Chapter 19

Gaara (the next day, approximate time: 12:00 AM)

Suna's sand roiled and buffeted in the beautiful darkness of the night. Chilled air that chased nearly his entire team into their tents danced with the stars. There, in the middle of the desert and seated on a stump made of sand, Gaara sat. Only, he was not seated in a desolate desert at that moment. No, in his mind rather, he was kneeling on the floor of the scorchingly hot chamber that held the One-Tail, Shukaku.

Yet the wind still buffeted the chamber there, drafts of air we will never know the origins of, enjoyed by the boy within despite being in his mind rather than reality. He entered the chamber near daily now, nothing else to do except stay there with his inability to sleep. He had learned much there. Much more than the paltry jutsu his father or even Katiya taught him.

Gaara inhaled the dusty air. He placed a hand over his chest, which was thumping wildly. He looked to the bars of Shukaku's cage, the seal drawn onto it with rushed, hurried strokes. It was so easy, too easy, to simply rip it off and let Shukaku out permanently. But he resisted, knowing full well what his father would do to him.

Knowing full well it would kill him from the chakra overload, or from his father's wrath.

So instead, in the space where his mind and Shukaku's seal met, he went over the hand signs for the Playing Possum Jutsu once more—a jutsu that forced himself to finally gain the sleep the average human needed—and allowed the demon within him to completely take hold. The only jutsu he knew thus far that truly required hand signs, that he would ever need considering his control over his sand with nothing more than a thought.

Kankuro (approximate time: 5:30 AM)

"Hey, Gaara! How was your sleep?!" Temari called with a smile plastered to her face.

Kankuro slung his bandage-wrapped puppet over his shoulder, eying his sister and the red-headed monster's reaction. Baki wrapped his cloth map up, having already packed, while doing the same. Gaara's expressionless countenance on the other hand... remained the same.

Kami, why does she have to do this? Kankuro mentally asked his sister.

A sideways grimace made its way to his face. He didn't bother to hide his displeasure of the situation—one he felt Gaara was the cause of—from the Jinchuriki in question. He watched, silently, as Temari slowly made her way cautiously close to her little brother with a leftover from the night's dinner in hand.

She approached, her fake smile wilting with tints of worry, a hand only semi-outstretched and her body slightly shrunk in on itself in fear. When she was still over a meter away, she extended the hand holding the food.

"You're hungry, aren't you, Gaara. Do you want some?" Kankuro watched his sister ask.

The tips of Kankuro's fingers tingled with chakra flow—ready to yank his sister back with chakra strings at the quickest indication of danger. But it was an unnecessary precaution. A combination of Gaara's disinterest in his siblings and fear of his father made their deaths unlikely. And Temari was no fool. She was keenly aware, as was Baki-sensei, of the risks posed by putting demons in cages.

She was there to ensure that would never happen—or that if there ever came a time her youngest sibling were to ever feel as if he were being put into a cage, she could be there as an adequate buffer. She was one of Suna's youngest strategic minds, after all. But unlike Kankuro, she knew how to hide her anger better, to control it like it was a weapon of its own—and—who were safe targets to let it out, the enemy shinobi only.

Temari's wilted smile widened with a lift of the brow Kankuro knew was forced. Gaara's eyes bore into his sister. Even though he had positioned himself behind Temari, Kankuro could still sense that his sister had to gulp down her fear, despite being brave enough to stand there, eye to eye with a demon host.

Is that little punk really going to take the onigiri? Can't he can tell it's all an act—what if he attacks? Temari, a meter isn't near enough reaction distance for you—we're both mid to long-range fighters… Kankuro mentally ground out between his literally gritted teeth.

Gaara's gaze shifted down to the wrapped rice ball in his sister's hand. Temari smiled encouragingly. Gaara's sand flew out of the ground, pirouetting into a hand that snatched the onigiri from his sister. It floated back to Gaara's real hand. Temari recoiled ever so slightly at the sudden snatch, and it was only Baki's hand on his wrist that stopped Kankuro from wrenching his sister back.

Gaara shuffled past his sister and then both Kankuro and Baki, heading north as if nothing unusual had happened. The latter two of whom remained frozen after the occurence. Kankuro felt a trill of worry strum on the side of his head as he—Gaara—passed, pressing the rice ball to his lips. Once Gaara was out of earshot, Kankuro allowed himself to breathe a sigh of relief. Temari gave him a small smirk of "heh, I told you I'll be fine" and then padded after Gaara.

Still in shock, Kankuro flicked his gaze up to his sensei, who also had not moved, deciding whether the interaction should be written onto a report to the Kazekage.

"How'd you know Gaara wouldn't kill her?" Kankuro asked.

The morose look on Baki's face aged the man twenty years. "I didn't," he quietly replied.

Kankuro remembered a lesson from the Academy. That the mission was the top priority, above their lives. But that only took hold if there ever was a decision between their lives and the mission. Kankuro's mouth twitched into a frown of angered shock.

Then why'd you stop me?

Baki, as if knowing what his student—one of his subordinates in his team until they could fight on their own without in-fighting—was thinking, met his eyes. With another long look, Baki answered, "Gaara kills everyone who runs."

Kankuro's look of angered shock turned into plain anger.

Just who does that… that runt think he is?!

Katiya (approximate time: 5:30 AM)

Katiya hated living underground. She hated the walls, as dark and foreboding as a prison's, leaking in ambient killing intent from its creator that slithered into your soul until it was numb. She hated the labs, full of people brainwashed into thinking experimentation was the only way to gain strength, thinking it a necessity to survival. She hated how, despite how hard she fought it, she was beginning to believe staying in Oto was "normal".

A tickle, like a soft horsehair brush she knew was only in her mind, ran over her stomach, curling to her back and up her spine.

Look around you. Look at Suna—this is "normal". You've just been exempt from it, never staying in one space for long. Aren't you thankful? Maybe after this is over, after the Kazekage is dead, you can go back to that—your life—before this mess. Your home, where you belong, away…

Away from Gaara, the back of her mind whispered, just the breath of an unspoken thought. Alone.

Externally, Katiya narrowed her eyes but her face remained otherwise deadpan. When this is over, I'm going back to Gaara. I will go back. That, there, that was… that was home. And I will not give that up.

Katiya slammed the physical doors to her quarters, and internally the mental ones to that portion of her mind. Katiya herself made her way to the labs, the only place in the godforsaken underground base with adequate lighting as all generated power was routed there and there alone.

This is hostile territory. It—If—this goes wrong for you, you won't be able to be there for Gaara—you know that monster wasn't him—you know it. This is hostile territory. It—things—will go wrong if you keep doubting yourself. You're doing this for him—for Gaara, and more importantly, for yourself. You'll have a home. Together.

Katiya stopped outside the door of Lord Orochimaru's largest lab—a lab Katiya rarely saw the man in.

When this is all over, Katiya mentally added. With a deep inhale, she entered the laboratory.

Lord Rasa (approximate time: 5:30 AM)

The Lord Kazekage silently read over the autopsy report of the ANBU mission sent to kill the girl nearly four months ago, a scowl set on his face.

Three ANBU dead via what appeared to be stab wounds, two without a trace of a weapon and the last with a kunai. Evidence of a struggle based on the clothing tears and scattered splinters of wood and metal… and the mutilated body of what was approximately a seventeen-year old female, the same build as that… Katiya Shiratori.

The Lord Kazekage leaned back in his chair, an eye on the street below where he, that day, saw his son kill a drunk that simply looked at him the wrong way. Turning his head back to face his desk, he steepled his fingers.

He had listened to his brother-in-law with regards to Gaara's care because he was, formerly before his demise, the head of his ANBU and the sole caretaker of his son. But he had postponed his last test—what was either the assassination attempt that would finally work or the assassination attempt that would finally put his son under his thumb completely—out of his own curiosity about what that girl could do.

He tracked her, her ambient chakra levels too high for a child with no sensei, seemingly from nowhere.

And now she was apparently dead. With an internal sigh, the Kazekage let the thought go. Either way, her death meant nothing.

Katiya (approximate time: 5:45 AM)

Katiya stood over an unnamed corpse, painstakingly removing all of the organs and submerging them in each in a jar of formaldehyde. Careful not to splash any onto the floor or herself, she sealed each jar and put them to the side for Kabuto to re-submerge in ethanol at a later date.

"You seem rather at home with all the corpses," Kabuto said coyly, standing in the open doorway behind Katiya.

Katiya didn't bother turning from the lab station until she was done with her job, recognizing the voice.

Having spent enough time around Kabuto, she recognized the tone as "I know something you don't," or in other words, a taunt to see what details she'd reveal. "My mother was a research-class medic-nin, I believe," she responded, pulling her latex gloves and medical mask off. "I am not unused to blood… or formaldehyde for that matter."

Kabuto gave her a lopsided grin that didn't quite meet the eyes. "Is that so? Where'd she get that training? Because I know from experience, medic-nin training can be tough."

Katiya breathed a sigh through her nose. She much preferred Kabuto's "obviously evil" persona as she called it to his "affably plotting against you" one. At least with his "obviously evil" one, she knew what she was dealing with. But that's the point, isn't it, of a spy? He is supposed to get you to lower your guard.

Katiya walked over to Kabuto, to stand half a meter from him, eye to eye. "I'm assuming there's something you wanted?"

Kabuto shrugged. "Just asking," he said nonchalantly. Then, with a tilt of his head, he changed personas. "I was curious if you knew."

Katiya narrowed her eyes, more comfortable now that she knew what she was dealing with.

Orochimaru must have sensed a chakra similarity. And Orochimaru's probably spoken with Kabuto... Damn it… Katiya mentally cursed, preferring her ambiguity to whatever attention she now held, I forgot about that possibility. At least… Katiya thought back to her father's and her own Sharingan, and the jars of eyes she saw walking around the lab storage rooms. At least there's that still hidden.

"She was a medic-nin researcher from the Land of Waves…" Katiya started. They already knew, so there was no denying it—she only hoped she'd get what she needed before any other secrets were spilled.

When she saw Kabuto's mouth twitch ever so slightly upwards, she continued, "Where I know Orochimaru once had a base."

Kabuto pushed his glasses up with a smirk but said nothing. He walked past her to examine her work. After a pause, he continued instead, "I saw you put your name down for the next mission to the supply shops. But we never did assign you to a team, did we?"

Katiya mentally frowned at the sudden change in topic, but gave him an indifferent shrug. "I was under the impression the shinobi that joined later in life were allowed solo missions."

Kabuto smiled a wide, seemingly genuine smile at that. "That we do, but because supply escort is such an easy mission, I think it'd be a better use of your talents for you to take a side mission as well. One you can think of as a test of your… skill set."

Ah, Katiya thought. "So I take it you're going to put me with a team to observe my behavior? As some sort of loyalty test?"

Kabuto nodded, still smirking slightly. "Something like that."

Kankuro (approximate time: 7:00 AM)

They had hit the road, the distance between the trio and their… youngest member still large. But Kankuro found the sounds of battle to decrease as the distance from Suna increased, and that he was looking over his shoulder less and less. Almost able to ignore the sensation of someone boring their eyes into the back of his skull. Almost.

It had only been two days since they left Suna, but already they were well on their way away from their home.

Temari looked over to Baki-sensei. "The next village outpost is only another day from here at our current pace. What're we going to do with Gaara?"

Baki half-turned to her, still walking, "We're going to have to keep him close during that period. I don't expect any assassination attempts, but you're both going to have to get used to the idea of working with him."

Temari exchanged glances with her brother.

"I don't suppose we can leave him outside the village borders…?" Kankuro asked.

Kankuro felt his eyelid twitch.

"I don't think that will bode well for that village, or our mission," Baki grunted.

Temari exhaled tensely, "Just be glad I started that tentative peace, Kankuro. It'd be more of a pain staying at an inn with him when he wants to kill us."

Kankuro scowled in response. Looking to the horizon, he noted how the next village north was now coming into view in the distance, and with each step closer, that scowl deepened. Temari met Kankuro's eyes in silent understanding before pivoting to continue at full pace northward.

Katiya (approximate time: 8:00 AM)

Katiya walked behind a young yet veteran Oto-nin, en route to meet her last teammate of the supply and loyalty test mission Kabuto had set up. The latter of whom had gone to fetch said last member, who apparently took great interest watching the other Oto-nin (or prisoners, depending on your interpretation) fight.

Arriving at the nexus point of the underground cave system, a point close to the opening of the lair but before the tunnels split up to narrower sub-tunnels and dwellings, the two stood opposite of each other. Katiya took in the lazy arrogance of her opposite's stance, the latter's attire consisting of the entire Oto-nin standard gear, with the exception of the form-fitting black hood and the addition of a grey padded vest that held her only two visible weapons: a meter long flute thick enough to be used as a short staff or a long baton and her tanto.

Her neck was covered loosely with Oto's thin splotched neck guard, but there was something in the way she held her neck underneath that gave Katiya an air of elegance (and conceit). Combined with her naturally rosy but small lips, blunt nose, glossy dark hair, and paled skin from being underground for so long, Katiya hazarded a guess that she was of noble descent.

Katiya was almost about to ask when the sounds of bickering and lightly clacking footsteps echoed down the tunnel. Slightly amused, she turned her head to the sound.

"Unfortunately for you, Lord Orochimaru also has an interest in forbidden jutsu, not just kekkei genkai, and as of right now, we can use all the shinobi we can. So you're going to have to put up with a so-called 'no-talent,'" the voice of Kabuto echoed.

"Well, if she has such potential as a 'researcher,' I don't see why we can't just dump the no-talent over with that Land of Seas twerp, Fish-Head," a familiar female voice retorted.

Even from that distance, Katiya could hear Kabuto mentally facepalming having to deal with the woman he was speaking to. "Amachi's research has been dead-end so far; I see no reason to continue to waste investment in his research."

"Well, looks like we agree on something, then," the female voice sneered.

Katiya frowned as the woman came into view. It was the same one she met the day previously. The woman's sneer morphed into a grimace as she drew near. "You." the woman ground out.

"Me," Katiya replied dryly.

Kabuto exchanged a look of amusement between the two women. "Guren, meet Katsu. Katsu, Guren. Or have you two met?"

The woman, Guren, started haltingly, "That—that little—she—"

"Come now, Guren, antagonizing the new recruits again? You're never going to gain Lord Orochimaru's favor like that," the other shinobi interjected with a sort of musical yet simpering lilt to her voice.

Katiya met the other shinobi's eyes. Despite going to the meet location together, she had yet to introduce herself. "Katsu," she said, inclining her head slightly in thanks.

"Ryuteki," the other shinobi replied, "And don't mind Guren—she's just jealous that I got invited to Lord Orochimaru's inner circle before she did."

"Inner circle?" Katiya questioningly grunted in her mind, more like "sycophantic nutjob circle." Verbally, she said, "Heh. I figured she was lacking attention when she barged into the library practically begging for it." Then, after a pause: "Ryuteki, right? That's a bit too large to be a 'dragon flute,' isn't it?" she asked, pointing casually to the flute over Ryuteki's shoulder.

Ryuteki laughed a high, brittle and rather girlish titter, covering her mouth with one hand. "I was named after the instrument, not because I carry one."

Guren rolled her eyes and beside her, Kabuto let out a derisive snort from the antics. "Now that we're all acquainted, why don't we head out. We're wasting daylight," he said.

Author's Note

Kabuto's only there for the skill-test-thing and is going to split to go to Konoha afterwards; he's not going to be there for the whole mission. And "Ryuteki" is an OC name (and character) based on a canon unnamed character in Naruto… kudos if you can guess who.

Kankuro (the next day, approximate time: 4:30 PM)

Kankuro sat up on his bedroll, which he had placed on the side farthest from Gaara. Temari's bedroll was next to his, at an angle to Baki-sensei's who had the spot closest to Gaara. Gaara, on the other hand, had not even set up a bedroll (or carried one) and instead opted to stand in the corner of the room watching the rest of the team prepare for the next leg of their journey.

It was a rather intimidating position, over the rest of the team. All of whom were knelt on the floor where their bedrolls were. Kankuro eyed the look on Baki-sensei's face as Kankuro himself took out a whetstone to begin sharpening his knives. Baki wasn't liking the set-up any more than he was.

Temari had her hands clasped protectively over her fan from where she was, ready to use it for defense or offense. "Gaara, don't you want to rest? We're probably going to be here until tomorrow," Temari said in a tone more breathy than natural.

"Temari, please don't," Kankuro muttered, barely audibly. I'd rather deal with him over there than risk one of his tantrums.

Temari glared at her younger brother out of the side of her face until he frowned. Then resuming her placating tone and demeanor, she continued, "Gaara, how about you sit down, then, if you're not tired?"

Gaara narrowed his eyes but made no move of aggression. Kankuro inhaled sharply, and Baki-sensei gave her a side-eyed glance of approval. She's trying to get him into a less threatening position, Kankuro finally realized.

Baki examined Gaara's face before gesturing a spot near him, but not quite next to him. Gaara met Temari's eyes, then Baki's. Kankuro readied his legs to dodge if necessary. The stiletto he was sharpening found its way into a tighter grip as well. But an attack never came. Instead, Gaara merely blinked before trudging over the spot Baki-sensei pointed out. Allowing his sand gourd to drop to the floor with a thud, he softly set himself down, cross-legged.

Everyone let out a sigh of relief they didn't even know they were holding.

… (approximate time: 6:00 PM)

Everyone stood by the door, waiting for Gaara to move. It was dinnertime, and the team wanted to get real food on their journey, but Gaara hadn't moved from his seat. And Baki-sensei would be damned if he left a mentally unstable Gaara in the room unsupervised. Everyone then was holed up the door watching Gaara waiting for something to happen.

After a few moments, Kankuro opened his mouth to speak. "Uhh… wanna order take-out?" Kankuro asked rhetorically, gritting his teeth ever so slightly.

Man, the first time we can actually eat proper food on this mission and this runt's going to ruin it.

Beside him Temari inhaled deeply, seemingly in an attempt to control her anger, but remained silent.

Baki cleared his throat. "Temari, Kankuro, remain here with Gaara. I shall go… fetch dinner."

Temari and Kankuro exchanged glances.

... it's probably better like this, Kankuro thought, less risk of a riot out in a restaurant... and… Kankuro thought back to the last time they shared a meal with Gaara, and then that night. Yeah, definitely better.

"I'll take anything except onigiri," Kankuro grumbled finally.

Temari made a hum of assent.

Author's Note

Alrighty, I'm sure this is looking an awful lot like Sasuke's whole "join Orochimaru for revenge" plot line, but I can assure you of some differences.

1) The time frame. Katiya went to Oto at its beginning, weaker stages; Sasuke at its height (or, at least, when it was more powerful).

2) Orochimaru has no clue that Katiya is an Uchiha and Katiya has no intention of revealing that fact. And that fact WILL not be revealed… because. Reasons.

3) No curse mark from Orochimaru so she's not earmarked for being a run-around horcrux. (And she ain't going to get one… because… why would I let her?)

4) Katiya has every intention to leave Oto as soon as the current Lord Kazekage is dead, but she doesn't know of Oto's full plan to kill the Kazekage yet. She just knows Oto had an agenda against Suna and Konoha and joined based on that and the opportunity to go to a real shinobi village for the purpose of training (minus the Sharingan).

5) Katiya is semi-trained as a medic-nin from her mother, so she's going to be employed as such more often, rather than unskilled labor as a mission runner.

Wait… for a little while, and then you'll see the differences really flourish, I hope…

Also. Can you all tell I don't know how to write Kankuro? Because I don't… there's little I can remember of him from canon and so he's just… there… I'm scared to write more of him for fear of making him OOC, but at the same time, he is a Sand Sibling and I do want the fiction to feature them as the main characters. I'm going to write him as a sort of dark jokester sort of person… who also has a bit of a pacificial side, more so than Temari before Konoha Crush, at least. But still... *sigh

And then there's Baki—I have no idea his personality either… so… aye.