"You think…"
Karin suddenly spoke, her voice as faint as a mosquito's whine.
"Is Temari really getting beaten up?"
Hinata poked her head out from under the blanket, her face so red it looked ready to bleed.
"Don't… don't ask…" Her voice was soft and frantic. "Sleep!"
Karin shut her mouth and bit her lip without another word.
But her ears were still perked up.
Like two tiny radars, catching every sound coming from next door.
"I can't… I can't anymore…"
Temari's voice carried an indescribable tremor.
Hinata pulled the blanket over her head again.
Karin stared at the ceiling as a strange feeling welled up inside her.
She could not quite say what it was…
Curiosity?
Nervousness?
Or something else?
All she knew was that her heart was beating fast.
So fast it felt like it might leap out of her chest.
After a long time, the room next door finally went quiet.
Hinata poked her head out from under the blanket.
She let out a long breath.
Karin also sighed in relief.
She turned over to face the wall and closed her eyes.
"Karin…"
Hinata's voice was very soft, almost inaudible.
"Mm?"
"Do you think the Kazekage… is he a good person?"
Karin was silent for a long time.
She remembered when Orochimaru-sama had told her to follow this man.
She remembered the fear and unwillingness in her heart.
She remembered the first time she saw him.
His face had looked especially gentle beneath the moonlight.
She remembered the warm, broad hand that had patted the top of her head.
"I don't know," Karin said softly. "But I don't think he'll hurt us."
Hinata said nothing else.
She closed her eyes, and that man's face surfaced in her mind…
Young, handsome, with the faintest trace of a smile.
She remembered the night he had held her as she slept.
She remembered his steady, powerful heartbeat.
She remembered the faint, indescribable scent on him.
Her face turned red again, and she buried it in her pillow.
Her heart was beating like a drum.
In the room next door.
Temari lay in Teizawa's arms, her whole body soft and limp as water.
Her fingers drew unconscious circles against his chest, and her voice was hoarse and lazy.
"When you were gone this time, did you miss me?"
Teizawa lowered his head to look at her, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.
"I did. Every day."
"Liar."
Temari shot him a teasing glare, but the corners of her mouth still rose despite herself.
She closed her eyes and leaned into his arms.
Listening to his steady, powerful heartbeat, she soon fell into a deep sleep.
Teizawa held her by the waist.
He stared at the ceiling, thoughts churning through his mind.
Iwagakure and Kumogakure were facing off at the border. The Four-Tails was missing. Akatsuki was stirring in the shadows…
The balance of the shinobi world was being broken.
And he had to find the most advantageous position in the middle of this chaos.
He closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath.
No rush.
One step at a time.
In the room next door, Hinata and Karin finally fell asleep.
The two girls curled up beneath the covers.
Their faces were turned toward each other, their breathing mingling together.
Moonlight slipped through the gap in the curtains.
It fell across their faces.
Like a thin layer of silver gauze.
That night…
Some reunited after a long separation. Some tossed and turned, unable to sleep. Some slept sweetly.
The next morning,
When Hinata and Karin walked out of their room, they happened to run into Temari coming out from next door.
Temari was wearing loose house clothes.
Her hair fell casually around her shoulders, and there was still a faint blush on her cheeks.
When she saw Hinata and Karin, she froze for a moment.
Then she nodded.
"Did you sleep well last night?"
Her voice was a little hoarse.
Hinata's face instantly turned red.
She lowered her head, not daring to look at her.
Karin pushed up her glasses and said solemnly, "It was fine. It was just a little noisy next door."
Temari's face flushed scarlet in an instant.
She opened her mouth.
She seemed about to say something, then swallowed it back.
Then she turned and quickly walked away.
Hinata tugged at Karin's sleeve and whispered,
"How… how could you say that…"
Karin blinked with an innocent look on her face.
"I was telling the truth."
Hinata covered her face, wishing she could crawl into a crack in the floor.
Sunlight spilled in through the corridor windows.
It fell warmly across the two of them.
From farther away came Temari's voice, carrying a trace of embarrassed annoyance.
"Teizawa… control your people…"
Then came Teizawa's laughter, low and clear, echoing in the morning breeze.
…
Ignoring the shy Hinata and Karin…
Teizawa went straight to Deidara's training ground.
The training ground was located in an open area on the west side of Sunagakure.
Tall earthen walls surrounded it on all sides.
They were there to prevent the aftermath of explosions from reaching the village.
The ground was pitted and uneven.
Scorched marks and shattered rocks were everywhere.
It looked like the surface of the moon after being repeatedly bombarded by meteor showers.
Teizawa stood atop the earthen wall.
His arms were crossed.
He looked down over the training ground below.
Deidara was leading his demolition unit through their daily training…
A dozen young Suna shinobi rode clay birds.
They circled through the air, dove, and dropped bombs.
Those clay birds shone white beneath the sunlight.
When their wings flapped, they made a dull puffing sound.
The bombs fell to the ground.
Blossoms of orange-red flame erupted one after another.
The blasts made even the earthen walls tremble slightly.
"Not bad."
Teizawa nodded.
His tone was as flat as if he were commenting on a home-cooked dish.
Deidara jumped down from a massive clay bird.
He landed beside Teizawa and clapped the clay from his hands.
"Not bad?"
His voice rose several pitches. His long blond hair drifted in the wind, and his face was full of pride.
"What do you know? This is the art of explosions!"
He pointed at the shinobi training in the sky.
Then he pointed at the still-smoking craters on the ground.
"Look at that power, that precision, that beauty… That is true art!"
Teizawa smiled.
"You don't understand the art of explosions at all."
Deidara's eyes went wide.
"Tch… what would you know?"
He could not be bothered with this outsider. He crossed his arms, lifting his chin slightly.
"I've already done plenty, haven't I? The intelligence on the Mangekyō Sharingan…"
Teizawa did not answer.
He took a petri dish from inside his clothes.
Then he held it up in front of Deidara.
Deidara's voice cut off abruptly.
The petri dish was not large. Its walls were made of transparent glass.
Inside, it was filled with pale green nutrient solution.
An eyeball floated within the liquid.
A scarlet base, black tomoe.
The pattern was not the three tomoe of an ordinary Sharingan.
It was connected into one strange, gorgeous design…
The Mangekyō.
(End of Chapter)
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