Gentle Caress

Suna

Neji was startled awake when the cart stopped moving. The canvas was warm, meaning that it was daytime. Shouta and Kyo had never stopped during the day. It seemed that wherever they were going, they had arrived. Neji elbowed Sai, who sat up almost immediately. "We need to get out of here." Sai nodded and they started waking up the rest. They peek out from under the canvas and are met with miles and miles of sand.

"Suna?" Sakura asked, recalling one of their academy lessons.

"I think so." Sasuke looked to both his sides, before sliding out. "Quick. Before Shouta and Kyo start unloading the merchandise." They slid out and ran into an alleyway. On the other side was a marketplace. It was booming with people wearing muted colors. But although they stood out, no one seemed to mind them. Sakura whispered to the gang, "I think they think we're kids of merchants."

"That would make sense. So... What is our plan of action?" Neji rubbed his forehead, which was free of his seal. He was still not used to the sensation of it not being there.

"I think we should split up and find someplace to stay for the night. By splitting up, we'll find things quicker. We'll meet back here in two hours." Naruto adjusted the scroll on his person.

"Who died and made you the leader?" Sasuke growled.

"Do you have any better ideas?" The raven head offered nothing. "Exactly. Two hours. Right here. Okay?"

"Okay." They ran off in different directions, hoping to find something. Naruto took in the buildings. Everything here in Suna was so different from Konoha. There, everything was green, red, and white. Here, it was every shade of beige and brown. There was sand everywhere. Something pulled him out of his train of thought. Something was coming towards him and fast. He kicked whatever was coming at him before he could realize that it was a ball. It flew and got stuck pretty high. A group of kids, all pretty much either younger or older than him, approached. "Hey, blondie! What was that for?" One of the boys called out. He was big, probably about nine.

"I'm sorry. I just reacted. I didn't mean to kick up there." It was weird having a normal conversation with people. They didn't hate him here.

"I don't care! You kicked it up there, so you have to get it down!" The boy reasoned, looking quite accomplished with himself.

"I can't do that! It's so high up and I've got important things to do." The kids started to circle him. Well, it seems like he's going to have to get the ball down. With a sigh, he held up his hands in defeat. "Fine." The group cheered and watched as he walked over to where the ball was. It was very high, perched on the ledge of someone's window box. He could use the multi-shadow clone jutsu but he hadn't had enough practice to create enough copies of himself to reach it. So he raked his mind for solutions, and a wave of sand reached out and grabbed the ball. It lowers the ball into the arms of a small redheaded boy. The kids hissed and ran away. The boy sighed sadly. He noticed Naruto. "Aren't you going to run?"

Naruto tilted his head in confusion. "Why would I run away?"

"Cause everyone does."

"Nah. It was really cool what you did with the sand. How did you do that? Oh! I'm Uzumaki, Naruto. What's your name?"

"Garra. I'm Garra. And yeah, I've always been able to do that with my sand."

An idea popped into his head. "Hey! You live here right?"

"Yes."

"Then do you know somewhere my friends and I can stay?"

The younger boy's eyes brightened. "Yeah! You guys can stay at my place. I live with my uncle and know he won't mind you staying with us."