The Fifth Kazekage was at his office as usual when a knock sounded on the door. He started and looked at it. His brother, Kankuro, had entered. He seemed anxious. Gaara guessed something was wrong.
"What happened?" he asked in a calm tone nevertheless.
"Strange ninjas were spotted from the Suna Anbu here on our territory," Kankuro replied. "They seem to be heading here, to our village."
"What's so strange about them? Where are they from?"
"That's the strange thing, we couldn't guess where they were from."
"What else?"
"They're looking for you."
Now Kazekage widened his eyes.
"Oh... Did they harm anyone?"
"Nah." Kankuro scratched the back of his head. "They defended themselves from our Anbu but didn't really harm them, you know? Weird ones they were."
"What was their ninja sign?"
"Sort of... fir needle?" Kankuro shrugged. "I have no clue what village that sign belongs to."
"Really strange..." Gaara fell into his thoughts. "Anyway, I think this matter needs further investigation. It shouldn't be left unattended. I will meet those ninjas and find out what they want. You will follow me, as well as Temari!"
"Alright!"
Thus, the brothers took their sister and went on. They left their village under the guard of the Suna Council. Kankuro was guiding the team.
"So, Kankuro, how many of those ninjas did you and the Anbu detect?" Temari asked.
"Eight of them. They didn't seem to have any special power, though, and didn't show threat. The fact that they wanted to see Gaara drove me a little suspicious, so I came back to tell you both about it."
"We will see who they are," Gaara said.
They noticed how the Suna Anbu were fighting eight strange ninjas, just as Kankuro had reported. All of them wore ninja bandanas with fir-needle signs on them and were strangely dressed - in black clothes, black boots, and different-coloured cloaks. The eldest among them, a girl, had a white cloak. The eldest boy, a year younger than the white-cloaked girl, wore a black cloak. Another ninja, who had hidden his face with a grey veil and a samurai hat, wore a grey cloak and wielded a huge, heavy sword with strange symbols on it. His sword was fractal-shaped, resembling a fir-tree. The other three ninjas were girls, one with a black ponytail and a light green cloak, the other with a black braid and a red cloak, and the third, the youngest among them, with black twin tails and an orange cloak. The two youngest ninjas seemed to be twins - a boy with a black ponytail and a dark blue cloak, and a girl with long straight hair and a light blue cloak. This similar appearance of theirs indicated that they should be in the same team.
Gaara didn't lose his composure, but he was surprised to see such strange ninjas on his territory. As Kankuro had said, their fighting style was weird too. Their fight against the Anbu wasn't actually a "fight", but rather defensive tactics in order not to get themselves caught or killed. They didn't harm the Anbu but defended themselves using different types of jutsu. When the three siblings approached them and the Anbu, they heard shouts from the eldest girl. She had long fire-coloured hair tied in a ponytail, whose bang was covering her right eye. She was the one wearing the white cloak. She used lightning moves.
"We mean no harm to you people!" she cried. "Let us see your Kazekage or whatever you call your lord! That's all we want - to see him, dummies, not to beat him up! Duh! Who are these strange people?" She turned to her teammates. "Still attacking?! I don't know how much we will hold out at this rate!"
"Sorry, Little Mommy, but it was your idea to hold them off! I advised you to kill them all but you did not listen." The eldest boy, a year younger than the white-cloaked girl, chuckled. He had pitch-black spiky hair with two strands risen up as devilish horns and three long tresses dropping on his back. He had three black painted lines on each of his cheeks and beautiful light blue eyes.
"Ugh, I told you never to call me 'Little Mommy', you idiot! And if we kill them how will Kazekage believe our truth?! We need to be good guys!"
"Well then, don't whine about their attacking us!"
The white-cloaked girl frowned. They defended themselves skillfully but seemed not to have any special jutsu. The Anbu were exhausted as well.
"These guys don't seem to be giving up!" One of them told another.
"Well then, neither do we!"
"Stop!"
The Anbu started and looked back.
"It's Lord Fifth!"
Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro landed in between the fighting parties, making them cease the battle. The Anbu stopped attacking, and so the stranger ninjas stopped too.
"Who's the leader among you?" Gaara asked.
The white-cloaked girl sweated and panted. She wiped the sweat off her forehead and raised her hand:
"I... I am."
"Yeah, it's her," the black-cloaked young man approved. "I'm the right-hand man if anything!"
The white-cloaked girl rolled her eye. Gaara retained his serious expression. He wasn't in a joking mood.
"Who are you?" he referred to the white-cloaked girl since she was the leader.
"Whew, goodness!" She took another deep breath. She replied: "We're refugees from faraway lands. Our village was destroyed, and our clan - wiped out. We are the only ones left to remember our history. I'm Lao Shin, the leader of my team. These are my siblings. My brother, Shao Lin," - she pointed at the black-cloaked boy, - "the eldest among our boys. My brother, Nao Lin," - she pointed at the grey-cloaked boy, who was hiding his face with a samurai hat and a grey veil, and wielded a sword. - "These are three of my sisters: Tao Shin, Gao Shin, and Mao Shin," - she pointed to the green-cloaked, red-cloaked and orange-cloaked girls respectively. - "These two are our youngest siblings, the twins, Chao Lin," - she pointed to the dark-blue-cloaked boy, - "and Dao Shin," - she presented the light-blue-cloaked girl.
"Wait, if half of you are Shin and half of you are Lin, how are you supposed to be siblings?" Kankuro was confused.
"That's because we belong to the Shin-Lin Clan," Mao, the orange-cloaked twin-tailed girl, smiled.
"Shin-Lin Clan?"
"Yes. In our clan, every woman bore the surname Shin and every man - the surname Lin," she said. "It is because the two founders of our clan bore these surnames. The woman was of the extinct Shin Clan and the man was of the Lin. Since then, the two clans united and formed a single clan."
Kankuro had a headache at such a complicated answer. Gaara, on his part, retained the strict expression.
"Why have you come here?" he asked.
"We're refugees from our land," Shao Lin cut in with a kind smile. He leaned on Lao's shoulder. The latter puckered and rolled her eye. Shao didn't mind and went on: "As we left our home, we became voyagers, in search of a new land to settle in. We turned into nomads shortly after, since we decided that none of the lands would suit us. We didn't want to steal any lands from others and the territories which weren't already occupied were fruitless to live in. Since then, we're travelling. We now came to the Land of Wind. We wanted to see the Kazekage and ask him to let us stay for a few days. Then, we will leave again. We don't want to bother or harm anyone. We're really peaceful, I can assure you!"
Lao sighed in indignation. She palmed her face and muttered:
"Shao, get off! You are no good at diplomatic talks. Let me handle it!"
"You will need to prove your words are true, that you will not harm the villagers," Gaara replied. "If you prove it to me, I will consider your request."
"You will consider? Who are you?" Shao raised an eyebrow.
"For goodness's sake, Shao, leave this talk to me!" Lao palmed her face again. She turned to Gaara: "I'm so sorry for my brother! He can hardly ever shut his mouth! It is hard to trust strangers, I understand. But we really need shelter, at least for this one night! We cannot walk any farther. Some of my sisters easily get tired from so much walking. Furthermore, we were crossing a desert, and the two little twins - Chao and Dao, got weakened from the lack of water around them. We drained much chakra while crossing the desert and then while defending ourselves from your Anbu. We need to rest, at least just a little, before we continue our way. Please understand us, Lord Kazekage!"
"Wait, you said, 'Kazekage'?!" Shao widened his eyes.
"Just shut up already!" Lao snarled.
"Fine, fine."
"Shao, you're so pitiful..." Nao, the grey-cloaked young man with his face covered with a veil, said in a creepy, squealing voice.
"Hmph!" Shao squinted at him.
Gaara glanced at Kankuro and Temari. He could understand how much it meant to keep one's siblings safe. He always cared for his siblings, just like they - for him, so he could understand Lao's feelings. He fell into his thoughts. He didn't want to create danger for his villagers. As a Kazekage, he should protect all of his people. But this young woman... He glanced up at Lao, who watched him with a begging eye. He noticed Chao Lin and Dao Shin, the youngest among these strange ninjas, the twins, indeed seemed tired. Especially Dao, the girl. He decided - since these ninjas didn't have any special powers, they wouldn't mean any serious harm.
"Fine, you can stay," he said.
Lao and all of her siblings brightened up.
"Oh, thank you so much!" Lao cried. "We will not disappoint you, Lord Kazekage!"
"I hope. You will be under our supervision. If you mess up, there will be consequences!"
"Oh, be sure, Lord Kazekage, when we're up to something, we never mess up." Lao grinned.
Gaara started, as well as his siblings - this girl had four sharp fangs amidst her teeth! Nevertheless, they let the strange siblings stay. Lao insisted on not entering the village and the eight siblings camped outside the gate. At night, they all fell asleep, save for Shao Lin, the black-cloaked ninja, who guarded the whole team. Gaara watched them from above, along with Temari.
"Why doesn't he go to sleep?" Temari was surprised.
"They all are protective of each other."
Indeed, these ninjas held strong bonds and ties. Gaara could sense they were not normal siblings like any other. There was something strange about them, something he couldn't yet understand.
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