50: Trouble in Sand and The Pack: Part IV 3

Naruto noticed Gaara's face register what his father was trying to him about his mother. He saw tears begin to appear in his friend's eyes, but before the Kazekage could get lost in his emotions Naruto placed a hand on his shoulder as he said, "Gaara, I'm sure what you're feeling has to be some heavy stuff. But if we lose our heads here, we'll literally lose our heads."

Gaara nodded as he wiped the tears and gained control of the many conflicting emotions that he felt. But hearing that his mother had loved him, and further to the point that his uncle had likely acted under his father's orders freed Gaara of a burden he hadn't even realized had been so heavy still. Only now that it was gone did he truly feel lighter.

Naruto watched as the Fourth was joined by the First and Second, and despite the fact that it appeared they had also had their personalities suppressed, that actually made the jinchuriki more confident the men could be defeated. He also believed it would make it easier as well. Formulating a plan he said, "Gaara, I need you to restrict those three's movement. I have a way to bind them, but I need all of them grouped together."

"Understood," Gaara said before pressing his hands to the ground and sending a wave of sand that encircled the previous Kazekage and blocked their view of Naruto and him.

Gaara's father countered by focusing his gold dust at a single point in the massive wave approaching from all directions, and had it take the form of a pair of hands that were pressed together as if in prayer. Once the hands hit, they dug into the Sand and he forced them open causing the sand wave to part. The First and Second moved towards the opening unheedful of the fact that such an obvious escape route would be guarded, which it was as a clone of Naruto raced forward to stop them as the blond had counted on them acting in such a manner. As he believed that while suppressing their personalities might make them more efficient or less likely to break free as the Third had done. It also boiled the men down to just their skills, without the accumulated knowledge that made those skills so powerful.

After all, Naruto didn't doubt that if the two Kazekage racing towards his clone had been in control of themselves, they no doubt would be questioning why he wouldn't just throw another Rasenshuriken into the opening rather than send a single clone. He also imagined that upon thinking that question, they likely would have refrained from attacking said clone.

But they didn't, so they didn't. The Kazekage buried his scythe into the clone's side even as the Second hit it with a punch that snapped its neck. Which while it did cause Naruto to wince from witnessing another possible death, was exactly what the blond had hoped for. The clone having been made with a combination of his Sage, and Wind chakra didn't so much explode as it imploded collapsing in upon itself. The negative pressure from the collapse, pulled the two Kazekage as it acted in a similar manner as a blackhole. The two men smashed into each other and were further crushed as sand and debris were pulled in as well. Naruto watched as the Fourth Kazekage tried to fight against the pull, but Gaara raised his hand and the sand at his father's feet rose up into the air before losing its solidness. Once he was airborne, the Fourth was also pulled into the expanding mass of sand, gold dust, and crushed remains.

Once the jutsu ended, what remained at the center of a crater was a spherical ball of the tightly packed material that made it up. Naruto prepared to quickly move to slap another seal that Mito had taught him which would bind the man in their compressed grave. But just as he was moving away felt another presence behind Gaara and him.

Naruto spun and prepared to attack the violet eyed woman that was rising from the sand behind them. Gaara did as well, but went stock still as he recognized the face of the woman. Naruto heard him whisper, "Mother..."

The sight of his mother caused Gaara to drop his guard, which the woman exploited sending a tendril of sand towards her son. The end of the tendril turned into a spike as it rushed towards Gaara. Naruto could see the Kazekage's automatic defense begin to react to the attack, but the woman's sand appeared to be much faster. But Naruto pushed Gaara to the side, and blinked just before it was about to pierce his chest.

Gaara looked back as the sand flew passed him and expected to see his friend impaled on the attack. But to his surprise the sand again shifted so that it was flat and instead hit Naruto in the chest like a hammer. It lifted the jinchuriki off his feet, and the sand carried him over the crater that his jutsu had made. Something flew passed him, and he realized his mother was still connected to the sand so had been pulled along after the blond.

His mother's jutsu deposited Naruto on the opposite side of the crater. She then made a gesture and Naruto's shirt was ripped open by her sand. She then, used the knowledge that Kabuto had imbued her with on how Mito had picked the lock of his seal to open Naruto's seal before procuring a mechanical device from within the folds of her cloak.

Although having not seen one in person, from the reports he had received as Kazekage, he recognized it as a mechanical chakra disruption device. The device was originally created in the Land of Snow, by engineers that worked for Doto Kazahana. In the aftermath of the man's death, it was learned that many of those engineers had gone missing along with the weapons designs they had worked on. Only recently had the chakra disruption device begun to appear on the various black markets, and while it wasn't something that shinobi would need. The devices were finding their ways into the hand of normal criminals as a means to keep any shinobi that they happened to capture under control. While the devices did pose a potential problem for the various shinobi villages, what most of them were truly fearful of was the Chakra Armor that Doto had developed starting to appear in a similar manner.

Gaara began to wonder why Kabuto would outfit his mother with such a device, but felt it was a secondary concern as red chakra began to leak from Naruto's stomach. Fearing that the device would somehow extract the nine-tails, although he doubted it could contain it, he began to move to aid his friend. However, a moment later a dome of sand surrounded Naruto and his mother. Undeterred, Gaara prepared to cross the crater, but leapt back as he sensed an attack from above.

His automatic defense moved to block in front of him as whatever hit the ground exploded. "Ah, ah, ah, ah, let those two enjoy some privacy, hmmm"

Gaara instantly recognized the voice as he looked up to see the deceased Akatsuki member hovering on one of his clay birds as it took up a position above the dome. "Deidara," Gaara said angrily as his eyes locked with the man responsible for killing him.

Deidara was clearly amused as he said, "So you remember me, hmmm? Well I suppose that shouldn't be too much of a surprise. How've you been? You certainly look much better than the last time I saw you." He could see the Kazekage was preparing to attack, so he changed tactics as he said, "Not much for small talk then are you," while he waved his hand over the dome. Tiny clay spiders appeared from the mouths contained in them which fell onto the dome.

To Gaara's surprise the spiders were absorbed into the sand causing him to say, "Don't!"

"Relax," Deidara said, "Granted if it was up to me. I'd already turn that blond piece of shit into a work of art since I owe him one. But the man pulling my strings doesn't want any permanent harm coming to him at the moment. But before you decide to attack me, keep in mind he likely doesn't have anything against me maiming him a little."

"What does Kabuto want?"

"Hell if I know," Deidara said. Noticing the dome was about to collapse he added, "But it looks like he's going to get it."

*****************************

Kushina watched as the gates to the seal began to open. She quickly abandoned her human form in favor of her Bijuu one in case she needed to fight against an attempt at extracting her as she doubted the key that she had been given would work considering how the seal had been opened. Strangely though, outside of some of the Bijuu chakra leaking out of the open gate, she didn't feel a force attempting to remove her.

However, she suddenly felt Naruto's condition begin to deteriorate and she realized the device that had been affixed to her son wasn't going to extract her, but drain him of his chakra. She realized then exactly what kind of cunning bastard Kabuto truly was. He had likely compelled the kunoichi being reanimated by Edo Tensei to open the seal for two reasons.

The first being to likely confirm a hypothesis that he had formed from when he had resurrected Mito, which was that Naruto and the Bijuu that he contained had come to some sort of an arrangement. She had to admit that it showed just how much thought Kabuto had applied to the last encounter, since the fact that Kushina hadn't allowed herself to be extracted into Mito had left the man with two possibilities for her actions. Those being that the Bijuu within Naruto preferred it's container to what it would be exposed to in a new one, or Naruto and Bijuu were actively working together. The device being set to drain Naruto of his chakra left Kushina with two choices and either one would confirm to Kabuto the nature of the relationship between them. If she aided Naruto by supplying him the chakra to offset what was being drained instead of escaping then it was obvious that the two had come to some sort of truce or arrangement. Obviously if she escaped, then Kabuto would come to believe that the Kyuubi saw it as more advantageous to remain with Naruto at the time.

The second reason was tied to if Kushina acted to save Naruto which it would make it much easier for her to give him chakra without fighting the seal. This would allow the device to more efficiently collect her chakra as she poured it into her son.

Naturally, for Kushina there was no choice so she began pumping her chakra into Naruto. But, hoping to give the device more chakra then it could handle she sent it full bore. She closed her eyes to see if her gamble worked as she became aware of the world outside the seal. She saw that the kunoichi was straddling her son as she used sand to hold him to the ground. As the amount of chakra began to flow faster than the device could absorb, it began to throw off arcs of energy. One of the arcs hit the woman causing her to scream as the energy coursed through her and she shook like she was being electrocuted. The kunoichi fell back as the energy finished passing through her, and as a result the sand dome began to collapse.

The device seemed to break as a puff of smoke blew out of it, and she felt the drain of chakra taper off. She directed her attention to her son, and breathed easier as she felt that although he was near chakra exhaustion due to how quickly the device had drained his chakra to force her hand, he was otherwise unharmed. Returning to her human form, she held up her hand and twisted it causing the gate to close. Although she still felt the temptation to open it fully and share her Bijuu chakra with her son. Knowing there would be no escaping the pleasure he gave to his lovers on an almost nightly basis held her back, as while she might have crossed that line from time to time. Taking this step felt like admitting she was a horrible mother due to how badly she wanted to be with him in an unmotherly way.

*****************************

Gaara watched the dome collapse, but didn't move as he saw Deidara's tiny spiders covering the area. He glared at the man, who smirked before throwing a small clay bird in Naruto's direction which picked up the device that rested on him as he directed the larger bird he was riding on to grab the sphere resting below him. Catching the device the undead missing-nin said, "I know you're capable of following so I'll leave my friends to make sure you don't, hmmm."

His bird flapped after its smaller copy dropped the devise into Deidara's hands before making a straight line for the Kazekage. Gaara waved his hand causing a stream of sand to rise from the desert floor and knock it out of the air. The bird exploded in the air revealing that the former Akatsuki member had used to moment to put as much distance as he could between them.

Gaara leapt into the air as a platform of sand appeared beneath his feet as he closed the distance between Naruto and him. Moving his hands apart, he caused all the sand covering the immediate area around Naruto to fly away taking the spiders along with it, which began to detonate.

Landing next to his friend, he breathed easier as he saw the black hole on his stomach closing, and saw his chest moving steadily as he breathed. Confident Naruto was in no danger, he turned towards his mother, there were so many things that he wished he could say to her. But, aware that she posed a danger he prepared to use his sand to cocoon her and hopefully contain her until he could find someone to seal her. He stopped though as he considered Deidara's actions. He began to wonder why the deceased Akatsuki member had grabbed the mound of gold and sand which had contained the three remaining Kazekage, but had left his mother behind.

He approached the woman where he knelt down next to her and reached out with a shaky hand. Touching her face, he was surprised at how warm she felt to the touch. He felt several emotions warring within him causing a nervous sensation which set up residence in the pit of his stomach. He reached out for her eye and forced one open. His breath caught in his throat as instead of the black sclera that all those brought back by Edo Tensei had, hers were white showing that the jutsu no longer had a hold on her. Feeling tears appear in his eyes, he placed his head against her chest and hearing a heartbeat sat back in shock despite the evidence that his mother had been returned to the land of living that was being laid out before him.

He turned his gaze back to his unconscious friend and tried to understand what was going on. He knew of Naruto's ability to counteract Edo Tensei in such a way, but doubted doing so for his mother had been a conscious effort on either his or the Bijuu that he contained part. For one, he knew Naruto had decided that doing so could in time become a source of grief and anger for some. If people learned of his ability after he used it for friends that lost loved ones, then it would only be a matter of time before others demanded that he did the same for them. Therefore, he knew that while Naruto may have considered it, he wouldn't act on those feelings less he may also begin to feel an obligation to do so for the likes of Shikamaru or others within his village.

The other reason he doubted Naruto had returned his mother on purpose, was due to there being no sign of the sacrifice that had been used to power Edo Tensei. The lack thereof seemed to suggest that while it appeared his mother was indeed once more alive. The means may have been same, but the method was different.

That fact caused Gaara some concern for his friend since he believed that Kabuto no doubt realized that it wasn't just a conscious effort on some Bijuu's part that was responsible for returning those under Endo Tensei sway to the world of the living. But something unique about Naruto's or his Bijuu's chakra, or even the combination of the two together. Standing as he cradled his mother in his arms, he didn't doubt that sooner rather than later Kabuto would be back with another scheme to either unlock the secrets of what was so special about Naruto's chakra or to claim it.

*****************************

Temari had felt little relief as the weaklings resurrected by Edo Tensei had retreated, although she did feel some respite when she noticed the light encasing those that they had captured and wrapped in bandages indicating they had been released from the jutsu. The reason for her nervousness was due to the fear that Kabuto got what he was after and what it meant for the man she loved. She had wanted to push her squad after the fight, but since many had been ready to rest before the attack by the resurrected shinobi, they were in no shape to take off running after the battle.

The only thing that had kept her from taking off on her own was due to her feeling his presence still via her foxmark. She could feel it getting closer, and had to fight against the temptation to stare in the direction that she knew he was coming from, especially as she felt his presence was just over the next dune. Therefore, she was glad when one of the shinobi on watch duty called out, "Over here! It's Lord Gaara." She wasn't surprised that her shinobi didn't call out Naruto's presence but felt her heart leap into her throat as the shinobi added, "We need some medics. Master Naruto appears to be injured as he is on a stretcher of sand."

Temari nearly rushed off to check on him, but was stopped as Pakura said softly, "Remember where we are." Sensing Senjumaru watching them, the green-haired woman added, "This could be another trap by the enemy to delay us."

Temari wanted to shout at the woman to use her foxmark, but realized that in a sense that was exactly what she was telling her. Closing her eyes, she got a sense of her lover's condition and could tell that although he seemed weak, it was in a similar manner to how he would feel after pushing himself too hard while training. Nodding her thanks to Pakura, she ordered, "All squads form up. Do not lower your guard. My squad will make contact once we confirm who we are dealing with I'll signal the medics if they are needed."

Temari moved with her brother, Pakura, Matsuri, and Sari following after her as did Senjumaru much to her annoyance. Cresting the dune near the shinobi that had called out, she saw Gaara moving slowly with his gourd and with Naruto suspended on a bed of sand. The two shinobi looked like they had been in quite the fight, causing Temari to wonder what they had faced. Moving down the sand hill, she pulled her fan when Gaara entered her range and called out, "Gaara is that really you?"

Before, Gaara could reply several puppets popped out of the ground around him and fired a barrage of poisoned senbon. The sand around the Kazekage created a protective barrier around him and Naruto. The attacks hit it bouncing off harmlessly, before the sand barrier retaliated with projectiles of sand which shattered the puppets.

Temari and the others rounded on Senjumaru as she prepared to attack the woman believing she was still planning to carry out with Gaara's execution. They stopped though as Gaara ordered calmly, "That's enough. I believe Senjumaru was just verifying I am who I claimed to be."

The dark haired woman smiled coolly as she said, "It seemed the quickest way to ascertain the truth of the matter."

Gaara inclined his head but added, "Unless of course I was the Endo Tensei shinobi that murdered Joseki."

Senjumaru shrugged as she countered, "Considering the discoloration of the eyes those brought back by that jutsu possess. There is no proof to suggest it wouldn't carry over to a henge. Otherwise Kabuto likely wouldn't have cloaked the assassin. Also, there is no need to propose such a theory to clear your name; your sister realized the truth before we left Suna. Ishida has also admitted to playing a role in framing you, although he was unaware of it until after the murders."

Temari tried to sound calm as she asked, "Gaara, Naruto is he..."

Gaara inclined his head as he calmed her fears, "He is fine. Unfortunately, Kabuto managed to drain a good portion of his chakra as he tried once more to extract the Kyuubi." He knew Temari and Naruto's other lovers were aware that he was being purposefully vague to prevent contradicting anything Temari may have revealed to Senjumaru already. He focused on the Royal Guard member to ascertain if she was suspicious about Kabuto's true reasons for his interest in Naruto. To explain his scrutiny of the woman he asked, "With all that has been revealed, am I still a condemned man. I'm afraid I can no longer accept such a fate. With Naruto's condition being what it is, I will not allow his existence to come to an end. Furthermore, I have come to realize that my continued existence does matter and my death will do nothing to ease the distrust the Daimyo apparently feels towards me and my shinobi. My execution in such a manner would likely only lead to worsening relations between Suna and the Capital."

Senjumaru couldn't disagree with Gaara's conclusion. Therefore she replied, "Given the circumstances, it is clear that from the moment Joseki was cleared of the charges against him, both he and the magistrate were dead men. With Ishida being complicit in the matter, I'll need to speak with the Daimyo to make sure the orders I was given were not changed to further Kabuto's plan. I have little doubt that we'll both find this has been all one large misunderstanding."

Gaara inclined his head accepting Sejumaru's chain of events, although he doubted the Daimyo orders had been changed. But, it would allow him to save face, and pin everything on Ishida. Gaara looked at his shinobi and saw that they didn't believe it either. Yet, hoping to assure the Capital that he and his village weren't a possible threat to their power said, "I'm glad that we have cleared up this misunderstanding." Focusing on his shinobi he added, "Let us go home."

The shinobi of Suna cheered and he accepted a hug from Sari, who surprised him when she quickly pulled back. One of his shinobi approached asking, "Lord Gaara, would you like me to carry your gourd for you? You must be tired."

"No thank you," Gaara said, "I barely notice the weight since it's been a part of me my entire life." The shinobi nodded as the Kazekage began walking towards his village. He directed the bed of sand Naruto rested on to follow and gingerly adjust the strap of his gourd being mindful of the occupant that resided inside it.

*****************************

Naruto groaned as he began to awaken. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes he said, "Did a boulder fall on me or something. I ache all over."

"I think this would fall under the category of or something," a kind voice said that he recognized.

"Shizune," Naruto said as his eyes shot open. His lover smiled at him, and although Naruto found the setting somewhat familiar since he could tell from the sounds coming from outside his room that he was in a hospital. Still felt disoriented due to Shizune's presence since he knew it wasn't the one in Konoha.

His lover helped him sit up and seeing the scenery outside his window guessed he was in Suna. "How long was I out?"

"About four days," Shizune answered. "Sakura and I arrived just the day before. "

"Is Gaara okay? He froze when some woman appeared behind him, which is when everything went dark for me. I've seen her picture before in Temari's room so I think she was their mother."

"The Kazekage is fine," Shizune said taking the chance to make sure her lover was as well. Although she and Sakura had been called to Suna for a separate reason, the two of them took turns to make sure Suna's medics were taking good care of him. She smiled as she knew a few of the nurses were quite enjoying the task. "The woman you mentioned was indeed his mother. She was also the one that Kabuto brought back to frame Gaara. It turns out that his abilities with sand were not entirely of Rangiku's doing."

"That bastard," Naruto said in reference to Kabuto. "When I get my hands on him, I'm going to..."

Shizune felt the same way as Naruto trailed off leaving the threat unfinished. She then informed her lover, "Keep Lady Karura's involvement to yourself please. There have been a few complications as a result of Kabuto's plot, and Gaara does not want anyone to know his mother was the murderer. Luckily, there were quite a few Sand users in Suna's history that it could have been anyone. A fact most feel is unimportant to uncover considering ultimately Kabuto was the one pulling the strings."

Naruto nodded, before asking, "How much trouble did I cause everyone?"

"We were fortunate," Shizune replied with her relief being evident, "The Wind Daimyo is pinning everything on Kabuto and the representative Ishida. He says that his orders were only to make Gaara aware of his extreme displeasure at the fate of his vassal and to place him under house arrest until the matter was solved. No one believes it, but everyone is going along with it."

Naruto sighed as he lay back down before saying, "Still regardless of whether it has allowed the Daimyo off the hook for his actions, there is going to be a lot of tension between the Wind Capital and Suna. A convenient lie isn't going to erase that, and it'll probably just boil under the surface until it explodes in the worst possible way like with the Uchiha."

"Gaara is quite aware of that," the dark-haired medic answered. "But, at the moment it is the best outcome we could hope for. The Daimyo's actions were no doubt born of the concern that he must be feeling at Suna's becoming less reliant on his tribute to function. It is something that we're going to need to consider in the future in regards to our strengthening relations with the other villages. The

Daimyo, in many ways, have always used the annual tribute as a means to prevent the villages from growing too powerful."

Naruto folded his hands behind his head and turned to look at Shizune before saying, "So what you're saying is that now with the stronger trade between Suna and Konoha, one of the Daimyo's greatest tools at keeping our villages in check has been lessened so now they're growing nervous."

"Precisely," Shizune said with a pleased smile at how skilled Naruto was becoming at analyzing situations. "Although, for the moment it seems that only the Wind Daimyo is operating under the belief that Suna being a little more independent is a bad thing. The Fire Daimyo has openly expressed his gratitude to Tsunade about your actions as he felt they only highlighted why peace has been maintained between Fire and Wind for so long." Naruto frowned causing his lover to say, "You don't seem pleased."

"I'm happy that it doesn't appear I'm going to be living the life of a missing-nin," Naruto said after a moment of thought. "But, I can't help feeling that the Fire Daimyo is simply backing the winning side. He didn't seem all that thrilled with the idea of us forming better relations with other villages when we spoke face to face."

"You may be more right than not," Shizune conceded. "The message arrived via a representative the Fire Daimyo sent to Konoha. But before it was delivered there was an incident at the gate."

Naruto looked concerned asking, "What happened?"

Shizune put him at ease by smiling before she explained what happened. "Word had reached the citizens of Konoha that a representative was being dispatched to the village to discuss your going rogue. Fortunately, by the time the person arrived everything had been sorted out, but the people of Konoha feared you were still going to be branded a missing-nin so when the Representative signed in at the gate he was greeted by a mob of citizens baring his path. The citizens made it known that they wouldn't accept any such decree as you were the Hero of the Village. Things grew rather tense as the guards escorting the man threatened to attack if the crowd didn't let them pass, but fortunately Kakashi was there to calm everyone down. He reminded the representative that it was important to listen to the will of the people, but also reminded the citizens that you knew full well the potential consequences of your actions. Whether the incident influenced what the representative told Tsunade or not, I don't know. But the people of Suna have already petitioned the Kazekage to offer you asylum should you have been branded a missing-nin." Leaning forward she kissed her lover softly on the lips as she added, "So basically, now you're a hero in two villages."

Pulling away she said, "I need to get going. I'll let Sakura and the others know that you're awake."

"Any idea on when I'll be discharged?"

Shizune shook her head as she replied, "I imagine that it'll be sooner rather than later. Although the doctors here are probably going to want to keep you under observation for a few days, I know how antsy you get in hospitals."

A knock at the door was followed by a male nurse entering the room. He smiled brightly as he said, "Ah it appears my patient has finally awakened." Focusing on Shizune he said, "I'm guessing he must be in good shape."

"Yes, I took the liberty of checking his vitals. I marked my findings on his chart."

"Good, I guess then that I won't need to bother the doctor until after..."

"After what," Naruto asked innocently as Shizune sent him an amused smile as she left the room.

"Why, after your sponge bath silly," the nurse said producing a plastic tub and sponge.

Naruto's eyes grew wide as he was uncomfortable with the idea of a man rubbing him down as he slept so said, "Um...thanks for taking care of me...but I'm sure I can handle it from here. No sense in bothering you with it."

"Oh it's no bother," the man said eagerly, "it's actually been the highlight of my shift the past few days."

"Is that really something you should be telling a patient?" Naruto asked backing up on the bed as the man finished filling the tub and began to approach him with the soapy sponge.

"Oh don't be shy," the nurse said letting a seductive tenor enter his voice, "We're both men."

"T-that's kind of my concern...I don't swing that way."

"Have you ever tried?"

"No!"

"Then how do you know? Now, hold still!"

"No! Stay back!"

*****************************

The sound of glass shattering attracted Shizune's attention as she exited the hospital, which was followed by the nurse that had been assigned to her lover shouted, "Stop! Where are you going? Come back."

Naruto didn't bother to reply as he leapt over the rooftops of the village. She heard a couple of women giggle as they caught sight of his naked backside due to the hospital gown that he wore. She smiled since she had figured he would react in such a manner upon learning he had been assigned a male nurse. She suspected that Gaara had arranged for it as a little payback for his sleeping with his sister, but also to prevent Naruto from inadvertently binding any of the female nurses to him as he slept. Primarily due to the fact that in the day or so, since Sakura and her arrival they had heard quite a few of the female nurses commenting favorably on the sleeping jinchuriki and about how they would enjoy making some of his nurse related fantasies a reality. Although, considering how attentive the male nurse that he had been assigned was, she imagined it hadn't just been the women thinking along those lines.

Shizune reached her destination as she approached the Kazekage mansion. Heading towards the room her patient was in, she was about to knock when she heard her say, "Why is it that you and Gaara insist that I be attended to by Leaf-nin, Temari?"

"Mother, please try to understand we need to keep your resurrection a secret. It's common knowledge that you died giving birth to Gaara. In fact, father even went so far as to claim you were the sacrifice necessary to seal Shukaku into him."

"That doesn't explain why Gaara is letting these women attend to me, or why I haven't been allowed to see Kankuro."

"It's complicated," Temari replied. Hoping to give the Suna kunoichi a breather from the questions, Shizune knocked on the door causing Temari to quickly say, "Enter."

Shizune smiled politely which wasn't returned by Karura, who seemed to hold a low opinion of shinobi from the Leaf. Considering the actions her husband would later take, she didn't doubt that he wasn't the only one to feel the alliance with Konoha had been a negative to Suna. However, despite the woman's less than stellar greeting she could see why her children had loved her so whenever she looked at her daughter. "How are we feeling today?"

"As I told you yesterday," Karura said gruffly, "I am fine. I do not need to be attended to."

Shizune nodded ignoring the woman's less than pleasant disposition towards her, "I understand, but please just let us do as the Kazekage has asked. Now, are you sure there aren't any strange...urges that you are feeling? If you are uncomfortable talking about it, I can ask Temari to step out."

"I said I do not feel any uncontrollable urges," Karura replied annoyed. "The pink-haired girl asked the same thing this morning. It would help if you would tell me what I should be feeling. Keep in mind that I've been dead for eighteen years and my last memories were seeing Gaara just after giving birth to him. I'm not exactly sure what constitutes how I normally should be feeling after being resurrected."

Both Temari and Shizune shared a look as they noticed Karura's reddened cheeks. Aware that the woman likely didn't want to admit to either Konoha medics or her daughter how she felt constantly aroused as a result of Naruto's chakra, Shizune said, "Well, if you do feel any strange urges please let me know. I doubt they'll be something you need to concern yourself with in a few more days if you haven't felt them yet." A look appeared in Karura's eyes that seemed to ask if she should be concerned if she had, indicating to Shizune that Naruto's tainted chakra was indeed having an effect on the woman's libido. Answering it without the question being asked she said, "In any case I'm sure everything will have settled down in a few days."

Karura seemed relieved by the pronouncement causing Temari to ask, "Shizune, can I speak with you outside?"

"Of course, I need to go see how Sakura is coming along with the analysis of the blood samples she took this morning."

The two kunoichi exited the room, and Karura was interested in what they wanted to discuss. But she couldn't concentrate on eavesdropping as the need to do something about the insistent urge for release became too great. Bringing her hand between her legs, she hiked up the nightgown that she wore and began rubbing along her slit. She brought her other hand up to her mouth to bit on her knuckle to prevent herself from making any noises that would alert the women outside as to what she was doing.

*****************************

Her efforts were pointless, since both women had left in order to give her just such an opportunity to calm her urges. Temari pulled her ear from the door to face Shizune confident her mother wasn't listening as she asked, "She's going to be okay, right? It's going to be like with Haku and Mito."

"I believe so," Shizune answered, "Neither Sakura or I have found any indications that this is only temporary. For all intents and purposes your mother appears to be alive and well. She's also reacting to Naruto's chakra much as we've come to expect. She is fortunate to have slept through most of the week. Has there been any discussion on how you're going to handle her return?"

Temari nodded as she said, "I believe Gaara intends for her to go to Konoha."

"Really," Shizune said arching an eyebrow. "I must admit that I'm surprised. I figured he would want to keep her close."

"I'm sure he does... we all would," Temari said the slight pause and correction being a result of how she imagined her mother would react upon learning of her relationship with Naruto. She would admit to being surprised at how unwelcoming the woman she had only known to be kind and compassionate had been to Sakura and Shizune thus far. "However, there isn't a way to explain her return to life without mentioning Naruto's involvement. This would likely also lead to questions regarding his encounter with Mito, and Haku's own resurrection."

Shizune nodded at the explanation of the younger woman before pointing out, "I don't know if your mother will be pleased with such a decision all things considered."

"I know, but she'll listen to Gaara. I suspect the other reason Gaara wishes for mother to go to Konoha is she'll be well protected there in case Kabuto moves to retake her."

"There's no indication that he may try," Shizune replied. "He's made no such moves against Haku or Mito."

"I know," Temari said crossing her arms and leaning against the door her mother was behind. She could just make out the soft muted moans her mother was letting out as she satisfied her urges, "But, it looks like Kabuto is trying to gauge Naruto's abilities. We have to now consider the possibility that he'll make a move against those resurrected by him in order to learn more, or in my mother's case why the sacrifice wasn't spared like with the others."

"I suppose that is a valid point," Shizune conceded, "plus living at Kiyomi's would mean she is surrounded by nine of the most powerful beings in existence. I still doubt she's going to go along with what Gaara wants."

Temari sighed knowing it likely would be difficult but said, "I guess we'll just have to wait and see." Her sentence was met with a muffled shriek which indicated that her mother was finished. Pushing off from the door she said, "I'll speak with Gaara about it later to find out exactly how he plans to explain the situation."

Shizune nodded before turning to leave and speak with Sakura about the tests she had been running. As she did so, she felt a new presence enter the network of women connected to Naruto via his foxmark. A smile appeared on her face as she wondered if either Temari or Gaara had considered the possibility that placing their mother in close proximity to Naruto might someday result in her overcoming her distrust and dislike of the Leaf in such a way that she too would be bound to the blond jinchuriki.

*****************************

Yukata walked home from the puppet armory where she had tested out some of the hidden weapons that she had added to her puppet Ghost recently. Some semblance of calm had returned to Suna in the aftermath of the recent turmoil, although she believed the Daimyo's actions wouldn't fade from the memory of most Suna-nin anytime soon.

Her thoughts didn't linger on such concerns for long as she found herself wondering about her own future with a certain jinchuriki. Naruto's sudden appearance at the execution left little doubt in her mind that he and her Ghost were one and the same. Strangely though, the reveal didn't come as big of a surprise as she would have otherwise suspected. She guessed the reason was due to how popular he had been with the female members of the Training Force, as she recalled how often he could be found sitting sandwich between several kunoichi as the shinobi of the Training Force relaxed after their mock missions. It also answered for her, just why Temari had been so angry after Naruto had interfered in an argument between a Leaf and Suna shinobi and had received a bruised face for his trouble. Recalling the devastation the blonde kunoichi had visited on a training field in the aftermath, Yukata wondered if the Ghost story had been created to lure her to him, and if she had just been an unintended diversion.

She knew that the truth was that she had been, although she couldn't be sure if Temari had been the target. Her Ghost had admitted as much as he didn't think the kunoichi he had played with would be so fixated on him afterwards, and despite his rescuing Gaara showing what kind of person Naruto was. She would admit to worrying that now that he had achieved his goals, he would one more forget about her. She couldn't help feeling that way due to it having been four days since Gaara had returned in spite of the fact that Naruto having been asleep for the same period of time. She knew she was being silly, but considering some of the women she believed might have been intimate with her Ghost. She couldn't help but fear that she didn't meet his standards of what a kunoichi or woman should be.

The delicious smell of the ramen shop that she associated with her Ghost caused some of the depression that she had caused herself to fade away. Deciding a bowl would help cheer herself up further, she adjusted her heading. Sliding the door of the small shop opened, she paused as she saw the man she had just been thinking of sitting at the bar gobbling down bowl after bowl. Placing the one he was working on down he said, "Mmmm, I can see why old man Teuchi would leave you in charge, Ikumatsu. It's almost as good as the ramen that Ayame makes."

Yukata felt her eyes go wide at the reminder that Naruto already had a girlfriend, although why she wasn't sure, since she was already of the opinion that he was seeing women in Suna also. The blonde woman in charge of the Ramen Shop that Teuchi had opened as he branched out smiled as she said, "That's the first time someone has complimented me by telling me the food that I cooked was almost as good as someone else's."

Naruto chuckled, but replied, "Sorry, but Ayame's ramen is the best."

Ikumatsu favored the blonde with a warm smile that held a seductive quality as she replied, "Well, I'll just have to keep improving until I can hear you say that about mine." The woman's gaze shifted to her new customer as she said, "In or out please. You're letting sand blow into the shop."

"Sorry," Yukata said getting over her surprise as she closed the door behind her. Not sure about how she should act around him, she took a seat at the bar one stool away from Naruto. She placed her order as the jinchuriki finished his current bowl while she watched him out of the corner of her eye.

Yukata felt concerned as Naruto seemed oblivious to her presence as he accepted another bowl of ramen while saying, "Man, I feel like I could eat for a week and still not be full."

Ikumatsu turned back towards Naruto from where she was chopping ingredients as she said a little darkly, "Is that another comment on how my ramen isn't as good as the one being made at the parent shop?"

Naruto's eyes went wide as he realized that the woman was only going to accept so many comparisons to Ayame, he quickly said, "No, I was just going to say it was likely due to my not eating for the past few days." Ikumatsu continued to stare at him causing him to add, "Honestly that all I meant."

The woman turned away causing him to blow out a breath in relief, although he thought he heard the woman mumble, "It better be. Seriously, between you and Teuchi, you'd think this Ayame was some sort of Ramen Goddess."

Naruto smiled as he guessed, that Ikumatsu's description was pretty close to how he at times thought of his Ayame, especially when she served him meals wearing only an apron. He heard Yukata giggle at the exchange so turning to face her said, "I know you, right?" He wasn't too surprised by the frown that appeared, at least until he said, "Wait; don't tell me...Yukata, right?" The kunoichi nodded as he said, "We met during the Training Force. You're the girl that liked Ghost stories."

Yukata inclined her head and felt silly for her earlier concerns as he smiled brightly at her. She felt a thrill pass through her as he said, "You know, I've had some brushes with the paranormal in the past."

Yukata wondered if Naruto was being serious or just alluding to his time as the Ghost that had haunted so many kunoichi lately. But her love of the paranormal caused her to ask, "Really?"

"Yep," Naruto said scratching his cheek, "There was this one mission in the Land of Birds, where we were tasked with hunting down a ghost they called the Cursed Warrior. It turned out the Cursed Warrior was just a ploy, but during the mission I met the ghost of the current Daimyo's brother. He asked me to save his sister...although I was half drowned at the time, so maybe I just hallucinated the whole thing." Yukata smiled as she giggled at him as he scratched his cheek while he considered the possibility, he focused on her as he said, "There have been a few other incidents thought. I'd love to tell them to you sometime."

She watched as Naruto paid for his meal and so she said, "I'd like that."

"Good," Naruto said as he stood, "Thank you for the meal Ikumatsu." The cook replied in a similar manner before turning back to her chopping board. Naruto took the opportunity to place his hand on Yukata's hip as he saddled up behind her and whispered in her ear, "Then how about tonight we make a new Ghost story?" Yukata shivered at the tone that he used as she nodded her head in agreement while Naruto applied a seal to her hip so he could Hiraishin to her later. Needless to say, Yukata ended up changing her order to go much to Ikumatsu's annoyance.

*****************************

"Are you sure you won't reconsider?" Senjumaru asked the Kazekage as he sat behind his desk. "The Daimyo has given you permission to pass judgment on Ishida in much the same manner as it was nearly meted out to you."

Gaara nodded his head, but replied, "Perhaps that is why I feel it is important that Ishida at least be given a fair trial before his punishment is decided. I was just in his position."

Senjumaru smirked as she added, "And you no doubt realize that the Daimyo is hoping to show those not foolish enough to believe Ishida changed his orders, as is being claimed, that you can act in a similar manner."

Gaara sighed hating this side of being Kazekage as he rubbed his eyes, "I imagine some may see it that way. But, if I was the type to act in such a manner, I would have killed Joseki outright and avoided quite a great deal of later trouble."

Senjumaru conceded the point as she turned away while saying, "I can see why your shinobi respect you so much, Lord Gaara. You truly are as what your people believe you are, a kind and compassionate leader. It's a shame that those in the Capital see that as a threat."

The woman began to leave, but stopped as Gaara said, "Senjumaru, if you wish, you could come back to Suna."

The woman looked over her shoulder as she replied, "It isn't that simple I'm afraid. I left Suna, because I realized that much like a puppet I moved however those holding my stings wished. The lower you are from those in power, the more strings there are manipulating you. I accepted my position to the Royal Guard so that only one person held my strings. In that regards, both you and I am the same Lord Kazekage as only the Daimyo holds our stings. But a terrible fate awaits any puppet that tries to cut the threads that bind it."

"I have no intention of cutting those strings," Gaara said. "I only wish to better relations with the other shinobi villages in order that we can stop the endless cycle of violence that has been a part of our lives since they were first founded."

Senjumaru gave a small disappointed shake of her head as she said, "I think you may find that such a goal is exactly what those who control the strings are most afraid of. I bid you farewell, Lord Kazekage. I will make your recommendation regarding Ishida's fate known to the Daimyo."

"Farewell, Lady Shutara," the Kazekage replied as she stepped out of the room. He sat back in his chair feeling the weight of his office and wondered how there were people opposed to an era of peace between the Shinobi Villages, considering it had been to end the Warring Clan period that they had first been founded.