Wind and Fire Chapter 2

His eyes flickered open and the pain that had engulfed him for so long had finally subsided for the most part.  The last truly comfortable thought that he remembered was fighting with Sasori of the Red Sand, the rogue shinobi from Suna who had just had a hand in kidnapping his younger brother, Gaara, the Kazekage.  He remembered being told that the poison, the source of all his pain, had already been administered and there wasn't a thing he could do about it.  Everything after that was a blur.  

Now he was....here. Where am I? he asked himself before immediately recognizing his surroundings as most likely being inside a room of the Suna hospital.  He felt a brief relief wash over him only to be immediately replaced with alarm.  He had failed, so what was the current situation?

"Kankuro?" Temari  said lowly when she noticed his eyes were open.

"Temari....," Kankuro managed to utter.  He wanted to speak, but not much was coming out.  He heard someone nearby saying aloud that he had woken up.  

He wanted to know who was nearby, but could only focus on his sister who was right in front of him.  "Temari....you're back already?"  Had he been out a long time?  Wasn't she due back in another few days?

"I heard the village was in trouble," Temari answered.  He figured she must have rushed back.

"I'm sorry....to be such a bother," he managed to say.

"Shut up...don't be ridiculous," she tried to appease him.

Kankuro could tell there were others now surrounding his bedside.  He wasn't sure who they were, but was sure they weren't enemies else they wouldn't have been allowed there.  

"Can you lead me to where Kankuro's fight with the Akatski took place?" a new, unknown voice asked.  He heard Baki grunt a bit, questioning that last statement.  "I'm known for having a pretty good nose for tracking if even the slightest trace of their scent remains on the scene."

Kankuro immediately tried to sit up to add his new information to the conversation.  "There's no need for that," he said lowly.  Sitting up brought new pain to his still unrecovered body.  "Where are my puppets?  I assume that my puppets were recovered, right?"

Kankuro went on to explain that not only could you probably track Gaara by his scent, but that he had also snatched a piece of clothing from his attacker.  

"I've got his scent right here," Kankuro said at the same time his broken puppet's hand opened to reveal a ripped piece of cloth.  

A new wave of pain it and Kankuro recoiled once again.  Temari worriedly supported him until the pain passed.  It was then that Kankuro could now clearly see who it was who was surrounding him.  In addition to Baki and Temari and a few Suna medical staff, there was also two Leaf shinobi:  Kakashi Hatake and Naruto Uzumaki.  


"Yes, he came all the way from the Leaf Village to help us," Temari explained as Kankuro continued to stare directly at Naruto.  

Kakashi wasted no time and summoned his ninja hounds.  They sniffed at the ripped piece of fabric and took off to find the offender immediately.    Naruto was chomping at the bit to get going...and then Kankuro noticed them...

"Kankuro."

"Lady Chiyo and Lord Ebizo?  You're here?" Kankuro questioned.

He greeted his elders and answered all their questions about Sasori and the attack that had just happened.  He knew that  Sasori was the grandson of Lady Chiyo and that this news was not welcome despite the fact that he had betrayed the village almost two decades ago.

In the middle of that conversation, Kankuro noticed another new face in the mix.  Who is that?

His eyes followed the pink-haired beauty that seemingly had the run of the room once she entered.  Kankuro thought it strange that this new person, who had just entered for the first time, was acting so confidently as she worked.  

"Sakura came with Kakashi and Naruto," Temari said noting Kankuro's eyes following the kuniochi.  "She's the one that saved your life."

That's Sakura Haruno? he thought to himself.  She wasn't a stranger to him at all, though he hadn't seen her in a few years.  She had certainly matured during those years.  "She s-saved my...?"

His mind flashed back to the few times they had met starting with the very first time he had laid eyes on her during his first visit to Konoha.  She had always seemed unremarkable to him other than the fact that she was on the same team as Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha, both of whom were very notable to all three of the sand siblings.

"Yes, she's the one with the medical jutsu that removed most of the poison from your body before it could kill you.  If we had waited for the antidote, you would be dead right now," Temari explained.

"I see," Kankuro noted to himself.

Sakura turned around with a cup of liquid in her hand.  "This is the antidote," she explained.  "This will take care of any remnants of the poison that are still in your body."

She immediately reached up.  Kankuro could tell that she was going to help him pour it down.  He readied himself to take it all.  

It hit his tongue with an awful bitterness.  His immediate reaction was to push it away, but he was able to suppress it as Sakura continued to pour.  

When it was finally all gone, Kankuro coughed a few times.  "There... you should be alright now.  Just lie back and rest.  Don't move around until the numbness passes," Sakura instructed.  Kankuro couldn't help but admire this young woman and her confident demeanor.  She was definitely all business.

Naruto, Kakashi and Baki shifted gears and started talking about the mission to rescue Gaara and having to travel far and fast the next day.  Kankuro looked down at his still-hazy hand and thought about his failure to save his brother.  The pure regret didn't last long as he caught sight of Naruto once again.  He mind quickly turned to thinking about Naruto's role in Gaara's transformation.  Before Naruto's influence, Kankuro was convinced that Gaara was pure evil and that he might even die by his hands someday.   But now, what Kankuro was feeling was a mixture of thankful and hopeful - he was confident in what Naruto and his comrades were about to go do - though he did wish he were well enough to go along.  

He continued to watch the three Leaf shinobi bantering about, smiling and putting their packs on as they readied to leave the room.  "Naruto," Kankuro managed to whisper.  Everyone turned to Kankuro.  "Save my little brother, will you?"

"Don't worry, I will," Naruto replied.  "After all, I'm going to be Hokage someday....and for now, the Kazekage can just owe me one."