Disclaimer: Galaxya and I do not own Naruto, but our original characters are ours.
A.N. – Once again we took a long time to update Destinies Entwined. We are sorry about that. This time though we have a valid excuse. A friend from out of state was visiting us during his spring break. We figured it was more important to spend time with him then write a silly story, so that's exactly what we did. As far as we can tell our schedules are pretty much back to normal. Our spring break is nearly here though, so be warned. We are already working on chapter 4, so hopefully it won't take long to submit.
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Previously – Vasha, the thief caught by Kankurou and Temari, reveals to Gaara where her former group of thieves is going to hit next. She begs Gaara to let her help Suna steal the scroll back. Gaara agrees.
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Chapter 3 – "Let's Go"
Night settled in Sunagakure, bringing with it a cool desert breeze. Gaara stood on the roof of the mansion looking over the village. Everything was quiet. Every one was already at home spending time with their families, enjoying dinner. Gaara blinked slowly and turned to look at the moon. It shone brightly tonight; perfect for traveling.
He sighed and looked down into the courtyard below. Several people were running back and forth finishing up the last of their tasks for the evening. He turned and headed for the door leading back into the mansion. It was almost time to go. Hopefully Temari, Kankurou, and the girl were ready. He didn't want to waste any more time than was necessary.
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Several minutes passed as Gaara walked through the numerous halls that made up the majority of the mansion. He passed several rooms along the way, many of which were empty except for the dust that occupied them. The upper most floors of the mansion were for the most part devoid of life. Nobody really had any real reason to visit the upper floors anyway, so everything remained undisturbed.
Gaara stopped for a moment in front of one room in particular. He pushed against the heavy oak door that blocked him from entering the large living area. The door creaked in protest. Gaara ignored the noise and walked into the room, slowly. Unlike the other rooms on the upper floor, this room was dust free and well maintained. Gaara made sure of that. This room had at one point been his father's room. Not his office, but his private room. It was where he had spent most of his time outside of his office. Everything was left how his father had left it, before he died.
As much as he despised his father, for some reason he couldn't let what was left of him to become lost in the dust that seemed to consume everything else up here. Gaara sighed heavily and turned around, shutting the door behind him as he left.
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A few minutes later, Gaara found Kankurou and Temari. They looked up as he entered the room. He watched as they shoved the last of their supplies into their packs and stood up.
"Where's the girl?" he asked. Kankurou looked past him towards the stairs and nodded. "She's still in her room," he replied. Gaara nodded and turned, heading towards the stairs. "Make sure you're ready by the time I get back," he said.
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Silently, Gaara approached Vasha's door. The jounin guarding the door glanced at him, nodding respectfully. Gaara nodded in response. Placing his hand on the door handle, he turned it and entered the quiet room.
Vasha looked up as Gaara entered the room, closing the door behind him. He stood there for a minute, looking towards the large window across the room from the door, his eyes focusing on nothing in particular.
Vasha watched him curiously as he stood there, her eyes slowly examining his face and body. His expression was neutral and unreadable, just like it was the last time she had seen him. His red hair was wind tossed, but well placed, giving him a rugged but at the same time commanding look. He stood there, silently; his presence hardly noticeable.
He felt her eyes on him, examining him. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. She was sitting on the bed to his left, legs crossed underneath her. She sat there, patiently waiting for him to say whatever he had come here to say.
"We are ready to leave," he said suddenly. He turned to face her. "Are you?"
Vasha nodded. "I'm ready."
He turned to face the door, placing his hand on the handle once again. "Please follow me." He opened the door and walked into the hall. Vasha grabbed her pack and quickly followed barely taking enough to make sure to close the door behind her.
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By the time Gaara and Vasha made it back down to the main floor of the mansion, Kankurou and Temari were waiting for them in the large entrance hall. Kankurou stood from a crouching position, brushing his hands along his clothes, wiping away the wrinkles that nobody but him could see.
Gaara nodded at his siblings as he walked past them, signaling it was time to go. Grabbing their packs, and in Kankurou's and Temari's case, their weapons, the siblings and Vasha followed Gaara out the mansion door, into the cool desert night. Several small grains of sand brushed roughly past the group as a cold wind picked up slightly. Temari pulled her robes closed, and signaled Vasha to do the same.
They walked in silence until they reached Sunagakure's main gates. Once outside, Gaara turned to the trio behind him. "As you already know, Baki and the nin were unable to retrieve the scroll from the thieves. The thieves have now had several hours to travel. They will likely reach Konoha before us. We will travel until daybreak, and then take a short break, after that we will continue on our way. We need to get to Konoha as soon as possible."
Gaara looked at his siblings and at Vasha, who all nodded in agreement. Temari sighed and looked past Gaara, towards the dunes. "There's no telling what they're planning on doing with those scrolls," she said, "…unless they told you." Temari glanced at Vasha who only shook her head. "What I told you, I learned by accident. Other than that, I know nothing. They only told me what my job was; nothing else." Vasha sighed and looked at Temari. "I'm sorry," she said.
Gaara looked back towards the dunes. Slowly, sand began to rise and swirl behind him, taking the shape of a gourd. Vasha watched fascinated as the sand took shape and settled between the brown leather straps that hung over his left shoulder and rested on his back and hip. "Let's go," he said, as he began walking.
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"Kabuto-san!" The sound of an opening door and rapidly approaching feet pulled Kabuto's attention away from his paper work.
Kabuto sighed and looked up from his work, glancing at the young man walking towards him. "Yes, what do you need?" he asked quietly. The boy stopped in front of Kabuto's desk, panting softly. He grinned nervously, feeling Kabuto's hidden annoyance at his sudden interruption.
"Kabuto-san, a message arrived for you just now." The boy handed the silver haired ninja a small scroll; one he had been carrying in his left hand when he entered the room. Kabuto glanced curiously at the rolled piece of parchment, before nodding at the boy. "Thank-you. You can go now." The young man nodded and turned to leave the small office. The boy left quietly, shutting the door behind him.
Sighing, Kabuto glanced once more at the scroll in his hand. He slowly unrolled it, his eyes skimming over its contents. "Heh. About time," he said, quietly. He stood up, his chair scraping noisily against the wooden floor. He winced at the sharp sound. Kabuto looked around his office making sure he wasn't forgetting to pick up anything before meeting Orochimaru. He laughed silently. It really was a cramped and uncomfortable office, but he sure did spend a lot of time in it. In fact, this office was where he spent most of his free time doing miscellaneous work for Orochimaru. Of course he wouldn't complain ... but there were days when he was tempted to.
He opened the door to his office and walked out. Orochimaru would be interested in the message he had just received, so that was his next stop.
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The castle hallways were cold and dank, inviting a thin, slippery moss to grow throughout the stone covered passages. Kabuto stepped lightly in order to avoid slipping. The moss had caught him off guard once. He wouldn't let it catch him off guard again; at least not in front of people this time. He winced at the memory.
Kabuto looked up from the scroll as he approached Orochimaru's door. He raised a fist and knocked lightly on the rough wooden surface. The door opened slowly, its hinges creaking noisily. Kabuto entered the dark room. He blinked a few times while his eyes adjusted to the darkness that always seemed to blanket this one room in particular.
Once his eyes were adjusted, Kabuto walked towards a desk that rested on the opposite end of the room. At it sat a tall man with pale skin. The candles on his desk burned slowly; their flames letting off a gentle but eerie orange glow which reflected off the man's thin face, doing little to soften his hard features.
"What do you need Kabuto?" spoke Orochimaru, while he continued to study some papers on his desk.
Kabuto leaned over the desk and placed the scroll, unrolled, in front of Orochimaru's snake like eyes. "I figured you would want to read this. You may find it interesting," he said.
Orochimaru scanned the scroll quickly, looking for anything he would consider important, or interesting, as Kabuto had put it.
"As you can see, the mission in Suna was successful. They retrieved the scroll with minimal difficulty. They only lost a couple of people; nobody of consequence."
Orochimaru looked up, waiting for Kabuto to continue. Kabuto smirked.
"The group is now on their way to Konoha. They will retrieve the scroll there and then head over here to deliver it, and the Suna scroll."
Orochimaru nodded. "And what about the last part of this message? Care to explain?" he asked, mildly curious.
Kabuto nodded, grinning. "Yes, I almost forgot. The thieves picked up an interesting character a day or so outside of Suna. I think you'll be very interested in meeting her. I'll send them word letting them know not to lose her."
Orochimaru raised his eyebrows in interest. He placed his elbows on his desk and folded his hands, leaning forward. "Tell me more about this … character," he said with a smirk.
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"What do you mean I'm the decoy!" huffed a young female.
"I mean that your task is to distract the guards while my men and I grab the scroll," replied a young man, clearly annoyed. "It's a simple task. Hopefully you'll be able to do it."
The girl glared at the man; her hazel eyes boring into his dark brown eyes. He stood there, unwavering. She sighed and ran a hand through her long brown hair, her natural red highlights glinting in the firelight.
"Do you think I joined you guys only to be allowed to do menial tasks?" she asked; voice laced with frustration.
The man shrugged indifferently. "Everybody has to start at the beginning at some point," he said nonchalantly, shoving his hands into his pockets. "That means you have to start with the 'menial' tasks, as you so kindly put it, since you just started working with us."
The girl glared at him again. "Well not me," she stated. "Either I go for the scroll with you and your men or I leave the group and head off on my own." She crossed her arms stubbornly, watching him for a second. "It's your choice," she said calmly.
The man sighed, fingering a folded piece of paper in his pocket. He furrowed his brows in frustration and glanced around the small camp. After muttering something under his breath, he turned to the girl. "Fine, you can go with us. But if you screw up, I'll deal with you personally."
Turning around, the man started walking back to his tent. Stopping for only a second, he addressed two men who had been listening in on the conversation. "You two are the decoys, and don't even think about trying to argue it." With that he continued heading towards his tent.
The two men sighed indignantly and turned towards their tent. "Looks like we've been demoted to expendable, again," whispered one man to his friend. "Oh, fun," replied his friend, sarcastically.
The girl smirked and pulled back the cloth door of her tent, after watching the man stalk off. "Heh, like he could do anything," she muttered to herself. She entered the small, poorly lit living space and stopped for a second, allowing her eyes enough time to adjust to the darkness.
Once she could see, she headed over to her bed roll and sat down. Yawning sleepily, she laid back, placing her arms behind her head. She smiled. If all went well, in a couple of days she would have the scroll and be on her own once again, and nobody would see it coming. All she had to do was bide her time and be patient. Yawning again, the girl turned on her side and closed her eyes.