Chapter 29

Kankuro emerged from his writing and painting refreshed. That was how he blew off steam and processed things, and he felt much cleaner inside after he had been able to write a play in his head, act it out, and then write it down on a scroll, complete with character sketches. It was a modern kabuki play. He stored it on the bookshelf in his room along with the other scrolls he'd stored play ideas in, and went to pick up his father.

xXx

His father was bent over his desk, concentrating as usual. The desk lamp illuminated his father's face with a golden hue, drawing the lines of his face in sharp relief. The end of his pen was pressed against his bottom lip while he read. He acknowledged Kankuro with a glance, and then finished what he was doing.

Yondaime straightened with a stretch. "Is it that time already?"

"Done enough boring things for today?" Kankuro teased. He was comfortable doing so because at least part of his father thought paperwork was boring.

His father stood up with a protest. "I have to get this paperwork done. It's not good to put off to tomorrow what I could do today."

"Platitudes." Kankuro wrinkled his nose. "Platitudes that keep you trapped at that desk doing what a secretary down the hall could be doing."

"But less efficiently," Yondaime said.

"How do you know?" Kankuro asked. "You never gave them the chance."

"Well, what would I be doing all day if I weren't here, doing paperwork?" Yondaime asked in a reasonable voice.

"I don't know," Kankuro said. "Having fun. Having a life. Ooh – better yet – writing and painting."

Yondaime gave his son a look. "I can barely write my own name in terms of creativity, and I don't know how to paint. You're the artist."

"Well, maybe not paint, but draw," Kankuro said.

His father frowned.

Kankuro wondered if he had any inkling what had gone on in Yuna's office today. "So what do you remember from this afternoon?"

Yondaime looked baffled. "What a question to ask." He came out from behind his desk and linked arms with Kankuro. "It's not as if I'm going senile."

Kankuro allowed his father to walk them out of the office and down the hall, towards home. And that's an evasion. He probably doesn't remember anything. He tried to think of previous evasions his father had made on the topic of memory. Kankuro discovered there were a lot. 'I'm tired', and 'I was working', being the two chief excuses for not remembering something.

He wondered if his father remembered there was a home to go back to unless he were reminded by Kankuro's presence. I'll have to talk with Yuna about that. Or find some way to research on my own. But he didn't think he'd come across anything about Dissociative Identity Disorder in the Kazekage library. He'd been through the dissociation literature recently, and there wasn't a trace of it. Probably because it wasn't a popular topic, so there wasn't anything for the major booksellers to donate.

xXx

Baki had a family engagement that hopefully Jiraiya was invited to as well, so they weren't at dinner. Kankuro sighed at the quietness, but dealt with it. The mission today had been mail delivery. A few people had called in sick in the messenger service, which left a gap that Kankuro and his siblings had filled for the day. Mail delivery was a military division, just not one that saw combat.

Temari mostly talked about how boring it was, and about how noisy one person's dog had been.

Gaara was silent, but at least he wasn't chiming in with 'it was a waste of time'.

Kankuro ate a bite of halibut and paused. "So, Dad, what happened at the Council meeting today?"

"Nothing much," Yondaime said.

"Did you tell them that you wanted in on their little arrangement with Sound?" Kankuro asked.

His father paused.

Kankuro was suddenly worried. "Why not?"

"The topic hadn't come up," his father said. "We're scheduled to talk about the war budget tomorrow. I thought I would bring it up then. I'm not trying to confront them so much as I am trying to join them. It mustn't look like a confrontation. It must look like I am giving in. The dynamic for today was all wrong."

Kankuro relaxed. He realized he'd unfairly assumed his father hadn't remembered. That's not what Yuna said. Yuna said that Tousan would remember what he had to for a situation. He nodded. "Okay."

"You shouldn't have to give in at all," Temari said, scowling.

"But if I don't, they won't believe I want to join them," Yondaime said mildly.

Temari sighed. "Point." She picked at her carrots. "Just don't let them humiliate you, okay, Dad? I don't want to hear it. I'll feel like killing something. They've got no right to act like you're some civil servant under them. You were elected fair and square to be our leader."

Gaara said slowly, "You will win their trust and demand a meeting with the Sound?"

"Yes," Yondaime said. He nodded. "That's the general outline of the plan. If I meet him or her, and know them on sight as well as by chakra, I can help Jiraiya track them. The reason why Jiraiya hasn't successfully collected evidence that these people are no good is because he can't find them."

Gaara ate a bite of fish and rice. "It is dangerous for someone who does not have an ultimate defense."

Yondaime looked pleasantly surprised. "Why, yes, it is, Gaara."

Gaara frowned at him. "This is not something to be happy about."

"I am not happy that my plan is dangerous. I am happy that you care," Yondaime said with a small smile.

Gaara stared at him for a moment, then looked away.

Kankuro found himself smiling. "Yeah. We all care about you, Dad. We're a family. And we all want you to be safe."

Gaara didn't comment. However, he didn't object, either.

"You bet," Temari said. "If you get hurt, I'll go ballistic."

Yondaime snorted and gave his children a wry smile. "I can take care of myself. I lived through a war. Sometimes, believe it or not, I was even by myself out there. This is nothing new for me."

No, but it's been a while, Kankuro wanted to say. Maybe you're rusty. He didn't want to insult his dad, though, so he didn't.

xXx

After dinner, Jiraiya and Baki came to check in. Neither one of them were thrilled about Yondaime's plan.

"I thought it was supposed to be me out there," Baki said.

"I know that is what we originally discussed…"

"Yeah, what's with the change?" Jiraiya asked.

"I feel it's too dangerous," Yondaime said with a shrug. "And I want to see the people who have been undermining our alliance with Konoha. I feel angry."

Baki took a slow, deep breath. "Kazekage-sama…Please let me meet with them first. If I die it will not be the biggest loss."

"Says who?" Jiraiya snapped. He punched Baki in the arm.

Baki rubbed that spot, looking at Jiraiya reproachfully.

"I agree with Jiraiya," Yondaime said. "Your life is not on the line, Baki. If Sound feels like attacking, the person they attack should be me. I will have bodyguards, and I have a higher power level than you. Not to mention I will be less tempting. It would be extremely bad for the Council's alliance if the Sound got on my bad side. So there will be no disrespect. I will not send you into that situation."

"Fine," Baki grumbled. He shot Jiraiya a look. "Just don't punch me again."

"Baby," Jiraiya muttered, but he looked less alarmed.

Kankuro snorted, shook his head, and walked upstairs to get changed for bed. He allowed his father a suitable amount of time before knocking on his father's door. It'd been about an hour. During that time, he got his pajamas on, washed his face paint off, and spent time playing with his cat. He hadn't had time for her lately, and he felt a little bad about that. But he had a lot of things going on. He told Poko some of them.

She seemed as disinterested as usual in his life. As long as he occasionally played with her and petted her, she didn't care what was going on. Typical cat logic.

"Dad?" Kankuro asked.

"Come in," his father responded.

When Kankuro closed the door behind, him, his father looked up from the journal on his lap and said, "You can stop knocking, you know. If you just come in from now on, I won't be bothered."

"Okay," Kankuro said. He crossed the room and climbed onto the bed, sitting down beside his father and getting under the covers. "What's up?"

"I'd like you to read a poem I wrote," Yondaime said. "Does this bother you?"

Kankuro shook his head. "No, not at all."

Yondaime passed the open journal to his son and folded his hands. "I'd like to know what you think of it. If it's any good or not. I think it's better than the rest of what I've written so far…"

Kankuro nodded absently, absorbed in scanning the lines of the poem.

Sunlight streams over his face in the morning

And I think: How beautiful he is.

Then I think: He needs to comb his hair.

This is the conflict and resolution

Father and son.

Kankuro blushed and smoothed down his hair self-consciously, although he knew his hair was currently combed. He grinned and kissed his father's cheek. "It's wonderful. I think it's really great." He chuckled. "And it's really funny to read a poem about me." He didn't think of himself as a particularly inspiring subject.

His father hugged him and kissed his cheek in return. "Really? It's any good?"

"It's good," Kankuro agreed, snuggling into his father's arms. He turned and kissed his father's lips, gently mouthing. "Very good," he murmured, appraising his father with a silent question and a sly smile.

His father blushed. "Okay." He lay down, gently pulling Kankuro with him.

They kissed for several moments.

"Now I have to write a poem about you," Kankuro teased.

His father groaned. "Please don't. It would be awful. I can't imagine what you'd write."

Kankuro tickled his father's sides lightly. "I thought the same thing until you wrote that poem about me. It's beautiful. So maybe I have something beautiful to say too, ne?"

His father squirmed and let out a choked laugh. "Maybe. Stop that."

Kankuro grinned and hugged his father tightly. He started up the kissing again.

When they were both winded and red, they agreed not to go any further tonight. Kankuro had to admit he was unexpectedly slowed down by doing stuff for several nights in a row. All four days previous to this one, they'd brought each other pleasure until they came. Apparently, human bodies had a limit.

"An unforeseen roadblock I'm sure we will get over," Kankuro teased.

His father laughed. "Oh, you are impossible."

Kankuro snuggled his father to his side, stroking his father's back. Yondaime nuzzled Kankuro's chest. Kankuro allowed his eyes to drift shut, absorbing the softness and the warmth of their bodies together. "I love you."

"I love you, too," Yondaime said. He hooked an arm around Kankuro's waist and squeezed, squirming their bodies together even closer.

xXx

The next day when Kankuro went to pick his father up from work, he got the announcement he both anticipated and dreaded.

"It's done," his father said breathlessly. His eyes were unusually bright with excitement. "The meeting is set for three days from now."

"Three days from now?" Kankuro was taken aback. Time had passed; too fast. It was only a week before he and his team would have to leave for the Chunin Exam if they were going.

His father nodded. "Yes. In the desert. At the Head Stone." The Head Stone was an ancient statue, supposedly belonging to a shrine that had gotten buried in the desert sand. Some people said it was actually the statue standing on top of the roof of the old temple. By now, only the head of the statue and its tall hat were above ground. In the last year, in fact, its chin had gone under by another two inches. Someday, they were going to have to excavate the thing to see it again.

At least one scholar thought the statue was a depiction of the Sand priest that had turned into Shukaku, but Kankuro wasn't so sure about that. He didn't think Shukaku had ever been human. And if it were, it was better buried, in his opinion. Shukaku wasn't the kind of person Kankuro wanted a shrine to.

"You're bringing guards, aren't you?" Kankuro asked.

"Shimeru and Chounin," Yondaime said.

Kankuro looked at his father uneasily. "Why not Aio and Josei?"

His father had four guards, men who worked in pairs. Shimeru was a taijutsu specialist whose main jutsu was Cloth Binding. Chounin was a wind release user who could also use water release. Shimeru and Chounin were called on whenever there was a meeting. The rest of the time, Aio and Josei, the two men that guarded the outside of whatever building Yondaime was in, were called upon.

Yondaime sighed. "I know it's no secret that you like Aio and Josei better. They're around more, and you know them personally. But think about this: while I am away, meeting this Sound representative, someone has to protect you and your siblings. I would rather know it was Aio and Josei protecting you than Shimeru and Chounin."

That was as close as his father ever got to admitting he preferred one pair of guards over the other.

"But we're not the ones in danger," Kankuro said.

"You don't know that," Yondaime said.

"But we know you'll be in danger," Kankuro said.

His father gave him a tolerantly exasperated look. "How? I've agreed to cooperate."

"The Council is full of bastards, remember?" Kankuro said. "They don't like you and don't trust you. What if they're just taking this as an opportunity to assassinate you or something?"

Yondaime let out a laugh. "That would be so ridiculous it would be beyond the pale. Can you imagine if word ever got out that the Council assassinated their Kazekage? They'd all hang. Or have their heads cut off."

Kankuro was doubtful. "What about the Sound, then? What if they don't want you involved?"

His father's expression became more serious at that. "That might be a possibility. But they don't have a choice, do they? I am the leader of this village. Sooner or later Sound had to expect they would be meeting with me."

Kankuro found himself shaking his head. "I still don't like your logic. Take all four guards. Please. We'll have Baki and Jiraiya looking out for us."

"If you insist on my having four men, how about this?" Yondaime asked. "I will have Baki and Jiraiya beside me in disguise, wrapped up in clothing for the desert. Then I will also have Shimeru and Chounin. Aio and Josei will stay behind and guard you. That part is final. I will not have my children trifled with while I am away."

Kankuro couldn't dispel the ache in the pit of his stomach. But he nodded. I guess it's final. Aio and Josei are going to stay behind with us. "Okay." Aio and Josei won't be able to do a better job than Baki and Jiraiya. Jiraiya's a Sannin. And Baki's really good.

He swallowed. It'll have to be good enough.

Nothing would convince him that this meeting wasn't all about two opposing factions trying to trap each other into an ambush. He'd read way too much history to believe that things would go down peacefully.

He'd have to trust his father's guards and Baki and Jiraiya to keep his father safe.