Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Naruto. The only thing I own is the plot.
Beta: Michelle T.
Chapter 9: Jailbreak 1
Two weeks before the end of the year and the New Year Maharra, the Go-Ikenban—Suna's Honored Council—converged in a meeting to recount the happenings of the past year, both the good and the bad. To ensure that all voices within their society would be heard, members of the Go-Ikenban came from all forces and sectors of the village—from its military arm and governing administration, to its more civilian slanted industrial production force. Including the reigning Kazekage, there were thirteen of them, and today, in a rare occurrence that spoke of the good year they had had, they were content with the village's performance.
Rasa sat in his seat at the head of the round table, in the shade of the Kazekage statues, and listened without contributing much to the cheerful chatter of his advisors.
"Accounting is quite happy at the end of this month," said Sajo from the village administration. "I think they were actually considering a budget expansion for next year."
"Can you blame them? We've never been so flushed with resources before," Goza chipped in. "Now that we no longer have to import our food supply, more than half of our financial funds are freed up for other tasks."
"Funds which you and your boys pounced on, Goza. The rest of us barely even see any of that excess money," another member of the Go-Ikenban complained to Goza who directed and spearheaded the village's industrial development. His complaint held no heat however, and was instead delivered with a largely good-natured smile. "How's our metal production expansion going?"
"Better than great!" Goza boasted. "Our deepground mineral deposits have always been as good if not better than the mountains of Kumogakure. With our magnet release bloodline, we've always had the capacity for much larger production of metal. Now that my boys are better funded, we can finally produce the quality and quantity of metal we were meant to. If things go as plan, we will be able to break Kumogakure's monopoly of Tungsten and Silicon-manganese steel. We will no longer have to contend with selling cheap irons and overworking our honored Kazekage's gold-mining ability to fund the village."
Thumbing his chest boisterously, Goza declared. "Ryusa, your weapon R&D labs must be salivating at all the toys they will be able to build with my steel."
"I will not deny that my people are… excited at the prospects," replied Ryusa. "But more importantly, how is our fledgling agriculture, Joseki." Then to himself he mumbled. "I still can't believe we have farmers now… in this desert land." Though he said this quietly, the chamber acoustics carried his voice.
"I never thought I would see the day either, Ryusa," said Joseki, the oldest member of the Go-Ikenban, whose water-wielding clan managed the aquifer of the village and coincidentally the single Go-Ikenban member overseeing the village food supply before and after the appearance of the Miko. Threading his hands together in front of him, Joseki slowly started.
"I doubt anyone in this room imagined we would ever see a field of green embracing our beloved village and our people fed with the bounty of our earth. But that…" he paused for emphasis. "... is just one more reason to rejoice isn't it?"
His statement was met with nods of approval.
"To answer your question, Ryusa," Joseki continued. "Our fields are green and our people fed. Our food reserves have long since been filled pass their capacity. And we have only just started." Gesturing at the papers in front of him and the other members of the Go-Ikenban, Joseki stated. "If—hypothetically speaking—tomorrow all of our crops die and the international food market collapses, we would still have enough in our reserves to keep our people well fed for at least a decade… provided nothing is sabotaged of course. We are sourcing civilians to staff our farming forces. Last I heard, they are quite happy to be called the first generation of Sunagakure farmers. Consider it an honor even. We still have active shinobi overseeing key parts of our production, but at this rate, I think we will soon be able to spare our men for other sectors more in need of human resources. And no, Goza, you don't get my boys. You already got the money, leave them to Yura and Ryusa. They will both need new blood in their teams to bolster military assets and village security. As for our reforestation project…" Joseki paused, took a gulp from his tea cup.
"It will be a while yet for our oasification efforts to bear fruits, but at the moment we have a self-sustaining flora belt surrounding the village. The degradation of the soil underneath and surrounding the main body of the village has stopped. With sufficient time, I believe further hydrologic efforts will be able to reverse the degradation of our soil."
"How long do you think that would take? Reversing the degradation, I mean," asked a fellow member of the Go-Ikenban.
"An exact timeline would be tricky considering this is the first time we even got this far, but… an educated guess for the area under and surrounding the village... I would say fifty years until we see soil that can sustain itself without the Miko's active participation. With her power, there really is no saying. We simply do not know the full extent of it yet."
There was momentary quiet in the chamber as each members contemplated the number brought forward by Joseki. Fifty years, half a century, about twenty years longer than the expected lifespan of their active shinobi. It might seem a long time for a civilian of other countries, but here in the land of the great desert, fifty years to see living land was nothing short of a miracle. To see living land, period, was once a pipe dream to most of them.
"And how is our little Miko doing, Kazekage-sama?" Asked Goza, looking more upbeat than Rasa had ever seen him in five years. The question brought forth the scene from the last time he had seen the Miko.
She looked unharmed, but wore an expression more suitable on the face of a war veteran. Such a stark countenance was ill-fitting on the soft curves of her face, he thought. If Rasa needed proof of the Miko's less than picture perfect past, this moment would be it. No mere civilian girl would be able to effect such a hauntingly sorrowful look on her face. Not after meeting Gaara.
"I have never asked you for anything," she said quietly but firmly." I will ask... only for this. Let me… see… your son."
For a second he faltered. It must be the lighting in her chamber but for a heartbeat he thought he saw Ka…
"Fine," he replied, shutting the thought away. "She's doing fine." The Go-Ikenban needed not bother itself with the incident between Gaara and the Miko. It would not happen again. He would never let Gaara within fifty steps of the Miko. Gaara was his mistake, his responsibility, and he would never let another pay for it if he had a say in it.
"I heard she can speak now." A member of the Go-Ikenban chimed in. Within this chamber, the Miko's origin… or lack there of… was common knowledge. Outside of it however, he let the rumors run rampant. The more fantastical—and as a result, the further from the truth—the story, the better.
"Enough for basic conversations," he concurred. "How to ask what is what and where is where and to let her handlers know if she needs anything or is hurting anywhere."
"Enough to leave her ivory tower and actually talk to her adoring masses perhaps?"
He crossed his hands. "That would be a while yet."
His curt statement prompted laughter from some of the Go-Ikenban.
"He's worse than a father with a particularly pretty teenage daughter. Kazekage-sama, you do know you will have to let her out eventually? Or the newly rendered unemployed food merchants may actually be able to prove that you really do keep her shut in against her wishes. Considering how young the girl is, I imagine she must be feeling quite cramped already. My Ume at her age was just bucking at the reins. Why, I used to catch her sneaking out from her third floor bedroom window to go meet some boys all the time! Drove her mother up the wall that one."
Rasa himself was actually a father with a particularly lovely teenage daughter, but he could trust Temari to be fully capable of handling herself. The teenage Miko on the other hand…
"Leave him be, Goza," Joseki cut in. "Kazekage-sama is right to be cautious. The Miko is no ordinary young girl. We wouldn't want her introduced to the public before she and we are truly ready. Besides, it is already decided that the Miko will make her first public appearance in the coming Maharra festival. That ought to satisfy the people of the village."
Nodding in approval, Rasa turned to address the rest of the Go-Ikenban. "We have refrained from exporting the surplus agricultural products to allay attention from other countries. As far as the other hidden villages are concerned, Sunagakure either had a good year or had discovered a new water ninjutsu technique that allowed for hydroponics even in our extremely arid condition. However, their ignorance will not last long. Sooner or later, they will know something drastic has changed within our village. Our entry as a seller and not buyer in the international food market coupled with our rising industrial production and possible breaking of Kumogakure's monopoly on military grade steel will be nothing short of a declaration of cold war."
He could name, off the top of his head, more than a dozen veterans of the old wars who would get real nervous once news of a strengthening Sunagakure reached their ears. The aftermath of the Third Secret World War had left Suna as the loser and the weakest of the five Great Hidden Villages. Their shinobis, while just as capable as any other shinobi of the other Great Four, suffered from a lack of foundational resources and war assets. Their economy, which had always been lackluster since the founding of the village, took a nosedive to tether on the brink of recession. To have a single village being the clear underdog within the Great Five was a situation that many preferred as it maintained a clear power balance that prevented another great war from happening... as well as opened Sunagakure up to foreign exploitations. Not a few countries had profited from Sunagakure's precarious economy and ailing war potential for the last ten years, their esteemed ally Konohagakure included. Rasa vowed to himself that this shall be the last time he let them do as they liked to his beloved village.
"When that happens," he continued, voice slow and quiet but unyielding, "and it will happen. We will be ready for it." At once, the Go-Ikenban nodded in agreement, wordlessly signing a concord between them all to see their village prosper as it should be.
"Well, gentlemen, shall we continue onto the next item in the agenda?" Joseki segued smoothly, not wasting a second of their meeting. "The southern border reported activities in Oto no Kuni. It seems a new hidden village has formed under the name of Sound. The village hidden in…"
Joseki's report was cut short when the door to the chamber slammed open and a jounin that Rasa recognized as part of the village quick response security force rushed in.
"Kazekage-sama…" The newly appeared shinobi spoke quietly but there was no masking the urgency in his voice. "It's Gaara-sama…"
Rasa was already up and out of his seat before the shinobi could finish his sentence.
"In the central market square. He's lost control!"
Kagome already knew it was going to happen before it even started. The boy had been jittery for hours. The vibration of his grafted, mutilated soul, was a discordant sound to her senses. She was in the garden by the old Homeless Shelter—now a newly reopened orphanage—weeding the roots of pomegranate and apple trees she grew for the children when the sound jumped an octave and she felt more than heard the stitching in his soul straining, one part fighting for dominance at the other's expense.
It was a terrible sound. Half scream of rage, half cry of terror and pain. She heard the ghostly mother attempting to hold the demonic spirit at bay. Her efforts were in vain. The spirit was clearly the stronger of the two. The whimpering of the child drowned in the cacophony of their frantic fight.
'Mother,' she heard him whimpered in pain and confusion. 'Please don't hurt me, mother. Please...'
Kagome's hands trembled despite her best effort.
"Something wrong, onee-san?" asked the girl orphan by her side. "You look really pale." Her remark drew the attention of the orphan children who had accompanied her into the garden and at once Kagome was suddenly surrounded by concerned children of varying sizes and ages.
Oren appeared in a heartbeat, drawn by the twittering crowd. She took one look at Kagome's face before approaching her.
"What's wrong, Kagome-sama?" She took her hands. "Your hands are cold. You're sweating." Oren must have seen something she really didn't like for, she didn't wait for Kagome's answer before turning around to give a barking command.
"Mei, Yuhi, we're leaving. Mokoto, Aiki, clear a path for us. Midori, get the doctor to Kagome-sama's room."
"Oren, you are scaring the children," said Kagome.
"They are ninja children. They'll be fine," replied Oren curtly as she pulled Kagome to the garden gate.
"Please, there's no need for... for... fussing. I stood too long under the sun. I'm sure... I'll be fine. Besides, I'm not done with the garden yet."
Oren turned to look at her, and in a soft voice, she responded. "Kagome-sama's welfare is our top priority. We don't know if it's serious or not. We can come back another day."
"Oren, please. I haven't been out of the temple for a week." Not since the incident when she met the boy. Apparently the Shadow of the Wind did not take well to her plea. He had not said a word in response except for a stern "no" and when she pressed for answer had only replied with "You do not know what you ask for. Do not seek him out."
"We can go into the orphanage. They have rooms. You can bring doctor to me. Then he tell you I'm fine," she tried again, dragging at Oren's arm. The warrioress turned around to face her. Before Oren could make her decision however, a great crashing sound came in from the streets, then the yells of panicking people and the sound of a thousand feet running in every direction.
"It's Shukaku! He's gone crazy again!" somebody screamed. His voice carried through the streets and into the garden where they stood, prompting a dozen startled shrieks in reply.
"Taichou! The road is blocked," Motoko and Aiki reported as they came back in, the both of them looking harried. "Too many panicking civilians. It's a stampede out there. He went Shukaku in the market square."
In late noon no less, when the sun and heat had lessened in intensity and the markets and streets were at their most crowded. It went without saying then that they weren't going back to the temple, not with that road block and a demon boy rampaging in the village downtown area.
Befitting of her position as captain of the team, Oren did not waste a single second in indecision. "Mei, Yuhi, go with Kagome-sama into the orphanage inner sanctum," she commanded as she drew a slender scroll from her hip pouch, then unfurled it. "The rest of you come with me. We are erecting a perimeter around this orphanage. No one comes in. No one goes out. Not while I still stand."
A few quick hand gestures and the scroll went up in smoke. In its place a long roll of plain white cloth. "Move it, ladies!"
Distantly, a bestial roar shook the village. The sand at their feet swirled, agitated. In her ears, Kagome heard the cries of a panicking child.
"Kagome-san, let's go," Mei pulled at her hand while Yuhi rounded up the kids. It was a good thing the garden was connected to the orphanage through a door and a short corridor because over the sturdy fence they could hear and see the chaos of a thousand terrified people fleeing the center of the village. These children, some as young as three or two years old, wouldn't have made it out of there with the stampede going on. Taking two of the youngest into her arms and getting the other younger children to hold onto her sleeves, Kagome let Yuhi led the way while Mei brought up the rear. The minute the last child, a boy near into his teenage years, crossed the threshold, Mei dead-bolted the door and pulled down reinforced steel shutters normally only reserved for bad sandstorms.
"Keep going," Yuhi urged them forward from the front. "We'll stop at the inner hall."
"Oren and the others are still outside!"
"They'll be fine, Kagome-san. Taichou is a ranked barrier specialist. If she's manning the perimeter, nobody's going to get in."
As if proving Yuhi's statement, Kagome's senses tingled in response as a barrier like nothing she had ever felt before sprung up around the building. It was not at all like Kaede or Miroku's holy spirit barrier. It didn't have the strength of Shiori's Blood Corral Crystal barrier, nor did it have the repugnant air of Naraku's youki fuelled barrier. Rather, it was something in between mixed with something else entirely. That electric spark that ran through the bodies of all Sand warriors. But there was no time to contemplate Oren's barrier as Yuhi pulled her and the orphan children away from the door and deeper into the orphanage. Mei followed closed behind them, bringing up the rear. Everytime they passed a threshold she would linger behind for a few minutes to bolt the doors shut. Finally, they found themselves in the mess hall where they used to feed the residents of the old homeless shelter.
Kagome put the two young children on her arms down on a wrought iron long table as she swept her gaze over the tiny heads around her.
"Is everyone here?" she asked the children closest to her. "No one is left outside right?"
"Chomei has classes at the academy today," a little girl with a headful of red hair mumbled through her hands. "Some other older kids too." She was trying hard to hold back her tears. "Mama matron too. She went to… to the market… to get us food…" Her voice broke then as she suddenly realized what that meant. Without even trying, Kagome could feel black terror muting the light of her childish spirit. She opened her arms, took the girl in and hushed her with the handful of soothing words she knew.
The redheaded girl was not the only frightened child. Fear hung like a dark shroud over the children's heads, like the smoke of a burning fire. She could hear some children, young ones no older than six, sobbing at the back. The long sleeves of her dress was pulled taut with the many tiny fists clutching at them. If these weren't orphans, thought Kagome, she was sure more than a few of them would have already started calling for moms and dads.
"We can't go back out now," said Mei, tactfully not mentioning the orphanage matron. "If they have classes at the academy, they should be fine. The teachers there know what to do when Shukaku awakes."
Just as soon as the words left her mouth, a great racket sounded down the hallway. The noise, like metal banging against each other, reverberated through the stucco made building.
"Shit! What was that?" Mei jumped to the front, pushing the children behind her back as she drew a dagger from her thigh sheath.
"Something might have gotten in before taichou got the barrier up," said Yuhi. "This building is big. The back is built into the canyon walls. If I'm not wrong, they used to have lots of tunnels here for emergency evacuation."
A beat of silence transpired between the two kunoichi before Mei spoke up again. "I'll go check." And then without waiting for her partner's response, she darted out of the mess hall and disappeared into the shadow, leaving behind a single kunoichi, her priestess ward, and roughly two hundred frightened children. Yuhi closed the door after Mei before turning around to face her charge.
"Kagome-san… you don't look good," she said as she cast a worried look in Kagome's direction.
No, Kagome supposed she was not looking her best, not while that terrible, grinding sound was snaking its way through her head. The boy-child, Gaara, was still screaming. The demonic spirit was still roaring, and the mother still fighting. A wordless, soundless, sightless battle whose single witness was her and her alone.
"You're sweating," said Yuhi as she stepped closer, laid a hand across the miko's brow, her young face stark with concern.
"I'm fine, Yuhi. Don't worry." Her attempt to placate the kunoichi only got her a doubtful look. "I think… some kids were hurt when we came in. Can you… check up on them?"
The kunoichi didn't budge an inch, instead she drilled Kagome with a wordlessly worried gaze. "Yuhi… I'm not… going anywhere. I'm right here. Please... I just… need a moment."
The kunoichi went still for a moment, her dark blue eyes betraying nothing, before finally, reluctantly she nodded. "I'll be right over there. If you need anything..."
"I'll call," said Kagome as she gently pushed Yuhi towards the back where the younger orphans huddled. As soon as the kunoichi was out of earshot, Kagome sighed, closed her eyes and concentrated. Her head hurt. They were screaming too loudly, the chimeric boy and the dozens of sand warriors that now surrounded him in obvious battle.
Her ears hurt. Even deep in the orphanage, they could still hear the thunderous roars of the rampaging demon and felt the earth under their feet quaking.
Kagome sensed the boy coming apart at the seams, his soul too young, too small, too damaged to contain the full fury of a spirit gone mad. He shone red like the sun in the dark of her closed eyes, radiating pain and terror and confusion. It was a frightening thing to sense. Kagome had only ever felt the same kind of unceasing agony in men dying at war, dying by treachery, dying with regrets, with their dreams dead and their hearts shattered. It was almost too much.
She didn't even know how badly she was shaking until tiny hands touched the feverish skin of her cheeks and drew her away from the suffering chimeric boy. When Kagome opened her eyes, it was to the sight of tiny faces surrounding her and staring at her in childish worry.
"Don't be afraid, onee-san," said the redheaded girl who, just a moment ago, was sobbing in her hold. "Gaara is really scary, yeah. But Lord Kazekage is strong. He'll save us. You'll see."
Chapter 9 to be continued...
1. This is only the first half of chapter 9, which proved a bit longer than planned. Since I don't have a lot of free time this month between three magazine articles and two biography books, I figured I should just upload this first half now. I have no idea when I'll have the free time to write the second half, and letting readers wait while I already have around the same length of a normal chapter (4000 words) is a little mean… so yeah. Here's to hoping the second part of Jailbreak happens soon.
2. Sunagakure's unique geology is based on real world desert-bound city states like Abu Dhabi and Arabian desert-based cities. Not much in terms of agricultural or traditional production but their soil is typically rich with minerals and metals and oil deposits and the vast desert provides a place perfectly suited for military testing (i.e. in Canon Naruto that would be the testing of the 4th Kazekage's jutsu development). I'm not so sure about the worth of oil and gas in Narutoverse but metals and minerals are vital components to industrial and military trades. This chapter stays faithful to Sunagakure's stats in the Data Books. Sunagakure has the weakest economy within the Great Five (two out of five scores whereas Kumogakure has the highest economy score) and average score in terms of war potential. After the Third Shinobi World War, because of its status as the loser, many sanctions and bans were placed on Sunagakure, eventually leading to the Fourth Kazekage attempting to weaponize their Bijuu.
Imagine Sunagakure as your typical OPEC nation in a world where oil and gas doesn't mean a whole lot and they are left with a cripplingly weak infrastructure economy (vital products like food, water, etc…) and an over abundance of resources that are rare in other countries (minerals, metals, gold, etc…). This unique geography and political makeup forces Sunagakure into selling their resources for cheap (in canon, that would be their trading of the Fourth Kazekage's gold dust. I also added in the trading of cheap irons in this story which I imagine they would need a lot of considering the staggering amount of shurikens we see thrown around in canon. Those can't all be made from expensive tungsten carbide now can they?) to stabilize their basic infrastructure. Their system is a delicate one that needs a lot of surveillance.
We'll touch more on that when Jiraiya makes an appearance in the story (strange activities in Sunagakure draws his attention).
3. The Go-Ikenban is canon Naruto with 13 members including the Kazekage. All members mentioned thus far are canon ones as well, though in canon we only get to know their names and like a tiny bit of information about them. And yes, Yura the betrayer is in here too.
4. In the next half of the chapter, we will see Kagome's attempt at jailbreak and her confrontation with Shukaku. Sunagakure gets to witness her priestess power and the Go-Ikenban demand that their questions be answered.
5. Did nobody check out the dark half of Kagome's character defining songs? Song of Saya 2 from Saya no Uta. Because if somebody did they would have immediately raised some flags as to the song's… disturbing melody. I'm sad… +sad face+
6. To answer that questions that more than twenty reviewers have been hounding me about. The romance aspect of the story will be made clear at the end of this arc, sometime after Chuunin Exams / Konoha Invasion. When that happens, I will change the character information of the story. Now stop hounding me about it. You don't want the story spoiled, do you?
7. This one here is something work related. It's.. uh... a job ad. A job ad for young writer. It's a little weird to be posting one in the AN section of a fanfic but hear me out (it's totally legit, I swear). I'm the senior writer of a book writing team based in Hochiminh City, Vietnam. We mainly handle celebrity biography books, magazine articles, historical research, heirloom books, etc... (very little creative fiction if at all). Everything is in English as the main language. We also write in several other languages including Vietnamese, Mandarin Chinese, French, etc... All of our writers and editorial staffs are at least bilingual (my boss who is also my editorial partner speaks four languages fluently). We are currently looking for new members to our team. If you are in Hochiminh City, can write in English, and wants to pursue a full-time professional career in writing, contact me. Also, Michael (you know who you are), if you are by any chance reading this (which means you are a stalker to stalks your lead writer's favorite past time), you don't pay me enough to do free marketing for your company. Next time we go out, you are paying and I'm going to eat. A. LOT! Marks my words.
Anywho, I hope you enjoy the story. See you all next time.
Sythe
