Note: Thanks for over 1,000 hits so far on this fic…out of all of my fics, this one has the most…which is weird, because I was told most people don't like fics with original characters…well, he's part Thirty-Seven, it's a little longer than the last part… Please review, please, please, please! Thanks, and I hope you enjoy it!
Part Thirty-Seven: Rage of Lord Kazekage
"Where is she?!"
The nurse held the clipboard in front of her face, terror in her wide eyes. "I-I don't know, sir! The ANBU are trying to find her!"
"What's all this noise?"
Gaara and the nurse turned to the Neji, who was standing in the doorframe that led into Yassa's room. It was the morning after Tara had disappeared, and Neji had come to sneak Yassa some bacon and eggs (which she wasn't allowed to have, according to the doctors).
Gaara lifted his hand and a hand of sand slammed the door on Neji, locking him in the room. He turned back to the nurse, his eyes narrowed. "I want to know everything the tapes caught!"
She was shaking, but nodded and ran off to fetch the videos.
Meanwhile, Neji was inside of Yassa's room, stunned from almost getting slammed in the face by the door.
"What's going on?" Yassa asked, pushing the covers back.
He turned to her. "I don't know. I think someone's gone missing."
"If Gaara's here, then it must be Tara," she said, standing and heading to the closet. She pulled her uniform off of its hanger, Neji turning away.
"I suppose."
"Are we locked in?" she asked after she had dressed. She pushed against the door, but it wouldn't move.
"I think so."
"Why?"
"He probably doesn't want you to go after her," replied Neji.
Yassa pressed her ear against the door to see if she could hear anything.
The nurse had returned and was talking to Gaara, "I'm sorry, Lord Kazekage, but that's all the tape showed—her getting out of bed and changing, and then she left!"
"Was there anyone else in the room?" Gaara demanded.
"Yes, but I don't know his name…ask the Hokage, I think—Lord Kazekage, please don't—!"
There was a loud crash and the building shook, and then silence.
Neji hurried over to the window, Yassa in his wake. Gaara had, in his rage, blown a hole in the doorway of the hospital instead of just opening it. He was storming down the streets, his sand following him closely.
He was headed to Tsunade's mansion.
"Come on," Neji said. "We have to follow him."
Yassa nodded. "Stand back."
"What are you gonna—?"
She drew her arm back, focused her chakra in her arm making it into a club, and slammed her fist into the glass. The window exploded, glass showering onto the ground below.
"Let's go!" she jumped out of the window, Neji on her heels.
Only a few seconds later, they passed the ramen stand, Arcin slurping away on a bowl of the delicious food.
"I think he went this way!"
"He was headed to the Hokage's mansion, I thought!"
"Then this way!"
"I know those voices!" Arcin shouted, jumping out from the stand. She watched as Neji and Yassa raced down the street. "Hey!" She started to run after them, but was stopped by the ramen man, "You need to pay your bill!"
She tossed a hand-full of bills onto the counter and grabbed the ramen bowl she had been eating. "That's for the bowl, too! Later!" She ran after the other two, catching up with them.
"What's going on?"
Yassa turned and watched as Arcin took a long slurp of her ramen, sucking noodles into her mouth. "Tara ran away last night, and now Gaara's on a rampage."
"Oh?" she asked. She pointed with her chopsticks, "If he's headed to the Hokage's mansion, this way's shorter."
The three of them turned and ran the way she had directed, reaching the mansion, watching as Gaara exploded into the building in front of them.
"Come on," Neji said, and they followed him, reaching Tsunade's office.
Gaara walked in without knocking and Tsunade looked up. "Lord Kazekage? Is everything—?"
"Takura Tara is missing," Gaara said, approaching her desk and slamming his hands down on it. "You said she would be secure in the hospital until we could transfer her home."
"What?" asked Tsunade. "She's gone?"
"She left last night, with a foreigner," Gaara replied, holding up the tape. "Why wasn't a shinobi watching her room? Why was she left unguarded?"
"We figured she would stay put," replied Tsunade, taking the tape from him. "Besides, she was free to leave whenever she could move. I don't understand why you're so upset, Lord Kazekage."
Gaara threw his hands into the air just as Neji, Yassa, and Arcin entered the room. "Because unlike me, she has no restraint! If Tara decides to kill someone, she won't hold back! Anyone she meets is in danger!"
Tsunade slowly stood up and looked out the giant window behind herself. "Alright. I suppose you want me to grant mission so that you can find her, then?"
Gaara shook his head. "Can you do that, even though she's a shinobi from the Hidden Rock Village?"
"I'm not sure," replied Tsunade. She looked over to the door, her eyes catching Neji's. "Hyuuga Neji, have her teammates left the village yet?"
"As far as I know, they headed home last week," he replied.
Tsunade nodded. "I see…I take it the three of you are here for the same reason?"
"She is our sister," replied Arcin.
Tsunade nodded. "Unfortunately, unless the Rock Village requests a mission, I can't give the mission to you."
Gaara slammed his hands on her desk. "I'll request the mission! I'll pay the fee! Just give me your best shinobi to work with, and we'll leave!"
"She's a Hidden Rock shinobi," replied Tsunade. "I can't do that, and as far as I know, neither can you, Lord Kazekage."
Yassa approached her. "Lord Hokage, please. This girl is our sister, and could be in danger."
"What do you mean by that?"
"The ten ANBU who were murdered last night might have been killed by the same woman who is responsible for the death of our parents, and ultimately might be trying to kill us," Yassa said. "Please, I beg you Lord Hokage, give us a mission to find her!"
"You're not a Konoha ninja," replied Tsunade. "And as I said before, I cannot give out such a mission unless we have been contracted!"
Arcin tore her headband from around her neck and tossed it aside. "If this is what it means to be a ninja, I don't want the job! You, as a Kage, are supposed to help those who come to you in need! Right now, we need you to give us a mission to find our sister!"
Tsunade sat down and rested her elbows on the desk and closed her eyes. "Please don't put me in such a position. You must understand that I can only work within my boundaries. If I were to give you a mission to find Takura Tara, then not only would I be sending ninja that are not from my village, but I would be chasing down a shinobi from another village without the consent of that village. There is nothing I can do!"
"Why not?!" screamed Arcin. "Give us this mission! Please, Lord Hokage! We just need—"
"If you are so intent on finding her," said Tsunade, "then you can go to the Hidden Rock Village and request that they ask you to take this mission. Otherwise, there is nothing I can do."
"Can you just do one thing?" Gaara asked. "The nurse said that on the tape someone was recorded with Tara. Can you tell me who it is?"
Tsunade examined the tape she had been holding. She nodded, approached a television and VCR, and put the tape in. It had been pre-fastforwarded to the right time.
"That's Yakushi Kabuto," said Tsunade thoughtfully. "He works with Orochimaru…I'm not sure why he was in her room…"
"Even knowing this, you won't give us the mission?" asked Gaara.
"I already told you, I can't," she replied, ejecting the tape. "You can go, as I said before, to the Hidden Rock Village and request they give you the mission."
Arcin frowned. She was thinking, moving through the options. Finally she nodded and retrieved her headband. She left the room, Yassa in her wake, Gaara behind her.
Just as Neji turned to leave, Tsunade said, "Hyuuga Neji, stop."
He froze.
"You are a Konoha shinobi," she said. "You may not accompany them on this…quest."
He turned to her and nodded. "I understand."
"You are to stay in the village," she added. "You may accompany them to the gates, but no further."
He nodded once more and left the room.