PART 3.

"And that's why I still believe that my plan is more convenient." One of the council members said proudly. 

His haughty gaze raised his mustache so high that it seemed almost to float, in an attempt to project grandeur.

"The Sand will not only be protected from Akatsuki, but also our Kazekage." He said. 

Gaara, who hadn't said a word since the man began to speak, ignored the hesitation that was shown when mentioning his position.

He knew very well that he was not very well liked by many. Although everyone recognized that he had protected the village with his life when Akatsuki attacked him, there were council members who were not satisfied with his return.

The man, with his false discretion, was one of them.

"Completely isolate the Sand?" Another member of the council, located several seats away from the first, hastened to express his opinion. "Forgive me if my tone is brusque, Yasu-Dono, but that idea is just crazy!"

"An atrocity." Another member added, calmly. "If you will allow me."

"As you can see, I'm not the only one who thinks so. Doesn't that seem pretty revealing?" The second sneered, rejecting Yasu's proposal. "To condemn our village to darkness and deprivation that is not protection! We will be denying rights to our own people."

"Without considering the population." The third member, known for his objective opinions and his lack of interest in politics, intervened. "I am indignant at the idea of being locked up here. I have a life, you know? A family I haven't seen in years. Friendships that transcend politics. In addition, hiding will not guarantee our survival for long."

"That remains to be seen." Yasu, the man who wanted to be distinguished, interrupted. "Konoha is our ally, isn't she? They could provide us with food aid, and in return we could offer them medicinal herbs, which, although scarce even in their place of origin, are highly valued by other villages."

The third member folded his arms under his long sleeves, while the second shook his head in disagreement. The third closed his eyes, lowering his gaze.

"I'm still not convinced." He affirmed firmly. 

"He is not even making an effort." The second member muttered in a low voice, denoting his discontent. "It's just giving us more reason to reject that idea."

"Hm. I still believe that it is the best option." Yasu snorted, looking away. 

"And what do you think they're going to take away from Gaara?"

The voice of the second son of the main family of the Sand village intervened, echoing in the meeting room. Beside him, though slightly set apart due to the size of the table, was his younger brother, the Kazekage, Gaara. 

The Kazekage maintained an impassive expression, calm in the face of the discussions that were taking place around him. He remained unperturbed, like a soldier oblivious to the conflict unfolding before his very eyes. His hands were clasped on the table, as he listened intently to the words of the council.

This scene was familiar to Gaara, who had experienced these situations in his early days of leadership. At first, the council members tried to rebuke him for his apparent lack of attention, but after weeks of indifference on the part of the young Kazekage, the scolding ceased, leaving him as the victor in his silent rebellion.

"Secrets? Perhaps something the Sand is hiding?" Kankuro questioned, showing his disagreement with Yasu's ideas. "Gaara no longer houses the Bijuu. Shukaku is no longer within him. Therefore, Akatsuki would no longer have a reason to go after Gaara."

"And what is expected of us?" Yasu defended himself, visibly annoyed. "Maybe they're not after the Kazekage, but prominent people live here, myself included. Kazekage-sama may consider himself lucky to be alive, but what will happen to us? We do not have an old lady willing to sacrifice herself for us, if I may express my opinion, of course."

Yasu's words were interpreted as a provocation to the patience of the other members present at the meeting.

In the meeting room, there were a total of seven people, all of them council members, in addition to the Kazekage and his brother, Kankuro. At first, the discussion was expected to focus on issues such as building maintenance and hospital expansion, as well as reviewing the proposal Gaara had been considering for some time.

However, thirty minutes had already passed and they were still at it. From the beginning of the meeting, Yasu had spent much of his time opining on trivial matters, such as the work in the places of free service for civilians and the supposed "protection" that the village would have if his idea was accepted.

Their revolutionary proposal consisted of completely isolating the town, minimizing contact with the outside world as much as possible and limiting itself to communicating only with the allied villages willing to collaborate.

In essence, the village would receive more than it would give, as Yasu controlled the supply of medicinal herbs and refused to trade them, knowing that they were his only valuable resource in that gathering.

After a heavy sigh, Kankuro put aside his annoyance and showed a disgruntled grimace. Although he wasn't completely angry, he was clearly annoyed at having to strike up a conversation with someone like Yasu.

"Why do you insist on this crazy idea, Yasu-Dono?" Kankuro asked in a sour tone, knowing that the idea had been rejected by his brother since Yasu opened his mouth. 

But it was necessary to waste saliva to make sure that the reason for the rejection was more than clear.

Yasu looked at him with minimal surprise, also feeling the displeasure of conversing with Kankuro. Finding no other way out, he looked away and waved his hand.

"The Rain Village does it, right?" She is disconnected from the world, but there are rumors that they live well there. He revealed without giving much importance to the matter. 

A sigh escaped Yasu's lips.

"What I would give for a quiet life..."

"This isn't about you, Yasu-Dono." The third member scolded him without any encouragement. "Of course, you can't think of anything else."

"Whatever." Yasu snapped, irritated. "What else can I expect from an iceman? It's clear that you don't feel empathy for those around you."

The emphasis on repetition that Yasu used was evident to everyone in the room, except for the third member, who, oblivious to the provocation attempt, shrugged his shoulders in boredom as he stared into space.

"It's not the first time I've been told something like this." He commented indifferently. "And it won't be the last."

"I see... you can tell." Yasu replied, putting a hand to his mouth as he glanced sideways at the impassive man. 

He was perplexed by how adept this man was at ignoring the rudeness directed at him. Kankuro had had enough of the pointless discussion. There never was one, because Gaara always declined Yasu's requests or recommendations in some way when they involved the entire village.

And despite that, the man always came back with something new. During the entire time Kankuro was by his brother's side, he strongly recommended that Yasu stay away from such gatherings.

For the first time, however, and rather abnormally according to his brother's usual behavior, Gaara turned to Kankuro with obvious interest.

"Why do you recommend that?" Gaara asked, leaving Kankuro momentarily speechless. 

In the days that followed, the topic kept coming up constantly. Yasu became more and more insistent, reaching the point where Gaara was not bothered by his presence because she simply ignored him.

Yasu was not a fool at all. He knew perfectly well that the Kazekage ignored him, but he flatly refused to surrender. Not a day went by that I didn't follow him through the halls, trying to strike up some conversation.

"I'm looking for balance for the village." Gaara had explained to his brother. "To achieve this, I must understand and listen to each person. Yasu is a great help in this regard, and it is convenient for him to be present at the meetings. Besides, thanks to him, I believe that you are still alive, Kankuro."

The observation about his survival caused a grimace on the face of the puppet expert.

Yasu, in addition to being a member of the council of the hidden village of the Sand, was in charge of the care and expansion of medicinal plants throughout the windland, not just in the village.

He possessed an exceptional ability to grow herbs in the sandy soils and a unique knowledge of the plants he supervised.

Despite his self-centeredness and ignorant attitude, Kankuro couldn't help but feel grateful that Yasu was responsible for keeping the herbs needed for his antidote available. He sighed resignedly, realizing that he was wasting his time by continuing to think about the matter.

"Kankuro-sama!" A chunin ninja burst into the meeting room, firm next to the large door, his voice echoing throughout the premises. 

Kankuro peered out of the back of his chair, watching as the chunin seemed to shudder slightly at his gaze. He felt her breathing heavily, indicating that she had come here running, which she found remarkable.

"What's going on? Can't you see that we are in the middle of a meeting?" Yasu couldn't help but comment in a low voice, contemptuous as always. 

The Chunin hesitated for a moment, undecided whether or not to enter the room at Yasu's comment. Kankuro only rolled his eyes as he turned his back to the smug man that was Yasu.

"You'd do me a favor if you would come in and put an end to this once and for all." The puppeteer growled, his comment was only heard by his brother, the Kazekage. 

The visiting ninja quickly approached the right side of the Kazekage, making sure not to be heard by the keen ears of those present. He brought a hand close to his mouth and whispered to Kankuro urgently.

"Temari-sama urgently calls you to the village hospital." The messenger reported, glancing sideways at the Kazekage. "A ninja from Konoha found one of our ninjas not far from here, seriously wounded. Besides, there are more messengers on the way, it seems to be something Kazekage-sama must know."

"Gaara?" Kankuro muttered to himself, confused. "Why?"

"It has to do with a newly arrived Wounded One, He's not from The Sand; But Konoha says it may be linked to something of extreme danger. Temari-sama has decided to call them both." The ninja replied before walking away. 

With the information in mind, Kankuro had no choice but to reflect on what he had just heard. Then, he looked at Gaara, as if to communicate with his eyes that the meeting had come to an end.

"What's going on?" The redhead went ahead to investigate, maintaining his characteristic calm and serenity. 

Kankuro looked at him before getting up from his seat.

"I beg your pardon, gentlemen, but the meeting ends here." Said the puppet expert. 

Questions from council members were not long in coming.

"I understand your bewilderment, but Kazekage has something important to attend to at the moment."

At that statement, Gaara finally lifted his face from behind his clasped hands.

"Anything important?" He asked. 

Gaara didn't have to move from his seat. His elder brother had come to his side and whispered in his ear the same words that the Chunin had said before.

The rest of the council members waited for more answers, watching as the Kazekage's right-hand man whispered to him who knows what, while the red-haired man remained unperturbed.

In a matter of a few seconds, Kankuro had moved away from his brother's side. Gaara, now standing, responded with his characteristic serenity.

"We will continue with the meeting at another time." Gaara announced to the other members as he walked calmly towards the immense door. "I hope I have your understanding."

A young Kazekage, but of great maturity. Despite his age, he was able to measure his words and make wise decisions before acting.

At that moment, the council members were looking at a leader who looked at them with a different gaze than they usually received from the previous Kazekage. It was a soft gaze, without traces of regret or annoyance, calm eyes capable of perceiving everything.

Despite his youth, Gaara possessed the gift of choosing the right words to maintain the respect of those who deserved it, even those whom he considered of little importance in his thoughts.

Sitting behind the large meeting table, each member of the council bowed their heads in the direction of the Kazekage, following his lead.

All of them, personally selected by Gaara, were part of the council to balance power in the different branches of the village.

Gaara had learned that lesson the hard way when he was kidnapped. He would not allow himself to be caught again, but if the time of dire need came, he would also not hesitate to delegate responsibilities to competent hands for the welfare of the village.

He knew who to turn to in case he had to be absent from the village.