Chapter Fourteen
New Mission
When Gaara told Kankuro about the maze idea the puppeteer was ecstatic.
"It's perfect! Why didn't we think of it before!"
Gaara nodded "It is indeed perfect."
"What is this maze?" Neji asked. "I don't like the idea of following you around in an open area, Kankuro. What if I lose you?"
"It's a training ground. We use it for practice. And you will not have to do anything. The Guardians will be there."
"The who?"
"Not a who, technically a what..." Kankuro said.
"And that, unfortunately, is something we cannot tell you." Gaara said "You can accompany us to the maze, and you can hear the voices of the Guardians if you wish, but you will not be able to see them or learn much of them."
"Why not?"
"Because it is a secret kept only between the Kazekage and the puppeteers." Kankuro said. "Let's just say...the Guardians are protectors, historians and lorekeepers. They only share secrets with the puppet corps." Kankuro had an odd look in his eyes.
Neji did not like it, and was very curious, but he knew about secrets that needed to be kept in a clan. But he could not help but wonder who these Guardians were.
And what did Kankuro mean by "Not a who, a what"?
The entrance to the maze was forbidding, to say the least.
It was right beside the puppeteers' theater, right to the left of it in fact. At first it looked like just another building, until Neji when in and shaw that the "building" was merely a single bare room with a stairway leading down.
Down the stairs, down deep, down until Neji was sure they were miles under the earth, the stairs led to a cavern. In the middle of the cavern was a portal. A huge stone doorway. Although door did not really describe the entrance that well. It was a huge stone slab, shaped like a dragon's maw.
And when they approached, a voice spoke. A rather large, booming one.
"Who approaches? Speak your names."
Gaara stepped forwards "I am Gaara of the Desert. The Fifth Kazekage. You know my voice. You know me."
"We hear. We know. You are worthy. The second?"
"I am Kankuro of the Swooping Eagles. Brother of the Fifth Kazekage. Puppeteer of the corps. You know me."
"We hear. We know. The last?"
Kankuro grinned at Neji "Well? You wanted to come, right?"
Kankuro was speaking the truth. Neji had to see this.
He said "I am Neji Hyuga, of the Leaf Village."
A long silence, then "Why are you here? You are not Kazekage. You are not of the Corps. Why?"
"I was curious. I am here to protect Kankuro." the aforementioned puppeteer snorted at this comment from the Leaf ninja.
"No harm shall come to a puppeteer here. You are not necessary."
Neji bristled "Who and what are you?"
"Are you worthy?"
"I can prove myself,"
"Oh this is going to be interesting." Kankuro muttered.
"Can you? Name the Cycle."
Neji frowned "Err...the what now?"
"Name the Cycle."
"What Cycle?"
"If you must ask then you are not worthy."
Neji sputtered angrily, and was about to argue the point with whoever or whatever was trying to make a fool of him, when Gaara spoke up.
"Neji, we have no more time. We need Kankuro in this maze, now."
Neji wanted to argue with the voices, but then he realized that, once he was rid of Kankuro he could get out of this pit, go back to his fellow Leafs, and not have to worry about werewolves for the rest of the night.
He shut up.
Gaara spoke again "Guardians, are you ready for orders?"
"Speak."
"Later this day you were given animals to store. Are they there?"
"They are."
"Is there anyone else in the maze."
"No one."
"Hear me. From now until the sun comes up tomorrow, my brother is the only one allowed in the maze. When the moon rises he will change into a wolf creature, what we have learned is called a werewolf. Once he is in the maze do not let anyone in. Do not let him out. Let him come to no harm in the maze. Let him run as long as he wishes as a wolf. Only let him out if he is no longer a wolf. Let the animals loose with him for him to hunt. Do you understand the instructions?"
"Understood. Enter at any time, Kankuro."
Gaara nodded at his brother. "Good luck."
Kankuro smiled "No problem, bro." He walked towards the dragon's mouth carved in the stone. The thing opened it's mouth to let him in, much to Neji's surprise. With one last little wave, Kankuro entered the maze.
"There is a story," the voice of the Guardian's said "Of a man whose wife gave birth to a beast with the head of bull and the body of a man. They left him in a maze and fed him humans as sacrifices. This is much the same. Will you keep Kankuro like this, we wonder?"
"I hope not." Gaara said.
"We shall see. Whatever happens, we remember."
"Let's go."
Neji gave the dragon carved in the stone one last considering look. He almost used the Byakugan, but thought better of it. It was probably not a good idea.
The maze had been carved in solid rock. There were no lights, no way to see. That was fine. It was part of the training the maze had been built for. And as a wolf Kankuro would not need it. And, since there was a handy cavern ceiling above, and the Guardians to...well guard, then there was no way that he could escape.
For the first time in three days, Kankuro felt secure.
He could feel it happening again. The transformation. It was getting easier to tell when it happened. Now that he was fully aware of what was going on he could actually sit back and analyze what what happening to him. There was pain, oh yes, a bunch of it. Especially in the legs and head, the parts that changed the most. However, there was also something that he had, until right now, ignored. He had ignored it because he had been so busy trying to fight the transformation he had not noticed it. It was bizarre, heady rush of power. Strength flowing into him. Pure, unbridled energy. The werewolf was strong, much stronger then his human form. Kankuro could feel that strength now.
And, despite himself, he liked it.
This was not so bad. Here, safe from people he could hurt, he could sit back. Let this happen. Maybe, even enjoy it. As long as he stayed in this maze he was harmless.
His body became less human, and this time Kankuro did not fight. He let the transformation happen. It was actually quicker that way. Less painful too. And he felt more of the power of it. It was...wonderful.
And then the wolf's mind came to the forefront, and everything changed for him.
It was so much simpler now. So much more manageable. The wolf had no village to worry and fuss about. The wolf did not fret about his brother. The wolf was not consistently thinking of what to do or how to act. The wolf simply was. It simply existed. And it was just so relaxing. Just so easy.
Kankuro let his guard down. He let the wolf be.
And it was so much better then fighting it.
The werewolf sniffed the air. Yes, he could smell it. Prey. It was not totally comfortable in this place, with its walls and ceiling. However, it was better then a cage. And there was food. He could hunt.
He began to follow the scent. Pig. A nice, plump one. It was close. A turned corner, and there it was. It saw him, squealed and ran. Howling with joy the werewolf gave chase, falling on all fours and running it down. With a mighty leap the werewolf broke the pigs back. Snarling, he sank his teeth in the pig's throat and twisted, tearing it out. It was swift, the animal was dead before it hit the ground.
Greedily the werewolf began to feed, swallowing bit mouthfuls of flesh and lapping up the blood.
It was good.
He was happy. More then happy. Fulfilled. This was what he was meant to do.
This was right.
When the sun rose the good feelings in Kankuro had not diminished. In fact he felt even better in the morning. It was like the way he felt that first morning in the cave. He had a theory that it must have something to do with the werewolf transformation. It must give you extra engery after the transformation. Well, why not? It would have to, if one was going to stay up all night as a wolf then one probably needed the energy boost to function the next day. It made sense in his mind.
Gaara and Neji were waiting for him when he emerged from the building.
"How did it go?" Gaara asked.
Kankuro grinned "Great, no problem. Hey, anyone want bacon? I think I might have left a rib or two back there."
Gaara frowned "I think not."
"Suit yourself bro."
Gaara studied him. Kankuro did look better then he had these past few days, but that could be because he no longer had to worry about hurting a civilian. Gaara knew how much his duty to the village meant to Kankuro, and he knew that it would kill Kankuro if they ever came to harm because of him. This must have been a load off of his mind.
"You are feeling well then?" Gaara asked.
"Yep, never better."
"Good, I have to talk to you about something. Do you remember the report concerning the disturbance coming from the Land of Smoke?"
Kankuro nodded. "Yeah."
"The team sent in to investigate has not returned. I want you to lead Kiba's team there and investigate."
Kankuro nodded, following his brother's logic. The Leafs were basically ordered by the Hokage to follow whatever orders Gaara gave them while in Suna, and since the Sand ninja were stretched so thin it made sense to send a Leaf team. Kiba's group had a tracker (Kiba), Hinata's Byakugan ability, and a bug master that could use those creepy crawlies to send messages and scout. Kznkuro knew why Gaara would want to send him, instead of Temari or another Sand ninja. The Land of Smoke was at the western border. It was further away from the Sand Village then Konoha was. It took a day and a half to get out of the desert going to the Land of Fire, and it was through territory littered with nice lush oasis. The western lands were a had less rest stops, and it took at least four days to reach the closest body of water. It was a hard journey, and a lot could go wrong. Kankuro, however, had been to the western lands plenty of times, and knew them well. Kankuro also had the distinct advantage of knowing more about the various tribes then either of his siblings. The tribes were nomadic, but they did have territories they preferred over others. The western lands were mostly home to the Bloodied Dragons (an ally of the Swooping Eagles), the Sand Cats (a neutral party to his tribe), the Serpent's Teeth (who were nasty, but could be reasoned with) and his own tribe the Swooping Eagles. Kankuro knew the traditions and ways of his tribe, and could deal with such matters better then Temari or Gaara.
"He is comign as well, just in case?" Kankuro nodded at Neji. It was the only reason he could think of why the Hyuga was here.
"Indeed." Gaara said.
"I take it you took care of everything, right?" Kankuro said, looking up at the sky "If we are going I would rather we go now. Make some miles before noon."
"Everything is taken care of." Gaara knew about long trips through the desert, and had arranged everything beforehand."
"Alright. Let me go get my puppets, maybe take a quick shower, and I'll meet the Leafs outside the western gate."
Of course, Kiba was the first to make an objection.
"Wait! There are five people here! I thought teams should only be four people!" He shouted.
"Sand ninja don't limit ourselves to numbers." Kankuro replied. "We send as many as necessary to get the job done. He is coming in case I go wolf on you and try to eat your entrails...unless you are volunteering yours?"
Kiba thought. "Okay, I see your point. So, what's the plan?" Although he still hated the wolf stench coming of Kankuro in literal waves, he understood the concept of the team leader, and he would follow the team leader.
"First, listen up. This is not going to be like your other trips in the desert. We are heading into some really tough territory. Here, everyone take these water skins here." Kankuro began to pass out the water skins that a jonin was holding for them. "You drink when I tell you to, no more or less. We have to keep an eye on this, because there is not going to be any water holes or oasis or anything else for four days. When you run out of this it is gone. It only takes three days for a person to die of dehydration. We have none of those military ration pill things here. Never really developed the technology, so we are taking some food with us as well. Not so bad if we run out of that, because we can hunt on the way there. Hope you like fried lizards, because it might come to that. Also, if we run into any tribesman, and I mean any tribesman, you do not talk. I talk, and you try to look non threating. Especially you Hyugas. There is nothing a tribesman hates more then an uppity city squatter. And, yeah, I may be one as well, but I least know what'll piss em off and what won't. We are going to be traveling at dawn and at dusk, and resting during the noon and the evening. It's to hot to travel during the heat of the day and too cold in the dead of night. Keep yourselves covered at all times. I don't care how uncomfortable you are you will be even worse off if you get sunburn out there. Do not touch the wildlife. Any wildlife, especially you two, dog boy and bug boy. There are more poisonous things out there then you can count, and I don't want you to pick up something and get stung or bitten. I can't exactly carry my anti venom cabinet through the desert with us. If you feel bad, if you are struggling or you feel sick or weak or poor, tell me. Don't be proud or try to prove yourselves or something retarded like that. I don't want to come back and tell Naruto that I got his buddies killed." he stared at each Leaf ninja in the eye "The most dangerous things we will be facing out there will not be whatever it is the Land of Smoke, it will be the elements of the desert. Do you understand me?"
Nods all around.
"Alright, if you don't feel up to this then this is the time to go.
No one moved.
"Alright then." Kankuro took a deep breath. "Let's go."