7 Chapter 6: In the Sandstorm (Part 2)

We all rose as the Kazekage entered the dimly lit room. The Meeting Room they had gone with for today was the same room that Wars had been decided in. Fitting, I thought. Chiyo was a one-woman army and if nothing else, her grandson would probably help her fight against the whole village, even at his own peril.

I nodded to some of my peers that I recognised. Rasa was at the forefront, on the left hand of the Kazekage's seat, and Ebizo followed right behind Lord Third, who looked like he had swallowed a lemon.

"You all know why we are gathered here," Lord Third began. It was funny how nobody ever called him by his name. It wasn't that nobody knew it. It just wasn't spoken. No particular reason, as if one day, everyone had woken up, from the Raikage to the Mizukage and from the meanest microbe to the Nine-Tailed Beast, and decided not to utter the Third Kazekage's name. Given that he was quite possibly the most powerful Ninja alive, with even Hiruzen Sarutobi having to concede the Southern Front Victory to Suna in the previous war.

What I had figured from my knowledge of the events preceding the 'Canon' of Naruto was that Konoha truly was as bad as some fanfictions claimed it to be. Only the First Hokage could be considered a man willing to uphold peace at personal cost. When Kumo tested Tobirama's patience, they got slapped with the First Shinobi World War. A War so devastating that it was called 'The Great War'. Everyone lost much, and little was gained from it.

In the Second War, the Shinobi of the Leaf were stretched thin between two fronts, one at Iwa and the other at Suna. And while they technically won, it was a pyrrhic victory at best. Hanzo was simply too strong and Iwa wouldn't stop sending their hordes upon any and every enemy.

Seeing as Ame was a strategic resource and a very close ally, Suna participated, and for the most part, we were winning until the Slug Queen Tsuande pulled up and started turning the tides of war single-handedly.

There must be something in the waters of Konoha that bred a few geniuses each era. I stopped my internal conversation with myself to hear the Kazekage better.

"We have good reason to believe, on grounds of evidence and testimony, that Chiyo has deserted the village." He tried very hard not to snort at the unintended pun. He was a bit cross with her to begin with, and being here, in this stressful environment, didn't encourage him to participate in tomfoolery, as it were.

He saw a few of them mutter amongst themselves, some only hearing it at this particular moment were no doubt surprised. The respect that everyone had for Chiyo was brought to question, more so now that it was the Third Kazekage himself who was delivering this news.

"As of now, we have had no information of her intentions, her plans and motivations or even her location."

True. All I knew personally was that Chiyo put the Village above her family, but not to the point where she was unbothered by their deaths. She loved her grandson enough to teach him her art, including forbidden jutsus that would make even Orochimaru flinch. There was bitterness in her heart, tempered by the inaction of Lord Third. The reparations paid by the Village in the war was great, which emboldened some of the dissenters within the Council itself.

She was not yet one of the "Honoured Siblings", alongside Ebizō. It was only because she was revered and had the confidence of the Village and the respect of everyone from other villages, if given grudgingly, that she wasn't outright labelled a Nuke-nin. This specific meeting of the Joint-Council, alongside the Suna Council and the heads of all departments, was called to do just that thing. Try and come to a decision that was the bwst for the Village.

There were some radicals within this very group which would have hung Chiyo out to dry, but they were a relative minority.

Soon enough, the bickering began, right under the Kazekage's nose. Arguments were being made both in favour of and against sending a search party, or even just adopting a wait-and-see approach to this.

Then something happened that ruined the moderate peace that the group had.

Yato, a respected Jonin of the Village, punched Irato, who was Sasori's sensei. Well, he was for now, at least. And everything went to hell in a handbasket.

The veneer of civility had fled and right in front of the Third Kazekage, otherwise well-behaved and respected members of the Village outright started rioting.

What was this, Birmingham?

I stood up and cleared my throat, leaning forward to look at the Kazekage, who looked halfway between confused and furious.

I met my secretary's eyes across the room, for she had just entered. She looked bedraggled but held herself with dignity. She nodded and I knew that everything was in place.

I decided that it was time to come clean.

"I think I'm the reason she left," I said out loud, stopping the ones closes to me from shouting at each other in an increasing volume.

Soon, silence reigned in the room, eyes fixed on my meek form.

"With all due respect, Lord Third, my actions may have led to this situation. I had, the night she presumably left, sent her a very sensitive document regarding one of the people whom we had placed a bounty on, a Hatake Sakumo of the Leaf Village."

I could feel everyone's scrutiny deepen, looking at me as if I was a three-headed python that had reared back with fanga exposed.

The Kazekage took a moment to break the short silence with a single question.

"What are you on about?"