Lock Down

He felt their eyes on him; curious, suspicious, knowing eyes.

Kankuro slipped his hands into his pockets, trying to walk with the same casual gait he was known for.

There was no way they didn't see he and Temari moving the Sound prisoner out of his cell and into the mansion.

Rumors were already spreading and that was dangerous.

Though no one, but a select few knew the whereabouts of the lab, whomever was watching from inside the walls, would know they were onto them.

He had to make this quick, but not rouse any more suspicion and unnecessary panic.

"Captain?"

A voice drew his attention just before he was about to enter the prison.

Kankuro turned and acknowledged an older woman, he didn't recognize. "Yes, ma'am? How can I help you?"

She grasped her shawl closer. "Is it possible you could tell me about these rumors I've heard today? I'm sure you're quite busy, but perhaps you'll pity an old woman's curiosity?"

He looked at the door and back at her. "It's no problem. What would you like to know?"

"I heard the young man from the Sound was removed this morning. Where did they take him? Are we in danger?"

Kankuro felt a sweat rising on the back of his neck and he brushed a hand over it, smiling. "Oh yes, we did have to move him, but don't worry, the village is perfectly safe. We didn't feel like our prison was secure enough, so he's been moved to a place with a stronger watch."

The woman nodded. "I see. Where would that be?"

Kankuro dropped his hand. "That, unfortunately, is on a need-to-know basis. But, rest assured, your Kazekage is aware of the situation and is handling it, personally."

"Oh, well, thank goodness for that. You be careful now, young man."

"Yes, ma'am. Good day to you."

She waited until he passed, before the small smile curved on her wrinkled mouth. "And to you."

~

Kankuro breathed in the cool, misty air, finding only one set of guards instead of two, at the bottom.

They straightened when they saw him. "Captain! We've been manning the post, like you ordered."

"No one has come in or out?"

"No, sir."

"Excellent."

He moved past them and into the cell, which stunk like infection and piss.

Whether that was from the prisoner or an overly-zealous guard, wasn't something he wanted to think about.

His eyes took in the faint traces of red smears on the ground and the splattering of blood on the walls.

Perhaps there was truth to Rin's upset? They needed to be better than this.

Kankuro squatted down, running his fingers across the dried blood and examining it. "Hm."

One of the younger guards turned from his post and watched the Captain. "Sir, what are you doing, exactly?"

"Investigating."

"Investigating what?"

Kankuro sat on the ground, trying to assume the position he'd seen Haru in, most of the time.

It was difficult to contort his body the way the prisoner did, but he managed to make his shoulders limp and his head lowered.

"Soldier."

"Yes, sir?"

"You got the keys to the cell?"

"Yes sir."

"Good, close the door."

"Sir?"

"Close it!"

The soldier jumped at his command and slammed the door shut, waiting for further instructions.

Kankuro closed his eyes, trying to remember the night Rin first saw her friend and the events that followed.

Haru was scuffling around just before attacking her, in the back, if he recalled.

He tried to move the same way the crazed man did, but found it near impossible.

"Let's see, what was he doing just before she arrived?"

His hands came to the floor, feeling along the cracks and dirt, trying to see if the prisoner dropped anything.

Nothing.

He rushed up to the entrance, imagining Rin's tearful form standing there and mimed biting her arm, through the cell door.

"Okay, if he was standing here and she was there, where could the person be, who would see this all go down?"

Kankuro's mind raced, trying to remember all the little details of that fateful night.

She was there, he was in the back of the large cell and suddenly, in front of the cell door, in hardly any time.

He turned and judged the distance; ten, maybe twelve feet.

How in the world did he shoot over ten feet in his malnourished state?

His feet returned to the back wall of the cell, his knees crouched down into the hunched position Haru often sat in and he timed himself lunging at the cell door.

Again and again and again.

The younger soldier watched; his brow furled. "Captain?"

Kankuro hit the cell door with his fist, sending a rattling through the prison. "It doesn't make any sense! Even in peak condition, he shouldn't have the abilities he does. The man is starved, sick and gangly, but he can cross ten feet in two seconds? What am I missing?"

Silence answered him.

With a big sigh, Kankuro slid down the wall, trying to find the glaring puzzle piece.

He looked up at the ceiling, noticing the drops of water that came from the upstairs unit.

This place was cold, dark and hopeless; no one should be kept down here, especially not someone in that state.

He should have been at the hospital.

Guilt gnawed at his stomach like an angry dog.

"Do you want me to unlock the door, sir?"

"No, just give me a few minutes."

Kankuro leaned his head against the wall and waited for inspiration to come.

As it turns out, it did, in the form of his sister.

She walked up to the cell with her hands on her hips, the angry snarl he'd come to love about her, smearing her face. "Enjoying your little break in there?"

"What are you doing here? Who is watching over Gaara?"

She snarled. "He sent me on a pointless errand and I don't want to talk about it!"

"Okay."

Temari glanced around the prison, searching for something.

She turned to the guard. "Where is the bag, the Sound girl brought in here?"

"Ma'am?"

"Am I speaking gibberish? Sound girl, Rin Ito, this tall, carried a brown bag with her. Where is it?"

"This bag, Temari?"

She turned and saw her brother sitting on the floor, pointing at the bag that was waiting in plain sight.

"Yes, that one. That's my ridiculous errand. I'm a bag and cake collector. Cake!"

"Cake?"

Temari snatched the bag up, her face fuming. "Let's see what's in this precious bag."

She threw it open, finding a few vials of oils and herbs, a book and some pencils. "She has pencils and no paper? What a silly girl."

Kankuro noticed the notepad that laid discarded outside the cell. "It's probably that one."

"Ah."

Temari bent to pick it up and examined it. Her eyes flitted over the various drawings and notes. "Well, she's talented at least, I'll give her that. Oh, here are some notes about Gaara."

"Don't read those!"

She made a face at her brother, which showed a bit of the young girl he grew up with. "You aren't even a little curious?"

"Of course, I am, but that's between them. Not our business. You're just angry at Gaara right now, doesn't give us the right to betray his trust."

"I would never betray him!"

Kankuro smiled. "I know, so give me the notepad and we won't have to be tempted."

She rolled her eyes and tossed it at him. "Yeah right, you're probably going to read them when I leave."

"Nope, just looking through her drawings out of artistic curiosity."

"Uh huh. Well, that's one part of my mission done. Now onto to get some damn cake."

"Again, cake?"

She slid the book in her pocket and walked away. "Trust me, you aren't the only one confused."

Kankuro chuckled and waited until she left, to flit through the drawings. Temari wasn't lying, Rin was very talented.

He admired the drawing of an Ember Rose, the petals open and light. She must have been inspired by the blossoms at the Oasis.

His fingers glided over the beginning of what he knew to be his little brother's eyes. She'd drawn them several times, clearly not satisfied with her earlier works.

It was a challenge to capture everything inside them, so he didn't envy her task, but he was pleased that she was trying.

Despite everything that happened in the past few days, the image of his brother, draped across her, his face easy with sleep, was something he'd hold onto forever.

He doubted Gaara had the words to tell her how he felt yet, but he knew, as soon as she walked through the doors of the council room, Rin Ito was going to be the change they needed.

She was the missing piece in Gaara's puzzle.

The page flicked in his grasp and settled on the most impressive drawing in the batch; a near perfect replica of a slumped Haru.

He gave a low whistle. "Wow."

Kankuro studied the curve of his spine, each vertebra sharp and protruding. The special attention she paid to the fibers of shallow muscle, the careful shading of his shoulder blades, all of it showed how much she cared for this person.

He wondered if Gaara would stand a chance, if this man regained himself?

Suddenly, he noticed something new.

For her to achieve this level of art, Haru would have had to be sitting in one position for hours.

In the time he'd been in that cell, the only memory of him resting, was when he tired himself out and laid down and that certainly didn't happen whenever Rin was near.

"He had to be distracted by something."

Kankuro raised the drawing to the center of the room, positioning himself so that he'd be where Rin was.

His eyes flicked from the drawing, to the cell, and back.

The pencil-Haru was staring at the upper east corner of the cell, the expression on his face captivated, his jaw slack.

He rose from his sitting position and went to that same corner, examining the wall, pressing his fingers in and out of the grooves. "Come on, come on, what is it?"

Suddenly, his fingers traveled from stone, to air, the feeling of the desert heat sliding through the walls. "What the?"

He touched the wall again and again, moving his hand from hot to cold, hot to cold.

"Son of a bitch."

"Captain? What is it?"

Kankuro turned on his heel, barking out an order so loud, it rattled the cages. "Put the entire village on lock down! No one is allowed to leave their homes without express permission! I want the guard doubled, tripled! Every Sand shinobi will be armed and will surround the walls and wait for further instruction."

"Yes sir! May I ask why, in case the others want to know?"

Kankuro looked back at the small holes in the wall, where nothing, but hot air came through and wedged his fingers into them.

"Because I know a puppet when I see one."