Chapter 9: A hiccup in the plan
"The mission is a great success…" Gaara praised the group lined up before his desk, three of the four shinobi bowed as Choji stepped forwards and offered the scroll, Gaara accepted the document with a quick twitch of his lips "…please stay a night or two before you head back to the Leaf village, the journey must have been long and hard" Someone within the room must have had the maturity of a newt as an amused snort bounced off the four walls, Gaara looked peeved as he glared at the culprit who was standing beside Ami; Isamu had the grace to look down as he tried to hide his smile.
"Thank you Kazekage, we would be honoured to take you up on the offer of rest" Choji cut in before Isamu could make a bigger fool of himself, the four leaf shinobi bowed in respect at the Kazekage before leaving; Isamu quicker then the rest when Gaaras gourd started to shake.
"So what do we do now?" Ami asked as she stretched like a cat, her joints popping making Ami sigh in satisfaction. Princess leapt from her curled up position on the sofa outside of Gaaras office and onto her mistress shoulder, her fur rubbing against Amis cheek when the black cat purred.
"Depends on what Gaara said" A soft voice called from behind the gathered group, the four shinobi and one small child slowly turned to see a sandy haired kunoichi standing behind Gaaras assistants desk, her teal eyes watching with a soft smile on her face.
"TEMARI…" Mami squealed in happiness as she ran towards the waiting women with open arms, her eyes quickly glanced down which caused Mami to freeze in shock, her warms still wide and waiting for a hug from her sand sister "…when on earth did this happen?"
"Seven months ago…" Temari smiled as she rubbed the bump affectionately with her hand "…we found out not long after you left" It was difficult but the two women managed to embrace each other in a hug; six months was to long to not see your closest female friend.
"Hello there little one" Mami softly cooed as she knelt on the tiled floor. Mami raised her hand but hesitated as she looked up at the expecting mother, with a nod from Temari Mami gently placed her fingertips across the stretched skin and softly rubbed, a subtle but firm nudge replied to her greeting.
"Someone likes you" Temari giggled as the long haired leaf kunoichi stood up straight, her hand still lingering on the rounded belly.
"And what about my greeting?" Kankuros voice jeered as the brunette male came barrelling down a side corridor and into the open space, he grinned widely at his sister and Mami before he came strolling over to them; his swagger almost smug as he walked past the two other males within the office area.
"KANKURO" Mami squealed with delight as her eyes rested upon the larger male, his daily work out must have been paying off as he looked larger then before.
"Leaf sister" Kankuro greeted with a smug smile as his large arms wrapped around the overjoyed kunoichi, it had been too long since the two had gotten together to catch up. As soft as a butterfly the male shinobi placed a kiss on Mamis forehead, it was almost flirty as the muscular arms around Mami tightened, giving her one last squeeze before Kankuro lifted Mami off her feet. Both shinobi laughed in delight as Kankuro span the both of them around, Mami being held tightly against the his chest.
"I've been looking everywhere for you…" Temari huffed as she stormed over to the older of her two brothers, her eyes blazing as she waddled, Kankuros posture was stiff as he fearfully watched Temari. Once she had reached the sand shinobi Temari used a pointed finger to jab the large chest before her "…where on earth have you been Kankuro?" Temari asked, her hands flying to her hips showing everyone just how peeved she really was. Out of the three sand siblings the fuse for Kankuros temper was the shortest, hands down, nought to shouting in 3.2 seconds was the record but with Temari in her current state of pregnancy she could smash that in a heartbeat. Normally Temari was so laid back she was horizontal.
One thing you need to know about Kankuro was he always gave as good as he got, if you shouted at him Kankuro would shout back, if you hit Kankuro he would hit back twice as hard and if you kiss Kankuro on the cheek you would be pressed against the wall with his tongue down your throat; Don't get him wrong, Kankuro was always a gentleman and would never push a girl further then she felt comfortable with but there would be a girl that would always go further then a drunken kiss. Taking a shouting Temari into account and this little trait Kankuro shouted back, he was louder then his sister who in turn shouted back even louder, so it didn't take long for the two siblings to shout at one another in the middle of the office.
With a small whimper of fear Ai's eyes darted from one person to another, the sofa she was currently sitting on was comfortable but the group got bigger and louder and that worried the small child; with Mami trying to the calm the unknown female and male Ai went to the next best thing, quickly Ai dismounted her seat and rushed over to the long haired leaf shinobi and half hid behind Choji as her small hand fisted the red material of his outfit.
"Well I'm off, I need to rest and Princess needs a nice glass of cream" Ami declared with a huff as her eyes moved from the bickering two and towards Choji, with a nod from the leader Ami headed towards the door, not quick enough for Mamis liking but you can't win them all. Ami left the building with Princess happily purring on the shoulder only to be followed by Isamu; Choji just laughed at their eagerness.
"What do you mean he wanted them 'put away'?" Temari asked moodily as her eyes glared at her bother. Mami was just stood to the side, her hands raised as she tried to keep Temari from shouting, the stress can't be good for the baby.
"Just like I said the man didn't want the women to go into the room to see Gaara so he asked for them to go in a room on their own…" Kankuro sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose, smudging his purple facial paint in the process; Mami wondered why he always wore the paint even if he wasn't fighting "…it does seam funny now that I think about it" Kankuro muttered as he thought aloud, a finger tapping his painted chin as he thought.
Mami didn't know why but hearing this put her on edge, why would an unknown man demand to see the Kazekage but want the females traveling with him put into effectively solitary confinement. Temaris face got that little bit more red as she opened her mouth to retort, seeing the look on her face Choji quickly cut in before Mami had a chance.
"Hay don't be like this, it's been a long time since we have got together. Temari, how about we go for lunch, my treat" Choji softly offered as Ai rushed to catch up to the fast moving male.
"Who's this?" Temari asked kindly as Ai's movements caught her eye. Carefully Temari knelt down to Ai's height, once she was level the pregnant lady wobbled before getting her balance right; she even had to place a hand on the floor just in case she tittered again. The scared child fully hid behind Choji as Temari smiled kindly at the young girl, Ai buried her face into Chojis leg thinking if she couldn't see the women the women couldn't see her.
"This is Ai, Mami found her in a cave on her own…" Choji informed as he gently moved to the side so Temari could see her "…we were hoping you could help us in the search of her two missing sisters"
"Oh no you poor thing…" Temari gushed as she tried to right herself, it was rather difficult with a seven month bump but she managed it "…why don't we have some lunch and then I will have a word with the Kazekage" Ai was pleased with this and gave the women a small smile before taking Chojis large hand.
"Kankuro…" Mami called softly as the others were distracted, she hid behind the large males frame hoping not to be noticed. Kankuro turned his head just an inch to show he was listening "…can I go see the women?" The puppet ninja glanced at Mami over his shoulder and gave the kunoichi a wired look, thankfully Choji and Temari were walking out the building with Ai between them and didn't notice the scheming pair.
"Why?" Kankuro asked unsurely as his eyes quickly did a once over of Mami, his eyebrow raised in question as he turned to fully face her. He could see the steel look of determination on Mamis face, a look he had seen only a few times; something wasn't right.
"I just have a bad feeling about this" Mami clarified as she looked up at Kankuro, he in turn raised his eyebrow again but said nothing as he turned; Kankuro looked back for a brief moment before summing Mami to follow him with a finger. Silently the two walked though the long and confusing corridors of the Kazekage manor/office, they were almost like shadows in the night as Kankuro flew down the corridors, turning this way and that until they came to a sudden stop.
Moving swiftly though the long corridors didn't make for quick stopping, even with her fast reflexes Mami couldn't stop in time and barrelled into Kankuros, her body pressed into his back and Mami automatically put her arms around the male shinobi to keep herself from falling over; Mami didn't have to see Kankuros face to know he had a huge grin on his face.
"You ok back there?" With her hands placed on his firm chest Mami could feel the rumbling chuckle Kankuro had the grace to suppress as he half turned towards her. With the sparkle in his eyes and a raised eyebrow Kankuro was in his full out flirt mode; Kankuro had two modes, flirt and brother, Mami liked them both and had a laugh with each one in a different way but this wasn't the time for the flirt to come out.
"Put flirt away would you…" Mami huffed as she moved her arms from around the puppet nin and shoved him lightly in the back "…this is big boy time" As a response Kankuro turned towards the wood frame he had stopped at and extended a single gloved finger, his grin soon turned into a frown as he lightly tapped that finger on the doors smooth handle; the look on his face was stern as his head turned to look at Mami.
"Two minutes…" Kankuro clarified with a look "…that's all the time I can give you"
"That's plenty" Mami replied softly before she rasped on the door with her knuckles, gently so not to disturb the women inside Mami slowly turned the smooth door handle and nudged the door open to peek inside.
The room itself was small, the plain coloured walls were blank of any paintings leaving the room feeling cold and anyone one inside it unwelcome. Pushed against three of the washed-out walls were stiff looking sofas, they were also pale in colour and looking a bit thread bare in some places, the seats offered a place to rest your feet but how comfortable they really were was yet to been seen. Some bright spark had decided to put a large coffee table in the middle of the room, normally it would work but the room was small and the space cramped it left little room to move around, and not only that there was a scattering of magazines on the worn surface; the reading material years out of date.
Sat in the corner furthest from the door were two women, they both looked scared as they huddled together for comfort, the older looking of the two had the other girl bundled in her arms as silent tears ran down her face.
"Hello…" Mami softly greeted as she squeezed into the room, both women looked up in a mixture of fright and shock "…I'm Mami" The oldest of the two watched as Mami wondered; or tried to, around the room. The leaf shinobi took a closer look around, bleak, desolate and boring were the words that sprang to mind, but then again this room was properly never used. Causally Mami flicked though the magazines on the table as she got closer to the two females, her fingers lightly brushing over a headline that was three years old.
"Are you with them?" The older of the two asked as she moved from her huddled companion, she rose to her feet and stood before the other girl, her brown eyes were burning with hate and an animal fierceness as a few stands of blue hair fell from her messy ponytail.
"If you mean Leaf shinobi then yes…" Mami replied as the dusty light above glinted on her headband that was wrapped around her thigh "…we have just arrived from a mission, god it's hard work sometimes" The older women and Mami both looked at each other, for an intense Mami thought the women would jump her before Mami flopped onto one of the free seats; yes the sofas were as uncomfortable as they looked.
"We still need to find…" A small voice started as the younger female tugged on the fabric of the others top, her bright green eyes looked up with fear and panic as her blonde hair dully glinted in the light.
"Stop it…" The older one shushed "…we don't know who this person could be"
"I already told you, my name is Mami and I'm a shinobi from the Leaf village…" Mami said in a causal voice as her head fell back "…I'm also a shinobi who has great nose for tracking" The ninja hinted as she threw sandy boots onto the table and tied to sink into the threadbare sofa.
"What do you mean by that?" The older female asked as she looked down at Mami, her brown eyes shined with not only fear but hidden in the depths was a small glint of hope.
"My ninja hound and I came across a sent that had me a bit befuddled, we found that the sent belonged to a small child who was waiting for her sisters…" The younger female looked up, her eyes tearing up, in happiness or in sadness Mami did not know "…with some food and water inside her this small child told us about her sisters and how they came to be in the middle of the desert, not wanting to leave her one of my team mates and also the leader of our mission agreed for us to bring her along. She is currently with my squad leader and the sister of the Kazekage" That was what the sisters needed to hear, the two females sat together with looks of joy on their faces; they knew who Mami was talking about.
"Thank you" They whispered together as the clung to one another.
"I must go now…" Mami said with a pointed looked at the older female "…nice to meet you Youko and Sayuri" With this Mami swiftly stood up and walked out of the room.
"What are you doing?" A booming voice hollered as a man the size of a house came barrelling down the empty corridor. Confused Mami looked around for her male companion to find Kankuro was nowhere in sight, he must have lost his nerve and taken off, with a shrug Mami wiped the sand nin from her mind and turned towards the shouting newcomer.
The first thought to cross Mamis mind was how could this males large frame could fit in such a small space. The man was even bigger then Mami first thought as he came level with the female shinobi, the males eyes were a pale shade of steel grey as they glared angrily at the small woman before him, his hair; a shock of orange, was mused in a cute kind of way, for a rat perhaps, it was almost as if the male was trying to be hip and cool, down with the youngsters as it looked more like an orange bird nest on his head. Mami didn't know why but the look of this male, the way he stood and his mere presence sent alarm bells bouncing around Mamis head, but why.
"Sorry mate…" Mami replied as her animalistic eyes glanced over the male before her "…looking for the bathroom and got lost. Those women in there are really nice, are they with you?"
"That has nothing to do with you" The man spat though gritted teeth as he straightened his spine to look even more cramped in the small space, the top of his messy orange hair brushing along the ceiling. Quickly Mamis brain ticked over, flashing though memory after memory trying to place the male within one of them, she was almost there, could almost remember, his name on the tip of her tongue but what was it. Mami was feeling frustrated as the tingle of an almost complete memory fell into place and gone, Mami lost the memory as it jumped and flashed around to much to make heads or tails of it.
"No need to snap, I was just leaving" Mami snipped to the unknown male as her eyes quickly glanced to his two tightly clenched fists.
"You were going to the bathroom right?…" With a nod from Mami a sickening smile spread across the males thin lips "…well let me send you straight to the hospital" Moving so fast it was a blur the man raised a fist causing Mami to flinch back in fear, she couldn't help it her body reacted automatically to the threat, but why. It was then that a memory moved quickly though her mind, this man, Mami had met him before and now she knew why; him.
Before the male had a chance to strike Mami took a step back, her distinctive eyes boring hate into the male as he stood poised. Why hadn't she picked it up before, his look, his eyes, his fist and his scent, it all fit into the jumble of her mind and now she had found this man Mami wasn't letting him get away.
"Oh please forgive me…" The male spoke with a tone of laughter in his voice as he lowered his raised arm "…my temper is quite fiery at the best of times and after such a long journey I was at my whit's end" Mami sent him her best smile, seeing the look in his eyes, he recognised her.
"All is forgiven Mr…"
"Please call me Yuto" The male filled in with a smile just as bright and fake as Mamis
"Yuto please don't worry about it, I'm in the same boat and in need of a long sleep. If you will forgive me I must take my leave" With one last flash of a smile Mami turned to leave, hoping the male was as thick as he looked and she could trap him in, catch another of the group and put an end to their evil ways.
"Goodbye my dear, might see you around" Yuto replied.
"Bye then" Mami whispered as she fully turned, the sooner she got out of her the quicker she could get to work.
"Wait a second miss…" The big lug called, his hand reaching out to the female "…I think the bathrooms are that way" He pointed kindly to the right of the corridor with a soft smile on his face, or it would be like a soft smile if the hardened look in his eyes didn't give it away. With a nod of thanks Mami moved in a fast walk until she was out of his steely sight, when she was Mami ran hard and fast, she took turn after confusing turn; left, left, right, straight on, right then left and then left again. Mami was sure she was getting more lost as time ticked by but finally she smelt the person she needed the most, following her nose Mami finally came before the double doors that the Kazekages office was behind.
"Gaara I need to talk with you…" Mami all but shouted as she burst though the doors, the look of urgency apparent on her face. Gaara mealy looked up with a mild look of surprise and interest as he sipped his tea, Kankuro however fell off the sofa he was lounging on "…something really important has come up"
"What is it Mami?" Gaara asked softly as he put his tea cup down, his wide aqua eyes looked at the breathless kunoichi.
"That man that was just here, you must arrest him, he's not who you think he is" Mami huffed out as Kankuro got the kunoichi to sit down, he looked to Gaara for help or an explanation but he got neither.
"Are you sure?" Gaara asked as he watched Mami with stern eyes.
"Yes…" Mami all but screamed "…get me the Data book and I can prove it"
XxX
"You summand me Kazekage" The orange haired man said as he bowed deeply with a flourish of his hand, Mami could see the look of worry on his face as he took in the five Sand ANBU that stood within the room.
"You came here only moments ago to ask my permission to say a few nights to rest with your girls Yuto…" Gaara began as the man took the seat he was interacted "…you informed me that you are a travelling salesman and have grown weary of travelling. Something has been brought to light and there has been an accusation against you"
"I haven't the faintest idea what you are talking about Leader of the Sand…" Yutos grey eyes quickly glanced to Mami who was sat in the corner of the room, Gaara however didn't miss this "…I am but a humble salesman looking for a place to rest"
"That may be the case but if the accusation is true then I must put the safety of Sunagakure first…" With a wave of his hand the five ANBU moved to stand beside and behind Yuto, with his finger Gaara summand Mami forward "…you may begin"
"As you know Kazekage the Data book holds all the known information of the most wanted criminals, it however doesn't have any known pictures they go into the Bingo book…" Mami processed to flick though the Data book in her hands, when she found the page she wanted Mami handed the book to Gaara, a look of determination crossed the leaf nins face she made her way towards 'Yuto' "…if this man could kindly stick his tongue out, then I can show you something" Yuto was reluctant to open his mouth as he clapped his jaw shut, when Mami looked at him he just shock his head.
"If you are as innocent as you claim Yuto then you have nothing to fear" Gaara said smoothly as he watched on from behind his desk. Yuto quickly looked to Gaara before glaring at Mami, while everyone was focused on his face Yuto jumped up from his seat. Taking the advantage while he could Yuto dived threw the ANBU to escape but when he got to the doors they were coved in a thick wall of sand. There was a blur of arms and legs as the ANBU struggled to pin the man in their iron grip, it didn't take long but there would be a few buried egos to lick. With a sigh Gaara moved from behind his desk and strolled over to Yuto; with forceful hands the man opened his mouth and had someone pull his tongue out as far at it would go.
"At the back…" Mami clarified as she made her way over to the group "…there should be a tattoo of a crown with a snake wrapped round it" Not missing a beat Gaara looked to the back of Yutos mouth and then back at the book he still had in his hand, his eyes zipped across the page as he took the information in, his aqua eyes then looked back in Yutos mouth before looking to the ANBU.
"This man has been positively identified as Shigeru the side kick and main muscle of the King Ayumu group, he will be detained in the cells until the Council of Five have been brought together. He will be given a trial for his crimes where his punishment will be decided"
"This can't be happening…" Shigeru whispered in disbelief as he struggled against the tight hold "…she lied, Mami lied. I'm not Shigeru"
"Tell me Shigeru, at what time did anyone say the name Mami?…" Gaara asked blankly as he looked down at the man in degust. Shigeru just spluttered as he realised his mistake "…get him out of my sight" After a quick jab to the back of the neck Shigerus head sank as he went out for the count, working as quickly as they could the ANBU whisked the man out of sight to put him in a holding cell, none to gently either.
"Thank you Gaara…" Mami whispered when the room was once again quiet "…thank you for believing me" With the same emotionless expression on his face Gaara walked back behind his desk and sat down, his fingers linked together and his elbows rested on the desk as he looked Mami right in the eye.
"That was a good call Mami…" The skin around his blue eyes crinkled as a smile tugged at his lips, Gaara had a knowing look on his face as his eyes briefly looked to the door of his office "…you should be proud of yourself. Now go and get some rest, I'm sure Choji will be looking for you"
A.N. Sorry this chapter is late, what with extra hours at work and my sister getting marrried I didn't have time to just sit down. I really hope you enjoy this chapter.