8
"Kazekage," the attendant knocked on the large oak double doors of the main office. "Kazekage, the Konoha representatives are here to see you."
"Send them in," the slightly quiet, muffled voice came back through and she nodded to them, pushing the door open. The group of four stepped into the wide, spacious office, and Naori let out a little gasp as her eyes landed on the far wall, which was nothing but an opening carved out of the rock's face that overlooked the main section of the village.
"It must get pretty damn cold in here at winter," Haiyu mumbled and Jun hit him in the side with her elbow. "Ow!"
"Actually, it doesn't get all that cold in winter here," the Kazekage turned from the open window to face them. "I hope your journey was a safe one."
"It was, thank you very much, Kazekage," Naori bowed respectfully. Jun and Haiyu followed the action with nods of their heads. Sasuke remained standing. He kept his mask on too, for that matter. Behind the porcelain face, his eyes flickered and shone a bright red. He looked again at the Kazekage while someone else entered the room directly behind them.
"It's kind of crowded in here, isn't it?" a woman's throaty voice interrupted them. Temari came around to see the faces of the other four occupants. "Oh, you must be from Konoha," she said. "Welcome." Her attention went to the last Anbu, still wearing his mask. "You know," she frowned, "it's rude for someone not to show their face to the Kazekage. So, if you wouldn't mind…"
"It's okay, Temari," the red-headed man waved it off. Sasuke hesitated as he deactivated his Sharingan eye, then reached up and pulled the mask off of his face.
"Sorry, Temari," he said.
"Oh, it's you!" she rolled her eyes. "Why am I not surprised? The chibi-hokage sent you, of course he would."
"Chibi?" Haiyu snickered. "Nice."
"We go back," Temari told him dryly then returned her attention to Sasuke. "Since I know you'll get it there, can you pass on this message to Nara for me?"
She handed him a tightly bound scroll. By the way her eyes avoided his and her cheeks flamed a slight pink, Sasuke understood there was more in that scroll than just a status report. He nodded and took it from her.
"No problem, but I thought you were coming," he said.
"I was, but it'll just be Kankuro you'll be taking with you," she shook her head. "We thought it best that one of us stay with the Kazekage, especially now that it's so dangerous."
"It makes sense," Jun nodded. "Send one, leave the rest to protect the hive."
"Exactly," Temari beamed at the other woman.
"Kankuro is downstairs," the man at the window turned back around to look outside. "I'm sorry for not seeing you down there myself, but I have a meeting to attend in a few minutes, so if you'll excuse me." He nodded over his shoulder at them and headed for the left hand side of the room. He pulled open a door and exited the office that way. The three Anbu behind Sasuke blinked their surprise.
"Is he always like that?" Haiyu asked the blond woman.
"He's just buys right now," she waved it off. "I'll take you to Kankuro. Come on." She pulled open the door. Haiyu, Jun, and Naori exited. Sasuke hung back. Temari gave him a funny look. "Come on, Uchiha, let's go." He frowned, but finally went out and Temari shut the door behind her as she left last. They were taken down three flights of stairs and guided into a meeting room with only one person sitting at the long table at the far end, with a large and oddly-shaped wrapped object on his back.
"What's that thing he's carrying?" Naori whispered curiously.
"Kankuro's a puppeteer; it's a new puppet he's devised," Temari explained. Then, she raised her voice: "Hey!" The shorter man turned around and Haiyu quickly had to stifle a laugh.
"Looks like he got attacked by your makeup bag," he whispered to Jun.
"I swear, I'm going to punch you," Jun glared back at him.
He came forward to meet them at the head of the table. Temari put a hand on his shoulder and turned to the others. "This here's Kankuro, my brother. Take care of him," her eyes settled on Sasuke's. "Okay?"
"Yeah," Sasuke nodded back, lifting his mask back to his face. The other three followed suit; Sasuke quickly activated his Sharingan again and looked at the black-clothed man. His lips thinned into a tight line. "We'll leave now, if that's alright with you?" he addressed him. A nod was all he got in response. "Right. Jun, Naori, take to the streets. Not even I want to see you. Haiyu, you take point. I'll cover the back."
"Right," the three others saluted and in two flashes, the girls were gone.
"Write me," Temari gave her brother's shoulder one last squeeze and released him.
"Yeah," her brother nodded and strode out of the room.
Haiyu gave Sasuke a look. "Are all three of them like this?"
"Come on," Sasuke shook his head. He let the dignitary and Haiyu exit first, then cast one last look back at Temari. She glared back, her intense green eyes drilling holes into his mask. "Is there something you want to tell me?" he prompted.
"No," she turned up her nose at him, starting for the door. "My brother will tell you everything as soon as you arrive back in Konoha."
"Who do you think you're going to fool with this little trick?" Sasuke asked her, sounding more angry than he'd intended. Temari stopped in the doorway but did not turn back around. She lifted her hands to the smoothed stone on either side of her and he heard her begin to breathe once more.
"Damn your eyes, Uchiha," she spoke in a slightly shaky voice. "But our intelligence is ninety-six percent sure that no one in the southern resistance factions have a bloodline limit like yours, so I'm hoping to fool everyone." She glared back at him over her shoulder. "Got a problem with my reasoning? Then go to hell because I don't care what you think of us. I'll protect Gaara with my own life. And so will Kankuro."
With that, she left him. At the same time, Haiyu's voice came over the radio collar he wore: "Yo, Uchiha! Where'd you disappear to? Jun and Naori say the city's clear. We're good to go. We're rendezvousing with them at the city gates in five. Copy?"
Sasuke shook his head and broke into a quick stride through the building's halls, reaching up to his neck and flicking on the receiver. "Copy," he said back. "I had some last minute things to clear up with the blond. We're out in five."
"She give you any trouble about us?" Haiyu sounded a little upset. "If so, we'll just go back the way we came without—"
"No, we take the guy with us," he rounded the corner and found the exit. He ducked through it, into the blazing afternoon heat, lifting an arm to shade his eyes and locate the city gates. He caught a glimpse of their haze-shimmered outline on his left and began in that direction: "The Hokage wants him, and we're going to deliver. Understood?"
"I just hope you didn't have to hear it; I mean, aren't we doing them a favor? That's just ungrateful!"
"I'm sure she's got her reasons to be worried, Haiyu," Naori's calm voice came out onto the frequency. "Let's not push anything. They're just worried about the Kazekage. Plus, it is her brother we're escorting after all."
"Enough. I see the gates. Two minutes to rendezvous. Out," Sasuke clicked off his radio and broke into a jog. I promised Naruto I'd do everything in my power to stop the situation, and that's what I'm going to do, he thought as he closed in on the gates. Even if everything goes wrong and it all becomes impossible, I'm going to keep my promise. Because I don't want him to get hurt. I'll protect that dobe from anything…because…
A twig snapped by his head and he thrust a kunai out at the spot it came from. Haiyu almost fell on top of him, jumping out of the weapon's path.
"Dammit! Just kill me, why don't you?" he hissed.
The other man sat up. "Is it my turn?"
"I was coming to wake you before you tried to take out my foot…" Haiyu grunted and settled down in the empty bag next to him. "That guy's been sitting by the river's edge the whole time, just staring at the water. Are you sure he's not retarded or something?"
"He's not," Sasuke stood, brushing his pants and vest off and bending over quickly to scoop up his kunai from the dirt. "It just takes a certain kind of person to understand him," he finished, wiping the blade absentmindedly on his pant leg and putting it back into the pouch on his hip.
"Hn," Haiyu dropped down and pulled his blanket up to his shoulders, rolling his back to the dying fire circle. "The Sand's full of weirdos, I see."
Sasuke made himself busy by collecting a few more branches and stoking the glowing embers, making it flare up and coaxing it to catch while he waited for Haiyu to drop off to sleep. When the man's breathing slowed, Sasuke stood and put his hands in his pockets, making his way casually over to the river's edge. Their charge sat with his feet in the mud and his elbows against his knees, his hands laced together and propping up his chin as he gazed serenely out into the ripping mirror surface. Sasuke opted to stand for this one, since it mentally gave him the edge in any conversation. But addressing this particular man was like speaking to a statue; he took in a deep, steadying breath.
"So, what happened to the original plan, Kazekage?" he asked the black-clad man. The distant green eyes floated lazily up to him, one penciled eyebrow raised slowly, questioningly. A slight, almost teasing smile quirked up one corner of his painted mouth.
"I don't know what you're talking about," he said. "The Kazekage's back in my village."
"Cut the crap, Gaara," Sasuke frowned. "You really think Naruto wasn't going to recognize you, even with all the damn makeup you've got covering your face?"
The green eyes studied his profile through the moonlit dark. The smile twitched again. "I'm glad to see you're still as sharp as ever," the Godaime Kazekage nodded slightly. "Although I can't approve of you deliberately trying to screw with Temari's plan. She'll get angry."
"What were you three thinking?" Sasuke fought to keep his voice level, but he was just barely managing. "Do you know how damn dangerous this is? We need an entire squadron with the heat you've been accumulating!" His eyes narrowed. "These people aren't stupid."
"On the contrary, most of them are," Gaara stood, folding his arms against his chest. He looked back out over the water. "The rebel factions in my country are just looking for an excuse to get a former monster out of power. Not everyone in the Sand agrees with my being the next kage, you know."
"I can imagine," Sasuke said dryly, thinking of all the dark stares Naruto himself still sometimes got from a lot of the older citizens.
"People do not like change," Gaara explained. "So these negotiations I'm attempting are driving everyone up in arms—"
"Well, stop!" he cried (too loudly). "You're going to get yourself killed!"
"What kind of leader would I be if I were not willing to sacrifice my own life for the good of my country?" the sharp green eyes pierced him. "Naruto knows that, and that's why I'm going to him for help."
That got Sasuke's stomach twisting. "What?"
"I'm going to ask Naruto to help me continue my negotiations with Cloud, as well as start them with the Rock Country," he shrugged. "Plus, we have to do something about the way Wave Country is becoming; we can't afford to unite four countries and lose one."
That feeling knotted up his stomach, made his heart slam into his ribcage, his throat dry. Naruto was going to become officially involved in this whole fiasco—he would never refuse Gaara anything, most of all help. Naruto would be in danger.