Politics, again

Speaking"

'Thinking'

The next day there was a notice declaring that the Kazekage would hold a speech in the afternoon. Many people were hoping for some positive news after the constant bad news of the past weeks.

------------

It was noon. Many people had gathered in front of the Kazekage tower among them were Temari Kankuro and Temari.

Kankuro turned to Temari and asked,

"Why do you think the Kazekage is holding a speech?"

"I hope that it's finally some good news. Maybe they sorted out the food shortage. That would be good for the whole village."

Gaara chipped into the conversation,

"I don't think it's about the food shortage. I think it has something to do with our mission."

"With our mission? No one cares if we kill a few bandits at the northern border. Why should the Kazekage tell that to everyone?"

"I'm not talking about our mission details you idiot. I was talking about the ambush on our mission. Baki told us that only the council and the Kazekage knew about that mission. Somehow the bandits got the information about our mission. That means a member of the council must have leaked it to them."

Temari and Kankuro were staring at Gaara. To accuse a council member of treason without any evidence could end very badly. Thankfully no one paid attention to them.

Many civilians were talking among themselves. Even if they didn't believe that the Kazekage would deliver them any good news, they still had one last bit of hope.

Suddenly everyone got quiet because the Kazekage and his advisor Baki stepped onto the balcony on top of the Kazekage tower.

The Kazekage stepped in front of Baki so everyone could see him.

"Sadly, I have to deliver bad news again."

The villagers that had hope lost all of it after this sentence. More bad news? Surely it can't get any worse than it is already.

The booming voice of the Kazekage made everyone focus on him again.

"In the past weeks and months, internal information of the village has been leaked to our enemies. After a thorough investigation, we concluded, that we had traitors in the shinobi council."

This news shocked everyone. Never before was there any corruption scandal in the village. How could they trust anyone when even the council was corrupt? Many people started to talk amongst themselves.

The Kazekage once again gathered all the attention of the villagers.

"Sunagakure does not accept any kind of corruption. Therefore, the members of the council have been taken into custody.

Of course, all of them were relieved from their duty."

This shocked the villagers even more. This meant that the council was disbanded. The Kazekage would rule Suna on his own.

One villager decided to speak up about this issue.

"Who is gonna rule Suna now? Even the Kazekage can't take control of everything. No one should be that powerful!"

Most people agreed with him.

"Don't worry. I do not plan to keep all the power for myself. Next week there will be a vote. Every clan can vote for a new representative in the council, of course, this person will also become the new clan head.

If a clan is unable to decide on a representative, they will be excluded from the council."

This caused an even greater uproar in the civilian part of the population.

"The clan heads were just found guilty of corruption! And those who took most damage are we civilians. Why should the clans be allowed to rule again?"

"If you would stop to interrupt me then I would get straight to the point.

As most of you know, over the past years the civilian population grew. Today they represent a majority of the village. Yet they have no members in the council. This is a bit unfair.

Next week there will also be a vote for the civilians. Two members of the new council will be civilians!"

This led to cheers by the civilians. Some of the shinobi were unhappy.

Gaara could hear someone mumble something about that the shinobi were stronger than the civilians and should thereby rule the village. But there were only a few people unhappy with the decision.

The Kazekage left the balcony together with Baki.

------------

Inside of the Kazekage building.

"Baki, your idea regarding civilians on the council was great. You are truly worthy of being my advisor. Without you, I wouldn't have been able to handle the situation like this."

"Thank you lord Kazekage. I'm honored to be your advisor."

"Now different tasks await you. You have to train Kankuro, Temari, and Gaara to the best of your ability. Your team must reach the final round. Our whole plan depends on it.

Besides, I don't want my children to die during the exam."

Baki nodded,

"Don't worry lord Kazekage, they will not only reach the finals, but they will also show everyone that Suna has a great young generation!"

Baki was about to leave but the Kazekage stopped him,

"Before you leave I want to hear your opinion of Gaara."

"Gaara's development is nothing short of outstanding. He will most likely master the Tai Jutsu style before the chunin exams. Additionally, he shows great control over the one-tailed beast."

"I have read the reports about him. I know his progress. I want to know what you think about him as a person. As a team member."

"What do you mean, lord Kazekage?"

"He is bound to surpass in the future. Normally he would be my successor as Kazekage. The only reason why he wasn't considered as one was his instability.

If he should gain control over the one-tailed the only thing standing between him and the position of Kazekage is time.

During the chunin exam, he will be the leader of his team. He must learn how to deal with responsibility.

When his time comes he needs to be ready. When the third Kazekage died, I was not ready to become the fourth. I made many mistakes in my early days. Some of them are part of the reason for the current state of Suna."

Baki was wide-eyed. Here was the Kazekage proposing that Gaara should be trained to become his successor. A few months ago this would have been ridiculous.

"Don't worry lord Kazekage, whenever Gaara will become Kazekage, he will be ready for it."

The Kazekage nodded and then signaled Baki to leave his office.

Soon Baki reached the training grounds where his team was already waiting for him.

"Hello, Baki sensei."

"Hello, my students."

Kankuro was ready for training and asked,

"What are we training today? Is it Tai Jutsu again or are we training our body?"

"It's good that you ask. As I have told you yesterday, you will participate in the chunin exams. That means our training will be extra hard."

"How much harder?", Temari asked curiously.

"Well Kankuro just asked if you are gonna train Tai Jutsu or your body, the answer is you will train both! If you want to be a chunin you will have to put in double the amount of work."

The next to weeks were the worst weeks of their lives. More intense training coupled with less recovery time meant pain.

Right now Baki, Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara were sitting in a restaurant talking about the chunin exam.

"The chunin exam will be held in one week. We are leaving tomorrow. There are some basic things I want all of you to know before we leave.

First, don't pick a fight with anyone from Konoha. No ninjas and no civilians, the situation between the villages are tense, we cannot afford any incident.

Gaara, you will be the team leader, I trust you to keep everything under control."

"That's unfair, why is Gaara the team leader, he is the youngest."

"The reason why Gaara is the team leader is that he is the strongest, and he can keep calm other than you and Kankuro!

Back to the chunin exam, don't pick unnecessary fights during the exam. Your goal is to reach the final, not to defeat everyone before the final takes place.

Finally, take care of yourself during the exam. There will be opponents that are stronger than the mid-chunin level. Never underestimate any opponent, no matter how weak they look."

After Baki's little lecture the food arrived and all began to eat.