Temari seemed to pale considerably before she shot out of the bed, backpedaling until her back was against the far wall, she immediately made a grab for where her kunai holster should be only to realize her weapons were missing. She took a quick look at what she was wearing, realizing that it was little more than a hospital gown with maybe some skin tight spandex shorts beneath that, she could also feel bandages around her abdomen and chest. Her eyes quickly scanned the room for anything she could even remotely consider a weapon to be used against him, though she knew it would more than likely be an effort in futility.
She hissed as another stab of pain raced through her abdomen, forcing her to grab hold of the nearby table in order to remain upright.
"As I said." Naruto drawled in his usual monotone. "Do not move...you are to valuable to bleed out before you have fulfilled your purpose."
"What..." She gasped clenching her teeth and eyes shut before slowly willing her lids to open to glare at the man in front of her. "What purpose? What are you talking about?"
Naruto's chilling blue orbs dug deeply into her own, sending pin pricks of ice crawling up and down her arms and legs. He kept his eyes on her as he spoke, not moving a single muscle. "You will be used to secure Suna's surrender."
Temari's eyes widened minutely thoroughly caught off guard by the sheer bluntness of his statement. But soon it was replaced by burning hot fury. "No fucking way! You'll have to kill me first!"
"You don't have a choice." His voice was firm and uncaring as she saw her grit her teeth, glaring at him as she glanced around the room once more. Naruto's eyes traveled down to her stomach, where red blotches were beginning to sift through her hospital gown."
Temari's eyes rested on the small glass lamp, that rested on the table next to the bed, and so with a strong fist she smashed it to pieces, gripping one of the shards in her hand, ignoring the biting pain as the shard dug into her palm, slicing it wide open as she molded wind chakra into her impromptu weapon, lengthening its blade till it was the length of a normal sword she leapt over the bed, lunging at the Kyuubi Jinchuriki, the blade leaving a trailing arc as she swung, aiming for his throat.
Naruto however did not even bat an eyelash as she attacked, dodging the swing before he latched onto her wrist with his hand, his grip strong enough to leave a bruise as she was forced to drop her weapon. She hissed in pain before she tried to lash out with her free and, only for it to be gripped in a similar fashion before the blond turned her around and forcefully pushed her against the wall, holding her form against it as she struggled in his grasp, kicking out at his legs repeatedly.
He absorbed the blows easily, barely even feeling the repeated impacts before the pain and exhaustion of her body showed in her efforts as she continued to bleed, the red fluid now easily visible through the hospital gown, sweat beginning to mat her hair down to her forehead as he held her against the wall, her legs lost their strength and soon she was being held up by him.
Naruto released his grip on her arms and wrapped an arm around her waist, holding her close to himself as he held her up from collapsing, making his way to the bed as he deposited her as gently as possible, not wanting to upset her injuries anymore than what they were, ignoring the blood soaking into the fabric of his robes and the black clothes beneath as he released her form. Her chest was heaving with each breath as she weakly glared up at him.
Naruto glanced behind him and with a grunt the door parted revealing a medic nin as she walked into the room. The blond Kage turned his eyes back onto the injured Kunoichi as she feebly tried to move in the bed to sit up. "You are currently being held in my home, there are several Anbu throughout the entire perimeter of this estate, and you will be allowed to wander throughout the entire estate freely except the scroll room. You are not allowed to leave these grounds, if you attempt to do so there are two dozen Anbu ready to restrain you and bring you back here."
Temari sighed still having the sense of mind to catch his words. "Your estate...why..." She paused to swallow down a groan. "Why am I being kept here?"
Naruto answered without even batting an eye. "Zhuge Liang's reach has proven long and his cunning great. I will not allow him to assassinate you, as he no doubt has already begun to plan. My estate is far more secure than a hospital."
Temari turned her eyes up to his as she fought off unconsciousness due to the blood loss, her mind recognizing the name of Zhuge Liang easily as that of the Raikage. But she didn't understand...he was planning to assassinate her? She opened her mouth to question, but before she could her body finally gave out, her head lolling to one side as she fell into sweet unconsciousness allowing the medic to work on her.
Naruto stared at her for a moment before he made a hand gesture, two Anbu appearing at his side along with Hinata. "You two." He said gesturing to the Anbu, set up the shifts; do not let this one out of your sights. If she is killed or escapes...it will be your head. Understood?" The two Anbu nodded and bowed before vanishing in a cloud of smoke.
Naruto then turned his eyes back onto Hinata. "Hinata." he spoke as the Hyuuga turned "You are in charge of this houses' security, she does not get out and no one that I do not authorize gets in. The Anbu around the house will report directly to you in turn, you will report directly to me. He looked to Temari then. "You will stay with her; make sure she does not try anything foolish. If she attempts to attack you, restrain her, but make sure she does not injure herself gravely."
Hinata nodded. "Understood Naruto-sama." She said with a slight bow. Naruto moved to leave the room when Hinata's voice reached him again. "Naruto-sama, how are you so sure Zhuge Liang will attempt an assassination?"
"I would." He said simply before striding out of the room.
A single lone figure stood amongst the mound of newly dug up earth, the headstones had not been set in place yet but he knew who it was that now rested eternally beneath them. The drizzling rain soaking him down to the bone as it had not let up since the morning.
He stared down solemnly on the mound of dirt fighting back tears as he stared at it.
"Father."
The solemn whisper left his lips as he took in a shuddering breath, craning his neck back in order to look up at the cloudy gray sky, taking a moment to collect himself before he sighed and looked back at the grave. "I'm sorry father...I...I should have been there...I should have been there to help you. If only I was stronger...I-"
"Excuse me."
The young man turned around finding the crimson red eyes of Yuuhi Kurenai staring at him, her raven black hair blending in with her black mourning clothes, one hand gripping an umbrella while the other held the robe tighter to herself, as if shielding her form from the harsh biting coldness of therein and moist air. She had been walking back to her apartment when she caught sight of the young Kiri ninja from the road. "I...I don't mean to disturb you...Toushiro-san, correct? But...you will get very ill if you continue to stand out here in this rain."
Toushiro turned his eyes back to the grave. "Thank you...Yuuhi-san." He paused in order to remember her name. "But I will stay."
Kurenai said nothing, her eyes shining with something akin to pity for the young man as she stepped forward, placing the umbrella in order to shield them both from the rain that pelted down from the heavens.
Toushiro said nothing as he felt the constant pitter patter of the rain against his back, shoulders and scalp vanish, he continued to stare at the uneven dirt for several more moments before he spoke again. "I remember...when he first adopted me...I always feared he would regret his decision one day...so I always did my best to make him proud, always trying twice as hard as I normally would when he was around." He did not know why he was saying this to someone who was essentially a total stranger. Perhaps he needed to get it off his chest, perhaps his grief had finally proven too much for him...but regardless, the words were coming, and they would not be stopped, not by his will or his reasoning.
"He always tried to assure me of the fact that he saw me like a real son...not just some boy with potential he took pity on..."
Kurenai's eyes softened as she stared down at the ground. She had not known Guan very well, other than a few passing words over the years but the few times she had spoken to him she had seen a man of honor, pride and politeness. Despite his superior skills he had not looked down upon any of the ninja he had come across, even the young chuunin's. He treated them all with respect. She could only imagine the grief his adopted son must be currently feeling. She kept her silence and allowed him to continue speaking uninterrupted.
"But I wanted to...I wanted to meet and surpass his expectations of me...I wanted to truly make him proud that I was his son...but..." The young man paused as tear slipped past his defenses trailing down his cheeks until they dripped off his chin, falling to the moist earth beneath them, being absorbed into the soil like the trillions of other rain drops like it. The young man took a shuddering breath as his shoulders shook.
"But now I'll never be able to do that...never be able to show him I could have been...that I could have been the son he wanted." A few choked sobs escaped him as Kurenai wrapped her free arm around him, holding him a bit closer to her before she began rubbing circles on his back. Finally after she felt it was safe enough to continue she nudged him gently, leading him away. "Come on...these rains do you no good Toushiro-san."
The young man sighed before kneeling before the grave, placing two fingers to his lips before placing them to the grave. Allowing the crimson eyed Jounin to lead him away from the gravesite.
Meanwhile, not too far away Ginchiko was quite contentedly drowning herself in alcohol. Sitting in a dingy little barstool, still adorning the funeral robes she downed glass after small glass of Sake, her eyes red with unshed tears, as she moved to drink another glass of Sake a firm hand caught her wrist, holding it, and the glass away from her lips bringing her eyes up to that of one Maito Gai. "Let go." She glared at the spandex wearing Jounin.
The Taijutsu specialist shook his head. "I am sorry Ginchiko-san, but I cannot allow you to continue with this unyouthfulness."
She snarled before she stood, shoving him off of her with enough strength to send him stumbling into a nearby table, knocking down several of the items resting on it. "This isn't a damn joke you green moron!" She yelled as she stood on wobly legs knocking over her own stool in the process.
Gai's eyes softened for a moment as he straightened himself out, ignoring the eyes of the wary bartender who now looked at them with eyes full of warning that they would pay for anything they broke. Bouncers in a ninja village may as well have been useless, especially against a jounin, even a drunk one.
"It was not meant as a joke Ginchiko-san." He said in an attempt to appease her, stepping forward with his hands held in front of him as if to show he meant her no harm. The woman's cheeks were tinged with a light hue of pink, indicating that she already had quite a bit to drink as it was. "But please, let us leave this place; Guan wouldn't want you to be doing this to yourself."
"Well that's too bad, I didn't want him to die...so we all obviously don't get what we want do we Maito?!" The venom in her voice was not directed entirely at him he knew, but it didn't stop them from wincing at the tone. The woman seemed to catch herself as her eyes trailed away from him, stumbling as she grabs hold of another nearby stool. "First Hidetada...then Guan...just how many more will die before this shit is over?"
Gai moved to answer when another voice cut in.
"My, my how pathetic?"
The two turned their eyes to the entrance of the bar as the curtains parted revealing Mika as she entered the bar, her blood red eyes gleaming as both they and her ghostly white hair stood out due to her black clothing. "Here you are drinking away like the pathetic weakling I always thought you'd be. Whimpering and crying like a child who lost her favorite stuffed animal."
Ginchiko's eyes narrowed as she hissed, nearly snarling at the younger girl. "Well not all of us can be psychotic unfeeling harpies from hell can we?"
The younger Kunoichi tilted her head to the side smirking slightly. "I'll take that as a complement."
"You crazy unfeeling bitch!" The older kunoichi roared as she went to grasp her sword that leaned against the bar, being held back by Gai as the Taijutsu master rushed up behind her and held her hands behind her back, pulling her away from the blade as he wrapped an arm around her neck. "He was your damn sensei!"
"That he was." Mika remarked absently as she idly flicked her fingernails. "And a rather good one at that. I'll always remember what he taught me...especially the rules of the Shinobi. You remember that one rule? The one that says 'A shinobi must always keep their emotions in check no matter the situation...I think I always liked that one the most..." She paused as she saw the struggling woman try to get out of Gai's grip smirking. "But I don't suppose you'd remember that little rule would you."
Ginchiko's breaths heaved as she finally began to calm down, slowing her struggles as she glared at the young woman. "I remember it. But I suppose someone as heartless as an orphaned bitch like you would certainly have an easier time at it. It must have broken you up when he adopted Toushiro but never you huh?"
Mika's smile fell before any more words could be said Gai released, Ginchiko and walked between the two women. "I believe you should leave." He said as he crossed his arms.
The younger Kiri kunoichi's eyes traveled to Gai's unusually serious face before she smirked, turning and walking out of the bar.
Gai then turned his eyes to Ginchiko, walking over to her he wrapped a single arm around her shoulders "Come on. This place does you no good." He said before leading her out of the bar
Zhuge Liang sat in his office doing his best to clear his mind as well as he could. Running a hand through his raven black hair, he heard the door open. Trailing his eyes upwards he found the one and only Sabaku no Gaara walking into his office. "Ah, Kazekage-dono." He said, standing up from his chair. "Please, have a seat." He said gesturing to the piece of furniture in front of his desk. Gaara nodded before he moved to sit.
The Raikage waited for Gaara to take his seat before he leaned forward on his desk, lacing his hands in front of his face. "Gaara-san, I know you wish to remain here, in order to overlook your brother's treatments but...I need to ask you to return to Suna as soon as possible." Gaara sighed before he nodded; looking up to the older man he spoke. "I realize that, Kankuro is in too delicate a state to move but I cannot allow that to stop me, I will begin my return to Suna by tomorrow, I have already begun my own preparations."
Liang nodded as he leaned back in his chair. "That is good to hear, I will assign you a squad of four of my best Anbu to guard you along your way."
"Just two please." Gaara said. "A smaller group has a smaller chance of being detected."
The sleeping dragon nodded. "As you wish then. Now..." He stood and walked over to a large map hung on the wall of the office, gesturing for Gaara to join him. The Kazekage did so and soon they were both standing in front of the map.
Zhuge Liang placed his hand over a specific spot on the map. "Your Jounin subordinate, a man known as Baki, has begun to move troops onto Suna and Konoha's borders, so far there have merely been a few light skirmishes, few injuries on both sides, even fewer casualties but very soon that will escalate. Now...when you arrive at Suna, you must quickly take control of your armies and strike out against the outposts here." He gestured to one area north of Suna, in an area between the borders of Ame and Iwa, an area they could access due to Suna's near total control of Bird Country. In the near decade since the rise of the Konoha Empire, Suna, Kumo and the previously independent land of Iwa had worked on gaining control of small merchant villages in the surrounding lands, not only to strengthen their own economy, but also to use these lands as buffer zones between their respective villages. Suna had taken bird country, Kumo had taken a small city known as the Jiang Ling, a port city just south of their lands and a little north of Hi no kuni. Iwa had taken Sakai and Konoha itself had taken River country, Tea country, the City of Mai Dong and Chia Ku in the north and the land of Rice fields once known as Otogakure. "Here..." He then gestured to another border guard in the Konoha controlled land of River Country, the buffer zone between Konoha and Suna. "And finally here" He gestured to the last target, causing Gaara to get an incredulous look on his face.
"Tea country?" Tea country lay all the way across the ocean from Suna, the only land access was deep in fire country territory. "Raikage-dono, though Kumo and Kiri...subsequently Konoha may have a navy...Suna does not. We have no way of crossing the ocean in order to reach Tea country."
"I know you have no Navy Kazekage-dono. However..." He gestured to the far south of Suna He pointed to the gulf of Dankai, right next to that was the port city of Tsugi. "I have already sent several of Kumo's heavy battle ships across the Jiang Ling in secret. With luck they will remain undetected from Kiri's naval patrols and will arrive at the city of Tsugi in one to two weeks."
Gaara nodded. "I see. How many men can your ships carry to tea country?
"If all of the battle ships arrive then they can easily carry over 700 ninja with supplies and food to last nearly a month. A surplus of course. 200 men to tea country on these ships. 300 to the outpost near bird country and another three hundred to the outpost near River country, and keep your main force with you in order to act as reserves or emergency relief forces."
Gaara raised an eyebrow. "Rather astute guesses. What will you do?"
"As it stands right now I am still making preparations but in two weeks time I will be launching attacks here..." He gestured to the north eastern border of the land that was previously Oto. "Here." He gestured south of the now Kumo controlled city of Jiang Ling, near the eastern coastline along the border of Konoha. "And my navy will be landing in this peninsula." He gestured to the land that previously belonged to the merchant city of Mai Dong, west of Oto and east of Waterfall.
Gaara nodded. "I see. Is there anything you wish to accomplish with this...six pronged attack...I mean...despite the obvious splitting of his forces."
Liang nodded. "Perceptive I see. Yes, there is an alternative purpose. Iwa. Iwa has been recently conquered its people held by a leash of virtual slavery Naruto has over Toyohisa Shimazu, not unlike the Hyuuga Curse Seal of the branch family used several years ago. With these attacks Yoshihiro may see an opportunity to rebel; I will go to Iwa soon, before the attacks begin in order to barter him a deal. If he accepts then we can expect reinforcements from Iwa. If he does not...which I don't believe will happen then we will be on our own. As it stands however, Iwa with the recent conflict has weakened them greatly as well as weakened Naruto's own forces however minutely. We still have a numerical disadvantage but not as great as I had feared it would be. We also have a slight advantage in terms of terrain. Your climate makes it difficult for those without experience and knowledge to last long in the desert and for Kumo the high mountain peaks have made for a perfect natural defense similar to Iwa as there are only several passes that can be used to reach our city."
Gaara nodded. The silence before them stretched on for a while, before it was abruptly broken by the alarm of a clock. Liang bowed "Forgive me Kazekage-dono, but I must go."
"Of course." Gaara bowed, allowing Liang to take his leave. Before the Raikage made it to the door however, Gaara spoke up. "Zhuge Liang...what are our chances of winning."
Liang paused for a moment before he answered. "Unfortunately...I havent the slightest idea. Once I know so will you." Before he stepped out of the office.
Zhuge Liang solemnly descended the stairs of one of his Anbu headquarters, his footsteps echoing off the dank murky stone halls. The dripping of water from overhead pipes rang loudly in his ears as he made his way down. Reaching the bottom of the steps he caught sight of Tsunade standing outside of the room her blond hair cascading over her shoulders as she sighed, turning her eyes to him as he approached. "Have you already gone in?" He questioned.
In response she nodded. "Yes." Before she sighed somberly. "It did not go very well."
Tsunade slowly opened the door, the creaking hinges grating from misuse as she opened the portal fully, entering the darkened room it barred entrance to.
Light filtered in through the hallway and the small lamps on the side of the room, giving Tsunade an easy view of the young girl curled up on the bed, facing the wall away from the door.
Tsunade carefully made her way over to the bed, noticing the chains shackled onto the girls visible ankles and another around her torso, probably attached to her wrist, considering she was turned the other way. The Medic soon became enraged at the sight, she understood the need for caution with Liang but this was unacceptable, Akina was not some common prisoner or animal they could just keep caged. She wouldn't accept it. She would have words with the sleeping dragon when next they spoke.
But taking another look at the girl she put aside her anger for now. Tsunade grabbed a nearby chair, dragging it over to the side of the bed as she sat down. When she received no response she slowly reached over and gripped the girls shoulder. "Akina." Her voice was soft and sorrowful as she spoke, her hazel brown eyes staring at the back of the girls head; her sun kissed locks seemed paler somehow, as if they were withering away due to the last few days events.
"Tsunade-sama?" The younger girl questioned craning her neck back to face the legendary medic. Her blue eyes were a bloodshot red from crying, tear streaks that ran down her cheeks only accentuated this fact. Before Tsunade could say anything her eyes dimmed, dulling as if the will and life was being sapped from them. "You knew...you knew too...that's why he let you in here..."
Tsunade opened her mouth but soon sighed in resignation before she nodded. "Yes...I knew."
A strangled laugh escaped the younger girl, though it was mirthless and filled with pain; it tore at Tsunade's heart. Akina shook her head against the pillows. "How many more know huh? Was it the whole damn village...were you all just playing nice and laughing at me all the while as sensei pulled my strings like some damn puppet."
"No, no!" Tsunade spoke quickly. "No...Only I and Liang knew. But I swear-" She continued swiftly "The only reason I ever kept this from you is because I was concerned for you Akina."
"Concerned for me! Concerned for me!" The young girl nearly yelled as she at up and turned around fully in her bed, lashing out with a ingle hand before it was forcefully held back by the chains. "Cpncerned for me!? So what? You were concerned enough to keep me dancing on strings while you and Liang would keep sicking me on a man that could kill the both of you? That's concern?"
Tsunade was not taken aback by her anger. She had been expecting it after all. "When I learned of your connection to the Uzumaki boy you were still very young and recovering from very many emotional and traumatic events in your life. The death of your parents, the discovery of being a second Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. If I would have told you that he was your brother then who knows what would have happened to you. You could have completely lost your mind!" She was nearly begging the younger girl to understand what a difficult position she had been in. The human Psyche could only take so much before it snapped, if it had to deal with such a hard psychological blow so shortly after the death of her parents, something that Akina had not fully come to terms with until two years after the fact at the very least; Who knows what would have happened, and at that point she had kept the secret for so long she didn't know how to break it to the girl.
Akina sat back on the bed, leaning her back against the wall as she looked down at the mattress, tears trailing down her cheeks and falling off her chin. "Tell me how...how can I ever trust what you say ever again Tsunade?"
The medic's eyes grew sad as she searched for an answer to give the younger girl but in the end, she could come up with nothing. "I don't know..."
Akina continued to stare at the mattress for several long moments before she spoke. "Get out." When Tsunade made no move to do so she yelled. "I said get out!"
Tsunade sighed and bowed once before turning on her heel and walking out of the room. Reaching the door she gave another glance at the Jinchuriki. "For whatever it may be worth...I am sorry." Before she turned and closed the door behind her, leaving the younger blond alone in her cell.
Tsunade looked at the apathetic Raikage before she spoke. "I want those chains off her Liang."
"They are a precaution for the moment." He explained glancing at her.
"Either you take them off or I break them off...either way they're not lasting the night." The medic warned. They had done enough wrong to this girl they would not do another one.
Liang closed his eyes and nodded. "Very well, once I am done seeing her I will go up to the Anbu captain and tell him to remove them."
Tsunade nodded. "You better." Before she turned and walked down the hallway, making her way to the exit.
Liang watched her leave before turning his eyes back to the door. He took a deep breath before he opened the door and made his way into the cell.
He found the young girl in much a similar position to the one Tsunade had left her in. Her back against the wall, her eyes facing downward. When he opened the door she looked up at him, her eyes narrowing as she bared her already lengthening fangs.
He nodded in greeting. "Akina."
"What do you want?" She snarled the venom in her voice and raw fury in her eyes spoke volumes of the levels of disdain and contempt she now held for him.
Liang sighed. "I realize that you're very hurt...and that you're very angry at me Akina." He said slowly as he took a seat across from her, making sure to stay beyond her chains reach. "I know that what I did to you may have been...that it is...unforgivable. A betrayal of the highest degree, but I hope that you can understand that I had no choice in the matter."
"You had choices...you had many choices." She interrupted, her grip on the bed sheets tightening. "You just made the wrong ones." She glared deeply into his eyes. "You didn't just betray me...Zhuge Liang...you betrayed my trust...you betrayed the faith I once held in you...you betrayed the belief that everything I ever did for you...that everything you ever said and asked of me was to earn your respect...your friendship and your love...I loved you...you were more than a sensei to me...you were like a father to me."
Liang took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He knew to the extent...to the depth this wound went. But he had tried to keep his distance from her for this reason. He wanted to endear her to him, but not so much incase of this very event. But apparently he had failed, something confirmed as he listened to her painful and heartfelt voice.
"All of that is gone now." She finally said glaring at him. Looking at the chains on her wrists and ankles she added. "Obviously..." She growled before turning her eyes up to him. "A subordinate cannot serve a commander he doesn't trust...I will no longer fight for you Zhuge Liang.
That single sentence seemed to reverberate off the walls, like a deep gong going off right next to them. "I see." Liang said as he slowly stood, her blue orbs followed his movements. "I will be leaving for Iwa in two days Akina...when I return...we will discuss this further."
"There isn't anything to discuss." She interrupted.
"You are obviously very upset." He continued ignoring her. He turned his eyes back up to her own. "For what it's worth...I truly am sorry." He said before he walked out of the cell.
Outside the iron door Liang sighed. That could have gone much better...but it was not an entirely unforeseen circumstance...and thus...not entirely beyond some measure of control.