Chapter 11: Winds of Change
More thanks to dwellerofcrag for reviewing. ^^ *gives ice cream* I think all Kan's puppets are cute in an ugly sort of way. By the way everyone, forgive me if this chapter sucks.
A week later Kankuro had gathered up his notes on the previous weeks events and had called for a meeting with the relevant officials in the village. This included the war council, meteorology, demolition experts, intelligence and engineers, along with the Kazekage. It was Kankuro's job to assess weather there was a threat to the village and he sure had his suspicions right now. He had his notes in front of him that indicated something was amiss. He was now 9 weeks pregnant and was beginning to show a bit so he had started wearing something a bit baggier around the mid section to make it unnoticeable during the meeting and therefore eliminating any chance of it becoming a distraction or gathering attention before he was ready for people to know. His crutches from what has apparently a fracture until medical ninjutsu had mended the bone. leaned against the back of his chair and his foot rested on the table in a splint and with an ice pack. It was still broken and the new bone hadn't yet hardened. His other leg was crossed over the one on the table as he leaned back in the chair with his notes propped up on his leg so he could read them from his lap.
He was seated to the right of Rasa and to the left of the head of intelligence. Next to him was the head of the engineering corps. Then metrology, then the head of the war council, and so on and so forth. The point everyone was there and seated at a circular table to make discussion easier. Kankuro passes out a packet of his notes. "I'm sure your all aware of the recent events regarding our weather and the damage it caused. If your not I highly suggest you get yer head out of yer ass." Kankuro begins, still not being the biggest stickler for etiquette. "But going over the data I realized some things were really off about the whole situation. There are parts of it that don't make sense at all. If you'll open to the first page, ladies and gentleman, and tell me what you see please?" He asks and there was a picture there of the store houses. "What are we supposed to be looking for Kankuro. It's a building toppled by a sand storm." Says Rasa. "Exactly. By a sand storm." He says. There were still a few blank looks but understanding dawned on Rasa, Baki, who was head of the war council, and the chief meteorologist. At the blank looks Kankuro tries not to smack himself in the forehead in frustration. "And if those buildings were knocked down during a sand storm they should be covered in?"
"...Paper?" Asks one of the heads and at this Kankuro can't stop the face palm. "No! If they were knocked down in a sand storm they should be covered in sand! Everyone was so busy wigging out over the supplies that the fact the fallen buildings had no sand on them was completely overlooked. Furthermore take a look at these shots I had Gaara take from the air." He says. Rasa's brow creases. "Something isn't right but I can't figure out what." He says. "I can't either. But something does seem amiss." Admits Baki. "It's the buildings." Says the meteorology chief. "They all fell in different directions. If it were a sand storm they would have been hit with the wind and sand from one direction and would have all fell that way like dominos. These buildings fall like dominos from a focal point starting in the middle and working out." She says. "It looks like the focal point of an earth quake to me. That or a bomb went off." She says. "The next thing we have to examine is this." Says Kankuro, flipping the page to a picture of the ravine. "Could an ordinary sand storm cause significant changes to local geology like this?" He asks. "And further more would this bust open in a matter of a day? From a sand storm?" He asks, looking at the new crack in the earth that had nearly swallowed him up.
The meteorologist shakes her head. "It may cause a small crack but nothing to this degree." She says. "Also, no stress points were detected when that out post was built." Says the chief engineer. "We chose that location because of its geological stability since that would be of dire importance with a subterranean base. We didn't want a location where there would be cave ins." Kankuro nods and turns to the chief of demolition. "What does this look like to you?" He asks, handing him a picture. "Well I see chipping on the rock face on this portion of the ravine. The chipping goes all the way to a band of lighter colored rocks." He says and points it out to the engineer. "I think there was a geological survey here and samples were collected because there were some concerns about a small vein of talc. It was small though and shouldn't have been problematic." He says. "How many people had access to that information?" Asks Kankuro. "I'll get you a personal list after the meeting." Says the engineering head. "Does Demolition think that this vein could have something to do with it?" He asks. "Absolutely. When the engineering corps have to get past a cliff or something for some sort of utility line, say water lines for irrigation, and they need us to demolish a whole cliff, we find a vein of soft minerals, flush it out and stuff it with paper bombs and throw a rock and it levels everything. It's usually not this neat, but that's one hard rock to blow off the earth that your base was sitting on. Looks like it was sitting on flint or something in that family. A hard rock that cleaves neatly when it breaks is what you got. Pumping a lose vein full of exploding tags in that puppy woulda only cracked her open along one of the points she would cleave. This could pose a danger to the village in the distant future too." He says, studying the photograph. The engineer nods his head, looking at his copy and turns to the meteorologist. "If we have a large quake and it keeps cracking everyone could be in serious danger. It will continue to cleave along that line. If this was an act of war we should keep this spot guarded. It could very easily be used to swallow up the whole village." Rasa looks like he was deep in thought. "What if we moved the village."
There's a long silence before someone finally says, "Are you insane!?" Rasa shakes his head. "My predecessor already had plans and a location. A box canyon has its advantages like being easy to defend from the ground, but from the air it would be like shooting fish in a barrel. Exit space is limited so if we ever come under attack from the air our attackers could easily pick us off. We're it not for our entry and exit points, this place would flood every year, giving us up to 15 square miles of water. And now we have the added threat of the earth splitting open. The third already picked an oasis that has more water than we do now. It has stable ground to move the foundations too and is in an ideal location for village defense. The plan was approved. He disappeared before it could be completed though." He says. "Rasa are you sure you'd be able to coordinate such a large undertaking? During the move everyone would be so vulnerable. This is going to take so much planning." Says Kan and takes his hand. "I'm not goanna move it by myself Kanny. I'm not God. But I could really use your help laying down the plans. I think with a mind like yours involved in the planning we can come up with something fool proof." He says. "Well then let's come up with something and put it to a vote." Says Rasa. "Something of this scale is going to take a lot of time." Says Kankuro, taking his foot off the table since the ice had melted, scooting his seat forward and putting the notes on the table.
"Any way, now that that's on the table let's look at what else we have going on here. I have one last bit of evidence and this one is a bit more disturbing than the rest." He says and everyone flips to the next page in their packets. It was a bunch of pictures of the sand storm. "Everything looks dark during these things. So it was hard to notice this because the sand blocks out the light, but I recovered this shot from the security tapes at one of the store houses." He says. The photograph showed a swirling mass of small particles. What was most noteworthy about them was the black color. With the sun blocked out by sand something like that would have been undetectable, but seeing it approaching made it all together different. He looks around the room and gauges everyone's reaction. "Ladies and gentlemen, this looks like magnet style." Says Kan. Then flips to the next photograph. A magnet placed next to a brick from the store house and several black particles being removed. They look and see that picture as well and the color continues to drain from their faces. "The samples were taken to the lab and tested." Says Kankuro, reaching into his baggy sleeve and pulling out the vile of particles. "Ladies and gentlemen. It's iron. Somehow, some way, somebody is using Lord Third's jutsu to attack this village. We don't know this person's or group's reason and we don't know their end game. But what I do know is that something as big as this attack was carried out right under our noses. This was either carried out by a specialized sabotage unit from another village, or an act of terrorism. I've done through background checks on everyone here and had everyone here tailed for a week to make sure nothing suspicious is happening. Your all in the clear. But not a word of this to anyone until we know what we're dealing with. The warehouses are being excavated. Maybe we'll find more clues inside. For now my investigation is ongoing. I want everyone to keep their eyes peeled though." He declares, closing his file.
Now it was time to divide up tasks. "Now we have to cover how exactly we're going to be moving forward and investigating in secret. We need to find out what exactly was done at that base to make such a big ravine. I want engineering to put together a unit under the pretense of mapping out that ravine and assessing the threat it may pose to the village. Clear everyone in the unit of potential involvement prior to the beginning of the investigation. While your in there take samples from the former talc vein and see if there's explosive residue. If possible determine the device used. If at all possible find any evidence from the base now that you know we're looking for sabotage rather than looking at a natural disaster. I don't want any shinobi who may have been stationed there as part of that unit. I know that it's a shot in the dark at this point but even a small clue is better than nothing at all. Document anything out of the ordinary though. Even if it doesn't fit now it may fit later." He says. "Understood sir. I'll begin organizing a unit right away. I'll also have the personal list of anyone who was involved in the geological survey on your desk tomorrow morning. I'll cross check that list with anyone who was stationed on that base too." Says the head of engineering. "Thank you." Says Kankuro and turns to the head of intelligence. "I want you running background checks on everyone who worked on that base and worked in those store houses. Look for people with ties to extremist groups and any two people with unusual ties who worked those locations. Look into the people in the village on our watch lists too. Two locations were hit and I don't think this could have been the work of one person." Kankuro orders. "Also look into extremist groups in other villages in the wind nation. Who ever is responsible may still be here if their a citizen." "Yes sir. I'll get on that right away." He says and goes to the files room and pulls the personal files from the two locations to compile a personnel list and to cross check the individuals with any data bases they had.
Next Rasa turns to Baki, head of the war council. "Depending on our results we may be dealing with an act of war or an act of terror. Either way we'll probably need you ready to act. Work with Kankuro on guarding key locations around the village and tighten security around our borders. Have shinobi guarding villages shinobi clans base themselves out of. While your at it have them look for signs of unrest and suspicious activity. You already know to make sure the soldiers you send out are loyal. I trust you know what to do." Baki nods. "Yes Rasa Sama. I'll begin putting the game pieces on the board." He says and goes to start arranging troops. "Demolition, I want you to take inventory of the weapons when excavation is complete. If anything is missing let me or Kankuro know right away. I want to know which building the missing inventory came from too. Each building had a different supplier. Look for anything out of norm that may have been over looked." He hands him the inventory spread sheet he had made. "This is what was in there before. This will help you calculate percentages. We need to know how much, if anything is missing, that we're looking for." Rasa instructs him and turns to the head of metrology. "Alert me if anymore sand storms are discovered anywhere else." "Yes my lord." She says and goes to the sensory department to feel for any more. He says and then turns to Kankuro. "And you my dear, keep up the good work. You stumbled on a real puzzle. Don't stop digging until all the pieces fit. Also, we'll meet later to discuss the best course of action to relocate this village. The location I have in mind is a day and a half away. It would be a safe distance from the ravine. The chakra use would be enormous. But I think it's the best course considering the probable threat." Rasa Says. "I'll get to brain storming after I get us some lunch. Rasa couldn't help but grin. "Of course love. What do you want?" He asks, handing him his crutches. "I won't know till I start cooking. Baby is saying eat and I'll know what it wants when I start cooking." He says. "Oh boy. Should I get my gas mask?" Rasa jokes, causing Kankuro to laugh as he pulls himself to his feet and positions his crutches to support his weight.
"Nope. I'm not making anything like that." He says and makes his way toward the door. "Okay then. Want me to carry your files?" He asks. "That would be great. Also, if you could get the doors for me that would also be awesome." He says and Rasa picks up the files and kisses him on the cheek before grabbing the door for him. "How are you goanna cook if you can't open the door?" He teases. "I'll figure that out when we get to the kitchen." He says and places his crutches in front of him and moving forward on his good leg. Rasa just smiles. This would be interesting to see. Interesting indeed.
A few minuets later, Kankuro was in the kitchen grabbing some supplies with his chakra threads. A pan gets put on the stove with one green thread. Another one pours a tiny bit of oil on the pan, a third thread opens the freezer and grabs some blanched spinach, another grabs yogurt, and onions while yet another grabs the spice basket. So far he didn't see any meat. Kan grabs a knife and starts chopping the onion real thin and minces a couple cloves of garlic and chops some cilantro. He cooks them until they were fragrant but hadn't changed colors. He adds the yogurt and raises an eyebrow and looks at the tub. Plain yogurt. Was he making vegetarian curry? He put the wilted spinach in the food processor and held the button to process it down until it was a paste with a chakra thread as he added cumin, fenugreek, tumeric, curry powder, salt, and white pepper. Then he grabs some fresh paneer cheese and dices it and adds or to the curry. Palak panneer was finished, but neither him nor Kankuro were the biggest fan of meatless dishes and Kankuro wasn't done yet. There was a pot roast left over from the previous night. It had some very flavorful beef in it that just pulled apart. And he takes about half of it and shreds it and stirs it in to the curry. "Well it smells good, but beef and yogurt?" Asks Rasa. Kankuro shrugs. "I don't question it." As he says it he grabs a spoon and takes a tentative bite and at first was careful, but then starts chewing the meat. "Okay. This is actually pretty good. It makes palak paneer actually taste like a full meal and not a snack." Says the meat over and fills two bowls with rice and pours the curry over it. After grabbing pieces of flat bread and two tea cups and heating up the water they were set. Rasa grabs everything they needed for tea nervously. Meat he liked, vegetables he did not. And what was with the spinach? Kankuro hated spinach. He refused to eat it as a child. He was having cravings maybe? Maybe he was craving iron and minerals he could only get from vegetables? And calcium? That made sense. He was growing a person with a skeleton. All the calcium, iron and protein he could get was going to the tiny human they had made. But he still didn't get why he would choose spinach. Kankuro had said before that even D rank missions were better than spinach. Must be the baby. He shrugs and takes a bite. What do you know? This was actually good. Vegetarians would be livid if they saw such a favorite and classical dish tainted by meat, but it was wonderful. Especially with the curry powder and the fresh cheese cubes. Kankuro really had some killer skills in the kitchen. He was goanna be a great mother. If he could make him enjoy a vegetable he had done the impossible.
"I thought you hate spinach Kan." Says Rasa, taking another bite as Kan fixes himself some tea. "I did. But these past couple days I can't get enough." He says and goes to take a sip of the plain tea. Rasa takes the cup. "You didn't always drink it like this you know. Just try it how you used to." He says and puts some sugar and a little bit of condensed milk to it and puts the cup back in his hands. Kankuro smiles and takes a sip. "I forgot how much I enjoyed this." He says, taking another sip and placing the tea cup down. He just smiles and kisses his cheek. "Glad I could help you remember." He says and ruffles his hair. They had made it a rule that they don't talk about work while they weren't working, so lunch was married couple time for them. "So how's the baby doing." Rasa asks, undoing the tie on his kimono to get at his stomach, putting his cheek against it. Kankuro chuckles a bit. "It's still having some growing pains and it gets excited when it hears you talk. The chakra exchange is still going the same as it does with chakra threads. It still doesn't have well formed thoughts, but it definitely has some sort of attachment to you. Something has really been annoying it though lately. I think it's the cord. The best way I can describe it is claustrophobic. It's hard to figure out what though without conscious thought." He says as Rasa hugs him and kisses the itty bitty bump. "I don't think it can feel you yet but it can hear you." He says as Kankuro takes another bite of his lunch. "Your food is goanna get cold. I know your excited but can bonding happen after eating?" He asks, still having a grin on his face though. "Yeah of course." He says and takes his head off Kankuro's lap, getting off the floor and going back to his chair. As this happens Kankuro feels something strange.
"Something the matter love?" He asks, raising an eyebrow. "Nothing. The kid just had mixed emotions about you leaving. On one hand I feel sad from its chakra and on the other I feel happy because the ears don't hurt." He says. "It's cognitive abilities must be getting further developed." He says, taking a sip of his tea, rubbing his belly. "Hmmm. Must be. I'll be quieter next time." He says and takes another bite of his lunch. Before they could further contemplate the thoughts of their unborn child any further though, the head of demolition comes in with the spread sheet and bows. So much for family time. "Sir, we've finished the excavation." He says. His face was as white as the paper he held and the perspiration on his brow was clearly visible. The news obviously wasn't good. "What's the damage?" Rasa asks, taking a deep breath and bracing for the worst. "About 25 percent of the supplies are unaccounted for. The missing weapons are from all store houses too. This is either a ring, or someone with access to all six store houses." He says. Both Kankuro and rasa Suck in a breath, expecting there to be some missing supplies, but not for a whole quarter of the village's weapons to have gone missing. But the worst was yet to come.
"And Rasa sama, Lord Kankuro, over half of the missing stock is paper bombs." A chill runs down born their spines. Kankuro quickly raised village security.
Okay. Thank you all. I know this wasn't exactly the most exciting chapter I've written but it does set the stage for more exciting ones. Please read and review. Critiques are welcome but flames are not. Too many missing paper bombs for that shit.
