I own nothing.
"Do you ever worry about what will happen to your son when you do things like this, Chiyo-sama?"
The reports had finally turned up something solid two weeks ago: the Nidaime's prospective target was sighted roaming the southern border of the Wastelands. Chiyo was not terribly happy with the idea of taking a team out here to the Wastelands. Battling the target would be dangerous enough, but the possibility of getting lost in the western Wastelands of Kaze no Kuni is something else altogether. Nothing lives here, not man nor beast nor plant. There is no water, only endless stretches of flatlands and dunes. There are no roads through the Wastelands; even the Bedouins avoid it. If you get lost here, and can't find your way out, that's it for you.
However, the Nidaime Kazekage wasn't interested in hearing reasons for why they should wait for the target to move out of the Wastelands. He wanted results, and fast. Impatient old man, Chiyo thinks bitterly. We could have died out here from thirst.
Chiyo of Sunagakure, jonin, head of the Sunagakure Puppetry Corps (for all of four months, but whatever), and sealing master extraordinaire, shakes her head in response to Osen's question and turns to face her team, all leaning against the rocks and looking every bit as exhausted as she feels. She shrugs, trying to look casual. The thought had occurred to her. "Kazuo's a smart boy."
"He's two," Osen, her fellow puppeteer, stresses.
"If worst came to worst, Ebizo would look after him. I can't really afford to be thinking bout things like that at times like this, Osen."
Standing at the back of the group, Hachiro makes a sound in his throat. "I guess this is one of those things I'll understand if I ever have kids." Chiyo glares at him and he falls silent. Hachiro hasn't said much during this assignment, and Chiyo can only assume that he's uncomfortable being the only man on the five-nin team. Sealing is considered a "woman's art" in Kaze no Kuni; men might know basic seals, but there are precious few masters among the male shinobi of Kaze. However, Hachiro is one of the best when it comes to seals, and Chiyo needed the best she could find to aid her in the sealing of the Shukaku.
"Nayeli, did you get the teapot like I asked you to?"
Nayeli nods and steps forward with the aforementioned teapot, handing it over to Chiyo. It's a large tin teapot they've used; Chiyo didn't want to use earthenware or porcelain or anything else that could break easily. Oh, wouldn't that be a great laugh, if we sealed this embodiment of the desert's malevolence only to have a klutz release it again?
Chiyo plops down on a rock to examine the seals on the teapot itself, the tags and inscriptions. Best to be as thorough as possible; it would be horribly embarrassing if the seal broke on the way back to Suna. As she plies chakra to the seals, checking for consistency, she can feel the chakra of the Shukaku beneath her hands. Dark and churning, irate and vindictive, wickedly hot even in the heat of the desert. She feels as though confronted with a wall of chakra, ready to barrel down and drown her.
But this beast will be the salvation of her village, the village Chiyo lives in with her son and all of her puppeteers. It will make Kaze no Kuni strong and safe, able to combat its foes when war comes to Kaze's lands yet again. It may be a creature born of the desert's unforgiving heat, may be a creature consumed by rage and malice, but it can be used. It will be used. Chiyo will make sure of that.
As Chiyo seals the teapot into a scroll for safekeeping, she hears one of her teammates say, "I don't even know what Kazekage-sama even wants it for."
Chiyo can think of a few things.