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Sand in the Leaves	By : ahmenet Category: Naruto > General Views: 1273 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor do I make any money from this fanfiction.

Chapter List
- 19
- 20
- 21
Going to try and catch up chapters
this week. Chap 25 in the works right now then back to Liberty Hall.
Hope you enjoy.

0.0.0.0.0.0

'Shiga' waved goodbye to his 'wife' and
set out to the main gates of Suna to meet the rest of his convoy.
Kakashi sighed and ruffled his far too short hair noting with supreme
irritation that he was early and he was on time. When he finally got
his hands on Kanaye Sasaki he was going to gut him for his current
sleep deprivation not to mention having to cut and dye his hair. Of
course, from what Yugao had been telling him, he might have to share
the prize.

“Hey, Shiga! Hurry the hell up!
We ain't waitin' all mornin'!” He recognized Mamoru; one of
the men sent to 'guard' the genin and their sensei as they traveled.

“Right, right. I'm here so we
can get going.” He slouched lazily past them.

As the group lifted their packs and
other gear, Kakashi took a moment to study the people around him. He
didn't know the genin and would have to familiarize himself with the
kiddies before the trip was out. Luckily they were going to take the
full five days instead of the quick three which would give him plenty
of time to study this mix matched group. He knew the guards weren't
just a precaution but until he found out their total purpose as well
as the thoughts and feelings of the student half of their group, he
couldn't' make his move.

“Alright, kiddies. Lets get
moving. I want to make the trees by nightfall.” Kin called
from the front of the group.

Kakashi blinked but held his tongue.
That was far faster than they were suppose to be moving. At the
speed the man wanted to move, they'd be at their destination in just
under three days. He glanced at Haya, flanking the right. Her face
showed nothing. Nor did Mamorus. Only the sensei and students
showed concern or confusion.

“Why the rush?” Matsuri
spoke up from the front of her cell. “The exams aren't for
five days. If we move slowly and steadily we won't need rest before
the exams start and show greater strength for it.”

Kin didn't look back but he did
stiffen. “There's been a change of plan. The Kazekage wishes
for the genin to be comfortable in the village before the exams. He
feels they will preform at their peek if they have time to acclimate
themselves.”

Kakashi saw her get ready to state the
obvious, that doing that defeated the purpose. They didn't want the
students comfortable and all shinobi had to deal with the unknown
more often than not. As an excuse it was weak. He knew it, and as
she closed her lips tightly together on her comment he realized she
knew it to. So, Gaara's student was smart and capable of biding her
time. That could work in his favor. He spared a glance for the
other teacher. He'd have to get his name later.

“Kane-sensei?” One of the
genin, a young girl with straw brown hair, pulled lightly at her
teachers sleeve. “Are we going to be able to keep up with...”

The man put his hand on the young girls
shoulder and smiled down on her. Kakashi vaguely remember seeing him
years ago when Gaara had been kidnapped. He watched Kane briefly
ruffle her hair as he offered quiet words of encouragement. The
girls smiled and nodded then moved back into step with the two boys
on her team. He noted the wrapped bundle on her back and realized
with a smile that she was a puppeteer.

“What's so funny?” One
young boy sneered snottily.

Kakashi simply raised a brow and pulled
out his book. This years exams were going to be interesting. In
more ways than one. He only hoped no one died.

0.0.0.0.0.0

By midmorning
Konoha was a buzz with activity. The nights festival and attack had
the village on high alert. Shinobi patrolled the gates in fours.
Anbu were coming through the gates at regular intervals. All teams
had been called in and were sent out on patrol.

Gaara thought as he
walked, sweaty and now cold, back through the gates that perhaps
Tsunade had been right. Maybe the reason he and his trusted advisors
hadn't noticed the change was because this group had pulled a page
from the Akatsuki. Only they'd started with one and built on it.
Suna had been low on shinobi after the attack five years prior. If a
man were smart he could find a way to move his people in, one at a
time, and infiltrate an entire village without being noticed. Gaara
had, of course, argued that they'd been careful since they'd already
found one traitor. She'd gently reminded him that a member of his
council was now the Kazekage. The rest of the meeting was spent
convincing Gai that Gaara wasn't upset by the comment and there was
no need to challenge the Hokage for her lack of tact. He liked the
man and he liked Chiharu. He didn't want to see her a widow before
she became a bride.

Neji looked to the
station guard and waved but instead of moving ahead he walked over to
speak with them. Not something he usually did but then the whole
morning had been strange. When they'd woke, Neji had slipped from
the room without saying a word and hadn't joined them for breakfast.
Then breakfast had been postponed by an early meeting and perimeter
patrol. Gaara shrugged off the issue of strange friends and stranger
enemies as they moved into the village proper and food. He was
starving.

“We have
another perimeter patrol this afternoon. We should meet at the gates
after lunch.” Gai was saying as they passed a group of young
women pouring over a magazine.

“Why not just
eat lunch together before we go?” Sakura asked then saw Gai's
face flush pink. “Oh, no. You're right. We'll meet after
lunch. That should give us plenty of time to deal with some...
business before hand.”

Gaara tried the
push the image of Gai's “business” from his mind as they
all stepped behind Sakura in to the ramen shop then stopped. She
looked around a moment then blushed herself.

“I'm sorry.
It's still habit to come here. We'll go down the...”

“Here is
fine.” Gaara walked past her and took a seat at the bar. Gai
followed suit.

“Oh...
alright!” She moved into the seat next to Gaara and nudged his
elbow.

Turning his head to
face her, and offered her the same small smile he offered any friend.
Since the one night they'd spent together they'd had little time to
talk at least that's what he kept telling himself. In reality, he
was avoiding the conversation and he knew it. It wasn't that he
wanted anything from her. On the contrary, he wanted her to let it
go and pretend it had never happened. But Sakura was determined and
he knew, eventually she'd corner him. He wasn't looking forward to
it. But, for now, the smile was enough and she matched it with a
tip of her lips then turned and waved a hand to order.

“Um... excuse
me.”

Gaara turned at the
timid tap on his shoulder and was faced with a young villager
carrying a copy of the magazine he'd been seeing all over the village
since their return.

“Yes?”
He raised a brow and glanced at the book. Not a magazine but a
sketch book. Then back at the girl. Her face turned tomato red and
her companion actually squeaked and giggled. He had a very bad
feeling about this.

“I can't
believe it. It really is him.” The younger of the two, a girl
with dark hair and sun kissed skin flipped through the book until
she came to a sketch of two people on a bed. Feathers from a torn
pillow cascaded over their heads as they lay on their sides laughing
with one another.

“I take it
you've seen the newest rage since Icha Icha Yaoi.”

Gaara barely
registered Neji's voice as he stared at the image of himself and the
Hyuuga rolling with laughter after a verbal battle over who was more
of a man and a physical pillow fight to prove it. The photo,
however, was suspiciously unfinished which made perfect sense as the
genin who'd signed the sketches were the same who'd sold tickets to
see them naked in the baths. He had to admit, at least one of them
was an excellent artist with a superb eye for detail.

“I told you
they'd find a way. They always find a way.” He said softly as
the girls pulled the book away from his line of vision.

“Find a way
to... whoa!” Sakura grabbed the book in Neji's outstretched
hand and held it up to study the pictures inside. “Whoa!”
She flipped a page and turned back to drop the book on the counter
and lean in closer.

Groaning, Gaara
rubbed both hands over his face and looked back at the white eyed man
sporting red tinted skin. “How many pages are in that book?”

“Twenty
five.” Neji ground out between clenched teeth, his color
getting higher by the second. “A couple had us a lot closer
than either of us have ever been to one another.”

Gaara nodded and
mentally tallied all the copies he'd seen just since enter in village
this morning. The brats worked fast. He was contemplating the best
way to kill said brats when a blond streak blew past them and
squeezed between himself and Sakura.

“Move over
forehead! I've been trying to get my hands on a copy of this all
morning.” Ino cried shouldering her way close to the counter.

“It didn't
happen, Ino.” Neji groused.

Ino looked over her
shoulder at the two of them then smiled widely. “A girl can
dream can't she?!”

“I don't know
whether to thank the two of you or be jealous.” Fudo walked to
the bar, a lazy smile on him face. “This is the best morning
I've had since we got married... and that was a very good morning.”

Neji's ears started
steaming. Gaara turned and buried his face in his bowl.

0.0.0.0.0.0

Sasuke stepped into
Takako's room and closed the door behind him. The medic by the bed
looked up , opening her mouth to remind him of visiting hours then
closed it and ran from the room. He ignored her calls for Shizune as
he once again closed the door she'd left open and made his way to the
bed. His wife, the mother of three of his children, lay there
perfectly asleep and nearly unharmed. A small bandage graced the tip
of her left finger and her ear was only a little red from the
swelling. Her face was completely at ease, mind and body untroubled
with fear or pain.

“Wake up!”
His voice boomed with command and, startled, Takako rose from sleep
and blinked up at him.

“Good
morning, Sasuke-kun.” She greeted in her sweetest voice. “I'm
so glad to see you! I was so worried!”

The knot in
Sasuke's stomach loosened a little. She may be materialistic and
conniving but this woman wouldn't put others in harms way to save
herself. Especially not her own children.

“When that
woman started cutting me I thought she was going to kill me!”

He leaned over and
pressed a hand to her shoulder. He thought he saw the flicker of a
smile before her hair fell to cover her face. “It's alright
now. You're going to be fine.”

She seemed to relax
a little at his words, the muscles of her shoulder loosening. Then
her head popped up and she looked at him with stricken eyes
“Izanami! Was she hurt?” The question was sudden and
something about the way she asked seemed... off. He shook off the
unease. With the trauma she'd suffered she was sure to sound a
little off.

“She has a
few wounds but mostly she's dealing with shock. Shizune says she
will be fine.”

She lowered her
head again but the tension was back in her shoulders. “And the
baby?”

His eyes filtered
to red and he watched the top of her head, her breathing, the way her
heart speed up as she asked the question.

“They're
still unsure. She's on bed rest for the next week.” Her heart
rate spiked for a moment then slowed. His eyes narrowed on the top
of her head as he reached his free hand and lifted her chin. She
resisted for a moment then moved smoothly with him. Fresh tears
trailed down her cheeks when she turned her eyes up to meet his.

“Why are you
using your eyes? Are we still in danger?”

It was a nice act.
The fear hadn't been feigned. But the fear wasn't of intruders.

“How did she
get the key to the twins room?”

“What?”
She shook off his hands then touched her ear lightly and winced
rather convincingly.

He moved away from
her to stand next to the bed. “She didn't break the door down.
The key was in the door when the others arrived. How did she get
the key?”

“She must of
pulled it from my pocket when I passed out. I'm starting to feel a
little ill. Could you call the medic, please?”

An ice cold ball
replaced the knot in his stomach as he looked down into the eyes of
his wife. A woman he'd taken to help revive his clan because the
council had thought it would be a good match and her family line had
strong shinobi. A woman who'd been livid when she came to her
wedding and found he'd taken Izanami the prior day as his first wife.
A woman who'd petitioned the council to have Naruto removed as the
heir because of questionable parentage.

“Did you hire
her? Was it just a coincidence that she showed up on the same night
as the others?”

“I don't know
what you're talking ab...”

“DON'T
LIE TO ME!” She fell back into the pillows as he
advanced on her. “You're children were in that room! You've
not asked about the twins. Not ONCE!”

Real tears ran from
her eyes as she scrambled closer to the head of the bed. “She
wouldn't hurt the babies! She said she wouldn't hurt the babies!
She only wanted...” She gasped and threw her hands over her
mouth.

Shaking, Sasuke
backed away from the bed. His eyes filled with the horror of
childhood memories and a new face to add to his nightmares. “Was
it just a coincidence?” She didn't answer.

The door opened
behind him but he didn't look. He knew Shizune was here and Tsunade
was with her.

“Sasuke.
Your wife wants to speak with you.” The Hokage said, slowly
and carefully.

“Would you
have killed Kouhei too?”

Takako delicately
dabbed her eyes with the corner of the bed sheet. “No.”
She lifted blank eyes to his. “I won't have to.”

A low growl came
from somewhere behind him and he heard whispered orders to send out a
message. A hand landed on his shoulder and applied firm pressure,
cutting through the numbness that had settled under the skin.

“Go and see
your wife.” Tsunade turned him toward the door.

The hall way was
bright after the dim lighting of the room. He blinked, eyes bleeding
to black, as he turned toward the village leader.

“Izanami
wants her head if the baby dies.”

Tsunade's smile was
anything but kind. “She'll have to wait in line. But tell her
Ibiki sometimes takes requests for friends.”

He nodded. “I
should have sent her back after Tadao was born.”

“The
Sharingan can't see everything. The mighty Uchiha are not
infallible.” His face remained blank and she sighed, pointing
to a door at the end of the hall. “Go and see your wife. She
needs you.”

Nodding he turned
and moved down the hall. Three medics ran past him as orders were
shouted from the room he'd just left. Stopping at Izanami's door he
placed his hand on the handle and turned letting the sounds of Naruto
and Hiro chatting together about the proper care of worms filter out
the sounds of Takako's angry screams.

0.0.0.0.0.0

“You bring something special for
him today?”

It was late in the afternoon when
Yugao, in her guise as one of the young puppeteers they'd “replaced”,
smiled snidely at the guard and waited for him to open the door. The
man snorted something about snot nosed brats and kids knowing their
place in the falls. It wasn't the first time she'd heard the
statement and it worried her.

“Well, I hate to tell you this
but go easy on him. He ain't gonna last much longer.”

She nodded and walked through the gates
and moved to the back of the cell. He was asleep, but only just, and
he didn't look much worse than when she'd left him last. A few new
bruises and a split lip. His hands were still badly damaged but she
could see fresh blood under the nails. He'd been interrogated
recently but with so much pain already heaped upon him she doubted
he'd even noticed it.

“Kankuro?” She touched him
softly and he stirred, moaning as his muscles visibly tightened.

She opened the pouch on the front of
her vest and pulled out the small pill. She examined it, noting that
it looked much like a soldier pill, before leaning over him. “Make
sure that he swallows it. It will need five minutes to take affect.
Explain to him what he's going to feel so he will not fight the
process.” The words
echoed in her head as she pressed the small pill to his lips.

“Open your
eyes and look at me.” She said harshly.

His eyes opened
just a crack. The whites were almost completely red with broken
blood vessels. She smiled to soften the blow of her words and cut
her eyes to the door. She'd not used genjutsu for this. They
weren't going to be here much longer.

“Open your
mouth and swallow this.” His lips parted as she pushed the
pill between them. “In a few minutes your limbs will feel
numb. Don't panic. The sensation will spread to your torso and
finally you will feel faint. Don't fight it. Just let it happen.
We need this in order to get you out. Nod if you understand.”
He gave an almost imperceptible nod and even that looked like it
hurt.

She heard a scuffle
outside the door. Looking around she spotted a small stool and,
hooking it with her foot, kicked it into the wall closest to them.
Kankuro didn't even flinch at the sound but the guards at the door
laughed. Relaxing a little she turned back to her charge and found
him smiling.

“You...
remind me... of ...my si...ster.” He struggled for air for a
moment.

Laying her fingers
to his lips to stop his speech and gave him a mock pout. “So
this is the 'I love you like a sister' speech?”

He rolled those
slitted eyes and gasped. She saw his arms twitch and knew the
affects had started.

“Don't
fight.” She moved the hand to his cheek and pressed lightly.
“Just relax and consider this the best sleep you've had in
months.”

She
watched the panic fade a little as he smiled. The facial markings
were still swollen but not red and the purple lines seemed to
complement his bone structure. She wondered if the man who'd done
this had any idea what
he'd done, because though she knew the pain had been extreme, the
results had been... beautiful.

“Don't
look... like... ... act... like sister... ... there's...
difference... ... getting dark...” He frowned and tried to
blink.

“Just close
your eyes and you won't notice.” She pressed against his cheek
harder. His harsh breathing was picking up and she knew he was
fighting the panic.

“Feels...
feels like... ... falling... ... sick...” His body shook
involuntarily and he swallowed twice, his skin paling.

“Relax. You
won't fall far.” She moved her hand to the pulse at his neck.

“Catch...
me...”

She felt the
muscles in his neck relax as the pulse slowed. His head rolled
lightly to the side and she felt the last beat beneath her fingers
then nothing. A trained medic or a Hyuuga would be able to see his
systems were still working and his heart was still beating, but they
had expected him to die. None of the guard would look too hard and
she knew exactly which medic they would be sending. Brushing her
hand back over his cheek and into his hair she took a deep breath.
They had six hours before the affects would wear off and he would
wake up. It was time to get started.

Standing, she
straightened her shoulders and put on her best sneer. Then brushed
past the body of her charge and went to inform the guards that
Kankuro was dead.

0.0.0.0.0.0

Setsu
made every effort to hold the sneer of satisfaction on her face as
she examined the body in front of her. Not a body,
she amended to herself, he's not dead.
But he looked dead and her heart was slamming in her chest as she
told the guards that his lungs and heart had failed.

“Maybe we
should run a blade through him? Just to make sure.”

Setsu looked up at
the older shinobi and quirked her lips while trying not to be sick.
If they decided to mutilate him before he could be moved...

“Isn't that a
little extreme?” She looked to the woman standing at the back
of the room. The woman who'd been with him when he'd “died”.
She didn't recognize her in this guise, but she recognized the wrap
on her back.

“Not from
where I'm standing.” The older shinobi pulled out a blade and
started for Kankuros prone form when the squeak of hinges caught
everyones attention.

“The ladies
are right, Kyotsu. He's dead and no longer of any use to us, let him
have what little peace he can in death.”

Setsu bowed
formally to the man in front of her. She'd only seen him twice and
though he was average in almost every way he commanded attention
whenever he entered a room. Kanaye Sasaki was a very dangerous man
and by the time they'd figured that out, it had been too late.

“But sir!
With all the reports and the disturbance last night, we can't take
the chance that...”

“If the lady
says he is dead then I have no doubt he is. After all, she's been
spending a great deal of time with him. Haven't you, Setsu-chan?”

She watched his
eyes. Watched the way they danced in the flickering lights and knew
they had been discovered. She only prayed her son got was safe.
That all the villagers that could be saved, that hadn't been afraid
to run, were safely away. She'd give them all the time she could.
The same as Kankuro had. She took one last look at his oh so still
face and turned eyes bright with tears back to the man she wished
were lying that still.

“Will you lay
him with his family?” She didn't wipe the single tear that
fell. It wasn't all feigned and she wouldn't deny its small bit of
truth freedom.

“Of course.”
His smile was almost kind. She'd learned what that smile meant the
day he'd cut down the Kazekage and his family.

Turning her back on
him, she bent and placed a small fisted hand to Kankuros chest and a
gentle kiss on his still warm cheek just before the guard grabbed
each of her arms and pulled her toward the door.

“Take
Gogatsu-san to my office. I think it's time she and I had a little
chat.” He smiled as he said the last. There was nothing of
the warmth she'd seen before in it. Only terrifying eagerness.

0.0.0.0.0.0

Yugao watched them
walk out of the door but said nothing. They had managed to stay
undetected in the village for much longer than anticipated. She
wouldn't think of who they had found or who had betrayed them. Her
objective now was to finish this mission and see Kankuro out of this
village. She watched him carefully as Kanaye Sasaki reached for the
handle of the door.

“Good job, by
the way, I couldn't have asked for a better 'accident'.”

Swallowing the need
to split his skull with a kunai, she bowed and accepted the praise.
“I hope my work has been satisfactory, Sasaki-san?”

“It has
exceeded expectations. Now, if you will do me the honor of taking
out the trash,” he made a motion to the body on the cot, “I
will see to my next appointment.”

He stepped out of
the room, closing the door behind him. She listened for some time to
the sound of footsteps down the hall. When she was at least sure she
wouldn't be heard, she bent over Kankuros body and touched his chest.
No movement, no beating, just stillness. Breathing in deeply to
dispell her fear she lifted her hand and started the seals for the
replacement jutsu.

“I pray I've
not made a mistake.”

Moments later she
stepped from the cell with the body draped in the crook of her arm.
Glancing back she saw the Kanaye leaned against the wall, watching
her. She'd known he wouldn't leave without conformation that she was
carrying out a dead body and not walking out with a perfectly living
man.

“You'll
forgive my lack of faith, but as you've just witnessed, it's been
tested a great deal lately.”

“Of course,
Sasaki-san. I understand a man likes to know he's paid for a job
well done.” She pulled a short sword from its sheath and
abruptly flipped the blade to slide neatly into the back of the body.
Blood dripped thinly to the floor as the blade pushed through the
other side. “But as you can see, I always do my job well.”

He nodded and
turned, walking through another door into the dark of the streets.
Pushing back her sigh of relief, Yugao shifted the bandaged body of
Kankuro to one side and tossed the fake over her shoulder. She'd
dispose of it in the desert.

“Time to take
out the trash and head home.”

She preformed the
seals and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

0.0.0.0.0.0

Kakashi watched
from his post as the guards made a perimeter around the camp, then
watched the genin and their sensei observe the actions as well.

Haya walked up to
Matsuri's and her three students; Mine, Ronin, and Sorano, and
stopped to say a few words to the younger woman. Had he not been
watching them, he would have missed her hand signal and the small
object that landed in young Ronin's hand.

Kakashi folded his
pack under his head and closed his eye. Ten against two sounded like
good odds to him. He'd see what these genin could really do.

0.0.0.0.0.0

Kouhei wiped the
blood from his chin and put the last of his kunai back in his pouch.
The six men scattered over the ground formed a strikingly perfect
circle of red. All that training with Sasuke was paying off.

“So.”
He turned his attention back to his one surviving attacker and smiled
and crooned in a singsong voice. “Are you going to tell me why
you attacked me and how the hell you knew I was hear?”

The ninja spat in
his face.

“Oh well,”
he slipped his hand back into his pouch and cocked his head to the
side. “I wonder if I still remember how to do an old fashioned
amputation.” The man paled as he took out a serrated blade
smile morphing to a wide and disturbingly excited grin. “Lets
find out! That is, unless you've changed your mind?”

0.0.0.0.0.0
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Sand in the Leaves