Chapter 13: Setting Up The Chessboard
"Ow man... patrol is the worst. Do you know how lucky you are to be Gaara's guard?" Matsuri moaned. She was looking out into the desert on the northern side of the Great Wall surrounding Sunagakure. Sunagakure was hidden deep in the desert, within a fortified valley surrounded by tiers of cliffs. The rolling dunes in front of her revealed no signs of threats. The sea of sand seemed ever desolate and never-ending as any other day, the only variation offered by the odd cactus or rock. She shielded her eyes with a visor cap and wore a long camel-colored robe to blend in with the monotone colored surrounding. Rin was with her, sitting on a rock with legs crossed, sharpening her kunai with a wetting stone. Since she was still recovering from her internal injury she had to take on minor tasks before returning to full-duty.
"You want to trade places with me, is that it?" Rin huffed.
"Could I?" the young kunoichi exclaimed, spinning around suddenly, hopefully smiling.
"You overrate the job of Kazekage's personal guard. Here's what its like. You are either standing on one side of the doorpost in silence most of the day, or you wind up in a risky operation with the chance very likely someone will chop your head off. Sounds appealing?"
"But you get to be close to Gaara-sama! And you will hear a lot of interesting talk and gossip, right? Right?" Matsuri exclaimed enthusiastically, ignoring Rin's cynicism. Rin nodded and Matsuri squealed in delight.
"Oh Rin, if only I could swap with you for a week," she continued with a lovesick sigh, "nothing ever happens on this rock."
"Glad it doesn't," Rin retorted and went back to her business, sliding the smooth wetting stone across the blade with a zing. A tinkling noise reached them from the village perimeter. Rin looked over her shoulder in her sitting position just in time to see someone climb over the chain-link fence surrounding the water purification facility.
"Hmm?" she squinted her eyes. Four people were down there. Three boys, and a girl.
"Woa, Matsuri, check it out! What are they doing entering the facility?" she gestured hastily. Matsuri came over quickly and bend forward with hands on her knees to look at the scene almost straight beneath them. The guys were standing close to the girl who had her arms crossed, with a plastic bag dangling from her hand. He said something, but they couldn't hear. Telling from her body language, it wasn't to her liking.
'That lavender hair and pale skin... It's that Ayumi-girl, could it be? What is she up to with those dudes? They look juvenile.'
With her curiosity sparked Rin moved forward to the edge of the cliff and let herself fall down to the next tier.
"Wait!" Matsuri hissed and followed suit. Stealthily they approached the next edge.
"Let's get around via those buildings," Rin nodded to Matsuri, signalling which houses she meant. Matsuri nodded in agreement and they quickly disappeared from the Great Wall's ledge in a flash. Crawling closer to the balustrade of a balcony overlooking the street, they peered through the railing, close enough now to make out the conversation which ensued. Guessing from Matsuri's sharp gasp of air, she also recognized who was down there.
"Just take me to the Kage's Tower!" Ayumi demanded and turned her side to the two guys.
"We want to drink some beers first. Come on, loosen your buttons woman!" one of them replied boredly. "Look, Finn's almost back with them. Haha! Seems no one discovered our hiding place yet."
Finn appeared in view, waited for a moment until he received a nod that the coast was clear and clumsily made it across the chain-link fence, almost smacking face flat as he dropped down.
"Here!" he said, tossing two beers to his friends from his backpack, "and one for the lady."
He popped open the beer and wanted to press it into Ayumi's hands. She felt the cold tin against her skin, running with condense, but even though she'd like to quench her thirst she was not in the mood.
"I told you I don't want to drink. I have to meet someone. The Kazekage in fact."
The leader of the group moved next to her and slid an arm around her waist. "Owh come on, why are all women so fucking uptight? Can't you just relax? Lord Kazekage is waaay to busy anyway for playing with petty girls. But we aren't," his breath smelling of cheap beer and stomach acid was in her neck and she knew very surely that she didn't want to waste her time with these boys anymore. He squeezed her waist and for a moment she trembled, fearing he'd come even closer, but that same instance she had enough. She only wanted bloody directions. Out of all the people in the city, she attracted these hardheaded cockroaches that were a pest to get rid of. She asked them politely if they were going the right way before, after having the feeling they were leading her somewhere totally different. The silence and the deep gurgling of underground water confirmed her suspicions. The Kage office was likely opposite of their position, she thought grimly.
"Look, thanks for the offer, but I think I'll make it to the Kage's Tower myself after all," she insisted irritably, shoving his hand away and turning around to walk down the road they came from.
"No, you don't. You are staying," the insulted buffoon grunted. Alerted by his leader's words, Finn sprinted forward to bar her way. Being able to sense him even with her back turned to the group, she stack her foot out. He tried to keep his balance, dancing like a monkey as he stumbled, but ended up flat in the sand. His friends snickered loudly, not planning in the least to help, savoring his idiotic fall. He pushed himself up and scrambled back to his feet. When he dusted his knees, the air turned serious. The others stopped laughing and walked forward to encircle Ayumi. She had her hand balled around the loop of her plastic bag, the lunch was cooking by now in the heat.
"You fucking humiliate us? You ask for help, but turn me down when we want to get friendly with you?" the leader spat.
'I'm outnumbered,' Ayumi realized.
"Hey, hey! I've got an idea," another jested, "why don't we make a deal. If you are such an amazing ninja as you said, proof it to us by making a clone."
They laughed all agreeing that was an excellent condition to be allowed passage. They already knew she wasn't a ninja anyway. Whoever heard of a blind kunoichi? BWAH! It was ridiculous.
Ayumi gritted her teeth.
"Hey! Cut your tongue?" the leader said and then tiptoed closer behind her.
"Back off!" she snapped, startling him. He looked insecurely at his friends. Did she hear him close in? He made sure to be silent as a desert fox.
'Enough is enough,' Ayumi thought and turned around fiercely, stepping forward to the guy that was one head taller than her.
"Look, mister!" she began, prodding her finger in his chest. He stepped backwards dumbfounded.
"I've been wandering around forever, sweating like a penguin under a sunbed, or maybe penguins don't sweat, but whoever cares, you get my point," she blurted throwing her hands in the air, cheeks rosy from anger and adrenaline. Something made a deep gurgling noise, but Ayumi didn't pay attention. 'Even a buddha loses his patience if you keep pushing his buttons,' she fumed in thought. The other two guys eyed the water basin of the facility and saw the contents splashing wildly over the edge. They frowned, not understanding what happened. But Ayumi was unstoppable now she had reached her boiling point.
"I've got three things to say to you and your buds, maybe you've got enough brain cells to pay attention," she continued, gesturing with her hands to add emphasis to her words.
"One, keep your dirty hands off me okay, you've got no right to touch me and I just showered this morning as well. Two, don't even stand close to me, you are defiling my aura. And three, I'm leaving now and you are going to let me go!"
The gangleader became tired and angry from all the sass, prodding fingers and flailing arms in front of him. Suddenly he painfully grabbed her arm halfway her movements. He seemed determined to pull her close to him. He pouted his lips, duckfacing as he moved his head closer to hers. Was he going to force a kiss on her? She gasped in shock and instantly spun her arm around to wrestle out of his grip, placing her feet firmly in the ground.
"Let me go! I'm SO going to tell the Kazekage about this!" she shrieked, heart pounding as she realized he was stronger than her.
Matsuri made a move to rush down to help her, but Rin stopped her with a hand on her shoulder and shook her head.
'Let's see how she handles herself,' she thought with an inward smirk. 'A little trouble after what her people did to kidnap civilians of Suna – my brother – is just what she deserves.'
Ayumi groaned, twisting her body in different directions. With the ache of a massive Chinese burn she managed to wriggle out of the guy's grasp.
"What's wrong with you!" she screamed, out of breath, and pushed him. A howling roar exploded from the water basin that same instance. A pillar of water gushed through the fence, smashed into the blokes whose high-pitched screams for their mother filled the air and propelled them forward to the cliff wall. Ayumi was nearly taken in the devastating gulf as well. Water splashed against the side of her body, and she turned her face away in reflex while the wind created from the speed of the torrent twirled her hair in all directions and made the poncho flare up. She clenched her fists, bracing herself against that mighty beam of liquid which only missed her by a hairbreadth. Suddenly the wind lay down. When she lifted her head into a normal position her mouth dropped. Cold radiated into her face. The water was frozen in mid-air. With a trembling hand she reached out and touched the chilly surface. In her mode of vision it was a beautiful sight. Water molecules vibrate when exposed to heat, but inside the ice they were moveless and aligned in an orderly pattern. The light refracted through the crystal clear ice threw dancing rainbows around her feet.
'I did this?' she thought filled with wonder, even a little frightened.
During the event Matsuri had quickly covered her mouth to muffle the yelp which escaped her throat. What they had witnessed... was incredible! Ayumi had been in a pinch, but according to what she heard and seen it was pretty obvious to Matsuri these guys intended to do nothing good with her. The facility's area was one of the quietest in town. Rarely people ventured into this far corner of Sunagakure. There was simply nothing here except for the hydraulics of the facility, which pushed up the water from an underground river through a filter, and into the basin and pipelines of Sunagakure's homes. She didn't understand how, and it was sheer luck Ayumi wasn't washed away in the torrent herself, but she kicked ass over there. Matsuri cocked her head towards Rin with half a smile, amazement written on her face, much to Rin's annoyance.
'This fool is even awestruck over what that infiltrator did!? Doesn't she understand if Ayumi has such uncontrollably strong abilities she poses a threat to the village?'
Meanwhile they noticed another person coming closer. It was Otokaze. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the 15 yard long ice torrent curling through the street, ending in a huge frozen splash that encapsulated the three guys until mid-waist.
"Look Matsuri," she bossed, while eying Otokaze through the railing of the balcony, "obviously its time we revealed ourselves. Someone has to let Gaara-sama know. I'm going to explain what we will tell Kazekage-sama on the way to the Tower. But first, lets meet up with Otokaze."
"Huh...?" Matsuri frowned confused, but Rin had already gotten up and waved at the other jounin.
"Yoohoo! Otokaze! We are here as well!"
She smiled, Matsuri noted, but there was something really insincere about it.
'Rin, you are creepy when you fake a smile,' Matsuri shuddered.
~Fasforward back to the scene when Rin and Matsuri reached Gaara in the Kage Tower~
"Rin, catch your breath," Gaara commanded before turning his gaze to the other woman."Matsuri."
"Hai!" she saluted dutifully. "We were on patrol on the Great Wall, near the water purification facility," she started. Everyone was eying her with suspense. For a moment she wavered. But then finished her explanation", and witnessed Ayumi freezing three guys to the Wall."
Gaara frowned, "frozen to the wall?"
Matsuri opened her mouth to speak, but Rin had regained her strength and took over the conversation.
"Yes, she attacked them out of nowhere! The water flowed out of the basin, she propelled it forward and it smashed with the civilians against the wall where it turned to ice directly."
"What the deuce!" Kankuro blurted, his face incredulous.
"And you are implying Ayumi attacked them? Without reason?" Gaara continued, outwardly not showing half the shock he felt inside. Never he thought Ayumi would be the kind to attack the villagers. Had he been wrong? Was the house arrest the right decision after all?
'I was never much of a people's person... maybe I didn't read the signs?' he thought, disappointed that he would miss clues of aggressiveness when they shared his house for 9 days. One after another the instances he was in Ayumi's company flashed to mind. Her sudden fierceness over Sumairi's taunts. Their short conversation by the riverside, when her frailty and soft-spoken words of gratitude touched a protective side of him. The times she spent with Temari, the sounds of their animated chatter and laughter carried through the house. That moment he opened his bedroom door to find her standing in the hallway, wearing nothing but a towel... He swallowed and inwardly shook his head. It was hard to believe Rin, but she was his personal guard. Her loyalties were proven over the course of five years, while he barely knew Ayumi. His head told him to listen to his personal guard, but a part of him refused to believe the allegations were true.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure! We were there when it happened!" Rin said a little overheated, and Baki's eyes bulged out of their sockets at her lack of respect. "I mean, yessir," she quickly stammered.
"Let's go," Baki barked.
They ran to the nearest balcony and jumped down to the street. The sun battered down on the group of six, the air vibrated above the cobble stone streets, casting mirages of rain on the ground in the distance. The market stalls were closed. At the hottest of day most civilians held a siesta. If Ayumi decided to go out at high noon, it would've been easy to get lost or run into trouble... or to corner people alone on the street. At their next landing he pushed off harder and took lead of their group. He didn't see how Rin and Matsuri stalled to be the last in line, and the harsh eyes Rin gave Matsuri, willing her to keep quiet.
Matsuri scrunched her nose in thought.
"But that isn't true, she did it in self-defense, we're not supposed to lie," Matsuri protested.
"Don't you get it? You love Gaara right?" Rin spat back.
"Yes, yes, he's amazing. He's so cool, handsome, strong, reserved, elite, but also kind and in a way cute. KYAHHH!" she swooned starry-eyed, "but…"
"No but's! This girl is your competition. She lives under she same roof as Gaara. If I was a dude, I'd see nothing special in her, but admittedly some guys would define her as a cute girl, maybe even beautiful! You have to see her as a rival from today."
"Rin-san, could this really be the right thing to do?"
"It's not like we are totally lying. The evidence is right in front of you. Ayumi escaped out of the Kage's house. Ayumi wandered off into the poorest neighbourhood. Ayumi drove these plebs into a desolate corner."
"Uhm…" Matsuri replied insecurely, her eyebrows curled in a worried frown.
"Ugh!" Rin exclaimed and rolled her eyes sigh a sigh, "you are hopeless. We have to go - now. Just let me do the talking!"
"Matsuri, who's there with Ayumi?" Gaara asked looking over his shoulder.
"Hm? Oh, Otokaze," she responded absent-mindedly.
"Oi Matsuri, no spacing out!" Kankuro remarked
'Ugh! Why do I always look like an airhead.'
The great wall towered before them, seemingly growing in size with each pace. Gaara took a high jump, his coat flapping, his brother and sister close behind. Their figures blocked the sun and a shadow flickered across Ayumi and Otokaze. She could sense Gaara land supply on the sand covered road. She was sitting on the curb, her back against the fence surrounding the water facility, with knees pulled close to her chest and arms wrapped around them. Her dusty cheeks were streaked with tears.
"I'm sorry Gaara," she croaked. He cast a look on the base of the Great Wall. Three guys were captured in ice until mid-waist. A water type chuunin and medical nin were making an effort to free them. His eyes trailed the thick branch of ice until the source where it came from.
"You did this Ayumi?" Kankuro breathed, sounding like a proud father. She nodded and shivered.
'They'll start screaming anytime soon,' she assured herself. She didn't even understand herself exactly how it happened. 'But they had it coming,' she defiantly thought.
"Seems they were drinking beer," Otokaze explained while approaching the group, "there are empty cans near the fence, and we found more within the facility hidden under the cooling tank. They also had a bag of food with them."
Gaara looked at the items Otokaze mentioned, without thinking much of it, until-
'That's the bag with lunch we forgot in the kitchen this morning!'
Something didn't sit right with him. That bag didn't fit with Rin's explanation. If Ayumi was looking for trouble, would she bother dragging their lunchboxes through town? Gaara stepped forward in silence and crouched down until Ayumi's level. His face was close to hers. She lifted her head to acknowledge his presence. No trace of alcohol could be smelled from her. Atleast she hadn't been drinking. He noticed she had a fresh four-fingered bruise on her arm and several smaller ones on the other.
'There was a struggle. Rin said she saw her attacking them out of nowhere. Judging from her bruises that is at least partly a lie.' He remembered the hatred Rin had displayed before towards Ayumi, seeing in her the scapegoat to blame for her brother's vanishing. The puzzle pieces started to form an image.
"Are you okay?" he asked, his husky voice laced with concern.
"Yes, yes I'm fine," she replied, both surprised and relieved he didn't scold her.
"Kazekage, they say she attacked them after they offered their friendship," Otokaze said to his back.
"Are they going to be alright?" he asked, ignoring the accusation. Even from this distance he saw the glaze in their eyes. A sensitive jounin-nose could pick up the particles of alcohol drifting in the air. They were drunk.
"Why did you try to cover the truth, Rin... Matsuri?" he spoke flatly. Matsuri's heart nearly stopped. She anxiously clutched her chest and frowned. Rin widened her eyes and wondered how come was stupig enough to believe she could hide anything from the Kazekage. She should have known, since he always seemed to pierce through the veil of pretense.
"I-I-" Rin stammered. Unable to speak more she bowed deeply to Gaara.
"I'm so sorry Kazekage-sama, please excuse Rin and myself. We were stupid... and selfish," Matsuri pleaded, blushing with embarrassment, "it's true... I saw it with my own eyes- use an Extractor to confirm if you need! Ayumi's actions were in self-defense and it looked almost accidental to me! She was nearly taken down because of the velocity of the attack as well. I'm terribly sorry, please forgive me."
He held up his hand to stop her from speaking and turned his head into their direction, eying them calmly in a sideways manner.
"If there's anyone who deserves your apology, its Ayumi."
"That's right you nutters! Can you imagine the consequences if the truth wasn't uncovered immediately!?" Temari added. "Apologize now."
Rin was trembling as she stepped forward to the lavender haired girl, who hadn't moved from the curb.
"Sorry," Rin somehow managed. She tried to hide the tears that were gathering in the corners of her eyes, but Ayumi sensed them. These tears were not meant for her, she knew. They were for someone else. Someone very dear to Rin. Recalling the lizardian who raided their party during the night in the woods whom Rin had recognized, she had an inkling who these tears were devoted to. She gave Rin a nod, signalling she heard her. Rin saluted Gaara and quickly went away, knowing Gaara would seek her out at a more suitable time.
Matsuri rushed forward and let herself drop to the ground, grabbing Ayumi's hand.
"I'm so sorry Ayumi, I am. If Gaara-sama believes you aren't our enemy, than I believe it too. But even besides our Kazekage's judgement, I feel that you've said the truth. I'm ashamed I did this to you, while knowing you have been through a lot. Therefore, can you accept my apologies?" she earnestly beseeched. Matsuri was a simple, loyal and kind-hearted girl. Her envy towards Ayumi for living with Gaara and her respect for Rin led her to stroll from the right path, but it was a mistake she would learn from. Afterall, she didn't want to risk Gaara's disaproval again. Ayumi heard her sincerity.
"Yes, alright" she muttered and faintly smiled. Relieved, Matsuri instantaneously jumped forward to hug her, almost making the girls fall over.
"I'll make it up to you!" she promised, releasing the spontaneous embrace. "Thanks," Ayumi grinned. Seems like something good came out of this situation in the end. She had just made her first friend outside of the Sabaku family.
"We should get home and rethink all of this," Kankuro grimly broke the silence that followed. "I bet my cat-hat that trouble will follow."
"The extended house arrest was just agreed on. Enough reason for those prickly cactuses in the council to start rampaging again," Temari agreed.
"Yes, we must go," Gaara nodded. He could imagine Yuudai eagerly awaited a mistake like this to slash out once more. He had to think up a strategy to manoeuvre out of this delicate position. He wasn't going to led that sly fox bring him in further discredit. He threw a last glance on the torrent of ice, which had started to melt. Although this incident was undoubtedly not instigated by Ayumi, she did pose a threat to everyone around her if she had no control over her abilities. This called for an intervention. He had much to think about tonight. Gaara didn't expect he would be sleeping.
He stepped forward to Ayumi and extended his hand. She reached out and met his. When her fingers glided across his palm, he closed his hand, and pulled her up. He made it seem like she was featherlight! Her mood lightened. When their connection broke, part of her yearned she couldve felt comforted by their closeness for longer. But it was gone.
"I wanted to bring you lunch," she said, "but next time you forget your bento-box, I think you'll have to settle on that cafeteria."
"Tsk," Kankuro huffed with a lopsided grin.
"For now," Gaara said, "but we will teach you the roads of our town soon, so you can save Kankuro's day in the future."
After Ayumi had gone to bed that night, the Sand Siblings were sitting together in Gaara's home study, quietly whispering amongst each other. The atmosphere was loaded with suspense.
"I've got several of our men on the Great Wall, and two outside of Yuudai's home. If he makes a move, we should receive word soon," Kankuro explained.
"Ayumi agreed to sign the document, all we need are the signatures of the others," Gaara remarked.
"This operation requires discretion. If it comes out before the next meeting, it would damage the reputation of everyone involved," Temari added. Gaara and Kankuro both nodded in agreement. Gaara stood up and quietly walked over to his window, opening one of the shutters to let cool air in. There was no light in the room, so it would be less obvious that they were awake for anyone watching the house from outside. Not many times in his political career did Gaara need this tactical. He felt like a contriver in his own country. They waited. An hour and a half past when a faint rustle shook them up from their positions. It was a carrion rat, wearing the tiniest blue vest with a small container for messages on its back. He rushed over to them. Gaara lay down his hand on the stone floor and the rat climbed on the palm of his hand. Calmly he brought the rat in front of him and pried the container open, revealing a sealed piece of paper. He was a nocturnal person and his eyes had long become used to the darkness. The brightness of the stars pooling into the room were enough for him to read. He undid the seal and unfolded the paper, conscious that Temari and Kankuro were staring so hard he was afraid they'd burn a hole through him.
"It started," he mumbled, "the chessboard is set, the pieces in motion. Yuudai played his horse. What happens next depends on how well we execute our move."
A/N: Ayumi has a knack for getting herself in trouble :( but in a harsh world like theirs those with a clear disadvantage will easily fall victim to abuse I think. 'The weak are meat, the strong do eat' (hate that saying actually). Thankfully for her there's more than what meets the eye. And in the worst scenario Gaara will just use his Desert Coffin har-har-har ;)
Oooh, political intrigue. What game of chess will Gaara play with the 'troubled members'? *wink at Inazuma*
Chapter turned out longer than I had aimed for -again- haha. I intended to move the story a little further than I managed before feeling the chapter was getting huge. This story will have manymanymore chapters before I think it will finish. Not that I mind, because I enjoy writing this story a lot. I just hope the pace is okay, and its entertaining for those reading ^_^
I'd be over the moon if you drop me a comment :) but above all, thank you for reading!