Categories > Anime/Manga > Naruto > After the storm
After the Storm - Chapter 3
0 reviewsA meeting is called to discuss Suna's fate - what conclusions (and revelations) will come to light?
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With a grim face, Baki solemnly glanced at the members of the meeting. With the country's Kazekage confined to his office for unknown reasons, it was only natural that the other remaining leaders would meet to discuss the future of the sand.
"Do we know the seriousness of the situation?" a state councillor was asking, who Baki much doubted sincerely cared.
Not for the first time that day, the jounin instructor felt the attentions of the whole room resting on him.
"I have spoken with Kazekage-sama," he said, after a few seconds thought. "Though I cannot say directly where he is in terms of-"
His words immediately prompted muttering across the table, edged by legible phrases such as 'I knew it' and 'disaster'.
"The fact remains," another jounin addressed the table, "we were a foolish nation to elect a jinchuuriki to the title of Kage. His instincts will always be clouded by Shukaku."
There was a slam as a third jounin leapt to his feet, despite the efforts of three others to keep him in his chair.
"How dare you disrespect your Kazekage!" he spat. "My brother's instincts are to protect this village - your village! Anyone who forgets that isn't worth protecting!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This new place was filled with warmth and light; she contemplated it as she wandered. The people here were happy, filled with laughter, they lived their lives in endless sunlight.
How was it that she belonged here? Another question she was perhaps not supposed to know the answer to.
They were celebrating something - something she did not understand. The people were putting up stalls, laughing, singing. On a different day, she would have liked to have questioned it, but for fear of standing out she remained silent and watched from a distance.
Watching the performance of a dancing display, she was drawn out of her thoughts by a child tugging at her sleeve. Glancing down into the child's beaming face, she tried her hardest not to appear confused.
"Come and see our sukiyaki stall," said the little girl, tugging ever forcefully at her sleeve.
She glanced down into the innocence of the child's face, filled with wonder. Was this how she once looked...before...
She nodded at the child and turned to follow it through the crowd.
"Come on," the little girl, grabbing the woman's hand.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Frowning, Gaara stared out of his window, digging his nails into the palms at the echo of the voice in his head.
She's here...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Since Kankuro's outburst, members of the conference had been a lot more reluctant to speak. Not that this was such a bad thing, as now the meeting had more focus - rather than being a general session aiming to insult the Kazekage as much as heavenly possible, now points were thought through before being mentioned. However, this also meant that no conclusions had been drawn.
A full hour had passed before an elderly woman rose to her feet, in full view of the other associates.
"Chiyo baa sama?" said Baki, who had not seen her arrive at the meeting.
The woman cackled at the mention of her name.
"That is me," she said. "And up until now I believed you were all fools."
Her voice was slow and whispered, so much in fact that the room became deadly silent as she spoke.
"Now I know it to be true!" she said, slamming her hands down on the table.
Nobody tried to defend his honour, so the woman, Chiyo, glanced round the room once more and grinned.
"While you are correct to say that the instincts of a Jinchuuriki will cloud his emotions, you are forgetting one important fact!" she said. "And that is that Jinchuuriki originated as human beings!"
There was much muttering at this statement.
"Nonsense!" said a clan leader. "Jinchuuriki are spirit gods - everyone knows that!"
"Ay," said Chiyo, nodding at this remark. "That's what the legends tell you...but what about the stories behind the legends...the truth?"
At this, everyone fell silent. Everyone wanted to know what her argument was.
"I am sure all of you know the story of the Shukaku and his corrupted soul," she said. "What you don't know is that all nine of the Jinchuuriki have the same origin. They were murderers and lunatics, who sold their souls to the greater power."
Once again, the room lay silent, broken only by the voice of Baki.
"But what you're saying, Chiyo baa sama...it cannot be true..."
Folding her arms, Chiyo glared at her opponents in the room.
"I assure you it can," she snapped. "And now, to the reason I brought such a matter up... We are feared as a nation for our jinchuuriki, gentlemen, feared from country to country. However...what would you say if I told you that another called our country home?"
The silence was broken into uproar.
"Another jinchuuriki? Preposterous!"
"You're mad, woman!"
"I am neither mad nor preposterous for claiming such a thing," said Chiyo, calmly. "Many thousands of years ago the human forms of the Shukaku and Nibi lived here in Suna. Gentlemen, I believe that that Nibi has returned."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It had been a successful morning on the sukiyaki stall and the young mother grumbled as she laid down her ladle. Her daughter, Tsuomi, had promised to help but had disappeared half an hour before, promising to find some extra customers.
Counting her money and closing up her stall, she moved off in the direction Tsuomi had gone.
"Tsuomi!" she called, "it's time for lunch!"
The streets were deserted because of the post-storm celebrations; it wasn't surprising she had taken so long to find a customer.
"Tsuomi!" she called out. "Tsu-"
She stopped dead. Slumped in the middle of the path was what appeared to be a bundle of rags, but the mother knew better. She fell to her knees at the side of it, grabbing the body of her dead daughter into her arms.
"TSUOMI!" she screamed.
"Do we know the seriousness of the situation?" a state councillor was asking, who Baki much doubted sincerely cared.
Not for the first time that day, the jounin instructor felt the attentions of the whole room resting on him.
"I have spoken with Kazekage-sama," he said, after a few seconds thought. "Though I cannot say directly where he is in terms of-"
His words immediately prompted muttering across the table, edged by legible phrases such as 'I knew it' and 'disaster'.
"The fact remains," another jounin addressed the table, "we were a foolish nation to elect a jinchuuriki to the title of Kage. His instincts will always be clouded by Shukaku."
There was a slam as a third jounin leapt to his feet, despite the efforts of three others to keep him in his chair.
"How dare you disrespect your Kazekage!" he spat. "My brother's instincts are to protect this village - your village! Anyone who forgets that isn't worth protecting!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This new place was filled with warmth and light; she contemplated it as she wandered. The people here were happy, filled with laughter, they lived their lives in endless sunlight.
How was it that she belonged here? Another question she was perhaps not supposed to know the answer to.
They were celebrating something - something she did not understand. The people were putting up stalls, laughing, singing. On a different day, she would have liked to have questioned it, but for fear of standing out she remained silent and watched from a distance.
Watching the performance of a dancing display, she was drawn out of her thoughts by a child tugging at her sleeve. Glancing down into the child's beaming face, she tried her hardest not to appear confused.
"Come and see our sukiyaki stall," said the little girl, tugging ever forcefully at her sleeve.
She glanced down into the innocence of the child's face, filled with wonder. Was this how she once looked...before...
She nodded at the child and turned to follow it through the crowd.
"Come on," the little girl, grabbing the woman's hand.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Frowning, Gaara stared out of his window, digging his nails into the palms at the echo of the voice in his head.
She's here...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Since Kankuro's outburst, members of the conference had been a lot more reluctant to speak. Not that this was such a bad thing, as now the meeting had more focus - rather than being a general session aiming to insult the Kazekage as much as heavenly possible, now points were thought through before being mentioned. However, this also meant that no conclusions had been drawn.
A full hour had passed before an elderly woman rose to her feet, in full view of the other associates.
"Chiyo baa sama?" said Baki, who had not seen her arrive at the meeting.
The woman cackled at the mention of her name.
"That is me," she said. "And up until now I believed you were all fools."
Her voice was slow and whispered, so much in fact that the room became deadly silent as she spoke.
"Now I know it to be true!" she said, slamming her hands down on the table.
Nobody tried to defend his honour, so the woman, Chiyo, glanced round the room once more and grinned.
"While you are correct to say that the instincts of a Jinchuuriki will cloud his emotions, you are forgetting one important fact!" she said. "And that is that Jinchuuriki originated as human beings!"
There was much muttering at this statement.
"Nonsense!" said a clan leader. "Jinchuuriki are spirit gods - everyone knows that!"
"Ay," said Chiyo, nodding at this remark. "That's what the legends tell you...but what about the stories behind the legends...the truth?"
At this, everyone fell silent. Everyone wanted to know what her argument was.
"I am sure all of you know the story of the Shukaku and his corrupted soul," she said. "What you don't know is that all nine of the Jinchuuriki have the same origin. They were murderers and lunatics, who sold their souls to the greater power."
Once again, the room lay silent, broken only by the voice of Baki.
"But what you're saying, Chiyo baa sama...it cannot be true..."
Folding her arms, Chiyo glared at her opponents in the room.
"I assure you it can," she snapped. "And now, to the reason I brought such a matter up... We are feared as a nation for our jinchuuriki, gentlemen, feared from country to country. However...what would you say if I told you that another called our country home?"
The silence was broken into uproar.
"Another jinchuuriki? Preposterous!"
"You're mad, woman!"
"I am neither mad nor preposterous for claiming such a thing," said Chiyo, calmly. "Many thousands of years ago the human forms of the Shukaku and Nibi lived here in Suna. Gentlemen, I believe that that Nibi has returned."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It had been a successful morning on the sukiyaki stall and the young mother grumbled as she laid down her ladle. Her daughter, Tsuomi, had promised to help but had disappeared half an hour before, promising to find some extra customers.
Counting her money and closing up her stall, she moved off in the direction Tsuomi had gone.
"Tsuomi!" she called, "it's time for lunch!"
The streets were deserted because of the post-storm celebrations; it wasn't surprising she had taken so long to find a customer.
"Tsuomi!" she called out. "Tsu-"
She stopped dead. Slumped in the middle of the path was what appeared to be a bundle of rags, but the mother knew better. She fell to her knees at the side of it, grabbing the body of her dead daughter into her arms.
"TSUOMI!" she screamed.
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