Six

Miri put her rag down and wiggled her fingers. She had been oiling the leather belt that Kankuro used to carry his weapons. When Kankuro had replaced his scrolls with miniatures it had increased the number of puppets he could carry, but it had also increased the amount of maintenance they required. Each puppet and its miniature had to be kept in perfect working order, along with their weapons, poisons, and explosives. Even the belt he used had to be inspected regularly to make sure each pouch had no holes and each fastener was secure and could be opened with the flip of a finger.

And dunking the whole thing in sea water was definitely not the best thing for all that metal and wood and leather, she thought.

She raised an eyebrow at the grumbled string of curses that came from nearby.

Not the best thing for their owner's disposition either.

She ran her hands over the belt one last time and then scooted over to the end of the bed so she could set it on the floor. Karasu's and Shanshouo's miniatures were sitting there, waiting to go into their pouches. Kankuro was working on the full-sized Kuroari. Other puppets, parts, weapons, and tools were spread out around the small room, taking up most of the floor and all other flat surfaces.

Miri leaned over and patted Shanshouo on the head with one oily finger. At full size the puppets were instruments of death and destruction, but in their reduced state, Miri thought they were sort of cute, especially Shanshouo. She grinned and scratched the puppet under his chin.

Shanshouo lifted his head and snapped at her fingers, blunt teeth pinching hard enough to make her yelp. Miri shook the injured digits and wrinkled her nose at Kankuro's broad back. He remained hunched over his repairs. She shook her head and slid off the bed, picking her way across the room to the small window. She pressed her forehead against it and watched the snowy landscape flow by. It reminded her of her home. Clear, crisp nights, bright sun on snow, and that sleepy forest smell. She would stay in Suna with Kankuro for as long as he wanted her there, but she did miss the landscape of her home. And seasons, she really missed having four seasons.

She pulled back from the window. "I hope it is like this where we are going. The capital is not all that big, right? There will be some time to explore?"

Kankuro grunted and kept on tinkering.

"I hope there are no more delays. It is hard to be cooped up in this machine. I like the motion, but that coal smell…" She made a face.

Kankuro snapped the doors on Kuroari's torso shut and began to polish his horns.

"I wonder if it is possible to go outside. An observation deck maybe…the fresh air would do use both good. This room is getting musty."

Kankuro tossed the cloth he was using on the floor and began to hunt around for a clean one. He found one, slid Kuroari aside, pulled the cowled puppet Benimaru towards him, and began to clean the flame thrower in the puppet's arm. A sudden blast of cold air on his neck made him look up.

"Hey! What the hell?"

Miri had opened the window of their compartment. The window was small, but she had somehow managed to stick her head out and was letting the wind blast away at her face and hair.

"Miri!"

She pulled her head in. "What?"

Kankuro scowled at her, not fooled by the innocent tone of her voice. "Close the damn window."

"Alright, but the snow smells great and this place needed some air." She grinned at him, cheeks reddened by the cold and hair blow wild by the wind.

"Snow doesn't have a smell."

"Sure does. All the places the water has been." She ran one hand through her hair. "I am going to see if there is a place to go outside." She reached across to the hook for her jacket, but was stopped by Kankuro's hand on her arm.

"There's still stuff to do here."

Miri looked around. "I think you are mostly done. The place does need to be cleaned up though."

Kankuro shrugged. "It's not that bad. C'mere."

He sat on the edge of the bed, pulling her along with him. He put his hands on her hips, running his thumbs along the waistband of her pants.

"Please do not wipe your dirty fingers on my trousers."

Kankuro moved his hands up so they were on her shirt. "Better?"

Miri rolled her eyes.

"Hey, I ran out of clean rags. Everything had to be oiled, sea water is hell on puppet joints."

"Not so good for the puppeteer either."

Kankuro snorted. "Yeah, yeah, I get it. Next time I'll get to dry land first."

"A splendid idea. Desert rats like yourself should leave the swimming to the experts."

There was no point in telling him how frightening it had been; he refused to listen to her worries. Kankuro was one of the most impulsive and fearless people she knew and sometimes he scared the hell out of her. Watching his puppets drop into the water had been like a knife to her stomach. Pulling his cold, limp body to shore had been a thousand times worse.

"Fortunately for you, I have an affinity for water," she added.

"An affinity?" Kankuro's eyes flicked up to hers and then down to her stomach to where her seal was, hidden under her shirt. "Yeah, I suppose you could call it that."

"I suppose." Miri slipped a finger under his chin and lifted it. "If you are going to use it again, it will need a name."

"What?"

"That attack. It will need a name."

Kankuro's face brightened. "Yeah, it will. Pretty damn impressive, eh?"

"The lights were pretty the way they danced across the sky. Like the northern lights. You should work that into the name."

"Pretty! Like hell! Stop that." He gave her a shake.

"Fine. It was impressive, as always. Now, if you are finished wiping your hands…"

A grin appeared on Kankuro's face. He slipped his hands under her shirt. "Not quite."

"Hey! Your hands are cold."

"And whose fault is that, huh?" The grin got broader and more than a little evil. "So you'll just have to make up for it by helping to warm them up."

-0000-

"Whoa, what would Kiba think of that, Sakura?" Naruto whispered.

"What would Akamaru think?" she whispered back. "Look at the size of that animal. And it's so beautiful."

The animal in question stretched and yawned, digging her claws into the wooden platform. Sleek muscle rippled under her striped coat. She and her mistress were escorting one of the other people attending the meeting. They were all waiting for luggage to be unloaded before heading into town.

"I never knew tigers came in that colour," Naruto said.

The tiger was white with bold purple-black stripes and dark blue eyes. She was the largest cat Naruto had ever seen; she was probably even bigger than Akamaru.

"They do in the Land of Snow, I guess. I never knew that there were cat-nins," Sakura said.

"Why not, it makes sense."

"Hmm, maybe, it's just that cats are so…"

The tiger made a loud noise, something between a grunt and a bark. She started to pace around the platform. She looked and sounded upset to Sakura.

"What's wrong with her, Miyako?"

"She's a little uneasy, Nejibana-san," the kunoichi answered the man waiting with her. "There are several scents nearby that she finds…disquieting."

Nejibana's eyebrows rose. "Should we be worried? Is there danger?"

"I don't think so. It's the Leaf shinobi." She nodded in Naruto's direction. "And the scent on some of the luggage." Miyako pointed. "The Sand shinobi's. It also disturbs her."

Kankuro shrugged. "Wouldn't worry about it. It's probably Miri's. She's off scouting around at the moment."

Nejibana nodded. "Ah, yes your…"

"Body guard," Kankuro finished for him, grinning. "She smells how she smells. Can't do much about it. Can't help you with Uzumaki either. He always smells a little weird."

"Hey!" Naruto protested.

Sakura rolled her eyes and thought about smacking the Sand shinobi, but she knew it would not help. Kankuro had changed in a lot ways since she had first met him: the stocky kid with one puppet and a heavily painted face had mastered dozens of puppets and now wore a simpler, but still fierce, design on his face. When Sakura had first met Kankuro, he had hated his brother, now he was the closest confidant of the Kazekage and had almost died trying to protect Gaara. However, some things had not changed; like his cocky attitude, his rough manners, and those big grins.

"Kankuro!" she scolded, keeping her voice low. "Don't say it like that."

"What? I don't know what you're talking about," he said, trying to look innocent (and failing). "On this mission that's what she is."

There was some truth to it. During the train ride, Kankuro had explained the reason for his presence at the meeting. As part of her efforts to keep the Land of Snow a self-sufficient country, Koyuki had called on experts from other lands to help repair the machine that could bring spring and summer to the land. The artificial spring and summer seasons were short, but they were still enough to allow some food to grow and to give people access to other resources on the land. If her people were going to remain independent they needed to continue using the machine. So when it had started to fail and none of her engineers had been able to fix it, she had reached out to experts in other lands for help. One of the people she had asked was Ebizo. Sakura had been surprised to learn that the old man was much more than a former council member and puppet maker. He was also an engineer who had been involved in designing some of the buildings and aqua ducts for Suna. After the destruction of Konoha, he had helped with some of the reconstruction. Sakura did not know much about such things, but everyone who did had hailed his designs as works of genius.

Ebizo had declined the invitation, saying that the trip and the climate would not agree with his aging bones, but had sent Kankuro in his place. Ebizo had been teaching him more than just puppet making, it seemed.

Takahashi frowned. "What is she looking for? How can she perform her function as a body guard if you are out of her sight?"

Kankuro shrugged. "She's not looking for anything. She's scouting, that means looking, not searching. She'll see what she sees and then find us."

Naruto laughed. "That sounds like something she'd say, right down to her funny accent. You're starting to sound like her Kankuro."

"Screw you. That is what she said." Kankuro paused. "How 'bout this, Takahashi, rub some catnip on Uzumaki, toss him to that big kitty over there, and we'll see how fast she gets back when he starts to squeal."

"Hey!"

"Well, you are bright and fluffy, just like a chew toy."

"Hey! At least I don't look like some crazy psycho clown."

"Kankuro! Naruto!" Sakura raised her fist. "Cut it out." She lowered her voice. "Really Kankuro, is this how Ebizo-jii-sama's representative should act?"

Kankuro wrinkled his nose. He had had this same lecture from Baki, Gaara, and Temari before he left. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Don't worry when I need to behave, I will. And c'mon, this isn't some S-rank. We were invited to help out, you guys as observers and to lend a hand with security. Easy work. Actually, I'm the only one who'll probably earn his pay on this week."

Sakura snorted. "Oh really? And the other night was…"

"A little exercise." He held up one hand, preventing Sakura from saying anything more. He lowered his voice. "And the reason for the scouting."

"Oh…"

Kankuro flicked a quick look over one shoulder. Miri had not returned and it was a few minutes past the time they had agreed upon for her reconnaissance. She was not so late that he was worried, not that he would, Miri was more than able to take care of herself, but it meant that she had found something of interest.

Easy mission, my ass, he thought, never had one of those. And something has not been right about this from the start.

Kankuro knew that Koyuki and the two Leaf shinobi had remained friends after they had helped her reclaim her inheritance, so he had not shared any of his suspicions about her with them. While it made sense to invite experts like Ebizo to help out, there was really no reason to invite the Leaf shinobi. Kankuro looked at the Snow kunoichi a moment.

After all, couldn't she just get protection from her own people? Unless…she doesn't trust them, he thought. And why now? That machine's been slowly failing for a few years. It's a real mystery. I hate fucking mysteries.

But there was no point in worrying Sakura and Naruto until there was something definitive to worry about. And Kankuro knew that Naruto was likely to run off half cocked and do something stupid if he heard of any hint of danger against Koyuki. People were always telling Kankuro that he was reckless, but he was nothing compared to Naruto.

"I appreciate the concern Takahashi, but it's fine. She'll find us when she's ready. So let's get going." He draped one arm over Sakura's shoulder. "You're all pink from the cold. It's pretty cute. You can sit next to me in those sleigh things they sent and I'll warm you up."

"Hey! Stop that!" Naruto exclaimed, his face going red.

"Don't get your panties in a bunch." Kankuro's other arm snaked around Naruto's neck. "Plenty of room for you too."

He began to walk, dragging a protesting Naruto along with him. Sakura gave him a smack and slipped free, but she started to walk too. Takahashi looked like he was going to say something else, but then turned and began to make arrangements for their bags. Sakura saw Nejibana shoot Kankuro a sour look before he turned away.

It's just like Kankuro, she thought, he's goofing around, but he's watching everything very closely. He's got to know that that little act of his doesn't fool me anymore.

She made a mental note to ask him about what Miri reported back to him. As she climbed into the sleigh, she saw Kankuro take a quick look back at the train and for a brief moment he looked worried.