Chapter 22
After they'd cleaned up and experienced afterglow snuggling while freshly showered, they rolled out of bed.
"I'm going to invite the honorable Jiraiya over for dinner," Yondaime decided, nodding.
"It's not very subtle to have him over for dinner," Kankuro pointed out.
"On the contrary," Yondaime said, smiling gently. "If the Council knows nothing, this is exactly what an innocent Kazekage would do: make the informant from Konoha feel welcome so he suspects nothing of the upcoming invasion."
"Oh." Kankuro thought of the Puppet Corps saying, 'Layers within layers'. A scene must not be what it appears on the surface, one of their teachers had said. Everything must have more than one meaning. "That's a good point," he said out loud.
His father got dressed in a black yukata with a smoky gray pattern of diagonal stripes. One of his more attractive choices. He wore a silver obi with it.
Kankuro decided to go with his semi-formal attire, which bore a striking resemblance to his father's casual wear: black hakama with a black short yukata and a long-sleeved black mesh shirt underneath. He also wore his face paint, but only around the eyes. The full paint was only for battle.
When he met his father in the hallway after getting ready, his father smiled admiringly and nodded. "You look very handsome."
Kankuro dared to reach out and squeeze his hand, since no one was upstairs. "Thank you. You look handsome, too." Now that he had been alerted, he saw subtle signs of makeup; a slight lightening under his father's eyes, and the corners of his eyes accentuated with black; a tiny cat's eye effect.
Then he did a double take. "Hey, you look the same as Yashamaru." Just around the eyes, but he figured his father knew what he meant.
Yondaime blushed, and then nodded, biting his lip in embarrassment. "Yashamaru wore makeup. That was the reason why it occurred to me to try makeup on for myself. Otherwise, the idea would have scarcely occurred to me. In some ways, I led a very sheltered childhood."
Sheltered from all means of experimentation and freedom, Kankuro thought. He gave his father a small, sympathetic smile.
They walked downstairs together.
Gaara was in the living room, curled up on the sofa. The tv was off. He was just sitting there, his knees clasped to his chest. Kankuro noticed Gaara often sat that way on the sofa. He figured it was probably comfortable.
At their father's entrance, Gaara uncurled and stood. "Otousama."
"You can sit down," Yondaime said.
Gaara didn't.
Their father suppressed a sigh. "I'm only here to tell you that we will be having a guest for dinner: the honorable Jiraiya, the man you spent the trip home with."
"I will be in my room, of course," Gaara intoned. He gave their father a polite bow.
Yondaime raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
Gaara straightened slowly and looked at Yondaime with wary confusion. "I am always to be confined to my quarters during formal dinners."
"That was in the past," Yondaime said gently. "Please join us for dinner, Gaara. My only concern at the time when you were small was that you would be overwhelmed by the gathering. For one thing, this gathering is only one man. Jiraiya, the man you already know. For another, your control of Shukaku is much better now. You will not lose control and allow Shukaku to lash out during the dinner. I have faith in you." He closed the space between them, hesitated, and then squeezed Gaara's shoulder.
Kankuro was amazed that their father got away with it. But then, things were changing around here. Slowly, but surely, they were. Had been since Gaara's graduation. Kankuro suspected that Gaara graduating was a minor miracle, and that it has gotten the Council off Yondaime's back in some way. That, coupled with the therapy and medication, was making a difference in their father's confidence.
Gaara looked somewhat puzzled, but less hostile. He bowed again. "Then I will prepare for dinner." He walked out of the living room and up the stairs.
Yondaime watched his younger son depart silently. Then he turned to Kankuro. "Do you think that went well?" he whispered.
Kankuro nodded.
His father relaxed a little. "Now, where in the world is Temari?"
Kankuro grinned. "That is the question, isn't it?"
In the due course of things, they managed to round up Temari and Baki, get a dinner menu thrown together – red snapper with rice and salmon maki roll sushi – and invite Jiraiya over by messenger.
Miraculously, at five o'clock sharp, they sat down to dinner. Kankuro marveled. This never happens. Everyone's here. Plus Baki, and a guest. He grinned. This is cool.
Temari wore a lavender and white kimono with a bright sunshine yellow obi. Gaara had chosen a martial arts coat similar to their father's. It was a deep red, so dark that it was almost black. Kankuro reflected that it was nice to see the family all dressed up for once. This usually happened only in family photos. The last one of those had been three years ago, when they were all still in the academy, and Temari was set to graduate that year.
Baki, by contrast, wore his work uniform, and Jiraiya wore a red haori with a green kimono underneath.
For the first few minutes, it was all normal stuff. The staff served them their dinner, starting with Jiraiya, then Baki, going through the kids in reverse age order, and Yondaime last. As per custom. Jiraiya told Yondaime what a lovely home this was, and Yondaime thanked him, saying that it was the ancestral mansion of the Kazekage. Everyone murmured how delicious dinner was, taking a polite first bite of their grilled red snapper, or their sushi.
Then, as everyone relaxed, they got down to real conversation.
"I'm glad to see that the code still works," Yondaime said.
"Of course," Jiraiya said.
"I don't get it," Temari said. "What was with all that frog stuff? You summon toads."
Jiraiya explained, "For code purposes, a frog means a toad. Anyone referring to a toad openly is revealed as someone trying to crack the code. In other words, one of my many enemies."
"You've got enemies?" Temari seemed dubious.
Jiraiya nodded, grinning. "Oh, lots. And I make more every day."
"What an honor it is to have such a distinguished guest," Yondaime said, smiling.
"Yeah, I'm easily distinguishable, alright," Jiraiya agreed.
Baki rolled his eyes and sighed.
Temari looked at Jiraiya with confusion. Kankuro pitied her if she was trying to analyze the Sannin and 'figure him out'. That might be a skill of hers in battle, but Jiraiya was out of her league.
"A distinguished guest is someone who is important," Gaara said slowly, his head bowed and his eyes closed. "A distinguishable guest is someone who is noticeable. I do not understand the conflation."
"That's because it wasn't a conflation, it was a joke," Jiraiya said. "A word joke. Hence why your honorable Sensei here groaned. A proper response to a word joke is a groan."
Baki gave Jiraiya a look. Kankuro thought he saw a smile of amusement trying to come out.
Gaara opened his eyes and examined Jiraiya with a furrowed brow. "I believe you are joking."
"I'm always joking," Jiraiya said. He sat back comfortably in his chair.
"How can we trust you to convey accurate information if you are always joking?" Gaara asked.
Kankuro had to hand it to him; his little brother was doing a fine job of cornering Jiraiya. The Sannin seemed slippery. And yet, here was Gaara in dogged, intellectual, pursuit.
"Well, I'm not always joking," Jiraiya protested. "Not literally."
"Your use of less-than-literal statements and word jokes connotes a high level of deception and deflection," Gaara said.
"Yeah…" Jiraiya gave him a look. "What are you? A linguist?"
"No, I am a jinchuuriki."
Baki watched this exchange with fascination, obviously holding his breath so that he didn't ruin it.
Kankuro had to sublimate laughter.
Temari looked nervous. She chewed her lip and averted her gaze to her dinner. Apparently she didn't have the same faith in Gaara as their father did. Kankuro couldn't blame her. They'd witnessed a lot of explosions over the years.
"You know, our village has a jinchuuriki," Jiraiya said, taking a few bites of his grilled fish. "Maybe you'll get to meet him."
Gaara raised an eyebrow. "Another jinchuuriki?"
Jiraiya nodded. "There are nine of you. Of course."
"Why 'of course'?" Gaara asked.
"Because there are nine parts to the Ten Tails," Jiraiya said.
Gaara stared at him. "That does not make any logical sense. I believe you are speaking incorrectly. Furthermore, I do not believe in the existence of a Ten Tails."
"That's because there isn't one," Jiraiya said, patiently explaining.
Baki let out a roar of laughter. "He's looking at you like you've grown extra heads!"
"I can do that," Jiraiya said. "It's called Sage Mode. I don't like to use it because it's weird. And a little creepy."
Kankuro raised an eyebrow. "So…sages have more than one head? What's the logic behind that technique's name?"
Jiraiya shrugged. "I didn't make it up, so I can't tell ya."
"A Ten Tails," Gaara said faintly. "Which does not exist. Explain."
"A long time ago, the Sage of Six Paths fought a beast called the Ten Tailed Beast, and he split this beast into nine tailed beasts with his magical powers." Jiraiya frowned. "No, I'm getting ahead of myself. The Sage of Six Paths fought the Ten Tailed Beast and defeated him, and sealed the beast into himself to protect everybody, because his will was stronger. But!" Jiraiya held up an index finger.
"The day came when the Sage had to die. Because everyone dies of old age. So he passed the keeping of this Ten Tailed Beast onto his sons. But his sons thought that they could not handle it. So they split up the Ten Tailed Beast into nine parts and scattered them among the world in sealed vessels. Each magical vessel had two protectors, who would make sure that the slumber of the tailed beast within was never disturbed."
Jiraiya gestured dramatically. "However, over time man grew greedy, and he waged war on his fellow man, seeking ever more destructive paths. He unleashed the tailed beasts on each other, starting a war that raged for many centuries. Eventually, the Five Great Shinobi Nations were formed, and a tenuous treaty achieved, but the balance of power of the tailed beasts is ever delicate; for the reason that there are nine beasts and five nations."
Kankuro was impressed. At least with a live audience, Jiraiya was a natural storyteller.
Gaara bowed his head and closed his eyes in thought, absorbing that tale. After several moments of silence, he lifted his head and addressed Jiraiya. "So…each of the tailed beasts is one tail."
"No," Jiraiya said.
"Then one of the beasts is two-tailed, to make up for the missing tail," Gaara said.
Jiraiya hesitated. "Actually…You're the only kid who carries the One Tail. See, there are nine beasts in order: The One Tail, the Two Tails, the Three Tails, the Four Tails, the Five Tails, the Six Tails, the Seven Tails, and Eight Tails, and the Nine Tails."
"That does not make sense," Gaara said. "All of those tails added together makes forty-five. There were not forty-five tails in the original tale. There were ten."
Jiraiya sighed. "I know. You don't have to tell math to me. The current forms of the tailed beasts do not reflect the original form. They have assumed shapes of their own."
"So each individual tail is much weaker than the original strength of the tails," Gaara said.
"I have no idea if the number of tails has any correlation at all to the strength of the beast," Jiraiya said. "No one knows what the Ten Tailed Beast was like. It's a figure of mythology; like the Sage of Six Paths."
Gaara raised an eyebrow. "So the story is not true."
"No," Jiraiya said. "The story is true."
Gaara looked confused. He scowled.
"Each of the noble families of each of the Great Shinobi Nations is a descendent of the Sage of Six Paths," Jiraiya said. "The Sage of Six Paths had six major descendents. These descendents formed the nations of Fire, Whirlpool, Rain, Lightning, Earth, and Wind. Each nation had a different specialty, a different special power their noble family possessed. Each jinchuuriki of the new era must be chosen of a descendent of the Sage of Six Paths. Otherwise, the sealing ceremony won't work."
Gaara stared at Jiraiya. "There are Five Great Shinobi Nations."
"Now," Jiraiya said. He gestured with his chopsticks. "Whirlpool is defunct. Destroyed. But that happened at the end of the Third Shinobi World War. Up until that point, Whirlpool was one of the Great Nations. Their descendents are still scattered across the remaining nations. Including the noble family of Uzumaki, which is one of the noble families descended from the Sage of Six Paths."
"So there are six families," Gaara said slowly.
"Yes," Jiraiya said.
"And five nations."
"Yes."
"And nine jinchuuriki."
"…Yes."
"This situation is not ideal," Gaara concluded.
Jiraiya laughed, shook his head, and ate a piece of sushi. "You've got that right."
Kankuro had to smile. He was glad to see that Gaara and Jiraiya got along after all. Gaara never conversed with someone he didn't get along with. In fact, Gaara was unusually extroverted around Jiraiya.
Gaara looked to Yondaime. "How will we fix this situation?"
Yondaime blinked at him in surprise. "Fix it?"
Gaara scowled at him. "Yes. We must fix the situation so that everyone is allotted the same amount of power and all the tailed beasts are safely sealed."
"That's…a little out of our scope," Yondaime protested.
"It shouldn't be." Gaara narrowed his eyes.
Kankuro became worried there would be an explosion after all.
"That would take an international forum," Yondaime said.
"Make one."
"We have one," Yondaime said patiently. "It's called the Five Kage Summit."
"Well, go there," Gaara said.
Yondaime pressed his lips together, took a deep breath through his nose, and said, "All the Kages have to agree to come. Essentially, we have to call this summit together. As a group."
"That's stupid," Gaara said.
"I agree," Yondaime said sadly. "However, this is the way it is."
Gaara shifted in his seat and went back to eating his dinner, looking discontented.
"We could get everyone to come together," Jiraiya said. "It's not impossible. The Chuunin Exams are a thing, now. They were made after the Third World War. Or, this version of them got made. Before, everyone was testing their genin individually, within their own villages. This whole group thing is catching on. Let's see if we can't get a kind of a group Kage gathering at the same time as the exam. Everyone will have a reason to show up, after all."
Yondaime nodded slowly, but he didn't look hopeful. "Some of the Kages are difficult…"
Jiraiya laughed. "All of them are difficult, but you all manage to hold the world together somehow. I bet we can pull this off if we have a uniting force."
"Like what?" Yondaime asked.
Jiraiya looked around the dinner table, suddenly somber. "There might be one coming. That's all I'm going to say right now. I don't want to give anyone indigestion."
That bad, huh? Kankuro thought. He hoped Jiraiya was wrong.
"So there is a jinchuuriki in Konoha?" Temari asked, changing the subject. "What's he like? Or is it a she?"
"It's a boy," Jiraiya confirmed. "And his name is Uzumaki Naruto, in accordance with the traditional method of tracing lineage back to a Sage descendant. His mom was actually the Uzumaki, but that doesn't matter in this case. Even if they'd both lived, he would still be an Uzumaki because of his bloodline. Things're complicated that way."
"Even if they'd both lived?" Kankuro asked quietly.
"He's an orphan," Jiraiya said.
Kankuro bowed his head, looking at his plate. He suddenly wasn't hungry. One of his big fears when he was growing up was that something would happen to Dad and he would become an orphan, along with Gaara and Temari. He didn't think he could face that.
"Who takes care of him, then?" Kankuro murmured.
"Oh, he takes care of himself, these days," Jiraiya said. "Mostly. But Sandaime, my teacher, took Naruto under his wing. He practically lived at Sarutobi's house for most of his life. He was always going there because of something the villagers would do."
No one had to ask what Jiraiya meant by that.
Gaara looked at Jiraiya with wide eyes. "He faced the villagers hating him, too?"
"Oh, yeah," Jiraiya said. "It's inevitable. For some strange reason."
"So all the jinchuuriki would know what it feels like to be hated and shunned?" Gaara tilted his head.
"I'm afraid so," Jiraiya said. "You're one member of a sad, special club, Gaara: the jinchuuriki descendents of the Sage of Six Paths that carry the tailed beasts, so no one around you has to get hurt. It doesn't make sense to idolize the Sage of Six Paths and hurt you, but there you go: people do it all the time." He shrugged. "I don't see what the big deal is. You're all heroes in my opinion."
Gaara looked at Jiraiya blankly, as if unable to fathom that.
"Someday, when you're an adult, you'll have a lot more respect," Jiraiya said.
"By the laws of this nation I am already an adult," Gaara intoned.
Jiraiya winced.
Baki laughed and shook his head. "You always forget that, don't you?"
Jiraiya rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry. I apologize. I mean, when you're an adult physically."
Gaara nodded. "Alright."
"For some reason, people need to see a full grown adult to pay any respect," Jiraiya said. "Believe me, I faced the same thing when I was a kid. It sucked. And it's wrong." He gestured with his chopsticks, then ate a bite of dinner.
Kankuro nodded. "You've got that right. We deserve the same respect as anyone else. We're fighting for our nations, so we deserve to be treated better. Even kids who don't go to ninja school ought to be treated fairly."
Yondaime gave Kankuro an appreciative smile.
Kankuro realized his father still had big wounds about being a kid and being helpless, being subjected to unfair and terrifying treatment without any way to secure a better future for himself. He smiled in return, reached under the table, and squeezed his father's hand.
His father blushed slightly and melted, his shoulders relaxing.
Kankuro knew that was an awfully obvious indicator of their relationship, but he didn't care. Fathers and sons could be close, too. There was no reason not to comfort his father in front of other people. Including his siblings. They could stand to show a little affection, too.