previously*

That girl under the hood.That is Sakuya-hime.

花

As the children of the two lords introduced themselves, Sakura quietly observed them from a distance and started wondering to herself If that is Sakuya-hime, that she must still be a child in this time period. Kusa-san did say that she was shy. Maybe that why she is wearing a hood.

"It is a pleasure to meet you. Iwana-sama. Sakuya-sama." Indra greeted the two royal sister. As he walked closer to the pair, Indra notice the younger sister taking a step back and pulling her head deeper into the hood. "I'm sorry but," he faced Iwana ,"is there something wrong with your sister?"

"Huh!?" Upon hearing Indra's question, Iwana turn around and sees Sakuya backing off a little. Almost immediately, Iwana excuse herself to the brothers, place her hands on her sister's shoulders and turned both of themselves around. Their backs now facing Indra and Ashura,leaving the brothers with confused looks on their faces.

"Nii-san, what is going on?" Ashura whispered softy to his older brother.

"I'm not to sure," Indra replied softy to Ashura ,"I'm just as confused as you are."

"What are you doing?" Iwana whispered closely to her younger sister. "This is the first time were out of the village. We have to look and be at our very best." However, Sakuya remains silent.

Iwana let a gentle sigh,"In know this is you first time out if the provence but you heard what what Otou-sama said. You cannot let you 'problem' interfere with your confident. Alright?"

Sakuya hesitated for a while before she finally nodded her head, not wanting to upset her sister even more. Iwana smiled softly and turned back to the Indra and Ashura.

"I apologize for the little set back," Iwana said to the two brothers."My sister can be pretty shy when it comes to strangers."

"It's okay, we were not aware." Indra said as he shook his head. "If you two would like, me and Ashura would like to give you two a tour of the area."

"Really! That would be great." Iwana replied eagerly, sparkles of excitement could be seen in her eyes. "Don't you think so, Sakuya."

Sakuya looked up to her sister from her hood and nodded. "hai, nee-sama."

"Soldiers!" Iwana said out loud to the warriors in front of them ,"if Otou-sama's meeting with the sage of six paths ends early, tell him that we are touring the area. Alright."

"Yes. Iwana-sama." The soldiers replied. In the background, Indra and Ashura looked in awe and curiosity. They have never seen someone around their age act like that before. Even they themselves have never given orders like how their father does.

"Alright. So, shall we began the tour, hime

-sama." Indra said gentlemanly. "Where would you like to see."

"Hmm...," Iwana though before given them her answer. "I would like to have a type of the village. I seems so much peaceful compared to our village."

"Well the village it is!" Ashura said enthusiastically. "Let's go. We might also bum into Taizo and the rest. I'm sure they will be excited to meet you two..." The two royal sisters stared at the boy as he continue. Iwana was a little surprised by his outburst but still have a soft smile.Sakuya gave a small giggle underneath her hood, shocking her older sister a little.

Looks like she is coming out of her shell Iwana thought. "When then let's go."

樱桃

"And there is the slaughter house. That is where store and kill animals such as pigs or cows for meat." Ashura said pointing to a small concrete house.

It has been at least one hour since Indra and Ashura started giving Iwana and Sakuya a tour around the village. They have passed by the many paddy fields, went to the many huts where they were the royal sisters were greeted with warm smile by the villager. Some villagers were kind enough to give offerings but they kindly declined.

For the pass hour, Sakura has also been following them around and observing their actions. However, there was nothing that she saw that made any sense to her. It's been two hours and nothing Sakura sigh to herself What that light said, 'It's time you know the truth', what is so important that I must know. Is it something about. the sage of six paths or Sakuya-hime.Not only that but why me. Sasuke-kun or one of the locals would have been a better pick.

Sakura soon realized what she said and quickly took it back No! That ball of light choose me for a reason. This whole thing may be a dream but I shouldn't give up. And with that Sakura continued to watch the group.

"Ashura, I'm pretty sure that they know what a slaughter house is." Indra said petting his younger brother's shoulder. Ashura blushed in embarrassment over his Indra's remark.

"Actually, this is my first time hearing this term," Iwana said as she walked towards the younger boys ,"In the Nadeshiko province, we mostly eat plant-base foods.the only meats we eat are fish."

"Whao really!" Ashura exclaimed softly as Iwana nodded. Then another question pop in the young boy's mind as the group continue walking ,"Iwana-sama, what is life like in your village?"

"I also want to know," Indra stepped in,"How is life like in the Nadeshiko province?"

Iwana though silently before given her answer with a smile on her face ,"The Nadeshiko province is a small kingdom around the borders of the desert in the south. The village is small but we try to make due with the space.Everyone in the village is friendly but can be a handful at times.

"The Nadeshiko province is also well know for following the ways of Buddha, ensuring the cultivation of wisdom, loving-kindness and compassion. The teachings of Buddha help use live peacefully without conflict.

However," Iwana's smile fell into a serious frown ,"Our village is also well known for its abundance of gold in the surrounding mines, making our the Nadeshiko province an easy target for thieves and greedy warlords. Recently, one warlord from the east even tried to get my father to give up the lands for a huge sum but Otou-sama refused.

As revenge, the warlord started to send assassins to slaughter the villagers and secretly steal gold from our mines. He even tried send them to kidnap and rape me and my sister."

Sakuya uncomfortably shift her hood, remembering how much she feared for her life that day. The Otsutsuki brothers eyes were wide in shock, they had no idea such acts are happening. Iwana paused for a while before she continues ,"In order to prevent a war, Otou-sama signed an agreement with the Warlord to allow them to have half of our land. It did prevent a start of a war but the Warlord continued to send his Lackeys to the village to harass the villagers. That brought a sense of fear and discomfort within the people."

"Is that why your here?" Indra asked hesitantly.

"Yes," Iwana replied ,"You may not know this but Hagoromo-sama came across the Nadeshiko province during his travels. Otou-sama was still a young king then. He welcomed him to the village with open arms and invited the Sage of six paths to be a honoured guest at the palace. They both bond through their ideologies of peace. Hagoromo-sama also offered a deal with Otou-sama; at troubled times, he is free to ask for help.

That is why now, Otou-sama is asking Hagoromo-sama to train our strongest men and women in the art of Ninshu for 3 years, and in return, Hagoromo-sama will sent his best disciples to the Nadeshiko province to help protect the village, believing that it will help protect and strengthen our home without outbreaking a war."

As Iwana finish explaining to the brothers, Indra face was filled with doubt Otou-sama and Lord Ohoyama must have been good friends to allow Otou-sama agree to helping him. It worrying though. If Ninshu falls into the wrong hands, it might create chaos.

"Now then, should we continue." Iwana asked politely as she clasp her hands, snapping Indra out of his thoughts.

"Yes. We may."

And I'm back. Sorry if the chapter is to short. Part 2 will arrive soon and don't worry it will have some Indra/Sakuya action and it will be much longer.

I have also made some minor changes to previous chapters so do check them out.

-Gi

p.s If anyone knows how to add break lines, could you teach me how too. It will be greatly appreciated.

edit 22/5/18: I added more to the chapter. It was suppose to be in the next chapter but I thought that this chapter was too short and wanted to extend it. Now you get to have a little information about the Nadeshiko village and Iwana's personality.