Tales of a Ninja Magician: Of Journeys We Make

Lockets In Belly Button

When gazing at the Kazekage's office from the inside, it certainly wouldn't have looked like someone had carved the entire building into a pot-shaped sandstone structure that didn't look that much more impressive than a pile of moist sand. The office had been polished and decorated appropriately and reminded Mana of the Hokage's office if a little subtler on the hi-tech gadgetry.

The Kazekage himself was a relatively tall individual, though his relative youth left an impression on Mana. When Mana had met Naruto, it seemed like he may have been too young for such notable duties as well, though that only bolstered how amazing of a ninja he must have been for Konoha to entrust itself to his care and management. Seeing yet another village leader who barely looked a year over thirty just made Mana a tad baffled about the management of this universe's ninja world.

"The Colossus of the Covenant?" Gaara muttered with a raspy voice in reaction to the request of his older sister. "Why do you need intel on that?"

"So then you have some knowledge of its location?" Temari pressed on.

"Of course, I've had scouts observing its movements from as far away as we could keep it ever since it stopped rampaging and just walked off into the sunset, ignoring our best efforts and toppling it over," Gaara answered the question and remind Temari just what sort of walking monolith they were discussing.

"Lord Kazekage, the Colossus has an artifact embedded into it that's crucial for a mission. A mission that comes straight from Hokage himself." Kakashi said. Gaara and Naruto must have been close or at the very least known each other for Kakashi to appeal to such a bond by bringing Naruto up at all.

"That may be so, but it is a Konohagakure mission that takes place on Land of Wind and Sunagakure soil," Gaara weaved his fingers together, giving Kakashi a chilling stare. While Kakashi had the composure and presence of a genuine titan and played it off cool by just yanking his mask with a light pinch and smiling with his eyes, Mana wondered if she could withstand such an intense glare herself if the Kazekage directed on at her.

"Come on, Gaara, it's not like we're going to just attack it and try destroying it. We won't fight it anywhere near Sunagakure," Temari appealed to her brother again, softening her tone to sound less detached and professional. "I may not have been there to fight the Colossus myself when it wrought havoc, but I know how dangerous that thing is."

"Exactly!" a ninja in a black hood with purple face-paint standing by the Kazekage's side during the meeting spoke up. "You weren't there because you were tending to your duties in Konohagakure as a member of the Nara clan. Let's not forget, Temari, that you're officially a Konohagakure kunoichi now. You're requesting sensitive intel from Sunagakure scouts about a potentially world-shaking threat because you want to poke it with a stick to dislodge some mythical, old trinket and you're wondering why Kazekage-sama is hesitant to provide it to you?"

"Kankuro..." Gaara raised his hand to calm his assistant. "It's not like Temari is an alien to Sunagakure. She is our sister, and she grew up in Sunagakure. Her marriage to an esteemed clan head shouldn't be held against Temari, but it should be treated as a jewel that strengthens our relationship with Konoha. Still, we have no guarantee that messing with the Colossus of the Covenant won't reset its calamitous tendencies and cause it to rampage again."

"With all due respect, Kazekage-sama, the artifact that is lodged within the Colossus, and needs to be extracted, is necessary to help the Allied Ninja from another universe. While our plan of action will be stealth, we have never attempted to let a significantly more powerful ninja from another universe give it their go. Mana-san here has survived an exchange of blows with Sasuke when she was just a genin and easily dismantled outer-universal invaders that tore our village's defenses apart all by herself." Kakashi gestured toward the magician. Unable to cope with the influx of attention, Mana gulped and bowed her head nervously.