NOVPUBThe four of us were glad that we had left Konoha when we did, because the news had spread across the population like a wildfire that the ANBU special forces, under the Hokage's orders, had wrecked Uzumaki Construction because he couldn't use them to spy on the other nations.
It had caused a combination riot and celebration, because somehow they knew that Naruto Uzumaki had left with them. I suspected that Yui was behind that aspect of the rumors and she didn't deny it when asked about it. Thankfully, there was no mention of the Nine-Tails in any of the rumors and none of the people spreading them would get into trouble over it.
Also, the Fire Daimyo had send a very strongly worded summons to the Hokage. His actions had shut down the business that had done such a wonderful job on his home and was going to be a linchpin in bringing the various Elemental Nations closer together, not to mention bringing those huge profits to the Land of Fire.
Hiruzen better have a good explanation as to why he didn't want peace among the citizens of their countries and he was going to have some very difficult questions to answer as well, since it was the Fire Daimyo's wife that was upset with him. How dare he have his men destroy her model home!
Reading about that at the first rest stop made Tsuru, Yui, and Akiko laugh. We weren't sure how the ANBU had sent letters from the Hokage's office to the right spot to reach us, though. After a bit of investigation, we found out that they had contacted a bunch of places along the way to the Land of Wind and dictated the letter to have ready if we showed up there.
That was a good way to make sure they reached who they were looking for and we had to give them props for the ingenuity. After we talked about the polite request to return to Konoha and reopen the popular business they had ruined, we chose to ignore it and let the situation play out. There was no way we were going to let the Hokage off the hook that easily, not after everything he did and didn't do.
We continued on our journey and did little teleportation hops to the chosen locations for the teleportation circles. It really would make us the fastest transportation company in the world and we were going to take advantage of that. It wasn't like we needed the money, not after how successful the construction business was.
We even had kings of various countries begging for us to save them from their nagging wives, which was hilarious. Word of our business had spread far and wide and it wouldn't take long before word of it shutting down would spread just as quickly. It was becoming a huge scandal and it made Hiruzen Sarutobi look like a complete fool.
By the time we reached the Hidden Sand Village in the Land of Wind a week later, since we were pretending we couldn't travel as fast as the shinobi could when they went all out, even the people there had heard about how our business was driven out of Konoha for being too popular and not corruptible by the spies trying to use us.
We were greeted warmly by the guards, like old returning friends, despite us not visiting before. The people inside the walls were just as welcoming and looked very happy that we had made it without incident. The Kazekage himself met us at the place he worked and greeted us without a hint of animosity. Despite being allies with Konoha for years, he didn't approve of the Hokage's actions and didn't hold it against us.
We were shown where we would be staying, a residence near his own home, and were invited to dinner. We were to meet his daughter and older son and his youngest was sick and was confined to his room. None of us mentioned that he was lying and we agreed to attend before retreating to our accommodations. Once we were alone, Tsuru gave me a pointed look.
“I know. I'll go check on him.” I said and she hugged me and kissed my forehead.
“I'll come, too. He needs a check-up by a professional if he's sick.” Akiko said with a smile.
That made us chuckle and I took her hand. I made us intangible and we walked out through the wall and across the yard that separated the private residences and into the Kazekage's home. It was easy to follow the large and unstable energy source being contained in a small room in the basement.
“It has several chakra barriers and two alerts, one for disabling it and one for crossing it.” I whispered as I made us solid again.
“Wait, there are barriers up and we can still feel his fluctuating chakra?” Akiko asked, surprised. “How long has he been struggling with this?”
“Since he was a baby.” I said and did the little tricks Tsuru had taught me to make the alert wards static and then disabled the chakra wards. A blast of energy hit us and Akiko's hand tightened in mine.
“That poor boy.” Akiko whispered.
“Stay behind me.” I cautioned her and entered the cell.
“Who aRe yoU?” A growling voice asked.
“A medic-nin and someone who can fix you, Gaara.” I answered, truthfully.
“NO! I Won't Be coNTaiNed aGaiN!” The voice shouted and the redheaded boy lunged at me as the large gourd by the wall opened up and a bunch of sand leapt up into the air.
I cast immobilize on the area and both Gaara and the sand froze in midair.
“I am so glad you're on our side.” Akiko said and stepped forward and started using her chakra on the boy to check him over. “He has several fractured bones, ten strained muscles in his arms and legs, a concussion, and he's severely malnourished.”
I sighed at hearing that. It made me regret not being able to freely travel across the various nations until now. However, there was no other way to gain a free pass and not be harassed all the time because I was from Konoha.
“At least we arrived before his uncle attacks him on orders from his father to try and control the beast.” I said and reached out and grabbed his arm.
“NOOOOOOooooo...” Gaara's altered voice faded away as he fell unconscious.
I made him a temporary member of my party and saw the flawed seal on the boy's chest. Whoever had done it was not a Fuinjutsu expert and had used the wrong kanji symbol for containment. The result was an uncontrolled influence on the Jinchuriki container by the One-Tailed Beast, Shukaku.
I thought about fixing the thing, then chose the right option and sold the chakra beast to the system, paid to fix the damage it would cause, so he wouldn't die from the removal, and adjusted his own inherent powers to control sand. It was neat to find out that wasn't a power granted by the One-Tails and was Gaara's hidden bloodline ability.
Akiko gasped when she saw the change happen with Gaara's physique after losing the thing that influenced him. The black circles under his eyes faded away, his body filled out to become a normal one, and his hair settled down into a normal hairstyle and it wasn't stuck up all over the place.
“This is amazing.” Akiko whispered and performed her examination again. “You fixed him and he doesn't have any foreign chakra in his system at all.”
I dismissed Gaara from my party and paid the penalties for it, so he wouldn't suffer any side effects, and let his arm go. With a wave of my hand, the sand went back into the gourd and Gaara floated back over to the bed.
“Leave the door unlocked.” Akiko said and we left the room.
“Should we leave the barriers and alert wards active?” I asked and closed the cell door.
“Yes, and give his sister the idea to go check on him.” Akiko said. “If she's as caring and motherly as you told us, she'll notice his improvement right away.”
“That's a good idea.” I said and closed my eyes to find Temari. She was about three years older than Gaara's 8, so she had been in the adult role of taking care of him for years. Their brother Kankuro was too nervous of the tailed beast and Gaara's anger to do more than be there to support him without speaking out against him. “Got her. She's rushing down here, let's go.”
Akiko took my hand and we ran up the stairs and out through the ground floor wall and into the backyard, through the dividing fence, and back into our own assigned living space.
“There you are.” Tsuru said when we appeared and pulled me into a hug. “How did it go?”
“He's all healed up and the One-Tails is gone.” I answered.
“It was amazing to watch.” Akiko said and sat down beside Yui on the couch. “The change from his really damaged state to full health was like watching someone being healed the normal way, only at super-speed.”
“Are you sure you can't teach that?” Yui asked me.
“It would be pretty useful if we all could do it.” Akiko said.
I shook my head and let Tsuru sit as she pulled me onto her lap. “It's not really an ability or technique that can be taught. It's taken me years to figure it out and there has to be certain conditions met before it can be used.”
“That sounds like a bloodline ability.” Tsuru said and cuddled me.
Her words made me think about it and I remembered back when I had impregnated Hestia with our son and spent all those points to give him a truncated version of my protagonist system without the world-jumping aspect.
“I think it is.” I admitted. “A very limited and situational bloodline ability.”
“Then we won't worry about it.” Tsuru said and kissed my cheek. “It won't come into play for at least another seven or eight years, then you can worry about passing it on or not. We should have found and healed a good portion of the Jinchuriki by then.”
Yui blushed slightly and looked away from us. I could tell by her thoughts that she was eager for that day to come, because she really would have said yes if I had asked her out two years ago. Nothing would have happened between us, since I was still a kid; but, it would have guaranteed the relationship would have been the main one and she wouldn't be so nervous about possibly not having one by then.
“You don't have to worry about it, Yui.” Tsuru said into the silence. “Naruto won't forget about us, even when he's old and grey.”
I chuckled and the three women turned their heads and looked at me. “I'm never becoming grey and neither are any of you. We're gong to be young and beautiful forever.”
Yui blushed and smiled, Akiko looked like she wanted to ask me how I was going to achieve that, and Tsuru kissed my cheek several times.
“You always say the sweetest things.” Tsuru gushed and cuddled me even more.
We stayed there in the living room and chatted about the upcoming job to refurbish the mansion next door until it was time to change into more formal wear for the dinner with the Kazekage and his children. I was sure that all three of them would be attending and their father Rasa was going to be quite shocked at the change in his youngest son.
Gaara was still going to need some mental help after suffering for years under the beast's influence; but, now he had a clear mind, a clear body, and his inherent power was stronger than ever. He didn't have to worry about losing himself or his body to the beast and it was never going to haunt him or his nightmares ever again.
*
The Kazakage of the Hidden Sand Village was surprised when one of his shinobi brought him to see his youngest son that was currently housed in the dungeon. His daughter Temari had been worried about Gaara, like she always was, because today had started out as one of Gaara's bad days. When she had the sudden urge to check on him, she discovered him peacefully asleep and that scared her.
She had activated the alarm by crossing it on purpose and several guards had shown up and she told them what she saw, then several medic-nin had been called in. Once Gaara had been checked over and the results officially recorded, a ninja had been sent to retrieve the Kazekage to inform him of the news. The chakra signature of the One-Tailed Beast was gone.
No one knew what that meant for the village, not with their main deterrent for attacks being lost, and the Kazekage peered into he cell to see his son was sitting up and smiling at his siter, whom was currently wrapped tightly around him and telling him that he was a good boy and she would always love him and take care of him, now that he was all better.
Rasa was both grateful and horrified that his son, the being born to be the Jinchuriki of the Shukaku, was now an empty container and the beast had escaped. Everyone knew that to took years to decades for the energy to reform in the world and that the beast would once again attack humanity for jailing it to keep it under control.
“Lord Kazekage, what do we do?” The head shinobi of the village asked him.
Rasa sighed. “We must keep it a secret.”
Temari caught her breath and glared at her father.
“If the other villages know we no longer have a tailed beast as our protector, we will be wiped out and there will be no way for us to call for help in time.” Rasa said.
“You... you would have Gaara be vilified and hated by everyone in the village, instead of being grateful the beast is gone?” Temari asked him with anger in her voice.
“It's for the safety of the entire village...” Rasa started to say.
“I hate you.” Temari cut him off and hugged her brother tightly.
“You can't tell anyone...” Rasa tried again.
“No one else matters, father.” Temari said the last word like it was a curse as tears came to her eyes. “Gaara isn't sick anymore and you don't care at all, do you? You just care about how it might make you look as weak as you really are.”
One of the shinobi used a shunshin with a swirl of sand to appear next to her and raised his hand to slap her for her insolence.
“Halt.” Rasa commanded and took a deep breath and let it out. “You will understand when you're older, Temari. As Kazekage, I need to make the hard decisions to keep you and everyone else in the village safe.”
“But, not Gaara.” Temari said and silently cried as she pet Gaara's red hair. “What's the point of keeping the village safe when you don't care about what happens to your own son?”
“Do I hate him, too?” Gaara asked her.
“Yes, you do. As does your brother Kankuro.” Temari said and leaned in to kiss his forehead.
Gaara blushed and looked both happy and embarrassed, both of which were completely new feelings for him. “O-okay.”
Temari smiled and cuddled him. “Don't worry, Gaara. I'll protect you from all the mean people, just like always.”
Gaara nodded and didn't try to fight his way out of the tight grip his sister had him in. Despite it being much more restrictive than he usually liked, for some reason, he knew she wasn't trying to restrain him.
A woman dressed like a secretary entered the basement and observed the scene without comment. “Lord Kazekage, it is nearly time for your scheduled dinner with your invited guests.”
Rasa sighed, because he couldn't reschedule it. Work was to begin tomorrow and they would be restricted to a different part of the residence. He gave Temari a pleading look and she glared back at him, so he turned to the secretary.
“Have the kids dressed appropriately for a formal meal.” The Kazekage said and made a hand motion to remove the chakra barriers and to follow him out of the basement.
As soon as everyone but the secretary was gone, Temari stood and pulled Gaara to his feet, put an arm around him, and walked out of the cell with him. The secretary smiled and shook her head at the obstinate girl's back and would follow the Kazekage's order. Gaara would be dressed and included as well.
None of them would realize until much later that Gaara had left behind and abandoned the giant gourd filled with sand in the cell. He no longer felt the need to keep it with him to use like a security blanket.
