A/N: Time to begin the journey to Suna, sort of. Also, for those of you who don't like blood, this chapter may not be for you.
Time for chapter 44
Enjoy!
Gaara sighed to himself as he straightened his collar and dusted off his front. Suits were not, and never would be, his forte, but they were a necessity in political discussion. Despite his dislike of the attire, he seldom complained. Some things were required, and such was the life of a young aristocrat. Along with his aesthetic displeasure with such an outfit, Gaara considered it to be impractical, as it limited combative movement.
'Tailors make a killing selling a cloth prison. Cunning' he thought to himself irritatedly while he finished tying his tie. He then turned to Baki, who stood in the corner of the room.
"Do I look presentable?" he asked. The jonin laughed a bit and gave the Jinchuuriki a thumbs-up.
"As close as you're going to get given your hatred of formal wear" he said. Gaara nodded and walked over to the corner of his dressing room. He popped open the cap of his gourd and poured some of its contents into a small vial. Once he was satisfied with the volume of sand, he recapped the gourd and slipped the vial into his pocket. His sensei raised an eyebrow and began to follow the son of his former overlord as the redhead exited the room. Before Baki could leave the room to pursue him, the Jinchuuriki stopped walking.
"Go for a walk, Baki" he said simply. Despite the simplicity and vagueness of the sentence, the jonin understood its meaning and implications all too well. Against his own desires, Baki nodded and began a slow trek toward the opposite end of the hallway. Once the footsteps of his teacher had dulled sufficiently, Gaara resumed walking. The halls were eerily silent, with the redhead being able to hear his own heartbeat. Each step he took echoed through the corridor, bouncing off of the static forms of the estate service faculty repeatedly. A symphony of audible silence.
Feeling that all of the gainable attention was now on him and him alone, Gaara stopped walking once again, this time at the bend of the hallways corner.
"You're all free to take an extended lunch break" he announced, addressing every living soul in the wing. A tense, collective nod came from the staff, who slowly began to filter out of the hall. The Jinchuuriki then turned to continue his journey, but was bumped into by a young maid, who fell to her rear end at the impact. She stared up at Gaara fearfully, her eyes wide with terror. The sharp-dressed redhead, to her great relief, but also skepticism, offered her a hand. The maid shakily took the outstretched limb and stood to her feet.
"F-forgive me, Gaara-sama. I should have paid more attention…" she stuttered. Gaara shook his head and stepped around her. Before walking away completely, he put a hand on her shoulder and leaned into her ear.
"Spread the word of the break, and I'll forget all about this. Sound reasonable?" he asked smoothly. The maid nodded rapidly and took off running down the hall. Chuckling to himself as he traveled towards his destination, Gaara shook his head.
'Like clockwork' he thought to himself. After another minute or two of walking, he reached the door he had been searching for. Gaara took a deep breath and cracked his neck.
'Showtime' he thought with a professional smile as he pushed the door open and stepped inside. Within the room was a round table, each of the seats, save for one, being occupied by a member of Sunagakure's council.
"You're late, Gaara-sama" Chiyo, one of the Village Elders, pointed out with an irritable sigh. The redhead bowed apologetically and sat down in the free seat at the table.
"Forgive my tardiness, Chiyo-san. I was hampered by a conflict amongst the service staff. A petty spat that needed to be sorted out, you understand" he said politely. A grumble resonated through the room, but nobody spoke a word. Once the silence had stretched on for a bit, Ebizo, brother of Chiyo, cleared his throat.
"As you all may well have guessed, this congregation has been called to discuss the topic of the passing of Rasa, the Fourth Kazekage. Obviously, this leaves the Village in a precarious position of uncertainty as to our future. With no realistic way for candidates to put together political campaigns on short notice due to the failed invasion, we need to scramble. Leadership is needed now more than ever" he said, voicing the thoughts of most of the people in the room.
A heated debate as to the method of election and the identities of the potential choices immediately ensued, filling the room with selfish tension. Gaara listened to the men bicker for the next five minutes before clearing his own throat loudly.
"Have something to say?" one of the men snapped, the tension of the argument visible on his face through beads of sweat and pulsing veins. The redhead nodded and glanced at each of the council members intently.
"I suggest...that we follow the example of Kumogakure. Humanitarian issues aside, The Hidden Cloud are the least politically tumultuous of the villages. Why? Because they have a very clearly defined system of selection for their officials, especially their Kage. One might even call it inheritance" he said, gaining the ire-ridden glares of the council.
"In fact, I daresay we were well on our way to conversion at the time of my late father's passing. I was set to be launched into a campaign come my eighteenth birthday, and we all know who would have won that election" he continued, eliciting growls from several men in the room. Gaara shot one of the men in particular, a passionate opposer of Rasa during his reign, a challenging look.
"What angers you about what I just said? You know it to be true, whether you choose to admit it or not" he said. The man, named Hayato Maizono, rose to his feet and jammed a finger towards the redhead.
"You're bending this situation to your advantage" he accused, looking to the other council members for support. Before responding, Gaara reached into his pocket under the table and crushed the glass vial, allowing his sand to quietly grind it down and mix with the powdered glass. As the process of pulverization took place, Gaara shrugged his shoulders and Hayato.
"So is everybody else in this room, Maizono-san. You included. This wouldn't even be a debate if they weren't. Hypocrisy suits you poorly. Take a seat" he said sharply. Hayato gritted his teeth, but did as he was instructed.
'One identified…' Gaara thought to himself, scanning the conference room carefully as he formed his analytical thoughts completely.
'...potentially seven to go' he concluded. The debate then resumed, albeit at a slower pace than it had been raging at before. Throughout the meeting, Gaara remained silent and carefully considered the opinions of the councilmen, comparing and contrasting their ideals to those of his own family. Once each of seven members of the council other than Hayato had spoken at length, Gaara took control of the glass and sand mixture in his pocket.
'Five of eight. Roughly sixty-three percent are opposed to me. Not ideal, but it could have been worse' he thought to himself as he sent forth his sand. The horde of particles floated up into the air, cleverly dispersed and positioned to reflect light in such a way that it was invisible. Gaara drifted the sand across the table, undetected, towards Hayato. Before it was within literal spitting distance of the councilman, the Jinchuuriki froze the sand in place, only allowing it to move enough to maintain its reflective disguise.
Gaara observed his breathing pattern carefully, taking his time nailing down the timing and variation. After a full minute of calculation, the redhead made a quick gesture with his fingers by his waist. The sand then flew down Hayato's throat, matched with his intake of breath so as no to alert him to his oncoming ailment.
'Does he spray or choke? Let's find out' Gaara thought to himself. He then closed his fist and clenched it. The sand and glass floating in Hayato's throat then rotated rapidly, shredding the inside of his throat and severing his tonsils. Hayato immediately lurched forward and grasped his throat. The other members of the council glanced at him skeptically. A moment later, he coughed hellaciously, splattering blood across the table and onto the faces of the delegates.
'A sprayer. How dramatic' Gaara mused humorously as the council sputtered and blanched at the horrific scene of blood and phlegm. After a painfully long process of suffocation and excessive bleeding, Hayato Maizono ceased moving. A fearful silence dragged on for a bit, eventually giving way to the voice of another councilman.
"Who is responsible? Come forward. That was not natural" he demanded, his voice breaking despite the harshness of his words. Unfortunately for the unknowing man, his call for honesty would cost him his life, as he happened to be among the five opposed to Gaara.
'A volunteer. How convenient' the Jinchuuriki applauded the poor politician. Gaara's sand, which he had carefully extracted from the mouth of Hayato, then formed itself into a thin, needle-eque shape. Detrimental to the sediment's stealth, it was now stained blood red.
'Oh well. This was never going to be covert anyway' he thought with a sigh as he stood to his feet.
"Gentleman…" he began, pausing his sentence to snap his fingers and prompt his now-red sand into action. The sand needle then speared itself into the councilman who had called for the perpetrator's neck, piercing his jugular and producing a similar mist of blood to the first.
"...Forgive the mess" he finished. Before anybody could react to the second murder, the throats of the three remaining opponents of the ruling family of Suna's agenda were cleanly slit. Once the sounds of choking and cries of pain died down to silence once more, Gaara looked to each of the remaining members of the council.
"Wipe those looks off your faces. You won't be dying here today. We share the same goals and ideologies, so I have reason to spare your lives. Prove yourselves to be sufficiently beneficial to my family and we may even do you some favors" he said, the calmness of his tone starkly contrasting the five corpses lying on the floor of the conference room.
"W-what will be done about these bodies, G-Gaara-sama?" one of the three remaining councilmen asked shakily. The Jinchuuriki thought for a moment before looking over to Chiyo, who was still sitting in the corner of the room wearing an unreadable facial expression.
"You were a skilled medical ninja in your day. Could you find a way to alter an autopsy to make this look a bit more...accidental?" he asked. The old woman stared at him intently, seemingly weighing her options.
"Yes, I could. It may take me a few hours, so I'll need this room to myself" she replied. Gaara nodded and turned his attention back to the terrified, tattered council.
"That takes care of that. Any other questions?" he asked, his tone making it crystal clear that any responses would result in bloodshed. All three men shook their heads rapidly and bolted out of the room. Once they were gone, Ebizo spoke.
"Was that really necessary, Gaara-sama?" he asked. The Jinchuuriki shrugged his shoulders and stretched with a look of satisfaction on his face.
"Perhaps not, but in the long run, I believe this will smooth the road a bit" he replied. Chiyo sighed heavily and sipped her tea.
"For who, exactly? Yourself?" she asked rhetorically. Gaara, much to her surprise, shook his head at the question.
"As I'm sure you're aware, I'm rolling the dice in a few week's time. This was mostly for myself, but in the event that I am slain, some family security is always nice" he explained. Ebizo laughed a bit.
"I'm genuinely shocked you care enough to make such a consideration" he said bluntly. The redhead ignored the remark and shifted his bloody horde of sand into the shape of scythe.
"I've killed my fair share of people in my time, and very few of them have reacted positively to the immediate knowledge of their oncoming passing" he commented thoughtfully.
"It seems that most people wouldn't consider death to be a 'sweet release' in accordance with the saying" he continued, his voice more a mutter than a strong presence. Chiyo raised an eyebrow at the stream of thought.
"Would you?" she asked curiously. The Jinchuuriki turned around and began to walk towards the door of the conference room, stepping over several bodies on the way.
"Yes, but only by the hands of a worthy executioner"
"Are you properly packed?" Hinata asked for the third time that hour as she watched Naruto lock up his apartment, a backpack at his feet. The blonde groaned and picked up the storage unit, slinging it over his shoulder.
"For the last time, yes. I have rations, a change of clothes, and because you forced me, a book" he listed tiredly. The Hyuga girl nodded in approval and closely accompanied the Jinchuuriki down the stairs of the building. Once they reached the bottom, Naruto glanced at her.
"You know that this isn't a tourist trip, right? It's not like we're going to be spending all that long in Suna. If things go perfectly, we'll be there for a few hours and then leave" he said. Hinata sighed and nodded.
"Yes, I know. I just...want to make this feel as close to normal as possible. To decrease the stress of it all, you know?" she replied. The blonde smiled at the sentiment.
"That's sweet of you. Thank you for caring enough to think that way, but I think it would be better for me to be tense for this. I'm literally walking face-first into a deathmatch" he pointed out, a trace of humour in his voice. Despite his attempt at a joke, the word 'death' in association with his name visibly bothered the heiress. She immediately grabbed hold of his hand, squeezing it to the point of numbness.
"Win, lose, or draw, you won't die in Sunagakure. If somebody meets their end in the desert, it will be Gaara. I'll make sure of that" she said rigidly. The Jinchuuriki frowned at her newfound intensity.
"I appreciate the thought, but where's this coming from?" he asked skeptically. Hinata softened her grip on his hand and neatly entwined their fingers.
"I promised you that I would keep you safe, remember? Given the amount I've already deceived you, I would rather not break another vow" she said quietly. Naruto, much to her surprise, laughed at her declaration.
"You don't really have the cutest personality on the surface, but there are little parts of it that are adorable sometimes" he remarked. The Hyuga girl blushed red at his words.
"I-Is that so? What specifically caught your attention just now?" she asked, her embarrassment audible in her voice.
"The way you speak. You talk like a politician giving a speech on the death toll in a war. It sounds super intimidating when you're mad, but when you're being nice or sweet, it just sounds so funny. I love it" he said. Hinata reddened further and looked to the ground to hide her flustered face.
"I can't help that I was raised in an environment that molded my speech patterns that way" she said meekly. The blonde smiled wide at her uncharacteristic shyness.
"Never change it. I used to hate the way you talk, but now it's my favorite thing about you other than your personality and eyes" he said. Hinata sighed and touched her face with her free hand, finding that her cheeks were burning hot.
"You really are oblivious of the effect you have on me, aren't you?" she asked. Naruto glanced at her face and laughed again, earning a glare from his significant other.
"What, pray tell, is so funny, Naruto-kun?" she asked dangerously. The blonde pointed to his own face for symbolism.
"Your face is so red that it's clashing with your hair" he said through his laughter. The heiress scowled and infused a bit of chakra into his arm through their linked hands, causing it to lose feeling.
"As with my manner of speech, I can't help that my hair is blue. This is your fault, Naruto-kun" she grumbled. The pair continued to lightly bicker until they reached the gates of Konoha, where Neji and Kurenai awaited them. After a brief discussion of the route they would be taking, the group set out with the Jonin woman in the lead.
It wouldn't be long until the worst day of their careers as ninja would be upon them.
A/N: The first scene was extremely brutal, and it was supposed to be. I did warn you all. Also, I love contrast chapters, so the second scene was cute for that reason. Make sure to tell me what you thought in a review. It really, really helps to have feedback :)
See you next chapter! Read and Review!
