Chapter 26: The Fifth Kazekage.

I stuck to the cave wall and surveyed the battlefield. The Third Kazekage's puppet was in pieces and buried under iron sand; in fact, the sand was everywhere. Lady Chiyo had the mother and father bring Sasori's body down to the shattered cave floor. It wasn't moving or talking, but we had to be sure. While she examined the body with the chest and back blown out, I examined the remains I had crushed beneath my feet.

Best I could tell, it was brain matter, held in some contraption, though that contraption was now in ruins, and the matter within was squished and covered my feet and legs.

"Any biologicals down there, Lady Chiyo?!" I shouted down to her.

"None. Though lots of weaponry and what appears to be a control network. It looks like it emanated from the torso rather than the head. But you left a really big hole through it. What was in the part you bored through?"

"I think it was his brain. As a medical ninja, I'm amazed, but as a human, I'm appalled."

I deactivated the third gate and felt my body groan in pain. I kept the first two Gates open to speed up my healing and recovery. My right arm was shattered, and I had lots of hairline fractures spreading up both legs in a spider web pattern.

I gingerly walked down the cave wall to Lady Chiyo.

"I'm pretty sure we killed him..." I said quietly. I didn't hold any feelings towards Sasori, but I wasn't sure how Lady Chiyo would feel, being his grandmother. I personally was annoyed that we didn't take him alive for questioning.

"Which one of us delivered the final blow?" She asked as I re-summoned my outfit, though I'd still have to wash all the Sasori off my legs and feet.

"Can't say. You might have killed him when you pierced his chest with the puppets, or I may have when I crushed his brain. Either way, we won. We should go after Naruto and Kakashi-sensei..." I trailed off, remembering that Gaara was dead and how enraged and heartbroken Naruto was.

"I'm worried he is in denial. I think he sees Gaara, er, I mean Lord Kazekage, as a brother. We should retrieve the Kazekage's body before he does..."

As I spoke, I saw that Lady Chiyo's face ran through a torrent of emotions, including regret, sorrow, and what may have been resignation. "There is still something I must do." I heard her whisper to herself, but before I could ask what she meant, she asked,

"Yes, we must leave quickly. Are you able to travel?"

"I'll be fine in a bit." 'But I'll be wreaked come nightfall.' I thought but didn't say. The Gates could get me through pain and injury, but eventually, I had to close them and deal with the consequences.

We left Sasori's 'body' in the cave and headed in the direction of Naruto and Kakashi-sensei. After some time, we spotted the large flying creature the blond Akatsuki member rode and followed.

...

"I think I see Kakashi-sensei and Naruto," I said to Lady Chiyo as we jumped through the forest. She was supporting me with her remaining arm as we jumped.

We landed next to them. Kakashi was talking to an exhausted-looking Naruto.

"Finally caught up to you," I said as we stood up.

"How did you know we were here?" Asked Kakashi-sensei.

"We saw the enemy fly over," I answered.

"It seems as though you are having some trouble over here..." Commented Lady Chiyo.

"Sakura... you guys did it..." Let out Naruto in a shaky breath. His whisker-like marks were prominent, and his pupils were changing from slits back to his regular eyes. It seemed as though he was calming down from a tailed beast rage.

"Yes, but... where's Gaara?" When Lady Chiyo asked that, Naruto glanced at two clones carrying Gaara's body.

"...Good..." Reponed Lady Chiyo, but I could swear she seemed more determined than angry or sad.

As we prepared to look for the last enemy, we heard a commotion and spotted Team Guy a few meters away; they had found Daidara. Tenten fired off a hail of shiruken at him as he dodged them around trees.

"Everyone, be careful! He uses bombs to attack from a distance."

Daidara landed on the forest floor next to his 'bird.' He must have been looking for it as he ran from Team Guy. As I was about to jump to stop him from retreating, he began to EAT his mount.

After ingesting a mouthful, his body began to swell.

"Let me show you my ultimate art. It is an explosion!" He screamed like a maniac.

Suddenly, Neji shouted, "Everyone, get out of here!" and Team Guy jumped towards us as Daidara's body detonated in a massive explosion. It kept growing, and Naruto, Lady Chiyo, Kakashi-sensei, and I also retreated from it. Naruto clones carried Gaara's body.

Neji screamed, "We're not going to make it!" as the explosion expanded. But it suddenly vanished. We all looked at the epicentre in confusion, except for Kakashi, who collapsed on his back.

"Master Kakashi!?" Asked a concered Naruto.

"What on earth did you do, Sensei?" I asked, more confused, but I was still very concerned.

Naruto held Kakashi up as he explained. "I teleported him and the explosion to another space. But never mind that. Is everyone okay?"

Before we could answer, the clones carrying Gaara's body landed before me.

"Sakura..." Naruto said my name with a mixture of hope and despair. It was clear to me he wanted me to examine Gaara's body, hoping he was still alive but correctly assuming he wasn't. I nodded and pointed to the field just outside the forest. "Lay him down there, Naruto."

...

The others stood as I knelt and examined Gaara's body. I could tell he was dead the moment I saw him back in the cave, but I went through the motions of checking for signs of life.

"Sakura?" Naruto asked me when I was finished; I simply shook my head from side to side. I stood up as Naruto turned away from us. I didn't know what to say.

He began to speak, still facing away from us all.

"Why Gaara? Why always Gaara? If he dies like this! He's Kazekage... He just became Kazekage!"

"Calm down, Naruto Uzumaki..." Said Lady Chiyo.

Naruto spun around and faced her, screaming, "Shut up!" tears streaming down his cheeks.

"If you Sand Ninja hadn't put that monster in Gaara, none of this would have happened! Did you ever even consider what Gaara thought?! Did you ever even fucking ask?!"

Lady Chiyo looked ashamed, and I remained silent.

"You call him a Jinchuriki!? Who are you to decide that fate for someone else?!!"

Naruto tried to shield his tears with his forearm as he began to sob.

"Naruto..." I said softly as I tried to comfort him; I rubbed his back as he continued to wail.

"I couldn't save Sasuke! I can't save Gaara! For three years, I trained like crazy, but nothing has changed!"

Lady Chiyo crouched down and placed both hands on Gaara's chest. Charakra emanated from her hands and began to suffuse Gaara's body. I knew what she was about to do.

"Lady Chiyo!" I began but didn't know how to finish. Did I want to stop her? Should I? Before I could finish my sentence, she looked over her shoulder at me and grinned.

This must have been what she meant by still having something she must do.

"What are you doing?" Naruto asked.

"That's..." Guy-sensei said softly.

"Yeah," Kakashi-sensei responded.

"What are you doing?!" Naruto asked again, louder than before.

He must have been getting angry at being left in the dark.

"She's going to bring Gaara back," I answered.

"Bring him back to life? Can she really do that?" Asked Naruto in disbelief.

"Only Lady Chiyo can perform this jutsu," I explained. I doubted even my own master could do it.

The chakra bubble around Lady Chiyo's hands began to shrink.

"No! Not enough chakra." She exclaimed, visibly sweating.

"Please, use my chakra!" Naruto shouted, racing to kneel next to Lady Chiyo.

"Is that possible, Granny..."

She looked at him with wide eyes before saying, "Place your hands on mine." Naruto did so instantly.

Lady Chiyo spoke as she performed the jutsu with the aid of Naruto's immense chakra reserves.

"In this shinobi world created by frivolous old people, I'm glad new souls like you have come along... Up until now, everything I have done has been wrong. But at the very end... I think I might finally be able to do something right." She looked deep into Naruto's eyes.

"The Sand and the Leaf, may their future be something different from our time. Kakashi spoke of this special power of yours to me. That power will change the future dramatically. Become a Hokage the likes of which has never been seen!"

She then looked over at me.

"And Sakura, I'm sorry for treating you like a child when we fought together. You were the reason we were able to stop my poor grandson. You're a lot like me..." She chuckled. "Well, in the way in which we are both women who possess strong spirits, at least. You'll likely surpass your teacher."

I began to cry. I really got respect, especially from older women. I had no idea she thought of me like that. I really wished we could have talked more.

She looked back to Naruto, "I have a favour to ask. You're the only person who knows Gaara's pain. Gaara also knows your pain. Please, look after Gaara..."

We heard a large group of people running towards us, and we all turned to see an entire company of Sand Ninja surround us. As I looked back at Naruto and Chiyo, I saw Gaara sit up and look at Naruto as he said his name, "Gaara..."

"Naruto?" Gaara then looked around at the Sand Ninja surrounding us.

"What's this?" He asked.

"We all came running to rescue you," Naruto responded with a wide grin that made my heart flutter... I needed him to be happy.

"You had us worried!" Naruto told Gaara, still smiling wide at him.

"Hmph, you sure did. Caused us a lot of grief, little brother." Said Kankuro as he walked up to them.

"Don't act so superior! Gaara is Kazekage. Shut ALL your mouths! You brats!" Temari mock scolded Naruto and Kankuro, though it looked to me like Naruto and Kankuro thought she was being serious. I could tell by the faint grin she wasn't. I used to think she was always serious and stuck up, but after the night at karaoke, I knew she could be playful.

She knelt down in front of Gaara.

"How are you feeling?" She asked.

Gaara groaned as he tried to stand.

"You shouldn't move too suddenly; your body hasn't completely recovered from the rigour mortis yet."

Temari was right; I knew I should have acted as the medic and cared for Gaara, but I thought I should leave this to his family. Temari seemed to be handling it. Plus, I was busy securing Lady Chiyo's body.

The surrounding Sand Ninja began to shower Gaara with praise, and a few young female ninjas started arguing among themselves over him like I used to argue with Ino over Sasuke. They pulled Naruto off of Gaara and surrounded him.

Naruto looked a little annoyed at the girls and complained, "Come to think of it, I'm still a Genin. I really hope Granny Tsunade pushes through the paperwork to promote me to Chunin. I need to catch up to Gaara."

Now that Gaara was safe, it looked like Naruto was back to wanting to catch up to him. Which I liked; I preferred the motivated, silly Naruto over the enraged warrior. Yeah, it was great to see him powerful and competent, but when it came from him being in emotional pain, that strength was too heartbreaking for me.

Kankuro helped Naruto up after the Gaara fan club knocked him to the ground.

"Cheer up; girls are always attracted to cool elite types," Kankuro advised the annoyed Naruto.

"Shikamaru said something like that. But I already got a hot girlfriend and never had to hold in my emotions."

Kankuro pulled back in confusion.

"Wait, what? Who?"

I had to admit I was proud of Naruto. He wasn't afraid to show his emotions or stand up for himself. And he still got one of the hottest babes in the village while staying true to himself.

"I'll tell you about her later." Naruto dismissed Kankuro's question with a wave of his hand. Kankuro looked over to his brother and his adoring fans.

"Thanks, Naruto." The older brother sincerely thanked Naruto.

"You should thank Granny Chiyo, not me. She saved him with some awesome medical jutsu." Naruto said as he gazed over at me as I held Lady Chiyo's body. Her brother was standing next to me, looking down at her face.

"She was tired and fell asleep. But she'll be fine when she gets home." Naruto said, and I braced myself to tell him the truth, but Kankuro beat me to it.

"No..."

"What do you mean, no?"

"It wasn't a medical jutsu; it was a transference technique. Granny Chiyo is dead."

"What are you talking about?"

"It's a jutsu to resurrect someone in exchange for your life."

We were all silent as Kankuro explained the jutsu and its creation.

"At one time, the Sand's puppet master corps was involved in the secret development of a technique that would breathe actual life into puppets. Granny Chiyo led that project."

He continued.

"They managed to devise a theory for the technique, but midway through, because the risk was so high before a human experiment was even conducted, the technique was banned and sealed."

Naruto was stunned and just looked down at Lady Chiyo's body, resting in my arms.

"She looks like she'll just laugh and say, 'I was just pretending,' hmm. She looks so peaceful." Commented Lady Chiyo's brother.

"Yes," I agreed.

Naruto looked conflicted, happy Gaara was brought back but sad and perhaps guilty due to Lady Chiyo's sacrifice. I felt the same, though I had to admit, logically, I knew the Sand and the Leaf were better off with the Kazekage alive, even if it cost the life of a singular old retired ninja.

Temari began to speak to Naruto.

"Naruto, like I thought, you're definitely different. You have the power to change people. Granny Chiyo used to say she didn't care at all about the village's future. She wasn't the kind of person who would do something like this for Gaara."

Kakashi-sensei chimed in.

"Granny Chiyo entrusted the future to you and Gaara. It was a death befitting a shinobi."

And I spoke my thoughts.

"She was a strong and powerful woman whom I respected, but she also was an idealist in the end, just like you and Lord Kazekage."

"Yeah, just like the old man, the Third Hokage." Naruto mused.

"That's true," Kakashi-sensei said quietly, probably lost in a memory of Lord Third. I felt a deep need to take care of my boys.

"Yeah, now I get what Granny Chiyo wished for," Naruto stated proudly.

"Lord Gaara..." I heard a Sand Ninja say and looked over to see Gaara standing up.

"It's okay. I'm fine." Naruto took his arm and helped him walk over to us.

"Everyone, pray for Granny Chiyo," Gaara spoke softly, but everyone obeyed happily.