-25-

Concerned Eyes

We decided to wait until nightfall to strike.

For the most part, we had decided that we were more likely to get away with it this way. He would pass on blissfully in his sleep, and there would be no one around to try and save him, should they recognize symptoms of a stroke or heart attack- not that there would be much they could do to help him, unless they managed to clear the coagulant from his system before he died.

In the time that we had been watching him, we knew that most nights he slept alone in his room. Although, he had been occasionally joined by a servant in the night. So we'd have to keep a look out just in case he had another rendezvous set up.

I did not want to walk in on any of… that.

It was a blessing that as we hid in the garden outside Tatsuo's room, we could hear most sounds coming from the room. Waiting, we noticed no sign that a servant was coming to 'spend the night'. Instead it was only Tatsuo inside the room, going about his nightly routine.

The plan was that we would wait until he fell asleep, and wait about another hour or so for him to sink into a deep sleep. It was a long and boring hour, but we needed him deep enough into his REM cycle that he wouldn't wake up if I made any mistakes.

To make sure everything went according to plan, it was decided that Carl-sensei would come with me, while Machiko and Gaara stayed outside the room to act as lookouts. Machiko took watch over the window we would be entering through, and Gaara would watch the hallway outside the room, using a slightly-shaky Third Eye technique. It was sort of funny watching the little eye bob around like a weird little bumblebee as Gaara directed it into the building through another open window. We had all memorized the floor plan of the building, so he would be able to find the door to Tatsuo's room without a problem.

Finally, after an eternity of crouching in some sort of bush, Carl-sensei signalled that it was time to go in. We slunk out of the foliage and sensei slid the window open after briefly peeking inside. He climbed into the room first, and I swiftly followed. Upon setting my feet down in Tatsuo's room, I was actually left in a brief moment of stunned silence.

Where our rooms had been spartan sleeping quarters, Tatsuo's suite was the lap of luxury. Silk sheets, plush rugs, ornately carved, heavy wood furniture. The room's ceiling fan was coated in gold filigree. The walls were decorated by mahogany paneling and expensive works of art framed in gold.

A peek into the adjoined washroom (to check for potential witnesses) revealed a bathtub larger than my bed at home and even more expensive decor, mosaic flooring and- a gold plated soap dispenser? The fuck?

Tatsuo slept shirtless. I hoped he had pants on, for the sake of his dignity when they had to lug his dead meat suit outta the room, but it was hard to tell from the way the blanket (thankfully) covered his lower body. He also looked like an overgrown child when he slept. He was sprawled across the bed, save for one arm which he kept tightly coiled around an aged, finely made stuffed animal.

A dog maybe? A tanuki?

I shook my head and focused on what mattered. Looking closely, I could see the slight, slow rise and fall of his chest with each breath. My mediocre chakra-sensing ability could feel the fluctuations in his untrained chakra as he began to dream. I could even the quiet beating of his heart under Carl-sensei's steady pulse and my own excited heartbeat.

With soundless steps, I approached the sleeping figure and pulled out the first senbon, double checking it was the one I had added a blue marking to earlier in the day. I was careful not to touch the other end of the senbon, as it had been coated in a powerful numbing solution that Saki had made.

Originally it was meant for first aid. You rubbed it onto the skin around a wound, or injected a small amount of it into a wound, and the area would be numbed enough that even green genin would be able to sew themselves back together without feeling a thing.

Using it like this, on a senbon, guaranteed that nothing would be felt within 4-5cm of the wound- including the wound itself.

I lightly tapped the tip of the senbon into his scalp in a couple places, making sure to keep track of the tiny wounds I had made. They were no bigger than flea bites and would be nearly impossible to find, especially if you weren't looking for them.

Tiny beads of blood welled from the pricks, and I quickly dabbed them with a bit of the bandages wrapped around my forearm.

I then pulled out the second senbon (this one marked with a red ring on the 'safe' end). Carefully aiming for the tiny red marks left by the first senbon, I pierced his scalp in the same places, this time pushing the senbon in deeper until it would go no further each time, and I could feel the senbon scrape the bone below.

The good thing about this blood clotter was it was a bit like my chakra, in that once it found something it 'liked', it spread. In this case, that was blood. It only needed a bit of blood before it started spreading. Blood flow throughout the body increased when you sleeped. This really was the best option we could have gone with. I don't know what my mother put together to make the stuff, only that she swore by it, and only gave it to her family to use because she didn't trust it in the hands of anyone else in the village. Never knew when something like this could be used on one of us.

Satisfied with my work, I tucked away the senbon and turned to Carl-sensei to silently convey 'we should be good'. Before I got the chance, Gaara appeared in a nearly-silent whirl of sand. He stumbled slightly but caught himself and looked at us.

"Someone's coming down the hall."

Instantly we flew into motion, all three of us slipping out the window and diving for the bushes outside.

We listened closely, but it appeared to have been a false alarm, as whoever it was in the hall merely walked past the door, not even stopping.

We all shared a sigh of relief.

After several minutes had passed, Carl-sensei and I returned to Tatsuo's room to continue our vigil.

We didn't have to wait long.

Not even ten minutes after we began waiting, a blood clot made its way into his brain. Despite this, his body tried to keep going, only for a second clot to reach his heart.

We stayed another ten minutes after his heart had stopped, just to be positive that he was well and truly dead.

Then we climbed back out the window and left the property, promptly making our way back towards Suna.

The moment I stepped into 'Sora's' office with the others to give the report on Tatsuo's assassination, I could tell he knew something. It was clear in the way his eyes gleamed mischievously and his lips quirked as he looked over us.

Sure enough, the moment Carl-sensei finished giving the official report, 'Sora' locked his eyes on me.

"So….Aisako-chan… you would not believe the rumour I heard earlier this week! Apparently, several people saw my 'sweet' little apprentice holding hands with the son of the fourth Kazekage. Can you believe that?"

His hand was...surprisingly warm-

Heat flooded to my face, even as I tried to quell it and filter out and excess chakra that might have come along for the ride.

No need to suffer embarrassing memories and shards of amber coming outta my face.

"Who would dare spread such slander against Aisako-sama!? Aisako-sama would nev-" Machiko began to screech in disbelief, before she suddenly stopped and stared at me for a long minute, "Aisako-sama held hands with the Worm."

It wasn't a question, just a very dead sounding statement.

I winced, "I had to end the conversation somehow- we were supposed to be watching Seiichi, not talking to noble ladies who don't know shit about anything… but I couldn't be rude because that might end up biting me in the ass…. so I gave her some rumour food and sent her on her way. That's all."

For some reason, I didn't bring up the fact that I had been scared Gaara would snap- not with him standing that close to me. In the same room. Within hearing distance.

"Right, right…" 'Sora' said, but the glimmer in his eyes told me he didn't believe a word I had said- even if they were true, "I must say this entire affair has the Loved Ones in quite the tizzy."

The Loved Ones knew about this too?!

I was never going to hear the end of it.

"Oh yes. Several of them are quite pleased with the development. It seems some old theories they have about you when you were younger are starting up again. Others disagree, of course. If it weren't still a story in progress, I'm sure some members of our little 'extended family' would feel the need to split off and form their own branch."

What? Like the founding of a new branch in the religion? What could they be arguing about that was so controversial that splitting off was an option? This was something I was going to have to address them about, wasn't it? But what was it exactly?

"Nonetheless, many of the Loved Ones are quite proud of you for forgiving Gaara for what happened between the two of you in the past."

That definitely wasn't what happened.

Judging by the amused little twitch of 'Sora's' lips, he knew it too.

"Anyways. More importantly- Ai-chan, did you have fun on your first assassination mission?"

I grinned, "Yes! I mean- the party and the talking to people not so much- but the actual deed? It's great being able to finally do some proper ninja stuff!"

Carl-sensei snorted, "You realize most kids your age, when they say that, they mean the explody jutsu stuff, right? Not killing some poor, rich bastard in his sleep through untraceable means...right?"

I wrinkled my nose, "Yeah but there's nothing stealthy about coughing up a fireball. I'm an assassin, not a wrecking ball."

"That's Machiko's job!" My minion cheerfully chimed.

"So...you're an assassin, Machiko-chan is a wrecking ball...what does that make young Gaara-kun?" 'Sora' asked, seeming truly curious.

A nuke.

I was tempted to say it, but Carl-sensei was right there, and I wasn't sure whether or not he'd been told about my previous life yet- I was 90% sure he had- but it wasn't worth the risk. I was already unhappy enough that 'Sora', Machiko and Gaara knew. No need to add another person to the list.

"A wagon train full of explosives," I said instead, mentally picturing a train of wagons winding through the main street of a village, before they all suddenly exploded, causing a long trail of destruction.

Good enough.

Everyone else, including Gaara himself, nodded their heads in agreement.

A relatively comfortable silence fell over us, before 'Sora' spoke once again, "I was thinking of having a little get together- to celebrate your first assassination- it would only be a few of our most trusted people, of course. Your family- minus your adoptive brother- Sunako, Mikasa- and all of you of course."

A party?

Wasn't that sorta- It was an assassination mission. Shouldn't that be kept secret? I mean, I guess it was still confidential, as only a few people with clearance knew, and we never spoke to anyone else on how it was done, who was killed and who did the killing?

Well. If 'Sora', king of morally-questionable-secretive-shinobi-stuff said it was okay to have a party…

"Alright?"

The party was… an experience.

Given the people gathered, and the varying levels of insanity they each possessed, I suppose it was a miracle that nothing bad happened. It was actually pretty good.

Takeo had thrown a fit when he realized he wasn't invited to the party (not that he even knew what the party was for). I was personally glad he wasn't allowed to come. He didn't like 'Sora'. Hadn't liked him since the first time they met. At first, he just thought it was creepy that a grown man wanted to see his 'little sister'. Now it was because he knew that 'Sora' was teaching me 'dangerous' things and 'corrupting' me.

Taiki had had to drag both my mother and Satoru out of the house to get them to the party. I was mildly surprised that both of my parents seemed aware of how to get to the Alley- seeing as they weren't the most trusted shinobi in the village, the idea that they were given access to, or at least knowledge of, the secret shinobi underbelly of Suna, where all the fancy secret things took place, seemed a little weird. They were trusted to come here, but not trusted by the majority of the shinobi in town, or the Kazekage, to even have vacations?

Not for the first time, I wondered how exactly my parents had been recruited into Suna. How exactly did an outlaw get hired into another village?

When we got back to 'Sora's' office, where the party would take place (he wasn't about to let so many people come into his 'home'- the place he called home so no one knew were he actually slept, that is), everyone else was already there- Gaara and Machiko hadn't left, and 'Sora' had just sent a messenger to get Sunako and Mikasa to come to his office, and then told them there was to be a celebration in honour of my murdering someone for profit and politics for the very first time.

Someone had managed to get their hands on some snacks and a large bowl of punch, which sat on 'Sora's' now-clear desk- any paperwork he'd had would likely be locked away somewhere safe until everyone was out of his office.

Even I wasn't allowed to look at some of the paperwork he did.

Not yet, anyways.

Within seconds of us entering the room, my mother was making a b-line for the snacks, while my dad followed after her to make sure she didn't do anything to the food- not everyone in the room was used to her brand of 'flavouring', and the last thing we needed was someone accusing her of trying to kill 'Sora'. That was an extremely quick way for her to get executed. And if Saki got killed by the village, then you can bet your ass Taiki would flip his shit and try to flatten the village. And then Takeo would probably join him, 'cause Takeo is nothing but devoted to our family. AND THEN Satoru, Machiko and I would have to flee the village because we'd be guilty by association.

Maybe I'd finally get to meet the rest of our family?

Then again, if they were related to my parents, then it was probably a good thing I'd never met the rest of them. Satoru was normal-ish, true...but knowing my luck, he was actually the outlier.

I made my way over to greet Mikasa and Sunako. The two women were chatting away quietly, taking sly looks at my family. I realised that the two of them had likely never been in the same room as most of them. The looks they were exchanging weren't mocking in any way, merely assessing them for threats, like any shinobi worth their salt would.

And trust me, may parents were threats-

"Saki no!" Taiki's voice rang out, followed by a loud crash.

I spun on my heel and was greeted with the sigh of both of my parents sitting in a puddle of punch.

"The fuck did you do that for?"

"You're not supposed to put that stuff in punch bowls at your daughter's first-assassination-mission party when the most well connect shadow-lord of the village is likely to drink some of it!" my father scolded her, shaking the punch off of his hands and out of his hair, despite the fact he was still sitting in the puddle.

"It was just a little bit- I gave more to Aisako when she was still shitting her diapers- even a lightweight like 'Sora' can handle that much!"

Remember that thing I was saying to you about my parents being threats?

Nevermind.

I spun on my heel once more so I was no longer staring at the mess my parents had made, and plastered a smile on my face.

"So Mikasa-san, Sunko-san, how are you both doing this week?"

Not even ten minutes after the 'party' started, Satoru had found himself a nice wall to lean against, and pulled out yet another book from one of his pockets- at the speed he read, I really wouldn't be surprised if the man carried at least five books with him a day. And read all of them.

In the hour that had passed since the start of the 'party' I hadn't really thought about him (or remembered that he was even in the room) until I noticed Sunako leaning against the wall next to him. There was a slight wobble to her stance, which told me she's had at least two glasses of punch (the bowl had been quickly replaced after the 'accident' earlier). The blonde woman was talking to my relative, her voice taking on an unusual tone and lilt to it as she did. I watched as her hand was delicately placed on his shoulder.

"So...Satoru-san...what do you do for fun? You always look so serious when I see you."

Flirting.

She was flirting with Satoru.

Ew.

Satoru didn't notice.

In fact, I don't think Satoru even realized she was there. From the way he was leaning closer to his book, which was nearly finished by the looks of it, I figured he was at the climax of the book. It was probably one of the best parts.

Snickering at Sunako's poor choice in romantic interest, I made my way around the room for the nth time in the last hour, (cursing 'Sora' for getting me into the habit, even during parties for me).

Eventually, I wound up standing near Carl-sensei and Mikasa. I'm not sure how much either of them had had to drink already, but it had to have been a lot. Carl-sensei was more relaxed than I've ever seen him, leaning back in his chair with a cup in his hand and a plate of finger foods balanced on one knee. Mikasa was standing behind his chair, chattering away as she carefully braided my teacher's long brown hair.

"It's just like the old days! Remember when you let me use that yellow ribbon?" The caramel-haired woman giggled, "That one guy tried to make fun of you for it and I swear he dented the wall you tossed him into!"

Carl-sensei's lips twitched into what was nearly a smile, but he quickly wiped it off his face and tried to be his usual serious self, "I'm pretty sure this is much different from the 'old days'. You're drunk, for one thing."

She pouted at him, then rolled her black eyes, "Not drunk...just...feeling drunk. There's a difference."

"Not from where I'm sitting."

It felt...weird. Seeing my teacher like this. So relaxed and open- like I wasn't supposed to witness this.

So, I quickly moved on, not wanting to interrupt the pair of apparently old friends- but it had me thinking. What were the odds that Mikasa knew 'Sora' and Carl-sensei when they were all kids? That couldn't be a coincidence- not when both of those guys were also my teachers. Had they all known each other when they were kids? Mikasa said that 'Sora' didn't have an official genin team, and that 'Sora' had just 'shown up one day', which meant they couldn't have met in the academy.

I thought on this for a while longer, curious about how they all knew each other, before deciding to put it on hold for the time being and enjoy the gathering around me. It was nice being in a room where only one person wanted to kill you, and the rest were relatively likely to actually try and save you. Kinda comforting. Not too comforting, but only an idiot gets completely comfortable in this world.

I blinked, exchanging looks with Carl-sensei and my minion- both of them looked just as dumbfounded as I felt.

"Um…What? Could you repeat that for me?" I was rather stunned.

Gaara's brow furrowed, his lips turned down, and his eyes darted away from us to stare at the ground off to the side, "I want us to have another team dinner, at my house."

Huh. That's what I thought he'd said.

Carl-sensei was the first to recover, and the bastard sealed our fate, "Uh…sure. It'll be a good bonding experience."

Yeah Carl-sensei…near-death experiences are great for sowing seeds of comradery.

Although, Gaara has been getting better lately. Or maybe I was just getting used to him? He was a different crazy now, from what he had been in canon.

Sure, he continued promising to kill me from time to time, but he rarely ever did anything that made me feel like he actually was going to kill me. If anything, his desire to be the one to kill me was actually working in my advantage- nothing could come close to killing me.

It was sort of the opposite of what was supposed to be happening. Someday I'd be the one making sure no one tried to kill him, when we each ascended to our future positions.

"…Am I even allowed in your house? Your dad kinda hates me."

"Aisako, I'm sure the Kazekage doesn't hate you personally- you aren't nearly as important as you think you are," Carl-sensei chuckled, ruffling my hair, but something in his voice told me he was lying. Not about the Kazekage not hating me, but that I was important.

Of course I am.

I'm the future...Kage-Kazekage?

And a goddess, apparently. To some people. Some very sweet, very confused, kind of very crazy people.

Despite how unwelcome I knew I'd be at the Kazekage's house...if he was actually there...I didn't exactly want to say 'no' to the invitation. Not that I really had a choice since Carl-sensei had sort of accepted for us all already, but I actually wasn't completely opposed to the idea.

A month had passed since the assassination mission, and we had been a team for five months already- and only had one team dinner to show for it.

That was kinda pathetic, even for a team as dysfunctional as ours.

I couldn't even say that it was because of missions- we'd been on a few c-rank missions in the last month, but none of them had taken more than a day or so to complete, so it wasn't like we were out of town the entire time-

Part of the problem could be that only Gaara and I could host these little get-togethers. Machiko can't cook, and despite having her own apartment, she really lived and ate at my house more often than not. Carl-sensei...he… I wasn't entirely sure if Carl-sensei had a home. Or a place to sleep. Did he even need sleep? I couldn't imagine him having a family or anything, either… maybe he just had a locker somewhere for changes of clothes?

Even if he did have a home, I seriously doubt Carl-sensei would ever invite us there. The man was a paranoid bastard.

I let out a sigh before slowly nodding my head, "Alright...I guess I'll go too? Just lemme tell my folks."

"Aisako-sama!" Machiko protested, before she turned her gaze skyward- as though praying (but not to me, apparently) for patience, "Fine. Machiko will go as well to make sure the Unholy Worm doesn't harm Aisako-sama."

Gaara's gaze roved over our faces before he nodded his head in acknowledgement. Something about his features softened and his lips gave a minute twitch.

And then he just started walking away without telling us what time we were supposed to be at his house for dinner.

I guess this was his first time inviting someone over, after all.

I wandered down the street, slowly getting closer and closer to the Kazekage's home, not that the man really lived there...his kids did, but it seemed as though the man rarely left his office. Probably to avoid being in the same building as Gaara. If the asshole had any decency, he wouldn't be able to live with the shame of trying to have his youngest child assassinated. In reality, it was more likely that any shame he felt was that he had failed to have his youngest son assassinated-

Several times.

Was it bad that I couldn't wait for Orochimaru to come along, just so Rasa would die?

My feet continued to carry me towards my destination, even as my mind began to turn down other lanes of thought. The last time I had been to the Kazekage's home was years ago, when Gaara had used the 'out' I had given him. The out that I had never actually expected him to take.

Admittedly, I had taken it quite poorly. He had regretted it instantly. But for me, everything had still been a bit...fresh. My leg, the false-start awakening of my blood limit, the realization that I had spent years after my rebirth lying to myself about just how I had died...remembering that I had died at the hand of someone I considered my brother- If he hadn't shaken me so much, I might have survived. Maybe.

I could have taken the whole 'you're a monster' thing better.

I was mostly a grown-ass woman- or I was supposed to be one at least...but I guess 'adult-ish mind' plus 'child's brain' equaled an over-sensitive, stubborn-ass, petty me.

How did one even go about apologizing or fixing something like this?

Shaking my head, I shut down the train of thought and forced myself to turn my complete focus on the world around me.

The Kazekage's home was quite a bit larger than other homes in the village. It was taller than most residential buildings, not just in the number of floors it possessed, but also in how tall those floors were- you could tell by the position of the windows that the home had high ceilings.

Like the rest of Suna, it was made of the same sandstone bricks, and the outside lacked any sort of decoration.

If it weren't for the various ANBU stationed around the building, you wouldn't have any idea that this was where the leader of our village 'lived' and stored his kids.

When I reached my destination, the rest of my team (save Gaara who was probably inside) was already there.

Machiko, Carl-sensei and I stared apprehensively at the Kazekage's door before I ( the bravest member of our little group) lifted my hand to knock on the door. There was a long moment where no sound came from the home. A part of me desperately wished that no one was home, and this was all a mistake.

My hopes were dashed when the door swung open to reveal a terribly confused looking Kankuro. He was hoodless and lacking his warpaint, which made him look more normal than I had seen him in years. I wasn't even sure if the first time we'd met counted as 'normal', since he'd been a scared little boy asking me to help his baby brother.

Not that that had worked.

"Uh...you guys looking for Gaara?"

"Yeah, we're here for dinner," I responded, but judging from the look on his face, this was news to him.

"But we're already-"

"Kankuro," Gaara stated, effectively cutting off his brother's protests with a single softly spoken word.

Kankuro froze, looking absolutely terrified.

I felt a brief flicker of pity for the elder 'Sand Siblings'. If I was uncomfortable with Gaara in the same team as me, what was it like to live with him? But then the pity shriveled. It wasn't like he'd gone full 'demon mode' and torn off their limbs, and shouldn't they have been his emotional anchors when we were little, instead of me? They were sorta lucky, really. I had clearly done something to make Gaara… somewhat better than his original state. At least he wasn't nearly as bloodthirsty this time around.

Kankuro began hastily shuffling out of the way, "I-I'll just go let the others know we've got more company. And tell the cook to-"

"The cook already knows."

"The others?" Carl-sensei asked, cocking a brow.

Gaara opened the door wider for us to come inside, "My siblings have… also invited their team over today. I did not know until a few minutes ago."

Son of a bitch that meant that-

"AISAKO-SAMA IS HERE?!" An all too familiar voice cried from further within the house. My skin began to crawl and dread pooled in my stomach when I realized that my #2 Biggest Fan was here.

"Ooh! Shigeru-kun's here!" Machiko beamed happily, before giving me a somewhat concerned look, "Machiko will try to sit in between Aisako-sama and Shigeru-kun, if Aisako-sama doesn't want the full force of Shigeru-kun's worship?"

"You're a lifesaver," I told her with a relieved smile. She seemed to puff up with pride before she took the lead and entered the building.

I followed after her, taking a moment to register the glare on Gaara's face, which he had leveled in the direction Shigeru's voice had come from. Remembering how much Gaara disliked Shigeru, there was every possibility that Machiko would have to actually save someone's life today.

I soon found myself in a large dining room. A long table, clearly meant for dinner parties like this, was in the center of the room. The walls were painted white and the floor was made of some sort of hardwood. The room (like the rest of the house) was severely lacking in decoration.

Clearly the Kazekage couldn't be bothered to make the place look more lived in.

Temari, Shigeru and Baki were already seated at the table, somewhat spread out so that no one was sitting directly beside another. Baki sat a chair away from Temari, a plate sat across from her for either Gaara or Kankuro, another plate sat across from Shigeru who was a chair down from her. Kankuro was running around the table, setting up places for the rest of us in the gaps between them. There was now room for someone across from Baki, in between Shigeru and Temari, and in between the brothers.

Upon my entry, Shigeru began waving and gesturing to the empty seat between himself and Temari. The blonde girl was alternating between giving him a side glare and begging me with her eyes not to sit next to her.

Gaara drifted past me and took his own seat across from Temari, while Carl-sensei immediately took the seat across from his fellow jounin.

"Aisako-san, please sit beside me!"

I quickly avoided eye contact with him and hid a smirk as Machiko skipped over to him and plopped down next to him with an innocent smile.

He blinked at her, but smiled warmly in greeting. Then he turned to the other empty seat on his other side and began calling for me again, despite the lack of plate there.

Carl-sensei leaned over and whispered something to Gaara. The moment Carl-sensei leaned back, Gaara was on his feet again and he quickly pulled out his seat, before staring blankly at me.

Did he...want me to take his spot? It was the furthest seat available from Shigeru, without me being rude and grabbing my plate to sit somewhere else.

Kankuro, who had also taken his seat, was looking back and forth between me, Shigeru and Gaara with a bemused expression, but I saw him mouth 'nice' to his little brother. Gaara looked just as confused by this exchange as I was.

Cautiously, I walked towards the offered seat. He stayed completely still as I sat down, but the moment I was in place, he pushed the chair back into place, before plopping down in the seat next to me. Around the table, people were sharing weird looks.

Shigeru looked completely gutted by my choice, but as Machiko patted his back in amused consolation, his expression became determined, like he was making a promise to himself. Not good. At all. Temari was staring at us with wide eyes, but her lip was twitching like she was tempted to smile. Baki and Carl-sensei were exchanging knowing grins. Kankuro looked nervous but kinda proud. Was it that unusual for Gaara to show manners? While he was weird and kinda unhinged, I couldn't describe Gaara as a 'rude' person. Lacking social skills...yes.

One of the doors leading into the room opened, and a reedy man carrying several dishes, artfully stacked, walked in. At first glance, I wanted to file him under 'staff', 'non-threat', a closer look made me remember seeing him in the Alley which instantly had me filing him under 'undercover ANBU' instead.

He set the dishes and bowls down along the center of the table, then wordlessly disappeared back through the doorway he'd come from.

Well then. Let the awkwardness commence!

In near silence, we began passing bowls and dishes around, filling our plates with what we wanted. The only sound was the clatter of utensils on dishes and the occasional 'could you pass that over here.'

After another five minutes of everyone avoiding eye contact. Aside from Carl and Baki, who seemed to be silently conversing and taking amusement from the awkward scene.

"Um...Machiko likes your hair. Machiko used to have little pig tails like yours, but only two. Now Machiko-chan has these," Machiko said to Temari as she tugged her own long, low pigtails. Then she turned to me, "Does Aisako-sama think I should get more tails?"

"You don't have to change a thing about yourself! You, Machiko-sama, are lovely always and eternally," Shigeru told her, before I even had the chance to think about it.

Why did it matter what I thought she should do with her hair? It was her head, she could put as many tails on it as her heart desired.

Unfortunately, now that the silence had been broken, Shigeru decided it was okay to start talking to me.

"Of course Aisako-san is also a beauty of incomparable measure, as always. Nothing could alter your radiance, my lady."

Right.

"Uh...thanks?" I said, trying to ignore the sound of sand moving on the floor, and the way Gaara was glaring venomously at Shigeru.

"There is no need to thank me! I am only stating facts, Aisako-san. In all the photos, no matter where you are or what you are doing, you're more beautiful than the sun, and just as dangerous."

There was a loud, exasperated sigh from down the table, accompanied by the sound of Kankuro's head hitting the table, "Shigeru, dude. You can't go telling her you have pictures of- where did you even get- I don't wanna know."

Machiko let out a little laugh that bordered on cackling.

Shigeru just looked confused, "Why can't I say that? You're supposed to cherish photographs of the people you love, right?"

Kankuro let out another groan, "It's creepy when you aren't in a relationship. Or team mates. Or- are you even friends with her?"

"Of course we're not friends! Aisako-san is- I'm just her lowly worshipper!" Shigeru said reverently, "She could use me as a shield against any who dare try to harm her and I would die in bliss-"

Gaara noticeably stiffened beside me, and cut Shigeru off with a biting tone. "No one will be trying to harm her. If anyone tries to kill her before me, I will kill them first."

There was a long moment of silence, before Temari broke it to incredulously ask, "Tries to kill her...before you? Like...before they try to kill you? Or before you kill her?"

"He means before he kills me. We've had this discussion before," I sighed, mindlessly picking at the food on my plate- Well I say mindlessly, but like any good ninja I was actually checking for anything deadly, but it was such an automatic response at this point that I barely noticed I was doing it.

"Gaara...bro. You cannot threaten to kill her. That's the opposite of what you're supposed to say to her," Kankuro looked ready to tear his hair out, for some weird ass reason, "You gotta say something nice...like 'no one'll get you on my watch! I'll protect you!' or something along those lines- what did you say?"

What? Why would he have to say something nice?

Gaara's face (which was turned towards Kankuro, and therefore hidden from my view), must have looked just as confused as I felt, but apparently for different reasons. He spoke quietly, but still easy to hear, "I did say that though? No one will kill her, because that's my job."

"For fuck's sake. I give up. End of conversation, I'll deal with it tomorrow." Kakuro said, more to himself than anyone, before he began shoveling food into his mouth.

To my right, I saw Carl-sensei and Baki exchange another pair of exasperated/amused looks before they too began eating their meals.

It seemed like that was the cue for the rest of us to get on with the meal, because everyone began eating their dinner, and there was very little conversation for the rest of the night.

Machiko let out a loud, impatient sigh as our team stood in the mission room, 'patiently' waiting for our daily D-rank. I patted her head absent-mindedly as I stared blankly at the backs of the people ahead of us.

I wasn't even sure why they were bothering making us wait, since it was obvious what mission we would be getting today.

A sandstorm had swept through Suna the day before, so there was a good 15cm of sand on the streets outside. Honestly it was like some awful parody of a snowstorm- at least you could make snowmen and snow angels and go skiing and shit with snow. Sand? I mean, yeah there was sand surfing and sandcastles if you could waste the water, but that was kinda it.

With all the sand laying around, it was obvious what we'd be doing.

Sure enough, when the other teams had received their D-ranks (repairing broken windows and doors, repainting some surfaces, retiling the few slanted-roof buildings in the area, etc.) we received the expected 'sand removal' mission.

Then we made our way outside and Gaara began working his magic.

Like some sort of 'god of old' he raised his hands into the air and sand began rising up, shimmering in the afternoon light.

The sand never seemed to end. He didn't even try to gather it all into one big ball. Instead he motioned with his hand, and the streaming cloud of sand began snaking its way through the air and over the village wall. It took a good 20 minutes for the part of the village we were in to empty of excess sand.

It took another hour and a half to clear the entire village. By the end of the 'mission', Gaara's brow was furrowed, a bead of sweat dripped down his temple and there was a slight lag in his usual pace. He wasn't exhausted, but it seemed even he could tire out after shifting tons of sand for two hours.

We took our sweet time walking back to the mission's room, and as we did, I noticed some of the Sheep casting reluctantly-impressed looks towards Gaara. Even they had to admit that it was sort of awesome.

"Maybe next time there's a storm we should just set you up on the Kazekage tower and let you part it around the village," I suggested, half jokingly.

He was quiet for a long moment, eyes boring into mine before something in his face relaxed the slightest bit, and he gave a nod, "It would be...interesting to attempt."

Machiko didn't say a word, but I noticed an odd expression on her face- distant, deep in thought...and kinda amazed. Maybe she was trying to imagine what Gaara diverging a sandstorm would look like? It looked pretty fucking cool in my mind at least...

My team (sans Carl-sensei, he was having his lunch-time shots at the Cuddly Cactus...probably), sat upon the roof of a three-story building, watching the Sheeple on the street below us, casually eating our lunches. Like most days, Carl-sensei had called it lunch time and shoved the paper bags into our hands before sending us on our way.

It was funny how a guy who seemed like he hated every minute with us bothered to go out of his way to pack us lunches every day. Lunches made out of healthy, fresh ingredients. Fresh food was hard to come buy at the moment- so few merchants bothered crossing the desert just to try and sell food that no one has the money to buy. Except Carl-sensei, apparently. He had enough money to buy fresh lunches for the three of us every day.

How much did 'Sora' pay Carl-sensei to babysit us?

Also, kinda-adorably, he actually wrote our names on the paper bags, and sometimes packed some of our favourite foods.

What a sweetheart.

I had just finished off a deliciously crisp apple when I spotted movement down at the end of the street. A familiar looking civie with a familiar looking cart was setting up outside an alley at the busier end of the street.

I nudged my teammates with my elbows and pointed (apple core still in my hand) at the cart, "You guys in the mood for some sand-cakes and fried lizard?"

Despite the lovingly packed lunches Carl-sensei gave us, we were growing kids and therefore always hungry.

"Yesssssss!" Machiko gleefully hissed, leaning forward as though she intended to dive for the stand down the street.

Glancing at Gaara, I saw him give a single, slow nod...which from him I interpreted as 'extreme enthusiasm'.

It only took a few minutes for us to come up with a plan and get in place.

Machiko and a large pile of sand lurked in the alley behind the cart, ready to grab some of the boxes in the cart when the time was right. Gaara and I walked down the street towards the cart, but pretended we didn't notice it, even when the man stopped calling out prices and products to passersby. Apparently he had noticed us.

Bravely (read: Stupidly) the man shuffled around to the front of the cart and stood in front of it, his arms crossed and a scowl on his face- but despite his 'fierce' appearance, I could tell he was scared.

"Now this time- You aren't stealing my merchandise this time! Get out of here you damn monst- Wait. Where's the blonde one?"

He spun on his heel, but the alley behind him was empty.

When he turned around to face the street once more, Gaara and I were also gone, and safely perched out of his line of sight on a nearby roof. We were quickly joined by Machiko and her sand-clone, both carrying armfuls of goodies.

The sand-cake guy was screaming furiously in the street below when he realized that we had, once again, made off with his entire stock.

Machiko handed out sand-cakes to me and Gaara (making sure to avoid contact with Gaara and dropping the cake into his hand from a distance), and then quickly set the rest down so she could enjoy her own cake.

I unwrapped the pastry and sighed as a sweet smell wafted up to my nose, promising tasty pastry goodness.

I took a bite, and discovered that the cake was a fucking lying piece of shit.

There was something...wrong. The texture wasn't the familiar almost-pancake feel I was familiar with- there was something courser about it- but not quite sandy like the name. And the taste. The taste was completely off- there was too much sugar, attempting to mask a dry, chalky sort of taste.

It wasn't a poison-

It just wasn't...food.

Brows furrowed, I looked at the other two, and they were staring at their cakes as well- Gaara's face twisted into a glare as he stared at it. Machiko looked ready to cry- the sand-cakes were her favourite.

I picked at my sand-cake, feeling the dough with my fingers, and checking the colour of it. There was definitely a dry, rough texture to it. And it looked paler than usual too.

"Ah," I said, finally realizing just what was wrong.

"Aisako-sama?"

"He's cut the flour with a cheaper 'ingredient'- I think it's chalk, going by the colour and taste. Might be clay."

Gaara's glare intensified, before shifting down to the man who had been trying to sell the cakes.

I remembered, long ago in the Test Drive, watching a documentary on baking through the ages (or something to that effect), and in the Victorian era, before regulations on food had been made, many bread bakeries cut their flour with other substances to save on cost. Between the workers they were feeding not having much money, and the number of rival bakeries in the area, business was never good for the Victorian bread baker, and good flour was expensive as fuck.

A lot of the time, it wasn't even something edible- the Victorians had loved their random chemicals (and their drugs- cough syrup made with alcohol and cannabis, cocaine hair products, etc.). Other times, it had been rotten flour, making the bread rancid… and sometimes it was good old chalk.

I could...see why he had done it. He had to make a living, and our thievery didn't help (not that I felt bad for doing it. The man was a fucking piece of trash. Another damn sheep in the flock I lived among), so to keep making money he had to start substituting ingredients.

Unfortunately, I now had a problem on my hands. I had originally planned to hand the rest of the goodies out to my followers and maybe recruit some more people once my teammates and I had had some...but now I didn't know what to do with it. On one hand, I didn't want to waste food, because there wasn't enough to go around on a good day. On the other hand...could I really call this stuff food? Or feed it to my followers? What if there was something toxic in it?

I did not want to feed my cult something that'd end up killing them in ten years. Or ten minutes, depending on what the fuck was in the cakes.

"So...Machiko should not eat the cakes?"

"No cakes. I don't know if I can willingly let anyone eat them until I know just what he cut his ingredients with…" I told them, frowning, "Let's go bug 'Sora'. He'll know what the hell I'm supposed to do with a cart-full of suspicious cakes."

It would have been a pain in the ass carrying all of the food down to the Alley if it weren't for Gaara. With him there, we made the walk hands-free across the village, and the sand did all of the hard work.

I was quick to explain the situation to 'Sora' when we reached his office.

"Don't worry, Aisako-chan. I'll make this decision for you- you don't even have to know what I decide," 'Sora' said with a fond smile, ruffling my hair, "Only this once, though. You will have to get used to making these decisions on your own- we make the tough decisions so others don't have to even know about them."

I nodded, somewhat relieved he was going to be the one to deal with it- but mostly I was stubbornly ignoring the wiggling in my stomach telling me I was nervous about the day that the decisions would be mine to make.

"Oh don't look so grim- I am proud of you right now though."

What?

"The Loved Ones will end up being some of your biggest supporters in the village when you eventually take my place in village politics. When the younger ones grow up to be shinobi, they'll obey you without question when you're in complete charge. Part of your job is to help the Kazekage protect and care for the citizens of Suna, and even if it's just your cult that you're taking care of at the moment, it's a good start."

I hated council meetings. Once in a blue moon, 'Sora' would decide to drag me along to one of them, so I would have an idea of what to do when I took his place (hopefully that wouldn't be for a long while). If I was lucky, 'Sora' and I would be able to split the duties between us- I'd take over the Alley and he'd continue to keep an eye on the political front. When I was finished training, of course.

The room that the meeting took place in was on the first floor of the Kazekage Tower. It was a large room with a raised platform where the council all sat at a single table. The ceiling was high, and sound bounced around easily so no one had to raise their voice too high in order to be heard, unless everyone was talking. Which they usually were.

Bunch of crusty old assholes who loved the sound of their own voices.

Except for Sunako. She was much less crusty, old, and asshole-ish than the others.

This was a much smaller room than the one they usually gathered in. That one was a massive, round amphitheatre. The meetings held there were the ones that the public was allowed to witness, so long as they remained quiet. This smaller room was the one the council used to talk about unpleasant or 'secret' things.

Like trying to convince the Kazekage to off his youngest child, cause they used a shitty seal, done by an amateur, to shove a demon in his gut, and for some strange reason, it didn't work right!

I wasn't entirely sure what the point of the council was, to be completely honest. They got to choose the Kazekage when we needed a new one, but beyond that, it wasn't as though being on the council gave you any sort of actual power. You got to sit in the fancy round room, yell at other people and hope the Kazekage gave a flying fuck about your opinion. If he did, he'd tell you and you'd get to work with him until he could implement whatever idea it was you had.

And then there was the whole… 'the Kazekage isn't actually in charge of the entire village' thing...so really, the council got to pick half of the village leader.

When we walked into the private council meeting room, I made sure that my smile was faultlessly polite. Everything about me projected an air of innocence and kindness. There was nothing of 'Aisako' to be seen, only the Loved Child.

Each step I took was an act of concentrated grace as I glided along just a pace behind 'Sora'. We reached the platform and 'Sora' stepped up, pausing a moment to offer me his hand (like a gentleman). I let my smile become something sweet and gracious as I took his hand, letting him pull me up onto the dias. Then 'Sora' took his seat, and I took my position standing a bit behind and to the side of his seat, just like the handful of other apprentices.

I let my gaze wander around the room, cataloguing the expressions on the faces around me. Some were glaring at me, clearly against my presence. Others were glaring at 'Sora'...they likely saw themselves as his political rivals, not realizing that he had more power than the rest of them combined. A few met my gaze with neutral looks, and one or two even bowed their heads in respectful greeting.

At one point, I locked eyes with Sunako. She was one of the few women present in the room, as well as one of the youngest (the title of the youngest went to me, or course). When our eyes met, her face gave away no impression that we knew one another, but I could see some amusement shining through her eyes. All the old geezers had no clue that Sunako was 'one of us'.

It always ruffled their feathers when she and 'Sora' teamed up against them- the pair disagreed often enough during meetings that none of the other councilors believed they were working together.

Once everyone was settled down into their seats, or standing stoically beside their mentors, one man stood up and addressed the reason for today's 'private' meeting.

"As you all know, this meeting has been called to address the persistent messengers who have been sent by the leader of Otogakure. They continuously ask to speak with the Kazekage in private, and refuse to tell the shinobi on watch at the gate exactly what the message is."

At the very mention of Oto, my body instinctively tried to stiffen as I became completely alert. I quelled the reaction, but my mind was racing.

Was this the first sign of Orochimaru's plan for the exams? I know that an invasion isn't something you plan in a month… a year sounds like an excellent amount of time to talk things over, hash out details and arrange everything for an invasion.

'Sora' motioned me to come a step closer, and when I leaned down, he quietly whispered into me ear, "I remembered you mentioning something about Oto not being what they seemed- Thought you might like to tag along."

The speaker cleared his throat, glaring at 'Sora' for daring to speak during his time in the spotlight.

'Sora' arranged his features into a terribly apologetic expression, and motioned with his hand for the man to continue speaking.

"What the messengers are willing to say is that they wish to make an alliance, and that Oto has something planned that would be mutually beneficial for themselves and our fair village- as you know our economy has taken a bit of a beating in recent years- we won't know the nature of this plan until they speak with the Fourth."

I could hazard a guess on just what this little plan was. Help defeat Konoha, and Suna would get back the reputation it had been losing since the end of the 3rd War, and get more missions as a result. Oto would get their hands on Sasuke and Sarutobi (one of Orochimaru's biggest obstacles in life) would be dead and out of the way.

At the end of his statement, everyone began quietly speaking amongst themselves, making guesses as to what Oto wanted, or what we would get out of it.

After several minutes had passed with no one really addressing the room, Sunako decided to play her role as the 'over-eager, young, newcomer to the field' and posed a question, "Is this really any of our business?"

The others were, of course, outraged.

Simply for the sake of once again disagreeing with her in public, 'Sora' chuckled, "Of course it's our business. This all sounds to me like a potential alliance in the making- something as big as that needs to be discussed further- it would have a massive effect on the entire village."

Another man scoffed at 'Sora'. His voice seemed amicable enough, almost grandfatherly, but the look in his eyes and the words he spoke were not, "Ho now, young Sora- we all know you have a habit of letting your imagination run away with you," here, his eyes flickered towards me for the briefest millisecond, "but now is not the time for wild ideas- An alliance? Between us and Sound? No, no. It is much too soon for such a thing. Perhaps they wish to work together with us for a short time, yes, but what could a young village like Otogakure offer us in an alliance?"

"I was unaware that you had such an intimate knowledge of my thoughts." 'Sora' smiled pleasantly at the elderly man, "But one-sided intimacy between us aside, you do realize how arrogant you sound, right? Assuming that Otogakure has nothing to offer us, without hearing what they actually are offering… It sounds to me as though your imagination could use some freedom of its own, if your mind is as closed as it seems."

A frustrated sigh came from our left, "Can we not go one meeting without you making a mockery of things? It's bad enough you insisted on naming that monster your apprentice- the least you could do is be serious about important matters such as this."

'Sora' stiffened in his seat and turned to stare at the man who had spoken. He was not the only one to do so. As I carefully arranged my expression into what looked like genuine hurt and confusion, I spotted several other people turn to glare hatefully at the councillor who had spoken.

He was old, like most of the people in the room, with more wrinkles on his face than flat skin, and several large dark spots close to his receding hairline. He was thin- practically skin and bone- and sitting up seemed to be an effort for him, given by the way his body trembled despite his steady heartbeat and lack of nerves. He seemed to have reached that age where he didn't give a fuck about people's opinions that old people always seemed to obtain.

Before my teacher could speak, it was Sunako who took up my difference, "There is no need for that sort of talk, Rokuro-san. Calling her a monster- you should be ashamed of yourself! Look at the poor thing-"

As she gestured towards me, I let my eyes water slightly, careful to keep chakra away from my eyes and tear ducts- I DID NOT need amber in my eyes right now. I let my shoulders curl into themselves, making myself seem even smaller than I usually did (not that I am short damnit). I made sure to fidget with the long, loose sleeves of the white top Mikasa had forced me into earlier that morning.

"Please, we've all seen how she really is- this is an act! The girl is a rabid monster-"

"Please stop!" I said in the soft tone of the Loved Child, hesitantly looking him in the eye, my face still a mask of hurt confusion, "I don't understand what I've done to make you so angry with me, but I'm not here to cause any trouble- I just want to learn-"

Several people in the room began whispering, and despite their quiet volume, I could hear their confusion.

"She doesn't seem 'rabid' to me."

"But- you've seen her around in the past...she's always up to no good! It's like he says, just an act."

"Perhaps the girl has grown- you know how children can change over time. Clearly Sora has been a good influence on her."

"I never believed those awful rumours about the dear Child… she's a good girl and a hard worker- Sora wouldn't accept anything less."

On and on the whispers went, overlapping and overpowering one another.

One man spoke up loudly to be heard over the hushed cacophony, "I agree with Councillor Sunako. I hardly see how this young lady is any sort of 'rabid monster', the only monstrous quality I see here is an old man trying to hurt the feelings of a young girl."

I gave the man a frail smile, internally laughing my ass off when I spotted the ring on his hand- a simple silver-coloured band with a single round amber-coloured glass stone for a gem.

Lately, more and more of the Loved Ones have started wearing orange articles of clothing or amber-coloured jewelry in public. Little signs that they were my worshippers.

He wasn't the only one wearing orange in the room- Sunako had amber earrings, another man wore an orange sash, and one man went as far as to wear a burnt-orange robe, reminiscent of the one I wore day-to-day.

After that, Rokuro seemed to be done trying to make me cry, and the meeting started once more.

I couldn't say that anything particularly noteworthy came of it. I stood silently by 'Sora's' side for the next hour and a half, listening as they all argued back and forth as to whether or not Rasa should meet with the messengers from Oto.

Eventually, it was finally decided that, yes, they would 'allow' the Kazekage to speak with the messenger, because they were all nosy and curious, and there was a chance (in their minds) that this could lead to something good.

I knew better.

After the decision had been made, there was further arguing as they all squabbled over who would tell Rasa their decision… not that it actually mattered, because I knew that 'Sora' would be meeting with Rasa later tonight, and they'd have a little chat about what they would really do next.

When the session let out, 'Sora' and I patiently waited until half the other council members had left before making our way out of the room- If we were first to leave, it might imply we were scared or worried about the allegations made by that asshole. If we waited too long, it might give others time to set up some fort of trap- either a staged interaction in the hallway, or an assassination attempt.

As we walked down the hall, 'Sora' placed a hand on my head and ruffled my hair- completely destroying Mikasa's hard work. She'd spent like…three hours taming the annoying cowlicks earlier that morning.

"Oh relax, we've gotta go see Mikasa again anyways, the Loved Ones are having a party and we're going, so you've gotta get dressed up anyways."

Ugh.

I stared at the bright red smear on the alley wall, watching the deep red droplets slowly trail down the sandstone blocks. Sand whispered up the wall, eager to soak up the rivulets- rough waves of particles slowly sanding away the surface of the bricks. They'd be stainless and smooth as black ice once the sand had its fill.

So... I was pretty damn sure two seconds ago that smear of blood, guts and bone fragments had been a complete female adult, lunging at me with a kunai.

We had been on our way back to our training grounds after Carl-sensei sent us out to lunch, and when I walked past the opening of the alley, the woman had come flying out, shrieking something about vengeance. Despite all the training pounded into my shitty brain, I had frozen at the sudden attack. Machiko had been too far back to intercept the attack, and in the instant it took me to process what was happening I had sort of mentally shrugged and figured I was going to get another scar from this. Or dead. Instead, the sand around me exploded into movement, and more swept over my shoulder from where Gaara stood.

And then it was over.

Slowly, my head turned towards Gaara, who was glaring at the smear, even as his sand began climbing back into the gourd on his back. The grains were so heavily saturated with blood they looked nearly black.

A shudder rolled down my spine.

Gaara took a sudden step towards me, concerned eyes darting over me like he was trying to find any sign of damage. His hands shot out and grabbed me by the shoulders, twisting me so he could scan my back for a brief second before turning me back around and releasing me.

Then he turned and started walking towards the training grounds once more, like nothing had just happened.

The fuck?

I tried to ignore the little voice in the back of my head that told me this wasn't nearly as unexpected as I made it out to be.

So! I've finally purchased a new laptop, just in time for college to start up- And yeah...finally got off my ass and, despite still having absolutely NO IDEA on what to do with my life, decided to go to college...only for the whole...plague thing to happen. Soooo now it's all online, and therefore no different than what I've been doing already: no socializing and staying shut in my room on my computer, but with the added 'bonus' of being extremely stressed. Yay.

...Sorry about the rant. I'm just a big ball of anger and unhappy at the moment.

ANYWHO! We're about to enter another time skip chapter, so the next chapter might be a bit shorter than usual. Or not. It depends on how many ideas I get that I want to cram into one chapter.

This chapter was edited by Wheez3 on Deviantart (go check out her art). She's also started up a Naruto fic of her own over on wattpad, so go look up 'Paranoia of the Starved|Kankuro|' by Sleepyie!

The poll of chapter 30 currently stands at:

Carl's POV: The Cuddly Cactus - 38

Sora's POV: A Successful Successor - 37

Shigeru's POV: Raised in Love - 8

Satoru's POV: Gods Rising All Around - 8

Sally Anne's POV: Witnessing Grand Theft Sanity - 4

I'm honestly super excited to write Carl-sensei or 'Sora's' POV. Oh the secrets we'll be learning from both of them~

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