Suzume sighed tiredly as she read through the dozens upon dozens of scrolls stacked onto the desk at which she sat.
She didn't know how he did it, day after day, so stoically, not even cringing when she brought in more of the evil known now to her as paperwork.
She's been at it for weeks. Weeks! And she was ready to tear her hair out in frustration and sheer boredom. And he'd been at it for years. No wonder he was always so pissed off.
As she was about to reach for the next scroll the door to the office opened, a ninja calmly stepping through the open portal with another stack of scrolls in hand before he gently placed them atop the desk's surface.
Suzume felt a pitiful sob rise in her throat as she let her head fall onto the desk with a heavy thump, her shoulders shaking as she struggled to stop her weary emotions.
The chuunin allowed himself a pitying smile before bowing shortly and taking his leave
Suzume allowed herself to indulge in these crocodile tears for several moments, weeping for the injustice of it all, and her lot in having to remain shackled to this desk by the administrative evil.
Finally, she cut her self pitying short, reaching out with her hand, head still facing the desk she felt for the next scroll.
Only for her hand to come into contact with clammy, cold scales.
Jumping with a resonating yell. Suzume's temporary chair rolled back until it hit the wall, eyes landing on a tiny black snake resting on her desk.
"I bear a messssssage, from the Massssster" The reptile hissed, dragging out his words with its forked tongue.
Suzume took a moment to compose herself, clearing her throat with a quick 'ahem' as she stood and straightened her blouse, hiding her nervousness at the creatures amber colored eyes staring at her, following her every move. "What message?" She questioned.
"He isssss isssolated, on an island near Kiri. It issss desssserted. He demandssss a ship be sssssent out to get him. Thissss is the Messssage I bear, my duty issss done."
And so with a quick 'Poof' the reptile vanished leaving a slightly stunned Suzume standing in the office.
Quickly marching to her desk and pressing the intercom she spoke into it, getting a slight feeling of momentary elation as she realized that she was the one with a secretary now. "Bring me the fastest ninja currently within the village."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Jiraiya plopped himself onto the seat of a bar in wave countries red light district, propping his cane up next to the wall he made short work of ordering some Sake.
When the rice wine came the toad sannin quickly served himself, and began to drink.
The warmth of the alcohol trailing down his throat made him groan in satisfaction. He needed this drink.
He was never one to be stressed out easily, his life as the former head of a country wide spy network didn't really allow him to be stressed out. Stress meant that the situation was getting to you, and if the situation was getting to you you'd make mistakes, he couldn't afford mistakes back then, or now really.
But these last few days, with the battle, a missing Naruto, injured elites and an, as of yet, unknown result regarding the battle of Kumo Jiraiya couldn't help the level of anxiety and stress that bit into him with the strength of any snake summon.
"Mind if I join ya." Came a voice from his left.
Bringing his attention towards the direction at which it came from the toad sannin found none other than Yoshihiro Shimazu to be standing on the spot, in full armor regalia, his warhammer firmly resting on his back.
Not waiting for an answer the Kage of Iwa took a seat, unstrapping his warhammer and placing it to lean against the wall next to Jiraiya's cane and ordered himself a saucer of his own.
Jiraiya stared at the former Tsuchikage, not saying anything as Yoshihiro slowly served himself some Sake, eyes remaining fixed on the toad sage.
"You know why I'm here." The Tsuchikage said after taking a long satisfying gulp before placing the saucer on the table. "You need to find your precious Hokage. If he's even-"
"He's alive." Jiraiya interrupted.
"Right. You say that because you know that he very well better be."
"Are you threatening something Yoshihiro." Jiraiya questioned, a dangerous lilt to his tone.
Yoshihiro sighed before leaning forward toward Jiraiya. "Lets get somethin' straight frog boy. You and I both know, that the fact of the matter is that the single reason your alliance with my village and especially the villages within the central marshlands is held strong is because of everyones fear of Naruto. If you eliminate him from the equation everything is gonna go to hell, real quick, I can only do so much to stave off my villages anger towards yours, and eventually, without Naruto around to bully them, things will blow over in open rebellion. And not just in Iwa...in most villages you've bullied into submission. The only one you have any real strong standing in is Kiri, and dont think Suna will pass up that golden opportunity to finally knock you all down a peg or two."
Jiraiya remained silent for several moments, taking a deep breath before he opened his eyes to stare at Yoshihiro. "Again...are you threatening anything Yoshihiro?"
The Tsuchikage smirked, a somewhat bittersweet tilt to his smile. "No...just warning you of the impending disaster you could have on your hands." He stated before standing up, taking another quick drink before he grabbed his warhammer, ready to leave the bar.
"And where do you see yourself standing in this whole, impending disaster?"
Another small, bittersweet smile. "Six feet underground feeding the maggots." Looking to Jiraiya he shrugged. "If everything blows up, I side with you, I side with them..." He paused, his face loosing all hints of humor. "Either way...I'm dead."
A strained silence passed between the two before the Tsuchikage broke it again. My men and I will be leaving for Iwa tomorrow. God knows your Aburame is gotta be pulling his hairs out in frustration."
Turning to leave the Tsuchikage said one more thing over his shoulder. "Find the kid Jiraiya, unless you want this entire thing to be a waste and all these sacrifices to have been made for nothing."
With those words said the Tsuchikage made his way out of the bar, leaving the toad sage alone with his Sake.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Naruto stood over Hinata's unconscious form, bare hands checking her vitals as he ran a basic diagnostic with his limited medical knowledge.
Temari sat close by a worry in her eyes as she too looked over the unconscious Hyuuga, though she left Naruto to do as he would without interruption. She didn't know any medical Jutsu and even if she did, she doubted he'd accept her help.
Naruto, though donning his mask once again, could not hide the crease of his brow, or the hardness of his sea blue eyes.
Her condition was deteriorating. She hadn't even been able to stay awake today, only reaching consciousness for a few minutes before slipping away. The Poison had been slow for this past week and a half, but now it seemed as though it was either gaining momentum, or her body could no longer fight it off as effectively in these less than pristine conditions.
"Is she gonna be alright? Temari questioned after several minutes, eyes downcast. Despite the graveness of Hinata's situation, she still could not bring herself to look at Naruto in the eye after that rainy night two days ago. The thought that he of all people could look like that...so...unguarded, so vulnerable...so...so...human.
As long as she had known him, even as children this man had seemed like some omnipotent force of nature that could not be stopped. A living, breathing, walking nightmare that would destroy everything that stood in his path.
To have actually seen...something, anything that proved otherwise with her own two eyes had shook her more than she cared to admit.
She knew about Stockholm syndrome, she knew the symptoms the process with which it could be achieved, and she had been disiplined against such things as best she could be, but she found the previously unwavering, resentment towards this man faltering, its intensity ebbing away, like a blade hammered into dullness. She knew she couldn't dare let her guard down around him, he had proven on more than one occasion that he was willing to manipulate others, one only needed to listen to the rumors of how he subjugated Iwa in order to find proof of such. And though that fear of all this just being a manipulation by him was there, she couldn't, in her mind believe that that look could be faked even by him...especially by him.
His voice, brought her out of her musings as he responded. "Her temperature is rising, her heart rate is accelerated, pupils seem dilated, but I cannot tell for certain due to the fact that she's a Hyuuga, when she was awake, there was a severe decrease in her cognitive abilities and she mentioned a nauseating feeling in her stomach." He paused, taking a deep breath. "The Poison is progressing, my knowledge in toxicology is limited..."
Temari looked to Hinata's sleeping face, the veins around her eyes, which could bulge with the activation of the Byakugan, were tinged blue, as if spreading from her eyes towards the rest of her face.
Temari stood suddenly, marching resolutely out of the cave, Naruto staying behind, continuing to do all he could to help the Hyuuga currently under his care.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, somewhere on the mainland 7 individuals stood in a dimly, torch lit room. Shadows seeping from the walls like tendrils, reaching across the empty space to envelop those within.
"Is everything prepared?" Came Itachi's slow monotone reaching out through the darkness to the others.
"The seals are in place...everything is prepared...we need only draw the remaining Jinchurikki too us." was the voice of Akasuna no Sasori. "Which shall we target first I wonder. The Nibi is the logical choice. She is the weakest of the remaining three and if we capture the other two...their respective villages may just focus against us."
"You're an idiot-yea" Came Deidara's response. Lets capture the weakest that way the strongest knows we're coming. And that way he's ready to fight us off once we do show up-yea. Great plan bolt brain."
"Lets beat down the middle man!"
Everyone's eyes shifted to a spiral masked individual, a heavy pause descending on them before Tobi again broke it. "Tobi is sorry...I just wanna be different."
Zetsu, the last Akatsuki member melted away from the walls of the compound, his nearly nine foot height, with the plant like extensions that framed his shoulders, towered over the others in the room. The pale half of his face being only vaguely visible in the dim light.
"Kumo has fallen."
The statement was blunt, was given no type of forewarning simply thrown into the faces of all those present, bringing several amazed, disbelieving stares towards the Kusa nuke ninja.
"What was that?"
"When did you hear this?"
Were the inquiries thrown given by Kisame and Pein respectively to which Zetsu responded slowly.
"Kumo apparently fell four days to a week ago. Konoha's attack force left no survivors, and only now are rummors reaching our spies. I left to investigate myself and indeed...the lightning village stands as little more than ruins and smoking rubble."
A silence descended over the Akatsuki members, broken by Pein as the leader spoke. "Then our plans will have to move ahead sooner than anticipated. Soon the final attack will initiate against Suna. We cannot risk the Kyuubi destroying the Shukaku or the Nibi." Looking towards Itachi the blond haired man nodded in his dirrection. "Organize your team Uchiha. You will move out soon."
"So we're going after the Kyuubi first?" Tobi questioned uncertainly, which immidiately inniciated the previous argument onca again, brought to a halt by Peins voice once again.
"This bickering is pointless."
"But Pein-sama." Konan began. "We need to plan our next strikes. All three of these Jincuriki with circumstances as they are, are much stronger and will be much more well guarded than our previous targets."
The ringed eyes turned to face her as its owner replied. "As I said, the conversation is pointless Konan. We will not...be going after them one at a time."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Temari once again found herself sitting at the mouth of the cave. Knees drawn up to her chest as she stared out towards the horizon as she'd taken to doing several times during her current week and a half long stay on this island.
Her thoughts were still running rampant across her mind, too quick, too jumbled to fully grasp and catalog. She sighed, lowering her head so it rested at her knees.
The crunching of sand beneath a book, alerted her to the approaching Naruto. Maintaining her silence she did her pest to ignore his presence however, an act that was only partially successful and, later futile once he opened his mouth.
"You have been rather quiet of late Sabaku." The Jinchurikki drawled tearing his eyes towards her.
She stiffened, but only minutely, shoulders tensing before relaxing once again. "There's just been nothing to talk about, what with the princess in there getting worse and all."
"Her condition, or lack of topics has not stopped you before Sabaku." He paused before stepping closer to her. "Do not believe either, that my need to focus on Hinata's condition impairs my ability to observe either. You avert your eyes, from me, and attempt to avoid drawing my attention as much as possible when I am near. So whatever it is that keeps you silent, is something pertaining to me. And I would know what it is."
Temari allowed her annoyance to take over for her defense, looking up towards him, she curled her lips in distaste. "Unlike what your obsessive, socially crippling need to categorize and catalog others actions would have you believe, not everything revolves around you buddy."
"Not everything no, but this, most certainly. And I do not like others keeping secrets from me." He drawled.
"Don't make me force it from your lips." He added at her continued silence.
Temari's lips thinned, looking away from him before she sighed. "I...I saw you."
"Saw me?" He questioned with a raise of his eyebrow watching as she nodded.
"Yea...two days ago. You were standing out here in the rain."
And for the first time since she had ever known him the Sabaku saw, him give a visible reaction to something someone had said.
His back straightened , spine going ramrod straight, eyes widening and reeling as if he'd been struck by something.
Somewhere inside her Temari was torn in two different directions, one part of her actually gleeful that she'd mannaged to catch him off balance, the other part of her worried as to what his reaction would be once he got over his shock at her statement.
Naruto for his part, wasn't sure what he was really feeling, or if he should even be feeling anything at this turn of events. His...indulgence...that night two days ago was something he barely acknowledged himself. Furthermore it was something...private.
He realized, logically though, that he had never expressed anything of the sort, and that Temari's witnessing of the event wasn't in any type of violation to such because...she hadn't known that it was private in the first place. Whom he should be irritated at is himself, considering that he was foolish enough to let her sneak up on him.
"What-what were you-"
"It was nothing." He interrupted sharply as he turned his back beginning to walk away. "Put it out of your mind Sabaku."
Temari balked blinking before she shot to her feet. Opening and closing her mouth for several seconds, as if fishing for words before she was able to find some kind of sentence. "Why?"
"I said." Naruto began looking over his shoulder, catching her eye. "Put it out...of your mind." Before he proceeded walking away at a brisk pace.
Temari watched him go, eyes narrowing, like something akin to a cat that had found a place to dig in her claws. Whatever that night had been all about, his reaction now was only more encouragement to find out what could shake up the demon king of all people.