The impact felt as though someone had taken a steel club to her ribs, and she found herself robbed of breath as her elbows and knees scraped harshly over tightly packed earth.
His footsteps came closer, she could hear them as her throat burned with acid, trying go get air back into her lungs.
She felt it coming without seeing, months of training with him, had taught her to anticipate some of him. To be able to tell where he would strike her before he'd even moved to do so.
Her arm caught the brunt of it, but she was not strong enough, his shin slammed across her forehead, her own forearm smacking her over the bridge of her nose as her head recoiled and her body followed to have her land on her back.
His boot pressed down over her, and Hanabi felt the air she'd already breathed in working against her, pain emerged from her chest as though her lungs were ready to pop. She coughed, but couldn't even work up the strength to bring her hands to his ankle to even give the semblance notion of trying to push him off.
"Not good enough." He said simply.
"Not. Against. You." She gasped between deep lungfuls of air.
"I am the only one that matters!" He said, pressing down harder. "What are you!"
"I-cough-I am the edge of the sword." She said, reciting the words glaring up at him with white eyes.
"Empty words." He said before pulling his foot away, allowing her to breathe a little easier.
He turned and left, voice reaching her over his shoulder. "We are done today."
She sighed, half in exhaustion, half in relief but did not find the strength to pick herself up from the floor where she lay just yet, more content in panting lungfuls of air that made her chest heave.
A shadow passed over her face and her eyes snapped wide open with a shot of fear running down her spine at the notion that they were not in fact done for the day.
But her fears were unfounded, as the only similarity the lord of these lands had with the person currently kneeling over her was the shock of blond hair atop their heads.
"Are you alright?"
With a start, the Hyuuga matriarch realized just who this was.
She'd seen her before of course, at a distance, down the halls, passing through a room, and heard of her certainly, no one in Konoha today that hadn't been living under a rock for the better part of a year hadn't heard of Sabaku no Temari, the princess of Suna that was currently held as the Demon King's captive.
She even more so. Her sister had been her main guard once.
She tried to sit up now striving not to show weakness in front of this stranger at her side.
Temari placed her hand on her back, helping her, and Hanabi cursed her quietly as she did.
Then, the Suna princess' hand held out something for her, a canteen, sloshing with water and, Hanabi felt her eyes narrow in suspicion.
After a moment, Temari must have seen the accusation there, because she unscrewed the cap and took a long drink.
"No one around here trusts anyone." She said simply, her voice exasperated and Hanabi almost willed herself to say no to the offering.
But her throat was dry, her head throbbed, the metal taste of dried blood was bitter in her mouth and she just ached everywhere. From dozens of brutal hits that had struck her across her body, from fists and kicks that bruised, and day after day it just seemed harder and harder to pull herself from the bed every morning because despite all the pain she could not tell if she was getting any better; not against him.
She would try her hardest every time, using all her speed and all her skill but it was never enough, she could scarcely land a blow, let alone achieve a victory.
She took the water, and as the cold liquid touched her lips felt herself gulping down mouthfuls of it, water rarely tasted this good.
When she pulled the canteen away, her panting renewed, her lungs burning from the lack of air as she drank, she was surprised to find it almost empty before Temari removed the weight from her fingers.
"I'm, Saba-"
"I know who you are." Hanabi interrupted, her voice and features apathetic.
The Suna princess seemed to stare at her a moment before she spoke tone laced with dry sarcasm. "Your sister was a bright ball of energy too."
"Don't speak of her." Hanabi all but hissed.
"Just telling the truth, and she's dead, not a saint. So speaking of her, in my book, is allowed" Temari said simply. "Besides considering the state you're in, you're not in much of a position to stop me."
The clan head seethed, all but willing the Suna woman dead at her first, callous, statement, but unable to do anything due to the truth in her second.
Temari looked her over then, a frown creasing her brow as she shook her head. "This is getting ridiculous."
"What are you talking about?" She asked, though thought that she may already know the answer.
"Look at yourself." She said as though that answered the question. "This has been getting steadily worse and worse. You cant even stand right now."
"What do you care?" Hanabi asked before she began to lift herself onto her feet, partially out of the desire to be away from this place, partially out of the desire to prove the woman wrong.
"Suna ninja give a damn every once in a while, even for enemies; as opposed to this place where people barely give a damn about friends."
There was bitterness there, a poison in her words who's true source would be lost to all but a few others besides herself.
Hanabi would have disputed that, but stopped herself at the last moment.
All things considered whatever words she said would ring rather hollow in this place; here where only servants graced the halls to clean and even the Anbu who guarded it, and the prisoner within, wished to scarcely fall beneath its shadow.
She'd save her breath.
Without preamble, Temari stood up with her, hooking one arm beneath hers as she helped her to her feet.
Hanabi held in a whimper as needles prickled along where her flesh made contact with hers, the adrenalin had died away now, allowing every sore muscle and bruise to manifest itself a hundredfold.
Again, Temari shook her head. "Ask him to ease up a bit next time. You aren't a machine like him."
The words in her mind came to her unbidden and unchecked, emerging without effort.
"No. I am the edge of the sword."
He'd lost count of how many times he'd checked the components of his armor, troubleshooting and retrofitting, sometimes disassembling them entirely before putting them back together, well oiled and greased, just out of sheer boredom.
Monkey walked over to him, mask and cloak obscuring his face and body as he gave a bow of his head.
"Kankuro-sama." He greeted.
"Say what you've gotta say." The puppeteer answered, not taking his eyes off the massive gauntlet of his armor that rested on the floor in front of his crossed legs. Gutted and with its parts spread out infront of him.
Monkey hesitated for a moment before he seemed to gather his resolve.
"Kankuro-sama, the men are restless and nervous. The more time we linger here the greater the risk of detection is. Just how much longer does Kazekage-sama intend for us to waste our ti-"
"My brother." Kankuro interrupted, firmly as he looked to the Anbu's masked face. "Does what he must, when he must. And you will remain here as long as he deems needed. Are we clear?"
The Anbu bowed his head in what was obviously, a reluctant nod. "Perfectly, Kankuro-sama."
"Good." He said simply before turning back to his work. "Now tend to your duties."
Dismissed, the Anbu turned and left, and despite his words, Kankuro couldn't help but share some of the man's reservations.
Looking towards the summit of a small hill, he saw Gaara sitting there in a lotus position, the same seat he'd occupied in meditation for the last two days. He didn't know what Gaara was doing or just why exactly he was having them waste time like this but he trusted his brother to know what was best. Their waiting here when they could have attacked days ago, didn't sit well with him, and he was sure it was causing much more nervousness in the men than what Monkey had shown, an idle mind is a wandering mind, they said. And a wandering mind has more than enough room for doubt and second thoughts.
He just hoped Gaara would wake up from that meditation soon or they may have some desertions on their hands before very long.
When Hanabi woke that morning, it was to stiff muscles and an aching back, all but groaning as she lifted herself from her bed and made ready for the day ahead of her.
She spent her morning in the study, reading and signing forms, what few there were since the Branch house and Main house status-quo had been dissolved.
If for no other reason, that alone would have been enough to earn her gratitude towards Hinata for leading her rebellion.
She remembered little of her father. A combination of both a lack of age at the time of his death, and the fact that she and he had never really had time for one another. Her father had always been stuck in this office from what she heard and recalled, the mediating between Branch and Main house members requiring much more politicking and bureaucracy than what was currently present.
There had been registration, approval for seal drawings, accreditation once the seal was done, appeals and pleas for a member of the Branch to ascend to the main house for previous honors during his or her career, or once he or she became of a sufficient age where they would not be venturing out of the village again, even reports of events or duties conducted within the Konoha proper.
These days, all she had to sign were mainly the reports and forms of a Hyuuga clan's missions and duties in service to the rest of Konoha.
Even in doing that alone however, she found herself almost ready to collapse onto her desk today when the final paper was signed and stamped.
No, Hyuuga household matters could run themselves, what she was really not looking forward to, besides her training again tomorrow, was the other half of Hinata's duties.
Hinata had been, for all intents and purposes, one of the highest ranked commanders of Konoha's ninja. She oversaw nearly all of Konoha's standing military operations and reports, Jiraiya, she'd heard, was in command of the black-ops and espionage branches.
So many logistics.
Standing forces inside of Konoha, standing forces outside of Konoha, current perishable supplies, current non perishable supplies, resources available, weapon reserves, number of Jounin, number of Chuunin, number of gennin, estimated simulations on how quickly these forces could be assembled, estimated simulations on how quickly these men could be deployed in the event of an attack or a forced march, border patrols, guard detail.
The lists went on, and on, and on.
She didn't know how the hell her sister had managed this while looking as though no hair was out of place day after day after day.
She didn't know if she should be bitter, at having this massive responsibility falling onto her shoulders, or if she should be grateful that she didn't have to oversee the logistics and status reports of the other villages under their command as well.
The door to the study opened, and in walked Tokichio, an old man, formerly of the Branch house, who also fancied himself the clan's physician, since he'd been such before Konoha had a standing hospital. He'd also been one of her many tutors. One of the few who still lived, and his long years had certainly taken their toll.
He still gave advice, not that many listened, but gave advice all the same.
He walked in, leaning so heavily on his cane she was afraid the thing might break beneath his weight.
"Some of the others." He wheezed out with a voice, wizened and breathy. Heaven help her but she almost thought that mothballs would expel from his mouth soon. "Said that, you weren't feeling well, young Hanabi."
"Its just exhaustion Tokichio-Ji." She said, trying to smile a little in reassurance. "I'll be fine."
"Exhaustion you say? Then perhaps-" He straightened infront of, what was now, her desk. "-it would be best, if I send a messenger to inform, Hokage-sama, that you are not-"
"No!" She barked out. Not able to stop herself from interrupting him.
The old man eyed her for a moment, scrutinizing her and she suddenly felt as though she were six years old and was caught daydreaming again.
"I understand, that it must be a privilege, and a unique honor, to have personal training from one such as Hokage-sama. However, I must advise against you hurting yourself so foolishly."
"I am fine Tokichio-Ji." She said, standing up and walking around her desk with purpose. "Speaking of my training infact, I-"
Quickly, his cane rose up with impeccable speed and precision, she was so surprised by the burst of movement by someone whom had never even been a ninja, that her hand didn't rise until it was too late, and the rubber end of the cane, poked her along her ribs.
It hurt, a lot more than it should have, it was a light touch, but it felt none the less as though someone had jabbed her instead, hard.
"If you are so exhausted that you cannot stop an old man from touching you, and in such pain that a mere graze makes an expression like that grace your face, then you will only hurt yourself in training. You will be staying here, confined to your chambers."
To say that she gave him a look of disbelief would be too kind.
"You're sending me to my room?"
"Oh I am going to do more than send." He replied, smiling in good-nature.
Four Hyuuga clan members suddenly entered the room and lined up at the door, looking at the Hyuuga matriarch with some, nervous, yet, glib expressions.
She looked to Tokichiro. "Are you kidding me?"
"You have pushed yourself day after day after day, since the death of lady Hinata to fill her shoes. I, and, of course, some of the other members of the house, wish you to know that you will be taking a day off. To rest." He answered, smiling
"I have duties-"
"Which will not set the house ablaze if they need to wait for twenty four hours to be set straight."
She sighed, and though she was putting up a brave front, a small part of her had, she would admit, been looking for an excuse. He may push her harder in their next session but, one day of rest sounded so good that her mind was almost already made up.
"Did you really have to make a show with guards?" She asked.
"Leave an old man indulge in his theatrics." He grumbled. "Besides, The Lady Hinata always said you were stubborn and I happen to agree."
Kakashi sighed tiredly, rubbing his forehead as he tossed the sheets of paper onto the desk infront of him and placed his head into his hands, elbows resting on the table.
He didn't get paid enough to do paperwork.
The knock at his door, thankfully distracted him and he almost heard the gratefulness in his own voice when he spoke. "It's open!"
The doors parted, admitting, Kurenai and Toushiro, the youth standing armored with his twin axes. Kurenai, with nary a weapon visible on her, stood in contrast to him.
Kakashi sighed leaning back into his chair. "Good to see you both." He said, meaning it.
Toushiro bowed, Kurenai offering a nod of her head.
Kakashi smiled a bit beneath his mask, trying to think of a way to phrase his next question before deciding to just cut right to the chase.
"Well, I don't do beating around the bush, so, Toushiro, the question is simple, and I need an honest answer."
Guan's adopted son nodded. "Hatakae-sama?"
Kakashi reached down to a drawer and pulled out a scroll, the edges blue, and the seal of Kiri over it. "If I offer you sponsorship to take command of Kiri in its entirety would you accept?"
The young man visibly choked on his tongue in surprise. "You'd make me the Mizukage?"
Kakashi raised his hands with a placating gesture. "I'll sponsor you for the position. As the official Overseer at this point, my recommendation will carry some weight amongst your village council, but it wont carry you the whole way. The fact that you trained under Ginchiko and Guan, also gives you a great degree of trust among the ninja force."
He paused, looking to the boy's still shocked eyes before continuing. "In truth, there are others who are contesting the title, and they are each just as strong, if not, stronger than you are. But Naruto trusted Guan, and by proxy, he now sees you as the suitable replacement.
"Because of my relation?" Toushiro asked, an edge in his tone that Kakashi could easily relate to bitterness.
Still...he wouldn't lie to the boy. "Yes." He answered simply. "Guan and Ginchiko were the two ninja from Kiri he knew best. They fought in many battles together as you well know. He's fought beside you as well. And though he does not know you nearly as well, and you had something of a...dissagreement in one of the border skirmishes against Kumo-" He threw a pointed look at Kurenai. "You being Guan's son, is enough to grant you enough trust for him to place Kiri in your hands. The only people you'd answer to, is the attending Overseer, and of course, Naruto himself."
For a long while Toushiro said nothing, merely stood there as his gaze was turned away from the copy-nin, and Kakashi was content to wait for the response.
"My father was a great man." The youth eventually said. "But I will not live, or rise in his shadow."
"Now is your chance to break out of it." Kakashi said in response. "You will be the Mizukage if you're chosen. It will be you leading your country, and it will be you that the people will come to know, just as well, if not, more than your father given time."
He was wavering at his words, the position of power was tempting enough but Kakashi knew he would need a bit more of a nudge.
"Would you trust someone else with this responsibility? Would your father trust anyone but you and Ginchiyo with it?"
He'd hit the nail on the head, and Kakashi chose to ignore the existence Kurenai's disapproving look at his manipulation.
Toushiro's mouth opened and closed, fishing for words. The copy nin chose to speak before he found them.
"You don't have to answer now. Think on it."
Another moment of hesitation, then the youth bowed and left the room.
When he was finally gone, Kurenai turned her ruby red eyes onto him. Glaring with disapproval.
"Don't you start." He warned before she could begin the reproach that was just burning on her tongue.
She rolled her eyes. "Using his father, Kakashi?"
"I do what I have to." He shot back. "Toushiro is the only one that can take control of Kiri."
"The only one? Or the only one that can be easily manipulated?"
The copy nin slapped his forehead in exasperation. "What would you have from me Kurenai? Just, let one of the other candidates step into the office, to have Kiri suddenly turn on us during a decisive battle with Suna; if they're secretly dissenters, prolonging this war for another decade?"
The Genjutsu mistress gave a huff through her nostrils, sitting onto the chair infront of his desk and keeping her silence. Which translated to him as her knowing that he was right but wouldn't betray her convictions by saying such.
He looked at her, dark raven hair, falling about her shoulders, red eyes glancing out towards the village through the window as the midday sun shone on her face.
"I should admit..." He began, hesitating. "That...you were right though."
"About what?" She asked turning her sight back to him.
"About me. And about Naruto." He said, lacing his hands together and placing them infront of his mouth as he leaned forward. "You were right...I...I should have helped him...should have spoken to him after Hinata died. I..." His jaw visibly worked beneath his mask, his next words almost bitter in his throat, as truth often was. "I was a coward."
She looked into his lone visible eye and asked. "And...what will you do about it then?"
"I will do my duty here." He answered, his voice filled with a determination she hadn't heard from him in many years. "And when I go back to Konoha. I will speak to him. I will do what I was too afraid...and stupid...to do before."
She nodded, a smile tugging at her lips. "I'll look forward to our return then."
"I wont." He answered truthfully. "But...I'll do what's right when we eventually get back there."
His fist was intercepted by her hand, the flawless form of the Hyuuga Kata taking over in reflex as she redirected the force of his blow harmlessly to the side leaving him open before he spun around, elbow raised and felt the satisfying thud of his flesh finding the side of her skull.
She stumbled, falling onto one knee, with one hand on the ground helping to keep her from falling completely, the other hand clutching at her own head.
He took two steps away, back to the default starting position as he allowed her a chance to recover. His thoughts raced at his words, remembrance carrying him back. "You were absent for the last session."
She took a moment to respond, clearing the cobwebs from her addled brain. "I'm sorry I was not feeling well."
He remembered this day, a day after he'd ventured, strayed from the world built for him. A day when his childhood curiosity had proven too insistent and his discipline too weak
He remembered this day well, and what was done to ensure there would never be a repeat performance.
He moved fast, much faster than he'd ever deigned to do so during their training periods to date. She may have been able to block the hit had she been prepared, or at the very least, roll with the strike. But she was neither prepared for such an attack after he'd moved away, nor did she have the mind to do so with the, all too recent blow to the head..
This time, his fist found her jaw squarely, and he only just managed to check his strength to avoid breaking the bone completely.
"Your enemies will not wait for your convenience." He all but snarled out the words to her, glaring with contempt as she spat out blood and began to pick herself up off the floor; dazed.
Stars danced across her eyes, and his hissed words were almost drowned out by the ringing in her ears, and the pounding across her temples, she didn't even hear his footsteps approaching her before another punch hit her; sending her head whipping to the other side until her neck cracked with the whiplash.
He picked her up by her clothes, lifting her until he held her half a foot off the ground.
She'd just moved to strike his throat with a Juuken blow in reflex, a move that may very well have been fatal with the amount of power she'd put in there when his third strike dug into her stomach, the air leaving her lungs in such a rush the edges of her eyes darkened. She struggled to retain consciousness as horrible pain bloomed across her entire torso.
He would have hit her again, but for the shadow that fell over their heads
He pushed the Hyuuga away, leaping back just in time as a smooth gash, opened up where he'd been standing, rocks and faint dust kicking up as the Suna princess landed, standing between himself and his foolish student and charge.
"That's enough!" She yelled, reaching down behind her and pulling a lone kunai from Hanabi's weapon pouch as the Hyuuga woman panted, in too much pain to do much more than simply lie there.
He grit his teeth, for many weeks now she'd been watching him teach Hinata's younger sister, staying at the edges of their training field, as far removed as possible. He'd allowed such indulgence because he'd seen no harm in it. Evidently he'd been wrong. The woman did not know the meaning of overstepping her boundaries.
"This does not concern you!"
"I am not going to just stand there and watch while you beat her to an inch of her life so you can prove a point!" She responded, fiercely. "And I wont just sit by anymore and watch you do to her the same things that were done to you."
His demeanor turned livid and he couldn't help the shout that was his response. "The things that were done to me have kept me alive!"
"They robbed you of life!" She attacked him then, the kunai blade lighting up with a flare of wind chakra as she swung.
He skirted under the strike, stepping within her guard as he grabbed both her wrists and spun her around so her back was to his chest, her arms crossed over her stomach as he held her wrists at her side, tightening his hold around one until she was forced to drop the kunai in her hand.
"And what gives you the right?" he said, his breath against the curve of her ear, his heartbeat, strong enough to be felt against her back. "What gives you the right to sit in judgment of me?"
The venom in his words was not as surprising as she felt it should have been, and neither was the sorrow that she felt at it. "Because-"
"What was done to him was monstrous!"
"And they created a Monster."
"-what was done to you was wrong. And so was its result."
His grip, eased but did not vanish, and she craned her head back, looking over her shoulder into his eyes, their faces, mere inches apart.
"I wont stand by and watch you make the same mistakes..." She said after a moments pause.
He stared at her for seconds that lasted a life time, and then his eyes closed and he let her go, taking a step back as he visibly calmed himself. Releasing her before turning his eyes towards Hanabi, who only now was regaining her wits, though she still had too little strength to rise.
He turned away and left, and Temari watched him do so before turning herself, and walking over towards the younger Hyuuga.
"You're a hard man to find."
Jiraiya turned, mildly reddened eyes glaring at the familiar speaker before he shot down another glass. "That should tell you something."
Yoshihiro took a seat next to the toad sage on the bar-stool, absent of his armor, but not his weapons. "It can say a lot of things to a lot of ears. What it says mainly to mine, and I hope I'm wrong, is that there may be a want to do something stupid."
Jiraiya didn't answer that, but to his credit, he didn't flinch either.
"Whatever you're thinking." The Tsuchikage said. "You'd best put it out of your mind."
"What makes you so sure I'm thinking anything at all?"
"Rumors spread like plains-fires about an argument between you and Naruto, three days later you leave Konoha and I am forced to prolong my stay here almost two months in order to have my men find you in this spit of population on the borders of fire country."
Jiraiya looked at him, an eyebrow raised. "I was unaware there were that many of your Iwa nin in Konoha."
"You're not the only one who knows how to use a network of agents for information Sannin." Yoshihiro placed his arms on the bar, as he sat down. The Tsuchikage shook his head as the clerk walked up and asked him if he was gonna have anything.
The two men sat in silence for a while making sure no one was really listening to them before Yoshihiro resumed the conversation."Now, I'm going to ask you again, put whatever thoughts you're cooking up, out of your mind."
Jiraiya seemed to mull over his next words before finally choosing to voice them."I can't help but think...that I was wrong ten years ago." He said at length.
"Whether you were wrong or not doesn't matter anymore." Yoshihiro answered. "What's done is done. I want this war, all wars, over-with. Because I have a nephew, and he has a child, and she deserves better than what we got. So, I'm willing to put my faith in him until the end of this war, and if necessary, after it as well.."
"Faith." Jiraiya scoffed. "Faith is a notion that has proved...unrewarding for me."
"Is that why you're sitting in this hole, with piss swill that passes for alcohol getting chugged down your throat?"
"I'm sitting here because of the series of choices that has been my life, and each one has led me down a path of my own making until I've arrived at the here and now. Where there are two choices offered to me. The right path, and the wrong path, and no matter what, each one, is a leap of faith."
"I feel I have to tell you-" Yoshihiro began after a moment of lengthy silence between them. "You're goddamn depressing when you've been drinking?"
Both men broke down into mutual fits of sardonic laughter at that.
When it died away, the cloud over their heads seemed to press down on them, pushing them to speak the words that still lay thickly between them.
"I said my piece." Yoshihiro declared, standing up and turning to leave. "I feel I should warn you though, I'll be keeping a close eye on you. And if I get the notion that those stupid ideas are still crawling around inside your head, I'll come back to see them removed in a more...permanent way."
Jiraiya's answer was to throw back another cup as the Tsuchikage walked out.
When Gaara finally did wake, Kankuro was not surprised to find that he wasted no time, ordering everyone onto their feet and to be ready to move within the next hour. It was time for the operation to begin.
Kankuro marched up the hill, the thudding footsteps of his armor's feet almost shaking the soft ground with small tremors as he did. The visor helm, retracted, allowing his face to remain perfectly visible as he looked down at his much shorter Brother's mop of red hair as he knelt on the ground, hands running over something he could not see.
"Last chance." He said, though more as a joke than a real reminder, knowing that they were well past that point already. "Can't turn back from here."
"Don't want to." Gaara said, standing to his full height as he stared up at his older sibling.
Kankuro looked at him, a severeness in his gaze as he spoke again. "You're sure?"
Gaara took a deep breath through his nostrils, resolve burning bright behind his green eyes. "We have opposed him at every turn. But...he has gone unchallenged, long enough."
Kankuro nodded, and with a mental command, the helmet visor of his suit snapped into place, revealing the familiar T shaped slits that guarded his face.
"Well then-" He said with a crack of wooden fist against wooden fist. "First blood?"
Gaara nodded. "First blood."
He stood on the balcony of his office, the faint breeze kissing his cheek as he overlooked the village, still attempting to put the encounter from that morning out of his mind.
Unfortunately, it was an exercise that was proving fruitless, and had been doing so all day.
It was now approaching dusk, with the rays of light from the sun beginning to gather their signature shades of orange and red as the star dipped ever closer towards the horizon.
The door to his office opened with a creak, and he didn't need to turn to know it was Suzume, here to drop off the last of the days paperwork.
Behind him, the woman placed the relatively small stack of folders on his desk before bowing, though he could not see it. "Naruto-sama, if you wont be needing anything else I'll be going home now."
Her voice was polite as ever, and when he chose to speak, he was only mildly irritated by the fact that he'd done so without thinking first. His mind fled him far too often these days. "There is one thing."
"Sir?" She asked, with only the faintest surprise.
"I would ask you a question." He said. "And I would have your honest answer. You need not fear reprimand of any kind."
If she was puzzled before, her curiosity now was clawing at her own imagination. "Then...what is the question?"
"Would you say that I a Man or a Monster?"
Her stomach dropped, and her heart seized itself in her chest with shock. Her voice emerged as little more than a squeak. "Wh-what?"
"It is a question that has been in circulation as long as I have been in power and I would have your answer to it now, Suzume. Am I a Man, or a Monster?"
He didn't look at her; he only continued to stand, looking out towards the village as he posed this, from her perspective, dangerous question.
She took in a breath to calm herself, and remind her body that she did infact, need to breathe, before she spoke. "You're-"
"I said I would have the truth from you." He cut her off; the whisper that was his voice enough to silence her. "So think very carefully of your answer and do not speak in haste."
"This isn't a simple question to answer." She said, nervously, shifting from one foot to the other.
"Then explain your answer until your meaning simplifies." he retorted.
Finally, Suzume gathered her courage, straightening her spine as she resolved to answer; truthfully. He had never once hurt her before, and that thought did bring some comfort.
"Can I ask what brought this on?"
"Would it affect your answer?"
She walked up to his side, looking up to his profile as he continued to stare over the village, not even glancing her way.
The silence between them held for a moment before she spoke. "You're an amazing person Naruto-sama."
"That is not an answer."
"Its the only one I can give." She said. "I...as much as it pains me to admit it Naruto-sama, I don't know you..." She paused, and was grateful for his silence as he allowed her to gather her thoughts. She'd always liked to think that she did know him. But it wasn't true...at least...not entirely.
"I only know one part of you." She continued. "I only know the man I see here. The diplomat, the administrator. The Hokage who runs his village day after day without complaint. And that man I've come to respect."
"But." He ventured, hearing the recall in her voice.
"But..." She said, hesitating again, looking over his face for any sign of his anger, at displeasure over hearing this. "I have never seen the other person, have I? I have never been on a battlefield, fighting, and then suddenly finding him there. The person who sends whispers of fear through the men, the person that is reviled and hated as a monster by everyone. I have never seen the 'Monster', Naruto-sama. And so I don't know which one is more true."
"You speak as though I am two people."
"In a way, you are."
"We are one in the same."
"Then you've answered your own question." She said. "You are neither...simply...human."
He seemed to mull over her words, turning them, dissecting them, analyzing them until he reached some conclusion before he spoke again.
"Do you believe that what was done to me, was wrong?"
She had to wonder at this. What had brought on all of these strange questions, these...emotions, that seemed to be gripping him and demanded that he seek someone to speak to about them.
But it didn't take her long to contemplate the answer was obvious.
"Did someone say that it was?"
He nodded, and her mind traveled to Jiraiya, before disregarding him as the source. Even if he may have had his disagreements with Naruto in the past, he'd never allowed himself to be this affected by anything the Toad sannin had said.
Of course...Hinata had been alive then.
But no...no she did not think Jiraiya to be the reason. Call it a gut feeling, but she was sure that she was right.
She sighed, leaning heavily over the balcony railing.
"It may have been." She answered after a moment of thought. "But more importantly, whomever spoke to you...you should keep them close."
"Why?" His voice, betrayed only the barest hint of surprise.
"Because...for them to say such a thing then it was their having seen the Monster that gave them the knowledge...and knowing the Man to have the courage to say so." She said carefully. It may have been presumptuous of her, but...
"Whomever said it...does care about you, I think." When she looked back up to him she offered the barest hint of a smile that was half made to calm her own nervousness. "So keep them close Naruto-sama."
Hanabi groaned, the bruise on her cheek seemingly hurting just from the feel of the room's air brushing against it.
When a cold, wet cloth brushed against that same cheek, she almost wanted to scream, it was only her dignity and training that kept her from doing so.
Temari pulled her hand back. "You need ice to bring down the swelling" She explained, "I'm not sure where anything is in this house, but water and ice-" She emphasized by lifting the bowl, churning the contents within. "Is relatively easy to come by."
Hanabi closed her eyes, and Temari took that as permission enough for her to continue.
"I've never seen him so angry." The young Hyuuga admitted aloud. There'd been a moment there, just before the Suna princess had jumped between them, that fear had gripped her. Wondering just how far he would go.
"And you probably won't see him that angry again." Temari said. "Its how he was trained, so his response to you was already conditioned."
Hanabi opened one eye, staring at the woman who was nursing her of her injuries. In truth, if she wanted to she could go back to the Hyuuga complex, right now. But she wouldn't return, seeing such a violent reaction from their Hokage to her would do much to damage his reputation, and though a scornful, spiteful part of her would like for nothing more than to see his name dragged through the mud with the rumors, and harsh whispers that would run rampant if she returned like this, another, more sensible part of her knew that it would do little to no good, and would ultimately accomplish nothing.
It was that, more sensible part that was winning out this day.
And because of that, realizing that she would have no other company besides Sabaku here for the next few hours, she decided to indulge in conversation with this prisoner.
"And what's made you such an expert on him?"
"Expert?" Temari let out a short, bitter laugh. "Hardly, the sad truth is that...he's not nearly so complicated as people think he is, not when you've reached into the heart of it all."
"And that is?"
Temari stopped herself at that question, realizing that this was venturing into unsafe ground, especially if word ever got back to him.
"Figure it out yourself." She decided to answer and before Hanabi could say anything else she continued. "You know of anything I can say to get a medic nin up here? The Anbu do a really good job of keeping me in here and an even better job of keeping most others out."
"Perhaps if you told them Hokage-sama ordered it you'd get some more favorable results." She said.
"Hah! I may just try that for my next escape attempt."
"I haven't heard of you trying many times."
"Because I haven't." Temari admitted. "Even if I somehow did manage to give the guard the slip, there is still two hundred leagues separating me and Suna territory. And if one of the border patrols doesn't find me and I don't get attacked out in the forest by Nuke-ninja while I have no weapons, no armor and very limited supplies, I would still have your Hokage tracking me down. And if that wasn't enough, even if I did make it to Suna, there is still the danger of Zhuge Liang."
"I'd heard that Kumo's Kage wanted you dead from Hinata. Never learned why though."
"Well becau-"
She stopped, and a moment later Hanabi sensed it too, the veins around her eyes bulging outwards with the excess flow of blood as she activated her bloodlimit.
Naruto kept his eyes on the diminutive brunette wondering privately, if her words were true and, decided, after a moment, that the only way to determine such, would be to speak to Temari herself now.
Part of him scoffed then. Such thoughts were not like him, he was entertaining these foolish notions far too often of late.
And yet...
"Narut-"
He held up a hand, silencing her as his eyes became focused, sharper, returning his attention back to the village and away from her.
The silence was broken with a virtual tidal wave of noise as steel struck steel, and shouts erupted outside of the room.
Temari stood and marched out the door, following the sounds through the hallways.
Before she got very far however, two Konoha Anbu appeared in front of her, barring her path as they pushed her the other way, almost violently taking hold of her arms and dragging her where they wished.
It took her mind a second to figure out what was going on. She'd been attacked here before by Zhuge Liang's men, but she doubted the Sleeping Dragon would make a repeat attempt when the first one had failed.
No, this was an attack.
That meant, that her brother's men were here. Suna ninja.
Wind chakra raced up her arm, slivers and arcs of razor sharp chakra forcing one of the Anbu guard to release her before his hand was cut to ribbons.
Her free hand lashed out, punching at his partners throat.
Her strike caught him mid breath, making him choke and cough, grabbing him by the front of his cloak, she pulled him forward and switched their positions.
She reached into his cloak, grabbing onto a kunai holstered on the man's thigh just before he was struck by some blow delivered by his partner. One that had been intended for her no doubt.
The man fell to her side, and the one that was still standing drew his sword, taking a swing that she knew would not be fatal even if it struck. They wanted her alive.
Her kunai, acting as a conduit for her wind chakra, cut his sword in two when the blades met. This was not surprising to him, he'd intended for such a thing to occur and to use the opportunity to strike at the pressure point along her neck that would be exposed as a result of her movements.
What was a surprise however, was when she used her free hand to catch the falling tip of his blade, and, in one fluid movement, jabbed the broken sword into his waist.
He grunted, and Temari released the weapon, ignoring the cruel cut along her palm, as she used her foot to drive it deeper in and push the Anbu away.
He fell with a cry of pain, hissing his breath between his teeth and Temari spun around in that moment, and delivered a kick to the back of the other Anbu's head, making damn certain he was unconscious.
She turned to leave, ready to head towards where she could hear the fighting, only to find in her way, none other than Hyuuga Hanabi, Byakugan eyes activated as she glared at the Suna princess.
Temari narrowed her eyes, gritting her teeth as she took her weapon into a defensive stance. "Get out of my way. You're not in any condition to stop me."
Wordlessly, Hanabi assumed her own stance, and Temari was struck by just how similar she and Hinata actually were in that moment. She could almost swear the elder Hyuuga's ghost was staring her in the face.
She opened her mouth to say something more when the Hyuuga attacked.
Temari ducked under her spin kick and leapt over the sweep kick that followed.
Hanabi's hand shot upwards, palm open in a strike that would send a bolt of chakra straight into her lung if it hit. Temari curled her body, hands grabbing onto the Hyuuga's wrist and using it to twist herself up and over the younger woman's body.
Hanabi would have spun around to strike again, but the pain from tender ribs flared to life as she began the movement. And the moments hesitation allowed Temari enough time to land and kick out at the younger woman.
The heel of her foot slammed solidly into the base of Hanabi's neck, sending her skidding down the hallway floor.
Temari stood straight, only to be forced to duck again under Hanabi's strike as the younger woman practically lunged as she recovered her footing.
Her form was sloppy though, fueled by either desperation, or anger, and so even though Temari had left herself open, the Hyuuga had left herself in the same state as well.
Temari twisted, and lashed out with a kick, feeling her hip joint pop and a spike of pain shoot up her leg in protest to the awkward movement, but it still connected onto Hanabi's stomach, knocking the wind out of her as she was sent sailing upwards before falling flat on her back.
Temari scrambled back to her feet, watching as Hanabi clutched at her stomach, eyes scrunched up in pain as blood bubbled up from her mouth and seeped between her teeth.
The Suna princess knew she hadn't hit the younger woman that hard, and so she could only attribute it towards some damage that had been caused by Naruto earlier that she, or perhaps, neither of them had detected fully.
She took a step closer, almost driven to the younger woman's help before she stopped herself, realizing where they now figuratively stood once again
"Temari!"
Her head snapped to her right, down the hall where a massive suit, of wood and metal lumbered towards her, footfalls sending tremors through the floors.
"Kankuro?" She asked, barely able to truly believe that her little brother had come here. Here! Practically to the jaws of the beast to rescue her.
Then, squeezing his way past their brother, Gaara shot forward, running towards her so fast she could barely comprehend the sight of him as well before he had wrapped her up in a fierce, hug!
She hugged him back and, unbidden, the tears stung her eyes, his familiar scent of sandalwood, barley leaves and the barest hint of ink and parchment, coming to her like an old friend.
He breathed against her shoulder, and she thought she felt him shake as he spoke. "I'd thought you were dead."
She swallowed, emotion clogging her voice before she successfully pushed it back down "I'm not." She answered, almost laughing in her happiness. "I'm right here."
Their previous reunion had been too wild too hectic as they'd been forced to fight the criminals of the Akatsuki. Only now, here did the two have a moment to breathe before being thrown back into the fires again.
Kankuro waddled up next to them as Gaara pulled away to look her over more carefully. And though their youngest siblings attention had gone straight to her, the Puppet masters' went towards the dark haired youth still laying beside them.
She clutched at her ribs, glaring up at them with a single open eye as she shook with the effort to even reach her knees.
"Hyuuga." The puppet master said, mostly to himself, though with the suits voice amplifying seals it reached Temari's ears easily.
As did his intent when he took a step towards the white eyed princess.
Temari reached out, grabbing her brother by the arm with enough force to halt him where he stood. "No!" She cried.
Gaara looked at her curiously, but Kankuro did not. He'd seen her show compassion for the Devil King himself back at that freezing hell hole up in the north.
He'd hoped it was perhaps a one time thing...but now it seemed...
"Fine."
Gaara's words brought him back to the present. "You sure?" He asked. "This is a Hyuuga, no matter what rank they have, they're dangerous." He suddenly wished he'd told Gaara about Temari's apparent Stockholm syndrome. That way his brother would make informed decisions rather than perhaps, adhering to Temari's requests. Now, both of those things would be made in sentimentality.
Still, the middle of an operation was not the time to have a conversation of this nature. He would keep his silence.
Opening a compartment along the left hip of his suit, Kankuro reached down pulling a scroll free from its confines.
As the ensuing puff of grey smoke dissipated, Kankuro's gauntlet fist held out a great war fan towards his younger sister. "I thought you may have missed this one."
Temari took the weapon, almost sighing as the familiar weight settled on her arms.
Gaara placed his hand on his sister's shoulders and smiled, his heart uplifted now that she was well and truly back.
The Kazekage looked to Kankuro "Come on. Its time for the next part of this."
Temari started. "What? We're going to attack the village itself?"
"No." He answered. "We aren't doing anything. Kankuro and I will continue on. You are taking this-" He gave the fan in her hands a firm rap with his knuckles. "and you are leaving, back to Suna"
"I'm not leaving you to fight alone here!" She yelled with indignation and anger.
"I am not loosing you again and that's final." He responded, and, before she could get another word in edgewise he spoke towards their armored brother. "Come, we have little time." And it was true. He would have wanted to make damn sure Temari was well and truly gone from this place before leaving her. But speed was their friend in this fight, if they took too long then their losses would outweigh the gain.
The Kazekage prayed with all his heart that she would listen to him.
The village alarm rose like a tide, steady and sure, the horn gaining in pitch and decibels as it drowned out all other noise. A second later he saw the previously calm village come alive with activity as ninjas moved to collect their orders and civilians rushed from their homes in panic to reach the shelters.
"What's going on?" Suzume asked in alarm.
Four Anbu marched into the Hokage's office, bringing both occupants attention towards them before settling on the captain as the man stepped forward. "Hokage-sama. The village is under attack."
Suzume gasped even as Naruto stepped forward. "In what direction? How many?"
"Multiple perimeter guard in sectors eight, thirteen, five, seven, and your estate have raised alarms before falling silent." He paused, pressing two fingers over his right ear. "I am now getting confirmed reports that enemy ninja have entered the village. By the scale of this, I'd say no less than one fifty to two hundred enemy nin. Your orders sir?"
"Scramble Anbu teams one through seven, along with teams twelve and nineteen. Deploy them to their respective areas. All gennin and chuunin are to be escorts for civilian evacuation and Jounin are to join with the Anbu and are subject to their command."
The Anbu captain bowed and turned to leave.
"Captain."
He stopped. "Sir?"
Naruto grabbed Suzume by her arm, pulling her forward before gently pushing her towards the captain. "Take her to the shelter. She is to remain safe, and unharmed. Escort her yourself. Do I make myself clear, captain?"
"Yes Hokage-sama."
Naruto watched as all of them left, closing the door behind them before he turned his eyes back to the village below. Already he can hear the sounds of battle beginning to sift through the coming night's air.
Kunai blades sank into the sifting grains of his sand shield, falling to the floor moments later as gravity took its toll.
With a wave of his hand Gaara sent that same sand a moment later to crush his attacker.
He felt the man thrash as he screamed, clutched in the sand's embrace. Gaara tightened his fist, silencing him with a grimace before leaping off to the next rooftop, where he could hear the whine of Kankuro's servo motors as he fought whatever Konoha nin he'd found.
He arrived in time to see his brother punch a chuunin through a wall, the sickening sound of crunching bones, cracked through the air as the massive fist struck home.
Kankuro looked up, torso pivoting to do so. "Brother! Is this spot good enough?"
Gaara only needed to take a moment. "No, we need to get closer. We need to get to at least thirty meters."
His brother nodded, then turned sharply as nearly half a dozen Anbu appeared near them. Gaara felt himself tense for half a second before he realized their masks placed them as Suna ninja.
"Sir!" One said, bowing. "The Northern assault teams have reported more resistance than expected."
"And the South team?"
"As per your orders, your own assault team linked up with the southern team, they are securing, the Hashirama bridge and the south western gates firmly."
"At least we'll have a clear line of retreat." Kankuro commented.
"Commander." The Kazekage called. "Take your team, and any others you find, link up with the northern assault teams, try to push through the enemy and rendezvous with myself at Operation point Kenpaku."
The squad commander nodded. "As you wish Kaze-"
No one saw it. One second the man was speaking, the next, his head fell from his shoulders and a man stood behind his corpse.
The entire team pulled away, drawing their blades in defense.
Gaara jerked in surprise after a second more. He hadn't recognized him without the armor.
The Anbu moved to charge when his shout stopped them.
"No!"
They didn't turn away from their enemy, and he dared not turn his sight away for a second either.
"Kankuro. Head to the operation point. Set things up there for when I arrive. Anbu, my orders survive your commander. Head towards the northern teams."
"Brother." Their was worry in Kankuro's voice, a plea for him to stay and fight.
"Do not question my orders." He barked, his worry now overriding his calm. "Go and make sure everything is ready for when I arrive!"
Kankuro hesitated for a moment longer before turning and making his way down an alleyway, towards the west of the village.
Taking their example from Suna's puppet master, the Anbu did the same, being certain to offer the Demon king a wide enough berth.
As soon as they were gone the Hokage spoke, looking up towards where Gaara stood on the tiled roof. "Their death will come, in time. Yours however will find you swifter."
"Not today."
"What is your purpose here I wonder?" He questioned aloud, though it seemed more to himself than the Kazekage. "Your sister?"
"I have several. One of the last is to see you dead."
A smirk spread slowly across Naruto's face.
"Not today." He echoed.
The sand shield shot up between them, and Gara jumped as he felt Naruto's fist slam into the wall of earth, leaping backwards he felt another strike against his defenses, this time joined with the unmistakeable heat of one of the Devil King's fire jutsu.
He parted the shell, allowing him a moment to see where the man was before sending a wave of sand forward, willing it into a sharp point to spear him with.
His feet touched the ground before he leaps up again, dispelling the sand to have a clear view around him for a split second.
There's the familiar tug at the back of his mind. But though the warning comes quickly, his reflexes are slower this time, and a foot smashes into his side, the crushing force of the blow, all but made nil, as it meets armor harder than any steel.
The force of the hit and gravity pull him down, wood and tile shatter beneath him before he slams into the floor.
He smiles.
He hadn't even felt it.
It worked.
This is why he'd taken so long to prepare. Why he'd risked the entire operation by keeping the teams on the very outskirts of Konoha territory. He'd been gathering the strongest minerals, pulling them free of hundreds of feet deep beneath the earth and fusing it with the sand he had at his command.
It was denser, stronger.
And was right now working better than he'd expected.
He opened his eyes, and rolled immediately away just before a fist smashed into the space where his head had been. He got to his feet, and blocked Naruto's kick watching as the armor on his arms cracked before he pushed forward and attacked himself.
As he delivered strike after strike, Gaara found himself smiling, getting the distinct impression that despite his aloofness, the Devil King was as surprised as he himself was by how little damage his attacks had done to the Kazekage.
Pushing him away, Gaara knelt and brushed his fingers onto the wooden floor of the house
Sand tore its way up from the floorboards, wooden shrapnel flying everywhere before wrapping around his opponent.
'Sabaku kyuu!'
The sand tightened his hold, but there was no blood and Gaara almost snarled.
It'd be too easy then wouldn't it?
The kick struck his left shoulder blade, and he rolled forward.
Before he even reached his feet his sand attacked for him, a pillar of shifting earth that smashed into Naruto's ribs, lifting him up and slamming him into the ceiling before throwing him back down.
Gaara reached his feet in time to see the Hokage break his fall with a coffee table.
His hands fell together into a seal, and he felt the world thin and strain beneath his feet as he bent it to his will.
Sand rose from between the floorboards around him like river water, gathering before it rushed forward with the speed and density of a freight train.
Fire seething and wild swarmed over his vision, spreading, and he suddenly felt as though he were staring down the gaping maw of some hell-spawned beast. The heat was so overwhelming it was turning the sand to glass before it could cover the scant feet between them.
Tongues of fire coiled up the walls and reached to the ceiling spreading and eating away at the wood all around them until they stood within the eye of a fiery storm.
He ceased his attack and his arm came up to the left side of his face.
The tug returns, pulling at his mind.
This time, his reflexes are fast enough.
More flames, it washes over his shield, but he doesn't wait this time, slipping away he uses this hellish place as cover. The smoke, the fire, aid him this time as he gets closer.
He pulls a kunai, throwing it, he's not disappointed when the Hokage avoids it and turns his attention back to him.
Only for a lance of sand to spear him through the back, emerging from the floor behind him.
Blood spurts from the wound, and Gaara smiles as the Hokage grimaces. If its in actual pain or mere irritation the Kazekage cant tell.
He's about to spread the sand, to send it in through the wound but he hears something above.
Wood breaks and splinters, flames surge through the breach, a rush of oxygen driving them higher as another Naruto falls in through the ceiling, a Rasengan glowing almost pale white in his hand.
The Kazekage feels a moment of panic. Too close! Much too close!
He calls his shield grains of sand quickly forming a canopy.
He expected pain.
He didn't expect it to come from a wind chakra laced kunai that cut through his armor and sank into his stomach.
The one above had been a Genjutsu!
The sand of his armor flew off his body, wrapping around Naruto's hand and forearm within a heartbeat and Gaara chose not to risk the speed of Naruto's reflexes by reaching for more.
With a mental command, the appendage was crushed, and even the Demon king couldn't hold the pain in silence; shouting as he pulled away.
Gaara went to move when the kunai, still lodged in his stomach stole the strength in his leg, the Kazekage fell on one knee before pulling the weapon free.
He cursed. If this kept up, then he wouldn't have enough Chakra to finish the operation.
Jiraiya's drink was interrupted at the sound of two dozen frenzied villagers outside the bar causing enough of a ruckus to cut through, even his drunken haze.
Pulling himself out of the stool he marched out. He would have asked what was going on but everyone was looking in one direction.
Turning his eyes south, whatever buzz had settled on his mind because of the drink dissipated almost instantly at the sight of black clouds of smoke rising to the south.
He took back to the air, pulling himself free of the burning wreckage, black soot creased his face, and clung to his singed clothes. The fire sputtered and mushroomed with the rush of air as Naruto followed, his more powerful leap closing the distance between them with alarming speed.
Gaara thrust his arm forward, the sand rushing to obey, hurdling towards the tyrant.
He could almost hear the groan in his thoughts when, instead of being thrown back down to the earth by the impact, Naruto ran along the surface of the sand up towards him, closing the remaining distance in the blink of an eye.
The fist smashed into his face, shattering the armor and sending a lance of pain throbbing through the bones of his jaw and teeth.
When he hit the dirt, the Kazekage spat out a wad of mucous blood.
He'd felt that one.
He moved to stand, but he must have been reeling for just a little while longer than he'd thought, because the next sensation that he got was a boot stomping onto his back and pinning him to the ground.
He was about to retaliate when the foot suddenly came off, and he heard the unmistakeable thump of flesh striking flesh along with the fluttering of clothes.
"Sabaku." He heard as a hand gripped him by his upper arm and began hauling him to his feet.
A hand, not an armored gauntlet.
The curse left his lips before he had even looked up at his rescuer. "Dammit Temari I told you to leave!"
"You couldn't be stupid enough to think I would listen!"
Despite himself, Gaara did smile at that. It was a faint hope, a foolish one even, to have thought that she'd listen and leave. Stubbornness ran in their blood.
He reached his feet, turning around and facing the Hokage again, who stood across from them. Soot marred his white clothing while blood caked his right sleeve, and the shoulder where he'd been stabbed. Red droplets stained the dirt of the village road beside his shoes.
When Naruto rushed forward to attack Gaara struck low, Temari swung that massive fan of hers high as spears of sand jutted from the ground.
The Hokage jumped, momentum carrying him over the sand as he twisted backwards in mid air, the fan's cast iron frame almost brushing against his face before he righted himself and landed between the two.
With a shockwave of chakra the two Suna ninja were bodily pushed aside, four to five steps. Gaara would have wondered at the surprisingly weak attack if he wasn't suddenly under attack again a second later.
At the other side of the street, a second Naruto rushed towards Temari. Launching a punch the woman's way, he wasn't surprised when his fist struck the folded fan.
Leaping over the woman to land at her back he turned, only to realize her time in captivity had not dulled her battle sense overmuch.
She'd pivoted on her heel, opening the fan in the same motion as she swung it at him in an upwards swing.
He vanished from her sight just as the weapon would have cut into him appearing again just a few feet above her.
She felt the wave of chakra over her head as she leapt back, seconds before the earth where she'd been standing rippled as though it'd been hit by some massive blow.
A wind breakthrough she realized. A weak one.
She wondered, with what she would only phantomly relate to worry, if he was really that injured.
She hesitated for only a second before attacking again, a crescent of wind carving its way through the distance between them.
With a wave of his own hand, the attack was dispelled with one of his as he fell back to the ground.
She flared the fan fully open; taking to the sky in a gust of self made wind.
Naruto made no move to stop her ascent watching her through glacial eyes as she swung her weapon with a battle cry.
They'd be invisible to some others, dozens of small blades slicing through the very air, carried through the wind and guided by her will as they rushed towards him.
He moved fast, jumping from one house to another, taller one, avoiding more of her attacks as he reached the roof of the tallest home.
He leapt straight at her, heedless of the danger.
There was a moment, a window in which Temari could almost see the future. One more swing, with all of her energy, power and Chakra driven behind it, powering it.
The war, the Devil King himself, ended in a single moment.
She hesitated, her hands frozen, her grip on the Fan hurting her fingers as time slowed before her.
Then he was on her, arms wrapping around her body and holding her tightly.
She struggled, both of them falling now back to the earth.
"Stop."
She obeyed. Freezing at the whisper of the voice that fell across her ear, a whisper nearly lost in the wind that rushed past them in their fall.
"Stop." He repeated, and she could swear she heard a plea in his voice. "Don't fight me."
"You'll kill him if I don't!" She protested.
She pushed and pulled against him, almost ready to use another wind attack when he spoke again.
"Temari..."
The plea was unmistakeable now, and her chest felt as though someone was crushing it between their fingers as the sting of frustrated tears clawed at her eyes.
As they fell, faster and faster, closer and closer to the ground, her sure grip on the battle fan faltered, then vanished entirely.
Lances of sand skewered the demon king onto their points dark blood staining the grains as his lifeblood was drained from him.
Then the construct dispelled in a cloud of smoke.
'A clone!'
His mind caught up with the fact, and fear and worry speared him through the chest.
He spread his senses, waiting for another attack.
But none was forthcoming.
'Oh no!'
His head swiveled to and fro, searching, and then rose to the sky as two figures descended.
'No!'
He rushed forward, loosing sight of them as they fell below the line of roofs and ceilings.
He ducked through the alleyways, jumping over trash and obstacles as he made his way closer.
When he ran out into the middle of the road he was sure they had fallen to he only found him. Standing there with his white cloak and bloody sleeve, blue eyes fixed on his green ones. And Gaara knew that somehow his sister was beyond his reach again now.
His lips thinned and his features tightened, glaring back at the Devil King with the full hatred of a once peaceful man and Naruto felt himself stand just a little straighter.
Then the Kazekage turned and fled.
Kankuro stomped across the square, pacing in agitation as the Anbu applied the last of the pre-made seals onto their designated locations.
Worry twisted his gut for Gaara. He was anxious and a thousand scenarios passed through his minds eye that portrayed the fates that his brother could have already met.
Only hope and faith kept him there at this point.
So when said brother landed at his side, dark cloak wrapped around his shoulders he couldn't help but shout out his name, loud enough to catch the attention of the teams that were finishing their work.
"Kazekage-sama!" Some of them yelled with him.
"Go Go!" The red head yelled, gesturing southwards with his arms. "To the escape point now!"
"Gaara-"
The Anbu obeyed, knowing what was to come.
Kankuro watched his brother and his brother turned his eyes back onto him. "Go on Kankuro. Save as many as you can. They're under your command for now."
The puppeteer nodded. "You'd better be at the rendezvous point like we planned Gaara. It'd be an awkward conversation when we get back home if you don't."
But Gaara ignored him, his face set in a determined scowl and Kankuro knew there was little time to contemplate it before he turned and left his brother a second time.
Gaara stood in the center of the square, standing with his legs about a foot apart from each other, his hands rising to a seal as he focused his chakra.
He felt the seal beneath his feet pulse as it came to life, hidden now beneath the dirt of the square.
His lips curled back into a faint sneer as he opened his eyes, finding the Devil King making his way closer when he did.
He shifted his stance, subtly leaving his left side open to attack, hoping the Demon King's strength would breed the overconfidence the Kazekage needed.
He didn't disappoint.
The redhead choked down a scream as a kunai blade cut through his side, ripping a bloody chunk from his body as he stumbled away. For a brief, terror filled moment he'd sworn that he'd left himself too vulnerable. He'd almost seen that same kunai knife driving itself into his chest rather than his side before the Hokage's blade struck where it did.
If this was due to luck or providence he neither knew nor cared.
Naruto moved to follow the Kazekage's stumbled retreat, when he felt his feet wrenched onto the ground. He looked down, finding sand encasing him up to his ankles and making its way higher.
With beads of sweat formed by pain beading his brow Gaara took up another stance, forcing himself to ignore his injured side as he looked to the sky, hands rising as though reaching to grab something.
The sand around his feet rose higher, and even with his strength, Naruto was not making quick on his escape. The Hokage was ready to call onto the Kyuubi's chakra for the first time in this fight when he noticed where Gaara was looking.
Raising his sight up the sheer cliffface of the Hokage monument, in who's shadow the two leaders now stood. Naruto felt his entire stomach fall into a pit as an ear shattering crack ripped through the surface of the Nidaime's face. The sound alone felt like a literal blow to the chest.
Horror like he'd never known took hold of the Hokage as he snapped his eyes back towards Temari's brother. The teal green eyes locked onto his own with a fury he'd never seen there before. And Gaara pulled his hands down as though heaving on some great weight.
More cracks tore themselves across the surface of the entire mountain And Naruto pulled of the deamonic chakra in a rush, pulling himself free of chunks of glass as he reached towards the Kazekage in the futile hope of stopping this.
In his haste and carelessness, he'd left himself open, and the sand that hit him over his torso knocked him onto his back and pinned him to the ground.
More sand coiled around the Kazekage himself as he glared at the downed Demon king.
"First blood." Naruto heard the Godaime say before the man was swallowed by his sand, vanishing from the village as eight million tons of dirt and rock came crashing down over the Devil King and an entire western sector of the village.
Kisame paused, his thoughts interrupted as he built their fire for the night.
His eyes roved over the bushes and trees, up to the purple colored sky and west towards where only the faintest hints of orange remained from the setting sun.
That smell. Smelled like blood in the air.
When Akina returned, she noted his rather strange, satisfied smile.
Kankuro and the men stumbled through the thick underbrush, pulling their way free of snagging branches and roping vines in the dead of night.
The moon's light could barely pierce through the canopy above, shafts of light glimering like spikes of pearl in the gloom as they pulled themselves farther and farther away from the village.
"Kankuro-sama!" One of the men yelled, far enough away to be lost amidst the foliage
The puppet master turned and practically plowed through the dense undergrouth, resisting the urge to shout as he did so.
When he found the man, he was not dissapointed to also find his brother, lying on his back, unconscious. A seal array having been drawn in the sand around him.
"At least we know the damn thing works now." He said as he reached down and picked his younger brother up and hauled him over the shoulder of his armor like a sack. 'You'll be sore as hell in a few hours but we've got to move.'
Looking to the Anbu and jounin that hugged the shadows of the forest around them he quietly gave the order to keep moving, and the Suna strike team slunk back into the darkness of the forest. Making their escape.
The heat had been stifling once...all but suffocating in itself without the lack of oxygen in this place that had very nearly become his tomb.
All his focus was set on slowing down. He simply did not have the oxygen to risk burning it all up in a single blast that could, itself, kill him if there was too much tonnage overhead.
In truth. He should be dead. He wasn't sure what stroke of fate had caused for stone and dirt to fall in such a way that he did not feel the full weight of thousands uppon thousands of pounds crushing the life out of him.
The heat, at first, had been a problem to his focus, leading him to distraction as he focussed on cycling the air in his lungs, forcing the trace amounts within this cavity to last longer than they should. Now cold and water were his enemies. The freezing liquid dripped down from the cracks of the stone overhead chilling him to the very bone. His body shivered almost constantly now, and hypothermia would soon be a danger.
He wasn't sure just how long he was down there, or how much longer he would have lasted when he heard the voices above him. Muffled and somewhat distant, they'd been more than he'd heard in a long time.
He sent out a pulse of chakra, not willing to risk what little air he had in shouting, and there was a rush of movement above him. The snaps of shifting stone and the crunches of shoveled dirt.
Then, like a great gate being pulled open, the rock, the largest that had possibly held off all the weight that should have killed him was pulled aside, allowing a white wash of rain to crash over him, peppering his face and chest.
"I found him!" Someone yelled.
He opened his eyes, taking a deep breath. He'd never been more grateful for the sensation. Rain struck his face and he shivered harder.
Someone came over and rushed down, and Naruto recognized the man instantly. Jiraiya.
He knelt at his side and Naruto only now noticed the face of the mountainside from his peripheral vision. Torn into as though the hand of the Gods themselves had fallen onto the earth and shattered it, what had once been a grand representation of their villages history and honor filled past now stood as a vile scar, carved into the very face of the rock. It would be a constant reminder of their failure today. Of his failure from this day forward.
First blood indeed.
"I'm sorry." He heard the Toad sannin say. "I should have been here."
"Yes." He answered. "You should have."
The Toad sannin looked at him, eyeing him up and down.
"Can you stand?"
"Not even I can simply shrug off a mountain falling on my head Jiraiya." His voice was dry, his mood growing darker as his mind only now began to fully wrap around this.
A bold move by the Kazekage.
He acredited the plan to Zhuge Liang.
Looking up, the Sannin yelled to the men above. "Get a medic!"
Immediately some went off.
"What casualties did we suffer?" Naruto asked.
Jiraiya didnt answer for a moment his mind elsewhere as he stared at the blond.
One move. All it would take would be a single slice across his throat. He was fast enough. Probably the only one in the world who was. One movement...thats all it would take right now, and this may very well be the only chance he would ever get like this.
His hand trailed...
"Don't worry about that now." He said. "Time enough later."
The Hokage sighed, closing his eyes as he seemed to slump where he lay.
He found the grip and then someone rushed down the hole, dirt and mod being thrown up with them as they knelt at their side and Jiraiya feared for a moment that he'd been seen.
A plastic mask was over her face, a bandana over their head, but just beneath it Jiraiya saw the stark shade of blond.
"Are you alright?" She asked and Naruto's eyes opened again to fix themselves on her.
"You're here." It wasn't a question. "I was unsure if you would have stayed."
The woman pulled her mask free, and Jiraiya almost felt the shock of seeing Sabaku Temari's face send a literal bolt of lightning through his heart.
Temari didn't say anything to his words, merely roved her eyes over him just as Jiraiya had. "Will you be alright?"
Naruto smiled, it was a small thing, made by a mouth unused to the act. "Your brother...proved more competent than I expected"
Temari looked him in the eye, shame coloring her voice as the words spilled out. "Maybe I shouldn't have asked you to hold back."
Both youths ignored the Toad sannins shocked jerk.
"It was my choosing to listen." He answered.
The Suna princess hesitated, her hand extending and recoiling for a moment or two before she finally took his hand in her own. "For whatever it may be worth...I'm...Thank you."
The gratitude was genuine, it was plain on her face and Jiraiya watched, stupefied at what he was seeing infront of his very eyes.
His hand slowly released the weapon clasped in it.
Faith...he'd said.
One more time...one more. He would have Faith.
Someone else dropped down beside them, and his voice emerged like a bark. "Move move, everybody out." It was the med nin
Temari did as asked, pulling away and releasing his hand before leaping up from the hole. Jiraiya lingered a little longer before moving to follow when Naruto grasped his sleeve.
"Jiraiya."
"Yea?"
"Send out messengers. Call in the overseers of the other villages.."
"Which ones?" He asked.
Naruto replied as though it should be obvious.
"All of them."