The Scorching Red Desert

Akira winced as she removed the bandages around her otherwise abdomen. She allowed the bloodied bandages to fall around her feet. Looking in the mirror, Akira traced the jagged shrapnel would with her finger. How Ironic the great Akira of The Explosion Release takes a piece of shrapnel in the field. Akira thought to herself. The crescent shaped wound still stung, despite being a week old. Even with the extensive medical treatment, the would would certainly scar. Just another battle reminder Akira would be forced to wear on her skin. This made the third and by far the largest wound she had received since the war began. There was little to be done about it. It was unlikely these scars would be the only ones she received, as the end of the war was far beyond the horizon.

Akira didn't have time to dwell on her new body imperfections, as it was already mid morning and she knew Shiga and Garyu had already beaten her to the war room. Throwing on her undershirt and mesh top, Akira exited the bathroom and spotted Michi sitting absentmindedly on her bed, seemingly unaware of her presence. The young boy stared ahead as if fixated on something, despite there only being the dimly lit wall to look at.

"You still don't like having your own room?" Akira asked her facial expression dull but her voice showing rare compassion for her long time companion. Continuing to speak, Akira began walking over the the small dresser wedged into the nearby corner. "Shiga was very generous about our housing. He tried very hard to make us feel like guests rather than refugees. You should at least try to..."

"It's not that I hate it Lady Akira." Michi replied, cutting Akira off. "I just don't like being so far from you. I feel like I can't keep you protected if I'm not in the same room."

Akira quickly pulled on her shorts and sat down on the bed next to Michi to get her shoes on. Shiga had indeed been generous with their housing, providing both Akira and Michi with adjacent rooms in a relatively luxurious inn. The inn was not far from the tower in which Garyū and Shiga lived. Over the past month Michi and Akira had lived comfortably, the complete opposite of the week they had spend trying to reach Amegakure. Though Akira still found that rest never came easily, it was a unfathomable load off her back to not only know she was safe, but that Michi was as well.

"Thank you Michi." Akira replied as she finished dawning her footwear. "I truly do appreciate it. But I don't want you worrying over me if it costs you sleep. Every minute of sleep lost tonight is a minute of energy lost tomorrow."

"I understand Lady Akira."

"We should hurry. We don't want to be late to today's briefing." Michi nodded and sat up off the bed, waiting for Akira to pass him before following her out the door.

"Wow...just wow." Garyū scoffed folding his arms across his broad chest. "She's late...yet again. I honesty don't know what wrong with this chick.... Like...she's not even all that good looking and she takes so long getting ready for these meetings..." He continued to complain much to Shiga annoyance.

"Damnit Garyū, shut up. Geez. It has been a whole month. When are you going to let that petty little fight go?" Shiga shouted, banging his hand on the table.

For a few moments the two brothers stared into each other's eyes, with Shiga's being of a dark shade of blue. The tension of the two brothers was continuing to skyrocket the longer they looked at each other.

"Guys...calm down. I'm sure Akira and Michi are on their way as we speak." Jin informed, attempting to comfort his brothers, even though he knew Garyū hated the ground she walked on. "In fact..the two are closer than you think."

Just as Jin spoke footsteps could be heard outside the door to the war room, to people by the sound of it. One larger than the other and traveling at a casual pace, but even without these indicators Shiga, Jin and Garyū all knew it was Akira and Michi. Michi was the first to enter, with Akira only a single stride behind. Michi was dressed in his full attire, jacket and all despite being indoors. Akira on the other hand lacked her jacket, only wearing her undershirt, mesh top and shorts. Her long brown hair hung down past her waist, still wet from her shower. Without a word the two of them stud next to Shiga, looking down on the detailed map of The Land of Rain that occupied much of the table. The map was dotted with small black figures and white figures, a majority of the black pieces gathered around the area representing Amegakure and the white figures forming an almost perfect circle. If Akira had the scale of the map correct, the radius of the circle was about ten kilometers. It wasn't very hard to deduce that the white figures represented the Zetsu forces and the black represented Amegakure's forces. Though she tried to ignore this detail, Akira couldn't help but notice there were many more white pieces than black.

"Oh look. She finally decided to show up." Garyū scoffed, leading back in his chair relaxing his feet on the table. He grinned while doing so, watching as the young woman stud beside Shiga.

Akira continued studying the map as Garyū spoke, showing no reaction as she had done many times over the past month. Michi looked over at Garyū, but the expression in his face remained neutral. Over the past month they had learned to ignore's comments, which wasn't difficult for either of them considering their fixation on the war at hand.

"Have the scouting parties reported any significant information?" Akira finally asked, speaking to no one in particular.

"Awwh. She's ignore me." Garyū cooed, crumbing up a piece of paper. "Hey Babes, how you doing?" He teased, throwing the paper at her.

As the crumpled paper flew through the air towards Akira's head, Michi's hand emerged form his coat and moved in a blurred swipe. A moment later, a single senbon needle struck Garyū's paper projectile and stuck it into the wall of the war room.

Surprised by Michi's sudden reaction, Garyū gashed his eyes at the young boy before smiling. "Awwww. He's defending her." The childish young man said.

"Garyū! Seriously!" Shiga blurted in a rage. "Can you please stop!?"

"I grow tired of your pestering." Michi stated coldly with his eyes locked on Garyū. The boy's sudden words surprised even Akira, who was very much used to a dormant and reserved Michi. "Regardless of the fact I do not know how long a wounded pride takes to heal, I feel your pettiness is a simple hindrance to the goals of this village, the village you so confidently seem to think you will lead to victory."

Akira stud beside Michi, participial wanting to silence the young boy and preventing him from angering the short tempered Uchiha, but at the same time curious as to how Garyū was going to react to Michi's outburst.

Everyone what speechless by Michi sudden act of emotion. Shiga was infuriated by Garyū constant picking and he often wondered why. Jin stood silently, listening to the bickering between the parties.

"I knew it." Garyū laughed leaning back in the chair he was sitting in. "So you aren't a blank slate of non existing emotions." Garyū continue to tease. "It's about time you some form of human activity. Judging by how you've been acting I can tell that you've been struggling with a much deeper conflict than your home being destroyed."

Michi looked at Garyū with his default brown eyes, doing a superb job of keeping his composure. Michi's mind already had a dozen well planned comebacks and was in the process of selecting the most hurtful set of words he had when Akira walked by him. She moved around the war table and closed the distance between her and Garyū, stopping just shy of walking into him. The two of them stood there, glaring at each other for a few moments, the tension thick as a toxic sledge.

When Akira finally spoke, her words were filled not with harmful venom, but a eerie seriousness. "It has been almost a month since Michi and I came here. We have fought countless enemies and killed them all in the name of Amegakure. Despite all of this, you still can't seem to stand us. Why?"

"Oh no... See you are mistaken." Garyū replied standing up from his seated position to stand up, towering over the young woman. "I actually understand the two of you quite well, more than you think." He glared down into the eyes of Akira. "You loss your homeland to the likes of Black Zetsu. That pain stained the two of you, created deep wounds that don't seem to heal. I know what that feels like... I too have lost people that I deeply cared for. By first glance, you wouldn't be able to tell.... I've studied the two of you for quiet some time. You can't shake of the events of the past, their grip on you is far too great. You can't hold on to those events, you can't use your hatred to eliminate your pain of loss. But instead, you must use their good memories to strive for the greater good of everyone else. Learn to open up to others. You can never move forward if you constantly hold on to the past."

Akira looked up into Garyū's eyes, her poker face holding strong. Akira couldn't help but be impressed at the Uchiha's analysis of her and Michi. She couldn't deny the truth in what he said, but at the same time she knew he had effectively dodged her question. As much as she wanted to know why exactly Garyū disliked her, it was obvious now was not the time to probe for answers. There wasn't much to do at this point besides wait for Shiga to separate her and Garyū in order to continue briefing them on their current state of affairs.

"That's enough Garyū. You nee-" Shiga was cut off by Garyū's hand lifted hand. Before anyone could speak again; Garyū pressed his large hand on the side of Akira's, softly caressing it along her excellently carved cheekbones. Though she would probably be distraught by his sudden display of affection, he didn't bother to rethink his actions, hoping that instead of having to explain, that she would figure out what the signs meant. After few seconds of this, Garyū removed his hand and turn toward Shiga. "We can continue."

Genuinly surprised by Garyū's actions, Akira stud completely motionless for a few moments. It took a conscious effort to keep her facial expression from changing, something is seemed to do naturally these days. Michi was equally surprised, expecting another smug comment from Garyū rather than his shocking display. Michi wasn't quite sure whether to feel angry, happy or somewhere in between, but regardless he was confused. Though his face showed minimal movement, Michi couldn't help but barely raise an eyebrow at the situation.

Akira, hoping she wasn't blushing, turned her head to Shiga and asked "Please, begin the briefing."

"Well it was surely nice of you to hsbd the spotlight be to me.." Shiga argued sarcastically straightening his posture to continue speaking. "So guys as you know, we are basically surrounded be Zetsu on all sides. The ultimately means that sooner or later.. We're going to be attacked and wiped out. Now.. I've managed to set up a rendezvous with an official of Sunagakure. If this is successful, we will have the full support of the Hidden Sand on our side." Shiga paused for a moment, letting the bee sink in before continuing. "You two and others will travel to that point and establish a connection so we can win this for good."

"How are we to get to Sunagakure?" Akira asked, Garyū's advance already having been shoved to the back of her mind. "If I recall our intel suggests that the Zetsu forces on the boarder is heavily defended. We could try to enter through the Land of Rivers or the Land of Stone, but we know little about their boarder with the Land of Wind."

"Are we supposed to make it all the way to Sunagakure?" Michi chimed in. "With supplies how it is, any delays caused by enemy forces could be dangerous in the desert."

"Of course I don't expect you to make it all the way there... That why we've set up a rendezvous point with the Suna-nin, so that way we can eliminate any unnecessary casualties." Shiga replied almost immediately. "The thing about that is... Someone's gonna do it... And no one wants to volunteer or be volunteered into a mission that could possibly end in their death."

"So your taking no chances and sending out some of the top shinobi." Akira observed. "How long do we have to prepare for the mission?

"I would like for us to be ready by tomorrow... But we can working with your earliest convenience." Shiga replied once more leaning his back against the brick wall.

"Alright." Akira looked at Michi, then at Garyu. "If the rest of the unit is up to it, we should leave at sunset. That way we will be able to avoid the scorching heat of the desert. This plan work for you Garyu?"

"Sure. I'm just ready to end this. I should have everything I need at sunset.... I shall go prepare for everything while it's still on my mind." Garyū stated jokingly exiting the conference room.

Michi and Akira followed Garyū out the door into the hall way, leaving Shiga alone in the briefing room. Michi began making his way toward Akira's room but stopped when he realized Akira was not following.

"Shouldn't we be getting ready?" Michi asked and Akira looked in the direction Garyū had gone. "Akira?"

"You go ahead and begin the preparations for the mission." Akira answered. "I'll go see if I can get any extra supplies for one of the storerooms." Michi simply stared at Akira for a moment, not at all fooled by her lie. He considered asking her of her true motives until Akira shot him a stern look. With that Michi turned and began walking towards Akira's room.

Hastily making her way down the hallway Garyū had gone down, Akira quickly caught up to Garyū. As the young man turned around, Akira drove her hand into the base of his neck and pinned him against the wall. Before even giving Garyū a chance to question what Akira was doing, he had his answer.

"What the hell was that?" Akira asked in a almost robotic tone.

Taken by complete surprise, Garyū's eyes widened as he was thrown into the wall and was then encountered by a ticked off Akira. His check rested against the cold brick wall, he eyes scanned his surroundings before being his attention back to Akira.

"Whoa shit you scared me." Garyū mused, letting a chuckle or two slip from his breath. "I'll let you once you let me go."

Rather than releasing her grip, Akira only pressed Garyū into the wall harder. "I don't know what kind of game your trying to play with me, but I don't have patience for any of it. I suggest you keep your hand to yourself and stick to your bitchy comments before you really make me mad."

"So says the girl who has me physically pinned again the wall." He joked more. "You seriously need to take a chill pill." After speaking, Akira would feel as if her grip were loosening on Garyū. He began to slowly lift himself from the wall, turning slightly to make eye contact with her. It was that that moment, Garyū would have seemingly got a suddenly burst of strength from out of nowhere. Then out of shocking turn off events, Garyū had literally begun to defy Akira's forceful grip. Now completely off the wall, the young man was facing her direction as he removed her hand from his neck; placing it to her side. For a moment there was silence between them. Garyū slowly reached his hand upward, cupping her chin. His eyes beamed into hers. And then..... He removed his hand and slowly walked away.