Suna
Itachi stood on the wall watching the sunset. While he'd gone back with the others to Konoha, the civilian council demanded he be put aside and bred for his family to be rebuilt. Itachi had ignored them and looked at the Hokage. They'd spent four hours locked behind doors before he'd left with orders to return to Sunagakure.
"Your orders are to protect the Kazekage. Should you encounter Naruto, then you are both ordered to protect Gaara."
"And why would Naruto follow your orders?" Itachi asked the blond Hokage who threw a scroll at him and a second hitai-ate.
"Give those to the brat, and tell him I expect to see him upon his return to Konoha." Itachi asked about the rumor of Naruto's companion.
"He never went to the academy, I have no control over him." Tsunade said. "He'll be tested once he arrives."
Itachi did as ordered and returned to Suna that day. There is nothing in Konoha for me. The last Uchiha aligned with the Leaf thought. All I have is my word, and I will die before I break that.
"Uchiha."
Itachi looked over his shoulder seeing the Kazekage. "Lord Gaara, it is good to see you up and about after your…trials."
The shadowed eyes looked towards the horizon. "All my life I wanted acceptance. The first person to ever show me that, was Naruto Uzumaki."
Itachi remained silent.
"You believe he will come?"
"I believe what the Hokage told me." Itachi says. "How goes the evacuation?"
"Nearly all of the civilians have made it to Konoha." Gaara says in his usual monotone voice.
"And the trap teams are nearly complete." Kankuro says coming up behind his brother.
"Has the hospital been emptied?" the young Kazekage asks.
"And I have the puppets in place." The puppet user says. "Took forever to make Gaara. Do you know how many people we have here in Suna?"
Gaara didn't answer his brother. "We need to delay them. They will be coming from the north."
"We still have time…" Kankuro said but Gaara's gaze shut him up.
"They will level Suna first. Orochimaru won't allow it to remain behind him this time on his quest to destroy Konoha."
Itachi nodded. "His advance scouts will see the puppets and we can use that to take out his advance forces."
"We'll fall back in groups." Gaara continued. Make sure everyone knows their duties."
"Where are you going?" Kankuro asks his younger brother. "Temari will kill me if you get hurt again."
Gaara stopped. "I'm going to bed. We have time yet."
Kankuro watched him go and shook his head. "You know, if he would have ever mentioned sleeping before, I would have been fleeing to the borders and still running." He said to Itachi.
"It is a shame we will be without the power of the sand demon Shukaku." Itachi says.
"Yeah, real shame." Kankuro mutters. "I think I'd rather go as we are than to trust that crazy spirit that was sealed in him."
Itachi nodded. "Not all were sealed as well as Uzumaki's."
Kankuro was quiet. "We have nearly twenty puppet masters here in Suna, and its still not enough."
"They just need to move enough around to draw in Orochimaru's forces." Itachi said.
"You really think the midget will make a difference?" Kankuro asked as the sun set on the horizon.
"It doesn't matter what I think, but Naruto was instrumental in stopping the last invasion."
Kankuro winced at that reminder.
"And he's gotten stronger I'm sure since then."
Underverse
Frozen Tundra
"No." Mica said as he smacked the hand away from the cooking meat. Nami glared at him. "I know how to cook." She snarled.
"Then cook your own." The silver haired hanyou snarled right back. He'd slept the night and woke in the morning to find Nami sleeping next to him.
His leap from his bedroll to his feet had been amusing to Kyu who'd gone on to tell him what had been decided.
"Enjoy your mate kit." Kyu had taunted before drifting out of the tent.
Mica was making breakfast and Nami had been up shortly after that and getting in his way.
"Your not…" the lavender haired girl said.
"I've been cooking for a damn long time. lizard meat isn't that new to me." He said using a fire jutsu to build up the fire a bit more.
Nami glared at him and in the wonderful logic all women come up with when their mad at men stated what she was thinking. "This is all your fault."
Mica paused and looked at her and cocked his head to the side and in typical male fashion answered in the way that men all over could answer in. "Huh?"
Nami huffed and crossed her arms and sat back glaring at him. "If you'd just given me the sword, I wouldn't have been given to you and I'd be back with the rest of my clan right now. Instead I'm stuck here with you, watching as you ruin the meat, and its all your fault that I'm not back in my own jemmyka."
"Jemmyka? Village?" Mica asked.
"Yes. Village." Nami said with a huff.
"But I thought your clan was…nomadic."
"We are, but we move with the seasons. Each jemmyka is temporary and we take it down when we move." The lavender haired girl explained.
Mica nodded and looked at the cooking meat. "And I am not ruining the meat. After its cooked I add seasonings. The rest is being made into jerky and I add salts and that later on while its smoking."
Nami huffed and muttered under her breath.
"And I had nothing to do with you being here. That was between that woman and Master Kyu…"
"Belinda." Nami said.
"Belinda." Mica said with a nod. "Her and Master Kyu came up with you being here, if you remember I was unconscious, which was your fault." He said.
Nami's eyes widened at that, even though he was right, and she was to blame for his weakened condition.
"The Hanzo sword is mine. I am not giving it up. It's the only thing I have…"
"Why didn't you keep that sword your blond friend had?"
Mica sighed. "It was a chakra eater. It would absorb chakra from the surrounding area. Naruto had to use a filtering rune to keep it from draining him right after he bought the damn thing."
"And he's getting rid of it now?" she asked.
"Yeah. Master Kyu and him are going to bury it. I think they found a frozen lake and their going to drop it in there."
Nami nodded and sighed. "I…I am sorry for the way things went yesterday." She said and Mica nodded knowing it was true.
"You…you aren't going to go down and become a Zate like your friend?" Nami asked.
"Can't." the silver haired teen said.
"Why?"
"My dragon blood prevents it for some reason. I don't think it's the reason we first thought on our way down, as Naruto became a hanyou in the tombs and the nine-tails…"
"Who said a hanyou couldn't become a zate?" Nami asked.
"Master Kyu."
Nami shook her head. "Zate for generations were powerful hanyou or half hanyou. You master lied to you."
"But there was something affecting me from going further. The deeper we went the more agitated and angry I became." Mica said.
Nami looked at him. "You said dragon…what kind of dragon are you descended from?" the green eyes burrowed into him.
"A clan of wind dragons. I don't know the exact breed." Mica said.
"There is a clan of dragon that live past the Estersands…and another group that live beyond the lake and the Black Tower." Nami said as she watched him continue to make dinner, cutting up some of the meat and adding it to his stew.
"And there are of course the Elemental Dragon Lords that reside in the floating city." Nami said and Mica nodded.
"And that way is blocked to me." Mica said.
"What? Why?" Nami asked truly curious about the young man she'd been given to by her sisters to make reparations for their attack yesterday.
"I tried to gain access to a portal up, but you need to be given that by the Empress. Tried to charter one of the airships, but they too can only approach Aerial with permission."
Mica continued his cooking, using it to relax. "Saw one try shortly after Naruto and I got to the Underverse. The lightening shield destroyed it in the air."
Nami nodded at that. Mica smirked. "Reminded me of a bug zapper really. The airship crashed into the lake…all aboard were dead, electrocuted long before they hit the water."
"So, you say you can't become a Zate, what do you plan to do?" Nami asked trying to figure out the young man.
"Follow Naruto. He's my best friend and brother in all but blood. We're going back to Konoha soon." He looked at Nami then.
"I can't go back to my clan." Nami said seeing his question before he asked.
"Then you'll have to come with us." Mica said. he looked up. "Your bow…is that your main weapon, right?"
Nami nodded and looked over at the bow and quiver where she'd placed them last night before slipping into bed.
"Do you any ninjutsu?"
"What?" Nami asked.
Mica went on to explain the abilities in the ninja world and Nami listened. "Well I have my bow, and arrows. The quiver is enchanted that it refills."
Mica looked at her. "Do you know hand to hand combat?" he asked.
"Yes. Everyone in the village knows. You have to be skilled in blade and bow before you can leave with a hunting party." Nami said.
"I can also imbue my arrows with energy so they explode."
Mica looked at her in surprise and silently thanked Kami for her holding back when she was shooting at him.
"Really? Can I see?" he asked.
So the pair dressed in furs and exited the tent, the food warming still. Nami knocked an arrow and aimed it at an ice covered boulder.
Mica watched as she focused and he saw the arrowhead glow a bit before she fired. The impact reminded him of an explosive tag and he looked at her and grinned. "Impressive." He said and they returned to the shelter.
They talked a bit about their lives, and looked up when Naruto rushed in, his deactivated Mekrd'cypan in his hands.
He looked relieved to see the two of them sitting there. "Oh, thank Kami."
"What?" Mica asked as he checked the meal and started to ladle it into bowls.
"You didn't kill each other. I heard the explosion, and…"
"Are they still alive?" Kyu asked floating thru the wall and seeing Mica and Nami sitting he sighed. "Do I need to leave a chaperone for the two of you? Never mind. What was that explosion?"
Mica and Nami looked at one another. "What explosion?" they asked innocently at the same time.
Naruto felt an eye twitch forming and Kyu looked at the dragon hanyou and the lavender haired girl. "I don't care. Whatever it was, don't do it again. You worried poor Naruto here."
"Me? You were the one who said they probably kill each other or end up…" Naruto stopped speaking and slipped his weapons away and sat down. "Never mind. Furball." He muttered accepting a dish of stew and a hunk of bread.
"Three of them. Kami hates me." Kyu muttered as he floated outside. Inside the three watched him go.