Chapter 17: Issues

Because of this, Shinsuki being the number 2 in the whole class was teamed up with Gaara. They don't have a 3rd member because compared to them, the rest are completely inferior in terms of combat abilities and other skills. And to form a unit consisting of the best genins, their team was joined by Temari and Kankuro.

….

Temari - a great strategist and long range combatant, Kankuro - a great scout and mid range combatant, Shinsuki - a great defender who can block physical attacks and mid/long range combatant, and lastly, Gaara - an all arounder. This team was arranged by Rasa himself after analyzing their strengths and weaknesses.

Gaara doesn't really need any support from a team but Rasa still assigned him to not give any clue to the opposing nations that he's their trump card.

The succeeding days after their team formation they were tasked to low B-rank missions immediately to test their effectiveness as a team accompanied by a jonin to observe their performance where they were able to showcase great coordination, teamwork, planning and individual prowess.

Since Gaara was still preparing for the meeting with the daimyo at that time, he only sent a sand clone to the missions not knowing that Rasa already knew about it but didn't do anything to stop it. He's confident that despite all Gaara's preparation he could still take him down easily with the curse seal he put on his heart which was proven to be effective if not for Shukaku's help.

//Flash back end//

…

Right now they are not accompanied by their assigned jonin leader because of some other matter so Temari will be assuming that role temporarily for this mission. They are still being led by a jonin because their experience is still not that reliable, but since their mission today is only a C-rank they were allowed to go on their own.

"Alright, let's recap the mission. We're tasked to guard the goods and crops that will be exported outside the village. There's no incident recorded yet regarding this matter ever since our village began exporting but that doesn't mean we will not encounter problems this time. So be careful and don't let your guard down." - (Temari) said as they ran towards their meeting location.

"Shouldn't this mission be above C-rank? After all, it involves important resources of our village." - (Shinsuki)

"I don't know if you really listened to the briefing but it was said that there are already chunins sent there." - (Gaara)

"That's right. Our real mission is to support them and report back immediately if worse comes to worst. Right now, we are short in manpower so they sent us genins for this mission. This mission is very important so make sure to take it seriously." - (Temari)

"Well, it's not like it will come to that. We're probably stronger than those chunins they sent combined even without Gaara." - (Kankuro)

"You bet, we are." - (Shinsuki)

"Don't get cocky, you two. Anyway, we're here." - (Gaara)

–Meanwhile, Suna advisory meeting room–

There are 5 figures seated around the huge round table and 1 figure standing behind. There are many unoccupied seats indicating that they are all not present.

"Sorry for the inconvenience, Daimyo-sama." - (Chiyo)

"No problem, Chiyo-san." - (Daimyo) said as he flapped his bamboo fan. Behind him there is a huge guy, probably his guard.

"Thank you for your understanding. As of now, we cannot leave our village and hold the meeting elsewhere because the village needs our assistant to maintain the order." - (Ebizo) said and he with the other 3 bowed their heads.

"I already had a rough guess on why you needed my appearance here but can you please tell me the whole reason." - (Daimyo)

"Baki." - (Chiyo) called.

"Yes, Chiyo-sama… My name is Baki, the jonin commander of Sunagakure…" - (Baki) introduced himself.

"As time passes, many people are becoming more worried about the fact that we don't have a Kazekage. This is just as to be expected, after all, the title of a kage alone gave people peace of mind and reassurance. This is not just because of their strength but also because of their leadership that people undoubtedly rely and give their trust in them. So the fact that we don't have a Kazekage really worries them.

As for the public order, criminals who hid themselves are starting to move again. This can be seen by the number of crimes and conflicts happening recently. But, there seems to be no problem with our line of command and the people are still obeying without issues." - (Baki) said to the daimyo. He then looked to the person sitting to his right and nodded.

"My name is Mikazuchi, I'm here as a representative of the civilians. It is my honor to meet you, Daimyo-sama…" - (Mikazuchi) introduced herself and bowed. She has black long hair, a beautiful face and sharp eyes.

"To continue what Baki-san said, factions that opposed the higher ups are also popping up left and right. Coming from the point of view of a civilian, it is not unusual to see people showing dislike towards a certain leadership. But seeing groups of people with opposing views and intentions forming groups and gathering people is very concerning especially at a time like this.

According to our brave civilians who volunteered to infiltrate and spy on these factions, the members believed that the military resources of this country were being wasted because of how it is divided into multiple villages. They are planning to unite the country under one leadership, you, the Wind Daimyo.

Though we have no intel on how exactly these factions are going to realise their plan, the rate of how their numbers are growing day by day is incredible. We assume that it is because of the fact that many people are already losing hope, especially that our Kazekage had tried to do an unforgivable act given our current situation. This caused fear to the people that it might damage our relationship to the only person that can help us, that is you, Milord. In addition, these factions seem connected to each other.

In my honest opinion, these people have all the right to feel that way. After all, this is the lowest our village has become, not only in terms of military strength and economy but also in people's morale." (Mikazuchi)

The honoured siblings and Baki were all surprised by this. They have no idea nor are they informed by anyone that there are factions that are planning to mess up the hierarchy, even Mikazuchi didn't mention anything about this subject during their pre-meeting.

….