Rhys coursed his way through the gaps between buildings that acted as streets for the settlement at a brisk pace. A runner had informed everyone in "The Commons" of yet another person offering to "help" the poor souls that inhabited this makeshift encampment. Trade and travel remain open to all, as there was no real way to police them, but it was wise to keep an eye on those who sought to stir the public. So it was that once again Rhys found himself entering the square, to listen in on the latest "savior of the people". With his faithful companion Reorx at his side they made it to the edge of the populace in time to hear the last bit of the plea set forth by a strangely familiar voice.

"... I aim to bring the village back to life. Make it home for myself, and a home for all of you.”

  The hulking man hesitated for a moment before he reached those gathered to listen to the speaker on the raised platform. His eyes took in the slender woman that beseeched the crowd to join in on her cause. This woman was familiar to him, but he could not place her for the breadth of an instant before it all came rushing back. This was Nova that stood before the people, she was something of a friend before the fall of Sunagakure. Nova and Rhys had worked together once and were set to represent The Village Hidden in the Sand, but Rhys withdrew when the attack came. Almost three years had passed  their worlds had forever been altered, but it had seemed a lifetime. Rhys had put his shinobi training on hold while he helped survivors of the attack set up shelter a safe distance away from the wreckage of their former homes. What was at first just a handful of the injured and the elderly with Rhys had eventually sprawled into a cramped little town of refugees. The able bodied  built stronger structures as time passed with which Rhys provided assistance using his Jinton infused chakra to help move and shape metals for faster and stronger construction. It was nowhere near the grandeur of Sunagakure, but it was a far sight better than many of the other shanty towns that had popped up across the desert. Word had eventually reached the settlement that Nova had gone on to win the Chuunin Exams and had served as a sliver of hope for the displaced survivors those three long years ago. Rhys had heard nary a whisper of her exploits since then, but could see from here that she had not neglected her training. The memories screeched to a halt as Rhys's consciousness vaulted back to the present. Another voice in the crowd said their piece in response to Nova's words.

  "Quite an interesting offer you got going on here Miss. Though what kinda thing are you planning? It's pretty amazing of you to offer your assistance, but the goal, the journey. We got a lot of aspirations for a Sunagakure return, don't get us mistaken, we're plenty excited, but we wouldn't be too opposed if ya had more details. Ya know?"

  There were varied mutterings of agreement and dissent that rippled through the crowd. A few of the people vocalized their opinions, but none more so than one man. "Why should we listen to you at all? We have heard these snake oil pitches before! You promise us  salvation then rob us in our sleep! You can take your 'aid' and shove it up you-"

  "Shinji!" Rhys's booming voice blasted across the now crowded opening of the square to silence the man. His name was Shinji and had been a local trouble maker since arriving a little over a year ago. The man had lost everything in the attack and it had embittered him. The locals allowed him some lenience due to the suffering that they all held in common, but Rhys would not endure his antagonism today especially when it was aimed at someone that Rhys respected. The crowd turned to look at the imposing figures of of Rhys and Reorx the adolescent black rhinoceros. Shinji and the rest of those gathered fell silent  in response to the bulky man's exclamation. The pair pushed forward through the mass of people as a blade through the sand as the people parted before their approach. When they were in the middle of the crowd Rhys flashed Nova a near imperceptible smile that vanished as quickly as it had appeared. Rhys would keep the guise of impartiality for the moment and leave the speaking to others.

  With practiced synchronicity Rhys side stepped to the left as Reorx side stepped to the right revealing the shrunken figure of the woman that had been trailing behind the pair since "The Commons". The ever smiling face of Manaka-ba beamed forward at all of the people that were present. Her hunched form, that barely reached the height of Rhys's waist, slowly hobbled her way forward to get a better look at the key speakers before saying a word. "Shinji is that any way to treat a guest in our home?" The chastised Shinji hung his head in shame as he turned away. Manaka-ba had been the guiding force behind the settlement since it's inception. She had personally gathered the original survivors, including Rhys and Reorx, and had set them on the path toward rebuilding their lives. Though she had refused had official title or office her "suggestions" were often taken as scripture by those who had lived here for some time. The cheerful eyes of Manaka-ba turned to Nova as her smile gleamed bright as ever. "Please dear, continue.". The crowd once again turned it's attention toward Nova.

965

Ryo walked through the ruins of sunagakure he didn't want to be here, but he knew that he had to be here. He had left his clan the village they had chosen to live in and had made his way to the home he had always known. He had to help the land of wind. He had to bring sunagakure back to life.

As he walked through the slums that had been repaired so that the few people who remained could live in relative safety, he looked to see it. The people were struggling, and he well knew what that was like. Yet, he could see that a few of his clan were moving among the people helping to feed them or treat sickness and wound. He knew that not all the Knetegawa of sunagakure had followed his family to kumogakure or had gone to kirigakure. In fact, if he had to guess he'd have said half of the main branch had stayed behind in the land of wind.

Seeing his clansman made him glad that he not only took off his headband but that he had also changed into the sand colored overcoat of his clan. He would stand out to those who knew his clan colors and those who didn't know his clan then he would at least not look like an enemy. He walked along with his hands in his pocket and felt the headband that was his mark that he belonged to sunagakure. He didn’t put it on yet, as he wasn’t sure that it would be well received in this place. Not many people were wearing Sunagakure headbands, but he also didn’t feel that he deserved to wear the headband again. Instead, he kept it on his person so that he could earn the right to put it back on his forehead. He wanted so much to see the land of wind thrive, he wanted Sunagakure come back, grow, and truly be a shinobi village that would rival the others for power.

He made his way towards the market center to try and see what this new rebuilt section had in store for people. That was when he saw the girl. She had tried to get as many people’s attention as possible and had begun to deliver a speech. She addressed the people around her and told them all that her aim was to bring the village back to life, and all she needed to try and make this dream a reality was the support of the people. Ryo wanted to be a member of that support, he wanted to help her. Then he heard a voice that caused him to nearly stumble to the ground in his shock. He had heard Kisei’s voice. Kisei had been a friend, he had been a teammate, and Ryo had almost been certain that he had died. Yet, here he was alive and well from the look of him. He had to keep himself together as he heard his friend speak out about the fact that the plan had no real meat to it. Ryo had to agree, there wasn’t much in the way of a plan, the general idea of a plan was no doubt. The restoration of Sunagakure, but how would that be achieved? That was the main question at this point.

Yet, it seemed that Kisei wasn’t the only one who decided to speak up. Instead, he heard another voice. This voice was harsh and cruel in the tone of words. Ryo watched the new voice, and another figure start to interact. Finally, seeing that an old hobbled woman was giving the newcomer permission to continue on it was clear that this woman was respected. Ryo didn’t recall who she was from his time, but he wasn’t going to speak just yet. Instead, he wanted to be silent and observe, if these people were part of the restoration of Sunagakure then he would make sure that he listened to them. He wanted to offer help if he could, but only if there was a true hope to bringing Sunagakure back.

697

I beamed up a little bit at the renewal of determination in the speaker’s eyes. Now time to show us your intentions frowning mentally in my mind, my facade of a smile concealing these contradictory thoughts. Even as he offered assistance he needed to stay on guard. Too many times were people swayed by fanciful ideals and words into dark causes, and depending on this speaker’s next actions, I’d have hopefully have enough of an idea of their real plan. The resurrection of the Sunagakure sounded wonderful, but at what cost was this expected to be at? Another village wide massacre perhaps? If so, well then, they’ll just have to cross that bridge when they came to it. I made a note of the now mixed set of responses of approval and, distaste. Though didn’t let that shake my focus.

“I am not here on just a whim. Nor am I a guest. Though it has been some time since I returned, I was born here. During the destruction of our village I will openly admit I was weak, and had no hope to stand up to the forces that came down upon us. Since then I have learned and grown, and trained. In far away lands, not from my desire but from a lack ability to return home. I left Kirigakure, aware of what they are and that the other villages all wish to have a hand in how we live.”

So a sunagakure native, who moved to the Kirigakure after the attack, trained, and came back to try and restablish the hidden sand village. I checked off 'background’ just as they moved on to the next part of their argument.


“I am here to bring back our livelihoods while keeping our independence. I have returned to the ruins to find that it would be near impossible to reconstruct what was there, though instead I saw it as an incredible resource to make use of. What once was sand was altered from the power of what happened there, and has instead formed an unusual form of glass, harder than most steels. With this, we will not only be able to make our own supplies from it but perhaps turn it into an industry that we can thrive upon.”

So new economic activities with the promise of a possible new material to exploit. I've been around the more devastated areas and what she said was true. There has been some strange glass around the place, but it didn't seem like much to think about at the time. Hm.. the dramatic use of pillars didn't hurt either. I backed up a bit at their jutsu, but my eyes remained fixed on their words.

"I know that the news that the village can not be brought back on that patch of land it disheartening, but instead of accepting that as it was I scouted the desert and have found a new location upon which our home can be built. Still the sands and dunes will give us their protection from eyes and armies alike, but we will be on a more resource rich strip of land. Though for now it is no more than sand itself, I wish to built a
village structural and sound enough to last the test of time as our last home had for so long."

At this my eyes darkened for a moment.

”these are the actions intend to proceed with, support or not. I offer you my aid in hopes that you too can believe in the resurrection of our village, though brighter, cleaner, and new."

She raised higher into the air and a massive plume of smoke billowed around the crowd and engulfed the lady, clearing after a few moments to reveal a massive mechanical bird above her. Despite being a puppet the detail put into it rendered it to the untrained eye almost lifelike. The skill in its maneuvers granting a grace to it telling of its controller.

“You are under no obligation to follow me. But if you do I wish to lead us beyond what Suna hs known before. When you see this symbol in the sky, if you follow me then follow it and you will not be let down.”

All in all, this was a disappointment. Sure, they had decent reasoning and ideas on what to do and how to go about this. Even a new industry to help fund the construction of this supposed 'new’ village. Though to me, all it sounded like was a rallying call to bring people under banner for power. There was some credit to be given however, they seemed to be earnest in their intentions to help. But there was a certain voice in the back of his head whispering, “This is going to fall back on us.”

Ai? What are you doing here? I asked, mentally of course.

“Do you think people will follow this one, Kisei?”

I thought about it for a moment. The main problem is getting people to believe that rebuilding the Sunagakure is possible, which their speech undoubtedly helped with. The next one is getting people to move to this 'new spot’. Construction will take forever unless you had a sizable workforce. But I think the main question is 'why?’ Why move so far away, from safety, into danger? So no, I don't think so.

Ai's ghostly form seemed to manifest deeper in the physical. He turned his head to me with a questioning look. “Do you remember how desperate you were when you first entered this new world. Starving and dying in a random cave in the middle of nowhere. How relieved you and your brother were when you found this home. Think about the people here now. They're lost, with their home in ashes. Now, imagine, if you could go back. How does that change things?” Ai said sadly, frowning, before ultimately disappearing.

I gave the thought a try. “Going back, there?” a low whisper. At much as he wanted to think that Ai meant the Sunagakure, the smarter part of me knew what 'home’ his partner was talking about. If given the chance to go back. To something more stable, more familiar than the chaos that was swimming around the continent at this moment. The original home of the Ushinatta was nothing short of perpetual war, but still, the idea of where they really belonged. For a moment I could start to understand how these people may feel. They say home is where the heart is, but what if the heart was where the home was? I sighed. I moved closer to the lady, who decided to join the rest of the world at ground level. Deciding not to engage her until the crowd died down somewhat.


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