Chapter 31 - Arc IVii: Deep Secrets-Chapter 1

There was a long pause in the wooden dojo as the story told by Yuuko sunk it. It didn’t seem unbelievable. After all, there were all those attempts to kill Gaara made by people of his own village. But the story didn’t make sense somehow. To Shikamaru’s analytical mind, the story was only halfway finished.

There are two sides to every story. It’s just like Orochimaru believing himself to be right, while we believe that we’re the ones who are right. So what we need to do is hear the Kazekage’s half of the story before we make any decisions.

Asuma couldn’t read what Shikamaru was thinking exactly, but he knew Shikamaru well enough to know that he wasn’t convinced. If there was doubt in Shikamaru’s mind, it was worth addressing.

Standing up and stretching a cramped leg, Asuma nodded politely to the congregated group of outcasts.
“I’ll be communicating with the Kazekage shortly. Thank you for the history lesson.”
--

Uzume watched from the outside porch as her newest ‘project’ played with a ball. It still struck even her as odd that he was a child. The things he said and did were beyond his years. But here he was, bouncing around a ball on the dirt path outside.

More troubling yet are the expressions he wears. He seems so burdened. I’ve refused to read him, the way I can most people, though it’s tempting. For some reason, my strongest feeling is that I’m not the one who needs to figure this boy out.

The child had long bangs that fell over one eye. That eye was gray, and held no sight. The thick black bangs covered it for the most part. The child looked very thin, although he was nourished properly each day under Uzume’s guidance. His face was incredibly pale, as was the rest of his skin. But it was his remaining eye; his right eye; that garnered the most attention.

The main part of the pupil was shaped like a sideways diamond. On each side were half-diamonds that overlapped part of the center diamond. The eye’s pupil was black, but it’s markings were a very pure white color. When the eye caught an image, it seemed to focus in the center of the main diamond. Once an image was trapped in the center of the eye, it seemed that the boy could do quite a bit with it. He could freeze the image to study it, although that wasn’t very useful in combat. The other abilities weren’t as apparent, and Uzume wouldn’t have known about them if she hadn’t been told by the boy’s last living relative.

Uzume suddenly felt a horrible chill. Familiar and very malicious chakra was coming towards her.

“Child! Over here!” she called. The boy, now clad in a black gi top and black hakama with a white obi came over upon hearing her call. His eyes focused on the threat in the distance.

“…One of them is a fire type.”

Uzume turned her head toward the boy quickly. “Wh-what?”

“A fire type. You know. His chakra type. He’s a fire. The other one…the other one is different. He’s got six different types of chakra. I’ve never seen that before…”

The boy said all this matter-of-factly. There was zero emotion in his voice. He never spoke with any emotion. Uzume wondered if he felt distant because she had yet to give him a new name.

“Six…types? Come on, the guards will need to-”

Too late. Uzume felt the presence of two chakras behind her. She also felt lots of souls leaving their bodies. She gulped inwardly, though she showed no fear or any emotion on the outside.

“Itachi Uchiha…and someone I don’t know. You aren’t his usual partner,” she said evenly, turning half toward them, not meeting Itachi’s eyes. “Perhaps a name from you?”

Itachi Uchiha rarely differed to anyone. So this man must be incredibly powerful. Uzume knew enough about combat to not engage this man unless she had no choice. As the man gave his name, she knew her options were running out rapidly:

“Pain.”
--

Striding forcefully, Naruto barged his way past guards toward the Kazekage’s office. Sakura and Shikamaru apologized in his wake, saying he didn’t take his medication today and the like. Anything to get them to NOT throw Naruto in jail.

Smashing open the door, Naruto pushed his way into Gaara’s office.

“GAARA! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS ABOUT?!”

Gaara looked up impassively, flanked by Temari and Kankuro.

“You’ll need to explain…” Gaara rasped. That was obvious. He had no clue what Naruto could be talking about.

“THAT WATER GROUP! YOU’VE SHUNNED THEM! WHY?!”

Gaara went silent. Kankuro spoke to him quietly, trying to get him to calm down. Temari put her hands on her hips, glaring at the entire Leaf group. Shikamaru shook his head, indicating that it was only Naruto who had the problem. Still, Temari was a protective older sister- she HAD to be, with Kankuro and Gaara as brothers.

“Ugh, you idiot! Listen, they tried to kill Gaara. How’s he supposed to forgive that?!”

Before he could be stopped, Naruto shouted his reply. It made his teammates recoil in shock. Never once had they known how deeply this bothered Naruto.
“The same way the Leaf forgave you people! Stop dwelling on the past and make a new future!’

Gaara stood up noisily, his hands thumping on the desk. But it seemed to be just a cry to call order to the room, rather than anger. Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief before Gaara continued.
“They’ve done nothing to endear themselves to us. Sabotage, aiding other villages and towns before us…even killing some of our men. They’re rogue as far as I and the rest of the Sand government are concerned. They’re a security risk.”

Silence. The reason the Leaf group had come by was to hear the Kazekage’s side of the story. Now that they had, they were sent into shock once more. Sakura summed up the group’s general feeling the best:
“I can’t tell which side is right. I understand why they’d be outcasts, and I understand why they do bad things. But neither side is really making any progress toward correcting the mistakes of the past…”

Gaara decided to end the conversation.
“This isn’t why you’re here. We have information on the ‘Mad Bomber’ that’s been attacking us.”

Kankuro chimed in, holding up a picture.
“We used to have this ANBU agent who was too violent. He’d attack his own men if they crossed him. We exiled him ten years ago. We believed the bombings were being played out by Azami, but there’s been no sign of her. After she got caught so easily the first time, and after her rescuer went to all that trouble to save her, we don’t believe she’s behind this. It must be this other man. We only know his code name: Shuto. Here’s what he looks like.”

A gaunt man with close-cropped blond hair and hollow cheekbones glared at the group from the picture. They all burned details into their memories down to the last stray hair.

“I ask you to help us find this man. And when you do, turn him over to us for questioning.”

Kazekage’s orders given, the Leaf shinobi moved out to help their allies.
--
--

Azami stopped dead in her tracks, plopping down onto the ground. Ryouko hit the ground next to her, asking if she was okay, and what he could do. But she didn’t respond except to shake her head and say:
“He’s here. The Akatsuki’s worst member. We can’t be here!”

Ryouko narrowed his eyes. “Hold on, how do you know this? I can feel a chakra, but it’s not one I can identify, and I’ve run into most of the Akatsuki.”

Azami tugged on his sleeve, boring her gaze into his. “Don’t go. It’ll be suicide. Whoever they’re after, they’re already dead. That man can’t be stopped.”

Ryouko looked toward the temple, painfully aware that each second counted. For once, he actually feared for his life. But how could he face himself if he ran? Even if Azami, who was likely more powerful and clever than he, was scared, how could he hold up? But he had to make the effort. Especially considering who was there.

“Okay. I’ll do it the safe way, then.”

Then another monstrous chakra came within range. Close range. This was one Ryouko could pick out. He pulled his hat down further.

“Azami…can you handle this guy? He’s a handful, but you’ve got the advantage…”

Azami had since regained her bearings, standing back to back with Ryouko.
“You’re going to do this no matter what I say, right?”

“…I have to,” Ryouko replied earnestly.

“…Fine. I can handle that one. But I can’t get onto the temple grounds…this might be where we part ways again…”

THAT made Ryouko hesitate.
“…I might not see you again. I don’t think I like that.”

Azami rolled her eyes a little, pretending to not be as touched as she was by his feelings.
“I know where you live. I’ll find you again, don’t worry. Now, go! And hurry- I can feel the chakra of two people, and they’re no match for the people they’re facing.”

Ryouko nodded once, giving Azami a long look. Then he took off at top speed, roaring toward the temple.

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