novelhk Chapter 588 Family?
Chapter 588 Family?
"Gaara, wake up."
As noon approached, sunlight streamed in through the windows, casting bright stripes on the wooden floor of the corridor.
Kankuro stood at the door of Gaara's room and knocked on the door frame a few times.
Recently, due to Gaara's poor mental state, Kankuro and Temari have been helping to handle most of the Kazekage's work.
The two of them were busy running around, approving documents, holding meetings, and receiving envoys from other villages, turning themselves from combat-type ninjas into half-civilian officials.
Unbeknownst to them, they had become high-ranking figures in Sunagakure. Today, Gaara's sleep schedule seemed to be quite irregular once again.
Kankuro sighed outside the door and lowered his hand from it. Although someone had told him earlier to "just go in and wake Gaara," Kankuro hesitated for a moment as he stood at the door with his hand on the doorknob.
He still sometimes feels that his current life doesn't feel real, as if his younger brother has actually found a partner...
Kankuro opened the door and went inside. The curtains in the room were not drawn, and the light was dim. On the bed, Gaara was dressed properly in his pajamas, his eyes closed, but his breathing was uneven, and his complexion looked unwell.
"No...don't go...I didn't..."
Then, a very soft, intermittent sound flowed from Gaara's mouth.
It seems like he really is having a nightmare; he's even talking in his sleep.
Kankuro quickly bent down, reached out, and gently nudged Gaara's shoulder. "Gaara, Gaara."
A slight shaking and a call finally roused Gaara to open his eyes. His pupils initially couldn't focus, scanning the ceiling blankly before slowly settling on Kankuro's face.
"...Kankuro?"
"Sorry for waking you up without permission." Kankuro removed his hand from Gaara's shoulder. "Because you looked like you were having a nightmare."
"Yes, I did have a nightmare." Gaara sat up in bed, the blanket slipping down to his waist. He lowered his head, his gaze unfocused. "It was a terrible dream."
"Hey, really?" Kankuro deliberately lightened his tone. "The Kazekage was actually scared by a dream?"
"...I'm sorry for making you worry."
"...I'm not really blaming you." Kankuro's tone was somewhat helpless. He raised his hand and patted Gaara on the head. "No need for an apology."
When Kankuro is with Gaara now, he sometimes feels that his childhood was like a dream, unreal.
That monster, like a nightmare, that could kill him at any moment and leave him living under constant threat of death, has become this kind, reliable younger brother who sometimes even relies on him as his older brother.
The difference between these two Gaaras is so great that Kankuro sometimes looks at the Gaara in front of him and wonders if he has misremembered the past events or if he is being too sensitive.
Fear and heartache, two completely different emotions, are vastly different when facing the same person.
"But what did you dream about?" Kankuro asked again. "What kind of nightmare could scare you like that?" He didn't think Gaara was the kind of person who was afraid of ghost stories and ghosts.
"...I dreamt that I went back to that Chunin Exams in Konoha."
Kankuro suddenly felt an excruciating headache. It wasn't a physical pain, but rather a deep regret that made him want to slap himself for being so rude.
"So what did you dream about?" Kankuro tried to keep his tone calm. "I accidentally killed...did you accidentally hurt Naruto back then? Or rather, did Naruto not come to save you?"
He thought for a moment, then added, "You know, back then Naruto's strength far surpassed that of the mastermind. Orochimaru, who attacked us, was no match for him. You're just scaring yourself with those dreams."
"no."
However, Gaara shook his head. "This is the first time Naruto and I... have spoken to me."
"He... shared the bento he made with me. I wanted to take it. But I couldn't control my body."
"I did the same thing as before! I glared at Naruto! I completely ignored him!"
Gaara's voice suddenly rose, filled with self-reproach and regret. "Why did I do that back then?!"
However, when Gaara turned to look at Kankuro, he found him clutching his head in pain.
"Kankuro... are you alright?"
Kankuro screamed inwardly, "Stop talking! I don't want to hear it!"
But he forced himself to keep a normal expression and put his hands down from his head.
"It's nothing... don't worry about me. Get up first. By the way, how is Shukaku?" Kankuro immediately changed the subject.
Gaara mentioned this a few days ago.
Shukaku has been acting strangely lately. Whenever the chakra barrier is slightly loosened, he starts babbling incessantly in Gaara's inner world, his mouth like a wound-up toy that just won't stop.
They would say things like, "Is that ghost still there?", "Did you throw that thing away?", or "Are you trying to kill me?"
"It was still scared for some reason, so I made a deal with it. It calmed down, and I'll figure out a way to protect it."
"So what did you do?"
"I temporarily lent it my mother's strength."
"Huh? And now?" His gaze swept quickly over the sandy yellow gourd next to Gaara.
"It's alright." Gaara shook his head. "It's just a temporary loan. As long as we take back Mom's chakra before the battle starts, it'll be fine."
But things weren't that simple. That power wasn't an ordinary ninja tool, something that could be lent out and taken back at will. It was the last thing Karura left for Gaara, a protection that she forged with her life and love at the moment of her death, belonging only to Gaara.
Unfortunately, Shukaku's biggest condition was that he had to discard "Naruto Uzumaki." To Gaara, that condition was practically the same as asking him to die.
So Shukaku backed down and didn't press him any further. But Shukaku's fear didn't subside, and its incessant chatter didn't stop. Its "I'll keep bothering you until you get rid of that demon" attitude in Gaara's inner world left Gaara with almost no quiet moment.
So Gaara came up with a plan to temporarily share his mother's love with Shukaku. Currently, after several years of getting along, Gaara and Shukaku's relationship has improved a lot. Although they often bicker, Shukaku is now a tailed beast that can randomly lend Gaara its chakra.
Gaara has temporarily lost his ability to automatically defend against sand.
However, Gaara didn't consider the details. That power was given to Gaara by Karura, it belonged solely to Gaara, it was given to "my son," not "a tailed beast." So, could Shukaku truly use that power?
Gaara slowly got off the bed and walked towards the bathroom. There was nothing there. His expression didn't change, but his eyes darkened slightly.
"What is Naruko doing right now?" Gaara's voice came from the direction of the bathroom.
Kankuro's brow twitched slightly. He gripped the doorframe, leaned forward slightly, and glanced towards the living room.
He saw the figure—the one wearing an apron, busy in the kitchen, moving with such skill that he didn't seem like a "puppet."
The figure told him to wake Gaara, saying, "Breakfast is almost ready, tell him not to dawdle." Kankuro responded and came over.
Now he stands here, watching Gaara's retreating figure as he walks towards the restroom, listening to the sound of water coming from inside, his mind still swirling with that thing that always felt unreal to him whenever he thought about it.
"Cooking..."
He looked down at his hands. Was his skill really that good?