/~/~
Title: New Wind Nation ~ 新風国
Chapter 4: Land of Birds ~ Mother (part 3/4)
Notes: Revised 07/2014.
/~/~
"Hey," Naruto greeted, trying to inject some cheer into his voice. It came out softer than usual, but at least there wasn't any of the lingering fear. As Gaara slowly turned to face him, Naruto smiled awkwardly and settled next to him on the porch of Hoki's frugal home.
"Lord Komei has been arrested for treason. He's probably going to be executed, since apparently his men attacked the daimyo too," Naruto said quietly. Gaara gave no sign of interest, and Naruto frowned faintly. "Last night…" he started, "What did you mean? About 'Mother' and…" 'Giving her blood…'
Gaara's gaze was flat and emotionless as he stared at Naruto for a long moment. "The sand is Mother's gift," he finally said. "It protects me and thirsts for blood."
"I don't understand," Naruto admitted, his face scrunching up in confusion. "Your mother made the sand? Is it… her bloodline or something?"
With a frightening lack of inflection, Gaara explained, "Mother was sacrificed, and now her will and the sand protect me from all harm."
"Oh…" He still didn't understand, and it was starting to sound very ominous. Swallowing uneasily, Naruto thought that this might be a good point to stop until he could ask Baki for a better explanation. "So… what was your mother like?" he asked instead.
"I don't know," Gaara said. "She was sacrificed while giving birth to me."
Naruto nodded slowly. "I never met my father either. Mom always looked sad when I asked, so I stopped…" Without meaning to, he saddened. "And then Mom died too."
Gaara watched him silently, as Naruto forced himself out of his unhappy recollections.
"I miss her, but I always try to remember her," he said with forced cheer. "Sometimes, I feel like she's still watching over me, hehe!"
"You… loved your mother," Gaara said quietly.
Naruto nodded. "Yeah. I loved her a lot. I wish you could meet her. I wish I could introduce you to her." Actually, what was stopping him? His expression became suddenly determined, and Naruto squared his shoulders, facing the wide open sky. "Mom!" he called out to thin air. "This is my teammate Gaara!"
Even Gaara showed a little surprise at the sudden declaration.
"He's been watching me back, so I'm really grateful!" Naruto continued. "I'm sure you'd like him too!"
Letting out a deep breath, he leaned back with a wistful smile. As Gaara continued to watch him, Naruto grinned and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Heh, I guess that's the closest I can come. Maybe she's listening somewhere, right?"
Insanely embarrassed somehow, Naruto quickly looked away.
Fortunately, the awkward moment was interrupted as the screen door behind them slid open and Baki stepped out onto the veranda.
"Although it appears that our assignment has concluded," Baki began, his eyes sweeping over Naruto, Gaara and Kankuro, who appeared at the last moment, "I believe there are still some things left to resolve." His gaze lingered on the oldest genin.
Crossing his arms, Kankuro snorted. "I looked at the temple," he said. "Found some interesting stuff — like black kites, to fly unseen at night, but that's not the best of it. In the temple, there's a tunnel. And you'll never guess where it leads."
"Where?" Naruto took the bait easily, leaning forward a little.
Kankuro smirked. "The daimyo's mansion."
"Wha? That doesn't make any sense!" Naruto complained, frowning. "If Komei and his men did it, they're against the daimyo. Wouldn't they just, I dunno, assassinate him or something?"
Baki sighed. "It's just as I thought. Things are more complicated than they appear. Unfortunately, I can't accept that we, Hidden Sand shinobi, are just going to be used like this."
"So, what are we going to do?" Naruto wondered. Baki smirked.
/~/~
A furious blush began to climb over Kankuro's cheeks, and he decided that it was about time to do what he had really come here for.
Clearing his throat, he said, "Not that I'm not enjoying the show, but you should probably leave something on, eh?"
With a startled gasp, Lord Sagi of Land of Birds spun around, clutching "his" towel closer to "his" mostly undressed form. Kankuro raised an eyebrow as he struggled to keep his eyes from dipping lower. "I wanted to talk to you in private… but I didn't expect something like this."
This being a decidedly female form.
Holding up both hands to show they were empty — not that it meant much to a puppeteer — Kankuro said, "Now, calm down and don't scream. I just wanted to talk to a bit, about you and Hoki… and the Cursed Warrior."
Sagi eyed him distrustfully, slipping into her outer robe quickly.
"You're not stupid, I think," Kankuro said slowly, politely looking away until Sagi was dressed again. "You have to realize what Hoki's doing. Those guards that turned on you by the lake? They were Hoki's men — or at least some mercenaries Hoki hired. He's going to remove Komei and become the one true leader of the Land of Birds, with you as a figurehead." He shrugged with exaggerated ease, meeting Sagi's eyes. "And that's just not acceptable to us in Hidden Sand."
"And what do you plan to do, then?" Sagi finally asked quietly, her posture radiating tension, ready to either fight or flee.
Kankuro sighed, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall. "Well, that's the problem. The Land of Birds is a sovereign nation. It would be problematic if Sand-nins acted outside their contract to force some massive political change. The other villages and nations would be howling interference in no time. But if you, say, hired us to kill your dear Chief Advisor, well, that would be entirely different."
Sagi looked away, her dark hair veiling her expression. "You don't understand," she said quietly.
"Oh? And what don't I understand?" Kankuro wondered, lifting an eyebrow. "Some mercenary bastard killed your father and your brother, and the best you can do it play dress up and run around pretending to be a ghost?"
Sagi's eyes narrowed at the mention of the Cursed Warrior, but she didn't deny Kankuro's accusation. "There is no proof that he killed my father… or my sister," Sagi replied. "I have nothing to use against him, and Hoki is more trusted among the people than I am. Furthermore, he still has cards to play against me."
"Sister?" Kankuro repeated.
Sagi sighed quietly and nodded. There was no point in hiding things anymore. "My older sister and I were identical twins. At the time of our birth, the Land of Birds was very unstable, and our father felt that he needed a male heir to show strength and secure the line of succession. So he announced that a boy and a girl had been born. My sister and I took turns acting as 'Sagi' the son and as 'Toki' the daughter, though my sister preferred to be Sagi."
"That's… pretty screwed up," Kankuro muttered. "Damn, I can just imagine would Temari would say about that…"
The daimyo shook her head. "Even after our father died, Hoki was unaware of our deception. However, he threatened my sister, using me as leverage. One day, she defied him and he swore he would kill me. But Sister insisted on switching roles — and she was the one who died. Hoki found out then… and he is more than willing to reveal our secret if I do not go along with his plans."
Leveling her with a flat look, Kankuro snorted. "So, on the off chance that anyone's gonna care about your gender… You're going to let Hoki do whatever he wants? He's going to kill your best ally! How many more people do you need to lose before you get your act together?!"
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Kankuro winced. It had been too far. But Sagi didn't call him out on it, only curling in on herself a little.
"There's nothing I can do right now," Sagi insisted, refusing to meet his glare.
"Right. In that case, stay the hell out of our way, Princess," Kankuro sneered, turning away and disappearing into the hot spring's mist.
/~/~
"This concludes our mission. From here, this is an internal affair of the Land of Birds," Baki said calmly as he and his students stood at the gates of the capital. Across from him, Hoki and his pretty boy lieutenant bowed.
"Of course. Thank you for all your assistance, honored shinobi," Hoki said deferentially. "May you have a safe trip."
As the four Sand-nins disappeared, racing away from the city, Hoki's teal-haired lieutenant stepped forward. "Do you think they're really leaving?" he asked.
Hoki frowned. "It would seem so, but follow them anyway. Make sure they get to the border without causing problems. The last thing we need is something going wrong during the execution." Nodding sharply, the other man disappeared as well.
He followed the four figures until, suddenly, a good distance from the capital, all four stopped and simply stood motionless in the middle of a clearing. Crouching in the foliage, he watched as three remained standing motionless while one settled cross-legged on the ground and pulled out a worn pack of cards.
'What are they doing?' the lieutenant wondered, after a half-hour had passed and the same tableau remained. 'Something is definitely wrong. I need to take care of this quickly.'
Jumping out of hiding, he launched a barrage of shuriken at the four Sand-nins. To his surprise, the three standing simply allowed themselves to be hit while a wall of sand rose to guard the redhead playing Solitaire. Calmly, the redhead gathered up the cards and stood.
But the lieutenant barely noticed, staring in shock at the other three figures. Their features were shifting, simplifying and losing color until only a vague approximation remained, shaped out of sand. The shuriken fell harmlessly to the ground as the redhead turned to look at the attacker.
"Your blood… will feed Mother," he said, insanity in his voice and his eyes.
The sand surged forward.
/~/~
Dressed in all white, hands tied, Komei was led out in front of Hoki and his puppet court. Behind a high fence and a line of Hoki's shinobi, a large crowd had gathered to watch the proceedings. They shifted uneasily, these developments sitting badly with them.
"Komei," Hoki intoned, crossing his arms, his lips quirking in a smirk, "you have committed treason, leading your men to kill loyal officials of our nation and to attack our daimyo. The sentence is death. Now, I give you a choice — die with a shred of honor by your own hand… or be killed ignobly by my men."
On cue, a shinobi approached and placed a plain knife in front of the strategist. Studying it for a moment, Komei picked up the blade and pulled open his robes. Pointing the knife at his stomach, he closed his eyes.
"Stop!" A voice broke through the tense silence. Standing suddenly, Chishima, who had been seated to one side as a witness of the court, ran in front of Komei and glared at Hoki. "This is wrong! These charges are completely false!"
Hoki glared. "Get out of the way!" he barked, gesturing to his men.
"You set up Lord Komei! You're the traitor!" Chishima yelled as Hoki's ninjas closed around him, their kunai drawn threateningly. Hoki gestured sharply, a little desperately. "And you're the one who killed Lord Owashi!"
A stunned silence fell over the crowd.
"You came here and tricked our lord into giving you sanctuary, then you poisoned him and covered up his death! When she tried to expose you, you killed Lady Toki!" Chishima continued. "And now, you're trying to get rid of Lord Komei, who has served our country faithfully for many years!"
"You've got no proof!" Hoki sneered. "Seize him!"
Chishima cringed away as the shinobi changed, their weapons gleaming threateningly, but before they could strike, a familiar white-armored figure dropped from the sky between Hoki's ninjas and their targets. Thrusting its halberd at Hoki's men, the Cursed Warrior threw down a smoke bomb. Grabbing both Chishima and Lord Komei, it jumped into the air again and disappeared in a swirl of dust.
As the smoke cleared, the crowd murmured, their voices rising menacingly.
Scowling, Hoki yelled, "Disperse them! And find the traitors!" As his men ran to obey, he cursed. 'That was the last straw. The girl has outlived her usefulness!' Rage threatened to cloud his senses, absolute fury and just a hint of uncertainty making him anxious to rush through to the completion of his plan. But Hoki had become leader of his band through cunning, a clear head and a devious mind making up for the strength he lacked.
Taking a deep breath, he calmed himself. 'Think. That rat had no proof to give, but now he has linked up with Komei and possibly even the little princess. What will they do? They will need to rally Komei's men for protection. But more than that, Komei will know that they need something to give the people to convince them of those claims. We have already disposed of all the bodies, so they prove the attack on the daimyo by the lake or the meeting with Komei at the temple was a set up. No, but what they can prove is…'
"Nagare!" Hoki barked out, and on his call, a heavy, muscular man appeared at his side. "Send the third division to secure the court guards in their barracks. Take the fifth and go to the royal family's mausoleum. Make sure no one disturbs our former leader's rest."
"Ha!" the heavy-set lieutenant bowed. For a moment, he lingered. "And you, Leader?"
Hoki smirked, his painted lips stretching wide. "I will pay a visit to our esteemed daimyo," he said, malice heavy in his tone.
/~/~
A heavy, uncomfortable silence hung between Naruto and Sagi as the two waited tensely inside the daimyo's mansion. Glancing at the daimyo, Naruto fidgeted nervously.
Sagi's eyes slid to him and narrowed. "You do not need to remain here," she said coolly.
"It's an order," Naruto replied, grinning a little. "Baki-taicho told me to protect you until Kankuro gets back." Pausing, he asked hesitantly, "Why did you change your mind? About us helping you?"
Sighing a little, Sagi looked out across the veranda and the peaceful inner garden. "After your comrade left, Chishima came to see me. He was… disappointed. He told me that as daimyo, I have a responsibility to the Land of Birds and its people. Even with no evidence, with even less chance of surviving than I have, he refused to back down."
Sagi closed her eyes and called to mind the image of her childhood friend.
"Do you think your father or your sister would want this?" Chishima had asked sadly. "They wanted to protect our country and our people. They wanted you to inherit that will. Even if they are gone now, their spirits remain with us. We can't let our country fall to ruin. We have to act, no matter what."
"I knew he would go ahead with it, even if I tried to stop him," Sagi explained. "I… didn't want to lose anyone else. Not him, not Komei. That's why I approached your team. I don't know if we can accomplish anything or if I have the strength necessary to lead our country to a peaceful, happy future, but… When I made that decision — to fight Hoki — I felt as if my father's and sister's spirits were beside me…"
"Yeah, I know what you mean," Naruto agreed, beaming at her. "Even though they're not here anymore, everything they taught you is still part of who you are. As long as you hold on to those memories, they'll never really be gone."
After a few moments of comfortable, if still slightly anticipatory silence, Naruto sighed. "Too bad I gave Gaara my cards," he complained mildly. Despite herself, Sagi chuckled — giggled really.
"Oho!" Kankuro's voice crowed as he dropped out of the shadows to crouch next to Naruto. "Finally, you actually act like a pretty girl too!" He leered suggestively even as his hands moved to guide his puppet — in its Cursed Warrior costume — into the room.
Draped across one of Karasu's shoulders, Lord Komei looked entirely unhappy with this behavior toward his daimyo, but he stoically said nothing to the man who had saved his life. Glaring, Sagi brought one long sleeve up to hide her blush and moved out of her screened enclosure.
With a sharp hand gesture, Kankuro had Karasu drop the two men unceremoniously to the floor, Chishima groaning faintly at the treatment. Twisting to land in a neat crouch, Komei bowed his head. "Lord Sagi," he said quietly, "I am deeply sorry for this situation. I had thought I was meeting you at the temple last night, but it was only a trick by Hoki."
Sagi's expression softened. "You recognized my movements," she murmured. "Yes, of course. You were the one to oversee our training, after all." She shook her head. "I am the one who owes you both an apology. However, now is the time to act — so we can claim back our country from that charlatan Hoki."
Both Chishima and Komei straightened, their postures rigid in attention, and Naruto could see why. Sagi was truly a striking figure in her own right, her dark eyes sharp with determination.
Reaching into her wide sleeves, she pulled out a neatly folded paper and handed it to Komei. "That is a full pardon, with my seal on it. I have no doubt that Hoki's men will try to stop you, but they will be acting outside of their legal bounds. As daimyo of the Land of Birds, I have also authorized Baki's team to conduct a full investigation into the cause of death of our previous leader, Lord Owashi."
Lord Komei and Chishima bowed, the former tucking the papers away into his robe. Having stripped Karasu of its Cursed Warrior get up and stored it away on his back, Kankuro stepped forward. "Baki-taicho has gone ahead to investigate their base. Meanwhile, we're supposed to spread the word among the court about the daimyo's decision."
"Do you expect to find anything?" Komei asked, stroking his mustache.
"Not really," Kankuro shrugged. "They might be dumb enough to have left some of the poison lying around, but what Baki-taicho is really going for is to make them panic. Amateurs like that always crack under pressure. If we can get a confession, then that's all we need. Also, he's going to thin their ranks a bit, since they're definitely going to resist, despite the daimyo's orders."
"What a crude way of acting," Komei muttered. "But I suppose it is effective in its own way."
"Huh? But aren't you supposed to guard the daimyo?" Naruto asked.
Kankuro smirked. "Nope. You stay here with her, and I'll go to where the action is," he taunted. "Now stop complaining! Gaara should get back soon, and you can have him patrol the perimeter until we get back."
Naruto stuck out his tongue as Kankuro threw Chishima over his shoulder and exited through the veranda, easily jumping over the inner wall, Komei keeping up with him despite his age.
Once they were gone, silence settled between Naruto and Sagi. Both of them were tense, despite knowing they had no choice but to wait for a good while. As the daimyo, Sagi would be too tempting a target if she personally began to act. For now, she could only bide her time while her allies set the stage for Hoki's disgrace and defeat.
But slowly, the tense silence became a strangely heavy stillness. Closing his eyes and stretching his senses, Naruto found nothing out of the ordinary. Everything was calm, almost stagnant. His hands tingled as he flexed them.
'Something's… not right,' he thought faintly.
But he couldn't… his hands clenched as he frantically tried to understand what was wrong-
"Naruto!"
A sharp cry and a hit across his cheek jolted his mind, and Naruto gasped.
The stagnant stillness vanished instantly — instead, the room was in chaos. Men in the dark clothes and mesh of shinobi swarmed around him, their weapons flashing in the dim light. For a moment, Naruto met Sagi's dark eyes.
'Genjutsu?' he thought frantically. 'I didn't even notice the illusion start!'
Breaking eye contact, the daimyo dodged, just barely, as Hoki attacked her again.
"Get him! Quickly!" Hoki roared, and Naruto spun around to see several ninja lunge for him, their weapons raised to strike. Reacting with well-trained reflexes, Naruto rolled out of the way, but that moved him even further from Sagi, who warded off another wave of attackers with a skilled sweep of her sword and turned to run.
She jumped out onto the veranda and into the garden, Hoki in pursuit. As Naruto tried to follow her, the rogue shinobi surrounded him and attacked again.
Clapping his hands, he sent a sloppy gust of wind at his attackers, who scattered momentarily. They regrouped quickly and charged again, forcing Naruto to duck away. As they advanced on him, he scowled. 'They're better than bandits, maybe even a few at low chunin level. I don't have time for this! I have to get out here and help Sagi.'
Bringing his hands together in a seal, Naruto yelled, "Fuusajin no Jutsu!" Wind tore through the room, bringing down the screens and curtains. Under the pressure of the Dust Wind jutsu, the surroundings were worn down quickly and clouds of dust obscured the vision of Hoki's men.
That was the opportunity Naruto needed to dodge out of the room in the confusion. Jumping out into the sunlit garden, he immediately had to roll out the way of a hail of shuriken from another group of rogue-nins. He didn't have time to dodge the next assault, but there was no need to. A wave of sand rose between him and his opponents and rolled outward, knocking over and engulfing several.
Naruto blinked in surprise. He turned slowly to see Gaara land neatly behind him, his arms crossed and face expressionless.
"Gaara! You're back!" Naruto exclaimed happily before his expression turned serious. "Can you take care of these guys? I need to hurry to help Sagi!"
Honestly, the question was more courtesy than anything. None of Hoki's men would be able to even come close to harming Gaara, and he had taken on worse odds before.
But nonetheless, Gaara nodded slowly, and Naruto gave him a grateful smile and a heartfelt thanks before rushing away.
/~/~