Chapter 10 Missing
The year was almost up in Suna. Miko had been on missions galore, but revolved around a certain routine every day followed this routine except one.
"Gaara's really busy at the office so could you bring him a bento?" Temari asked pulling on a shoe. Miko stood behind her wearing an apron with chibi Kankuro, Temari, and Gaara's on it. Needless to say it was a gift.
"Sure, Nee-chan!" Miko beamed happily. Temari left and Miko hurriedly created a bento. Soon she skipped off to the Kazekage tower.
"Good evening Gaara-chan!" Miko said talking to the assumed figure behind stacks of paper. She walked around to the back of the desk where Gaara was scribbling on some paper.
"Gaara-chan?" Miko asked. When again ignored Miko poked him on the cheek, not feeling the roughness of his sand shell.
He turned to her eyes slightly narrowed. Miko smiled and held up the bento. Miko could tell he was going to turn away and not eat; Miko sat on the paper he was writing on. Gaara sat back in his chair glaring at Miko.
"Gaara-chan if you don't eat you'll never grow up!" Miko said crossing her arms.
"I'm an adult all my growing up is done." Gaara sighed.
"If you don't eat you'll shrink, and you're already only a little taller than me!" Miko smiled and began to open the bento. They stared each other down for a moment before Gaara caved in and are. When she was pleased she skipped off into the hallway making her way down.
"You've got to do something!" a familiar voice said. Miko saw Toru arguing with Baki who appeared to be assigning missions.
"Toru-kun what's going on?" Miko asked. Toru turned around his face unusually expressive.
"Lady Draconisia, please you've got to help us!" he glared at Baki. "You see kids have been going missing. Yesterday Lisa went out to gather herbs for spare cash, and never came back." Toru said.
"Miko-sama with all due respect…" Baki began.
"It's Draconisia-sama to you!" Toru snapped at the slight familiarity.
"Draconisia-sama," Baki corrected himself "these children run away all the time, we can't launch an investigation each time one runs off!" Baki avoided her eyes.
I could probably order him to but that would be a waste of time, half-hearted shinobi don't work well on a rescue mission. Miko thought.
"Don't worry Baki-tan! Miko-chan will take care of it!" Toru was about to argue but Miko steered him away.
"What are you doing?" Toru snapped. Miko glared at him,
"Have you forgotten I happen to be a shinobi, rumored to be at the level of the Kages?" Miko asked. Toru narrowed his eyes but nodded sharply.
"Now that you have a backup plan let's think for a moment about the victim, who is she, what is her standing in the community?"
"Lisa Trocar, she is part of the Lost Children the most hated community in Suna…" The boy sighed.
"Now then from this information what do you gather?" Miko asked.
"They're not going to help but you would." Toru sighed. Miko nodded.
"First we need to stop at my place and leave a note." Miko dragged Toru behind her all the way.
When they got there Toru began to peek around. "Hey Draconisia-sama have you ever seen Gaara-sama's bedroom?" Miko shook her head while searching for something to write on.
"I've always imagined it to be full of whips and chains, and other torcher devises." Miko sweat-dropped. "And then when he takes his beautiful blonde victims in and bites them, blood gushes out and…" Before Toru could continue Miko stopped him.
"Toru-kun are you mistaking the Kazekage with a vampire?"
"Of course not…" He lied.
*…*
"Well I mean he has read hair and pale skin…" Toru fidgeted.
"OMG your right I guess I never really imagined him to be a vampire! What if he's sucked my blood and I can't remember!" Miko launched into panic and quickly scribbled a note.
On top secret mission be back soon, Gaara when I come back we're having a talk about your bad habit.
The two made their way out of Suna's gate their gear, and cloaks intact. Toru told Miko all about the secret place that they went to gather herbs. Usually it was a two to three day trip, but the two young shinobi and to be shinobi sprinted across the desert.
Night fell quickly and the two snuggled in their cloaks and thin blankets for warmth. Toru agreed to take first watch, and Miko fell into a quick dreamless sleep.
She awoke to the soft sound of crying. The stars were well light causing a false since of peace to fall on the young girl.
"Toru-kun?" she asked coming up behind him. He sniffled and made an attempt to cover his tears. She laid a comforting arm around him.
"Come on Toru, talk to me I'm a friend." She kept him tight against her.
"It's just that, I'm her leader her boss. I mean there boss she's not the only one to go missing. I assumed what Baki-Sensei assumed that they ran, but Lisa-chan was close to me I knew her well. I knew them to but she was, special." Miko smiled he was nearly blushing, he continued on.
"We've been neglected, all of us. I remember when I went out if even my shadow touched them they would rush off to bathe themselves. They treated Lisa worse when I first found her they were throwing rocks at her." He sniffled again.
"She loved Suna with all her heart though; she swore she would protect it no matter what happened. I'll do the same for her, and I will protect every-one in Suna whether they like it or not!" He looked up at the blonde with glittering eyes full of so many emotions- anger, grief, sorrow, and a fierce pride in what he was saying.
"Each of us holds their own burden. Denial from our peers is something we all experience at one point some more serious than others. The point I'm trying to get across here is that we all have scars, the difference between mine and yours is that I haven't learned how to deal with mine yet." Miko confided these words in the younger shinobi.
He looked at her again as if in a new light. For the first time he realized the pain in her features and he recalled all of her weird mood swings. Again he cursed himself for his naivety.
"D- no Miko-sama you don't need to deal with them Miko, you have to concur them." The girl looked at the raven haired boy listening intently.
"You don't need to live on day by day remembering your hurt trying to keep them from bleeding, you have to… have to let them open up and be able to feel the hurt and not let it stop you."
From his words Miko felt something inside her shift nearly into place. "Arigato, Toru-kun." She said whispering into his ear but the boy was already asleep.
~*~ Back at Suna ~*~
"Gaara, you cannot tell me you're not going to do anything about this!" Temari snapped tapping the paper. Gaara didn't even flinch he kept his bored expression.
"What I'm curious about is what she means by bad habit, Gaara what did you do to her this time?" Kankuro joked. Finally the red head spoke,
"Miko is a ninja of Suna, she is capable of handling herself. Just because she lives with us does not make her any different than anyone else." He spoke coldly.
"That's bull poky!" Kankuro snapped.
"He's right, Kami Gaara everyone in Suna knows you favor her. Although the Gaara fan club is still arguing whether or not you're dating… Either way you send her on kiddy missions, and refused her request in becoming a Jounin even though we all know she is more than capable of becoming one. Face it Gaara you're scared of losing her!" Temari said crossing her arms.
Gaara glared at her, which was more or less no different from his usual expression.
"Temari you herd from Baki, she went to investigate a missing orphan there is nothing dangerous about it, but if it makes you feel better I'll assign a four man squad to see to it." Gaara said rising from his chair, forcing the conversation to a close.
~*~ Back to Miko ~*~
Morning came soon enough and they were sprinting across the sand with burning passion. They came to a place with a somewhat honey-come like structure.
"These caves are bit of a secret. It's true Suna can't house many plants but the ones it does can be found here." Toru stated. They walked into the nearest opening.
Inside it was damp and humid, the floors coated with sandy dirt. The two walked for hours searching the caves.
"Nothing!" Toru growled. Miko who had also grown impatient slipped into her more serious attitude.
"Shouting won't help." She said drily pulling out food for midday meal. He turned to glare at her, but she met his glare with one of her own, which was much scarier.
"Where'd you learn to glare like that?" He asked curiously kneeling down.
"Ever meet an Uchiha?" she asked grinning slightly. The raven haired boy shook his head, biting into a rice roll.
"They are the masters! You see he has this HUGE crush on the female Kyuubi's jinchuuriki who is my close friend. He follows her around like a lost puppy." She giggled.
"What about you, has any guy caught your eye. Perhaps a vampire?" he faked fangs with his fingers.
"I don't know what you're talking about." She said packing up food.
"Gaara-chan~" he teased her.
"Shut your face little boy, or I'll give you a lesson on organs again." Miko smirked at him. The boy shivered at the words fearing the lecture he kept quiet and they continued in their search.
Miko walked slowly taking in every inch of the caves, especially at the floor. Suddenly she noticed something she had missed the entire time.
"Toru, check this out the indentations in the sand." It was slight but near the wall the dirt was piled higher than the middle.
"What could it be?" she asked. The blonde looked at Toru for an explanation. Toru fidgeted for a moment as if thinking about saying something.
"Well, there is an old legend about a snake that lives in these caves…" he said.
"Could it be this big, Toru the indentation is nearly six foot wide!" Miko exclaimed.
"The snake is considered a God back in the days. It was a symbol for coming evil, the people would give all sorts of gifts to the snake to keep the evil from coming." Toru said. She gave a sharp nod and thought,
It is impossible for a snake to grow this big, but that's the only explanation for these marks.
The two found that the markings went to no specific location; they wound around the caves impossible to track. They walked the caves marking the ones they had already been through with the symbol of Ryu meaning dragon.
They walked all day marking, but they were forced to rest, even though Toru said he could go on he was exhausted. So they set camp in the chilling caves, and attempted to get some rest.
There was something wet touching her face. Miko reached up and wiped it off. It felt like, saliva. Her eyes immediately snapped open. Her face wasn't the only thing wet; she was laying in what appeared to be an underwater lake.
It was beautiful black glistening rocks cradles crystal blue water. The walls surrounding her were sand stone, but it looked as if it had been polished, it glittered with sparkled from the pool. The floor of the rest of the 'room' was graveled rocks.
Miko looked for an exit and found it. At least forty feet above ground was a wide circular opening in the sand stone.
"Toru?" she croaked her voice dry from sleep. Not finding him above ground she looked below the clear water.
Her eyes widened, below the water in yellow jell looking sacks were six children Toru included. Miko could see from her stand point that some of the children's skin had been partially dissolved in some places. But why didn't it do that to her.
You can thank me for that. Dralo bragged.
Dralo long time no…hear. What happened?
Short story? A giant snake took you while you were sleeping by eating you and then regurgitating you back up.
That's a nice thought…
Are you goanna let me finish? Thank you, either way I surrounded you with a light covering of fire burning off the venom encasing you.
Venom? Are you saying that yellow stuff is venom!
Precisely, inside the snake the yellow venom incased Toru paralyzing him and started the decomposition process.
Gross how do I get him out?
Well you could start draining the pool…
Too long.
Well you could try to claw him out, but if you touch it you will begin to become paralyzed.
Miko got up from the shallow water and shook off the gravel that clung to her. She shook out her wet hair and walked deeper into the pool and then dived in. When she got in front of Toru's egg she felt the outside, it felt like a hardboiled egg.
Cautiously she reached in. It felt like boiling water had been splashed on her arm, so hot that it felt cold. Her arm began to tingle with numbness but she ignored it and kept reaching in.
The managed to get to Toru's shirt her numb fingers curled around the light fabric. From the outside she pushed on the outside with her feet using her good arm she grabbed the numb one and pulled hard.
Her slight body was never built for strength, but being a jinchuuriki had made her stronger, and more durable than most. Miko's heart beat fast inside her she felt something become stronger something edging into place. This boy was important to her, he was the most important thing in her life, it might just be because she saw herself in him, but it gave her the strength to pull him out.
Miko pulled them both to the surface and pulled Toru onto the dry flooring. He spluttered,
"Miko? O' Kami Lisa-chan!" He attempted to get up, but Miko pushed him down.
"Calm down she's safer where she is." Toru looked at the yellow pods.
"Safer! Her skin it's coming off Miko!" Toru screamed hysterically.
Damn he's in shock!
"Shut up, dammit do you hear that?" a slithering sound echoed through the caves.