Kaze no Kuni was hot, dry, and sandy. Suna was hard to find at first, considering that Naruto had no clue just where Suna was located, but they found it after the sixth or seventh day thanks to Gaara and the Ichibi and a bunch of caravan bandits.
A bunch of caravan bandits had drugged the small traveling group, just enough so that they were unable to move but able to speak. It was in their water, as the group hadn't thought to buy some more water from one of the several cities on the way. They'd figured they'd find Suna quickly - only to be quickly mistaken and lost.
The two girls of the group were mostly stripped quickly, and Naruto tried to fight the drug. Kurama's chakra moved through her body, helping her, but Kurama said nothing. Naruto tried not to let that bother her as she started to fight against the ropes binding her.
"No, no, sweet thing," one of the bandits said. "All you can do is -"
Naruto stopped struggling, going completely limp as sand suddenly assaulted the bandits.
She snapped her ropes, and although she was still relatively naked, she walked through the camp and grabbed hers and Saki's clothes. She dressed Saki as quickly as possible, a sand wall covering their modesty.
Naruto winced a little as screams assaulted her ears.
As soon as they were done and the sand had quieted down, a head popped over. Temari looked down upon them - not that Naruto would have minded. Temari was an ally, if not a friend.
"They're done, Gaara," Temari called, vanishing over the top.
The wall crumbled, and the Sand Siblings stood there, all stoic.
Then Gaara stepped forward, grabbed Naruto's wrist with sand, and pulled her into a hug.
"Hello," Gaara said, after releasing Naruto.
"Hi, Gaara," Naruto smiled a little shyly, tucking some hair behind her ear. "Um, well, hi. I was wondering if you could show us into Suna?"
Gaara tilted his head. "Why?" he asked.
"I need to ask your dad something," she said, frowning a little bit. "And some water."
Gaara nodded. "Follow us."
"Gaara -" Kankuro said, pausing at Gaara's look. "Father said you were to have no contact with her." He glanced at Naruto.
"I also told him he sucked," Gaara said placidly.
Naruto snorted. "Perhaps if he knew who my dad was, he'd be more apt to listen."
"Who is your dad?" Temari asked, frowning.
"The Yondaime Hokage," Naruto replied breezily. "Also, this is Uchiha Saki, Sasuke's really distant cousin."
Saki waved, then fixed her glasses. "Can we get moving? My feet are killing me."
And with that, they were off. Off to a new adventure.
~:~
Rasa looked up as the door opened silently. Gaara stood there, looking calmer than Rasa had ever seen him.
"Father, the bandits were taken care of." Normally Gaara would walk away immediately after saying this, but he stood there, as if waiting for his father to talk.
"Alright, Gaara. Out with it." Rasa may not have been the best parent, but that didn't mean he'd send his child away. Spending time with his kid was important, even if said kid was a raging psychopath with a raging psychopathic monster in his head.
"Naruto is here, in Suna. She wants to talk to you." Gaara looked at his father as if daring to tell him off for talking to the girl.
"And why would I talk to her?" Rasa asked his son, leaving it as an open-ended question.
"Because she is the Yondaime Hokage's daughter," Gaara said, starting to turn away. "And the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi."
Rasa stared at his son's back. His son took his silence as a negative and started to close the door, but paused as Rasa sighed.
"Let her in." He glanced down at the scroll before him.
"Naruto, you can come in." Gaara's voice was still as calm as ever.
A redhead entered, her hair a darker red than any Uzumaki that Rasa knew. "Um, I'm Uzumaki Naruto." She bit her lip, shifting on her feet. "I came to ask you to teach me the blood clone jutsu. I want to restore my clan - our clan - to its former glory." She bowed her head and awaited his answer.
Rasa thought to himself. Then he glanced at the scroll in front of him.
"You claim to have Uzumaki blood. If you do, I want you to prove it," he said, throwing the scroll at her.
She opened it. A skeptical eyebrow was raised.
"I don't care how you do it. Execute the missing-nin Mukade, and I will teach you the blood clone technique."
Naruto hesitated, her aquamarine eyes meeting Rasa's. He was startled - he recalled a woman with similar aquamarine eyes, although those eyes had far less blue in them than these.
The hesitation passed, and she nodded. "Fine. Done."
He settled back in his chair, and she bowed rather stiffly. Then she turned away.
"Thank you, Kazekage-sama - and one more question." She turned back to him, frowning. "Who is Akasuna no Sasori?"
The Kazekage felt no obligation to withhold the information she sought this time. "An S-Ranked missing ninja from this village. Puppet master. I have heard that he has gone so far as to create a type of living puppets, not that I condone that sort of thing from my ninja."
The teen paled. "L-living puppets? Maybe bloodline users?"
Rasa frowned.
"Perhaps. Why?"
"Oh, it's just I heard from an enemy that... Well... Sasori wanted me alive." She looked like she needed to sit. Gaara hadn't moved from his spot near the door, and Rasa watched his face go murderous.
"Gaara." Gaara turned to Rasa. "Consider this a... Diplomatic mission. You will accompany Naruto on her trip, and you will serve as her protector."
Gaara nodded. "Yes, Father."
Rasa leaned forward as Naruto stared at Rasa.
"It isn't that I doubt your claim, Naruto-san. It's just that I wish to be certain that if you are the Queen of the Uzumaki, you don't die. If you're not, Gaara can kill you. I have no doubt you are an Uzumaki - however, I do doubt you are queen. Gaara, think of this as a step towards Kazekage." He smirked to himself triumphantly as Gaara, for the first time, showed surprise on his face.
Naruto gave him a shaky, but seemingly genuine smile.
"Congrats, Gaara!" She leaped on him, and Rasa winced and closed his eyes, waiting for the metallic scent of blood to stain the air.
"Naruto, stop touching me."
"I'm hugging you, Gaara."
"Stop hugging me, then. It's irritating."
"Screw you, Gaara. I'm hugging you whether you like it or not!"
"I'll kill you," Gaara warned.
"No you won't, and if you did I'd haunt you from the afterlife," was the cheeky response given.
Rasa opened his eyes. She looked fine, grinning at Gaara, unharmed. She still looked quite peaky, but considering the news she'd just received, it wasn't that unexpected.
"I expect a report soon," Rasa said, turning his chair around.
"Very well, Father." Gaara seemed to shift, and two sets of footsteps left the office quietly. Rasa smirked to himself. If the two ended up together, well... All the more reason to push them into journeying together.