Chapter 25

In the middle of the briefing for the morning, Kankuro felt a ripple of chakra. His father and Baki stopped talking.

Two ANBU agents appeared, identical in height and weight but wearing different masks. One bore a red wildcat pattern, and the other had a black, stylized pattern that was not recognizable as an animal.

"We have a security breach, Kazekage-sama," the man in the red wildcat mask said.

His partner added, "Last night, an important scroll was stolen from the home of a councilman."

"Who?" Yondaime asked with a frown.

"Jouseki, Kazekage-sama," the agent in the black patterned mask said, bowing.

"Ah." Yondaime appeared to think about this.

Kankuro recalled Jouseki. He was one of the village elders, a man with a narrow face and large pouches under his eyes. Jouseki was one of the few elders who preferred to be clean-shaven as opposed to wearing the typical beard of a man past his fortieth birthday. At forty, one was officially considered an elder in the village. It was a feat for any ninja to reach his fortieth birthday. Most retired at that point.

So the scroll Jiraiya stole comes from Jouseki's house. Kankuro wondered how they could turn that information to their advantage.

"What were the contents of the scroll?" Yondaime asked.

"Unknown, Kazekage-sama," the agent answered.

"Distinguishing features?" Yondaime asked.

There was a slight pause this time. "Unknown."

Yondaime visibly suppressed a smile. "Then how are we supposed to find it?"

"I…do not know, Kazekage-sama." The man in the black patterned mask straightened. "I only know that I and my partner were called to Jouseki-sama's house this morning at the report of a security breach. Presumably the scroll was a government document."

"I see," Yondaime said, nodding slowly. "Then this could be serious."

"Yes, Kazekage-sama."

"Instructions, Kazekage-sama?" The man in the wildcat mask asked. "We are unsure how to proceed with this investigation."

Yondaime nodded. "For now, wait. Do nothing. We need to gather more information first. I will bring up this occurrence in the Council meeting today, if Jouseki-san does not. If the scroll is a government document, or full of family secrets, then we will have ANBU handle it. If not, this is a matter for the police. Do you understand?"

"Understood, Kazekage-sama." They bowed and disappeared in puffs of smoke.

"Interesting development," Baki muttered as soon as the two ANBU agents were gone. "Jouseki going straight to ANBU like that…"

"I guess we know where Jiraiya went last night," Temari said.

Baki grinned.

"Indeed," Yondaime said.

"So what does this mean?" Temari asked. "Is Jouseki-sama a traitor?"

"I don't know," Yondaime said. "It is not self-evident. He may merely have been chosen as the person to hide this document from me."

"True," Baki said, nodding. "We shouldn't take any action…yet."

Again, Kankuro was struck by an image of Baki at night, wielding wind blades. Yeah…that's not scary. He shuddered slightly. Jouseki's lucky it was Jiraiya last night.

"Remember that Jiraiya advised us to take action on the informant, and not on our own people," Yondaime said.

"Yeah," Baki grumbled.

Kankuro grinned. His sensei's opinion was obvious.

"Do a patrol, will you?" Yondaime asked pleasantly. "An information gathering exercise. Practice for the children before their big exam. I imagine the first thing my children will be tested on is their information gathering skills. As such, they might need some practice…"

"Yeah!" Temari grinned. "Good idea, Dad!"

Gaara looked offended for a moment. Then his expression cleared. "You wish us to search for clues."

"Yes," Yondaime said. "Any clues you can find about the goings-on of the village."

"This will be hard for me," Gaara said.

"Perhaps you can have your brother perform a genjutsu on you so that you do not appear to be who you are," Yondaime suggested.

Gaara glanced at Kankuro, startled.

Kankuro grinned and raised his hand. "Yo."

Gaara looked disconcerted at this greeting.

"I'll cover ya up, Ototo," Kankuro said. "No worries."

Gaara bowed his head in acceptance, closing his eyes.

"Alright, let's go," Baki said.

They moved out.

xXx

Kankuro was no expert at information gathering. He could do it, but what couldn't be taught was how to interpret it. So they learned all they could and filed it away for future use. Assuming there was a use for the things they'd learned.

They reported back to Yondaime, and then they went home for dinner. Baki was sent to retrieve Jiraiya. It wouldn't be out of place to have Jiraiya over for dinner again. After all, he was an important Konoha representative.

Kankuro hoped that his father had more luck today. His father had a great stoic mask, so he wouldn't be able to tell even if his father had unraveled the whole plot. He showered and got dressed in a blue kimono with white kanji on it. He didn't wear it often, but since they were having Jiraiya over again, he felt like getting dressed up.

Privately, he would be sorry when Jiraiya was gone. He was lively in a way most people in Suna weren't. In addition to being clever and silly in turns, he also brought out the lighter side of both Baki and Yondaime. It was nice to see.

At the dinner table, his father definitely conducted himself like someone who had something to tell.

Kankuro was curious, but he allowed his father to wait for everyone to start eating before asking the question he wanted to know. "How did the Council meeting go?"

"Well, Jouseki did not admit what was in the scroll," Yondaime said.

Baki snorted. "Typical."

"Ah, politics," Jiraiya said brightly.

"Dirty, terrible, underhanded politics," Yondaime agreed. "However, Jouseki fully admitted to the scroll's importance to him, and to his desperation to get it back. He claims it holds campaign information that pertains to himself and his supporters in Suna, information that could influence the global market."

"Well, that's true enough," Jiraiya said. He snorted. He was dressed today in red and white; his haori was white with red flames on it.

"It's interesting that he admits this much," Temari said. She frowned and picked at her broccoli.

"It is psychologically revealing," Kankuro said. He nodded and ate a bite of his broccoli and peppers. "He doesn't think he's done anything wrong. He perceives himself to be on the right side of Suna's politics."

"So he's not sneaking around as much as he is just quietly looking out for Suna's future," Jiraiya said.

"Exactly," Kankuro said.

"I have examined the scroll," Yondaime said. "It seems that Jouseki and Sajou have spoken to a representative from a group called the Sound. It is this 'Sound' operative who has spoken to them about Konoha's underbidding."

"Sound." Baki frowned. "I've never heard of them."

"Neither have I," Yondaime said quietly.

"Well, Jouseki and Sajou are bestest buddies," Jiraiya said. "I found that out today. They're often seen drinking together after work. Or should I say…" He hooked the fingers of both hands, turning them into quotation marks. "'Work'."

Baki laughed, choked a little on his rice, and drank some chilled juice to wash it down. "None of that, now. Not while I'm eating. It would be an unintentional assassination."

Jiraiya grinned and laughed. "Okay, okay. I'll have pity on you."

"Thank you," Baki said, taking another drink of juice.

Kankuro was glad to see them getting along well together. He kind of hoped they'd come out of this experience brothers or something.

"Yes, I have noticed that Jouseki and Sajou are close, and often back each other up on proposals," Yondaime said. "They are tight-knit allies."

"Good for them, and bad for us," Jiraiya commented.

Baki nodded. "Hai. They're a pain on a good day." Kankuro supposed that as someone who had sat in on the Council more than once, Baki would know. He ate a bite of fish.

Kankuro thought while he ate, a pall of silence falling over the table.

"So we're no closer to finding out who the informant is," Temari said.

"No," Jiraiya said. "Frustratingly, no." He ate a bite of dinner and narrowed his eyes in thought, gazing over their heads. "I can't put my finger on it, but something's definitely wrong. There have been no strangers except for me lately. That's definitely wrong. Not a flutter of a movement. I've got my toads checking it out, but it appears to be the truth."

"Same here," Kankuro said. "We didn't find anything either." He took a drink of water. "Dad sent us out information gathering just for fun, to see if we could turn up anything. Nothing. No one's acting suspicious, no one new has come to the village, except for you."

"That is suspicious," Jiraiya said. "People always think someone is acting suspicious. Especially when they're asked a leading question. So something's up. This village's tighter than a drum right now."

"Rumors of the war, probably," Yondaime said. "People are on guard."

Jiraiya groaned. "Well, that makes it harder for me."

"By a lot," Yondaime agreed.

"We need something to happen," Temari said.

"I don't want something to happen," Yondaime said.

"But she's got a point," Baki said. "Unfortunately, sometimes the only breaks in the case come when something goes wrong."

"I can't believe you just said that," Jiraiya said. "Do you want to jinx us all?"

"No," Baki said. He shrugged. "I'm just saying how it is."

"I don't want any gods or evil spirits to listen to you," Jiraiya said flatly.

Kankuro grinned. Superstitious? He supposed that Konoha could have different believes than them. It was refreshing to hear a reference to gods and evil spirits as active entities.

Beyond legends about the teakettle of Shukaku and such, there wasn't much in the way of spiritual belief in Suna. Mostly just folklore people used as ghost stories to scare each other. Kankuro himself had a slightly different view on the supernatural, given he'd shared a household with Shukaku since he was eight. Shukaku could be damn creepy.

"That's too bad," Gaara said, eating slowly and methodically with his head down. "Shukaku is probably listening to Baki right now. He always listens."

Jiraiya shuddered and then rubbed his arms. "You gave me the goosebumps."

Gaara shrugged. "It's the truth."

"But you have him under control, though," Temari pointed out. "That's not the same thing."

Gaara glanced up, looking mildly surprised, and also, Kankuro thought, gratified.

"We should map out the network of people allied against you," Baki said to Yondaime.

Yondaime ate calmly. "Maybe. But I'm not sure what good it would do."

"If we knew who they were, we could find the weak link in the chain and interrogate him," Temari said.

"But that still wouldn't stop the war," Yondaime said. "Debunking the information would. And that's why we need to let Jiraiya find the source and drag it out into the open for us."

"Yeah," Jiraiya said. "People are idiots and arrogant assholes, but rarely are they evil. If we can prove that the source that gave them the information about Konoha is up to no good, they'll be back on your side like that." He snapped his fingers. "No one likes to be made a fool of. They'll want to fight for you more than ever then."

Temari sighed. "But that doesn't change the fact that they're jerks."

"Nothing will," Jiraiya informed her.

"Politics is stupid," Temari complained.

"And unfair," Yondaime agreed.

"A popularity contest," Jiraiya said.

"You know, I have a friend in ANBU," Baki said mildly, breaking into the conversation.

"Really? Who?" Jiraiya asked.

"Shouryuu," Baki said.

"Real name or ANBU name?" Jiraiya said.

"ANBU name, of course," Baki said. "He's leading a jonin team right now, but he's still a part of ANBU. Shouryuu is the name he's going by now." Baki gave Jiraiya a crooked smile. "I wouldn't be allowed to tell you the one he used to go by."

After an ANBU agent went back to regular service, they were assigned a new name to protect their identity. Kankuro knew it had happened to Yashamaru. Yashamaru was his uncle's post-ANBU name, and the only name anyone was allowed to refer to him by. Kankuro didn't think he'd ever heard the name is uncle was born with; the whole family had agreed to strike it from the records to protect him.

Yondaime stirred. Kankuro gave his father a curious glance. It seemed his father had forgotten about this fact. "Yes, Shouryuu-kun. You should contact him and inform him of our situation. He might be able to help."

Baki inclined his head. "As you wish, Kazekage-sama."

"This is turning into a real counter-conspiracy," Jiraiya said with amusement.

"These things always do," Yondaime sighed. "But there's no help for it. We need help if we're going to crack down on this informant and make sure he or she never messes up Suna's politics again."

"No, there'll be a new disaster," Baki said.

"Better new than old," Yondaime said. "Especially this one."

Kankuro had to agree. "No more wars."

xXx

After bedtime preparations, Kankuro found his father in bed, journal in his lap. His father quickly set it aside and smiled at him.

"Would you like to do something tonight?" Yondaime whispered.

Kankuro's pulse quickened. "Like what?"

"Like something…" Yondaime smiled and blushed.

Kankuro grinned. "Yeah." He felt his cheeks warming up as well. "I would like to." He crossed over to his father silently and climbed into bed, snuggling up in his father's arms. It felt nice to lean back against his father and allow himself to be held the way he'd held his father last night. Nice to take a break.

Yondaime kissed his forehead. "See? You need loving, too."

Kankuro smiled. "I'm not going to deny that."

"We should do something you want to do tonight," Yondaime said.

"Anything?" Kankuro asked. He couldn't help it; there was something he'd always wanted to try, fantasized about. Something he didn't necessarily think his father would be into.

His father let out a small laugh. "Uh-huh."

Kankuro grinned and wrapped his father's arms around him more tightly. "Spank me."

"What?" His father sounded bemused and shocked.

Kankuro looked over his shoulder at his father. "I want you to spank me. Erotically." When he put his mind to it, he could be pretty blunt.

His father blushed brightly. "Okay."

Kankuro was surprised it was that easy. But then, his father didn't say things like 'anything' lightly.

"How would you like me to do that?" Yondaime asked.

"Lightly, and with me over your lap," Kankuro said.

"Like…draped across me?" his father asked uncertainly.

"Hai." Kankuro nodded.

"When…?"

"Whenever you're ready," Kankuro said. He didn't want his father to be uncomfortable. "It doesn't have to be tonight."

"Oh, yes, it does." His father smiled mischievously.

"Why?" Kankuro asked.

"Because I want it to be."

Kankuro blushed. "Oh." I guess he's not too put out about it after all.

"Lucky you wore pajama pants," his father teased softly. "They're easy to pull down."

Kankuro felt a pulse of heat at that. He stirred, tingling. "Oh…yeah. I guess so. Huh."

His father squeezed him and chuckled. "I love you, Kankuro."

Kankuro melted. "I love you, too, Dad."

After a few more minutes of snuggling, they got into position. His father sat cross-legged, and Kankuro lay over him, his hips cradled in the center of his father's lap. He folded his arms under his chest and rested his chin on his arms, comfortably waiting. His breath hitched a little bit in anticipation. "So…Dad…have you ever thought about spanking me before? This way, I mean?"

"No…" Yondaime said slowly. "But then, I'm not opposed to new forms of pleasure."

That response made heat course through Kankuro's body, burning. "Oh…Dad. That was so sexy."

He heard a grin in his father's voice. "Thank you, son. I certainly try to interest you."

"Oh, you don't need to try," Kankuro assured him. "I find you very interesting."

The silence, Kankuro hoped, meant that his father was blushing.

"Are you ready?" his father asked.

"Very," Kankuro said.

His father chuckled. "Alright…" He rubbed Kankuro's bottom through the fabric of Kankuro's clothes.

Kankuro moaned and squirmed. "Feels good, Dad." He started leaking at the continued caresses. "Do you want me to take them off?"

"Let's take our time," Yondaime said, his serene tone of voice belying the growing hardness Kankuro could feel forming against his hip.

So he is enjoying this. Kankuro was elated and relieved that his father would get something out of this as well. He'd been worried that this fantasy was only going to interest him. "Alright…" He squirmed back against his father's hand and let out a moan.

Slowly, his father's hand slipped underneath the waistband of Kankuro's pajama pants, moving between the two layers of fabric.

Kankuro whimpered. The increased heat of his father's hand, and the acuteness of the caresses, felt heavenly. He forgot everything else that was on his mind. "Yes, Dad, like that. I like it. Oh, god." Elation that he was getting to experience this for real burst through him, making his nipples hard. "You are so sexy."

"I think you are the sexy one," his father said softly. "You're the one squirming on my lap and arching into these touches."

Kankuro blushed happily. "Pull 'em down. Pull down my underwear."

Yondaime did as he was told, gently pulling down Kankuro's underwear in back, making room to caress Kankuro's bare skin. "I love this part of you," he whispered.

"I love your hand against it," Kankuro said in response, his voice low and husky. He panted slightly. Hot, hot caresses, going so slow.

Yondaime pulled Kankuro's underwear down lower, tugging it down so that it fully exposed his bottom in back. Kankuro felt his boxers catch on the curve of his buttocks. They stayed ridden down like that. His father massaged his bottom with a low hum of satisfaction. "You are so sexy, Kankuro. Especially this part of you. The way you want pleasure for this part is sexy." He trailed his fingertips over Kankuro's sensitive skin. "Sexy, sexy Kankuro."

Kankuro was hard at that. With his pants and underwear down in back but covering his front, he felt uniquely exposed. It made him leak all over the front of his boxers. "Yes, Dad…give it to me." He licked his lips and braced himself forward, arching his back and pressing his hands flat against the bed. He flushed and waited, in that compromising position.

His father massaged his bottom for another few moments, an agonizingly long time, and then swatted Kankuro lightly.

Warm tingles exploded, making Kankuro gasp. His erection buzzed. He squirmed. "More, Dad, more. I need more."

His father leaned down and planted a kiss to his tailbone.

Kankuro moaned deeply. "Dad…"

His father swatted him lightly, sighing in arousal.

Kankuro panted. His body flushed all over, and his stomach tightened. He was all the way hard at that second swat. "More, Dad, more. Keep going. I need to feel it."

The next few minutes melted into soft swats and moans, wetness and heat. His father always waited for him to plead before swatting again, and there was something so sexy about that, Kankuro almost couldn't stand it.

"We could do a sexy routine like this every day," Yondaime whispered. "Every day if you want to. After dinner, we could come up here…and I could spank you."

Kankuro got wetter just at the idea. "Oh, hai."

His father swatted him. "I'll spank you every day."

"Hai…"

Another swat, his father's hand popping him with that sweet, springy gentleness that made tingles explode across Kankuro's body.

"Hai, more."

Another.

Kankuro's hips shuddered. He let out a deep moan and closed his eyes, melting into the feeling. His legs shook. He didn't know how much more of this he could stand. He'd never done it before.

His father caressed his bottom. "Beautiful…"

"Thank you. More…"

Another gentle swat that made Kankuro's erection pulse. "Oh, god. Oh, god. More, Dad, more, faster. Faster…" He shook, hot and tingling and shameless.

As the pace of the swats picked up, Kankuro moaned more and more, until every breath was one steady moan, leaking out in time with his erection twitching and tingling, his hips rocking. "Oh, Dad. More…"

His father complied. "Kankuro, you are sexy…my sexy son…"

Kankuro blushed deeply at that title. Somehow, it made everything perfect. More perfect than it was. "Hai. And you're my sexy Dad."

"Oh, Kankuro." Yondaime moaned.

At the end, Kankuro was rocking into both of his father's hands, one in front stroking his erection and one in back playfully swatting him. He couldn't escape from the pleasure no matter how much he squirmed. As he reached the peak of his pleasure, Kankuro reached out in desperation and slipped his hand into his father's boxers. His father was hot and wet, pulsing.

They stroked each other until they both came, in almost the same moment. Too close to call. Kankuro shuddered on his father's lap, and his father melted back onto the bed, moaning.

Kankuro found himself exhausted and very wet. He barely had the energy to climb off his father's lap and flop down by his father's side.

His father limply ran an arm around him, hugging him.

Kankuro rested his head on his father's shoulder. His legs were numb. It was great. "I love you."

"I love you, too," Yondaime mumbled.

Kankuro smiled. They stayed curled up here for a while before showering together and crawling back into bed, falling fast asleep.