Paths Unforseen

It was the next night when Gaara and his guards finally made it back to the village. Naoki knew something was wrong the moment they walked into Suna with Mai following them, chained. She looked at Kankuro questioningly and he refused to meet her gaze. She furrowed her brow and turned to make her way back to the hospital. Something was very wrong. It wasn't until two days later that she finally learned what. Kankuro had caught her at home just before she was going to head to the green house. She hadn't slept well the past few nights but, if the bags under Kankuro's eyes were any indicator, he hadn't either. When she opened the door to the puppeteer he walked in quietly with a serious expression.

"What's wrong?" She asked, getting straight to the point.

Kankuro looked up, his gaze torn. "Mai had been accused of treason."

Naoki tensed, "What!?" She all but yelled.

"She was at the summit…"

"And?"

"We never told her there was a summit." Kankuro murmured, his eyes on her kitchen table.

Naoki stepped back. "You think she might be guilty."

Kankuro ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know what to think."

"Get out."

Kankuro looked up surprised, "Wait, Naoki-"

"Get out. I won't say it again." The medic said, her gaze serious.

Kankuro grit his teeth and walked out, angrily slamming the door behind himself. Immediately after he left Naoki flew into action. If Kankuro doubted Mai then the girl had almost no hope. Naoki had to get her out before the sand siblings did something they would later regret. She grabbed a go bag that she hadn't used in a year and a quickly wrote a letter explaining to Diachi that she would be gone for a week. She changed into her gear and locked her house up, leaving through the roof access.

It didn't take long for her to figure out that Mai was being held in the cells below the Kazekage tower. It took almost the entire day to set up the earth ninjutsu properly. It allowed her to climb out with Mai relatively easily. After that she took an hour nap to ready herself for the journey ahead and hide her bag. Just as she started her decent she looked up at the sky and smiled. "Please look out for me Jurama." She whispered and disappeared into the ground. It took longer than she would have liked to retrieve Mai from her cell but she had hidden her residual chakra signature and covered her tracks. When the two made it past the gate guards without raising an alarm she set a brisk pace. She waited until she knew they were mostly out of sight before she started to run. It was more accurate to call it a trot than a run but she could keep it up for days if need be, as long as she had water. She made sure to drink at regular intervals for both herself and Mai. When she finally made it to the boarder she walked another day before she stopped and tended to Mai's wounds. It was hard seeing the younger girl so lost. Mai hadn't had family after her village had been slaughtered and now, once more, they were being ripped away from her. It wasn't a surprise when the nomad finally spoke up.

"Why?" Mai finally asked quietly, "Why do this for me?"

Naoki smiled tiredly. "I am your friend and… I understand. I too have a past that I swore I would never speak of again. But now…" Naoki looked off into the distance, "I don't think I'll be able to keep that promise if I ever want to fully love Kankuro. He needs to know who I am, the good, the bad, and the ugly. To love someone else is to give them a piece of yourself. You don't get to pick what piece you give them… they do. You just offer yourself and they can accept you and take a piece of your soul or they can deny you. To be denied is to have that piece of you thrown away never to be returned. Loving someone is a dangerous process but once complete you have to choose to never let it go."

Mai looked up at Naoki bitterly, "You make it sound so easy. But I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused." She said putting her head down.

"Mai," Naoki said pulling Mai's chin up so that she looked her in the eyes, "I can see that you still need time but you also need to decide if you truly love Gaara. He has already offered a piece of himself to you. Are you going to throw it away like Yashamaru? Or are you going to offer a piece of yourself in return?"

"The answers he's asking for… the story is not mine to tell." Mai said sadly.

"If you are involved then it is your story to tell. If you are going to love Gaara you need to offer him what he has offered you. Anything less is spitting in his face. He told you of his past, didn't he?" Mai nodded her head as a tear rolled down her face. Naoki wrapped the last of Mai's bandages and pulled a few things out of the sack before handing the rest to Mai. "You need time and both of you need a little space right now, not to mention the pursuit squad that's after us. Until you're ready, stay out of the country of wind."

Mai nodded and threw the bag over her shoulder. "Thank you." She said, "I will be back."

"I wouldn't expect anything less." Naoki said smiling. "Mai, be careful." The nomad nodded and pulled her mask from the bag and put it over her face. She jumped and ran through the trees… never looking back.

Naoki got up slowly and climbed up a tree. It was safer to sleep in the branches than on the ground and she didn't mind the bark. When she woke up again it was morning she could tell the pursuit squad was close. She quickly changed into her normal medic clothes and made her way back to the boarder, going west a few miles so she would be out of their range. It took her substantially longer to make it back to Suna than it had been to get away. When she finally reached the village she was exhausted and immediately went to her apartment to sleep. A day and a half was left of her vacation before she had to go back into the hospital and face Diachi. He was always relatively understanding when it came to her sudden vacations but she had a feeling he wouldn't be as forgiving this time. When she returned to work Naoki went straight to Diachi's office. He was there surprisingly but he had company… it was the interrogation squad. "There she is." Diachi grumped, "These idiots have been looking for you. I told them I'd sent you out of the village to try and gather more herbs for our greenhouse but they've insisted that they needed to talk to you personally."

Naoki hid the astonishment in her voice as she replied. "I'm sorry Diachisama but I couldn't find anything of use."

Diachi rolled his eyes and got up, "Of course you didn't. Now if you gentlemen are through I need to talk to my second in command about confidential patient matters." The older man quickly pushed the younger integrators out of the room before they knew what was happening. Diachi looked at Naoki sharply and hit her over the back of her head. "What were you thinking you idiot?" He whisper yelled. "I told you I would never cover for you again!"

Naoki nodded, "I had to save her." She said quietly.

"Shut up you idiot. Don't say another word. As a member of the council if I have any information in relation to the escape of a very important prisoner I am to report it directly to the Kazekage immediately. So don't say another word." Diachi huffed and stared at the door grimly, "Is she okay?" He asked.

"Is who okay?" Naoki said feigning innocence.

Diachi laughed harshly, his breaths coming out as a wheeze. "You damn fool." He said and walked out of his office without another word.

Naoki nodded and closed her eyes. "I am, aren't I." When Naoki finally made it back to her apartment that night she was exhausted. The last thing she expect was for Kankuro to already be there; his head bent as he sat at the kitchen table.

He looked up sharply when she entered and got up, his expression stormy. "Where have you been?" He asked his eyes searching hers.

"I was running an errand for Diachisama." She replied calmly, keeping in mind that they were still "fighting".

"So you don't know what happened?" Naoki frowned, "All I know is that a few officials were looking for me today."

"They found you?"

"Found me? I was out gathering herbs. I still don't know what you're talking about? Why were they looking for me?"

Kankuro watched her carefully, "Mai escaped her cell about a week ago, right around the time you left."

"She shouldn't have been there to begin with."

"This just makes her look more guilty."

"How can you look more guilty than guilty… please enlighten me. Because it was pretty clear you all had already decided that she was guilty so why wouldn't she escape."

"Did you have anything to do with it?" Kankuro asked, his mouth in a firm line.

"I think you've insulted me in my own home enough tonight. I'm going to bed. Lock up when you leave" Naoki said as she walked away.

"Naoki," Kankuro called. He was cut off when she shut her bedroom door behind her. Naoki bit her lip as she slid down her door with her back to it. She sobbed, letting herself cry for the first time since her awful dinner with her father. "Naoki."

She heard a soft knock at her bedroom door. "Go away… please." She whispered, her tears catching on her voice. She heard a sigh as her door opened, almost throwing her forward as she lost her balance from leaning on it. She childishly buried her face in her knees as she continued to sob. Suddenly she felt two strong arms wrap around her as Kankuro buried his face in the back of her neck.

"I was worried about you, ya know." Naoki continued to weep, not responding. "When we left for the summit I was already anxious. I know how you get when you're working and sometimes you don't get any sleep for a few days. It's not anything serious but I was worried anyway. Temari kept calling me out on it the whole way to the summit but it didn't stop me. Then we get there and after essentially 30 minutes all hell breaks loose. When the dust finally settles and we start on the road with Mai all I could think about was you, how would you take it? Would you believe me? Would you believe Mai? When we finally get back and I go see you and try to explain you shut me out and leave without saying goodbye. After everything you just left."

"I was coming back." Naoki whispered.

"I didn't know that… cause you didn't tell me. I can't be like Gaara. I can't wait for someone who just runs off on a whim… I had too much of that as a kid… when my dad would just go off and not see us for days on end until he felt he wanted to train us for a day or two. I need to know that you're there Naoki or this won't work." Naoki sighed, the guilt of needing to lie to Kankuro for the sake of Mai weighing heavily on her.

"I went to see my father." Naoki said, keeping her face in her knees. She heard Kankuro's sharp intake of breath. "I wanted to go while you weren't here. I'm not ready for you to meet him." Kankuro stayed quiet, letting her talk. "I didn't stay long, he got upset… But it just put me on edge and I'm sorry that I didn't let us talk things out. I didn't want to just send you out."

"Then why did you?"

"I had to." Naoki said and left it at that. Kankuro sighed and got up, picking up Naoki with him. "Do you mind if I stay?" Naoki shook her head and let him pull her closer as they both settled on her bed. It wasn't long until they were both sleeping dreamlessly.