Chapter 17: Amegakure, Here we Come
"That was one fun festival." exclaimed Kankuro as he lounged on the living room sofa inside the Sage and the Sand Siblings' suite within the Wind Daimyo's palace.
"You've got that right. So many stores to browse through, so little time." replied Temari as she was sealing away her purchases in some spare scrolls.
"Now that the Grand Festival is over, it's now time to focus on the real task at hand." replied Izuka as she came out of hers and Temari's bedroom drying her wet blonde hair.
Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari gave each other somber looks. Tomorrow was the day that the four, along with Daisuke the advisor, would travel to Amegakure to confront the country's dictator.
"I hope the dictator is an open-minded guy." replied Kankuro as he sat up on the couch.
"I wouldn't bet on it considering Amegakure's history with dictators." said Gaara as he leaned against a wall and crossed his arms.
"That's right. Amegakure is a country not only known for its rainy weather, but for their cruel dictators." replied Temari as she sealed the last shopping bag in its scroll.
"Especially Hanzo." answered Izuka as she took a seat next to Kankuro.
Everyone shuddered at the thought of Hanzo and what he did during his time as Amegakure's leader. (A/N: For the sake of this story, Hanzo is going to be portrayed as a cruel dictator.)
"Well we can't think of those days. We have to stay focus for the upcoming mission." replied Temari as she took a seat on the couch opposite of Kankuro and Izuka. Gaara sat right next to her.
"You're right Temari, we have to stay focused. Does anyone know what Amegakure's current dictator looks like by the way?" asked Izuka.
Everyone else shook their heads no.
Gaara was the next person to speak. "The leader of Amegakure always works and resides in the tallest building of Amegakure's main city. The thing is, the leader is so private, that he never leaves the place except to battle an opponent."
"Kinda sounds like you, little bro." replied Kankuro.
Gaara gave Kankuro a murderous glare. Kankuro nervously looked away.
"Anyway" replied Gaara as he returned his attention to Izuka and Temari. "Even though he only leaves his tower to battle opponents that cross him, he wins every single time. None of his opponents have ever survived."
"Huh. He definetly sounds like one tough dude." replied Izuka as she started to braid her hair back into pigtails.
"Which means we have to be careful when we speak to him." replied Temari as she gave Kankuro a stern look.
"Hey, I care about Suna. I'll behave for the sake of the village, I promise." replied Kankuro as he raised his hands up in defense.
"You better." commented Temari as she looked away.
"You don't think I can handle myself in a serious situation, do you?" asked Kankuro in a condescending tone.
"Now what makes you say that." replied Temari sarcastically.
"Seriously sis? You can't trust me to behave myself in front of the dictator? Way to support me sis." said an annoyed Kankuro.
"Sorry Kankuro, but you haven't shown me anything to make me think otherwise." replied Temari.
"Really? I haven't shown you anything to prove otherwise? How about during the council meetings?"
"You're either sleeping, daydreaming, or reading a porn magazine under your work papers during the council meetings." replied Izuka.
"How do you know that I read porn during the meetings sometimes?" asked Kankuro as he pointed accusingly at Izuka.
"Mibiku told me. He always sees you reading them since he sits right next to you during the meetings." answered Izuka.
Gaara and Temari gave the face-painted puppeteer stunned looks. It was Gaara who spoke next.
"We all know that you sleep and daydream during the meetings, but really, a freaking PORN MAGAZINE!?" exclaimed Gaara as he stared down his brother.
"You know you're not supposed to do anything that would defy the sanctity of the meeting room." cried Temari.
Kankuro looked down at the floor in shame. "I'm sorry, but the meetings can get so boring at times. I was just trying to spice things up for myself, that's all. It's not like I have a private porn collection under my bed."
Kankuro slapped his hand over his mouth after he spoke that last sentence. Gaara, Izuka, and Temari looked at him like he had just got infected by a deadly disease.
"KANKURO!" they all screamed together.
Kankuro just scratched his head and blushed red in embarrassment.
"As soon as we get back home, I am going to personally burn every single magazine that you have under your bed." exclaimed Temari as her face flushed red in anger.
At seeing his sister get angry at him, Kankuro high-tailed it straight for his and Gaara's room.
Temari ran after him.
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
Izuka and Gaara looked at the door of the bedroom on the suite's right. They looked at each other.
"Serves him right for a dirty habit." commented Izuka.
"I should have known that Kankuro was like this." replied Gaara.
"Eh, it's not your fault he ended up like that. He probably was dropped on his head a lot." said Izuka.
"Probably more times than I can count." answered Gaara in return.
As the two continued to listen to Kankuro's pained screams and Temari's shouts of anger, there was a knock on the front door.
"I wonder who could that be." replied Izuka as she got up and walked to the door.
"Probably one of the Wind Daimyo's advisors." answered Gaara as he leaned back into his seat.
Izuka turned the knob and opened the door. The visitor was Daisuke.
"Oh, hey Daisuke." greeted Izuka.
"Hello Lady Sage. Sorry to interrupt whatever is going on in there, but there is a visitor here to see you guys, especially you."
"Me?" asked Izuka.
"Yep." replied Daisuke. He moved out of the door way to let the visitor come in. The visitor was a slim and small purple Chinese dragon that was the length of Izuka's arm.
"Ryu!" exclaimed Izuka.
"Found you master." replied the dragon as she crawled onto Izuka's shoulders.
Gaara got up from his seat to join the small group at the doorway.
"Hello Ryu." greeted Gaara as he looked at the dragon resting on Izuka's shoulders.
"Gaara." greeted Ryu as she gave him a small nod. "Where are your brother and sister?"
"Temari is beating up Kankuro for reasons that I don't want to go into." was Gaara's answer.
"Okay then, but something tells me that the reason for Kankuro's beat down is supposedly M-rated." replied Ryu.
"Oh boy." commented Daisuke.
"Well then, now that you're here, the travel time to Amegakure will be a lot shorter." said Izuka.
"Wait a second. You guys are now going to Amegakure?" asked Ryu in an incredulous voice.
"Yeah, we'll explain the details to you later, but first things first: Do you want to join us for this mission?" asked Gaara.
"Are you kidding me?" said Ryu. "Of course I'll join you guys. Amegakure, here we come!"
End of Chapter 17
A/N: Yay! I finally got around to bringing Izuka's dragon Ryu into the story. And it took me until my 17th chapter to do it. Please review and vote on my poll. I'm starting to get tired of asking you guys that. X) BTW, Hanzo is an actual Naruto character that belongs to Misashi Kimimoto, the creater of Naruto.