144. Paranoid

Kakuzu was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

He was in a dilemma.

Should he take on two people by himself, both of whom had high bounties, and one of them even being a jinchuriki? Or should he play it safe, as the leader had said they were postponing the collection of bijuu until the Three-Tails revived?

He couldn't decide.

Should he go for the money and risk angering the leader? Or should he follow orders and lose the huge pile of money right in front of him, waiting to be exploited?

'The leader would be happy if I bring in more money and Ichibi's jinchuriki, right?' Kakuzu couldn't make up his mind.

But the other two parties had decided as Sora released a mini Rasengan at Kakuzu's main body, which held the earth heart.

The lightning mask used a lightning jutsu on the Rasengan, but it was as futile as trying to quench Naruto's hunger with just one bowl of ramen.

Kakuzu dodged.

Or at least tried to, but the sand on his feet slowed his momentum.

If he had Hidan's head, he would've used it for defence, but another mask was currently holding it.

Kakuzu shifted his heart's position inside his body. The Rasengan pierced his body but missed his heart.

As expected from a veteran ninja who had been around since the time of the First Hokage.

His body was... interesting. It was mostly stitched together, and instead of blood, threads came from his hand and closed the wound.

'Never mind, I should retreat. I'm not sure I can stop either of them from escaping, and I can't afford to reveal more information,' Kakuzu decided.

He was kind of right, as Sora would've escaped and left Gaara to face the two adults.

Sora was barely 7 years old.

How was he supposed to fight two S-ranks who were supposed to be terrifying?

Everyone would have to accept that excuse because it was kind of true, especially in this context.

"Should we chase after them or not? I'm not sure if they've set traps ahead," Sora asked Gaara.

He was also keeping an eye on Gaara, just in case he suddenly went on a killing spree.

Naruto had said Gaara was fine, but Sora didn't believe him one bit.

Gaara didn't reply immediately, thinking as the sand moved toward Kakuzu and the mask that was carrying Hidan's head.

In the next second, all of Kakuzu's hearts returned to him, and Hidan's head was in his hand.

"I WILL COME BACK AND KILL YOU SO PAINFULLY THAT YOU'LL WISH YOU WERE DEAD, BUT I WON'T LET YOU DIE!" Hidan raged at everyone present.

He really was going to keep that promise.

Kakuzu flickered away.

Gaara didn't move, nor did Sora.

"It would be unwise to pursue them. They could be a distraction for another purpose, and I'm not sure if we could catch up. We also don't know if they have other companions ready to help, so it could be a trap," Gaara said, turning toward Sora.

"R-Right," Sora stammered when Gaara looked at him.

He was a bit surprised that Gaara was so logical.

'Maybe he pretended to be dumb before to make people think he's a mindless psychopath... but in reality, he's a very smart and calculating psychopath.'

Sora was now more freaked out than before and was on high alert.

He could handle dumb people, but not smart ones who were after his life—and were also jinchuriki.

"Anyway, did you bring the scroll the Hokage sent?" Gaara asked Sora.

"Hmm, yeah. I was told to give it directly to the Kazekage," Sora answered.

Gaara stretched out his hand, like a person asking a friend for money. Very similar to that.

"I'm supposed to give it to the Kazekage?" Sora said.

Was Gaara finally revealing his true colours by taking the scroll from him?

"Yeah, you said that. So give it to me now," Gaara replied.

Sora looked at him with a blank expression.

1... 2... 3...

"WAIT, you're the Kazekage?!" Sora asked in shock.

Why had Gaara become the Kazekage?

Sora really thought there had to be better candidates because Gaara… wasn't mentally sound… at least in his opinion.

"Oh, you didn't know? No wonder. Yeah, I became the Kazekage," Gaara remarked.

"Here's the scroll, Kazekage-SAMA," Sora handed over the scroll, emphasizing the "-sama."

He didn't want it written in his mission report that he'd been rude to the Kazekage.

Gaara cringed. "Please don't," he said, taking the scroll.

He really didn't like it when people talked to him that way.

Before, people hated and feared him.

Now… they feared him even more because he already had a reputation as a tyrant in the village.

There were even rumours that he'd threatened to exterminate all the council elders' families.

The poor council elders had no choice but to make him Kazekage.

Gaara really didn't like this.

He was pretty sure those rumours were started by the councilmen themselves.

He might just make that rumour a reality if this kept up.

"Oh, my bad," Sora rubbed his head.

He was only acting polite, like most of the ninjas under Gaara.

He generally didn't address any Kage with "-sama" anyway.

Even Mei-neechan had told him to call her casually.

So, now Gaara also joined the collection of Kage with whom Sora could speak informally.

Not many could claim that honour.

Apart from Kage, who could say that to each other?

"Let's head to my office first, then we'll talk. Who knows who's listening," Gaara said and flickered away.

Sora followed behind.

They really couldn't trust being out in the open desert anymore.

Who knew what kind of creeps were lurking in the sand, waiting to devour them?

"How's Suna?" Sora tried to make small talk, wanting to learn more about Gaara.

As they say, information is power. In this case, gauging Gaara's personality and tendencies could be helpful in the future.

In case he gets ambushed by people in Suna,

He really didn't want that to happen.

"It's poor," Gaara said in a neutral tone.

Sora almost stumbled in the sand while flickering.

He hadn't expected this reply from Suna's Kage, of all people.

"Sorry?" he asked, needing confirmation.

Maybe he wasn't thinking straight after being jumped by two S-ranks.

"It's poor and dry too," Gaara repeated in the same tone.

"I see," Sora quickly replied.

He really didn't know what to say in this awkward moment.

And the conversation died again.

They reached the gate, and the guards didn't stop them.

In fact, they didn't even dare to raise their heads.

Gaara walked calmly, carrying the poise of a Kage.

The villagers stayed out of their way, and the area was deathly silent.

Sora was speechless.

It seemed what he had witnessed in the Chunin Exams wasn't a dream.

Gaara really did have psychotic tendencies.

And it wasn't Sora's bias talking.

The results spoke for themselves.

Or rather, what he'd seen.

They reached the Kazekage's office.

"Take a seat, no need to stand," Gaara told Sora, who sat down.

He really was feeling odd.

Gaara opened the scroll and read its contents.

Sora waited for his reply, as he didn't know what the scroll said.

He only knew that his next mission would be given by the Kazekage and would take a few weeks to complete.

Gaara giggled after finishing the scroll.

'Is he finally going to show his true colors and bring out elite jounin or something to jump me?' Sora didn't show it outwardly, but his guard was raised to the maximum.

Heck, he was even expecting to be bijuu bombed point-blank.

"This mission will be really fun for you," Gaara smirked and handed the scroll to Sora.

"Oh, really?" Sora cautiously took the scroll, checking to see if there was some secret sand stuck to it or not. 

Checking if it had some secret sand stuck to it or not.

Sora didn't show it outwardly, but he managed to disguise this by taking a long time to read. 

He would just say he got distracted by one part or something if someone noticed the anomaly and questioned it.

Sora started reading the scroll quickly. 

"Hehe, it really is the kind of mission built solely for me," Sora giggled.

"I know," Gaara smirked.

"Are you sure you want me to be doing this? Well, this is in Suna, so I don't know if it would be appropriate for me to do this."

"It's completely fine. Ninjas from this village will also take part in this mission under your command. I don't think you'll cheat on this mission."

"Don't worry, I'm not the type to cheat, especially on this type of mission," Sora smirked.

It seems the following weeks on this mission would be fun for him.

Some people out there shivered for some reason.

***

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