Memory of Sand Ch. 3

Gaara didn't give a second look as he dropped the map on the table.  He wiped his hands together; they made a sound like scraping sandpaper.  Going to the accountant, Gaara placed his hands on the man's temples and began rubbing.  A gasp from the man made Yuki question Gaara's technique.  "What exactly are you doing?"

Removing his hands from the man's head, the Kazekage formed a small sand orb above the man's head.  Droplets of fluid began to trickle up to the orb, along streams of sand, from the man's temples.  Making hand seals, Gaara positioned himself to look at the orb of sand which was beginning to form a set of eyes.  He spoke without turning to her, "This technique was originally designed to draw water out of moisture in sand, but I've found it can also be used to dehydrate people.  I'm not doubting the effectiveness of your genjutsu, but even the best interrogation techniques take much time to break blocks; time we don't have.  So I'm dehydrating him to remove those mental blocks."

Yuki's first thought was to react to the nature of this technique; her second was to defend her genjutsu abilities.  After a moment, she decided that neither appeal would advance her position.  She reached up to her hair and removed her lock pick set before walking over to the desk.  A hidden panel behind one of the drawers revealed a small safe that was not only locked but trapped.

"I'm finished."  Gaara called from the other side of the desk.  "If you'd like to interrogate him I'll open that safe for you."  Putting her lock picks back in her hair, she got up and turned to Gaara.  The orb of sand looked different, as though half-made of mud.

"Is there anything in particular you want to find out from him?"

"I'd like security details about the dig site.  If we're going after them, I'd like to know what I'm up against.

"Of course."  Yuki did her best to suppress a sigh of relief.  She was nervous enough being this close to Gaara.  He was a hero in Suna, and her sister had spoken well of him, but she could not say it was comfortable being so close to a Kage; let alone work with one.

The seals to change her mesmerizing genjutsu to one where she could interact with him were easy.  Though his eyes were still glazed, his breathing and heart rate were both returning to normal.  To his eyes she would appear to be sitting in his lap, kissing his neck and running her fingers in his hair.  It wasn't her favorite genjutsu to use, but she needed him to be in the right frame of mind to get him to answer her questions.

"That was a very interesting meeting tonight."  She was able to use her normal voice tone, but what the man would hear would be much different.

"Interesting?" The man's voice sounded tired, but came through strong; that was a good sign that the kazekage's technique hadn't gone too far.  "To you perhaps, you were entertaining.  I had paperwork to do there and more paperwork when I came here.  Sometimes I think Musuke-San wants to work me to death."

"And where has he gone, leaving you here at this time of night?"

"Oh, we've got a dig out in the desert, one of many.  But our lease on the equipment ran out so we had to buy it outright from the Eru Wadi Clan if we wanted to finish."

"Anything important at this dig?"

On the other side of the room Gaara was kneeling next to the safe.  Out of the corner of her eye Yuki saw him place his hand on the safe, sand flowing from his hand inside.  Four clicks later and the safe cover popped off trailing a block of sand behind, leaving the safe interior completely empty.

Turning her attention back to Crescent-Moon, she heard him finish saying something about "old tombs".

"Stories about old tombs always make me think of traps."  Gaara placed the sand block on the desk and removed what looked like a gas canister and nozzle, both clogged with sand.  "It sounds like very dangerous work."

"The work itself is pretty easy.  We mine what we can, use explosives when we can't, and we work with some very interesting people."

Gaara next plucked out what appeared to be a small needle gun.  "I bet they're not half as interesting as you."  Yuki spat on the floor, glad the man could not see her do it.

"It's more of a partnership than anything else.  They came to us because they didn't have the resources to…"  His words began to weaken.

"Who are they?  Tell me pet."

"Kuroimaku…"

At once the sand hanging in the air fell to the ground in a wet clump.  Turning her head Yuki saw the sand from the table float up and fill the gourd on Gaara's back.  Gaara found the stationary and began writing a message.  The gold seal was pristine and laying perfectly in a form-fitting case.  Gaara dried the ink and rolled up the message.  "Do you know any memory altering genjutsu?"

"Nothing fancy."

"We don't need anything fancy.  We just need to make him and the guard outside forget that you came here.  I'd rather like to protect our work relation with Sanae."

After completing the genjutsu Yuki followed Gaara's lead outside.  His methods were surprisingly simple for someone of his standing.  Controlling his sand to get in the guard's eyes, he was able to divert attention and make himself virtually invisible allowing them to just walk out.

Only three blocks away Gaara motioned them up to the roof of the building where a flacon roost waited.  Getting out two falcons, he put the message on the back of one and asked for the seal to be placed in the pouch of the second.  Whispering to the birds, he sent them off into the night sky.

"What now?  What is this kuroimaku that seems to have you in such a hurry?"

"It's an old story; I'll fill you in on the way."

"On the way to where?"

"Just follow me for now.

Their path led them out of the city through an unguarded animal gate.  Gaara set a good pace until they were far enough away from the city.  He halted them and formed a small platform made of sand and motioned for her to climb on.  The small cloud of sand began moving at a rapid pace over the sand dunes and deep into the desert.

"I said before that I wasn't going to change your mission.  We got the seal and sent it off, so your mission is technically finished; but a mining company paying for equipment with government money is only the smallest part of this."  Gaara spoke with a flat tone, but Yuki could sense a sort of quiet fervor behind his voice.  It was subtle and easily missed, but it was there.  "You are the only other shinobi in the area I can use.  Suna nin don't often come this far south for many reasons.  The biggest being Kuroimaku, they were a Clan of assassins we drove out of Suna three generations ago.  I could have dealt with mining guards, but if we're facing them I must admit that I am worried."

Yuki stayed silent for a moment, before asking.  "Why would they want to rob the tomb of the first Kazekage?"

The sand cloud slowed and lowered to the ground.  "The first Kazekage was a student of the Rikudo Sennin, even before Sunagakure was founded.  The lessons he learned, the techniques he developed, and all of his knowledge is hidden in his tomb.  Every Kazekage makes a private pilgrimage to the tomb to learn his secrets…" A look of surprise crossed Gaara's face as he turned away from her and the sand began to go back into his gourd.

"That's more than you've ever told anyone about.  Isn't it?"

"More than I should have told you, yes."  He was quiet for a long time.  "Get some sleep, we start again at dawn."  Gaara knelt in a meditative posture but from what Yuki understood he would not sleep.  Sleep was not easy for her to come by either.  Desert survival training was the first thing she learned when she came to Suna, but she had never mastered an ability to sleep on sand.  Something about the way it always shifted under her.

There were at least two comforts this night offered though.  The first was the company of Gaara.  Though silent, his strong presence gave off an undeniable sense of security.  And then there were the stars.  Yuki had thought the night skies of konoha were beautiful, but out in the desert they were breathtaking.  And so she found sleep under a sky almost bright with the multitude of stars.