A single sign. Boar.

“Earth Style: Armadillo Burrowing Jutsu!”

I shot up out of the sand, leaving behind the small hole I had used to take shelter from the sandstorm that had been raging for a little over an hour. It had been a long journey to get to this point, and the rough winds and blistering heat hadn’t exactly made it pleasant. Even in my little burrow, it was hard to keep sand from completely blocking off or filling in the air holes. In the end, what saved me was just the fact that the wind was ripping the sand away just as quickly as it was forcing other sand down.

I am SO glad that Aruide decided to teach me some of his ninjutsu. As much as I sometimes talked back to him, I had to admit, the things he taught me were incredibly useful for getting here and avoiding trouble.

It was early in the morning as I made my way towards the former Village Hidden in the Sand. I had come here looking for answers, though I wasn’t sure if I was going to find any. I was here to see if I could find any buried information about my heritage, the clan known as the Karisuma. My mother hadn’t told me much about them, since not even she knew, but apparently the clan was based in Sunagakure some time ago, at least when my great-grandfather was alive. But my Karisuma ancestor left for a reason, escaping a slavery forced on him by his own family. Those that would seek to enslave my family once again may still be out there, and I had to make sure I hid the abilities of my eyes until they could be used to do something other than just make me a target.

It’s so…off-putting to think that someone, somewhere might try to force me into slavery. I know Gattsu’s been through some truly awful times thanks to that evil practice, but as much as I try to empathize, I can’t truly understand the experience. I’ve been free my whole life, and though my upbringing didn’t exactly have a lot of money involved, my family could still sail the seas by their own guidance.

It was truly terrifying to think that all of that could be taken away at a moment’s notice. I had come here in search for something, anything that might help me understand my clan’s history, or practices, or even current members. After all, it wasn’t too long ago that Sunagakure was destroyed. Records buried might contain family records.

A thought I hadn’t considered before jumped into my mind.

If I find someone – I mean, a name belonging to someone I could find -- would I want to actually find them? Aruide told me that only someone with the same could be trusted to train me how to use them, which makes sense. After all, who else would even know how? But if the Karisuma sold each other off, and my great-grandfather escaped from the Karisuma from Suna, then what if that means that the only Karisuma from Suna are actually the slavers!?!

I dreaded the thought.

Well, I’m almost there. Maybe actually find something before you think of what to do with it, Nobuya.

Eventually, I found the ruins of the great wall that had kept the village safe. Still massive in the size of what remained, I could only imagine what it looked like in its former glory. I knew that Arusuno would probably want to see this, and I could definitely use his help searching for stuff, so I cut myself with a kunai (I didn’t like the biting-thumb thing a lot of summoners seem to use), made the hand seals and slammed my hand on the ground. A puff of smoke, and Arusuno was suddenly in front of me, curled up slightly and asleep.

“Uhhh…Arusuno?” I asked as I turned my head to get a better look. I couldn’t help but smile at my new friend, who regularly shifted between “All the energy in the universe is mine to command,” and, “Basically in a coma.”

Arusuno, bothered by the sudden heat, opened his eyes, and, noticing me, opened them a little bit wider.

“Nobuya! You actually summoned me! This is so cool! Where are we? What’s this big thing in front of us? Why are we in a desert?”

“Haha, calm down Arusuno. So, right now we’re actually at the site where the human ninja village known as Sunagakure stood. Not Suana, mind you, Suna, but this was considered one of the five great ninja villages before it fell. A lot of people fought and died for this land, so make sure to be respectful.”

“Definitely. I wouldn’t want to mess anything up!”

“Right,” I smiled.

I feel like I’ve somehow turned into one of those boring guest lecturers they’d have us listen to at the academy. Those were always the most boring days, not because the other days weren’t boring, but because they always made us pay attention during those talks. They would always give a quiz, or make us recite something they said, or something. So I couldn’t even think about making new seals, I’d have to pay at least a little attention.

I came to the realization that I had zoned out, and I stood back up from my crouched position and started walking towards the gate, motioning for Arusuno to follow.

“So, the reason I brought you here is because I’m looking for something. Wait, actually,  I never thought of this before, but can you read?”

Arusuno, walking on all four legs beside me, shook his head and said, “No. Sorry, Nobuya. Remember, we don’t have as good of vision as you do, but we have really good noses to make up for it. We can communicate by smell, but reading and writing have never been a priority. Some of our medical armadillos can read, and I think so can King Arutota, but that’s about it.”

“Ok, no problem. What I was thinking was that you could search underground, and I’d search up here. We’re looking for any books, really, but, uhh…”

I thought of the defining features of the Karisuma.

“Keep a special look out for anything to do with eyes, like diagrams of eyes, or anything like that.”

“Ok, sounds fun!”

We had gotten fairly close to the center of the ruins.

“Well, let’s get started!”

Chakra 210/250:

Arusuno Chakra 95/100:

WC: 1113

I watched as Arusuno burrowed under the sand. He seemed to have a little trouble at first, not sure how to handle the soft sand simply falling back into his hole, but he seemed to figure it out eventually. Once he had gotten on his way, I turned my attention back to the surface.

Now, where should I-

My thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a voice behind me.

“Why would a genin be looking in the ruins of a dead village for books about eyes?”

I turned around to face the source of the question, and found myself staring at a shinobi, apparently actually from the Sand according to their headband, staring right back at me. She didn't seem like she was wearing much in the way of armor, but I could tell that she wasn't a ninja to be underestimated. Especially when I noticed the seemingly fresh blood dripping onto the sand below her.

Could she be a rogue ninja, turned to crime after the Sand fell? I had heard that Kirigakure had lent out hunter ninja to the region to protect it from bandits and looters, but my trip so far had been pretty uneventful. Had I just gotten lucky? Or maybe she was here guarding something? Or maybe searching for something, just like me? How did she even get behind me without me or Arusuno noticing? I mean, I'm only a genin, but she was able to get so close without me even having a clue!

Whatever the reason for her being here, I knew that she almost definitely had the ability to kill me whenever she would want to, she overheard my conversation with Arusuno, and she seemed to want to keep me alive, at least until I answered her question.

That's not a very comforting thought.

My eyes wandered to her right hand, on which some kind of seal was placed.

Oh cool! Another sealer, and that looks kinda like one of the seals I've been using! I wonder what kinda thing she uses it for? It's on her right hand, so maybe she stores jutsu with it, like me. Or maybe that's the hand she uses for item storage! Or maybe she can just use either! I mean really, I should probably learn-

Nobuya. Seriously? Not the time.

Right.

I finally brought myself to look into her eyes, and a peculiar feeling welled up inside me. The feeling was...familiar, yet I had great trouble in placing it. Her eyes were serious and remarkably brilliant in their blueness. They were at once intimidating and impossible to look away from.

What is this feeling? Where have I...

I realized with dread where the feeling came from, why it was familiar to me.

WHY NOW!?! THIS IS ACTUALLY THE WORST TIME!

I felt my chakra rush up to my eyes as my hands raced to hide them from view. I apparently temporarily forgot the concept of blinking, but ya know, I didn't really have a lot of time to think about it. The images of the underground crystals shined once more in my mind, and a flash projected from my eyes before I had a chance to block it. The flash wouldn't have any effect, especially not on an experienced and powerful ninja like her, but it would be enough to reveal my possession of the dojutsu.

Oops. Ok, ok, ok. Ok, this'll be fine. I just really hope she hasn't heard of the Karisuma or the Stunning Eyes before. That would be bad. Especially if she sold me into slavery. That would be awful. Ok, I'm panicking. Think, think, THINK! Nobuya, one step at a time. Answer the question.

"I...uhhh...Well, as you can see, I have a bit of a problem. When I was young, my village was suddenly attacked by a group of rogue ninja photographers. They took pictures of nearly everyone, it was absolutely ruthless. Let me tell you, there was no ruth to be had. My parents were the only ones available to hold the northeastern front, but I was but a small child, and still in their care. The only way they could defeat the cameramen was by sealing the invaders' greatest camera inside of me. And now, I hold the power to take flash photography! I had to keep it a secret, so I wanted to come to Suna to see if I could learn a way to manage my eyes without needing to go to an occupied village's library."

Ummm...Okay, Nobuya. Where did that come from? That was a terrible lie! Rogue photographers? What? What does that even -- Ok, no. Now she knows that you're definitely lying, and she might try to enslave me anyways. I really have not much left to lose. Just to be safe though...

"You...You wouldn't happen to be here to kidnap or enslave me, would you? I've had a couple of friends that that's happened to, and just to let you know, they probably wouldn't be too happy with either of us if that happened to me too."

Wow, Nobuya. You dig yourself a hole even faster than Arusuno.

I was very nervous, and it showed. My hands slowly lowered from my eyes once I was sure all the chakra had subsided, and I was fidgeting quite a bit. While Master Sero back in Kirigakure had made me feel incredibly afraid, the ninja in front of me now made me feel incredibly anxious. What's worse, Arusuno isn't gonna be coming back up until he finds something, and who knows how long that could take.

What a charming life I lead.

WC: 960
Total WC: 2073