"I had a discipline issue come up that had to be taken care of." The slightly mocking twitch of his lips told the visiting ninjas that it was better if they didn't press the issue. "Now that we are all here, shall we start on the treaty?"
Everyone noticed when Hoshiwara stepped back from the meeting table and finding a corner that had an unobstructed view of the table she sat and with a specific fold of her hands she sat and began meditating. Neiji saw that her chakra activity shot through the roof as she started meditating and could only wonder what she was doing that would cause this effect with her.
Hinata also noticed this, but she also noticed that the depth of her chakra and its pattern changed as she occationally changed her hand position throughout the meeting. The patterns and positions were not familier to her or any of the other visiting ninjas so she could only wondering what she was doing that affected this meeting so much.
Suddenly in the middle of the meeting, Temari noticed that the woman's eyes had snapped open and she looked like she was carefully listening for something. A subtle nudge to her youngest brother brought his attention to her even as he continued to work through the latest point of the treaty that had become a sticking point. He was not surprised however that she stood up and after walking around the room once, seemingly in a trance, that she went and stood at his shoulder before whispering in his ear that there was something in the meeting hall that wasn't supposed to be there.
A subtle nod later he gathered her in his sands and with a slight variation of the handsigns he used earlier, transported her to her home before standing. "We will need to postpone the rest of this meeting for a bit."
At that moment the meeting hall exploded outwards in a massive ball of flame. Those that were guarding the hall from the outside were blown to safety, and were forced to watched as the building was incinerated within moments. It took the better part of an hour and some of the village's best earth and water jutsu specialists to put out the flames. But when it was done and over with, the remains of the eight ninja that had been meeting were found only as groups of bones. The rest of their bodies as ash.
The moment Hoshiwara appeared in her house she grabbed her staff and ran out the door towards the meeting hall. She could see the smoke and flames from her place and had no problems weaving through the ninjas that were en route to the area to help out. "Hurry! The Kazekage is in there!" Her shout rallied those already there to action as they tried to put the fire out.
When she was brought to the center of the area and saw the piles of bones she dropped to her knees with a cry of anger and despair. Those that had been around her knew that this would not be taken lightly and pulled her away from the bones. As she was pulled away from the piles of bones that were the remnants of her friends and allies she growled just loud enough for those around her to hear her. "They'll pay. Whoever did this will pay a thousand fold for this. I swear it."
The anger she projected cause all but the jounin around her to back away, uncertain of which direction her newly unleashed anger would take. The Jounin around her had previous orders from the Kazekage himself that no matter what happened, she was to be protected. Looking to each other they nodded and using their jutsus they took her up to the tower where she could be most effectively protected until this was resolved.
When Hoshiwara looked around and saw the main office of the tower appear about her, she moved to the desk and placing her hand on the upper drawer watched as what Gaara had told her came to pass. It opened automatically and revealed a single scroll. She could barely read the language, but she knew what the scroll contained. Directions for the village should something happen to him. She had been told that normally if the Kage of a village was lost in battle or to disaster, the village elders would then take over the administrative portion of running the village. But something had happened to the elders not all that long ago and the village would be without leadership. Or it would have been had Gaara not thought ahead and written up this scroll.
Looking at the three jounin that were in the room with her she bolstered her confidence and spoke clearly, choosing her words carefully as she did. "I need a full report of who was involved in that explosion and who did not survive other than our friends and leaders. I also need someone to send the fastest messenger shinobi we have to Konoha to bring the Hokage here. And for the love of everything you hold dear to yourselves NO ONE outside the village is to know what happened until I tell the Hokage myself. Is this clear?"
The three jounin looked at her as if she had lost her mind. "What gives you the right to order us about like soldiers?" The first challange to her authority came and with her current ire Hoshiwara nearly incinerated the man with her look alone.
"This is what gives me that right." She broke the seal on the scroll and showed them its contents. As their eyes widened she smirked slightly. "You have seen my authorization to take over leadership of this village until a new Kazekage is appointed. MOVE!"
There was no hesitation after the final order to move out as all three used their jutsu to dissappear to carry out her orders. Sitting at the desk alone finally she allowed herself the luxury of tears. Had she been thinking she would have checked for watchers about her, but as she didn't she was watched as she cried for the loss of her friends.
The next morning found the woman at the desk still. This time puzzling out some of the more recent scrolls and papers that needed to be taken care of before everything else went to hell in a handbasket. She was interrupted mid morning by a sharp rapping on the door to the office. Startled she called out. "Enter."
The person who entered was the last person she expected to see this soon after the events of the previous afternoon. "Greetings Hokage-dono. Please, have a seat we have a lot to talk about and very little time to do it in." Her brisk manner put the older woman off her balance even thought she too had used these very tones with her subordinates.
"Who are you? and where is the Kazekage?" Golden eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"Please, sit down, have some tea. Something, anything, just don't look at me like that. I have enough to deal with right now and you are obviously going to make my job that much harder." The reply came, couched in tones that covered her anger and anxiety.
The blond woman sat down, curious now as to who this woman was that sat in the Kazekage's seat when Gaara was alive and well the last time she had spoken with him. Since tea was offered she took some of that as well, hoping to calm the woman in front of her, down enough to speak of why she had been summoned to the desert village.
Hoshiwara carefully watched the older woman, and finally satisfied with what she saw she folded her hands in front of her on the desk and started. "My name is Hoshiwara. Almost eight months ago I was found out in the sinking sands area of the desert that surrounds this village. When I awoke in the hospital I found that I did not speak the language here, and the people here did not understand mine. So began a careful alliance of sorts that quickly turned to friendship between myself and the people that had resued me from the burning sands." Ending her introduction to who she was she moved on.
"Several days ago I was informed that I would be the host house to two ninja from the village of Konoha. Having read the information I was given on this group that was coming, I chose to house the Hyuga clan members. Yesterday morning and into the afternoon was when your ninja and the ninja of Suna met to discuss the peace alliance that had been developed between your groups." Hoshiwara stopped, puzzlement in her eyes and deep sadness as she tried desperately to find the words in this language to describe what happened the day before.
"Yesterday afternoon, I felt something not quite right in the meeting hall. I had alerted the Kazekage about it and he immediately used a transport technique to move me away from the building. Infact he sent me back to my home nearly on the other side of the village from the meeting hall. It couldn't have been long after that when an explosion consumed the building with fire. All five of the Konoha delegation as well as the Kazekage and his siblings were devoured by the flames." At several points during this part of the explaination, Hoshiwara's voice caught in her throat. Tears again flooding her eyes as she thought about the fire, and the people that had been lost in it.
Tsunade sat before her in shock. Five of the best that the Leaf ninja clans had to offer gone in a blaze of fire, if what this woman said was to be believed. "How do I know that you aren't lying to me?"
Hoshiwara looked as if she had been slapped. The look of shock was very quickly replace with one of anger as she replied with heat. "Would I be sitting at this desk if what I said wasn't the truth? This whole village lost its leader and his siblings in one shot. There is NO one else here is qualified to take the leadership of this village. I'm only sitting here due to a scroll that the Kazekage left, instructing the ninja of this village to follow my direction should a time come when they were left without a leader."
Tsunade was taken back by the heat in the woman's voice, but recognised that she was both coming out of the shock of the day before as well as she was responding to an equal about a matter of honor. "I'm sorry, but I can't just accept that I lost five of the best and brightest ninjas that Konoha had to offer in less than an hour. But it is true. You are sitting in a place that no one else should be in and due to a will and testament that the Kazekage left." Tsunade sighed. "Were there any remains at all?"
At this Hoshiwara stood. "Please come with me to the hospital. I will take you to them myself." Walking out of the office, she only paused long enough for the medical ninja to follow before closing and locking the office door. It was a long and silent walk as Hoshiwara found that the Hokage had not come alone, but had the presence of another ninja with her. There wasn't much to identify the bones with, but the residual chakra in them matched the signitures of the eight that had been lost in the fire. This was confirmed by the Hokage as she looked at them closely.
"I am sorry for your loss Hokage-dono." She again used the title to emphasize her filial respect for the other leader. "I know you want to know who did this, but that hasn't been determined yet. Until this investigation has been completed I must ask you to return to Konoha, and to keep quiet about the deaths of this group."
She could see the fire of denial in the other woman's eyes and to back up her request she provided the reason why. "I know about the history of Konoha. The Kazekage told me about Orochimaru's attack on your village and what kind of damage it did to your strength. If you can be silent about your losses until we know who did it, you will have that much less to worry about from the other nations that you are not allied with." Pausing a moment to guage the situation she put a hand on the other woman's shoulder. "Please have faith in Suna. We will find out who did this and as soon as I know that, I will tell you. I will not deny you or your village the revenge they rightly deserve for this tragedy."
This seemed to mollify the older woman and as she turned to leave she spoke. "I too am sorry for your losses. I will be silent about this for a short time. But I will not be able to keep this secret for long. If I have to let out that we lost these ninja to an attack on your village, I will let you know, and you will need to expect that the friends of these five will come to help with the investigation."
Hoshiwara closed her eyes and sighed. "I shan't be surprised then. But for now go home, have faith in me and these people, and tell your own that you were summoned because there was a point in the alliance treaty that could not be set down without your approval. Does this meet with your approval?"
The older leader looked down at the younger and could see that even behind the tears in her eyes there was a wall of ice that was locking her spirit into place. This would be a hard woman to break and it spoke volumes about how she could be trusted. "It does. Remember, you and the rest of the Suna ninja do not have a lot of time. Be quick and may luck be with you." Hoshiwara bowed slightly as she turned to leave the room. She had an investigation to run and little time to get the pieces together.