Chapter 36: Re-Sealing Day
The next morning
"So, are you ready for this? For what's to come?"
Gaara looked up from his half-eaten breakfast to see that Temari was watching him with an expectant gaze. Once she had woken up and dressed for the day, she joined her brother in the dining room for breakfast, silently eating till she decided to break such silence.
"Ready as I'll ever be," He quietly admitted as he picked at his dumpling. ". . . At this point, I'm just ready to get it all over with."
"Has Shukaku been giving you any more trouble recently?" She asked while taking a sip of her tea. "I can imagine that he'd be yelling your head off throughout the night because of it."
"No, he was silent the entire time, and continues to be so even now," Gaara admitted. "He did talk to me earlier though, when we were following Queen Kushina to the King's office."
"What did he say?"
"That I'll pretty much be unconscious during the entire time the Queen is reworking my seal, and that we may engage in some kind of confrontation during it."
"A confrontation?" Temari asked, not liking the implications that word held. "Are we talking about a simple argument, or does Shukaku have plans to raise hell through the process . . . You know what? Forget the simple argument part. Shukaku and simple arguments never mix."
"You have a point there," Gaara mumbled, feeling the hint of irritation emanating from the spirit within him, though he still remained silent. "As for Shukaku planning to raise hell . . . I'm not entirely sure about that part either."
"Really? Are you sure?"
"I'm actually positive about this, which is strange since it is Shukaku we are discussing after all," Gaara mumbled. "I don't think he will try something drastic, but things are not going to be simple with him either."
"Well, it shouldn't be simple for him to break out either, not with Queen Kushina ensuring the proper precautions are in place," Temari mumbled as she took another bite of her food. "Precautions that you'll see once you're finished with your breakfast. . . Eat up little brother! If what the queen says is true, you won't be seeing another bite until dinner, at the very least."
The redhead simply nodded before returning his attention back to his meal. When they were finished, they left their empty trays alone for the palace servants to take before following the guard assigned to their suite to King Minato's office.
When they reached the hallway where the office was located, they found the King talking with his chief advisor as two guards stood before the room's door. Shizuka and Shikamaru were off to the side, talking amongst themselves about who knows what.
"Looks like we have company," Shikaku announced, looking up to see the approaching Wind royals. "I hope you both had a good night."
"More or less. . . I hope we're not interrupting anything," Temari stated diplomatically as the siblings came to a stop a couple of feet from the men.
"No; Shikaku here was just telling me that the guard sent by your council has just been sighted crossing the border, and they're not wasting their time getting here," King Minato admitted. "Instead of tomorrow, it's becoming more likely they may arrive some time tonight."
"Well, that shrinks the timeline a bit, but not enough that their arrival will be too impactful," Temari mumbled, bringing a hand to her chin.
"My thoughts exactly. . . My wife and son are already at the sealing chamber. Shizuka will be showing you the way Prince Gaara," Minato announced, looking at the redhead before directing his gaze back to his sister. "As for the rest of us, I believe we still have some other things to talk about Queen Temari?"
"That we do King Minato," Temari agreed, before turning to her brother. "I'll see you later Gaara!"
He nodded as he watched his sister follow the two men and Shikamaru into the office. When the door sealed shut, he looked over at Shizuka, who was still standing off to the side, this time with an expectant look on her face.
"Nervous?" She asked as he slowly walked up to her.
"Strangely, no," He admitted as the two started walking down the hallway. "As I've told my sister before, I'll tell you now. I just want to get this over with already."
"Hmm, understandable," She conceded as they turned the corner. "I'm sure you're eager to get some long-awaited peace from Shukaku. Ryuna has described him to me in great detail in the past. . . He doesn't sound like a creature I expect to take this new change so easily."
"He won't, but I don't think he'll be too troublesome either," said Gaara, feeling like he was reiterating the points he made to his sister earlier. ". . . Where exactly is this chamber you are taking me to? Is it here in the palace?"
"No, but it is within the village, so we won't be traveling far. . . I'm sure you've already noticed that the village lies at the base of a mountain, correct?"
"It's hard not to miss," Gaara admitted. "Your people call it the Hokage Rock correct?"
"Yes; back when the kings would be known more commonly by their military titles, someone had the bright idea to give the mountain that name sometime during King Hashirama's reign," She explained, a sudden look of annoyance now crossing her face. "Apparently, there were plans to carve the face of each king into the mountain face, but King Tobirama shut that idea down before it could gain any traction."
". . . It's probably for the best," Gaara helpfully added, the scuttled plan reminding him of his own kingdom's way of remembering its ruling monarchs.
Each kingdom had their own ways of honoring those that have sat on their respective thrones. In the Wind Kingdom's case, whenever the ruling king died, a large statue carved in their image would be created and then placed within the large council room within the palace.
It was a way to show that even in death, the spirit of the kings would always be there to oversee the running of the kingdom, but Gaara and his siblings always thought that keeping the statues in the council room instead of somewhere out in the main village was not the most enlightened idea.
As Kankuro put it: "It's kinda creepy having all those statues look down at you while you're trying to make decisions for the kingdom . . . It's like they're judging your every move."
"So, since the carving faces into the mountain idea never worked, how exactly do you honor the Fire Kings of old?" Gaara decided to ask, realizing that he was being more talkative than usual, which was strange coming from him.
"A memorial park located right at the base of the mountain. Each king gets his own unique section based on their reign and their enduring legacy to the kingdom at large," She explained, smirking slightly. "We'll pass it along the way. . ."
Gaara simply nodded as he continued to follow her. Once the two were off palace property, Shizuka led the redhead through the village's numerous thoroughfares and past the memorial park until they were in a more isolated part of the village, walking side-by-side with the mountain until they reached a willow tree whose leaves completely obscured their path.
Unfettered, Shizuka stepped forward and pulled the leaves aside, allowing Gaara to enter first. Once the two were safely hidden within the willow's leaves, the princess pressed her hand against the wall, channeling her chakra into the surface until a door-sized chunk of the mountain face slid to the left, revealing the dimly lit corridor inside.
"Interesting," Gaara mumbled as the two stepped inside, one after the other. "Entering the place looks simple enough, but I'm sure that's not entirely the case."
"Truthfully, this entry point is one of the most heavily guarded in the entire village," Shizuka mumbled as she made sure that the door was tightly closed behind them. "Simply put, if you had traveled here by yourself, at the very least, you would have been apprehended by a lot of ANBU."
Gaara would have said something about that, but decided to hold his tongue as the two moved down the hallway. When they reached the end, they turned the corner to see two jonin guarding the entrance. They quickly nodded in the princess' direction before returning their gazes straight ahead, leaving the two to their business.
When they entered the chamber, Gaara was immediately struck by how large it was. It was likely larger than the council room back in the Wind Palace, but it was equally as barren. Aside from a small bookshelf just off to the side, the only furniture in the room was a large table on a slightly raised platform, and a small podium a half foot off to its left side. While the Fire Queen was standing at the podium, scribbling something down, Naruto sat on the table, looking annoyed, but deep in thought.
"There you two are," Called the queen once she looked up from her work. "We can start as soon as you're ready Prince Gaara."
"Then by all means, let's start the proceedings," The redhead suggested before turning to the other blonde in the room. "What's wrong with him?"
"Kurama and I just have a little disagreement going on, that's all," Naruto mumbled, coming out of his trance as he slipped off the table. "The fox is not too happy about what's about to happen, but he'll just have to deal with it. . . Trust me, you guys will find out why soon enough."
"And why do you say that?" Gaara asked, a little wary for once.
"You'll see once we start the process," Queen Kushina was quick to say as she rolled up her sleeves. "Now Gaara, if you don't mind. Please lie down on the table and pull your shirt up enough so that your seal will completely show."
The young prince did as he was told, sliding onto the table before pulling up his black shirt and lying down, his eyes going straight toward the ceiling. Naruto and Shizuka moved to stand on either side of the table, with the former standing on the redhead's left while the latter stood at his right, both close to his head.
"Okay, redoing your seal will only take me three, four hours tops, and you will be unconscious for it, but if things all go well, you'll be out for longer than that," Kushina calmly explained as she stepped away from the podium.
"If things go well?" Gaara asked, a scowl almost forming on his face.
"You've spent your entire life unable to sleep. Once the seal is properly reworded and fixed, you'll be able to sleep without repercussions," Kushina explained as chakra glowed from her hand. "However, once the process is over, you still have more than a decade of sleepless nights that your body and mind will have to recuperate. . . Safe to say, your first time getting a full night's sleep will definitely be among your longest."
"Oh, that makes sense," Gaara conceded, his scowl now gone as Kushina waved her hand over his stomach, revealing his seal once again. ". . . So, how long will it take before I fall unconscious?"
"It won't be that long!"
The answer had come from Shizuka, and when he turned to face her, her hand was already reaching for his forehead, and before he could say anything else, her fingers were on his skin. Though he couldn't help but be a little shocked by the somewhat intimate gesture, he had no time to reflect on that as he found himself feeling suddenly lethargic. Though he wanted to fight the feeling, it was too entrancing to resist and he soon found himself letting his heavy eyelids fall shut as the darkness overcame him.
When he woke up, he came face-to-face with a large, amused tanuki.
"Hello fleshbag," Shukaku announced, leaning down with an almost eager glint to his golden eyes. "It's good to see you again . . . Ready to have a nice chit-chat?!"
A/N: Please review!