Chapter 43
Gaara (approximate time: 3:00 PM)
He was weak, having been stopped mid-transformation by the Uchiha. He was neither here nor there, and neither was Shukaku. Neither one of them could respond to the world so soon—and Shukaku couldn't heal him in that state of theirs. But unfortunately, Gaara could feel and hear every second of Shukaku's take on it.
Kankuro* (approximate time: 3:10 PM)
"If it isn't Sasuke Uchiha…" Temari called out, stopped standing on one of Konoha's giant tree branches on their way to evacuate Gaara. Kankuro, who had Gaara braced against one of his arms, repositioned himself behind her.
Sasuke smirked, toying with a kunai. "This is as far as you guys go."
Oh man, Gaara. Where are you when we need you? You picked a lousy time to be out of commission. This Uchiha kid's trouble.
"So. What're you going to do, huh?" Kankuro prodded, trying to provoke the Uchiha into a rash move. The Suna natives were at a disadvantage and they all knew it.
"Go, Kankuro. Get Gaara away from here," Temari commanded as she launched three kunai, "I'll take care of this one."
"Don't be a fool, Temari. This kid's too much for you to handle all by yourself."
Kankuro, having trained side-by-side with his sister, knew exactly how her fighting style would play out in a forest. Temari would have too many things to cut through and too many things she could accidentally whack to make an effective Wind Scythe Jutsu—meaning her more targeted long range attacks would go wasted. Combined with the Uchiha's short to mid-range fighting style with greater speeds and home field advantage? It was a bad combo for his sister.
"Don't argue. Our mission now's to make sure Gaara's safe. He's our first and only priority. Don't worry about me. This is what I've been waiting for," Temari announced. She met Sasuke's eyes, who scowled. "Get going, Kankuro."
Kankuro pulled Gaara up onto his shoulder higher. They both inherited their father's stubbornness but arguing would have only favored their opponent more. Kankuro got moving.
"No you don't!" Sasuke exclaimed before launching a few kunai and giving chase only for Temari to intercede.
"Take this!" Temari yelled, replying with what sounded like a Wind Scythe Jutsu.
Kankuro pushed some chakra into his limbs to increase the distance between himself and his sister's ongoing fight.
"WIND SCYTHE JUTSU! Is that the best you can do!?! SAND STORM JUTSU!"
Kankuro gritted his teeth. The Sand Storm Jutsu and his sister's usual Wind Scythes were likely the only ones she could use—she couldn't even do a partial Great Slashing Tornado Jutsu with the lack of clear space. He didn't think she could hold out for long.
Katiya (approximate time: track)
She was aware the Konoha team that left after the Uchiha had a dog summon from the Hatake "Copy Ninja" after having kept an eye on him throughout the beginning of the invasion.
She had a vague memory of body odor being caused by gaseous molecules of sweat and skin enzymes becoming airborne—but she never put any thought into fooling a dog's nose before. She nursed the idea that making contour armor out of her water like Gaara did with his sand would keep the airborne particles close to her body, but eventually decided that if it had cost Gaara a lot of chakra with his large reserves, she'd end up hospitalizing herself from doing the same. That, and if the dog were somehow about to sense chakra in general, keeping overt amounts to a minimum would have been definitely more prudent.
She paused momentarily in a clearing to drain some grass of water, keeping as much of the grass' solute matter in it as she could. She then dumped the mixture onto herself. She was soaking wet and smelt like freshly cut grass as a result. She rolled in some dirt.
She then let the water from her staff and whatever she could pick up from her surroundings (also known as her soaked clothing) and mixed it with some more dirt. She formed a large umbrella-like structure from the new mixture of very liquid mud. Running at groundlevel, the grass would work to hide her smell and the umbrella would catch her odor particles that would ascend skywards to the dog tree-hopping in the canopy. Or so she hoped.
If the grass pollen gave the dog allergies, all the better.
Kankuro* (approximate time: 3:25 PM)
Kankuro groaned. "They're coming, but which one?" he asked aloud, hearing someone approach at high speed. Carrying Gaara, he couldn't use his hands for his Puppeteer Jutsu—not to mention the reduction in reaction time. Weapons came his way. Kankuro hopped downwards from the treetops to dodge.
So it's the Uchiha—but what about Temari?
"You through running away?" Sasuke asked, catching up to him.
"Who says I was running?" Kankuro rhetorically replied, out of breath on top of it all. "I'll take you on… No problem."
"Wait!" Temari's voice called.
Kankuro kept his eyes on the Uchiha. "Temari. When he showed up but you didn't, I thought he must have finished you."
"He could have, but why he didn't I don't know. I guess I didn't delay him for a very long time, did I."
"It's okay. Every second gives Gaara more time to recover. And the more chakra the Uchiha is forced to use up the better for us," Kankuro reminded her.
"I've got this, Kankuro. Get Gaara out of here."
Kankuro took out his puppet. "Temari, you take Gaara and go on ahead. You're all worn out—look at yourself. Go on—you'll only get in my way," he said to her temporary confusion.
The flexibility of a chakra string and thus flexibility in the range of the Puppeteer Jutsu meant he was the better match for close-quarter combat in a forest. And switching with Temari would have given her time to recover from her previous scuffle with the Uchiha.
"Wait a second—!"
"—Get moving! Hurry up!"
"Alright," Temari finally conceded, likely realizing the strategy behind it. She took Gaara and left. Kankuro mentally steeled himself for a fight against the Uchiha. The latter had to have expended some chakra fighting his sister—but before Kankuro could engage, he was stopped by someone else. It was the same quiet kid with the high mouth-covering jacket panel and shaded glasses from the Chunin Exams.
"How did you find us?" Sasuke asked his compatriot from Konoha.
"I planted a beetle on you as you left the arena. A female beetle. She gives off a very faint scent. Nothing you could detect, but the males of the species can. He has a very strong sense of smell and he'd follow her anywhere," the dark glassed boy replied while seemingly maintaining eye contact with Kankuro. He turned slightly. "Sasuke Uchiha, it's really Gaara you're after. That is, because your match against him was left unfinished."
"Hn," the Uchiha replied, more grunt than hum.
"Well, I have similar business with Kankuro because our match wasn't even started. He's mine. Leave him to me. Go."
"Well, alright then, if you're sure you're okay," the Uchiha ass replied.
"Don't worry. Give me ten minutes and I'll come after you to see if you're okay," the beetle boy replied flatly.
Kankuro laughed at their self-confidence as the Uchiha left after saying he'd be done himself. "You clueless fools," Kankuro called. "You don't know what you're in for. Imagine something more monstrous than your worst nightmare. Only it's real."
"Hmm. Having a little trouble picturing it. Why don't you go ahead and show me?" Kankuro's Chunin Exam opponent asked—though his flat tone made it come out more as a subtly arrogant statement.
"Oh, it's not me…" Kankuro warned, "If you're ever unlucky enough to catch up with Gaara, that's when you'll see it. But first of course, you'll have to beat me!"
Temari* (approximate time: 3:30 PM)
"Temari. Put me down."
Temari turned her head slightly. "You sure you're strong enough, Gaara?" she asked, setting him down anyway only for Gaara to clutch his head, groaning. "Gaara!"
Temari looked him over. There was a wound on his left shoulder, deep and roughly the size of a fist by the looks of it. There's no telling how long Kankuro can delay the Uchiha. Every second counts, she thought.
"If we don't keep moving, the whole plan will fail," she told him, digging through her shoulder holster in the dress area under her armpit for the pain medications she carried in there. She made to offer them.
"Leave me alone, Temari," Gaara rasped, seeing them. "Go away. You're nothing but a nuisance. BEAT IT. I DoN'T neED yOu." Gaara smacked his sister aside.
"Oof!" she wheezed as her back slammed into a tree trunk. When she recovered, she realized Sasuke Uchiha had caught up to them. Kankuro, not being as foolish or pathetic as he liked to pretend to be, couldn't have been outmatched so quickly. She soon realized Konoha was soon to arrive with more back-up.
"I have no idea what scheme you Sunagakure clowns have got going, but I'll stop it. No matter what it is," Sasuke announced, "Besides… I'm dying to see… what you really are," he added in a loud undertone.
Gaara let out a yell.
"Gaara, no!" Temari gasped. Oh no, it's happening. Any second, he's going to let that thing out. No. Not now. Not now! Temari thought frantically before yelling futilely, "No, Gaara! Remember our mission!"
"We're so alike, Uchiha," Gaara said instead, clearly ignoring her. "I don't have friends as you have, but they're not what make you strong. It's your purpose that does it. In that way, we're alike. You… but mine is the stronger purpose. For only by destroying you and all you represent can I prove that I exist. Only by killing you can I know what life is. You. You are my… YRRAAGGGH!YOU AREMY PREY. MY PREY.MY PREY! HHHhhhRRRrrraaahhHh!"
Gaara let out another yell, the sand swirling as he clutched his head. The jutsu he had been attempting must have weakened—or was now more effectively suppressing—the seal that kept Shukaku contained.
"Now… let me feel it…" Gaara growled, the sand joining with him. Shukaku was now taking over the side of his face… and his entire left arm. Shukaku himself still hadn't manifested completely, physically, but he felt Shukaku and all his… energy… slowly push him aside to take over.
Gaara launched an attack. There was a great booming noise as three trees fell and a giant crater formed where Sasuke once was. Temari whimpered, where she was, remembering the last time… he—it—manifested. It wasn't a person—the demon. She hadn't moved from where Gaara had slammed her, her back against a tree.
Gaara* (approximate time: 3:35 PM)
Naruto Uzumaki appeared. Gaara recognized him as the boy he did not kill the day he visited Rock Lee. Unfortunately, however, Naruto was there to kick Gaara from his Uchiha teammate.
"Die, Sasuke Uchiha!" Gaara yelled, trying to exploit the Uchiha's moment of weakness after seeing him recoil from his curse mark flareup.
And then it happened.
Naruto had not arrived alone, it seemed. And a random pink haired girl—the same one we could recognize as Naruto Uzumaki's and Sasuke Uchiha's kunoichi companion this time—intervened to protect the fallen Uchiha. She was decidedly unnoteworthy in Shukaku's eyes—but to Gaara—it was the look in her eye. She held just the one kunai in a two-hand grip as if it were a katana, against his half-completed demonic form. His siblings might have found the scene laughable if they had been there, but Gaara noticed only her eyes.
It wasn't killing intent in those eyes.
No, killing intent was a malicious desire for blood for the sake of it. This… killing of hers, if any, would have been a last resort. This intent in her eye was a warning. It was defensive. It was familiar. Yashamaru—Yashamaru's looked different—more wary, more tired. The eyes he saw from the pink-haired girl were more fiery. It was someone else's, those eyes reminded him of.
Gaara slammed her away, not killing her. Shukaku was more interested in Naruto Uzumaki and the Uchiha one anyways.
Katiya (approximate time: battle.)
She managed to make visual contact with her charge—or target—depending on which part of Orochimaru's plan one was considering. She landed next to him, pulling herself down to a squat and examining his curse mark while he cowered in pain. It felt odd, being in such close proximity to the Uchiha. Her orders, as she remembered them, were meant to be "distracted, not dead"—if she remembered correctly—but the Uchiha was doing a fine job at that himself, it seemed.
"Who—what—do you—want?!" the Uchiha ground out between his gritted teeth, noticing her where he was braced against a tree branch.
Katiya did not reply.
Kabuto had failed to kill the Uchiha by Lord Orochimaru's machinations. But Kabuto was correct, that killing the Uchiha would remove a source of Lord Orochimaru's strength. No Sharingan for him, no quick acquisition of the more powerful jutsu of their world. His current vessel was dying—Kimimaro was also dying—and Orochimaru would eventually run out of functional vessel possibilities without learning how to establish better, longer lasting ones via the Sharingan.
If the Uchiha's eyes were to fall into the wrong hands—Lord Orochimaru's hands—it would have only brought more death. One death, and so many others could have been spared. She would be doing the world a favor, by killing this one child, she rationalized. What would be the best healers if not the ones that prevented disease—rather than mopping up its effects?
Katiya ignored the... warbling? sensation that was beginning to take hold in her eyes. It was what she should have done the first time, she told herself. Though one might wonder what this "first time" was referring to, as Gaara had no Sharingan. She grabbed the Uchiha by his shirt's high collar, pulling him up. The Uchiha instinctively removed a hand that was braced on his tree trunk to grab onto the arm that was grasping him. His Sharingan was ablaze. It reminded her so much of Itachi's.
"Philosophies may not be hereditary, but that does not stop others from unknowingly practicing the same ones. Your Sharingan is proof of that…
"It might be true that a tiger cannot change its stripes, but that doesn't mean it cannot change at all. A tiger's stripes will not affect its ability to become a friend… a family member… or a hunter's skinned trophy," Katiya's mind rather unhelpfully replayed from memory.
Was she skinning a trophy for someone else? A part of her felt something somewhere was a trap of some kind. And somehow, that sensation was enough—even though her mind couldn't find the words to ask or argue.
Damn you, Itachi, Katiya mentally cursed. "You should consider yourself lucky, Uchiha. Otogakure has a vested interest in keeping you alive," she told him out loud, dumping him back onto the tree branch.
"Hnph," the Uchiha grunted as he rather ungracefully landed on his ass and then winced because of the pulsating thing on his neck.
Katiya turned to move off.
"Wait… You… really think… I'm just going to let you run off just like that?" the Uchiha asked, assuming what Katiya supposed would be a fight stance with whatever injuries he had sustained.
Katiya took in her surroundings. A pink-haired kunoichi was strapped to a tree by what had to have been Gaara's sand. And the kunoichi was alive. Katiya scowled under her balaclava. The pink-haired kid somehow meant more to Gaara from over the duration of the Chunin Exams than she did, having lived with him for a year. Katiya twirled her dirt-laden umbrella experimentally. Itachi was much too idealistic to deal with reality.
But Katiya supposed that was also why he was dying.
"What the hell do you people want from me?" the Uchiha interrogated before launching an attack.
Impassively, Katiya narrowed her eyes without verbally responding.
The Uchiha grew angry. "Don't want to tell me? Fine. I guess I'll just have to beat it out of you!"
Kankuro* (approximate time: 3:55 PM)
It had just been Kankuro's luck that his opponent—Shino, his given name was—had immunity from Kankuro's poisons from his insects. Because there was no way the Aburame could have survived otherwise.
"It was simple, really. I can tell from your jutsu, your strength is long range attacks, not close combat. Furthermore, you have to focus all of your chakra and attention on manipulating that puppet of yours. And that, of course, leaves an opening in your defenses," the Aburame had told him.
He had neglected his rear—focusing on the front where his puppet was. And the beetles naturally swarmed about the female one that landed on him. With the litany of poisonous insects that came from the Land of Wind, some that Kankuro harvested personally for his weaponry, death by a thousand bug bites sounded like a disappointing way for him to go. Karasu was no better, riddled with holes at that point…
It was a roughly twenty meter fall Kankuro had to the ground after he lost balance on the tree limb he was perched on… Kankuro let out a yell as Shino recalled his insects, just in time for the latter to see the coming ground.
There was a rush of air.
"Kankuro!" the voice of Temari yelled.
Katiya (approximate time: damn it)
If it took several battalions of Suna ANBU with access to all of their equipment, including spirit summons, nearly a day to subdue one Jinchuriki, if one were to claim another genin Jinchuriki needed nothing more than one extra-large spirit summon to do the same, some would be inclined to consider the thought preposterous. The thought that one half-chakra drained Oto-nin could make a difference… equally so.
Yet somehow, the thought of heading to Gaara occurred to Katiya. Mid-battle. Just because the Jinchuriki had let out a yell. It was an item that distracted her just long enough such that it allowed Sasuke Uchiha to get the upper hand with one of his fireballs.
Stupid.
Katiya hadn't dumped the dirt out of her water weapon from when she had been using it as an odor-absorber. She therefore hadn't been using a portion of the water for a short ranged Sensing Mist Jutsu. Also stupid. And she, who had grown used to detecting people based on the sounds of movement, did not detect the more immobile tree branch behind her. As a result of dodging the Uchiha's fireball, she hit said tree branch at an angle.
At least, Lord Orochimaru's curse mark led to the boy becoming distracted himself shortly after. He hadn't exactly doubled over from the pain—but the way he narrowed his eyes let her know he felt it. Somehow, something about battling her made his curse mark flare when one of us might know the seal over it would minimize its effects.
She used his moment of distraction to now push him off the tree with her watery mud weapon, in the direction of a Jinchuriki battle. A small emotion pulled at the corner of her lip as she recovered from her bump with the tree. One of us might have thought the "emotion" was rather similar to "schadenfreude".
Kankuro (approximate time: 4:00 PM)
"Agh!" Kankuro grimaced as he made contact with what was likely Temari's gentlest wind-style jutsu, lowering him to the ground. She rolled him over onto his back.
"Kankuro! Are you okay?!" his sister asked, pulling out her pain medications once more.
Kankuro breathed heavily, "Just—fine—don't—if the insect bites are poisonous—the painkillers might make it worse," he ground out.
Temari put her jar of medications away. "What do I do, then?"
There was a booming, skittering sound of battle in the distance. Kankuro winced. "Let me think," Kankuro told her. "Is there anything oozing out of the insect bites I have? Blood? Pus? Are they swollen—blistering?"
Temari checked them, somewhat frowning with disgust from the last few remarks. "No, they're… tiny… I don't even see any real skin puncture."
Kankuro let out a sigh of relief. He didn't know what the Aburame could have done to their insects, but if Lady Chiyo had had issues with overriding Konoha's poison knowledge…
"Help me up," he told his sister.
"Kankuro, you sure?!"
Indistinct possibly demonic yelling cried out in the distance, followed by another boom.
Kankuro paused for the moment. His skin felt rubbed raw, but otherwise fine after the initial… biting happened. Some poisons had a delayed reaction to them, but if that were the case, it just meant he had to get to a medic faster—and that wasn't going to happen in a Konohagakure-controlled forest.
"Don't worry, sis, I've got this," Kankuro told her. He just needed to monitor himself and probably his heart rate, but he knew he could make it. "Now help me up, we've gotta be ready to recover Gaara as soon as we've got the chance now—the invasion plan itself's probably scrapped by now."
Temari frowned heavily. "It probably is… but… we might want to hold off for a bit," she said uncharacteristically carefully for her, pulling him up.
Kankuro met her eyes. There was another booming noise in the background, this time followed by a gush of moisture-laden wind. Kankuro nodded in understanding. "Help me recover Karasu," he told his sister.
Temari nodded as they set off at a slow pace towards Karasu's body while scouting for a good location for observation and cover.
Katiya (approximate time: N/A)
She had navigated her battle with the Uchiha to something nicely close to the battle zone of the two Jinchuriki. And she was winning too, she knew it. The Uchiha was too sensitive to injury—too concerned with trying to keep injury to a minimum with his curse mark and whatever weird revenge-driven self-preservation he had to focus entirely on attacking back when trees were falling so frequently.
Her strategy had been working.
Especially after she had dumped off her dirt-laden water for her scroll of distilled—the dirt was no longer needed to break up the occurrence of scent particles—and was no longer a hindrance to her overall control over the (now pure) liquid. It had helped that distilled water did not conduct electricity, like that of the Uchiha's new… lightning-style... Chidori… Jutsu, as well.
Except for one small part: Gaara.
When a giant… wad of… sand effectively came out of nowhere, knocked a tree over that cracked her left clavicle and same-side arm… she was very much surprised.
The Sensing Mist Jutsu could only sense, not protect unless she had the mind to do so—and she had put too much energy into her attack, leaving her vulnerable. She closed her eyes, her chest pinned to a large Land-of-Fire-sized tree branch even after gravity got rid of the other tree that crushed her… for her. She was still rubbish at the Yin Wound Destruction Jutsu. And consciousness was decidedly difficult with the amount of damage she had sustained.
She shivered as her body tried to keep her alive and the training Kabuto gave her—just enough skill to slow the blood loss—kicked in. If she had enough time, she knew her mother's hiden would aid her as well. But if not, still, she did not think she would mind.
Sasuke left her where she was and went to find his teammates.
Gaara* (approximate time: 4:10 PM)
What could it be that makes him so strong? I will not disappear. I will not cease to exist, I won't.
"No, stay away!" Gaara yelled.
He had fallen from the treetops at the end of his battle after the full (forced) manifestation of Shukaku got disrupted by a mere punch that he lacked the taijutsu prowess to block. The meters-tall sandy form of Shukaku's making had abandoned him with that disruption, the second time Gaara had failed in the physical manifestation of Shukaku's form. Gaara was on his back now, immobilized from having fallen so far.
"It's almost unbearable, isn't it," Naruto responded, also from the ground where he too had fallen. "The feeling of being all alone." Gaara's eyes flared open. "I know that feeling, I've been there, that dark and lonely place. But now there are others—others who mean a lot to me. And I care more about them than I do myself and I won't let anyone hurt them. That's why I won't ever give up. I will stop you, even if I have to kill you!"
"But why? Why would you do this for anyone but yourself?"
"Because they saved me from myself. They rescued me from my loneliness. They were the first to accept me for who I am. They are my friends."
Gaara remembered Yashamaru… something he had said before. "Love is… the spirit of devoting yourself to someone important and close to you… And it's expressed by caring for and protecting that person, just like my sister… my sister always loved you, Gaara."
Love. Is that the thing that makes him so strong? Gaara wondered in response.
"Naruto, that's enough, look," Sasuke Uchiha said, jumping from the treetops after the battle. Gaara sucked in a breath. For someone to return to him like that… "Sakura's going to be alright," the Uchiha—Sasuke—continued, "The sand crumbled away, she's going to be alright. This guy's chakra's all used up."
"That's a relief," Naruto replied as he was helped up.
Temari and Kankuro landed by Gaara. "That's enough, it's over," Gaara told them, telling them away from attacking.
"But Gaara—" Kankuro started. Temari shot him a look. He paused "—alright, Gaara. "
Kankuro picked him up and they jumped off, like the Konohagakure team.
Who knows, Naruto Uzumaki. Perhaps even I, some day…
He had had people who cared about him, if he counted Yashamaru, Katiya, his siblings… but… while he may have been ever on the receiving end of their care and protection… if Naruto's strength had been from being willing to give it…
"Temari, Kankuro. I'm sorry," Gaara told them repentantly.
"… Don't worry about it… ?" Kankuro replied uncertainly.
Katiya (approximate time: some time later, I guess.)
She felt someone check for spinal damage and reposition her, draping her injured arm over her chest very carefully. The arm felt stiff—but it must—it must have been healing, though she could not feel the arm itself. Whoever it was then carefully picked her up bridal-style to take off tree-jumping. Opening her eyes, she made out a blurry ash-topped blob and maybe some glasses.
"... Why?"
The voice of Kabuto didn't answer the question, instead replying, "It's alright—just rest—you don't want to exacerbate your injury."
Katiya attempted to hum in acknowledgement. It came out as a semi-strangled grunt and a fit of coughs. She closed her eyes and moved the less damaged arm over her chest to repair some of the other damage. She didn't have enough focus—or chakra—something like that. She didn't have the mind to ponder which.
The Mystic Palm Jutsu she was attempting failed twice, the chakra from that fizzling out unhelpfully. She attempted the Yin Wound Destruction Jutsu—a more active one than her conserved-energy attempt earlier—but her shoulder was in a bad position for that too, though. So that failed. And the damage to her chest was too extensive. She tried again with the Mystic Palm… only to feel even more faint than she already felt.
"—Katsu—don't," Kabuto said, realizing the person he was carrying had been attempting to failingly heal herself, "—we're almost to the Kusa base."
Katiya slowly blinked. It sounded rather close to whatever base she had brought Kimimaro to—with a skeleton crew and a questionable infirmary for lower-rank shinobi as always.
"I don't… want to go there… don't think I'd make it…"
The rest of her statement would have been that she didn't think she'd make it if she were to be healed by the infirmary over there—but Katiya lacked the breath to get the rest of it out and Kabuto hadn't the thought for her to complete it. His own assessment of the damage must have been more critical than her expectations.
He set her down on a tree and proceeded to use his own Mystic Palm Jutsu, hovering his hands a few centimeters above her torso—and then her bad arm.
"Why?" Katiya asked again after consciousness began becoming easier. She had thought…
Kabuto didn't respond immediately, as usual. Focusing on healing her—or just "focusing" to avoid speaking. But he responded eventually. "Lord Orochimaru's orders," he eventually told her.
There was a hint of tension that bit at the corners of Katiya's eyes. Then she closed them again as Kabuto picked her up once more, satisfied with his healing.
Three times.
"Sasuke Uchiha is still alive," she told him quietly, gradually opening her eyes again after the thought occurred to her.
This time, the pause in Kabuto's reply was shorter. "It's alright."
For some reason, the response did not ease her mind. "Thank you," she told him anyway, allowing her body to relax in his arms, deciding that was indeed alright enough.
He did not reply. That was alright too.
She wasn't as expendable to Oto as she thought she was.
Author's Note
In case you are concerned about future character statuses, I shall recommend you (re)read the summary of this fiction. I recall me saying this fiction is still a "Gaara-OC (non-romantic) relationship" not "OC is stupid and stays in a hellhole forever" fiction. This arc (and/or fiction) ain't over yet. Hopefully, the next parts go smoothly and you get why I wrote this fiction the way I'm writing it.
Also. As usual, don't kill me over technobabble. I'm not a dog expert.