Fandom Naruto the sands skip a beat. (by enzer and believing heart)

[enzerubebii]

susami gave an annoyed look like she was so offended and paws at his face as if smacking him and pouts. She is technically a 'demon' but he could at least say shes a pretty kitten like that other lady said. How hard can it be to tell her shes pretty? She went allll this way to see any interesting secrets and the least he can say is say shes a pretty kitten.

 

[MJ ._.]

Sora lowered his arms and let the kitten rest on his lap. "If you don't like me then what are you doing here? Seems that I'm revisiting a memory. I don't know how...do you always....I don't know what to say. Nothing here makes sense anyway." He spoke casually. Then the other Sora spoke: "Koba san, for how long are we going to wait here? This is our turf and yet we can get close to the enemy." He asked the older guy. "Don't you see his techniques? This level of wind ninjutsu...it's like fighting one of our own. We must wait until it's over and then go and see if there really is a traitor on this battlefield...." That shinobi answered seriously. The older Sora stood and left the ditch after making sure that the storm wasn't going their way. He walked out of the desert and entered a blank space. "I'm tired of dreaming. I want to sleep peacefully." He said and suddenly the was a door in the middle of nowhere. He went through it and so he was in his bedroom. Sora put the kitten on his bed and change his clothes then slid under the sheets. "If you have nowhere to go then you can sleep in my bed." He told her before falling asleep.
....
In his sleep, the Sora in the dream started dreaming. He was walking a road in the land of grass. He had worn the same outfit that he had on when Shira team saw him entering the cave. He didn't stop until reaching a tavern. After going in, he didn't hesitate to look at the bartender or care for drinks, but climbed up the stairs and entered a small room for customers who asked for privacy. Inside there, three people were waiting for him. All of them were clad in similar cloaks as him. He bowed at a woman whose hairstyle and sword resembled the samurai of the land of iron. The woman nodded in answer. Then, he shook hands with a shorter young man with red hair and a larger blond man. Then, they sat at a table and the conversation flowed. Meanwhile, the redhead guy filled their bowls with wine. The woman took delicate sips and listened elegantly. Sora drank slowly after speaking a few unimportant sentences and soon fell asleep on the table. The two other men kept arguing about where a certain method of ninjutsu was safe or not. Although Sora looked to be sound asleep, he was awake and listened to every word they spoke.

 

[enzerubebii]

Susami was mega sus about this and was annoyed at the manners these people had. So she decided to listen in as well as a stray kitten. she snuck in quietly and watched the idiots. If they saw her she can just play the 'oh I'm a hungry kitten that is hurt' trick but she even knew that wouldn't work here..something just felt off about this memory. she couldn't put her claw on it. It just felt off.Why would they hurt Sora? He was invited right?

 

[MJ ._.]

The guy with red hair poked Sora to wake him up. "Hey, hey... people get drunk before falling asleep. How can you sleep first? And that was only one bowl!" He nagged at him. The big blond guy shrugged. "He is just like this. Let me see if he still can answer." He said then shook Sora's shoulder gently. "Can you hear me? Hirota says he has seen that famous flute of the land of sound. The one that puts people under genjutsu if they hear its sound. I need your idea on this." He spoke to him. Sora mumbled something in reply that couldn't be comprehended. "That's nothing new then why are you so excited about it?" The woman asked. "You didn't get it, Liana. The point is that this flute doesn't need chakra to work. This means even a talentless kid can use it." Hirota explained. "Now that's interesting...if it really exists." Liana mused. Sora sat up and straightened his hair. His cheeks were pink. "Hirota, it's in your country so go and confirm it." He spoke to the redhead boldly. "Huh? You dare to order me?!" Hirota was agitated under influence of ale. "Please calm down. Can't you see he is just drunk? He might forget everything when he sobers up." The blond guy calmed him down. "It's funny. Just looking at him makes me want to tease him." Hirota said but didn't try to provoke Sora since the drunk version of him could be unreasonably impulsive. After that, the discussion was about how Hirota was going to investigate that flute.
About an hour later, when Sora fell asleep again, they decided to call it a day. Hirota was going back to the village of sound, and Liana's destination was land of iron. So they went ahead and the blond guy carried the sleeping Sora on his back since he was from the land of snow and would go the same path as Sora until the border.
That guy really did carry Sora for a while but after making sure that they were alone, dropped him on the ground. "Ouch...you're so cruel, Itona!" Sora said jokingly and sat up and rubbed his back. "I played my role. now it's time for payment." Itona said seriously. Sora sighed. "Are you sure it's what you want? It's too dangerous. What if they just bury her?" Sora was trying to be empathic but Itona bent and grabbed him by the collar and pulled him up roughly. "Please stop playing with me. I've been begging everyone for ages...I don't have much time..." He spoke through gritted teeth. "Okay, fine...here, take it. Use it exactly the way I told you." Sora pulled a small bottle and gave it to him. Itona released him and took the bottle. "Thank you..." He said before bowing and running off. Sora patted his clothes to fix the mess Itona had made them. "Poor Itona messing with chakra fungus...I'll miss you...heh..."
The scenery faded away. Morning was near and the real Sora was about to wake up.

 

[enzerubebii]

susami realized and kiri slowly woke up when susami came back.. kiri had a headache but also felt bothered..Susami was bothered but also annoyed.. but she knew she had to tell someone "I know you're still here.." She said to her guests.. "Ill pay you when I have a clear head.. but can I ask you for ask gaara to gisit my store?...alone.. her voice was shaky but the tone was serious.. Like she was trying to compute the information but had to tell someone.

 

[MJ ._.]

Sen noticed that Kirisuto was trying to say something. Her face seemed troubled. "What's wrong? Do you feel sick?" She asked gently but then heard her asking for Gaara to meet her in her store. "But... you still have not chosen the location of your shop? Maybe, you're not completely awake yet? I can take you to meet him right now if it's urgent." She suggested.

 

[enzerubebii]

kiri hesitated and nodded "Please.." she got cleaned and dressed quickly and followed them to garra. her eyes looking worried and concerned. In her country chakra mushrooms exist yes but to much can lead to an addiction and them being relient on it to do jutsu when there's other ways..And that genjutsu flute concerned her and susami. If someone with no jutsu could in theory use it, what could they do depending on the music? Does it heal? Cause pain? Make people do pain? Her mind was confused and susami was just was flustered. For the moment she just had to wait for permission to see him.

Temari was just done packing to move to the leaf village and noticed them approaching. "Huh I wonder whats up their ass?"

 

[MJ ._.]

"Good morning, Temari san. We're going to meet kazekage sama. Seems like an urgent business." Sen explained.
Meanwhile, Sora passed through the entrance of the kazekage building to go to the office just as he did every day. He looked tired which wasn't something new at all.

 

[enzerubebii]

"Oh you want to meet the kazekage? Ill see if he's awake." She walked to the building with them and knocked on her brothers office door. Huh I wonder why kiri looked so distressed. Some nightmare? She knocked at gaaras door "Kazekage.. kiri wants to see you.. she looks stressed.. I wonder why" Kiri was quiet and would at times 'draw' in the air what she thinks the dreams explained. So susami what you saw after the weird crush.. his wife maybe dying of some illness that was uncureable... that meeting bothered you a lot.. Susami nodded

 

[MJ ._.]

Obviously, since Sora had entered before them, he was the one who opened the door. "Good morning, Temari san. Oh, you are leaving so soon? Have a safe trip." He said as saw her ready for departure then stepped aside for them the enter. Gaara left his desk to greet them. Like always, his desk was covered by neat stacks of folders. "Good morning. Did something happen last night?" Gaara asked Kirisuto. Sora went back to reading a file, not minding them.

 

[enzerubebii]

kiri nodded "I-if its okay..c-can i speak to you alone?" Temari blinked at that request.. "Please.. its complicated.." Temari nodded and looked at Gaara "Ill contact you when I arrive and as promised ill let you in in charge of some of the managing. You and kankuro did offer to help." She hugged her brother and began walking out for her trip. Kiri patiently waited for everyone to be out and then she began...crying?! "Gaara I don't know what to doo! Normally when susami goes on one of her treasure hunts she winds down fast when well fed and played with which I instructed but last night she wanted more..she was in such a mood.. so she hunted for sora. I-its was nothing bad she promised me not to hurt him!...but when she came back.. she looked so sad.. like she wanted to apologize for causing him trouble but, also concerned and told me to scan every garden in this city.. I asked her why.. and she said something about chakra fungus. And a genjutsu flute that a non chakra user could use that was from the sound village.." She took a breath to calm down and continued. "I gont know anything about a sound village but I know of a varient in my country and Yumi and Luna can agree with my words if you challenge them. These a mushroom in my country that gives chakra but it also makes your body weak and even if you have chakra it makes the flow SO unstable even if you diluted it to maybe 5/10ths its potantcy it can still kill someone with cardiac symptoms or some forms of brain damages. As a new member of this lovely town I dont want the people here falling to these symptoms."

 

[MJ ._.]

Sora immediately left with the file he was reading, without saying a word. As far he was concerned, there was a thing going on between Gaara and Kirisuto that wasn't his business. He went to the archive without suspecting that the concept of that sudden meeting was him.
Gaara was shocked as saw Kirisuto crying. He didn't know what to do with a sobbing girl and for the first time, he felt pain in his heart caused by such a scene. As she spoke, he felt cold at heart. It was hard to doubt the man who had worked for him so sincerely since he had become Kazrkage. But, he couldn't doubt Kirisuto or Susami. He was in a dilemma. "Calm down. This might be just a misunderstanding." He said as patted her back gently. "Can you ask Susami to tell me everything in detail? Are you sure what she has seen was a memory and not some sort of nightmare?" He asked her.

 

[enzerubebii]

kiri went quiet then looked up and her blue eye was there "Nya. I can you. For one it was technically a dream but even memories can be relived as a dream." She tried to wipe her tears to compose herself. "During my sneaking visit I only saw some minor things before it got chaotic. Him meeting with some busty babe called...tsunade..about me but it was just concern..and I was seen as a kitten when his pretty wife that had an untreated illness, or maybe it was detected and there was no cure saw me and picked me up. then the scenery changed to a vast desert and being in a ditch.. his friend to the younger self said something about wind ninjutsu. But when they mentioned a traitor on the battlefield..sora..got up and left..like..he knew who the traitor was? I don't know my dream memory visits get strange and it takes a while to compute but this one I couldn't ignore..then as he 'slept' it went to a dream within a dream and he was at this meeting where as I mentioned a flute from the village of the sound was mentioned.. and he scared me when he passed out thinking someone hurt him but..ya know he's a weak drunk right?" She took a breath and continued. "They began saying someone named Hirota has seen that famous flute of the land of sound and he was gonna find it. Another friend couldn't go since they were going to the land of iron. Then there was Itona.. after this meeting he begged sora outside where nobody could see them for chakra mushrooms.. knowing the price..saying someone he cared for needed them. and sora had them.." She took a breath. "I don't want to completely punish sora if he is dealing this I already punished him with my anger.. but dealing drugs under your nose and acting like his hands arent covered in the blood of innocent people makes me upset." she tried to explain as much as she could.. it was obvious in both susami and kiris voices they didn't know how to handle this information. "I...I'm sorry i was spiteful to sora and just wanted to know how much he knew about me.. i didn't mean to dig this deep..he had me honestly worried."

 

[MJ ._.]

Susami's rudeness seemed trivial in comparison to the value of the information she had obtained. Gaara shook his head. "I didn't know about anything like these...I just realized that I don't know him at all." He was shocked. "Please take a seat." He told Kirisuto as pulled the chair that Sora usually used and place it where she could sit on it easily. "Thank you for telling these to me. This is an unfortunate situation but is eye-opening at the same time." He sighed. "Have you had breakfast yet? There is tea and biscuits..." He put a cup on the desk in front of her then filled it with hot tea from a flask. Then placed a small plate of biscuits beside it. Gaara sat on his chair and continued their conversation about Sora. "I knew that his wife had passed away about one year after their marriage. And that traitor you mentioned must be Sasuri. I was a child back then but hear a lot about the troubles that he caused. Have you ever visited Shina Perfumes? It's the only perfume shop in the village. Madam Shina is Sora's grandmother from the maternal side. Her family was experts in making poisons. Their skills have always been seen as necessary by the village, especially the puppeteers. So they must have had close ties with Sasuri before he went berserk. That's probably why he recognized him and ran out of his way when he was young; he was aware that he was no match for him." He explained and let out his breath. "Madam Shina taught that art to her daughter. That daughter passed away at a young age...so next in line had to be Sora. But, as I've heard, he has always refrained from learning that skill and practicing it. The other successor of the family is Lan, but he is practicing healing instead. I thought madam Shina is going to be the last of her bloodline who keeps this skill alive but...according to your report, apparently, Sora isn't less skilled than her." He rested his chin on his locked fingers and frowned as thought more about the matter.

 

[enzerubebii]

kiri and susami calmed down enough to drink tea,eat and listen she stayed quiet but was a little happy she wasn't in trouble. "I think I heard of miss shina..Luna said a nice old lady asked about the perfume we wear and wanted to sell it and offer us a space in a warehouse she bought nearby. I only agreed to sell her the perfumes after she learned what it can be used for. She understood and i agreed that me giving her the supply i could make would be rent. My brother excused himself to inform mother and give you a business trade route. So things like, flowers, perfume ingredients, and dance fighting scrolls will be here in maybe a week. Even my pottery, cooking and tea books are coming over since mom knows i was welcomed nicely. " She was calmer but she was still nervous about telling this information. She felt like she did the right thing again but she somehow felt dirty.

 

[MJ ._.]

"She sure has a kin sense for chemical ninja tools." Gaara mused. Someone knocked on the door. "I changed the files you mentioned to be...if your meeting is still..." it was Sora's voice. "Come in. We are done." Gaara answered and he opened the door and entered. He noticed that Kirisuto still looked awful but didn't interfere with them and went straight to the desk to replace the documents. "You were right about the personality of Tsuchikage. I checked his reactions and answers during recent years and the result was the same. This time, I can confidently go there and..." He was talking about a case they had been working on for half of the week when Gaara interrupted him. "I'll send Kankuro instead. I need you in Sunagakure." He said with a straight face. "Oh...but we had talked about it before. Not that I want to go against your plan or question you but..." Sora was confused by the sudden change of plan. "Has something happened?" He asked worryingly then had a look at Kirisuto's troubled face. "I smell bad news." He uttered absentmindedly.

 

[enzerubebii]

Kiri looked up at Sora and tried to explain it without explaining what she knows. She knew the best way to catch a wolf in sheep clothing is to trick it to bark instead of baa. "Well when susu went hyper mode last night..Apologies if she caused any damages.. she saw some strange things.. and she wanted to find more of them ya know mostly for curiosity. For all I know its no big deal.She went on about mushrooms and she felt lured by it. She wanted to explore them but she also had a 'sister' instinct to protect her new friends so I told her after we inspect the warehouse big brother found for me and by we I mean you and me..when you have time..Also...susami apologizes for being rude to you.. She realized she was unladylike calling you a twig. I think she also grafittied that. she mentioned making a portrait of you in a cave."

 

[MJ ._.]

At first, Sora was totally lost. What she said didn't make sense until she mentioned the graffiti. The he laughed. "Oh that. It was a childish and impolite thing to do but don't worry about it; I've already cleared them off the wall. Aside from showing her hatred toward me, you would better teach her to not ruin public places. Many people visit that cave to enjoy the scenery and I'm sure they don't want to see her ideas written all over the wall." He told her gently. "But I don't think it's the cause of today's gloomy mood, is it? If you don't want to tell me what's happened, it's alright. I won't push you." He said.

 

[enzerubebii]

"She also.." she gulped and with the mental image of susami nodding looked at him "Knows your past..I told her no cause yes you broke our trust but it doesn't mean to break yours but she promised not to touch anything or hurt you..and when she came back she was sad saying strange things like a wife you said.. knowing a traitor..and the saw you giving chakra mushrooms to someone..I didn't want to believe her however, she looked so concerned. So that's why I'm here.." She looked at him " I want to to trust you and she wants to trust you and get your trust however, I think she wont trust someone that does something under the host of her lover..So can we get this air cleared out?Please?"

 

[MJ ._.]

Sora remembered part of his dreams of last night that included a certain kitten being hugged by his wife. His face grow dark as he realized hat Susami had down. "Did you have fun by watching my misery?" She asked Kirisuto coldly and looked down at her as if she was something disgusting. "Please cut it, Taiyo san." Gaara called him with equivalent coldness. Sora took a step away from them not because he was surprised from Gaara's reaction but since he didn't expect him to suddenly call him by surname. "Pardon me, Kazekage sama. For a moment, I forgot that she is going to get away with this unscathed. Obviously, I have no rights here. But please...would you remind me why it's so obvious?" He spoke softly but clearly was hurt to the point that couldn't hold his emotions back. "It's no about your personal emotions or her mistakes. You can pick that bone later. We have to talk about those three people you met." Gaara spoke seriously...more serious than usual...if it's possible. Sora couldn't remember that part of his dream but knew whom he was talking about. "That's highly confidential. Are you sure you want to discuss it here?" He asked. It seemed that he had sat aside his irritation due to personal matters and was facing the issue professionally but his manner of speaking had differed. He had always treated Gaara as a superior but now spoke to him like and equal. "That's fine. This office can be more secure than most believe." Saying this, Gaara used his sand to shut the door and close shutters of the windows. Sora could feel the sand and chakra flowing in the room. Gaara seemed to be alerted. Sora sighed. "You know what hurts the most? That how easily a young girl who has arrived recently can ruin a man who has always gave up everything for the sake of his nation." He said ans smiled sadly at him. Apparently, something he had tried so hard to maintain, had been shattered in a few minutes.

 

[enzerubebii]

kiri began to get upset knowing this was her fault but susami touched her "Dont show weakness now kiri san.. that's what he wants. He knows what he did.. i knew what I saw. It may hurt but what we did was right.." Kiri nodded regaining composure and looked at him seriously back "Susami and myself had no fun in seeing your misery.. and I never had any intention on ruining you. As I stated she just wanted to learn how much you learned of her, and how she wanted to apologize by telling you everything she knew. By you behaving this way its making her second guess her offer. And all I wanted was to prove my worth to stay in this land. I was even generous to give a nice lady whom I have learned is your grandmother my supply of susamis calming perfumes as long as I got 10% of the profits she could use the 90% for maintenance of her place and the place I was renting from her. I am slowly opening up but its progress thanks to her." She ate a bisquit and sighs. "Forgive me I got off topic. Ill reroute. Who are Hirota,Liana, and Itona?"

 

[MJ ._.]

Sora didn't even cast a look at Kirisuto. If he didn't hate her so much he would remind her that she wasn't really a good little girl if she kept bragging about how kind she has been to others. He wasn't in good terms with his grandmother anyway. She sure had gained herself a good place in Sunagakure by kicking him down. But, at that moment, the only person's opinion that he cared about was Gaara who had been glaring at him. "Don't look at me like that. I'm not going to use that card against you. I supported you when you said you wanted to protect her so it's my own fault..." He said became silent. "You know what's important for the village so stop wasting time on other matters and answer me truly. Who the people in that meeting were? What was the purpose of it and how did you go there without anyone noticing you?" Gaara asked. Sora took a deep breath and rubbed his temples as tried to find the right answers. "Gaara sama...if I did something without informing you, it's because it's dangerous for you and the village if I fill your ears with baseless rumors. I have to investigate "them first before making a report. Almost all of those confidential reports that I provided for you have been acquired by similar methods. Can you spare me going to the details?" He explained. His last sentence sounded like pleading.

 

[enzerubebii]

Kiri sighed "Fine.. ill stop talking and just let susami tell the Kazekage what she knows."and then she grunted and touched her head as something was slowly coming out. Susami had enough of this.Just because it was a 'rumor' doesn't mean it's not important enough to report. Kiri pulled out a scroll of the incident handed it over while drinking some tea to recharge some energy. she knew this was none of her business however she never wanted to be in the middle of a situation.

 

[MJ ._.]

Gaara read the scroll. "That's pretty much everything you told me before." He told Kirisuto as put the scroll on the table then looked up at Sora and started a patient inquiry;
"Hirota from the sound village; what's your relationship with him?"
"Nothing special. We happen to be investigating the same case so we exchange information about it. Those other two were sent from their village for the same matter."
"Then why didn't you told me about it?"
"I did. There was a report about the hidden sound investing on ninja tools."
"What about Liana of the iron village?"
"I don't know much about her. She was invited by Hirota."
"And Itona from the land of snow?"
"He had come for the pills."
"Which pills? And why should he ask you for them?"
"Oh, I can show you right now..."
Sora reached into his pocket and pulled out a small pocket of pills. He stepped closer to the desk and emptied the pocket on it. Five tiny white balls with colorful spots on them rolled on Gaara's papers. He picked one and held it up between his thumb and index for them to see. "Aren't they pretty? what do you think they have been made for?" He asked them. He had a new expression on his face; one that Gaara had never seen before. He looked carefree and happy for no reason. His voice was soft and sweet as he talked about those pills.

 

[enzerubebii]

Kiri was now on guard and susami was growling. kiris knew something was off about those pills and now his behavior switched. "May I?Nya?" a new voice came out..it was susamis. She gently took a pill and poured some hot water into a cup and put the pill inside.. and she put a paper slip from her pocket and dipped it. "One...two.. three!" she gently took it and looked at its color. "Nya~ A different hue from the shadow shrooms back home.. but its around that color. one or two..is safe for combat reasons but this many is asking for a damn coma or the reapers address nya!" She started to sense danger and kiri and susami were now on edge. Kiri dear remember when I said its okay to run if needed..? Yeah.. I think I just opened a pandoras box on accident. Me apologizing wont be enough anymore. If Gaara tells you to run..run..