"Mokona Modoki ready to go. Wah-pu!"
Syoran and company said their final farewells to the people of this world before they were enveloped in light and sent to the next one.
"Ta-dah!"
Naruto was out training alone in the woods. He pulled out some shuriken and threw them at the targets surrounding him, hitting the bull's-eyes of each. "Ha! Nailed them."
Right then, the sky above him bulged and dropped four figures right on top of him. "Oomph," Naruto said from under the mass of bodies on top of him. "What the—"
Syoran grunted as he got out from under Fai and looked around. They were in a forest this time with no one and nothing around. Sakura climbed down from the top of the pile and walked over to Syoran.
"Are you okay Princess?" Syoran asked. Sakura nodded as Fai got up and said, "So here we are. This is the next world." Kurogane screamed at Mokona, "That was a horrible landing you stupid white pork bun!"
It was then that Syoran noticed the orange form on the ground where they landed. "Hey, I think we landed on someone."
Naruto groaned as the weight on top of him finally lifted. He stood up, rubbed his sore back, and looked at the people in front of him. There were two tall men and two young children, a boy and a girl, in front of him. One of the men was dressed in black, the other in white. The boy had a green cloak and the girl had a pink one. On the man in white's shoulder was a strange, small, white creature with big ears and a red gem on its forehead.
"Who are you people?" Naruto asked.
The boy in orange with blonde hair and blue eyes stared at the group looking confused. Syoran stepped forward to introduce the party. "My name is Syoran. This is Kurogane and this is Fai," he said gesturing to the owners of the names. "And this is Sakura. The little white thing is Mokona. What's your name?"
Naruto looked at the girl in pink. "Your name is Sakura?" he asked her. "I know someone by that name. Weird." He stared a little longer and then said, "My name is Uzumaki Naruto, but you can call me Naruto." He looked again at the strange people and observed their clothing. "You're not from here are you?"
"No we're not," Fai replied.
"We're from far away and we're searching for something," Syoran said. He turned to Mokona and asked, "Can you sense a feather in this world Mokona?"
"Let me check," Mokona said, making the blonde boy flinch and mutter a surprised, 'It can talk!' Mokona closed his eyes to concentrate on looking for a feather. "Mokona senses a feather on this world," Mokona said, opening his eyes. "It's far, but there is definitely one here."
Syoran nodded, turned to the kid named Naruto, and said, "Do you know of a place we could stay?"
Naruto was confused. Feathers? This world? And what was that talking white fluff ball? In his dazzled state, Naruto nodded at the boy named Syoran's question. "Um, sure. Follow me." Naruto turned around and headed toward the village.
The group walked for a few minutes, not saying a word, until the walls of the village were visible. They walked up to the open gat, and Naruto couldn't help but smile. "Welcome," he said, "to the Village Hidden in the Leaves."
Syoran was amazed by the wall surrounding Naruto's village.
The group continued on through the giant gates. Naruto went to talk to two men who appeared to be guards. He finished up and they continued onward. Everyone in the village seemed to be staring at the group and it made Syoran nervous. "Stay close Princess," he said. Sakura nodded and scooted a little more toward Syoran.
After a while longer, Syoran spotted a great big building with the kanji for 'fire' on the top front. Behind it was a mountain side with five faces carved into it; four male and one female. They made their way to the building and entered it. They followed up stairs and into a door at the top.
Naruto burst through the door and yelled, "Hey Grandma Tsunade! I found some strangers while training." The Hokage turned around in her chair and said, "Naruto, what have I told you about barging in—," she paused when she saw what Naruto was talking about.
She hit Naruto on the head. "Ow! What was that for Grandma?"
"What were you thinking?" she screamed. "Taking strangers into the village! They could be spies!"
"Oh," Naruto said, rubbing his head. He then turned to stare at the people he found.
"Humph," Kurogane grunted. "We're not spies and we're not here to kill you either."
"We're travelers," Syoran said. "We're looking for something we believe is somewhere in this land. We would appreciate your assistance. Has anything strange happened here lately? It could also be a legend or in the past, but do you know of any unusual happenings in this land?"
The lady at the desk contemplated the question; or she could've been wondering what to do with the strange people in her office.
Tsunade answered the question. "Yes, in fact the information just came to me yesterday." She shuffled through a stack of papers, found the one she was looking for, and said, "They're have been reports of an unusually powerful enemy with strange and strong jutsu. The report says the man was a jonin from the Village Hidden in the Sand but was changed when he and his squad found a strange item on patrol. He grabbed the item and attacked his comrades, leaving only one man barely alive to tell the tale." She paused then asked the boy in green, "Is this the kind of thing you're looking for?"
Syoran nodded. "Thank you ma'am. I have another question to ask. Do you have a place we could stay for the night? Oh, and we would also appreciate a map to the Village Hidden in the Sand. If it's not too much trouble."
Tsunade looked at the boy. He seemed determined to find the man she mentioned; she couldn't just ignore his request. Before she could say anything, Naruto blurted, "You can stay with me."
"What?" Tsunade said. "You would take complete strangers into your home? I won't allow it." Naruto began to protest, but Tsunade continued, "I will find them rooms for the night. But if you're so eager to help, you will be their guide to the Sand. A solo mission."
Naruto couldn't believe what he'd heard. "Yes!" he yelled. "My first solo mission! I knew you would come to appreciate my ninja skills!"
"Ninja?" Fai asked. "Are you a ninja Naruto?" Naruto nodded, smiling, and gripped his headband. "Well what a coincidence. Our Kurogane is a ninja as well. Isn't that right Kuro-puu?
"Yes," Kurogane said proudly. Then he noticed what Fai had said. "And don't call me those stupid names!" Fai laughed.
"Excuse me ma'am, but would you mind shoeing us our rooms? We're grateful for your hospitality, but we're tired from travel and need some more rest."
"Of course," Tsunade said. "Shizune!" Shizune entered the room and asked, "Yes Milady?
"Take our guests here to the extra rooms." Shizune nodded and lead the way to the group's temporary estate. They reached the large room and Shizune left them to rest up.
Back in the Hokage's office, Tsunade was talking to Naruto. "Keep an eye on them Naruto. I don't know if we can trust them. Along with escorting them to the Sand, I want you to find out what they really want." Naruto nodded and left to his house.
"She doesn't trust us," Kurogane said.
"I know," Syoran said, "but there is nothing we can do about it. And it was still nice of her to give us housing and Naruto as a guide. Let's just get some rest so we can search for Sakura's feather tomorrow. Right Princess?"
Sakura nodded and they all got ready to sleep.
