𝐁𝐄𝐓𝐄 𝐍𝐎𝐈𝐑𝐄 | sasuke uchiha

Welcome!

The remainder of our journey to Sunagakure was smooth and unbothered, even though Kakashi and the other shinobi Tsunade had deployed to hold back the Uchiha had yet to meet up with us again.

"They'll meet us at the village," Tsunade had said reassuringly. "In due time."

However, now that we had arrived and there was no sign of them, I felt uneasy. Kannon came to my side and stood with me, patting my shoulder encouragingly as we entered through the natural rock crevice that served as one of the entry points to the village. The Kazekage was first to enter, greeted by men who I assumed to be his councilors, followed by Tsunade, Kannon and I, and his siblings bringing up the rear.

"They'll be fine," said Kannon in a soothing voice as our small troupe emerged from the entrance into the actual village itself. "We're here now, that's all that matters. You should relax."

I sighed in disappointment as I looked down at Ayumi, who seemed to be quietly analysing her brand new environment. The drastic change in landscape we had witnessed in a day was mind-blowing to me, since I had never left Konoha prior to being taken by the Uchiha. The dusty dunes that surrounded Suna on the outside stretched as far as the eye could see, and made a startling change to the lush greenery that I was so accustomed to seeing. Within the village confines, it was no different. The village emitted an aura of dry, arid bareness, and seeing the plain coloured stone buildings around me made me thirsty just by looking at them.

"We're definitely not in Konoha anymore," I murmured to myself as Kannon and I stopped behind the Kazekage and one of his councilors.

"Amaterasu, welcome to Sunagakure," said the Kazekage in his deep, gravelly voice. "While you are here, you and your children have our village's full protection. We will make sure any needs you have are tended to, and that no harm will come to you. If you'll follow me, I'll take you to where you and Ayumi will be staying for the time being. As Tsunade-sama requested, your quarters will be kept close by mine, hers, and Kannon's, as a safety precaution. Which means, you'll probably be seeing us often. I hope you don't mind."

"I don't mind anything at this point," I said with an exasperated sigh. "Thank you for your hospitality, Kazekage-sama."

The redhead shot me a small, friendly grin.

"Call me Gaara. Kannon, is everything okay with you in terms of living arrangements?"

"Yes, fine, thanks."

"How was your journey before we met you?"

Without a second thought, Kannon had stepped ahead of me and begun to walk with the Kazekage whilst holding him in conversation, chatting enthusiastically with him about the trek. At first, I was slightly surprised, because for some reason I had been under the impression that the pair were total strangers. However, the more I thought about it, Kannon had probably been in Suna for a good few months if I remembered her story correctly. Well, I was just assuming so, because she looked super friendly with Gaara. All I was doing was walking behind them and observing their conversation, but even then my senses were tingling.

Aww. They have a thing for each other. 9 out of 10 chance they do. I want to see this.

Subconsciously beginning to ship the pair in my mind, I began grinning like an idiot as I became aware that I looked out of place thirdwheeling them while holding a baby, and decided to let my eyes wander elsewhere.

As we passed people in the streets, people greeted Gaara enthusiastically, which made me smile a little. Here and there children would run up to him for a hug, say hi, and have a quick chat, before darting off and letting us continue our walk.