When sound meets sand
Disclaimer; I do not own any sort of naruto character other than my own
Chapter 12
Kazumi struggled to her feet, grabbing her arm. Why she the death of a akatsuki member affected her more than she expected, she didn't know. She wasn't far from the cave that they had met before for the meeting, so she walked over to it, wincing in pain every now and then. Once she got to the entrance, she was horrified upon what she saw. Hundreds of destroyed puppets were scattered all around, and in the middle was sasori. She regained strength,and dashed towards the redhead. 'Oh sasori.', she sighed, struggling to removing the damaged cylinder object in his chest he used to stay alive. 'You're still a pain, even when dead.', she groaned, finally pulling out the object. Blue chakra surrounded her fingertips, then she carefully position her hand on the object. 'Release!', she demanded, slowly lifting her hand. Her chakra covered fingertips were attached to a shinning, purple sphere of chakra. She examined it carefully. 'His soul, and abilities are in this small thing?', she questioned. The blue haired kunoichi shrugged, and walked around, looking for the ring sasori wore, still holding the purple sphere. 'Ahh! There it is.', she cheered, picking it up. She faced the ring towards the sphere and it immediately absorbed it. 'There. I need to get out of here. The closer I am to these worthless ninja, the more pain I'm going to feel if they die.', she murmured.
About a year passed, all the akatsuki members were dead, and the fourth Great War had ended about a month before, which she stayed out of. Instead, she helped the kage's with protecting their villages. Over time, she resigned as hokage, but stayed as help for tsunade. The death of both her fathers caused her to go into a horrible depression. She sat at her desk, signing paperwork, deep into thought. *shikaku, my daddy. The man who raised me for 13 years, before I left to train by myself. who never gave up on me. who never treated me differently like everyone else. gone. Orochimaru, the reason I'm here. My sensei. My bestfriend. My inspiration. My father, gone as well.* she sighed depressingly, letting her head fall into her hands. tsunade observed her from her desk. 'Take a vacation, Kazumi. All the paperwork is done.', tsunade said, noting her helper's mood. 'Thanks but no thanks, milady.', she replied, sitting back in her chair. Tsunade rose an eyebrow at her. 'You should visit sunagakure.', she suggested with a hint of playfulness in her tone. Kazumi blushed, and gave her a weak smile. 'Again, thank you, but no thank you. I don't feel like traveling.', she contradicted, opening another scroll. She began signing the next day's paperwork, causing her to stay later than usual.
It was around eleven pm when she finally got home, where she found shikamaru asleep on the couch. She smiled weakly at her younger brother, remembering how he would fall asleep on the couch waiting for her to come home when they were kids. She left to her room,then came back carrying a blanket and a pillow. She spread the blanket over shikamaru, then carefully lifted his head and gently laid it on the pillow. Once she was sure he was comfortable, she left to her room.
The next day was just the same as the others. The kunoichi arrived at the hokage's tower around noon, since she had finished that day's paperwork yesterday. Kazumi sat at her desk and groaned. *I'm so sick and tired of being cooped up in this village, but I don't want to leave either.* She sighed, and started playing with the necklace Kankuro had gave her. Tsunade walked in happier than usual. 'I need you to go to the main gate. There's someone there for you.', she smiled. Kazumi hesitated, but left anyway. She had just walked out of the tower when she heard a familiar loud voice. 'Hey! Kazumi! Wait up!', naruto shouted, running toward her. She smiled, waiting for the blonde to catch up. 'Want to go to ichiraku's?', he panted. She shook her head. 'No, I'd loved to, but I got to do this errand, maybe another time.', she refused nicely. Naruto nodded, and dashed off. *the boy almost died a month ago, and he's as happy as ever* she smiled, and continued her way to the gate.
'Good afternoon, Kazumi.', Izumo and Kotetsu greeted in unison. Kazumi rose an eyebrow at them. They both had mischievous smiles across their faces. '...afternoon, Izumo, Kotetsu. Is there anyone waiting for me here?', she asked, hesitantly. Izumo cocked his head in the direction of a figure leaning on one of the poles. The ninja looked turned to face Kazumi. 'Hey, long time no see?', a sand ninja wearing a hat, had purple paint markings and three scrolls on his back said. The kunoichi nearly tackled him to the ground when she went in for a tight hug. 'Kankuro! I missed you so much!', she sobbed into his shoulder, tightening her grip on his shirt. The puppet master rested his head on hers as they embraced. 'It's okay. Dont cry, I'm here now.', he soothed, pulling back from their hug. Kankuro chuckled at the sight of their necklaces tangling, then carefully separating them. ( Mulan moment /.\ ) Izumo and Kotetsu cooed and awed in the background, causing Kazumi to blush. 'Lets go back to the tower?', she suggested, still blushing. The two ninja walked hand in hand to the hokage's tower, earning many 'awws' from the villagers on the way there.
'Milady.', Kankuro greeted, bowing as he and Kazumi walked into the room, still holding hands. Tsunade smirked at the sight of her assistant finally having a genuine smile. 'Kankuro. I'm trusting you with one of my most talented kunoichi. I'll be expecting her back the same way, or happier.', she declared. The puppet master tightened his hold on the bluentte's hand. 'Don't worry, milady. I give you my word.', he smiled. Tsunade smirked, and motion them to be dismissed. 'What's this all about? Where are we going?', Kazumi asked when they reached her house. 'Gaara's getting married, and he wanted you to be at the wedding. So pack enough stuff for about two months or so.', he replied. Kazumi left her puppet master in the living room to chat with her mother and sibling while she packed. 'All done. I'm ready to leave when you are.', she announced, kissing her brother and mother on the cheek. Kankuro nodded, saying his farewells to the Nara's before he and Kazumi dashed into the forest.
Three days had passed until they reached sunagakure. They were walking peacefully down the streets of the village when Kankuro stopped her infront of the kazekage's tower. 'Let me tell you something about Gaara's fiancé. She's a bit...difficult.' he warned. Kazumi smiled at her love. 'Ha, don't worry about me. I can handle it.', she teased, gently pulling him down for a kiss. The puppet master smiled, then sighed as he opened the door. Gaara,Temari, and a girl were in the dining room. 'Kazumi!', Temari squealed, pulling her away from Kankuro and trapping her in a hug. 'Nice to see you again, Temari.', she said breathlessly. The blonde released her and pointed at Gaara. 'That's Gaara, you know him.', she began, 'and that lovely lady right there is yuri, Gaara's fiancé.' Kazumi stepped away from Temari, afraid of being locked into another one of her hugs, and bowed. 'Hello. Nice to meet you, yuri. I'm Nara, Kazumi.',she greeted, sticking out a hand for her to shake. The mist kunoichi glared at her, ignoring her attempt to shake her hand. 'Im going to bed.', she growled, leaving up stairs. Kazumi looked back at Kankuro and mouthed the word 'wow'.
There's chapter twelve ^-^! Hope you guys liked it :)
A special thanks to Webbaustin for letting me use yuri :3 you guys are going to see her a lot into the rest of the story.
As usual, follow, favorite, and review please ^-^