The next morning was met with dense silence as the Kinzan people prepared to leave their mountain sanctuary for the first time. Gaara, Ryuichi and Gihei stood beside the stream that filtered from the oasis into the forest. Senkensha had said that they would be going through the forest by river.
The Kinzan people remained looking over their home for a long while, grief still heavy in the air. The sanctuary had been cleaned the previous night, with all the rocks that had fallen either being returned to the mountain face or the earth.
The graves of the fallen lay in a small valley bordering the back of the space, mostly hidden from view. They had been decorated with grass and desert flowers by the Tenrei pupils and the two town boys, creating a sort of meadow. Gaara briefly wondered where the bodies of those who passed away before the attack lay.
The Tenrei trainees made their way down from the higher peaks of the mountain where they had been receiving instruction from Senkensha and the captains, their faces resolute in their task.
Gaara watched with concealed interest as the people lined up by the water. The Kinzan people did not know ninjutsu and there were no boats visible, so how would they travel down the river? A group of around seventeen people, including six of the Tenrei pupils, entered the shallow river, pressing their hands together in focus.
"We ask that the life of the river lend us aid in our endeavour, please lead us to Shinrin." They all chanted. Ryuichi and Gihei leaned over Gaara's shoulder to get a better view as the river seemed to come alive, lifting and shifting before forming a set of seventeen clear liquid platforms.
One by one, a person who had water affinity boarded one of the flowing platforms, stabilising it so that the other Kinzan people could climb on too before taking off down the stream to join the river.
Eventually, Senkensha departed with her two escorts, Mitsu controlling the platform and the only ones left were Gaara, Ryuichi, Rintaro, Gihei, Haru, Ami and her younger sister, Eri. Stepping forward, Haru stabilised the flowing water of the last remaining platform and waited for everyone to get on, cocking his head when Gaara remained on the land.
"Lord Kazekage, please, get on." Haru invited. Gaara shook his head.
"Don't worry, I'll use my sand. I don't want to burden you." He said, grains of sand already leaving his gourd and forming a small platform, which he hopped onto, seating himself.
Grinning suddenly, Haru turned to face the forest and lifted his hands. Rintaro made a face and slid closer to Ami, who laughed aloud at him. Ryuichi stared at the pair with a pout touching his lips.
"Alright Lord Kazekage, but be sure to keep up, okay?" Haru called as he dropped his arms and the platform shot forward, with Eri squealing as Rintaro, Ryuichi and Gihei all yelled in shock. Mouth falling open slightly in surprise, Gaara's sand platform lifted and sped off after them.
Easily catching up, Gaara kept pace with the zooming water platform as it made its way down the broadening river, looking out of the corner of his eye at the youths on top of it. When he saw Eri stare at him in awe, he felt the smallest smile whisper on his lips before deciding to be cheeky.
"I'll go ahead and see you at the town." He said calmly, turning to look ahead as he sped up and left them behind, Eri gasping after him. Ami watched the interaction between her sister and the Kazekage, feeling her skin warm at the joy that, at least for the moment, had taken over her sister's heart. It seemed that the solemn leader of the shinobi in their land could be a boy in some aspects after all.
"Ami, we can't lose to him, help me out here!" Haru called from the front of the platform, looking at her over his shoulder as his sandy brown hair whipped about his face, getting in his hazel eyes. Scrunching her nose at his childishness, Ami turned around and closed her eyes. It's been a while since Haru has allowed himself to behave like this. Is this how he is coping with his grief?
"Fine, but don't regret it if you can't maintain control." She finally said as she put her left hand on the dip of her right elbow and thrust her right hand out with force.
"Wait wait Ami, you don't need to do that we're already going fast enou-!" Rintaro protested too late and his own yell cut off what he was saying as the water platform accelerated so fast that Ryuichi's cheeks began to ripple as he screamed.
Bent like a surfer, Haru maneuvered past the other water platforms that had departed before them, surprising the Kinzan people. As they approached a bend in the river, he steered sharply to the right, causing everyone to jerk to the side and Eri to fly off.
"Eri!" Ami cried as she tried to grab the little girl while the platform continued zooming forward, Haru unable to stop it. Eri screamed as she was thrown into the air, scrambling around in her panic when all of a sudden, something formed underneath her and she was no longer flailing in the air, but seated on some kind of platform, with a kind of bar at the front that she could hold on to. Sand? Gaara appeared beside her, his red hair ruffling in the wind.
"Are you alright?" He asked tenderly while quickly glancing over her, his stoic face tinging with concern. Eri looked back at him with wide eyes as she nodded slowly before she continued to inspect her flat boarded sand carrier. Nodding back, Gaara's platform moved closer to hers.
"Then, how about we beat them to the town together?" He suggested. Eyes sparkling, Eri nodded faster this time, holding on tightly to the handlebar as they sped past the trees of the forest, just above the river. When she caught sight of Haru's water platform, Eri began kicking her legs excitedly.
"Big sister, up here! I'm flying!" She called out, thrilled. Ami's head lifted at the voice but her eyes locked with Gaara's before she looked at her sister. When she did turn to the child, her eyes bugged out of her head.
"Eri! How-?"
"Lord Kazekage caught me and made me a ride! Now we're gonna beat you to the town!" Eri cried, beaming. As if granting her wish, Gaara allowed their sand platforms to speed up, leaving Haru's platforms behind once more.
The youths looked up at the place where Gaara and Eri had just been. Rintaro's shoulder length black hair swished around his face as his blue eyes took in the warmth of contentment around Ami.
Even though he wasn't on her level, his sensitivity to heat meant that he had sensed her skin heat up when the Kazekage had passed by them earlier as well as when he had just appeared with Eri in tow. Pressing his lips together, Rintaro recalled what his fair haired friend had said.
"I have seen him in dreams." That's what Ami had said. What kind of dreams? He couldn't stop the scowl coming onto his face when he realised that Ami seemed to be curious about the young man with the red hair. Blinking when a finger smoothed the crease in his brow, he looked at Ami in surprise.
"Where did you go?" She asked softly and Rintaro felt his cheeks heat up as he took in her tender beauty, swivelling his head to the side, embarrassed to have been caught.
"Nothing." He muttered. Haru managed to slow the water platform down as they approached the part of the river that was just to the side of Shinrin, bringing it to a complete halt in front of Gaara, who stood at the river bank beside the town chief.
Eri was still on her little sand ride in the air but when she caught sight of her older sister, she faithfully jumped off and into her arms, the sand dispersing as soon as she released contact, returning to Gaara's gourd.
Many of the townspeople had rushed to the river when they had heard that the Kazekage had come back with the Kinzan people, and they stood at a distance in awe as nearly all of them laid eyes on the elusive people of the mountain for the first time.
Bit by bit, more water platforms came to a halt at the river bank and the Kinzan people stepped off. Small children from the town ran closer to the bank to look at the water platforms as they stopped and then sank back into the river in amazement, laughing as they dipped their fingers into the cool water.
The Kinzan children had gathered behind Ami, hiding as they peeked at the strangers. Senkensha and her escorts paced forward and the town chief stepped up to meet them.
"Shinrin Town welcomes the Kinzan people of the Gold Mountain. Lord Gaara has already explained much to us. What you have experienced must have been horrifying. Please, come this way." He welcomed. Senkensha bowed to him, and the rest of the Kinzan people followed suit, slowly making their way into the town.