Part 1 Risen From the Flames
'This has got to be the worst idea I've ever friggin' had.' I thought as I continued to trudge through the scorching sand. The sun was burning down upon me and the breeze was practically non-exsistant. There was no civilisation in sight and yet here I was, making my way through the middle of a desert trying to get to Sunagakure.
I sighed, this wasn't working at all. I shielded my eyes and looked around. Nothing for miles. I decided that I'd get a better view from higher up and made my way towards a huge sand dune. The sand underneath my feet continually shifted and more than once I was sent tumbling down to the very bottom of the drift. You may be asking why I didn't just give up; well the truth is I don't know. It was just something to do.I finally made it to the top and looked around, proudly. My gaze fell upon a peculiar rock formation in the distance. Although it looked small from here, I knew that it must be huge if I could see it now. My heart skipped a beat. Could it possibly be Sunagakure?
Whooping with delight, I ran down the opposite side of the sand dune towards Suna. Halfway down I tripped, on god knows what, and ended up with my head buried in the sand at the bottom of the dune. I pulled my head out of the sand, not believing what I had just done. Blinking a couple of times I looked over my shoulder to see what I'd tripped on.
Something shiny caught my eye. Beams of light were reflecting off its smooth surface and casting a rainbow into the sand. I crawled up the sand dune and started digging it out. The object that I pulled out was tiny; it looked like a weird egg but no egg I'd ever seen. It looked like it was made out of jewels. Which I guess was why I'd called it weird. Turning it over, I examined it from every angle. It was such a fine piece of art I wondered who had such skill as to create it. It was absolutely flawless. Just then I was forcibly reminded of an old friend of mine. Even though she'd never admit to it, she was the most passionate artist I knew. She'd have definitely commented on this piece of work. I pocketed it. Even though it had been years since I saw her last, there was still the chance I'd run into her and be able to show it off, although I'd never claim it as my own. I spun on the spot and headed off with more momentum this time. Now that I knew where I was headed for sure I was eager to get there.
"I think I'm gonna die!" I whined as I collapsed forwards into the sand. I'd been travelling all day but I was still no closer to that damned village! "This is so not fair." I pouted and rolled onto my back. I took out my canteen and looked inside, nothing. Great, just great. I'm out here in the middle of nowhere, no humans in sight, in fact no life in sight. Now I had no water and no food. To top it off I was lost and heading towards a village that I didn't know whether they'd accept me or not. Oh, and I was bored out of my mind. Okay, whining session over, moving on. I hauled myself to my feet and continued heading towards the village, or was it a mirage? Never thought of that. I frowned and decided that I might as well run the rest of the rest of the distance. I was a shinobi after all.
I concentrated chakra to my feet to increase my speed and raced towards the village. The wind that was blowing in my face was so refreshing; I don't know why I didn't run sooner. The distance began closing considerably and by nightfall I was almost at the village. It loomed up over the horizon and I could safely say I was no longer in doubt. It was real. But I was too tired to carry on without a break. I sat down in the sand breathing hard and turned my head upwards. I looked up at the night sky. Desert skies truly were the best. No pollution to obscure the stars and moon. Shivering, I realised how cold I was. Desert nights are cold, I should know that, I scolded myself and stood up. I walked the rest of the distance to Suna. The closer I got, the taller the rocks became, until I realised that they were the walls that protected the village from attack. I had to say, I was impressed.
I walked through the high cliff walls and stepped out onto the outskirts of the village. The village was lying in a large basin in the rocks and I was currently standing on a ledge that ran the entire length of it. I stepped forward and before I could react, I was grabbed from behind and a kunai was held to my throat.
"State your business here, kunoichi." A muffled voice said from behind me. I knew it belonged to my captor but I was still curious. I looked forwards again and the rest of the ANBU squad stood in front of me. I tried to imagine their faces behind their masks. I grinned as I imagined a particularly grotesque face for one of the men.
My captor shook me roughly, "Answer the question."
"Uh, I want to live here?" It came out as a question and the guy took it the wrong way.
"Enough smart talk, answer me. You're not from Suna yet you're obviously a ninja. State your name and business."
"Hang on, your asking more each time! Let me answer the first question before you ask another! Tch. Yeah, but seriously, I was telling the truth the first time."
The ANBU were definitely getting annoyed with you now. "Let's just take her to Kazekage-sama and have done with it." A female ANBU said testily. There was a murmur of consent among the others and before I knew it I was hit hard in the back of the neck. When I awoke I found myself to be in a cold, dank cell. I gazed around groggily, and rubbed the back of my head. 'his is not the welcome I'd imagined. When the pounding in my head had stopped I walked over to the only source of light. A large iron door was set into the walls of the cell and it had a tiny slit at eye level that was letting in some light.
I stood up and peered through. I saw the well lit but bare corridor outside and after a minute or so of looking out, I settled down in a corner of the cell to wait. Slower than what I'd have liked, a guard looked through the slit in the door and pulled back a heavy bolt. He walked in and leered at me. I returned the glare and stood up. Noticing the handcuffs in his hand, I sighed in defeat and held up my hands to him. He smirked and clipped them on. He led me out of the cell and pushed me in front of him. I trudged down the corridor and I eventually reached a door. Two ninjas were waiting and they took over escorting me, clearly they knew quite a few teenage assasins.
I eventually reached a set of huge double doors. The ninjas pushed me in and followed afterwards. I looked towards the desk at the back of the room and was amazed to see a red haired youth behind it. He looked up from his work to glare at us. His red hair was all messed up and he looked exhausted, he had big black rings around his eyes too. The other noticeable thing was the kanji for love tattooed on his forehead.
"So, what do you want?" He asked.
"Yes, Kazekage-sama. This is an intruder from out of the village."
"No duh." I said quietly as I rolled my eyes. The Kazekage smirked and directed his attention back to the ninja.
"As I was saying, we apprehended her and she wouldn't say why she's here."
"Actually I did say. I said that I was coming to find a home here." I said boredly.
"In that case I don't see why you're chained up. Take off those hand cuffs." He said equally as bored. I rubbed my wrists to try to get the feeling back in them.
"I don't see any problem in you living here; you'll have to hand in your headband so we can give you a sand one, though."
"Gladly." I walked forward and chucked the headband onto his desk, he handed me a sand village headband and instructed them to find me some accommodation. He waved off their complaints and bowed his head to carry on with his work.
I walked out of the room and into the hallway. I looked at the sand headband and smiled, then I wrapped it around my forehead.
"You're incredibly lucky, kunoichi." My escort said grumpily. Honestly, you'd of thought he actually wanted me to be sent back to prison, tortured and eventually killed. Yeah, what a nice guy.
"The name is Keitii, okay?" I glared at him. He flinched at the ferocity behind it and backed down. We walked in silence down the corridor until he showed me a door and opened it for me. I walked through and sat down on the sofa.
The door closed and I was left to possibly die of boredom, I don't know. I searched my pockets for something to keep me occupied and my hand clasped around a smooth shape.
Pulling it out, I realised it was the stone I'd found earlier. It was still hot to the touch and I was sure I could hear a faint tapping coming from it. Needless to say I was very confused. I turned it over and gasped in pain as part of the rock broke off and imbedded itself into my hand. Scowling, I put down the rock and pulled out the shard. I turned it over, and examined it. It was incredibly thin and brittle, just like a shell. Realisation hit me as I looked towards, what I was now sure was an egg. A jewel encrusted egg. And there was something inside of it. I crouched down to peer at the egg. Part of it was pushed up and I reached forward to help whatever was inside out. I carefully snapped off a bit of the shell, and a small chirp escaped the egg.
A few minutes later, I sat cradling a small baby bird. It was covered in silky down and a few feathers sat like a crown on top of its head. The down was a pale red colour while the feathers were a deep, brilliant red flecked with golden streaks. It truly was every bit as beautiful as its egg had once been.I cooed to it softly, and it replied. Albeit it sounded more like a croak but I'm not that fussy. I tickled its chin and raised it to my eye level. Its eyes gleamed with an ancient intelligence and it was then I knew that I had to treat this bird with up most respect.
"What am I going to call you then?" I said softly. My breath ruffled its feathers and it raised its head to look me in the eye. "I know, I'll call you-" Just then the door burst open and we both jerked our heads up to stare at the man standing in the doorway. His mouth was hanging open at the sight of me and the bird.
"Um, can I help you?" I asked, confused. He seemed to realise he was staring at us and he quickly looked away, shutting his mouth at the same time. Good job too. We didn't want my little friend mistaking it for a perch now did we? The man had purple kanji painted onto his face and he wore a strange black hat that sort of draped down over the back and sides to his shoulders. He wore a black outfit as well that had a strange symbol on the front. He had three scrolls strapped to his back so whatever was in them had to be too much to carry.
"Sorry, my name is Kankuro, and you?" He said bowing slightly.
I stood up and bowed as well.
"My name is Keitii, and this," I smiled and held up the little birdie, "Is Kotaro. Say hello Kotaro!" Kotaro chirped and Kankuro smiled.
"I think you'd better come with me." He said, he grasped my wrist gently yet firmly, and dragged me down the hall. We passed many people on their way out of the building as it was very late. Pretty soon a huge crowd had assembled around us and I began feeling very uncomfortable. I pulled Kotaro closer to me and hurried after Kankuro.
Eventually Kankuro had to stop and tell them all to leave us alone. Slowly, they dispersed off in different directions, whispering excitedly and pointing at me and Kotaro.
"What was that all about?" I asked Kankuro as we walked side by side down the corridor.
"Well," Kankuro looked up in thought, "I think it's for the best that I let Gaara explain that to you."
"Thanks. That's very helpful of you." Kankuro looked down at us and saw me and Kotaro looking moodily at him. He couldn't help it, he laughed. Although I wanted to continue scowling at him I found myself laughing along with him.