Chapter 93 - Cable Needle
Naruto was hungry. To the point of distraction. Yes, he was a man whose actions were often dictated by his stomach, at the worst of times, but this was ridiculous.
Then again, he hadn't had breakfast.
And that was because of Yomena.
He had tried to be nice. Offered to make her breakfast, or take her out to breakfast, or whatever she wanted. But she had already eaten, or so she claimed. And to avoid awkward conversation around a bare kitchen table, he left for the Hokage Manor early.
And now he was hungry.
Well, at least there was the jinchuuriki luncheon to look forward to. The people, first and foremost, but now, the food!
When the heck was it going to arrive, anyways.
He'd set aside his biggest meeting room for the occasion, like he always did. And catering had been ordered for the occasion, which usually arrived after the guests did, to allow them time to reconnect before food distracted them.
Dang! Naruto curled his arms around his stomach and stomped his foot on the floor a few times, where he sat.
What he needed was a distraction. Yeah! The hunger was serving as a distraction for that morning, but since the hunger was because of the morning, it wasn't very useful.
If someone didn't show up soon, he was going to have to do something drastic.
Luckily, he didn't have to. And it couldn't have been a better person.
"Gaara!" Naruto launched himself out of the chair and hugged Gaara so tightly that he was lifted off the floor. "Man, am I glad to see you, y'know!"
Gaara smiled back, his face at once disgruntled and relieved, as he brushed his shoulders off. "It's great seeing you, too. Are we the first ones here?"
"Yeah, looks like," Naruto said. He leaned sideways, since Gaara was obviously not alone. "Hey there, Kankuro-san, Morizuru-kun!"
"Sup, Blondie?" Morizuru replied, with his soft, slurred voice. "This'd better be a good party."
Naruto just shrugged. Morizuru, he noticed, had gotten new clothes in the time that had passed since their last meeting, though they were still baggy and long-sleeved, to conceal his artificial joints. His perfectly-crafted face, once Sasori's face, was unchanged, though far more heavily-lidded than it had once been.
(…hm, well Morizuru counted too, didn't he? Naruto's head tilted with the thought, and his smile widened.)
"Hey, behave yourself or I won't let you come with me to visit Shikake." Kankuro, Morizuru's mostly-handler-sometimes-parent, was right behind him, face painted as usual.
"Okay, fine, I'll be a good boy," Morizuru replied, rolling his eyes. "Where can I sit."
"Couch is over there," Kankuro said, pointing. "Stay within my range."
"Aye aye… sir." Morizuru fell into a comfortable lounge on the sofa, arms stretched wide over the back.
"So you guys been all right?" Naruto asked. "How's things in Wind?"
Gaara kneaded the skin between his eyes. The shadows around them had gotten much darker over the years.
"Transport robberies," Kankuro explained, leaning in to almost-whisper.
"Oh, yeesh. That's no good, y'know," Naruto said.
"Yeah, but it's hard protecting the tracks out in the desert, since so much of it's uninhabitable," Kankuro continued. "It's exhausting too much manpower."
"Is there anything to drink, yet?" Gaara said, his voice cracking out of the back of his throat.
"Uh, if you're really thirsty there's hot water an' tea bags an' stuff in the staff lounge a bit away, but there won't be nothin' else till the food gets here," Naruto said.
"…right. I'll go get some, then," Gaara said. "Pardon me."
Kankuro and Naruto watched him go, before leaning back into the conversation. "He not been sleeping much lately?" Naruto asked.
"No, not much at all," Kankuro replied.
Naruto frowned, deeply. "Aw man, that's no good, I know how much he loves sleep, y'know."
"Yeah, tell me about it…" Kankuro said. "We're workin' hard at solutions but they're slow-coming. Temari's not been cooperative, lately, so that doesn't help…"
"Well, hey. Maybe we'll think of somethin' while we're here," Naruto said, clapping him on the shoulder and smiling reassuringly. "In the meantime, hey, at least lunch should be here soon?"
Kankuro laughed, shrugging. "Yeah, we'll see."
Kakeru the four-tails and Kemuri the five-tails arrived, shortly after. "Hey, guys! Welcome!" Naruto said.
"Oh, hey, Monkey-Boy's here," Morizuru added, afterward.
One of Kakeru's bushy eyebrows twitched. "Please don't call me that."
"Ook, ook, eek," Morizuru replied, making a clawing motion with his hand.
"Morizuru…" Kankuro raised one of his hands, and Morizuru's arms snapped to his lap. "Behave, or no Shikake."
"Fine, fine, whatever."
Kakeru cleared his throat to compose himself, batting his fist against his wide mouth and severely square chin. "It seems we're a little early."
Kemuri, having ignored the exchange completely, had glided over to Naruto, resting a bandaged hand on his shoulder. "Is Sachiko here yet?"
"No, she's not here yet, Kemuri-san," Naruto replied.
Though the plate-like mask that Kemuri wore had no expression painted on it, their shoulders slumped with obvious disappointment. "I'll just wait, then," they said, before sitting on the couch with Morizuru and running their hands over the thick, perfect braids hanging over their shoulders.
Gaara returned with a mug of tea, which he dispassionately sipped while Kakeru engaged in conversation with him.
Tonbo the seven-tails arrived around the same time that the food did, and she made a great ruckus darting around the legs of the caterers as they brought in plates of sandwiches and rice balls, a green plastic container thumping against her hip as she ran.
Naruto, eventually, caught her, and kept her in the corner by kneeling to her level and talking to her while the caterers did their business. "What's that you got there?" he asked, pointing to her container.
"Oh, this? This is for Kurunari-nii," she replied, proudly, patting the box. "S'a most special bug, m'gonna show it to him when he arrives."
"Oh really," Naruto said. "Mind showin' me, y'know?"
She shook her head, her black, defiant bob bouncing against her dark cheeks. "NUH-UH. Kurunari-nii gets first dibs." She looked around, then leaned in closer, and whispered, "But I'll show ya later, 'kay?"
Naruto laughed. "Okay, okay."
The two Mist jinchuuriki arrived escorted by masked bodyguards. Orders and itineraries were whisper-barked at them in the hallway before they entered, bodyguard-less, and wearing smiles of varying degrees of nervousness.
A great and wonderful warmth entered Naruto's heart, and he went right up to Kurunari and gave him a hug as well, his head rising only to his shoulder and his arms struggling to get around his wide chest. "Kurunari-kun!"
"Naruto-san! It's so good to see you," he replied. "Have you been well?"
"Amazing," Naruto replied, grinning, and meaning it.
He stepped back, and when he looked at Kurunari's face, all he saw were differences. The rounder, less-rugged chin and cheekbones; his white hair cut short, pulled into a high ponytail; the softer, larger body; the almost apologetic default expression, and the way his thick hands held each other.
But he couldn't stare forever, and savoring the sheer okay-ness he had with the situation, he directed his attention to Yuu, who hid behind Kurunari's legs. "And how are you, Yuu-kun?"
Yuu managed to emerge for a moment to bow, perfectly. "I am very well, Hokage-sama, thank you."
"Great manners, Yuu-kun," Naruto replied, causing the yellow-green-haired boy to blush and hide behind Kurunari again. "You guys hungry? They just-"
"KURUNARI-NII!" Tonbo exploded forward, her face still caked in rice from a rice ball, and leapt a full three feet off the floor to clasp her arms around Kurunari's broad shoulders. "Ohmygosh ohmygosh HI!"
"Hello there, Tonbo-chan," Kurunari replied, pulling her down a little to sit her on the crook of his arm. "You sorta startled me, there."
"Sorry, sorry, sorry," Tonbo replied, "I just got so excited t'see you an' stuff! I GOT A BUG TO SHOW YOU so put me down already, okay?!" She grabbed the collar of his turtleneck and pulled for emphasis.
"Okay, okay! Let go, please." Tonbo let go, and Kurunari set her down. "Now why don't you show me this bug…"
Naruto nudged him, before the two could retreat to a table, with Yuu in tow. "We'll talk writing later, y'know."
"Oh, of course," Kurunari replied, with an unfitting but good-natured wink.
The bug, Naruto eventually found out, through watching them together, was something called an Empress Slug, native to the Land of Waterfalls. Glistening with silver slime and sporting luminous spots like jewels on its back, it looked like a tiara reserved for royalty, hence the name.
"It's SUPER RARE," Tonbo said. "S'when I found one I got SUPER excited."
"Apparently!" Kurunari replied.
"An' it made me think of you! 'Cos you got a slug! So I been takin' care've it so I could show you it an' yeah." She nodded several times, stroking the back of the slug with her finger.
"That's nice, Tonbo-chan," Kurunari said, and laughed a young man's laugh. "I'm glad you wanted to show me, it's really cool."
"Oh yeah, super cool," Tonbo replied.
Kemuri snuck up behind Naruto again and tapped his shoulder. "When is Sachiko due to arrive?"
"I dunno, Kemuri-san, she usually shows up with BB and Bee," Naruto replied.
"Hn. All right." Kemuri returned to the couch, gloomily.
Sachiko the two-tails and the other Cloud jinchuuriki turned up a good while later, when everyone else had begun nibbling on the food brought in. And, immediately, Kemuri was by her side, and Sachiko's trailing sleeves were embracing Kemuri, and they retreated to the couch, where it was unlikely they would emerge for a while.
Naruto made himself busy by greeting Bee, and he did so with the usual fist-bump. "How-dee, Killer Bee!"
"How's it go, Naruto?" Bee replied. "Sorry for th'late arrival, I needed t'sleep for my survival."
"Whoa! Sounds serious!" Naruto said, in a parody of shock. "Were you fightin' in your dreams, bustin' the seams?"
"No, he just slept in too late." BB arrived, her skin as raw-steak blue as his was, nudging into his shoulder with hers.
"Th'air was too cold an' I'm too old," Bee replied. "Autumn days is chill, yo."
"Yeah, whatever," BB replied, smiling.
"Nah, nah, your dad's got a point," Naruto said. "When it's cold out it feels so much better t'just stay in bed, y'know."
"Yeah, see? You know the score, what sleep is for, an' stuff, yeah." Bee crossed his arms, nodding.
"Yeah…" Naruto nodded, sagely, crossing his arms as well.
"You dorks gon' keep ignorin' Fuzan like this?" BB said.
Naruto's arms loosened. Fuzan? Where had he heard that name before?
"Oh, yeah! Sorry 'bout that. Naruto, this is th'kid I wrote t'you about." Bee stepped aside, revealing the person standing behind him. "He's a real man's man, no flash in th'pan, and a wicked cool tan: Fuzan!"
If it weren't for what Karin had told him a few days before, Naruto would never have guessed that the boy was a clone of Zabuza.
For one, Naruto doubted that Zabuza would have ever been caught making the face that Fuzan was making, a stretched, awed, open-mouthed thing halfway between a grin and a grimace. Not to mention the full-arm cast keeping his right arm at an awkward, raised angle, the plaster covered almost entirely with Bee's scrawl.
Naruto started laughing, hard. This was just too much.
"A-am I doin' somethin' wrong…?" Fuzan said, quietly.
"Nah, nah, nah, nah, just…" Naruto snorted. "You reminded me of somethin' funny, y'know…! I'm sorry, hold on!"
"O-oh, uh, okay," Fuzan replied. He looked at BB nervously, but she motioned him forward with her hands.
Naruto wiped his eye as he got over his laughter. What were the freaking odds? "Your name's Fuzan, huh? And you're BB's boyfriend?"
"Y-yeah, somethin' like that…!" Fuzan said. He began sputtering. "I'm, uh, a huge fan of yours, Uzumaki-sama!"
"Uzumaki-sama?" Naruto started laughing again. "Please, c'mon, call me Naruto here, okay? Don't sweat it."
Fuzan's tiny eyes were shining like beetle-black gems. "Oh my gosh he told me to call him Naruto," he half-whispered, to nobody in particular.
Now BB was laughing, which only made things worse for Naruto.
Oh yeah, there was no way he'd have any trouble with this kid.
"Relax, okay? We're here to have a good time," Naruto said, patting Fuzan on the left shoulder. "Want me to grab you some food?"
"Bad idea," BB snorted. And she was right, because Fuzan was whispering again about oh my gosh Naruto offered to get him food. "Fuzan, baby, this is jus' like hangin' out with me an' Pops. Don't make a big deal out've it, okay?"
Fuzan did a sort of shiver-snap, and whacked his temple with his free hand. "Right, right, okay. Oh man I'm acting like such a dork, I'm sorry Uzu—I mean Naruto-sama."
"Just Naruto-san, please. It's what ev'ryone calls me, y'know," Naruto said, with a warm smile. "You're doin' fine, Fuzan-kun. Now let's get lunch, I'm starving."
"Okay! Okay!" Fuzan nodded a few times too many, but each nod helped erase whatever lingering echoes surrounded him.
Naruto got them all seats at one of the corner tables and got food for himself, while BB and Bee put together their own lunches.
Wanting to be courteous, Naruto started the conversation. "So, Fuzan-kun, what happened to your arm?"
"Oh, uh, this? Long story…" he replied, blushing slightly.
"Tell 'im, baby, it's a good story," BB said, before biting into her sandwich.
"Yeah, I wanna hear, y'know!" Naruto said.
"Well, uh…" Fuzan smirked uncomfortably. "Well it sorta got broken by this sword-girl on a mission. After she froze me to a wall an' gave me pneumonia."
"Froze you to a wall?" Naruto said, his eyebrows twisting. "How the heck does that work out?"
"Dude, even I don't have a dang clue," Fuzan replied. "Maybe it was magic or ninjutsu or somethin'. I was out for most of the time after the mission so I din' get the details from my team much."
"Dang, sounds hardcore," Naruto said, nodding. "You gotten some friends to sign it?"
"Yeah, Bee signed it!" Fuzan said, his expression brightening considerably.
"An' took up half the damn cast," BB added.
"What, my name's got a lotta flair!" Bee said. Fuzan was sitting between him and his daughter. "I need a lotta space t'write it there!"
"Sure, sure," BB replied.
"Well, y'want me to sign it?" Naruto asked.
"…ohmygosh would you really," Fuzan said. "I mean, I thought've asking you but I din' wanna be rude an'-"
"HEY, ANYONE GOT A PEN?" Naruto yelled, so everyone would hear.
"Oh, hold on, hold on," a voice somewhere said.
It belonged to Kurunari, it turned out. He was taking out a notebook from his vest's pocket, and from the notebook's spirals, a pen. "Will this do?"
(The blood-connection of the two did not even cross Naruto's mind, a fact he would have reveled in, had he noticed it.)
"Oh, yeah, that should be fine," Naruto said. "Oh, speakin' of which! Fuzan-kun, this is-"
"Kurunari of Mist, I already know you," Fuzan said, grinning.
"You, uh, you do, huh…" Kurunari said.
"Well yeah! You're the six-tailed jinchuuriki, vessel of the slug," Fuzan replied. "That's pretty consid'rable. You use bubble jutsu like th'previous vessel did?"
"…well, I learned some, but it never really took…" Kurunari said, scratching his cheek, sheepishly. "I'm more adept with slime and spitting jutsus, if I ever use them…"
"Oh, that's cool too!" Fuzan said. "Hey, can you sign my cast too? Maybe I can get all've you…!" His eyes were shining again.
"Oh, um, I wouldn't mind…" Kurunari put down his notebook and uncapped the pen. "Your name is… Fuzan?"
"Yep! But you can just write down your name, I don' care," Fuzan replied, almost bouncing, but quieting himself so Kurunari could write his name in his shortcut-scrawl.
"Oh, Naruto-san, did you need to sign too…?" he said, after he finished. Fuzan was admiring the autograph with a wide-open mouth.
"Yep! All right, let's get this done." Naruto took the pen, poising it like a weapon.
"I'll go get Yuu-kun and Tonbo-chan, see if they want to sign too," Kurunari said softly, as Naruto wrote.
"The three-tails and the seven-tails! Oh my gosh please," Fuzan said. "I mean they're too young to have gone on missions but still…!"
"Hold still, y'know!" Naruto said, his tongue poking out between his lips.
"Oh! Sorry, sorry." And Fuzan held still, while Kurunari left.
Naruto wrote his name with looping characters on the side of Fuzan's wrist, easily visible if he turned his head. He figured the kid would like it. "An' there you have it!" he said. "One autograph. Though I hope the cast doesn't last forever, y'know. I broke my arm once an' it was such a pain to get anything done."
Fuzan, who seemed to have been in some sort of trance, snapped out of it to reply animatedly. "Oh, they say it's gonna be on for at least a month longer, 'cos the damage was pretty bad. An' after that they say I got therapy an' stuff. But it'll be okay, I can get through it!"
"Yeah, I bet you will! Keep strong, buddy," Naruto said, and Fuzan beamed back.
Kurunari was coming back with Yuu and Tonbo at either hand, having explained to them what Fuzan wanted. Tonbo was enthusiastic and Yuu was stoic about it, but both thought it was a good idea and agreed to it.
However, before either of them could reach the table, the party crashers arrived.
Namely, Kiine, Yuki, and Kou.
"Hey, Naruto-san! I heard you were havin' a lunch, is this where you are, yeah?"
Fuzan's skin turned a very unpleasant shade of puce. "Oh, crap," he squeaked.
"Oh, hey, Kiine! The heck are you doing here? This is kind of, uh, a private thing," Naruto said, over his shoulder, chuckling awkwardly.
Yuki's face had frozen into a cold mask of rage.
"Well, I wanted to go say hi to Benio-sensei, but she wasn't home, so I stopped over at the Manor and asked where you were, an' I found out, so here we are, yeah!" she replied, coming closer with her party. "So what's this that's goin' on here, anyways?"
"What are they doing here…?" Fuzan squeaked, raising his left hand.
"What is he doing here," Yuki said, lowly. He was not carrying his sword, but his hands were clenched.
"Huh? Fuzan-kun, d'you know these guys?" Naruto said.
Before Fuzan could answer, however, Yuki had pounced.
The small boy was a good head and half shorter than Fuzan, but he still managed to tackle him to the floor, the plaster of his cast crunching and scraping as it hit the ground. Fuzan yelped, out of fear, out of pain, unable to really fight back.
Everyone that had been sitting stood. Kurunari pulled Tonbo and Yuu close to him and backed away. From somewhere in the background, Morizuru whooped, and was quickly silenced by Kankuro.
"Guys, guys, stop it, stop it!" Naruto shouted. "Yuki-kun, STOP!"
Yuki, straddled on Fuzan's chest, stopped, breathing heavily. Fuzan had a firm grip on his long hair, his only real means of defense.
"Now what is the meaning of this, y'know?!" Naruto got to his knees. "Both of you, let go! You can't fight!"
(Not because they had once been partners, goodness no.)
Yuki let go and stood up, stepping away with light, quick movements. Fuzan remained, moaning slightly, on the floor. The skin above his left eye was bleeding a little from a swipe from Yuki's nails. BB joined Naruto on the floor and began helping Fuzan to sit up.
"Yuki-kun, explain yourself," Naruto said.
Kiine began looking increasingly uncomfortable. Kou had his fingers under his nose.
"…he's the one responsible," Yuki replied.
"R'sponsible for what, bitch?" BB said, hurling her voice sharply, her arms protectively around Fuzan's chest. "Any issue you have with him is an issue with me."
"He kidnapped Kou-san," Yuki said, quietly.
"Wha-?" Fuzan blinked, almost sleepily, in pain. "Kou who…?"
"Wait, Yuki, isn't this the guy you froze to the wall in Sekiraun…?" Kiine said, her face stretching into a confused frown. Kou was trying not to look.
"Y'mean you did this to him?" BB said. "Oh, bitch, you are gon' be sorry you ever stepped in this room."
"BB, no, don't…" Fuzan said, weakly, grabbing her arm before she could stand. "Don't fight here, 'kay…?"
"Yuki, you already did enough damage, fightin' him here any more is dumb, yeah?" Kiine added, holding Yuki's own arm. Yuki scowled, but did not move.
"So… Fuzan-kun, were you on the team that kidnapped Kou-kun or somethin'?" Naruto said, piecing a few things together.
"I was… just on surveillance, I didn't actually kidnap th'guy…" Fuzan replied, rubbing his bleeding forehead with his left palm.
"You were still on the team," Yuki said.
"Yuki. Manners, yeah?" Kiine said, squeezing him again. "Hey, Kou, you okay…?"
Kou nodded a few times, lowering his fingers. "I just don't want to see anyone hurt further because of this stupid thing…" he said, softly. "Enough's been done already. Can we just leave it at that? It's useless if we try and act out against these people, Yuki-san…"
Yuki's lips tightened and he looked away.
"Okay, so we're promising not to fight each other, good," Naruto said. "I mean, I guess you both got legit reasons to be angry, but we're all trying to have fun here, y'know? You're all my guests, an' I don't want any of my guests to have a bad time."
"If she's gon' be here then I'd rather leave," BB said, glaring at Yuki.
"Hey, hey, whoever you are," Kiine said to her, "I know that Yuki went a little too far, but he was just doing what he had to. Just like m'sure your boyfriend there was too, yeah? The damage is done an' the best we can do is just try an' heal things, all right?"
"Well, I guess that's fair 'nough," BB said, helping Fuzan to his feet. "Baby, you okay? How's your arm?"
"Yeah, yeah, jus' fine," Fuzan replied. He blinked a few times, with difficulty. "…wait, did she say 'he'? You're a guy?"
Yuki nodded, stiffly.
"Oh, man, my bad."
Yuki's face flushed an angry, embarrassed red. "Sure," he grumbled.
"Hey, uh… dude. So what's your name?" Fuzan said.
"Mine?" Yuki said.
"Yeah, yours. I'm Fuzan, who are you?"
"…Inaba Yuki."
"Great. Wanna start over?" Fuzan said. He reached out his left hand with an awkward smile. "We were both just followin' orders, no need for us to be mean to each other now."
"…I'll keep away from you if you will do the same," Yuki replied, coldly, and kept his hand limp as Fuzan shook it.
"Hey, whatever works for you," Fuzan replied, grinning. "Dang, you got really cold hands… Oh, and, hey, so you're… Taki Kiine, right? I remember you a little. No hard feelings, right?"
"Haha, hey, I'm fine," Kiine said.
"They seem like a couple-a good eggs," Bee said, joining Naruto on the sidelines as Fuzan and Kiine began talking. The activity of the other observers was quieting down, now that it was apparent nobody was going to fight any more. "You know that girl, then?"
"Yeah, she's a syndicate boss's daughter an' a friend of mine, y'know," Naruto said. "Her dad's in town for some… debt stuff, an' she came along."
"Coo', coo'," Bee replied.
"Ah, so they're from a syndicate family." Gaara had appeared, both hands wrapped around his mug of tea. "I heard about what happened in Sekiraun. Sounded like a bit of a neutral outcome for Rotsuki-san."
"Yeah, yeah…" Naruto said. He paused. "…wait, what happened in Seki-whatever? All I heard was that Kou-kun got kidnapped by Cloud ninja an' that's it, nothing afterward."
"Apparently," Gaara said, "the kidnapping was to instigate negotiations with Boss Shin about black market dealings."
"Well I heard that too, y'know," Naruto said, "what happened afterward?"
"Well, Boss Tensho's daughter, the one engaged to Boss Shin's son, interceded on her own and more or less took the negotiations into her own hands. From what I heard they're at a stand-still until further notice."
Naruto whistled, in quiet admiration. Goodness, Kiine. "Ah, so that's what that was about…" he added, as a spot of memory hit him.
"What was what about?" Gaara said.
"Oh, well, I took Kiine and her family out to dinner th'other night, an' she asked me if I could get her in with Rotsuki-san for a talk or somethin'."
"Hmm." Gaara took another sip of his tea. He stared over its surface for a while, after he was done. "Why don't we have her and her family join us at dinner tonight?"
"What, the Kage dinner? That's, uh, sort of a swanky deal, Gaara…" Naruto said.
"Yes, but look at it this way," Gaara replied, switching the mug to one hand. "Her family wants to talk to Rotsuki, and I certainly want to see if there is anything I can discuss with Boss Shin, if he's present, about his connections to the bandit groups in the Wind Deserts. It's killing more than one bird with one stone."
"…ah, so you've got stuff to discuss too, huh," Naruto said.
Gaara took another sip. "Let's just say that I have a keen interest in this sort of thing."
"Gotcha, gotcha," Naruto said, trying not to think of his friend's tired eyes. "Well, I dunno… I mean, I'd be fine with it, and you obviously are, but I dunno how the other Kages would react to havin' extra people added at the last minute, y'know. Much less syndicate guys."
"Well, Boss Tensho and Boss Shin have about as much sway in their territories as a Kage would, if not more," Gaara said. "So they have every right to be there at the banquet. Symbolically, at least."
"Sounds like somebody really wants this t'go down," Bee said, putting his hands in his pockets good-naturedly.
"I'm just taking an opportunity where I see it," Gaara replied, with a smile like a crack in dried earth. "I could talk to the other Kages if you want to spread the news to the Hakaza and Taki clans."
Naruto shrugged, his eyes drifting to Kiine, who was laughing as Tonbo yanked on Fuzan's cast to sign it. "Well, hey, if you think it'll work…"
"Oh, it will," Gaara said, and he finished his mug.