The Emergency
It's raining here.
The note simply said.
The man, who sifts through the correspondents for the Kazekage and his family, stares at the letter in bafflement.
The message is short and addressed to the oldest of the Sabaku siblings. It came from someone in Konoha, probably Temari's spy.
It doesn't sound threatening but the fact that nobody signed it and its brevity, are of some concern. It appears like a coded message.
The man then forwards the letter to the Suna Cryptanalysis squad.
Finally, still unable to break the code, the man approaches Temari with a grave expression.
"Temari-san, this message was sent yesterday, and because the message couldn't be deciphered, I have decided to—"
Temari snatches the note. "Let me see that."
After reading the short missive, Temari slightly blanches, already expecting that she'll be too late.
"Are you alright?" the man asks, his tone worried. "The crypt department has worked overnight to break the code but without some key, they couldn't proceed. Do you perhaps know what this means? It's not, I hope, a plan to destroy the peace that we have established with Konoha." The man drones on, "Rain could symbolize a lot of things including bloodshed—"
"When did you receive this?" Temari asks, angry.
The man glances at Temari, observing that she looks almost panicky. "Just yesterday."
"You already said that! What time?" Temari impatiently queries.
"Around four in the afternoon."
"Did it come through a messenger bird?"
"Yes."
Temari sighs in relief. A messenger bird only takes a quarter of the time it takes for the mailman. "Alright. You can now leave."
"Ei?" the man exclaims then finding his composure, bows his head and leaves the adjacent room to the Kazekage's office.
—o0o—
"There's no time to waste! I must go to Konoha. Now!" Temari has just entered her brother's office and wastes no time stating her purpose for the visit.
The Kazekage just gawks at his sister.
"What's the rush?" Kankuro braves the brewing temper the new arrival is exhibiting.
Temari throws the letter to Kankuro.
Kankuro reads it then re-reads it again. Grinning, he remarks, "Can I come too?"
Gaara becomes curious and questions, "What does the letter say?"
"It's raining in Konoha," Kankuro answers gleefully. "This I gotta see! Temari told me before that according to that ass Nara, Konoha gets a deluge like no other. The raindrops are so huge they could drench a man in seconds. Also if you look at the sky, as far as your eyes could see, water seems to fall from the heavens. And I gathered sake tastes better when it's raining."
Gaara almost looks envious. After all, he has only seen rain a couple of times in his lifetime and they were just mere spattering of water. If not for Suna's extended irrigation, there won't be enough water for everyone.
"You would only slow me down," Temari snaps and turns her head towards Kankuro only to find him gone from his spot.
"Oi!" Kankuro hollers, already at the door. "We are wasting time arguing. If we don't hurry, the rain may already have stopped."
Gaara, as the door is being closed after his siblings, hears Kankuro proclaiming that they should have invited him since his sand would protect them from getting wet. It is followed by a loud smack as Temari hits Kankuro with her fan. Temari then admonishes Kankuro saying that their little brother is busy.
Gaara sighs. Being the Kazekage has its pitfalls.
—o0o—
~6 26 11AF~
A/N: Hmn this is inspired by Sandanio's comment in Intertwining fate...haha really there is nothing to be jealous about...I like rain too but three days non stop rain is a different matter.
Yay, my word count says I'm only over by 84 words...
Review?