Chapter 8

"So, this is Sunagakure," the cosmos said in Gaara's head as they returned into the village.

Gaara did not answer the two of them as they began to lecture him on how sand is broken sediment or something. The group came in, Gaara slower to walk in his own home than ever before. The urges from his family and friends to keep up were unlike anything that he'd ever heard in his life. The almost constant nagging made him almost regret setting the expedition.

"A shame that their constant nagging has almost made you regret setting the expedition. Perhaps we would not be in this ridiculous situation if they had only nagged at you a bit further. And have you considered thinking some... different thoughts about Shijima. The ones we've found make us a bit uncomfortable."

'Just shut up," Gaara said, flustered.

"We're just saying. I think Shijima would like you to like her for more than just her-"

'Isn't there any way you can just come here yourselves if you wanted to see the village?'

'One too many kidnappings have caused to refrain from more personal adventures. Someone of your history can probably relate to a few bad kidnappings, can you not?'

The banter ended with that statement. The group approached the Kazekage mansion where they went their separate ways. Gaara and Shijima went inside while the others went to inform the council of Mothra's egg. Gaara went into his mansion and was quick to put his Kazekage robes back on. Shijima was quick to come in the room where she leaned against the doorway.

"I suppose this means our wedding is postponed," she said quietly.

Gaara didn't answer her. He turned his head and looked out at his village, not a word coming out of him. Shijima inched closer to him, linking her arm to his looking out with him. Gaara took a deep breath, still unable to pull himself away from the view. Truth be told, he didn't want to look at Shijima. He didn't want to convey to her that the village was in any kind of danger and that he was neglectful of it when she had brought it to his attention the first time. He didn't want her to know that he wa reluctant to listen to her.

"I just want this mess to be over. I should have never signed off on any uncharted searching in the first place. That's always a bad idea."

"This isn't your fault. This mess is continuing because Ebizo won't back off."

"Don't you think it's time for him to get some disease and die off?"

Shijima laughed and gave Gaara a playful slap in the chest before leaning into him and forcing his arms around her waist. Gaara felt her body moving with every breath that she took as they stood and felt every playful motion her finger made on the back of his hand.

"Maybe we can get married after he's dead. How about that?"

"If they threaten our marriage again, they can take this job and stick it. I'm sure Kakashi would be willing to let us live in Konoha. If not, Naruto would just yell at him until he saw otherwise."

Shijima laughed again. "When do I get to meet this Naruto fellow? I polish the picture of you and him every day. I think I've earned a meeting based on that fact alone, don't you think?"

"Whenever we have to go to Konoha next, probably for some cringeworthy celebration."

As soon as the sentence left his mouth, he could feel the sand in his gourd giving off rumbles.

"Or Konoha could come to you."

Gaara turned around, looking to where the voice came from. His mouth dropped instantly when Sasuke Uchiha stood before him. To his intimidation, Sasuke was dressed in the same outfit as their clash at the Five Kage summit. His face curled into the same scowl, lacking only the darkness although getting rid of the remnants was always the hardest part.

"Sasuke Uchiha?" Shijima stuttered in disbelief.

"Leave us," Gaara ordered her.

"But Gaara, I-"

"Leave us," Gaara said again, more sternly this time.

Shijima bowed and left the room, turning her head to see Sasuke's sword before she left.

"Sasuke, what are you doing here?" Gaara asked.

"I could lie to you. I could say I am here as a personal representative of Konoha and I'm here to respect the partnership of the two villages. But, we both know I've always had a different way of doing things."

"It doesn't sound like this one has any respect for much of anything besides himself," the cosmos muttered.

"Then why are you here?"

Sasuke couldn't help but smirk. "You mean you haven't heard? Your council did not tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"Those berries that were brought back from this, "Infant Island," are more valuable than you realize. Joint studies by your medical ninja as well as Konoha's have hypothesized to cure a very deadly disease. May I sit down?"

"Go ahead."

Sasuke went directly to the Kazekage chair and plopped himself on it, putting his feet on the desk rudely. Gaara gave him a scowl, but did not want their tense relationship to cause a problem between Suna and Konoha, so chose not to address it.

"And what is the disease?"

"Microscopic Polyangiitis,"

"More about it?"

"Well, MPA, as it is called, has a very personal place in my heart of hatred. You see, as I'm dating a medical ninja, I was able to go through the symptoms of a lot of diseases with her because I wanted to hunt down one illness in particular."

"And?"

Sasuke chuckled. "MPA, dear Gaara, is the number one candidate for the disease that killed Itachi. So you see where I'm going with this. If there's a cure to the disease that killed my brother, I want it found. You're sitting on the biggest medical discovery in the history of the field. And from what I've been told, you want to simply reject any study of it of any kind. Well I'm sorry. I cannot allow that."

"Is that supposed to be a threat? Before you walk in here and threaten me, may I remind you that the one who pulled Madara out of his Susanoo in the war is standing right in front of you. If I can handle his, I can handle yours if it ever came to that."

"Why are you being so resistant to everything, Gaara? What are you afraid of?"

"There are things that go into this, Sasuke. There are many things that you do not understand about this situation. It is far more complicated than you are allowed to know at this point."

"People like him are why your world is flawed, Gaara. Users just like this one here crawl over the surface, reducing the earth to nothing but a tool against itself. Death is simply part of the balance. Preventive measures against natural death are disrespectful to the cycle of life. For some, death comes earlier than others. While a sad reality, not accepting it goes against the earth that allowed any life at all to live in the shell that a body is. That is why Mothra allows herself to go through the earth's processes. While blessed with powers by the earth, Mothra makes sure she always respects to the earth and gives back to it by going through every part of the life. This is why the earth continues to bless Mothra and allow her to continue her services to it."

The cosmos' lecture made Gaara focus in on what they were saying, ignoring Sasuke's response in its entirety.

"You listen to me when I'm talking to you, asshole!" Sasuke cried getting in Gaara's face, so much that a small ball of sand had to come in between the two of them to separate them.

"Voices going on in that crazed head of yours?" he then asked.

Gaara's eyes narrowed at the Uchiha.

"Listen, Gaara. As soon as I leave here. I'm going to that island. I already snuck figured out where it is and to detain me is to start tensions with Konoha that aren't needed right now."

Gaara shook his head. "Sasuke, no. You can't go to that island. You can't."

"Haha, and why not? Gaara, what's on that island? What the hell has the Kazekage so scared?"

Gaara did not answer.

"Gaara, do not be afraid. Tell him what you've seen. What awaits him here is death. Nothing more. He vastly overestimates himself."

There was a knock at the door. "Gaara, Kankuro is here. We have to report to Ebizo immediately," Shijima called from the other side of the door.

"On my way," Gaara said looking over to Sasuke, who was no longer standing in the room. He was gone.

'Was that even real?' he asked.

"It was very real, we're afraid. If Sasuke comes to Infant Island, we will deal with him and punish Konoha effectively. As for your current situation, we are loooking forward to meeting with the Suna council. It appears that there is much to discuss. Let us be on our way. The meeting awaits."

Hey, everyone. I know it's been awhile. I was very busy with school and finishing my novel. When my novel was almost done, my attention became very focused on pushing through that process to get the first draft done and out of the way. I'm happy to say I'm now in the process of editing it and adding to it. As it is right now, it is much like this fic with how skeletal it is. (I am aware that this fic skeletal. But that's all I'm really willing to give fanfics at the stage I am with trying to get my novel fleshed out.) But, I'm glad to see that no one has reviewed this poorly yet. I am pleased to say that I'm going to be rewatching the Rebirth of Mothra trilogy to get refreshed on my Mothra lore, as her first appearance doesn't seem that far away at this point. Thanks for the patience with waiting.