Where the wanderer finds a home

Chapter 2

After departing Atsuko-san's boat, I travelled for a week until I reached the Land of Water. I decided that it was best for me to only stay for a week in the smaller villages, and then for two weeks in the larger villages (like Sunagakure and Konohagakure).

From the Land of Water, I went to the Land of Rivers (and thus went to the Tanigakure-the Village Hidden in the Valley). It was a small quiet village, however, it lacked excitement, which was what I was essentially looking for on my journey. I then passed onto the Land of Wind, where I found myself in Sunagakure. The Kazekage governs Sunagakure, or Suna for short, the Village Hidden in the Sand. It lies within the desert, between various cliffs of rock. Every building in the village was made of clay, which I suppose was to help keep them cool from the Sun's harmful rays.

In the centre of the desert village was the Kazekage's office building. It was a circular building with the kanji for Wind painted on it's front and it had several windows that lined its sides. It was where I was being led to by a Suna shinobi in order to get permission to stay here for the next two weeks.

The administrator eyed me warily and mumbled something to the shinobi to his left. I thought I was going to see the Kazekage but was told that someone as important as the Kazekage doesn't deal with menial tasks, like a kunoichi from an "unknown" village requesting permission to stay in Suna. I rolled my eyes at this, for all they know, I could be lying and planning to blow up the whole of the village. Obviously, I wasn't, but you understand what I meant.

After some questions about my heritage and other standard questions, the administrator deemed me safe and stamped my request form. I was led to the hostel where I would be staying at for the following two weeks.

***

I sat my bag down and walked into the bathroom. There, I stared at myself in the mirror. My dark brown skin and lightly coloured curly hair obviously brought up some queries that the administrator felt the need to address. My look was native to the people in Kumogakure and with the Third Shinobi World War just finishing 6 years ago, it wasn't surprising that he felt suspicious.

Kumogakure, the Village Hidden in the Clouds, fought against Konohagakure in the last war and although both Kumo and Suna disliked Konoha, that didn't equate to an alliance between the two villages. Another example of mutual dislike was Iwagakure, the Village Hidden in the Rocks, and Suna. Iwagakure was the main opposition to Konoha in the last World War, however, Suna and Iwa both dislike each other due to their closeness in proximity. I wasn't too sure if there was any animosity between Suna and Kumo, however, it was clear that shinobi and people, in general, weren't going to be taking chances with foreigners.

People tended to be on guard towards anyone who was foreign, therefore I knew that I would have to take all of the strange looks and fearful expressions with a pinch of salt and just try to make the most of my time here. With that in mind, I stepped out of my room and headed out into town. My main objective was to find dinner as it was almost dark and I was worn out from my long days of travelling.

The streets were quiet with only the chatter of people from inside restaurants or the odd child running down the road towards home for dinner. One restaurant at the end of the street caught my attention because it was the only restaurant on the main street that didn't serve sushi, one of the foods that I wasn't a fan of. I walked inside and was pleasantly surprised by what I saw.

It was obviously one of the more quieter restaurants, as fewer people frequented it and yet that was what I liked about it. The calm, yet mysterious nature of the restaurant was inviting and in a sense, it lured you in. When you enter it, there was a bar to the left with seats and then tables and chairs in the middle with booths to the right by the windows. Tall plants in pots were dotted around the shop, in corners and on tables, which was an unusual sight in the desert, which was so sparse of any greenery. I found that the plants only added to the atmosphere and thus, I embraced them.