Blood of a Lost Girl (Book 1, Naruto)

Chapter 20

There was nothing 'humble' about this place I decided as we were guided through the place toward where we were supposed to meet the Kazekage's children. The Kazekage himself decided to escort us to them. The halls were long and wide and the rooms' doors were each about 10 feet apart which led me to believe that the rooms were – for lack of better word – huge. We turned yet another corner. This whole place was worse than a maze. I glanced at Natsumi who was chatting with Kai and Ken'ichi-sensei and then glanced at the Kazekage, who – like me – was ignoring the chatter. I took my time to examine him. His strides weren't long or short, but it was confident and it looked more like he was gliding than walking. The muscles – I could see even through the robe he wore – were tense. He wasn't letting down his guard. Of course, he was a Kazekage. He could never truly relax, but to me it seemed like it was more than that. The closer we got to his children, the tenser he became. I frowned. Was he... afraid? Of his own children? As soon as the thought entered my mind I banished it. There was just no way. The more we walked the less people we passed. Soon we stopped seeing any people at all. Again I frowned. What was up with this place? It was like there was a plague or something the way we were walking. I tensed. If this was a trap we'd be walking in, I would not be happy.

Soon we got to a door and the Kazekage knocked twice before entering; we followed him inside. We were met with 3 people, two of whom were about my age and the third one was about Naruto's age.

There were two boys and one girl. The girl had short blond hair pulled into four pig tails and very dark blue eyes. She wore a light purple, off the shoulder, tunic-type dress with a dark pink – almost red- material around it, to keep it closed, and a fishnet shirt underneath it. She wore her headband on her neck, fishnets on her left thigh and right lower leg, black Shinobi shoes and there was a huge metal fan on her back. She was standing against the wall with her arms crossed and she looked to be the oldest of the bunch. The first, middle boy was wearing all black and had purple lines on his face – he had a weird mummy-like thing on his back. Then there was the last boy. He was... I don't know how to describe it. I just know he gave me the chills. He had red hair and aqua eyes. He had dark bags around his eyes, notifying me that he had insomnia just as I did. He – like his brother – wore all black, but he had a brown leather belt on him, strapping a gourd on his back, and a sash hanging on his shoulder. He seemed to be the youngest. I noticed all 3 the Sand siblings had something unusual strapped to their backs. I raised an eyebrow. Well now...

The siblings turned to look at us and I noticed the one with the mummified thing on his back scowled as he took note of the visitors. Someone's friendly. The girl took in our appearances and raised an eyebrow. She smirked. I wonder what's going on in her head. Those two were the only ones who had clear expressions on their faces. The third one, the one with red hair, had no expression on his face, but by the way he turned his back on us I could see he held no interest in us at all. What a friendly bunch. I smiled a crooked smile. This'll definitely be an interesting mission.

"I expect you to get my children safe to your village." The Kazekage said, distaste clear in his voice. He obviously didn't like asking for the help of Leaf ninja. It was that or it was something else.

Ken'ichi bowed to him and I grimaced when I noticed the Kazekage's smugness shining in his eyes. I looked away before he noticed me staring at him. "Of course, Lord Kazekage."

*

I strode over the desert with my arms behind my head. The harsh heat was making me perspire, but – and I'm truly thankful for this – it was barely noticeable. All 7 of us were walking back toward the Leaf Village with Ken'ichi leading the way. Team 12 – that was us – seemed to be the only ones that perspired. Gaara, Kankuro and Temari -I had learned their names just before we set off to go- all seemed to be used to the very dry, very hot air.