Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
When Naruto finally woke up, he wasn't at all surprised by the pounding headache he had. The burning pain throughout most of his body had been dulled to a simple irritation, but it was very obvious to him that he had strained his chakra network more than he should have. It would be quite some time before he would be able to abuse the Hiraishin again without causing himself some serious problems.
He sat up slowly, taking the time to observe the mostly empty room it seemed he was being kept in. For the most part, it was partially set up as a hospital room, just without the hospital part being noticeable in any real way. A chair was positioned off to one side of the room, a set of clean clothes piled on top. Surprisingly, his sword and kusarigama were also present, having been carefully leaned up against the wall beside said chair. That alone was enough to tell him that he wasn't a prisoner in the village anymore.
Getting out of the bed, he sealed his weapons away into his arms, unsealing a change of his own clothes as he went. As if on cue, however, the door swung open as a rather dishevelled looking Temari walked in hastily and locked the door behind her with a little too much force. She turned around, only to freeze and blush at the site of Naruto pulling his pants up and buckling his belt, completely uncaring of her presence.
"How long have I been out?" he asked calmly.
Temari regained her posture. "Almost two days," she answered quickly, her eyes scanning the teen for any traces of the injuries he had obtained, but to no avail. "Our medics couldn't figure out what was wrong with you. You have too much chakra to become chakra exhausted, and as a jinchuuriki, you couldn't have gotten chakra poisoning. Care to explain why I've had to keep an ANBU squad protecting you for all this time?"
Naruto ignored her question, taking his time in putting his shirt on before turning to her emotionlessly. "Who knows of the Hiraishin?"
The blonde hesitated for a second. "Only me, as far as I can tell. No one has come forth demanding your immediate capture for the sake of obtaining the technique. I'd say you're safe in that regard."
He nodded, accepting her answer. "My condition was a result of that jutsu. My current efficiency with it is not good enough to negate the rather potent side effects of space/time manipulation. Being a jinchuuriki also doesn't help the matter. It's nice to know you were worried though."
"Tsk, don't get ahead of yourself. My concern stemmed from the political side of things. With your incapacitation being widely known, many are suggesting we place a command seal on you to replace the jinchuuriki Suna has lost. They have been increasingly persistent in making sure I know of their interests and demands."
Naruto wasn't unaware of the effort Temari put into making sure her words didn't convey the difficulty it took for her to so casually talk about her brother in such a way. That only begged the question, "Your brother?" he asked curiously.
Temari tightened her jaw at the question. "He's… gone. Our medics won't touch him, and even if they would, it wouldn't help. I've had to lock him away within what's left of the Kazekage tower under constant guard, much like you. I can't take the chance that someone will try to take advantage of either of your conditions and steal a Bijuu."
"Smart, but also unnecessary on my part. My seal can't be tampered with without the key, and trying to add any more seals that would interfere with it in any detrimental way would fail. My parents took paranoia to an inhuman level when they made preparations for the life I might have," Naruto explained, pausing for a moment to gauge Temari's current state before continuing. "Now that the easy part is over, I'm going to need you to offer up a new host for the Ichibi."
"Why?" Temari asked sternly, glaring at him. "It is contained right now, and no one is getting hurt any more than they were before. It doesn't need a new host."
Naruto sighed and looked around. "Is this room sealed?" he asked, receiving a nod from the girl, "Good. Then let me ask you… do you know of the Akatsuki?"
"No."
"They are an organisation intent on the capture and collection of the nine Bijuu. For what purpose is up for some debate, but that's beside the point. Your brother is now the easiest of the nine to obtain. A Bijuu locked in a vessel that can't even fight back. There is nothing stopping them from coming here and taking him for their own. And before you say something about the village defending him, keep in mind that very few in this village seem to even care about your brother or the Bijuu. Any one of the members of Akatsuki could match me in a fight, if not outright crush me, and I just single handedly took down this village's most powerful weapon," he explained. "The Ichibi needs to be sealed into a new jinchuuriki, one that is capable of defending themselves, or at least escape from those sent after them."
Temari sneered at him. "You want someone else to go through that hell? To be hated and ostracised by everyone, all for the sake of keeping that thing safe," she said angrily. "Shouldn't you understand what that's like, of all people? What makes you think that resealing the Ichibi is a necessity? Let Akatsuki have it, there's still eight more for them to gather. If you care so much about them having them all, then just go and make sure the other jinchuuriki are protected."
Taking a deep calming breath, Temari held up her hands apologetically. "Look, I'm thankful for what you've done. Saving the village from the Ichibi's rampage and fixing the seal was not expected or required of you, so I'm more than willing to do my best to make sure that the debt is repaid. However, I will not put another child through the agony and suffering that I was forced to watch my brother endure. Not as a kunoichi, a Kage, or even a human being, will I allow myself to knowingly put anyone through that. I'd sooner kill myself."
Naruto's expression softened ever so slightly. "I can respect the stance you're trying to take on this problem, but the Ichibi needs a new vessel," he said. "It doesn't need to be a child, and it doesn't have to be known to the public. In fact, it would be best if the identity of the person went unknown to all but the most trusted you know. I'm confident that I can formulate a seal to your liking, and I can assure you that it won't be as faulty as the one your father put on your brother."
"Even if it isn't a child, and even if the identity is kept a secret, how can I expect anyone to go along with it now that you've told me they would inevitably be hunted down by this Akatsuki?" she asked.
He gave a half-hearted shrug. "You could neglect to divulge that particular piece of information, if you wanted to. Or, you could tell them and hope that they go along with it anyway. In the end, it doesn't really matter, so long as you get someone to do it. I'll need another day, at least, before I'm ready to perform a sealing of such magnitude again, so you have a bit of time to come to a decision. If you can't find someone on your own, then I will be taking the Bijuu into my own hands."
Temari crossed her arms irritably. "Can't you just take the stupid thing in the first place? That will solve both our problems."
"I could," Naruto said, "But that wouldn't be right. For one, removing the Bijuu will kill your brother, properly this time. Despite your hatred of it, the Ichibi is going to be the last part of him left, and you have the right to see that it is taken care of properly. I would think that hand picking the person to bear the same burden would be somewhat relieving, making sure that the next jinchuuriki of the Ichibi honours your brother's sacrifice."
Naruto gave her a moment to digest the idea, mentally patting himself on the back for coming up with such an excuse on the spot as he had. While he did feel for the girl, he simply couldn't relate to her pain, making it little more than an annoyance to him and his goals. The Ichibi was an important issue that he needed to deal with before he left, but it was also one that he needed to be dealt with quickly. Every minute he wasted with niceties was a minute more that Tayuya was in the hands of the bad side of Konoha. With Jiraiya more than likely being behind it, Naruto had no doubt that the girl was mere hours away from sitting in a cell somewhere underneath the village awaiting the council's inevitable decision.
He could hope for Tsunade to try and settle things, but the Senju was only so helpful when it came to something like this. Whatever information she revealed about Tayuya's condition could potentially backfire into something far worse. While Naruto was more than determined to get her back before it came to that, he wasn't a god. His success in saving her was dependant entirely on how quick Konoha was to react to her, and he could only hope that the final decision was stalled while he dealt with the issues of Suna.
Temari, for her part, was more than aware of Naruto's sweet talk. She knew that he was aware of Tayuya's disappearance, and also probably of where she was and who might have taken her. His calm and collected attitude was simply too unnatural for the situation, allowing her to immediately pick up on the façade. She did momentarily wonder why he would bother, but came to the conclusion that he was just making sure to keep her happy, and as such, more likely to continue honouring their deal.
His stupid façade aside, he was making some pretty good points in regards to the Ichibi. She would be more at ease if she were allowed to choose who would take the role, ensuring that they made progress towards fixing Suna's perception of jinchuuriki. Temari wouldn't let him know it, but even in knowing the false honesty behind them, Naruto's mildly sugar coated words of comfort were doing their intended task.
"I can choose the person… completely on my own?" she asked unsurely.
"Unless you want to run it by your council, but I wouldn't recommend that. He's your brother, so you should choose his successor, so to speak."
Temari had to agree with him on that. She had spent the past two days ordering her ANBU to shadow several members of the council that she knew to hold little respect for her to surprising results. She found that many of them were doing underhanded dealings behind her back. While it was mostly nothing serious, usually just involving blackmailing certain businesses and well off individuals for the purpose of petty personal gain, it did run the risk of escalating out of control if left unattended. As the new Kazekage, it was Temari's duty to keep such things in check, which for the moment, meant leaving everyone in the dark on what she was going to do.
She hummed thoughtfully. "A day at least, huh? Is the Hiraishin really that draining on you?" she asked.
Naruto deadpanned at her. "When you manage to use a technique to not only move yourself through time and space, but also a giant living construct of chakra that might as well be existing inside its own pocket dimension inside of your body, then you can earn the right to speak," he drawled. "Until then, please be quiet."
"I guess modesty isn't your strong point," Temari said, chuckling softly as Naruto narrowed his eyes at her. She was thankful to have at least one person who could act at least somewhat naturally around her, instead of being on edge and overly serious in the wake of Gaara's defeat like everyone else in the village. "Do you need anything? Food or something?"
Naruto shook his head. "I'm fine," he said. "But if you don't mind, I'd prefer that only you and the ANBU know that I'm awake. I need a few hours to tend to some… personal issues."
Temari quirked her head questioningly before blushing brightly. "Oh! Uh, okay, I'll just be leaving you to it then. Although, if you'd prefer, I can have someone sent in here to help you with that. We do have kunoichi who specialise in such things," she said in embarrassment, turning her gaze away from the redhead.
Naruto too quirked his head questioningly before his face took on an expression of realisation. "Uh-huh, yeah, not what I meant. But thanks anyway. I'll keep that in mind in case the urge arises," he said casually. "But back to my actual meaning, I'll be leaving momentarily. I shouldn't be back for a little while, and it's to both our benefits if no one else knows I'm going."
"Um, alright… but how do you plan on leaving here without being seen?" she asked.
He smiled and bit his thumb. "By being clever," he said, putting his hands together in a hand seal. "Oh, and if you don't mind, please try to be here when I get back. I'm not quite sure what condition I'm going to be in after I'm done with everything," he added calmly before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.
Temari exhaled in relief. She was actually very glad to have misread his words. It would have been particularly embarrassing to have had to request one of her own kunoichi to personally attend to an S-rank jinchuuriki. Not that she thought any of the kunoichi would have refused. In fact, she was quite sure they would end up arguing over who got the job. Temari couldn't blame them either. Naruto was, in her own opinion, quite handsome. Annoying and smart-mouthed, but still good looking. It was just a shame that he seemed to already be taken, if his interest in Tayuya was of any indication.
Her personal musings made her almost disappointed by the fact that the boys companion was missing. She would have been the perfect person for Temari to ask questions regarding the enigmatic teen. Her mood quickly soured as the true reality of Tayuya's disappearance registered in her mind. It was no secret that the girl had been taken by Jiraiya and his team; a fact she found intriguing considering Shikamaru's insistence on letting the girl go. As it was, Jiraiya's actions were in direct violation of her authority as Kazekage. Even if the decision had yet to be confirmed officially, she was still the acting Kage. The Sannin's actions, despite his rights as one of the Sannin, was simply unacceptable.
Exiting the room with the haste and grace necessary to ensure no one could get a glimpse of its emptiness, Temari locked the door and turned to the ANBU she had stationed at said door. "No one is allowed in this room but me. Detain anyone who tries to go inside," she said, receiving a nod from the man before she began making her way back to her office, trying to avoid everyone she could along the way.
As she went, Temari carefully planned her next move. With Naruto now gone for a while, she could focus more of her attention towards finding whomever it was that tried to go behind her back and have Tayuya killed. Sadly, even if she found them, there wasn't much she could do. No one in Suna would approve of the perpetrator being punished too severely for his actions against an, at the time, prisoner. Coming to that realisation didn't present much of an issue for the blonde as she merely concluded that it would be in everyone's best interest to have the problem killed off.
Walking into her office, Temari pursed her lips in annoyance at having so much to deal with at one time. The repairs to the village were a simple task, but required more manpower than Suna had access to for it to be completed in a reasonable period of time. That left them in financial ruin, as they hadn't been able or prepared to take on any missions, let alone complete the ones that had been accepted before the colossal calamity that had befallen the village. Suna's income was frozen until they could get the place back into at least some kind of working form, and Temari worried that it would take too long before they could get back on their feet.
Laying her head down on her desk, Temari decided to make the most of the time she had. She would wait until Naruto got back before she made any potentially detrimental decisions. As far as she was concerned, right now was the worst possible time to anger the jinchuuriki. Although, if she was being honest, she was more worried about how to keep him happy once he returned, the revealing of his recovery being inevitable in the long run.
Closing her eyes, she allowed the exhaustion of the past few days to envelop her as she drifted off to sleep. She would go back to worrying about everything once she woke up.
Tayuya snarled angrily at the blonde, who she had easily determined to be named Ino, as she kneeled down in front of her for the umpteenth time since her capture. The redhead found the girl's name to be overly fitting as the urge to gut her like a stuffed pig became more and more prevalent as time dragged on. Surprisingly enough, Tayuya found that her anger towards the girl was comprised of several reasons, not all of which she was proud to admit either.
For one, Tayuya found herself mildly jealous of the blonde. It was clear that the pompous mind reader had gotten a good hand in the game of life when it came to looks. If she merely corrected her diet so as to not be so skinny, then the girl would become quite the bombshell in a few years. Not that she cared too much. The girl's appearance was easy to admire, but it was the rest of her that was sorely lacking in Tayuya's opinion. Ino's pathetically weak fortitude being one such factor for earning the redheads anger, which was made even more evident as the blonde flinched at Tayuya's growl.
The past two days had seen Ino spending more and more time inside Tayuya's head, and each session left its mark on the Yamanaka. Tayuya could see it in her eyes. The growing look of sympathy with every dark secret learnt, every horrid moment of her life relived within her mind, it was all becoming more and more frustrating. The blonde was supposed to be a kunoichi from one of the greatest villages to ever exist, and a Yamanaka to boot, and yet she was allowing mere memories of an enemy to cloud her mind. Ino was just lucky that she had yet to truly see anything from the darker corners of her memories, and if they maintained the pace they had been setting, then hopefully they would reach Konoha before that happened.
As it was though, Tayuya had found it a little interesting that Ino had rapidly increased the number of mind reading sessions in such a short time. Even now, as her two teammates slept, the blonde was up and ready for another leap into the redhead's mind. It was reaching a point of borderline obsession that Tayuya simply wasn't prepared to deal with, but luckily, for her, it was clearly obvious that Ino couldn't keep up her efforts. Tayuya's clear intentions of fighting the intrusion at every turn was enough to have the blonde backing away from her with an exhausted sigh.
"Do you think he'll come after you?" Ino asked softly, sitting herself down in front of the girl.
Tayuya tilted her head questioningly. "What?"
"Naruto. Do you think he'll come to rescue you?" Ino clarified.
Tayuya deadpanned at her. "Why the hell would I think that?"
The blonde shrugged. "Everyone likes to have hope in these kinds of situations," she said, a sly smirk forming as she gave Tayuya a knowing look. "Besides, I've been inside your head, so I know that you at least have the hots for him. I would think that the fantasy of him coming to rescue you would be tucked away somewhere in there."
"Yeah, right, because two little moments of sexual attraction automatically mean that I'm now fantasising about him as if he were some knight in shining armour," Tayuya snorted. "Do yourself a favour and grow up. That kinda thinking is going to lead you to a nice shallow grave."
"So you're telling me that you honestly don't think that he'll come after you, despite everything he's already done?"
Tayuya rolled her eyes. "Why are you talking to me? Isn't the whole point of mind reading to eliminate the need for talk? It's not as if what I say to you means anything. You'll just find the truth out anyway," she said.
Ino smiled. "Well, it never hurts to at least try and be friendly."
"Says the girl that wanted nothing more than walk me straight to my execution."
"That was…"
"Before you started reading my mind," Tayuya interrupted with a sneer. "Yeah, cause that makes me feel so much better about this. I mean really, is my life is so fucked up that it's causing you to make a major one-eighty. Or are you simply that weak minded?"
Ino's face fell. "Well, it's not like I have much experience with this stuff. You're the first person I've ever interrogated to such an extent, and none of the others had ever gone through so much. How else am I supposed to react?"
"In most cases, you'd be expected to ignore your feelings," Shikamaru droned, earning surprised looks from both girls as he sat up and stared at them emotionlessly. "But this isn't exactly most cases," he added, moving to sit off to the side of both of them.
Tayuya groaned. "Fantastic, more talking. I still don't see why you can't just kill me already."
"I already tried that," Shikamaru said. "When Naruto brought you to Konoha for Tsunade to heal, I found you in the hospital and attempted to kill you. Obviously that didn't work out, since you're still very much alive."
"What happened? Did you shit yourself at the thought of actually killing someone?" Tayuya asked in amusement.
"Not exactly. I ended up stabbing Naruto as he tried to stop me, which I ended up realising was the best outcome of that day," he explained. "Later that day, there was a council meeting, the focus of which was Naruto. He shrugged off the stabbing as if it was nothing, but he warned me against ever making an attempt on your life again. I didn't heed the warning straight away, but after he held the village hostage for nothing more than his own and your safety, well, there wasn't much room to argue."
Tayuya laughed. "So he warned you, and yet you still decided to help capture me and drag me back for an execution? Oh, that is some downright stupidity right there!"
Shikamaru remained as cool headed as ever as he waited for Tayuya to calm down from her sudden laughing fit. "Smart, stupid, it doesn't matter how you label it, as long as I know that what I'm doing is right, then I'll be fine," he said. "I saw what he was prepared to do to Konoha at the mere threat of you being killed, or worse, and there wasn't a hint of unwillingness. I have no doubt that the result of your actual death would be far worse. You killed my teammate, my best friend, and I won't ever forgive or forget it, but I will not let my desire for revenge lead to the death and destruction of everything else I hold dear. Naruto will come for you eventually, and when he does, I intend to hand you back over to him in the exact condition that I helped take you in… alive and unharmed,"
"Until then, I suggest you get some rest. We don't have much further to travel until we reach Konoha, and if by chance Naruto doesn't manage to get to us before then, you will find yourself needing all the energy you can save. Compared to what you'll face there, Ino's mental readings will seem gentle," Shikamaru continued. He stood up and offered the two a bored stare, "I'm going for a walk. I suggest you take my advice. You should also get some rest, Ino. Pushing yourself too far won't do any of us any good."
As the Nara walked off, Tayuya took it upon herself to send a smug smirk in Ino's direction. "Well, would you look at that… seems that your village's stupid sense of honour and teamwork isn't quite as perfect as you'd lead everyone to believe."
Ino ignored her and took off after Shikamaru, quickly catching up to the boy's lazy walking pace. "What the hell, Shikamaru!" she hissed, grabbing him by the shoulder and turning him towards her. "Are you seriously prepared to give up on the mission like that? You would be betraying the village, betraying Chōji."
"We've already betrayed the village. Just wait, as soon as we get home, Tsunade is going to have all of us punished for continuing with the mission even after Jiraiya revealed his true intentions. I was there when she made it more than clear that Naruto wasn't to be messed with. We just kidnapped the one person anyone has ever known him to show a vested interest in. I'd say we crossed the line of betrayal a couple of days ago," he replied coldly. "And don't try to single me out on this. I've noticed your behaviour towards her change. How about you let me in on what you saw in her memories that made you so sympathetic towards her?"
"That isn't the point! Sympathy means nothing so long as I still intend on completing the mission. You're talking about it as if you never intended on finishing it at all."
Shikamaru sighed. "I already told you what will happen if we complete this mission. Whatever sentence Tayuya will get in Konoha, it won't be to Naruto's liking, and I highly doubt that he'll be so kind as to simply blackmail or ransom his way into winning," he said. "I don't care how strong Konoha claims to be. I don't care if we receive promises from people like Jiraiya that everything will turn out all right. I'm not willing to risk everything for a handful of people who want to control the Kyuubi, or even for the people who just want to see their idea of justice dealt."
Ino glared at him. "So what? Are you now perfectly okay with letting Chōji's killer walk free?"
"I was prepared to do that quite a while ago, Ino. After I calmed down from trying to kill her, I started to think about things. Do you know what I figured out?" he asked. "We're hypocrites who are just too self-centred to admit that maybe we should step back on things we've already stepped into. Tayuya was simply following orders when she killed Chōji, and while I can never forgive her for being the one who did it, I cannot see her as the reason Chōji died."
"But she killed him!"
"And?" he countered. "I've killed people, our parents have killed people, our friends, and eventually even you, will end up killing someone. It's a part of life for us. Suna was responsible for a lot of deaths during the invasion, and yet we are still allied to them. Tell me, why aren't we trying to enact vengeance on them?"
"That's different. They were misled and manipulated by Orochimaru into attacking us."
"So why are you so quick to want Tayuya punished for something that she was more than likely also manipulated into doing?" Shikamaru said, sighing frustratedly. "Look, I don't care what you want to believe, but I can't blame Tayuya for Chōji's death."
"Then who do you blame?" Ino asked. "If you've thought about it so much, and if Tayuya isn't the one, then who is it? Who do you think is responsible for Chōji's death?"
Shikamaru snarled. "The one we were out there for in the first place…"
Ino's eyes widened in realisation as Shikamaru turned and began walking away with a scowl on his face.
"…Sasuke Uchiha."
Temari sauntered tiredly towards her bedroom, feet dragging along the floor as she went. Anyone who saw her would be able to tell that she was barely awake, her eyes fighting to stay open as she kept a half-lidded gaze on where she was walking. Her earlier attempt at napping in her office had backfired almost immediately. Some of the council members, consisting most notably of those that didn't necessarily like her, had found her and had practically spent as long as humanly possible voicing their disapproval at her incompetence and unworthiness of the Kage title.
Thankfully, Baki had been more than willing to enter the scene and deal with things swiftly, but the damage had already been done. Temari forewent the sleep she so desperately needed and spent the rest of the day working herself into the ground in an attempt to not only make an early dent in the wall of issues that Suna now faced, but also to try and re-establish the reputation that some were no doubt already in the process of deconstructing. The result of this, however, was her now current state of exhaustion and a dull throb behind her eyes that promised the pain and misery of the headache to come.
Despite having remained in her office until late at night, only managing to get home during the early hours of the morning, Temari had yet to hear anything about Naruto's return. Neither he, nor any of the ANBU stationed at his room had come to update her on anything. She figured that he would simply show up tomorrow, but that didn't stop her from feeling annoyed. More and more pressure was being put on her to deal with the Ichibi before it had a chance to break loose again and the last thing she wanted to do was mess with the seal while Naruto was out of the village. But it wasn't her own meddling she had to worry about. There were many in Suna who overestimated themselves in many things, Fūinjutsu being a prime example. As strong as Naruto's seal may be, all it took was one idiot to make a single crack and the whole thing could fall apart.
Pushing most of her stressful thoughts to the back of her mind, Temari entered her room and sluggishly went about getting ready for bed. She didn't bother turning on the light, or even closing the door as she walked in, gently resting her fan up against the wall next to her wardrobe. It wasn't until she had stepped away from her trusty weapon that she felt the presence of someone else in the room. Without so much as a split moment pause in her step, Temari untucked a small fan from underneath the red sash around her waist. With the grace and elegance expected of a Kage's daughter, she spun around, whipping the fan around as she went, and unleashed a ferocious tornado of destruction that tore the room apart.
It was unclear if the intruder had been expecting such a violent response, but it was obvious that they were at least prepared for something of the sort. The notable lack of any blood or shredded body pieces was enough to let Temari know that they had managed to evade her attack. For a moment, the blonde even considered the possibility of having simply fabricated the sensation due to stress and lack of sleep, but the reappearance of the presence behind her quickly assured her of the reality of it all.
Reacting completely on instinct, Temari ducked, narrowly dodging a syringe aimed for her neck. Spinning on her feet, she whipped her fan around again and sliced deeply into the intruders leg before rolling back to avoid the retaliative senbon thrown at her. Getting back to her feet, she used her fan to deflect several more senbon before charging straight at the attacker, who was now quite easy to identify as a woman with a blank mask covering her face. Temari's eyes locked onto the syringe as she dropped her fan and grabbed the woman's wrist tightly. Suna might not have had much to challenge the other villages with, but poisons and toxins of all sorts were still a high point of their reputation. If she could simply obtain the syringe, then tracking down the origins of its contents would be a simple matter.
Temari swatted away the woman's attempted punch and kicked the sizable gash in her leg before grabbing her wrist with both hands and twisting her arm up behind her back. The woman seemed to ignore the pain, twisting against the hold to elbow Temari in the side of the head before turning and driving her foot into the blonde's gut. Temari reeled back slightly before the woman grabbed her hair and pulled her head up and to the side, giving her a clear view of her neck. Grabbing her wrist again, Temari dropped and twisted herself, dragging the woman along with her and rolling the both of them onto the floor.
She was quick to straddle the woman, pinning her arms up above her head and moving to take the syringe from her, only for her eyes to widen in horror. The syringe was empty. An almost unnoticeable pain in her neck was enough for Temari to realise that she had been stuck during their roll to the floor, followed by the rapid loss of feeling in her arms and legs that left her quickly slumping to the ground next to the masked woman. Her body felt excruciatingly drained as her eyes began to get heavier and heavier. Whatever she had been drugged with, it was damn strong, and left her at the mercy of the woman that was now stumbling back to her feet.
It wasn't until a few moments later that Temari realised that the drug wasn't going to knock her out completely. Instead, it seemed that she was going to be left paralysed and helpless for some time. Either that or she was simply resisting it really well. Considering all she knew from her brother's fascination with poisons, Temari was pretty sure it wasn't the latter. That only served to make her panic further, her mind racing in an attempt to figure out just what use she could be in this particular state.
Needless to say, none of her guesses were very pleasant.
She couldn't do anything but listen and watch as two men entered the room. One went straight for the woman, picking her up and walking her off, most likely to be treated medically. The second man walked up to Temari and picked her up before walking through the house to the lounge room. She was unceremoniously dumped onto a chair, pulled into a sitting position, and held there so that she was left staring at the elderly man sitting across from her who returned her stare with a single emotionless eye.
Danzō Shimura.
"If it is any consolation, Tsunade has nothing to do with this," the crippled elder said, "I am working completely of my own volition. You however, will not be granted such luxury."
Temari glared at him in silent rage, completely disregarding her confusion at being held hostage by one of Konoha's most respected elders.
"It has come to my attention that the jinchuuriki of the Ichibi has become… vulnerable. With the Kyuubi jinchuuriki also apparently residing in this village at this current time, I simply couldn't pass up the opportunity," he explained. The narrowing of the girl's eyes was enough to give a response as he turned to look over to the corner of the room, the man holding Temari's head turning her to see the dead bodies of three Suna council members. "Only fools believe that betrayal will be met with anything other than further betrayal. It is surprising how many in this village are so eager to turn at even the slightest hint of a reward."
Temari was turned to look back at Danzō.
"While it would be the far simpler outcome, I find it difficult to believe that you would ever betray your village. A truly honourable trait to have, especially for an aspiring Kage. It is unfortunate that you are not a shinobi of the leaf. Your loyalty and potential would have been quite the addition to my forces," he said, frowning as he levelled his gaze back to Temari. "Sadly, you are not a Konoha shinobi, nor are you a viable recruit for my own uses. Your position makes my job much more complicated than I would like… but never the less, I have ways to make even those as loyal as you bend to my will."
Temari wanted to snarl at the man defiantly as she mentally prepared herself for whatever he was going to try in an attempt to make her do what he wanted. No matter what it was, she was sure she would sooner die than give into anything he could dish out.
…If only the world was that kind.
She watched in growing confusion and horror as two more people walked into the room. Her sensei, Baki, and her brother, Kankuro. Neither of them seemed to notice her as they walked in and stood next to Danzō, their eyes dead and unfocussed, as if they were just mindless puppets on a string. A rather interesting analogy considering Suna's fame for puppetry, and Kankuro's own interest in the art.
Danzō almost smiled at the look in the girl's eyes. "As you can see, while I might not be able to put you under my complete control for fear of being found out, those closest to you are not quite as unreachable," he said. "Despite your proficiency as a kunoichi, it is disappointing to see that you still hold the same flaw that so many are becoming too quick to develop. Attachment to others will be everyone's downfall, just as it is now yours."
"If you wish to see your teacher and brother remain alive, then I suggest you do exactly as I say. Failure to complete any of the tasks I give you, or will give you, will result in their deaths, so you will have no one to blame but yourself." He calmly stood up and tapped his cane against the ground, both Kankuro and Baki falling unconscious and collapsing in some sort of display of his control over the two. "The Kyuubi jinchuuriki belongs to Konoha, and as such I refuse to allow it to run off. The Ichibi is of little interest to me for the moment, so your co-operation would go far in ensuring that Suna retains whatever strength the beast still offers you. In the end, it is in your best interest as the Kage of this village to help me. Suna is in no position to do much of anything anymore, and without the aid of Konoha, it will surely fall."
The crippled old man internally smirked at his triumph, the hopelessness in Temari's eyes being of great amusement to him. With a subtle nod to the ANBU holding the blonde's head up, he gave the order for another syringe to be emptied into the girl's neck. "I'll give you some time to think things over and come to your senses," he said. "Once you wake up, you'll find that neither your brother or sensei will remember anything of what has happened here. Trying to warn them, or attempting to remove the seals, will result in theirs, and your, deaths." Danzō allowed himself to smile slightly as Temari's eyes became unfocussed. "I look forward to your co-operation."
As Temari finally collapsed into unconsciousness, Danzō began to fade, his image flickering out of existence to reveal another blank masked ANBU standing in his place. The ROOT operatives quickly went about putting Temari back in her room, making sure to clean up everything as they went and dispose of the council members' bodies. Unfortunately, for them, their proficiency helped little in regards to noticing the small square of paper peeling itself from a wall and flying off in the shape of a butterfly.
Sometime later, on the other side of the village, the butterfly finally returned to Konan, with all the information it had obtained. After processing everything carefully, Konan found herself in a difficult situation. Nagato had ordered her to stay out of anything not pertaining to the freedom of the Kyuubi jinchuuriki, while also making sure that Akatsuki were not traceable to any of it either. But now, as that man made his intentions known to her, she simply couldn't allow herself to stand by and watch as more lives were ruined by his manipulations and blackmail.
Her emotionless expression finally broke as her eyes narrowed into a furious glare, her lips twisting themselves into a snarl. Had anyone who had only known her since Yahiko's death seen her now, they would have thought her an imposter for showing such blatant anger. Rage filled her, and without Nagato around to object to her desires, Konan found herself barely holding back her need to slaughter every single one of Danzō's men. Luckily, she was able to compose herself before losing too much control, but that only led to a more calculated thought process on how to destroy Danzō's hold over Suna. Her amber eyes locked onto her Akatsuki ring as a plan began forming in her mind. One that would allow her some petty revenge, while also quenching some of her growing curiosity towards the Kyuubi jinchuuriki.
Nagato would understand her reasons, and even if he didn't, Konan didn't care. This was something she had to do, something for the greater good of everything and everyone.
'…for the greater good of others,' she thought to herself, smiling sadly. 'It's what we formed Akatsuki for… right, Yahiko.'
She took a calming breath before setting her face back into its usual emotionless expression. She had some people to kill and a jinchuuriki to question, and she knew exactly the man to help her with it all.
Naruto was more than a little pleased with himself as he reappeared, managing to drop himself in the exact spot he had left from. His brief moment of cheerfulness was extremely short lived however, as the presence of two others in his room became apparent. He didn't even need to extend his senses to know it wasn't Temari. Whomever the two were, they had far too much chakra to be the young blonde, and the ANBU that were supposed to be guarding his room were mysteriously absent. That left a few possibilities open for consideration, but no matter which one it was, Naruto was less than happy about having to deal with yet another problem so quickly.
He had already started to regret coming to Suna in the first place anyway, so this was just more icing on the cake that was being repeatedly smashed into his face.
With an unimpressed look on his face, Naruto turned calmly to stare at his would be assassins, kidnappers, or whatever they were hoping to be, only to come face to face with two people he truly, honestly didn't want to be facing. A taller woman with blue hair and amber eyes, and a short, hunched over man with half his face covered. Both of whom donned the red cloud patterned cloak of the Akatsuki. To say the Naruto was surprised would be mostly true, despite him having jokingly considered them as a possibility just seconds beforehand.
Maintaining the tense silence that hung in the air, Naruto studied the two, preparing himself for whatever shit storm they were intending on putting him through. It was clear that they too were studying him, with the woman being the most interested in seemed. In the back of his mind, he really hoped it was simply because she wanted to kill him the most. Having an Akatsuki member interested in him in that way would be on a scale of messed up he just wasn't willing to live with. Still, it would make for an interesting fight none the less.
The man, if he could be called that, was quite possibly the most dangerous, if Naruto's assessment was anything to go by. His apparent stature left a lot to the imagination as to what was hidden underneath his cloak and his chakra was far too well contained, as if its very movement was a conscious action on his part. His seemingly uninterested staring was also not a good sign in Naruto's books. He was obviously very confident in his skills to so casually disregard a prime opportunity to assess an opponent before a fight.
As the not-natural redhead went about his assessment and calculations, Konan went through her own, quickly being more than a little unimpressed with the boy that stood before her. He wasn't reacting in any way that made sense for the situation, and that unnerved her. She was very careful to make sure that her presence until now went completely unnoticed, so it should have been impossible for him to have prepared for an encounter with the likes of Akatsuki. Yet, in spite of that, he was disturbingly calm and composed.
His calmness, however, did nothing to hide his fatigue, as the boy was quite clearly still recovering from something highly exerting. Even in knowing that though, Konan couldn't help but be slightly humbled by the jinchuuriki's chakra, and she doubted that Sasori was much different. The only other person she knew to have such an oppressive and thick chakra presence was Nagato, but even then, her lifelong friend couldn't quite match the untamed wildness of the chakra that resided within the boy. Her further probing with her senses only led to a slightly alarming discovery.
…his chakra was growing… rapidly.
She wasn't sure how, but Konan was certain that the jinchuuriki's reserves were expanding exponentially as they were simply standing there. At the rate he was going, and assuming that he wasn't going to slow down anytime soon, it was shockingly apparent that he was easily capable of matching both Nagato and Kisame in pure chakra quantity. The weight of the increasing chakra presence bore down on the two Akatsuki members, seemingly warning them, while also outright daring them to make the first move.
"We aren't here to fight," Konan said quickly, trying to defuse the situation before they were left fighting an enraged jinchuuriki.
Naruto smirked at her, his chakra continuing to grow in both quantity and weight as dark orange markings formed around his eyes, two lines seemingly dripping their way down from his eyes to cut through the noticeably darker whisker markings on his cheeks. "Sorry, but I find that difficult to believe. And if you think I'm going to let you have the Kyuubi without a fight at all, then you are sorely mistaken."
Sasori growled from his place next to Konan, his cloak rustling slightly as a large segmented tail of bladed metal slithered out from under it. "This was a foolish idea. We are not equipped for this."
Konan narrowed her eyes at the jinchuuriki. She had heard of this technique before, but standing in the same room as someone applying it was a very strange sensation. The last time she had heard anything regarding the art of Senjutsu, it had been from Orochimaru as the Sannin had voiced his frustration in not being able to perfect it. Very few were said to possess the concentration required to use it efficiently, and the only person left who was known to apply it in battle was the toad sage, Jiraiya. To think that a boy, a jinchuuriki of all people, was able to master it was simply unbelievable.
"The Kazekage is in danger," she said sternly, feeling an immediate easing on the pressure focused on her.
Naruto frowned. "Explain," he said, putting his hand on the hilt of his katana and preparing for what was no doubt some ridiculous ploy to distract him before attacking him.
"Danzō Shimura. He has placed seals on the girl's brother and sensei. He means to manipulate her into doing whatever he wants, which I imagine doesn't bode well for neither you, nor this village," Konan explained.
"And I am supposed to care about this, why?" Naruto asked flippantly, earning a surprised look from Konan and an almost respectful one from Sasori.
"Do you not care about her in some way?" Konan asked curiously.
Naruto hummed thoughtfully. "Even if I did, which I neither confirm nor deny, what makes you think I would be stupid enough to let you people know?" he asked. "You would just take note of it, wait until later, then come back, and kidnap her to use as leverage over me. Sorry to say this, but I already have a kidnapped girl to save, so I'd rather not have to deal with another one."
"The brat does raise a good point," Sasori growled.
"When did you two get into the village?" Naruto questioned curiously.
"I have been here for a few days, as well as being the one to orchestrate your escape from the high security wing of Suna's prisons. My associate here has only been in the village for a short time, as per my request," Konan explained.
Sasori pointed the tip of his tail at the woman in annoyance. "I am not comfortable with you telling him so much. Hurry up and get to the point."
"I agree. How about you just come right out and tell me what you want?" Naruto said. "If you aren't here to capture me, then I really don't know what else you could want. And your interest in Danzō's activities is rather… intriguing."
"Whether you choose to believe it or not, you should know that Akatsuki was first formed with the sole intention of bringing about peace to this world. And while that is still our main goal, our methods of obtaining it have changed," Konan explained.
"Uh-huh, sounds great. Let me guess, you plan on gathering the Bijuu so as to decimate enough of the world that exists now so that you can instil fear in those left in the wake of said chaotic genocide that any and all future generations never even dare to take up arms against their fellow man for fear of bringing about another event like it? Sound about right?" Naruto rambled, quickly rolling his eyes at Konan's mild look of surprise. "You idiots are all the same. Thinking you're the first to come up with such a stupid plan. Why not try simply moving on?"
Sasori chuckled. "Finally. Someone else understand the childishness of it all."
"So… is that truly how you feel? Have you lost complete faith in the possibility of peace?" Konan asked disappointedly. "Shouldn't a sage be more optimistic about the outcome of the world around them?"
Naruto grinned. "Oh? So you know what this little trick is. That's interesting," he said flippantly, "However, I highly doubt that you came here to question me about my level of optimism. You said something about Danzō manipulating the Kazekage. Why bother telling me? Akatsuki is known to do dirty jobs, so why not simply align yourself with him in return for the Ichibi?"
"Hmm, a logical thinker as well. It truly is a shame that you are off limits, boy. You would have made a most invaluable spy," Sasori commented. "If you wish to know the reason behind our refusal to work with the likes of Danzō Shimura, then I would suggest asking our leader," he glanced at Konan, "And maybe her."
Konan remained emotionless. "There are… personal reasons behind it. Needless to say, you will never hear of Akatsuki working with Danzō."
"Duly noted. Now why are you here exactly?"
"The devastation wrought by Danzō's hand is widespread, and his reach is far more expansive than even the Hokage could imagine. I have experienced firsthand the pain that can be caused by the manipulations of that man, as has our leader. I wish to offer a truce between us so as to properly deal with his attempts at taking hold over this village," she said.
Naruto took a moment to consider it before crossing his arms and staring at them questioningly. "Why couldn't you two simply deal with it all yourselves? Why am I even a factor in this?"
Sasori grumbled. "Neither of us obtain the necessary knowledge or skill with Fūinjutsu to safely remove the seals placed on the Kazekage's brother and sensei," he said irritably, hating to admit his own shortcomings. "Based on my spy network, your talent in said field is exceptional; hence you are the only real option as of this moment. I have already dealt with the men that Danzō had sent here, but it didn't matter with them. Their minds were not needed to be intact. I highly doubt that such treatment would be accepted with the others."
Naruto nodded in understanding before turning his attention solely to Konan. "What's your name?"
She hesitated momentarily before answering. "Konan."
"Alright then, Konan. To ensure that you don't stab me in the back at some point, I'm going to need you to give me your ring," he said.
"How do you know about the rings?" she questioned sternly.
Naruto replied by pulling Orochimaru's ring out of his pocket. "It's amazing what you can learn by sifting through the right shitholes of this world," he said, quickly sealing the ring into his arm and holding his hand out for Konan's. "If it's consolation, I don't really know what you use them for yet, but I do know they are important in some way. If you truly want to have a truce between us, then you will need to hand over something that can at least ensure that you won't outright attack me."
Konan narrowed her eyes at him. "You'll keep it," she said accusingly.
"Maybe… and maybe you'll try to capture me. I guess neither of us can trust the other at this point, and I'm not comfortable working with you while you have the upper hand."
With the faintest of nasal huffs, Konan admitted defeat. The jinchuuriki made a very fair point, and she would never allow herself to work with the likes of herself had she been in his position. If there was any hope of getting him on her side against Danzō, then it was through mutual understanding and sacrifice. She took off her ring and looked down at it hesitantly. She knew it would hamper Akatsuki's efforts if yet another ring was lost, and she knew that Nagato would be hurt by her disobedience, but none of that mattered to her at the moment.
She tossed the ring to Naruto, who caught it and immediately sealed it into his arm. "Good, now, I have just one more question. Why do I need your help in dealing with anything here? You already told me all I need to know to deal with it by myself," Naruto said.
"I was hoping that this truce would go further than this one occasion," Konan stated. "Danzō is not someone I am comfortable with letting run free to do what he wants. As it is, you are the only person who has the readily available skill to counter his seals. An alliance against him would be the best outcome of this night."
Naruto nodded. "Right. So it's still just a personal reason for you," he said offhandedly before turning to Sasori. "What exactly are your reasons for going along with her little plan here?"
Sasori grunted. "I am not bound to Akatsuki. Working with them is simply beneficial to my own desires and goals, as is going along with this plan. So long as I get what I want, I am more than happy to keep my mouth shut."
"And what do you get out of this?"
The puppet master chuckled. "More puppets for my collection and more spies in prime locations."
"Fair enough," Naruto said, shrugging slightly before adopting a thoughtful expression. "Alright. I'll work with you for the sake of dealing with Danzō. The old geezer has been on my case for a while now too, and to be honest it was getting quite annoying. But before we do anything, I'm going to need the Kazekage and her brother. Konan, you go and retrieve Temari. Tail-guy, you go and grab her brother. Bring them both back here and wait for me."
"And where exactly are you planning on going?" Sasori growled, visibly annoyed by his new title.
Naruto smirked. "You said Danzō thinks he has a hold over Suna, right? Well, I'm going to make sure that he still thinks he does. Wouldn't bode well if he knew he had been cut off so quickly. If anything I've heard about him is true, then it would only make him bolster his efforts."
"And how exactly do you plan on accomplishing that?" Konan inquired.
"With a little bit of luck, and a whole lot of ass kissing," Naruto answered, pursing his lips as he did so. "It might even damage my pride. But that's for me to worry about. You two hurry up and go get the other two. I'll handle the sensei."
The two Akatsuki members watched as Naruto left quickly, a tense silence once again taking over the room.
"I trust that you meant what you said about keeping quiet?" Konan asked.
Sasori began slowly shuffling towards the door. "I am a man of my word. I shall remain silent for so long as this venture proves to be to my interest or benefit. However, it is you who should really be thinking about this. How do you think your friend is going to react to you taking these actions of your own accord?"
Konan frowned. "Just do as you're told. I will deal with Pein when the time comes."
The puppet master gave another chuckle. "Of course you will. Or, who knows… he might finally deal with you."
As he left, Konan took a moment to consider his words. While they were childhood friends, both she and Nagato had drifted slightly over the years, mostly due to the drastic change in her friend's outlook on life. Still, she doubted they had drifted far enough for him to do anything drastic to her for something as simple as this. She had been one of the founding members of Akatsuki, so Nagato knew that her actions, no matter if they interfered with Akatsuki's current goals, were at least done in respect for what they had once strived to accomplish.
But in the end, it wasn't Nagato turning on her that she was worried about. Such things were common in the shinobi world, and she accepted that. No… it was what she would do with herself should Nagato turn on her. After all, he and Akatsuki were all she had left.
She just hoped it didn't come to that. Because if it did, then she would have nothing left to lose, and nothing holding her back.
A/N:
Sorry for the hold up guys, I've just recently moved house and have been very busy. Now, as expected, the responses I received about my ability to write fight scenes was enough to cement my own personal opinion on said subject. Needless to say, I suck at fight scenes. This chapter had a small and rather pathetic fight in it, but from here on, I will be trying to keep the fights to a minimal, if not non-existent. Conflicts in the story will go one of two ways from here, being one: badly written messes from me, or two: off screen occurrences that don't require me to actually write them out yet keep the consequences in play with the rest of the story. Any and all advice and tips on writing fight scenes will be much appreciated.
In regards to the story, as you can see, Konan is playing some sort of part in things. I'm not entirely sure where I'll be taking her with it all, but I hope it isn't too stupid or unbelievable for you guys to read. Everything else is coming along slowly, unfortunately. My writing has been slowed recently by my move, as well as the increase of work in my TAFE courses. I don't know when my next update will be but I really hope it isn't too long of a wait for you all.
Reviews, as usual, are much appreciated and happily welcomed. Seriously, they help.
Not much else to talk about this time, so I'll have to catch you all next update.
Soul out!
