The golden sun began to pour through mountains
Young Suna stretched out his arms lazily. "Best time of the day." He yawned happily. Suna was the youngest son of a quant little family in the village of Sand. At least, that is what he told everyone. The truth was, he was on his own.
His parents and two older brothers had been brutally slaughtered years ago, and no one ever dared bring it up. Suna, completely aware of his tragedy, continued his days peacefully, envisioning as if everything was okay.
The village elders and the great Kazekage Gaara worried about him greatly, but Suna was ecstatic, because today was the day that he and his sensei would be leaving Sand to enroll Suna into the prestigious Uzumaki Academy; Named after the Hokage of the same name.
Suna's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the pat of a hand on his shoulder. A tall, handsome, man stared back at Suna with a tender smile. "Ready to go Atsui-kun?" The man asked. "Hato-sensei, I told you, call me by my first name." Suna pouted slightly.
Hato smiled apologetically. "Sorry Suna-kun."
Suna smiled at his sensei. Hato-sensei had been one of the only people to ever show him kindness after his family's death, and because of that, Suna showed him nothing but respect.
"Well, we better head out then." Hato slipped his pack over his shoulders. "As usual, no goodbyes." Suna said dryly. Hato patted his head tenderly. "Where you'll be going, there will be nothing but kind people." Hato said, reassuring Suna a bit.
And with that, the two set off.
--
A few hours had passed, yet Suna was as energetic as ever. "How much longer?!" He jumped in excitement.
"We still have a ways to go, and the sun's already starting to set, we may need to set up camp here for the night." Hato explained, scanning the orange sky.
"Good evening fellow travelers!" came a husky voice from a distance. Suna and Hato turned to see three people. The one who had called to them was a tall broad looking man clad with a dark burgundy beard and mustache. The two with him, were a scrawny pale looking man, as well as a beautiful cerulean haired girl just about Suna's age.
"Same to you friends." Hato smiled warmly. "Where are you from?"
The burly one cleared his throat. "My colleague and I…" he gestured at the pale man. "Are from the land of Tea, we are hear on research." He broadened his chest proudly. "We are on our way to Uzumaki Academy, to interview some of the staff, for our monthly magazine: Surely Shinobi."
"That's where we are headed!" Suna chimed in enthusiastically. Hato stepped forward. "Yes, anyways, my name is Hato Chikuden, and this is my student." Hato patted Suna on the head. "The name's Suna Atsui and I'll be attending the Academy." He said, thrusting his thumb into his chest boastfully.
"That is…Assuming you pass the entrance exams." Said the cerulean haired girl.
Suna was a little taken aback by her sudden reply. "Watcha mean?" Suna asked dumbfounded.
The girl flipped her hair elegantly. "The only ones who get into the academy are ones who do well in the entrance exams. The entrance exams are battles that are between Shinobi and Kunoichi. The battles are picked at random, and the ones who show the most promise are asked to enlist into the academy."
Suna did not know this, but all the same, he was not going to let something like this discourage him. He would get into the academy, no matter what the costs. Anything that had been named in the great Hokage Naruto's honor, Suna would be there.
"My name is Shuuha!" the burly man screamed, breaking the awkward silence. "And my partner here is named Kouen." Shuuha grabbed the other man briskly, catching him off guard a bit. Everyone turned towards the girl.
"My name is Kasumi. Kasumi Nagoyaka." The girl smiled. "What relation do you have with these two men?" Hato asked politely. Kasumi shook her head. "I just recently met up with these kind met not too long ago." Kasumi's smile widened. "I told them that I was hoping to join the Uzumaki academy as well, and since they were already traveling that way, we decided to travel together."
Shuuha grasped Hato and Suna's shoulders suddenly. Suna was amazed at how fast he could move for being so…Gigantic. "You lads should come with us!" He said with a giant jolly grin.
Hato and Suna sighed nervously. "S-Sure." They said at the same time. Neither one dared to turn him down.
"Great, the more the merrier, we'll make an adventure out of it!" Shuuha grabbed everyone, forcing them all into a giant, uncomfortable group hug.
--
Suna's deep sleep was suddenly awakened by a rustling in the bushes. Suna looked around, but all he could see was the remnants of the party's fire, and the outlines of his travel company.
He chuckled slightly. He figured he had just woken up thanks to Shuuha's powerful grunt like snores.
Before he could even close his eyes completely, a shadow like figure erupted from the bushes. "W-Who's there?!" Suna's voice cracked slightly.
Suna's sudden outburst caused everyone to wake up with a startle. "Little brat!" hissed the voice. The shadow lunged at Suna fiercely, only to be blocked suddenly.
Suna opened his eyes to see Hato standing in front of him. "Suna, you're not hurt or anything are you?" "N-No!" Suna squeaked. The shadow backed away from Hato's grasp, relaying a storm of kunai knifes. Hato, in an instant, grabbed Suna by the stomach and lunged high into the air. "No bastards are gonna hurt my new friends!" Suna could hear Shuuha saying. Suna looked down to see Shuuha swinging an enormously large scythe around. Suna was amazed that Shuuha could even hold it up, let alone swing it around.
Shuuha, in a blind rage hurled the scythe towards the shadow, instantly chopping the body in two. Crimson blood sprayed around like fireworks and the shadow fell like a ton of bricks, the sound of rustling cloth as he went.
In between the excitement, three more shadow like Shinobi had burst from seemingly out of no where. Suna could see that the two men would be fine, and Hato was no pushover either, but what about that girl, would she be okay?
Suna looked around to see that the girl was no where in sight. Had she escaped? Had she been kidnapped?
Suna's eye caught the glare of one of the Shinobi's eyes as he passed him swiftly. He turned to see the Shinobi escape into the trees, he figured that must have been the way that the girl went. Meanwhile, more shadows seemed to pour out from nowhere.
The shadow that seemed to be the leader growled evilly. He pointed to one of the other shadows. "Go after that girl, we can't afford to let her get away, not when she has IT!!"
Suna, seeing the shadow follow the leader's orders, followed suit. He couldn't just stand there when he knew that that Kunoichi might get hurt. Blindly Suna groped through the pitch black trees. He had never felt more vulnerable, but he couldn't let another innocent life be taken again.
Wherever that girl was, Suna prayed that she would be able to hold her own before he got there.