The two members of the art duo walked through the desert. Deidara used his straw hat to block the blowing sand, then glanced at the black cloak on his body, the corner of his eye twitching slightly as he complained to Sasori.
"Sasori, don't you think this outfit is cursed or something? Ever since we changed clothes a while ago, I've felt uncomfortable wearing this thing. Look—there are even loose threads here. It's nothing like our old clothes." As he spoke, Deidara flipped out the inner sleeve and showed it to Sasori.
Sasori stopped walking and checked his own collar, then shook his head.
"Mine doesn't have loose threads, but one of the cloud patterns is crooked."
Deidara nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, it must be these clothes bringing bad luck. We never failed a mission when we wore our old outfits. Next time I see Kakuzu, I'm definitely asking him about where he bought these."
Sasori nodded and said nothing more as the two continued forward at a slow pace.
...
Hidden Sand Village, medical room.
Rorin rushed to the entrance of the medical room and pushed the door open. He saw Gaara lying on a hospital bed, surrounded by many people. Kankuro stood nearby, staring at Gaara with a tense expression.
Noticing someone entering, Kankuro turned his head. When he saw it was Rorin, he slowly walked over and gave him a deep bow.
"Thank you for your help this time, Rorin."
Rorin helped him up and shook his head slightly before turning his gaze toward Gaara. "How is Gaara doing?"
"The medical team is treating him, but… it's not looking good."
Rorin frowned slightly and walked closer to Gaara's bed. A Sand ninja medical shinobi saw him arrive and gave a slight bow—after all, Rorin could be considered their savior.
"How bad is it exactly?" Rorin asked softly.
The medical shinobi shook his head.
"It's very serious. Multiple internal organs are damaged. We've done everything we can just to stabilize his condition."
Hearing this, Rorin glanced at Gaara and said calmly, "Is there really no other way?"
A moment later, Baki entered the room. Everyone nodded in greeting. He walked to Gaara's bedside, looking at him with a trace of guilt—if Gaara hadn't been protecting the village, he would never have suffered such severe injuries.
After learning how critical Gaara's condition was, Baki quietly left the room.
After a while, Kankuro suddenly had an idea. He quickly walked up to Rorin again and dropped straight into a full kneeling bow.
This left Rorin somewhat confused.
Kankuro lowered his head deeply, his voice filled with pleading.
"Rorin, I know this request might be too much, but for Gaara's sake… could you ask your village's Fifth Hokage, Tsunade-sama, to come and treat him?"
Hearing this, the other Sand ninja in the room also looked at Rorin with hopeful expressions, which gave him a headache.
"But the Hokage usually can't leave the village…"
"Please!" Kankuro pleaded again, and the surrounding Sand ninja bowed as well.
Rorin rubbed his head. Honestly, he didn't really want to trouble Tsunade—after all, it was already late at night, and she was probably asleep. But looking at Kankuro kneeling on the ground, and Gaara lying weakly on the bed…
Rorin nodded. "Alright. I'll give it a try."
Just as Rorin was about to leave the Hidden Sand Village to return to the Hidden Leaf Village to find Tsunade, an aged voice came from outside the door.
"There's no need to trouble Tsunade. Matters of the Sand shouldn't always rely on our Leaf allies."
Chiyo and her younger brother Ebizo appeared at the doorway, with Baki standing behind them.
Chiyo slowly walked toward Gaara's bed. As she passed by Rorin, she glanced at him but said nothing. Then she looked at Kankuro, who was still kneeling, and said meaningfully,
"Don't always think about relying on others. What matters most is becoming stronger yourself."
Kankuro slowly stood up and bowed to her. Chiyo approached Gaara and began examining him. Rorin remained silent—if Chiyo could wake Gaara, then he wouldn't have to disturb Tsunade in the middle of the night.
After a short while, Chiyo turned around and instructed the Sand ninja to fetch the medicine she needed. The ninja nodded and left immediately.
Seeing this, Rorin let out a sigh of relief. He walked out of the room alone, leaned against the wall, and sat down.
Before long, Kankuro also came out and sat beside him, speaking softly,
"Sorry about earlier. Chiyo-sama wasn't targeting you, she just…"
Rorin raised his hand to stop him. "It's fine. I didn't take it to heart. Besides, what she said makes sense."
After a whole night of effort, sunlight streamed through the window into the room. Gaara's eyelids trembled slightly before slowly opening. After adjusting to the light, he looked around and saw Rorin, Kankuro, Baki, and the other Sand ninja.
Chiyo and Ebizo had already left after treating Gaara the previous day, leaving instructions and medicine for the medical team.
"He's awake—Gaara's awake!" Kankuro exclaimed with joy.
Rorin smiled slightly. The medical shinobi stepped forward to examine Gaara, who also took the medicine Chiyo had prescribed.
After some rest, Gaara's condition improved considerably. He looked at Rorin.
"Thank you… for this."
Rorin waved his hand. "It's nothing. You should've sent me word earlier, friend."
Gaara gave a faint smile, then looked up at the ceiling.
"As the Kazekage, protecting the village is my responsibility. I didn't want to trouble you… but still, thank you."
Rorin didn't dwell on that topic and instead asked about what had happened the night before. Although he already knew the attacker was Deidara from the Akatsuki, he needed a proper explanation when returning to the Hidden Leaf Village—especially since Jiraiya had been with him when he left.
"Who was that person yesterday? Why did he attack your village?"
Gaara fell silent for a moment, organizing his thoughts before speaking seriously.
"He belongs to an organization called Akatsuki. Their target… is me. No—more accurately, people like me… jinchūriki."
Rorin put on a perfectly timed look of 'surprise' and continued listening.
...
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