Desert Stars

Conflict

Y/n's POV

When I wake up the next morning, I'm still against the wall, and my whole body aches from sleeping on the floor. I groan, slowly standing up.

The Kazekage's mansion is dead quiet, even though last night, it was bustling. I slowly make my way down the hallway until I reach a window. I peer out of it, and I see that a section of the village had been reduced to rubble. I take a sharp, alarmed breath. What happened last night?

Then I remember what Baki and Dezato told me. An attack. The Village Hidden in the Sand was attacked, and Gaara was taken.

Gaara was taken. He protected me.

This is really happening.

I stumble, catching myself against the wall, caught off guard by the weight of the truth.

"There you are."

I turn around and see Temari standing there, arms crossed, her usual annoyed look on her face. But she looked exhausted, like she hadn't gotten any sleep, and it seemed almost like she'd been...crying. Is Temari even capable of crying?

"Come on," says Temari. "You're needed in the council chamber."

"Okay, but first can you please explain to me what the heck happened last night?" I ask, gesturing out the window to the ruined part of the city.

"They'll explain when you get there," Temari says, grabbing my wrist and dragging me away.

The council room is vast and empty, with a big round table in the middle and massive statues of the past Kazekages carved into the wall. I look up at them, and the statues glower back at me.

I feel like they're judging me.

Sitting around the table, I see Baki, Dezato, and the rest of the old men who were there to greet me when I arrived at the Sand Village. I follow Temari to one of the open seats and sit down.

"We've sent word to the Leaf Village," Baki says. "They're sending a squad."

"Good," says an old man that I only vaguely recognize.

"What about Kankuro?" Temari asks. "How are we going to find an antidote for the poison?"

"Oh, Temari, you're back," Dezato says, ignoring her question. He looks at me. "So, Y/n, how much do you know?"

"That there was an attack on the village, and Gaara was kidnapped, and there was some sort of explosion," I say. "And, apparently, Kankuro was poisoned?"

Dezato nods solemnly. He goes on to explain to me that two members of the Akatsuki managed to sneak past their defenses, and one of them set off a bomb in the middle of the village. Gaara went to fight him, and after saving the village from an even bigger bomb, he was defeated and taken. When Kankuro went after him, he ran into the second Akatsuki member, who it turns out is a puppet master, and he was poisoned. Kankuro is currently bedridden, and he only has three days to live.

"Wow," I say when he finishes. "This sucks."

"Yes," Dezato says.

"We need to begin making preparations to choose a new Kazekage," one of the other council members addresses Baki. He has a ridiculously wide nose, so I'm going to call him Big Nose.

"No," Baki replies. "There is still hope. With the Leaf Village's help, we still might be able to-"

"These Akatsuki people are obviously out of our league." This council member has beady little eyes, so I'm going to call him Bird Man. "What if we aren't able to retrieve the Fifth Kazekage? Or worse - what if we retrieve him, but they've already taken away his Tailed Beast?"