A/N: Next chapter's here!
"Mimi, you're okay! Where were you?! I was so worried!" Rubi said, rushing to her when she spotted her with a medical nin who was assessing her shoulder wound after Shino dropped her off and left. "Oh no, you got hurt. Is everything alright?"
"Yeah, I'm okay," Mimi said, not bothering to tell Rubi about the events that just happened. She didn't need to know that she almost got killed. "I just got hit by one of those icicles." That wasn't a complete lie.
"Wow, that sucks. The weather's getting so crazy! I wonder what's going on…"
Mimi shrugged. According to what she just witnessed, they were under attack by some crazy queen. It was kind of scary to think about. Her village had never been infiltrated the time she'd been living there, until Kankuro, Kanjo, and Rojikku came along. The snow shinobi were very good at keeping trouble at bay.
"I wish I knew," Mimi said.
"So…" Rubi said, smiling.
"So what?" Mimi asked, looking at her uncertainly.
"How did it go?"
"How did what go?"
"With dog boy! Come on, don't play stupid. You have to tell me how it went."
This girl can't be serious. "Rubi, there was just a massive snowstorm in this hot ass desert, we're stuck in some crowded shelter with a bunch of other villagers who are probably freaking out right now, and you want to ask me how talking to some guy went? How do you think it went?"
"Hey, no need to get testy. It's not like there's anything we can do about it right now. I'm just trying to make the best out of the situation." Rubi said defensively.
"Are you not scared at all?" Mimi asked.
"A bit, but this has happened before. I remember the time the Kazekage protected us when some bad guy tried to blow up the whole village with some huge bomb that was falling from the sky. After that, I know the Kazekage can handle anything."
"Really? Wow, he must be pretty powerful to be able to do that." Mimi said, not entirely surprised. From what she's known about him, she expected he would be pretty powerful. She guessed risk of infiltration occurred more often down in the south if what Rubi told her was true. And based on the strength of the shinobi, Mimi believed it.
"So, I'm assuming it went badly. That sucks. You guys were getting along so well." Rubi continued.
Mimi sighed, shaking her head. She wasn't going to let it go. "It wasn't him that was the problem."
"Was it the dog?"
"No," Mimi laughed.
"Then what happened?" Rubi prodded, trying to think about what could have happened.
"Rubi, look at where we're at now. Do I really have to explain what happened?"
Rubi took a good look at Mimi, trying to figure her out.
"I bet it has something to do with Kankuro, that's why you don't wanna say anything." Rubi said, bursting out in laughter after she saw the look on her face. "So it did have something to do with him!"
"Why do you keep thinking he's involved in everything?" Mimi said. "I told you we don't even talk."
"What did he do?" She asked enthusiastically, ignoring her comment. Mimi presumed that at this point she knew they still talked anyway.
"You love drama, don't you," Mimi said dully, giving in. "He just walked up to us and he told Kiba that I still wasn't over my ex, which isn't even true anymore. I got mad and walked away, but I'm over it. After all this commotion, I don't even care why he did it. It's not the first time he's done something not so nice so it's not at all surprising. It blows, though. I was about to get asked out on a date."
"Get out, he seriously did that?" Rubi said, laughing. "Oh my God, that's too funny!"
"I don't see anything funny about it. Do you know how embarrassing that was?" Mimi said, sighing. "I don't even wanna think about it."
"And you're not mad at him?" Rubi asked.
"No. We talked it out." Mimi said. "No big deal. Better luck next time. There's more fish in the sea."
"Oh, that's cold blooded, Mimi." Rubi said. "I like it."
"What are you talking—ugh, just forget it." Mimi said, looking around. She wondered how long they were going to have to stay in here. After what happened earlier, she was pretty worried about Kankuro and the others. She wished there was more she could do.
Up ahead, Mimi saw Temari walking around, and started to walk toward Mimi when their eyes locked.
"Hey, is everything alright? What happened to your shoulder?" She asked.
"I just got hit by an icicle. It'll be fine," Mimi said. "How have you been? You seem bothered."
"I'm okay, I just wish things could be different." Temari said eyeing her skeptically. Mimi knew that she could tell she wasn't telling the whole truth. "It's not in my nature to just sit around and wait for something to fix itself. I'm at least doing my best to maintain order in here and prevent everyone from panicking."
"I know you want to help, but I think for now you should just lay low and not stress yourself out."
"I know you're right. I'm just worried."
"We all are." Mimi said empathetically.
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The sky was red, as if this world was overtaken by a dying sun. Looking around, it looked like they were in a dying, desolate world that had been destroyed long ago by evil forces. The trees looked dead and dreary, with an occasional rustling of dead, dried leaves dancing along the ground when a slow wind would pass. Even the wind blowing seemed lifeless, as if it lost its strength. The dirt on the ground lacked richness, with hints of withering plant life. From the looks of it, it didn't seem like much went on here. It was like they entered a post-apocalyptic planet. It was almost unbelievable that the portal to the world they came from was right behind them, and all it took was one step to enter this barren land.
"Happy place," Kankuro said disdainfully, the dried leaves and grass crunching under his feet as he started to walk.
"It's much quieter than I expected." Rojikku said.
"The Queen must be over there," Kabuto said, pointing at a peak in the distance. There seemed to be a tower that surpassed the peak of the mountain as well. That could be where the Queen is trapped. "We must be careful. There might be dangerous creatures around."
"Let's get going," Kanjo said.
Kabuto, I can sense your presence in this land. Thank you for choosing to help me. Follow the mountain that you see. Please be careful! Kabuto heard in his head.
"You're right," Kabuto said to Kanjo. "We have to hurry."
As they anticipated travelling towards the mountain peak, they entered what was left of what seemed to be woods, filled with black, withered trees that blocked the already dim sky. Eventually the woods got to the point where everything was pitch black, where the little sunlight that was available in this world wasn't able to enter the tree filled lifeless woods.
"You couldn't think of another way to get to this mountain?" Kanjo said to Kabuto. "How on earth are we gonna get there if we can't see anything?"
"There was no other way through," Kabuto said. "We don't have the time to attempt trying to find another route."
"It's alright; I have a solution to this." Rojikku said, using a jutsu to send chakra to his hands, causing them to glow brightly. It was able to give them some visibility of what was ahead of them, which was a barely trekked dirt road, as if it used to be used often at some point long ago.
But as they continued to walk along the narrow, abandoned path, there were sounds in the distance, and low growling. This caused them to walk slowly, Rojikku scanning the environment around him to anticipate the unexpected.
In an instant, the four shinobi were surrounded by giant, wrinkly, hairless beasts, with multiple eyes all over their head, and pincers with green venom pouring out of their mouths. Though severely deformed, their bodies had humanoid characteristics, though hard to see through the worms that were crawling between holes that were on their skin, showing decay.
"What the hell is that?" Kankuro said, before a piercing screech came from one of them, attempting to attack him.
In a moment, a whole group of these creatures tried to attack them from all directions. Rojikku tried his best to keep the light bright enough for everyone to be able to see, but they had to rely on their instincts for the most part. Though they were very strong, they were very slow and easy to dodge. They didn't seem very smart either, and it didn't take long to defeat them. But Kankuro started to feel a searing pain in his left hand. When he looked at it, he saw his skin was torn, and you could see some of his bones through the wound. He must have gotten bitten and didn't notice.
"Oh, that looks bad," Rojikku commented, flashing the light he was making over Kankuro's hand.
"I can treat that," Kabuto said, taking Kankuro's hand.
"Bravo," a voice said, clapping indistinctively within the bushel of dead trees.
"Who said that?" Kankuro said, looking around. "It sounds like you, Kabuto."
"But I'm right here." Kabuto said uneasily, looking around to see where the voice came from.
Walking over the pile of the now dead creatures, appeared a sick looking, emaciated figure…that looked just like Kabuto, instead his skin was coming off in different parts of his body, and you could see his skull on one half of his face. The disturbing part was the fact that his eyeball was still there, moving around eerily.
"It's not often I come across such great skill," he said. It was kind of unsettling to see him talk.
"Who are you?" Kabuto asked.
The man laughed. "Who am I? I am you."
"You're not me," Kabuto said in disgust. "We won't be able to be in the same world."
"Well, of course you would be able to come here with ease. I can't say so much for myself…I mean, look at the state of this place. Look at the state I'm in…a fate so many horrible people suffered. Over time, our will has weakened. We won't survive well in other worlds like you can." He said, laughing. "But don't feel so bad. At least I didn't turn into any of those monsters that you've killed. It means there's some good in you." He teased, walking in front of him.
"Get away from me," Kabuto said earnestly, holding a kunai to his face threateningly.
"I'm afraid I can't do that," he said casually. "It's quite fun to watch all of you suffer. I was hoping to have those flesh eating demons get to you, but I should have known that it would take more to defeat my counterpart and his comrades. How about we play around for a bit?"
In a second there was a ring of purple fire surrounding them, slowly getting smaller, the fire getting more restless, and hotter. Kanjo tried to blow it away with his jutsu, but it resurfaced. Kabuto's counterpart started to laugh hysterically.
"It looks like you guys are going to have a long and gruesome death," he said. "A shame to see you go so quickly. I would have expected a better fight."
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"Matsuri, stay here and guard the portal. Make sure no one goes through, and prepare for anything that might come back out," Gaara ordered. "I will leave Shino here with you as backup."
Matsuri nodded, Shino joining her next to the green portal.
Going back outside, Gaara saw many buildings destroyed, others crumbled straight to the ground. He saw giant ice pellets knocking down more buildings, and he rushed to the source of the destruction, with the others following him.
Gaara didn't expect to see what he saw. There was a bunch of humanoid…ice people that were causing the destruction. He was going to have to summon more sand shinobi to deal with this.
"We have to find the source of where this is coming from," one of the snow shinobi said.
"It's some kind of weird jutsu, kind of like Naruto's," Kiba commented. "But we can get rid of these things, right Akamaru?"
"Wait, that's it," Shikamaru said, Gaara understanding his idea.
"Naruto, use your shadow clones. We'll try to find the queen. She has to be around here somewhere." Gaara said.
"I think you should stay with Naruto," Shikamaru said to Gaara.
"And why is that?" Gaara asked. "It is my job to get to the bottom of this."
"Yes, but we have to find a way to subdue her first," Shikamaru explained. "She's trying to look for you. This could be a ply for your attention. We don't know what she has up her sleeve. We're going to have to keep you away to play it safe. Since the sand is frozen, all you have is the sand in your gourd to defend yourself. If we jump into this, it could turn out badly. We can leave you with Naruto and some snow shinobi so you won't be left alone while we try to find her."
Gaara nodded, agreeing with Shikamaru. One of the silver eyed snow shinobi looked around, trying to sense where the source was coming from. He then pointed East, saying something.
"He said he can see her form," one of the other snow shinobi translated.
"How does he know?" Shikamaru asked.
"Their eyes. They can see temperature, and can be able to detect different forms of snow easily. Let's follow him," the snow shinobi replied, walking behind his comrade with the kekkei genkai.
Eventually, they saw the queen standing in the distance. As she saw them approaching, she made an array of large icicles. Before Shikamaru could think about what to plan next, the snow shinobi that were with them with the kekkei genkai were able to make a wall of ice to stop the attack, which then continued to subdue the icicles, rendering them useless. The snow shinobi then trapped the queen in a cube of ice with a wave of his hand. Shikamaru took the opportunity to restrain her with his shadows just in case she tried to run away, secretly appreciating having these guys on their side.
The queen was easily able to break out of the ice, shards shattering in all directions, and though she had some ability to fight off Shikamaru's shadow jutsu, her movements were still heavily restricted.
"I know where your villagers are hidden." The queen said in a broken southern dialect. "I will not hesitate to shatter the shelter they are hiding in," she threatened, raising her now healed hand to a durable building in the distance.
"That is not necessary," Shikamaru heard Gaara say from behind him, Naruto standing in front of him in a fighting stance, with an army of sand shinobi ready for battle behind Gaara. "There is no need to put my people in harm's way. You have not informed me what you want."
"Ah, so you are the leader," the queen said, putting her hands in his direction, glowing blue. "If this is the village that was able to set me free, then your residents must be highly qualified to work for me. You can either surrender the easy way or the hard way. Join me or die."
"You gotta be crazy if you think we're gonna give in that easily, blue lady," Naruto said angrily. "You don't know who you're messing with."
Gaara's sand lingered out of his gourd, ready for a fight. He may not be able to use as much sand as he wanted, but that didn't threaten him in the least.
The queen, agitated, fought herself out of the jutsu that was restraining her, tossing a huge boulder of ice towards Shikamaru.
"You're a nuisance," she said to him. "Don't try to stun me with your tricks."
Before the boulder could hit him, a shield of sand blocked the large boulder from hitting him, and it fell limply to the ground in front of him. This lady was extremely troublesome, but he had a feeling they had to be really careful with her. Not many people can fight off his shadow jutsu with such ease. She was holding back. He saw the queen rush towards Gaara with inhuman speed. He knew she was going to be too fast to try and catch her in his shadow again. But Naruto was still standing in front of Gaara. Surely he would be able to stop her.
But before she was able to get any closer, two tornadoes dashed at her, throwing her on her back, sliding into a building, causing the walls to crumble. Kiba and Akamaru were able to push her away with their fang over fang technique.
"You are outnumbered," Gaara said to her, crossing his arms. "There is a whole army behind me. Your efforts to overpower the village are futile."
The queen got up, teleporting in front of Gaara, but she found she wasn't able to move again. The boulder she threw at Shikamaru provided him with a very convenient shadow, and Shikamaru attempted to suffocate her with the shadows. But even with the added effort, the queen fought even harder to escape his jutsu, backslapping him roughly. He flew a couple of feet, landing roughly on his back on the frozen ground.
"You're nothing but an annoyance," She said to him, tossing daggers of ice, but Kiba was able to push him out the way on time.
Before Naruto was going to attack, the queen trapped him in a cage of ice, leaving Gaara open.
"I see you want to do this the hard way," The queen said, standing in front of the expressionless Kazekage. "I'm done playing games with you and your comrades."
"Based on your actions toward my village, you are not somebody I want to waste my time negotiating with." Gaara said, burying her in his sand.
"G-get me out of this!" The queen struggled to say, getting crushed by the pressure of the sand.
Gaara ignored her request, attempting to crush her quickly, but she was starting to fight back, resisting the increasing pressure.
"You are quite the challenge. I can see why you would be the leader of this village," the queen said. "But I will not be defeated that easily. Do you really think I'm that weak? I'm determined to destroy this world, just like mine was taken from me!"
Breaking away from Gaara's sand, the queen grew, and grew, and grew. Her skin turned a scaly white, her arms and legs turning into large, scaly legs with long claws. She grew a long tail, and her face changed, eliminating any evidence that the monster towering over them was a woman beforehand.
"It's a dragon," one of the sand shinobi said.
The white dragon roared loudly, using its tail to hit the building that all the villagers were sheltered in. There were loud screams as some of the villagers got tossed in the air with the large rubble.
"Attack!" One of the sand shinobi yelled, and the whole army threw various weapons, trying to weaken the dragon.
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The purple ring of fire kept closing in on them, but Kankuro realized it didn't affect his strings of chakra. Using that to his advantage, he was able to attack Kabuto's counterpart from a distance, causing the flames to wane. Poisoning him, the counterpart fell to the ground, the dying skin that was left of him starting to decay more.
Kabuto took the opportunity to attack his counterpart, preferring to take him out of his torture...and also because he didn't want to stay around to see himself disintegrate like a corpse. His eye sockets emptied into soulless holes, but before he took his last breath, he looked straight at Kabuto, laughing.
"This is all for naught," he said self-righteously. "The Creator has abandoned us…" And his smug smile faded, an empty shell of a body being left behind. Eventually, all the fallen bodies disappeared into dust as the wind blew. It left a very eerie feeling in the air.
As the four shinobi walked on, none of them could shake the eerie feeling that even though it seemed vacant for miles, there was an uncanny feeling of them being watched. There were even moments where they felt someone breathing down their necks, but the breath was cold and shallow, and when they turned around, nothing was there. There were noises, like laughing children, which were loud enough to be audible, but faint enough for you to question if it was your mind playing tricks on you. Eventually, it turned into manifestations of shadows they would see in the corner of their eyes, as the fading sun slowly started to sneak back into the woods again.
As they tried to focus on their goal, it was like the woods, or whatever was trying to play tricks on them, did not give up. It seemed to be taunting them, but Rojikku and Kanjo seemed undisturbed. Kabuto put all his effort to remain stoic and keep going, and Kankuro was just annoyed.
Then they saw something standing in the road some distance straight ahead. It was a short figure, and it stood still. Ultimately, the figure started taking slow, slight steps toward them, and as it got closer, they got to see that it was a young, pale boy, who was in a giant, baggy shirt, looking heavily malnourished. He started to walk faster toward them, and Kabuto and Kankuro got uneasy. The boy was walking abnormally, as if he were possessed by something.
He kept walking faster, until he got less than a few feet away from them, then he stopped abruptly. As he looked up at them, they noticed that the boy had no eyes in his eye sockets.
"Please give me something to eat, I'm hungry." He said robotically, putting his arm out.
None of them moved. They knew he was not a boy. Ever since they saw him in the distance, they got a weird feeling that this was something evil, like the boy was a part of the aura of the whole forest itself, as if the forest they were walking in had its own sentience.
The boy put his arm down limply, after noticing that he wasn't going to be given anything. He stood there awkwardly for a minute, looking at the four of them.
"You should offer a payment for trespassing here," he said in a voice that made them apprehensive, and he instantaneously ended up less than an inch in front of them, his mouth opening like a gaping black hole, screeching, as if bringing the whole forest alive and aware. The dead trees in the forest started moving and convulsing, its roots moving toward them. They tried to run, but the roots of the tree had them grounded in one area, growing upwards, attempting to pull them into the ground. But in a flash, the forest was back to normal, as if nothing happened.
"It's trying to mess with our heads," Rojikku said. "Let's keep going."
The hallucinations slowly diminished as they ignored them, and soon after the trees started to become sparse. They ended up getting to the end of the forest, and now entered a wasteland roaming with monsters. Some of them tried to throw explosives at them, others tried to swallow their weapons whole. And then there were others that threw poison and fireballs. Between the four of them, they were able to fight them off as long as they didn't attract too much attention to themselves. They saw the mountain slowly getting bigger up ahead, and they knew they would be able to reach the mountain pretty soon.
But Kabuto couldn't help but think back to what he saw in the forest. He couldn't shake the fact that his counterpart looked that way in this world. What was this place anyway? A parallel universe? What did that really show about him? Was he really that far gone? And what about the other three? Where were their counterparts? But it confused him. Maybe it was just the forest messing with his head. Was he the most vulnerable out of the four of them? Rojikku and Kanjo didn't seem intimidated by anything in the least in this world. And Kankuro seemed less bothrered than he did. It wouldn't surprise him if he found out the siblings had no hearts. They remained stoic when it came to a lot of things, the Kazekage more than the other two. Then again, none of them saw a deformed, twisted version of themselves. He couldn't help but wonder if it actually meant anything.
Lost in his thoughts, Kabuto didn't notice when they started to approach the foot of the mountain. Looking up, they saw a structure at the peak. That must be where the queen is located. They were able to ascend the mountain easily using the simple climbing technique, but upon entering the castle, there were three huge doors, one on each wall. They were all locked, but the door standing in front of them was the only one with a giant keyhole. They tried attacking the doors and picking the locks, but none of them would budge.
"I'm climbing the castle to the top of the tower," Kanjo said. "We don't have time for this shit."
"Don't be foolish." Kankuro said. "That's a deathwish."
"Being in this whole damn dimension is a deathwish." Kanjo said. "It wouldn't matter much."
"Kankuro is right," Rojikku interjected. "We can't guarantee that the queen will be at the top of the tower. We don't know her location in this castle. We need to think this through logically. From the way it looks, we're going to have to work with the way the castle is. We can't break through the walls or any of the doors, indicating that there is probably some type of otherworldly chakra that's inhibiting us. But it seems as if there are clues to get us through."
"Like a puzzle," Kabuto said, looking around. "Look, there are four statues up ahead. One of them is out of place."
Kankuro pushed the heavy statue next to the other three, and it descended slightly into the ground. The tile under the statue was like a giant button, opening two doors on the side walls, the one with the giant keyhole staying locked shut. Rojikku and Kanjo went through one door, while Kankuro and Kabuto went through the other one.
Once Kankuro and Kabuto entered the room, the door slammed loudly behind them, locking them inside. They immediately started getting bombarded with a huge army of hairy, one-eyed monsters that threw spikes in all directions. Luckily for Kankuro, he defeated them easily, Kabuto helping. But then they felt the whole room shaking.
A huge part of the ceiling caved in, causing a giant, gaping hole to form above them. A giant one eyed monster that almost touched the tall ceiling in height landed on the ground through the hole, shaking the floor beneath them, causing them to lose their footing. It looked around with its big eye, blinking stupidly when it saw Kabuto and Kankuro. Sensing them as a threat, it puffed up its round body, its fur raising, showing giant spikes with fire at the tips. They spent a good amount of time running and dodging its attacks, trying to figure out how to defeat it since it seemed to be impermeable to their attacks.
"It has to have a weak spot," Kankuro said, dodging an onslaught of deadly spikes.
"You're right," Kabuto said. "There's small shiny thing at the top of its eye."
"I'll aim for it," Kankuro said, using a puppet to aim at the spot.
As expected, the monster let out a cry in pain as Kankuro hit it. At first, it seemed to infuriate the monster, but they noticed it had more trouble attacking the more they hit it at its weak spot. Eventually, the monster caved, solidifying into a rocky substance, and then crumbling into a pile of dust on the ground. The only thing left was whatever was shining on its head, and a giant key. Kabuto took the key, and Kankuro kneeled down to pick up a small green jewel. It looked like a piece of broken glass.
Don't touch that jewel. It is dangerous! Kabuto heard a voice say in his head. I am trapped in one. You are close to finding me. Continue on to the next room.
"Leave it there. We have no idea what it can do," Kabuto said. "Let's go."
Kankuro put it down, surprised that Kabuto would leave it alone. If it was on the monster, it had to be potentially powerful, and was something he would normally be interested in. But Kabuto's been acting weird since they left that forest.
The door reopened, and they were able to return to the room they were in before. Rojikku and Kanjo were waiting for them.
"Are you guys alright? What was going on in there?" Rojikku asked.
"There was a monster. We were locked in until we were able to defeat it." Kankuro said.
"That blows. We just had to figure out some complicated puzzle. I let Rojikku figure it out." Kanjo said. "We managed to get this key, but it's not able to open the door. Kabuto, can you heal my finger? I got a small cut."
"You're going to make him waste his energy over a small cut?" Rojikku asked. "You're being ludicrous."
"The key we have must be the one to open it, then," Kabuto said ignoring Kanjo's stupid request, putting the giant key in the lock.
The door clicked, opening.
"I wonder what this key is for," Kanjo said, looking at the key he was holding.
"It's probably a key to something else in this castle." Rojikku said, walking through the unlocked door.
"Look, there's a box with a keyhole up ahead," Kankuro said, walking toward it, following Rojikku.
Kanjo rushed to the box, using the key to unlock it. Inside was a map.
"Not this shit again," Kanjo said in frustration.
"At least this one's comprehensible," Rojikku said, looking at the map inquisitively. "It looks like it'll be one of the rooms in this castle."
"But there are no other rooms to enter from this point on," Kankuro said.
But the floor started to ascend, and it brought them to another floor above them, since this room had an unnaturally high ceiling. Up ahead was a maze, which had constantly changing walls. Looking down at the map, Rojikku noticed that the map would change depending on how the walls would change.
"We need to be careful not to get separated. We could end up getting lost easily." Kabuto said, as he looked over to see the map.
The others agreed, making sure to stay near so they won't get separated once the walls decided to change unexpectedly. When this happened, it was almost as if starting over, since they had to reroute their path, but they were finally able to get to the end of the maze. At the end of the maze stood a large, intimidating door. It opened on its own once the four shinobi exited the maze. Kabuto felt the queen's presence on the other side of the door. As Kankuro and Kabuto walked through, the door immediately slammed shut again, locking Kanjo and Rojikku outside. Based on what happened earlier, the both of them didn't take that as a very good sign.
Up ahead, there was a large, green jewel floating. Kabuto noticed the queen was inside, eyes closed, as if frozen in time, and unconscious. Before he attempted to rush to the jewel, a giant eagle flew in front of them, blocking them in the way of the trapped queen. The gust of wind threw them back as it spread its large wings, flying around the huge room. It aimed itself at Kabuto, grabbing him with its huge talons. Kabuto tried to fight him off, but it ascended at a high altitude, dropping him. Kankuro caught him using his chakra strings, bringing him to safety before he plummeted to the ground.
The large eagle continued to make strong winds, making it hard for them to attack the eagle. The eagle then swooped downward to try and catch Kankuro, but he dodged it, predicting his moves from what he had done before.
"There's a jewel on his head, too," Kabuto pointed out after getting a good glimpse of its face as it missed.
"How are we going to be able to aim at that one?" Kankuro said. "It keeps flying around everywhere. It's way too fast."
"We're going to have to attack it head on," Kabuto said. "I'll be able to reach it with your help."
"That's risky," Kankuro told him.
"I know," Kabuto said, looking up at the angry eagle. "But we have to do it."
The eagle started to dive down at them again, and Kabuto took the opportunity to reach up to the eagle as high as possible with Kankuro's help. If anything went wrong, he would probably get torn in half by its strong beak, but he didn't have a choice. He already made it this far. He had to do this.
Waiting for the right moment, Kabuto prepared a chakra scalpel strike. If he hit it with exactitude, the jewel should shatter. But the chances of it were slim.
The bird got closer, and Kabuto focused on the middle of its forehead. If he missed, this would all be in vain. And when the moment came, it was like time went in slow motion as he striked the bird.
Kabuto felt himself being shoved in the air as the bird bumped into him, and he thought he missed. He thought this was it. But he felt himself get gently put down on his feet. He stood, rubbing his arm where the eagle had shoved him roughly. There was no sign of serious injury. As much of a relief as that was, he looked up towards the high ceiling of this room in the castle to see if he missed.
The eagle's movements got slower, and eventually it spiraled to the ground, weakened heavily as the jewel shattered into smithereens, almost as if it were evaporating from existence. To Kabuto's and Kankuro's surprise, though, the large eagle did not turn into a pile of dust like the last monster they were put to fight. Instead, it…talked to them. But its beak wasn't moving. It was communicating to them telepathically.
I thank you for freeing me from my imprisonment. The big bird said to them. I apologize for my aggression. The Queen of this land, Queen Oyko, had attached the jewel to me before she left to a parallel universe, to be able to stop anyone who tried to save the queen that she switched places with. These jewels hold tremendous power in them, and were heavily sought out for in our world. But not many can be able to control the power it granted them. Regardless, it still caused greed, corruption, and war. Eventually, our ancestors from the stars had had enough of our behavior, and came down to collect all the residents of this planet who were not swayed by greed and power, and took them to another planet to start a new life, for this planet was dying as a result from all the wars. The rest of the residents who were corrupt were left on this planet to die with it when the time comes, and they turned into what their hearts represented. Queen Oyko…she wasn't ready to start a new life on another planet. She couldn't let go of the beauty that her land used to have, and refused to leave. I told our star brothers that I will choose to stay with her, and try to convince her otherwise, but to no avail. After they left us behind, she had gotten resentful, and used magic to take her to a time where she would get a second chance to rule once again in a similar world. At this point, she wanted revenge, and found her counterpart, switching places with her as she took advantage of her naiveté. She was angry, and assured that if her own world can't survive, then she will cause misery and destroy all others that she was to come across. But the time has come. Hopefully, when you return your queen back to your world, she will decide to finally come with me to the new planet that awaits us, and repent her actions.
"It doesn't seem like she's gonna repent anytime soon from the looks of it," Kankuro commented, remembering the fight he had with her.
I have faith in her. The eagle said.
Kankuro nodded. He could empathize with the bird. He himself had faith in someone who was thought to be far gone from any form of morality, and it turned out well. He was very proud of what Gaara has become. But from an outside perspective, it was very hard to believe.
The eagle looked at the large jewel with the sleeping queen inside, and they saw that the giant jewel started to crack, the pieces eventually crashing to the ground like a broken mirror. A soft, glowing light surrounded the beautiful Queen Hokkyo, her eyes opening as it faded away, her feet touching the ground.
"Thank you for saving me, Kabuto," Queen Hokkyo said to him. "I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you or your comrades. I have learned from my mistakes in dabbling in something I was not prepared for. I have put our own world in danger, but now is the time for all this to end. We must return to the portal and hurry back."
I sense the portal may be closing. I will fly all of you. You will not make it back on time on foot. The eagle said, or thought, to be exact.
The door to the chamber reopened, Kanjo and Rojikku running inside.
"What happened?" Rojikku asked, looking at the giant bird standing majestically before him, confused.
"Let's go, we have the Queen." Kabuto said, helping the queen sit on the eagle's back, following suit after helping her. "The bird will be flying us back. He said the portal might be closing soon."
"How do we know to trust him?" Kanjo asked.
I have my own motives in helping you. I would like my queen to return where she belongs. She has no place in your world.
"Did he just talk to me in my head?" Kanjo asked.
"We don't have much time," Queen Hokkyo said. "We must go."
Kankuro was still trying to process all the eagle had said…and trying to process that this giant bird was even communicating with him through thoughts. In reality, he felt it as an invasion of his privacy. He would much prefer people don't intrude in his head. And in this parallel universe, magic was rampant, but the world is almost dead as well. He started to wonder if his counterpart had left to the other planet. What about Gaara's? Or Temari's? Kabuto's had stood, but he didn't lose himself like the humanoid monsters did. That must have meant something. It was actually pretty sad to see the world in this state. Had things gone differently, his world could have suffered the same fate. They've had pretty close calls in the past.
"Come on!" Kanjo said to Kankuro. "Unless you wanna stay here."
"I'm coming," he said, placing himself on the large bird.
The ceiling was high, and the bird ascended through a large opening at the top. It appeared that this castle had many floors, but they were destroyed and in disarray. They ended up surfing through the red sky, and looking down at the land below them was really a wakeup call of how destroyed this world was. There wasn't a sign of plant life. Everything was dead and dry, sucked out and wrinkled like a prune. It was as if the life force of this planet was disappearing.
"I think I'm gonna be airsick," Rojikku said as the eagle quickly soared through the dim skies.
"You better not," Kanjo said threateningly.
As they landed in front of the shrinking portal, the eagle looked up in the sky in anticipation.
They are coming, the eagle said to them. They have returned for us. They too have faith that the queen will change. The people need her leadership.
Looking up, Kankuro saw a bright light appear in the sky. It got bigger, and as it descended to the ground, he saw that it was some type of huge airship as the lights turned off. It made no sound, and no one seemed to exit the ship. Of course, their visit wasn't for them. It was for that evil queen.
"Thank you for your help," Queen Hokkyo said as everyone got off of the eagle.
The eagle started to glow, and turned into a man standing before them.
"Captain," Kanjo and Rojikku said at the same time. It looked just like the captain they had encountered in their journey, but he had light blue hair instead.
"I'm not the captain that you think I am," the man said to them, no need for telepathy in his human form.
"You're the counterpart of him in this universe," Rojikku said to him.
He nodded. "You must all go, the portal is about to close. Unfortunately, we won't see each other after this, and I think that is best. There is no need to mingle between parallel universes. It is dangerous and messes up the multiversal balance."
"How do you know we won't see each other anymore?" Kanjo asked.
"The satchel of seeds you used to get here were the last of the seeds. They did not originate in your world. They originated in this one and many magicians would travel and trade between parallel universes over the centuries. As this world descended into chaos, the seeds got more and more scarce. There are none left. I wish you luck in your future endeavors."
"I wish you luck in yours," Kabuto said, then looking at the queen. "You first."
The queen bid goodbye to what used to be the giant eagle, taking one last look at the odd ship, and the world she was stuck in for so many years, and walked towards the quickly shrinking portal which was getting ready to close.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Oh, God, hide me," Mimi said to Temari, standing behind her, taking advantage of her height.
"Why?" Temari said a bit annoyed. She didn't like seeing acts of cowardice.
"There's Shimo-sama over there. I don't want her to see me."
"Why not?"
"Because I got a little rude the last time we spoke. And she thinks I'm crazy."
"Stop being a wimp. So what if she sees you? If she has something to say, take that as an opportunity to talk it out," Temari said, putting Mimi to sit down next to Rubi, who was now talking with Sutera, a coworker from their job.
"Come on Temari! I helped you out when you wanted to hide from your brothers!" Mimi exclaimed.
"And look how that turned out," Temari said flatly. "My fiancé ended up with a black eye. I think I learned my lesson."
Mimi groaned. She had a point. It never helped to run away from your problems. They just ended up sneaking up on you again, with a huger issue than if you would have just faced it when it was needed.
"Himitsu," Mimi heard a familiar voice say. Damn, she saw her.
"Hello, Shimo-sama…" Mimi said, looking up at her.
"Come with me, I want to speak with you."
Mimi reluctantly got up, and they walked to a slightly less packed part of the shelter they were in.
"I want to apologize for how I've been acting, Shimo-sama." Mimi started to say. "Maybe you're right. Maybe there is something wrong with me, but I just think that I need some time on my own to figure myself out. I do appreciate your concern."
"That's not what I wanted to speak to you about," Shimo-sama stated. "I've come to understand that I can lead a horse to water, but I can't make them drink it. The most I can do is hope that you remain safe and make wiser decisions in the future."
"What did you want to speak to me about, then?" Mimi asked.
"I wanted to say that…sometimes things never turn out the way one expects. What turned out to be animosity between two villages has turned into comradeship. I plan to take the opportunity to become allies with this village if they are successful in having our queen return. It would be a good way for our village to be less isolated from outsiders, and may also be beneficial for our bank, and hopefully avoid any infiltrations from stronger villages."
"That's great, Shimo-sama," Mimi stated. But why was she telling her this?
"If this turns out well, you might be able to stay here," Shimo-sama stated, as if knowing what she was thinking. "And I will welcome you back to the village freely, in hopes that you won't do anything like this again. I can see that you meant no harm, but I hope you will be more mindful of the welfare of others next time you are troubled. You can always come to me if something is bothering you."
"Oh, well, thank you," Mimi said. "I don't think I should come to you for my…silly problems, though."
"I live for my villagers, Himitsu. I don't think any of your issues are silly."
Mimi nodded. Before she could reply, there was a huge crash, the walls crumbling. There were screams everywhere.
"Shimo-sama, hide!" Mimi said, pushing her to a corner that was unscathed.
Before Mimi was able to find a place to stay safe, a huge, white scaly thing swiped through the whole place, tossing people everywhere. What was that?
All Mimi could remember was the white thing hitting her and a couple of others, and they all crashed through the wall, soaring in the air before hitting the ground.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Wake up, wake up!" Mimi heard someone say tearfully as she was being shaken.
It took a couple of seconds for Mimi's eyesight to sharpen, as everything was blurry. She sat up, shaking her head, looking around.
"Are you okay?" Mimi heard. Looking at the person who said it, she saw it was Rubi.
"What just happened?" Mimi said. She saw she was sitting outside on the snow, with a couple of other villagers she didn't recognize surrounding her.
"We all got hit by the tail of that thing!" An old male villager said, pointing at the white dragon that was now flying over the sky, trying to freeze everything in sight with ice coming from its mouth.
"Holy crap," Mimi said, looking up in the sky. Not too far from the dragon, was the Kazekage, standing on a patch of sand in the sky that he had in his gourd. There seemed to be others standing on the sand too.
"Is everyone alright?" Rubi said.
"Yeah, but I don't think we should stay outside," a blonde villager with bright blue eyes said. It was Sutera.
"Where are we going to go?" An old woman asked.
"Look, that building over there is unscathed." Mimi said, looking ahead. "We can stay there for now."
They all rushed to the building quickly, scared that they were going to freeze to death from the dragon's ice breath. Rubi opened one of the doors inside the building, barging in the first room she came across. To their surprise, there were two people already there.
"What are you guys doing here?" Matsuri asked them. "You were supposed to stay in the shelter!"
"Ease up, lady, we got tossed out the shelter by some monster's tail and landed on some snow nearby." An adult male villager that was with them told her. "We were just trying to find a place to stay until the Kazekage takes care of that dragon that's flying outside."
"There's a dragon outside?" Shino asked. "That's not something I would have expected."
"I know the Kazekage can handle this," Matsuri said. Even though Mimi agreed with her, she could see the worry on her face.
"It would be safer if you just stay in this room with us for now," Shino said to the villagers. "Just stay away from this mirror."
"Why does it have a green circle in it?" Sutera asked.
"That is none of your concern," Shino said matter-of-factly.
"It's getting smaller," Matsuri said, looking at Shino.
"There's still time. Nothing is set in stone yet." Shino assured Matsuri.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Taking the battle into the air, Gaara stood with Naruto and Kiba on his sand, facing the white beast before them. Many sand shinobi were throwing weapons from below, and though it was enough to stun the dragon, it was no match for defeating it. It turned into a long battle of dodging and offensive attacks that didn't seem to hurt the dragon at all. The dragon soon started to get the upper hand, managing to hit Kiba, tossing him off of Gaara's sand. Gaara was able to catch him, but he had been knocked out. Gaara put Kiba down on the ground, Akamaru taking him to safety.
Gaara aimed a dagger of sand at the dragon's chest, and it cringed as it hit her.
"Hey look, there's something on its chest. I'm gonna hit it," Naruto said.
Naruto made a bunch of clones, using rasengans to attack surrounding the dragon, but the dragon was able to fight the clones off. However, this was just a distraction, as Naruto took the opportunity to throw a rasenshuriken at the dragon's chest.
Gaara caught Naruto, safetly bringing him back to where he was located. The item on the dragon's chest shattered, and it transformed back into a woman, who plummeted straight to the ground.
Walking to where the woman was located, they saw her on her knees, sobbing.
"This shouldn't have happened…all my power, gone." Queen Oyko said, disappointed, glaring up at Gaara and Naruto as they approached her. "It's not fair. Why do you get to keep your land?! Why did I have to suffer and lose mine! Everyone left me to live in some other planet. And now my world is going to rot…you will never know what it's like. You're lucky," she said, devastated.
"You think we don't know what it's like to risk losing all we have?!" Naruto said angrily, showing her his bandaged arm. "This is only one sign of what I had to go through to make sure life as we know it didn't end. Our moon threatened to crash into our world, destroying the rest of us. But we've won as many battles as we've lost. And you know what we did when we lost? We didn't stop believing. We didn't give up just because something didn't go our way. So many of my friends died in battle. I grew up not knowing who my parents were. No one liked me. I know what it's like to not have anything, but that didn't make me stop believing, and it doesn't help to take your anger out on others!"
The Queen stared at Naruto, speechless.
"I used to be like you." Gaara said, walking to her. "The way you're channeling your anger will only make you feel emptier. You say your people left to another planet as your current one has been in disrepair. You are their leader, but as a leader, your role is to serve their needs, not yours. A new beginning is what they wanted. They need you, and you should return to them. I assure you choosing a new beginning was as hard a decision for them as it was for you. But you have to think of the greater good of the people who chose you as their queen. Sometimes, you have to accept letting go and starting a new chapter of your life. No one said it would be easy."
The Queen stood up slowly.
"…But how will they ever forgive me for abandoning them?"
"It is your job to earn their respect and have them gain trust in you. I say it from experience." Gaara said to her.
There was a calm silence, and then Queen Oyko spoke.
"I'm sorry. I will fix everything," she said as she noticed she started to fade. "It seems my counterpart has been successful. Thank you. I won't forget this."
Once she disappeared, there was a flash of light, and Suna was back to normal, filled with sand instead of snow, most of its buildings repaired, as if nothing had happened.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"The portal is about to close," Matsuri said. It started to dawn on her that if this portal closed, she would never see them again. She knew Gaara would be devastated if Kankuro didn't return.
But just as Matsuri started to worry, she saw someone come through the portal, and a flash of light surrounded everything for a quick moment right when she entered the room. Matsuri noticed the drop in temperature disappeared. It wasn't cold anymore. A second later, Kabuto followed.
"Who are you?" Matsuri asked the queen, holding her johyo.
"She is Queen Hokkyo. There is no threat here." Kabuto said.
"Where are the others?" Shino asked.
"They should be coming now."
"Are these guys just seriously walking out the mirror?" Rubi mumbled to Mimi.
This time, Mimi had to agree with Rubi's commentary. Some things were just plain odd.
"Makes you wonder what kind of trippy stuff the Kazekage has to go through behind closed doors." Sutera chimed in.
After Kabuto came through the portal, Rojikku and Kanjo came through the mirror, followed by Kankuro. By the time they all returned, the portal closed right afterward.
"What are they doing here?" Rojikku asked, looking at the villagers at the opposite end of the room.
"The dragon had destroyed part of the shelter, and they got tossed out. They ran in here for safety." Shino said.
"Just our luck," the old man said grumpily. "Surprised my back didn't give out from that damned dragon."
"There was a dragon?" Kanjo asked.
"That's what they're saying, but it seems like things have calmed down." Matsuri said.
The door to the room opened, Gaara and Naruto walking inside.
"It seems our mission has been a success." Gaara said, not surprised to see Queen Hokkyo and the four shinobi standing before them. "We have some things to take care of. What are these civilians doing here?"
"I hate repeating myself," Shino mumbled, before explaining the situation once again.
"Matsuri, take these villagers to see a medical nin for assessment. I will look for your village elder." Gaara said to Queen Hokkyo.
"Shimo-sama is here?" Queen Hokkyo asked. "She must be so disappointed in me."
"Come with me. We will discuss this somewhere else."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
After assuring the safety of the civilians and much discussion between the residents of the Land of Snow and the Kazekage, Shimo-sama, Queen Hokkyo, and the snow shinobi were standing at the gate, ready to leave Suna as allies.
"Thank you so much for your help. We will be forever grateful for your service." Queen Hokkyo said to Gaara. "The curse has finally lifted, and hopefully my land will have a more promising future. We will be more than willing to assist you if you ever need anything."
Gaara nodded.
"I admit I was skeptical of you at first, Lord Kazekage," Shimo-sama said. "But you run your village very well. I'm happy that I've finally gotten the real Queen back. We couldn't have done this without you."
"I'm glad to hear that, Shimo-sama. I look forward to our comradeship in the near future." Gaara said.
"And what of you, Kabuto? Are you going to come with us?" Queen Hokkyo asked.
Kabuto nodded and turned to Orochimaru, who had manifested in his full form again after the scrolls disappeared when Queen Oyko returned to her dimension. He had initially been on watch by Suna's ANBU when he reappeared, but it was noted that he was still heavily weakened, and had no motivations or interest in infiltrating the village, and now was currently being escorted out with Kabuto.
Kabuto requested to speak to Orochimaru personally for a moment, and Gaara approved…with one ANBU listening in on their conversation. He reminded himself to inform the Hokage about this.
"Lord Orochimaru, I have some personal issues to take care of. I won't be leaving the village with you."
"I see. I didn't expect us to part ways so suddenly." Orochimaru said, snickering. "But I suppose I saw this coming one day."
His dismissive response didn't surprise him. "Well, it is quite a relief that you're not upset."
"I have no reason to be upset. You've given me what I've needed." Orochimaru said, walking toward the group near the gates of Suna again, indicating their conversation was over. But he turned to say one more thing. "And you will return to me. You always do. I expect we will cross paths again one day."
Kabuto smirked. "Maybe."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Days later, Mimi did what she could to go back to her normal life, despite the parts of the village still being damaged because of what happened.
"I'm so glad things are back to normal, for the most part." Rubi said to Mimi, the both of them sitting on the roof of Rubi's building. "I told you the Kazekage could handle this."
"Yeah, but I think we should go back downstairs. The sun is beaming and I forgot my sunblock." Mimi said.
"Let's stay for a couple of more minutes," Sutera said. "I want to appreciate the sunlight we weren't getting when it was getting colder. I don't know how you lived like that in the Land of Snow, Mimi. I don't think I'd ever be able to do it."
Mimi shrugged.
"So, do you guys have any plans? We should all have a relaxing day in the bathhouse." Rubi said.
"That sounds like a great idea," Mimi said.
"I have a date later, but we can go early. I can freshen up and exfoliate." Sutera said.
"With who? The janitor?" Mimi asked, half joking.
"Ew, no! That guy's a creep. You know the guy that was with us when we were in that room with the mirror?"
"Oh, him. He's okay looking," Rubi commented.
"Yeah, him. Well, we started talking and he asked me out."
"He seems like a douche, to be honest." Mimi said. "I don't like the way he talked to Matsuri."
"Don't listen to Mimi," Rubi said. "She has no luck with men."
"Hey! That's not true!" Mimi said. "Well…maybe a bit."
"Like, oh my God! You should totally get your nails done for the date!" The three girls heard someone say in a fake female voice.
All the girls jumped, unaware that someone else was listening.
"Ryu! Don't scare us like that! We didn't see you!" Mimi said.
"And stop listening in on our conversations!" Rubi said. "What are you doing up here anyway?"
"I should be asking the three of you that." Ryu said. "You're not supposed to be up on the roof of these buildings."
"I live here, what's the big deal?" Rubi said. "You're the one that's trespassing."
"It's a safety hazard." Ryu said. "And I'm not 'trespassing.' I was assigned to do rounds on the village to search for anything out of the ordinary and to see which buildings still need repairs."
"You should stop by later when you're done." Rubi suggested.
"For what? So I could try on makeup and talk about the cute guy I met in the market last Tuesday?"
This got laughs out of Sutera and Mimi.
"Hey, stop fooling around. We're far from done." Kankuro said to Ryu, jumping from another building nearby.
"I'm not fooling around. Charming the ladies is an everyday mission." Ryu said in mock seriousness.
Mimi could barely see the look on Kankuro's face since he was wearing a long hooded cloak, but she supposed it wasn't amusement. For some reason, this made the three girls laugh harder.
"I'm gonna beat the crap outta this guy," Kankuro mumbled. "Let's go."
"Oooh, do I hear a challenge?"
"Yeah, whatever," Kankuro said indifferently.
Mimi could have sworn she saw rainbows in the background as Ryu's gray eyes grew big out of endearment.
"Y-you accept to challenge me?" Ryu said, eyes watering dramatically, hugging him before he answered his question. "He finally sees me as an equal!" Ryu said vividly, tears running down his face.
"Alright already! Get off of me!" Kankuro couldn't believe someone could act so stupidly.
Kankuro heard Mimi laughing hysterically again as he pushed Ryu off of him. He's never heard her laugh like that. He found it so cute.
"Why don't you accept me?!" Ryu said theatrically.
"Can you be serious for one minute?" Kankuro said irritably. "We have work to do."
"Oh, I'm sorry. I forget you would have preferred a specific someone to hug you," Ryu said, raising his eyebrows.
He could strangle this idiot.
"Leave him alone, Ryu," Rubi said, still giggling. "Come on, let's go back downstairs," she said to Sutera and Mimi.
Sutera and Mimi followed Rubi to the stairs, walking past Ryu and Kankuro. Mimi was wearing a loose tank top and shorts. She rarely showed her legs. They were slim and pale, but looked smooth—
"Take a picture, it'll last longer." Ryu said. "'We have work to do,'" he mocked, before jumping to another building, laughing.
Kankuro made a mental note to tell Gaara not to have him work with Ryu anymore. He gave him a headache.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Gaara looked through his papers, deep in thought. He was backed up on some work, but Temari was helping him look over some of his documents next to him on his desk.
"The village is going to be on a tight budget for a while because of all these repairs," he said, looking through some documents.
"I wonder what would have happened if some of the buildings didn't get fixed after the queen left." Shikamaru commented, who was also in the office, looking over paperwork regarding the future Chunnin exams.
"I'm just thankful that some of the buildings repaired after the Queen returned to her dimension." Gaara said. "It's going to be hard to manage the damage that remained. I don't want to know what I would have had to do had all of the buildings needed to be repaired."
"Do you know exactly how much needs to be fixed?"
"I'm working on that now. I sent Naruto and the rest of them to do a rough blueprint of what needs to be fixed. They should be ready to leave back to Konoha whenever they please afterward."
"About that…" Shikamaru said uncomfortably.
"What?" Gaara said, already anticipating that he probably was going to hear something he didn't want to hear. Temari suddenly started to bury herself in more of the documents.
"Me and Temari have decided that it would be best if we were to leave to Konoha with them."
"No." Gaara said bluntly, starting to read his documents again.
"We want to get married over there. Getting married here isn't really…ideal at the moment." Shikamaru continued.
Gaara looked up at him angrily. "Why not? Are you implying that you don't think Suna is safe?"
"There was a close call. She was in that shelter and she almost got hit. Luckily, she ducked out of the way." Shikamaru said. "But that's not what I'm saying, and that's not the reason why we want to leave. A situation like that could have happened at Konoha too."
"What is the reason, then?" Gaara asked. "And I don't want to hear it from you. Temari, is this what you want?" He said, turning to her.
"Yes," Temari sighed, putting aside the documents. "I want to make a closer relationship with his family. I think that's what's best for us and for my future child."
Gaara stood quiet for a moment.
"How long do you plan on staying there?" He finally asked.
"I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know?" Gaara said, knowing that if she's deciding to leave to Konoha at this point, she would be staying there at least until the baby was born, or even a bit longer than that.
"I just…don't know right now, Gaara."
"Very well, then." Gaara said, standing up. "Just don't forget that you have family here, too. I'm going to take a break." He said, walking out of his office, leaving Temari and Shikamaru there with an awkward silence.
Temari sighed. "I knew he was going to react like this. He thinks I'm going to leave him and Kankuro."
"This is going to connect our families, Temari. He'll see that soon enough."
A/N: Already started writing the next chapter. =]