Akina woke with a slight start. A minor gasp escaping her lips as her eyes shot open.
Thin beams of light trailed in from the small openings in the tent she was in. The brown drapes that served as the tents roof shined in a lighter shade due to the bright sunlight outside. The sound of laughing children reached her ears, along with the commotion of what she could only guess was some kind of market place considering the myriad of sounds.
She sat up on the haphazard cot looking at her surroundings. Finding a small fire pit in the center of the tent, smoking with the slightly glowing ashes that remained from whoever had set the fire the previous night. Apparently whoever these people were they had somehow managed to feed her because the ache and gnawing pain that had been gripping her stomach and the weakness and weighing down on her extremities was gone, her skin was a bit paler than she remembered it, though that could just be the dim lighting of the tent.
She looked down at herself, finding that her chest and abdomen was wrapped securely in bandages.
A few minor red blotches were still apparent where the burns had taken a bit longer to heal than the rest of her injuries. The lower half of her waist was covered by a pair of long, slightly torn brown pants. They fit well enough though. She gulped a bit, sincerely hopping that whoever had changed her had been a woman and not some perverted guy that had gotten a free show. Though the woman, given whatever preference she had, could have been considered to have gotten a free show as well now that she thought about it.
She looked around one more time, but this time caught sight of a pair of eyes attached to a very short body peeking in from a small opening. She opened her mouth to speak but as soon as she did the child, startled at having been seen, scurried off before she could say anything.
"Hey wait!" She called before standing up, wincing at the soreness in her legs and arms, carrying up the small blanket that she had been sleeping with and draping it over herself as she stood. She made her way to the entrance of the tent. Apprehension gripping her chest with a faint presence as she wondered just who she would see out there. Most people she knew of lived in villages, not in tents and huts, unless of course they were in some type of military encampment. But if that were so children would certainly not be freely roaming around as they seemed to be doing. So pushing the small bit of apprehension away she peeked out of the tent.
The sight that greeted her seemed to be that of...well if she didn't know any better some kind of..refugee encampment. But...it was too big. This couldn't be a refugee camp. Most of these camps held 50 to 200 people at the most. But this one seemed close to nearly triple that amount.
The people went about their business, not noticing that their guest had woken, men carried large boxes to and fro to their destinations while some of the women worked around the camp itself, some setting up tents and others cooking the hunt the others had caught.
The children she couldn't see but she could certainly hear. Their rambunctious laughter and roughhousing clear to her from whatever distance they were. Fanning out her senses she found many ninja were amongst the crowd, most chuunin, though some could be jounin or possibly ANBU.
It was then she heard the shuffling of rapidly approaching feet and her tuned senses fixed themselves on the strongest chakra source approaching her. Looking a little to her left she saw a child, most likely the one she'd seen outside the tent approaching dragging behind her a rather tall man, easily 6'2. He dwarfed the seemingly six or seven year old girl.
The amount of chakra she could sense of him was easily jounin level, he wore a yellow jacket with a navy blue undershirt with a matching yellow pair of pants. He had short cropped orange hair that was barely an inch tall. "Yuichi. What is it now, eh? I have things to do. I cant play." He argued as he tried to pry his hand from the girls grip as gently as he could. Obviously this big guy had a soft spot for children. The little girl stopped a few feet away from her and pointed. The larger man's eyes followed the direction of her finger and caught sight of the blond haired former Kumo Kunoichi. A smile spread across his face, his bright green eyes lighting up and for a moment she thought he was simply far too "bright" to be a Sinobi.
Red flags went up in her mind as her first suspicion was that it was some kind of deceit. Still, despite the prudence and likeliness of such a thought she quickly pushed it aside, it wouldn't do well to be suspicious of her apparent rescuers...at least...not openly.
"Oh you woke up eh? Lucky for you, we didn't think you'd make it past the third day when we found you." The man commented as he stepped forward the little girl hiding behind his leg. She had to crane her head back a bit in order to keep eye contact with the strange orange haired man. "I bet your kinda confused yea?" He said after a brief moment of silence as he scratched the back of his head. He extended his hand. "My names Hiru, the elected leader of this camp. What's your's eh?"
Akina moved to answer when a tug at the bottom of Hiru's pants brought her attention down to the little girl. "Oh ya, and this little one is Yuichi. She and some of the other kids found ya when they were playing down by the beach."
Akina smiled, though it still held a little bit of nervousness. "Really? My name's Akina, I guess I should thank you for saving me then." She said smiling down at the little girl who blushed a bit at the praise coming from her.
"Yup." Hiru nodded ruffling her hair affectionately as the little child beamed at the praise from the two adults. As she looked up to Hiru's eyes Akina caught sight of a small tiny scar on the side of her throat. Hiru smiled at the girl. "Ok now Yuichi. I'll take care of the nice lady for you. Go on and play now."
Yuichi smiled happily before running off. Hiru watched her go with a slight upturn of his lips "She's a good girl yea." Pride was heard in his voice as he spoke of the small dark haired girl.
Akina nodded, turning her eyes to Hiru as she spoke. "Ummm, I'm sorry to ask this but...who are you people? Why are you..."
"Living in such conditions?" Hiru finished for her as he again scratched the back of his head. His expression a strange mix of sadness, irony and bitterness. "We all came from different places but were here because we've basically left our villages."
Akina blinked for a moment. "You mean...you're all fugitives?"
"Fugitives is one name for us yea. Or at least the name Konoha would give us."
"So you're refugees?" Akina asked rhetorically, somewhat shocked despite her initial suspicion of the same. "But...this camp is."
"So big?" Hiru interrupted with a tired sigh. "Yea. Just goes to show how many lives that Demon Kage has broken with his damn wars." Hiru seethed his eyes gaining a hardened edge to them, the previous gentle countenance vanishing for a moment. "Guy's a damn monster."
Akina would have agreed had it been a month ago. Everything had been black and white to her then. Everything was so clear to her then and now...now she wasn't so sure if she had ever been on the right side...or even if there was a side to be on.
Before she could even realize why it had come to her a thought slipped into her mind. 'There must be a reason for what he does.'
And even though she initially reeled from the thought. She realized with some clarity that it must be true. That there must be some reason some...event some drive that compels him to do what he does.
But what was it?
And even if there was one...could it ever justify all the blood on his hands?
She didn't think so.
Again Hiru scratched the back of his head. Apparently that was a habit of his. Turning to her he forced a smile onto his lips. "Bah enough of this depressing stuff eh!" His voice brought her out of her melancholy thoughts as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders in a friendly gesture, smiling down at her with that bright smile of his. "This is a time to be celebrating the fact that your alright. I shouldn't be depressing you like this eh."
"Ummm...thanks but you barely even know me. For all you know I could be an enemy spy sent to infiltrate your camp. Shouldn't you be just a little more suspicious, like asking me where I came from and what happened to me and stuff like that?" She questioned incredulously. The sheer absurdity of how trusting this man seemed to be catching up to her. She had always been trained to look for deceit behind every kind smile and friendly face...
Funny...maybe she should have looked for it in the face of the man that told her to do so.
Hiru's smile, though dimmer was still in place. "We have had to look out for spies in the past that's true. But I don't know, you just don't have that look about you. You just look like someone who's...a little lost right now eh? That and if you're really a spy you deserve to infiltrate us after nearly killing yourself down by the beach eh? That's commitment." The man laughed at his own joke
Akina, startled, took a step back. Looking up at the brightly dressed refugee leader she looked like she was about to ask something when a man ran around the corner of one of the other tents. "Hiru-sama. We need you on the north perimeter, Masakage has injured himself."
"Well looks like I gotta cut this short. Look I ahh I'll talk to you later ok? Right now I gotta go see what's wrong with one of my guards. You can walk around the camp as much as you want, just remember this tent is yours so come back here when you're done. Don't get lost I do still need to ask you a few things to see what you'll be doing around here."
And before she could say anything Hiru turned and walked away, leaving her alone in the middle of this completely unknown group of people. She looked around, panicking for a moment, She moved to call after him but by the time she had brought her eyes back to where he had been walking he was already gone. So giving the place another once over she walked back into the tent to try and find some warmer clothes, if she was gonna explore this camp she sure as hell wouldn't walk around with just the clothes and blanket she had on.
As she entered the tent she let her previous meeting pass over her mind. It was odd and the red warning flags that had been going off in her head were still very much standing. But that wasn't what concerned her presently.
No...her concern was what she would do now. She had escaped Kumo, that much was true. But now what...where does she go from here...what does she do. Does she just...disappear and leave this damn world with her brother and a traitor of a sensei to rot and burn in its own devices?
No she couldn't do that...she couldn't do that simply because...despite Liang...there were still people she cared about in Kumo, people who were her friends...her family. She couldn't just...abandon them...to Liang or to Naruto.
But where could she go...what could she do now...here? In this place where she held nothing...no rank...no connections...not even a bloody weapon. And even if she had those things what would she do then? Would she keep being Liang's pawn and fight her brother? She wasn't even sure she wanted to fight Naruto anymore and that to her was terrifying. All the hatred all the anger she held for him all these years...where had it all gone? She had seen only one individual who held as much hatred for Naruto as she had.
The ninetails...
And that simple fact was a brutally harsh blow to her already shaking foundations.
What if that hatred hadn't been hers to begin with...what if it had all been the ninetails simply feeding his emotions to her. She had been bordering on obsession. That doesn't just vanish over night it couldn't. Had it been her decision, her choice to hate Naruto...
...Or...did she ever have a choice to begin with?
As the drapes closed behind her three men gathered around Hiru, each of them dressed in drab clothing and giving the appearance of normal civilians. "Well sir what do you think?"
"Hmm don' know yet. I don' think she means us harm, but she was definitely unnerved when I mentioned Kumo. I want you to keep a close eye on her. We cant risk our camp being discovered by Konoha." Hiru said before walking past the three men, who each looked at each other. Giving a silent nod of assent before each of them vanished in a wisp of black smoke.
Gaara sighed with exhaustion, allowing himself a virtual collapse, even though he was already sitting in his chair, letting his head fall onto his crossed arms that rested on the wooden desk. All around him were maps, scrolls, tactics, diagrams, troop requests and supply routes all melded together to form one chaotic, mind numbing collage of information that threatened to bring him straight to his knees with the force of the migraine throbbing right between his temples.
"Rough day huh?" A familiar voice responded from the doorway and Gaara turned his head enough for a single sharp green eye to peek up and glare with the sharpness of a kunai knife at the intruder that dared enter this room while he needed several bottles of aspirin.
This visitor, by the way, was none other than Haruno Sakura bringing in, what do you know. Yet another massive file for him to sift through. At this rate the 'Devil King' didn't need to worry about winning the war because by the time he was done reading and going through all these forms and plans the war would be over and done with.
Biting back several expletives that fit the situation the Kazekage sat up again glaring at Sakura though it was more due to the circumstances of her visit rather than the visit itself.
Wasting no time however he got down to business. "Those I assume are the medical reports."
"Got it in one." She said with a quick smile as she set the files down in front of him. Gaining a more somber look however as she spoke. "I've...put the one's I knew you'd want to read first at the top."
Gaara's eyes snapped up to hers, his turquoise green eyes staring into her deeper jade ones as he held her gaze. There was a silence between them, punctuated by the fact that neither would look away from the other.
Finally it was Gaara that turned his eyes away from hers, down to the top file. Opening the parchment he found the picture's of two very close friends of his.
Akamichi Chouji...and Inuzuka Kiba.
Gaara's brow furrowed eyes narrowing in discontent as his fingers tightened minutely on the assorted papers before he released a heavy sigh, the papers slipping from his fingertips and limply falling onto the desk, adding to the mess already in place around it. Letting himself fall onto his chair he released another sigh before looking at Sakura. "Do you mind explaining these yourself...I hate medical files."
Sakura nodded, understanding full well why he wanted her to speak even though the files were right in front of him.
So clearing her throat she, stepped forward grabbed the open file from his desk, before sitting down on the leather chair in front of him. She allowed her eyes to ghost over the pages she herself had written, refreshing her mind as to their content before speaking.
"Chouji's doing as well as can be expected. The nerve that was damaged in his arm as we told you when he first received it, forced him to virtually relearn how to control his limb. Though he slips up a few times, its beginning to become second nature to him. With an estimated two more weeks of intense physical therapy and medications with our medics we estimate he'll be fit for duty in another. Though...since he hasn't been practicing as he had before, you cant expect his skills to be up to the same level he was before his injury for a while yet.
Gaara nodded "I never would have expected that of him. Now..." He paused, speaking somewhat gravely as he leaned forward, lacing his hands in front of his mouth. "What of Kiba?"
Sakura's eyes closed, the lines of her face drawn tight and Gaara could literally feel the stress behind those features. "Kiba's physical condition has improved, he can stand, walk and basically get through the day like a regular civilian. But as for his mental health...that's another matter altogether."
"What do you mean?" Gaara questioned, eyes narrowing minutely.
"He's suffering from what's known as Post-Traumatic Stress disorder we see it often enough in our line of work no doubt but coupled with this disorder he's also showing signs that he may become a manic depressive. The loss of his arm, his partner Akamaru, his position as the heir of the clan and his Shinobi career virtually overnight has put him on a very precarious edge. Hana, has been visiting as much as she can, trying to keep his spirits up. Ino too has been trying to keep him occupied. But...we're also seeing another complication developing in him. He's developing an almost total fixation with the death of Konoha's Kage, its bordering on a dangerously unhealthy obsession, and his inability to be a Shinobi due to Akamaru's death and the loss of his arm could drive him to a great deal of frustration that will even further complicate things." Sakura explained, her voice growing tighter and tighter by the second.
Gaara rubbed the bridge of his nose "What can be done to counteract this. Kiba isn't just a good Shinobi but a good friend...he deserves better than this fate." The Kage said solemnly, his green eyes once again opening after a brief moment to stare into her own.
Sakura sighed. "Well...for one thing placing him in constant presence of his friends would help. Granting him another partner, even a puppy may also help if he wishes it. But in the end it comes down to one of two things. Either convincing him to give up the life of a ninja, or finding a way for him to get it back somehow. If he does give it up then I personally believe his psyche will fall back into its proverbial place. But if instead we're forced to find a way to give him his career back or if he finds one himself...we will have to monitor his mental condition very carefully."
"How carefully?"
"24 Hour surveillance for as long as reasonably possible, as often as possible." She said quickly, her voice firm and sure.
Gaara's eyes closed again before he waved his hand, dismissing her. Sakura stood, bowing once to the Kazekage before she turned and walked out of the office, closing the door behind her.
Gaara stared at the file laying once again on his desk for what may have seemed like an eternity before he snapped, lashing out, his hands quick as lightning as they threw the papers aside. A growl escaped his throat, the small white slips floating gently in the breeze before finally settling themselves.
The harsh sunlight of Suna's sun glared through the windows, making the Kazekage's blood red hair shine with its own strange glint as his green eyes took on a hard edge.
Temari once again found herself sitting in the library of the Demon King's estate a book in her hands. Directly across from her Hinata sat in a matching leather chair, a table separating the two as Hinata calmly sipped some tea while Temari read her book.
The Suna kunoichi glared at her Konoha counterpart which Hinata calmly ignored or did not notice as she continued to drink her tea, her eyes ghosting over several more scrolls and books on the table in front of her. Temari's thoughts traveled to how she could escape this place. So far her attempts at finding a hole in the web that ensnared her had proven fruitless and she quickly grew to fear that perhaps she wouldn't be able to get away from this place before Naruto tried to use her to get her brother to surrender Suna.
So her thoughts had shifted to a different way she could help her brother.
Dissent.
She may not be able to bring down the Demon King with just brute force, but even a great beast could be killed, or at least crippled with poison.
And a voice of dissent in a time of war was most certainly a very potent poison.
Staring at the Hyuuga, she guessed that this would be as good a time as any to begin her plan.
"Let me ask you something." Temari said out of the blue, closing her book and leaning forward a bit in her chair catching Hinata's attention.
"If you must." The Hyuuga head replied as she drank a bit more, her voice a bored drawl indicating she most certainly did not want to hear Temari's voice.
"Why do you do it huh? Why do you follow a man like that. And don't give me that 'right hand of the devil' crap. You're his general and a clan head, you hold one of the highest positions in this village but hell even you're scared of him."
"Fear and respect are two different things miss Sabaku you should learn that."
"And denial tends to not work for very long. You should learn that too princess." Temari said, huffing as she crossed her arms, leaning back in her chair. "No matter what you say its clear as day that this entire village would rather be swallowed by the earth than be in his presence when he's around. Everyone, even your damn Anbu recoil in fear. I'd be disgusted if I wasn't so confused as to the reason why you just stand by and let it be."
Hinata's eyes narrowed with a bit of anger and annoyance seeping into their pearly white depths. "You understand nothing of what he's done. Of what he tries to do." Her voice was like a glacier, sweeping everything in its biting chill.
"Then make me understand!" Temari growled, fire burning in her eyes, a direct opposite to the frost in her counterparts as she stood up, Hinata following her example a moment later. "Make me understand why it is that this whole village just bends over for this guy. He's strong but so are you damnit! He's not unbeatable! That much was proven in Kumo."
Hinata's expression did not change from the previous cold anger that had been etched onto the lines of her face, and her voice came out as resolved as ever. "He is the strongest of-"
"So what?" Temari growled, interrupting the Hyuuga mid speech hiding a smirk as she did. She was rattling the cage. She doubted she had shaken the foundations of the Hyuuga girl, but the Anbu, they weren't as certain, as secure in their blind following of this man, they could still be swayed. "Might makes right is that it Hyuuga?"
This time the voice that responded however, was not Hinata's.
"Indeed it does."
The effect was near instantaneous as Temari nearly jumped to the ceiling like a cat and Hinata's back straightened until she stood almost ramrod straight, neither had sensed him entering the room, too distracted by their previous discussion to even have a hope of detecting the normally un-detectable ninja.
Temari turned around slowly, her silver hued eyes slowly meeting his own as he stood in the doorway, watching them both through a veil of apathy and nonchalance. Slowly she gathered up her courage, arguing with the Hyuuga clan head was one thing. Arguing with this man was something else entirely. Still she felt secure in the knowledge that he needed her alive not dead, and the most he would do for her little 'insubordination' would be to stick her in a cell or remove her privileges of walking around through this house.
Or at least that's what she told herself.
Still gathering her courage she spoke again.
"So just because you're the strongest you get to do whatever you want is that it? And what happens to those who weren't trained to be Shinobi then huh? What rights do they have? None? That's some rule you got there considering just how many civilians there are."
Naruto stepped forward, his imposing height now apparent as he easily towered several inches above her. He stared into her eyes that defiantly met his own, stubborn anger belying the fear that was the undertone of her gaze.
'Interesting' the Jinchuriki thought to himself, admitting that she was very brave, as well as very foolish to argue.
His voice remained an apathetic drawl, boredom now lacing his tone. "Despite what you may think the fact is that in this world might does make right and it has been that way long before I was even conceived. Is it not the strongest ninja of the village that became the Kage? the strongest that advance in rank and gain more privileges? Is it not only Shinobi or former Shinobi that make up the village council. No princess, might does make right in this world." He stated simply before striding past her toward his earlier destination.
"So that's your justification then?" She argued to his back, fire once again simmering in her eyes. "That's how you say all this death is acceptable?"
"My justification, as you put it, will come once total conquest of this land has been achieved." Naruto said looking over his shoulder.
Hinata from her place observed the heated (at least in Temari's case) discussion. Her eyes wide and disbelieving as to what she was witnessing. Here this mere slip of a Suna Kunoichi was vehemently arguing with the man one simply did not argue with. Hinata had to think that she was either very brave, or very stupid. She was willing to bet a bit more on the latter.
"Justification through conquest?" Temari asked incredulously as her gaze hardened. "Then what happens when you lose huh? What happens when you see that this world and the people in it wont just lie down and let you walk all over them."
"Then this world will burn princess of Suna." This time his voice was different, it was familiar, and it stopped whatever arguments she had dead in her throat. That was the voice of the man she had fought at Sakai, the mask and clothing may not be the same but that bitingly cold voice certainly was even without the mask.
"You really are a monster." She said after a brief moments pause.
"Perhaps I am." He admitted. "But you are beginning to try my patience." He said and Temari soon felt a firm quick push that shoved her back into her chair. Though it took her a moment to realize it, she soon deduced that it had been a controlled burst of wind chakra that had knocked her back.
As Naruto turned to leave he caught one last glance at the Kunoichi's eyes, the fire that had been there before was still simmering behind those lenses, burning hotter now than they had before before. 'Most interesting.'