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ninja CHAPTER THREE
Kitai Shou
Distress Call















I woke to the sound of crashing metal. I jumped out of my empty bed, threw on a large robe, and ran out my bedroom door to the kitchen. “What in the world was that?” I shrieked. “I told you that would wake her up,” Mizuhana proved. “Um, what?” I asked, slightly confused. “What was that shouting and laughing we heard last night?” Temari questioned with a smirk. Kankuro joined us in the kitchen. “Allow me to explain. I walked in on our brother here trying to de-sober his-” “Shut up!” I shrieked, “Shut up right now! Say anything more and you’ve just dug your own grave!” I grabbed one of the pans on the floor and swung it at Kankuro’s head. He ducked, laughing. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I won’t tell, quit swinging that - whoa!” I was about to hit his head, when a whip cracked by Kankuro’s ear and flung the pan out of my grasp.
I grumbled as Nakago stopped me with some sort of chakra-made whip. “I don’t know why you were trying to kill him with a pan, but didn’t Gaara-sama say last night that this violence was unnecessary?” His eyes were flowing with innocence. I frowned. “They woke me up to say what happened last night, and Kankuro decided to interfere. I’m still tired, oki! What time is it, anyway?” I rubbed my eyes for emphasis. Temari shrugged. “Probably too early for you. But we got some urgent news from the Mist. They said the Mizukage has been kidnapped. I can’t think why though. It didn’t specify, either.” She slid the paper closer to me as I sat down at the bar. The leader of the Mist Village? Isn’t that Shiru-chan? “Which carrier bird was sent?” I asked. “And has Gaara-sama seen this?” “He has seen it, but our decoders set the bird free once they’d retrieved this paper,” Temari answered. “He’s probably gathering shinobi now to help find the Mizukage-sama,” Kankuro added. I grunted in acknowledgement.
I gasped suddenly. “This is Shiru-chan’s handwriting!” Kankuro’s brow furrowed. “Who?” I rolled my eyes. “Shiru-chan is the Mizukage!” I told both him and Mizuhana. Her eyes widened. “No way! Your savior is the Mizukage?!” she asked. When she said “savior,” she was referring to the fact that Shirunai nursed me back to health when I first ran away from home. I read her note aloud to everyone, trying to read and decipher her horrible handwriting at the same time.

Dear, Kizuki-chan,
I fear that by the time you receive this message, I will be long gone. I’ve received warning from some connections of mine that the Akatsuki are after me. You know the reason. I’m sincerely sorry that I did not get the chance to say goodbye to you properly. Tell Gaara I said hello, and give Suki a warm hug for me. By the time you are done reading this, I will most likely be dead. But, if you must come find me, (HINT HINT!) I feel I will be somewhere in the Sound Village. No guarantees, though.
Good luck in your search to find me (AGAIN, HINT, HINT!)
Omikami, Shirunai – Mizukage

P.S. By (HINT, HINT) I mean COME FIND ME, CAT!

I slowly set the letter she’d sent on the table. “We have to go find her. It will be our problem when they kidnapped Gaara-sama all over again if we don’t!” I wasn’t aware that Gaara had come in while I was reading aloud until he patted my shoulder. “I’m not going to gather any more of our shinobi, as Kankuro had thought. Actually, I just sent a message to Naruto-san, the Hokage.” I nodded, but then gasped again. “Wait. Does that mean I have to go back where that stupid mutt lives?” I groaned. Sweat drops where all around. “Um, yeah, pretty much,” Temari answered. I slumped, and my head hit the table with a loud thunk. “Oh, great,” I muttered, rubbing my head, “The idiot is already giving me a headache. His name is taboo.”
I noticed Gaara glaring at Kankuro. “You didn’t happen to try and say anything, did you?” he asked threateningly. “No, no!” Kankuro lied, shaking his head embarrassedly. “Liar!” I growled, “I almost knocked him out with a frying pan because of it! Except Nakago over there stopped me with his weird chakra-whip-thingy.” “It’s not weird!” he protested, holding it close to him. I rolled my eyes as I yawned again. “We have to something about this, but I need sleep, too. We’ll deal with this after I get a few more hours of sleep, oki?” I stood up and swaggered to the bedroom. “Um, I thought you were the Kazekage, Gaara-sama?” Nakago asked quietly. “One: She’s just really tired, and two: I think it was the saké fumes,” Gaara answered with a sweat drop. Kankuro smirked, and Gaara picked up the frying pan I’d dropped. “I will use this against you. Shut up,” he warned menacingly.
I staggered to the bed, paused at the foot, the dove face-first into my pillow. Shi mewed at me, and, translating, he scolded, “How could you. Suki was in the next room, too!” He purred afterwards, mocking me. “Not my fault,” I grumbled back, “He’s the one who opened bottle of saké. Blame him.” I rolled over to face the window and curled into a ball. A beam of moonlight fell across my face. Opening my eyes, I saw the full moon in all its cold, white light. I sighed. Shiru-chan, I’m sorry. . . Wait, why am I apologizing? My Inner self answered for me. It’s because you’re sad she’s gone, and you know you should be out looking for her, idiot! I sighed again as a sweat drop formed over my head. I just called myself an idiot. That’s sad . . . Wait, what’s that?
A figure was sitting atop a large pole outside the window, with an oversized cape surrounding him. What looked like a large, thick sword protruded from his back. But the moment I blinked, the figure was gone. I hissed under my breath. “Darn,” I whispered. “What?” Gaara asked. I jumped, not realizing he had entered the room. “You’re really good at popping out of nowhere, aren’t you?” I grumbled. “I suppose,” he answered me with a hint of a smile. I rolled my eyes. “Fine, then.” Shi meowed at him as Gaara sat down on the bed, making the mattress curve where he was sleeping. “How soon are we leaving?” I asked, stretching out on my side of the bed. “In the next half hour would be nice, if you want to make it to the Leaf in less than three days, I presume,” he answered, scratching my back. I purred slightly as I rolled over to face him. “It would be good to leave now. But Suki is still asleep, isn’t she?” A sweat drop started to form above his head. “Someone tried to wake her up, didn’t they?” I stated, groaning. It wasn’t so much as a question as it sounded. Gaara gave me a small nod. “Who?” I asked feebly, burying my face into a pillow. “Nakago-kun reminds me so much of Naruto-san, it’s a little scary,” he replied. I sighed loudly through the pillow, shaking my head. “Mizuhana should train that kid,” I scolded, “She knows it’s dangerous to try and wake Suki up early!” I pulled myself into a sitting position, remembering my first time trying to wake up my daughter. . .

¤ ¤ ¤

“Tenshi-chan,” I said softly as I opened her bedroom door. I weaved around a pile of toys to Suki’s bed. “You have to wake up early today, remember?” I whispered into her ear. She jolted awake under my cold hand on her shoulder. She grabbed it, still half asleep, and gripped it painfully. “I’m still tired,” she growled demonically. “Oh, um, oki,” I stuttered, amazed at her strength. She let go and sank back into her bed, sighing softly. I massaged my wrist, hoping that there wouldn’t be a bruise. I walked to the door and exited the room, closing it softly behind me. I met Gaara in the kitchen, reading a novel at the bar. “Big mistake,” I said sheepishly. “What do you mean?” he asked me, putting the book down. I held out my arm for him to examine. Little impressions of fingers surrounded my wrist. “So she’s like you, right?” he asked me, noting from stories of people trying to wake me up too early. “Apparently,” I answered.

¤ ¤ ¤

“So how bad was he hurt?” I asked, shaking my head to clear it from the flashback. Gaara shrugged. “It depends on how you define ‘hurt.’” I slumped. “Any broken bones?” I mumbled. I hope she didn’t kill him! I wondered fearfully. “At least Mizuhana-kun knows a little about healing,” Gaara said quietly. My eyes widened. “How bad was it?” I squeaked. He got off the bed and went to my closet. Pulling out my usual jonin outfit, he called to me, “Multiple fractures in three different places. She used both hands this time.” I gasped. “No way! That’s. . .amazingly terrible! I’m glad she’s so strong, but-!”
Gaara threw my clothes at me in mid-sentence. “Put these on. We have to go. Suki’s up, at least. The cracking of bones scared her awake,” he told me. He exited our bedroom and I threw on my clothes in silence. My mind was a raging turmoil of amazement and sorrow. Poor Nakago-kun, but that’s just. . .Wow! I can’t believe it! I exclaimed in my head. I stopped, laughed slightly, and thought to myself, Heh. Believe it. Now where have I heard that one? I stood up, stretched, and walked out the bedroom door with Shi padding silently at my heels. “How soon are we leaving again? Oh!” I said as I walked into the kitchen. Sitting at the table, was Suki with big, watery tears falling out of her eyes and Nakago standing across from her, his arm bandaged by Mizuhana. Nakago was trying to comfort Suki, but doing poorly at it. “Um, it’s okay, Suki-chan, you were still asleep. You didn’t know!” Under his breath, he added, “I think.” Those words just made Suki cry even harder. “Wah! I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to!” I stepped into the room with an oversized sweat drop at my head. Suki gazed at me with tears spilling over onto her face.
The next thing I knew, I was on the ground, a huge black cloud of depression swirling about me. “Please don’t cry,” I moaned, “I hate tears!” Suki quickly wiped away the tears, but as soon as they were gone, fresh tears replaced them. Gaara stood next to me, with my oversized sweat drop now transferred to over his head. He grabbed my arm and gently pulled me to my feet. “She may look like me, but Suki is purely you,” Gaara told me, sighing. “Then I hope she grows to hate tears, too,” I mumbled. Turning my gaze to Nakago, I asked, “Do you think you’ll be able to continue? I’m sure you can get some medical treatment before you leave.” He shook his head quickly. “Oh, no, it’s okay. Mizu-chan fixed it for me. I’m fine, I promise!” Doubt filling me, I walked over to him and tapped his arm with one of my fans. “Ouch!” he exclaimed, pained. He grabbed his wrist as his face screwed up. I rolled my eyes. “You need a medic nin to fix this for you,” I repeated, more forcefully this time.
Mizuhana sighed. She was sitting at the bar in the darkest corner. “He doesn’t want any medical attention, because we’ve had to survive without any since we started traveling together. It’s pointless to try and convince him otherwise,” she stated in a rather melancholy tone. “You seem rather mellow in the early morn,” I commented, nodding a good morning to her. She glared slightly at me. “Yeah, and you and your daughter seem rather violent in the early morn,” she grumbled. I shrugged. “Not my fault,” I halfway told both her and myself.
“Well!” Temari announced, “Unless the Kazekage says otherwise, I think it’s time to head out. Shall we?” She gazed around at all of us. We nodded. “Mama, where are we going?” Her tears had dried and she was trying to keep from hiccupping. “Someone very important to me is in trouble. We’re going to help her,” I explained. She nodded, understanding and stood up to hug Nakago. “I’m sorry I hurt you,” she apologized. Nakago was a bit dumbfounded. “Um, it’s okay, Suki-chan,” he said, rather unsure sounding, while patting her head.
Gaara frowned slightly. Uncertainty flashed across his face as I turned to him. I shot him a questioning look. His eyes flicked back and forth between Suki and me. I meowed slightly, causing him to gaze directly at me. He seemed to understand my worried glance. He shook his head and walked out of the kitchen. I stared after him. He can’t possibly want to leave her here. Who would be here for her? I questioned. He poked his head back around the corner, looking directly at me again. He signaled me with his hand to “come here”. I blinked and walked to where he was standing, a lump in my throat.
“Where will she stay? We can’t leave her here, but we can’t take Suki with us,” he asked, gazing into my eyes. “If anything were to happen to us. . .” I shook my head quickly, dismissing the thought. “We’ll be fine. And I can’t bear to part with her!” I choked back what felt like tears. Why are you crying, moron? She’ll be fine, he’ll be fine, and you’ll be fine! Gaara seemed to understand my pain, for he lowered his head and kissed my forehead, lingering there for a while. “So we take Suki?” he asked. I nodded, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. We stood in the doorway of the kitchen together, looking at the others getting ready for our long journey. Adjusting straps on backpacks, checking for extra supplies, taking a supply of rations. . . I began to imagine myself not being here, having Suki grow up without a mother. I sighed heavily, shook my head to clear the image, and began to collect items for both Suki’s and my backpack. Gaara gathered his own, and shoved something in Suki’s backpack when he thought I wasn’t looking. I ignored it, figuring it was a little extra food or something else of the sort.
About twenty minutes passed until we were all positive we were ready to head out. We filed out the door to the main hall, and then to the front entrance. The guards posted for the night shift were in shock when our group of seven people and a cat burst through the doors into the twilight air. The full moon shone behind us; the sky was dark ahead, too, with just a tinge of purple. “Lord Gaara-sama! Lady Kizuki-sama! Where are you and the others heading to so early?” the startled guards asked. “We are going to rescue the Mizukage. I’ve already appointed Ebizo-san to select someone to be in charge while we’re gone. We won’t be gone for than a month,” Gaara informed them. I couldn’t help but stare at my husband. His tall stature, with his shockingly red hair, his clear blue eyes surrounded by a circle of black, and his deep voice echoing in my ears. The guards, still a little confused, saluted us and let us go without any more questions. The two of us took the front, Kankuro and Temari took the back, and the others assembled behind Gaara and me. Suki was in the middle all the while, guarded from everything, thanks to the rest of us. We bounded from rooftop to rooftop until we managed to get away from the city without being discovered.
“How long do you think it’ll take us to reach the Leaf?” Temari asked while we were bounding over mountains of sand. Mizuhana turned her head to face Temari. “Based on how long it to Nakago and me, we should reach there in a little over a day and a half. But since you aren’t accustomed to traveling so fast, It’ll probably take closer to two days,” she predicted. “We have to keep running for 2 whole days?” Suki said, exasperated. Mizuhana nodded slightly. “Sorry, kid, but yeah,” she apologized. Nakago smiled at her. “Don’t worry, Suki-chan. If you get tired, I’ll carry you!” he told her enthusiastically. She smiled back at him. “Thank you,” she exclaimed in her adorable voice. Gaara said nothing throughout the others’ small talk; he seemed to be concentrating on the horizon. The sun was about to peek above the sand mountains, probably blinding us. Kankuro seemed to realize that, too. “Thanks, Konohagakure. Now we have to get blinded while we travel to you. So much fun,” he grumbled. I laughed slightly and took a swig of my water bottle. When I glanced at Gaara from the corner of my eye, his face was grim. I began to feel uneasy about our journey.
Our retrieval crowd was relatively quiet for about half of the day, until Suki had collapsed of exhaustion. We stopped for a few minutes to let Nakago adjust his pack to make room for Suki, but then we were off again. Poor girl. She wanted to be strong and not complain about being tired, I thought to myself as Nakago picked her up. Again, we traveled for a few more hours until the blue sky began to turn pink. Concentrating on the horizon, I spotted two to three figures coming towards us. “Who are they?” Mizuhana asked. She had voiced what was on all of our minds. Kankuro gave what would be described as a growl in cat-speak. “It’s those rats from Akatsuki!” he declared.
A rock began to form in my stomach. “Oh, God, please don’t be my little sister and best friend,” I whispered. As we drew closer to each other, I noticed that one, in fact, had blonde hair and the other had blue hair in a bun, neither of which were characteristics of my sister. Gaara grunted slightly. “It’s that feminine male I dealt with about ten years ago! I remember that weird hair,” he mumbled half to himself. Nakago glared at him slightly. Gaara ignored him and asked if anyone knew who the other person was. The blue-haired figure looked feminine, but then again, so did Deidara. “What do you want, you Akatsuki filth!” Mizuhana shouted, shaking her scythe at them. Temari reached ahead of her and gripped Mizuhana’s shoulder. “Shut up, you fool! Do you want to get us killed?”
The blue-haired one raced towards us, a sheet of paper peeling off of her face. Using some sort of jutsu, she made it turn into the likeness of a kunai. It sped straight for my curse mark, but Gaara blocked it with his sand. I pulled my fans out of my kunai holster and popped them open in one quick movement. I bit my thumb until it bled, swiped it across one of the fan’s blades, and summoned shuriken to throw back at our attackers. The group around me began to gather their weapons, preparing to rush headlong into battle. “Nakago!” I shouted, “Make sure you’re careful with Suki!” He nodded, removed his whip from his side, and cracked it around him. Suki awoke with a start and ducked into his shoulder once she noticed a battle taking place. “Hold on tight, kid!” he told my whimpering daughter.
Deidara and the other person fell right into battle stance when we were in mere feet of each other. “So we meet again, hmm?” he said to Gaara who was glaring ferociously at him. “What are you doing here?” he growled as sand began to curl about his legs. “Just paying a little visit to your wife. Nothing too big, hmm?” I bared my teeth at him and gave my most terrifying hiss I could muster. “I want no business with you, filth!” I snarled. “But what about your sister Ame or Kitoku, hmm?” I felt my heart race when he said their names. “Well, they aren’t here, now are they! So shut up!” I roared. I rushed straight for his throat, knowing that I’d be blown to bits if I gave him the chance.
He dodged just barely half a second too slowly. I didn’t manage to wound the blonde-haired weirdo, but I did rip the clay-bag from his hip. “Gah! You’re quite the feisty little jinchuriki, aren’t you, hmm? You remind me of the fox!” He smirked at me, sending my anger level more than just a little above the maximum-anger mark. “You deserve to die, you bag of dirt! You’ve put me through enough misery already!” I swiped my bloody thumb across my other fan’s blade, and summoned so many weapons, they were spilling over both my fans. I swung them both at him, sending more than a hundred kunai, shuriken, and senbon flying straight towards him. He dodged them all as they whizzed past him. “Hah! You can’t wound me if you send all of your weapons out at once and I dodge them, hmm!”
I crossed my arms and smirked at him. “You don’t know the power of my arsenal, do you?” He prepared to dodge them from behind, but it was too late. One of my shuriken missed his head, but chopped off his ponytail. Deidara gasped in both pain and sorrow as he was stabbed with kunai and the ponytail fell in front of him. “You chopped of my hair! How dare you! You will pay for that, cat demon, hmm?” I rolled my eyes and bounded to where Gaara and the others were battling the blue-haired Akatsuki member. “Temari! You take the blonde; I take your place!” She nodded, grabbed Mizuhana’s collar, and dragged her to my old battle spot. He was pulling my weapons from his back as Temari stepped in front of him, Mizuhana at her heels. “So no huge bird this time, kidnapper?” Temari snarled at him. Deidara smiled evilly and drug himself from his crouching position.
Wiping a spot of blood from his mouth, he told Temari, “Your sister-in-law is quite a pain, hmm? We’ll fix it to where she’ll never utter another word-” Before he was allowed to finish his sentence, both Temari and Mizuhana had their weapons against his throat. “Say anything else and I’ll have your head for sure!” Mizuhana screeched. Deidara gave a slight laugh, muttering in response, “Good luck with that, hmm!” With that, he bounded off in the direction he came. “Temari, Mizuhana, chase him!” Gaara ordered. They nodded and followed him. “Deidara, wait!” the woman the rest of us were battling called. She whipped around to follow him, but I grabbed her shoulder and pressed a kunai to her throat with one swift movement. “Who are you? Tell us your reason of attacking!” I hissed.
She shook her head, pressing her lips together in a tight line. I pressed my weapon into her neck, puncturing it slightly. Blood oozed from the wound; I began to feel the bloodlust that had been locked away for years arise. She cringed slightly, but continued to hold her silence. My bloodlust began to get the better of me. In front of us, the other three were battling ferociously. “Deidara!” I shrieked, “If you don’t tell me your reason of being, then she dies! I’ve already thrust my weapon against her throat!” He smirked at me, and the woman’s figure disintegrated into sheets of folded paper in the shape of shuriken, flying towards everyone in my retrieval squad. Gaara and I tensed, and Nakago began to move away from us, still holding Suki on his back.
Deidara held up a hand and began to perform a jutsu. Gaara’s eyes widened and he gasped a little. “Run! He’s going to blow himself up!” We all began to run in Nakago’s direction, back towards the Sand Village. Temari and Mizuhana caught up with us right as Gaara’s sand shield began to cover us. Plucking Suki from Nakago’s back, he shouted, “I’m going to take her back home!” I gasped. “No! Who will she live with?” He shook his head at me. “I don’t know, but I will find someone worthy! I’ll meet back up with you in the Leaf Village!” He sped forward and the ground rumbled as Deidara blew himself to pieces. “SUKI!” I screamed. The tear ducts that had been dry for so long began to overflow as my husband raced away with our daughter. “Mama!” Suki called back. Gaara looked back at me with eyes of sadness. “I’m sorry,” he mouthed.
My tears began to blind my vision as I stumbled forward after him. Temari grabbed my arm, holding me in place. “Kizuki, you have to let Gaara take Suki back!” she pleaded. I shook my head, splattering tears across the ground as my knees buckled out from underneath me. “No,” I whispered, “I can’t be away from her, please!” I unconsciously began to scream her name again, and my hearing and vision faded to nothingness. . .

¤ ¤ ¤

“Daddy, why did we leave Mama back there? Why couldn’t we take her with us?” Suki asked, hugging my neck. I shook my head, feeling like I’d done something seriously wrong. “We can’t, Tenshi-chan,” I whispered. My legs began to fell like they were made of lead. I looked back, seeing the remnants of the explosion: sand and rock particles flying through the air. At least everyone is safe, I thought to myself. Suki began to whimper, fighting off tears. “I know you don’t want to leave her, but your mother has to go to the Leaf Village!” I explained.
She shook her head as tears began to drip down her face. “No, Daddy, listen. It’s Mama. You can hear her calling to us!” I slowed, turning to face them. Suki was right; Kizuki was screaming Suki’s name, her voice cracking every once in a while. Someone reached out to her, preventing her to chase us. I watched as she collapsed to the ground, and it took all I had not to turn back and keep Suki with us. Suddenly, Kankuro was shouting at me. “Gaara-sama, run! She’s fainted; it’s the perfect opportunity to get away!” I shook my head, still debating on whether or not I should risk Suki’s life. “Gaara, just go!” Temari shrieked. I nodded and ran faster than ever back home.
It was nightfall before I reached the outskirts of the village with Suki asleep on my back. Some of the guards patrolling the borders caught up to me as I raced to the front gates. “Lord Gaara-sama?” one asked, “Why are you traveling back without the others?” I ignored them and raced to the academy building. Of course, it was locked, seeing as it was at least midnight. I turned to them, panting. “Do you know where Matsuri-kun lives?” They shrugged, confused. “No, Lord Gaara-sama. Why do you need her?” I felt my throat grow tight as I prepared myself to speak. “Kokuochi-san,” I said. He nodded. Good, I remember what he looks like, I noted, slightly embarrassed I didn’t notice sooner.
“I am going to put my daughter into the academy early. She will live with Matsuri-kun until I get back, understood?” I shuddered a little at the thought of Kizuki’s reaction if she were to learn of my choice of Suki’s guardian. “Are you kidding me?!” she’d rage, “Anyone but a fan girl!” Of course, I’d have to calm her down, promising maximum punishment to Matsuri if she dared hurt Suki. Even then, Kizuki wouldn’t be happy. I smiled mentally, as I didn’t have the strength to physically do so. “Lord Gaara-sama,” a female voice announced, “I know where she lives. I can take you.” Whoever it was walked around a small shop towards us. In the glow of the moon, I could see that it was Kokoro-kun, one of Matsuri-kun’s friends. I nodded and let her lead me through the village. We came to a small apartment building. Without looking to see if I was following, she raced up a few staircases until we reached what I presumed was Matsuri’s door. Kokoro began to pound on it, shouting, “Matsuri-chan! Wake up; Lord Gaara-sama needs your help!” About half a minute later, locks were clicking and she threw the door open. “Really?” Matsuri exclaimed, blushing. She looked over her friend’s shoulder to spot me, worn out from running so fast. “Oh, Lord Gaara-sensei! What can I do for you?” she pronounced. “May I come in? It’s extremely important,” I muttered. She nodded vigorously, and slid the door open wider so I could pass through.
“What can I do to be of service to you?” she asked excitedly. I shushed her while trying to pry Suki off my back without waking her up.
“I don’t get it, Lord Gaara-sensei. Why did you bring her to me so late at night?”
“Look, Matsuri-kun. I need you to do me a favor,” I said grimly. She nodded enthusiastically.
“Anything, Lord Gaara-sensei. Your word is my command!” She took my hand and patted it, still trying to keep her voice at whisper-level. I sighed.
“You must take care of her until I get back, alright? Oh, and just to let you know, I’m putting her in the academy early, so don’t forget sign her in.” I turned to leave, when my apprentice grabbed my shoulder.
“What?” she hissed. I shook my head.
“Look, Matsuri-kun. Think of raising Suki for a little while as training. It’ll make it seem much more worthwhile, I promise.” Her frown was so intense, it reminded me of Kizuki sometimes.
“That’s not what I meant. I mean, where do you think you’re going? You can’t just leave your daughter here!” she growled.
“I’ve already been attacked by the Akatsuki just today. For her safety, I believe it’s best if you watch over her. If she starts to miss us, there is a picture of us all in the front pocket of her backpack.” Matsuri stood in front of me with the most shocked expression I’d ever seen on anyone. Her gaze slowly traveled to my daughter, sleeping on the couch.
“Lord Gaara-sensei,” she whispered.
“Please take good care of her,” I murmured. Matsuri nodded and straightened proudly.
“You can count on me, Lord Gaara-sensei!”
I nodded and exited her apartment quickly. The weight of leaving my only daughter here was almost too much to take. I met Kokoro at the doorway, her mouth gaping. I stopped for a few seconds as our gaze met, but I shook my head and began to run from the place. I was running from everything: my home, my life, my country. . . I started to wonder if this was what my wife had to go through when she fled her original home so long ago. I gasped suddenly. “I forgot to warn her not to wake Suki up early,” I said aloud to myself. I let it go, as I didn’t have time to waste on the little things. All that mattered right now was that I got to the Leaf about the same time the others did.
“Lord Kazekage-sama!” I heard Kokuochi shout. “What?” I called back, not slowing nor turning. “At least tell us where you are heading!” he asked. “I’m going to rescue the Mizukage. Now go and leave me to travel in the peace of night! I feel I will not get any after sunrise,” I stated. He nodded and fell back, letting me go with no further response.
As I ran, I passed by significant landmarks of my life––the building atop of which my uncle, Yashamaru, had blown himself to pieces in hopes of killing me along with himself; the training grounds where I’d first met Kizuki; the cliff where I had told my brother that I wanted to be Kazekage¾the same cliff where I’d proposed to Kizuki; the gravesite where Granny Chiyo was buried; the field in which I was revived. . . I hadn’t realized just how much of my life was affected by the landscape of this village until tonight, when I wasn’t sure if I’d still be alive in the next few days.

¤ ¤ ¤

I was only aware of my surroundings again when I awoke to see the sun peaking over the horizon. “Temari, she’s awake!” Mizuhana’s voice exclaimed. I tried to sit up, but I was in too much pain to do so. “Ugh, my head is pounding, what’d I fall on?” I grunted as Mizuhana helped me into sitting position. “Um, your head fell on a rock, Kizuki-chan,” Kankuro answered with a small sweat drop. I looked around to see the others gathered around a small fire; leftovers of a meal were scattered about the sandy floor.
“How long was I out?” I mumbled while rubbing my head. There were a few glances going back and forth. I shot them all a questioning glare. “About four hours,” Nakago finally answered. I blinked in surprise. Four whole hours? That’s four hours too long if we’re going to make it to Konohagakure on time, I announced mentally. I tried to stand, but I wobbled and fell back to the earth. Kankuro and Temari silently offered to help me up, but I shrugged off their helping hands, hissing, “I can do it myself, thank you very little!” I scowled at the sky once I finally steadied myself. “I can’t believe it. . .” I began, but my voice trailed into nothingness. Shaking my head, I turned to the others.
“We head out. Come on, we must make it to the Leaf before it’s too late.” I grabbed my pack, slung it over my shoulder, and staggered forward. “Kizuki-chan, wait!” Temari opposed. “You can’t stop me,” I challenged, glaring back at her. “My husband has just taken my only child away from me. For all I know, he could have been attacked again, and very well could have died. One of my only friends is dying at the hand of the ones who’ve already killed him once, and want me dead, too. What more do I have to live for? The only thing I can do now is try and save her. If not, at least retrieve her body and give her a proper funeral!” I turned again and stumbled forward.
The others still sat there, in either remorse or amazement; right now, I couldn’t tell the difference. Ignoring them, I continued ahead. I listened hard to hear if they were following, but I couldn’t detect even the slightest of noises. “Kizuki-san!” Kankuro called. Whipping around, I screamed, “What is your problem? If you don’t want to help, then you can turn around and head right back home!” He flinched and dropped his gaze. My eyes flitted to Mizuhana, and I feel my Inner self gain control of my weakened body. “Mizuhana!” she shrieked, “What does Shirunai mean to you? Huh? Are you just going to sit back and let her die?”
Mizuhana tensed and ground her teeth. “Look, I know you want to save her, but she’s probably already dead, do you get it? We can’t save her if she’s gone!” Inner Kizuki bared her teeth and hissed ferociously at her. Gaining control of my senses again, I thrust her out of my brain. Everyone was staring at me as if I was crazy for wanting to save her, but I couldn’t help it. Temari stood after a while, shaking her head. “You remind me so much of that Naruto kid, Kizu-chan. Okay, I’ll come with you. If I don’t, Gaara will kill me!” She grabbed her pack and walked up to me. We nodded once to each other, a sign that we were able to move out. “You others can stay here if you want; it doesn’t matter to me anymore,” I growled without turning.
Temari and I began to run to the Leaf, leaving the others behind us at their encampment. A few minutes into our silent journey, the others were rushing to catch up. Though I didn’t show it, I was overjoyed that they decided to follow. “Kizu-chan, you started to scare me when you didn’t turn around!” Mizuhana exclaimed. “I’m dead serious about this,” I growled. “Yeah, we figured that out,” Kankuro scoffed. Rolling my eyes, I bounded faster ahead of them. The sun was beginning to rise, meaning that we had even less time to dawdle. All was silent in our retrieval squad; all talking was unnecessary for this half of the trip, as others were lost in their own thoughts.
Midday rolled around, and we stopped for a quick lunch break. We were about an hour and a half from Konohagakure’s border, meaning that I would run into Gaara sometime soon. After the light feeding break, we ran as fast as our worn out bodies could manage. We reached the border and kept on going, praying that no one would stop us. Sure enough, against our prayers, Shikamaru was on patrol. “Hey!” he called, “Naruto-sama said you guys would be coming, so I decided to come meet you!” I blinked in surprise. The short little lazy kid I remembered turned into this tall, reliable man? Well, it has been at least fifteen years since I last saw him, I figured.
Temari beamed as he neared us. “Hi, Shika-chan!” she exclaimed as we joined. Shika-chan? I thought, Hey, that could be fun to torture him with! I gave an evil smirk, but no one noticed. “Hey, Temari-san,” he responded. They hugged lightly, but snapped apart when the rest of us laughed. After a few seconds, Shikamaru began to stare at me out of the corner of his eye. I ducked my head quickly, hoping he wouldn’t notice me, but it was too late. He’d spotted me and seemed to recognize me right away. “You look familiar. Do I know you?” he asked, leaning sideways to get a better glimpse of me. I hid my face behind a wall of hair. “Not unless you’d happen to know a cat demon when you spotted her,” I growled.
Shikamaru looked away, clearly disturbed. “Um, never mind,” he muttered while shaking his head slowly. Changing the subject, Temari announced, “Um, why don’t we go to the Leaf Village now?” I glared at her, and she caught what my eyes were saying: if I go to that village and he’s there, blood will spill! Ignoring it, though, she began dragging Shikamaru by the arm towards Konohagakure. “It’s good to be back,” Nakago murmured. The others turned to him, amazed. “What?” Mizuhana asked. He gave all of us a blank stare. “I’ve spent a lot of my time here. Did you not know that?” he asked. We shook our heads slowly, giving each other confused glances. He shrugged, gave a simple “Oh,” and continued forward.
Many of us stumbled through the dense forests, clearly unaccustomed to the surrounding trees. A path began to grow on the ground; a sign that we were very near the front gates of my birthplace. My stomach began to sink even further inside of me. Oh man, this is bad. This is really bad! I mentally groaned. I placed a hand over my stomach, hoping to keep myself from throwing up. The stench of the Inuzuka clan’s scent was overpowering me, and I hadn’t even set foot into the village yet! The path on the ground widened, and ahead of us laid the front gates to Konohagakure. My eyes widened as I saw Gaara waiting for us up ahead. I ran as fast as my legs could carry me to my husband. He looked so tired, with his eyes sinking inwards. It gave me great sorrow to see him like that, but it gave me even more when I saw no Suki. I stopped in front of him. I reached up slowly to touch his face, but Inner Kizuki took over and slapped him. “How dare you?” she screamed. The sand he carried had protected him, yet I could still see the pain in his eyes as if it actually hurt him. I regained my head and began crying into his chest. His arms folded over me and we stood there, in front of the Leaf Village gates, for some time until the others reached us. I quickly wiped away the tears I hated as they drew close. “Gaara-sama? It’s been some time, hasn’t it?” Shikamaru said with a small smile. He held out his hand, and, to his amazement, Gaara reached out and shook it.
“Well now, isn’t this unusual. Ninja from all different villages meeting in front of the Leaf? Whatever could be the occasion?” a voice asked. I looked into the village to see a man with spiky silver hair, a mask, and a book in his hand titled Make-out Paradise standing before us. “Who’re you?” I asked with a sweat drop as I looked at his book. He waved at us, smiling. “Why, I’m Hatake Kakashi. You must be the retrieval squad from the Sand and Mist. A pleasure to meet you all.” “Hi, Kakashi-san,” said Shikamaru casually. He led us past this “Kakashi” person into the Leaf Village. Looking around, I was dissatisfied. “Fourteen years and nothing has changed?” I muttered. “You’ve been here before?” Shikamaru asked. I shook my head quickly. “Oh, no, I’ve just seen a picture, that’s all!” He frowned at me a little and gave me the “upper eyebrow” look.
I tried to ignore it by gazing around, but noticed out of the corner of my eye that the man we’d just met was staring at me with more than curiosity; with recognition. Great, I can’t do anything without being discovered! I just hope that that stupid mutt doesn’t make a scene, I growled to myself. Right on cue, he came walking forward. “Hey Shikamaru!” he exclaimed, waving. I looked down and tried to hide myself behind Gaara. Unfortunately, Akamaru began to growl and barked in my direction. “What’s wrong, boy?” Kiba asked. Against my will, the wind started blowing my scent in their direction. Kiba caught a whiff of my scent and coughed. Covering his nose, he asked, “Dude, what stinks? It smells like cat!”
Inner Kizuki took control again and hissed. Kiba walked in my direction and stopped in front of me. “Well, look here. The cat drug herself home. What’s the matter, little kitten? Did you get scared of the world outside your cage?” he sneered. “Shut up,” Inner Kizuki hissed. “Oh, the kitten’s still got some fight in her. We’ll just have to re-tame her, now won’t we?” Kiba bent over and placed his hands on his knees so we could see eye to eye. He didn’t have to bend far though; I was almost as tall as he. Inner Kizuki got so mad that I couldn’t stop her. I didn’t blame her, though. This mutt was seriously annoying! She bared my feline fangs at him and lunged at his throat. “Wait, stop!” Shikamaru stated as he reached forward to stop us. Temari held him back shaking her head. “You’ll get yourself ripped to pieces if you get in the middle of that,” she warned.
“What’s the matter? I thought you liked being stuck inside?” he taunted. Inner Kizuki began to lose her grip on her sanity. “Shut up, you mangy mutt! I never wanted that! You locked me up because you weren’t strong enough to kill me when you had the chance!” she roared, throwing a few kunai at him. “Are you kidding? It would have eaten us if we tried!” He dodged them and threw them back at me. She raised an eyebrow. “Eaten you? It was as weak as I was at birth! You had your chance; now we want revenge!” She snatched my kunai out of the air and snapped open one of my fans. She aimed a wind attack at him, and Kiba wasn’t fast enough to dodge. He flinched as the wind began to slice up his skin. Inner Kizuki used my eyes to see questions play about his face.
“I bet you’re wondering why I’m so strong. Am I right, mutt?” she snarled. His gaze was hard as his eyes traveled from me to Temari. “That wind attack,” he whispered. “That’s right! You wouldn’t allow me to go to the Leaf’s ninja academy, so I trained under Temari-san! Of course, I created my own techniques with a little practice, but there’s no doubt that I’m stronger than you now!” He shook his head at me. “Yeah, right, you stupid cat,” he spat, “There’s no way you could be stronger than a dog. I mean, just look at your pet. It’s tiny compared to Akamaru! How do you think it’ll survive a battle?” Kiba asked while pointing at Shi, who hissed at him. “The same way I managed to survive you and your filthy clan, brother,” Inner Kizuki hissed. He rolled his eyes at me. “We pitied you for being so young, that’s all. Now that you’ve matured, we could easily kill you in a heartbeat!” She glared at him, stopping her attacks. I took that as an opportunity to gain my body back. I started to speak what had been on my mind since I had met Gaara-sama.
“Why is it. . . That you’ve never once seen me as your sister? You all have always looked down upon me. You’re the ones who have taught me how to hate, and I’m tired of it. But since this has gone on for so long, there’s no way that we can change our ways, is there?” That caught Kiba off his guard. “What are you getting at, cat?” he growled, unsure of himself. “All we’ve ever done is hate each other,” I mumbled. Kiba glared at me. “And?” he muttered. I sighed. “Look, when I ran away from this place, I found a life. Granted, it took some time, but I found what I’d missed in the first nine years of my existence.” Kiba, still unsure of what I was talking about, frowned at me. “Look!” I exploded, making everyone jump, “I’m tired of this! Why can’t we just get along for once in our lives? Why can’t we put aside our differences and at least act like the brother and sister we truly are?!”
Kiba shook his head. “It’s too late for that, as you said. You should’ve tried that a little earlier in your life, huh?” He turned to leave, Akamaru at his heels, when I shouted, “This is one of the things I hate most about you! You’re so hardheaded and obnoxious! I wish you would just go off and die somewhere!” He turned to me, growling, “Same goes to you, stupid cat, same goes to you.” With that, he jumped onto Akamaru’s back and jumped deeper into the village. I turned around and met a dozen eyes of confusion or worry. “What was that all about? Are you really related to him?” Shikamaru asked. I walked past him, shaking my head and holding up a hand to silence him. I stood in front of the giant gates, looking back at everyone. “I’m not welcome here,” I murmured simply, gazing at the ground.
“But what about Shiru-chan?” Mizuhana asked worriedly. I frowned sadly. “I’m not welcome here,” I repeated. “Um, look, I’ll make sure that neither of you run into each other while you’re here, is that okay? You can stay here, um. . .name?” Shikamaru stated. “Kizuki,” I whispered, looking up at him. “Are you sure? I know that we both have a habit of being where we aren’t supposed to.” He nodded, still confused about my relationship to Kiba, but he put that aside so we wouldn’t kill each other if we happened to see the other on the same street. “Hey, Shikamaru? We need to see Naruto-sama. May we?” Temari asked. Shikamaru frowned a little, saying, “Well, he’s a little busy right now, but I think I can get the one leading this mission into a meeting with him.”
Both Gaara and I stepped forwards. Shikamaru nodded and signaled us to follow him. Turning back to the others, he said, “Um, find yourselves an apartment or something. I don’t know how long you’ll be staying.” The others looked at each other with confusion, but decided to take the main road deeper into the village. Gaara’s eyes widened as he gazed after them. “I never realized just how big this village was,” he mumbled. The road they took seemed to go on forever! After a few minutes, Shikamaru led us to follow them. They turned ahead of us down a smaller pathway to the right. After a few moments, they reappeared, apparently lost. “Shikamaru-san!” Mizuhana called, “Where do we go!?” Shikamaru sighed, shaking his head.
“Look, you take the main road until you get to the Hokage Rock and then make a right at the movie theater. Keep going until you run into those apartment buildings,” he directed, aiming his finger in the intended position around the village. Kankuro nodded a little, then turned and walked towards the Hokage Rock as Shikamaru had instructed. I frowned slightly. “But aren’t we going in the same direction? Naruto is supposed to be positioned in the Hokage’s residence, underneath the rock. . .” I started. I quickly pursed my lips as our guide gave me a questioning glance. “We have to make a few stops elsewhere before I can take you to see Naruto-sama,” he stated. I shook my head quickly. “No! I’ve wasted enough time already! I must save Shirunai before the Akatsuki get a hold of her!” I shouted. Gaara placed a hand on my shoulder to calm me down, but it helped little.
Shikamaru appeared to be startled, but I could tell it was fake. He nodded once and began to run towards the Hokage Rock. We followed silently in his footsteps, jumping off roofs to avoid all of the passers-by. Many didn’t even notice us until I accidentally knocked over a barrel of jagaimo, or potatoes. I felt stupid for not watching where I was going, as I was lost in thought, but my embarrassment quickly lifted as we found ourselves in front of the Hokage’s residence. Shikamaru burst through the front entrance, ignoring the guards. We followed him up several staircases and through many corridors until he stopped in front of a large door. He lifted his fist to the door, but hesitated. “What are you waiting for?” I hissed under my breath. He bit his lip and knocked lightly on the door.
“Who is it?” A tired-sounding voice grumbled. “It’s Shikamaru and Gaara-sama with his wife, Kizuki-san,” he mumbled. Lots of scuffling and ruffling of papers was heard on the other side of the door. That’s Naruto? Why is his voice so. . .different? I thought to myself. I flashed a confused glance at Gaara, who wore the same expression. Shikamaru placed a hand on the doorknob and was starting to twist it, when a heavy thud was heard opposite us. “Don’t you dare open that door!” he bellowed. I watched as our guide’s eyes widened, and his hand slipped from its post. He coughed and cleared his throat loudly, looking at us out of the corner of his eye. “Um, this might take a few minutes,” he mumbled to us. He motioned for us to stand against the opposite wall, and we did so hurriedly. “What’s up with Naruto-san?” I asked in a hushed voice.
Shikamaru just shook his head slowly. “Wait a minute,” he simply told us. After a few seconds, it grew quiet on the opposite side of the door. I began to have a weird sensation grow in the pit of my stomach. It felt like a mixture of fear and excitement, but it also felt as if it had a warming feeling. The doorknob clicked, and the wooden barrier separating that room from the hallway slowly swung open. “Hello,” a tired voice murmured. I blinked in surprise. “You’re not Naruto-san,” I realized aloud.



~End of Chapter Three~ ninja