, just because you don't believe that Temari and Kankuro care about you it doesn't mean that they truly don't. You should let them care."
"Doesn't it make you uncomfortable knowing that someone claims to love you but they haven't shown it?" he asked.
"It wasn't until after Zabuza died that I realized everything he's done for me to show that he cared. He only pushed me so hard in my training because he wanted me to be able to take care of myself, he wanted me to be strong." my thoughts flashed to all the times Zabuza knocked me down and kept pushing me to get back up everytime. When I was younger I used to think that if I was matched with an opponent that was too strong for me it would be best to give into the fight, that way I would still have my life. But Zabuza never let me give up. He said that if I believed giving up was the best option in situations like that then I would never inherit the courage of water. He said that I needed to push myself even when it looks as if the odds are stacked against me. I remember Zabuza saying, 'It's been a few generations since the courage of water was seen as being something prideful. Many shinobi in this time could care less about courage. They do as the Mizukage tells them like a bunch of zombies, are you going to be one of them? A weak ninja who gives up at the first thought of defeat?" "And I believe that anytime Zabuza wanted to express that he cared about me, he would send someone else in his place so that he could still keep his appearance of being strong enough to not show emotion." Along with our uncle, Zabuza used Emon to keep an eye out for me. It wasn't really a secret that was kept from me, I don't remember when I figured it out, but I think I realized that around the same time I found out uncle Yagura was keeping tabs on me.
"Why do people have to be so complicated." Gaara turned to look out his window again. "It shouldn't be that difficult to show that you care for someone."
"If you cared for someone how would you show it?" I wondered. We sat in silence for awhile before I said, "See, it's actually pretty hard to do. Especially if you've never really had to express your feelings before. You can start small by not voicing your discomfort every time your siblings try to express their feelings. Eventually, you'll get over the discomfort."
"I don't think that I ever will." he said.
There was a knock at the door, no one said anything at first, but from the chakra I could feel that it was Temari yet I felt as if there was another person so I assumed Kankuro was with her. The doorknob turned and the door opened revealing Temari smiling sheepishly. "I thought we could have a sleepover tonight so that none of us had to be alone." she stepped into the room and then stopped suddenly before she grabbed Kankuro who was trying to hide out in the hallway. Temari pulled him into the room and closed the door behind them. Kankuro looked uncomfortable as he held a pillow in his arms while he stood in a pair of sleep pants and tank top.
I moved to get off of the bed to leave. "I'll leave the three of you then."
"No, you have to stay." Temari rushed out. "Do you think you can do that thing that you do to Gaara to get him to sleep to me? I don't want to sleep, but I know that I shouldn't be up all night."
Kankuro came over to the bed and laid down on the bottom half of the bed with his pillow right next to me. "If I'm stuck here, you better be stuck here." he grumbled.
I settled in my spot again. "I can stay."
"Come on Gaara, it's late, we should try and get some sleep." Temari gently pulled Gaara away from the window and pushed him towards the bed.
"Uh Temari, do you think we'll all fit in the bed?" Kankuro used his elbows to hold himself above the bed. "I can sleep on the floor or something."
"We'll fit, we'll just have to sleep close." Temari said. Gaara climbed into bed at the top and sat down. "Come on, lay down." I moved near the top to lay down and curled my legs close to myself so that Kankuro would have room below me. I laid on my side facing the wall the same as I did the night before in Temari's room. "Gaara, I said lay down." I could feel Gaara lay down behind me and then Temari also crawled into the bed. "Ketto, how does this work?"
I turned slightly and reached over Gaara so that my fingers came into contact with Temari's cheek. I slowly expelled some of my chakra to her. I watched as her dark teal eyes glazed over and her features softened before her eyes closed and she fell asleep.
"About time she quieted down." Kankuro mumbled. I turned back around to reclaim my position and laid still. Kankuro tried to adjust his position for awhile. Then he would stop and it would be as if he had fallen asleep, but then he would move again. "Ketto, do you think you can do that to me too? I keep thinking about earlier."
I didn't reply, instead I reached down to him and touched his forehead. His own chakra network instantly calmed and he was asleep. I laid back down again. "Would you like to sleep too? It might be best if your mind was clear for you to accept what's been happening lately."
"Do you really think sleeping will help?" he wondered.
"How did you feel the last time you slept?"
"It was like nothing else mattered. It was peaceful and I felt refreshed after." he said. "I think it would be nice to sleep."
My hand reached for his in the dark and I used my chakra to regulate his chakra too. Soon enough I was the only one awake, but I still didn't feel like sleeping. Instead, I thought I could use this time to visit with Isobu. I briefly wondered if I could do some training with him. He's only ever told me what to do on my own before, I've never actually done training with him.
I felt the familiar shift in my eyes before I appeared in front of Isobu. For some reason there was a bit more light here than there normally was, but I wasn't going to question him about it. Instead, I picked myself off of the floor from the position I was in when I was laying in bed with Temari, Kankuro and Gaara.
"Good evening Isobu, I was wondering if we could do some training together." I didn't have dirt on me but I felt like brushing some dust off anyway for something to do. I almost thought Isobu was going to reject me and send me away because I haven't been paying much attention to him lately. I've always been in a position where I worried someone might see me when I appeared to be in a trance when I was with him. I almost didn't want to look in his good eye, but I made myself do it anyway. I didn't want him to think I was ashamed of my actions when he knows why I haven't spent much time with him. Sometimes he gets lonely and his feelings get hurt when I don't visit often enough. He's strange, he prefers being alone because it's peaceful, but he also doesn't like to be alone because then he's lonely. It's like I can't win with him, I'm not sure what kind of mood he would be in today.
"Yes, we could do some training." he said. His gravelly voice surprised me and I realized that I missed it. "This is a new look for you."
"Oh, I ran out of clothes so Temari gave me this." I looked down at the dress and pulled on the end of it a bit. "It would almost be better if I wore my funeral clothes, but I thought that would make me stand out more than I already do in Suna."
"Every once in awhile I would see the things you are doing." Isobu said. "I know that you put yourself in charge of the Kazekage's funeral arrangements so that your new friends wouldn't have to go through the heartbreak. I also know that you are going to go after the Heartless Pair once you are done in Sunagakure and that slowly you are becoming closer to the Sand siblings."
"Wait, how do you know that?" I asked. I looked into his good eye confused. "I never told you about any of that."
"No you didn't." he said. "Something that I learned while I was sealed away in Yagura's body is that the closer the bond between a jinchuuriki and their tailed beast the easier it is for the two to communicate. After I was sealed inside of your body I discovered that I still have a connection to people that my chakra was previously associated with."
"Do you mean to tell me that you can still communicate with uncle Yagura as if he was still your jinchuuriki?" I wondered.
"The bond isn't as strong as when I was sealed within his body, but yes." Isobu said. "Actually, my bond with you is stronger. My bond with Yagura was one of a dominant and a submissive, but you treat me as an equal and I've noticed that our bond to each other is stronger than the one I shared with Yagura. I'm able to see things as you see them, and hear what you hear. If you wanted you could see things through my eyes. That is what I will teach you."
"How would I be able to do that? Wouldn't it be difficult to learn?" I asked.
"You're already part way there." Isobu looked down into the reflection of the water we stood on. I wondered what he could be looking at so I looked down too. What I saw shocked me, I don't know how I didn't realize sooner. I could see my reflection, only Isobu's eyes replaced my own. The gray sclera with thin rings of black circling the glowing red iris with a ring of yellow gold around the pupil looked strange on my face. "There would be no use for you to see fully through my eyes, so create a water clone and try seeing through my eyes that way." I nodded and made the hand signs for the water clone and a mirror image of my current self appeared across from me. "Good, now feel for a connection between yourself and your water clone. It might take awhile, but you should be able to feel my chakra in your clone."
At first it was difficult to find Isobu's chakra in my water clone because his chakra was all around. It was easier to find once I closed my eyes and focused on the copy of my chakra. Then from there I was able to find Isobu's chakra.
"Next, you need to latch on to that chakra and you have to become a part of it."
I did as he said, or at least I thought I did it right, and I opened my eyes. Nothing felt different, I'm not sure why I thought that anything would feel different. "I don't think it worked." I said. The clone standing across from me repeated exactly what I said as I said it. Her eyes were different than mine though and that confused me.
"It worked, you are seeing through your clones eyes." Isobu said. "You just haven't fully become a part of the copied chakra and that's why your true self spoke too. I didn't think it was possible to communicate that way, I thought you would only be able to see through the eyes of your clone."
"Does this mean that I have the potential to do more than seeing and talking? Do you think I would be able to control a water clone from somewhere else as if it's my own body?" I wondered. The echo of my voice kind of creeped me out so I let go of the connection I had with my clone and felt a rush of chakra as my vision shifted and I felt unsteady.
"You need to revert to your body more gently otherwise it will cause you an even greater discomfort in the future." Isobu said. "It does look like you have the potential to do those things."
"Why were my eyes different?" I wondered. They weren't my normal stormy gray, instead they were Isobu's eyes that were a dark gray with even darker rings where my scellera should be and there was an iris of fiery red and luminous gold closer to the pupil.
"You mean you haven't noticed the change before?" Isobu asked. "Your eyes change to mirror mine whenever you are with me or you are using our intricately woven chakra. It has only been happening when you visit me, so there is nothing you should be worrying about in the real world. Unless if someone tries to take you out of your trancelike state. You saw the change when you glanced down earlier, the change also happened in your water clone because you were channeling my chakra through it."
"I see." It's something that I'll have to be more careful about, but it shouldn't pose as a problem, yet.
I continued to train with Isobu all night. At some point I felt a weight around my waist, but my determination to perfect this new ability caused me to push the feeling from my mind. I wasn't sure how Isobu was able to gauge what time it was outside of our space being that I was with him, though he knew to send me back once it was morning.
