Before you read you might want a box of tissue just for a little bit and then you might need it again for another reason later… just saying. Another surprise story while I work on getting the creative juices going for Chapter 17… it's started, just barely, and 18 is too… that will be a tear jerker… sorry and yet I'm not since it gives things much more feeling and depth. If you remember, Yashamaru taught Gaara about pain of the heart and body, the different medicine each needs so this story will somewhat revolve around that.

Medicine

Chapter 1

It wasn't fair she thought.

She did her duty and was as good of a daughter and friend she could be but she was stuck with this situation after all of that. It was InuYasha first who had come to her a month after Naraku's defeat and finally came forward with his decision and she was not the choice he made and soon after she was requested by Sesshoumaru to journey with him so she may teach him of the future. He rarely called her by name but at least called her the respectful title of Priestess usually and though she had grown used to him it had still hurt because she wants to be acknowledged as Kagome, a person with feelings but constantly being called by something other than her name had begun to do something to her.

It was at first easy to ignore, almost like where a stone hits the windshield and chips it but without care it will eventually form cracks that will eventually splinter, rendering the windshield into an unusable mess. Her heart has slowly felt like that but it was even greater than that, she is losing her sense of self, her ability to remain stable and just as InuYasha casted her from his side shortly after her usefulness ended, Sesshoumaru had done the same and she felt it begin to bend, weakening from the stress but yet to snap. Something began to move inside her and she did not understand what as her sense of worth continued to feel weighed down and crushed underfoot.

Nothing could prepare her for the fact that instead of returning home to her loving Mother, who will let her rest in a hot bath giver her jasmine tea to help soothe her tormented heart and mind, she instead ended up in a whole new era where she was then taken in by a village of shinobi. Though feeling borderline devastated she continued to prevail as the Kazekage had others see if she is capable of learning their techniques or doing something for the village but as her chakra continued to remain dormant they tried seeing if her current abilities would be of use.

He had for the most part taken her under his wing and taught her things but she proved too clumsy with their tools that he soon moved past that. They tried finding ways to draw her chakra out and build up her stores but she couldn't get it out from under the seeming seal that has been placed on it. She had studied obediently hoping to be of some worth in a place that is so foreign to her. Something to divert her attention and energy elsewhere but as they came to the last avenue, healing, she thought she had finally found it as she proved to be an adept healer until a certain incident occurred, one she couldn't and does not know what the end result of but she does remember being asked to help save a man's life. He had suffered a bad leg wound from a poisoned weapon and that wasn't even the extent to his injuries.

She had been so focused and sure that she could do it, wanting to prove it for the world to see as she began to feel like she is losing her purpose and that she couldn't stomach the thought of happening. For so many grueling minutes she had focused, unaware of the aqua eyes that watched her. The man's heartrate dropped to twenty, they began trying to bring it back up and with a last ditch attempt she gave it everything she had not hearing the alarm of the medic staff around her or Gaara's command. The room lit up with her power and she did not know the end result because she was flat out cold.

He called her into his office a few days later after she has recovered simply telling her, "I'm giving you a monthly allowance until you can figure something else out," he informed her, eyes that would be piercing her would have been more of a comfort than the bland gaze he gave her.

"But I-," she attempted to say anything that would stop the inevitable from happening, wanting to understand what had happened, what wrong she did.

"No," he said shortly, "You are dismissed."

The entire time he had not once even called her by name or looked like he was even truly acknowledging her. Biting her tongue from the cry she wanted to let out that instead echoed in her head and resounded in her heart, she bowed and left as she began to walk away as if walking the path of her own destruction, never catching the way those aqua eyes had changed the second she turned her back and left the room. Her body felt like it was trembling almost like it is on a countdown to a total malfunction as she entered those desert streets and began to notice people are looking at her odd and whispering. Trying hard to ignore the sudden change of atmosphere she walked home with pained breaths, feeling her chest constrict under the pressure it took to keep the scream inside her throat from coming out.

Carefully the door was shut and she was alone, so terribly alone again. The choked sob came and she felt like a failure as her feet guided her just inside her bedroom where she crumpled to the floor. She shook, becoming angry and filled with rage directed at herself. 'I can't,' she demanded, 'this won't be that end,' she declared as a crack began to form, spreading out as if an ice shelf about to sever a chunk off, sending it to the freezing ocean depths below. "I won't let it," she hissed as her power rose around her form and as if her power had materialized, it pulled the seal off her chakra and they exploded.

The whole building shuddered, her windows shattered with the sudden blast of raw power as it went over the village like a tsunami. People were thrown back, every window gone as it rumbled through with the power of an earthquake sending shockwaves through the ground until everything went still and her eyes looked up in horror at what she had just so carelessly done. Dust floated heavy in the air as she took in the aftermath as her apartment was wide open with wind howling through, her walls decimated and furniture simply gone. "No," she choked out with a sob and looked at the damage outside as her upset grew and tears streamed down her cheeks. Then like a scared child she ran as a new blast of power surged through her, just a streak of her pale lilac and blue powers as she crossed rooftops until she easily ascended the walls of the valley and jumped.

Her feet hit the ground running and she ran until she was miles away from the village, until her power surge finally left her and she dropped on to the ground exhausted but not done. With more effort than she is used to doing so, she gained her footing and continued to stumble forward for a few miles more as her feet drugged through the sand in her persistence to keep going, never planning to turn back after what she had just done. The sun dropped low in the sky, the temperatures decreasing rapidly as she panted out white breaths of air. Her body though was already numbed and did little to bring it to her notice when her mind had become dull to physical feelings.

Stumbling forth she could make out the ruins of a few buildings in front of her as she picked up her head. Barely grabbing what remained of a doorway she went to step in and tripped landing on her palms. Physically and mentally exhausted she crawled and practically dragged her worn out body to lie under what remained of the roof before finally collapsing on the sand covered floor. It still hurt to breathe and absently she wondered why but didn't go much further than that fleeting thought.

In her mind she began to realize as she lie on the floor that it is gone, done, and over. She had not become fond of Sesshoumaru in a romantic sense but had come to care for him, Gaara though; she had stupidly begun to sport feelings for and they had begun to grow deep as she helplessly began to fall in love with him. Now it is all done she realized over and over again, remembering her final minutes in the village he holds dear and she just harmed.

The crack spread further and created more cracks, splintering out as she asked herself, 'Why,' repeatedly. Her mind and heart in turmoil as she looked at her new circumstances of being completely alone and she wondered just what he and the village might do if they chose to pursue her. Part of her decided she didn't care. It had become too much and her mind turned against her with every single time InuYasha had called her stupid, wench, jewel shard detector, Kikyo, weak, bitch, and then when he decided to not choose her even though Kikyo was gone and only a month after the defeat of Naraku. It wasn't like he said, "I'm sorry but you're my best friend," it was just him not choosing her and then leaving her there on the hillside as if he could walk away and not look back ever again.

Sesshoumaru, well she could get over that to some degree because her heart wasn't focused on him in a romantic light but as she went to school and then spent weekends and breaks traveling with him she had thought he had come to care for her to some extent. Shortly after turning seventeen when the months grew cold and she had little more to teach him of his interests he had abruptly ended things, not even sparing her hardly a glance when he came to visit Rin. Feeling hurt and to some extent betrayed by the both of them, she had stumbled in the cold to the well, planning to spend time at home but instead landed in a scorching desert at the bottom of a well that would not let her pass through. She had partially held on to the fact she knows her family loves her even if they did not really need her but it was a comfort that she had clung to every time she had jumped in that well over the course of three days before she realized they might have been ripped away from her for good.

Desperately she wanted to know what she did to deserve this fate, to deserve being severed from her loved ones and slowly feel like the girl she once knew had slipped away as she became this woman clinging to every possible chance of ever being needed or feel loved again. Banging her fists on the ground as tears poured out she screamed, "Why?!"

"What did I do wrong? Why can't I go home? WHY DO I STILL EXIST?!"

…Her mind stilled after that last scream as her own words echoed inside her head… and she felt her breath caught in her throat. Her existence, it had lost meaning…

That purpose she once held had shattered as she sat there, the shattered fragments turning to dust and being blown away by the wind. Sitting on her knees she fell on to her rump as the pale moon shone overhead, its chilling presence bathing her in its light as she sat there blankly with not a thought in her head, an unusual feat for a girl that had once been so bubby and cheerful, the heart of the group.

As the temperatures plummeted her powers rose up without her willing them as they sought to keep her warm and her body temperature elevated in a healthy range. She held no feeling towards it though, she simply couldn't feel anything as she stared ahead until she finally leaned back against a partial wall of the building and simply waited but she knew not for what specifically.

That night had grown old eventually as she rested when her body still forced the demand on her. Her footprints became partially obscured as the hours passed by and she remained unaffected, going in and out of consciousness as she continued to simply just wait. If something needs her, it will come regardless of what that something would be. How does one live for centuries when she has not even reached two decades? What will become of her? She is somewhere in a vast desert, it could go on for days yet she had no clue as to how big it really is. Will she simply just sit here until death and eventually be claimed by the sand? Those apathetic thoughts drifted into her mind but she has yet to feel a thing from them as the sun passed overhead.

Nothing could bring her to even twitch a finger as her mind slowly pressed thoughts on her, imagining the various ways her life might end and most of them with not a soul in sight. Eyes shifting to the pouch strapped to her thigh she stared at it remembering what is inside but trying to decide if it is even worth the effort. "Does it really matter how I die at this point," she whispered as an ounce of feeling began to come back to her and with it came the sorrow. Eyes looking forward once again she thought over her options and realized she doesn't want to go back to any village or anything in general. She now wants to be alone because inside her she could feel the powers churning recharged in power and waiting to lash out once again. "I will eventually die anyways so should I just speed up the process…" she questioned herself feeling undecided.

Back in Suna he couldn't believe the amount of power that surged forth and after another shockwave of different depth he realized it is powers. Coming from his office he appeared on the rooftops eyes looking out over everything as glass burst from windows and he had to focus his chakra into his feet as more shockwaves came forth. Blocking his eyes with his arm for a moment until everything stilled he focused on the epicenter knowing who it had been without a doubt. Before he could even decide to take action or what action to take he could barely make out her form as she fled the village in a comet like burst. Even miles away he could feel it until she finally faded from his senses.

He had been unsure of what action to take a few days ago when she had that burst of power in the hospital. It had not been destructive, in fact the exact opposite. Everyone in the hospital had been cured or healed to a full extent. It did come at an expense, one that nearly took her life and he worried as she was then the one being saved instead. Knowing without a doubt that she would be determined to pull such a feat again, he chose to not tell her anything and wanting to remain firm in his resolve for the sake of her life, he requested her presence to the office and made sure she understood he has nothing she can do. He almost gave in, completely wavered when she began to plead but he cut her off with a sharper voice than he meant to use on her. The distance that was suddenly between them was hard to bear and he felt guilty but he did not want to make the mistakes of the village's past and have others discover her.

Now as he looked up ahead of him at the disappearing footprints in her desperate flee from the village, he realized he may have been wrong in that decision and it will be up to him to correct it. Flying upon his sand he could remember that sudden look in her eyes, one that resounded in him as a distant ache from all the way back in his childhood. He could have and should have at least told her that she almost died and that is why; it could have and most likely would have kept that pain from shining in her eyes as he just unknowingly inflicted a pain that threatened to consume her further.

Maybe he should have explained at least anything about the decisions he had made that might have stopped her from this pain. He should have recognized the signs and paid more attention to them but he hadn't because she was always so determined and seemingly happy that it helped push others along as well. The amount he does know about her isn't very much when it comes to her past, she always turned away from his eyes and just said that her journey had come to a close and she was just looking to go home. Something must have happened but he didn't know what and she looked determined to keep on trying again and again. She is a good archer, of that he knows but her skills are practically useless since her priestess powers have yet to hurt a soul. When it became clear that the instructors at the academy were running out of ideas and ways to turn her into a shinobi, he stepped in because he could see she just will not give up so easily.

It was then he began to get a little too involved but he couldn't help it. After a few months of her being with the instructors he became her instructor and with confirmation that she does indeed have chakra he decided to find a way to release it since unlike his body hers just stayed right where it is in the torso. She has spiritual energy that manifests into her purifying powers and other abilities and she is physically fit but to the level of a beginner genin. Without chakra she can't pass that level unless she focuses on taijutsu which she is not very talented in but had taken it on with determination like everything else until his feelings began to get in the way of things as another few months had gone by and he realized that they have spent nine months in total on her with no results. With only one last avenue to check he suggested healing, her powers may not be able to hurt them but it is possible they could be healed by them and her ability to heal proved to be strong and then he found out that she was in surgery trying to help save a man's life. The end result: the poison was purified, the wounds healed, his chakra replenish, and his life no longer at risk… he left that very same day but she was then in critical condition.

He had struggled with his budding feelings for the woman, watched her perform things not even Tsunade herself could do, and then she was lying on the hospital bed dying. Time and time again they had to resuscitate her; it pained him to great lengths to watch with no ability to help. That is when he came to the decision that he refuses to let her keep going forward with this and it was a selfish decision on his part but he felt it was for the best. She will not be a medic or a shinobi, she will have to find something else because he will not be able to stand seeing her in this condition or not knowing when it might happen again. Something in her must have snapped after that, he didn't know she would take it so hard but it could have been the way he went about it that had pushed her over the edge. If he had known she would take it so hard he may never have said it but he did and now she is gone.

Sitting there after yesterday had been such a crushing day she felt like a failure. How could she ever face Lord Gaara again? She never wants to and she doesn't even want to put the effort into finding another living soul and simply couldn't. Her body felt like it had deteriorated after that frantic run. Some of that pain has ebbed away but she remained weak in every aspect and figured she would die the same way. Looking at that pouch she finally moved her hand over to pull back the flap and grab out a kunai, watching as the moon glinted off of it on her second night. She waited because she could feel that something is indeed coming. Off in the distance she could see that sand storm coming but there is more to it than just sand, her senses told her so and should it choose to, it will kill her of that she had no doubt due to her fragile state. Only because of her powers could she even keep functioning. Looking straight at the coming storm she felt like death is about to come her way.

'So why,' her mind asked once again. 'Why do I struggle now when things used to come so easy? Is this the price I pay after having it so and wearing my heart on my sleeve for so long? Why am I alone after doing so much good for others?' Her eyes turned towards the heavens as if waiting for an answer or some sign to appear but all she could see and hear is that coming storm and the fact that something is in it and she has no choice but to simply wait as she scooted closer to the corner so she may rest her head. Any minute now it will be upon her and this will be her moment of truth.

The wind picked up around her, growing more furious as the seconds passed by and whipping her hair around in her face. The tiny granules of sand assaulted every bit of flesh they could hit feeling like thousands of needles poking her soft skin. Moving to face away from the assault she could still feel a sense of foreboding in the air. Her body protested with her movements and the assault it is undergoing and as the atmosphere grew heavy around her she felt blinding pain tear into her back as she was suddenly impaled. Instead of it pulling out she found herself going airborne as it whipped her backwards. Landing on the sand as the storm rushed over her she could barely open her eyes to see the large body. Her body was lit with fire as poison seeped into her veins. The trepidation of seeing it come closer had brought that churning back as it gained momentum once again. Like flames of fire it licked under her skin, purifying the poison from her body and revving up her muscles with a final showdown she figured. Still holding the kunai she lit it with a swirling combination of light blue and pale lilac before throwing it at the approaching opponent.

It wasn't happy about receiving the blow as she could hear the snapping pincers and the snap of what she assumed was the tail. Seeing it ready to attack she began to struggle to crawl away backwards. Ducking her head as pincers nearly decapitated it she then rolled out of the way of the stinger, the very thing that had attacked her first. The pincers were now on either side of her, caging her in as the stinger arched ready to strike. The black beady eyes showed no compassion while the claws by the mouth flexed, read to tear into her body after it rips her apart. She knows about scorpions and this is not a death she wants, not something so gory and painful, she would rather sit starving to death slowly than face this and she had been prepared to do just that.

As the strike came her anxiety gave way and with a shout her hands shot off that mixture of powers and pushed it tumbling away. Her body had lit up for those few seconds but when it was over she ached, feeling exhausted, and dimly aware of the fact it is coming at her again, the tough exoskeleton had protected it well… Lifting her eyes open, not sure when they had closed, one of the pincers picked her up and began waving her through the air as she remained limp, feeling slowly crushed under the force. 'This must really be it…' she thought as the other pincer came her way and grabbed her by the legs, ready to pull.

Gaara could hardly believe how much distance she had covered in that burst of power as he had traversed through the desert for several hours now trying to stay on her trail before it was swept away. If he could see it better he would have been upon her by now but it was fading and he couldn't leave after her right away. Up ahead he could see a sand storm passing through the area and it made him hope she wasn't much further or he may not be able to ever find her. Seeing something large within the sand as it passed over he could make out the ruins he knew to be in this direction but even more a giant scorpion, one normally only seen in the Demon's Desert but this one clearly is not. Studying its movement it became clear to him it is in the process of gaining a meal but he could only think of one person who is in this direction and so with a burst of speed he used his sand body flicker technique to land a good ten feet in front of the large arthropod.

The pincers held her ready to tear her in two right before his eyes. Going through the signs he created two large monstrous hands to hold them still while he manipulated more sand to wrap around the body and grab a kunai from his pouch. With the body and claws held still he wedged sand between the pincers and grab hold of her as it threatened to sever her into pieces. With precise movement he plunged the kunai with an explosive tag right into a major weak spot, making the body explode as his sand wrapped around her and pulled her from its grasps. Bringing her to him as the sand storm finished passing through he lay her down before him searching for any sign of life, anything that might prove she can make it until he got her back to Suna. Resting an ear against her chest he listened to the sound of her heartbeat, counting it out to make sure it is steady. Pushing up a pant leg he searched for any severe damage, just finding the start of a wicked bruise there along with on her torso.

Brushing the hair back from her face she appeared to be okay at the moment but being he isn't a medic he couldn't say for sure. Her eyes cracked open, trying to focus on what is happening as he hovered over her, as they lifted further he was greeted with the sight of those stormy eyes he began to fall in love with. With his thumb rubbing across her cheek he didn't break from the eye contact as he tried to gauge her pain or any thoughts she might have.

"Kagome can you talk," he asked her, eyes searching for a clue. Her mouth parted but no words came forth and soon after her eyes drifted shut. Carefully picking her up his left hand met a wet substance on her back and he craned his head to see the sticky blood. Using his sand he lifted the shirt seeing where the stinger must have gotten her. Removing her shirt he clotted the wound the best he could forming sand around her torso to keep it in place. Lifting her up he set a fast pace to get back home where he can get her medical attention. It is his fault she is like this and he will never forgive himself should she not make it through this.

As he flew on his Desert Suspension he took off his crimson button shirt, revealing the mesh armor he dons underneath as he quickly wrapped her torso with it to keep her warm. They sped across the terrain as the night continued to wear on with the moon helping to light his way in his backtrack to the village. When he showed up at the hospital holding her in such a state, only an hour before sunrise, it had surprised the staff that was near the entrance. She was soon out of his arms as they rushed around checking her over and getting the wound taken care of and making sure nothing has ruptured. The news they came back with was surprising but not something he was all that happy to hear.

"Lord Gaara," they approached him as he sat in the waiting room right outside her door. Standing up to give his full attention the medic informed him, "Kagome had somehow managed to open the first Gate of Opening and the second Gate of Healing. Due to her lack of training it had a worse effect on her, equivalent to opening five gates but I think that is only because she mostly reached the pain intensity of seven because her muscles were being repaired but her powers most likely kicked in but were absent of being used when she arrived, her stores in both are nearly empty. She will have to be hospitalized most likely beyond a week; we can't get a clear estimate due to her nature of powers. Give us a day and we should know by then how she will be doing from here on out."

"Do anything necessary for her, I will return shortly," he walked off feeling troubled by this news. Deciding to leave her in the hands of his formidable medical staff he went to see to the village and ensure everything is still fine. Seeing that his shirt is not on he figured a change of clothes should be on his list as well.

It was a couple days later after they had seen her chakra and purifying powers recover that they had uncovered the problem that started everything off. They were unstable and as he stood there watching over her unconscious form her powers were forcing her awake with a short scream. When her varying emotions came into play it was like igniting a ticking time bomb as her powers flickered and came out in clashing bursts.

"Lord Gaara, we must do something," cried a frantic medic as they all stood away from where she lay, not able to do anything with her like this.

Stepping forward with a frown he used his sand to keep her held down before going through several hands signs using a hand seal he had not thought he would ever need but as he pushed his fingers against her skin, glowing with his chakra, he sealed her powers away…

It all came to a firm stop, she was out cold once again and he looked on feeling like he pushed this upon her, set these events in motion… Looking up at the staff as his sand released her he informed them, "Her powers are sealed, both of them," he felt regretful as he looked upon her still form.

They approached her and began to get a reading on her body again, feeling the new damage or anything undone. Pulling back the one he had spoken with when he first brought her. "Her recovery has been set back Lord Gaara, she will need more treatment to help her recover," he reported. Gaara's frown deepened as he thought about contacting Konoha who has more knowledge on the release of the Eight Gates.

"Thank you, I will be back with hopefully a solution to what is going on with her, please send a copy of notes made on her starting from when she was in the surgery," he left with a final glance at her and prepared a documented account to what is going on along with the notes before sending it with a request for advice to Konoha. Kakashi is sure to speak to Tsunade and her apprentices about this and hopefully figure out a solution to it all.