Greetings all. Two updates in one year, it's almost a new record, which is really sad. Anyway I've been afforded more time to give this story some attention. Feedback or not, I'm going to try and finish this thing because I said I would. Without further hassle, here is Chapter 9. Do read and review, it makes me happy…sometimes….well most of the time. Whatever, here we go.
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Akari snapped out of her trance gasping for air. Shukaku's powerful demon presence was draining along with her added stress of the demon's keen senses. She slowed her breathing and turned to look at the Kazekage who was just beginning to stir. Glancing behind her, she noticed a sleeping Kankuro and Shikmaru and Temari looking at her from a nearby table littered with long empty plates. How much time had passed?
"How'd it go? You were in there for over four hours," Temari asked. Akari massaged her temples. That long huh? It would explain why she felt positively awful. She forced herself to sit upright and smile at her childhood friend.
"Everything went fine. It's just-" Akari started before noticing movement out of her peripheral vision. The Kazekage had opened his eyes and was slowly beginning to sit up. She offered him a hesitant smile. He stared back at her and then scanned his surroundings until he found the figures of his sister, brother and the leaf-nin. Temari waved to her brother.
"Well glad to see you've joined us again sleepy head," she chirped while Gaara stretched out his limbs. He did feel a bit better and responded to his sister with a slightly annoyed look.
"Nothing happened while I slept?" Gaara said looking from Temari to Shikamaru and then slowly walked over to shake his older brother awake. Akari cleared her throat to politely get his attention.
"No, Kazekage-sama. I kept Shukaku at bay so you could rest. You might feel better, but the effects are only temporary." Gaara turned to face her directly.
"Kazekage-sama, you're being poisoned."
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To say Gaara was furious was an understatement. Everyone with any sense gave him a wide berth as he stormed through his offices, the priestess following slowly at his heels. Not to say that his advisors were not happy to see him back in somewhat decent shape, they just did not want him back in such a generally grouchy state. Gaara had brought the priestess to their poison expert to explain what she found while with Shukaku, not that he was sure he could even trust the man. The assassination attempt and the poison, were they connected in someway? Could the cowards be trying to weaken him so that they would be able to kill him?
"Kazekage-sama?" Gaara snapped out of his reverie. "Before I attempt to prepare an antidote I must ask you have you been injured by kunai recently?" He stared blankly at the poison master. Not since he'd stopped sparring because he'd been feeling miserable. He shook his head no. The poison expert rubbed the back of his head nervously. "That's usually the way a poison that can cause the symptoms she described is administered. I will prepare a reagent that can reveal weather this substance is in hiding near you. Perhaps then you can find the source?" Gaara nodded and dismissed the man to work. That would have to do. He thanked him for his services and requested that reagent be sent to his living quarters and left the man to work. Akari trailed a few steps behind him quietly. He turned to her.
"I am grateful for your services. What do I owe you?" Akari laughed nervously, shifting her wait from foot to foot.
"Oh nothing at all really. Just doing my job!" Somehow she didn't think that was going to let her off the hook, but it certainly wouldn't stop her from edging her way towards the nearest exit. Gaara watched her actions with slight amusement.
Boy! Do not let her leave; we need her! She is one of the only ones I believe you can trust and I have unfinished business with her.
It was extremely rare that Shukaku said something positive about a human. In fact, Gaara surmised it may not have happened ever while he'd been the demon's carrier. He decided to humor the beast and Shukaku was right about having few friends, but many enemies. Gaara caught her hand.
"If this is really nothing for someone of your caliber. I must insist you come with me." Before Akari could protest Gaara forcefully tugged her along behind me as he set off back across the complex. Just how did she get herself in these awful situations again? She passed a happy looking Temari, who mouthed thank you. Akari couldn't even respond at the pace they were going and was about to politely ask if he could refrain from pulling her arm damn near out of its socket when he stopped abruptly causing her to ram into him. He pretty much ignored this, however, concentrating instead on a series of locks in the door in front of him.
"You know I do have a home I should be getting back to soon?" She asked to which she received a bemused chuckle in response as he pulled the door open and dragging her after him again, slamming it shut behind himself.
"Uh where are we going?"
"You talk far too much."
"That doesn't really answer my question."
"To my home."
"Oh, OK. Why?" Somehow Akari's feet were not obeying the run away now, before this gets awful commands being sent to them by her brain.
"We can speak there without fear of being spied upon." With that she was silenced. She supposed this was what she deserved. She would figure some other time to slip away unnoticed, hopefully before it was too late. She had competence in the Kazakage's ability to solve this quickly without her. He just needed to see it for himself, though her self-preservation instincts might have been overwhelming her judgment. It was far too late to worry about that now, she would have to see what he wanted her for; she was sure now this was just an extended part of her repentance. They'd stopped again, Gaara was working on another door. This was kind of convenient having a tunnel from work to home and it was actually not scorching down here. She was just wondering though how much longer it would be before the demon figured things out and before things would begin to heat up.
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Temari was searching patiently for Shikamaru, hoping he hadn't taken it upon himself to leave unannounced. She still needed to thank him for bringing dinner, but she should not have worried too much though, he was a bit too lazy to have made it that far and she found him dozing on a bench not too far from her house. She nudged him awake with the tip of her fan. He was such a silly man.
"To you even have to bother my dreams now?" he groaned as he woke up. Temari pulled him up by the ear.
"You could be a little bit more grateful that I even came to see your lazy self," she scolded angrily. Shikamaru half-heartedly fought her off. It was easy to get her angry and she was more fun that way.
"So what's the problem?" he asked. Temari snorted in a very unladylike fashion. Why did she even put up with him? Why had she abandoned her mounds of paperwork for this piece of work?
"Why am I associated immediately with problems in your brain?" she spat out, resisting the urge to throttle him. He smirked at her.
"Because you are one?" Wait, he probably should not have phrased it quite like that. He should at least tell her he liked her because she was like a complicated problem he didn't know how to solve and that's why he didn't mind spending time with her. But there was no time to explain that now as he looked up into the face of an enraged Temari. The only thing keeping her from beating him to death now were probably those fragile Konaha-Suna relations. She let out an enraged scream.
"You are an insensitive JERK. Forget it. Forget it. Just leave! I don't care!" And with that she left. Shikamaru stood there a bit dumbfounded. That really, really backfired. But, for fear of his life he dare not approach her now. He'd give her time to cool down before attempting to explain himself, which cued his brain to let him go back to quietly napping on his bench.
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Shin was afraid of the Kazekage, but he was more afraid of the wrath of Hanya because at least the Kazekage was weakened. He fingered the vial of Hanya's poison in his cloak. At least he would be weakened, if he could deliver this poison right again. What shocked him when he arrived in Suna was the news of the Kazekage's somewhat miraculous overnight recovery. Suddenly, he felt very ill. He really didn't want to die or be thrown in prison. He was claustrophobic, but if he didn't complete his mission he was so very dead anyway. What an awful position to be in…
Edging around the side of the Suna government complex, he knocked four times on a door. In a few minutes it opened quietly, as a hand slipped through the door Shin smoothly exchanged the vial to the man. But, he would still have to tell Hanya the news that the poison didn't seem to be working. The hand slipped him a note quickly before quietly shutting the door. Shin slowly opened the wrinkled sheet of paper.
A priestess? Well, it certainly explained the healing of the Kazekage , but it definitely wouldn't calm Hanya's wrath when he took it out on him for delivering the bad news. Oh why, why didn't he just become a lawyer?
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You know if someone had told her, a year ago she would be peacefully sipping tea with the Kazekage , she probably would've told them to jump off a cliff, yet here they both were. Peaceful, however, didn't really fix the awkward silence. The only thing that really saved them from the deafening quiet was the knock on the door that delivered dinner from the kitchens. Gaara was grateful for the distraction as he took the tray from the young servant and set it before them. He handed Akari a plate.
"Guests should always have the first bite," he said simply. Akari blinked dumbfounded as she searched the plate for chopsticks.
"Thank you Kazekage-sa" She stopped when he gave her a disapproving look.
"I'm not one for overuse of formality. Just Gaara is fine." He watched her visibly tense up. Akari knew he noticed as she tried to act more normal and took a bite of the steamed rice on her plate. Her eyes widned. This is…!
She didn't really have time to think about much else as Gaara watched in muted horror as she promptly passed out.
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Well, a little longer than usual. I hope you enjoyed. We are about 3/5's of the way home. So yaaay. Read and review. I try to respond to all signed reviewers; so don't be surprised if you hear from me….