"Where to now, Han?"
After several days, they'd finally cleared the desert, but the trek was long and taxing. Naruto's energy never waned, but Han couldn't say the same. His chest and midsection ached from the chakra claw he took battling in the desert. He was low on water, too. His furnace's water stores had been depleted terribly. The red titan stopped and kneeled.
He took a moment to think and wipe the sweat from his brow. "South. We should be able to catch a civilian vessel that will take us around the southern Elemental Nations and deposit us near the Kumo/Iwa border. It will take us far away from these Akatsuki hunters," he explained.
"Just hope that fish guy doesn't swim," Naruto shuddered. "I bet he's faster in water than he is on land."
"Hoshigaki Kisame. A formidable threat. His name is known to many."
"Why's that?" Naruto said.
"He's a cold blooded killer," Han answered plainly. "Known to kill teammates and enemies alike. He acquired the title, 'Tailless Jinchūriki' because he has an ocean of chakra at his disposal. And he wields Samehada."
"Huh? What's that? A cool technique or something? Is that why he's got scales all over him?" Naruto patted himself all over. He looked completely idiotic but Han knew what he meant.
"It is one of the greatest weapons ever produced. Do you remember the blades we took from Raiga?"
Naruto nodded. "They're really freakin' sharp!"
"Samehada and those blades, the Kiba Blades, are part of a series of legendary weapons called the Kiri no Nanaken, wielded by the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū. In the right hands, they're the most dangerous weapons in the world."
"They're from Kiri? I fought a missing-nin from Kiri before I went to the Chūnin Exams! He had this huge meat cleaver looking sword with a hole in it. Kind of weird if you ask me, but Kakashi-sensei took him down, no problem!"
Han produced a Bingo Book and flipped for a moment. He arrived on a picture with a gaunt, bandaged face. "Surely you don't mean the Kubikiribōchō? That means your team killed Momochi Zabuza?"
"Yeah," Naruto confirmed enthusiastically, then his face dropped a bit. "And Haku. They were trying to hurt a bridge builder in Nami no Kuni, but Sasuke and Sakura and Kakashi-sensei and I stopped them. Then Zabuza went crazy and killed everybody on the bridge before he died, too!"
"I hadn't heard of his passing. A shame Kiri did not recover the blade," Han mused.
"We stuck it in his grave as a headstone," Naruto replied sheepishly. "Seemed like the right thing to do at the time."
Han had a thought. "You know, I hear Kiri has a new Mizukage. If we were to bring them the Kiba blades and Kubikiribōchō, they might be inclined to extend us some goodwill."
Naruto scratched his head. "I mean, it sounds nice to give them back, but what would be in it for us?"
"It's a gamble," Han admitted. "Kirigakure is known for being… rough with outsiders. We'll pass through their waterways heading to the port nearest Iwagakure and Kumogakure. Think of the swords as insurance, in case the rumors of a new Mizukage are more dire than I make them out to be."
"That's a terrible idea! We just hope they don't try to kill us! I can't even make a Kage Bunshin and you're hurt, we're easy pickings!" Naruto's shrill voice reappeared.
It annoyed Han, sometimes, how the child in Naruto could resurface at any moment. For all the boy's more seasoned look- tanned skin, shaggy blonde hair, the emergence of lean muscle and veins- he was still a child. Amazing how soft Konoha had become. In Iwa, the softer traits were forced out early; 5 and 6 year olds were already being scouted by Jōnin senseis. They came from different worlds.
"Naruto, either we take a boat and risk the chance Kiri ninja flag us, or we walk the entirety of Hi no Kuni and Kaze no Kuni's border to Iwa. With no money. With Akatsuki nearby."
Naruto's face paled.
"And we're both not up to snuff, yes. But I'd rather be resting on a boat for a week and a half than walking for upwards of a month hoping we avoid detection. Our chakra signatures are too large to hide, anyway. Especially yours." With an air of finality, Han stood.
"South it is," Naruto gulped, and laughed an awkward little laugh. "Guess we can get Zabuza's sword on the way."
"It's between here and Kiri; I'll see if we can get a route with a stop there, maybe stay out of Kiri's waters to avoid a run-in."
And the duo set off again, sun high in the sky but a breeze signaling Fall spurring them to their target: the ports of southern Hi no Kuni.
"They're closing in on him," Kakashi, breathless, announced to the tree he just landed on, a fair distance from the Uchiha Compound.
He'd had a little chat with Sasuke hours ago, trying to sway him from the whispers of the seal on his neck. Sasuke had been more outspoken than usual in the past week, as if pondering something deep within, or letting it smolder in his heart. Where he was dead before, now it appeared he was grappling with a choice. He'd meant to check back in that night after the boy had time to think, but it seemed Orochimaru had other plans.
The Sound 4 were on their way.
The tree rattled lightly as a red cloaked bear of man stepped down the trunk from above. "I say we watch for a moment. Really gauge where the Uchiha is mentally before stepping in. Besides, I laid into the kid last time I saw him; me saving his ass will extend some goodwill my way."
Kakashi stared up at Jiraiya as he caught his breath. "You don't think they'll take him by force, do you?"
Jiraiya shook his head. "Orochimaru is too clever to take a hostage. He wants you to think you're making a choice, he wants to manipulate you into thinking you're doing whatever it is you're doing for you, not for him. They won't leave with Sasuke unless they get Sasuke's approval."
"Must be time for him to switch bodies," Kakashi mused.
"Tsunade's decision to not heal him royally fucked him. He could've fixed his arms and stretched the body he was in for who knows how long."
"But now he's desperate," Kakashi concluded. "What happens if he wants to go?"
Jiraiya laughed. "Well, we probably have to kill him."
Kakashi didn't find that funny. 'Sasuke… make the right choices.'
Back pinned to a tree with four enemies taking turns teeing off on you was not a place Sasuke thought he would find himself on such a cool, fall night. The leaves around him were browning and decaying; he ducked a spittle of web from the multi-armed one, then tried to roll from his position before the fat one grabbed his ankle and launched him back into the tree. As he flew, the redheaded one sat on a branch above him, playing into her flute.
He smacked into the wood and heard a sharp crack. It was not the wood that broke. Something in his shoulder felt wrong. Try as he might, he could barely lift his left arm.
'This is not good. I'm completely outclassed!'
His Sharingan had sputtered to life at the sharp pain now inflicting his arm, radiating to his chest and running down to his fingertips. It hurt so impossibly bad that it paralyzed him-
The genjutsu broke suddenly, quickly- his arm was fine, just a little sore. The girl above him seemed to sneer when she realized her technique failed.
"Fucking Uchiha and their stupid eyes," she muttered.
"Fuck you," he spat back, and stared down their leader, the now two-headed freak show in front of him. "What do you want? Revenge for kicking your ass in your little invasion?"
"My name is Sakon, and this is my brother Ukon," the freak announced. Another head sprouted from his neck. "We come on behalf of Lord Orochimaru. The man who blessed you with the mark on your neck wishes to confer another set of benefits. See, there's a level 2 to Curse Marks."
On cue, all four of his enemies morphed into demonic, horned beings. Their power outputs quadrupled, and Sasuke's Sharingan struggled to keep up with the chakra flaring off them.
With a hand raised in front of his face to save his optic cells, he said, "And what's the catch?"
He heard a dark, grumbling laugh. A voice similar to, but entirely different to Sakon's hit his ears. "Orochimaru wishes to train you to be strong enough to kill your brother, and when that's done, he will take your body and use it as his vessel. You should be honored!"
"I'm not letting anybody wear my skin, you creep," Sasuke launched back.
"Then you'll never kill your brother, you weakling!"
Sasuke gritted his teeth. What did these assholes know? "My brother is a monster! You wouldn't last a minute with him, even with your Cursed Mark powers. I used mine and got floored in seconds."
Sakon laughed. "Sounds like Orochimaru was wrong about you, then. He said with enough training, you could do it. But hey, think about the offer. Not everyone survives getting the Level 2 Mark, anyway. You'd probably die."
'Reverse psychology, that's all it is!' Sasuke's mind screamed at him, but it still bit into his core. The seal on his neck was hot with anger.
"I don't need Orochimaru to get strong! I've made progress myself," he said. He fought back the anger.
"Sakon, I don't think this kid's for real," the spider-like one said. His transformation was the freakiest by bar. His face was disfigured and his limbs were burning red. All eight of them.
"Think about how much more progress you could make," Sakon intoned. "With Orochimaru by your side, you'll grow in leaps and bounds!"
"You mean with me being his mindless puppet, like you guys?" He hit them with a classic Uchiha smirk. "Doesn't really align with the goals I have in life."
"Orochimaru said you'd choose to come with us. What other goals can you not achieve? Orochimaru is going to give you everything: power, training, strength! Techniques! What more can you fucking want, Uchiha?" The exasperation in the redhead's voice above him was palpable.
"Tayuya, calm down," Sakon ordered.
"I need to find my friend."
"Your what?" The four Oni responded in unison.
"My brother is a monster, like I said. And my friend is missing. Being hunted by my brother. I will not allow Itachi to hurt another person close to me. He's hurt too many already. And I know Orochimaru doesn't give a shit about finding Naruto, but I do. Tell him I found his lab with the body dissected. Tell him I don't know what fucked up trick he was trying to pull, but he almost had me. I almost turned my back on everything here, but I'm stronger than whatever mind games he wants to play!"
Sakon kept quiet, truthfully, because he had no idea what Sasuke was talking about. A lab? A body? A teammate?
"So this?" Sasuke ripped his shirt open to show his Cursed Seal, another seal over it. "This isn't going to help me achieve my goals."
"A shame," the fat one said, stretching his massive arms. "I guess that means we have to drag you back kicking and screaming. Then rip your eyes out and put 'em in jars!" He motioned to close the distance between the two.
Sasuke was screwed; he knew it, everybody here knew it.
Until a massive frog with a fucking sword crashed into the rotund Level 2 Curse Mark wielder.
Blue and covered in battle armor, it floored the demonic man and then repeatedly stomped him into oblivion. Underneath them, the branch broke through and they crashed to the forest floor. Sasuke landed like a cat, but all hell broke loose around him. More frogs with knives. It was like a frontal assault had spawned in the middle of Konoha.
Sasuke knew the frogs could only come from one person. 'I need to find Jiraiya!'
Suddenly, spiders began to coat the trees, backing Sasuke into a proverbial corner. Varying in size and with dangerously colorful markings on their backs, they rampaged through the area and engaged the toads. Sasuke found himself diving and striking through the arachnid chaos; they disappeared in smoke when hit, like summoning animals.
He heard a loud, deep voice followed by a boom of white-hot heat: "Sage Art: Toad Oil Bomb!" A portion of the forest ceased to exist around Sasuke. He dropped to his hands and knees for fresh air as the smoke grew thick and charcoal black.
He was gasping through his hands when a pair of hands grabbed him and slung him through the trees. He tried to land feet first to ready himself for his abduction, but his footing gave way on the chestplate of a massive toad. He slipped to the forest floor roughly yet again, looking as bewildered as the toad across from him.
Jiraiya landed a moment later, ugly as sin with warts every which way. He cratered the ground with his footfall. "That'll do, Ma and Pa. I can take it from here."
Sasuke kept blinking; he must've had a concussion. There were two talking frogs on Jiraiya's shoulders. He felt nauseous.
They poofed away and Jiraiya's face morphed back into the one Sasuke found familiar. "Hey there kid. What were they there for? You owe 'em lunch money or something?"
"How did you do that?" Wobbly, but otherwise not maimed, Sasuke stood against a tree. He checked for spiders just in case.
"Do what?" Jiraiya feigned ignorance. The sounds of battle behind him were waning away; the spiders covered the Sound 4's retreat, and Jiraiaya's toads were almost done dispatching them. "I merely came to lend a hand to someone in need. That is, if I was actually needed."
Sasuke's Sharingan was still on, and he caught the tone switch of Jiraiya's last sentence. The Sannin was testing him. But Sasuke pressed. "How did you blow apart the entire forest with one technique? I didn't even sense you in my peripheral vision, which is almost impossible for a Sharingan to miss."
Jiraiya chuckled. "No offense kid, but I grew up around Uchiha. I know more about those eyes than you probably do."
Sasuke scoffed. "That doesn't change that your chakra just completely switched when those frogs left."
"Toads," Jiraiya corrected sternly. "They're toads. It's very disrespectful to refer to them as anything else."
"Toads. When the toads left," Sasuke gritted. The pedantics were rubbing on him. "What was that?"
"Toad Sage Mode!" Jiraiya replied joyfully. "It's taken me an entire lifetime to master, but it's a great power. Amplifies pretty much everything. Jutsu, physical prowess-"
Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Certainly not looks. You had a wart the size of a tumor on your cheek."
"You little shit-"
"It was amazing," Sasuke cut in. "I could feel the chakra coming off you once I knew you were there. Way stronger than anything the Cursed Seal has ever given me, or anything those losers showed me. Still…" Sasuke flexed his arms, felt the muscles in his body. "I'm still nowhere close to where I need to be."
"And you never will be with Orochimaru," Jiraiya cut to the heart of the matter. "Was everything you said true? About Naruto?"
Sasuke's face turned to confusion."You heard-"
"Everything. Was it true?"
Sasuke, a bit perturbed the man watched him get his ass kicked, just nodded.
Jiraiya nodded back. "Good, that'll make things much easier. Because I'm of the same mind. I think Naruto is out there somewhere, and I think we need to find him."
"Why is my brother so interested in Naruto?"
Jiraiya laughed. "You're his teammate. You above all should know how surprising Naruto is." The answer didn't placate Sasuke, but it did make him think deeply. Naruto hadn't really lost a fight. Every enemy, he found a way to succeed. Haku, Kiba, Neji, Gaara. What was the reason?
"Look, kid, I'll cut you a deal," Jiraiya interrupted his inner monologue.
"I'm listening."
Jiraiya smiled.
Sasuke slept intermittently; it was commonplace for him to never sleep these days, but the events of the evening had really taken their toll. Between lulls of unconsciousness, his heart beat like a war drum.
To stay, or to go?
'Go where?' A crass voice hissed.
Not to Orochimaru. Not a chance after his personal guard got belittled by frogs and a Sannin. Besides, he didn't even know how he'd do that. What if someone tried to stop him? Would he hurt a Konoha Shinobi?
He pushed the thoughts away. He would have… only a short while ago. Before the world went sideways because a blabbermouth blonde know-it-all decided to pique Itachi's interest. And Orochimaru's, if that hideout was any indication. Circling back to the hideout, that was one piece of the puzzle Sasuke couldn't square away. If Naruto was alive, then what? Was he captured? Lost? Why was his special red chakra everywhere it wasn't supposed to be? Why did he have red chakra?
Jiraiya told him there were things at play that went well over his Genin head. 'But once we walk out those gates, everything changes. Then I'm a ward of Jiraiya of the Sannin. And he's going to tell me everything.' That was Sasuke's hope, at least.
He hadn't given the Sannin a firm approval; he needed to be in Konoha for just one more day. There was a meeting tomorrow night and Sakura had been on edge the few times he'd seen her since their first. It didn't take a Sharingan to know that when someone as talkative as her finds something big, they clam up. Lockjaw. An obvious tell.
Sakura's findings came first. Then, he would probably announce to the group his intention to leave with Jiraiya and go search for Naruto and achieve true strength. And that he'd write everything Jiraiya tells him down in a scroll for them to see.
'True strength, Sasuke's mind traipsed about. He let himself get drunk on the idea of copying Jiraiya's technique, whatever the hell it was, and smiting every single cell and molecule of Itachi from the face of the earth in a massive ball of fire and ash. It wouldn't be that easy, but Jiraiya told Sasuke he could make him strong enough to try.
"War builds strength," Jiraiya explained. "Sarutobi-sama has let the village see peace for decades, but we didn't get this way through pure diplomacy."
"I know the history of the village's founder's," Sasuke weighed in. "One of them was my distant relative, Uchiha Madara. The scariest man in all the Elemental Nations at one time."
"Then you understand this village keeps producing warriors because that is our profession: War. Plain and simple, you and I are meant to be able to track anyone, find anyone, and kill anyone. Konoha is a breeding ground for Dogs of War."
"I just worry I won't be able to get strong enough if we're traveling around, spying all the time. The gap between Itachi and I-"
Jiraiya paused, then shook his head. "You and I will be doing very little spying. Spying on Hot Springs? Sure! Spying on a Kumo delegation passing through to Iwa? Absolutely not. I've got moles for that. See, I'm about as famous as they come, and people know you're the Last Uchiha a mile away. But guess what? No one messes with me because I'm a Sannin. I'm strong enough to have seen Hanzō swing his Kusarigama and tell you the color of the poison blade. I'm strong enough to go toe to toe with Orochimaru and deadlock him, if not outright kill him. I can do things people have no idea how to counter."
On cue, a massive orb of chakra swirled into Jiriaya's palm and rotated silently. The heavenly blue hue radiated raw power; Sasuke wanted to reach out and touch it, but Jiraiya let the jutsu fade to oblivion.
"The quickest way to get stronger," Jiraiya intoned, "is to be like your ancestors: to go to war, kid. I did it. Your brother, father, his father before him, they all did it. Not many of the strongest ninja in the world have known peace for long, if at all. It's your generation's turn, now, but there is no great war."
"What do I do, then?" Sasuke's face got hard and scrunched.
"We make the war ourselves," Jiraiya answered. A Cheshire grin and a mannish giggle. "And you're the only aggressor. You'll get to practice what I teach you in real-time, so I hope you're a practical learner."
He was. He was hands-on, with a vicious cunning that sharpened his mind and refined his abilities. Goal-oriented. Aggressive. Confident. He would avenge the Uchiha name, and elevate it even further.
"Maa, this is taking forever," Naruto grumbled. "So bored!"
He'd been stuck in a tree for at least an hour; Han's orders. The blonde teen sat at the top of a massive hunk of plant life carving shapes into the thick, black tree trunk, one so big it reminded him of the Forest of Death and its oversized flora. From his vantage point, the harbor below bustled and shifted with people like ants, ships like toys. He'd be on one of those toy ships soon.
Naruto wasn't particularly excited about the plan. Boats were never his cup of tea; the last time he'd been on a boat was going to Nami no Kuni, and that trip was… rough. As it was, Han decided to see about their passage and broker a deal that would offload them at Nami no Kuni, then hitch a ride with another ship to their final destination. Somewhere close to Iwa.
That part of the plan was suspicious; Why couldn't they just stay close to Konoha? Naruto wouldn't let them treat Han badly. They were connected in a way that transcended village affiliations, right? The whole demon-in-the-gut thing?
But they'd been attacked in Hi no Kuni, his brain finally working. Uchiha Itachi most likely knew the country inside and out, every crevice and hole and hollow. He wished he could've just stayed with Gaara and his family. They were nice! And food, even if it was bland! And beds, even if it got unreasonably cold at night!
But that wouldn't be fair to Gaara. Not after what happened. Naruto was a danger, that much was obvious. He couldn't control himself. Or whatever was happening inside him. He'd been so caught up talking to his Dad that they'd entirely missed the part where he explained to Naruto what he'd done. The sheepish wave they shared as Minato faded from his mindscape was nice. He wished he could see it again, just one more time.
His father was the Yondaime Hokage. It still took his breath away. A man so amazing was related to him! And they looked so much alike, how had he not seen it before?! How had no one seen it before…
Naruto's bubbling jubilance slid from his mind until a cold feeling racked his body. Who knew? Who didn't know? What happened that made his life growing up so lonely? So many questions, so few answers. But he could've ended up like Gaara. Or Han.
Broken and weaponized.
He silently thanked the old man, the Sandaime, for not doing that. But the thought of him laying in his coffin on the day Konoha mourned him came rushing back, and Naruto stifled tears. He missed his friends. He missed ramen. He even missed his shitty apartment. He missed his clothes. He was, in a much newer, much more dangerous way, alone again.
'Just like how I grew up,' the boy sighed and laid back against the towering trunk. The view, as much of a spectacle as it was, could not compare to the top of the Hokage Monument, where an entire ninja village would flex and breathe under his feet. It wasn't the same and Naruto realized that nothing would ever be able to compare.
'That's why I've got to make it back. I've got to figure myself out and shake these Akatsuki guys, ASAP! I've got a legacy to uphold, and a village to run!' Naruto opened a fist and let the kunai he'd been using to idly whittle the tree slip across his palm. It stung, but he didn't care. Barely any blood escaped before the wound closed and sewed itself shut, but it was enough.
Right then and there, Naruto promised himself he would make it home to see the sun rise from the Kage Monument again. He was Uzumaki Naruto, son of powerful ninja, and future Hokage! And he never went back on his word!
Night fell heavy and harsh, bringing cold air that seeped through the city's infrastructure quicker than Konoha's residents had truly prepared for. Even Sasuke, who had taken the day to prepare the Uchiha Compound for his impending prolonged absence and foresaw a tough winter, had not procured enough blankets for his guests.
The entire group of subversives huddled in the house by the lake; the same lake Sasuke had first seen his father and brother shoot fire from their mouths, on the same pier he'd first learned the same.
Alone. Because his father was too busy to teach him.
It would be good for him to leave this place, he'd decided.
But as he looked into the faces of those around him, mired by shoddy lamps and torch light, he knew he would miss the village. He would miss the training grounds. The dango. His irritating comrades and their mutual interest in recovering their friend. He breathed a deep breath and from his mouth came steam like a stifled dragon.
"I have something to tell you all, but I'd like to speak last. Sakura, Shikamaru, you have the floor," he spoke. It felt as if the yoke of responsibility and its massive weight was passed; Sasuke breathed again, this time with much less effort. Kami, he hated public speaking.
The two named ninjas shared a look, Shikamaru sighed, and began. "Well, I'm not going to mince any words because dragging this out won't help anyone. I'll give you some facts, and you'll see how it all clicks together."
Nods from his captive audience.
"Naruto was born the day the Kyūbi attacked."
Nods.
"Kyūbi chakra, and all tailed beast chakra for that matter, is red."
More nods. These were basic facts they learned in the Academy; they'd spent weeks on the Kyūbi attack and the fallout from the event.
"Naruto can use red chakra."
The nods slowed in their vigor.
"Naruto's parents are dead."
No nodding. The group was enraptured.
"Naruto's mother used to house the Kyūbi, like the wife of the Shodai, Uzumaki Mito, did."
"His mo-?"
"Who is she?" Kiba was cut off by Shino, but Sakura answered.
"She's listed in the old Bingo Books. Uzumaki Kushina. We don't know who Naruto's father is, but we're thinking something happened and the Kyūbi got loose while she gave birth. So, the Yondaime sealed it in Naruto."
"But we were told the Yondaime beat the Kyūbi, right? He just died in the process," Ino said.
"The Sandaime beat Orochimaru, but died in the process," Shino countered.
"Why Naruto?" Sasuke asked to refocus the discussion. "Surely there were better candidates than a newborn baby?"
Shikamaru sighed, and his breath was slightly visible in the cold. "Right place, right time? The only recorded containers for the Kyūbi have been Uzumaki. It's possible they're the only ones that can contain it."
A pause. Then Sakura laid it bare: "Shikamaru and I think the reason Naruto's been targeted is because he holds the Kyūbi somehow. And people like Itachi or Orochimaru want to take it from him. And we can't let that happen."
"Is it too late?" Kiba whispered. Akamaru whined through Kiba's zipped up jacket.
"I'm going to find him," Sasuke interjected. "Jiraiya and I will find him."
After a spate of confused looks, Sasuke told the group everything.
He spoke in length about his spat with the Sound 4, Jiraiya's rescue, and he concluded his speech with his decision to go look for Naruto and bring him home. No matter how long it took. This, of course, subjected him to a myriad of questions from the group: how long will you be gone and what are you going to do and why you and so on and so forth. He did his best to answer them, but the answers he gave were as vague and cryptic as the ones Jiraiya had given him in the first place. In the end, the group sat still, trying to enjoy each other's company one last time, but the influx of information and the cold seeping into their bones left them all a bit dour.
Or maybe it was the culmination of the past few months; they went from being Academy students to having survived an invasion, the death of their Kage, and the loss of a comrade. And now, another was set to leave. It was a fractured feeling.
Sasuke didn't know how to mend it. He wasn't emotionally attuned enough to offer some sort of healing statement. For all his gifts and hard work, this was an area he was completely lost in.
He shuttled the Genin (and Shikamaru) out of his ancestral grounds with nary another word. Sakura hugged him before she, too, followed the path back into the village proper. He looked on at her darkening form, weak moonlight reflecting off the pond not doing nearly enough to help him see.
A Week Later…
Their heavy cloaks and wide brimmed hats were rooted to their skulls; they had to be, lest the desert winds take the flimsy things. Sasuke shuffled through the sand uncomfortably. Despite their copious layering of fabrics and protective measures, the sand always found a way in. Every nook and cranny of his body was lined with sand, he was sure of it.
Jiraiya raised a cloaked arm, and Sasuke stopped in his tracks. Just then, the dunes ahead of him shifted and blurred. Activating his Sharingan, he saw a city of gold stretch out in front of him. They were on a rise, a bluff of sand, overlooking a valley of life. Much taller buildings than Sasuke expected rose and connected and formed a cross work of architecture so complex and intricate, it shook him. The Academy textbook's needed to be updated because he did not remember Suna looking so modern.
Peering closer, he noticed all the buildings made of stone and dried clay or mud. Very few heavy metals or wood involved. It made sense; there were no forests here.
He'd never been so glad to see civilization, even if that civilization's inhabitants immediately sprung up around them and barked compliance orders under the threat of immediate termination. At least twelve Shinobi, all half burrowed out of their sandy hiding places, stood at the ready. Some wielded kunai, two had Battle Fans, and one had his arms up and his fingers outstretched. A Puppet User, maybe.
He heard Jiraiya's muffled chuckle under the flowing tan garb. The large man summoned a pigeon, of all things, from his sleeve. The small bird flew into the sky and the Suna ninja, seeing the creature, moved about as if they'd seen a signal flare. They ducked beneath the waves of sand and were never seen again. The sand at Sasuke and Jiraiya's feet blew apart, splitting like water. A yellow limestone path, smooth and worn, revealed itself and led them to the burning city below.
After a heated negotiation that involved a steam-powered fist through a supply crate and a promise of payment at a later date, Naruto and Han slipped onto a merchant vessel, the Good Tides Roll, and set off for Nami no Kuni.
The fog around the ports hadn't even lifted when the ship left the docks, but several pairs of eyes watched it cross the harbor and disappear quietly into the morning waves.
A/N: Chugging along.