A/N:

Diehard gamer

First of all, sorry for not responding to you comment on the previous chapter. I read it and even wrote an answer, but it landed in the wrong file ...

chapter 51:

The different POV thing is a problem with this story I've noticed a few times now. It is written in third person, but in the end it's always Chikako's point of view and, as limiting as that sometimes is, I don't want to deviate from it in the middle of the story.

chapter 52:

Thanks. Kiri was five months plus a few days, but I'm explicitly stating how much times has passed in total in this chapter just to be safe.

Peruna

Afraid this one doesn't have much action either, unless you count vaguely described arguing.

Kisame being a sidekick likely feels weird because he isn't meant to be one. I just never got to explain his reasons beyond being asked by Itachi to keep an eye out for Chikako. I hope I can manage to squeeze that in at some point. Maybe in bits and pieces.

Again, thanks for letting me know about the post owl reference that slipped through. I was actually thinking about doves at the time, thought that didn't fit because they weren't used in the world of Naruto and then my brain somehow supplied that post owls would be a better idea ...

Elise142

As of last Chapter it has been 2 years, 5months and a few days.

Kragh50

She trained with all of the Hunter-nin and I don't think Konoha's shinobi would be too happy about that. If everything goes according to plan (which it already hasn't) that should come up within the next few chapters.

cassianaswindell123

Maybe they should start a self-help group for overprotective people.

sarahmchugs

I would never foreshadow anything, ever.

NightsBlackRose13

Aw, why do you hate Jiro? He is cute and fluffy. No idea why anyone wouldn't like Kisame. I mean he is a big, blue shark-man-thing and seems like entertaining company.

Risika42tg

Thank you.

InNeedOfTP

Thanks. I'm pretty sure you can make anything seem like anything if you look at it from the right angle. Of course it's easier when you are an author and get to make all the rules instead of having to conform to reality.

. . .

XIII - Reaching Out

"You gonna be okay?" Chikako asked, probably for the tenth time judging by Kisame's sour expression.

"Kid, I'm supposed to babysit you, not the other way around. Now get the fuck out of here."

"It's just-"

"Yes, yes, bad feeling. I know." The swordsman heaved a long suffering sigh. "You wanna know a secret? Your Mizukage buddy and I are grown ass men. We can take care of ourselves."

"Okay, yeah, fine, I get it."

Didn't mean she was any less nervous. She'd even gone through the trouble of inking barrier seals all over Zabuza's office and private quarters as well as Haku's room and the one she shared with Kisame. It had taken all morning, her wrist hurt something fierce, even with the accelerated healing, and the chakra drain had given her a headache. It wasn't even that creating the seals cost a lot of energy, but setting them up to use natural energy was incredibly tedious, required way too many tiny lines and squiggles and when that was done she had to make her chakra flow though them in a precise manner to connect with the natural energy.

Using chakra for the seals instead of ink would have been faster and she wouldn't have had to worry about drawing a line wrong without noticing, but then the things would have dissolved as soon as she got too far a way to keep them stable. She could only hold chakra in a semi-solid form within a few meters of her body, which limited the range of her seals and Fox Fire and was also the reason she barely used her chakra senbon anymore. There was just no point when the needle was gone before it hit and when someone was close enough she could just use her claws or sword to tear into them instead.

"The room-"

"No," Kisame cut her off again. The word wasn't loud, but his tone was firm and accompanied by a glare. "I was there when you warded the shit out of everything, remember? I was also there when you gave instructions to the Hunter-nin and ANBU and every other fucking shinobi that was unfortunate enough to cross your path. We. Will. Be. Fine. Now leave before I throw you out."

He'd do it too. The same way he'd dragged her away when she wanted to ward the fucking walls. As if she'd manage something like that in the few hours between dawn and midday. Not to mention that her barrier seals weren't meant to stretch that far, she didn't even know how that would affect their integrity.

Chikako didn't say goodbye, just turned on her heels and walked. She needed to stop fussing. Kisame was right, he was more than capable to take care of himself and so were Zabuza and Haku. She'd done all she could do and now it was time to leave. That nagging feeling in the back of her mind, insisting that she was missing something important, would just have to shut up and deal.

She waved over her shoulder and Azusa and Saizo appeared at her side. Officially the girl was just a genin and she certainly lacked Saizo's skills in open combat, but she was damned stealthy and fast to boot. Not to mention that she was a good liar and very observant. She'd make a good assassin or infiltrator. Zabuza was only waiting for her to feel comfortable enough in her abilities to take the chunin exam and then he'd offer her a place with the Hunter-nin or in the intelligence gathering division of ANBU.

That was actually why Chikako had chosen to take the kunoichi to Suna with her. She was good, but she lacked experience. The other was that Azusa had a fiery temper to match her red hair.

Saizo was an excellent shinobi, but he was very bad company. From the moment he'd accepted Chikako as a superior he hadn't spoken a single word to her unless it was to deliver messages or answer questions. He didn't offer opinions of his own volition and asking him only resulted in a tactical analysis. Not very useful when she was trying to decide what to eat for lunch and he listed the ingredients of various meals, how much energy they would provide and how long they would take to digest.

Sometimes she though he was making fun of her. His behavior reminded her of Sai, but where her friend had genuinely not understood that she'd asked for personal preferences and not scientific facts, Saizo merely ignored attempts to be friendly or at least not formal.

Jiro might have been able to crack his shell, but the tanuki had opted to stay in Kiri. To keep an eye on things, he'd claimed, but she was pretty sure that he simply enjoyed playing pranks without Sune there to interfere, while the kitsune and her brother were both in the Void - so Chikako could summon them if necessary.

. . .

They traveled from Water to Noodles via ship and then continued on land. Sneaking through Fire and River with two Kiri nin might not have been the most diplomatic move, but it was faster than trying to find a ship that got them anywhere near Suna. It wasn't like they were trying for an alliance with Konoha anyway, no matter how much Mei liked to push that idea.

If the alliance with Suna worked out it would likely come up again, but until then Zabuza was more than happy to ignore the Land of Fire. The fact that ROOT existed and that nobody seemed to know just how many strings Danzo could pull, was more than enough to make the Mizukage wary.

So, for now, the focus was on Wind. Zabuza had reached out to the Kazekage shortly after the coup, but communication had been slow. Kiri's position had still been week and after a failed invasion Suna had started and one they'd had to beat back, Gaara couldn't afford to openly support a nukenin kage.

Now, almost six months later, the politics hadn't changed, but Kiri's standing had. Their military strength had almost doubled with the reforms Zabuza had made to the academy, the training Chikako had done with the Hunter-nin and all the shinobi that had come back after Yagura's death.

Normally loosing a Tailed Beast would have been a hard blow, but the fact that the new Mizukage was the one who had killed it changed things. Only Mei, Haku, Kisame and Chikako knew that he couldn't have done it alone and none of them were going to share the details any time soon.

As far as anyone else was concerned the Deamon of the Hidden Mist had come home and that was that.

Since Wraith had been declared an ally of Kiri shortly after, it would be assumed that she'd played an important role, but that was all speculation. The facts were that Mist looked stronger than ever. And that Utakata, jinchuriki of the Rokubi, had kept a low profile also helped.

Kiri might not have a Tailed Beast in the village right now, but they did have a second jinchuriki and as long as nobody but them knew his loyalties or whereabouts he might as well be sitting right next to the Mizukage. Of course it would be better if he actually rejoined the village, but that wasn't her problem right now.

Chikako stopped her team as they neared one of Suna's border outposts. She signed for them to follow and then used a Body Flicker to reappear two meters in front of the guard that was posted outside. Close enough to be intimidating, far enough to easily avoid an attack.

Well, at least it would have been had this been a man. The lack of chakra was a rather obvious giveaway, but he played his role well, so she didn't say anything.

The man blinked at her, as if unable to comprehend that the spot she was now standing in had been empty less than a second earlier. When Saizo and Azusa appeared at her back a moment later, he startled violently, taking a step backwards and drawing a kunai. The motion was ridiculously slow and Chikako raised an eyebrow as his gaze flickered between their faces, her tattoos and the hitai-ate of her companions. Impressive control over the facial features, but she rather suspected that fast motions would look jerky at best.

"I believe you are expecting us?" She prompted after a while. She contemplated letting him know just how many times they could have killed him, had that been the plan, but she didn't think that would make a human any less nervous.

"I- I-" he stuttered, then cleared his throat and straightened his back. "Wraith, yes, please follow me." There was an odd squeaky quality to his voice

Inside the building were two more guards, a man and a woman that both looked half-asleep. They were too busy playing a game of cards to acknowledge the newcomers and didn't even look up as the nervous guy walked into a desk.

Chikako glanced at her two companions. Saizo's face was the same neutral mask as always, but Azusa wore an expression that clearly, if subtly, communicated contempt. The girl merely had worse control of her mimic though. The Hunter-nin might not show any signs of what he thought outwardly, but his chakra was almost roiling with disgust and anger. Either because he thought these guards incompetent and therefore bad allies or he felt dismissed, which was probably the worst insult to many shinobi.

Stupid in her opinion. After all, why complain if the prey willingly presents it's back?

'Look - again,' Chikako tapped against her right thigh. A simply Kiri code, because Azusa didn't have the clearance for more.

"No cheating!" The Suna kunoichi suddenly shouted, flipping over the table. The man jumped out of the way as cards flew everywhere, hidden among them a volley of senbon. At the same time the nervous guard vaulted behind a desk to their left and threw a smoke bomb into the room.

"Stand down," Chikako drawled, making both of her minions freeze mid-motion. Lucky for them or they would have collided with the chakra barrier she'd thrown up. Then she turned to the right, where a lumpy sack covered in bandages was leaned against the wall. "Very cute."

Nothing happened for a moment, everyone seemingly frozen in place.

"What-" Azusa started, but got interrupted as the sack burst apart to reveal Kankuro. Black clothes and face-paint, but with a hood instead of his usual cat-eared hat. The Suna hitai-ate was bound around his upper, left arm, but otherwise he looked much the same as the last time she'd seen him.

"You're no fun" he complained, while the three guards creaked, joints popping out of place and skin melting off until only wood and metal remained.

"Wouldn't want your toys to get damaged. You always get cranky when you have to repair them."

Kankuro shook his head at her and made a complicated motion with his fingers, that resulted in all three puppets moving at once. They clicked and their wires made strangled sounds as limbs split apart to reveal weapons. Some spun like drills or rotated like windmills, others shot forward and a few were simply pointy. No matter how deadly they looked though, every last one stopped exactly thirty centimeters in front of Chikako, clinking to the ground, bending or even impacting with so much force that the connected parts broke. Wood splintered, metal screeched and parts flew around.

"Really?" She asked when Kankuro started to curse like a sailor. Both of her companions bristled at the attack, but just as she'd ordered, neither had moved. "Anything else you feel like destroying or can we go now?"

He frowned at her, crouching down to inspect what was left of his humanoid puppets.

"That was almost twice as much force as what Gaara used when you fought him. I strengthened the wood and metal, made sure the points of impact were small and spread out for the maximum amount of stress on your barrier," he trailed off, mumbling under his breath as he picked out parts that might be salvageable. Chikako watched him gnaw on his lower lip and crawl around on the ground for a while before she grabbed a wooden finger and threw it at his head. He absentmindedly fished it out of the air without even looking, but then stood up to face her.

"I use a barrier seal to strengthen the chakra barrier. It distributes the force evenly over the whole surface and redirects it into the surroundings. Creating the barrier and fusing it with the seal is almost instantaneous. I can't tell you how much force it can withstand, because so far I haven't been able to break it, but I bet Gaara could easily do it. There is also a delay when distributing the energy of the impact, meaning the faster it is the less force is required. The barrier doesn't bend at all, so if you get through at one point the whole thing shatters like glass.

"Your tactic of using several weapons was actually to my advantage, seeing as it made the distribution easier. So for the next time, use a single weapon, concentrate as much force as you can on the smallest area possible and do it fast. Preferably in the center, because with this particular design that's where the delay for redistributing the impact energy is greatest."

Saizo's breath hitched at the explanation and Azusa's jaw dropped. It wasn't that either of them understood how much chakra doing something like that would cost normally or how complicated it was to use natural energy for the process instead. They were merely astonished that she would share how a technique worked with a shinobi from a different village, one that had attacked them no less.

Not that it mattered, seeing as everyone in the room was unlikely to want to use that information against her and couldn't possibly hit harder than a determined Kisame. And it wasn't as if she'd told them about the key weakness either, namely that simply disrupting the barrier's chakra was enough to make it collapse. If what she'd shared got out, at worst it wouldn't help anyone who wouldn't have been able to break the barrier anyway and at best it would direct their focus away from the weakness and make them concentrate on trying to overcome it with force.

Fuck. That was definitely manipulation. And she hadn't even thought about it beforehand.

"Aw, hell," Kankuro groaned, completely ignoring them as he waved Chikako forward and into a short hug. She went with a smile, but felt unexpectedly guilty, not guilty enough to tell him about the real weakness of her technique though. "How am I supposed to get through that? I bet Temari that I could and now she'll make me do the dishes for the rest of the month."

Chikako raised an eyebrow at him. "That's three more days. Two if we don't hurry."

"I know! My hand's will end up looking like raisins. I won't be able to handle small tools to fix this mess. It's horrible." He went on for a little while longer, but then broke out into a wide grin when he noticed Azusa's disbelieving expression and Chikako's annoyance. "Okay, okay I'm kidding. We didn't think you'd arrive for another week or so. Otherwise I would have had a few more puppets ready here. Put on a real show, you know?"

. . .

Kankuro led them the rest of the way towards Suna. A surprisingly quiet journey.

He'd started to fill Chikako in on what she'd missed, but often glossed over details or cut himself off abruptly to avoid sharing too much information with the two Kiri nin. Something that annoyed both of them a great deal.

Azusa had snapped at him after about two hours. He hadn't said a word since, but noticeably picked up the speed. Then, after they'd reached the village, he'd taken the first chance that presented itself to offload the Kiri nin with someone that was supposed to show them around.

Chikako had used a Hunter-nin code that time to sign orders to Saizo in the expectation that he'd inform Azusa. Short and crude, to avoid detection, 'don't - wander' and 'follow - orders'.

They might get suspicious, thinking that Chikako wanted them to blindly trust Suna, but they'd do as told. She could always explain later, that the Kazekage would most likely keep an eye on them. Or sand. Or both, really. She'd seen him use a sand eye before.

No need to make this alliance any more complicated than it needed to be. She trusted Gaara and Zabuza. Neither kage was likely to stab the other int he back, now they only needed to learn to trust each other. She wasn't about to let the natural mistrust and paranoia that came with shinobi life get in the way of that.

"Are they going to behave?" Temari asked cautiously, left hand playing with the crimson sash that held her high-slit, black kimono in place. She'd joined them shortly after they'd entered the village, happy to note that Kankuro had miserably failed and lost their bet, but rather disgruntled that her reward would only last a few days because of bad wording. The loser had to wash dishes for the month, not a month. Kit would have had a field day with that.

"Yes," Chikako told her, not even trying to play games.

"No offense, but Chigiri's reputation isn't exactly," the blond trailed off, apparently unsure what she could say without offending. Usually Temari wasn't one to mince words, but it seemed that she wanted this alliance to work out despite her wariness.

"Trustworthy? Reliable? Stable? Friendly?" Chikako offered cheerfully. "Have you read one of my Bingo Book entries lately? Apparently I'm a mentally unstable, psychopathic mass murderer with strong sadistic tendencies."

"Yeah, but that's deliberate to make you seem dangerous," Kankuro frowned and Chikako shook her head.

"Only in part. By now I am actually dangerous, which leads to quite outlandish things, like that S-rank Tani has marked me with. It works in my favor, since it comes without a bounty, but that doesn't make it any more true."

"Meaning Kiri nin aren't actually as deadly as they seem?" Temari asked with an oddly hopeful note in her voice that made Chikako laugh.

"Oh no, they're deadly alright, we've made sure of that. Best assassins you'll find in any village.

"What I'm trying to say is that they won't stab you in the back. Zabuza values loyalty above all else and he knows better than to think the world is just black and white. If you let it, this alliance can be about friendship rather than convenience."

"Shouldn't you save the sales pitch for me?" Gaara asked in an amused tone of voice. He had appeared at their backs only moments earlier, materializing out of a cloud of sand. Something that neither of his siblings had noticed, judging by their simultaneous startled yelps.

Gaara offered them a tiny smile and Chikako was glad to note that they were annoyed, but not even remotely afraid of him.

"I didn't think you needed convincing Panda Eyes," she grinned. "Also don't think that argument is gonna go over well in front of the elders. I hear they are being cranky old coots."

"I wish it was that simple," the Kazekage sighed. Just like Zabuza, he wasn't wearing either hat or cloak. Instead his usual black clothes had made way for a long-sleeved, dark red shirt and trousers. Over that he wore one of Suna's typical flak jackets in that odd hue somewhere between yellow olive and gray. The gourd on his back hadn't changed though.

. . .

The meeting with the council and the elders went exactly as well as Gaara's comment had suggested. It didn't matter what she said, the fools were dead set against an alliance with Kiri. They barely tolerated the one they had with Konoha and even that only because it had been part of their unconditional surrender after the failed invasion.

The two elders Chiyo and her brother Ebizo were well liked in the village. Both old enough to have lived through the Second and Third Shinobi World War. They had many grievances against Konoha, especially Chiyo who's poisons had been countered many times by Tsunade and whose son and daughter-in-law had been killed by Sakumo Hatake if Chikako remembered correctly. If that was in fact the case, she was pretty sure the woman would try to kill her the moment she found out how close Chikako was to Kakashi.

Chiyo seemed to not only be able to hold grudges for decades, she was also perfectly willing to transfer them. Meaning her grievances with Konoha were easily projected onto Kiri. Mist hadn't been a major player in the Second Shinobi World War, but their tactics in the Third hadn't made them any friends. Brutal, merciless and willing to take whatever advantage they could get.

They were the reason that Kakashi had gotten the moniker Friend Killer and Chikako had no trouble believing that Chiyo had some actual grievances with the village as well. She didn't care that most of the shinobi that had lived then, had either only been children or were dead now. Didn't want to hear about Zabuza's politics and the changes he'd made, more than happy to brush him off as a traitor. Who would trust a shinobi that had betrayed his own village, never mind his reasons?

Chikako hadn't thrown in the woman's face that Wraith was a nukenin and Suna's ally. Chiyo had no doubt been against that too and it would only cause problems for Gaara.

The other elder, Ebizo, was much calmer than his sister, almost apathetic, but he shared her opinions just the same. Technically Chikako didn't have to convince either of them, because they couldn't make any decisions, but their opinions were highly valued by most of Suna's citizens and the council in particular.

Unlike Konoha's, which only had three people, or Kiri's which had no power at all and consisted of whoever Zabuza chose to ask for their opinions, Suna's council had twelve constant members. All male, with an average age of about forty-five and features frozen in various disgruntled to hostile expressions.

The council's purpose was to help the Kazekage govern, but at least half of these people talked as if they were the ones making the decisions. Chikako later learned that that wasn't too far from the truth. Many of them held high positions in the military and tended to block Gaara at every turn if he overruled them on anything. He had to pick his battles carefully while they skirted the line of treason.

Yura, the youngest at twenty-eight, was the only friendly one of them, but he made Chikako's skin crawl. Even worse, she couldn't tell why. His expressions seemed genuine, they matched his words and his chakra remained calm throughout. She couldn't detect so much as a hint of a lie in anything he said or did, yet her instinctive reaction was to regard him with the same distrust she would Orochimaru.

The others were blunt in their words, but with them it was easy to tell what was genuine and when they were lying or hiding something. Some were openly hostile, others reserved, Chikako could read all of them though, except for Yura.

Baki, the Sand Siblings' former sensei and second youngest council member, watched him like a hawk, but then he did the same with the rest of the council. He seemed to be the only one who took his role seriously. The intended one that was, not to rule, but to help the ruler. That didn't mean he wanted an alliance any more than the rest of them, but at least he was actually listening to Chikako's arguments instead of trying to shut her down out of hand. Since he never said anything positive either, she wasn't sure how much help he'd be though.

. . .

After the abysmal council meeting Chikako ate with the Sand Siblings before heading back to her minions.

Saizo sat on the windowsill when she entered the room, leaning against the wall and keeping an eye on the streets below. To his right Azusa was sprawled on a bed, limbs tangled in a thin blanket and snoring lightly.

"See anything interesting?" Chikako asked, handing him a paper bag with food and waving a second one in front of the kunoichi's face to wake her up. To room was simple, but easily big enough for all three of them and well isolated against the desert heat.

"The people don't trust us, and even though they seem to almost revere the Kazekage, I doubt they'd accept an alliance on his word alone," Saizo started, without turning away from the window. He continued to list a number of observation, noting the lack of traders and foreign civilians in particular.

Chikako wondered what he'd think if she told him that, the last time she'd been in Suna, Gaara had received wary glances at best. And that was after saving the country form an invasion.

"What about you Azusa?"

The girl yawned, stretching like a cat. Then she snatched the paper bag and stuffed her mouth with food before she so much as acknowledged Chikako's presence in the room.

"The shinobi are nervous. Not afraid necessarily, even though they do seem a little jumpy too, but more like they think our presence is a bad sign," she mumbled in between bites. Chikako raised an eyebrow at the jumpy bit, but didn't comment. Saizo wouldn't have let Azusa do anything that went against their orders.

"How much money do you think they lose to Konoha every month?" Chikako mused out loud. Because of the alliance Konoha and Suna weren't officially competing for contracts and either could take business from the others territory without political consequences. At least in theory. In practice, Chikako was willing to bet, that likely meant Konoha got many contracts from Wind that would otherwise have gone to Suna. That hadn't been too bad right after the invasion when neither had enough shinobi to keep up with the demand, but now, two and a half years later, the lack of business would be noticeable.

It was likely why Orochimaru had had such an easy time tricking Suna into the invasion in the first place. No matter how much the council disliked Konoha, they wouldn't have attacked for that reason alone.

Not even someone like Chiyo, as marked by a life on the battlefield as the old woman was, she wouldn't think that war was the answer. Maybe especially not her. After all she'd have seen with her own eyes was that much death and bloodshed did to a person.

She wanted revenge, sure, but Chikako didn't think she'd risk loosing more of her people to get it. Especially not when many of the people she hated were already dead and gone. Outliving all of your enemies had to be some kind of payback as well.

"It always comes back to money," Saizo said, flawlessly following Chikako's initial line of thought. "Would you like me to look around in their missions office Wraith-sama?"

It was an oddly polite way to offer breaking about a dozen laws. Not to mention that he'd be putting the alliance and his life on the line.

Chikako shook her head, which prompted Azusa to demand an explanation with a very indignant, "why the hell not?"

"Because I said so," Chikako told the girl in an icy tone. It didn't matter that the other kunoichi was almost a year older than her, she flinched back as if slapped and lowered her head. Chikako waited a beat longer, letting the silence stretch, before she continued. "We are here to form an alliance, which means we will behave. Getting caught while browsing confidential documents will not facilitate a friendly relationship."

Saizo frowned at her.

"May I ask why you think I would get caught Wraith-sama?"

Chikako mentally gave him points for not boasting. He was incredibly skilled in stealth. Without her ability to sense chakra as well as she could, he'd easily be able to sneak up on her. Which of course also meant he wouldn't have a problem getting into the mission's office undetected.

Except, for Gaara that was. She brushed a few grains of sand of off Saizo's shoulder and then shook a few more out of her own hair.

"Tell me again what you know about the Kazekage?"

His eyes widened in comprehension and Azusa's followed a moment later.

"Wow, that's kind of cool," she exclaimed with grudging respect.

"I suspect the fourth Mizukage used the mist around Kiri in the same manner," Saizo offered, which Chikako confirmed with a nod. The Sanbi had kept track of her location that way, so it was safe to assume that Yagura retained the ability when not transformed.

. . .

The next day's council meeting went a lot better. At least in Chikako's opinion, she was pretty sure Gaara, the council and the elders disagreed.

Before, she'd tried to appeal with competence and military strength. Exchanges of their poison knowledge and the ability to train their shinobi in environments that were vastly different. Just like Wind, Water didn't have much arable land, but they could offer a few rare plants and animals in trade, poisonous mostly.

Today Chikako went a different route.

"Kiri is too far away to steal business from Suna and even if it wasn't, it hardly specializes in the same sort of missions," she challenged.

That caused an uproar. How dare she even insinuate that Kiri could steal business. As if Mist's shinobi were in any way superior to Sand's. Chikako kept poking and prodding at the wound to stir more outrage.

Like a dog with a bone, she thought and smiled at the image of Pakkun's disgruntled face that conjured.

In the end they threw her out with a lot of huffing and puffing, but that couldn't stop a satisfied grin from taking over her features. Riling them up had been fun and with how much they had protested she didn't need Saizo to go through their files to know her guess about their finances had been right.

They'd be too proud to ask Konoha for help, but if Chikako made it seem as if they'd won a concession from Kiri because of her rude behavior? She didn't have free reign for this negotiation and Zubuza had to sign off on the whole thing in the end, but he'd given her a few guidelines. Being nice wasn't on the list.

. . .

Later that day, shortly after sunset, she met Gaara on the roof of his office. He'd had to stay behind to deal with the council and didn't look all that pleased to see her.

"I'm assuming there was a point to that?" He asked, looking out over his village. It was beautiful, bathed in the glow of the setting sun and soon it would turn from an oven into an ice box.

"I'm kind of hoping they'll tare into each other about budget allocations and be much more amenable when I offer them money tomorrow."

"Last I heard Kiri wasn't rich enough to throw bribes around."

"Yeah, well," she shrugged, "that was before I told Zabuza how well Kumo pays for bounty missions, no matter who takes them. I mean when you're known for having Hunter-nin, why not use them to make some money instead of having them slaughter your own people. Also did you know Cloud pays a bonus for reports?"

Gaara was about to answer, but an explosion cut him off before he got the first word out. The sound had been distant, but still far too close to the village walls to ignore. Things didn't just explode in the middle of the desert. Certainly not with enough force to cause wind.

"Go," Gaara said, not even waiting for Chikako to offer help. Not that she blamed him, this was an attack or a diversion at the least.

A heartbeat later both her and the Kazekage vanished form the roof. One in a cloud of sand and one without any trace at all.