A/N: I'm impossible, aren't I? Starting a new fic now... But I had this idea and I wanted it out of my head. I'm currently working with chapter three.

This is an SI-OC in Suna but in Dreaming of Sunshine -verse. As there is already Shikako from Konoha, Ume from Kiri and Yuudai from Iwa I thought to have a character in Suna.

This first chapter is a flashforward but for the readers it gives background to my character Kairi. Prologue of sorts. I hope that makes sense.

Chapter 1.
Tale of Three Brothers

Slim but calloused fingers shuffled a deck of playing cards with great dexterity. Parts of the deck were flipped over and then back to a different place, occasionally the entire deck was sent from one hand to other. At times she drew sets of cards from the deck. Always full poker hands before mixing them back into the deck. The audience followed the proceedings in awe. They had never seen anything like that.

"I fancy myself a magician. Not that it matters." The girl shuffling the cards stated. "But you wanted to know my background… I guess I could tell you. Most of the key players are already dead so it doesn't really matter if some outsiders hear this too…"

Three cards were drawn from the deck. Aces of Clubs, Spades and Diamonds. After a moment of consideration Ace of Hearts and Joker were drawn too.

"These…" The girl said, showing the cards to her audience. "Represent the five ninja villages…"

"Sunagakure…" The Ace of Spades was thrown on the ground a bit to her left, like it was a shuriken. It stuck up from one of the corners.

"Iwagakure…" The Ace of Diamonds got stuck two meters before her.

"Konohagakure…" The Ace of Clubs to her immediate right.

"Kirigakure…" The Ace of Hearts a bit further away in the right.

"And Kumogakure…" The Joker was where the same lines from Ace of Diamonds and Hearts crossed.

"The story itself begins around the time the Second Great Shinobi war was about to begin. Border skirmishes raised the tensions and smaller nations were dreading to become stampeding grounds. Our story begins from small village in Ishi no Kuni, where a family of three lived."

Five cards were drawn.

"Mother and father…" Queen and King of Hearts. "And their three sons." Jacks of Spades, Clubs and Diamonds.

"They were a happy family, with a little quirk. Despite them living amidst of stone and sand, all of their names were related to water and sea. The parents were Shizue and Kishi. The sons… Well, I get to their names later.

"During the years the parents worriedly talked about what to do if the war broke out. Or what to do if anything happened to the village in general. They agreed to flee to one of the bigger nations and from there help with the war effort. They understood that the likelihood of Ishi no Kuni making it out in one piece was very slim and the survival of civilians even slimmer. It was a miracle the land even existed after the first war…

"Unfortunately, they never managed to get as far as to discuss to which country they'd flee to. So when their village was torn apart by shinobi, thus was the family also struck apart."

The girl threw the Jack of Spades by the corresponding Ace.

"The eldest son, only seven-years old at the time. Made his way south, to Sunagakure where he joined the Shinobi School as it was known at the time. He eventually fell in love and married and had a daughter. He lived through two wars and was killed during peacetime while on patrol. Only his summon came back to report what had happened."

The King of Hearts and Jack of Diamonds were thrown by the Ace representing Iwagakure.

"The father headed over the mountains to north to Iwagakure with the middle son. Once there he signed up his reluctant son to the Ninja Training Facility while he himself joined merchant caravan as a guard. He may have been a mere civilian but he knew how to fight and how to defend himself and the goods of the caravans much better than the merchants themselves. He was killed during the Second War. Meanwhile, the middle son made it through the war as a genin and joined explosion corps eventually. With his Fuuton techniques he surprised enemies and gave cover for his fellows. One of those were woman from Shiroishi clan who had Bakuton kekkei genkai herself. They fell in love and he took his wife's familyname. They had a daughter and later a son too while the Third War raged. The wife died and some years back the boy became a missing nin, but the middle son and his daughter are still alive."

The girl lifted the final two cards and threw them. Queen of Hearts landed to the area of the imaginary Hi no Kuni while Jack of Clubs stuck next to Ace of Clubs.

"The mother took the youngest son, only three at the time, with her to Hi no Kuni. On the way, she fell severely ill though and passing on she gave her son to a pair of Konoha-nin who took the boy to their village and placed him to an orphanage. Eventually the boy joined the Ninja Academy and graduated at the top of his class, even a year early. He exceeded all expectations placed on him and became top shinobi and his name was whispered in fear during the Third Shinobi War. He married happily too and had a child but died soon after with his wife…"

The girl seemed to consider what to say next. One of the audience spoke up. The Nara boy.

"Did the brothers ever meet during the wars? Iwa was against both Suna and Konoha in second war while during the third war Konoha had a tentative alliance with Suna."

"…They did. The middle brother and the youngest brother did during the third war and it almost resulted in the death of the middle brother. The youngest… didn't remember his family anymore. How he could've? He was only three when he lost them all and was then thrust into a new environment where he had a lot to see and learn. He still carried their surname while the other two had left it behind."

"What is the name then?" A girl asked this time. She was the Nara boy's sister. The storyteller remained quiet as she let chakra strings to snap up the cards scattered on the ground and shuffled them back to the deck. She drew the three Jacks again then.

"The brothers were… Kaito…" Jack of Spades was laid neatly on the ground in front of her. "Arashi…" Jack of Diamonds. "And Minato…" Jack of Clubs. "They were the Namikazes."

The storyteller girl smiled, sun glinting from her hitai-ate bearing Sunagakure's symbol. Her green eyes closed as she tilted her head. "My name is Namikaze Kairi. Nice to meet you."

A/N: Shorter than what I usually write but hey, this is just a beginning, right?

The Namikaze story is something that I originally crafted for Iwa-OC that'd live in Catch Your Breath -verse though it doesn't have Kaito in it. Reika does exist here too and has a role but Kairi is the protagonist. Damn, I just love Minato, can you forgive me for this?

Next chapter is already written but I think I'll post it tomorrow to see what people think about the basic setting given here first.

Btw, I'm not sure yet if this flashforward is after Konoha Crush or during Grass chuunin-exam arc. Most likely the latter but I'm open for speculation.