The Dragon of the Sand

Investigation Begins

I woke up and groggily rubbed at my eyes. Looking at the clock, it was seven in the morning. I stood from my bedroll and tidied it up a bit before changing into my shinobi outfit. I then brushed my hair and teeth and splashed cool water on my face to wake up. Leaving the room, I followed the hall back to the front of the inn.

"Miss!" The innkeeper called out to me. I turned around to look at her. "I don't know if you and your friend are aware, but we serve a free breakfast between six and nine! Please feel free to enjoy some of it!"

"Ah! Thank you very much!" I said with a bow to the nice lady. She showed me where the dining hall was and I began to indulge myself in a nice breakfast. I sat, sipping at warm tea as I waited for Gaara to return. I had a plate made for him already, in case he came too late. Around eight-fifteen, he finally arrived. 

"Well, what did you learn?" I asked, slightly impatient after waiting for information from my friend. 

"I also believe that these strange men are the culprits." Gaara said in a quiet voice, calmly eating his food. 

"Why? What happened?" I insisted. 

"Calm down." Gaara demanded. "You never know who's listening."

Relaxing, I sat back in my chair and sipped at my tea. My eyes flew around the room as Gaara continued to give me the details. 

"I saw one last night." Gaara continued. "I followed him a short way. He took a man who was walking by himself. The shinobi used a strange powder to knock the man out before taking him away."

"Where did he take the man?"

"I'm not sure yet. We'll have to find out tonight. They target people who are out late by themselves."

"Then we will follow them when they take their next person tonight."

"Yes."

"Then for now, let's go figure out what the villagers have experienced." I said as I stood from the table. Gaara nodded and followed. We left the inn and began asking villagers what they knew about the men.

"So what we've found so far is that these shinobi are abuducting anyone. Most of the abductions are of children. The men have been lurking around and when people notice them, they do a double take and the ninja have vanished. That's why most villagers thought they were seeing things at first." I repeated the information we gained from the villagers as Gaara and I sat in a small food shop for dinner. 

"Yes, we know the rest." Gaara added. "Now we just have to wait for night to come and then we can try to follow one." 

We left the food shop and found a beautiful little park to sit in while we waited for the night. 

"Wow.." I said in awe as I looked at the bushes of gorgeous flowers and felt the soft grass in my hands. "I've missed the plants..."

Gaara stared at me as I observed the vegetation in the park. I believe he understood how I missed plants and how I really didn't care for the barren desert. There was nothing he could do though, so he remained silent and let me enjoy the park. 

We sat on a bench to rest. Gaara suggested I take a nap before our mission later, but I rejected the idea. It was kind of him to care about my health, but I was enjoying being awake and observing my surroundings in Gaara's company. While we sat, a ball rolled over in front of our feet. I picked it up, looking at the cute markings of butterflies on it. 

"Hey, lady! Could you toss me that ball?" A small boy asked from a few feet away. His friends were standing behind him, peeking around in curiousity and slight fear. They were observing the odd strangers, and it was honestly quite adorable. I saw as some looked at the large gourd that sat next to Gaara, who had his arms crossed as they stared. I had the feeling Gaara didn't like their presence too much, but I hoped he would keep himself from harming them. I figured he would ignore them, considering they weren't a threat and they weren't being too bothersome. 

"Sure, but can you catch?" I gently teased the little boy with a soft smile.

"Of course I can!" He proudly claimed. I tossed him the ball and he caught it with both hands. "See! I told you!"

"Good job!" I complimented him. Our interactions compelled the other kids to spread out and come closer. They gained confidence and sat around Gaara and I in a half circle. Letting their curiosity get the best of them, they started asking questions.

"Are you ninjas?" One asked.

"Yes." I replied. A barrage of questions flowed in and I answered all of them as Gaara sat in silence.

"What is that thing by that guy?"

"A gourd."

"What's in it?"

"Sand."

"Why?"

"Well, why not?"

"How old are you?"

"Thirteen."

"Really? And you're on a mission already?"

"Yes, shinobi start young."

"I want to be a shinobi when I grow up!"

"Then train hard and practice everything as much as you can."

"Are you two dating?"

I was shocked by the last question, and it was the question they were most interested in knowing the answer to. 

"Wha? No!" I said, my cheeks burning as my face turned bright red. Gaara seemed unaffected.

"Then why are you always together?"

"Because we're partners! A team!" I tried to explain, but they didn't believe that for some reason.

"I still think you guys are dating."

"We aren't." I assured them. "Why don't you guys go play now? We have important business to tend to soon!"

"Whatever you say, see ya lovers~"

"Eh!?" I tried to relax but those stupid kids sure did bother me. 

"Let's go." Gaara stood up and started to walk away. "We need a good place to hide."

We walked through the village and decided we would have to hide on the rooftops, but we'd have to pay close attention and remain out of sight. Crouching on the first roof, we sat for about an hour before we spotted a little boy running through the streets. In fact, it was the same boy with the butterfly ball from the garden. Watching his movement, I began to wonder what he was doing out so late. Then there was a sudden flash as a dark matter swooped down by the boy. A vibrant pink dust was blown into his face, making him fall to the ground as he passed out. The boy was then scooped up by what I then realized was the strange shinobi. 

"We have to follow him!" I whispered to Gaara. We both followed along the rooftops as the odd shinobi weaved through the village. He went into a dark alley, where Gaara and I finally dropped to the ground. I was quite surprised when we entered the alley. I thought it cut onto another street, but it was a dead end. 

"Where the hell could he have gone?" I asked angrily. I started looking around the alley to see if I could find the shinobi hiding anywhere. 

"He's gone." Gaara stated.

"Well thanks for that, Captain Obvious!" I replied sassily. Gaara shot me a look that reminded me to calm down. 

"I mean he must know some kind of ninjutsu that allows him to escape like that." Gaara said, becoming annoyed with me. "Let's go back to our room at the inn, we can figure out a plan there."

We returned to our room at the inn and Gaara made sure there weren't any listeners lurking around. Quietly, we devised our plan.

Oh, man.. I really don't like this idea...