Play To Win [Rewrite] || Naruto Fanfic

Amused

Time ticked by, and Gaara was not amused.

After deciphering the message with Temari, he had to bring in the Council who, after being riled up from the last meeting that lasted nearly five hours, were reignited. "We should've placed a higher bounty on that undeserving brat!"

The girl hasn't been seen since she escaped during the Konoha-Suna Joint Mission Operation. It was a deep shame for Suna, losing a promising shinobi and embarrassing themselves with Konoha, again.

No one really understood how she escaped from the infamous Sharingan no Kakashi, and in Gaara's books, that made her one of the deadliest missing-nin that Suna has ever produced. To escape someone of the caliber of Hatake that easily indicated that any attempts of retrieving her back for trial would be useless. Too slippery. It also didn't help the fact that without any sightings the past few years, it was as if she left the continent all together.

He sneezed at the thought, rubbing his nose.

The Council was highly doubtful that her message came with good intentions, which then began interrogations part eighty-five. Gaara was getting pretty tired of seeing the same people who had the same story. Nothing ticked off her former friends and comrades, they all think it's some elaborate scheme that she's pulling.

He ruffled his head, calling for Kankuro. "Gaara? Are you still worried about that message?"

The boy sighed, "Yes. Very."

Kankuro crossed his arms and closed his eyes, recalling past memories. "Tamako was always keen on these types of things, she was good at predicting. I still don't understand why she ran off, or why she knew all of these things, but..." He trailed off, almost smudging his face-paint, "I think her intel is right."

Gaara had a couple hours before dusk, and he wasn't sure if the Akatsuki would attack him immediately at dark, or wait until midnight. He recalled the words of the council, especially Lady Chiyo, who demanded another interrogation. Wanting to keep this quick, he signaled to Kankuro and the older sibling nodded, disappearing.

It didn't take long for his brother to arrive back with Tamako's former teammates, Raidon and Aneko.

They were decent shinobi, back then they were the top contenders to become chunin, but after Tamako was promoted, they were separated and seemingly stagnated in skill. When the girl defected, they seemed to almost drown in speculations and mistrust. It was only recently last year they were able to gain back the Village's trust.

Alongside the two, was his older sister Temari. His sister was always headstrong when it came to the Shouton User. Temari was the last Suna Shinobi that Tamako talked to before defecting, and Temari took it hard. His sister always cried out, why didn't see the signs!?

Temari slammed her hands onto his desk, "She's a brat, that one! But we can't underestimate her. She was once rejoiced as Suna's Prodigy. If we choose to take this opportunity and track the chakra remnants of her message, we may be able to capture her!"

That was the option the council called for, and they clearly wrapped Temari into it, using her emotions against herself. He turned to Tamako's former teammates. "The two of you were once familiar with Tamako." He paused, then gestured to the floor. There was chalk around the message, ensuring that no one crossed over it. "Do her words seem authentic?"

The two's eyes widened, and they scrambled to get a better look, gaping wide as silence consumed the room. The pair read each sentence carefully, even saying it out loud to get a better grasp of the riddle.

"In all honesty, Kazekage-sama," Aneko began, a palm on her chest with misty eyes, "We aren't sure if Raidon and I truly saw Tamako. Yes, we were her teammates, and we trained nearly everyday together but—"