Six

Baki held his lamp higher, but the light would not penetrate much farther than the circle of calm that the Kazekage had conjured around them so they could search for Kankuro without having to battle the scouring sand.

The Kazekage paused and then, "This way."

Baki could not see much of anything, but he did not question the Kazekage's assertion. Judging from the look on the man's face, it was probably best if he did not say anything. The Kazekage led them into an abandoned building, giving them relief from the storm. He pointed at dim shapes ahead of them.

"There." He raised his voice. "Kankuro!"

They hurried over, stopped, and stared at what had emerged from the dark. Baki's eye went wide at the sight.

Karasu was sitting on the floor, hands folded in front of him in an attitude of prayer. A shrouded form lay before the puppet, the covering over his face appeared to be stained with something crimson. The setting was completed by a small container of incense and dried flowers.

The Kazekage knelt beside Kankuro. He pulled the cloth off his face, yanked the shroud off his body, and checked his pulse.

"He's alive." He put his hands on Kankuro's face, trailing fingers over the bloody welt on his temple.

"What is this?" Baki asked. The sight of the puppet at prayer was somehow unnerving. He could not figure out what it meant.

The Kazekage shook his head, Baki was not sure he had even heard the question.

"Kankuro!"

Kankuro stirred and tried to sit up. "Karasu! Where's… I…she…"

The Kazekage pushed him back down. "Boy! What have you done?!"

"I had to…"

"Had to?! Had to disobey me?! I told you…"

Kankuro wiggled under the Kazekage's heavy hand. "She challenged me."

"So that meant you could lie to me?" The Kazekage shook his son. "Right after I told you to stay in, told you not to go off without telling anyone. And look what happened."

"We won, that's what happened! We beat her!"

"I told you to stay in!"

"You don't control me! I'm not your puppet!" Kankuro said before he could stop himself.

The Kazekage's eyes narrowed. He tightened his grip until Kankuro protested. His voice was low and dangerous. "Oh, yes I do, as your parent and as your Kazekage. While you remain in this village, you follow my rules. You know what happens to a shinobi who disobeys an order."

Kankuro's eyes went wide, but he shook his head. "It was my choice. My challenge!"

"Look what your choice has gotten you." The Kazekage pressed his hand to Kankuro's head, showed Kankuro his bloody fingers, and then gestured at Karasu. "You are injured and your weapon was left in the hands of your opponent."

"No! We won!" Kankuro took a deep breath, all the shaking and yelling was making him feel dizzy.

"Boy!" The Kazekage raised his hand. Kankuro cringed, but the defiant look remained on his face.

"Kazekage-sama, perhaps we should get him to a medic," Baki said. He gestured to Kankuro's side. Blood had seeped through his shirt to stain the ground.

The anger fell from the Kazekage's face, leaving only the concern. He rolled Kankuro onto his side. Kankuro could not smother his cry of pain as his father's fingers probed the injury.

"I don't think it was poisoned, but we should get it checked," someone said. Kankuro was not sure who it was, things were getting hazy. Someone, he was pretty sure it was his father, picked him up.

"Karasu. Don't forget him," he muttered.

The Kazekage hoisted Kankuro more securely into his arms. "Baki, please bring the puppet."

"Of course, Kazekage-sama."

Baki looked down at Karasu. Three eyes stared back. Baki was sure the puppet was smirking at him. He shook his head, picked the puppet up, and followed the Kazekage into the night.

-0000-

The Kazekage looked down at his sleeping son. One of Kankuro's hands was curled around the edge of the blanket. The Kazekage slipped one finger under his son's fingers and they curled further, grasping tight. The gesture brought back memories; the Kazekage had done this often when Kankuro was a baby and was always amazed by strength of the tiny fingers. The Kazekage remembered a two year old Kankuro taking a cup from a table, his hands not nearly big enough to hold it, but refusing to let go, and protesting at the top of his lungs when anyone tried to take it from him. The Kazekage stroked the back of his hand with his thumb and smiled. Kankuro might have his father's face and his stubborn nature, but he had his mother's hands, strong and clever.

He sighed, feeling the familiar mixture of pride and exasperation. His son had defeated an accomplished puppeteer using just one puppet. And he had disobeyed an order, tried to deceive his father, and snuck out of the house to do it. The substitutes Kankuro had built out of scraps in the workshop had fooled Temari when she had gone out to check on him, and even the Kazekage had had to look twice before he had realized what they were.

"How can you presume to lead a village of shinobi, if you can't get a child to obey you?" he muttered. "How am I supposed to…?"

The timing of this was bad, he needed all his attention focused elsewhere. Kankuro had been trained for a specific role in the management of the demon and nothing could be allowed to distract him from that, not even the full knowledge of his art. It was hard for the Kazekage to use his children like this, unbelievably hard in Kankuro's case. The boy deserved better training than he was getting for his amazing talent. Instead he was being used as a pawn in a game he did not yet understand, but the independence and power of the shinobi of the Sand village had to come first.

"Patience, boy," he muttered. "Soon I'll explain it all." He paused and then continued in a louder voice. "And you have two minutes to explain just what the fuck you were trying to accomplish."

The old woman emerged from the shadows. "Kazekage-sama," she greeted him. "I see where the boy learned his manners." She placed a folded square of cloth on the bed. "You left this behind. It is his, he earned it."

"And what about that little message you left for me: 'I could have killed him, so now you owe me'. Is that what all that meant?"

"Very good, Kazekage-sama. I trust you will heed the warning." She looked down at Kankuro. "You cannot control that creature through either of your sons, or even your daughter. You can no more control the bijuu than you can the sands or the tides."

"You are wrong. It is working. It will continue to work and we will remain independent and strong because of it."

"Hmph, I can see where the boy gets his stubborn streak. It will end badly. I can see that easily."

The Kazekage raised an eyebrow. "So, is it true what they say about you? You have divination skills. I am not sure I believe in that sort of thing. It certainly did not help you fight Kankuro, didn't it?"

The old woman went stiff in indignation. "Foolish arrogant man! You know that it does not work that way." She pointed at him. "Keep going the way you are and there will be no future for you at all."

The Kazekage snorted. "It takes no power to see that. I am prepared to give my life. My life, my family's life, whatever it takes. The only important thing is to make sure the village has a future. That is all that matters." The Kazekage looked down at his son.

She followed his gaze. "You said you don't believe, but I'll tell you anyway. It is possible that he will become the greatest of us, despite his lack of training, despite the fact you are not giving him true puppets. I see jinchuuriki. He will hate one, call one brother, call one friend, and he will love one. I am leaving. I gave you your son's life, so now leave me to mine." She pointed to the bed. "Be sure he learns how to put that on."

"If he wants to, I will."

"He has earned it, so he must…"

The Kazekage laughed, a grin spreading across his face. "He must? Obaa-sama, did you not learn anything about Kankuro while you fought him? You don't make him do anything he does not want to do."

The old woman barked out a short laugh. "Very true. The nut does not fall far from the tree, as they say. Good-bye, Kazekage-sama, we will not meet again."

She made several hand signs and was gone.

Kankuro stirred, awakened by the sound of his father's laughter. He wiggled under the heavy blankets, trying to get them loose so he could move. He brushed his fingers across the bandages on his ribs and head, trying to remember. He looked into his father's stern face and it all came back.

"I had to go. I didn't mean to…" he said in a rush.

The Kazekage snorted. "Of course you meant to. The question is: what do we do now?"

Kankuro's eyes went wide and he felt a surge of fear. He knew what happened to shinobi who disobeyed orders.

"She challenged me, as a puppeteer. The Kazekage doesn't get any say about it."

"Who told you that?"

"She told me that you had no authority over puppeteers."

"Did she? And you believed her?"

"Not at first, but then I read something similar in a book."

"You should have asked."

"You would've said no."

The Kazekage took a deep breath.

"We won, so it's okay," Kankuro said quickly before the Kazekage could yell at him. "We were so fast and I used my head, just like you said. You would have been proud."

The Kazekage expelled the breath in a heavy sigh. He brushed his fingers along Kankuro's temple and then through his thick hair. "I am proud of you Kankuro. Always. Whatever happens, never forget that" His voice was soft. He cocked his head and raised his eyebrows. "Obviously you weren't that fast. I suspect that she caught you when you weren't paying attention."

"She did it after the fight, after she gave up." He scowled. "I think it was that stupid monkey."

The Kazekage's fingers brushed through Kankuro's hair a few moments more and then he tapped Kankuro's forehead. "Perhaps you should consider actually wearing what you were given when you became a shinobi. It's called a forehead protector for a reason."

"Nobody wears them properly. Temari wears hers around her throat."

"Thus protecting a vulnerable spot. Baki wears his properly."

"And look what happened to him."

"Kankuro!" the Kazekage shook his head. "Humour me and at least consider it."

"Yes, otō-san." Kankuro peered up at him, trying to look contrite. "So you're not going to kick me out?"

"No."

Kankuro heaved a huge sigh of relief.

"However, you will be punished for this."

Kankuro cringed. "I know. It's not…Karasu."

"No, you get to keep the puppet. It seems that you two are meant for each other."

"So…"

"It is something terrible and appropriate. I am not going to tell you just yet."

"But…that's not…" Kankuro grumbled but did not say anything else. He shifted and his eyes fell on the folded square of cloth lying on the bed. "What's that?"

His father reached over and picked it up, letting it unfold. Kankuro squinted at the pattern of reddish lines.

"She had that on her face."

"Yes. It's called an oshiguma. After an important performance, kabuki actors remove their masks onto a cloth like this. When a puppeteer reached a certain level of skill he would get a new mask, a new design. This is how they were passed on. This is now yours to wear."

"Wear? You mean like a scarf?"

"No, you paint the design on your face."

"What?! You mean like make up? Guys don't wear that stuff!"

"Puppeteers do. That was the whole point of the challenge Kankuro, to earn this mask."

Kankuro considered the design. "It is sort of fierce looking. Could I get it tattooed on instead?"

"No! It is not meant to be permanent. It changes as you mature in your skills and as your puppets change."

"You mean I'm going to get another puppet? When?"

"When you are ready?"

"That's not an answer."

"No time soon that's for certain. Do you really think you should be rewarded for what you did tonight?"

"No," Kankuro said. "I guess not." He paused. "I…I didn't mean to make you worry, otō-san. I'm…sorry."

"I don't suppose you did, but you have to learn to be more careful, Kankuro. I might not always be able to come and find you. The day is coming when…" He stopped himself. "I know an actor who can teach you about face paint. We'll go tomorrow morning. And then we'll discuss punishment."

"Yes otō-san."

"Very good." The Kazekage's fingers brushed through Kankuro's hair again and across his forehead, applying a gentle pulse of chakra. "Go to sleep, Kankuro."