Three nins traveled at high speed through the dense forest of the Country of Fire. The area surrounding them suggested nothing of the wreckage they had fled from. It had been a while since they had abandoned their fellow nins in Konoha, and if things had continued as they were, the hidden village had probably been burned to the ground. Plant life was abundant in all directions and tiny flecks of light broke through the canopy of leaves and dotted the faces of the three.

Temari glanced back at her youngest brother, whom she'd been carrying on her back for hours. Gaara had been awkwardly quiet, even for someone as quiet as him. The glance reassured her that he hadn't fallen asleep as she'd feared, but he was staring blankly ahead as if something had preoccupied his thoughts. The wound that Uchiha Sasuke had inflicted upon Gaara's stomach was still bleeding. Sleeping with such a wound was not a good thing, in addition to the fact that Gaara had only just become somewhat normal again and sleeping would bring out the Shukaku once more..

It would be another few hours before they would reach the borders of the Country of Wind. From there they could send up a distress signal and get some assistance from the medical nins of Sunagakure. Gaara's stomach wound would be better off with treatment, but Temari doubted whether or not the medical nins would be able to touch the wound let alone treat it with the proper equipment. As much as her younger brother needed medical attention, his shield of sand was completely involuntary. Though perhaps the medical nins had the expertise to find some sort of alternative treatment. Even if they could not, Gaara could still be fine. After all, nowhere in history had the healing abilities of the Shukaku been tested.

Kankurou had also noticed the quiet behavior in his brother, though he was a lot less careful than Temari with how he made his observations.

"What's with you, Gaara? Are you mad about that Sasuke brat hurting you?" he said rather bluntly. Temari shot a death glare back at her brother, advising him wordlessly to keep his mouth shut. Kankurou had not witnessed the fight between Uzumaki Naruto and Gaara as she had. From all other incidents before, Gaara was rather fragile after the release of the demon. A single word could set him off again, and there would be nothing Temari or Kankurou could do to prevent the demon going on a rampage. Kankurou's expression faltered at the glare and Temari returned her watch ahead of them, knowing that Kankurou had gotten the point. Kankurou had always been like that, testing Gaara's patience multiple times. Kankurou probably desperately wanted to prove himself superior to his younger brother. It was a wonder he wasn't dead yet…

Temari waited for a moment to gauge her youngest brother's reaction, but nothing came. This was usual, seeing as Gaara was never talkative, and he often ignored Kankurou's comments. But then, Gaara's weight shifted slightly, and Temari stopped immediately, ready if necessary to abandon her brother in favor of her own life. It was then that Gaara spoke, quiet and slow, but not due to his injuries.

"I want…," Temari and Kankurou tensed. "I want to know… what true strength is… The strength like that of Uzumaki Naruto…"

"Heh, that brat—," Kankurou began, but Temari held up a finger to quiet him. She turned her face as best as she could to look at Gaara.

"Whatever you need we will help you with…," she started. "But right now, we need to return to Sunagakure," Gaara reshifted and resumed staring blankly ahead.

"Fine," he muttered.

A few hours later, it became obvious that they were about to cross the border into the Country of Wind. The foliage became less dense and the dirt below them slowly shifted into sand. They continued on into the country for another hour to ensure that Konoha nins would not ambush them and take them back across the border.

"Send up a signal," Temari stated, gently setting Gaara down on the soft sand. On the horizon, they could see Sunagakure, only appearing to be a few miles away. However, those experienced with the illusions caused by the flat desert would know that the village was almost a day's travel away. Children of Suna would often wander off and die out in the desert while the village was always within sight. Thus, the signals were invented for the purpose of rescuing these children. It worked out well for their situation as well.

Kankurou opened up what looked like a capsule that opened with a latch at one end. He pinched the end of a fuse within the capsule and put a minimal amount of chakra into it. Immediately it ignited and he pointed the end straight up into the air. With a loud whoosh, a red fireball shot from the capsule and soared hundreds of yards into the sky. Then, the rocket exploded into a massive cloud of red smoke. The ninja in the village could reach them faster than visa versa, and the red color of the signal would alert them to bring medical nins.

"They won't reach us until dawn…," Kankurou muttered. "It's gonna be a cold night."

"We'll just have to make a small camp and deal with the cold. Besides, you won't notice the cold if you sleep," Temari noted. Setting up camp was an overstatement; they had nothing to lay on, nothing to shelter them, and nothing for a fire. The long journey away from Konoha had taken its toll on Temari and Kankurou. Both of them began to drift asleep not long after they settled in.

"Go to sleep… Both of you," Gaara muttered after Temari's head jerked up, waking her up from the sleep she had been drifting into.

"But you're inured and I—," Temari began, but her youngest brother silenced her.

"I'm fine. There's no sense in you staying awake," he said, staring off in the direction of Sunagakure.

Temari looked rather defeated. "O…okay…," she said, lying down on the sand to face the other direction. She then turned her head back to glance at Gaara. "Just make sure you stay awake…"

"Hmph…," Gaara sounded quietly. The very idea of him sleeping was ridiculous. He had gone the first twelve years of his life without sleep; there was no reason for this night to be any different. Within a few minutes, Temari was asleep, her breathing patterns slowed to a silent rhythm. The wound in his stomach throbbed lightly, but this feeling was enough to make him uneasy. "So this is pain…," he said, staring at his own blood on the tips of his fingers.

Sometime around midnight, his siblings began to shiver from cold. It made sense, seeing as the normally blistering hot desert cooled enough to freeze a person to death in the absence of the sun. Gaara, of course, was not cold. The sand surrounding him was enough insulation to keep his body at an acceptable temperature. It would be a few hours before the sun would peak over the horizon and warm them up again. Never had those two been out in the desert night without supplies, making freezing to death all the more possible.

Their shivering became more audible. Though he wasn't entirely sure why he did so, he pushed some of his chakra into the sand a few feet below his siblings. He then forced that sand to the surface and covered them with it. That sand had yet to cool because the heat had been trapped below. It would suffice to keep the two warm until dawn. He then turned his gaze towards the sky and waited.

The two awoke to the sound of approaching footsteps on the sand. Gaara was standing, arms crossed, watching the sand shinobi as they drew nearer. Temari and Kankurou stood quickly, tiny rivers of sand falling off their clothes. Temari noticed silently that there was a large red stain on the sand where Gaara had been sitting.

"Oh! Temari-Sama, Kankurou-Sama, Gaara-Sama, you need assistance?" the lead nin asked as soon as he was within distance to recognize them as the children of the Kazekage.

"Yes. We need a medical nin to look at Gaara. He's been wounded," Temari replied, expression unchanging. The group of nins looked extremely confused.

"Gaara… Gaara has been wounded?" His eyes darted quickly to Gaara, who merely glared in response.

"Yes, it's a stomach wound," Temari clarified. "Can you examine it as we head back to Sunagakure?" The nin gave a curt nod, though he stole one last wary glance at Gaara.

"Oi! Medics, we need a stretcher over here. We need to transport Gaara-Sama to the hospital," the man called to the medical ninja. There was a brief pause, but they hurried to bring the stretcher. Everyone doubted that the stretcher was necessary, but despite this, Gaara removed the gourd from his back, hoisted himself upon the stretcher, and lay down quickly, all without a word. "Get moving," the main nin ordered to the medics. They quickly set off, maintaining the stretcher's stability while they hurried across the sand. "You two should come with us to the hospital. You three just fled from an S-Rank mission. It would be best if you were examined for injuries." The Genin nodded, not truly in agreement, but they were too tired to care where they had to go for the moment. The nin nodded, instructing to the remaining shinobi to follow.

They set off as well, though at a slightly slower pace than that of the medical nins. Kankurou glanced over at Temari, looking slightly concerned. Temari noticed the look he gave her, and she tilted her head slightly in question.

"When you woke up," he began slowly. "Were you covered in sand too?"

"Yes… I'm sure of it…," Temari replied.

"You don't think that Gaa—"

"I don't know what to think."