We Are One [Gaara III]

Chapter 12

"And is that everything?" Ibiki asked.

Once again, they found them below ground under what remained of the ANBU task force building where the interrogation rooms remained intact. The Rock Ninjas had begun catapulting flaming boulders over the walls as of late that had destroyed the East end of the Village days ago. Nothing was getting better, and they were far from destroying the Sound forces. They had been attempting to kill off the real enemy discreetly by targeting them more so than the Iwa Ninja. But they had to be careful no one would catch on. They didn't want them to begin massacring Earth Country civilians or the ninjas themselves out of punishment.

Isshin had been making his presence known on the battlefield, killing off any ninja that crossed his path. On a few occasions Gaara met him head on, and made sure to keep a close eye on Azmaria when the Commander was not clearly in his line of sight. A few times the ex-Soldier would catch on to the fact that her former Master stuck by her side so closely. She didn't complain about it, but the young woman could tell he was on edge about something. Ever since that night he had the nightmare. But the Kazekage would never say what it was.

Kwon and Choi's interrogation continued on over the weeks, but they had reached a dead end. Thankfully, the latter ninja had survived his injuries after extensive medical treatment.

"Now what?" Kankuro asked.

Nobody knew how to answer. The army could not leave Suna in order to attack Iwagakure in an attempt to liberate it without giving the enemy stationed in the desert the perfect opportunity to infiltrate. But something needed to be done. Question was who was going to make the first move to decide it all?

"You're going to make yourself sick with all of this worrying," Azmaria stated.

Gaara glanced up from his desk to stare at the ex-Soldier standing beside him. He sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"How can I not worry? As Kage, we have to come to an agreement as to how to handle this situation and I will not sit by and allow Suna to be unguarded... There's no telling what the Hokage and Raikage are thinking right now."

"It will all work out, you know that, right?"

"But how? At what cost?"

She gave him a strained smile. "Well, no one ever really knows, do they?"

The young man sighed again, looking away and pinching the bridge of his nose. He was so pale, in Azmaria's eyes, more so than normal, and the rings around his eyes were growing darker with each passing day. She was growing worried he would have another nightmare, and that sense of dread had the ex-Soldier checking on the Kazekage at least two or three times a night.

"Will you ever tell me what is really bothering you?" Azmaria broke the silence.

"No... not right now... But maybe one day."

"But what if it's too late?"

Gaara looked up at that, brows furrowing in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"What if it's too late to tell me?"

"Are you trying to say what if you...?" The young man couldn't bring himself to say the word.

"Yes."

"Don't say such foolish things."

"I'm not invincible, Gaara. None of us are. I could d–"

"Don't say it," he snapped.

Her eyes widened for a fraction of a second. "But I could."

"No, you won't."