Takara returned to Sunagakure without incident and, after delivering the mission, intended to go to the cemetery to clean Maki's gravestone. However, she ran into Kankuro and he warned her that Elder Ebizo was looking for her.
It seemed important; otherwise, he wouldn't have been bothered within minutes of returning.
A little perplexed as to why Chiyo's brother was calling for him, Takara had no choice but to postpone her affairs and head to the Kazekage's building, where Ebizo had been holding down the fort with the help of others since Rasa's fall.
The elder seemed even more haggard than usual and didn't beat around the bush upon seeing her arrival.
"Do you want to go with the entourage to Konoha for the negotiations?" Takara repeated, incredulous at what she heard. "No!"
This was exactly what she wanted to avoid!
She needed to contact Orochimaru to heal her arms in exchange for information on natural energy and sage lands.
"It wasn't a request," Ebizo flexed his fingers to regain sensitivity after signing so much paperwork in such a short time. "My sister has already made and tested the centipede carriage you exchanged for the village. While there's no issue with its performance, we'll need at least an additional month to train some puppeteers so they can use it to its full capacity. Then…"
"Wait, are you telling me I have to go alone just to be the driver for the round trip?" Takara interrupted, expressing a clear tone of offense.
Okay, maybe for the village, she was a new chunin, but this was going too far!
"Listen, I know Konoha won't have a good attitude toward us after what happened, but we can't afford for them to retaliate against us. So we have to do things we don't like to avoid the worst possible situation."
Takara knew Ebizo's words were just meaningless chatter.
Konoha only has one Sannin left, their Kage died, they lost their jinchuriki, and many people from the village "disappeared." Even if Konoha wanted to make a move, Iwa and Kumo would have to agree.
They also didn't have to worry about Tsunade taking the position of Hokage, thanks to her actions, but she couldn't reveal her death without clarifying how she knew about it.
The only countermeasure Konoha could afford at this moment would be for Danzo's Root to do something "accidental" to the entourage as compensation for the attack, to send a message and boost morale.
Agreeing to go was no different than being sent to the wolves' den!
"Can't I just send the entourage and leave for a few days, to pick them up when they're done?" Takara proposed.
She didn't want to be stuck in Konoha, but if she could leave for a few days, the time it would take for the entourage to negotiate compensation, then she could arrange a meeting with Orochimaru.
"Do you trust that you'll be able to escape Konoha's shadows the instant you turn your back?" Ebizo replied logically.
Being with the entourage equated to having a certain level of protection, but if Takara decided to separate, it was a guaranteed fact that she would be caught and tortured for information extraction.
It would also give Konoha the chance to study a new mode of transportation, which they weren't interested in.
"You know I'm just a chunin in name, right?"
Ebizo raised an eyebrow, but continued to remain silent, expressing that the matter wasn't up for discussion. Takara had to go, and that was the end of it.
Yes, his sister was sure that Takara could have a level of strength beyond a chunin, but she was still only one person, and she didn't want a genius from her village to die because of her pride or becoming too noticeable before she could fully mature.
Especially since in the last Council meeting, candidates were being considered to become the next Kazekage…
"Fine, but when we return, I want to take the jonin test and get permission to leave and enter the village freely," Takara requested after realizing she had no way to avoid this without souring relations. "I have some ideas for new puppets and need to search for new materials to make them."
"The jonin test is not a problem," Ebizo nodded as he heard her, more than happy to have another elite in the village. "But to leave, you'll need to at least take one or two village missions for the area you're going to or nearby. As long as you complete them successfully, I won't have a problem with you taking your time to find what you need and returning a little later."
"Agreed."
"And one of the missions must be at least rank B!" Ebizo emphasized.
"Tch!" Takara clicked her tongue, obviously wanting to take an easy mission and then move on to complete her affairs.
How could Ebizo not realize such a plan with all his experience at his age?
It was already kind not to ask her to take an A-rank mission, because that would require her to team up with others.