A/N: Next chapter's here. I passed my boards, so I'll have more time to work on this fanfic now. I'm so relieved.
*Lyrics are not mine!
"Sorry that I've failed you, Lord Kazekage," Ryu said, upset with himself as he was let out of the puppet he had been trapped in. The Kazekage was with many other sand shinobi now, including some of the elders of the Suna Council.
"You did well in stalling him." Gaara said encouragingly. Gaara hadn't completely expected Ryu to be able to subdue him indefinitely, but he knew that Ryu would be able to stall Kankuro long enough to buy time until he thought of something. According to Ryu, he hadn't been trapped in the puppet for long, though Gaara was upset that himself and the elders didn't catch up to them on time, though only by a small timeframe. Now Kankuro is out in the desert alone and vulnerable, which in turn exacerbates the issue, since he has to focus on retrieving not one person, but two. If Temari had been present and wasn't pregnant, this whole thing would have been much easier since she would have been able to subdue Kankuro and talk some sense into him; she's one of the few people that Kankuro might listen to, if not the only person when he was upset. But as a kage, it is one's job to adapt to new changes and think of solutions quickly to new situations.
"We have come up with a plan," Baki said to Ryu. "We've gathered many shinobi to ensure that everything works out in our favor, and you are needed just in case any of them sustain injuries. Come, we have to act soon."
Gaara nodded. "I will stay here to ensure the safety of the village."
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Mimi looked around at the shinobi surrounding them, hoping that there would be some type of way to get out of this, but they were stuck. Darn, why did Kankuro come? He was outnumbered. She didn't want him to get hurt. And now it was already dark in the outskirts of nowhere in this desert. This just would make it easier for these people.
"I'm glad me and you are finally able to meet face to face." The tanned man said to Kankuro. "I'm Dami Shirogane. I've been wanting to collaborate with you for some time now. I heard you were able to rob one of the most well guarded banks in the north all by yourself. I wouldn't have expected any less from a person who works side by side with the Kazekage. After I found out you were a puppeteer, you'd caught my interest."
"Why the hell would you think that I'd be interested in collaborating with you?" Kankuro said rudely. Shirogane...that name sounded familiar. This was the clan responsible for the puppet walkers! But what did they need him for? And how did they find out about that robbery? Gaara told him the village made efforts to keep that incident as secret as possible. The only reasonable conclusion that Kankuro could come down with is that there was probably someone from the clan that was currently up north for certain reasons and witnessed it the day it happened. But why would they be up north in the Land of Snow in the first place? He didn't know...it was all speculation.
"Because you don't have much of a choice." Dami said evilly. "Lucky you have your little lady friend with you. This will make it much easier for us. Grab her." He ordered his subordinates.
"Hey, let her go!" Kankuro said angrily as they quickly grabbed Mimi and had weapons aimed in her direction. "I suggest you let her go if you don't want to suffer the same fate as that scum with the glasses." Kankuro said, looking at Dami angrily.
"That wouldn't be very wise. Kabuto's plan worked out perfectly, even if it didn't turn out so well for him. He weakened you so you won't be able to take all of us on, and we have you surrounded." Dami said casually. "And you won't lift a finger at any of us. One wrong move and we won't hesitate to kill her if you don't do what I say."
Kankuro glared at him. Damn.
"Good. It seems like you're willing to cooperate. Follow me." Dami said.
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The sun was already set by the time the two sand shinobi were nearing the edge of the desert. Holding each other's hands, they enjoyed the peace and tranquility the open, vast desert brought them, appreciating the alone time they had together.
"What a nice night," one of them said as a light breeze passed them. "We should definitely do this more often." He said to his partner, smiling.
"You think the Kazekage will send us on more missions together if we request it?" The other one said, looking down at him.
"Well, yeah, duh. We're on a team, so we work better together. He'd be totally down with that." He replied. "Hey, there's an oasis up ahead. Let's get some water. I can't afford for my skin to look all dehydrated."
As they refilled their canteens in the oasis, they saw figures in the distance near the oasis. Something seemed off. The both of them, suspecting something, quietly followed them, making sure to stay hidden within the small trees and shrubs.
"Oh my God, isn't that the Kazekage's brother? What's he doing all the way out here with those people?" Robitu whispered to Toroi. "Is he on a mission? Let's go say hi!"
"No, stop! He's not on a mission!" Toroi said, grabbing Robitu before he would blow their cover. "They have weapons pointed at him and that girl. He seems to be in trouble."
"We have to do something!" Robitu said worriedly.
"Shhhh! What are we going to do? We're on a mission." Toroi hissed back.
"Our mission is going to have to wait-" Robitu started to say before Toroi interrupted.
"Why do I always get sidetracked when I'm with you?" Toroi said, looking up to the heavens, even though he knew that this time, the situation was really out of their control.
"Look, if something happens to that guy the Kazekage's gonna go all apeshit and turn on everyone in the village!" Robitu said quietly. "I'd rather keep him on his good side. That is one man I would not like to see mad."
Toroi gave him a look of disbelief, wondering if that nonsense was really coming out of his teammate's mouth. "Stop being dramatic. The Kazekage is not going to do that."
"Hn, that's what you think. Who knows what's going to make him crack? He's like a bomb waiting to detonate...all quiet and then one thing happens and snap. We're done for. I don't know about everyone else, but I'm not going to forget that he had us scared shitless back when we were kids. That good guy role he's playing could be a huge farce. I'd rather play it safe."
Toroi stared at him flatly.
"Hey, if we help the Kazekage's brother, that's totally going to give us a good name in Suna, and maybe the Kazekage will put us in like, ANBU or something. That will have us on his good side for sure, so if he ever does snap, he's gonna spare us and say 'thanks for saving my brother.'" Robitu reasoned.
"Oh yeah, that definitely should be the main reason we should help him, and not because he's a comrade." Toroi said sarcastically. Where the hell were this guy's priorities at?
"Well, that too, of course! Come on! If we see where they go, I can spy while you set a huge trap." Robitu said, looking to follow them as the two men started to walk quietly to the other side of the mountain range.
"The things I do for this guy..." Toroi said, following reluctantly. "Damn, where'd they go? We have to catch up to them! If you weren't ranting about the Kazekage we wouldn't have lost track!"
"Let's hurry, they can't be that far ahead..."
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Mimi was tied to a chair after she entered some hideout in the mountains, facing Kankuro and the rest of the people that took them. One of the men was standing beside her, ready to kill her if Kankuro does something they don't like. They were in some type of interrogation room, and they chained him to a chair as well. The room was dimly lit, making it feel even more intimidating than it already was.
"You'll only be chained here temporarily. We have some other tasks for you to complete for us. But I want to ask you some questions first. And you better answer each one, or we'll hit you with a metal rod. Ningyo, show him what we'll do." Dami ordered to one of the men in the room with them.
Ningyo smacked Kankuro with the metal rod across the face, causing him to get a bloody lip.
"Hey, don't do that to him! Stop!" Mimi yelled.
"And if you still don't cooperate, we'll shut her up too," Dami added. "After that, we're gonna keep you with us so you can build puppets for us. The puppets we had built to try and take over the five great nations didn't work, and they're not effective enough to access where the spirit orbs are hidden. We'll be able to succeed if you fix our puppets to work better. If you try to retaliate, we'll find a way to force it out of you. It's not the first time we've done experiments on people, and trust me, we're all curious to see the type of knowledge you can share with us, whether you like it or not."
Dami started asking questions about Kankuro's methods of fighting, his secrets, information about Suna and Konoha, how he designed his puppets and a bunch of other stuff that Mimi didn't really understand. What upset her is that they sometimes still hit him even when he was cooperating. She wished there was some way for them to get out of here. It hurt her to see Kankuro like this. She wished she could get him out of here and comfort him. But she had to stay quiet because they threatened to hit him harder if she kept telling them to stop.
Kankuro didn't care what these guys did to him. He wasn't going to share any information about his techniques, or the secrets of Suna either. Did they really think he was that stupid? And these simpletons were actually believing the lies that he was telling them. It was only a matter of time before they figure out that he's not telling the truth, though. He needed to figure out a way to get out of here without them hurting Mimi. If they hurt her he'll make it his mission to kill every single one of them. Looking around to try and see what options he had, he looked up to see that someone was already here. He smirked. He was definitely going to get out of here.
Eventually Mimi saw someone in the room who wasn't in the room previously. He didn't look like he belonged with the guys, and he seemed to be stealthily sneaking around the room. How weren't any of them seeing him? The man smiled at Mimi, winking, putting his finger to his mouth as an indicator to be quiet. Was this guy a shinobi from the sand? He was wearing the forehead protector around his neck, so he had to be. But he was a bit too good looking to be doing this type of work, in Mimi's opinion. He was really...pretty. He would have fared well taking up a career as a model.
"Just what are you smirking about? I wouldn't be smirking if I was in your situation, puppet master." Dami told him.
"Because I fucking feel like it," Kankuro said after he saw a sand shinobi enter the room without them noticing. He must be using some type of jutsu for them not to be able to see him when he was right there in front of them. But Kankuro's snarky reply caused Ningyo to hit him roughly on the arm with the metal rod, and he cringed in pain.
"Don't hurt his arms too much; we need his arms." Dami said. "Alright, now I want to know more about your poisons-"
There was a loud bang outside of the room. It sounded like an explosion, close enough in their vicinity for the floor to shake slightly. Dami ordered two of the guys in the room to go check it out, but all they heard was more commotion after the two guys left.
"What's going on out there? Let's go," Dami said, ordering the man next to Mimi to stay and keep an eye on them.
After a short silence, Robitu seemed to have become visible to the man next to Mimi, because he immediately got in a defensive stance.
"Please, don't waste your time," Robitu said. "I may not be able to handle all of you, but I can definitely handle one of you."
In what seemed like one swift move, Mimi was untied, and the man next to her had a chain tightly wound around his neck, the chain breaking it. Did the pretty guy do all that with his chain? How did he do that? He barely even moved from where he was standing.
"They really bruised you up, didn't they?" The guy said rhetorically, freeing Kankuro after dealing with the Shirogane. "Let's get out of this place."
"Thanks," Kankuro said. "How did you find us?"
"Well, I'm currently supposed to be on a mission right now...but me and my partner saw you guys when we went to get some more water. We figured something weird was going on, so we decided to check it out."
Kankuro stood up, feeling pain in different parts of his body where he was hit multiple times. He was still able to move, though, so there was a chance that he would be able to get out of here. He grabbed his scrolls with the puppets in them that were taken away from him and tossed aside, getting himself ready for a fight. Leaving the room they were in, they rushed through the hideout, trying to look for the exit. As they got closer to where they came in from, they saw that Dami and some other Shiroganes were waiting. The ones that were previously in the interrogation room were missing. It must have had something to do with the explosion that just happened.
"We're not going to let you get away that easily," Dami said, all of them having puppets to fight with. "We need you to be able to access the location of the spirit orbs, and-"
"Oh shut up. I swear, what is up with opponents not shutting their traps? Can we just start fighting already?" The guy with the chain said assuredly before turning to Mimi. "You might want to stand back."
"Wait a second," Kankuro said, putting the pieces together, remembering when he had to warn Konoha about the puppet walkers. The spirit orbs...it's all starting to make sense. It was probably put in that bank for safe keeping after their failed attempt at trying to take over the five nations. "So that's how you found out about the robbery in the Land of Snow...you were most likely there when the robbery happened, because one of the spirit orbs are located in that bank. You were trying to figure out where it's located until you witnessed me escaping the bank. Me being a puppet master who managed to steal something, you concluded that I was exactly what you needed so you can finally recreate the master puppet again, isn't that right?"
"Well, well, you're a lot smarter than you look." Dami said. "You figured us out."
"Your plan is flawed, and it's not going to work." Kankuro told him. "I can make you the best puppets, but the puppets are just tools. It's the puppeteer that controls them, so if you don't have the skill to use them right, you're not going to be able to obtain that spirit orb, no matter how hard you try."
"Well, then I guess we're in luck, since we have you." Dami said to him. "So you have two choices: surrender now and work for us, or get killed and have us extract the skill that we need from you so we can get the spirit orb."
"And the third option is that we kick your ass," the guy with the chain said, growing impatient. "Enough blabbing, more fighting. Let's get this overwith!"
The both of them were able to fight them for a while, but they were still outnumbered, and Kankuro was weakened and injured with one of his arms not able to hold chakra for long due to Kabuto's bite, so that brought them at a disadvantage. There seemed to be more people from this clan coming for them as well from other parts of the hideout. Their chances of winning seemed bleak. But as they were about to get surrounded again, there was an array of Suna shinobi that came in from the entrance of the hideout. Kankuro recognized them: it was Maki, Otokaze, Satetsu, and Isago. The other shinobi were outside prepared for a battle, Matsuri and her team among them. After being led outside the hideout, the members of the Shirogane clan retreated after seeing that there were more Suna shinobi waiting for them. Dami didn't expect the shinobi of Suna to find them so fast. The person who caused the first explosion during their interrogation must have helped them. He knew that if his clan fought them at this moment, they wouldn't have had a chance. They would be outnumbered, and they haven't reached their full potential as a clan yet.
Ryu walked to Kankuro with a team of two other medics after it was confirmed that everything was safe and the coast was clear. Ryu sighed as he attended to Kankuro's wounds while the other two medics went to assess the others.
"You never learn, do you?" Ryu said, sighing.
"You're acting like you wouldn't have done the same thing. You would be in my place if Kabuto had taken the wrong girl."
Ryu didn't say anything for a moment as he attended to his wounds. He did have a point.
"We've already lost enough great puppet masters. We don't need to lose another one. I think you've taken your chance with death enough for one lifetime, even for a shinobi." He finally said.
"Hn, whatever," Kankuro said, reminded of the time he got fatally poisoned by Sasori. He would always be thankful to Sakura for saving his life. When he first met her, he honestly didn't think much of her...he thought considering her a kunoichi was kind of a joke, actually, since she displayed very little skill and seemed to be more preoccupied with chasing after some guy. Her fight with Ino in the Chunnin exams wasn't much to look at, either. But being trained by the Fifth Hokage set her straight, and he now had a lot of respect for her.
Mimi rushed to Kankuro after Ryu healed him since he wanted to talk to his teammates about something while the others were busy discussing what was to be reported when they returned to Suna. The guy that saved them seemed to be keeping them busy, adamantly talking about informing the Kazekage of his actions. There was another tall guy with him trying to figure out whether they should go back to the village or if it was okay if they could continue on the mission they were on if they reported to the group of Suna shinobi what had went on. The tall guy also handed something over to the Suna shinobi that came to back them up. It looked like a puppet, but not like the ones that Kankuro had. There was something eerie about it. It looked like something that was dug from a grave. Mimi shrugged it off, not wanting to think about what it could possibly be, and turned to Kankuro.
"I'm so glad you're okay. I was so worried," she said, hugging him and kissing him on the cheek. "Thank you for saving me."
"Alright, alright, get off, midget. No need to get so emotional." Kankuro said, a bit flustered. He thought no one was looking, but noticed Matsuri and her teammate giggling a short distance away looking at them. He didn't want an audience.
Mimi sighed, expecting that kind of reaction from him. She wanted to hug him for longer, but backed off. She didn't understand him. He had his moments where he was affectionate, and then there were moments where he acted like a huge jerk. But she was willing to accept that since he just saved her; it made her look at him more fondly than she already did.
"So, Maki, what do you think of my grand act of heroism?" Robitu asked after they told him to describe the events that occurred. "Are you going to tell the Kazekage about my honorable act?"
Maki gave him an annoyed look before ignoring his question and turning to the others.
"Can you stop asking everyone that? You're making yourself look worse." Toroi said angrily to Robitu. "Do you guys need us to return to Suna before resuming our mission?"
"It doesn't seem so. You've given us enough information and evidence to work with. They've retreated for now, but who knows what else they have planned," Maki said.
"They didn't seem to be strong enough to handle us right now." Otokaze said. "That gives us enough time to get prepared if they have something else up their sleeve."
"We must be prepared for the future. It could cost our village the next time. Come on, we need to go back to Suna to see if the Kazekage and the rest of the village is safe." Satetsu said.
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A couple of days later, Gaara sat in his office with Baki, discussing the best options to take for the village as the recent turn of events kept growing into something more than what he had foreseen. If what Kankuro said was true about the spirit orbs, then this was a very serious situation. Right now, they were unaware of how many spirit orbs the Shirogane clan had at the moment. All he knew was that one of the spirit orbs were put away in that bank some point in time after their first attempt at trying to take over the five nations. Since he was unaware of where the others might be located, he had to prepare for a worst case scenario, and assume that they already had four of the five spirit orbs. If all five were to be obtained, they would be in serious trouble, because this could be the return of the Master Puppet.
"Orochimaru's alive and was partially responsible for Suna getting frozen over, and now this." Gaara said to Baki. "I have no doubts that this clan is going to try something again in the near future. We have to prepare for oncoming problems. We were lucky this time, learning about their location since Robitu and Toroi tracked them. Otokaze informed me that Toroi was expecting jonin to come looking for Kankuro, and showed them where Kankuro was when he spotted them wandering in the desert to specify where the clan was residing. He also planted a trap in the hideout, so it exploded soon after everyone left. All the puppets in that hideout were destroyed, but Toroi managed to get us some clues before the place disintegrated. Next time, we may not be so lucky."
"I have a feeling those two incidents may be connected. Kabuto had been involved in this." Baki said.
"It's a possibility, but I've been keeping in contact with the elders from the village in the Land of Snow. Kabuto had been acting of his own accord lately."
"His loyalties and actions have always been questionable. I suggest you keep your eyes peeled, Lord Kazekage. There might be more to this than what meets the eye. If he had been acting of his own accord, then we need to figure out what he was doing here. If he had no malicious motivations, he would have still been in the Land of Snow. He had no business being around this area."
Gaara nodded. "From our knowledge, Kabuto is dead. That is one less problem to worry about."
"Have you discovered the body?" Baki asked.
"No. He had been buried under a collapsing cave in the mountains. If he managed to escape that by himself, then it would have to have been by grim chances, or extraneous circumstances."
"I suggest you keep those possibilities open until you find evidence of his death." Baki advised.
Gaara agreed. "I need to schedule a meeting with the other kages. All of us need to be informed of this before anything gets out of hand."
Baki nodded, before an awkward silence lingered in the air. Gaara couldn't really decipher what the look Baki had on his face meant.
"...Are there any other concerns?" Gaara asked.
"Lord Kazekage, there has been something I've been wanting to speak to you about but...due to the recent events that have occurred, I was unable to get around to it until now. It's important."
Gaara looked at Baki questionably. If it was as important as he says, then why did he have to wait until now to say something? He eyed him, waiting for Baki to voice his concerns.
"I was picked to approach you about this situation, since I have a closer connection with you than the others."
"What is it?" Gaara asked.
Baki cleared his throat. "...If I'm not mistaken, you are aware of the rumors going around."
"What rumors?" Gaara asked, though he knew where this was going. He anticipated that this was going to come up sooner or later.
"The relationship between you and your student." Baki stated directly.
"And?" Gaara said. "They're just rumors."
"There has to be a reason for these rumors to be arising." Baki stated.
"I spent time with her during the festival. It was nothing out of the ordinary. It's not uncommon for people to come up with stories over something that is completely innocent. This isn't the first time a rumor like this has come up."
"It is different now. You are the Kazekage, and you can't afford to have these types of things said about you. It doesn't help that she is now working more directly with you." Baki told Gaara. "And the details of these rumors aren't necessarily...delightful to hear." He added.
"As the Kazekage, rumors that are spread about me aren't my priority; my village is. She is working with me because Temari is no longer present, and I am content with her work."
Baki looked at the Kazekage intently. He hasn't denied any of these claims at all. He couldn't believe this. He had expected this type of flagrant disregard for rules and authority from Kankuro, not him.
"Lord Kazekage, as a person that used to be your jonin commander, I'm telling you a romantic relationship with your student is completely inappropriate. Do you understand how disgraceful that is? You are her sensei. You are expected to find a prestigious wife, who is not your student."
"So you believe these rumors?" Gaara asked, hopefully to make him think the opposite.
"You haven't denied them. Give me a direct answer. Are these rumors true?" Baki said, not falling for Gaara's attempt to deter his suspicions.
Gaara stood silent for a moment. He didn't want to lie to any of the seniors, especially Baki, but he felt that this was part of his personal life, and the seniors should have no say in it, especially if it's not affecting his performance as the Kazekage. He would have never expected this lack of privacy.
"Do you honestly believe that a romantic relationship with your student is going to work in your favor?! I thought you had more sense than this, Lord Kazekage. You cannot do this! A sensei's relationship with their student is supposed to remain professional. All you're doing is taking advantage of your authority and her admiration for you-"
Gaara glared at Baki angrily after hearing that assumption. Who did he think he was to make that type of accusation? Did the seniors still think he was the type of person to do something like that to someone?
"I would never take advantage of Matsuri. All of this drivel doesn't matter. She is no longer my student, and my romantic interests have nothing to do with my work as the Kazekage." Gaara said crossly. "The only thing inappropriate here is you attempting to ask me about these personal matters as if they're your own."
"You haven't answered any my questions directly! Are these rumors true?" Baki asked again.
"That isn't your concern or anyone else's concern. I think we're done here." Gaara said angrily, giving Baki a cold look.
"Very well then." Baki said. "We aren't done discussing this." He said before leaving the office.
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Later...
Mimi and Rubi were in Sutera's home, having tea after a long, boring day. The both of them did their best to resume back to their normal everyday assignments, though Mimi preferred to stay in Rubi's house after everything. Being in her own place didn't bring particularly good memories.
"Sheesh, I get caught up in a couple of dates for the last couple of days and you guys ended up getting yourselves kidnapped?!" Sutera said, worried and upset. "What will the both of you do without me?"
"Hey, I didn't 'get myself kidnapped.'" Rubi said. "Mimi did. I just got attacked and tied up."
"Way to throw me under the bus," Mimi said, raising a brow at Rubi.
"Don't look at me like that. I'm on your side. You think I want to relive that?! I was so scared! That guy was a lunatic!"
"I'm just glad the both of you are okay. This is just so shocking, you know? You don't think that this type of stuff will happen to your friends...this is the type of thing that you hear about other people that you've never met."
"I know..." Rubi said. "Luckily Ryu found me. Who knows how long I would've been tied there...and there were shinobi asking me a bunch of questions after that. It was just crazy."
"What about you, Mimi? Where were you taken to?"
"I don't really want to talk about this..." Mimi said. Not only did she not want to think about what happened, she was advised to be wary of who she shares the information with due to the potential threat that this can have to the village, even though that wouldn't be a huge problem. She barely understood that whole thing about the spirit orb and the master puppet. It was like they were speaking another language to her, kind of like when she was trying to explain the ins and outs of economics and accounting to the Kazekage. She wasn't really ready to acknowledge everything now anyway. The events that happened were still fresh in her head. She was just glad that Kankuro was okay. His injuries weren't as bad as they could have turned out to be and he was healed easily. She was really thankful for that guy with the chain named Robitu. She didn't even want to imagine how things could have turned out if he hadn't turned up. She knew that the Suna shinobi were looking for them, but Kankuro could have ended up in a worse condition than how they found him if they didn't have help sooner. It was why she's been more generous with him lately. It didn't really dawn on her until then that because of his lifestyle, she could lose him easily, and she didn't want that to happen.
"Oh, okay. I understand." Sutera said. "How about you go on a double date with me tomorrow? It'll get your mind off of all that scary stuff, and you get to spend time with an awesome guy."
"Can you stop it with that? I already told you I wasn't interested." Mimi said irritably.
"Too late. I already told him you were coming." Sutera said curtly, as if she's proud of the trap she put Mimi in.
"Why would you do that Sutera?! That's not cool!"
"I told you I was going to help you get you out of this dry spell you're in." Sutera told her, getting a snicker from Rubi which Sutera interpreted as her laughing at Mimi for it, when in reality, she was laughing because Mimi wasn't close to having a dry spell at all. "And now I really think you should try this out because I feel like you need to get your mind off of what happened. You've been all paranoid and maybe this will distract you for a little while. You don't even want to go back in your own place! Please? I don't want to leave him hanging as a third wheel."
Mimi groaned. "Can't you take Rubi with you or something?"
"For what? So her and Ryu can get in another stupid argument? I want to be spared the drama and torture."
"Hey!" Rubi said, scowling.
"Just give it a chance. The guy is really nice and he plays guitar." Sutera said. "Rubi agrees with me too. Right?"
"I never said that..." Rubi mumbled.
Mimi looked away guiltily at the thought of her going on a date with a guy she never met. "But...I don't want to..." she said, defeated.
"You're acting like you have a boyfriend or something. Loosen up for once!"
Mimi blushed. Did Sutera know? No, she definitely did not know. No one did, except Rubi. "N-no! I don't have a boyfriend!" She said. Why was she getting all nervous? It's not like it wasn't true. She didn't have a boyfriend.
"Oh my...so you are seeing someone!" Sutera said, reading her facial expression. "Don't deny it, you can't lie to me! Who is it?"
"I'm not!" Mimi denied.
"Yeah, she's not seeing anyone, Sutera. We would have known by now." Rubi said to defend Mimi. By now, Mimi knew that Rubi knew about the both of them because Kabuto basically spilled the beans and it would have been useless to try and deny it.
"Are you guys hiding something from me?" Sutera said, eyeing the both of them. "You guys are keeping a secret from me!"
"No!" Rubi and Mimi said at the same time, but that just made it more suspicious.
"Fine, if you guys want to be that way, then I'm going to do it the hard way." Sutera said, starting to ask the names of different guys in Suna to see if she would guess right, much to the chagrin of Mimi. Eventually, she did get a reaction from Mimi that she desired as she thought of as many guys as Mimi could have possibly interacted with.
"Is it the Kazekage?" Sutera asked.
"What?" Mimi said, feeling more dumbfounded than amused at the presumption. "No way! Not in a million years."
"Really, the Kazekage, Sutera?" Rubi said plainly. "Now you're just thinking of random people. And they would be completely incompatible if they got together."
"Hey, it could have been a possibility. He did call her over to his office that one day...maybe it was because he wanted a date. And he's hot."
"That will never be a possibility. Can you guys stop talking about me and the Kazekage like that? It's grossing me out." Mimi said, wanting to cringe at that thought. She's never thought of the Kazekage that way, and she wasn't planning on starting to anytime soon. "It was an important mission. He didn't want a date! And he makes me uncomfortable sometimes, like if he's testing me or something."
"Rumor has it he has a girlfriend. Haven't you heard?" Rubi added.
"It's just a rumor. Who knows if that's even true or not?" Sutera said. "Wait, what about that puppet guy who always dresses in black?" Sutera asked nonchalantly, not really expecting much of a reaction for that suggestion. "You know who I'm talking about...the one that's always with the Kazekage. He was on the roof with Ryu that day, remember?"
"N-no..." Mimi said quietly, trying to hide her face as she felt her face heat up at the thought of him. Not now, not now! Mimi told herself as she already knew her face gave everything away.
"It is him!" Sutera said, excited at her discovery. "Why didn't you tell me he was your boyfriend?!"
"Because he's not..." Mimi said, not really knowing how to feel about that fact.
"Then why don't you just go on the date tomorrow if you guys aren't an item? Since you're into those rebellious artistic type guys this would be perfect!"
"I-I don't know. It's not that simple..." Mimi said. Her and Kankuro haven't been acting much different since they came back from the outskirts of the desert, though she couldn't help but be more affectionate with him when no one was around. Now she was completely infatuated, and she was stuck in a limerence that she doubted will ever be reciprocated in the way she desired. A part of her hated that he had this type of affect on her and he wasn't even aware of it. But it was hard for her not to feel this way when he did things that made her want him even more...what a jerk.
"Why? What are you guys then?" Rubi asked, wanting to know.
"I'm not sure. I guess technically we're just messing around...but it doesn't feel that way...it feels like so much more, but I don't think he sees it that way."
"Oh, I've been there," Sutera said. "Take it from me, don't put all your eggs in one basket. You're setting yourself up for disappointment." She said simply.
"I dunno, Sutera, you sure that's a good idea?" Rubi asked. "Wouldn't it just be easier if Mimi just asked him how he felt?"
"Absolutely not! She can't make herself look desperate. Then he'll just run away! Trust me, Mimi, heed my words. If you go on a couple of dates with some other guys, you might find one who's more open about their intentions and you won't have to worry about playing a guessing game."
"Uh...I don't know..." Mimi pondered. Even though logically it made sense, her heart wasn't for it.
"I'm not saying you have to sleep with them. Just try it out," she insisted.
Mimi sighed. Sutera did have a point. She couldn't just hope for something that wasn't going to happen...but then why did the idea of doing it feel so wrong?
"I guess you're right. I'll try it..." She finally decided. It was just a small date, and Sutera was going to be with her. It's not like she had any intention of taking it further with this guy, so just spending the day with them wouldn't be so bad. She can go on this date and not speak to him again, simple. And it might turn out fun. It wouldn't hurt to avoid being reclusive for once.
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Mimi stood with Sutera the next day, eyeing the laid back looking man standing in front of her after being introduced. He had a loose, white t-shirt on with an open button down with an odd colorful pattern over it. His sandy colored shaggy hair was mostly covered with a hat that looked similar to a beanie, and he was carrying a guitar. Standing next to him was Sutera's date, a handsome, dark skinned man that had blond hair and piercing, pupil less green eyes. He didn't even look like he was from around here. The thought popped in her head as to where Sutera even met these types of guys.
"Hi, I'm Yorokobi." The guy with the guitar said to Mimi, eyeing her through his heavy lidded eyes.
"Hey," Mimi said. He seemed nice enough. Maybe this wouldn't turn out to be so bad.
The four of them spent the day walking around Suna, deciding to settle down near a shady area around where the training fields were. They all sat down on the cooled ground, making small talk about random things that ranged from the village to their jobs. Mimi learned that Yorokobi worked in a small family business in the village, and he did gigs on the side when he had free time.
"My family having a business is more chilled out for me," Yorokobi explained. "I have the advantage of them being more flexible with my hours if something unexpected comes up. I never know when I'm going to get a new gig. I could never use the 'family emergency' excuse if I want to call out, though."
Mimi smiled at his last comment.
"Hey guys, there's this store I've been wanting to check out for some time now with Taiki. You don't mind if we split, do you?" Sutera asked Yorokobi and Mimi.
Mimi gave her a pleading look, not really wanting to feel awkward and have to keep up a conversation with someone she just met that day. She should have known that Sutera planned to do this from the beginning. Great. Now how was she supposed to get herself out of this? Sutera was going to pay for this inconvenience later.
"It's cool. Have fun." Yorokobi said calmly. Really, absolutely nothing seemed to bother the guy.
"See you guys later," Sutera said, sneaking a wink at Mimi before walking away with her own date.
Oh, she was definitely going to pay for this later. So much for a so called "double date."
Mimi looked around, hoping that her environment would help her bring something up. Why was she so bad at this? It was much easier when Sutera was here. Has it really been this long since she's went on a date? She didn't have this problem with Kiba...but she did spend enough time with him to break the ice before she started to hang out with him more. And she didn't really have this problem with Yujiro and her other two boyfriends before him...but in hindsight, it was because they spent most of their time talking about themselves as if they just were in love with the sound of their own voice. It was her first time meeting this guy, so it was a bit different.
"Want to hear a new song I've been working on?" Yorokobi asked Mimi.
"Yeah, sure." Mimi said, relieved that he didn't seem to mind the awkward silence that had been slowly building between them.
Taking out his guitar, he started playing a nice, acoustic melody that was easy to tune in to. "I don't have a name for the song yet." He said before singing.
Well I heard that it might be raining bed sheets and lover's words
Let's throw out the hotel comforter and hang the 'do not disturb'
Sign me up for the storm
I'll wear my suit for the shower
Cause I'll have you to keep me warm in the coldest hour...*
Mimi smiled. He had a lovely voice. This was definitely a better date than any of the ones she went on with Yujiro.
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Kankuro walked along Suna, having gotten some new items he needed as maintenance for his puppets. He had just come from Gaara's office beforehand; Gaara was planning on sending him back to the Land of Snow to try and talk to the elders about the spirit orb in their bank. They had to ensure them to find a new hiding place for the spirit orb before the Shirogane clan is able to get to it. He needed to make sure he was more prepared this time, and he found a way for his puppets to be resilient to them getting frozen. Though he wouldn't be there to start a fight with the shinobi there like last time, he had to be ready for anything.
"Hey, what are you up to today? Surprised you're not in the Kazekage's office at this time," Kankuro heard Ryu ask as he spotted Kankuro walking along the hot, dry streets.
"He's pissed off about something again. I'll deal with him later." Kankuro said nonchalantly. Something did seem to be bothering Gaara, but he didn't seem willing to say anything about it at the moment, especially because of the newfound threat. He figured it might have had something to do with Baki, since he had seen him walking out of Gaara's office looking upset.
"You busy right now?" Ryu prodded.
"I was going to fix some of my puppets-"
"Sheesh, can't you get a new hobby? Give your puppets a break for once."
"Well, what do you expect? I'm a puppeteer. And I have to get ready for a mission."
"You're not just a puppeteer. You're the puppeteer. Your puppets can wait. Come train with me first! It'll help you for your mission so you can't make any excuses."
Kankuro eyed him, annoyed. "What do you mean I'm making excuses?"
"I mean you're afraid of me surpassing you." Ryu teased, knowing that he wasn't going to refuse if he's being challenged.
"You mean you're still down to try and beat me after the way I locked you in my puppet?" Kankuro teased back.
"That's not gonna stop me," Ryu said defiantly.
Kankuro smirked. "Fine, but don't get mad when I keep winning. This was your idea."
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Approaching the training grounds, Ryu rushed in, eager to train again.
"I've been practicing a new jutsu, and I can't wait to finally use it on you." Ryu said smugly. This jutsu was meant to put puppet users at a disadvantage, and he was confident that he finally perfected it so he can be able to beat Kankuro for once. And if his technique worked on Kankuro, it would work on any puppet user. He had been working on it recently, but it still needed some work. After the incident that got him trapped in Kankuro's puppet, he was determined to perfect it.
Kankuro snickered. "Does it involve you getting stuck in your own trap?"
"You'll never let me live that down, will you?" Ryu said dejectedly.
But once again, Kankuro was able to counter everything he did, and he wasn't even bluffing this time. Ryu sighed. At this rate, he'll never be able to keep up with him. He hadn't used his new jutsu yet, though. He was waiting for the right timing to be able to do it...but he was thrown off by a melodic tune coming from somewhere nearby.
...and crazy is the forecast all week...
"Where on earth is that singing coming from?" Ryu asked, looking around.
"Who cares?" Kankuro said, after hearing it when Ryu pointed it out. "Just drown it out. That shit sounds terrible anyway."
But Ryu was insistent on figuring out where it was coming from. Who would play music around here? This is a place to train...and then he saw them. Oh, this is golden. He had to see his rival's reaction to this.
"I think you should care since he's trying to sing to your little secret." Ryu joked, spotting the source of the noise at a small area near the training grounds where there was a significant amount of shade.
"Stop clowning around. We came here to train, not make jokes." Kankuro said, ignoring his foolish comment.
"I'm not joking." Ryu said, amused at the situation. "She doesn't seem to think it's terrible," he added, pointing to the two of them relaxing in the shade.
...And everyone might find me foolish to not be counting on the sun
But your mouth is my umbrella now
Because I'm holding your tongue...
Kankuro looked around to where that terribly cheesy and perverted music was coming from, to see that Ryu was actually right, to his surprise.
"Is she fucking serious?" Kankuro said angrily. They've been fine these past couple of days. She was actually being really nice to him...so why was she with this other guy? Was she just trying to toy with him? It didn't seem that way when they spent time together but if she was, he didn't appreciate being led on, especially if she's going to be won over by some loon who looks like a hobo and can't even play good music. He's come across these types of guys before; using a guitar with a shitty tune to try and get laid. He couldn't believe her standards were so low.
Ryu snorted, trying to hold back a loud laugh in hilarity, failing miserably.
"Stop laughing, you moron." Kankuro said, storming irately in the direction of the music with full intention of saving his ears the torture and knocking the guy's teeth out.
"Hey, where're you going? We're not done here!" Ryu called out.
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Mimi liked listening to the guitar playing, wishing that she had learned to play an instrument. She doubted she had any type of musical talent, though. But this was nice. It reminded her of her home, where many of the kids liked to sing and play instruments. There wasn't much to do up there, so many of them preoccupied their time playing music.
But the music stopped abruptly when someone carelessly tossed the guitar from Yorokobi's hands. Why on earth would someone do something like that?
"That's not cool, man..." Yorokobi said, looking up to see who did it.
Mimi looked up from where she was sitting to see Kankuro there, looking irritated. Of course it would be him to do something so rude and unnecessary. No, this couldn't be happening right now. Just when she thought she would get through this smoothly, the worst possible thing had to happen. Mimi felt like an idiot after realizing that something like this was likely to happen, being that they were near the training grounds, though a scarcely occupied area. Why didn't she see this coming? This whole ordeal could have been avoided if she simply relocated somewhere else.
"Kankuro, what are you doing?! Stop!" Mimi said, taken aback at the unexpected interruption. But obviously, Kankuro didn't listen like always, and he grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.
"Get the hell out of here, or I'll show you the forecast of my puppet collection." Kankuro said to Yorokobi fiercely. "I predict it's gonna be raining poison."
"Kankuro, let him go!" Mimi insisted, attempting to loosen the grip he had on the guy. Why was he acting like this? "Kankuro-kun, please-"
"Don't sweet talk me." Kankuro said abhorrently, scowling at Mimi, but he eventually listened, thoughtlessly pushing Yorokobi back on the ground.
"Hey, keep the peace, sand brother. No need to get so violent." Yorokobi said, standing up and picking up his guitar before walking away.
Mimi stood up, glaring bitterly at Kankuro. "What was all that about? Can't you be docile for one day? Don't you get tired of being so aggressive all the time? He's not even a shinobi!"
"You're an ungrateful little shit, you know that?" He said indignantly.
"And you're a stubborn, hotheaded asshole." Mimi responded, upset that instead of him telling her what's wrong, he would just resort to name calling. Well, two could play at that game.
"That's not what you were saying about me the other night when you were rid-"
"Whoa, don't finish that! Stop being a pretentious dolt." Mimi said quickly, not in the mood for hearing his vulgarity. "What's your problem now? Don't tell me, you got bored and wanted to start a fight again?"
He clenched his fists in annoyance. He wasn't up for her sarcasm right now.
"I almost got my fucking jaw broken going after you, and this is how you thank me? By running off with some stupid happy-go-lucky hippie?!"
"I do appreciate that you saved me. But this has nothing to do with what happened that night." Mimi said. "I'm just having a good time. What's the big deal?"
"Is that what you do? Just go around trying to sleep with different guys?" He said in disgust at her carelessness.
"What are you talking about?" Mimi said angrily. "That's not what I meant by having a good time! Get your mind out the gutter!"
"Really? Because you already slept with that mutt-"
"Wait, what? I didn't sleep with Kiba, you imbecile. I didn't even kiss him." Mimi said to him, confused. She didn't expect that reply from him. "You seriously think I slept with him?"
"What do you expect me to believe when you stayed with him the whole night?"
Mimi scowled at him, initially offended that he would think she would do something like that. He always had to be so crude about everything...but then another thought popped in her head. Is that what this whole thing was about? "Why are you even getting upset? There's no reason for you to be getting mad. If I did sleep with him, why would you care?"
"...Because...well...I don't like it." He mumbled, not really able to answer the question. Though he was relieved to hear she wasn't dumb enough to sleep with that prick.
"So you think you can just go around picking on people because you don't like it? What kind of authority do you think you have? How many people have you slept with is what should be the real question here, because unlike you, I can count the number of boyfriends I've had with one hand."
"That's not the point." Kankuro said firmly. "Don't turn this around on me."
Mimi had to laugh. "You don't even know, do you?"
Kankuro thought about it for a moment. It never crossed his mind to think of how many until now, and it was...quite a few...well, a lot, to say the least.
"So what? I lost track. And?" He said adamantly.
"You're being a hypocrite." She stated flatly.
Kankuro looked away. She had a point...why was he acting this way? He's never had a problem with girls dating other guys while he messed around with them. He never really cared. What was the difference now? He knew he shouldn't be reacting the way he did, but he didn't like the possibility of her being interested in someone else. Was he not good enough? Even then, he would think she would be less capricious after the events that had happened, especially since she's been acting so much nicer to him. He guessed him going out of his way to save her didn't mean much to her. He realized for the first time, he may have been the one to get burned. After all those other girls, he figured he had it coming to him. "...I see how it is. So I don't mean shit to you." Kankuro said, turning to walk away, torn.
"I didn't say that! Come back here!" Mimi said, tugging his arm. "It's not what-"
"Just leave me alone, Mimi." He said before leaving.
Mimi hung her head, feeling defeated. She knew she shouldn't have gone on this stupid date. Now whatever chances she had with him were most definitely ruined, over someone who she wasn't even interested in. There was no turning back from this. Rubi was right. She has no luck with men.
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"Can you at least take your head out from under my pillow? It's depressing." Rubi told Mimi as she was thinking of what movie to watch.
"That's how I'm feeling right now. I can't believe I screwed up this bad..." Mimi said, her voice sounding muffled from her head being buried under the pillow. She was in the mood where she didn't want to look at anything. "I should have never taken Sutera's advice."
Rubi sighed. "Sutera...tends to give terrible advice to people. Just putting that out there, for future reference." She said. The most she could do is be there for her to cheer her up. "Any idea what movie we could watch? We could put on a comedy. It'll make you laugh..."
"Whatever..." Mimi mumbled. As long as there was no romance in it.
After the movie started playing, there was a knock on the door.
"You're back early too?" Rubi asked after seeing that it was Sutera.
"You mean Mimi's already here? I guess we both had bad dates. We just didn't click at all." Sutera said, walking to Rubi's room where Mimi was sulking. "Sheesh, what happened to you? It couldn't have turned out that bad. Yorokobi doesn't really do much to bother anyone."
"It was horrible." Mimi said. "Someone please kill me now."
"What happened?" Sutera asked, curious.
"I don't wanna talk about it again..."
Sutera looked at Rubi, confused. Rubi explained what happened, Sutera putting on a look of amusement. "So, my idea worked. I didn't think that he would actually be near the training grounds today, but I figured it would be best to give it a shot."
Mimi shot up. "What do you mean your idea worked? You're saying that you intentionally set me up?!"
"Yeah. I was just trying to help-"
"Trying to help? Sutera, he hates me now!" Mimi exclaimed. "I don't like playing those types of mind games. Now he thinks I was on that date because I wanted to be, which I didn't!"
"Look, I didn't know he was going to make such a scene, okay? At least now you know how he feels about you dating other people, so that's a step in the right direction." She said hopefully.
"What does that matter if he won't talk to me again? Ugh, I should have known you were going to pull some crap like this." Mimi said, burying her head back under the pillow.
"He'll get over it!"
"No he wouldn't. He doesn't listen to anyone when he's upset." Mimi mumbled.
"He listens to you." Rubi stated, patting her arm encouragingly.
Mimi sighed. "No he doesn't. He didn't even let me explain. Urrrgh, why is it always me?" Mimi said glumly.
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Later that night, Kankuro went to a bar with Rojikku, having bumped into him earlier. Normally, he would have refused an offer to go with him, but Kankuro never felt so conflicted. He didn't even know what he was feeling...he wasn't the type to be sappy, and that wasn't going to change now. All he knew was that he didn't like this feeling and all it was doing was making him frustrated that he was so...bothered by all this. He didn't feel like himself.
"Hey, slow down, you're going to get yourself wasted within an hour if you keep that up." Rojikku said to Kankuro after observing him taking a fourth shot.
"I don't care." Kankuro said, hoping for his mind to blur, to numb whatever he was feeling right now.
"You're not acting like yourself. Is something bothering you?"
"No." Kankuro lied, not wanting to talk about it, requesting another drink from the bartender.
Rojikku shrugged, deciding to leave him alone. He was at the bar for his own reasons and wasn't interested in babysitting.
Later, as Kankuro was drinking, he was approached by a random woman who had been sitting nearby, but he hadn't paid much mind to her.
"Aren't you the Kazekage's brother?" The woman asked him.
He eyed her up and down. She was okay looking. A couple of months ago, he probably would have found her attractive...she had wavy blonde hair, a nice rack, small waist...but now he didn't find her much to look at. She looked quite boring, actually, and very typical. He was tempted to ignore her as she eyed him flirtatiously.
"Yeah, whaddya want?" He said sluggishly.
The woman giggled. "You're not really one for small talk, are you?"
"Nope." Kankuro said, taking another swig of what he was drinking.
"You're so mysterious." She said playfully. "So if you're not up for talking, maybe you should buy me a drink."
Kankuro glared at her, tempted to tell her to buy her own damn drink. After a couple of years all these girls seemed the same, and this one was no different; this girl only wanting to speak to him because of his connection with the Kazekage. He found them stupid and shallow. But he reconsidered, deciding that she would at least be a good distraction for the night. He bought her a couple of drinks, eventually inviting her over to his place. If Mimi didn't care, then he shouldn't either.
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Kabuto opened his eyes, seeing nothing but pitch black around him. Where was he? Sitting up, he saw a faint light in the distance. Was he dead? Standing up, he walked toward the light, noticing that it was a door that led to a long hallway. Cautiously walking toward the end of the hallway, he saw someone already there, in a small room. There was a table with some papers on it. It looked as if the person there was planning something.
"...Lord Orochimaru..."
"Well, it seems you have finally awakened."
"Where are we?"
"That's none of your concern right now. But I'm sure you have a lot of questions."
"How much time has passed?"
"Not long since I found you in the cave."
"But...my wounds...the poison..." Kabuto said, slowly putting his hand to his neck. It felt like forever since he was able to move normally by himself again. To his surprise, he was healed, though he felt scar tissue. Of course Lord Orochimaru had his ways. But this was still quite impressive for someone who has been weakened tremendously. "Why did you save me?"
"I went to the Land of Snow to see if there was anything of my interest. I ended up investigating what business you've got yourself into up there after discovering something that could be of my advantage. I must say, your idea is very interesting, and something that we can work together on."
So Lord Orochimaru has been watching him for almost the whole time. But there had to be some other reason.
"It doesn't seem like you to want to be so willing to help others, Lord Orochimaru." Kabuto said, smirking, knowing that there had to be a catch to this.
"Let's just say that the hospital you want to build will be a perfect way to access the group of people whose genes I'm interested in. Your hospital can be a cover up for experimentations that I can perform on the clan with the kekkei genkai. They have potential of playing a huge role in cell preservation, which in turn can be beneficial to gaining an even huger understanding of immortality. After visiting the clan in the North Pole, I discovered that the majority of them tend to have longer lifespans than the average human. I would like to look into that more. But they wouldn't be willing to let me obtain that information so easily."
"I see..." Kabuto said, registering the discovery that was just told to him.
"I give you credit for gaining the trust of the Queen in that village. She seems to favor you. The more trust you have with her, the easier it'll be to get access to these people. This is why I came for you. I admit it was entertaining seeing you try and function on your own."
"Are you really that confident that I'll be willing to return to you so quickly?" Kabuto asked. He didn't really expect anything else from Lord Orochimaru, but he was the only person alive who has come the closest to understanding him, or so he thought.
"It seems you've gotten yourself into quite a bit of trouble without me. That puppet master did a number on you. To think that of all ways to go, you'd let yourself get defeated by someone that weak. You've lost your edge wasting your time trying to be someone you're not. And you should do me this favor in return of me saving your life."
Kabuto stood in contemplation for a second. Was this what he wanted? After all this time, after even discovering where he truly came from, he still didn't really know who he was. What were his desires? It was getting tiring, living his life to satisfy the dreams and ambitions of someone else. But even after leaving Lord Orochimaru's side, he ended up in the same predicament, working for someone else to help achieve their goals...but they did promise to give him something in return. Then he remembered Dami's side of the deal. He owed him a valuable puppet. With that, he would be able to build the hospital he wanted. But now he had to compromise with Lord Orochimaru, too, and make this hospital into something in his favor since he saved his life. What on earth was he actually achieving doing all of this? Should he even care anymore? Trying to lead his own path has just left him with more confusion.
"...Okay, but I have to look for someone. He owes me something that'll help make this into a reality."
Orochimaru smiled. His minion was back.