Tadaa: new chapter already. I find writing the Suna siblings somewhat awkward – so I'm going to need your guidance a little. Tell me if they're ooc; I'll try to find a balance between ic and my own twist on things.
BTW: Yes, this is an AU, since this is an SI. I'm trying to keep relatively close to canon, but since I'm talking about problems that had absolutely no screen-time in Naruto, I'll have to generate some potential for conflict and elaboration. That comes at the price of one or two minor characters.
… looking back on this last AN I realize that the fanfic scene has a lot of abbreviations that will totally baffle a newbie:D
But I bet you understood them all!
There is a huge commotion at the gates of Konoha.
More teams than a year ago have gathered at the west gate, ready to depart to Suna at a moment's notice. Which makes Hisana's current predicament even worse. She throws Sora a grateful look as the boy tries to place himself between her and the other genin teams, shielding the scene of stupidity from view.
"Are you quite done now, shishou?" she growls, decidedly not looking at her left where Kakashi is currently sewing a patch onto her arm – the very same one gracing the cutesy little vests of his stupid nin-dogs.
"Now, now," Pakkun placates her from his perch on her lap. "I think it looks very fetching, don't you Kakashi-kun?"
Kakashi doesn't answer; she strongly suspects it's because he'd start giggling otherwise.
"All right," he finally announces, an odd tremor to his voice that strongly suggesting that she's right. "All done. Now you're formally associated with me."
"Was that really necessary?"
It isn't Hisana who is complaining this time. It's Kohaku-sensei, whose expression is so flat it's almost funny.
"But Haku-chan, no need to be jealous – I have a spare one for you."
Sensei visibly struggles for composure.
"Leave. Please," he breathes.
It's immeasurably comforting to know that it's not just her Kakashi is driving up the wall.
The copy-nin shrugs.
"Ok, ok. I see I've overstayed my welcome."
He pats Hisana's head fondly and condescendingly all at once.
"Be a good girl and don't give your team trouble."
The following shunshin mercilessly blows dust into her face.
"He does that on purpose," she wheezes, gripping Haru's shirt and trying not to suffocate.
"Most likely," Kohaku-sensei deadpans.
Two hours until departure.
Team 7 is sitting around her in a circle like a bunch of puppies, bags strewn across the grass, and mood swinging back and forth between worry and excitement for her. Or at least that's what the boys are doing. Sakura has latched onto Haru, who is looking at Hisana with mild panic.
Oh no, she thinks gleefully, you ran the moment Kakashi-shishou turned up; I'm not lifting a damn finger for you.
"Senpai~" the girl chirps, "You're going to make chuunin for sure, aren't you?"
The unattractive chortle at Hisana's back can only come from Sora.
"Nee-chan," Naruto shrills, drawing her attention back to him like a homing beacon. "You're going to kick butt, I know it! Don't worry, you'll be great!"
"Baka," she says fondly, reaching out to pat him on the head; for a second she has a flashback of Kakashi doing the same to her earlier in the day, and suddenly she feels inexplicably dirty.
The truth is she is nervous now. It started about a week ago with a slight tremor to her hands that appeared every time the topic was brought up. Two days ago then, when she started packing her bag, there's been a weird sickness in her belly that wouldn't go away, no matter how much water she chugged to drown it. Both have disappeared now, the trembling and the sickness, but they were quickly replaced by a less conspicuous but constant low-level panic.
"Stick to your teammates," shishou advised, predictably picking up on her racing pulse. "You will be fine."
But while the boys are a great support, she had always counted on Shizuha to be there. That is, until the Aburame informed her that her mission count isn't high enough yet, and that she'd have to join a genin team after all, as soon as the next batch of Academy students graduated. Now she's alone; no Shizuha, no Shiki. The only other familiar presence is Hanada glaring at her back.
After failing the last exams the girl's team is trying again this year, and her attitude towards Hisana hasn't changed in the least. Her only comfort is that Sora looks equally grumpy; the girl's affections seem to spook rather than flatter him. Once Haru has extricated himself from Sakura's skinny arms the girl finally comes ambling over to her.
"Rations?" she asks.
"Check."
"Desert gear?"
Hisan pulls the edge of her white coat from her bag.
"Check."
"Documents?"
"Uh … -"
Sakura snatches the bag from her with a scowl.
"Give me that. Seriously, I'm checking this for you."
When one of the jounin whistles for them to get moving their good-bye isn't a tearful one. Not like the masses of parents crying and embarrassing their children. Sakura and Naruto pull her in for a group-hug.
"We believe in you," the blond repeats firmly.
Sasuke's farewell is even more subdued. For a moment they just stare at each other; then her cousin reaches out to fist his hand in her shirt.
"Don't take too long," he tells her, tone demanding as always.
"I'll see what I can do," she answers.
No fear, no doubts, no second thoughts. Don't let them screw with you, his face says. She flashes her Sharingan at him, brief but fierce. Let them try.
From the corner of her eye she can see Haru hugging his parents and Sora waving his siblings good-bye. Two more minutes.
She turns away.
It's an eight-day journey to Suna.
Hisana has never been in the desert; most of the genin haven't. Traveling under the aggressive sun and sleeping in the cold makes her feel raw and used up. After two days there's sand everywhere; in her hair, in her eyes, in her underwear. Her skin is chafed red and her feet are burnt. But she isn't scared anymore – at least not of the journey itself. Instead she lets the presence of five genin squads and the comforting weight of her bokken carry her through the day.
She pats the wooden sword slung from her belt fondly. Team 11 appears to be the only one carrying non-standard weapons. Hisana knows there's a pair of long, slim daggers hidden up Haru's sleeves, each no wider than a pair of chopsticks, and there are steel plates sewn into Sora's gloves. For a moment she wonders if the others are also hiding away their trump cards, or if they are every bit the children Naruto and Sakura were during their first Exams.
She half-hopes not; Suna ninjas are animals, and naivety could be deadly there.
After four days in the desert a troop of suna nin comes for them.
They are two four man squads, dressed in airy white garb.
"They are here to make sure we reach our destination," Kohaku-sensei informs them, tone heavily implying 'without making trouble'. On the eight day the Village Hidden in the Sand appears before them like a mirage, flickering in the hot mid-day air. The stone wall hiding the village itself, ornamental but worn by sandstorms, looks like something out of Sarah's old history text books. It's like the ancient city of Petra is appearing right in front of her.
The impression is lost when they make it through the gates. For a moment Hisana can only stare. The architecture is like nothing she's ever seen before. While the buildings themselves seem to be made of stucco and relatively simple in colour and design, the landscape is a bizarre mix of towers and spheres, giving the village a messed-up futuristic sort of feel.
"How dreary," Haru comments, and she can see what he means.
Sand is thick on every surface, there are no plants anywhere, and everything looks sort of unfinished – as if someone had deemed it functional and then called it quits. They are marched towards the huge center building. Inside it's cooler. After six hours of heat it's a relief. Hisana can hear some of her companions groaning out loud; next to her a jounin teacher keeps one of his charges from sinking onto the cool floor.
"Registration for the Chuunin Exams," croaks an elderly woman behind a large, polished desk. "Please fill out these forms."
They are provided with rather nice rooms – or so Kohaku-sensei says.
Accommodations are nothing like at home. In the short time they've been here Hisana has come to realize that almost nothing in Suna is like it is at home. She is sharing a room with Kohaku-sensei, while the boys are across from them. Luckily they don't have to share a bath with the other Konoha ninja. All this, according to the jounin, constitutes 'a nice room' in Suna.
"They aren't as wealthy as Konoha," he reminds them. "And the desert isn't as generous as the forest. They live here despite the sand, not because of it."
It makes sense. Konoha prospered because it was a nice place for civilian farmers to settle. The fertile land brought the farmers, which in turn brought the merchants.
Suna is almost entirely dominated by ninjas. There are merchants, but few of them. After all there is nothing here for them. Suna is too far out of the way for trade, there is no land to farm, and no money to spend on entertainment. All they have is a need for food, weapons, and clothing. Luxury is sparse.
It shows. The rooms are austere, the only decorations tapestries or admittedly lovely etchings in the walls, and the bathroom only consists of a deep basin in the floor that can be filled with cold well water and a hole in the ground. Hisana retrospectively thanks globalization and the internet for telling her that this is probably the toilet.
But no matter how strange Suna accommodations may be, after last week she's disproportionally grateful for some cold water to wash herself and a bed to sleep in. Luckily high-thread cotton sheets are one of the few luxuries that they do get.
Despite its questionable appearance, Suna is very interesting. They have a week to kill before the Exams start, and so team 11 takes to wandering the village, scoping out the competition and having fun with the local cuisine. Dimly Hisana remembers wondering about foreign food at one point; there certainly is no fish in Suna. She eyes her scorpion on a stick with morbid interest. 'Tail and claws,' the vendor said. 'Leave the body.'
She watches one of the cooks dispassionately whack a scorpion against the trencher and then chop off the stinger. He rams a stick through it and then throws it into a skillet as if it's nothing. Hisana takes a bite of the tail. Salty.
Next to her Sora is eying his centipede in trepidation. In contrast Haru looks much happier about his grilled cactus paddle.
"So what do you think?" Hisana starts. "We haven't seen much of the other villages yet, but we got a pretty good look at our Konoha competition. Anything interesting?"
Haru makes a thoughtful noise.
"I don't know many of them by name," he admits, "but there is this boy – he moves really strange. I think there might have been something strapped to his leg."
"I know who you mean," Sora says. "The one with the dark hair … naah, I don't remember his name. But he was in our year. Mizuki-sensei's class. What the hell would he be strapping under his pants?"
"Maybe it's hidden by genjutus," Hisana suggests. "I'll have a look at it if I can. Would make sense though."
Someone is listening in.
She can feel a chakra signature, tense and unmoving, right around the corner. She smoothly links arms with Haru and taps onto his hand, just in Sora's line of sight.
one person. unknown.
There's no reaction and she doesn't expect one.
"How is it?" Sora asks, motioning to the remains of her scorpion. "Can I have some?"
When she hands it to him he taps against her hand.
engage.
The look in his eyes is still questioning. She grins at him. Haru sighs in defeat.
engage.
Sora takes a chunk out of the scorpion; the look on his face is one of alarm. In a show of laughter Haru and she pull apart, and Hisana uses the moment to grab onto whoever is hiding behind them. Her hand closes around fabric and she pulls. A blond head emerges, Suna hitai-ate glinting in the sun.
Temari.
For a moment Hisana is hit by a wave of panic. If Temari is here, does that mean her brothers are nearby? But the girl doesn't look scared, or even wary – just pissed. Swallowing down her fear for now she decides to play dumb.
"Why hello," she purrs, "Lookit what I caught eavesdropping."
A weight leans onto her shoulder and Sora's voice sounds near her ear, more derisive than she's ever heard him.
"Let the kid go, Hisana – I bet she's not even old enough for the Exams. No threat at all."
For normally being such a dork he plays the role of the asshole shockingly well. On her other side Haru has completely frozen, face stuck in a familiar cold shock-expression; chances are that he's recognized the girl.
"Don't you know who I am?" Temari hisses, trying to pry Hisana's grip off her shirt with surprising strength.
"No one really important ever starts an introduction like that," she informs the girl delicately.
The blond reddens in frustration and embarrassment. Hisana lets go of Temari's shirt anyway and then pointedly turns her back on the girl. Dismissed. Temari's bluster is almost audible at this point; luckily she's also clever enough not to start a fight, and so she angrily stalks away. There is a moment of silence.
"D-do you know - …?"
A frosty glare of consternation has by now taken over Haru's face. Sora snorts at him and reaches out to pull at his cheek.
"Get a grip Haru. You look as if you're about to go on a killing spree."
The other boy winces, but his expression visibly relaxes.
"T-that was the Kazekage's daughter," he slurs, trying to bat away his teammate's hand.
"Seriously? No wonder she was such a brat."
Hisana watches them in bemusement. In theory Temari's team isn't old enough to participate yet. If the Academy system in Suna works the same as in Konoha Kankurou still has a year to go, Gaara two. Then again, would the Kazekage really make his oldest daughter wait for his sons? Wouldn't it make more sense to separate them – at least until Gaara has graduated? And they do take their Exams together two years from now.
But that could have been a ruse – there was no evidence in canon, as far as she remembers, but it would have made sense if Temari were at least chuunin already, only smuggled in to keep Gaara in check. Or maybe she's just supposed to let off some steam out there. She's twelve, after all – a good age to get your ass beaten and learn some humility.
Well, it's not as if there's anything to be done about it now. If Temari shows up in the Exams it must be with a makeshift team, and Hisana is quite confident that her own team can at least manage that much.
On eating scorpions: To eat scorpions one has to remove the stinger and the venom glands, which are also located at the tip of the tail. It is possible to eat the scorpion's body, as is custom with the smaller species, but some insect cooks discourage that – scorpions are slow digesters, so it's possible that their stomachs are still filled with what they ate quite a while ago, i.e. flies and other insects. Of course one could gut them properly, but somehow I don't see that happening at a shady street vendor.
On eating centipedes: I'm talking about Scolopendra gigantea, not those adorable little house centipedes. They can be eaten, but apparently are an acquired taste (either described as 'fish gone bad' or 'almost like chicken' – which is not very helpful, since fish and chicken obviously taste nothing alike).
On Suna cuisine: Desert tribes usually eat little meat, because it's too rare and animals are too precious. Instead they eat cheese and drink milk. There's also melons and dates, millet, and dried and pounded vegetables. I took the Tuareg in particular as my model for this, because they're half-nomadic, and their diet isn't quite as limited as a completely nomadic tribe's. The insect eating part happened because it's an interesting addition to the milk and cheese, and possibly a meat substitute for particularly hungry and burnt out shinobi. I'm pretty sure ninjas have no compunctions about this sort of things.