Chapter 4
"Questions?" I don't know why I even asked, I'm sure it was obvious, but I couldn't stop myself, "What questions?" His eyes bore into mine and though I squirmed, I couldn't look away. I don't know what to do. My parents made it clear that knowledge of me and the prophecy surrounding me would be suppressed. Only people in the castle know about me, everyone else in the land just thinks they adopted another child.
The Kazekage becomes frustrated, "You were kidnapped from your room. The ninja who kidnapped you called you his biggest payday. My question from the council room was never answered. How did you know there were eight people without seeing them?" What should I say? I don't think he'd accept me trying to dodge the question. "I…I…" I begin to stammer under his intense gaze, "um…I'm…I'm not sure if I can…if I should tell you." His anger begins to rise but he waited for my answer.
"I can…" I take a breath letting the weight of the situation wash over me. What's going to happen after I tell him? "I can feel the emotions of others." His anger subsided and curiosity took its place, but he doesn't say anything. Should I say more or would it be better to keep it at that? I wish Father was here, this would be so much easier if he was. He'd know exactly what to say and how to say it to get information out but not give everything away. Maybe I can be like him, maybe I can get away with only saying this.
"How?" How? "I'm not really sure." The Kazekage looked me over, it made me self-conscious. "There must be an explanation for why and how you have this ability. Is it a kekkei genkai?" I shake my head while I fidget under his gaze. I wonder if he thinks I'm lying with how shifty I'm acting right now, I wouldn't be surprised if he was. If he does his emotions don't reflect it, there's still a neutral level of curiosity coming from him.
How honest should I be though? Maybe I should just tell him everything; there's so few information and it seems so farfetched that he may not even believe me. The entire prophecy hasn't even come true yet. "There is a prophecy in the land of Fish. Upon the day winter turns to summer and the moon burns as red as the sun, an oracle shall come with great riches to mark an era of peace and prosperity. I'm that oracle and my powers come from that prophecy." He doesn't say anything, but I feel his curiosity grow.
Ok I said everything, but he doesn't say anything else. I wonder if he expects me to continue; I don't really know what else to say. I continue to squirm under his gaze. I wonder what he's thinking. From the distance I feel two people coming towards us fast. I instinctively move towards the Kazekage. "What's wrong?" I look up to meet his eyes for the second time of this cconversation, "There's two people coming from behind us fast." I barely get the sentence out before he creates a shadow clone. He picks me up, moving west, leaving his clone behind.
"Are you sure you only sensed 8 intruders?" his question surprised me, but I nodded my head quickly. We're moving fast, the trees blur as we go by. Anger and fear starts to replace the curiosity he felt before. His brow furrows in frustration. "What's wrong?" My voice quivered more than I wanted it to. When he doesn't answer, my fear grows. What does he know that he's not telling me? I try to sense the area around us but we're moving too fast for me to get a lock on anything.
The next moment we're stopped at a cave in the cliffside, the hot spring underneath us. My heart ached thinking about Asuka. "Stay here. Keep hidden." His voice was cool and commanding, more than Father's even; it was comforting in a way. Sand circles around his feet and he begins to float out the entrance, going to the middle of the clearing. I feel one person coming up fast. Their anger burns my skin.
Looking out I see a man come out of the trees in the same direction I sensed the first 8 leave before. Their base of operations must be in that direction. It didn't take him long to start speaking to the Kazekage, "I don't know who you are but you're standing in my way. Where's the girl?" I back further into the cave, pressing myself into the wall, hoping to hide myself more. The Kazekage doesn't say a word; sand began filtering out of a gourd attached to the side of his waist. "Not a talker, eh? Fine. I'll beat it out of you." And with that, the fight began.
The unknown assailant was the first to attack. Balls of fire shot from his hands. I expected the Kazekage to dodge them but instead sand formed a shield blocking him from the blow. "Ah! Gaara of the Sand, that's who you are. Your ultimate defense is as good as they say." Gaara, his name is Gaara. I'm not sure how it's possible but the man becomes even more enraged. "Well now, seems I'll have to take this more seriously." The assailant performs a powerful jutsu, giving rise to a giant dragon made of fire. The dragon charged towards the Kazekage, he still didn't move from his spot in the air, instead creating long tendrils to fend off the monster.
Watching the Kazekage fight is like watching a dancer glide effortlessly across a stage. With graceful waves of his arms the Kazekage readily blocked every blow the dragon tried to make. I could feel the frustration grow in the assailant, "You're not making this easy are you? Look, I've got no beef with you Gaara. I just need the girl for a little side quest." A side quest? I shudder at the thought. The Kazekage spoke for the first time during the battle, "And what is this quest you're planning?"
I held my breath waiting for the answer. "Just a little quest for treasure that that girl you're hiding can help me with." Fire begins to form around his hands, "Now if you don't mind handing her over, I'm on a bit of a time crunch." A time crunch? I pour over the prophecy again; Upon the day winter turns to summer and the moon burns as red as the sun, an oracle shall come with great riches to mark an era of peace and prosperity. When winter turns to summer. When the moon burns as red as the sun. this prophecy makes no sense. When would winter ever turn to summer or the moon turn red? None of that happened when I first came here so why would it happen now? What time crunch could he be talking about?
"You won't be taking her anywhere." The man's anger at the Kazekage's words burned my skin. "Pity." The fire dragon jutsu was back but this time closer to the cliff. I instinctively back away from the frames to protect myself from being burned. When I do I slip on a slope hidden by the darkness of the cave. I slid backwards down the slope, hitting my left bicep on a rock on the way down. I slide for a minute before reaching the bottom, hitting my head once there. Everything goes black.
The ground rumbles when I come to. My eyes strain to open and my entire body aches. When I finally open my eyes, I find it isn't dark like I expected it to be. Fluorescent blue stones line the entirety of the walls. Strange, I've never seen rocks like these in the Land of Fish before. I turn over and crawl towards a large rock, using it to pull myself onto my feet. The ground rumbles again. How long was I out? Are they still fighting? Is Lord Kazekage winning?
I push those thoughts out of my head; I need to focus on getting out of here. I try to climb the slope I fell down but it's too steep and there's nothing to grip to pull me up. Ok, I can't climb back up so I can either wait here or find a new way out. Rumble. I don't know what's happening out there, nor do I know who's winning. I should probably find my own way out. Rumble. The glowing, iridescent stones lead further into the cave. Maybe there's a back entrance.
The deeper I go into the cave, the more distant the rumbling became. The curving tunnel opens up to a small cavern. I look around and strangely find an altar. It looks like people haven't been here for years. Old, melted candles are covered in dust and rubble. There's a stone plaque on the wall; dust is covering the inscription. When I wipe away part of it I see the prophecy written out but there's more. 'Upon the day winter turns to summer and the moon burns as red as the sun, an oracle shall come with great riches to mark an era of peace and prosperity. When the oracle is sacrificed to the sea, a hero with the force of a mountain will rise as her protector. If the hero fails a new age of darkness will mar the land.'
I gasp and step back in shock. Sacrificed? Is he trying to sacrifice me? Am I going to die? There's no way I can go with him on his 'quest", especially not with this completed prophecy. And what's with this prophecy? Why didn't anyone tell me about the second half? Did no one know or were they hiding information from me? a thousand possibilities filter through my mind but I push my feelings down. I can't think about that now, I need to focus on escaping.
A flicker of light on the alter catches my eye. When I go to reach for it blue tattoos begin to form on my skin. I jump back in surprise and the tattoos fade away. I try to steel my nerves; I need to figure this out. I go for the glinting stone and the tattoos form again. I touch the surface and rub off the dust. Gleaming rivers and currents dance around my skin. The small blue pendant was hanging on a metal chain. It's made from the same iridescent stones that cover the walls. Silver herons set the stone in place. I put on the necklace and the tattoos fade to a dull blue, currents still dancing on my skin.
The rumbling of the ground pulls me out of a trance I didn't know I entered. Right, I need to find a way out. I walk down the second curving tunnel and begin to feel the emotions of people outside. I must be going the right way. Hopefully. There's four people here now, all with varying levels of anger and fear. Is it the man with reinforcements or lord Kazekage with reinforcements? I begin to hear the roar of rushing water ahead of me. Their emotions become easier to read. With one last rumble I sense one of the four moves east. I hope that means it's the Kazekage that will be waiting outside for me.
When I reach the back opening of the cave, I find that it opens behind the spring's waterfall. Luckily for me there's a ledge for me to walk on. Worry begins to replace the anger of the three people left from the fight. It makes me even more hopeful that it's the Kazekage waiting on the other side of this waterfall. They begin moving inside the same cave I was in before. Do I meet them in the cavern or wait for them out here? While I was contemplating on what to do, I almost slip on the wet ledge and get my answer immediately. Cavern. Definitely safer.
Carefully, I move away from the edge trying to be extra cautious so I don't fall. Once I'm back in the tunnel I rush through the cave back to the ledge I first fell down. When I get close I slow my steps and approach the slope quietly, if this is the assailant and reinforcements I don't want them to know where I am. When I hear the Kazekage's voice above me my heart begins to sing. It is the Kazekage with his reinforcements. I'm safe, for now at least.
I yell out to them, "HEY!" Their voices still letting me know they heard me. I yell out again, "Help. I fell down the ledge. I can't climb out." I hear muffled talking before a voice I didn't recognize calls out, "We'll be right there. Don't go anywhere." Don't go anywhere? Why the hell would I go anywhere? Where would I go? I said I was trapped down hear and this guy gives this stupid command. I mean really, why would he say that?
Suddenly a cloud of sand floats down from the mouth of the steep cave. The cloud shifts around in front of me, like it's looking for something. I tentatively poke the sand with my finger, once I do the sand surrounds me and hugs my midsection. When I squirm and struggle to get out of its grip, it only tightens more. Slowly the sand lifts me off the ground and brings me back toward the entrance of the cave. When I get to the top of the slope I'm lowered to the cave floor where the Kazekage and the three nin that came with him stood.
The sand doesn't loosen its grip on me when I reach the top however, I wonder why. I look around the room, everyone seems to be a little on edge from the fight. Though the Kazekage, I'm finding, is the best at hiding his emotions from the world. He's the first to talk, "We should head back as fast as possible. The enemy is still hiding out there." The other ninja nodded then left the cave, presumably heading back to the castle.
After the left the sand dissipates but before I could even move around the Kazekage picked me back up, carrying me bridal style. It was completely embarrassing. "Um, what are you doing?" I know I probably shouldn't let this get to me, but I've never had anyone carry me like this before. I've never had anyone carry me before at all. "It'll be faster if I carry you." Yeah, I figured, but still…. embarrassing. Right after he answered me the Kazekage headed towards the castle at a high speed.