The chain around her ankle rattled noisily as she paced their little two bit shed. Her chakra cut off, her stomach rumbling in hunger, and now faced with the dilemma of 'stop moving or get a headache' made for a very pissed off Sabaku no Temari.
She'd gone to rescue the man for god's sake. She wasn't about to murder him in his damn sleep.
When she'd argued that very point with the copycat, the bastard simply shrugged. "Cant risk you deciding to come to your senses and getting all patriotic on us...or escaping." He'd added as an afterthought.
She truly hated that man.
And in typical ninja fashion they'd been very careful not to leave anything nearby she could use as either a lock pick, or a potential weapon. In other words she didn't even have the proverbial rubber ball to toss at the wall or something. Her only options were sitting and pacing.
And now because of the noisy chain, one of those was potentially out; leaving her only with the option of sitting as she waited for their charge to wake up, or for Kakashi or Yoshihiro to return from their respective hunting and patrolling, whichever came first.
Which was a long time to be spent, doing absolutely nothing either way.
They'd found this place almost two days ago, an abandoned cottage, peeking out the border of the forests and the northern wastes, almost overgrown with vegetation, the smell of rotting wood and stale air still hung heavy even after almost a full day of being here. Using what little they could find in the place they'd made Naruto a spot for him to rest, moth eaten sheets and quilts, bunched up coats and jackets all stuffed together to form a haphazard cot where the Godaime lay, his eyes closed, as his brow scrunched with the pains of fever.
He looked so vulnerable, so weak like this...it was a sight that was both welcoming as it was appalling to her. Welcoming in the sense that she could see he was beatable, capable of falling, of being bested, it somehow brought him down to something she could...not relate to per-se but something she could...commune with in a way.
Yet, at the same time it was appalling because of how...impossible it was. He was not meant to be like this, wounded and recovering like something mortal, something human. He was supposed to be a monster, a creature of nightmares that would burn anything that stood in his way.
It would be so much easier if his image had just stayed that way wouldn't it?
She sighed, laying her head down flat against the creaky, cold floorboards, deciding to get comfortable. Maybe she'd have the luxury of dozing off.
The wistful wish apparently came true, because the next thing she knew, she was waking up to the sound of something heavy hitting the floor. She looked around, and to her surprise and horror found that the mop of blond hair that had been in the other room when she last looked was now a lot closer than before.
And in obvious pain.
"Oh shit!" She screamed, scrambling up from the floor, only to trip, snagged by the chain at her foot. Not for the first time, she found herself cursing the damn thing and the man who decided to put it on her.
She pulled and tugged, hoping the wood, rotting as it was, would give way. Without Chakra however, she had as good a chance at injuring herself as she did of breaking it off the wood.
"Nrgh" She heard him groan, struggling to move.
"Stop!" She yelled, thrice times cursing the godforsaken chain and promising to kill the copy cat when he next got within arms reach. "You're in no condition!"
He growled rolling onto his side, now managing to face her, one eye was shut with pain as the other focused on her.
"And just why-" He coughed as he rolled onto his back. "Would that be your concern Sabaku."
She didn't really know the answer to that, so she chose not to give one. "Cut the macho act dammit! I didn't risk my neck to rescue you just so you could end up killing yourself because of you trying to move too soon."
He grunted, apparently too tired to give anything more.
"Where are we?" He asked after a short while, apparently having been catching his breath. He must be in worse condition than she'd imagined.
"Cabin along the border." She answered shortly. "What do you feel right now?" She asked, giving up on closing the distance between them any further.
"At least two of my ribs are fractured at the very least, beyond that I cannot tell. Overusing the demon's power-" He paused, grunting again as he shifted his position. "has injured me greatly. Everything hurts..."
"Scale of one to ten?" She asked, yanking two more times on the chain for good measure.
"I took three steps, before collapsing." He answered in a tone that easily expressed what he thought of the query.
She winced, at a normal ninja's pain tolerance that would mean their injuries were near crippling. She'd seen this man take enough damage to kill a dozen ninja twice over.
Now she knew he was worse off than she'd ever imagined.
"Look." She said after a pregnant pause. "I cant move or I'd help you back to the bed so just...wait there until the old guy and the copycat get back."
"We must return to Konoha."
"Your village will survive another day or two without you." She yelled in a tone that reminded him all too much of Hinata on one or two previous occasions when she thought he was overexerting himself.
"So concerned...Sabaku..."
She didn't answer, he knew she wouldn't. But he wanted the answer. He wanted to know why she'd done this, risked her life for his.
Everything her village now faced could rightfully be set on his existence. If he died, everything would crumble. She must know that. Even if she hadn't been conditioned against such, psychological syndromes could not account fully for her actions. He'd shown no intention or hint that he would even consider the notion of negotiation with Suna.
"Why did you come for me...Sabaku?"
"What does it matter?" She yelled, more than a little defensive. "You should be grateful."
"Gratitude or lack of it has little consequence. Answer the question. Why did you come for me?"
She pulled away, remaining quiet as she set her back to the wall, cropping up one knee and resting her hands over it. As she looked to the door. The unspoken statement was clear, she would not answer.
At least not yet.
He wouldn't push the issue here, he would get the answer he sought when his strength had sufficiently returned and could actually move under his own power.
What's more, another was approaching.
The sound of footsteps would reach them moments before Kakashi, burst into the cabin, nearly knocking down the door in his haste to get in as his eye found Naruto laying on the ground.
Dropping the three hares he'd killed onto the floor in a heap of twisted limbs and flesh he rushed over, grabbing the Uzumaki by the arm, and lifting his near deadweight. "Why the hell did you try to stand so soon."
Naruto didn't answer, merely sighed, the sound emerging with a strangely resigned note to it as Kakashi lead him back to the bed.
The ropes around her wrist were biting into her skin, scraping and scratching with coarse fibers that bit through her flesh with even the most minor movements.
She didn't try to escape...there was no point. She had nowhere else to go and there was no other place where she would be needed more.
They were setting up camp now, keeping her away, one guard at her back as she watched them work.
Gaara, exhausted, and injured himself, still made an effort to help his remaining Anbu set up their camp. Freeing up some of the others to go off and set a perimeter defense as they'd done night after night they'd traveled through Konoha territory. With any luck, this would be their last night behind enemy lines.
Three days...the Kage of Suna still hadn't spoken to her.
That would change soon though. She could feel it. She wasn't sure why he'd waited so long, maybe he was still trying to wrap his mind around one surprise too many that he'd barely even given her a second thought.
She didn't know...but she knew that today...they would speak.
Quietly, she sat at the base of a tree, looking away from the guard at her back, who stood silent and ready.
It happened at night, almost midnight judging from the moon and the chill in the air.. The guard kicked her awake, rough as he hauled her forward, not saying a word as she offered a brief struggle in her mild disorientation.
He shoved her forward, and she had to stop herself from falling on her face before she found her feet again.
She looked around, noticing that only her guard, Gaara, and Kankuro were in sight, the others were gone, either patrolling or watching from hidden alcoves, shrouded in shadow.
She was pushed down to sit by the fire, the abrupt movement sending a spike of discomfort through her stomach, her wound from Pein, still had not healed, she imagined it was the same for Gaara.
The Kazekage stared at her, his expression was fierce. As cold as she'd ever seen him. His green eyes glimmering like sharply cut emeralds in the firelight, his hair a bloody red.
For a striking moment, she could almost see the hair replaced by a hood, and the grim line that was his mouth obscured by a mask.
She shivered.
She couldn't look at him, couldn't keep staring at the expression that was wrong on his face. She'd seen him angry, she'd seen him stern when he needed to be. Acting as the leader that he was. But...never this. This was something different.
She looked away, turning her eyes instead to Kankuro, who lay on a stretcher, and one could see the judgment there already, the resentment carved into the lines of his face, the anger and the suspicion.
This she could deal with, because this, she'd been waiting for, expecting it.
"Well!" The older of the siblings shouted, raising himself up on his elbows. "You have anything to say for yourself!"
She licked her dry lips before she shrugged her shoulders. "What can I say, Kankuro-san?"
"What can you say?" He echoed, the anger in his voice increasing with his disbelief. "What can you say? How about an explanation as to why we shouldn't slit your throat right now and leave you for the worms? Or how you so conveniently forgot to mention a minute detail about how you share the same Bijuu as that bastard! That's something you forgot to mention! Did it just slip your mind!"
She was sure that if his legs still functioned, or if he was in his powersuit he would be towering over her right now, maybe he would have even become physically violent. As it was, he looked ready to hurt her if she got within arms reach.
"You were probably in on it with that monster all along to drag Suna down into this war." He continued in the face of her silence. His mind having been going to places over the last three days. "Where the hell were you for those three months after the battle at sea? Getting your just rewards down at the Hokage tower? Huh!"
She stood, refusing to be kneeling or sitting in the face of this, but the Anbu's harsh hand on her shoulder kept her down as he squeezed his fingers painfully over the pressure points there. "I never betrayed you! I've tried to help you! Against Naruto and Zhuge Liang!"
"Oh yea? You got your legs spread for that one too?" Kankuro said, now almost fully sitting up as he shouted at her. "You got anything to do with how we were, so conveniently caught up in that battle when Konoha first invaded Kumo; Where I lost my legs? You were there too! I remember! You fought, got yourself into a nice scrap didn't ya? I don't see you as his prisoner, or missing a limb!"
"I am not a traitor Kankuro!"
"You've fought him face to face more than anyone!" He roared right back."And you always come back don't you? In one goddamn piece and ready to go at it again! Now we know why. I gotta wonder what he likes more: your spying skills or-"
"Kankuro!"
At Gaara's voice, his brother stopped. His face was still flushed with anger, his breathing heavy as the edge of his teeth could be seen from beneath his curled upper lip grinding together as he made a conscious effort to stop himself from saying anything more.
Gaara shifted in his seat, looking to the Anbu behind her. "Please, take my brother and leave me for now."
The Anbu bowed, and though clearly, the puppet master at his side was displeased with the order, he knew better than to argue now with the Kazekage. Not in front of a prisoner...
Because that's what she was now wasn't she? A prisoner...someone that was suspect...that needed to be interrogated...questioned...untrustworthy...betrayer. That's what she was to them now.
The Anbu didn't say a word as he circled around her and walked over to Kankuro before kneeling down and making them both vanish in a puff of gray smoke.
Now she was left alone, with nothing but the crackling flames and the Kazekage.
She takes a breath and looks at him.
When he speaks, his voice is low, almost soft, but there's an edge to it, something dangerous and alien in his voice.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Such a simple question. It should have a simple answer, but it doesn't. There's nothing simple about her life anymore.
She wasn't sure if there ever really had been.
She looked down, eyes on the patch of grass between his feet. "I...what was I supposed to say Gaara? Just show up at your doorstep and say, hey...That guy you all think of as a monster only has half the power of his Bijuu, I have the other half?"
"Don't you dare-" He hissed, voice so full of venom she felt herself wince "keep lying to me! I'm a Jinchuurikii too in case you forgot! I've never heard of any Bijuu being split between two people like yours, but my mother was the medium for Shukakuu's transfusion into me so I know you must share the same bloodline. The only reason I didn't leave you back in the northern wastes was because you clearly stayed there when you could have left and avoided what you knew would come after everything was said and done but that will only carry my goodwill so far."
Her head fell a little more. The shame she knew she should not feel crawled up her insides, beyond her control.
So he knew then...
"You are going to tell me or I swear I will-"
"He's my brother." She cut him off, stopping the words that would have been released in anger. Words that shouldn't belong to him. It was a different face, a different person who would say such things so callously. It wasn't Gaara. It shouldn't be Gaara.
She didn't need to look at his face to see his surprise, in the silence that followed, it was almost too apparent. He'd expected something no doubt...a distant relative, cousin, uncle or something of that nature. Nothing that should have been so close
"Your brother?"
She nodded, though she knew it wasn't necessary.
For a long while, he sat still, his thoughts a mystery to her, then, without warning he stood, marching over to one of the tents she assumed was his and returning moments later with three items that he tossed at her feet.
He drew a kunai knife, circling her before cutting her ropes apart.
Surprised and confused, she didn't get a chance to say anything before he himself spoke. "Pick it up and leave."
"What-"
He walked over to his previous seat, setting himself down before he glared at her, his green eyes as sharp and unyielding as rocks. "You kept this a secret from us for almost an entire year. No one- not even Daisuke- suspected anything like this. If you can hide that, then God knows what else you can hide. I need people I can trust. And that's obviously not you." He looked down, his shoulders slouched. "Apparently there's very few people I can trust it seems."
She had no doubt he was referring to Zhuge Liang. Seeing his sister must have brought suspicious thoughts to the surface. Most of which would point to only one man who had the power, the intelligence, skill and influence to keep such knowledge from them.
"Gaara please...I-"
"Leave...Akina...There's not enough for me to say you betrayed us...but you're not coming with us either. When I return to Suna, my Anbu captains will know well enough to kill you on sight no questions asked.
"Just your captains." She echoed, smiling sadly. "I suppose the people of Suna still need the hope of their angel...huh?"
He didn't answer, there was no need. She was right, she knew it, and he knew she knew it.
She knelt down, picking up the worn cloak, sheet, and kunai pouch he'd thrown there. Placing the cloak on her back, the knives on her belt and the sheet under her arm, she fought the tears along the edges of her eyes as she faced him.
Bowing at the waist neither said anything more as she turned and walked away from the campsite.
Kakashi's face was grim, the mask couldn't hide that. The tomoe spun in his eyes slowly, almost hypnotically.
The man finally sighed, pulling down his forehead protector to cover his Sharingan again. "Look Naruto I'm no Hyuuga this is hardly going to be-"
"What did you see Kakashi." The blond interrupted softly, eyes closed, giving no indication to his discomfort.
"Naruto you really should-"
"Tell me."
The copycat's lips curled beneath his mask in a grimace, taking a quick look behind him where Yoshihiro cooked the rabbit stew and Temari still lay miserably in the corner, chained once again after being allowed out to stretch her legs for a few hours. He made sure they weren't really listening in the confined space before he turned back to Naruto and spoke up again.
"Well...from what I can see...and I repeat I could be completely wrong about thi-"
"I have the utmost faith in your competence." Naruto responded dryly growing tired of Kakashi's hesitation. "Now speak plainly."
A sigh through his nostrils. "Your chakra coils were severely damaged. The demons Chakra is still running through your system which is partially why you haven't recovered completely yet. At this point It seems to be doing as much damage as its repairing."
Naruto sighed, but otherwise gave no other reaction.
What a blunder' He thought. 'Chakra poisoning. Careless...too careless.'
"Naruto." Kakashi's voice brought him out of his thoughts. "I-Again...I'm no expert but...if you ever push yourself like that again then-"
"I am aware of my limitations Kakashi."
"Are you?" He snapped harshly before he could stop himself
Naruto looked to him, his eyes neutral. "Your concern is noted Hatake but unnecessary. In two days, I should be sufficiently recovered to make the journey back to Konoha."
"Don't push yourself Naruto. Before you were the Kage you were my subordinate...I don't want to see you hurt yourself from foolish pride or arrogance."
Never had Kakashi brought up their once upon a time status of Jounin and student or more precisely, Mission commander and subordinate in the chain of command.
It brought back memories not entirely unpleasant and an odd desire for such a time to return. For the days when things were simple, when Sarutobi still lived and he was not the head of what was fast becoming an empire, where he did not hold the weight of the world bearing down on his shoulders as he carried it to its inevitable fate.
And Naruto suddenly found himself feeling weary...a deep...bone tired feeling that made his shoulders sag and his chest tighten.
"That will be all Kakashi."
With a nod after a brief moment's hesitation Kakashi stood, offering an assurance that he would bring some food for him when it was done before he turned around, and walked into the other room, sitting across from Yoshihiro by the fire.
Closing his eyes, the Demon king allowed himself to fall into a fitful sleep.