Part I: Episode 10
Kakashi, or Karasu, as he was known in ANBU finished putting on his uniform and looked at himself in the mirror. He looked as anonymous as his fellow ANBU ninja with his bird-like mask covering up his face and the long-sleeves of the ANBU uniform blocking any possible view of skin. The only thing visible were his toes and his hair which, admittedly, was fairly indicative of who he was. Kakashi debated cutting it.
"Karasu!" A man's stern voice barked from the other side of the dressing room.
"Yes sir, I'm finishing now." Kakashi responded before gathering his old clothes and placing them in his personal locker. With that done, he glanced at himself one more time in the mirror. It was when he reached to open the door that Kakashi noticed he had been rubbing a small spot on the front of his wrist where Kushina had drown him a seal.
"It's an Uzumaki seal, it's designed to hold a fairly small amount of chakra in reserve." She had said to him last night. "It's not much, so think of it as a symbol that no matter where you go, we'll be with you." Under his mask, Kakashi smiled. Regardless of how much she claimed otherwise, there was no denying that Kushina was a softie. Kakashi opened the door and was met with seven masked faces looking in his direction. The mask belonging to the largest member of the group turned around.
"Alright, let's go!" He ordered, his voice far louder than Kakashi felt any ANBU ninja had the right to be.
Tsunade sighed and then sighed again. Orochimaru ignored her, as did Shizune, although one of the chunin quickly ran up to see if she was okay.
"Don't bother, she's fine." Shizune said, causing the chunin, a mousy girl who couldn't have been older than 20, to falter and glace meekly between Shizune and Tsunade. The sannin sighed, annoyed, and waved her hand dismissively and the chunin resumed her place in the formation.
"If you didn't want to come, you could have stayed." Orochimaru said, just loud enough for Tsunade to hear him. The two of them were walking a few paces ahead of their group, which Tsunade found slightly weird considering they were the ones who were supposed to be being protected.
"It's not that," she said with another sigh. She looked straight ahead, as if she could see Suna from where she was. "It's just...that Suna air is horrible to my hair and skin." Tsunade was forced to stifle a laugh at Orochimaru's taken back look. The Hokage quickly regained his composure before any of his entourage noticed that something was wrong.
"Is that really why you're so hesitant to go?" Orochimaru asked, a sort of hopeful skepticism in his voice. Tsunade laughed and found herself again marveling at how someone so brilliant could be so clueless.
"No, Orochimaru. It's not that." Tsunade said reassuringly. Orochimaru regarded her curiously before dismissing the conversation altogether. He was obviously focused on his conversation with the Kazekage. She attempted to fall back, but Orochimaru grabbed her hand. His grip was both firm and gentle and said what he didn't: He wanted her beside him, even if he didn't quite understand her all the time. His hand was surprisingly warm.
"Shouldn't the ANBU squad have checked in by now?" Tsunade wondered out loud. As if on cue, the trail grew disturbingly silent. Even Orochimaru appeared to come halfway out of his thoughts to look around him. The group was close to the three-way border between the lands of Wind, Rivers, and Rain and the weather was beginning to warm as they approached Kaze no Kuni.
"Keep an eye out for anything suspicious," was all Orochimaru said on the matter before retreating back into his thoughts. Most people would have been worried, but Tsunade knew Orochimaru didn't need to be fully aware of a threat in order to fend it off. Still, she made it a point to keep an eye out in front of them. It wasn't until they reached the three-way border that the ANBU squad appeared before them.
"You're late. What happened?" Tsunade asked harshly. The ANBU captain of the group took a knee before Tsunade and Orochimaru, who seemed to just be noticing the man's arrival.
"Nothing is wrong, milady, we are sorry for the delay. A few miles north of here, we noticed something that we really couldn't describe. We couldn't find anything except for a destroyed village. We, um, also heard what we think was a kid. A few of my men are there now looking for him, but the winds are almost alive. Sand is flying everywhere. Regardless, it's not on the way. I apologize again for the delay." Orochimaru glanced sideways. Her eyes went wide as soon as she heard that a child was in the destroyed the village.
"Orochimaru..." Tsunade began, before stopping herself. She remembered that they were on an important mission and that came first. She took a step forward, when Orochimaru, much to her surprise, made her stop.
"I'm interested in these "living winds" you spoke of Kabe. Can you lead me to them?" Kabe seemed surprised at the order but quickly gave a quick nod. Orochimaru turned to face Shizune.
"Kabe, have your remaining men lead the group to Sunagakure. Tsunade-san and I will be along shortly."
"Hokage-sama, please! We don't know how safe it is!" But Orochimaru had already given his order and was walking off with Tsunade and Kabe walking with him. Just barely, Shizune could hear Orochimaru say "Just go. Have faith in the power of your Hokage and your teacher."
Just as Kabe had stated, the village had been destroyed. What the ANBU captain neglected to mention, however, was just how bad the damage was. The few buildings that weren't absolutely demolished looked as if they had been sliced through. Massive craters dented the ground and there were places where there was no sand at all. Looking closely, Orochimaru saw gold dust twinkling like stars all over the place.
"What the hell happened here?" Tsunade asked as she took in the destruction. She inwardly hoped the village was evacuated before all of this happened. So far, there were no reports of bodies but that hardly meant anything. Who knew how many corpses were buried under sand or rubble? Tsunade took another step forward and quickly jumped back as the sand where she had been standing shot up and shot to the right. She watched, awestruck, as the sand everywhere began to shift and move and turn as if it were alive.
Orochimaru took note of the sand and then looked back at the ground. Much of the gold dust remained unmoved. The Hokage took a deep breath, allowing his sensor skills to take over. Just as he thought, the "living wing" that Kabe spoke of was just sand being manipulated by chakra. Orochimaru looked around slowly, taking in each and every person. He took note of the three or four ANBU ninja, Kabe, and Tsunade. And there, just a few feet from Tsunade was another chakra source. It was difficult to accurately see because it was so much chakra concentrated in such a small container.
Tsunade gasped when Orochimaru appeared beside her, staring a hole into a spot just a few feet from her. Slowly, Orochimaru reached forward. As if it were alive, the sand instantly reacted, surging on Orochimaru faster than Tsunade could react. Tsunade shielded her eyes and when she opened them, Orochimaru was still there, completely unscathed. With a new conviction in his eyes, Orochimaru shot his hand forward. Tsunade heard a scream as Orochimaru pulled a young boy from the sand.
The sand went mad, falling on both Orochimaru and the boy and from what Tsunade could see, it appeared to be trying to separate them. Finally the sand succeeded and Orochimaru was flung backwards and just barely managed to land on his feet. The boy's green eyes were wide with panic and when they locked onto Tsunade, she knew she only had seconds to react.
"Wait!" She cried out, putting her hands over her head. The Sannin watched as the sand began to float around the red-haired boy, who looked to be around five. He was breathing heavy and it was obvious he had been crying. On his forehead, love was written - no, carved. "We don't want to hurt you kid," Tsunade said gently. She took a small step forward and the sand began to slither, causing her to stop.
"My name is Tsunade. Can you tell me your name?" Orochimaru watched Tsunade with a mixture of confusion and intrigue. She could easily knock the child out in a matter of seconds, so why she was taking such a slow method was beyond him. He held out his arm, a sign telling the ANBU in the area to stand down. Tsunade slowly inched closer to the boy, but Orochimaru could barely hear what she was saying. It was quite impressive, really, how the boy could control the sand and Orochimaru briefly wondered if he was doing so consciously.
Tsunade managed another step and the boy shouted something. Whatever it was shocked Tsunade enough to make her take a step back. For a while no one moved, and then Tsunade started forward again. The sand seemed to lower itself as she got closer until finally it had settled into the ground. Orochimaru looked on, partly stunned, as Tsunade wrapped her arms around the boy. He hugged her back and even from the distance, Orochimaru could see that he was crying.
Shizune wasn't sure where exactly the rest of her ANBU escorts were. Aside from a short woman and a silver-haired man, the rest had disappeared. It amazed Shizune how they could vanish when the only thing around them was sand. It's not like they could hide anywhere.
Even though she had been joking, Shizune noted that Tsunade was right about the dessert air not being good for her hair and skin. The sun was hot and she could feel herself getting sunburned on her face and neck. The winds provided no sort of breeze and only seemed to make Shizune even hotter. This was truly a miserable journey. Shizune looked at the backs of her ANBU guides and wondered what they were like off-duty. The thought made the trip somewhat bearable, if only for a few seconds.
Shizune looked back at the rest of the entourage. It wasn't a particularly group. There were eight individuals altogether, including her, the Hokage, and Tsunade. Orochimaru's protege, Anko, looked incredibly bored and irritated but she said nothing. The mousy chunin from before was looking in some book. Finally there were two jonin who must have been there for their intimidation factor, because they were huge.
It felt like hours before the party found itself walking between two massive mountains with Sunagakure rapidly becoming visible and Shizune wasn't quite aware of how much time had truly passed. When walking in the dessert, minutes had a habit of stretching into hours. She glanced back nervously as the Konoha group approached the gates of Suna. Orochimaru and Tsunade were supposed to have been back by now. Getting inside Sunagakure without them was going to prove difficult. One of the two ANBU guides, the boy, looked back and Shizune got the feeling he too was waiting for his superior to show up.
At the village gates stood the Kazekage flanked on either side by Suna-nin. He looked regal, but at the same time tired and far older than he really was. Shizune had the feeling he was exhausted and only came to meet them out of personal obligation. Because she was the closest one to being in charge, Shizune stepped forward and bowed deeply.
"Kazekaga-sama, thank you very much for meeting us here. I regret to inform you that the Hokage-"
"Is right here," Orochimaru said. He had appeared so suddenly that Tsunade shrieked and jumped at least twelve feet backwards. She heard Tsunade laugh behind her and turned a bright red. Shizune looked behind her and felt relief fill her body. And then confusion when she noticed the little red-haired boy clinging to her leg. He seemed to be staring at the Kazekage and when Shizune looked, the man's face was a rigid, unreadable mask. There was a tense silence before the Kazekage turned around.
"Well then Hokage-sama, let us go." He said. Even the Kazekage's voice sounded tired, Shizune noted. And before he turned around, the chunin could've sworn she saw him age another ten years.
Somehow, the village seemed cooler than the dessert outside of its gates, but Shizune couldn't for the life of her figure out why. Of course it would have been easier to come up with a reason if she had not been stealing glances at the boy next to her mentor. Was that the child that Kabe had heard? Speaking of Kabe, Shizune looked and noticed that the ANBU had disappeared again. She wondered if Suna had its own black-ops ninja keeping an eye on them.
It was difficult to ignore the glances and muttering from the villagers and Shizune was fairly certain they were staring at the red-head walking behind Tsunade. Shizune was positive she heard the words "devil child" and "mistake" several times and her curiosity regarding the boy grew. He obviously had some relationship to the Kazekage. They looked similar enough to be father and son, but surely the Kazekage wouldn't allow his own son to be treated so horribly, right?
It didn't take long before they reached the Kazekage's building, a large spherical construct that Shizune had to admit looked mighty impressive. The Kazekage and his guards continued forward but Orochimaru and Tsunade stopped and told the entourage to wait at the inn they were going to be staying at for the next few days. Shizune frowned at having to be apart from Tsunade twice in one day but did as she was told.
As soon as the door closed, Tsunade was all over the Kazekage before Orochimaru could react.
"What is wrong with you? How could you do be so heartless and cruel? He's a child!" She roared, pointing an angry finger at the Kazekage. The guards tensed up but the Kazekage motioned for them to stand down as Tsunade proceeded to berate the younger man. He said nothing as the words flowed from Tsunade's mouth like lava. It felt like several minutes, but it had only been a few seconds before Orochimaru stepped in.
"Tsunade, that's enough." His voice was calm, but so strong and final it reminded Tsunade of her uncle. Tsunade took a deep breath and for the first time noticed the elderly lady sitting across from them with two children next to her. The kids looked at Tsunade with a mixture of contempt and wonder, as if they didn't know whether to be appalled or impressed that someone would have the audacity to yell at their Kazekage.
"Please forgive Tsunade, Kazekage-sama, I fear the journey has gotten the better of her." Orochimaru said calmly. His yellow eyes betrayed nothing, while Tsunade's were still wide. Everything was silent as the Kazekage nodded and entered into his office with the Hokage behind him. The door shut, leaving Tsunade and the boy behind.
"Slug-hime, how are you?" Chiyo asked, breaking the tension. If she was attempting to sound mocking, it was clear her heart wasn't it. Tsunade sighed and walked over to the older woman. The two children next to her gave hard looks to both Tsunade and the boy next to her, Gaara. The two sat across the hallway so that they were facing Chiyo and the two kids.
"I'm sorry about that. I guess I lost my cool for a bit." Tsunade said softly, mostly to the kids although it was Chiyo who laughed in response.
"It happens to the best of us kid. Candy?" Chiyo asked, offering a small piece of candy. Tsunade chuckled without humor.
"Let me guess," Tsunade said before thinking. "Very slight neurotoxin, most it'll cause is a tingling sensation in the fingertips. Designed to up one's resistance to poison, am I right?" This caused Chiyo's body to shake with laughter while the kids next to her looked horrified. The little boy, a brunette who looked just like the Kazekage looked his fingers and Tsunade saw that she was right.
"Chiyo-baasama! Is this true?" The young girl, a blonde, exclaimed although Chiyo continued to laugh.
"Well done Slug-hime! Now tell me, how would you go about fixing this?" The old lady cackled. Despite herself, Tsunade smiled.
"Tea made with the silver-lined cacti petals, honey, and a generous helping of ginger would probably be the best antidote, but for something like this I'd recommend just sleeping it off." The faces on the two kids made it apparent they weren't sure whether or not to believe Tsunade.
"Well you heard the woman, get out of here you kids. Have the kitchen staff make you some tea before your hands go numb!" Chiyo cackled. The two kids scrambled to their feet and sprinted down the hall. Chiyo's eyes turned to Gaara.
"You two boy, go play with your siblings for a bit." Gaara looked at Chiyo hesitantly and then up at Tsunade. The sannin glanced at Chiyo who gave an almost imperceptible nod of her head.
"Go ahead Gaara-kun, I'll be right here." Gaara nodded, a small smile on his face, before he got up and walked down the hallway where his brother and sister went. Once he was out of earshot, Tsunade sighed.
"Found him out in the dessert, did you?" Chiyo asked, popping one of her candies into her mouth. Tsunade was only surprised for a bit. It made sense that Chiyo would be practically immune to such a weak poison by now.
"Yeah." Tsunade responded.
"Probably would've been kinder to let him die out there. You would've righted this old bat's wrongs." For a brief second, Tsunade thought she saw regret in Chiyo's eyes, but it went away before she could be sure. Regardless, the older woman's voice was far more somber than before.
"So the voice he claims to here..."
"That would be Shukaku, the one-tailed tanuki, demon of Sunagakure." Chiyo said with mock pride. Tsunade laughed at the attempted humor.
"A jinchuriki, huh? Poor kid. But even so, what his father did-"
"Do you have any children, Tsunade?" The question hit Tsunade like a fist and she gingerly put a hand on the stomach that would never stretch for a child. Chiyo didn't wait for an answer before continuing. "To choose one's village or one's son. What a horrible decision to be forced to make. Would you like to know why the Kazekage had me seal that demon into his newly-born son?" Tsunade shook her head.
"Well let me tell you anyway. It was a dark and stormy night," Chiyo began, causing Tsunade to chuckle.
Author's Corner: As usual, I would first like to thank all of the reviewers, favoriters, and followers immensely for all your support. It is truly the best thing ever. Now for all the commentary stuff.
First: OMG you guys I accidentally cut my fingertip while writing this. Do you know how difficult it is to type with glass possibly embedded in your finger? Jk, I'm a badass so I barely felt a thing.
To be honest, I actually envisioned this being a little longer, but if I had kept going with it, this thing might've hit the 7000 word mark so I'm just gonna split it into two chapter. At first I kinda envisioned Tsunade and Chiyo having this catty, bitch-fight sorta thing, but I liked this way instead: two highly skilled women who respect each other, even if they used to be rivals and are able to have a civilized and even friendly conversation with each other.
I tried to avoid having the whole tearful embrace dialogue between Gaara and Tsunade because I'm not really sure how you approach a kid who's uncle tried to kill him and convince him you're not a threat. So yeah, I just left that alone. By the way, even though it says that he looked no older than five, Gaara is actually like six, potentially going on seven. He's just small for his age.
I was debating drawing out the whole Tsunade-Kazekage confrontation but decided against it. We'll in the next chapter how what he did really affects Gaara's dad and we'll get to see how Orochimaru (sort of) comforts him (in his own Orochimaru-y way). We're getting closer to the end of part I, you guys. I don't think it'll be more than seven chapters at the most. Just one more 'arc' I guess and I'm sure you can guess which one it is.
Also, important note, I'm not sure if you noticed, but two years passed between the Raikage incident and this chapter. Sorry for all the timeskips, I honestly didn't intend for part I to take thing long. Originally it was gonna be essentially a series of drabbles, but I dunno, it just sort of became it's own thing. Not that I mind.
Thanks again for all the support and feedback, you guys, it's awesome and so are you.