The track that connected Konoha to Suna wasn't exactly the same all the way. Two major elements were clear about it and actually those that forced all travelers to make it crucial to be ready to switch clothes and equipment before going beyond the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind was the almost instantaneous change from natural forests littering the surroundings of the main road to a massive desert that didn't seem to end. I had never dealt with a desert that big- beaches of incredible size? I lived in the coastal region of a big island in my previous life, so I was a bit accustomed to the climate. Not enough to really endure the heat or the temperatures, those were troubles I was really not planning to face due to how irregular the road was and how deadly it would have been for me to face on my own. Because yes, while I had gained the support from the Hokage to be sent out of the village with the mission of aiding Suna's plight, I hadn't received any escort guard to keep me company. Both a frustrating element… and a boon much to my surprise.
Because, while I was going through this on my own as Mito didn't want Yoshiko to leave her side and be hurled to face the trip to Suna with how troublesome it was and with Matatabi deciding to not join me on some 'trip to plant some plants rather than destroy people' (but she was more than happy when I offered to give her a seal to summon herself on where I was and get her to help me in case of trouble), I had a good ally that made up for a 'shortcut' to the entire trip and… she didn't mind the heat. Kiara giggled above my head as she happily soared through the massive landscape of sand below us. Her claws were carefully grasping at my shoulders, keeping a solid grip over those without hurting me in the process. I had thought of going by foot the moment I realized how expensive and risky it was to fit a cart to led me to the Ninja Village, so I just picked a 'funnier' option while also taking stops to not tire Kiara and also refill my water bottle in the few oasis we ended up finding. This specific bottle was given a few seals that allowed me to store thrice its natural content through four seals, with a pair meant to hold the water and the other pair meant to release one of the seals when the water was emptied. After two hours of taking a long route to avoid any sandstorms between us and our destination, I ended up with a mostly empty bottle and I didn't want to risk the chance of going through the last bit of the trip without water.
Very intense for a trip, not one I was going to make anytime soon but I could see myself going through it again just to check on how Suna fared if the situation required me to. I arrived at the gates of the village five hours after leaving the Land of Fire's borders, so the entire trip took roughly eight hours altogether. I left Konoha's gates at six in the morning, maybe six and a half considering that I had to double-check the equipment and seals, tell mother and Hanzou that I would be back as quickly as I could without being impolite with the timing and… I checked with the others if they were going to hold well while I was away for a couple of days. I was a bit worried on Kagami from the way he tightly hugged me before I left, bringing up this concern to Reira, Hiruzen and Hirotada as to keep an eye out for him and prevent him from doing anything stupid. Still, the overall trip was devoid of any issues and I arrived at Suna's gates by dropping from the skies. The entrance led to a small open-roof tunnel that led to the small valley within the rocky hills surrounding this specific section of the region where the village was located. The guards at the entrance were definitely surprised by my way of arrival, but they seemed to keep a solid calm while they prepared to receive me.
"State your reason for visiting, stranger."
The guard that spoke spared me a neutral look, while the other seemed a bit annoyed that it was all for a 'kid'. His mood switched to a more formal one as soon as I presented to his more serious companion the papers that Hashirama gave me to present to both the guards and the Kazekage. There was a moment of silence as the man read and… then he bowed his head low at me.
"Shimura-san, the Kazekage alerted us of your arrival but… we didn't expect a visit from you this soon," The Shinobi muttered humbly and I sighed.
"It's alright. I took a faster method of traveling so I managed to reach the village faster."
Saying this reminded me of the promise I offered to Kiara to get me through this little hurdle. Suna was a desert-based village, so I could sense a high chance of her dishes meeting a strong following if applied to the traditional cuisine as calmly as possible. After all, most of the spices that were used by these dishes originated from this region of the world, so I could see their cuisine already having a degree of interest for spicy foods. Still, I was allowed through the gates, with one of the shinobi beyond the entrance as a reserve soldier being assigned as my guide while we walked up to check on the Kazekage. It was there that I finally got a full glance at the village and I was surprised by how… Well, 'sandy' it was. Despite the defensive rocks surrounding the perimeter managing to hold the massive damage that all sandstorms around the area created, some of the dirt and sand still managed to litter the roads and the alleys of the settlement. People would pause just for a moment to see why a guard was escorting a kid bearing a Konoha Forehead Protector around his neck through the village, clearly aiming for the main building of the entire 'town'. No one stopped outright to stare at us, and nobody tried to stop us as we arrived at the 'last' destination as calmly as possible.
More ninja, more staring, more everything… but we finally arrived at the doors that led to the Kazekage's office and the guard knocked at the door before peeking inside and explaining why the abrupt visit. I didn't listen much at the exchange as I was soon given permission to enter inside. The Kazekage, from what I could remember from the canon timeline, was a businessman with a lot of personal power to himself. Akin to Hashirama, he was the one that rallied his people in a single village, which wasn't as 'easy' as it had been for Hashirama and Konoha. Due to Suna's terrain and climate, it was clear that the process of 'convincing' the natives was mostly driven by a display of power rather than proper diplomacy. It wasn't like I could really blame them in that regard but… I knew I had to be tactful if I wanted to dodge some issues with both the First Kazekage and… possibly the second one. Shamon, the balding man that was the Kazekage's strongest aide and loyalist, would have replaced his boss the moment the guy ended up assassinated by unknown killers. He was the one that would push to create a new form of warfare by employing puppets in combat. As far as I knew, the guy was no bastard until someone threatened his home.
"Kazekage-sama," I greeted politely, bowing down to the man and waiting for him to respond before going back to a full standing position.
"Shimura-san. I've received Hokage-san's letter regarding your project and I would be a liar if I didn't admit I have a strong interest in what you wish to offer to Sunagakure as a whole," Reto remarked with a serious tone. "I wish that we had the chance to plan out this alternative solution earlier so we could have prevented any… issues between Suna and Konoha before the war happened."
I smiled. "I've heard that it's quite difficult to be completely logical when it comes to doing the best for one's people. It's a duty that requires mind but also heart, which is why mistakes sometimes occur during the application of best intentions. Konoha understands this situation, and we found no reason to truly condemn you for thinking of your people first, Kazekage-sama."
It was best to start in a friendly way, and I knew I had to be appeasing only the way it wasn't counted as a weakness to exploit. The praise was well-received, but I was nowhere near to make a potentially good deal out of this circumstance. Reto smiled, the man nodding back at my words while he listed out what he had understood of the plans and what he didn't, asking for explanations over these elements. I quickly helped him with the concepts that weren't clear, clarity appearing before him as he realized that what I was offering to him was a solid plan to outright fix the agricultural problem of the entire Land of Wind. And with that realization came a swift question which I had been thinking about while planning this solution, tying it up to… Daimyos.
"I would have expected for the Fire Daimyo to bring forth this kind of project. Could you explain why you thought it best that this was rendered available through the Ninja Villages?"
I nodded, my smile almost widening at that amusing line of thought that led me to formulate this very response.
"That's because the best way to help a country is to bolster the military first before moving to the rest of the land. After all, the military right now is what grants the Daimyo the true power to exert its will all around, and it would be dishonest to not provide this degree of relief first to the main concentration of the Land of the Wind's main defenders."
It was a thought that shook me the first time around, and yet the parallels I drew about the Elemental Nations and a former country of Europe were absurdly interesting. Not to a full extent but… it was clearly an unconscious reference that would explain why the 'military' stood out to be a touch or more stronger than the Daimyo in the political landscape. Quoting Voltaire: 'Where some states possess an army, the Prussian Army possesses a state.' The military, just like it had been the case for Prussia, was the core of the nation, the main element that not only guarded the sovereignty of it, but also gave it power and prestige. Of course the reference was fully applied as the Military here was independent to a fair degree, which was why its role was even higher and its power had to be maintained as properly as possible to create a stable regime. Which was why I wanted Suna's problem to be fixed- While the Wind Daimyo was friendly with the Fire Daimyo, if Suna had a need to expand its fertile lands to increase its food production, there was nothing preventing them from going through with this plan. Hence why I knew that to cement the alliance between the two big sections of the map in this wide world I had to solve Suna's main problem for good.
The response pleased the Kazekage, the man eagerly shooting back to the project itself and inquiring of precise measurements to start creating the underground rooms for the special farms I had planned out in the papers. I was more than happy to provide those and an hour was burned getting all the details straightened out before I finally got granted the chance to get to my living quarters during my stay and spend at least two good hours of napping as the workers assigned to the early stages of the project were now going to get through with the preparation of these rooms. It would take roughly a day to get the entire thing operational, so I knew I was going to be given the chance to also check around the village before the end of the day. First thing I did while checking my little bedroom was to look for anything suspicious. No seals, which meant they knew they would have risked a lot if I had noticed anything in that regard- but also nothing that could suggest any hollow hideouts near the walls. Everything seemed to be normal… which was why I placed down a couple of seals to keep my room protected and closed while I was away or even within that room. The door was sealed shut and reinforced, and I had a seal to alarm me in case someone damaged the door itself in an effort to get inside.
I was quite the paranoid brat, but I knew better than taking my chances with unknown Kage-killing assassins wandering around at the time. The nap was a bit troubled, but I managed to get through it beyond a minor nightmare early on. Something about the seals failing but… I trusted my hard work too much nowadays to expect that to seriously happen, so I pushed back the craving to check once more for the seals' integrity before falling asleep once more. Once I was done with the nap, I knew that I had a few things I could do while being escorted around by the same guard as before.
After all, I had to make a good impression with the locals beyond their leader.
Kiara beamed in delight as she saw the positive reaction of her recipes coming from the chefs that had been willing to listen and try out a few of the dishes offered by the Phoenix.
At first the men were suspicious of the idea, but soon they tried and… they couldn't complain. They actually felt drawn to these ideas as soon as the first chicken wing was tasted by them. They were baffled, but also incredibly interested by the new tastes that tied up so well with the rest of their traditional cuisine. It was a rather intense cultural exchange where I had to prevent Kiara from turning too domineering due to the fact her ego was just inflating at the praising and she was someone that liked to boss around anyone that foolishly addressed her as 'Kiara-sama'. I had to also advise the chef on making sure to add a warning about the food since it was of the fried kind. Too much would have hurt customers, so adding a 'limit' was only for the best to prevent any issues to come up for them to worry about.
We stayed around just so that the first shifts with these new additions to the menu were tested by the customers and… yep, the people here loved it. So much that they asked for a second portion about it. It was quite the interesting development, and something that worked on reinforcing Kiara's growing confidence on her strengths rather than leave her to wallow in her eccentricity-driven flaws. With that success, there was also a hint of good rep for myself as the chefs were keen to mention while giving the meals to the people that the 'boy from Konoha' was the one behind it. I wasn't sure if the nickname was a good one, but it definitely picked up traction and became the way they addressed me. 'The Boy From Konoha'.
Maybe I can actually make it a name to become an idol…
This first visit was indeed a refreshing one but not what really got me quite busy up until dinnertime. I managed to find myself a tutor when it came to puppet craftsmanship and I was relieved when the guy was more than intrigued to actually help me a little bit. Shamon stared at my current work intensely, his vigilant eyes there to make sure I didn't mess a single detail about Puppetry. The guy had followed me around without me knowing for a good part of the day, but he eventually decided to 'end up meeting me' the moment he realized that I had bought a few books about Monzaemon Chikamatsu, the creator of Puppetry as a Ninja Art. I might have struck a friendly chord through that impulsive interest in getting these scrolls, with the man offering a hint or two of how to start working with the material for my test puppet. One would ask at this point: why entertain puppetry when it was best to train myself through the 'simpler' and more approachable arts?
The idea I had about puppetry was… slightly crazier than anyone had ever tried. I wasn't exactly planning to create the 'perfect' puppet for all situations, but rather created a 'support tool' to bolster what I could already do. And my inspiration in this idea tied up to something I had seen a long time ago. Something bizarre. In fact, the first puppet I created had a single purpose, testing the whole theory I wanted to see materialized as a possibility with the right material. With its fist 'created' to be closed shut to deliver punches, the faceless puppet snapped into action as soon as I grew quite accustomed to using Chakra Strings to control its movements. The puppet started to punch the target I set it against, displaying a modest pace into barraging the entire thing with its upper body and… it could do more. But it was there, the potential that I could do some crazy shits with these puppets. And no, I wasn't planning to bring corpses into the game as that not only made me appear a psycho, but also limited the range of fun things I could do with puppets. Like making them resilient with the right materials in the near future, and even finding ways to cover the main flaws like the joints being much weaker than the rest of the body.
It was a prototype, but I liked what I could see it do and the practice test revealed that the potential I only hoped to see unfold was there for me to fully invest on once I was back home. I could seal the puppets away and use them to trick enemies in close range, or even long range if I managed to expand the production to… 22 puppets? It was a strange number, but it was going to make sense once I managed to get the right materials and equipment to make them unique and specialized in precise aspects of the battlefield. Shamon was impressed as it was the work of a beginner and… he asked me if this was my main focus. I replied it was just the beginning, getting him to comment about the chances of this becoming a strong element of my fighting style. I couldn't help but agree to the bald man in that regard, knowing that this was a further boost to what I currently had. More powers for me to play with until I gained a higher control over it.
Still, the day soon started to wrap up as it was time for dinner and then getting back to my room to properly sleep. I managed to eat some warm miso soup to complement the fact that I ate Fried Chicken for lunch, getting all warm and really prepared to slam my head on the pillow and collapse in the bed for roughly six to eight hours. The plan was simple, and yet a peculiar situation happened before I fell asleep. Kiara 'asked' me to summon her. I wasn't exactly sure how that actually worked, but the girl had somehow developed a way to 'poke' at my mind when she wanted to come along to talk or something else. Maybe even poke fun at me in general. She was quick to grow bored, and quicker to grow withdrawn from not being around her 'first Best Friend ever'. So, I summoned her into the room and I saw the fiery bird swiftly nestling herself on my chest, eyes wide open as she was clearly intrigued by an idea she just thought about.
"Danzou?" She asked with the innocence of someone that wanted to burn a whole building down and needed to trick an ally into helping her in that heinous deed. Oddly specific, but she has this things about burning things for some reasons.
I hummed. "Yes, Kiara?"
"Can I sleep with you? I mean, on the bed- that other thing would be outright weird and silly since we are just best buddies and all of that and-" The phoenix asked with a hint of interest as she tried to elaborate on what she was meaning with that, making me sigh at the initial request.
"Didn't we have this conversation before? If I turn on the side I could end up hurting you while we're sleeping."
Her beak gritted in annoyance, but she knew better than just oppose what was true. There had been an attempt, and said attempt had concluded in her getting a little sore on one of her wings as I unconsciously pressed her too hard on the mattress while unconsciously hugging her. She said it was fine, but it really left me worried about what I could and couldn't do with her and how I had to gauge my strength to not hurt her. There was no reason to worry about death since these summons were… well, immortal. They easily went through rebirths if they sustained too much damage and they normally preserved their memories, making it easy for them to take numerous hits and still make it without any losses. The only way to kill a Phoenix was to obliterate them completely, but that wasn't an easy feat and one I was willing to put Kiara at risk for during that kind of battle.
With no complaints sounding out at this rejection, I yawned a bit and slowly fell asleep, with Kiara still perching by the edge of the bed as she stood there, looking at me with a contemplative look and… taking a decision on the spot. What I didn't know at the time when she mentioned a 'loose idea' was that she was told by the leader of the Phoenix one thing that she had been unaware about for so long and that technically all summons could do if needed as I would then learn about. She was intrigued, but also worried how wrong that entire idea could develop without my permission. So, while she knew my refusal stemmed from the idea that her current form would make things impractical, she hesitated to go through the cunning plan she had developed but… she went for it. Just as I was completely driven into the utmost state of unconsciousness, I perceived a change in the bed, a shift in the force of pillows so to speak as I felt as if someone was sleeping beside me and was now pressing their foreheads onto mine. I didn't have the brain cells to wake up, knowing that it was possibly Kiara trying to sleep with me, but also not getting in bed in the process.
I was quick to dismiss any worry with that response and… I got a full reason to gasp when I woke up to quite the unusual sight. I opened my eyes, and I was met with Kiara's mirthful gaze. At first I thought the worst but… then I realized that she was smiling… without a beak. And that her plumage was now replaced by human pink skin and short orange hair with hints of light-blue by the ends of her bangs. It took me a moment to realize what had just happened, the idea of Kiara morphing in a little girl, and another to find relief on the fact she was clothed but… as the girl delivered a chirpy 'Good morning' so closely, I couldn't help but wonder one thing out loud.
"Since when can you do that?!"
She merely giggled and pulled me in a tight hug, laughing like a mad girl. "Since yesterday, Danzou-kun! And now we can play even more than before! I will finally kick your ass at that ball game!"
If one has to question my sanity as to why I just accept this kind of crazy, I will easily plead the fifth, redirect them to Kiara, and leave them mind-broken through attempts of grasping her maddening logic.
Yep, this was indeed my favorite summon, and I couldn't ask for better right now.