Chapter 51: Break

Four months later

"Here are the documents Elder Ebizu wanted you to see Gaara." said Kankuro as he handed the folder to his little brother. Gaara gave him a terse nod of his head before accepting the beige folder. He opened it and skimmed through the pages before closing it back and laying it out on his desk, a small breath escaping past his lips as he lay back in his seat.

"I'll give them my full attention first thing tomorrow morning." said Gaara as he brushed a hand through his blood red hair.

"Gaara . . . are you alright?" asked Kankuro as he looked at his brother a little unsurely.

"Why wouldn't I be?" asked Gaara as he leaned forward in his seat, his fingers weaving together as he rested his elbows on the desk.

"Well . . . it has been four months since that incident in the Land of Iron that led to Izuka's capture by Amegakure." said Kankuro as he awkwardly scratched the back of his neck.

"I know . . . and it's four months too long if you ask me." grumbled Gaara as he shook his head. "The two teams that were sent out to do reconnaissance on Amegakure have yet to find anything substantial in regards to Izuka."

"They're keeping her locked up tight somewhere . . ." mumbled Kankuro as he shook his head. "We just have no idea where yet."

"This is an Amegakure we have never seen before Kankuro," said Gaara as he looked out a nearby window, the full moon hanging high above the Sunagakure skyline. "They have certainly picked up their game since the last time they were involved in international affairs."

"Who knew it could only take a few months for a village to turn around just like that . . ." mumbled Kankuro as he turned to the door. "Are you coming home tonight, or are you going to stay here and pull an all-nighter?"

"I'll be out in a minute . . ." said Gaara as he waved his brother off. "I'll see you outside the building. I just have to do one more thing back here."

"Alright . . . I'll see you outside then," said Kanuro with a shrug as he walked to the door. Once he was gone, Gaara let out a small breath before he reached for the handle of his one of his desk drawers. He tugged the drawer open, coming face to face with an old photo of Izuka, himself, and his siblings from a few years ago. It was taken three months after Izuka moved to Suna from Konoha, and one of the few pictures of the four of them together where Kankuro wasn't posing like an idiot. His eyes were squarely on Izuka, however, his thoughts going back to the last time he saw her.

"I hope you're alright Izzy . . ." mumbled the young Kazekage as he brushed his fingers across the frame. "You will be found, I promise . . ."

Gaara let out a small breath before returning the photo back to the drawer. He closed it with a small thud and got out of his seat to stretch his legs. Once he did that, he waked over to the door, closing the light on the left of it before stepping out of the room. Instead of simply walking out of the room, Gaara used his sand to transport himself out of the building and over to Kankuro, who was waiting right outside by the Tower entrance.

"You always knew how to make an entrance." said the puppeteer as the sand Gaara used disappeared from view.

"I do don't I . . ." Gaara mumbled absentmindedly as he looked down the street. "C'mon, let's get home before Temari has a fit."

"Right behind ya . . ." said Kankuro as he followed his sibling down the road. The two brothers walked in silence through the streets of Suna to their residence, a heavy sense of worry evident in the air as the people around them continued on with their daily lives.

"Gaara . . . have you noticed the atmosphere around here?" mumbled Kankuro as the two turned onto an intersecting street. "It feels like everyone's on edge. . ."

"Even if we tried to hide the fact that Izuka's been captured . . . it would have gotten out to the public one way or another," said Gaara as he shook his head. "You can feel it in the air . . . the worry, the fear, the trepidation . . . it's as if they already know that something bad is about to happen."

"If only we knew exactly what it was . . ." grumbled Kankuro as they spotted their house down the street.

"Yeah, if only we knew . . ." said Gaara in quiet agreement as they spotted Temari standing at the top of the steps that led to their porch.

"What took you two so long?" asked the wind mistress as she watched her two brothers pass through the front gate.

"The traffic is horrible at this time of night . . ." Kankuro said sarcastically as he rolled his head back. "So, have you been waiting out here this entire time for us?"

"Only for the past few minutes . . ." answered Temari as he turned on her heels to walk back inside. "Oh I almost forgot . . . you have a visitor Gaara . . ."

"A visitor?" asked the young Kazekage as he and Kankuro followed after her and into the house. "Who is it?"

"Hey Gaara! Kankuro!" called a semi-loud voice from within their living room, a voice that the brothers' recognized instantly.

"Naruto?" asked Gaara in slight shock as Kankuro's eyes widened in surprise. The three siblings walked into the living room to see the blonde sitting on their couch with his arms crossed, his usually bright blue eyes dimmed a bit due to the tiredness in them.

"You look like you need some sleep Naruto . . ." said Kankuro as he sat down in one of the nearby recliners.

"Yeah well . . . when you haven't gotten that much sleep as I have these past few days, it can really show on your face." said Naruto with a small smirk on his face.

"You haven't gotten that much sleep?" asked Gaara as he raised an invisible eyebrow.

"Yeah . . . I've been taking on a whole lot more missions than I need to these past few days . . ." said the blonde as he leaned back into his seat.

"Why would you do that?" asked Kankuro as he looked at him in shock.

"It helps me keep my mind off of Amegakure a bit . . ." Naruto answered him flatly as he let out a small breath. Gaara could only look at him in silence, inwardly knowing that Izuka's capture not only affected him greatly, but her twin brother as well.

"Why are you here Naruto?" asked Gaara as he let out a small breath.

"I have a message from Granny Tsunade . . ." said Naruto as he turned to the former jinchuriki. "She's called for a Kage meeting at the Hokage Tower next week."

"Did the surveillance teams in Amegakure finally find something?" asked Temari as she raised an eyebrow.

"She wouldn't tell me. All she told me to do was come here and tell you about the upcoming Kage meeting, that's all," said Naruto as he crossed his arms behind his head and let out a small yawn. "But from the way she told me my instructions; the situation isn't good, at best."

"That doesn't sound good . . ." mumbled Temari as she leaned back against the wall. ". . . Not good at all."

"What do we do Gaara?" asked Kankuro as he turned to his brother.

"Simple, we go to the Kage meeting . . ." said Gaara as he crossed his arms as he looked around the room. "We need to know all that we can in order to get Izuka back. This may be the break we need. Any info is good info at this point, no matter how bad it is . . ."

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