Frostbitten Sand (Naruto Fanfic)

Shattering Egos

Gaara hated council meetings.

Baki knew this despite the fact the young fifth Kazekage rarely if ever showed how much he hated the meetings. The old men and women on the council always had something to gripe about, and the young Kazekage didn't know who he could trust outside of Baki. The fact his former sensei hadn't told them Rasa wouldn't be getting out of the hospital didn't phase the auburn-haired teen, nor did the fact Baki didn't pass on Rasa's requests to see him.

Sometimes the way Gaara never questioned Baki's loyalty bothered him, particularly when the man knew Rasa would have in his son's position actually had some kind of doubts. The man quickly remembered the young Kazekage tended to view things in black and white, something Baki and Gaara's siblings were constantly working on. Thus, the man found himself retaining his mentor status with the young Kazekage but also taking on a guardianship role.

Some of the other members of the council did not like this, irritated the son of the previous Kazekage looked up at the man. Baki however never once thought about personal gain. Originally his mind was set on remaining loyal to Rasa, but over the last year or so he found his loyalties shifting towards favoring Gaara, and the young Kazekage's siblings. Baki justified this position as what Rasa would have wanted, and yet the possibility of arguing with the forth regarding the wellbeing of his children did not set well.

The man could not place his finger on why.

Rasa was back in the picture, and despite what Temari and Kankuro said, the man did have a say in the everyday affairs of his children. Already the fourth showed signs of feeling alienated by all three of his children, Temari, and Kankuro out of choice, but with Gaara the reason was different. Rasa had noticed the change, but didn't know what to think of the change, let alone have a finger on what was going on. There was no telling what would happen. Certainly the fourth's interactions with the council would have been different.

Things started off fine, but quickly the same elder who questioned whether the shinobi from Konoha should be coming. Gaara's eyes widened, almost in amusement, but then the same elder brought up the same argument again.

"Apologies for saying this Lord Kazekage, but I don't think the previous Lord Kazekage would have liked the plans we've made. It was foolish of us to have even thought of these plans as a good idea. We got caught up in the zeal right after the Chunin exams. There are a lot of things we did because we were caught up in a zeal that we need to now question."

Baki flinched, knowing full well the man was now questioning whether it was a good idea to make Gaara the fifth Kaze kage. He watched the seafoam green eyes of the fourteen-year-old widen. Baki almost thought Gaara knew what the man was getting at, but then the auburn-haired teen said something else.

"We can't cancel at this point. The representatives will be here in a weeks time, and then it will be a week or two until the holiday. On top of this, the village has known about this for a couple of months, and the villagers are looking forward to it."

The man looked Gaara right in the eye, something Baki knew the young Kazekage didn't like. The auburn-haired teen had learned not to avoid eye contact with the council but also keep his cool. This time was different. "Let me rephrase what I'm trying to say. Lord Rasa is no longer in a coma, and he's even recovered enough to go home. It stands to reason that we should be considering whether or not it is better to have you, or Lord Rasa as Kazekage. You are, after all still inexperienced."

The young Kazekage's eyes widened, his entire body freezing up. Gaara's mouth even dropped, and then his eyes dropped to the table. "I don't disagree with what you say." Baki knew a ton of emotions were rushing through the young man's mind, but the older man couldn't read the boy's mind. "This is not my decision either, so I would rather focus on what I can do. For example, we need to discuss the medicine that the fourth sent us."