"So… Let me get this straight. You want to rework Gaara's seal? In what way does that benefit Konoha?" Temari scowled and folded her arms across her chest.
"Contrary to popular belief, Konoha does not like to just pretend to be the good guy," Jiraiya grumbled. "Besides— confidentially, off the record—and if you quote me I'll formally deny it— Orochimaru was my teammate and i know it's his fault your dad was killed. I'd like… The world doesn't have to be evil. We don't always have to be at each other's throats trying to wring something out of one another for our own benefit."
Kakashi sighed and nodded, smoothing the edge of the documents he was looking at. He fixed his single gray eye on one of Gaara's pale blue, trapping the boy with the unfamiliar gesture of eye contact. "It wasn't easy for Naruto in this village. I know it must have been much harder for you. Our records show that Rasa tried to have you killed at least once. There's a lot wrong about this world. This poor sealing job doesn't have to keep being one of those things."
"What are you asking for in return?" Kankuro asked suspiciously, folding his arms over his chest. His dark eyes were narrow with distrust.
"Consider it an IOU," shrugged Jiraiya.
"That's not good enough— you could ask for anything, and we'd have to accept," Temari ground out. She shifted in her chair, clearly uncomfortable. "Besides, how can I trust that you're not going to ask Gaara to show up and do terrible jobs for you just because you're offering him this?"
"I'll do it." Gaara said suddenly. Jiraiya and Kakashi looked at him, curious. Shizune was taking notes on the conversation quietly. "Whatever you want me to do, I will do it."
"We're not asking for anything right now." Jiraiya sighed, wiping his face with a heavy hand. The red lines on his cheeks stretched with the motion. "I'm sorry life has been unkind to you, kid."
"It has. But I don't want this. I am tired of senseless killing. I want to become Kazekage and take care of my village like Naruto. I want our villages to have a strong alliance, not just on paper." Gaara leaned against the table, pressing his fingers into the surface. He looked every ounce of a twelve year old boy. "I want it to be quiet in my head, when I am alone. What do I need to do?"
Kankuro and Temari bowed their heads, contemplation clear on their faces. Kankuro's jaw was tense and Jiraiya absently noticed a deep smudge in the Kabuki makeup that revealed honey-colour skin underneath.
"It's pretty simple for the two of us to do," Jiraiya explained, gesturing to him and Kakashi. "We'd just superimpose a stronger seal overtop of the old one then remove the old one. It won't be as strong as Naruto's seal, but it will do a much better job holding the tailed beast inside. It's not nearly as strong as the Kyuubi either, so you don't need to have as complicated of a matrix."
Gaara nodded. "I understand. I will do what is required to win over my council and my village. I'll be a fair leader. My village must come first, but I am grateful to you and to your village. Let's work together."
Jiraiya nodded and gestured again to Kakashi, who pulled a scroll out of the breast pocket of his flak-jacket. When the scroll was laid out, Jiraiya pointed out the different areas of the mock seal array.
"This will help to promote some actual stability in the chakra pool that is the Ichibi. These little swirly parts are actually modulators that will allow your body to get just the tiniest portion of that chakra filtered into your chakra pool, instead of just intermingling like a leaky barrel into the sea. But this—" Jiraiya tapped his middle finger on a larger, more complicated portion of the array. "This will keep that thing from influencing you so heavily. You'll be able to sleep at night."
Gaara's eyes widened so far that the older men could see the entire ring of his iris. "I can't do that. I've never been able to do that. Anything longer than—"
"That's what we're trying to fix for you, kid. Any one of you could step up and take the hat, it doesn't have to be Gaara. Your village might push for someone else. But, regardless, your village needs stability. This will help bring stability. I'm confident this will work, but we've shown that we can restrain you if you get lost in the rage of the Ichibi." Jiraiya set his hands on the scroll, holding it flat. Kakashi scratched at his left bicep, curious how the redhead would respond.
Kankuro and Temari watched him while he deliberated. At some point, Temari's hands had gripped onto the seat of her chair and they remained there, her knuckles white with the power of her grip.
Shizune waited with her pencil poised above the page, her head bowed patiently.
"Do it. Seal it. Please." He looked a little unhinged, the corners of his mouth tugging upwards as he panted in excitement. His eyes flicked to the left and right as he thought.
He chuckled, softly at first. It erupted into laughter that teetered on the edge of maniacal. The air wheezed out of him for another moment and then he seemed to come back to his senses. His hand sluggishly covered his mouth and he had the decency to look somewhat sheepish.
He stiffened as a thought occurred to him, sitting up just a bit straighter. "Temari," he began, twisting to look at his sister. "Do you think I could dream?"
She stared at him, her face looking two parts sad and another part repulsed by the foreignness of the question. "I—I hope so."
That same, strange serene expression they'd been seeing slipped over his features and he tilted his head to the side, thinking.
Jiraiya cleared his throat and picked the scroll up off of the table. He thumped it on the table after rolling it up, to even up the sides of the pages. "So, if it's alright with you, kid, I'd like to get started as soon as possible. The less time you have to leave your village without the royal family, the better. We don't want to be involved in the internal politics of your village. You handle that amongst yourselves. But the sooner this is remedied, the sooner you can get back home and take care of things."
"How long will it take?" Temari asked, sitting ramrod straight with her hands on the table.
Jiraiya checked the clock on the wall. "About five hours to draw it on. Three to six hours of chakra-infusing and shuffling through different phases. Then some tweaks. Overall, we can get it done within twenty-four hours."
"How soon can you start?" she asked.
"Within the hour."
"Please. I'd do anything if it means he can be normal," she whispered, tears in her eyes. Jiraiya looked away, uncomfortable.
"That's not necessary, kid," he whispered. "Just don't waste it."
She nodded, her tears threatening ot spill over. She looked up and away, breathing out a shaky breath before patting her brother on the shoulder. Kankuro was quiet, caught up in the surreal feeling of it all.
"I'll see you when you're done, okay, Gaara?"
Kakashi and Jiraiya stood and led him out of the room. Tears leaked out of her then, slow moving rivers down her face.
"I'll leave you two to discuss this for a little bit and then I'll guide you back out to the entryway of the Hokage's Quarters," Shizune said softly. Temari flinched, having completely forgotten she was there.
She nodded dumbly, waiting for the older woman to leave before he let herself cry properly. Kankuro didn't say a word; he sat quite still and studied the dirt under his fingernails. Eventually he set his hands on his thighs and just stared at the floor.
After a while, there was a knock at the door and Shizune popped her head back in. "Let's go get you two some tea, shall we?"
Sakura sat down on the edge of Sasuke's bed, eagerly flipping through the texts that Tsunade had assigned her to read. This particular book explained what medical chakra was and how it was converted and why.
She had come to a particularly juicy portion of theory that explained how painful it was to have someone else's chakra suddenly injected into your system. She remembered when Shizune had taught them about how to dispel genjutsu and how often she'd had to push her chakra into Naruto's system to get him out of it.
Sakura glanced at Sasuke, wondering if the seal that Orochimaru had given him was causing him pain. He looked so frail and unfortunate tucked into this hospital bed and it made her heart ache.
She crept closer to the head of the bed, moving the hair away from his face. She set a gentle hand on his cheek, passing her thumb over the skin that used to have more colour. "Why won't you wake up, Sasuke-kun? I need you."
Desperate tears formed in her eyes and she shook his shoulder. "Wake up! Please, please, wake up!"
But he didn't.
Before she knew it she was sobbing, the kind of deep rib-rattling cry that spoke of grief too deep for words. She punched her fists in the throws of a tantrum and accidentally hit the boy on the cheek.
When he didn't even flinch, she wailed in shame and rubbed her thumb soothingly over the mark she'd left. "I'm so sorry, Sasuke-kun. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it, I'm sorry."
She whispered it over and over, eventually collapsing on his shoulder in exhaustion. Gravity had its way and she found she could no longer remain that way or she'd fall off the bed. So she lowered herself to the floor, too spent to support herself. She stayed there for a while, her cheek pressed to the cool tile.
This was more than she'd cried even since her parents had passed. After a while, she pulled herself into a sitting position and scrubbed at her cheeks. Tears hadn't brought back her parents and they certainly wouldn't wake him.
Sakura rose to her feet, pacing back and forth as she fanned her face with her hands. Sobering breaths brought her back to reality and she consulted the books again, determined to learn. She'd never be this useless again.
Naruto trotted over to the aviary, checking the number on the package with trepidation. The Chuunin at the desk requested his Ninja ID Number, and Naruto fumbled with the package while he recalled the number.
"Alright and which carrier are you requesting?" The Ninja asked, blowing a bubble with the gum in his teeth. He didn't look up from the clipboard, waiting on Naruto to speak.
"Uh… Is it this?" Naruto held up the package, pointing to the number, and the ninja rolled his eyes.
"Geez, kid. Read it off to me."
"W-1-9-M-…. I can't tell if its a 0 or an 'O,'" he confessed, feeling sheepish.
"Is this your first time requesting a messenger bird?" The guy asked skeptically, his lip curling up the way it always did when adults were annoyed with him.
"Yeah," Naruto admitted, laughing uncomfortably. "Sorry, I guess I was the only one available."
"Alright, well listen. W is for Washi, because you're requesting a bigger bird. The numbers are to identify the bird, because they're trained for different routes, and then the M is for moderate priority, so this needs to go out fast. The O is for official business. Typically, these all work the same way. Now hand me over the package. Clearly you're not the sender, so let me see the official issuer tag."
The Chuunin let out a low whistle when he saw the red stamp on it. "She must either really like you or really have it out for you, kid. Can't believe the Hokage sent you on this errand. Good thing you didn't mess it up."
Naruto blushed crimson and hastily backed away from the counter. "Happy to help, sorry to waste your time, thanks a bunch!"
"I'll take care of it from here, then," the Chuunin said, smiling a little bit more kindly than before. Naruto nodded and then turned on heel and hightailed it out of there before he could possibly make any mistakes.
"Add a dash mark right there, it will improve the flow," instructed Jiraiya as he leaned over Kakashi's shoulder inspecting his line work. "Other than that, it looks great. Your Sharingan will have you surpassing me soon, no doubt."
Kakashi nodded dumbly, unsure how to feel about that. "I'm happy that the opportunity to learn is more philanthropic than my last sealing endeavor," he said darkly, thinking back on how he'd had to seal Sasuke by himself. That had been less than heartwarming.
Jiraiya's silence said more than anything. There was more to come on the topic of their supposed altruism it seemed. Kakashi sighed as Gaara looked up at them with hopeful eyes.
"Is it time?" The boy asked, his raspy voice a stark contrast to the childish reversion they were seeing.
Jiraiya patted the kid on the head and smiled warmly. "Yup! Now hang tight. It could hurt a little, so try to focus on something— any good memory you might have."
Jiraiya grimaced after saying that, wondering if the kid really had any.
"You're gonna be a little out of it, so we'll have to restrain you. But this is just to prevent anything being injured during muscle spasms as things even out, okay?"
Gaara nodded blithely, staring at a crack in the wall.
"Okay, Kakashi, start feeding in chakra on your end. I'll do mine as well. Let's hit about 30% fill and then we'll stop, hold it steady, and make sure it all looks good before we move onto the next step."
The room was quiet as Kakashi and Jiraiya both funneled their chakra into the seal; it was the simplest part of the ordeal and left the two of them without having even broken a sweat by the time they paused to check over their work.
Gaara had entered a meditative state, his lips trembling as he entertained himself in a state of half-consciousness. It reminded Kakashi of when his dogs would fall asleep, their little legs twitching as they frolicked in dreamworld.
"What's this part of the seal doing again?" Kakashi asked, studying a line that had looped around Gaara's elbow and up to his ear. "Is this the separation and enclosure of the Ichibi's influence?"
"Yeah, gotta bottle the thing to decide how it's poured out," grunted Jiraiya, forcing his fingers through a series of hand seals. "Alright, next portion— you feed your chakra into the seal now. I'll save mine to do the finishing work."
Kakashi nodded and settled in for a long haul of flooding the seal with his own chakra. This part endured for three long hours. Twenty minutes in, Kakashi noticed sweat beginning to leak from the pores of his scalp. He focused on his breathing and practiced a meditative exercise of his own, one that his father had taught him at a young age, and time became less tangible. After three hours of the steady drain on his chakra, he was sweating profusely.
It was only when Jiraiya tapped him on the shoulder that he dropped his stance and relaxed. His muscles trembled with the movement and his shoulders sagged.
"Good work, Kakashi. That was actually impressive," Jiraiya muttered, adding another layer of ink to the back of the slumbering Jinchuriki. "You knocked him out. Might be the first time he's been asleep in his whole life."
Kakashi stared at the boy as his chest heaved, wiping sweat from his brow with his right hand.
"You're worried about something bigger than him, aren't you?" Kakashi leaned against the wall, trying to corral his chakra. It had taken a far bigger toll than he'd expected.
"Take a soldier pill if you need to, you actually gave me more than I expected. I just wanted to make sure I had enough. This can wrap up a lot quicker than I anticipated earlier," Jiraiya said, shifting the table so that he could draw more designs on Gaara's forehead.
Kakashi grabbed a bottle of water instead, taking a swig through his mask and pouring the last few mouthfuls over his head.
"What has you so worried that you're intervening like this?" He needled, leaning in to inspect the older man's work.
Jiraiya sighed and looked up at him, looking every year of his age. "There's a group hunting the Jinchuriki down. I don't know what they want, but… I figured if I could… I want him to have a fighting chance. He could become a great ally, he could die in the next few years. Either way, I'd like him to have a normal life if possible. Besides, if he's an ally and he actually does manage to make Kazekage like he said… that's a strong influx of information for my network. Whatever news we can get about these guys will help us head them off of Naruto."
Kakashi leaned against the wall, anger and hopelessness warring inside of him. "You got any other bad news for me while I'm ready for it?"
"Well," Jiraiya said with a laugh, "it's really gonna throw a wrench in my plans for the next Icha Icha."
Kakashi sighed. "I take it back, I can't bare any more bad news."
Jiraiya set the brush down in the cup at his feet, holding both hands out to work on the finishing touches. "That's fine, because the good news is this is gonna be done within the hour."
"Good, because I won't last much longer than that," confessed Kakashi.
"Take a seat, you're moral support at this point," the older man ordered. Kakashi sat down cross-legged on the floor with his back against the wall and watched him work. It was always his favorite part to watch a sealing array collapse in on itself when it was being completed properly.
Asuma looked up in surprise when the hawk circled above the engawa, squawking fiercely. Shikamaru looked up with lazy concern, glancing back and forth between the go board and the large bird.
"You gonna get that?" The Nara asked with amusement, leaning his head on his hand.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm going. I'll see you later, Shika. Make sure Ino and Chouji actually finished their assignments," Asuma said, sighing around his cigarette.
Shikamaru flopped back on the floor to look up at the sky above, not even bothering to respond in the affirmative. But Asuma was confident the boy had heard and would obey in the most energy-efficient way possible.
He flash-stepped onto the roof next to the bird, receiving the package that was strapped to its breast. From the ankle of the bird was a set of coded coordinates that he quickly worked out as the Hokage's office. The package itself had the Hokage's official insignia stamped on it.
Befuddled, he raced along the roofs at a Jonin pace. He was unable to enjoy the setting of the sun; he was running too quickly. By the time he made it to the Hokage's Tower, the sun had settled behind the mountains and trees around the village.
He knocked on the glass of her office, the special three part knock that only certain Jonin who had served as the Hokage's personal guard were taught.
The glass slid open and he was received into the office without any fanfare.
"Tsunade-sama, I've brought you the package you sent me," he said, bowing low. His cigarette was dangerously close to burning the carpet.
"At ease, Asuma. You can go ahead and open it on my desk," Tsunade said from her place at her desk. She was sitting in her chair, but had pushed back from the desk so she could turn her seat and stare at the window and the faces of the many Hokage.
Asuma stood and sauntered over to the desk that had belonged to his father for most of his life, noticing just how empty it was. She'd definitely been expecting him and this package.
He removed the bindings on the package, unwrapping the brown paper from the simple box inside. Inside the box was a storage scroll, and he paused when he looked at it.
"Go ahead, I want you to open it," she said, turning her attention to him.
When he opened it, he was surprised to see that there were two bento boxes inside and a medium sized bottle of soju. Truly, he'd been expecting poison or something more gruesome.
"What's this?"
"You haven't come to congratulate me, Asuma-kun," she laughed. "So I thought I'd invite you over to celebrate with me."
He laughed and set her box in front of her, dragging a chair over to her desk.
"Besides, I sent Naruto on the errand to send that bird to you because he was driving me crazy and I needed him out of my hair. What do you think Takuma thought of him?"
"Kid's a handful." Asuma chuckled, scanning the desk for his father's ashtray. "You got an ashtray?"
"You got another cigarette?" She leered, turning the corner of her mouth up when he produced the pack from his flak jacket. "I knew you were a keeper, brat. Just like your dad."
Tsunade reached into the drawer at the left of the desk and hefted an ornate bird-shaped ashtray and plopped it on the desk.
Asuma set the boxes up, tucking the lids underneath so the rice, kimchi, and meat were available to be eaten. "We're missing utensils," he murmured, ducking his head to the left and right looking to see if he'd missed them somewhere.
"Ah," Tsunade swore tiredly. "I'll have Shizune bring us some."
Tsunade pressed a button under the table, and Shizune popped her head in.
"Yes?" She asked softly, startling a bit when she realized Asuma was there. "Oh! Asuma-kun, I didn't realize—"
He stood up awkwardly and bowed and Shizune bowed in return, opening the door fully.
"What— Err, Tsunade-sama, what can I get for you?"
"Can you get us some saucers and some chopsticks, please?"
Shizune nodded and then quickly shut the door. She was gone for a minute or two and Asuma focused on enjoying his cigarette fully before she returned.
She knocked gently on the door before re-entering. She deposited the cups and the chopsticks onto the desk before backing away with a bow.
"Can I get you anything else?" She asked softly, avoiding eye contact.
"Do you want to stay?" Asuma asked, standing again for some reason beyond his comprehension.
"Ah, I don't want to intrude," she whispered, bowing again.
"It's no trouble, you can have my—"
"Thank you, Asuma," Shizune said, bowing again and quickly departing.
Asuma sighed and rubbed at his face sheepishly before sitting back down. He pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling disgusted with himself. "I never know what to say to her."
"Old flames have that complication. At least you two are civil," Tsunade murmured. She picked up her chopsticks. "Itadakimasu."
Asuma offered the customary thanks in response and picked up his chopsticks as well, though he used his other hand to help himself to some of the soju.
"So, are you and Jiraiya feeling civil lately?" He asked with a cheeky grin, laughing when Tsunade snapped her chopsticks at him in pretend anger.
"Have you finally asked that beautiful red-eyed girl out?" Tsunade retorted, inclining her head graciously when Asuma filled her saucer.
He didn't answer her question for a moment, chewing his food thoughtfully. "She has a name, you know."
"I know," she said carefully, plucking some vegetables up in her utensils. She popped them into her mouth and gave him a pointed look while she chewed. "I was gone a long time."
"You were," he acknowledged, taking a final drag of his cigarette before putting it out in the ashtray. He held out the pack to her and she took one, setting it carefully on the desk in a place it wouldn't roll away.
"It spoils the taste of the food for me, I'd rather enjoy it with the soju after." She stirred the vegetables around in their sauce, tilting her head to the side. "I want you to fill me on your father's last few years, since I was not here."
He nodded, setting down his chopsticks. He was quiet for a while, avoiding her gaze. "I left for a time, myself. I only came back a few years ago and it was… my father and I—"
"I cannot offer you any comfort or any shame for the decisions you've made, Asuma. I'm the last person to do so, trust me." Tsunade snorted and took another bite. "I am up to my eyeballs in paperwork and I have the council in my ears all day long. I need to know what I've walked into."
Asuma nodded, licking his lip as he thought. "You mean you need to know why I refused the position as well?"
"Yes, and why no one pushed harder for you to take it. Skill-gap aside, you've been in more meetings than I ever have. You're a lot more domesticated than I am. I know you were privy to a lot of conversations, in and out of this office," Tsunade pressed, leaning forward as she spoke. "I can't keep going like this. Something stinks, Asuma, and I need to find out what it is."
"What do you mean?"
"You just tell me what you know," she ordered, "because I have a feeling it's been this way for a long time."
"Well, there's not a lot I can tell you tonight," he confessed, giving her a meaningful look. "But we're old friends so you can trust me to tell you the truth. Not everyone can say that, you know. I'd love to have you over to my father's house though, have some tea with you, and talk about the good old days when you, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru used to babysit me. Bring Jiraiya, it'll be good to catch up."
Tsunade smiled and nodded. They'd finished their food already, but Tsunade had also already gotten the information she was after.
"You got a light so I don't have to waste my strength?" She asked, batting her eyelashes at him dramatically.
"Are you getting helpless in your old age?" He chuckled and extended his hand, flipping the zippo so that the flame extended towards her. She puffed gracefully, and then leaned back in her chair.
"Not helpless. Just… learning how to delegate."
Asuma chuckled to himself, lighting his own cigarette. They sat together for a little while like that, just breathing and enjoying one another's company. "I'm glad you're back, even if I hate the circumstances."
"Yeah, yeah. Don't go getting all sappy on me. I'm not nearly drunk enough for that. Now get outta here! But stop and give Shizune good dates for me to stop by and see you, ya got it, shrimp?"
"I'm not shrimpy anymore!" He protested, making a petulant face that reminded her of when he was a child. He took one last draw on the cigarette before leaning over and crushing his cigarette into the ashtray, leaving the burning stump behind.
"Yeah, yeah, you're a big man, I know. See ya later, shrimp."
Still, he smiled to himself as he made his way out of her office.
A/N: Well, well, well. Look at that. Another chapter. This seems like filler but it's not. It's all for the plot, baby.