"Is he really gone? He is Gaara of the Desert. He could have easily made those bones out of sand to trick us.
A third voice spoke up, this one more commanding than the others. "Silence. Gaara of the Desert is dead. If he was still alive this village would still be under the influence of his leadership. Instead we traded a demon for an outsider in leadership. The little bastard wasn't supposed to have enough time to set up an alternate leadership. We'll just have to kill the bitch as well." The other two agreed and quietly left the house fading into the crowds that were starting to fill the market streets again.
Days passed, and for the ninja that were assigned to the investigation on the deaths of the Leaf and Sand ninjas it was like rubbing salt into an open wound. At the start no one wanted to believe that their leader had been killed in such a manner. But as the days passed and Hoshiwara's hold on the leadership position solidified, they were forced to conceed that perhaps he was gone.
Hoshiwara on the other hand had to deal wtih a great many things now that leadership was starting to fully settle on her shoulders. She was not a ninja of any clan, yet she seemed to be doing almost as well as any kage in the position of leader. Assignments were given, and completed. People were taken care of, and least of all discipline and order was maintained in the ranks of both the ninja and the citizenry. Yet every night she would go back to her home in the company of her guard and once alone cry herself to sleep. Her tears were always watched however. She was never as alone as she wanted as she was forever under the watchful eyes of the ninja who were starting to hold a loyalty to the woman that had been set in the leaders position without any kind of training.
It was nearly a week after the explosion that demolished the Suna meeting hall that the first reports started to come in about Suna's strengths, vulnerabilities, and the results of the many tests that were performed on the site of the explosion. The results of all of the reports said the same thing. No one knew who did it and whatever happened really hit the strength of Suna hard.
Hoshiwara could not believe it. The majority of Suna's strength was in three people? That would change and with that thought she sent a message to the school to tell the instructors that the bar for testing just went up. In no way would she leave Suna this vulnerable. The chuunin level and higher ninjas were constantly rotating in and out of the village on assignments. Those that were watching could not tell what Suna's new strength was with this rotation and it helped to force some of the other clans to back down and leave them alone for a short time.
It wasn't enough for Hoshiwara though. Nothing would ever be enough anymore. She lost the people that meant the most to her here and the only way she could stay sane anymore was to bury herself in her work. The investigation continued and now she had the help of some of Konoha's ninjas. Shikamaru had reported to her that morning a week and a half after the the explosion with a hand picked team of ninjas to help guard the tower and assist in the many aspects of the investigation.
Unfortunately even with the extra help, both she and the young Konoha Chuunin were getting frustrated with the lack of progress. After a week they left, saying that they had to report back to the Hokage and take care of some business back in their home town. However Shikamaru paused a moment and looked at the woman before giving a small reassuring smile. "If there is anything I am more sure about. It is that an explosion can level a city and somehow, someway, Naruto will have survived it. If he can survive it, then you can about bet that reguardless of skill or class, the others will have as well."
A look of surprise graced her face before she replied. "So you think that those eight are laying low instead of laying dead?"
"It wouldn't surprise me in the least. Kakashi was Naruto and Sakura's teacher once they reached Genin level. That is one ninja that has more tricks up his sleeve than most. Yes, I think that they are in hiding, waiting to see what this person or group's next move is before they move." A slight nod between the two and they parted ways. Shikamaru had proven to be extremely intelligent and versitile as she worked with him. This alone helped her to believe what he said about the dead ninjas.
But still there was the mess of who did it. And for that she knew that she would have to maintain the look and feel that she was mourning the loss of her friends. But now she had been warned. Whatever happened was on purpose and it was likely that they weren't done.
Information was easy for her to organize. Even back on her world she had been able to take in large amounts of information and reference to other bits she had been given and take the correct answer from what she had. Right now she knew that there were two ninja clans that were the potential threats. They were able to either use extremely powerful fire techniques or they had access to the materials needed to make compact explosives beyond anything that the explosive tags would be able to produce. Civilians and ninja alike were not safe from them as they did not care who or what was in the way as long as the mission was completed. :Who? Who could it possibly be?: She muttered to herself before turning to walk back to the tower.
She was about halfway back to the tower when she was shoved forward. Tucking herself into a roll so that she wouldn't break anything in the fall she came back up and looked back at who pushed her. It was one of the Jounin guardians that she had picked to watch her. In the ground a little ways from where she had been standing three shuriken were embedded deeply into the ground. Shoving her focus to her ears she heard the high almost inaudible whistle of more of the deadly blades coming towards her. Since she wasn't standing she rolled towards the sound guessing correctly that they had been aimed for where she was and avoided them completely.
Looking around again and seeing nothing she could only surmise that her guardian for the day had gone to take care of the problem. She did not ask him what happened when he appeared before her seemingly out of thing air. Those questions were best asked back in the tower where there were fewer chances for them to be overheard. As they moved on, as if what had just happened was nothing more than a training excersize, Hoshiwara did not notice the quick flash of hand signs that her protector made at his side, but someone else did.
Once back in the tower her guard doubled. "Who in the world would want me dead? I've been pouring my life into making sure this village survives long enough to even have to worry about chosing a new Kazekage!" She ranted along that vein for a couple minutes, the jounin in her office allowing her to vent, knowing that she had just had a serious scare and needed to get it out of her system before she could think logically about what just happened.
Taking a deep breath she looked around at those that were in the office and smiled. "You guys are getting too used to me doing that. You shouldn't have to, but you have anyway. Thank you."
One of the more laid back Jounin chuckled softly. "Better you rant and get it out of your system then sit there and glower like the Kazekage did." The compairison caused a momentary silence in everyone, but Hoshiwara understood what was being said.
"In anyrate. I've just been attacked. I want nothing more than to see this village survive and prosper. I also want to see the end of this investigation. I can NOT do that however if I'm dead! What happened?" Hoshiwara demanded of the jounin in the room.
"Sorry, we tried to track down who it was that attacked you from the shuriken, but whoever threw them were either very skilled at throwing from strange angles or could move exceptionally fast. Because there was no one at the theoretical points of origin for either throw." The jounin that had been with her reported having gathered the reports of the others on his way up to the office with her.
Hoshiwara nodded. She had also read the brief report while she was ranting. But there was a look on her face now that did not match what she was supposedly feeling. "SO now we need to find the assassins."
Everyone in the room looked surprised at her use of the plural. "What makes you think that there is more than one?"
The woman looked at them all with her eyes narrowed in speculation. "Simple. Whoever wanted the Kazekage dead would probably need more than one person to pull off the explosion in the meeting house. Top that with the fact that now there is someone after me, trying to kill the new village leader, it indicates that someone wants someone specific in the leader's position. If they wanted to kill either of us they would need to get close in a way that would not raise alarms with anyone, including the outsider leader." She started off her voice calm and analitical.
She continued, "From there you need to look at the fact that its been about three weeks since the building was blown up. Plenty long for most of the village to return to its normal day to day state, even with the loss of its Kage. However there was one thing that the assassins did not take into account when they planned Gaara's assassination." Looking around she could see the lack of reaction, passing for what looked to be polite attention in most of the group.
"They forgot that Gaara can not be killed with Shukakku living in him. The Tanuki of the Winds is an immortal creature with a nasty sense of survival. The defense of the sands are automatic and would be more than enough to protect him from a relatively slow explosion. The ninja that were with him are all some of the best of both villages. I truely believe that they are all alive. And making a move against me with them in that state would be a bad move on the part of whomever was targeting me." She could see the smirks of triumph on a couple faces and set herself up to have her back against the wall nearest her.
"This may all be true. But if they are alive, they wouldn't be here in the tower now would they? All of the tower guards know each other and the rotation you set up is just far too easy to infiltrate. Getting in to you and gaining your trust was far to easy. Gaara was a fool for letting you live and live in our village. You're no ninja, and you've been freeloading off of us, just like he has for long enough. It's time for a strong leader. One that will bring this village and our ninjas back into their prominance." One of the ninja spoke up, taking the lead role and pulling out several Kunai, pinning her to the wall by her clothing with them.
Running a finger down her cheek he was enjoying the flashes of rage and fear that flickered across her eyes as she glared up at him. "Get your dirty hands off me before I do something you will sorely regret!" She hissed at him.
"Now now, tempers are not something a good leader should have. A good leader should be able to think through any situation and make calm rational decisions based on the information they have." Another ninja chided her closing in on her much like the first ninja did, leaning in so close to her that their lips were very nearly touching.
"Ninja should also be aware of their environment, know their enemies, and maintain their areas at all times." A third ninja spoke up, this one looking not at Hoshiwara, but at the other two ninja who were crowding a now infuritated village leader.
"What the hell!" The first and second ninjas were brought up short as they snapped around to see one of the ninjas stepp away from the walls.
"Hoshiwara did not give you permission to approach her like that, and I highly doubt she's into multiple sex partners. Now, if you want to stay alive, you might want to confess and tell me who your associates are. Otherwise there are alternative consiquences that I'm sure you won't like." The ninja's voice started to clear up and while Hoshiwara watched him carefully, it was her othersense, the spiritual one that told her who this really was.