LLS: Confession
7
Chapter 2: Tsunade's choice
Tsunade had thought all night of who would be most suitable while walking around like a somnambulist around the building. Looking at it realistically, the girls capable of handling the task were just a few. In fact, she could count them on the fingers of just one hand. At the end, while using the elimination method, she had reached the conclusion that one particular kunoichi could do the job without causing unnecessary doubt in 95% of people. Also she had decided which jounins she would notify, so they could all together hide "what's going on" from the world around them. She couldn't afford the enemy finding out what was happening, because Konoha would be attacked in her absence and that she would not forgive herself. Her main job was to defend this village and if there was a possibility of not fulfilling that, in case of going to Suna, she wouldn't go at all. Even if that meant the death sentence for Temari.
A knock on the door got her out of her dark thoughts and she shook her head.
"Come in!" she yelled.
The door opened, leaving Shizune and another, a 19-20 year old young girl with her brown hair caught in 2 buns, in the room.
"You have called for me, Tsunade-sama." she said, looking at Godaime with anticipation.
"Yes, I have," she nodded. "I am sure every team leader has done his job in making announcements about what happened in Suna…"
"Yes?" The girl frowned slightly, feeling something odd. Godaime was direct. The fact she was trying to weasel was making things worse. The girl was somehow sure whatever she was about to hear, she wouldn't like at all.
"It is not like I have any doubts about Neji or something like that…" she waved her hand trying unsuccessfully to make an introduction to the problem.
"Tsunade-sama, what is going on?" the girl asked, seriously worried. She had to know what was happening. Godaime's kind behaviour was the most scary thing the girl could imagine right now.
"A mission appeared that only you could take part in, it seems," she began abruptly.
The girl's hazel eyes narrowed in disbelief. She suppressed the jubilation that there was a mission "only she can take." Instead she crossed her arms in front of her chest. She took a deep breath and invitingly tilted her head to one side.
"Ok, the situation is as follows…" Godaime sighed, "Sand's ninjas have been attacked by those strange subjects you fought against together with Kakashi's team. The difference comes in that from their team only Temari has survived and she is in a highly critical condition right now. The Kazekage got an offer to cut out the connection with us and to enter in union with the Hidden Mist village."
"But… why?" the girl didn't understand. She couldn't imagine what she could possibly do in this situation. The ninjas they fought against were really tough and if Kakashi's team hadn't been there to support them, they would have probably been in Temari's place.
"The union, inviting Suna, thinks our villages don't have any real connection, or crossing points of interest if you'd like, and they offer really brutal politics about it. I didn't budge on that a month ago. And because they bit the dust with us, most probably, now they are trying to force all of that on the young Kazekage."
Crossing points of interest, force, brutal politics - the girl was horrified noticing that Godaime used relatively complex words, and she didn't like it. Using this kind of words wasn't something typical of this woman's everyday dictionary, even if she had solid medical education. And it was a known fact that medical education was filled with really complex words.
"Gaara shared that he values Konoha as an ally and he wouldn't like to cut out our connections in any way. So he sought my advice and my help." Godaime placed her hands over the desk and bent slightly ahead. "I should try to check on Temari.. and I should try to help her if possible…"
"But you cannot go out of the village." the girl shot at once, and her hazel eyes narrowed.
"That's correct. I can't leave the village without a solid reason," the woman closed her eyes for a moment and when she opened them, there was a plump flame… or maybe a destructive one even. "We need to strengthen our connection with Suna using something, well…strong. So we decided there should be a legitimate marriage between shinobis from both sides…"
While Hokage was speaking, the girl's eyes became wider and wider. She foresaw what her part in this problem's solution would be. That taste was awfully bitter.
"The shinobi from our side should be you."
There was only the sound of silence in the room. In general the silence couldn't be heard, but particularly that silence sounded like a spool that winds, and winds, and winds… And the rope on it is so tense that it makes the spool quietly creak just before the spool gives up. And there came the question Tsunade expected:
"But why me? Why not Sakura or Ino for instance? Why not Hinata?" the girl asked desperately and her eyes watered with incoming tears, because in fact, she was very disappointed.
"I knew you would ask," Godaime bit her lips for a moment. "Shizune, please…"
Her assistant was startled slightly, but quickly gathered herself and spoke:
"Each of you is very special in their own way. Let's start with Ino - she is regularly seen with Sai. It would be highly suspicious to announce her engagement with a man, who had rarely appeared here - about two-three times some years ago."
After a brief moment of thoughts the girl confessed to herself terrified that...Shizune was actually right.
"Let's continue with Hinata - her father would NEVER let her join this mission, no matter what."
The girl knew the black-haired one was right yet again. She bowed her head. She was trying to hide the heaviness rising in her chest - from herself and the surrounding world.
Shizune pursed her lips:
"And if we talk about Sakura…"
"I spoke with her," Godaime intervened. "She said she could handle it if I picked her up, but… Temari is in a coma. I would prefer to go personally for a bit while the wedding is up, and Sakura will be needed here while I am gone. I can't send her there, because she doesn't have enough experience with such heavy cases. And Shizune… she is the only one that can sort all of the documentary mess here…"
"And also you are the only one currently not in love with anybody or in a relationship," she said and smiled.
The girl looked at her with a purely surprised expression that caused the fading of Shizune's smile. The girl felt guilty of not being in love… And they - they were right, unfortunately for her, again. There was a time she fell for Neji, but that was years ago. She couldn't really use him as a justification for something between them.In the end she might just be the right pick for the task.
"All right," she sighed, and the woman's face lit up with relief. "Who do I have a mission with?" she asked.
Godaime and her assistant crossed their gazes, exchanging slightly guilty smiles.
"Do you remember who Kankuro is?" Tsunade-sama raised her eyebrows.
The girl tried to remember: Kankura, Kankuro, she repeated in her mind trying to recall an image matching that name. She couldn't. She didn't even remember if he even sounded familiar to her.
"Well, he is Gaara's and Temari's sibling." explained Shizune, sure the girl would remember the Kazekage. And she was not wrong. The brown-haired one did remember him. She remembered Temari pretty well, too. She has never forgotten her since they fought against each other on the very first chunin's exam. She remembered Lee fought with Gaara and spent quite a long time in the hospital after that. Along with those vivid images, a hazy image of a boy in a black suit with a strange hat, make-up on his face, and something strange, large and bandaged on his back, came to her mind. She turned and stared at Tsunade:
"The.. Puppet-Master?" she asked hoarsely.
Godaime nodded and the girl felt she was getting sick. It had never happened before, but she felt how the blood went away from her face and arms…
"He is Temari's elder brother, if we must be correct."
"Oh, dear," the girl whispered just before she collapsed on the ground.
Both of the women rushed to her with pale faces. Godaime and Shizune found themselves kneeled to her sides:
"Tenten!" they shouted at the same time.
…
Kankuro was greeted by the jounin Kakashi a few kilometres before the village in order to avoid all unnecessary documentation or questioning. Konoha's shinobi escorted him to the Hokage's tower and left him there, disappearing to do some business of his own. Kankuro found Godaime's office shortly after that, knocked on the door and entered when he got the permission to do so.
"Welcome," she greeted and he nodded grimly. "You arrived quickly, I suppose you have moved really fast." Godaime pursed her lips and added: "That was a good idea to send out Kakashi earlier then. You must be tired?"
The young man nodded shortly. He was indeed too tired for formalities, so he thought he would just be polite. He was not in a position to be rude anyway. Tsunade-sama, as the medic she was, didn't need more. So she called her assistant, instructed her and turned to the man:
"Well, all right! Shizune will show you to the apartment you would be staying in," she announced with a smile.
"Where is…she?" he asked with a blank expression, skipping all the formalities, going straight to the important question for him at the moment.
"She is in training. You will meet her later on."
"All right." he nodded. Of course she would be training. He wouldn't expect her to ruin her routine because of his mission. But she could have at least greeted him, then she could have gone back to training.
Following the protocol, the young man bowed respectfully and then he followed Shizune outside. They were walking for some time through the village while he was trying hard to ignore all the noises around him. It was rare for him to be so exhausted that even the ordinary village noises annoyed him. Obviously that was the case now.
Shizune took him to a small apartment near a small park but far enough from the most busy area. That he liked. That meant he would be able to take enough rest eventually, and resting was really important for the shinobis.
"That's it," the black-haired smiled. "It is nothing spectacular, but it is peaceful."
"Yes, it looks like it is."
"But it is not bad."
"No, it sure is not."
"She will be coming back soon enough. She has been notified that she is expected to be home earlier." Shizune explained with a slightly nervous smile, which seemed to be a habit of hers.
"Arrigatto" he replied and looked around the small room he was in. Even at first glance he could tell this apartment was larger than what he had back home.
"There should be food in the fridge etc." she said in a few moments but she stopped talking when saw Kankuro's deadly tired gaze. "Ok, I will leave you to rest," she offered diplomatically while retreating backwards towards the door.
"Yes."
Shizune wished him to have a good rest and disappeared, almost literally.
Kankuro sighed and took off his hood. His brown hair was all wet. He was indeed pushing himself almost over the limits and he sweated more than usual as well.
The very first thing he did was to look for the bathroom. To reach it, he had to pass through the bedroom, but this didn't make him feel uncomfortable at the moment. He left his puppets scrolls on the short hall's table, threw his backpack on the bed and attempted to peel off his sweaty gear. He entered the bathroom and looked with suspicion at the decorative glass bowl filled with hairpins. He opened all the drawers and to his horror came across one filled with "woman's stuff".
"Exactly like Temari's drawer at home," he said quietly while closing it. He had neither strength nor desire to look at this drawer's content in detail. All drawers like this one had the very same content - things he could use for nothing.
He kept looking around - there were shampoos, soaps… He found a body cream, he opened it in order to smell it - its scent was great. I wonder if the owner would get this one in Suna, or would she just leave it here? he asked himself. Kankuro was well aware that this scent was probably not going to be that great considering his village's climate. In the end he just shrugged and placed it back.
When he was done snooping around, he took a long shower.
Standing in front of the mirror, he started rubbing his hair with a towel. His hair had become longer and it was already touching his shoulders - a very unusual hairstyle for him. It was annoying to have such long hair - he felt warmer with it and he always failed to keep it intact. There was always something going wrong with it like his hair even got on fire several times during battles. So growing long hair wasn't something that he could actually do. Not that he ever wanted to…
Kankuro went back to the bedroom, took his stuff out of the backpack and set them up in an empty drawer. He took his make-ups into the bathroom and arranged them there. Then he put on a pair of shorts he used for sleep, put on a t-shirt as well, then he threw himself on the bed flat over his stomach. Then he took a few deep breaths. The man was so exhausted that he didn't even get a blanket or a sheet. He couldn't even turn… The only thing he succeeded to do was reaching out for one of the pillows.
It smells just like spring flowers… was the very last thought in his head before falling into a deep slumber.
