Chapter 18

She has no idea the amount of effort it takes to pack up several carriages worth of stuff for a trip to another city. Not to mention hundreds of soldiers lined up front and back to protect the Royal Prince and his travel companions. He only took two maids, the butler, several servants and a team of dancers. Still the group traveled on as if they're in a parade, mainly due to the amount of soldiers present. This trip Sasuke brought 50 of his finest soldiers with him.

The trip was long and tedious. Sasuke is used to travelling like this, but Sakura isn't. She isn't used to the carriage and the bumpy road, despite how easy she has it, being in the soft cushion filled carriage cabin.

Luckily traveling was meticulously planned and well spaced out for them. They ride on for four hours. Stop for lunch, then ride on again for six, just until the next small town or city, and have dinner, then rest.

Sakura got carriage sick, and she was puking until she absolutely have nothing left to puke except for the stomach acid.

Sasuke was torn between slowing down or getting there as fast as possible. Sakura tried very hard not to hinder the progress, but unfortunately it was inevitable.

It took them almost over two weeks to arrive at Suna, and as soon as they got here, Sakura understood what it meant when the dancer girls showed their disdain for this place.

If the capital is comparable to a place of luxury and debauchery, then this place is somewhere the savages lived. This is not an exaggeration, rather a literal description, due to various different types of people dressed in fur and ragged clothes, or soldiers in full but old armor. The entire city was built upon the deserts, and upon the first look, Sakura thought that they were sand dunes, houses built from sand-clay mixture. But when she looked closely, they were action made from incredible hard bricks that are sand-colored.

The center city court resides the leader of Suna city and his young sons and daughter. All dressed in battle armor. Their armor were in different style, but one constant remains, they are old and ragged.

Sakura and others was sure this whole thing was extremely awkward, but Sasuke didn't bat an eye when he approached and exchanged greeting with Lord Rasa, and sat on the best seat within the whole room. Sakura stood numbly behind him, making sure he's comfortable.

A lot of political mumble jumble ensued. Sasuke asked Rasa how everything was, and Lord Rasa replied in cryptic and satirical and polite words that hinting they need more funding, and Sakura cleverly avoided his remarks and mention the Emperor's regards and his plans to help.

Part ways through the conversation, the mood changes as Lord Rasa begin to give a detailed description of the invasion. He mentioned the map that lies on the huge table right int he middle and everyone who is important stood up to go look at it. The map details important dates, borders and plans. Sasuke studied it and discussed for about two hours.

"In conclusion." Lord Rasa begin, "We are protected by the thick wall that surrounds the border. Unfortunately I can't say the same for other cities east and west of us. They rely on our victory to defeat the Oto. Unfortunately. As you know..."

He trailed off. Everyone in the room understands his concern.

Originally the Fire nation and Suna nation are separate entity, perhaps seventy years ago. Then the current Emperor's great-great grandfather conquered the conquered three nations together, with the understanding that each individual family will govern their own land under the supervision of the Capital. Fire, Sand, and Water. They are now the alliance of the strongest and largest nation right now. However minor nations have been invading on their territories non-stop, due to various different demands of resources and expansion, many cities that are on the border edge have been affected. Refugee tolls are on the rise, and it has gotten to a point where these invasions has been a nuisance. The Emperor finally sent his twin brother to the north side and find out exactly what was going on, and also to get rid of any disturbance.

The Sand nation are a proud and powerful people. They are able to fend off any invasions with no major losses. However, in the past three year or so, the Sound nation has a new leader that just came to the position after the elderly Oto Lord died, and the Sound nation has been more aggressive than ever. At a young age, the young Oto Lord was a prodigy. He developed a skill that can penetrate through air and reach three miles radius and detect any living beings. Using this technique and Oto's unique sound-wave battling skills, various Suna soldiers have been sacrificed. Suna's reliance of puppetry have always gave them an edge in battle. Suffice to say when Sound nation attacked, they have met their match.

Sakura sort of understand the situation now.

Everyone was discussing ideas and strategies while Sakura looked out the window, and saw the large wall that stood strong and tall to protect this city. This reminded her of a trip when she was young and travelled to the Great Wall. It too, was magnificent for the first few miles or so. After that the wall was ruined and wasted away, with no one bothered to fix them. She remembered climbing up each step and calculating the bricks and marveled at the skill.

The Great Wall was built thousands of years ago, and yet it still stands—in tact.

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A/N: I was gone so long and I sincerely apologize. I suppose I should take off the update daily sign... :((( BTWs anyone saw the new Fantastic Beast teaser trailer today?