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The tale of Rasa of Suna would be quite disappointing, all told. He was born to parents that could not care for him, sent to cousins who could and the Academy that probably should not have. He'd scrape together every inch of support and power he could for himself, and then lose sight of why he did so in his pursuit of protecting what was his. He survived on favors and bartering, those early years - trading tutoring for half a lunch, or promising to lose a spar if it meant he could spare some cash at the end of the day. To scrape together enough that he could repay his cousins - that was the hope. He owed them, though they never once requested that he pay them a cent.He saw their health decline nearly a week into his moving in - sparing what they could so that he could stay healthy.What help they gave mattered - his cousins died of pnemonia on a particularly cold evening, many months in, and he barely survived the same. He inherited their tiny home and the corner shop, and maybe would have quit the Academy if they hadn't been so proud of his success there. Genin it was.The Third Kazekage came to the graduation ceremony to speak to the class. He was a young man with a serene manner. It was a far cry from the brashness the Niidaime was known for.Rasa certainly preferred the cool demeanor to the horror stories his elder classmates boasted about- how their prior Kazekage threatened to replace them all with puppets if they didn't meet his standards personally. The fact that he'd been killed hadn't boded wewell did the village, but that didn't mean it wasn't a relief not to have that particular threat over his head."Some of you will die for Suna," their Kage said instead. "And some of you will live for it. I trust that you will stand firm against every wind that beats against our walls?"They all shouted in affirmation, and he smiled slightly."That is good to hear. I will do my best to ensure the same. Congratulations, genin."His squad leader was a puppet master by the name of Mori. The man was tall, standing straight as Rasa and his two teammates approached the training gate.The chunin and jounin had training yards within the walls, but genin? Genin trained in the desert proper. Rasa stole a glance at his teammates joining him at the blue gate."Hear anything about our sensei?" he asked.Mizuho, an actual child genius who had startled Rasa just by being in the exam waiting room, was one of the two. The seven-year old shrugged."He's part of Chiyo's teaching legacy somehow," he said. "I'm not sure."Sana, who was a burgeoning puppeteer herself, nodded emphatically."He's also a genjutsu master," she said. "I heard that -""Perhaps," said Mori, "you would do well to introduce yourself to me before spouting rumors, hm?"Sana blushed."Right. Sorry Sensei.""Follow me. We'll go a way out, introduce ourselves, and begin a light training excercise."Mori lead them out to the dunes, a few hundred yards away from the walls."All right," he said. "Fight me. I would like to test your current strengths and weaknesses. I'll let you know when to stop - no deception on that end, thus far."Well, that sounded suspicious - but Rasa wasn't going to examine closely just yet. They had an objective: fight Mori.He pulled out his sword - a basic one, but it had been a gift, and he'd practiced hard enough not to be totally useless - and dove forward at their sensei. Sana began circling, making chakra string and ninja wire traps as she went - and Mizuho began the signs for a wind jutsu.
Who taught him elemental jutsu already?
Still, Rasa's sword met Mori's with a clang.And no, he wasn't beat-a-jounin-in-single-combat good, but considering he kept the man distracted, at least long enough for Sana and Mizuho to corrall him into a trap, he wasn't completely lost.Still, he ended up punted foot-first into a dune, head sticking out and blinking repeatedly as Sana squealed in getting the same."You have a lot of work to do," Mori sighed. "But I can see where we need to begin."As genin, they were a decently balanced team for attack formations. Sana's range and trapping skills, Mizuho's knack for wind jutsu, and Rasa's efficiency in general with earth jutsu and tactics gave them an edge.This would all be great if they could get along for more than two minutes.Sana made bold moves on the fly - which was great, in some respects, but it stressed Mizuho and Rasa out entirely not to have any idea of what she was going to do. And Mizuho, the son of a wealthy trader, was as out of touch as could be when Rasa didn't particularly have the ability to spend a shitton on supplies if he could maintain his own well - and didn't understand that his criticism of using subpar supplies was an insult.Rasa wasn't without faults, of course - he was very particular about how much time and energy he wasted on clients that weren't paying well, and frankly he didn't do small talk and all that, so starting conversations sucked.He was pretty certain Mori would be sick of them within a year, but instead, he brought them on a C-rank to Kusa."We are to investigate a civilian smuggling ring," he explained as they all read the mission parameters. "Someone has been sneaking samurai-make weapons into Suna through Kusa - and while it's great quality, it's damaging our reputation with them for legitimate trade, which is limited as it is."Sana didn't even try to hide her glance at Mizuho."Suna's trading reputation isn't good?""My father says that things have been difficult lately," he said. "I'm not sure.""He might not tell you everything about it," Rasa said. Mizuho's face dropped a fraction."Maybe."Travelling to Kusa gave them time to talk about what to look for."Civilian criminals are both easier and harder to spot for different reasons," said Mori. "They don't primarily use shinobi techniques, so we don't know to look for those, but it also means that they may be sloppy in areas where a shinobi wouldn't. In Kusa, they had to stay relatively incognito - a bunch of Suna nin popping up and asking questions about weapons shipments would get killed or at least the smugglers would run. So - what are my civilian children's identities?"And so they bickered about whether Rasa or Sana would be the more appropriate elder sibling, and Mizuho's vote for Sana left her a bit smug about her little brother Rasa.Everything went to shit quite predictably once they'd tracked down the location that the smugglers were trading at. Meaning: someone had noticed children poking around, and children didn't poke around at bars all that often.Which led to Rasa throwing at least half of his senbon supply in order to pin down the wannabe shinobi that had never passed their graduation exams, but had certainly developed enough know-how to conceal themselves.With Mori fighting the three ex-chunin in charge, apparently former Konoha nin who claimed to be related to the Hatake clan, it should have been easy pickings for the three of them. And it was, for the first half of the fight - Mizuho finally got to use his water-nature to lash each of them across the chest with a whip of liquid, rather than using it to draw from the ground for resources.And Sana was having a blast, using her small insect puppets to disorient them while Rasa dove in for the kill.But one of the bigger ones was sneakier than they gave them credit for, and snuck up on her, knife to her jugular."Everyone down, or the bitch gets real dead, real fast!" he shouted.And Rasa and Mori froze, because this was not a mission worth dying over, C-rank or no - and then Mizuho did the bravest and stupidest thing Rasa had ever seen.He replaced himself with Sana - and, being smaller, slipped right through the thug's arms and plunged a kunai into his gut on the way to the ground. Shortly after, they dispatched most of the rest, and Mori began interrogating the leaders about the operation.Sana blinked at Mizuho, mouth twisting in confusion."You could have died," she said."I could have," agreed Rasa. "So could you. So could 'Zuho. And Mori-sensei. It's a mission outside of Suna walls and we don't know what's going on. Of course one of us could die."She stared at them like she'd never seen them before."You're strange," she said. "That was - so reckless. A replacement with another shinobi -""I was pretty sure it'd be fine," Mizuho said. "Though I imagine that we should get an upcharge in payment for the level of difficulty this had."Rasa snorted."Sorry, Mizuho, but the traders aren't going to pay us an extra dime just because we had to kill some people. It still falls under C-rank."That seemed to set the kid into a mood, but he didn't say much about it on their way back to Suna.Apparently, their performance put them in the running for the international Chunin Exams. Mori warned them that they may not all pass, or none of them might - but he had an estimate of their skill level that they had a chance, and he'd rather have them get the promotion from exams than in the field.Sana made a joke about him trying to get rid of them. He laughed."No, I like kids, actually - my son just joined the Academy, you know?""What's his name?" asked Sana. "My sister's a new chunin-sensei, she might know him!""Sasori," Mori said. "He's fascinated with puppetry. Runs in the family, I suppose - Now. Let's run through the expectations for the exams - they're held in Kirigakure this year, and that means that you're going to have to face an entirely different environment than home. Mizuho, I'll need you to research the Kiri poison regimen and all the water jutsu you can muster. Sana, you'll have to substitute wood for another material that isn't as porous. Rasa, you're going to have to learn some ninjutsu to go with your kenjutsu. The fact is: this may be your last chance for an international exams for a while. There's a lot of tension between nations. I won't lie to you about that. You may have to learn fast how best to defend yourselves in war - but I want you to see how others fight sooner than later."And so they learned.Kirigakure was -Well, it was damn wet. Rasa did his best not to complain, but even Mizuho made uncomfortable expressions as he wrung out his shoes into the basin in their hotel room."This sucks," said Sana, and well, Rasa just nodded."If we're sent to war," he said, "it had better be to Kusa. Or Iwa. I'll even take Kumo. This is insane.""Kumo's weather is temperamental," said Mizuho. "Random storms and cold flashes abound.""But it'd be drier," Rasa muttered.Everyone gathered at what was presumably a town square and stage, where the Mizukage was making a speech about prestige and transitions of power.If Rasa wasn't already aware of the tension between the nations - Konoha and Uzushio with boundless resources, Kiri unhinged with its old traditions, Suna and other nations scraping for business and territory - the speech would have clued him in."And, as we showcase our prowess, let this exam be a reminder of the strength of future generations, which will be the deciding factor in all of our fates," he finished. Then, a jounin with a pale complexion and an eyepatch took the stand."Round one will consist of a banner-catching mission. Each team will be provided with a different-colored banner and required to gather as many of their opponents' banners as possible. The top eight teams with the most banners will move to the second round. The boundaries are the walls of Kirigakure, and you may not reveal to civilians that this test is occurring, so stealth is a high priority. You have three days. At the end of those three days, teams will cease fighting and stealing, and they will convene here to complete the next portion of the exams."Well, if that didn't sound like killing and stealing territory and avoiding civilians to minimize public disruption - they were not being subtle."Jounin instructors will be quarantined to the Kazekage residence to prevent cheating. Please line up to receive your banners."Each banner had a unique design, with colors indicating the village they were from. Red for Konoha, green for Suna, blue for Kiri, yellow for Kumo, brown for Iwa, grey for Ame, purple for Uzu, and black for Taki. Difficult to hide for the Konoha teams, Rasa noted."You may not begin stealing banners for an hour, but you are free to move about the village to take up a useful position and plan. Remember: civilians are not to know that this test is occurring. Dismissed."Sana grabbed their wrists and steered them southward.Sana and Mizuho had a plan - look for teams that had just gotten out of a fight and finish them off. Rasa had a different one entirely - to steal and destroy other teams' banners while they were in the midst of fighting one another."Destroy them?" Sana asked."As long as we don't lose our banner, it's one less opponent to face. And their banner can't come back into play."They waited until nightfall to make their first raid of other teams - Mizuho slipped in and out of sleeping quarters fairly easily, and Sana's bug puppets once again proved their worth for scouting.Rasa was less subtle, of course - which was why he focused on not coming into a fight until they were certain no civilians were passing by.That said, their first round went well enough that they passed into the second. It was individual - a written exam filled with riddles, mission reports, and double-speak to conlcude what to do when a particular mission objective could not be met.Rasa's answer was to kill the hypothetical prisoner - apparently, the correct answer in Kiri, which was a place of might-makes-right. If it had been a test in Suna, he would have taken the prisoner captive for interrogation. Apparently, Sana had still been thinking too much like a Suna nin, and failed.Mizuho and Rasa were the only Suna shinobi that passed the second exam, along with two from Konoha, one from Uzushio, and three from Kiri.The two from Konoha were twins, if Rasa had to guess - they stood next to one another with identical bland expressions as the eyepatched-jounin from earlier called them forward to pick their opponents out of a bucket.The only visual difference between the two, Rasa saw, was that one wore their hitai-ate on their forehead, and one wore it around their neck. Of course, they could have been the same person switching off, except he was seeing them now in the same room standing astride one another.It was a tiny bit creepy - and that was saying something. He had Mizuho on his team.(And yes, Mizuho absolutely counted as creepy - the kid stood over his bed and stared at him, waiting for him to wake up, completely unmoving, and just. Leaned over him while he waited. Yikes.)The jounin shifted his weight and glanced at each of the numbers they'd drawn."Suna no Mizuho versus Uzumaki Ichigo. Hoshigaki Kanae versus Akihito. Rasa of Suna versus Hyuuga Hizashi. Yuki Eijirou versus Hyuuga Hiashi."He couldn't help but wince.Facing against one of the Great Doujutsu users - that was a recipe for failure, especially given he hadn't managed to see the skillset of the other.Rasa had a sword, an Earth and Wind nature, and no clan abilities or specialties. Whatever the elder Hyuuga he was facing had, it was likely trained into him from birth.He wondered if the other, facing a willowy Kiri genin, had greater or lesser abilities. Hard to tell.But Mizuho's match was first, and he didn't envy his teammate's opponent, either - the tall, grinning Uzumaki with his hair in a high ponytail had inked tattoos of sealwork all across his arms and neck.Uzumakis were notoriously difficult to bring down. He watched carefully - not because he thought he'd beat Hyuuga, but because if he had to face any Uzumaki in a fight in the future, he wanted to know how soon he ought to run.After all, they were allied with Konoha.Mizuho was no real match for the Uzumaki - he kept him busy as they tested one another out with taijutsu and the occasional clash of kunai at first, but the second ninjutsu came out, it was clear the younger was outclassed by the monstrous chakra reserves afforded to his opponent."I don't need to show off the big guns on this pipsqueak, and I'd hate to fight a baby much longer," the teen eventually said. "Fuin." One of the seals near his wrist lit briefly with chakra before launching at Mizuho, faster than one could blink. He was pinned by a net of chakra strings. Rasa grumbled in approval - while Sana howled in outrage."He's not a puppetmaster!" she hissed. "How dare he -""We didn't invent chakra shaping, Sana," Rasa said. "Let it be." He could practically hear her teeth grinding."The net will continue to drain his chakra until he passes out," drawled the Uzumaki, grinning. "I suggest we speed things along and declare me the winner, huh?"Oh, he was insufferable. Great."Match goes to Uzumaki Ichigo." Sana dashed into the ring to follow the medics as they carted out a passed-out Mizuho.The next two were a sharklike woman and a man with a golden sword strapped to his back. Rasa watched intently - the two seemed to know each other well enough, given the playful way they began.Of course, any hint of that went away the moment she mocked him for being a noble's son, and he cut her down with his sword quicker than she could deflect."Match goes to Akihito. Next, Rasa of Suna versus Hyuuga Hizashi."The twin with the hitai-ate on his forehead stepped into the ring. Rasa followed suit.The thing Rasa knew about the Hyuuga was that their style relied on hand-to-hand. Lucky him that he had the reach to overcome such an obstacle.But still, Hizashi was not without prowess - good aim and precise tactics, followed up with the uncanny ability to see through and behind and around himself all at once. He blocked every single strike.Except, of course, when there were more strikes headed his way than he could block. Then he had to choose between Rasa's hand, foot, blade, or kunai trap. (Never let it be said that he didn't learn a trapping trick or two from Sana, on their way to Kusa and Kiri.)Hyuuga got caught in the snare, and Rasa slung his blade in a lazy, underhanded motion to point under his chin."Do you yield?" he asked."I yield," he said."Match goes to Rasa of Suna. Next, Yuki Ejirou versus Hyuuga Hiashi."There were murmurs from the other Kiri genin, but frankly, Rasa was just buzzing with no little shock.What the hell.He'd beat a clan kid from Konohagakure with years of experience on him. That was not supposed to happen.And, glancing aside at the Konoha genin that watched the match, it was clear they agreed, because there were a lot of glared kunai pointed his way.Yuki Ejirou proceeded to fight Hyuuga Hiashi with precision and ice jutsu, which sent the hiss of whispers through the crowd. With a surname like Yuki, it was a wonder it hadn't happened - but unlike his brother, Hiashi had a different style, a whirlwind sent in a sphere of movement that deflected the shards of ice and subsequently knocked the Kiri nin unconscious."Match to Hyuuga Hiashi."Rasa spent most of the next match wondering how to face Hyuuga - because clearly his next opponent had more experience than his sibling.The Uzumaki and the Kiri nin with the gold sword faced one another next. It was clearly going in the same direction Mizuho's match went - until Uzumaki tried to place a seal on Akihito. The man cut through the seal with his sword and sent himself into a vicious swirl of attacks against his opponent, claiming he'd be the eighth member of the Seven Swordsman - which defeated the purpose of the name, in Rasa's mind, but regardless, it sent the Uzumaki into overdrive. Sealing wasn't his only specialty, clearly, but it was his main one - and to be bested of it was a major blow in his confidence from earlier.Akihito cut him down."Match, Akihito. Next is -""I forfeit," said Hyuuga Hiashi.What the fuck. Rasa stared at the Konoha nin like he'd lost his mind."Good luck, Suna," he said as an afterthought, and oh. Oh, that absolute bastard.He'd shown off his strength well enough for the proctors to earn a promotion without a win, for sure - and his practicality in not moving on would probably be in his favor anyway.Rasa needed to fight to win, and Akihito's eyes were blazing with bloodlust from his fight. The kind that wasn't done with what he had to do."Final match, then," the proctor said. "Rasa no Suna versus Akihito no Nami."Nami? Wave country? Then he wasn't even from the village originally. No wonder he had something to prove.Rasa drew his sword and faced Akihito, who couldn't possibly be wielding a golden sword if he was actually wanting to hit anyone and expect it to cut.Gold plating, maybe. Which meant that whatever was at the core was not gold.Rasa tilted his head as they circled one another."Interesting, that you can deflect seals themselves," he said."And chakra, too," boasted Akihito. Rasa frowned. There were very few ways that could have been accomplished - chakra suppresssion seals?
Clang!
"Stop ignoring me, Suna!""Stop playing games, Kiri!" Rasa growled, and put the chakra splitting to the test - he sent an earth wall at him, and, as predicted, the sword cut right through it, splintering gold and rock along the way.Splintering gold? That wasn't right. Rasa recalled an explanation Mizuho gave him about various metal qualities and how not to get scammed -
"Gold will bend almost endlessly. You can hammer it paper-thin and then some. But fool's gold - pyrite? It shatters."
So Rasa dove over the wave of crystalline gold and earth, and he yanked a quick wind blade towards himself in the opposite direction.The pyrite plating on the sword shattered and practically exploded in response, and Rasa grit his teeth and directed more wind blades to smash the pieces further.Akihito howled in indignation. Rasa drove the false gold, broken into tiny cubes of metal, all into the ground, feeling a swoop in his stomach as he felt whatever seals were left over reacted to his chakra.And drove them to pin Akihito down so he could step over him, holding the tip of his sword to his chest." . . . Match to Rasa no Kin," said the jounin proctor after a moment.It took a few moments to register. Rasa of the gold. Well, hell. He hadn't even processed the win when suddenly Mori clapped him on the back, congratulating him, and the Mizukage made a speech about perserverance and recognition of strength before formally offering Rasa a recommendation for chunin, to be sent to the Kazekage. He could hear the mutters of other genin as he approached to receive the recommendation scroll."You know the rest are getting field promotions soon enough," muttered Yuki Eijirou. "This is just playtime. What you did to him was impressive, but there are five Akihitos in every squad you face in war. Don't get cocky."War or peace mattered very little within the village for civilians - few ninja craved the idea of storming a desert to claim Sunagakure for themselves - so Rasa continued onward and accepted it, despite the worried looks of his fellow elder chunin who muttered about children going to war so young.(If they didn't want children to go to war, he thought derisively, then don't send them.)But war wasn't there yet, and he had plenty to occupy his mind with in the meantime - namely, getting strong enough to survive it.Apparently, his promotion meant more than just a promotion - it meant an audience with the Kazekage."Rasa," said the man, nodding to himself. "I saw the reports of your matches at the exams, and now that your squad is minus one genin . . . Would you please come with me?""Yes, Kazekage-sama."The man who successfully copied a bijuu's power through study alone was not one Rasa was willing to question, even if he didn't respect the man as much as he already did."I heard Mori's reports on how you guided your team in the first portion of the exam. And then how you beat each opponent in the last. I'm impressed. Tell me, why did you answer the way you did for the second?""It's Kiri-hosted," Rasa said. "They value strength. I would have genuinely kept the prisoner for interrogation purposes, but that's not what they would have wanted.""Good instinct," the Kazekage nodded. "Foreign policy taken into account. I've spoken with Mori about your progress. I think you would do well under my tutelage."And why would Rasa say no?What followed was an apprenticeship that left him bruised and aching nearly every night, training past his limits to please the most powerful ninja in the village who somehow saw something in him. Mori tsked approvingly when they passed one another - Sana whined playfully about his big shot, and Mizuho just clapped him on the back and wished him the best.He owed it to the Kazekage to give his all, being taken in on almost chance for such a high honor. Winning a fight was often only chance, after all - and that's all he'd done.Grit was grinding between his toes, under his nails, as he trained. To be more than a poor kid scraping by for duty's sake - to suddenly be the chosen ward of a leader of a shinobi village - was to be tested at every turn.Because this was a test. The Kazekage wanted to see if he'd be a good fit as an apprentice - and as a Kage. He wasn't going to waste that chance.“If you fail, you will be written out of my lineage as others have,” said the Saindaime calmly. “I was not the first choice for the Nidaime, either, but because his untimely death lined up with my being in his favor, I was the choice. You may face the same situation.”Rasa nodded. Just because he’d been swept into fortune did not mean it couldn’t be taken away.“I was tasked with creating a power of my own in order to be worthy. I will task you with the same thing. Create power for yourself, and for the village.”He studied for weeks, months, to put together a worthy power. Merely a chunin, but one with access to higher-level jutsu theory and very little need to sleep. He trained into the night, barely registering the chakra signatures of curious onlookers. Mizuho and Sana continued under Mori-sensei, but checked in on him every once in a while.Rasa was busy trying to emulate a legend. The Sandaime’s iron sand was an incredible extension of the Ichibi’s power. So if Rasa wanted to increase Suna’s power, an extension of that would be -His vision went gold, recalling Akihito's blade. The clink of coins hitting one another echoed in his ear, and he arched his chakra across the ground. It rose in a torrent of golden dust, and he remembered.The tale of Rasa, the fourth Kazekage, and the fourth to be assassinated. A late wife, an unrelenting and loyal brother-in-law, a tenacious daughter, a crafty son, and a kind boy that he'd curse for life, only to explain himself years after his own death. A disappointment.He barely noticed the cheers of the jounin and chunin watching as the gold fell like a parody of snow.“Well done, Rasa-kun,” said the Sandaime Kazekage, black sand curling along the gold. "You should be proud." The calm pride in his voice was jarring against Rasa’s dawning horror.It's hard to be proud, finding out how long you have left to live. To climb from nothing, to be rewarded with your future ending as a failed leader and failed father - a dissapointing tale, indeed.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The Second Shinobi War did not happen immadiately after he gained the flood of memories, which was great, that the trauma wasn't compounded all at once - and terrible, that it gave him time to dwell on his position.It also meant that he was immediately slapped with the grim reality of knowing the future, before he even had a chance to choose what he'd do.He wasn't meant to overhear it.Mori and the Kazekage were speaking in the common area just outside Rasa's room in the Kazekage residence."He's only been genin a few months, Kazekage-sama.""That's true. And he defeated a chunin plant in his exams, developed a kekki genkai through sheer will without a, and he's incredibly duty-bound.""But -""He's not going to be Kazekage tomorrow," Shion said. "But he has potential. Drive. Loyalty to the village. Those are all things that matter when picking a successor.""The Playhouse won't like it," Mori said. "They've been gunning for me or one of my lineage for a while. Rasa was my student, sure, but they would have wanted Sana. Shamon's legacy is -" he huffed. Rasa stilled at his door."How is the progress with the Konoha interrogation?" the Kazekage asked instead."It's linked to the samurai trade fraud," Mori said. "They were working through Kusa, as we expected, but I haven't gotten a handle on who was in charge of the whole thing. Renge is going to figure out how to proceed with a prisoner transfer if we find out they were framed, but so far it isn't looking good for them."Rasa knew how this was going to end.But what was he going to say - Konoha is going to send the White Fang after our prisoners, sensei, don't die? - he was already going to try not to die, and try to protect the village, and -Fuck everything. Rasa went to the training yard and did not sleep that night, continuing onward until he heard alarms for a village lockdown go off. He sat in his room until the sun came up, wondering to himself what he could possibly do.Nothing came to mind.Mizuho and Sana were at the Kazekage's office when Rasa arrived. His mentor grimaced."I regret to inform you that Mori is dead," said the Kazekage gravely. "You will be given time to grieve before you are reassigned, but it is unlikely that you will have a long period, as war is imminent."Rasa stiffened.Mori was dead."Who killed him," said Sana flatly. "Who -""Hatake Sakumo, the White Fang of Konoha," he said. "He returned to Suna to retrieve his teammates - apparently, the Hatake and samurai connection was legitimate, to a point. In retaliation for our incorrect information, and for the death of one of his squad, he killed Mori and his wife."Shit. Shit, but Rasa didn't know what to do.Sana laughed sharply."Of course he'd go out against someone like that," she said. "Ah. Well. Thank you, Kazekage-sama - where does that leave us?""I'm having one of my jounin whose students recently promoted take you two on, along with someone from your graduating class, Mizuho. Pakura has a lot of energy and I believe you will work well with her and with your new sensei. Rasa will continue under me, but for field missions he will likely join varying teams as he hones his skillset, primarily yours.""Who is our new sensei?" asked Mizuho."Ebizo," he said. "I know it's unusual for an elder shinobi to take on a genin team, but I know he'll work well with you. And I can guaruntee that the D-ranks you encounter will mostly be babysitting Sasori in between his Academy lessons."That did not cheer them like the Kazekage likely hoped. He sighed."His spirit will whisper on the winds and guide your aim. I wish I could have done more."Don't we all, Rasa thought.The fact that they weren't at war yet was almost worse than immediately shipping out teams.People gave one another furtive, knowing glances. Weaponry from Lightning and Fire countries were pricier than ever - it made Rasa grimace every time he had to stock up.Which he was trying to do less, given his newfound ability - why wear down a sword, after all, if he could stab someone with the ground at their feet, the dust in the air? The Sandaime put him through his paces, demanding farther, longer, faster, sharper at each turn.Rasa liked him as a sensei, a mentor. It left a sour taste in the back of his throat, knowing that if he didn't do something, he'd lose a second sensei to his inability to act.They spent those first few weeks, months, just training - combat-wise and politics-wise. Rasa sat in on council meetings, taking notes. When the Daimyo visited, Rasa dressed plainly and spoke softly, and he took note of how the Sandaime cooly assured him that they would be ready, no matter when the winds changed.Mizuho, Sana, and Pakura trained with him, too - and Pakura was vicious with her Scorch Release, actually. She and Sana shared slightly unhinged grins when they were paired up to spar, and he could tell she was a powerhouse to back it up.His first mission outside the village was with them. Ebizo might have been older for a shinobi, but he was still incredibly talented and driven, which served them well."The old man is still trying to convince me to become a puppeteer," Pakura said while they ate lunch in between training sessions. "Don't get me wrong, chakra strings are useful, but I do not have the focus for those maneuvers. Give me fire jutsu, that I can do."Sana grinned."I'll be the puppeteer, then. You three can be the ninjutsu experts.""Or perhaps we can all be a bit more well-rounded," said Mizuho mildly. "I'm thinking of taking up more shuriken and knife work.""Cute," said Sana."I'm not cute," Mizuho snapped, and Rasa chuckled. Kid was ten, of course he was cute."Cute and deadly, just like a black-footed cat," he said.Mizuho hissed at him for good measure.The mission was luckily just a supply run - gathering commissioned glasswork and pottery for greenhouses that the Nishimura clan was constructing west of the village proper. It seemed low-priority on the surface for a village about to go to war, but being able to grow their own food more easily was going to save them supply runs that would otherwise get chunin killed.The Nishimuras were a civilian clan that operated mostly as shippers and traders. They were also -"Uncle," Mizuho groaned. "I'm not here to help with the shop. I'm here to pick up the mission with my team."Mizuho's uncle was a portly man with hands and arms tattooed with black floral designs. He grinned at him and ruffled his hair."I don't much care whether you're a ninja or not, my boy. Just come back in one piece. My sister worries about you, you know. Anyway - yes, if you could pick up the shipment at the Nura outpost? I have it on good authority that we tend to get Konoha patrols encroaching on the territory, so be careful.""That's a damned shame," grumbled Ebizo. "First the weaponry from the Land of Iron fiasco, then this. Not to mention Taki playing fast and loose with their rates on everything. They're not even one of the Five Nations' villages, and yet - anyway. That's neither here nor there. You'll be picking up glass plating and protecting it on the way back to Suna. Understood?"They all nodded and set to work.It was as routine as an escort mission could be, barring the familiarity the clients had with Mizuho."Have you thought about going on that date with Mina yet?" askeed one of them as they packed. "She's a nice girl - ""I'm not interested in a relationship," Mizuho said flatly. "I'm pursuing my career right now.""He's also ten," muttered Rasa to Pakura, who shrugged."They betrothe little ones early on in the rich families. Betcha anything this is not his first encounter.""I'm not betting; I just think it's gross," he said. "Ten-year-old me would have gagged. Mizuho's way too polite.""They're paying us to be polite," said Sana."No, they're paying us to not get them killed," he replied.It rubbed him all the wrong ways, even though he knew it was true."As a shinobi, he's legally an adult," said Sana. "We all are. So they can't force him.""Legally, no," Pakura said. She frowned."Hey, Mizuho, would you mind sparring with me for a bit of the way there?" she called. Mizuho blinked and jogged over."Surely you don't have to do that now," said the woman who'd been nagging him."If you want us to not get bored and start blowing things up," Sana said, grinning, "then you might want to let us spar a bit to blow off steam.""Children," she scoffed."Children with knives," agreed Mizuho, "I think I'll use them. Come on, Pakura."When they finished the mission, and Mizuho's uncle paid them, Rasa offered for them to stay over in his dorm overnight. Sana and Pakura declined.Mizuho didn't.Pakura and Sana got along well - they were similar enough to enjoy each other's company without being grating on one another. It also meant they both drove Rasa up the wall."Why," he asked, staring in the mirror at the haircut they'd clearly given him overnight.He now had more or less a short mowhawk, and he was going to put them both in sand coffins - he'd invent the jutsu now just to prove a point."Because," Sana said. "You've been complaining about hair in your eyes, but you don't like the short, cropped look.""And now I look crazy," he said. The style wasn't one he'd seen on a shinobi before - tradition and practicality mostly kept hair short until you were competent enough for it not to be a hindrance - but this was not what he had in mind."You look striking," she argued. "Don't you want to be noticed? Head of a squadron, future-head-of-the-village and all?""No, I don't," he said."Well, at least it'll entertain the kid," said Pakura. "Isn't he always pointing out weird visuals?""The kid" was Sasori.Not of the Red Sands, yet, or of the Akatsuki - if he'd ever be. Rasa wasn't sure. He hoped not - the kiddo was cute, all things considered, if quiet.The mop of red hair startled him that first time, and then he had to hold back a grimace.Not Gaara. Sasori. Still a child, still innocent of all major crimes -
And yet.
Could he reasonably steer the man away from his efforts later? Would it be worth it to try?
Could he kill -
Well, that was the age-old morality question. If you knew a baby was going to grow up and kill the head of state, what would you do?The truth was, he didn't know for certain that he'd grow up to kill Shion. He might. He might not.And Rasa wasn't sure what he'd do if he did, because right now -"-And Koumushi said that he was going to figure out how to make puppet armor that he could sleep in and I could puppeteer," he said proudly, showing them his drawing. Sana cooed, and Rasa tried not to scowl. Why are you so fucking cute, huh?That was uncomfortably close, after all."And if he wakes up while you're still puppeteering?" asked Mizuho. Sasori shrugged."Then he'll get out of the puppet!""Fascinating," grinned Sana. "Tell me more."Rasa sat back and crossed his arms. Babysitting Sasori while Chiyo and Ebizo went to council meetings was both the easiest and hardest mission - easiest, because the kid was insanely smart and willing to follow what they asked of him, and terrible, because it was Sasori, and that was still bothering Rasa.It didn't help the weight on his conscience, remembering that he knew exactly how Mori and Renge would have died, and by whose hand, and what that meant.Pakura sat down next to him, handing him a bowl of chicken and rice. He started eating, not thinking much of it, when she spoke."Are you - okay with where you are?" asked Pakura.Rasa stared at her, frowning."What do you mean?""The whole - kekki genkai, chosen of the Kazekage thing. Are you happy with that path?""It's not like I can get out of it," he said. "And it's not a bad place to be. I'm just - the leadership thing. I don't exactly scream 'reliable leader,' do I?""I don't think I've ever heard you scream," she said, elbowing him."Hey!""Just seeing if I can do it," she teased. "But hey, seriously, do you want to be Kazekage one day?"No." . . . kind of," he said. "I want - well, I want the good parts of it, not the bad. But that's true of anything, huh?""Right," she said. "See, I don't know what the good parts are. Leadership? No thanks. Decision-making? No. Paperwork? No. The pressure of leading and protecting the village? No. The fear of assassination at my back? Also no. Point me at an objective; I'll do it and let the higher-ups take the blame."He chuckled."Are you trying to get me to step down?""I'm trying to understand," she said. He shrugged."I - well, I don't like the idea of stepping aside when there's work to be done.""A workaholic.""You know what, yes," he said. "I keep doing things, because if I think too hard about everything else, I spiral," he said. "Keeping busy keeps me sane."Because it was true - if he thought too hard about butterfly effects and a 40-year-old-man fighting in the forest in Konoha, he was going to explode."Well that's a good thing," she said. "Because -""Happy fourteenth birthday!" cheered Sana, holding out a small box. Rasa blinked."My - you remembered," he murmured, because he certainly didn't."Duh," she said. "You were the only one with a spring birthday in class. Me and six other September babies, and for what? To spend all of our pocket money at once on mochi?"" . . . thanks," he said, and opened it.Folded together were a pair of gloves with small pouches sewn on the outside. He frowned, and she grinned."Pocket sand."He choked on a small laugh - he had been trying to figure out different locations to store spare golden sand on his outfit without it getting too bulky and in the way."Thanks, Sana."Mizuho held out a large bag that looked suspiciously sword-shaped."You didn't," he said. Weaponry was stupidly expensive, and -"My father gets good deals from Grass Country," he said, and Rasa's mind flashed with yellow eyes and a scales.Yes, Grass Country had good swords.He unwrapped it to reveal a blackened blade he didn't recognize the style of - straight, double-edged, and rather thick compared to the usual light and thin blades meant for swift work. There was - he noted - light golden detailing on the guard that resembled fangs.He raised a brow at the inscription on the hilt.The Black Fang.He met Mizuho's eyes."Mizuho," he said."Rasa," he replied. "Look, you're very good with a blade, and I know you don't spend money on yourself, so use that and you won't have to worry about wearing it out so easily.""This is too much.""Not for me," Mizuho said, a blush rising in his cheeks. "Just take the gift like a normal person and say thank you.""Thank you, Mizuho." And, for good measure, he reached out and tugged the younger into a crushing hug.Pakura grinned and chucked a small bag at him.It was a book - a history of the priests of the Southern Dunes.The ones who'd originally sealed Shukaku."Thanks," he said. "I was looking for something like this.""Really? I found it at a secondhand store. Didn't take you for a religious guy.""Not religious, just curious," he defended. And then he blinked when another package was thrust in his face.Sasori handed him a tiny box, too, tied up with twine. It was a carved pendant, pale and shaped like a scorpion."Granny said to pick my favorite animal to give to you, since you're kind of like family."Holy shit.Rasa picked up the pendant and inspected it -It was made of bone. That much, he could tell."Thank you, Sasori. I'll keep that in mind for your birthday, too."Shion didn't give him a gift outright, but when he returned to his room, there was a new yukata in his closet - stitched at the sleeves with a small geometric design in coppery silk."Your boy is a lot more dangerous than he seems, Shion," said the woman, peering at him."That's debatable, Chiyo. I think I've shown you exactly how dangerous he is," he replied, and oh. This was the Grandmother of Puppets herself. Chiyo was a formidable presence, even bandaged up and in a wheelchair for the time being. She tsked."Careful, Kazekage. Shamon said the same thing about you. Rasa, yes, come here." Rasa bowed quickly and jogged up closer to her."Can you be as gentle as you are deadly?" she asked."I don't know," he said. "Ask Sasori."She stiffened a moment before giving him a sly grin."Perhaps he'll do alright.""Faster," snarled the Kazekage, whipping black trails across Rasa's field of vision. He darted backwards, yanking his gold to please please please block the attack, strangle it midair, something.Instead he got a mouthful of iron that he had to spit back out."Enough," the Kazekage said. "You could do better, Rasa."Could he?"Yes, Kazekage-sama," he said, standing straight again. "I will.""Will you? Because at this rate, I don't know if you'll survive to be my successor," he snapped.Right. Great.Rasa nodded sharply."I'll be back for the Council meeting tonight?""Don't," the Kazekage said. "Take tonight off. That's an order.""Understood."Was he that incompetent?Had he changed so much?Rasa flickered away.And while he was angry at the dismissal, Rasa was also very, very terrified. The world at large was more powerful than a golden sand jutsu could solve. The village would one day rely on him to be more than willing to survive.They would rely on him - that was the most terrifying bit, all told.It was going to hurt, but he was going to do it anyway.It was different, looking across the skyline of Sunagakure and thinking, this will be yours to protect. It would be, because now he knew just how much he stood to lose if he changed things.A head capped in red and plaintive green eyes. Blonde, with an authoritative tone. Brunette with quick instincts.He was still practically a kid himself, and yet he knew he wanted those children to exist. Maybe not quite in the same fashion - he would do his damndest not to doom them to quite so much hardship at his hands - but they deserved to live, all the same. Not that he'd force Karura, but . . .Damn. Karura. How would that even -He broke off the thought immediately. For hell's sake, he was fourteen, a chunin, with a whole new set of memories in his head. He was not going to figure out the consequences of the butterfly effect in his first night of realizing that he could affect everyone.Not to mention, if he didn't royally fuck up, he was going to be the next Kage. And that could very well change everything without even knowing - sending the right or wrong people on missions, setting policies influenced not by logic but by an unfortunate potential future -The weight of his choices was all the heavier when he thought about the consequences. But then - it changed nothing. He was still going to have to make them. And if he hadn't known, then they still would have had those impacts."Rasa," called a soft voice from his door. He grimaced.The Kazekage was not someone he wanted to see right now."Come in," he called back. "Kazekage-sama.""I realize I may not have been clear when we were speaking earlier about your progress.""You were very clear, Kazekage-sama," he said. The Kazekage frowned."When we aren't in a public setting, you're free to call me Shion-san, you know," the man said mildly, and no, Rasa didn't know this." . . . Shion-san. What can I help you with?""The Daimyo and I are in agreement. It is time to go to war. I want to be sure you are ready for that possibility. That's what the council meeting was about. And I wanted to check on you."Once upon a time, he would have taken his advantage of future knowledge and run with it - used every inch of his gold as defense, a higher melting point than that of normal sand, glinting and creating a show. He would have treasured every inch of gold he came across.He still would, now. That was true. He was going to watch over the finances of Suna like a hawk, but he was going to have many other things to watch in the meanwhile. Being able to supplement Suna's coffers, if at all possible, would save them so much grief in the future, put them on more equal footing with the other villages. He could avoid Orochimaru.Another selfish turn: his mind was already turning over ways to run away from a death he was expected to find. Never mind the lives saved, the village protected - no, he was thinking of himself.He grimaced."I have a lot of work to do, don't I?""You do," Shion agreed. "Let's talk about it."
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The chunin ward of the Kazekage had to learn every inch of inter-village politics, but intra-village workings were the surprising complication.Well, not entirely surprising. If his memories backed him up, the inner turmoil of Suna was the reason the Kazekages kept getting assassinated. See, this was the thing that was most infuriating:Rasa's clearest memory that he gained that day was of Orochimaru killing him, then of the Chunin exams. There was some vague recollection of after, as well. As the years crept closer to the present day, however, he had less of an idea of the specifics. He didn't know the exact date Sasori would kill the Third, only that it would happen around the time of Temari's birth. He didn't know much about the Third War, and less about the Second.It was entirely unhelpful for his studies at the moment, as he pored over relations between shinobi sects prior to the founding of Suna and the following headbutting once the village was built. The Land of Wind had a few varying villages and settlements, but they were far more scattered than most of the other nations on account of - well, the desert. It wasn't easy to live in.Sunagakure itself was built from the ground up by a combination of shinobi and the priest orders that worshipped the Great Beast Shukaku.(The irony was not lost on him, how they once revered the bijuu so much.)The settlement at Clay was mostly traders and hunters, who used the cooler underground and cliffside structures as a home base as they collected what they needed and refined what they wanted. An old place for artisans - and the burgeoning beginnings of the Puppet Corps and of the more elite trading families started there.That was where Shamon, the Second Kazekage, had his bloodline traced back to.There was Roran, a kingdom that walled itself off and more or less acted independently, though puppeteers were occassionally commissioned to perform in a ceremonial fashion in exchange for exhorbitant levels of luxury goods that Suna immediately sold off to the Daimyo when they could. It kept the man in good spirits for their country when he got a treat from his own shinobi forces in a different form than protection and blood.Other nomadic groups formed as well - mostly wind-using ninja that used their skills to move quickly and protect themselves from sandstorms. There were three major ones that absorbed smaller groups - aptly named "Gold Sand," "Red Sand," and "White Sand" based off of the mineral content in the sands that primarily made up their territories. A minor black sand one also existed for a time - volcanic glass eroded over time in a small territory in the southwest - but that was subsumed by Gold Sand at some point.When the other villages began to form, the leaders of the three clans combined and became the Desert clan. They then treated with the Daimyo and with Clay to form Sunagakure, abolishing all major clan names except the Desert itself.Which was kept solely for the Kazekage's clan - a way of saying they were all from the desert, and that the Kages were forged of it.Except for the fact that the Priests of the Tanuki were the ones who had the most solid ground to build a village on, and most of the shinobi weren't too thrilled about living in a temple. So the Clay village made compromises and deals with the priests - that they could relocate their position into Clay, with all its ammenities, and would have the protection of Suna.Tragically, the deal was accidentally deadly - the priests had never built up a tolerance to the diseases that grew mostly out of damp, cold areas in the depths of Clay. Suna, in memorial of their fault, wore an hourglass, the priests' symbol, on their hitai-ates. A memorial to their most well-known mantra: Sands up, sky down - part of a longer recitation that more or less talked about the cycle of death and life, meant to be spoken within the time it took for a ceremonial hourglass to empty out.Reto of the Desert - because he never disclosed in records which desert clan he belonged to, though people speculated - became the First Kazekage, and sealmasters of the priests in their last act of protection sealed Shukaku away in a teapot, requesting that the beast be kept in their original temple grounds.Grounds that were now underneath Sunagakure.Much of the rest - the First War, and the twenty years that followed - hinged on two things:Suna was, more often than not, poorer than the other villages. And the Clay and Desert families had long been at war before the village was founded.Clay had artisans and hunters and diplomats, willing to look out for their own, of course, but also willing to indulge in making prospects easier for themselves, to climb higher. A desert homeland left people thinking of survival above all else. While both groups had that desperation, their philosophies differed just enough that they continued to clash into the present day.Just under different names - the Kazekage clan, and the Puppet Corps.Reto chose Shamon, a Clay village descendant, as his "official" ward and successor. Shamon had been ready to choose his eldest child, another puppeteer and member of a genin team with Shion on it - except that they were killed in their Chunin exams alongside Shion's other teammate. And Shion was of the sands - the White Sand clan, he admitted to Rasa, as they were going through it. Ironic, given his repetoire.But Shamon trained Shion, and Shion was training Rasa. By all technicalities, Rasa was of the sand clans, too - most of the rich families descended from Clay mercenaries and merchants, and his family had never been old money. If Rasa had to guess, he was probably descended from a minor desert clan that got overtaken by one of the others. Or perhaps a small civilian family from the Daimyo's city that tried to make it big in the shinobi village. It was hard to tell.This meant that the Puppet Corps - led by one Mother of Puppets, Chiyo - was more often than not at odds with the decisions of the Kazekage as of late. Mori and his wife's death certainly didn't help matters.And while Rasa was well aware that his future son would be an excellent puppeteer himself, and he certainly had a friend in Sana -"Sorry, Corps-only mission," said the puppeteer with yellow and red fangs painted over his lips. Rasa stared at him."It's not marked as corps-only," he said. "You don't get the supplies bonus." Because of Shamon's invention in order to bolster numbers of non-human combatants, puppeteers got larger supply stipends depending on their number of registered projects and if a mission had their specialty tacked on as required. It was the same for poisoners, medics, and other specialties - but puppeteers, by and large, were the largest group this applied to."Yes it is!""The marker for corps-only missions is located at the bottom-right of the form. It's marked in black, which indicates any tokubetsu or up can take it -""It's marked right there!""In black, which means it's not corps-only. Red is corps-only," he continued, doing his level best not to raise his voice. Mizuho, a few seats down also at the mission desk, audibly winced."It's marked, which means -""Oh, shut the fuck up, Inoki," grumbled a woman behind him. "If you're not going to take it without the bonus, I will."The puppeteer looked between them, huffed, and snatched the scroll from Rasa's hand.The woman stepped up and gestured behind herself. Three genin."What do you have for D-Ranks today? We're looking to get at least two done.""I've got the C mission desk today," Rasa said, jabbing a thumb towards Mizuho. "He's got the D-rank roster. But I think you're set, there were - five or so? - brought up to us in the last hour.""The market's really been looking for scorpion-clearing missions this week," Mizuho piped up. The genin groaned, but dutifully walked over.When it appeared that no one was coming over, Rasa opened his history book again and started reading about the crop growing attempts Suna had attempted in the past.It was slow-going, considering they were now at war - but then, they had to reserve the tactsics for the higher-ups to complete before they handed out missions to those that would carry them out. Despite it all, everyday cleanup and care of civilians still had to go on.(And if it meant fewer genin on the front lines, well, Rasa was all the more satisfied.)Chunin were required to do shifts at the mission desk for a reason - Rasa's reason in particular being that he was going to need to see all levels of mission assignation. The worst part of that particular job was trying to be affable, honestly."If I have one more uppity tokubetsu today," Rasa muttered. "I'm going to bury them under the Demon Desert.""So they come back as uppity tokubetsu spirits?" asked Mizuho."Eugh."Mizuho was the superstitious type, always thanking luck, the Sage, the spirits - but it was funny in this instance."I'm now imagining ghosts of chunin desk victims past," he said with a wry smile. "Moaning about how we didn't understand, that missions was much harder than C-rank, of course we filed it wrong.""As if people had never done a courier mission to Clay in their life," nodded Mizuho.A jounin with a shaved head came in."I've got a mission scroll from the Temple division," he said. "One of their usual guards is out sick. Can one of you fill in?"The Temple division was a nice way of saying guards of the bijuu teapot. It was mind-numbing and uncomfortable work."I'll take it." said Mizuho. "Mind running C and D for the rest of the day, Rasa?""Sure," he said. "I can pack tomorrow morning for the thing with Pakura.""The thing" being acting as the Daimyo's personal guard during his move from the capitol city to his private estate, where shinobi would be less likely to target him. Apparently, they were well-suited as a team for it - impressive with their respective kekkei genkai, fairly competent for their rank, but also not crucial to front line work at the moment."I think they're also trying to get us out of Suna," Pakura said as they dashed westward. "Without, you know, putting us directly into the Ame fighting zone.""No shit," grumbled Rasa. "I don't think we'll be strong enough to be major players at this rate.""Don't say that, now we'll get ambushed," she huffed."Only because you said it," he argued. But they made it to the capitol without getting ambushed, so they were both wrong, thankfully.It was amazing, to see the difference between a shinobi village and a civilian city.The practicality lingered - walled fortresses, guards on rotation, a central spire that showed where the daimyo lived."Ah," the guards both nodded and let them pass into the city.The first thing Rasa noticed was that the streets were paved.In Suna, they were packed down, sure, but there was enough foot traffic that actual pavement wasn't necessary.The second thing he noticed was the staring."Do you think they see shinobi so rarely?" he muttered. "It's not like we don't get missions from them.""Usually, we're couriers," Pakura said. "Though I feel a little bit like a fancy bird in a cage.""You do look like a parrot," he said, smirking. She scoffed and smacked his shoulder.In general, the daimyo of the land was an old, noble, rich man with plenty of reason to want to hire a couple of Suna chunin for the trip - it could get dangerous, but anyone stupid enough to try to kill the Wind Daimyo was going to get theirs assassinated pretty effectively, considering Suna had the easiest in with nobles when it came to infiltration.Despite the tension and drama, Rasa had to confess: the Puppet Corps was excellent at entertainment and poisons.The daimyo greeted them and with very few pleasantries and a pack of sealed scrolls meant to be unsealed at the estateTheir luck in not being ambushed lasted about halfway to the estate. A small squad began approaching, and Pakura and Rasa came in close to decide what to do.After all, they couldn't just piggy-back the Daimyo of the Land of Wind - especially if it were something they could handle quickly."We have enemies incoming," Rasa said apologetically. "We'll have to move quickly. Sorry for the discomfort, sir."The noble's eyes widened considerably."Enemies?""Four of them so far," Pakura said. "I can - your sand is better for mobility, no?" she said, cutting herself off."Yes," Rasa said. He'd been working on creating small platforms in the landscape, but -He saw them. The squad of four split off and began rushing from either side. Rasa glanced at Pakura."Can you take them?"She scoffed."Can you get our Daimyo out of here fast? I'd hate for everything to be ruined in the rush."Rasa grumbled and tugged at the gold within the ground - not enough in the area to make a platform, no, but enough to slide more quickly across the surface."My Lord, you're going to want to brace yourself," he said. The Daimyo nodded frantically and glanced between him and Pakura. She turned to face the Kumo nin that were approaching."Scorch Release," she began, and Rasa squinted at the sunlike bulbs of heat she formed. He lost the rest of the name of the jutsu in the rush of sand as he made to glide across the dunes - Daimyo and all - on a blanket of gold.The Daimyo stared, mouth agape, at Pakura. The white light from her jutsu glittered off of Rasa's as they slid along - faster than the Daimyo could walk or ride normally, but a tad slower than Rasa's running pace."The Scorching Sun," he breathed. The shinobi forces she more or less incinerated had company, and Rasa quickened his pace - they were only a few minutes out from the next checkpoint, where there would be reinforcements to keep any others at bay.He glanced up and counted six more - fucking hell, was that an ANBU hunter squad?! - and yet again, the desert lit up with tiny suns, obliterating them. Rasa couldn't help but also feel awed by it - if he weren't so concerned with not dying.When he saw the checkpoint, he sent up a warning flare - potential pursuers - and slowed his pace slightly."Any more?" he called over his shoulder. Pakura was dashing towards them, cracked, melted sand in her wake."I think that's it, but better safe than sorry, huh?"When they arrived at the checkpoint, the jounin captain took over. The Daimyo praised them both -"Pakura of the Scorching Sun, call her, she brought the sun's rays directly down to defend us," he said, nodding fervently."We'll include it in our reports, sir," said the jounin, who passed Pakura a soldier pill that she grimaced and swallowed."Will you two be able to make it back without issue?" the noble asked. Rasa nodded."We're not targets, sir. Thank you for your worry."A few nights later, safe in his bed in Suna, Rasa had a dream:He stared forward into the yellow gaze before him. It glowed golden, eyes larger than his whole body, taking up all of his vision.You're a child, a voice said, scoffing. What kind of a fool brings a child to this place? The rasp reminded him of something."Who are you?" he asked.
Is the world so foolish that it's forgotten my name? When once you all deemed it worthy of worship? Pah, human idiots.
Now that was familiar."Shukaku," Rasa said. "The Ichibi."Hah! So they aren't all clueless, the bijuu cackled.And cackled.And coughed, wheezing turning to the whistle of a tea kettle.Rasa felt a scrape of grit and sand around his ankles, but didn't move. It'd be pointless to.Tell me, child, Shukaku said. are you going to keep talking with an imaginary god, or are you going to make him real? Now, if Rasa wasn't exactly who he was, he might have believed the tanuki. But the fact was -"You're real enough for me, Ichibi-san," he said. "And unless I can be sure you won't ruin the lives of everyone I love, I'm going to decline whatever it is you're offering."A roar, and sand pouring down his throat as he yelped in surprise -And he woke up, gasping for air.
Fuck you, Shukaku.
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Pakura was rarely in the village after that.Not only was she the flashier of the two of them and better built for a strike team, Ebizo was also the jounin commander, and as his protege she was often his right hand, coordinating teams making their way to Ame or to other outposts.Sana, too, was immersed in the puppet corps - a black hood and scarlet painted slashes at her eyes gave every indication she did well, passing the apprenticeship level."This one is a simple mouse," she introduced herself after some kind of test. Her grin was wide, despite her tone being quieter as she said it. Mizuho nodded hesitantly."Good to meet you, Mouse," said Rasa, holding out a hand for her to grasp. She grinned, took it, and tugged him into a fierce hug.Mizuho was - well. He'd had a few rough missions dealing with Iwa. He had been too close when traps went off, and seen some horrific consequences for his teammates. He was more prone ot the dead-eyed look that Rasa tended to expect of front-line fighters that had seen too much. It bothered him because when it came down to it, Mizuho had been a relatively gentle person, for a shinobi.And they were friends."Do you want to come over for dinner tomorrow?" asked Rasa. They had one more free day before they were back on the active roster, so he wanted to make it count.Mizuho immediately spluttered."Me? I - well, um," as his face turned red, Rasa realized he may have fucked up. He just wasn't sure how."We just haven't had time to spend together casually in a while. No big deal if not," he said gently. "I'd ask Sana and Pakura, too, but they're both out of the village for a bit longer to try and steal that Kiri shipment."That calmed him immensely. Rasa squinted."What's wrong?""I - well, you asked me over to dinner," he said, ears burning a bright red. "I - well. It startled me.""Why?""Rasaaaaa," he grumbled. ". . . you don't just ask someone over for dinner out of nowhere.""I host team dinners all the time?""You don't ask a single person over for dinner out of nowhere."Oh."Ah," he said, feeling his own face heat up with embarassment. "I - well, I definitely didn't mean to ask you on a date. That was not the point. Sorry. You just - seem a lot more stressed about everything, and I wanted to - can we forget how awkward that was for ten minutes at least?""Never," he said, even as he grinned apologetically. "Ah, you see me as a kid, though, right? I should have guessed.""Mizuho," he said. "That - that's true, but also, I really don't like the idea of dating right now." In the middle of a war, he meant, and Mizuho's expression soured."Right, yeah. That too. Sorry.""Don't be," Rasa said. "Friendships and dating - they can go hand-in-hand, yeah? It wasn't an impossible conclusion.""It wasn't?""I care about you," Rasa said. "But, despite you being incredibly self-sufficient and mature, you're also twelve. And I'm fifteen. Tell me it doesn't sound weird for you to be crushing on - I dunno, Sasori?"Mizuho made a face. Rasa nodded."Yeah. He's an intelligent little genin -""-chunin, now. Got a field promotion.""Shit, really?" Rasa blinked. Then he shook his head. "Anyway - just because he's mentally a bit ahead of other eight-year-olds doesn't mean you'd feel comfortable with that. Same with me to you. I've seen you grow up a bit, you know? But anyway - barring the age thing and the war thing, we're friends. It wasn't totally out of the world.""But we're both men," Mizuho said, very, very quietly. Rasa raised a brow."And? Sana and I are brown-haired." Mizuho scoffed."You know what I mean. That's a lot more trivial for dating than what I said.""Not for me."Mizuho stared at him, mouth slightly open."You - don't care, about me liking guys," he said slowly. "It doesn't matter to you.""Does it matter to you that I know?""Y-yes?""Then it matters because you care about it, but you liking men doesn't make you any less my friend.""When I told my aunt," he said, "that I saw a pretty man, once. I was - five? She told me that he wasn't pretty to me, but to her she could be. That boys thought girls were pretty and girls thought boys were pretty. It's been more of that from everyone, really. Including my last squad.""Because they expect you to marry a woman, have an heir, and carry on their business," Rasa guessed. Mizuho laughed harshly."Of course! But - you're going to be the heir to the Kazekage. Doesn't that mean you would be getting that same pressure?""Do you think I'm the Sandaime's blood son?" Rasa asked. "Sure, kids are an option, but if I'm really following in his footsteps, I can always adopt - look, you will never have to be scared of me with this, okay? If someone, even - Pakura, or I don't know, Chiyo? gives you an issue, send them my way.""You'd butt heads with Chiyo over me," Mizuho said."Sure. The Kazekage himself while I'm at it."Rasa found himself crushed into a tight hug against bony arms."Let's have dinner then, yeah?"Shion ran through katas with him again, before suddenly striking out with a whip of blackened sand.Rasa struck back and let gold bubble up around them like a cauldron, breaking his kata and dashing forward."Are you going to have me command a group, or be a subordinate, when you send me into the field next?""Both. And I'm promoting you to jounin to do it," said the Kazekage, startling him. He blinked twice."What?" He dodged another lash of iron, ducking low and skidding across the ground."You're going to be jounin now, so that I can start training you on Kazekage duties and that you can take on more responsibilities related to the station. And, as my ward, you're going to attend council meetings to get more experience with the politics of a shinobi village."Kazekage Shion was, when it came down to it, an absolute menace to Rasa in public. Dark clouds of iron hung at his feet, encouraging Rasa to do the same in gold despite the unnecessary drain. Intimidation was a large part of this excercise - as was building endurance in his chakra coils to go for longer periods. The other benefit was that Rasa was sweeping surface sand for gold as they travelled, collecting it for himself and for Suna both. However much it would take -Even if it meant he exhausted himself by the time he got home, he passed out almost immediately."Much as I appreciate that - I don't think mastering a kekkei genkai is really worth a promotion, sensei.""Which is why you're going to be a jounin-sensei for the forseeable future, and I'll complete your promotion once your team has been promoted to chunin."Oh hell no."You're giving me genin," he said."See how you can lead a team on a small scale. As my potential heir, you're going to be responsible for all of the genin. And the chunin. And the jounin. And the civilians within our walls. You do well enough with peers - I want to see you work with subordinates."Ah, yes, his least favorite part of all this: being in charge."Understood," he said. "Do I get to look at their files, or am I to just meet them and evaluate them blind?"Shion handed him three files."Koumushi, Tetsuya, and Shinjiro. Two puppeteers, one budding weapons-specialist."Rasa began flipping through it. Koumushi - the name was vaguely familiar, but not enough to grasp. Dealt with paper puppets for defense and tracking so far. Tetsuya scored well in his kenjutsu practice. And Shinjiro was a puppeteer with a poison specialty.Rasa stared at him. Jounin at fifteen wasn't unheard of -But it was still wild."Shion-san," he said. "This is - a lot.""Suna needs capable shinobi, and I need to see if you're capable of producing capable shinobi."Rasa stood on the roof of the Academy and waited as the teams dismissed in threes." - and at least I knew that our sensei was going to be freaking Rasa of the gold. We're set for life, jan!""Easy," said the second voice. "We don't know what kind of a guy he is.""Right, he could be a total hardass, jan. I know I wouldn't want to be saddled with kids in the middle of a war if I was a big fancy heir."Rasa flickered behind them."Good thing you aren't, and I am, then," he said. All three flinched and whirled around to face him.Ah. Koumushi. That's where he remembered him - Sasori's friend."You're that Rasa?" Koumushi said."Sure am. Now. Let's head out into the dunes to discuss what's going to happen as a team, ne?"The three of them followed silently.And - just as Mori had, once upon a time -"The three of you are going to spar with me to gauge your skill level. Aim to kill. You won't."The three of them glanced at one another awkwardly at first, before Shinjiro dashed forward, a kunai in a backhanded grip coming down towards Rasa's shoulder.Rasa didn't have automatic defense, but he did have active defense. He lifted a cloak of gold sand over his shoulders like a cape just in time.After thoroughly running them through the wringer - taijutsu was fine, kenjutsu was decent for Tetsuya, and ninjutsu was better than average - Rasa put them all in golden cuffs and pinned them to the ground."Very good. Now - as the Kazekage's ward, I'm afraid I won't always be directly supervising you, even when I ought to. I'll have close colleagues of mine check your progress when I'm placed on separate missions. I expect that you work your hardest, because any less and you're going to be killed out there. Is that understood?""Yes, sensei.""Good. Now - here is what we will begin with: stamina."The bane of his existence with Shion was about to be theirs with him.And so Rasa trained his team - well enough, in fact, that they were fairly self-sufficient when he got calls to other missions. Koumushi and Shinjiro had the Playhouse, and Tetsuya had a weapons-master teacher in Mizuho on occassion.It wasn't perfect, but it was far better than he could have hoped.One such mission brought him more familiar faces than expected."You’re assigned to the northern wall destruction team,” said Ebizo. “The Ishigakure squad. The advance team is there; now that your genin are settled we're sending you further with them."The northen wall destruction team was going to drill a tunnel through a northern mesa towards Ishigakure, ultimately meant to be a discreet method of travel between the areas. Not secret - but at least more protected from open fire on the top of the mesa or around its edges. Bottlenecking and sabotage would always be an issue, but it was mutually-assured destruction if someone tried.It also meant for smaller numbers in combat if they passed on the lower level. That would decrease deaths for couriers going that direction significantly for either side.It made for fantastic border control, something desperately needed when Ame was the buffer between Suna and Konoha. And knowing what would come out of Ame - well, Rasa wasn't about to disagree with the choice.He arrived just as the early team was setting up camp. A few shinobi - one with mousy brown hair pulled back in a ponytail, one with short, cropped hair, and one wearing a cloth face mask. The cropped-haired one nodded at Maka, then at him, before turning to the one with the ponytail, who was facing the mesa and gauging her aim.She flung a senbon at the seal she’d apparently placed, a good two hundred yards away, on the rock face.FWOOOM!The seal blew a hole directly through the mesa. Well. Yes, that would -A set of smaller explosions lit up through the crater, one at a time, the exact same time between each.She hummed a tune to the beat of the retreating detonations, smugly dusting her hands on her legs.“I think that will do,” she said, once she finished the chorus of Dust Devil Dance.Rasa blinked.“Yes, I think - how did you -”“I used earth transformation to drill a tiny hole through the whole mesa, then a wind jutsu to carry the string of seals all the way through. I’d calculated the distance necessary to spread the standard explosive seals to be just enough to activate one another while keeping the blast radius small - if it were a larger tunnel, the whole thing could cave in on creation - and I looked into the Clay Village underground to calculate all of the -”She likely would have continued onwards if the one with cropped hair didn’t interrupt."Yes, you're a genius, Karura. We're all aware.""I'm newly informed," Rasa said dazedly. She was -Grinning sharply, satisfied with her work. And she had every right to be.She was nothing like he would have expected."Karura," she introduced herself. "And my ever-silent-guardian, Baki, whom I've known since we were toddlers that hadn't touched a kunai yet. And Maka, our resident puppeteer. What's your name?""Rasa," he said. "That was impressive, with the timing and precision. I've never been one for seals. This is Sana - also a puppeteer.""Yes, you're the ninjutsu genius on the team," said Maka. "And Baki's insane at ninjutsu, too. Why did they send all the prodigies at once, and then little old me?""Don't sell yourself short, dear," said Karura mildly. "You are the epitome of a puppet mistress. Who knows? They might want us to form an official genius squad by the time we're all settled as jounin.""Seems dangerous," muttered Baki."You want a prodigy, you need to meet Sana's and my genin teammate, Mizuho," Rasa said, cutting in. "Genin at seven before the war even started. Crazy precise. Anyway. So now that Karura handled part one of our mission, do we have a game plan for the next part?""That's up to you, o-fearless-leader," Sana said. He grimaced."Eugh. Right. I'm the - well. So now that we have an access point, we'll need to secure the tunnel - structurally and with a lot of sensor tags - and then we meet with the Ame team on the other side to negotiate access points and patrols."The Ame team was not doing well, from Rasa's point of view. All three were rather haggard, in bulky coats and respirators.Rasa inclined his head, stepping forward."Kirito-san?" he asked. The tallest of the three stepped forward."Rasa-san," he said, voice slightly distorted through the mask. "I take it the tunnel construction was successful?""We'll have to do some tests to confirm its stability, but so far all of it seems in order. You were able to set up the outpost?""We had a small Konoha team tail us, but they broke off once we were in range, and we haven't spotted any disturbances."Rasa squinted."Are you certain?""As well as we can be -"
FWOOOOOM
A gout of fire came from their left, and Rasa flung up a wall of golden sand, snarling, "Incoming! Suna, defense, dust haze."Six shinobi, all wearing Konoha attire. Defense of the tunnel was important, so while ending the threat was one priority, lowering damage levels was another. Maka and Sana unraveled their packs to reveal their puppets, Baki dashed backwards, beginning a cutting wind jutsu, and Karura started pulling senbon from her pack. The Ame team spread out to the right, backing away. Rasa flicked his hand and swirled his golden sand at his feet, scowling at the approaching nin.Black hair, a hooked finger at the mouth - Uchiha, who was barking orders to the others.Rasa dashed forward, fanning out sand behind him like the train of a cloak. One of the other Konoha nin advanced on Maka and Sana. Maka's puppet, unfolding in a cacophany of scythes, launched itself at the attacker, and Sana snapped to send her pile of spindly insect puppets at the feet of the rest.Rasa lost track of the others for a moment as he engaged the Uchiha. Sand was, after all, an excellent way to obscure vision in a fight.He had his golden mantle billow outwards, dragging at feet and latching onto any pouches or supplies where it could. Meanwhile, the Uchiha's eyes were blazing red in his periphery - he didn't dare look directly into them.Another blast of flame. Rasa clenched a fist and the gold at his command tore the man's weapons off of his flak vest.He heard the whistle of senbon past his head and slammed his fist towards the man's gut - just barely missing as he twisted out of the way. The grunt of pain from Karura, and -No. No, he was not going to lose her before he had a chance to save her."Gold Release: Heavenly Tomb."Gold rose from the ground and from his various pouches, tightening into coffin shapes. He'd managed to catch all of the Konoha nin beyond the Uchiha, enclosing them in golden coffins that he began to press back into the ground.Finally, he chanced a glance at the Uchiha's face."They're going to die," he said. "I suggest you leave, or join them."The man snarled wordlessly, and Rasa could feel a flare of chakra from his already-blazing eyes - something stronger than before.He flickered back, retreating. A tightness in Rasa's chest loosened.Rasa held his comrades down below the earth until they stopped breathing, dragging the gathered dust into his pouches again afterwards. The bodies were still, barely bloodied, as Sana beheaded them one by one for proof of the kills. Rasa dropped to sit cross-legged on the ground, and took a huge breath.He hoped he wouldn't have to find out personally why the man he'd fought would get the title "Wicked-Eye." Ideally, he'd never have to know.
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Returning to Suna got Rasa tackled by four smaller frames - his team and Sasori, which was enough to topple him entirely."Sensei!" three voices crowed. Rasa winced."Easy," he said."Don't crush the chakra-exhausted shinobi," said Sana. They all rolled off of him at once."Chakra-exhausted? You?" asked Tetsuya. "You're literally always having us meditate and build up our stamina. What did you do?""Invented a new jutsu in the field," said Karura, smiling smugly at him as he lay in the dirt. "What was it? Gold Release: Heavenly Tomb? Dramatic. And effective.""Whoa," said Sasori and Koumushi, staring at him. He huffed and stood up."Well, I had to make a show of things if you were going to do the whole first half of our mission in one fell swoop," he countered.Another figure joined them, beelining for Karura. Karura grinned and ruffled the young man's hair -"Yashamaru," she said. "I told you it was nothing. We had a ton of powerhouses.""Which did not help me worrying, thanks," he huffed. "What kind of priority was it that they sent the Kazekage's literal heir with you?""Very high priority," Rasa said. "And - I have a name.""Right, yes, sorry," he said. "Yashamaru.""Rasa. I take it you're related somehow?""My little brother," Karura said with a smile."He's a menace," nodded Maka. "Fucker is a freaky poison and senbon officionado. Got tokubetsu already for an insane kill when we were dealing with a bunch of Kiri hunter-nin.""You eat my lunch when I say I'm immunizing myself one time and suddenly I'm a freaky menace for not wanting to die?" he asked."No, you dared me to eat it," they argued."I specifically said 'Maka, don't eat my food,' and then you took it as a challenge.""I believe that," Rasa said. "They asked me if my gold sand was actually all that deadly against fire users, given the melting point. I asked if she'd ever touched molten gold and they said yes.""I was at a forge!" Maka protested."That doesn't make it better," said Yashamaru.Everyone dissolved into giggles, and Rasa could almost forget that he was meeting Yashamaru for the first time."This is it. Please die." A shaky voice, a thousand weapons of death - a child, surviving the murder attempt from the one person who taught him what love and kindness was.Almost."Do you want to all go out for dinner? On me," offered Baki."Sorry, I have genin to manage in the morning," Rasa said. "Early training, to make up for not being there for a bit."Yashamaru made a face."I could never manage genin. I like sleep too much.""You're still barely out of being a chunin, and thirteen yourself. Give it time," Rasa advised."Sasori is also a chunin," said Shinjiro, thinking he was being helpful as he gestured to their red-haired friend. Yashamaru blinked down at the redhead."That - okay. Well. I'll take you up on that!" he said. "And Karura doesn't get to say no to us treating her!""Hey -""I'll do the mission report, since I'm not going out anyway," Rasa said."Thanks a bunch," Sana said, side-hugging him briefly. "Seeya, golden boy!"
Oh, that nickname was going to stick, wasn't it?
Rasa had lied when he said there was early training the next day - though he was meeting with his genin.More or less, he was meeting with their families. He wanted to be sure their home lives were somehting he could account for when training them, and if one of them struggled the way he used to, he didn't want them to go without the help he had been given, at least to some degree.Shinjiro had a single mother and an infant little brother. They weren't well-off, but they weren't in dire straits. His little brother, Katsu, was adorable. He had a little wisp of brown hair that kept flopping down to hang in his eyes. When Shinjiro introduced them, he proudly proclaimed that his brother's first word was nii, which his mother confirmed."Take care of my son," she said.Koumushi was a merchant's son - his father owned an artist supply store, which in Suna meant he had puppeteers in and out with all sorts of custom orders at odd hours. It showed in the way Koumushi played with odd materials and constantly had a new, small project going.Tetsuya was the eldest of six, with no direct parent in the picture - an elderly aunt took care of the children when he wasn't at home. The second eldest was five years younger than him."I was - well, a surprise," he admitted while he showed Rasa around the house. "Not an unwelcome one, but they were a bit more ready to have more kids later. Then, uh, the war. So."Yes, the war - that answered more questions than Rasa cared to admit."Feel free to lean on D-Ranks when you need an extra hand to look after them during missions," Rasa advised. "Chunin and jounin get discounts regarding childcare missions."Needless to say, he saw a bit of his own team in them. Shinjiro, like Sana - the hard worker, ambitious. Koumushi, like Mizuho, the crafty merchant's kid that wanted to do more. Tetsuya, scraping by -Well, he'd had help. So he would help, too.The war ended abruptly after that mission - weeks later, in fact. The Kazekage briefly noted this to Rasa, the jounin commander, and his ANBU guard before making the announcement to the village.Crowds gathered quickly from the street markets. Scattered chunin and jounin spread out through them. Rasa clasped his hands behind his back, standing at the Kazekage's side. Yoshie, the jounin commander, stood at his other side.Rasa clenched his fists behind his back. Standing in front of others - it never got easier, even if he wasn't the one speaking. One of many reasons he wasn't a performer on the Mat."My village, who is kin as any other: My blood is iron, as are my kin, stronger than a desert storm. Neither storms nor wars buffeting at our walls will break us. Suna stands against winds and blades alike, and we'll stand through the future, as well, as we always have. The Second Shinobi War is over."The applause was enthusiastic, but rather polite and controlled for a declaration of peace - because even civilians weren't fool enough to think that it was truly over.The fertile strip of land Suna had been granted after the first Kage Summit, after all, was still occupied by Uzushio squads on permanent bases. Supposedly to be returned after some civilians vacated - but Rasa knew they'd just fight again.Still, it was a relief, not bringing his students to active battlefields or worrying about killing the wrong person for the future's sake.Sana called all her friends and comrades that were still alive and brought them to Rasa's quarters for a party."Here's to not fucking with Konoha or Iwa for ten minutes," she toasted, and everyone shouted in agreement. Rasa collapsed into his seat, smiling into his cider - at least for a minute - as everyone danced and made a mess of his home.His students progressed, even without the heat of battle at their backs."This one here is Rooster," said Shinjiro, a smug grin as he stepped forward, having completed his Playhouse training. Two other cloaked figures followed."Here stands Shrew," echoed Koumushi."And this one calls himself Scorpion," said Sasori. Each of them bowed deeply, and Rasa couldn't help but smile."Well done, Rooster, Shrew, and Scorpion."Though puppeteers came with their own headaches, he couldn't deny it - he was proud. And he was leading their next mission while Tetsuya recovered from a shoulder injury - he'd overworked himself and strained it. The Hoki healers berated him into bedrest, and Rasa made sure to hire some D-Rank babysitting missions in his stead for his siblings.There was a resurgence in old Black Sand clan members that had it out for Suna and their black-sand-using Kazekage. Small sects cropped up every once in a while - dangerous, but the kind that they were familiar with.Rasa took his team, and Pakura took Sasori and her personal apprentice, Maki."Congratulations on that mesa mission, by the way," Pakura said. "It's really a miracle you and I both survived this whole ordeal. Don't strong winds pass quickest, and all that?""The trick with that is: we're not wind," Rasa said. She let out a bark of a laugh."Are you two . . . friends?" asked Koumushi."Let's go with that," said Pakura. "Now, let's get a move on, hm?"The group got on well together, all things considered.Trade deals with Kirigakure, smuggling through Stone Country - Rasa squinted at the contracts a few moments longer before he noted a small flare of chakra at his widow. He nodded as the two slipped into his quarters. Dandelion, an older ANBU who was more often than not at the Kazekage's side during diplomatic missions, and Wormwood, a new one. Rasa tilted his head."Training a new one," said Dandelion. "He'll be shadowing senior members for some time. You'll have him at your side, Rasa-san, since the Kazekage has noted some rumors of attempts on your life, now that he's made you jounin."Rasa grimaced inwardly, even as he nodded and murmured a thank you.He knew a few callsigns from his time - ones that were declassified, or ones that were still active by the time he'd died.Wormwood was one he remembered all too well, their file declassified two years into his reign. It put a sour taste in his mouth, knowing who was behind the mask already.Rasa was not looking forward to opening that file again. Wormwood's history, once he'd unfolded it, had spelled doom for Sunagakure in the margins of reports and the careful wording of accomplishments - and if he didn't change that line of history, he was unlikely to fix much else about this new life.Rasa was going over the investigation of Roran's disappearance with the ANBU commander, when an ANBU slipped into his field of vision."We have three hostages," said Hyacinth. "Konoha. Hyuuga Hizashi, Haruno Mebuki, and a third shinobi we haven't identified yet. They were in the Daimyo's secondary quarters without invitation."Rasa froze.He knew what those three hostages had done already. They'd stolen Wind Country documentation of the Kage summit that had ceded the fertile land to Suna instead of giving them a tailed beast - gaining control of the narrative of who owned it. Without the physical original, Suna would have far less standing on keeping the land. He didn't need to interrogate them, because the Third Shinobi War had begun over it, and the mission had been studied extensively in the aftermath. The members on the mission hadn't mattered, but the consequences had.Hatake Sakumo had been the one to rescue them, the first time. Rasa had not been present. Would being there make a difference?Should he make a difference?"I remember Hyuuga," he said quietly. "Back from my chunin exams. Huh. Well, let me go and see what I can say."He would, regardless."Rasa," snapped Yoshie. Rasa looked up to meet the older man's eyes."You've not participated in an interrogation before," he said. "If you need to call out, get me immediately."Rasa nodded.The cells were dry and clean, despite being a floor below the Guard Circulation department - notorious for its perpetual state of disarray.The dryness was typical, but the vent system was engineered to keep it extra dry - something foreigners would be unused to. Dehydration would be the first thing they'd notice. A bit of discomfort, to start - though these three had not been in very long.The three were shackled against separate benches in their separate cells, heads bowed. Rasa approached the first - Hizashi, growing into a lankier, taller form, compared to the last time Rasa had seen him."It's been a long while, hm, Hyuuga?" asked Rasa. A flick of the eyes."Rasa no Kin," he said in reply. "I'm surprised.""So am I. Your team picked an unfortunate time to get caught. I was just about to head to bed and everything, to leave it to our Commander. So, I'll make this simple enough: why were you in the Daimyo's manor, and why shouldn't I execute you for it?""You're not the Kage," said Mebuki, leaning against the wall. She squinted at him, green eyes reflecting the light not unlike a a cat's. "You don't have that authority.""Suna works differently than Konoha, Haruno. I'm on track to be the next Kage, and I have similar authority to our jounin commander, who also supports my actions. I understand the confusion, given that you were planning on erasing history anyway.""How so?" asked Hyuuga.Rasa snorted."I'm not going to dignify that with an answer."The third prisoner was particularly silent, head bowed. Rasa sighed."We knew this peacetime was not going to last. I'd hoped it would be because of Onoki or A, not because Fire continually tries to encroach on decades-old contracts.""Konoha wouldn't stoop so low," scoffed Hyuuga."Are you joking?" he said. "We caught you in the manor. In the archives. Suna may not have so many public-facing-geniuses, but we are not fools. And don't call yourselves some kind of moral elitists - we are shinobi, not samurai."Like a cue had called him, a blast of lightning jutsu crashed through the doorway, two figures tumbling through.Yoshie and a Konoha ANBU agent were having it out. Rasa flicked a hand and gold rose from the seams in the tiled floor, lashing at feet and generally making a nuissance."What - dammit, we were a no-rescue op, what the hell," muttered Mebuki.Right, they probably had been planning on Konoha abandoning them. But somone was a bit too noble.Rasa drove Black Fang forward to stab towards the Konoha nin with a wolf mask. Yoshie began the signs for a wind jutsu to knock him into a wall, slamming them both against one of the cell doors in the process."My dear friend gave me this blade some time after a very similar situation," Rasa said, catching on the pale silver of the blade the man held. "It's called the Black Fang, after the killer of my jounin sensei."There wasn't a hint of a pause as a man that could only be Hatake Sakumo slid their blades both downwards to come in for a catch on the shoulder.Rasa sidestepped him and swiped gold across his body - and that of his prisoners.He let the sand bubble up until he had them all coated in it, preparing to end the fight at once. Hatake let loose another lightning jutsu, and it arced up the lashes of sand until Rasa felt his arm go limp and buzzing. Yoshie bodyslammed Hatake into a cell door, and they wrestled messily as Rasa stood to ready his sand coffin again.It was too late when he caught a glimpse of the third prisoner - by the flash of red in his eyes, Rasa could only shout once before his vision was enveloped in a bleeding red void.Tsukuyomi. He remembered well of the future-that-would-be, the endless red and black night.And now he knew why Uchiha Fugaku was called Wicked Eye.The blackened void was not too different from his dreamscapes, but he couldn't help but scream as he drowned in this one. Blackened dunes - not the cold iron of his sensei, but the heated, molten lava turned obsidian turned sand, glinting as far as the eye could see and then some.A figure rose from the glass that was suffocating him. Yawning, large, burning, and golden - a hulking tanuki with fangs as tall as Rasa was."You think you can protect the world if you shore up enough wealth?" the raspy, familiar voice taunted. "You think you're big and scary, Rasa no Kin. But you're puny in the face of Ichibi no Shukaku. And what will you do then, when you have me to contend with, little shi-no-bi?"Rasa opened his mouth to - speak, to do anything, maybe just scream - but the sand poured down his throat, hot and dry, and began to melt.And then he woke up, in the blackened desert, and the scene repeated itself.Scream. Choke. Wake. Scream. Choke. Wake. Scream. Choke -The pale ceiling above him had tiny scorch marks in the corner. He blinked a few times and looked around - ah. The Hoki medic center."Rasa the idiot, they should call you," scolded Sana."I heard that," he said."Good," she huffed."He's awake?" asked Mizuho."Sensei!" called three younger voices."Rasa," said Pakura, sighing. "Thank the skies. I did not want to be the next Kazekage candidate.""Thanks," he grumbled. "Lovely. Now. What the hell happened?""Yoshie got a message to the other jounin at the Guard Circulation, but Konoha got the prisoners out in time. He has a broken arm, but he'll live. You've been out for days."Yoshie had died, that first time. Rasa wasn't certain of the details, but he knew that much."Fucking Uchiha," he said, and Sana barked a laugh as Pakura glanced worriedly at his students."We're going back to war, aren't we?" asked Tetsuya."If we aren't, it's a miracle," Rasa said."The Kazekage is going to come in and take your report of the incident shortly," said Pakura. "Chiyo is pissed you didn't kill the intruder, though.""Look, if I hadn't had the stupid genjutsu, I would have killed Hatake," he said.Everyone froze."Hatake Sakumo was the intruder?" asked Mizuho quietly. Rasa nodded."He was wearing a wolf mask, but he had the blade we'd expect of him. I saw it spark against Black Fang with white chakra."Mizuho scowled at his feet.A knock at the door - everyone left."Kazekage-sama," he said."Rasa."Shion frowned. There were so few times that he looke as tired as Rasa felt - usually, his stoic nature kept true even in private moments."It'll be war, then?" Rasa asked."Yes," said Shion. "Yoshie gave me everything, and I overheard what you said. Hatake Sakumo's death will be your responsibility, should you see him in the field."Rasa nodded."Because they survived this encounter, we will have a Third Shinobi War.""I know.""You've failed to end a threat, Rasa no Kin. Tell me why I shouldn't take Pakura as my student here and now.""If you choose Pakura, she will fight you. I would not, but that doesn't matter.""What do you want, Rasa?""To protect the village. If it is as a jounin or as a Kage, I will do it."A few more moments of silence. Shion turned and sat on the stool next to his cot, shoulders collapsing inward."Do not die on my behalf," Shion ordered. "You are to protect the village with your life, Rasa, not your death. I almost lost you and would have had no idea.""You would have found a decent successor, sensei," he said. Shion squinted at him."I would not have, because I would have dragged you back from the shinigami's grasp myself. You little fool, I was not concerned about a successor, I was concerned about you."Rasa stared at him, mouth agape."Stay alive. I'll attempt to do the same," Shion said, nodding. "Damn it all, child. What would you think if Tetsuya said the same to you?"" . . . point," Rasa sighed. "Okay. What's the plan?""You are going to join the Tanuki Temple rotation."Shit.This would halve the field missions he would go for, going down into the underground temple of the Tanuki where Shukaku was sealed. The rotation was regular, with long shifts lasting days at a time, camping below ground in groups to both keep an eye on the seals and to monitor any structural damage the Ichibi. It would slow his students' progress with him -"And your next mission with your students will be a C-Rank, so they can apply for chunin. Which would place you officially in a jounin rank."He took a deep breath.One more step forward.When Yashamaru came out to the training yard with an undercut and hair styled much shorter than Karura's, Rasa had to blink a few times."That's new," he said."Yes, well, I'm tired of being mistaken for neesan from the back," he huffed. "Rasa, are you willing to spar with me? I need to prove a point.""What point is that?""That disposable weapons are just as effective as reusable ones. Mizuho was giving me flak about it.""Mizuho should know better. He was my genin teammate," said Rasa lightly. He glanced at his friend, who was - unsurprisingly - sharpening kunai at the edge of the training yard.He kept stealing glances at them, peering quizically."Just taijutsu, aim for a pin," Rasa said, and Yashamaru nodded.They stood across from one another and kept it quick - light steps and darting jabs, nothing heavy. Yashamaru was a beast with senbon, a damned ball of spikes in defense, dropping one after another needle ready to trip Rasa up.The entire yard was a pincushion, with Rasa on the ground. Yashamaru placed his hands in a Tiger sign, the end of what would be a dust devil wind jutsu - that would turn the entire yard into tiny, deadly shrapnel. His foot was on Rasa's chest in the meanwhile, while Rasa heaved with heavy breaths."I yield."Rasa glanced again at Mizuho, who was now staring openly at Yashamaru, mouth slightly agape.
Huh. I didn't notice that before, did I?
He winced, thinking about how he'd given Mizuho Yashamaru's position after -Yes, well, he hadn't ever been known for his emotional intelligence, that time around.Rasa had a single ANBU guard at his window the first night he'd returned home.Rasa stared bleakly at his feet, fisting his hair in his hands. He'd saved Yoshie's life, let the war start regardless -What have I done? Is it enough?What was he doing, putting all this together when he didn't even know -"Wormwood," he said quietly. "Can I talk to you about an upcoming mission? It's S-class and confidential."A moment of quiet."Of course, Rasa-san. Who is commissioning it?""Me.""You're commissioning an ANBU directly?""Yes.""Without the Kazekage's supervision?""Yes."Another pause."What is the mission?"It was Rasa's damnation, no doubt.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Pakura, Sana, and Karura became quick friends, as Rasa saw it - and others did, too, muttering about the kunoichi of their generation being terrifying forces.Rasa wondered if Chiyo had gotten the same whispers, when she'd been up-and-coming.Meanwhile, Shion, Yoshie, and ANBU Commander Anemone worked with agents Wormwood and Macchia worked with Rasa intermittently on battle plans. Despite the supposed punishment of being sent to the Tanuki Temple, there was still a war on, and Rasa was still the intended Kazekage successor, and a high-ranking jounin due to his students' success at becoming chunin.Shinjiro, Koumushi, and Sasori often went on puppeteer-led missions, and Tetsuya had taken to front line assignments quickly. His little powerhouse students lined up with Pakura's well enough that he wasn't surprised to hear them in squads together more often than not.The front along the Land of Rivers was less populated, but it was also where Konoha and Uzushio had planted their "temporary" bases during the brief peacetime. Though the plateau mission had given them an easy path near Ame, the entire River Country line was a valley that made a perfect set of ambush locations available for both sides. Iwa was also focused on Konoha, which was going to hurt Ame as well - Rasa suggested they focus southward through the Land of Waves, despite the difficulty against more watery terrain."Wave, Kiri, and Uzushio would decimate our numbers if we try to shove shinobi through that path," argued Anemone."And we wait like birds on a wall for Konoha to kill us along the valley line?" said Yoshie. "Iwa is ignoring us right now, we can slip through their borders and - ""-and get blown up the moment we are discovered," Rasa said. "So. Which will result in the most success with the least loss?""Iwa doesn't have to be our enemy outright," said Shion, "Despite our previous encounters. We both want to face down Konoha. We need to work on each problem simultaneously at the outset, or we will fall behind on each goal. We will have losses against Kiri - but we will also have more if they invade."Because there was no solution that guaranteed no loss in a war.So three major fronts remained: the Land of Rivers line, whose primary goal was defense and to take out the Uzushio bases in quick assassination where possible. The Amegakure line, where their intelligence missions slipped through the plateau at Ishigakure and dispersed to track, sabotage, and spy in other countries.And the Iwagakure line, which was busy navigating cliff faces and trying to make contact for allyship. So far, no one had been blown up, but it was still the early stages.The Tanuki Temple, below Suna, was an architectural marvel first and foremost.Stable underground structures in a desert environment, built into natural caves and reinforced and expanded over the decades - and with the protective chakra sealing of masters that most modern nin could barely decipher. Rasa was intensely jealous of the artistry besides - the careful, preserved carvings of tanuki-fox fights, and cycles of swirling wind and calligraphy praying for safety.There was also, of course, the catacombs - hallways of the dead priests, entombed and preserved. Rasa felt a chill as he remembered Edo Tensei, and thanked whatever deity had Suna's protection in mind that no one had thought to come here to gather an army of the dead.Thank goodness Konoha hosted the worst of the megalomaniacs of that war. If Orochimaru or Kabuto had had a labyrinth's worth of bodies -He turned the corner and found the campsite, built up in a natural opening in the cavern that was likely once a common area even for the priests - carved stone benches and all."We have a newbie in the holy grounds," called a nasally voice - Jimei, a paralytics expert descended from the Hoki clan. Rasa recalled seeing him in and out of the mission desk as a chunin quite often."What, another one? I thought everyone would be too busy at war," another, unfamiliar tone, drawling."I've been assigned alternating rotations," Rasa said, finally coming upon the gathering of chunin and tokubetsu jounin he'd be joining for the next five days.Jimei was lounging against the wall, flipping through a well-worn bingo book and making notes in it. A few feet away, Karura was napping on top of her bedroll, curled onto her side with her arms splayed wide. And a dark-haired chunin with a thin frown, glaring at him."Oh, so the Kazekage's keeping his favorite at home, huh?" he said."My name is Rasa," he replied. "And you are?""Mica," he said. "And that's -""We already know each other, Mica," said Karura, bored. "Rasa, Karura, Jimei, Mica. This will be a quiet few days, followed by incredibly violent ones on the front. Take your rest while you can get it, ne?"Mica rolled his eyes."Karura, you didn't say it was the Sandaime's pet jerboa."Rasa raised a brow. Mica was clearly the eldest present, but he was resorting to childish jokes about his ears sticking out like a little desert mouse?"So, what's the routine?""Nap, patrol, take notes on what needs repairs for the infrastructure team, reapply seals to the Ichibi's vessel," Jimei said, yawning. "Try not to die if it has a chakra flare. Try not to have nightmares about the catacombs. The usual.""Nightmares?" Rasa asked."Do you know how many dead priests are in here?""No?" Generations had lived there. The number was probably higher than whatever guess he'd come up with first."Exactly."Rasa shrugged."I mean, I wouldn't want to be buried under Suna like this, but - they're just dead."Jimei scoffed."Just you wait, asshole. You'll see soon enough - the dead aren't gone."Didn't he know it.Karura was methodically inking a variety of exploding tags when Rasa had finished setting up his cot and supplies."Something about you making exploding tags beneath a structure like this worries me," he said, and she snorted."If it can handle an angry bijuu, it can handle a few flashbangs," she said with a grin. "But I appreciate the confidence in my ability to break things.""Ah, point," he said. "What was all that about nightmares and ghosts?""Jimei is superstitious," she said. "Though I wouldn't put it past the ancients to mess with perception or something in a genjutsu seal. They had some really interesting ways of looking at the world, after all.""You know about old religions, then?""Mythology - fairy tales. I love a good story. Not the way puppeteers do," she was quick to say so, flicking some ink off of her fingers. "Not as a performer. I just like stories. There's something satisfying in a hero's triumph, even if it's expected.""The priests had fairy tales?""Something like that - of tanuki and kitsune battles, of a wanderer surviving an endless desert because of his faith in his friend, of a kind princess that found her prince because of her kindness. They were lessons, about loyalty and survival and such - but there's something comforting about them.""The good guys win, the bad guys lose," he said. She smiled, a hint of embarrassment in the flush on her cheeks."I know it's simple, or childish. But we have so much complication in real life. It's a relief, is all."It really was, the way she spoke about it."You'll have to tell me your favorite ones," he said. "I could do with a happy ending, once in a while. Usually I end up reading tragedies."Working the mission desk for jounin wasn't all success stories.Jimei led them down a spiraling corridor to the deep inner chamber that held Shukaku's pot. Intricate mosaics lined the walls and floors, until they got to the chamber - which was plain, smooth stone, and swirling sand. A single lantern hung from the center of the chamber, swaying gently in a circular motion - with wisps of sand batting it back and forth.Rasa stared at the platform holding a teapot. It rumbled lowly, sand shifting like the surface of a boiling pot on the ground around it.He wondered how much the Ichibi could perceive from within it."One of us needs to keep it occupied while the rest of us reapply stability seals," said Jimei. "I did it last time. Rasa, you're new, so - apologies.""I've been meaning to observe it anyway. Let me see what I can do.""Just don't piss it off too much," advised Karura. "Mica got sassy last week and nearly lost an eye over it.""Right."He stepped forward, feeling the rasp of sand clinging at his ankles, and summoned his own in kind.Shukaku's chakra was blisteringly hot and dry, the kind of sore, dry throat pain surging through Rasa's whole body as he got closer."Ichibi-sama," he said, "You want to play games? I'll be your opponent for a while."Golden Sand? Shukaku's voice rasped. What a waste. At least Black Sand gives me a struggle. Gold is a lot lighter than iron, boy."Which means I can lift more of it," Rasa said. Not entirely true, but it got a laugh out of the bijuu while the other three skirted the walls, carving chisels and ink at the ready.That was the trouble, after all - the buffeting sand kept eroding away the seals on the walls. There were small rings on the ground where the chamber had slowly expanded over the years. Rasa stepped closer. The sand spilled from the teapot like steam, forming clawing arms that roiled around the center of the platform.He raised a hand, and his golden sand mirrored Shikaku, spilling from pockets and pouches all across his person.The teapot lid rattled, bouncing laughter from a hunter to an ant.You weren't kidding, brat, it chuckled. A game, you say? Let's play.Rasa raised a globe of gold around the platform, surrounding them both.Claws of sand leapt up at him, and he darted upward - using his sand to hold him in place on the globe, hanging upside-down, he sent his own whips of sand again to lash at the claws, pinning them in place. He stood upside down in a globe of gold, and commanded again for his sand to shift - directly downwards, in reach of the teapot.Hanging by his ankles, waiting for the next move.Coils of sand - golden and tan, barely distinguishable - whirled and twisted and blended in a tiny storm. The bloodthirsty beast that would goad his son into becoming a wanton killer - perhaps he held a grudge.Rasa tightened his grip on the golden tendrils, winding them deeper into the quartz sand that Shukaku commanded.Ripples of it, like water, washed over the ground - and turned to jagged spikes, before launching themselves upward. Rasa swept his gold in front of him, just in time to hear Karura."It's done, release!"A wave of stifling chakra - like a cold, stale wind - rushed through the chamber. All of the quartz sand under Shukaku's control dropped to the floor.Rasa formed stairs to walk back down, and winced - one of the lances of sand had gotten into his left thigh, but not enough to cause a problem. Just enough to hurt.Mica watched him warily, the rest of their shift. Rasa didn't have any dreams about the dead - none that he didn't already have.They sent him to Iwa - because apparently they'd stored up enough wealth for a major shipment from Grass country, who were second only to Iron for their forging skills - in order to create some trade deals.Suna had its spies. Iwa had their saboteurs. Having both on hand in missions could cripple their opponents if they were quick about it and didn't waste resources in the meantime. His team was Yashamaru, Pakura, her student Maki, and himself.This was the first line of missions that Pakura had gained the moniker Hero of Suna, once upon a time - because she'd solidified their alliance with Iwa and saved their asses when a Kiri force had attempted to slaughter them and blame it on Iwa.The team was well-designed - for all it drove Rasa's anxiety up the wall. He and Pakura were powerhouses to show off - both in terms of actual power, and in status. Should Iwa decide to attack them, they could typically hold their own - Pakura in destructive force, and Rasa in negotiations and capture. The first time, he'd been out on a different mission, not having joined the Tanuki rotation. He wasn't sure what he'd do - if he could do anything - if he wanted to change things.The beginning of the mission was verbatim what he recalled from reports - smooth enough travel, and finding the Iwagakure outpost.When they arrived at the outpost, four Iwa shinobi greeted them.A blonde woman with a sneering face took point."Are we coming to blows?" she asked."Ideally not," Rasa replied. "Our villages would do better in this conflict allied than against each other.""Sabotage and infiltration pair well," she nodded. "So do earth and wind. Onoki wants all Suna agents out of Iwagakure for the remainder of the conflict and to only meet at this outpost or in Ame."That would be a nightmare for communication and subtlety."Are you asking for someone to send a jinchuuriki-level combatant here, or -?" he asked, raising a brow. "Because that's how we attract attention.""I thought your spies were good at keeping under wraps?" asked one of the others. It was a golden-haired woman in chunin gear, a bit older than the average field shinobi. The leader narrowed her eyes at them."Silence, Namikaze," she said.Now that was an interesting name to hear. Rasa tamped down his surprise and rolled his shoulders."Are we to believe that you think we'll have productive communication in Ame? That's a hotspot of conflict even without the nations at war.""Which is why we can slip in the cracks more easily," said the jounin. "But that's not the main goal, here: we need to take out Uzushio. That's Konoha's main crutch, and with them out of the way, well -"A legacy of sealing techniques torn out from under Konohagakure. And the rest of the world.Rasa nodded."And hoarding all the sealing masters for themselves does make our lives worse, even in peacetime," he said grimly. "A thousand ways their work improves things, and they keep it to themselves."A sharp grin."I think we understand each other quite well, then, Suna."What followed was not in the prior report: when Kirti-nin struck, they'd brought along a rogue ally that Rasa didn't ever recall having teamed up with them. Pakura must have dealt with them quickly, the first time. Uzushio had teamed up with Kiri for this fight. For some sage-forsaken reason.When they had arrived, it was with a bang - their lack of subtlety made up for their destructive power. Rasa backed off immediately, snarling orders to get the hell uphill and retaliate.The three Iwa nin were in the same position, splitting off and creating earth walls to give them time.Yashamaru was all wind and lightning - and senbon, of course, a volley of glass senbon sent down at their opponents.It took all of Rasa's willpower not to scream when the entirety of it redirected at him, embedding themselves in his arms and one unfortunate one clipping his ear. He caught sight of ice dripping at his shoulder as well - another volley, disguised to join the rebound.A flash of red hair and an unfortunately familiar smile graced them - Uzumaki Ichigo, from his chunin exams, with his nightmarish chakra shaping seals, creating physical force out of chakra. Someone had decided redirection would be a new trick to try.Two other Uzu nin and four Kiri chunin were alongside the cocky bastard.Pakura took no time at all to summon white-hot scorching techniques, balls of blinding light finding themselves vaporizing even the ice shards being sent their way.Rasa's sand might as well have been molten, the way it reflected the light of it. He took full advantage, creating roiling bursts that timed themselves against one another. If the ice-nin couldn't see -"Sand technique - Gilded Clones," he said. The copies did their job - separating and sneaking up on the Uzumaki while he made a spectacle of himself.Pakura incinerated one of the Kiri-nin, which ignited whatever exploding tags they'd had on them - and the Iwa nin took that chance to bury the explosion in a rumbling roar of earth.While the Scorch spheres continued their work, blazing the ground and forcing the Uzumaki closer to other combatants, Rasa sent his sand in a thin wave across the land.Any other combatants? he wondered. Did I miss anyone else?He hadn't - just the Uzumaki. And, judging by the crazed fury in his eyes, he wouldn't go down easily, even if it was one against a thousand.He would be very glad not to fight this clan ever again.He didn't particularly like alcohol, and most of his friends were woefully underage, but this particular society had a knack for letting younger people do things far beyond their age should have allowed.Which was why he was watching Yashamaru's and Mizuho's friend groups comingle drunkenly, mostly giggly and over-loud, making a mild mess of the bar they were in. Expected of teenagers, honestly, even ones closer to adulthood. No one here was a quiet drunk, it seemed. Rasa pursed his lips, amused. Yashamaru’s ears were red as could be as Mizuho leaned closer, stumbling forward.Both were tipsy, clearly, but both were ninja - Mizuho had stumbled on purpose in order to splay himself into Yashamaru’s lap.“Oops,” he giggled. “Sorry, ‘maru. I tripped.”What an absolute . . . he didn't have words for how cheesy that was. Rasa pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing."Yashamaru, should I expect to invite Karura to mine tonight, or should I go to hers?" he asked. Yashamaru's neck joined his ears in gaining a deep blush."I - well - we were going to Mizuho's -""Have fun and don't get killed," he said, louder, to both of them. "And don't tell me sappy details. If one of you hurts the other, I'm strangling the perpetrator with one of Koumushi's discarded puppet monstrosities."His student, after all, had gotten pretty fond of capture and spike traps. He chuckled to himself at the embarrassed protests they both choked out."That was pretty bold, inviting yourself over to mine," Karura said, and he about jumped out of his skin. "I'd expect a date or two before someone got that serious." She was grinning like a fox - teasing him.He hadn't even realized she was there."Ah - well, I didn't think it through," he said."No, but that's okay. Wanna gossip about Mica's attitude and Jimei's obsession with that Fire Country hallucinogen?"Her eyes and cheeks were clear of any signs of intoxication. She was also smiling honestly, now." . . . how about we go read some of those fairy tales you mentioned?" he asked. Her gaze softened even more."I'd like that. And, just to be abundantly clear - I'll count this as a date if you do."Rasa blinked.Blinked again.He remembered the woman he married - insightful, creative, and straightforward. Kankuro and Temari in particular had taken that straightforwardness themselves. And from what he could tell of Gaara in those last moments - her optimism came to him.Rasa wasn't a fool. He was already in love with the Karura-that-could-be. He was also fond of the Karura-that-is-right-now. He knew to differentiate it. And he knew that, if he ever told anyone the truth of what he knew, it would be her.Not yet. But as she slung on her jacket and led him back to hers -He knew some things were inevitable."Are you certain?" asked Wormwood. "The Uzumaki are a great threat, yes, but to raze their power source entirely - to lose that legacy of the sealing arts entirely. Is it worth it?" Rasa raised a brow."I thought your job was to protect me from attackers, not to meddle in my strategy.""My job is to protect the Kazekage," the agent recited back."And looking through my mission documents is protecting the Kazekage how?"A beat of silence."It's not as though the mission you've given me is protecting the Kazekage," they said. Rasa slumped in his seat."It's to protect Suna," he said quietly. "I - you don't have to do it. You know that, yes? It's unsanctioned - a wild idea, even, if it works.""It's not. But you're entrusting a lot to me by doing this. You don't even know who I am."Oh, but he did."Regardless - why are you concerned with Uzushio's sealing? You don't strike me as a seal master."A puppet master, perhaps." . . . everything is so fleeting," the agent murmured. "Nothing lasts. Why are we destroying something like that - something so powerful and important - for lives that are going to end anyway?"Rasa shrugged helplessly."Why leave a monument standing forever if there's no one to remember what it's for?""My friend might die soon," Wormwood said.And Rasa knew. He'd agonized over it - to change or not to change, to help someone he cared about or keep things the same to keep his advantage.
Ensuring that Tetsuya and Shinjiro were all right, mentally, after the disaster fight against a Kumo squad that was too powerful for them. Knowing that a puppet master's hands were an intrinsic part of their work.
Seeing the dull gaze of Koumushi, thinking his life as he knew it was over, and the grim determination in Sasori's eyes.
Wormwood, in a horrible turn of irony, meant absence and bitter sorrow.
"Are you going to do something about it?""If he dies - I can help him live on," Wormwood said."Is that something he wants?""I haven't asked.""You should," said Rasa. "I don't know for sure what's beyond this life, Wormwood, but the last thing I'd want to do is leave behind regrets. If your friend would have regretted knowing you after he died, would you be able to forgive yourself for becoming something he hated?"Wormwood hummed noncomittaly."I'm training with another new recruit. He'll be in rotation after me while you're in-village. Macchia's the flower."Rasa nodded. He had researched extensively the type of poison that Sasori would one day use most often in his puppets. He drilled into his students the importance of gaining some tolerance to all poisons - so that even those with deadly consequences might be less severe in the hopes of any level of recovery.Especially those used frequently by their fellow shinobi, to avoid friendly fire."I hope your friend is able to heal," he said.Wormwood hummed again."I hope so, too," he whispered.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The Razing of Uzushio was no longer a project for Pakura or the puppet brigade or the jounin corps at large, as he vaguely recalled in the past. No, now it was Rasa and the ANBU who were tasked with it.Macchia, Wormwood, Primrose, Camellia, and Allium all gathered around his desk, reading the mission that Shion had handed them all intently."Fuck," said Macchia, looking over his shoulder at the mission scroll. "That's normally under our Commander's purview - they're really putting you throught the wringer, huh?" he said.Rasa wished he didn't already know who Macchia was, or he would have snorted at the casual, beleagured tone. Mizuho was putting a lot of faith into him, becoming an ANBU that would in theory be under his command alone one day.Then again, he was putting a lot of faith into Mizuho - knowing one day he'd be the ANBU commander he'd choose.The problem with Uzu was primarily their seals - the secondary one was their allies. After having secured some level of partnership with Iwagakure, they had a chance to move in on Uzu's walls by virtue of a long-term undercover operator that was technically an Uzumaki by marriage - but held no love for the spouse they'd been arranged to marry. Uzumaki Yumi was more than happy to see the village that was their true home - Suna - defeat the one they were trapped in.That was the narrative at least. Life was a lot more complicated than that, and only Rasa knew from a far-flung future that it was the truth - everyone else had to guess about Yumi's loyalty."Are you sure?" asked Primrose, doubt dripping from his voice."No, of course not," Rasa said. "If I were sure, then I'd not bother explaining all of this to you. We're working on the assumption that it's true - but we have to plan for what might not be. And be prepared to gather intel that keeps us from getting fucked over. Still, I want our primary course to assume that Yumi's information is mostly correct."Yumi's information was that Uzushio was primarily Konoha's ally against Kirigakure, fighting water with water natures where they could and being a primary defender force.She also knew that the sealwork to defend the village itself had specific access points. With enough agents working from within, they could dismantle protection seals and take down their home village -With Iwa's explosives, they would, just as before, turn the place to rubble with a few well-placed agents. First, they'd gather the charges from Iwa at Kannabi Bridge. He'd lead a team of jounin on a strike against the village to draw away high-ranking members. Kiri was already taking on a lot of the work, just by their usual stubborn tactics. While Rasa drove larger teams towards himself, it would look like them just taking advantage. The trick was keeping Suna's name off of the actual mission. Iwa and Kiri were the ones blamed for it before - with the explosives and with the active assaults on Konoha and Uzushio alike. It was a private matter that Suna was involved, and relatively unimportant in the grand scheme of history.Except that Konoha would remember who killed their sister village, of course. Their tenuous peace would never have come to pass if they knew Suna's part in it - Sarutobi was hardly the type to hold grudges, but his council were.He was not looking forward to any of those particular interactions.But regardless - Uzushio. There were a few ways he could potentially assign his agents to be effective, of course but his plan was thus:Macchia and Primrose would be the ones to set charges in the administrative center. Wormwood was assigned to take out perimeter guards. With his chakra string proficiency, Rasa was confident he could manage.Never mind the squirming in his stomach that came with planning death on a massive scale. Brutal though Suna was, it was the kind of thing that made him cringe - they were assassins and spies, overall. Killing with their own hands. The sheer numbers - that didn't faze him as much as the impersonality of it. Another reason it was Iwa creating the weaponry, and not Suna. He didn't know how Pakura and the Puppet Brigade managed the op the last time. Perhaps it was because he was making it harder on himself by acting with a final, secret objective:Camellia and Allium were on the precarious part of the mission that Rasa had been genuinely shocked that Shion approved of: they were going to evacuate - kidnap, really - the civilian population."We are monsters," Rasa had said. "But I don't want to look like one if someone reads back on this mission." Shion had hummed thoughtfully, nodding."Allium would be suited to that, with their speed and their adept clone techniques. Do you have a plan for after?"He had a few."Hostages to hang over Konoha's head, refugees taking asylum in Amegakure, or refugee status in Suna, pending citizenship" he said. "Uzu is also known for its artisans. We'd have skilled workers, if nothing else."Shion's brows had climbed high."Ame. That's a curious placement.""Not during active warfare of course," Rasa said wryly. "It's too central. But the climate is similar and I'm sure their population will suffer for numbers once this is over. If nothing else, it would get them away from one of the villages that slaughtered their shinobi.""We'll see what becomes of the fight, first," Shion said. "The rest comes after.On his desk, a note with a small stone sat in the center.
Rasa,
Off to deal with missions on the Kumo border. You owe me a date at Iruma's Tea, got it? I really liked the kind you brought over with the floral notes. Here are some titles to read in the meantime:
Terracotta Sage (Reminds me of Pakura!)
Dog and the Tiny Peach Boy
The Scorpion Prince (honestly one of my favorites, Yashamaru and I read our copy so often as children)
Benzaiten and the Hero Ai
Let me know what you think! It'll be nice to get taken away from the busy office work, won't it?
Karura
Rooster, Tetsuya, and Koumushi dove into the training match against Mukade, Yura, and Maki with all the speed and energy that came with fighting someone you know well.Pakura smirked."Lunch says my kids win today."Rasa scoffed."Mukade and Yura haven't been keeping up on their taijutsu. Tetsuya has been keeping the other two in shape.""You think they haven't?"Rasa shrugged. "It's not wise to lean on only one skill. They've been working with 'Sasori of the Red Sand', sure, against puppets - but against an actual team? It's been a fair while."Pakura chuckled."We'll see about that."(Rasa had been right - and Pakura paid for all their lunches, as promised."I should learn not to bet against you," she mused. "You're always right.""Now you're talking nonsense," he grumbled.)
Excerpt from Benzaiten and the Hero Ai
- biwa music lured a thousand soldiers in. Ai watched as each one laid down their swords, creating a beautiful steel lotus around the goddess. Ai continued the prayer until every sword lay at her feet.
"I offer you, oh goddess, a thousand swords, that you might use them to defend against those that would harm you."
With no blades left but those offered, only the one in Ai's hands, the soldiers were left as monks, and Ai the victor of them all. The steel lotus bloomed, and -
Rasa's mission went off without a hitch. His assault on the Uzushio forces was flashy enough that guards came running, and the ANBU team had acted accordingly. When the first bomb went off, he smothered the squad that had come to reach him.Hours later, he was met with a different assault.Haunted, frantic eyes stared at him as he created a dome of gold above them all. Seventy-five households, with some single people and some families. The rest were shinobi. The rest were dead. He had been thorough with his instructions, and trusted his ANBU to follow his directions to the letter. But the civilians had no doubt heard the bombs, even at this distance, and being kidnapped from your home, no matter the aftermath, would be jarring.Which left him to Sunagakure's second specialty, after spying:Performance."Iwagakure and Kirigakure have launched an attack on Uzushio. One of our informants managed to pull you from the village in time before the bomb tags were detonated," he lied. "We could only get so many of you, unfortunately." He took a breath."My name is Rasa, of Sunagakure. We will take you in temporarily until we can find another solution. I will protect you."Hope shimmered in some of the younger ones' faces.Lies, lies, lies. He turned and began walking towards Suna, a walking globe of gold shielding them all. Allium and Camellia trailed behind, while Macchia, Wormwood, and Primrose surrounded him."That's a stupid amount of chakra you're using," said Macchia, unimpressed. "We can handle guarding.""I owe it to them," he said quietly. "And they'll feel safer with a physical shield."Wormwood signed to him sharply.
Chakra Exaustion - imminent. Squad - attack - successful. Safe - here - interrogative?
More or less - safer with us, you idiot?"Let him have this," said Primrose. "I'll carry him in like a princess when he passes out. Then Chiyo and the Kazekage can laugh at him with us."He didn't pass out, though it was a near thing. Moving at civilian speed and popping soldier pills was the only way he hadn't."Sandaime-sama," he said, dropping the gold like rain to the ground as they reached the gate. "I come with refugees at my side."Shion tilted his chin up, scanning the group before nodding."Come, everyone. I know the journey must have been long. Rasa, to the infirmary, immediately.""He knows you so well," drawled Primrose. "Wait until the medics get ahold of you."It was about then - perhaps a little after, his memory fuzzy with fatigue - that his vision greyed and he passed out.Repeated or extensive chakra exhaustion had side effects. The average shinobi felt this, perhaps without knowing it, but those often using more exhaustive techniques knew more:Without an extensive rest period, one's pathways would be a little more open. Less efficient, without more precise control. And they'd heal that way, if one didn't rest according to the level of drain they'd incurred before going into the field again.Rasa could not afford to leave active duty, not now."Tell me," Karura said, "Why I had to find out from Yashamaru, and not my dear partner, that you were laid up in the infirmary for weeks because of a stunt."She had barged into his study without knocking, fire in her eyes, and he knew better than to continue filing jounin reports. He turned to her."It wasn't a stunt," he argued."Bullshit. I heard all about it. Chakra exhaustion to protect one-hundred and fifty-eight civilians all the way from Uzu to home when you had five capable ANBU right there with you.""Some of it was confidential between me and my ANBU agents, so I don't know how it's possible you heard all about it," he said flatly."I have my ways," she said.A snitch little brother, is what she had."Anyway - I had to. You heard what the mission was, no doubt.""And you were very noble and stupid," she agreed."I know, very Hero Ai of me," he said. "Look. The alternative was easier - of course it was - but I just couldn't stand to be the one in charge of all those lives. They didn't sign up to get killed for the war effort, and if I could have removed the shinobi guards and left the civilians in Uzushio, I would have. But -"She kissed the rest of his explanation away."Noble and stupid," she repeated. "And - I'm proud of you, for doing that - for choosing the difficult path based on your principles, rather than the more pragmatic one. Even if it makes me want to throttle you.""It wasn't noble," he protested."It was more noble than the alternative," she said. "They won't forget that you shielded them all the way from their homes to here. Nevermind the lie in it."And, well. No one needed to know the selfish reason he'd taken them to Suna."Fine, I give in," he said. "I was noble and stupid."It was better to just agree with Karura on the matter.
CASE J5711-04-0967
MISSION OVERVIEW
Assault on Konoha outpost near Amegakure.
Mission: Successful.
Participants: Squad of ten chunin, listed in filed report. Two casualties. Hoki Hajime and Shinjiro, Puppeteer Title Rooster.
Compensation for mission to be filed in Financial division. Bereavement notices sent to all necessary parties.
Rasa bowed deeply. Shinjiro's mother was stonefaced before he'd even delivered the news, and the young child - Shinjiro's little brother - stared up at him with eyes burning in anger."Leave," he insisted."Yuuga," she hissed.Yuuga - a dream of soaring. The child crossed his arms and tried to hide their lip wobbling."I'm sorry," Rasa said. "Shinjiro was my student. I tried -" he cut himself off. "I did what I could to make him strong, but it wasn't enough."Yuuga glared at him, eyes shining. His mother sighed."There is nothing to it. I hope the winds carry his spirit gently.""And that his voice echoes on them to guide our paths," he nodded. "If - if you need anything - this is Rasa to you, not the jounin apprentice to the Kazekage - please reach out if you can.""What, are you two different people or something?" grumbled the kid. His mother hushed him again.Karura was Rasa's confidant in ways he wasn't sure he could explain clearly.Their letters and dates followed a familiar warmth - a comfort, despite everything. And her sharp mind kept him looking forward to the future, to another date, another letter, another smile -He was smitten. Perhaps it was fate, bittersweet as it was."You do know I have a lightning nature," Yashamaru said quietly, as he took down more notes from the jounin squad meeting."Hm?""And gold conducts incredibly well," he continued. "Karura is strong, of course, and smart enough to make good judgement calls. But I just want to remind you that she's my sister, and I am happy to prove that loyalty, future Kage or no future Kage."Rasa blinked."Um. This is - well - probably the worst timing for me to ask you a question about our relationship, then," he said. "Another time?""No, we're on the subject, and now I'm curious."" . . . I'm thinking of proposing," he said. "Maybe a long engagement, because of the war, or just signing papers and being done with it - I don't know. But I wanted your thoughts, because your opinion matters a lot to her - and to me."Yashamaru blinked."And you think my sister will be - what - the loyal wife to the Kazekage?""She's been a good friend, a good girlfriend, and I want to be close for the rest of our lives," Rasa said. "I know it's fast -""-oh, I wanted to marry Mizuho after our first date, that's fine," Yashamaru waved away the explanation. "I'm more concerned about how you'll protect her when you have a whole village to handle.""Karura can protect herself.""I mean her heart," Yashamaru said. "You're not exactly the most cozy person to get along with, Rasa. Despite everyone else's friendship with you, I just don't see you opening up to people the way you do with her - and I want to be sure you're as genuine and frank about that as everything else."Rasa stared at him."I'm not good at showing things," he said. "Sage knows - But I've probably loved Karura a bit since I've met her. It's only grown. I get attached quicker than you'd think.""Oh?""That said, you break Mizuho's heart, I'll let you find out how the Ichibi feels about me."Yashamaru scoffed."If I break Mizuho's heart, I'd ask for it.". . . Yikes."Well, let's not hurt our loved ones, then we won't have to enter a death pact," he said. Yashamaru huffed."Karura will likely just want to sign papers. Do something nice when you both have leave after the war."That's what they planned the last time - if it hadn't been for his inauguration, it would have been right after peace was declared.He'd made it work, but the details were fragmented - he'd have to plan it all over again.He hoped she liked it as much as she had the first time.The entire building shook with a roar, and Rasa sat upright immediately. He dashed out to the main hall, where ANBU were rushing deeper into the recesses of the Kazekage estate.Frightened and battered chunin and jounin were evacuating. One grimaced as he saw Rasa approach."Rasa-sama," they said. "The Ichibi's prison ruptured. The Kazekage went down to repair it, but there was an enormous wave of corrosive chakra and an unknown figure appeared. I couldn't see everything through the sand."Other chunin and jounin gathered around him and gave further reports. His grimace deepened as he sent them off to the Hoki healer centers. He felt like his heart dropped into his stomach.The Kazekage was missing. And so was Sasori.The intruder was an Iwa-nin - apparently infiltrating to gather intel on his golden dome stunt and what he'd been hiding, because they hadn't trusted him to finish the job on Uzushio, or expected some kind of weapon or cache stolen from the ruins. Rasa didn't bother interrogating them further once T&I reported as such, later. He just slit their throat."Report, Wormwood," Rasa said. The ANBU nodded."When the Kazekage faced off with the Ichibi's unstable attempts to escape and the intruder, I kept close by, as did the rest of my squad. I figured that it would be an opportune moment to disappear in the collapse of the chamber, but I didn't expect -"He trailed off."I would have saved him if I could have, you believe me, right?" he asked, voice cracking on the final word. "Right?""Everyone would have," Rasa agreed, even if his prior memories were screaming about corpse puppets. "We can call off the undercover mission that I requested, Wormwood. I would not blame you for that. This is not a mission that will earn you or I any accolades.""Which means that it's all the more important, or you wouldn't have asked me. I know that. And this would be - well, the perfect setup.""I would not make you pretend to be his assassin without you fully consenting to what is ahead. Suna shinobi may attempt to kill you - will attempt. You'll have to kill comrades in return.""It's no different than killing enemies from other villages, in the moment," Wormwood said."If it were Koumushi?"Another pause."I'm not going to act out of a vacuum. I'll still be myself, just - myself if I had done it.""Good answer," Rasa said. "Then, Akasuna no Sasori," he said. "I think you'd best make your escape. Quietly, give people no time to find you. We'll fill in the blanks later."He nodded, took off his mask, and set it aside."Kazekage-sama," he said, a wry, tense smile on his lips. "Would you do the honors?" and held out his hitai-ate, facing him.Rasa nodded and drew Black Fang, slashing through the symbol of Sunagakure in one swipe. Sasori's breath hitched."Thanks, ojisan," he said quietly.Sasori might as well have stabbed Rasa in the chest, the way it ached."Damn, kid," he groused. "Just - please don't die.""Yes, Yondaime-sama." And he flickered out.Rasa hoped, with every inch of his being, that he wasn't being stupid here. If Konoha could have a plant in Akatsuki, so could Suna. He just hoped that Sasori was different this time. Because if he did kill the Sandaime -Rasa just gave his predecessor's murderer a free pass to escape."First my son, then my grandson!" snapped Chiyo. "Under the Sand line of Kages, we've been left nothing.""It wasn't the Sandaime that killed them, and he's gone now, too," Rasa said. "You don't have the sole claim on loving Mori or Sasori, Chiyo. You're not wrong to grieve, but don't you dare deny me that.""I am their family.""And Shion was mine!" he snarled. "Perhaps not by blood, but I'll be damned if you -""You have no family," Chiyo said lowly. "You are a Gold Sand bastard, weak and -""Do not finish that sentence, Honored Grandmother," he warned. "I'll regret my response more than you'll have time to.""Enough, Rasa," said Ebizo. "And Chiyo - this is not the place. Rasa is the heir, whether or not his relation is by blood.""That's true," said Elder Niki, peering at him with a curious frown. "So - that leaves us with the trouble inaugurating the next Kazekage. And the Council will have their say, one way or another.""As you say, honored elder," Rasa said."White-sand coward," Chiyo muttered. Niki stiffened but didn't reply."Watch your tone, honored grandmother," said Ebizo. "Unstable foundations will lead to crumbling walls.""To hell with it," she snapped. "And what of you, honored grandfather? Haven't we lost enough? Hasn't our house crumbled to dust?""We are still here, Chiyo," he said, weary but ever-understanding of her point. "Like it or not.""It's obvious, though, who the council will choose," said Niki. "Pakura and Rasa have long proved themselves proctectors of the village. Had her politicking been a part of her training, there would have been contesting battles - but we all know who will get the nomination, with Shion's approval set from the beginning.""And Rasa is the better choice," said a voice. Rasa blinked and saw Pakura, standing at attention a few feet behind them. "You seem to think his circumstances are all the better than yours, Chiyo. Have you ever once wanted to be Kazekage? Or have you deluded yourself into thinking that it's less burden than honor? I wouldn't wish the position on my enemies, let alone my friends. Especially considering the way it ends."Rasa pursed his lips and nodded, before joining the elders to the council chamber."Are you sure?"Rasa sighed."You are the thousandth person to ask me, Karura," he said."You always dodge a direct answer. Yes or no?"" . . . yes. I'm sure."She smiled wryly."Good, that you can stick by your decisions after you've made them at least. Because I have good news for you."He blinked. Was she -"I'm pregnant."And she was telling him right before his inauguration. His jaw dropped - how could he have forgotten? But didn't bother thinking further other than to kiss her squarely on the mouth before stepping out onto the balcony.Suna was not the largest of the shiobi villages, but it seemed everyone in the country had come to visit, with all the faces he saw below. It was more likely his nerves, but that didn't matter - not now. He swallowed down the flutter of anxiety and steeled his expression, holding out a hand to quiet the murmurs below."Thank you for your lives," he said. "For they are far more precious than your deaths. Dedicating yourself to Sunagakure, your home, is the greatest sacrifice you have offered each day. I will lay my own life before you, to do the same.""Hail, honored Yondaime Kazekage, Rasa no Kin," said Ebizo.The crowd echoed him, and Rasa flung one hand forward - a sliver of golden sand, shaped in Suna's symbol."I am honored to be your protector," he said. "I will use my life for you as well."And hope against hope that it was enough.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Very little changed from his position as heir-to-Kazekage and his position as actual-Kazekage, when it came down to it - only that he was rarely out in the field, now, and it had him on edge.It had him organizing all missions, with the simultaneous goal of survival and success.And he became more tired as the days passed - almost as much as Karura was, as he saw it."Rasa is unavailable," she said at his office door. "He has important matters to attend to. Please hold off on these matters until tomorrow.""Why I nev-"She slammed the door, huffing and crossing her arms."You and I are going to bed," she said. "And I don't care that I'm 'on medical leave,' give me something administrative to do to split the difference. Seriously."A great deal of his friends were stealing workloads from him, as it happened, too. Suddenly Sana and Pakura were organizing jounin teams, and Yashamaru was fielding questions from Hoki medics, and he and Karura discussed village finances when letters from the Daimyo arrived."He can't expect us to go on forever without another tax against luxury goods," Rasa hissed. "We can't afford to pay wartime missions as it is.""The paygrade going down wouldn't help," she agreed. "It's barely acceptable as-is."A haiku, hastily written, tucked into the spine of Rasa's copy of Benzaiten and the Hero Ai:
Death is Roran's fate
Amegakure may see dawn
Red Strings will wait there
Yashamaru and Mizuho were waiting for him when he left another council meeting where everyone argued about the allocation of the Daimyo's latest payment to them."So," Mizuho said, "I'd like to request a mission to the capitol. To see if I can't sweeten deals with the Daimyo."Rasa nodded."Throw around your family name, if you can. I know it's not ideal -""-but it's for the good of Suna," Mizuho finished. "I understand. I'll wear my fanciest civvies once I'm in the city. Yashamaru can be my bodyguard if people ask."Rasa snorted."Sounds like a bad romance novel.""Exactly;" Yashamaru smirked. Rasa froze, then shook his head."I - I don't want to know. Genuinely. Keep any and all mentions in the report of - shenanigans - as professional and clinical as possible. For my sanity.""Shenanigans?" asked Yashamaru, snorting. "You have kid on the way, Rasa.""Yes, but imagining Mizuho and sex in the same concept is probably like you imagining Karura with me," he deadpanned. "Again: professional and clinical. Thank you."The Uzushio refugees were a drain on resources, and everyone wanted them out of the village, Rasa included. Sending them to revitalize an outer settlement, or sending them off to Ame, or something would have been preferable. Unfortunately, given that they were civilians, doing so during wartime would be a death sentence.So he cautiously put them to work - a great deal of them were handy stonemasons, having carved a grand deal of their village straight from rocky cliffsides. Rebuilding broken structures became a lot easier with more hands. A few requested to work in the infirmary or in other trades, and where he could, he placed them there."I'm no shinobi," said one red-headed woman, clutching the hand of her husband, "but I can heal people. If you need an extra medic, I'll do what I can."A bold and selfless statement. He directed a jounin to take her to the Hoki compound to place her.But not everyone was capable of labor to earn their keep, and it was impressed upon him by more than one vocal council member that they really had to rid themselves of Uzu, or everyone would starve.Since the mission to bring them in had been signed off by the Third, most weren't terribly vocal about it - just persistent.It was an issue, and not one easily wiped away with an explanation borne of an alternate future. Rasa hoped against all hope that the war wouldn't last much longer than it had in the original timeline, because he doubted Suna could support them that long.A promise - we'll negotiate with Konoha to house the refugees, or a safe location in Amegakure. It was all he could do not to tear his hair out over the arguing, though."I'm thinking Hiruko if it's a boy and Temari if it's a girl," mused Karura.Rasa raised a brow."I like Temari. Not sure about Hiruko, though.""Why not? Not a strong, two-syllable Kazekage name?" she teased."No. I had thought about Kankuro, actually."She nodded."Hm. You know, that's a character in this one story -"He smiled fondly as she began telling a fairy tale, gushing over the dynamics between the characters as a representation of weather patterns.He gathered all of his golden sand into one container, frowning. He began to portion it and place amounts on a scale, portioning them by gram.One. Two. Three. Ten. Thirty-Five. Sixty.One-hundred. A kilogram. Three kilograms.Nineteen kilograms and forty-seven grams of pure gold as his weapon, as it stood.How much volume could he afford to cut from his own supply and still be an effective fighter? How much difference would it make in Suna's coffers? How long would it take to run out? How long would it take to regain the amount he was removing, and would it matter?He didn't do this last time. His memories were foggy, but he knew he wouldn't have risked it then.Only a silent ANBU guard with the code name Clematis watched as he cut his defense in half, re-armed himself with the remainder, and heated and packaged the rest to be donated anonymously to the funds for shinobi wages. It would almost last them to the end of the war, he thought. Just nearly - enough not to go into debt with the Daimyo.Karura dragged him down to the office of family affairs, giggling all the way."Well, why don't we settle it all at once - our child's name, and the marriage, then? It will save us time.""Slow down, I'm coming - yes, yes, let's do that.""Kannabi Bridge has been destroyed," said Sana. "We suspect Konoha or Kumo. Unless Iwa deliberately cut ties with us."He never did learn that one, though it hardly mattered - their connection with Iwa would be severed, then."Pull back major forces in Iwa and Kumo territory," he said. "Keep on the defensive with Konoha - I don't want any encroaching borders, but we will not go on the offensive, either. We don't need more land, we just need ours.""And Kiri?" asked Pakura, frowning."They've pressed their luck quite a few times," Rasa said. "Could you lead a force to tighten up our boundaries?""Absolutely, Kazekage-sama," she said. "Two jounin-chunin squads should be sufficient."Mizuho and Yashamaru returned, Capitol letterhead in hand:Sunagakure could agree to peace terms if offered, but could not offer it themselves. He'd pay out of his own pocket what needed to be recuperated in the meantime.As long as Suna got the strip of land they'd fought over since the villages were founded, that is, and that half of the Uzumaki refugees were agreed to be sent elsewhere.He had been arranging promotion paperwork with Mizuho, Sana, and another jounin captain when a familiar ANBU presence flickered to the center of the room."Kazekage-sama," said Allium. "Your wife is in labor at the Hoki compound.""Sana's in charge," he said, dropping his paperwork and getting up. Mizuho spluttered."Sana? Are you sure?""Because I'm going to go meet my first child," he continued. "When I get back, the village had better be intact."Sana grinned."Go, Rasa. We'll handle things."The Uzumaki woman who'd wanted to be a medic was among the ones watching over Karura's labor. He nodded sharply to her when they caught gazes, and she nodded back.Karura was flushed and teary-eyed, but overall things appeared to be running - smoothly? Or normally. No one was panicking, other than him.Had it been this nerve-wracking the first time?When all was said and done, screaming finished and gasping breaths taking over the room, there was a new human with wisps of blonde hair, breathing once, twice, then letting out a wail.Karura grinned tearfully, and Rasa stared at the crying child."Temari," he said."Temari of the Sand," agreed Karura.When he received the missive about a peace treaty from Konoha, he scowled.Some days, he'd hoped that the old man would just be genuine about his intentions from the start. Konohagakure could win the whole damn war if things continued as they were. The problem was, of course, that they'd run out of shinobi.And their sheer numbers had always been the reason they could hold out longer. With that no longer being the case, they may not last beyond a win."Sarutobi wants to negotiate peace," said Rasa. "I think the old man is tired."The council, which was all older than him bar Pakura and Mizuho, all tensed. They knew quite well the truth of it: everyone was tired of the war, and no one was winning anything substantial if it continued.An extra dig at the elders probably didn't help the tension, though. He needed to prod at them indirectly - retire, Sage, please - by pointing his finger outside of their circle. And Sarutobi was no one to scoff at. The Professor had his reputation and his title for so long for a reason."I believe negotiations should be made in Konoha," said Ebizo. "It will show we are unafraid of being on their ground."And after all, Kazekage assassinations only ever seemed to happen on home soil. Rasa nodded."I could definitely do that. In fact, what if I made a tour of it, settling peace?"There were a few scandalized rumblings."It would show that we're willing to be at a disadvantage," mused Elder Niki. "But we would be at one.""What, because I could get killed?" Rasa said. "Would you like me to choose an heir now, then?"The room seemed to chill a fraction."Let's not be rash," said another elder."What's rash about being prepared?" he asked. "I've had some in mind since I survived to my jounin promotion. It's changed over the years, but I'm no fool to think I'm invincible. Konoha would not come out of it unscathed if they tried, though.""I think you should go in person," said Ebizo. "With a small team. Perhaps to Iwa, too.""Why not all the major villages?" he asked. "I'll make a tour of it. And if someone gets the idea that we are doing well, or if the civilians associate us with the war ending, all the better."
Better reputation. Better mission rates.
Of course, he had just cut his defense in half. He'd have to rely on his guard if he was going to do this."Agreed," said Chiyo. "Put on a show of being the one to end the war, even if Sarutobi's the one that asked."Konoha. Kumo. Kiri. Iwa.Sarutobi, A, Yagura, Onoki.He was going to need Mizuho just to keep himself sane.Konoha was first, given the missive from Sarutobi. His guards consisted of three ANBU and four jounin. The Kazekage hat shaded his face from passersby, but everyone knew who he was because of it.It wasn't long before he was met at the gates. Sarutobi, red to Rasa's green, a few ANBU himself, and three jounin - Namikaze Minato, an unfamiliar Nara clan member, and Orochimaru of the Sannin. Rasa should have perhaps prepared for this scenario, but to do so would have required more time, sleep, and introspection than he was willing to go through on any given day even before he had a child and Kazekage duties to attend to.Yellow eyes, an impassive expression - not grinning imperiously, like before, but still, that face - it was the thing he remembered most clearly from before. After all, it was the last thing he saw before dying.He swallowed his terror and nodded to himself."Thank you for welcoming us into your village in this trying time," he said. "Let's head to the Hokage Tower and speak, yes?"A show of confidence, not to meet on neutral grounds, but ones that disfavored him - that had been the goal. Of course, the old man might think him naiive, or trusting - but Rasa's guards would see it otherwise. Sarutobi nodded."Your guards and mine can get comfortable. I couldn't imagine this discussion being short-lived.""Agreed. Primrose, Macchia - to me, at ease."The two flickered to his side."Orochimaru, Minato," Sarutobi nodded. The familiar blond head flickered into place opposite Yashamaru.Rasa wondered if he was imagining the tightening of Orochimaru's mouth, or if he was just assuming based off of what he knew of future events.Damn. Damn, why hadn't he thought this through?He followed them at a respectable distance, trying to swallow down the terror that had come with seeing the man. The only thing worse would be if Uchiha Fugaku had come in Minato's place.Negotiations were tedious, but mostly positive, all things considered.Konoha agreed to leave their fertile strip alone finally, and he offered safe passage for any Uzushio refugees that wanted to go to Konohagakure. Some, of course, were going to stay in Suna in the Dune District, where they'd begun to settle.Rasa asked if any glassmakers wanted to work out trades deals with Suna, where there were more than enough varieties of sand and artisans to work with. Hiruzen asked if any poison experts would be willing to share techniques with their cultivators - the Akimichi and Yamanaka."I think the two are not quite equal shares," said Rasa."How so?""I offer civilian artisans and trade deals. You ask for our weapons specialists.""Hmm."All right, not completely positive, but there wasn't a single kunai thrown.In celebration of the treaty signed, the Hokage hosted a small festival in the village's main thoroughfare. Rasa mingled pleasantly with the shinobi crowd and nodded genially when civilians expressed their gratitude."How early can I retire to bed?" he muttered."Two more hours for it not to look rude," muttered Mizuho under his ANBU mask back."Damn."A few moments later, a familiar blond head flickered to their side and offered Rasa a steaming cup of tea. Yashamaru snatched it out of Minato's hand, tested it for poison, and handed it to Rasa."Did Orochimaru do something to trouble you? I can speak with him," said Minato - pleasant expression, grave tone. Rasa scowled and sipped the tea."Nothing personal, and nothing that can be helped. Someone that looked like him nearly killed me, a long time ago, and I'd forgotten until I saw his face. Just a startling recognition. Now that I recall the cause, it won't be so obvious - I hope I didn't offend him.""It takes a lot to insult the Snake Sannin," he said. "Regardless. How are you enjoying your stay in Konoha?""Well enough. I think you probably have better things to do than to ask about my comfort level, though - yellow flash," he said, raising a brow. Minato had the decency to look sheepish."Yes, well, I did have some curiosity to sate. You are, after all, the current youngest Kage around, and a father at that. Being a shinobi with children in this age - how do you bear it?""In the way I imagine most shinobi do - trying to fight for a world where they don't suffer as much as we had to. Hopefully the treaty is a start.""Ideally, I hope they won't suffer at all," Minato said. Rasa snorted."That's an impossible dream. But making it easier - that I can accomplish.""Why impossible?""Don't be naiive," he said. "Eliminating all suffering is impossible. Trying to do so would end in failure. So if I can do the possible instead -""You sound like my student," Minato huffed. "He's such a - he'd call it a realist, even when it goes to pessimism.""I have my wife and friends for optimism," Rasa said. "I'm the negative one so we all stay alive."A hum of agreement."I suppose that means I ought to keep a Nara close by," he laughed after a moment. "Or Orochimaru, at that rate. Thank you for agreeing to the treaty, Kazekage-sama.""Rasa," he said. Minato's brows shot up."Rasa . . . ?""For the celebration. Right now, I'm just a man relieved my children will not have to fight in this war."Minato raised his own tea glass in a toast, nodding appreciatively.If Rasa had his way, they wouldn't fight in any war - but he was not naiive.Kumogakure was swift enough - they hadn't really wanted anything to do with Suna."We don't fight you, you don't fight us?" said A. "We don't have any quarrel with the Land of Wind. It's Konohagakure that we do not agree with.""We just signed a treaty with them," said Rasa. "Don't start something, or we will have quarrel with you.""Agreed.""Agreed."Later, Mizuho scoffed."Charming fellow, the new Raikage.""Rasa fits right in," grinned Yashamaru.The monthly visits to Shukaku's prison were becoming more frequent - twice, three times a month instead.The bijuu raged, poison chakra billowing from the center of the room.Rasa raised the golden dome."Now," he ordered. The sealmakers on duty rushed to restore the carvings and ink while Shukaku battered against the dome again, harsher than ever.This isn't a fun game anymore, the bijuu muttered petulantly.It never was, Rasa agreed privately. Out loud, he said -"One Tail - aren't you tired?"
Exhausted, but can't sleep. So neither will you.
A spark of a reminder - his son, never sleeping, and the Ichibi, never sleeping. A seal that wouldn't work.Rasa grit his teeth and pressed forward on the bijuu.The new Mizukage, bijuu and all, was incredibly young. Yagura looked like a child among his advisors, even as they deferred to him."I will have no quarrel with Suna as long as Suna has no quarrel with me," he said. "Though I would like an order that all jounin and special jounin are removed from border outposts on both of our parts."Pakura and her squads had apparently done a lot of damage where they'd tried their luck. Rasa repressed a proud smirk."Done."He hadn't done this tour before. He hadn't thought about international relations as a means to boost Suna's coffers.But if civilians saw Sunagakure and then saw peace blooming across the nations, well. That left an impact.Onoki was even quicker than A:"Here is the treaty. You were a solid ally for us against the Leaf, so we will hope you don't begrudge us now."He read it - Kannabi Pass Treaty, it was aptly titled.The only stipulation he declined was a pact to reconstruct the bridge. It didn't seem worth it, all things considered.The twenty-six Uzu refugees that were going to make their way to Konoha included three elders, and one of them was eyeing Rasa suspiciously. Once they'd settled the trip route, the man approached him and introduced himself as Uzumaki Goro."You're an impossible fool, Rasa of the Gold," muttered Goro, tilting his head and peering at him. "The others are young, yet. They have not seen the beginnings and ends of wars that you have. My son, Ise, had to escape Uzu long before you came along. And you would have killed him."Rasa frowned."I'm not sure what you mean.""Shinobi only," he said. "You would have killed him for being a genin. But we parted ways long ago, and last I looked, he went to Ame. I hope I can reconnect with what's left of my family, after all this. Not that you would have kept him alive, mind." Rasa frowned."He would have been on the battlefield for being a shinobi, and you blame me for a death that didn't happen?""Oh, he's dead. His letters stopped a long time ago, though he mentioned a son, so I'll still hope, I suppose."Goro held up his hand - ink on his wrist, faded, dated -A small seal."A sealmaster?"Goro snorted."Hardly. But I know more than most. I was close with my cousin Mito, after all."Mito. Uzumaki Mito."You're -""Older even than I look, sonny. Ha, I remember a bit before the villages were built. Not a lot, but enough. And you are the kind of fool that thinks he can save people quietly in one hand and eliminate all threats in the other. Like a Sunagakure Senju Tobirama. You'd like to save everyone convenient and important to you. But my son is dead, and so is my village, and yet here I am, and here you are."Rasa clenched his fists, struggling not to say your point, old man?Goro peered at him a moment longer."Why us, then, boy?""You didn't sign up for an early death like I did when I became a shinobi," he said. "Goro-sama -""Pah, Goro is fine. I'll not be needing honorifics from a man like you.""And what kind of man am I?" he asked."One with death in his eyes. You're just waiting for it, aren't you? That bijuu's chakra is strong in this place. It won't stay forever." Wrong reason, right conclusion - a clever old man. Maybe he would survive the travel through Amegakure.And he'd alluded to Mito handily enough in the same breath as Suna's bijuu. Damn it all."What do you want?"Goro smiled crookedly.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The complete land acquisition meant that the Land of Wind finally had an area for sustainable crops while they worked on the Suna greenhouse project. Rasa would crow with delight if he were the sort of person to do so. Instead, he was just annoyingly positive towards everyone that entered his office.He could tell Karura was getting a kick out of it, whenever she passed by to drop off or pick up paperwork. She'd more or less picked up internal affairs positions - the kind of thing that could be done by a civilian clerk, if it weren't for the confidentiality required. He'd been emphatic with her that she didn't need to, but she preferred not being far away from Temari.Which was why she, Yashamaru, and Sana were all in the Kazekage office, with a baby Temari getting passed around.Yashamaru bounced a giggling Temari in his arms, humming nonsensically.Karura smiled."And now I can teach her how to be a big sister," she said, and Yashamaru froze."'Rura?""Yes?""Oh my sage," he gasped."Damn, you two work fast," chuckled Sana. Karura threw a pillow at her."Must have been celebrating the end of the war," she continued, and Rasa also threw a pillow at her."Continue, and it'll be a kunai," he grumbled.Even if she wasn't wrong.Rasa heard about Orochimaru's defection from Konoha nearly a month after he'd returned to his Kage seat.Needless to say, he was very careful about how he talked about it with his administrators - one wrong word, and they'd set a bounty on the Sannin. Rasa wanted his people nowhere near his future killer, thank you.Suna had their own missing-nin, but they were fewer and farther in between. Mostly by virtue of being a smaller village, but also because surviving alone in the desert was a nightmare. The Land of Fire could support a solo wanderer for a time, of course - their teamwork was half-necessity, half-preference. But if you stand alone in a desert?You get buried under a dune on an unlucky night, and no one finds you."Permission to share my ANBU callsign with my future?" asked Yashamaru. Rasa blinked."Granted. Are you proposing?""I'll do it tonight," he said."I feel like I should do some kind of shovel talk. You certainly gave me shit when I was going to propose to Karura.""Little brother rights," he said, shrugging. Rasa's brow rose.He could be a little shit too, if he wanted. He sent a golden eye jutsu from under his desk to circle Yashamaru."Still. Older-brother-figure privileges. If I find out you've hurt Mizuho needlessly, I will make your life hell.""Hm. All right, then."That afternoon, Mizuho flickered into his office, a grim determination on his face."I'm gonna tell Yashamaru my callsign tonight," said Mizuho. Rasa supressed a laugh."Permission granted?""It wasn't permission I was asking, but thanks.""My blessing, then. 'Zuho, are you doing this for any particular reason?""I'm proposing."
Well then.
"Best of luck."And did Rasa end up with two miffed guards the next day, standing uncomfortably close to his shoulders throughout their joint shift? Yes. Yes he did."Can't wait for the wedding," he muttered, a tiny grin on his face. It earned him salt in his tea, later, but he didn't care. They had apparently decided to appoint him as their officiant, regardless.When Pakura, Koumushi, Tetsuya, and Maki returned from a mission to Ame to check in with the Uzumaki refugees that had moved there, it was with haunted eyes. Chiyo crossed her arms at his side as they stood in the Kazekage office."Kazekage-sama," said Pakura, clipped. "We encountered Sasori in the field. He's a missing-nin."His gaze snapped to Koumushi, whose expression was the stormiest of the three of them."Report."Maki nodded and began."The escort mission was as expected. We were on our return leg of the trip when - we were attacked. By two cloaked nin, who were targeting the shipment back to Dune District. One was presumably Ame-affiliated, due to their headband, and the other was Sasori of the Red Sand. His headband was slashed. He nearly killed Pakura."Dead silence for a moment, before Pakura continued."Nearly, pah. He had a new contraption of a puppet - the kind of thing that would put his previous ones to shame. Do you know how long it takes to get yourself out of a closed pupped that's lined with senbon? A long time. He was ruthless, no doubt, when it came to me. He wouldn't fight Koumushi directly, though. The guy in the Ame headband had weird eyes, orange hair - that's about all I know."Then it was a miracle they'd even survived. Rasa took a shuddering breath."Were any words exchanged, or just direct combat?""Koumushi swore up a storm, but Sasori wouldn't say anything," said Maki.Koumushi howled in frustration."He was better than me!" he said. "I - he was my friend, and we shared everything, I even knew his fucking ANBU callsign. And then - this!"Tetsuya gently placed a hand on his shoulder."It doesn't make sense!" Koumushi snarled."It really does," Tetsuya said, after a moment. "What has this village done but kill his parents, endanger you, and prevent him from studying puppetry to the extent he dreamed of? It's not . . . a shock, really.""What would you do if it were one of your siblings, huh?""If one of my siblings grew up to abandon our village and endangered the rest of us?""You care nothing about your blood, then?" asked Chiyo, a disapproving tone. Rasa scowled."Blood matters less than action," he said. "I would expect the same of each of you, should you encounter Sasori - with the caveat that I'd rather you be alive and he be free than you dead and him captured. And I would not be so callous as to send Chiyo on his tail, or any of you in particular, unless I was certain it was the best way. I have no doubt if I did send you, I'd lose you." He turned to Koumushi."I'm giving you, personally, a flee on sight order if you see Sasori," Rasa said. Koumushi spluttered."What? You can't -""As Kazekage, I am giving you this order. I think, if you were forced to make that decision yourself, even if it were a decision in the village's interest, it would be in your disinterest. I don't want you dying trying to kill a friend.""A friend who abandoned us?" asked Tetsuya."I'm giving it to Koumushi, because I suspect most would want me to send him after Sasori as bait. I'm not interested in disposing one powerful puppeteer for another. Would you act rationally in the face of this, Tetsuya? Or would you be too vicious in a fight after realizing his betrayal, and kill him needlessly before I can interrogate him?"His student didn't respond, frowning."I'll declare Sasori of the Red Sand a missing-nin, and place a Rank B bounty on him, live capture preferable," Rasa ordered. Chiyo glared at him."And if I find out you're helping him, Chiyo, you'll definitely wish he'd killed you on his way out, like he might have done the Sandaime."That set them all to freeze."You don't think he -" Koumushi said."I know he disappeared that same night," said Rasa. "A coincidence, or potential involvement? I don't know. And that's why I need him alive, if captured - I want to know who killed Shion-sama. If he knows, then we can see what heights his betrayal have come to."And how high Rasa's were, allowing him to roam free.Another note Rasa has tucked into his books:
Old friends survive all
Pain, Paper, Mask, and I
watch for more sunlight
Correspondence with the new Hokage was, at least, refreshing. Namikaze was about as honest as a head of a ninja village could reasonably be, and he had various projects in mind to strengthen their inter-village peace bond.A dangerous thing, that - to rely on someone. Rasa offered minimal support in some documentation from poison experts. While they wouldn't give away Suna's whole methodology, some of the more humid-preferring plants might be better suited to growth by the Yamanaka regardless - until Suna had their greenhouse district completed, that was.In compensation, the Uchiha clan was offering some specialized fire techniques that they typically reserved for forges and weapons-making.Yashamaru was ecstatic when he realized he could have glass kunai, in addition to his senbon. Karura made fun of him for obsessing, and Mizuho confided in Rasa that he was plotting to use the knowledge to make him a handcrafted gift of some kind.While they prepared for the wedding, Rasa did his best to make more time for Karura."Once, there were two lovely sisters, beautiful and hardworking and strong. One, though, was cruel, and the other was kind," began Karura, with their daughter watching intently."The cruel one was Kaori, and the kind one was Misaki. Misaki was kind to everyone, even the scorpion in her garden," continued Rasa. Karura startled, then grinned."Ah, so you memorized that one.""You said it was your favorite. Of course I did," he said.She waved him over to the crib."How's my Scorpion Princess?" he asked, tone light and soft."Ba!" Temari babbled back. Damn, but they'd made an adorable kid."Do you think she and her sibling will be like you and Yashamaru?" he asked.It was something he'd wondered, having been an only child, when she wanted to try again."I hope in some ways," she murmured. "I hope neither of them are as neurotic as me. Or as stubborn as 'maru.""I hope they're as loyal to one another as you two are," Rasa said. "Or something like it.""I hope they're not as single-minded as you," she shot back, "But I hope they care as deeply."A blonde young girl proclaiming that she'd be a wind mistress.A puppet master in the making, practicing until his fingers bled.A fifth Kazekage."Agreed," he murmured. "Shall we finish storytime and then head to bed?""Ah, yes."Uzumaki Miu sighed and opened the door.Kankuro wailed in Karura's arms - ever the performer, Rasa thought wryly."I would be careful about doing this again," she warned. "Karura-san, there were complications during this pregnancy. If there's high risk in the next one, you may want to consider - not."Karura winced."Is it impossible?""I highly recommend bedrest for now. Real bedrest, not shinobi bedrest. For a civilian woman, I'd suggest sterilization, for the mother's health."Rasa choked down a gasp, trying to keep it together. Gaara. Karura had - she had not survived due to complications, even disregarding the Ichibi sealing creating even more stress on her body."I'll consider it, but I think it's fine for now, right?" Karura asked." . . . with bedrest. And - I could -" she cut herself off.Miu had recently had a child herself, he knew. He didn't remember her from the other life - hadn't saved her from Uzu, then - but she knew all the details of Karura's health. And perhaps it was with that perspective that she was so insistent, but . . ."Could what?" asked Rasa."Will this be in confidence, Kazekage-sama?"He glanced at Karura, who pursed her lips and rubbed Kankuro's back, soothing him. She nodded sharply."Yes," he said."The Uzumaki clan has a few bloodline abilities that occasionally show up. Many to do with vitality. My line - consuming my blood accelerates healing and chakra replenishment."Holy shit."But it does drain my own blood and life force," she said. "So it is not something I share easily. My father died saving his squad, using this ability. I know better than to share it freely."Rasa could barely breathe.
Replenishment of health and chakra - another chance, just maybe -
"Which you will continue to keep to yourself, and only use in emergencies," he said. "I do not want you wasting your life for others if it isn't needed. But I do want you to use it if absolutely necessary - and only with those you'd trust to know of it. Make that a scarce number, Miu."She nodded."As you say, Kazekage-sama. I'll leave you two for the moment."Rasa and Karura stared at one another, mouths slightly open."All right, less Kazekage, more meeting your son," Karura said. "Come here and cuddle."As the golden light of sunset filtered through the windows, glittering on the mosaic floor, Rasa sighed. The group was small, but there were a good handful of Mizuho and Yashamaru's friends, each. Almost no family, though - Yashamaru's sole living family was Karura, and it wasn't like Mizuho's family were too happy about the marriage.(Not antagonistic, mind, but not invested enough to attend - it had Rasa's gold shivering at his feet in irritation, at any rate.)Most of their mutual friends attended, along with some of Rasa and Pakura's students and their families.Mizuho was in warm golds and violets, brown curls styled to frame his face. His sleeves were embroidered with darkened silhouettes of succulents and primroses, and his eyes were glinting with warmth as he caught sight of Yashamaru. Rasa saw Karura holding her brother's shoulder as they approached, the man in blue with bright yellow flowers and glittering glass beads around his neck.The two men were clearly hypnotized by one another. It was as if their friends held their breath as they got closer and closer, and finally took one another's hands."The hands joined today," Rasa began, "Have been guided by wind and will. Fate's winds allowed the right paths to cross, circumstances to keep them alive, and put them here. The will of sacrifice, of labor and of choice have brought them to this space to promise their futures to each other -"He continued, and damn if his friends weren't so soft, gazing like romance novel protagonists at one another. Like they weren't the deadliest assassins Rasa had in his village - only innocent lovers, finally getting married.Suna's Glass Hawk and Death Mirage - not that they had those titles, just yet. Tempered steel, sheathed away. Right now they were just Yashamaru and Mizuho."As I understand, the couple has vows to one another," he said.Mizuho took a shaking breath before nodding."I've read a thousand contracts since I was small. From small receipts for my own purchases, to large land and business deals that affected hundreds of lives. The most important one I'll ever have negotiated is my promise to be yours, in exchange that you be mine."Nostalgia from when they met - a jab or two at their friends orbiting them, waiting for them to get together - a glance at Karura, who was holding Kankuro while Temari stood at her feet."I've never had major goals," Yashamaru admitted. "Nothing I particularly wanted, when I had to focus on what I needed. But I knew from the start that I wanted you. I'd fight a raging Tanuki for you, even if I didn't have Rasa around to use as a meat shield."Rasa snorted, and the rest chuckled."And no one, nothing, could stop me from wanting you," he said. "I swear that I will use every inch of my heart to love you back."They both glanced at him, and he gave a half-smile."I'll ignore the blatant disrespect for the sake of you two finally tying the knot. Kiss, and know that your bond is recognized. We all know here that it's stronger than a desert storm. It's not my place to tell you who to love, and how, or to reinforce your own promises. If you know them at all, you know full well they'll love each other, and damn anything I have to say. And that is the most beautiful thing about it: they will endure."Everyone erupted in cheers as Yashamaru dipped Mizuho - and Kankuro wailed in chorus with them.Karura ushered Temari towards him, and she put her hands up in a grabbing gesture. He picked her up, and she immediately began fiddling with his jewelry.He sighed, smiling.In between politics and menial paperwork, Rasa took time to visit Academy age students.Yuuga included, who approached him after class to speak with him."I heard what you said, about our lives being more important than our deaths," Yuuga murmured. "I'm not - well. I'm gonna emulate him. Enough that maybe he'll live a little longer through me."Rasa's heart twisted something fierce."That's a worthy goal," he said. "Just don't forget your own life in the process. Someone once told me it would be strange to act like you're two people, right?"Yuuga blinked, and a teary smile, a little awkward, bloomed on his face."Yeah, I guess so, jan. Smart guy."And Rasa knew this Rooster, for certain. Kankuro had emulated him, too, once upon a time.The jounin scout looked stricken as they approached his desk. Rasa sighed."Report," he said."The Kyuubi was released in Konoha - it's unclear, but the rampage left the Yondaime Hokage and his wife dead, along with several shinobi and civilians in the rampage. The Third has taken up the hat again."Rasa inhaled sharply, holding it for a moment.There was no saving them, then. He'd have to deal with some things staying the same, no matter what."A courier was requested of the late Uzumaki Kushina to deliver some affects of her clan to the refugees in the Dune district."That was unexpected."I'll accompany the courier for dropoff," he said.A short ANBU in a familiar mask - Hound. Silver hair. But this one was too small to be Hatake Sakumo, no, this one -A flash of a cruel thought flitted past - he had Black Fang here, now, could end the Hatake line - and sighed."I'm told you have something for the Uzumaki refugees?""Yes, Kazekage-sama. Uzumaki Kushina had some leftover affects from her time in Uzu and wanted it gifted to any surviving family that would take them."He gestured towards a storage scroll on his back. Rasa nodded."I'll accompany you to the Dune district for delivery," he said. A pause. "I'm sorry for the loss of your Kage. Little I knew of him, but what I did, I imagine it's a heavy loss.""Maa," the child murmured. "I suppose so."Friend-Killer. Thousand-Jutsu. Copy-Cat. This boy had a thousand titles waiting for him, and he didn't even know it. Still, they made their way to Dune district, where the family that had helped Karura through Kankuro and Temari's births were living. There were a few others, but mostly young couples and a few elderly folks - most had made their way out of Suna once they were able.Uzumaki Miu grinned wearily, bouncing a redheaded baby on her hip as they babbled and cooed. She glanced between Rasa and Kakashi curiously."Miu," said Rasa."Kazekage-sama," she said. "And -""Hound.""Hound-san. How can I help you?" Rasa gestured to the masked Konoha-nin."Uzumaki Kushina perished in the Kyuubi attack early this month," he said. "Her will was in place due to other circumstances. Since her husband was the Yondaime, a lot of the legal proceedings were slow-going, even though her instructions were quite clear. She wanted to offer some of her affects to the nearest known and available Uzumaki family, to carry on clan traditions."Miu nodded, tears gathering in the corner of her eyes."The rest is an S-class secret, only for Kage and Uzumaki ears," he said. Rasa paused."Privacy, Primrose, Macchia." The two flickered into place to confirm, then away to separate any listening ears from the premises."Go on," Rasa said."Her child survives," he said further. "And with so few of the clan left, she wanted to ensure that he carries the name. When he's of age, she'd like the nearest Uzumaki family to be able to teach him about Whirlpool, and hopefully bring him to visit."Rasa stiffened.Uzumaki Naruto was the son of - of course. Of course he was the son of the Red Hot Habanero and the Yellow Flash, who else would he be? His conversation with the Yondaime Hokage echoed back in his ears.
"Right now, I'm just a man relieved my children will not have to fight in this war."
Visions of Gaara and Naruto fighting the Akatsuki and the undead flickered through his memory. Hopefully Rasa could make Namikaze's dream came true in the end."I will facilitate any necessary assistance to make it possible," Rasa said. "Should they need a protection detail of any kind. Provided you are on the team as well, Hound. The Uzumaki refugees are citizens of Suna as well, and I want as few people involved in this expedition as necessary." And an eye on a future legendary nin, too.Hound nodded fervently."That can likely be arranged, Kazekage-sama." By me, he didn't say."See it is so. Miu, would you be willing to be the contact for this? If not, we can seek out another family. I imagine Uzumaki-san, may the winds guide her spirit, might want someone of a similar situation to her to carry this out."Her expression went stony, mouth thinning into a hard line."My daughter and I will absolutely bring this child to see Uzu one day." A flash in his mind to Goro's grin - so different in intent, to this woman's protective grimace.He believed them both all the same.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The entire market district was in shambles.Shukaku had increased frequency of his - fits. The inner sanctum of the Ichibi prison was weakening. Everyone had known this - it was a habitual argument, with the elder council. A constant refrain of: we need a jinchuuriki. We can't stand idly against the other villages anymore. We won't survive an attack like Konoha had.The ideal, of course, would be to pick someone close to Rasa. Every jinchuuriki seemed to have one connection or another to their kage. Using Suna sealing records, Chiyo and other scholars looked for chakra markers that would indicate a good match. Rasa himself was out. Pakura, too. Mizuho, Sana, others - mismatched. Not stable. Would likely die in the attempt.Karura and Yashamaru, as it turned out, were matches - but too old to safely seal. Their chakra too settled to grow with a bijuu. Younger was better, unfortunately, and would - barring disaster - last longer as the jailer of their rampant tanuki problem. Kankuro and Temari weren't matches, either. They hadn't been, the first time - too similar chakra to his, and not similar enough to Karura.Not to mention they didn't have a fucking sealmaster.They were sitting in bed - awake, but nearing the hour they'd definitely need to go to sleep."I think I'm going to retire from active duty," Karura mused. "Kankuro and Temari are getting close to ages they'll start to remember us being absent. And the mission desk doesn't mind toddlers.""I think that's wise," Rasa agreed. "Do you - mind that I'm still Kazekage?""Do I mind?" she asked, brow furrowing. "What do you mean by that?""There will be a target on your and the children's heads forever. And -"Rasa hesitated."There's something I haven't told you, that I haven't told anyone. And I'm not sure how it'll effect what you think of me.""I expected secrets when I started dating someone bound to be Kazekage," she said. He winced. He was honestly lucky that she was willing to date him in the first place, given his lack of availability."It's not Kazekage-related. Or at least, not completely. And you might think I'm crazy.""Rasa," she said, pulling him closer."When I first unlocked my ability to use golden sand," he began. "I - saw things. That haven't happened yet. My whole rest of my life, and some after it. The clearest moments are those near my death. And while I don't remember clearly all the things we went through the first time, I do remember marrying you before. I'm starting to come towards events I remember more clearly and - I'm terrified.""What of?" she asked. Her brow was furrowed, but she didn't seem to disbelieve him, not yet."Everything," he said. "Could - could I tell you what happened the first time?""Yes," she said. "If nothing else, you believe this. Whether or not it's true, it's true from your perspective. And I'd like to know more about my husband, if he's willing.""And to know if I'm crazy?" he asked wryly.She smiled, leaning on his shoulder."We're shinobi. The bar is in the ground for that. You've not acted entirely irrationally in all the time I've known you, so let's see what you have to say."So he told her. Every inch and moment he could recall, even the things he was ashamed of that made him want to bury himself in the dunes.Even in the face of her own death, Karura didn't flinch or turn from him. In the face of Yashamaru's, her grip tightened. In the face of his, she slumped against his side in resignation.In the face of Gaara with her protection against him, she shuddered, a few tears spilling."Rasa," she said. "I didn't tell you why I wanted to retire, did I?""Why?"She put a hand on her belly and looked ag him with shining eyes and a smile."Miu had mentioned a complicated pregnancy if I went through it again," she said. "I wanted to take it easy. I suppose we won't have to think of baby names, though, will we?"Karura knowing changed things and it didn't.With her stepping down from active duty, there were already changes in their day-to-day that he couldn't reconcile with the knowledge itself. She was at home with Kankuro and Temari often, and Temari had already begun to show her own personality.Temari adored Yashamaru. She liked him more than she liked Karura or Rasa, which was endearing as it was infuriating on its own."Clearly she understands who's the better person," Yashamaru would grin."Or she's figured out who will spoil her the most," Karura muttered under her breath, looking at the new hair ribbons he and Mizuho had procured in Flower Country."She'll learn," Rasa said. "I don't know how, but she will."And yet -She watched him with a more calculating eye, he thought. Whenever he made a decision more important than a meal, her mouth would thin to a line, just a moment. She questioned him more, and when he said I don't know more often than not, she'd sigh in relief.After months of the careful questioning, he asked."I've told you that I don't remember this time as clearly," he said. "Are you checking all my decisions for a reason?""I - sorry," she said. "I'm just making sure I wasn't a decision you made because you knew you had to.""I fell in love with you twice, Karura," he said. "I don't think I'm the same man I was the first time, so I'm just lucky you decided I was worth keeping around a second time."She smacked him over the head."Idiot," she muttered. "Not the same man? Am I the same woman I was before I had Kankuro and Temari?"" . . . yes?""Yes," she replied. "But I still have new experiences to work from. I'm a mother; I wasn't before. I am your wife, Rasa. You are my husband. You just have more experiences this time around - you're not a different person altogether.""I certainly feel different," he said. She chuckled."And I feel differently about things now than I did in my teens. The circumstances are a little different, but not nearly as much as you think.""I'm still shocked you believe me," he said. She grinned, a little of her mischief coming through."I did think it was strange. But again - you didn't know I was pregnant. I made sure of it, because I was going to surprise you. Plus . . . is it odd to say I always thought there was something odd about you? You hold others at arm's length a lot. Some more than others. Yashamaru especially."He winced."Yes, well - I didn't think it would be noticeable to people who didn't know the circumstances.""Emotional expression has never been your forte," she teased. "Now. Help me plan a fun way to tell Yashamaru about Gaara.""We are looking for all manner of potential candidates for the Ichibi to be sealed," said Ebizo, "And yet there are none we can find. We've checked records of upcoming newborns and potential chakra matches with the Hoki medics, and there is at least one potential match coming soon."Rasa tensed."I don't recall any reports of this," he said."It just came in today," said Elder Niki."An unborn child, but from what our best sensors can indicate, one that will still flourish under the Ichibi's strain."Damn it all. Karura had had an appointment, but Miu had been out to take care of her daughter, Karin. Another medic must have taken the record down."Have the parents been informed of the possibility?" he asked."We are in the process of informing them," Ebizo said. "Pakura is informing Karura at the moment, and we are informing you."You could have heard one of Yashamaru's senbon hit a target in the silence that followed."My unborn child," he said. "Is the only candidate to keep this village from falling to ruin. This is what you're telling me?""The sooner we seal the Ichibi, the better," explained another council member."Act like a Kazekage," said Chiyo, huffing, "And protect the village."All right, that was it."Those with the most sealing knowledge will be ordered to research jinchuuriki seals at top priority," Rasa said.He felt the icy cold killing intent from ANBU Primrose at his back. They were about to have a stressful conversation, then.Yashamaru stormed into his office, slamming the door closed and wild fury on his face."How dare you," Yashamaru said. "How fucking -""I don't want to do this," Rasa hissed.Yashamaru scoffed."Of course you don't want to argue with me - you only fight when you know you'll win!""Don't you think I wouldn’t take the Ichibi myself if I could? Damn it all, Yashamaru, I'd rather die than do this. But if I die, that won't stop the council from ordering it done regardless, and if I refuse, plenty will die in my child's stead. People don't forget that. He'd be a pariah either way.""You are dooming this child, and my sister! Her body will strain with the pregnancy as it is!""I know, fucking - I can't stop being a Kage to be a father and husband here," he said . "If I do, I fail everyone. I owe it to my children to make sure the village is safe, and if everything is destroyed by a raging bijuu before I can properly raise them, then I fail at both.""Find another solution.""There is no other solution.""Seal it in me!"Rasa stared at him."Seal it in someone who's willing, damn you -""It would kill you. At least the child would survive, Yashamaru, I -""And Karura?""You think she won't kill me for letting you do this?" he said, but calculations were running in the back of his head. A thousand ways this could change -Just recently, Namikaze Minato split the Kyuubi in half, sealed half in his newborn son, and sealed the other half in himself. He died to do it, and Rasa wasn't supposed to know that was how it had occurred - but he knew. Each jinchuuriki's status had been made clear to the Edo Tensei Kages - in order to eliminate them easily.There were three sources of seal mastery he had access to: Konoha, Uzushio, and Suna.Jiraiya of the Sannin, who had fucked off to who-knows-where, unlikely to help Suna but likely to want to prevent another raging bijuu incident. The council would tear him to shreds for relying on Konoha, and he'd honestly doubt the man would be so kind as to do the favor in a price range that they could afford. It was the most sensible and the least possible.Then there was Goro's cryptic grin and the seals he'd shared knowledge of, and the gamble he'd offered: an Uzumaki shinobi who had studied once under Jiraiya. Not unlike the moments of his death, the moments of his undeath in Edo Tensei were decently clear, and the descriptions of the events that led to where he stood had been explained in graphic detail. There was also the fact that Uzumaki Nagato might not know a lick of sealing, and he was in a dangerous center of events to even attempt to contact. Sasori was already working with him, too, so presumably Akatsuki was in full swing. But he trained under Jiraiya, so the sealwork was all but guaranteed, even discounting his heritage and Goro's offer. There was skill potential there, but incredible, terrifying risk.Chiyo, almost bound to fail but for the fact her seal somehow worked the first time, and the old Sunagakure priests who sealed the Ichibi the first time. The Uzumaki weren't the only sealmasters, despite their reputation. The priests of Suna had long sealed the One-Tail in a priest before Reto's reign, keeping the once-living-sandstorm as a protector of their home. Had they put Bunpuku's seal to paper -A sick revelation came over him. Quiet and true and blasphemous, if anyone were to ask. Suna was cursed, some said on bleaker days - by those priests they'd doomed in the founding. So they followed the Tanuki principles, after a fashion - practicality and scarcity and vicious protectiveness, and honoring he dead by leaving them to the air. In the priests' cases, that meant leaving their mummified remains in the crypts of the Tanuki. The ones he'd passed by countless times, sealed, entombed, untouched.Preserved.And Rasa had full access to the tombs.Sage, was he any less ruthless than the Sasori of his memory? To use corpses to further his mission?"Let me talk to her," he said, instead of elaborating. "If there's another way, we'll see what can be done. But I don't take this lightly, Yashamaru. I know exactly what I'm risking.""And yet you still act like it's a gamble you're willing to take.""I've never been much of a gambler," he said. "You said it yourself: I only pick a fight I know I'll win. But every solution I see is risky, and we're running out of time. At least trust me to do my best with what I have.""I wish you'd never become Kazekage," Yashamaru said. "But fine, if you're so stubborn - fine."Rasa met his eyes again.You couldn't stop me anyway, he didn't say.I could, Yashamaru didn't reply.Goro's promise was the assistance of his grandson, a powerful Amegakure shinobi, and whatever seal knowledge he'd obtained in his time in Uzushio.Rasa didn't know of any Uzumaki in Ame that would have the knowledge without him. He did however know that Akatsuki's base of operations was there, at least at some point. It was entirely possible that that was now.Rasa ran a hand roughly through his hair, growling.This was a shot in the pitch-black dark, and here he was, considering working with the Akatsuki to seal a damned jinchuuriki. Bunpuku's seal would seal the Ichibi, and theoretically if he got literally anyone with seal knowledge and enough chakra to withstand it, even Chiyo could probably apply the correct seal with decent success. But with someone who knew what they were doing -He was insane; there was no other explanation.Another haiku, tucked into Rasa's books:
Rain beats down the dawn
But sun rises, crane and pain
Old Red Spirals New.
Karura hated the plan, but she agreed to it."You've put in failsafe after failsafe," she said. "For my health, for Gaara, for Yashamaru, for the village. It all hinges on whether it works. There's no guarantee. I may die anyway. We all might, but that's true of any day, no?"He felt his eyes burn with tears."Just - swear you'll be a father to them, even if this all goes to hell," she said. "Don't repeat old mistakes. Make new ones.""I swear," he promised. "As long as you swear to try and stay by my side to make sure I do."She gave him a weak smile, but a smile all the same."This is stupid," said Mizuho, arms crossed. "You're risking your life needlessly. You know that.""It's not needless," said Yashamaru. "My sister - ""Is not the one getting a tanuki demon sealed in her.""No, just me and her unborn child," Yashamaru replied. "Because apparently, the tanuki's stupid chakra won't settle for anything but the kid.!""And if you die in this stupid attempt, what then?"Rasa shook his head and kept walking past their apartment. It wasn't his business, not when he'd already made his decision.Sana and Pakura were sparring when he found them.Well, sparring was technically what they were doing. In reality, Pakura was playing around, and Sana was fighting tooth and nail for an advantage. Every kick, every flare of chakra - burned away in Pakura's.Maki, Koumushi, and a few others were watching beside them."I'm done," roared Sana. "Enough."Pakura dropped her scorching techniques and crossed her arms."Did that make you feel better?""Yes," she muttered. "But not as much as kicking the Ichibi's ass would. Five of my good friends died in the market collapse, and I'm tired, Pakura -"Rasa kept walking. It wasn't going to solve anything to try and comfort her. He owed it to her to stop the Ichibi, more than anything.The council was silent when he entered, stony expression over the storm of worry in his mind."I've come to a decision on how to deal with the Ichibi."He met each of their eyes slowly before continuing."I'm commissioning an Uzumaki sealworker from Amegakure to split the Ichibi into its Yin and Yang halves. Then, using the seal of Bunpuku, we will seal the Yang half into my child, and the Yin half into Yashamaru, my brother-in-law.""The Uzumaki?" asked Niki. "I didn't realize any sealworkers survived.""I was aware there might be other parties outside of the refugees we took in," he said. "Amegakure has been unstable for some time. And with it sandwiched between Wind and Fire, there was no doubt going to be interested parties in our affairs. Uzumaki Goro, a refugee, let it be known to me that his family might be there, and in correspondence let it be known that one of them studied under Jiraiya of the Sannin. In exchange for a trade alliance with Ame, they are willing to send this Uzumaki to conduct the splitting of the Ichibi and the sealing of the jinchuuriki."A trade alliance with the home of the Akatsuki. But even worse -"I assume this trade alliance will be in their favor, then? Otherwise they would not use it as a bargaining chip," said Ebizo." . . . a preferential mission contract, and a trade agreement that requires preferential imports from them.""This is reckless!" snarled Chiyo. "My solution - ""Is also reckless, and I trust so little of your seal expertise that I sought out a second solution," he replied. "I think you'd do well to remember who the first jinchuuriki was, and from what clan she hailed.""Blood relation," she scoffed. "When has that mattered to you? Wasn't it you who said that blood mattered less than action?""It matters when it comes with a legacy specializing in what you don't," he replied. "You wanted me to act like a Kage? Here's me acting like one: this is an order, Chiyo. Stand down."She pursed her lips."If you doom this village," she said, "I hope the Sand Priests haunt you at your grave."The thing he had not mentioned, of course, was this:Amegakure had an excess of the thing Sunagakure suffered a lack of, and one way or another, this deal was going to favor Suna.Ame, after all, was the land of rain."I'm joining the extraction team to keep the teapot stable," he said. "As we transport it to the clinic where the sealing will take place, I'll have the village on lockdown and evacuation protocols set for the area near the clinic. There will be no mistakes. We have precious little time, but we have some time, and I intend to use it to minimize damage and risk where possible.""Kazekage-sama, I don't think that's wise to include you directly on the team. The risk - ""I am the only one that's managed to keep it contained long-term.""Our last Kazekage died in an Ichibi-related accident. Are you prepared to do the same?" asked Ebizo."I'm prepared," he said. "For many possibilities."Two weeks before Karura was due, the team from Ame came. Goro and a young man with red hair, rolled in by wheelchair by a young woman with blue hair.Sand, obviously, did not agree with the wheelchair. Rasa immediately directed his own sand beneath them and tightened its density."Thank you for the welcome you've provided in this village, Kazekage-sama," said the young woman."And thank you for coming to do this great deed for us," Rasa replied. "The winds of fate favor us that you were willing to do so.""Pah, enough pleasantries. Let's get somewhere where this old man can rest his back, mm?" said Goro.Once they were settled, Rasa took a deep breath. It wasn't long before Karura was due, and only she and he knew about the true threat Akatsuki could pose. He had his knowledge, yes, but that didn't mean he knew everything - and the slightest wrong move could ruin them.So could the slightest lack of action, of course. That's why he was staying closest to the Ichibi the whole time, including its final reinforcement in the catacombs.Rasa entered the chamber and the sand was erratic as always, flicking in strange fractals before settling like a small boiling crater below the teapot."This is the last time I'm doing this," he said, and as he approached, the sand rose out to grab at him. He slapped it away with his own golden tendril, but that didn't stop his vision from darkening - the overwhelming scald of the bijuu's chakra overwhelming him.The world went quiet, a hazy, purplish mist stretching out into the distance. Iron chains with links as big as Rasa himself rose into the distance - tying down a titanic tanuki."Kazekage," it rasped. "Finally, we speak - face to ugly face. Now what did you say about this being the last time?""With your seal wearing thin, we've had to make new arrangements. Much as I despise it, you jinchuuriki has been chosen."A blast of hot air as the tanuki huffed."Jinchuuriki? You've found someone stupid enough to take the great Shukaku on?""Desperate, more like," Rasa said. "As am I. But we have a sealmaster and a plan, which is more than I was hoping we'd have.""What puny human have you chosen, then?""Unfortunately, two of them - my child and my brother-in-law."Whatever looming ferocity seemed to freeze. The Ichibi visibly shrank."What was that?""Two jinchuuriki."The Ichibi frowned at him."You - don't want me sealed in just your infant child.""No. We don't have the resources to do it properly, let alone -""That's not how it's meant to go," it interrupted. "You - I can't have changed anything. What's wrong with you? Why are you different?" it seemed to be asking itself. Rasa stared."Did you - are you telling me you expected me to seal you in my newborn?""Gaara would have suffered," the Ichibi said, and what."I did not tell you my child's name."The roiling sand froze."Huh. Well, turns out, I've been going crazy in this teapot, dreaming up fake visions of the future. Like I was reading a storybook, and -""Where Gaara would grow up without sleep and with you tormenting him. Until Konoha.""You - then you know the story, too," the creature huffed."The story? You mean my life? What do you know?""I know that I've lived every waking moment in this damn teapot with visions of a story that only tangentially involved me," the tanuki replied. "A story called Naruto."Rasa wasn't entirely surprised the visions circled around the young jinchuuriki - he caught the attention of others quite easily, and his damned village had so many figures intervening in other villages' politics that it was no wonder."And I've lived every waking moment since I unlocked my golden sand technique with the knowledge that I'll die in Konoha to Orochimaru's blade, approximately twelve years from now. And the closer we come to that moment, the clearer the memories are."" . . . huh. Well, shit. Guess I don't have to kill you for being a shitty father this time, then?"Rasa stared up at the Tanuki.The Tanuki stared back."Whatever visions I had must have bled into your own consciousness," the creature mused. "Not sure how, but eh, I don't think it matters as much how as what the hell we do with it. I couldn't do much in the teapot and you were starting to look like the bastard that sealed me in your kid, so I was trying to make it known that I needed out.""So - now what?""Now you and I make a plan, little Kazekage," it said. "For how we fuck over the timeline in our favor. Deal?"This was the strangest alliance he'd ever make, he was sure of it."Deal."