#gaaoc

'Cowardly' the word rang in her mind with a grimace forming across her features to match her thoughts.

"They don't appear to be mere random attacks either." Gaara stated from his seated position at his desk. Temari nodded and continued on her brothers point, "We're certain they're planned strikes, each one happening around midday, when foot traffic is at its highest. Never attacking the same area twice."

"It was the same for us in the Leaf." Hikari confirmed.

"Not to mention they're all long ranged attacks. None of our forces have seen who these people are or how many of them there are but from the looks of it whoever these guys are, they all seem to use earth release. Most of the damage is caused by earthquakes or pillars of rock shooting from the ground, tearing buildings and pathways a part." Kankuro explained, casting an eye out the window where repairs were currently under way from the latest attack.

Hikari followed his line of sight before asking, "Any suspects?" to which Kankuro frowned followed by a shake of Temari's head.

A brief pause settled in the room before Baki cleared his throat.

"There's one... village in mind but..." Baki trailed off, seemingly hesitant and not very confident in his words.

Hikari raised a single brow, "Who?"

"Iwagakure, the hidden rock village." he stated more firmly, but his eyes revealed his hesitancy.

Hikari's eyes grew a fraction wider. The implications of his words held a reality Hikari didn't want to even think about. She hadn't even considered them, even now, confident it wasn't the case.

Sure they were known for their strong and wide use of the earth chakra nature and their past doesn't put them in the fairest light in regards to their history with the leaf but surely as one of the five great nations, they wouldn't commit such a vile and honestly foolish crime.

Though, Hikari supposed rather sorrowfully, even in these times of peace between nations, corruption still lurked.

"No," Gaara then spoke up, all eyes turned to him.

"If it were an attack from a larger nation, I believe their movements would be more measured and the damage would be on a much larger scale. I'm willing to bet these attacks are from an opponent akin to the Akatsuki. Smaller, with some sort of self-serving goal, whatever that may be." he concluded.

Hikari agreed but could see that Baki was left not completely convinced but even so he nodded, seemingly satisfied for now about that possibility.

"I'm with Gaara on this one. Iwagakure have always been proud and rely on more direct approaches in terms of combat. If it was Iwa I believe they would have let it be known by now with a frontal assault. So if anything, if any shinobi from Iwa are involved. They're rogue." Hikari stated, confident in Gaara's view.

Gaara let out an affirming hum, clearly thinking the same, to which Temari seemed to also agree with.

"So we've established it's not the hidden rock, where does that leave us then?" Temari voiced a little exasperated, visibly frustrated with their lack of leads.

Another tense moment of silence clouded the room. Hikari swallowed, her eyes flickering back and forth between the others and the window to her left. The room felt stuffy. Uncomfortable. This sense of helplessness that grew with each new detail of the situation was beginning to prick at Hikari's nerves.

Suddenly a soft gust of air brushed passed her. Umber eyes darted to the window, Hikari's fingers catching the strands of prussian blue hair that danced with the wind and tucked them behind her ear.

She quickly noted the thin trail of sand that receded from the now open window and smiled lightly, her gaze shifting to Gaara, whose attention seemed to be anywhere but her.

Her smile grew a little wider.

Kankuro's voice brought her back to the conversation at hand.

"We've already tightened security along the border and at the main gate. No one has been allowed leave unless granted by Gaara and we've refused access to any foreign visitors besides Hikari, plus all residents who have returned are being kept under close watch. So there's a good chance they're still here and waiting to send out another attack." Kankuro updated the rest on the current state of security before continuing.

"If we set up our defenses around-"

"So you want to wait for them to send out another assault?" Temari interjected, her tone curt.

Kankuro frowned at his sister. "What else do you expect us to do? We'll have our defenses ready and the civilians already know to evacuate the area at any sign of an attack, false alarm or not."

Temari let out an unamused laugh. "Really? I'd personally rather not use the citizens as decoys."

A look of disbelief flashed across Kankuro's face, his war paint only serving to accentuate his expression. "That is not what I was getting at!" he raised his voice and the two went into a brief back and forth.

Hikari glanced Gaara's way before the Kazakage brought his siblings bickering to a stop with a single word, spoken sternly and not to be questioned.

"Enough."

The room once again fell silent.

Kankuro closed his fists, looking down with a creased brow. "That isn't what I was saying."

Temari seemingly understanding the impact of her words, looked at Kankuro with a softened gaze. "I know."

Kankuro looked up to meet his sisters eyes, they nodded once to each other, their shoulders relaxing.

"I'm just... Not sure what the best move is. We can't afford another earthquake. The village is old, there aren't many newer buildings. Even if we contain one area the shock waves could easily put hundreds of others in danger in the surrounding districts." Temari concluded, addressing her worries.

Glad for the siblings quick reconciliation Hikari piped in, attempting to ease the ever growing tension.

"I agree that we can't really afford another attack and it would be best to avoid such a thing happening but unfortunately in the current state of things, I don't see how we can stop that from happening when we have no leads on when and where the enemy will strike next."

Hikari paused for a moment before looking towards them again, thinking of Naruto and how he always seemed to brighten up even the most dire of situations with blinding hope, as she spoke her next few words.

"But Lady Tsunade sent me here as support for a reason. I can easily cancel out the effects of the earthquakes and so long as they're in my range I can use their own jutsu against them. Once I absorb the shock wave I can send it back out. It'll have the same effect as echolocation and I'll be able to pinpoint their position!" a nervous lump sprouted in her throat that she swallowed before continuing.

"So even though waiting around isn't ideal, I'm here, and I promise I'll do everything I can to ensure the safety of your village!"

How did Naruto do this so naturally?

Albeit being slightly red at her declaration, Hikari's eyes swam with determination and sincerity. She meant every word.

A second passed before Kankuro broke the silence with a short chuckle. "Damn I really must be losing my touch when I have be reassured like that." he scratched the back of his neck before shooting Hikari a genuine smile.

Temari placed a hand on her hip, letting out a small puff of air "Well that's more like it." she smirked, fire returning to her eyes as both her and Baki smiled towards her too.

Hikari smiled back, regaining her previous confidence, glad to be able to instill some hope into the others.

At that moment she noted Gaara staring and turned to face him, sending him a nod alongside a soft smile.

Ah there it was again. The kazekage thought to himself, his hand moving to rest over his chest, the fluttering appearing there this time around.

Her warmth and naturally bright and hopeful attitude never failed to surprise him. He admired her for that.

Gaara straightened in his seat a second later and responded to her with his own smile before thanking her sincerely.

"I'm glad you're with us." he spoke.

Finally the room felt as it was when they first entered, like they had some hold on the situation just as a deafening explosion ripped through the land.

Panic.

Adrenaline.

Hikari was half way to the ground, thankful for the window being opened earlier as she suffered no resistance on her way out that could slow her movements.

She crashed to the ground with enough force to create a substantially sized crater as she rushed through a familiar set of hand signs, slamming her palms to the earth beneath her before activating her jutsu, just before the earthquake had time to fully hit

"One Thousand Metre Vacuum!" she called out, feeling the shock waves ripple and absorb into her arms before calling out,

"RELEASE!"

Quickly shutting her eyes Hikari focused on the waves of chakra that zipped in every direction far underground before leading to their sources.

Her eyes snapped open before barking out directions. "Three to the west, five to the east!" she called out to the sand siblings who had followed close behind her, Baki no where to be seen, no doubt already gathering other ninja.

Temari and Kankuro rushed off in each direction taking a few of Sunas' forces with them as Gaara remained with Hikari floating above her on a cloud of sand, surveying the surrounding area.

She looked to him about to call up when his own gaze suddenly snapped to hers, a warning passing through his lips. "Below you!"

Hikari's eyes widened, flashed to the ground beneath her feet just in time to see a jagged, razer sharp pillar of rock hurdle towards her face and within the span of three seconds, darkness consumed her.

Did that make sense? Like even an ounce lmao?? Kishimoto-san how do you do this? My knowledge of the Naruto world is seriously being called into question here and it's only been 11 years :D

This turned out a lottttttt longer than I expected it to lmao, I don't expect other chapters to be quite as long but we shall see what happens!

Let me know what you thought and feel free to judge my naming schemes LMAO, send in asks or whatever idk lol I'll answer whatever, I hope you enjoyed at least and look forward to the next chapter!