From the Ashes

Deference to Darkness.

Part 21: "Kotoamatsukami."

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The Village Hidden in The Sand.

Such a place itself lies in a fortified valley behind cliffs of rock,with passage in and out of the village restricted to a single cleft between two cliff faces, making the area very hard to attack from the ground. The buildings inside appeared to be made of clay or stucco, which would help to keep the buildings cool in the sweltering combination of summer and daytime.

While the village itself was naturally strong against invasion,their current state of affairs had left them a shell of their former selves.That,and they were now vulnerable with the discovery of the death of the Fourth Kazekage,Rasa.

Very,very vulnerable to the right shinobi.

On this specific night one of Rasa's own offspring stood on the roof,calmly gazing at the aurora borealis that was strewn across the humid sky.

Gaara had been thinking about his most recent interaction with the ones who were to blame for his...change of heart to be frank.More specifically,his thoughts were of two. Both of those Uzumaki characters were one and the same,even as different the two's ideologies and actions made them seem.

Naruto:He was the one who'd shown him the cost of living his life solely at the cost of others,quite literally beating him into submitting to that point.As such, he had made progress in mending relationships with those he'd harmed in the swarm of his years of madness.

The russet-haired boy clutched his stomach then,a ghost of a snarl on his face as he remembered the likes of the other girl the blonde shared a clan name with.While he was no longer opposed to Konoha or the blonde sacrifice,he was wary of that white-haired Kaguya.She'd walked over the likes of his two siblings,once in the forest and then in the exam itself preceding that.Such a person had incited fear in the likes of Gaara,who was made-well aware of his own mortality.

His thoughts had went elsewhere for a while as he kept his gaze upward,but then his sand had engaged its absolute defense,shooting upward to block a trio of senbon that were aimed at his neck.

Turquoise eyes lulled lazily to his left. "Are you here to kill me?" He asked the squad of masked shinobi,no doubt ANBU from the looks of their pristine masks.Strangely enough they shook their heads,the masks blank and completely devoid of village insignia that were supposed to be standard.

They said nothing,did nothing as what looked to be their leader stepped forward,holding a hand still clasped around their katana. Gaara's eyes narrowed as he awaited an answer for this foolishness.

Before he could simply crush them,a few other sand jōnin appeared in a second,appearing atop the roof terrace and infront the boy as even his sensei was present.

"So your the ones responsible for killing our barrier team.Identify yourselves." Came the rough voice of Baki,interim Kazekage.

The one manning the four-man team released their hold on the sword,only pointing a gloved finger to the newest addition to the rooftop."We have come for retribution.Konoha demands reimbursement for the acts your village has committed against our own in tandem with the Hidden Sound."

The Sand ninja scoffed,whilst their own leaders eyes narrowed as Baki put the pieces together. "The Kazekage was killed prior to the joining of our forces with Orochimaru's.We found Rasa-sama's body alongside his guard in a ditch recently..." he didn't look the least bit remorseful. "-his face was stolen, and their bodies were long being consumed by maggots...We have found that Orochimaru was the culprit."