Chapter 25: Puppets and Authors
He cowered as the screams of the dead and dying filled the air. A few buildings had caught fire and the stench of burning flesh filled the compound.
"Akira sama, please come with me. It is not safe here!" Shiro grabbed him and began to drag him away from where he had been hiding under the dining table.
They ran towards the storeroom where his mother was waiting for him.
"Akira, Shiro, hurry up!" his mother's voice came, frantic with worry.
Just as he reached the storeroom, the door to their living room blew of his hinges. Beyond stood a figure, looking like some dark angle of death outlined against the flames billowing behind him. The mere sight was enough to force him to his knees, gasping for breath.
His mother lunged forward and grabbed him by the collar. Then she spun and threw him into the store room towards the cellar just as the figure moved.
"Run!" she screamed as she turned to confront him.
But he remained frozen in terror, his mind screaming for him to run but his body refusing to obey.
It was only when a foot of steel materialized from his mother's back that he began to scramble away. But it was too late. The figure began to walk towards him. Terror gripped him again.
"Time to die, boy" There was a hint of regret in his voice as he raised his blade above his head, ready to cleave him in twain.
He whimpered and closed his eyes, waiting for death to claim him. But the blow never fell.
At that very moment, Shiro charged, screaming like someone crazed. The little nine year old leapt at the assailant with two kunai held in his hands.
He watched in horror as the man reversed the stroke in mid air to plunge through Shiro's tender flesh, snuffing the life out of his faithful companion.
It was then he noticed the explosive tags that were lined in Shiro's shirt, ready to explode. An instant later, a huge explosion rocked the house. He was flung back by the force of the explosion. Dazed and bleeding, he watched as the walls and roof began to crumble and fall.
Mother … father … Shiro … were his last thoughts before the darkness claimed him
"Wake up brother …"
He woke up with a start, gasping his lungs labored for breath .He was drenched in perspiration.
"That must have been some nightmare, Brother Erik. I heard you cry out even though I was outside the library" Abbot John put a hand on his shoulder.
He could only nod; the horrors from the nightmare still fresh in his mind. He looked up to see the Abbot looking at him with concern in his eyes. For an instant, he saw shock in his eyes, but it was gone, replaced by concern again so quickly that he did not know if he had imagined it or not.
"I think it is time for you to take a break, Brother. One cause of nightmares is said to be too much work" The Abbot said with a faint smile, looking at the pile of books at the table where Brother Erik had been studying.
"You're right. Maybe I should take a break" he said as he stood up and began to put the books away in an orderly fashion. Brother Jeremy would fly into a rage if he found anybody not handling the books carefully.
After he had put the books away, his mind went back to the instant when he thought he had seen shock in the Abbot's eyes. As he walked towards the library doors, he glanced at the full length antique mirror that had been kept here temporarily. He stopped and bit of a curse.
Damn. I must have subconsciously activated the Sharingan due to the nightmare.
As he walked out of the library, he could only hope that the Abbot would not speak of it to anyone.
…..
"Is everything in order, Kabuto?"
"Yes, Orochimaru sama"
Orochimaru's eyes swept around the massive laboratory. Massive tanks were arrayed on both sides. Some of them were empty, but some of them were filled with a bluish liquid. In such tanks floated bodies that only looked vaguely human.
"By the way, were you spotted during your trips to the other bases?"
Kabuto snorted. "I should hope so."
Orochimaru nodded, a maniacal grin spreading over his face.
Kabuto absently pushed his glasses up with his finger. "But surely they will suspect some sort of trap if they are able to locate so many bases at once"
Orochimaru cackled. "I am counting on that, my dear Kabuto. They will be so busy looking at my traps, waiting for them to spring that will never notice me picking Sasuke out of Konoha."
"Very impressive, Orochimaru sama" Kabuto nodded.
Orochimaru's face split into a ghastly smile, the hunger and lust shining in his eyes. "Soon I will have those eyes, the eyes that will grant me immortality."
……..
Kankuro squinted his eyes as he carefully put the finishing touches on his latest puppet. Behind him lay an impressive array of puppets, each crafted so beautifully that to a casual observer, they seemed almost lifelike. There were puppets of fearsome dragons, samurai warriors, ninjas, kings and many others. The one in his hand was the puppet of a princess.
"That's beautiful!" an awed whisper came from behind him.
Kankuro turned around to see Temari looking at the puppet in his hand. He grinned as he saw her dumbstruck expression.
"I aim but to please" he said in a grandiose fashion as he swept his hands in the direction of his collection of puppets. He was not disappointed as Temari's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
"Wow!" she said. "I'm impressed Kankuro. I didn't know you were capable of such … artistic endeavors!"
Kankuro shrugged. "I didn't get the opportunity to do such things back … home!" His face clouded momentarily. But his expression became cheerful after a moment.
"So, what brings you to my humble studio? I don't see you anytime other than when we are having dinner!" He winked slyly at her and ducked frantically as Temari took a swipe at him with her fan.
"The Hokage wants us to form a genin team." Temari said.
Kankuro's eyes narrowed. "Why?"
Temari shrugged "She said that it would be a waste to keep ninjas with our level of skill idle for too long." Her voice trailed away as she saw the expression on Kankuro's face become darker and darker.
"No!"
Temari couldn't believe her ears. "What?"
Kankuro turned away. "I said I don't want to be part of any genin team!"
Temari just stood there with her mouth open. Kankuro didn't want to be part of a genin team! The same Kankuro, who used to pester Baki-sensei to spare time to train him!
"But … but why not!" she spluttered.
Kankuro stood silent for a long time before replying "I … I don't enjoy being a ninja anymore, sis"
Temari walked up to Kankuro and laid a hand on his shoulder. "I cannot protect Gaara alone, brother. I need you. He needs you" she said softly.
Kankuro's face twisted in a mask of anguish as he struggled within himself.
"The new sealing by Jiraya-sama has left Gaara sane, but it robbed him of the extra power that came from his insanity." Temari went on. "Konoha can only shelter us for so long. Gaara needs us, Kankuro. We are all that's left of our family."
A shudder ran through Kankuro at her words. Deep inside, he realized that she was right. His shoulders slumped as he knew that he would once again have to fight, to kill. Wordlessly, he nodded.
Temari embraced Kankuro and they stood like that for a long time.
Kankuro sighed as he gently pulled away from his sister's hug. "When do we start?" he asked as his gaze went longingly to his theatre puppets.
"Don't worry, Kankuro. You can be a ninja and still have time for all this." Temari said, trying to cheer him up a little.
Kankuro nodded. Yeah! Jiraya sama is a ninja but he still finds time to write his books…
"Jiraya sama is an author? What kind of books does he write?"
Kankuro froze as he realized that he had said the last part aloud.
"I really don't know. I mean … I heard some people talking about it …" he stammered.
Temari looked at Kankuro closely. "Are you all right? You look a little flushed."
Kankuro nodded hurriedly. "Yes …yes I'm okay"
Temari looked sceptical, but decided to drop it.
As she reached the door, she said "Hmmm… maybe I'll ask Jiraya sama to lend me one of his books. I'm sure that a ninja like him would write very interesting things."
Poor Kankuro nearly had a heart attack. He stood there gaping like a fish as Temari left, his mind going over the scene again and again where Temari had thrashed him on discovering his 'literature'.
"I'm dead!"
……..
Sakura sighed as she let the warm water of the shower wash over her. The heat helped relieve the ache in her muscles a little bit and she was grateful for that.
As she stepped out from the shower, her gaze went to the mirror in the bathroom. She could see a large purple bruise on her face, but she only felt a minor stab of annoyance at that. She grinned as she realized that a few months ago, she would have gone into hysterics over it.
She walked out of the bathroom and opened her closet. She picked out a nightgown and quickly changed into it. Then she walked over to her dressing table and began to brush her hair. After a few strokes, her hand slowed down as her gaze travelled to a photo kept there; a photo of Team 7, taken a few days after it had been formed. It showed her with a big smile on her face, Sasuke with the same smirk on his face and Naruto just about to yawn. Even though she was no longer a fan-girl, a part of her heart still wept for what Sasuke had become.
……..
Naruto groaned loudly. From the information his clones had been gathering over the past week, he was ready to classify Jiraya's barrier as "impossible-to-break".
"Stupid Akatsuki and their stupid plans" he muttered angrily.
He had nearly perfected his "blood clone", thanks to the training he had been receiving from Tsunade and Shizune. Of course, they did not know anything about it and he was very careful to see that it remained that way. His progress with the Mokuton jutsu was not going very well, but fortunately, they seemed to attribute it to his less-than-perfect chakra control.
Naruto sighed as he turned the lizard over the spit again. He knew that his best chance of escaping was during his birthday, the one day that the entire village and many other outsiders gathered to celebrate all day and night. They wept buckets over the Yondaime's statue and spat gallons on the Kyuubi figurines.
Not for the first time, he wondered how his life would have been had people known who is father really was. Would they have treated him like a hero or would they have treated the Yondaime like some sort of freak who went around putting demons in his own child?
….
"More tea, Temari san?" Tsunade asked, holding up the teapot.
Temari politely refused. Tea was not her favourite beverage and she had already had two cups of it.
Tsunade put down the pot and picked up a sheet of paper from the table.
"I am putting Kankuro in Shikamaru's team. You and Gaara will be joining Naruto's team." Tsunade said, grinning widely.
Temari resisted the urge to roll her eyes. First Kankuro and now the Hokage herself. Really!
"Will five people on a team not make it unbalanced?" she asked instead.
Tsunade sighed. "Naruto will be removed from the team as soon as Sasuke is fit to rejoin them."
"Because of the Akatsuki" Temari said.
Tsunade nodded as she took a sip of sake from her flask.
"The why is Gaara …"
Tsunade sat silent for a few moments before she answered.
"Gaara has become … proficient in the use of his bijuu. Even though his renewed sealing has left him a little weaker, he is still a formidable opponent. Since he is not a Konoha shinobi, we cannot simply lock him up in the village forever. The best thing we can do for him is to enhance his skills."
"Naruto, on the other hand, is extremely reluctant to use even a tiny fraction of the Kyuubi's power. He has raised strong walls in his mind and these subconscious walls prevent him from tapping into the Kyuubi's power."
Temari was confused. "But I thought the council didn't want Naruto to use that power"
Tsunade shook her head. "Under normal circumstances, we would be very pleased with Naruto. But now, he needs to learn to tap into that power to defend himself from the Akatsuki."
Tsunade sighed wearily. "He may not look like it, but Naruto can be extremely stubborn regarding some things. I can't convince him. Jiraya can't convince him, sensei can't convince him."
"But why?" Temari asked.
Tsunade shrugged. "We don't know. He simply clams up whenever this topic his brought up."
She then stared at Temari for a few seconds, making her fidget.
"What?" she asked, unable to stand the piercing eyes of Tsunade.
"I want you to try and convince him." She said.
Temari was stunned. "Me?" She blurted.
Tsunade nodded. "You are the first person to get close to him. Find out why he is so dead set against using the Kyuubi's power."
Temari was outraged. "You want me to spy on him?"
Tsuande clicked her tongue irritably. "Don't be foolish, child. This is for his own good. No matter how much we try, we cannot keep on protecting him forever. One day they will catch us unawares and that will spell the doom not only for Naruto but for all of us, if he is not able to protect himself."
Temari bit her lips as she considered the Hokage's words. Much of what she said was true. Naruto was a good ninja, but being good was not enough.
She nooded slowly. "I'll try". But she did not know how she would get to broach the topic with Naruto.
Tsunade nodded, satisfied.
Temari stood up, wished her a good night and headed towards the door. Halfway there, she turned around.
"I almost forgot. Would you have any books written by Jiraya sama?"
Tsuande's jaw hit the ground. Shizune, who was clearing the table, dropped a cup.
Temari looked at them strangely.
Tsunade managed to recover some of her composure. "Why do you want Jiraya's tr .. er … books?"
Yep. She is acting strange. Must be all the alcohol she guzzles. Temari thought.
"Well, Kankuro mentioned that he is a writer. Surely a ninja like Jiraya sama who has travelled so widely would write interesting books"
A kind of choking sound seemed to emanate from Tsunade. For a moment, Temari thought that she might be having a fit of some kind, but after a moment, Tsunade threw back her head and began to roar with laughter. Temari stood there perplexed. Even Shizune was rolling on the ground laughing her head off.
When the two continued to laugh, Temari felt very annoyed. What was so funny?
Seeing that Temari was about to burst from anger, Tsunade managed to stop laughing. She walked up to the bookcase and pulled out a brown package that said "Happy Birthday, flat-chest". She pulled out a book from that and tossed it towards Temari.
Temari's mind reeled. It was a book from the "Icha Icha Paradise". For a long time she stared at the book in shock. It couldn't be. Surely a great man like Jiraya wouldn't ….
Fresh sounds of mirth snapped her out of her thoughts. She looked up to find both Hokage and her apprentice rolling on the ground, laughing their heads off.
"Kankuro!" she roared as she stormed out of the house.
………
She stood upon the hill, her body tensed, her tails swishing back and forth. She stared at the spot where the energies were all twisted and bent around. No one could be seen for miles around. This area had been deserted ever since some of them had approached that spot and had been pulled into it. She put a paw forward, but immediately pulled it back. Her mate had been one of those who had been pulled into that … thing. Her whiskers trembled with fear and loathing as she stared helplessly, her body refusing to move towards that spot. She threw back her head and howled; her fury and anguish echoing all over the valley.