Chapter 12: During the Meeting
Gaara, Izuka, Temari, and Ryu all walked into the Kazekage Tower while Baki wheeled Mibiku up the wheelchair ramp into the tower. Somehow, the group got Mibiku up the stairs while he was sitting in his wheelchair the whole time up and were now walking down the hallway to the meeting room.
"Why couldn't you get off the chair and walk? It would have made moving this wheelchair up the stairs much easier." whined Kankuro as the group walked down the hallway.
Mibiku instantly whacked the puppeteer with his cane.
"OWWW!" yelled Kankuro as he rubbed his shoulder.
"That was for complaining, Hank!" exclaimed Mibiku with a grin. "And to answer your earlier question, it's quite simple. I'm portraying a powerful telepath who is paralyzed from the waist down. It wouldn't look realistic if I upped and walked around dressed like this would it?"
"You make a good point." concluded Kankuro with a shrug.
"He has you beat on that one Beast." commented Gaara, who spoke for the first time in a while.
"You are seriously not helping Cyclops." commented Kankuro with a scowl.
"I wasn't trying to." commented Gaara in return.
Kankuro's frown deepened and he turned away from his brother. The group became silent as the sounds of giggling began to resonate from the nearby meeting room.
"Is it just me or is there laughter coming from the usually serious meeting room?" asked Temari as she pointed to the door.
"It's not just you." said Izuka as she shook her head.
"I wonder what the council members are laughing at." commented Baki as he gave the door a curious look.
"Why don't we find out then?" asked Kankuro as he opened the door and walked into the room. Everyone else followed after him.
The group walked in to see the other costume-wearing council members crowding over one particular member holding a red laptop.
"What are you guys watching?" asked Gaara as he crossed his arms.
The group looked up to see Baki, Mibiku, the Lady Sage, and the Sand Siblings all giving them curious looks.
"Where's the Kazekage?" asked the council member holding the laptop, who was also dressed like the Phantom from "The Phantom of the Opera".
"He's right here." said Izuka with an eyebrow raised as she pointed to Gaara, who was standing right next to her. "You seriously don't recognize him?"
"The visor is really obscuring his face. You can barely recognize him except for the small tuft of vivid red hair and the traces of his kanji peeking out from his mask." commented a second council member, who was dressed like a samurai.
Gaara and Izuka exchanged looks before turning their attention back to the council members.
"What are you guys looking at on the laptop?" asked Kankuro as he pointed to said laptop in question.
"We're watching the newest video that Ryu uploaded to her YouTube page." answered the Phantom dressed council member.
"When was it uploaded?" asked Izuka as she walked over to the group.
"Just a few minutes ago; it already has 5,000 hits." said the council member. "Mibiku, Baki, you guys are the stars of the show."
"We are?" asked Baki and Mibiku in unison, both a tad confused.
"See for yourselves." said the samurai clad council member as he pressed the play button on the website.
The group watched as the video of Mibiku and Baki appeared. There was no dialogue, but the actions were louder than words as the video showed Mibiku whacking away at Baki in attempt to get him to push his wheelchair. The title of the video "Xavier Knocks Some Sense Into Magneto, FINALLY!"
"I'm never going to live that down." said Baki with an embarrassed look on his face as everyone else laughed at his Baki, except Gaara, who kept a straight face.
"We can laugh at Baki's expense later. Right now, we have a council meeting to start." said Gaara as he walked over to his seat.
Everyone stopped their laughing and walked over to their respective seats. Gaara looked at everyone's expectant and anxious faces before speaking.
"There is only one thing to discuss during this meeting today, and I guess you all know what that is." said Gaara as he wove his fingers together.
"Those bandits must be stopped!" exclaimed a council member who was dressed like a Japanese geisha.
"Why would they move from attacking the trade routes between us and Kirigakure to burning down an entire town?" asked a second council member who was dressed like PSY.
"I don't know, but we should at least be thankful that the bandits didn't kill anyone in that town." said Mibiku as he crossed his arms.
"What is going on with these bandits? Do you think they are planning something?" asked a third council member who was dressed like a war general.
"Who knows? Their attack on that village was in the northeastern part of the Wind Country, but our trade routes are in the southeastern part of the country." said Baki with a glum look.
"Are you sure they are even the same bandits?" asked Temari with a curious look.
"Positive. All the attacks have been marked with a common symbol of a tiger with a viper in its mouth. It can only be the same group of bandits." replied Baki with an exasperated look to his face.
"I wonder what that symbol means." said Kankuro with a scowl.
"That's what we're going to find out. Baki, assemble a small task force of at least 6 jonin and travel to that village. See what you can find out about that group of bandits and report back to me or Izuka with your findings." said Gaara with a sharp look sent his way.
"Will do Lord Kazekage-san." said Baki with a bow.
"Mibiku, assemble a task force of 6 jonin of your own and travel with the next supply caravan to Kirigakure. Report back anything you find." said Gaara as he turned to the man in the wheelchair.
"Yes sir!" said Mibiku in a serious tone of voice.
"Is there anything else we need to discuss before we adjourn this meeting?" asked Gaara as he looked around the table.
Everyone shook their heads, satisfied with what happened so far.
"Alright then; meeting adjourned." said Gaara as he stood up from his seat and walked out the door.
"I hope we can solve this bandit problem before it reaches Suna." said Baki as he got up from his chair and walked over to Mibiku.
"I hope so too. If those bandits actually do make their way here to Suna, it just won't be good for the village." said Mibiku as he and Baki left the room.
The other council members all stood up from their seats and slowly walked out the room, leaving Temari, Kankuro, and Izuka in the room.
"What do we do now?" asked Kankuro as he scratched his cheek.
"All we can do now is wait until we get the info we need about those bandits. Hopefully we can get this bandit problem resolved sooner rather than later." said Temari as she stood up from her seat and stretched out her hands.
"We have no choice." concluded Kankuro as he too got up from his chair.
The two Sand Siblings soon turned their gazes to Izuka, who was still sitting at her seat.
"Aren't you coming?" asked Kankuro as he looked at the blonde girl.
"I'll catch up to you guys in a little while." said Izuka as she looked at them with unsure eyes.
"Okay then. Whatever you say. We'll see you later." said Temari with a wave of her hand as she and Kankuro walked out the door, leaving Izuka to her thoughts.
"Tiger with a viper in its mouth, now where have I seen that before?" Izuka whispered to the table as she stared at it intently.
Izuka was so wound up in her thoughts that she never noticed Gaara reenter the room. He silently walked over to stand behind her chair and placed his gloved hands on her shoulders, startling the blonde.
"Jumpy aren't we?" he asked with a slight smirk evident in his tone.
"Very funny!" said Izuka sarcastically as she got up from her seat and turned to face the costumed Kazekage.
"How about we go out to eat for lunch?" asked Gaara, a little bit of nervousness in his monotone voice.
"Just you and me? Like on a date? An actual date?" asked Izuka as she gave him a confused look.
"Yes; since you are technically my girlfriend, we should be allowed to go on a date once in a while considering our high status." said Gaara as he crossed his arms.
"You're only saying this because you realized that with the visor and costume on, you look virtually unrecognizable to the public and to your fan girls." said Izuka with a smirk.
"Do you want to go out with me or not?" asked Gaara bluntly in a slightly annoyed voice.
"Yes I do. Who wouldn't want to go out on a date with the Kazekage of Sunagakure?" said Izuka in a playful tone of voice.
"I'm not going to answer that question." said Gaara as he outstretched his hand. "Shall we?"
Izuka let a small smile escape her lips as she looked at Gaara's outstretched hand. She then took it in her own. "Let's!"
Gaara smirked at the blonde as the two walked out the door and into the hallway, ready to enjoy each other's company hand in hand
End of chapter 12
A/N: Please review
Birthdays
February 27: Cirucci Sandewicci (Bleach)
February 29: Kabuto Yakushi (Naruto)
