Never Forget

Fatal Error

Chapter 17

"Come in," Gaara called, and I pushed open the door with my foot. His green eyes looked me over carefully as I entered, before shifting briefly to the silver-haired man following me. "Kira, what have I said about kicking doors?"

"Sorry," I said, somewhat carelessly. "Habit."

He just sighed and shook his head, before shifting a pile of papers aside and leaning forward, on his elbows. I scanned the room casually. Aside from us, there were only two Jonin in the room: Temari and Kankuro. I suddenly got the feeling that this would be a very intense talk.

And I immediately wondered whether I should've put on more suitable clothes for the meeting. I had sort of just slipped out of the room this morning, rejoined the rest of the Konoha trainees in the cafeteria for breakfast (which was where a somewhat angry Kakashi found me), and then reported straight to Gaara as per Sakura's orders the previous night. So therefore, I wore a blue t-shirt, black pants, and sandals, and my hair hadn't been dealt with at all. It was probably sticking up everywhere.

"I received the mission report from Kakashi and Shikamaru," said Gaara, and my eyes narrowed at his dark tone. "Are you aware of the fatalities?"

I coughed, hard. "What?"

"The fatalities." His face was utterly blank, devoid of emotion. It was silent in the room. My eyes were bulging out, my mouth hanging open. Somebody was dead?

I immediately ran through the possible options. I hadn't talked to anybody, really, but Sakura and Kakashi had seemed perfectly fine. Kakashi had said everyone was fine. They hadn't dropped any hints about somebody being dead, and nor had the Konoha nin during breakfast. What was going on? Surely it couldn't be anybody from my team, because I'd been there. Shikamaru had turned in the report, so he was fine. But why had he been the one turning in the report? Unless –

"You look frightened," Gaara remarked, turning a piece of paper over and glancing at it. "Hidan and Kakuzu of the Akatsuki were eliminated. That's all."

I slammed my palms down on his desk, and he seemed startled. Behind me, I could hear Kankuro's protests. "You absolute jerk!" I shouted at him. "I thought somebody from our side was dead!"

He gave me a small smile. "I know you did."

"Agh!" I covered my face with my hands, rubbing at my forehead to try and dispel the anger. "I hate you!"

"That's no way to talk to the Kazekage, is it?" he asked, monotonously.

I jabbed a finger in his direction. "Do I look like I care? Kazekages can be jerks too, apparently!"

He was still smiling. "Sorry, sorry. I'm sorry, Kira. I won't do it again."

I glared at him. "You'd better not."

"What I actually wanted to talk about was our plan from here on out," Gaara said, regaining his usual composure, as I retreated to stand by Kakashi again. "The Konoha-nin are very close to finishing their basic training in sealing techniques. Hidan and Kakuzu have been eliminated. I believe that Naruto must be close to the end of his training, as well."

"Um, this is great and all, but..." I narrowed my eyes at him and continued in my mind, 'You do realize Kakashi's here?'

"Yes," he replied out loud, as though purposely attempting to include Kakashi in our conversation. He was definitely trying to include Kakashi in our conversation. His eyes didn't waver, staring straight into mine. "I think his inclusion is overdue, and the others agree with me. Truth be told, Kira, you're the only person who's ever been against it."