Fox Magic 17: Closer (Part 1)
Temari woke slowly, wrinkling her nose and pinching her eyes shut at the brightness of the sun upon her face. As always, her wrists and ankles were bound under heavy, unforgiving weights. Heaving a mental sigh, she peeled her deep blue eyes open and glanced down at the makeshift manacles of sand. Despite the solid feeling of the cuffs, the sand within them constantly shifted, travelling around her limbs and heading back across the room into the gourd of the red-headed demon. Gaara’s eyes were still shut as he continued to meditate, legs folded and his back perfectly straight. As if aware of her regard, he opened his eyes and gazed coldly back at her. Temari sighed.
“Did you sleep well last night?” she tried gamely, sitting up on her bed. The sand manacles dissolved as she moved, and the grains retreated into the demon’s gourd. Gaara stared at her, his expression inscrutable.
After a pause long enough to make her assume that her conversational volley was, once again, futile, Gaara replied, “I do not sleep.”
The matter-of-fact statement drew her up short. She stood slowly from her bed and crossed to her dresser, tossing out a tentatively curious, “Never?”
Another prolonged silence. Finally, he issued a low, icily cold, “Not since my enslavement.”
Ah. Fantastic, way to make things even more awkward, she berated herself. She stayed quiet for a moment, pulling on a mesh shirt and following it with a short linen dress. Over time, she’d lost her sense of modesty in front of Gaara; he never looked away, but neither did he ever look at her with interest, so modesty seemed to be a moot point. Obviously, unadulterated hatred put a stop to any lascivious thoughts on his part. Pursing her lips, she looked down as she tied an obi over her dress.
“Did you ever…” she trailed off, swallowing. “If you ever want to talk about it, I’d be willing to listen.”
She could feel his freezing gaze without turning around. The cold, hollowed-out spot in her chest where their bond connected chilled even further. Sighing, she shook her head.
“Or not.” Frowning, she turned to face him and planted her hands on her hips. Gaara glared up at her from the floor, his low opinion of her clear from the poorly hidden disgust on his face. Abruptly, Temari’s frustration with her situation bubbled to the surface. She’d done everything asked of her, she’d tried to be nice to the demon, and she’d even made sure to keep from ever punishing him, even by accident. None of her actions had come even close to muting the loathing in those pale blue eyes, even though Gaara had to know that it wasn’t her fault that he’d been bound to her. If she could have passed him off to anyone else, or if she’d had the choice of not releasing him at all and keeping her brother alive, she’d have done it! Like it or not, they were stuck together, a fact that she appreciated even if Gaara didn’t. Clenching her teeth, she averted her eyes to the window.
“Uchiha Sasuke must be a great man,” she murmured bitterly. “It looks like he and your friend get along just fine.”
There was a faint hiss of sand from Gaara’s corner. “Excuse me?” he questioned in a dark tone.
Temari huffed and waved a hand angrily. “Don’t play me for a fool. I know what Naruto is, even if Father hasn’t figured it out yet. What I can’t fathom is how the two of them can be so buddy-buddy despite being in the same situation we’re in!”
When she turned her eyes back to the man beside her, she swallowed convulsively. Gaara’s eyes were glowing a manic golden color, fury etched into each hard line of his body. Slowly, the demon rose to his feet.
“What do you plan to do with this information, Temari-sama?” His voice sent a chill down her spine, but she straightened her back defiantly. For once, she wasn’t going to back down to this man, not when she stood up to everyone else in her life.
“This might sound crazy to you, but I’m not planning to do anything with it,” she shot back. “I’m certainly not going to tell Father.”
Gaara blinked, but that was the only indication he gave of his surprise. His eyes continued to glow. “Why not?”
She scowled. “I don’t see any reason why I should! That man ruined my life and got my brother killed, all because he was too scared to try and wield your power himself! I don’t think his machinations are even really for Sand; I think he just wants the glory that would come from waging a successful war against Konoha. So you tell me: why should I tell him that he has another demon in his midst?”
The glow faded, but his eyes remained gold as he considered her. “What of your honor? You swore loyalty to him.”
Temari turned away, folding her arms over her chest. “I swore loyalty to my village. If I feel that what he’s doing isn’t in its best interest, I’m not going to support him.” Her fingers dug into her arms. “And he stopped being my father the day he told us to release you.”
In the contemplative silence that followed, Gaara’s eyes returned to their normal pale blue color. His lips turned down in a gentle frown.
“You do not blame me for your brother’s death,” he noted quietly, confusion faintly coloring his voice.
Temari lowered her head. “You were bound by law to do the deed. It was my father who sent him to his death. The blame rests with him.”
Sighing, the young woman turned back to Gaara, then paused as she locked eyes with him. For the first time since his release, the demon was watching her with something other than smoldering hate lurking in his eyes. In its place, however temporarily, was guarded curiosity. The sight was so unfamiliar that Temari found herself staring unashamedly at him.
Those pale blue eyes gazed at her for several contemplative minutes before the demon finally blinked.
“Yesterday, I believe you said that you wanted to use the training fields today, did you not?” he asked abruptly. Temari stifled a jump.
“Um. Yes. I did.” He was listening?
Gaara inclined his head, and the door to her room opened automatically. Warily, she preceded him out of the room, and the door swung shut behind them. They walked in silence down the hallway, and Temari was just beginning to relax when the diminutive man beside her spoke once more.
“Perhaps I will assist you this time.”
Temari swung her head around to stare at Gaara, but his expression had returned to that blank mask he wore more often than not. Cautiously, she smiled at him.
“I’d like that.”
* * *
Sasuke listened to the Kazekage waste his time with pleasantries, his expression locked into the stoic mask that he’d used for most of his life. Strangely, it felt almost stiff and unnatural after spending so much time with Naruto and letting his guard down. The Kazekage, however, seemed to take it in stride.
“Now then, Uchiha-san,” the older man began cheerfully, folding his hands on his desk. “I’m sure you’re wondering what my little task for you today will be.”
“The unauthorized task, yes,” he replied blandly.
The Kazekage’s smile hardened. “I’m sure you agree that my asking you for a small favor, for which you will of course be compensated, is not out of bounds, Uchiha-san.”
“I suppose not, except for the fact that by doing this ‘favor’ right after my strenuous journey, I may compromise my ability to be at full strength for the mission you originally contracted me for, Kazekage-sama.” Sasuke gazed confidently at the other man. “As I have full confidence in my endurance, I agreed to take on this mission. I just hope that when the main event comes around, I will not require…certain assistance.”
When the Kazekage frowned and opened his mouth to protest, Sasuke quickly continued, “Surely you would agree, Kazekage-sama, that in the unlikely event that I am wounded or in any way diminished in my abilities as a direct result of this favor, I would be entitled to some small amount of support later?”
The older man’s frown became a scowl. “Your cousin does not have the required clearance.”
Sasuke feigned a small amount of surprise, quirking one eyebrow upwards. “Did I ever mention my cousin? I do not believe that I did. However, since you brought him up, I should mention that my cousin has received the highest clearance from the Hokage and has her full confidence. Are you saying that you do not trust her judgment?” Suck on that, you old fucker. I’m not the only one bound by politics.
Caught in a corner, the Kazekage placed an obsequious smile on his face. “Of course not. Sand has always valued the wise input of Konoha. As we have more pressing matters at hand, however, perhaps we can work out those details later, Uchiha-san.”
Sasuke tipped his head in acknowledgement, smirking internally. “As you wish, Kazekage-sama.” Although he didn’t allow his satisfaction to show on his face, Sasuke let a small kernel of smugness at winning this verbal sparring round to settle in his chest. The larger mission, whatever it was, would almost certainly take longer than Naruto’s ring would allow them to be apart. Even if he wouldn’t need the demon’s help, per se, he couldn’t risk the both of them being crippled by some sadistic god’s rule.
And besides, he grudgingly admitted to himself, it wouldn’t hurt to have a little backup for whatever trap the Kazekage had planned for him.
With an overblown air of importance, the Kazekage picked up a file folder and tapped the bottom of it against his desk. He opened it with a flick, then spun it around to show the documents within to the younger man. Sasuke picked up the folder, quickly flipping through the documents inside. A small picture of a necklace, which seemed to be made of some thick black cord that was broken evenly by eight pieces of warped glass, was clipped to the top.
“This necklace, Uchiha-san,” the Kazekage explained, “is known as the Jewel of the Desert. It’s one of my family’s heirlooms, passed down for centuries. A generation ago, we left it in the care of our largest museum here in Sand, but it has recently gone missing. Rumor has it that the caretaker ran off with it, since he hasn’t been seen since the necklace’s disappearance.” His brown eyes darted up to Sasuke’s face. “I need you to find it and bring it back.”
The hell kind of mission is this? Sasuke frowned. “Wouldn’t this be a simple matter for the police?”
The Kazekage smirked. “It would, typically. However, this particular heirloom,” he paused to gesture at the picture, prompting Sasuke to lower the other documents and take another glance at it, “is rumored to have very special, very dangerous qualities. So dangerous, in fact, that the museum’s caretakers are routinely swapped out to keep them from falling under its influence, and the necklace itself was locked behind several stop-guards that were changed every week. This latest caretaker, a Mr. Sakada Reiji, appears to have been weaker than most if he managed to steal the necklace before he could be replaced. A ninja of some strength will be required to subdue him, especially if he has attempted to actually wear it.”
Sasuke’s eyes narrowed, and he shuffled the papers in his hands until he found the document detailing the caretaker. Normal man, no criminal history, no shinobi in his bloodline. Given that he’d been missing with the necklace for over twenty-four hours, Sasuke found it hard to believe that none of Sand’s ninjas had been able to track him. The standard case history sheet was conspicuously missing. Had the Kazekage already tried to locate the man? “And what will happen if he wears it?”
“According to the legends,” the Kazekage began, watching the younger man carefully, “he will temporarily be granted the power to control sand. Even a normal man such as Sakada-san could be…troublesome. I was originally going to send this case to one of my own ninjas, but it seems perfectly matched with your own special skills. I want you to track him down, recover the necklace, and find a way to remove his memory of the entire event, including that of any witnesses. Nobody wants to hear that a dangerous artifact was unleashed upon the city, and nobody will. Understood?”
Sasuke nodded shortly. “Understood.” So he’s heard of the Mangekyou, and he assumes that I can use it to actually modify a person’s mind. He frowned thoughtfully. It’s possible that if I tell a civilian a thousand times that whatever he saw didn’t actually happen, I can make him believe it. If that doesn’t work, I’ll have to try something else. “I assume that you want Sakada-san to remain unharmed.”
The Kazekage waved a hand dismissively. “If at all possible, naturally. And of course, I highly advise you not to try and wear the necklace yourself, Uchiha-san.”
At the stern glare the Kazekage gave him after that remark, Sasuke had to fight the urge to roll his eyes. Instead, he bowed his head.
“Understood.”
“Very good,” the older man replied brusquely. “Bring the necklace to my office when you are done, and we’ll debrief. Dismissed.”
Wordlessly, Sasuke rose from his seat, placed the folder upon the desk, bowed to the Kazekage, and left the office. He ignored the ninja patrolling the halls as he strode towards the nearest open window, placed his foot on the sandstone edge, and launched himself out of the building. Internally, he scoffed.
How hard can it be to find a single civilian? Sasuke shook his head, landing on a rooftop and proceeding to the next. I’ll be done before Naruto even has a chance to miss me.
* * *
Part 2