Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Flowers in the Sand ❯ Chapter 12

(Quick side note: Just finished watching the English version of Naruto and I have to say, I nearly died when Gaara spoke. -drooooooool- And here I thought that David Kaye, who does oh-so-sexeh Sesshoumaru's voice on Inuyasha, had a voice that could make fangirls swoon, but Liam O'Brien's voice actually did! :P But you didn't hear about this, ok?)

 

Chapter 12

 

“Arf arf!”

 

“Good job, Akamaru!”

 

The large white dog took off through the trees after Gaara's scent, with his three human companions right behind him. Shino glanced over at Sasuke. “You are confident in this endeavor?”

 

Sasuke almost smiled. “I need to move on with my life. A good way of doing that is to start over- and protect my friends.”

 

“Wise words,” Shino replied, turning back to their path.

 

Akamaru growled low in his throat. Kiba nodded. “Gaara's straight ahead- no more than half a kilometer, I'd guess.”

 

“Let us go then,” the bug shinobi replied, adding an extra burst of speed to their already fast pace. Sasuke and Kiba followed his lead.

 

Sasuke had been filled in on most of the information regarding the Five-tails woman, but he found himself slightly perplexed as to why Gaara would chase after some unknown female like this. Gaara had never been known for impulsive actions- and most certainly nothing regarding the opposite sex. Naruto must have changed him more than Sasuke realized.

 

Truly, he had been holed away in his apartment for too long. Finally coming out into the real world again was opening his eyes in a whole other way.

 

“What the…?” Kiba muttered.

 

Sasuke and Shino both looked at him curiously. “What is the dilemma?” Shino asked.

 

The brown-haired man pointed. “There's Gaara- but he's not moving. He's just… standing on a branch.”

 

Indeed. Gaara stood immobile not too far distant from his pursuers. He didn't even look up as his three friends landed near him.

 

“Hey, Gaara,” Kiba said, trying to sound upbeat. “Um, Naruto asked us to come find you…”

 

Gaara's head was lowered, his red bangs falling over his eyes, concealing them. “I have to find her.”

 

The three Konoha men exchanged a glance. “The Jinchuriki woman?” Sasuke asked.

 

Gaara's attention snapped to Sasuke, his aquamarine eyes practically glowing with barely-constrained fury as he glared at the man. “Her name is Safaia!” he hissed, the sand in his gourd stirring uneasily.

 

“Dude, relax,” Kiba said, trying to calm his old friend down. “We're here to help. Naruto's just worried about you because of the slice in your side. You're not supposed to be overdoing it, remember?”

 

Gaara hung his head once more in a gesture of hopelessness. “I am unable to find out where she is. Those who took her left no trail I can follow.”

 

“We will accompany him, then,” Shino remarked, as if discussing the weather. “As a mission for the Kazekage.”

 

Gaara lifted his gaze to the bug Jounin. He blinked in surprise. “Why?”

 

“Because you are our friend, first and foremost.” Shino pushed up his sunglasses. “Secondly, she was a guest of our Hokage and therefore Konoha, thus under our protection. It is our responsibility to ensure her safe return.”

 

Kiba grinned. “Besides,” he added with a wink at Gaara, “we rather suspect there's something special about her. Can't just let some renegade ninjas abduct pretty girls with no retribution.”

 

Sasuke shook his head slightly. “If we don't get moving, we might not find her,” he reminded them. “I suggest we go.”

 

“Agreed.”

 

“Let's go!”

 

Gaara nodded once to Sasuke, meeting his black-eyed gaze. “It is… surprising… to see you again, Uchiha.”

 

“The same can be said for you, Gaara.” He gave a half-smirk as he followed the Kazekage's lead off the branch and after his two companions.

 

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Akamaru whined, loudly, as he flattened his ears against his head. Kiba looked concerned. “What's wrong now, Akamaru?”

 

Kiba sniffed the air and followed with his eyes the scent Akamaru had found. He blinked several times at a form on the ground. Shino landed next to him and regarded the scene in front of them. They exchanged a significant look.

 

Gaara landed on a branch just below his companions and stared mutely at the dark form on the forest floor. His chest clenched slightly, creating a strange pain. He glanced down at his chest, expecting to see some sort of wound, but there was none. Some wounds you can't see… they're the hardest to heal…

 

He dropped to the ground, uncaring if there were any enemies concealed nearby. Slowly he walked over to the dark shape in front of him, his heart beating loudly. When he was close enough to see the figure, his heart stopped completely.

 

It was Safaia. And she wasn't moving.

 

Gaara fell to his knees beside her and gently lifted her head, his eyes swiftly running over her to see if there were any obvious injuries.

 

Kiba and Akamaru landed beside him, with Sasuke and Shino following soon after. Akamaru smelled Safaia gently and whimpered. Kiba sniffed lightly. “There's something strange about this…”

 

“Observant,” Shino replied dryly.

 

“She wasn't raped or anything… but there's something funny about her scent.”

 

“Why go through all the trouble of kidnapping a woman simply to leave her behind?” Shino looked down at the unconscious girl.

 

Sasuke didn't say a word throughout all of this. His black eyes remained focused on the face of the woman in Gaara's lap.

 

Simply put, she was stunning. He had never in his whole life seen such a beautiful woman, and he had been to pretty much every country on the map. Her hair was a strange mix of brown and blonde streaks, pulled up in a rather disheveled-looking bun at the back of her head, with escaped strands wafting gently around her oval-shaped face. Her skin was pale and smooth, with high cheekbones and full pink lips. Sooty lashes rested on her alabaster cheeks, preventing him from knowing the color of her beautifully-shaped eyes.

 

She was dressed in a smudged and slightly torn jade-green halter-top tunic dress, in a similar style to what Sakura had worn when they were still Genins. The front of the dress dipped low enough to show abundant cleavage without seeming trashy. A knife holster, complete with knife, was strapped to her right calf. Even unconscious, she could make even the most stoic-minded male pause and take notice. Which would explain Gaara's uncharacteristic reaction to her abduction. Where had this remarkable creature come from?

 

Shino knelt down on the other side of the girl and Gaara. He placed a hand over her mouth. “She still breathes, but it is weak. We need to get her back to Konoha. Immediately.”

 

Kiba and Akamaru nodded. Gaara stood up with Safaia in his arms. He looked down at her as her head lolled against his chest. Safaia… what happened to you?

 

“Oi, Sasuke! Wake up!” Kiba nudged the black-haired man. “Let's go!”

 

Sasuke blinked at his friend, confused for a moment as to why Kiba was poking him. “Oh. Right.” He took to the trees and silently followed the other men.

 

------------------------

 

Tsunade, the now-retired Fifth Hokage of Konoha and still head of the medical squads, glared daggers at Gaara from his position next to Safaia's bed in Konoha Hospital. “Baka! What the hell were you thinking, running off after her when you're injured like that?!”

 

Gaara averted his gaze guiltily. This woman had the knack of making him feel like he were six years old again. “I had to save her,” he told her firmly. He lifted his eyes and met Tsunade's scowl without flinching.

 

She read his gaze for a moment, then straightened up, putting her hands on her ample hips. “Naruto's been a bad influence on you, Kazekage. You never used to disobey simple orders.”

 

“This has nothing to do with Naruto.”

 

Tsunade allowed herself a tiny smile. “I see.” She looked down at the unconscious girl, her face growing grim. “Regardless, this Jinchuriki…”

 

“Safaia,” Gaara nearly growled.

 

She nodded, understanding. “Safaia… There is bad news and there is some good news.”

 

Gaara crossed his arms and looked at the older woman. “Tell me.”

 

Tsunade paused. “The good news is that she does not seem to have any physical injuries and should be waking up soon.”

 

He seemed to take that in stride. “And the bad?”

 

The blonde woman sighed. “She… the Gobi… is gone. There is no trace of the Five-tails anywhere in her body or mind.”

 

Gaara's aquamarine eyes flew open. “Gobi… has been… extracted?”

 

Tsunade shook her head. “I don't believe so, because of two important facts.”

 

He scowled.

 

“One,” she raised a finger, “if a Jinchuriki and its Biju are separated, both die. Since she still lives, that is a key indicator that the Gobi is still within her. Secondly,” she added a second finger to the first, “the seal on her lower back has become vastly more intricate- beyond anything I've ever seen.”

 

Gaara blinked a few times. “Seal?” He had never had any sort of seal to keep Shukaku inside him, but he knew Naruto did, circling right around his navel.

 

Tsunade nodded and proceeded to gently turn Safaia on her side, lifting the edge of the woman's hospital gown to reveal a myriad of black markings decorating her lower back. The Kazekage stared in horrified shock.

 

The basic five-elemental seal was surrounded by a multitude of other strange black markings, reaching from side to side, and reaching almost halfway up her back. The marks disappeared into the hospital-issue pants she wore, indicating that they continued on her flesh below the waist.

 

“The main seal should only be this ring here, with the five elemental markings around it,” Tsunade explained, pointing. “But all these around it- these indicate a stronger, much more elaborate seal.” She lifted her brown-eyed gaze to Gaara's. “Possibly too deep to penetrate. The Five-tails may have been permanently sealed away.”

 

Gaara's body shook slightly, his eyes as wide as they could go. “No… she needs Gobi,” he said, almost desperately. “Gobi is her eyes, her ears! You've got to undo whatever has been done!”

 

Tsunade shook her head slightly as she laid the girl back down carefully and covered her back up. “I don't think that's possible. Nor do I think it wise.” She looked down at the unconscious girl, almost sadly. “She'll just have to learn to live life on her own, without the aid of Gobi's superior senses.”

 

As the older woman walked out of the hospital room, Gaara stared unseeing at the floor. Live without Gobi, her only friend and companion? The one who had protected her and helped her to survive on her own in the wilderness? That'd be like asking Sakura to live without Ino, or Shikamaru without Chouji. Or him without Naruto.

 

Hesitantly, gently, he stroked back her hair from her lovely face. I will find a way to undo this seal, he mentally promised her. I am better off without my Biju, but I know that you wouldn't be.

 

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“Tsunade-sensei,” Sakura said politely, bowing to her mentor and teacher as she walked down the hospital corridor. “I was hoping to see you.”

 

“Oh?” A blonde eyebrow lifted. “What concerns you, Sakura? Is the baby all right?”

 

The pink-haired woman patted her belly absentmindedly. “The baby is fine. Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something else.”

 

Tsunade nodded, indicating her attention. Sakura took a deep breath. “There's something that's been on my mind for a while now, and I wanted to ask you what you thought of it.”

 

“Let's hear it.”