Naruto 1. It Begins In The Sand

**A.N. Heyo people, this is my second story about Naruto and hope you like it. This has been written for beccabandicoot who asked me to write it. Anyway, tell me what you think and stuff/junk like that... **

* * *

Konoha sang with peace as the village bustled happily with their everyday lives. Young academy students squealed delight to their friends and secret crushes, the local senseis smiling nostalgically at the happy bundles of pure free joy. But there was one who watched far over the whole village. One who had loving memories swim through his mind as he looked over his long loved village.

The village he fought for. And won.

The village filled with the friends, the teachers, his people, his wife that he spent his whole life fighting to gain. A tanned hand ran through his messy mat of sunshine hair, trying to rub the fond memories away so he could focus on his paperwork. The bane of all Kages. A soft tap on the door to his office made him smile a blush, his timid little wife had come to visit. Her subtle lavender eyes shone from the doorway as she poked her smiling head in, "Lord Hokage…"

"Hinata, stop being silly," the Hokage's smile always had made her toes curl, "don't hide from me anymore. I love you already. No matter what your size."

The petite frame looked almost broken as the swollen stomach entered the room. She nervously tapped her fingers on the large baby bump she held, a box lovingly wrapped in light blue cloth was half hidden in her other hand, "You forgot your lunch again Naruto."

"Ae? Sorry, I bet I made you worry again huh?"

"Of course, we can't have the Hokage passing out due to starvation."

The fox vessel smirked devilishly, running his hands across his desk until all the paper fell to the floor. He leaned forwards slightly and winked at her, "Come have a little fun with me?"

"Naruto…not again…"

"You like it Hinata, the baby in your belly is proof enough. Don't you remember that we also celebrated my promotion to Hokage right here on this desk?"

The only thing that could out redden Hinata's face was the ripest tomato in summer. She fell against the door trying not to think of their exploits in the room, "I…I love you Naruto but I'm so tired…"

"We haven't done it since you got pregnant," the childish whine was proof enough that he hadn't grown mentally even though the war had been over for five years, "please, please, please, please?"

She could never resist those puppy eyes, the ones she had watched for so many years. About to give in, she started to move towards her husband but the door burst open and knocked her gently astray from her path. The shiny black bowl cut saluted his superior with panic stung into his wide eyes, "Most horrible news Hokage, most horrible. You must move with unrivalled haste."

"What's wrong Lee?" Naruto groaned sadly as he watched his wife steady herself, he had been so close…"did you lose Gai Sensei? Or are you upset that Sakura and Sasuke are expecting?"

"I am not joking," Lee's tone dropped unusually low, the tension in the room growing dark, "you will not believe it. You must pack your things and come with me immediately."

"What are you talking about?"

"A message from the Kazekage, he requires assistance. He says to meet him in the Land of Rivers, at what was the Akatsuki hideout, and bring medics. He needs you to be there before the day is out."

"He sounds distressed. What's caused him to act like this?"

"I am uncertain."

Naruto got out of his chair and ignored the mess of papers he had made, he knew if Gaara need him he would have go. He nodded at Lee, "Send for Sakura, Sasuke, Ino and Shikamaru. I want to leave in under an hour."

* * *

Golden sand shifted unnaturally across the dune just outlying the village. The yellow-brown shone against the burning sun, broken glass from shattered buildings lying adrift in the moving sand. A tower creaked dangerously at the push of the soft desert wind. Dark blood dried on half mauled bodies, screams of pain forever planted on ragged faces. Tearful eyes watched from metres above the horrid scene, cries from the young and old brought pain to the young Kage's ears but he still couldn't will himself to move.

He had to rest before trying to move.

Normally the village homed hundreds of villagers, shinobi and not, but the numbers had now quartered thanks to this surprise attack. Sweat dripped from his tried brow as he held what was left of his village well above the ground, his sand floating on nothing. His brother reached over and peered over the edge with him, "What the hell was that thing?"

"I don't know," the normal monotone wavered on the verge of tears, "but it was a monster."

"The village is destroyed Gaara, where do we go?"

"We leave the desert. We need to get out of the sand and to the Hideout. Naruto will be there."

Kankuro looked at the battered bodies of his comrades and loved ones, "He needs to bring medics, if he doesn't then we're going to lose even more. Wait…Gaara look‼"

The creaking tower gave a final groan against the wind before the sand below it burst like an erupting volcano. Eyes ablaze with fury almost burnt to look at. Golden claws the size of boulders stretched outwards and collided into the breaking tower. A horrid screech mashed with the crash of stone on stone, large teeth revealed themselves as the monster opened to screech. It was a victory cry.

That much Gaara could tell.

He memorised the beast as it melted back into the desert. Never before in his life had he seen something like that, the Shukaku was undoubtedly larger but the beast before him had raw strength that was frightening to watch. Not only that but it was less than ten minutes ago that he was calmly doing paperwork without a care in the world and now he was floating with a mere scrap of his village, too far above their home to get hurt but close enough to feel the pain.

"Lord Kazekage…"

He turned to face his bleeding advisor, Baki wasn't in a life threatening condition but it still made him cringe lightly, "Give me a few more minutes."

"We don't have a few more minutes," his voice was earnest, "Temari needs a doctor or she's going to die."

The sand kunoichi gasped painfully as blood trickled from the corners of her mouth. The sand medics were doing their best but they too were also injured. There was only so much they could do. She was covering up most of her wounds but even from where he sat Gaara could see his beloved sister was dying. Baki was right, he had to get out of here immediately. The sand slowly began to shift out of the desert, pain screaming through the Kage's body as he looked to the sky…

"Naruto…don't let me down…"

* * *

Turquoise eyes watched over the mist filled village; the prey was moving without any care in the world. The prey had taken over their world and destroyed it with needless war over trivial matters. Revenge was pointless. Revenge tore them apart.

The eyes focused onto the leader of this pathetic village. The woman was smiling at some of her comrades that had survived their latest war. It made the creature growl in his throat about how naïve the race was, stupid and naïve. The elder had forbidden them to interfere with the young race but some of them couldn't take it anymore. They wanted their land back and they wanted it now.

Sharpened teeth barred hungrily at the morsels wandering around his territory. But that wasn't going to last much longer. He crept closer towards the village, his scales warmed against the bright sun after years of hiding in the dark, damp caves beneath the village. He grinned and leapt forwards, the screams started.

The terror had begun.


	2. The Old Man's Tale

Shock was the first reaction to the Hokage and his friends as they arrived at the broken hideout. He rushed forwards, temporarily forgetting his friends, and began his rapid search for the other Kage. The two medics began to work immediately while the other two shinobi followed their panicking leader through the mobbed mess that looked more like war survivors than a village. Naruto dived forwards until he reached the largest tent, about to barge in but was stopped by the brother of the Kazekage and led way from the tent. Kankuro's voice was calm as he smiled at the panic-struck Hokage, "Gaara's fast asleep, hope you don't mind waiting."

"What happened here?"

"We were attacked by this giant creature that rose out of the sand," the puppet master explained as the two walked back to the other Leaf shinobi present, "it looked like pure hate. One minute the village is peacefully going about our daily business when it was like the sand attacked everyone. I will admit that the thought of the Shukaku crossed my mind but this was something else, it moved too fast for us to counter and all Gaara could do was get as many people as he could above the ground and out of harm's way."

Shikamaru took a quick glance around the survivors of the brutal attack, "Where's Temari?"

Kankuro's eyes wavered temporarily as he ignored the question, "It was when we were up there that we saw the beast. All I could see was to golden eyes and sharp teeth; it had scales that were the same colour as the sand. I could only see it more a moment before it vanished again but it took down an entire tower with its giant claws. Its strength was terrifying."

"Where's Temari?"

Noting the rising tone in the Nara's voice, Sasuke placed a calm hand on his shoulder, "I think you should stop asking."

"She's not?" he couldn't find the will to ask it, "Is she?"

"Not yet, no," Kankuro finally chose to acknowledge the paling Nara, knowing the feelings he held for his sister was mutual, "but she needs attention immediately. Where are the medics?"

"Sakura and Ino are already out healing," Naruto bit his lip as he began to think over the situation in his mind, he never wanted to think so much but it came with being the Hokage, "you should move into our village, we have more medics there. We'll make space and you can start to rebuild yourselves. You can't live in tents out here…"

"Thank you Lord Hokage, I know for a fact that Gaara will gratefully accept your help. You've done more for us than we can ever thank you for."

"Not at all," smirking his trademark smirk, Naruto brushed off the comment with a light blush and wave of his hand, "I promise that I will always look after my friends. No matter what the situation."

"Thank you…"

"Shikamaru," Naruto turned to his most trusted advisor, "I need you to go back to the village and collect as many shinobi as you see fit. We need to move what's left of the Sand to stable housing before continuing to investigate this monster matter any further." The Nara nodded and began to journey, Naruto looked to the ground, "Once Gaara is awake we should start to move."

"Then move immediately," the tired monotone wiped crust from his sleep filled eyes as the Kazekage met with his friend for the first time in years. "I want the village to be safe."

* * *

Hair the colour of hot sand drooped over sapphire eyes. The head growled softly and bit the soft skin of lips, drawing ruby blood from the peachy skin. She watched the blonde Hokage hug the red haired Kazekage; she couldn't understand why the Sand had been destroy.

The makeup guy also mentioned the monster in the sand.

She knew exactly what that thing was. A Kossori. It meant secretly, because that's how they lived. In secret. What she couldn't understand was why it had attacked; they were supposed to be hiding from the humans not destroying their home. She began to play with the trinket on her necklace. A simple sliver cylinder, no larger or longer than her pinky finger, which she always had with her. She tapped it gently as she contemplated going down to help or just leave it and get back to Kaura and telling the grand mistress all about these actions. After all they were forbidden.

"Kaida."

The sound of her name made the girl turn in shock, no one else was meant to be here. She wasn't even meant to be here. Her eyes darted frantically as she searched for the owner of that voice, of course she found no one. It was lucky that she knew exactly who it was, "Yousei, stop hiding already and come out."

"You're not supposed to be here."

"Neither are you‼"

"I do what I want when I want," the sweet voice twinkled an audible smirk, "I'm special like that."

"I know you're special," Kaida tightened the pale blue material belt that held her three quarter pants to her slim hips. She loved the colour blue, after all Kizoku, her little Zu-Zu was, sweetest blue you had ever seen. She looked around the patchy forest for any sign of the voice of her friend, "Stop hiding already, you know I hate it when you do that."

"I'll hide as long as I want. I'm going to go out and see what information I can find about these villages the Kossori have started to destroy."

"Villages?"

"Ever heard of the Hidden Mist?"

"Yes…"

"All gone. The water Kossori, Hydra, destroyed it a few hours ago. No human is alive. They're all either drowned or half chewed."

Kaida slowly stood slowly, enjoying feeling the rough tree bark against her bare feet, and looked at the broken village one more time. The four boys were joined by a pink haired medic before they all bundled off to one of the tents. She pulled her pale blue jacket closer to her body as she stared into the shadows once more, still at a loss to where her friend was really standing, "Is there anything you want me to tell Kaura?"

"Just tell her that if I haven't called for Mo-Mo in under three days, I've probably been caught."

"You have a record of not being caught."

"And I plan to keep it that way."

A soft swish indicated the other girl had left. Kaida smiled and pulled her trinket to her lips, a small _peep_ sounded as she blew on the pretty whistle. Kizoku would be here for her soon so she had to get out of the trees, or else he was going to have a hard time landing.

* * *

Chakra hummed softly and Sakura and Ino worked on the Kazekage's older sister. Her breathing had gone stable and she was no longer in critical condition but that didn't do much to ease the worry in her two brothers. Their sister was never sick, they were the ones that always got hurt in battles not her.

Sakura slowly pulled back and wiped away the sweat that had built up on her face, "Let her rest for now and we'll check on her again in a few hours."

"Thank you Sakura," Gaara bowed as low as a Kage was allowed, "I don't know what I can do to repay you for all you have done."

"How about letting me check you over? From what the other villagers have told me you were the great hero today and should currently be unconscious due to exhaustion."

"How can I sleep when there are people who need me?"

"They can look after themselves until we're done," she pushed him playfully out of the tent, "come on, come on. I haven't got all day."

Sasuke watched his glowing wife push the great Kage out of the tent and out of sight. He didn't even notice that he smiled softly, and that his friends were starting to laugh at him. Kankuro pushed the hood off his head so he could scratch his head properly, "If there wasn't a random sand monster on the loose I would find this extremely hilarious."

"That was no sand monster Lord Kankuro, but I don't blame your naivety, you are still young after all," one of the older villagers cackled from his spot in the medical tent. The old man heaved heavily as the young group turned to face him, "That creature was a dragon. A fabled beast of old. We thought them long extinct but now they have arisen again. Our race has no hope to survive."

Sasuke's emotionless frowned deepened, "What are you talking about old man? Dragons?"

"Yes! Dragons. They can live for centuries on end and no shinobi has ever been able to beat them."

"You're insane."

"Let me tell you a tale," the old man pulled out his cane and walked over to sit on the bed Temari was asleep on, "Long ago, when this world first began, there were three main races; the Humans, the Dragons and the Ryūzoku. The Ryūzoku was the race in between the other two, they lived like they were dragons but their very being was that of a human. For many centuries the three lived in peace but one day it all turned sour. A great shinobi leader grew jealous of Ryūzoku; for their abilities could match that of a dragon's, should they train hard enough. He began to see their race as filth, the border between man and beast, so he gathered all of his allies across the land and attacked the Ryūzoku in the dead of the night. The peaceful race was destroyed that night, but this only served to anger the great dragons of old. Despite popular belief dragons are creatures of peace, they despise war and those who accumulate it, so when the shinobi leader committed this act they retaliated. For over a hundred years the two races fought, neither giving way but the shinobi were dwindling. They couldn't outmatch the great beasts."

"So what happened?" Ino rubbed her arms as a chill rushed over her, "obviously the Shinobi won or else we wouldn't be here."

The old man chuckled lightly, "The shinobi didn't win, some of the dragons turned. It is said that there was one dragon, she was the purest white that had ever been seen, she rallied her comrades and turned on the oldest dragon of all. She protected the very last of the Humans and won. From there she promised that the Humans would be protected until the day history was repeated. I fear that the day has come. Obito destroyed the lives of so many for his own selfish gain, the treaty had been broken and the dragons are taking back what belongs to them."

"But don't dragons, you know," Naruto held his arms out and waved them like wings, "fly?"

"Not all dragons fly Lord Hokage, those who cannot should be feared the most. They blend into their surroundings to survive. Experts of camouflage."

"But that's just an old legend, dragons don't exist," Sasuke was imminent, arms folded across his broad chest he shook his head, "There is no proof of this to be true…"

"There is no proof that it is false."

"Except the fact that there have been wars before Obito. Leave the legends where they belong, in crusted books that no one reads. Starting false rumours will only cause panic among the villages."

Naruto silently agreed with Sasuke but wouldn't admit it out loud. Dragons were stuff of legends. They wouldn't ever see one, in this life time or otherwise. They needed to focus on what really happened instead of chasing fairy tales.


	3. Hazel Orbs And Beast Illusions

A soft hand ran over the dark mahogany desk, noting the freshness of the wood. It was either brand new or freshly polished. The hand travelled through the papers, hazel eyes scanning for key words, while the other traced over the smiling faces of the Hokage and his wife. So at peace. Finding nothing of interest the hazel eyes moved across the room and spotted the other five smiling Kages in their picture frames above the door. Just reading their faces told her so much about their past. The key factor being that they loved their village.

"…this is a very serious matter Naruto; you have to decide what course of action to take now."

Multiple footsteps drew closer to the tiny office but the girl didn't panic. She calmly climbed on the desk and jumped with cat like reflexes into the roof in the hole she made earlier. She slowly pushed the tile back into place and sat on one of the beams without a sound, curious enough not to leave just yet.

"I don't know what to do," the worried voice of the Hokage was the first to enter, "the Sand Village is only surviving because Gaara half killed himself to get them off the ground and now we have reports that the Hidden Mist has been destroyed. No survivors. What action do you take in this sort of situation?"

"I don't know Naruto…"

"Come on Kakashi Sensei, you can't lecture me to take action when you yourself have no idea what to do."

The voices grew earnest as the conversation picked up.

"Naruto, I'm here to advise while Shikamaru is looking after Temari as she recovers, I'm not here to tell you what to do."

"Then what do you advise I do?"

"This creature that attacked the Hidden Sand obviously lives in the desert; if you send a force into it then you are sending them straight to their deaths. We need to stay away from the area until the Sand shinobi are back to their usual strengths. Then if you can get Sai to make enough paint birds the force and all fly over the desert and observe, only observe, what the creature does before giving a final decision."

"Good, do that."

"Naruto…"

"I have a pregnant wife and entre village to look after. I can't think of everything."

"Sometimes I wonder about you…"

The girl bit her lip to stop her laughter. The Hokage was a clear moron to her, and thinking about going into the desert on foot was very stupid. His advisor, Kakashi, seemed to have some sort of brain. Now bored with the duo she glided her way across each of the beams until she reached the gap in the roof she got through. Thanks to her petite stature, she was able to slip through with ease. She dropped onto the alley way and walked calmly out into the streets, not bothering to stop and converse with the locals for information. She despised the hateful race too much.

* * *

Clear water rippled gently as Kaida dipped her toe into the refreshingly cool liquid. She shivered happily and stepped completely into it. The stone of her home didn't cut into her feet anymore like they did when she was a child, but that didn't stop them from hurting altogether. She slowly took off her jacket, revealing the too small white singlet, and let her pale arms warm in the sunshine. She allowed her head to roll backwards in relaxation, she was glad she had convinced Kaura to let her have the day off.

She liked having days off.

"Kaida," the playfully voice called as her best friend and most trusted companion nudged her back gently, "you're too at ease again."

She laughed gently and let herself flop onto his muzzle, "Come on Zu-Zu, it's my day off."

"You have too many of those for my liking."

"Aw, don't be like that," she began to rub his light blue scales affectionately, scratching the spot behind his head that made him growl happily, "see, if I was busy training then I wouldn't be able to do this."

"You're lucky brat…"

She rolled off his snout and stared into the navy blue eyes that were almost back, "Wanna go for a ride?"

"Get on," he waited patiently until she had climbed onto his snake like neck before flexing his power wings. The great beast crouched lowly and leapt into the sky that matched his scales. He blended perfectly into the blue horizon as he dipped through the fluffy clouds, "Is there anywhere in particular you wanted to go today?"

She hugged the rough neck, "Just fly free and fast. Take me where the wind takes you‼"

"Ha-ha! This is the reason you and I are companions kid," he let a great roar echo into nothing before giving another great flap and sped forwards. Clouds parted as the duo flew through the clear blue sky without a care in the world. The dragon and his companion laughing at nothing but the freedom in their hearts.

Kaida looked at the dissolving clouds with disinterest, "Go a bit lower, I wanna be able to see the ground."

"You're the boss."

He dipped gently so they were low enough to see the ground but high enough that no one could actually see them. Kaida leant forwards with intense interest. She loved watching the scenery blur as she and Kizoku flew faster than any shinobi could run. Below them now was the Hidden Leaf, walking around never knowing the wonders of the sky. It only filled her with increasing joy. She slowly got to her feet and spread her arms wide, letting her entire body feel the coursing wind rush past, "This feels amazing‼"

"Be careful child, you're going to fall."

"Huh?" she made the worst decision and leant over to hear him better. Leading to her overbalance and tip over the edge of the dragon's neck. She gave an ear piercing scream as she felt nothing beneath her, watching as Kizoku roared and dived after her. He was incredibly fast and caught her quickly, sighing as she wrapped her arms around his neck once more.

"Kaida, you're an idiot."

"That was…awesome‼ Let's do it again."

"We're going home."

"Kill joy."

* * *

"What the hell is that thing?" Kankuro stared in shock as a giant beast flashed in the sky before disappearing again.

Gaara stood wide eyed; it was so similar to the one he saw in the desert, "We need to get to Naruto…"

"What? What's wrong?"

"That, that thing is like the one in the desert," he began to walk backwards, eyes never leaving the spot where the beast flashed before him, "it could be here to attack this village. Didn't you see the way it vanished in the sky?"

"Just like in the sand…that means there are more of these things?"

"We need Naruto now," he turned in haste and crashed into another villager. The girl stumbled and fell backwards, holding onto where her head crashed into his. He extended an apologetic hand, "I'm sorry, I didn't see you."

She ignored his hand and slowly got to her feet, "It's fine, and why are you in such a hurry anyway?"

"We…saw something," Kankuro was unsure how to explain it. He looked curiously at the small girl; he had never seen her before. She had waist length brown hair that floated around freely, a necklace with what looked like a small crystal cylinder on it, and a curious face. Like she was always searching for something even if she didn't know it. She wore a pure white dress with shoulder straps and a skirt that ended at her thighs in the front but knees at the back. Strangest fact being she didn't wear shoes, "where are you going in such a hurry?"

"Nowhere and everywhere. I'm a busy girl like that," she looked at him with deep hazel eyes, they were almost trance-like, "what did you see?"

"I don't think I want to tell you…"

Her orbs gazed deeper into him, "Why not?"

Gaara looked from his brother and then back to the girl, knowing something wasn't right, "It was like a giant lizard crossed with a beast with wings."

"What?" she smiled warmly and tilted her head childishly to the side, "Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm fine…"

"I think you should take a moment to think about what you 'saw' before you go crying wolf," she stepped back and continued to smile, even as her eyes turned cold, "you'd hate to start something over nothing."

The comment made the Kazekage doubt himself but become curious about her, "Who are you?"

"I'm just passing through," she bowed to the duo and walked down the road. No other comment to be made. The two sand shinobi watched after her temporarily before going back to what they were doing before they saw the beast. They were obviously still worked up over the beast from the sand, and it was just making them paranoid.

There couldn't be any other reason.

* * *

'_I'm going to kill you Kaida_,' the girl cursed her blonde friend as she rubbed the slowly forming bump on her forehead. Luckily she was passing through otherwise the Kazekage would have gone and caused up a fuss.

She didn't want that.

She gently put her crystal whistle to her lips and let the sweet note ring through the trees. She had to go home earlier than expected. She was going to kick Kaida's ass in front of everyone. And then she was going to have a long steaming bath, she had human on her after all. She needed to get the human off of her.

Immediately.


	4. Forgiving And Believing Are Hard To Do

The grand mistress sat in the shadows of her home. She hadn't left this place in years; it was where she always felt at ease. However, this latest news of the villages being attacked made her unsettle even in her own little home, "Two have been destroyed?"

"Yes," the young girl before her lowered her head but it still didn't hide her satisfied smile from shining through, "and I wouldn't be surprised if another was annihilated before the week is out."

"This is not something to rejoice over, the treaty has now been broken and it was done on our part."

"I know that…"

"Then stop that smirking," she hated having to snap but the child had to learn, "you are a great spy and warrior Yousei. Far more skilled then you know. You are gentle and loving with the whelps, and you care deeply for every creature living here. Dragon and not. But it all means nothing unless you learn to forgive and forget the past. Otherwise your heart will always be cold. You can't grow when your heart is cold."

"I understand."

Kaura gave a large yawn, she was too old to be lecturing the young, "I want you to rest for now, you've done a lot in these past few days. Send Yuka in after you my dear."

"Yes Kaura."

The grand mistress watched the young girl wander off. She always worried that some of the Ryūzoku wouldn't forgive the humans for their past actions and now she had proof. She only hoped that she would be able to fix it before it was too late. Scuffling feet brought the old girl back to her senses as the young Yuka entered. The girl before her had long ebony hair that lay over her shoulder in a long plait. She always wore dark green short sleeved tops with black three quarter pants and a set of dark coloured bangs around the neck of her bare feet. Her dragon's name was Tsuki had both were kind spirited souls, and her top strategists. Kaura straitened slightly and nodded to the tall girl, "How are you today Yuka?"

"I'm fine, and you my lady?"

"Tired as usual."

"What is it that you needed me for?"

"I want you to set up guards for the remaining villages, it is our duty to protect them," Kaura stretched out her neck and rubbed the itch behind her ears, "Scout out the desert and see if you can find the dragon responsible for the village's demise. The whelps need to be moved into the caves while warriors are out so inform the carers to pack away food. Finally I need you to send word to the remaining Gokage to come to this mountain…"

"Lady Kaura, no. It's far too dangerous."

"Hush my child I know what I am doing. It is time they came to us for help, they won't survive otherwise, and I want to be the one to extend an opening hand. It is time to forgive and forget the past and move towards a more peaceful future. Maybe then we can go back to the relationship held before the New Moon Massacre. I trust you will find a way to get the villages to cooperate and once that it done I want you to bring them here to me. I'm too old to go to them."

Yuka looked up from her little notebook, frowning gently, "Some of the others aren't going to be very welcoming."

Yousei's satisfied smirk flashed temporarily in her mind, "I know that but they will survive. The sooner the leaders arrive the sooner we can protect them. I leave these matters in your hands. I must rest now."

"Yes my lady."

* * *

"Is everything alright Lord Kazekage?" Hinata queried as she placed a freshly cooked meal in front of the distracted man, "you don't seem well."

"Yes, yes I'm fine," he waved her off as hazel eyes flashed in his mind. That girl he met was hiding something, he knew it, but at the same time he wanted to be as far away from her as possible. Something didn't sit right with him. He smiled gently as the young wife looked curiously at him again, "I promise that everything is alright."

"Okay…"

The door shut with a bang as the tired Hokage finally returned to his home for the first time in three days. He flopped onto the floor and lay face down as his wife bustled over to remove his shoes. Eventually he rose his head and smiled at his pale friend, "How are you feeling today Gaara?"

"Better than you look."

"You could've warned me that being a Kage meant so much thinking…"

"I'm sorry, I thought you knew."

"Of course not," Naruto rolled over and gave his arms a good stretch, "then again I didn't think that you would ever be living with me and my pregnant wife."

"Neither did I."

"I have no idea what that thing was that attacked you. Sai and some of the Anbu have been scouting out the area but only ever see more shifts in the sand, no creature at all, which meant I had to write to the other two Kage's and got letters back today."

"What did they say?"

"Hahahahahahahaha, nice one Hokage."

Gaara swallowed in disbelief, "You're kidding."

"One letter from each Kage and both said the same thing. They both think I'm crazy and it probably didn't help that I mentioned the…"

"The what?"

"..the…um…dragons…"

"Dragons? You told them dragons attacked my village?"

"Maybe…"

"You didn't."

Hinata slowly sat herself down and began to brush through Naruto's mattered hair, "I think that dragons could be a possibility. They are terrifying beasts that thrive on anger and could be wanting to take back what they think is theirs. I believe you made the right choice in telling the other Kages about it Naruto."

The blonde grabbed his beloved wife's hand and kissed each of her knuckles slowly, "I can always count on you Hinata."

* * *

Emerald scales shimmered lightly against the setting sun. Six slim legs grappled at the crumbling rock as the long dragon travelled down the side of the dragon's home mountain. The sharp claws sliced into the hard rock with ease, taking only minutes to scale down the mountain where it should've taken days. The slick body stopped momentarily so the serpent like head could arch over and check on the rider, "You alright?"

"I'm fine Tsuki," the girl rubbed the long spikes on the dragon's back, "hurry, we need to get to the villages as soon as possible."

The wingless dragon nodded and started running again. No terrain was a problem for Tsuki, she was the kind of dragon that couldn't fly but dominated the land. She had to only merely glance at a territory to know all of its nooks and crannies. She was faster than any beast and stronger, a Kossori, which meant she was not the kind of opponent you wanted as an enemy.

"Yuka, I'm not sure about this. Going into the village could be life threatening."

"I won't let them hurt you."

"It's you I'm worried about."

"You don't have to, I'm a big girl," Yuka rubbed the soft spot on the top of Tsuki's glimmering head, "I can look after myself. Besides, it's an order from Kaura, I can't disobey."

"I'm starting to worry about her."

"You and I both."

"But there's something else bugging me more."

"What's that?"

The dragon pounced over miles of trees and landed in another clearing but didn't lose her steady pace, "If the dragons are revolting because of the war, why wait five years to do so? Why not start when the war was finished?"

"What are you saying Tsuki?"

"What if there is an outside factor we're overlooking?"

Yuka lowered her body to lay flat so they could increase their speed, "Another human? Or a rogue Ryūzoku?"

"Why not a dragon who wants to take over?"

"If it was a dragon they would've just killed them all during the war. No, someone else is involved with this."

"I'll have to speak with Yousei when we get back," Yuka held tighter as the dragon dived into a hole in a log that led into the ground, just one of the secret passages they had been using their entire lives, "we need her to find all the information she can about enemies of the villages. Someone obviously wants them dead then."

"I'm not sure…"

"Why?"

"Yousei doesn't exactly like the humans; her section have hated them for centuries. We don't know that if we send her out that she will return with accurate information," the two resurfaced at the base of yet another mountain, the mountain holding the Hidden Cloud Village, "and I know Momiji wouldn't stop her, he will do whatever she tells him."

"You don't have to worry about our little fairy Tsuki; she'll follow any of Kaura's orders blindly. Her section may be the most hate-filled but they're also the most loyal, I honestly think we should worry about Kaida. She's bound to klutz it up at some point."

"Kizoku told me she'll fell off again the other day."

"Idiot, I feel so sorry for him."

"You and I both."

* * *

Blinding light stung tired eyes. Temari groaned painfully as she tried to block it out with her hand, only to have it cradled in another's. She opened her eyes slowly to see her brother staring down at her, "Kankuro…?"

"Temari, what is it?"

"Turn off the light moron."

He chuckled lightly out of pure relief, "No brain damage then. You had us worried for the last few days."

"Where am I Kankuro?" she slowly pushed herself to a sitting up position, panting heavily under the effort it took her, "This isn't a tent."

"We're in the Leaf Village, in their hospital, Naruto made room for what's left of our village here. So we can recuperate. There's not much else to tell."

"What about our village? What about the thing that destroyed it? What about our future?"

"We've been worrying about healing the injured, like you," he sat beside her and scratched the back of his un-hooded head, "and we don't know about the beast. We've been trying to find it but only ever find more sand, we're too scared to go into the desert on foot, and Naruto seems to be leaning towards the possibility that it could be a dragon that attacked us."

"A dragon?"

"Yup."

"A giant lizard with wings?"

"I actually did research on that, they're more feline than reptilian and not all of them have wings…"

"You're crazy," she slowly rubbed her pounding temples at her brother's stupidity; "dragons aren't real. They're a myth. A dead legend that is told to children and moulded with their imagination, they don't exist. I really hope Gaara doesn't believe this…"

"Not at the moment but we're starting to. What other explanation can there be?"

"The Shukaku?"

"Would've been destroyed, we can take him down and you know this. That thing that attacked the village was like no other creature we have ever faced, ergo, a dragon."

"Did I die?"

"No?"

"Then I've lost my mind."

"What makes you say that?"

She smirked lightly and leant her tired head onto his shoulder, "I'm starting to think you're making sense. I must be crazy."

"Thanks sis, love you too."

* * *

"Who are you?"

"My name is Yuka, I don't want to be rude but we've been through this at least five times now," the foreign girl sighed dramatically and placed a frustrated hand on her hip, "You, and the rest of the remaining Gokage, have been invited to the top of the Dragon's Peak. Our leader, Kaura, needs to speak with you all urgently unless you want to die."

The Raikage's frown deepened, "Are you threatening us?"

"No, I'm stating facts. Dragons are attacking your kind and we're trying to assist you."

"Dragons? What is it with everyone and dragons lately?" he groaned and rose out of his chair, slowly staring down the unwavering girl before him, "First the Hokage sends me a letter saying that the Hidden Sand was attacked by a wingless dragon and now you say these non-existent creatures are coming after us next? I think you're hiding something."

"I'm stating facts," Yuka wasn't in the mood for arguments, she had to get to the other two villages as well, "believe me or don't, I'm just the messenger. Good day Lord Raikage."

Broad hands roughly grabbed her arms and pulled them behind her back, tying them into place. She stared unwillingly up at the frightening Raikage, his voice was dead serious, "You've threatened my village and that of my comrades. I don't take these things lightly. Take her to the interrogation cell; I want to know everything she knows."


	5. I'm Telling The Truth

Relief filled the blonde Hokage as he woke from a long needed sleep. He slowly wandered out to the dining room to find the rest of his house hold already wake, he waved fondly as he yawned, "Morning."

"Good morning Naruto," the Kazekage returned the wave, stopping his meal to acknowledge his friend; "I hope you slept well."

"Yeah it was great. Hopefully it is a sign…"

"A sign?"

"A sign!"

"What kind of sign?"

"A sign that today will be relaxing."

"Lord Hokage, a letter from the Hidden Cloud Village," Shikamaru simply held up a scroll without even facing his superior, "it arrived not too long ago."

"No!"

"No?"

Naruto covered his eyes with his hands and began to run around in a circle, "If I can't see it it's not real. Not real. I can't see it."

"Naruto just read the damn thing."

"Fine," he sat in a huff and yanked the scroll out of the lazy Jounin's hand. He sat in silence momentarily as he scanned through the letter; the expressions crossing his face led the others to believe that it wasn't the best of news. He looked up from the letter, about to ask Gaara a question but didn't, and then looked straight back and started re-reading the short letter. Finally he pulled away from the letter and looked back at his fellow Kage, "How good are your interrogation skills?"

"I can get information if I want. Why do you ask?"

"Because, the Raikage is sending over a prisoner who threatened all of the remaining villages. Apparently what he got out of her was that she lived with dragons on top of the Dragon's Peak, along with many others, and that now dragons are going to kill us all. He thinks she's blocking out the truth."

"It does sound strange."

"I believe this girl, and I haven't even met her."

"Is this the dragon thing all over again?"

"Do you have a better explanation?"

"…"

"Didn't think so," Naruto rolled the scroll back up and passed it to the doubtful red head, "anyway, the girl is supposed to be arriving today and we need to keep her under tight watch. We don't know if her friends are going to be coming after her."

"And are you going to interrogate her?"

"Of course, that's why she is being sent here. Shikamaru, go grab Ino so she can do her mind jutsu thing on her."

The Nara rolled his eyes but calmly followed the order, "Would you at least learn the name of the jutsu?"

"Why do that when I can't learn it?"

"You're hopeless."

"And now you're on teaching duty, once you've gotten Ino you can go take over Iruka Sensei's classes," Naruto smirked evilly and waved his unfortunate friend out, "don't forget to report back."

* * *

Fingers tapped repeatedly out of pure frustration as Kaida waited for Kizoku to finish scratching his back on the hard rocks of Dragon's Peak. It was boring to watch. She stopped tapping so she could jump on his scaled belly, "Come on Zu-Zu, let's go for a flight."

"Last time you fell off."

"I won't this time."

"Not going to risk it."

"Aw come on, please?"

"No."

"Kizoku, Kaida. Thank goodness," a familiar green head bobbed over the rocks, panic stuck in her pure golden eyes, "I need your help right now!"

Kizoku rolled over and let the smaller dragon climb over his body so they could talk properly, "What happened to you? Where's Yuka?"

"That's the problem, she's been taken. The Raikage thought that she was some sort of traitorous spy of sorts and has sent her to the Hidden Leaf village for further interrogation."

"So go get her."

"You know that dragons aren't supposed to reveal themselves, Kaura wants to talk to the Gokage before that happens, so I can't. And I can't go further into the mountain or else the carers are going to get all riled up over it. Please, I need someone to go get her."

"Looks like we get to fly after all Zu-Zu," Kaida chirped victoriously as she jumped onto his rigged back, "to the Hidden Leaf we go."

He frowned doubtfully but took wing anyway, "You're not the best spy Kaida, we don't know how this will turn out if you go in alone."

"Don't worry, I'll be fine."

"Don't lose your necklace, I won't be able to find you if you do."

"I know Zu-Zu."

"Once you get Yuka, blow your whistle and I'll come to you even if you are in the village. I don't trust the humans not to hurt you if they find out what you are."

"You're starting to sound like Yousei."

"She's another reason. If she finds out about any of this she will have a reason to rein terror against the village. You know that the entire Sori section have been dying to get at the Humans for centuries now."

"Not keen for a history lesson."

"Just saying," he warned as they began to dip lower, the Hidden Leaf now in view, "don't get caught."

* * *

"What's your name?"

"Yuka."

"Why are you here?"

"To invite the remaining Gokage to meet with our leader on top of Dragon's Peak."

"Why?"

"Because we're trying to save your lives."

"From what?"

"Dragons."

"You're a very good liar."

"I'm not lying."

"This is getting us nowhere," Shikamaru leaned back in his chair and gave up, the girl before him wasn't giving in even after Ibiki tortured her and her brain had been looked through, "where the hell is Ino's report?"

The bare foot girl smirked and nodded at his feet, "It fell off the table a few minutes ago."

"I'm in no mood for games."

"Neither am I. I still have to find the Kazekage and Tsuchikage before the day is out so if I can leave, I would appreciate it."

"You can go once you have told us the truth."

"I've told you and the Raikage. Can I go now?"

"I'm not playing."

"Neither am I."

"Wait you said Kazekage also. Don't you know where he is?"

"Well I'm just hoping he was alive. Yousei was very vague on the subject…"

"Yousei?"

"Do you know where the Kazekage is?"

"Yeah I do," Shikamaru was cautious but it didn't look like he was going to get information out of her any other way, "if I get him will you tell the truth?"

If she wasn't tied to a chair Yuka would've smacked her head on the table in front of her, "I've been telling the truth this whole time. You're not going to get another answer out of me, check the report."

"The report says she can't get into your head because you're blocking her."

"Not intentionally."

"This is getting us nowhere."

Shikamaru got up and stared to leave, seeing no point in staying around any longer. It only caused Yuka to call out to him, "Please tell the Kazekage what I told you. It's very important."

* * *

The village was bursting with life, unlike on Dragon's Peak where everyone tended to keep to themselves. Kaida had no idea where to start looking for her trapped friend and it didn't help that the sights were making her dizzy.

Very dizzy…

She stumbled lightly and grabbed onto the closet person to her, hoping they would help. She heard faint voices before she felt weightless, like someone was carrying her, and soon she was in the cooling shade of what she hoped was a tree. Clean water trickled gently down her face as she came to again, remembering why she was never cut out to be a spy. Kaida carefully rubbed her eyes, "Thank you…"

"It's fine, are you alright?"

Slowly uncovering her eyes she saw one of the most beautiful males she had ever seen. His faded jade eyes stared worryingly into hers, his messy red hair contrasting loudly to the white skin. His voice was deep yet gentle, a bit monotoned, but that didn't bug Kaida. He was gorgeous.

"I'm…I'm fine."

He knelt beside her, placing the water bottle he held on the ground, and cupped her cheek gently, "What's your name?"

"Kaida…"

"Hi Kaida my name is Gaara."

"Hi…"

"Where are you from Kaida?"

"Um…I…ah…"

"Do you remember?"

"…ah…hi…"

"Kaida."

All logical thoughts had left her mind, "I'm sorry, what was the question?"

"Do you need me to take you home?"

"Where's that?"

"Okay," he sighed gently and let her face go. He wrapped her arm over his shoulder and pulled the girl to her shaky feet, oblivious to the blush or intent eyes staring into him. They walked very slowly down the road heading towards the Hokage mansion, Gaara's plan being to let the confused girl rest before trying to get her back to her family. He didn't know enough about the shinobi in the Leaf to identify her clan but he was absolutely certain that she wasn't a Sand shinobi. He also didn't know where her shoes had gone to.

They just about reached the large building when the two were intercepted by another man. His expression was purely bored but he too was very attractive. Kaida just gawked, "Oh my…"

"Gaara, I need your help."

"What's wrong now Shikamaru?"

The new boy ignored the mystified girl of the Kazekage's shoulders and went straight to business, "Listen, the girl isn't giving us any information besides her name."

"What is it?"

"Yuka."

"Well it's a start."

"Yuka?" finally remembering why she was there Kaida pulled her arm away and grabbed the other boy, this time not worrying about their good looks, "do you know where she is?"

Shikamaru slowly looked the girl over, who the hell was she? "Yeah, do you know her?"

"Yes, there was this huge mistake and I've been sent to find her. Please if you could just take me to her I'll be eternally grateful."

The two ninja shared a small look, one that she couldn't read, before nodding at each other. Gaara grabbed her hand and began to pull her down the road. Once more Kaida forgot where she was going and what she was doing.

* * *

Tiny claws scuttled over grey rocks as the whelps yelped playfully. Yousei loved looking after the whelps, they were so cute. A small sky coloured Hikou, a flying dragon, began to beat its small wings so it could land on her lap. She laughed gently and began to stroke the small head, "You're in a good mood today aren't you?"

It merely licked her face and ran off again, leaving Yousei to smile again. Her thoughtless gaze interrupted with the sound of large wings landing behind her. The normally light voice was quiet and deadly, "Both Yuka and Kaida have vanished. I asked their companions but only received vague unknown answers."

"They wouldn't go to the humans. They promised."

"What if they aren't there willingly?"

"Explain."

"Yuka and Tsuki left last night to do something, I caught her returning earlier today without Yuka. She went straight to Kizoku and Kaida, who in turn flew off and only one returned."

"They got caught?"

"It is what I believe."

"Then we should go save them," Yousei's mind was made up. She protected her friends when they were in trouble, and she loved any reason to crush the pathetic humans. Her revenge for the crimes they committed against the Ryūzoku all those years ago. Her smirked widened as she saw their faces twisting in horrid pain.

"It's the least we can do."

* * *

How she wanted to slam her head against the table. No. She changed her mind. How she wanted to smack her stupid friend's head onto the table. Kaida hugged her, untied her, started pulling her out of the room with squeals of delight only to be stopped by the Kazekage and his brainy interrogating friend. This led to blushes and stupid sentences that didn't make much sense.

Worst recovery mission ever.

"Kaida, they aren't listening to reason, you have to tell them that I'm telling the truth."

"Yeah, this is Yuka!"

"Kill me now."

The Kazekage ignored Kaida's stupid comment and looked at the less insane girl, "Will you tell us the truth now?"

"I've been telling you the truth for the last couple of days. We live with dragons okay?"

"Dragons? Oh right, this way," Kaida suddenly snapped and ran out the door, the other three following along behind her. She ran with all her might, always just out of reach of Shikamaru's grasp, until they stood in the clear spaced training grounds. She looked around in circles before putting the necklace to her lips and blowing softly, the high note confusing the two boys.

They waited impatiently as nothing happened. Shikamaru reached over and began to tie Yuka up again, "Game's over, you're going to tell us the truth right now."

"The truth is on its way."

"You're not making sense."

"I will soon so hush."

"I'm not waiting, let's go."

A loud roar ripped through the sky, the trees began to cower under the unusual sound. So did Kaida. That wasn't Kizoku's call, it was too deep and distraught. Yuka noticed it to as she faced the two very confused looking boys, "Run."

Kaida joined in and started to push them back towards the village, "Run now and don't look back."

They never got a chance to question black claws landed heavily in front of them. Eyes as red as the devil stared them down, noting the way they held the captive Yuka, and barred its ugly teeth. It roared in their faces once more and sent shivers down all of their spines.

They had been caught.


	6. Naruto Gets Really Pissed

**A.N. Time to celebrate an end of an era, no more High School for this Twigg. I is all grown up and we're happy, I am very happy. HAVE A NICE LIFE!**

* * *

The dragon from hell started to move forwards. Shikamaru shook from head to toe, this terror that he felt was unlike any other, and for the first time in his life he couldn't think. He couldn't see a way out of this other than death. Noting his friend's distress Gaara took control, he had faced one of these before and he can do it again. With a flick of his wrist sand went flying into the creature's pitch black head, but had no effect, the beast merely roared again and continued to advance. Neither of the boys knew what to do. Kaida panicked momentarily before running in front of the two and hold her arms out wide, she stared the dragon down with all her might, "STOP‼"

"Get out of the way Kaida," a soft voice tinkled. It wasn't the dragon speaking.

"Stop right now, you can't hurt them."

"Why not? They hurt Yuka."

"Stop."

"This is your final warning, get out of the way."

"Please untie me," Yuka pleaded at the two who stood in shock and fear, "look untie me and I'll try and sort this out."

They complied most willingly to the girl, watching in awe as she ran forwards to join Kaida in her wall of defence. The dragon immediately stopped advancing but began to growl at the two. The soft voice called again, "I don't want to hurt you."

"Get down here right now. Stop hiding behind him."

"I'm not behind him," the girl in the white dress walked out from the group of trees the two shinobi were standing next to and stood in between them, a white dagger with clean silver blades went to each of their throats, "You should know me better by now Yuka."

"Yousei, they haven't done anything wrong. Put the knives down."

"Why are you defending them?"

"Because I have orders, orders stating that if you try to hurt them I will have to hurt you," it was obvious that Yuka was scraping for excuses at the bottom of the barrel. She slowly moved forwards with her hands out in front of her, "so please just come here and leave them alone."

The knives dropped, almost unwillingly, as Yousei walked forwards. She ignored her two friends and jumped on top of her dragon instead, "You reek of _them_."

Kaida laughed uneasily as she scratched the back of her head, "I can't believe you can smell it."

"How could I not? It's a horrible stench."

"They're right here. Don't be rude."

"What gives you the impression that I care?"

Another roar was heard, but this one was a lot softer like relief. A beautiful sky blue dragon, a fraction smaller than the black one, landed next to it and began to nuzzle the still awkwardly laughing Kaida. She merely hugged his snout and rubbed his worried head, "Told you I'd be fine Zu-Zu."

"Don't make me worry like that again."

"IT SPOKE!" Shikamaru cracked a girly high scream, completely breaking his character when he heard the beast speak in such a soft tone. He began to sway dangerously on the verge of passing out, Gaara readying to catch him, but steadied himself at the last minute and cleared his throat gently, "Did that thing just talk?"

"That _thing_ is a dragon," Yuka growled slightly behind her successful smirk, they had to believe her now, "his name is Kizoku and is Kaida's companion. So if you would inform the other Kages that I'm not a traitorous liar then we can hurry along with this meeting you're supposed to be at."

Gaara shook his head defiantly, slowly coming back to his senses after the shock of a lifetime, "Why would we go to the place where the creatures destroyed my village? It is purely suicidal."

"That's what we must discuss Lord Kazekage," Kizoku bowed as lowly as the dragon could in respect for his authority and power among the humans, "We don't know what happened but we want to put it to rest. The invitation is yours to accept or reject as you please, we can only hope for the best."

The black dragon scoffed distastefully and shook his head against the sun, "You dare bow to a human? You have lost my respect."

"I can live without it. Times are changing and you should join it."

"There is nothing forcing me to change, your will is just weak."

Something clicked in Gaara's brain as he stared at the girl on top of the black dragon's head, he pointed his no longer shaking finger at her, "Haven't we met?"

She scoffed and looked away, "Don't flatter yourself filth."

"We have met, you told me not to start a fuss over nothing. If you knew about the existence of dragons why did you try to hide them?"

"Come Mo-Mo," she chirped affectionately and gave his head a quick tap, "the others can play with their humans without us. Let's go home."

The two left without another word. The pitch black dragon flew off silently until he was just a speck in the horizon, it left Shikamaru wondering how he didn't notice the giant black beast earlier. Yuka shook her head lightly and bowed apologetically to the Kazekage, "Don't think bad of her, it's just how she was raised."

"You were raised differently?"

"It's a long and complicated situation that we can explain at a later time. Right now you should come with us to meet Kaura."

"Soon, very soon," he shook his head and looked back at the village, "If you come back at midday tomorrow I will bring the Hokage with me. We can't just up and leave so we should have all the arrangements finished by that time tomorrow."

"I understand. We can meet back here."

"Agreed."

Kaida jumped on Kizoku's neck and stuck her head into her hands, Yuka jumping up behind her, "How many people will there be? We can bring transportation."

"Say the two Kages and two guards each," Shikamaru began to scratch the back of his head as a distraction from reality, "if any harm comes to them you will pay."

"We know, come on Yuka Tsuki is waiting."

The Kazekage and his friend watched as the other dragon flew off and vanished into the sky. They continued to stand in silence as they began to recall what they agreed to. They had no hope at all.

* * *

Finally he got a moment to himself. Ever since the girl the Raikage had sent had arrived in this village, Naruto had been running backwards and forwards doing all kinds of meaningless tasks that he couldn't find others to do it for him. But now, now he could relax and eat the ramen his delightful little wife dropped off for him before waddling off home. He clapped his hands together and bowed his head in thanks, "Now let's dig in!"

"NARUTO!"

"Shit!" the unfortunate blonde tipped over his beloved ramen all over important documents as both Shikamaru and Gaara barged into his office screaming at the top of their lungs. He tried to save the most important documents from the delicious mess but had no luck and stood covered in ramen and soaked papers. He glared at the two who stood pale and awkward in his doorway, "What?"

"We saw one‼ And it spoke‼"

"Stop speaking together. It sounds weird."

Shikamaru looked from the mess to his Hokage then shook it off, "We saw one. They're real and they can talk."

"They being what exactly?"

"Dragons."

"So let me get this straight," Naruto began to ring out his Hokage robes in pure annoyance, "when I think that the dragons are involved, and real, in this situation I get called insane and told to think like a normal parson. But now that I'm over the fact and trying to look for a logical explanation you two come barging in, make me destroy my lunch and these documents that the elders are going to kill me for ruining, and suddenly have a change of heart. Now what would you do in a situation like this Gaara?"

Gaara swallowed gently, having never seen Naruto this angry before, "I would most definitely be upset…"

"Would you ask the two to leave?"

"Naruto listen please, we saw a dragon and it spoke to us. We actually saw two. The point being what Yuka said was true and that all the Kages have been invited to the top of Dragon's Peak to meet with the leader of those that live up there."

"You're crazy."

"No I was wrong and I'm man enough to admit it," Gaara calmly bowed apologetically knowing that it still didn't calm the fuming Kage down, "we have until tomorrow to get ready to leave."

"We? Tomorrow?"

"I made a deal with Yuka…"

"WHO'S YUKA?"

"Oh! She's the girl Ei sent you. One of her friends, Kaida, came her to find her and we ended up being attacked by the black dragon."

"So she attacked you?"

"No that was her friend."

"Yuka?"

"No."

"So Kaida?"

"What are you talking about?"

"What are you talking about?!"

"Kaida and Yuka's friend attacked us because apparently she doesn't like humans but her friends intervened and we're safe."

Naruto frowned as he picked up his empty ramen container, "That's what you think…"

"Anyway, I talked with Yuka and they're going to come collect us tomorrow at midday," the Kazekage finished his tale and realised how idiotic and insane it sounded out loud.

Naruto appeared to be thinking the same thing, "Finished?"

"Yes."

"Okay. You can leave now."

Shikamaru sighed and rubbed the back of his head, as much as he wanted to pretend it never happened those dragons scared the crap out of him, "I'll buy you as much ramen as you want and explain to the elders that I spilt my lunch on your work. You just have to sort out two guards and someone to cover you while you and Gaara are at Dragon's Peak."

"Deal!" Naruto dumped the paper mess and swished around his desk, "You can take over while we're gone. Now let's go eat."

* * *

"Yuka, you've done me proud," Kaura's old voice sparkled happily in the dark of her home, "so only two of the Gokage are coming? No matter. I'm sure they will be able to convince their peers to be so open minded soon enough. Who knows maybe we may even be able to learn something from them."

"I do hope so."

"They can stay in the spare building close to the Kou group. They're the most trustworthy not to harm our visitors."

"Agree."

"I'll send for you once I'm ready."

Noting the final sentence as her cue to leave Yuka gave a small nod, and slowly scuttled her way out of the grand mistress' home. Never before had she felt that she had actually achieved something worthwhile but this made her feel so important. She sniffed lightly and caught the scent of human of her, Yousei was right she did smell. The Ryūzoku didn't have scents, just like dragons, which was why they could hide in plain sight for so long. She changed her course and headed towards the natural hot springs that was located close to the Sori group's building. She wasn't surprised when she saw the other two there, "Yousei, you need to learn to keep your stupid mouth shut."

"Just because you don't have the courage to say what you think," the small girl sniped as she rinsed out her long hair, "stay over that side until you're clean. I hate that smell on you."

Kaida giggled childishly, a blush not from the springs planted on her face, as she swam around the large pool, "Can you believe how cute they were? I mean they were H, O, T, hot!"

"What is she talking about?"

Yuka disrobed and quickly slipped into the steaming bath, "I think she's talking about the Kazekage and his interrogating friend."

"Don't make me puke," Yousei joined her friends in the water, the comfort of the baths not showing on her face, "all humans are disgusting. No matter what their physical structure, underneath they're all vile creatures that run purely on revenge and jealousy. Exactly what about that do you find attractive?"

"I bet they have abs."

"Disgusting."

"And really, really big muscles."

Yuka laughed lightly and gave Yousei a small friendly nudge, "You could learn something from her, take a load of and look around a bit. I have and a few of the shinobi out there are very, very good looking. You won't find one like that around here."

"All the men around here work hard for what they do."

"Bloody hell Yousei, they order us around all day every day. They're fat lazy shits who don't respect us. You really want to spend the rest of your life with one of those things?"

"Don't be so vain, it's what on the inside that counts."

"On the inside there is nothing but lard. That stupid Sori propaganda is drilled right into you isn't it?"

"It's not propaganda it's the truth."

"One day you'll learn. I just hope by then you don't regret your life."

Kaida completely ignored her two friends as her own fantasies enveloped her mind…"I wonder if the Kazekage has a brother…?"


	7. Babies Roars And Wetting Pants

Everyone was terrified about what they were about to do. As soon as the girl's showed up the small group of six were heading to the home of dragons and they didn't know if they were ever going to be coming back. But they were out of options now. The blue dragon made itself visible as another green one climbed skilfully out of the trees. The shinobi stood slightly straighter as the large beasts landed in the training area, taking up most of the space of the training grounds. Yuka was first off her dragon, her smiling face not easing the panic in the shinobi, "Is this everyone?"

"Yes," Gaara stepped forwards, seeing as he was the only one who had seen the two girls and one of the dragons before, "This is my older brother, Kankuro, and sister, Temari. This is the Hokage, Naruto, and his two friends, Sasuke and Sakura."

She nodded understandingly and pointed to the emerald dragon she rode on, "This is Tsuki, my companion, she can carry three and the others can ride on Kizoku with Kaida."

"Is it…safe?"

"We managed to do it. Why shouldn't you?"

The group shuffled nervously forwards, the Leaf ninja going to Kizoku and the Sand ninja going to Tsuki. The two Ryūzoku girls giggled softly as the awkward looking shinobi worked their way onto the smirking dragons' necks. Kizoku sniffed lightly in the air as Sakura carefully climbed onto his long neck, "Someone is bearing…"

Kaida groaned lightly and continued to look at the ground, Yuka having banned her from looking at the men, "Please don't start Zu-Zu."

"It is the truth though. Someone is bearing."

"Yes I smell it too," Tsuki shook her head as Temari climbed on hers, "I think I've pinpointed the person as well."

"You have? Well I think I have too."

Sasuke grunted proudly as he wrapped his arms gently around his wife's still petite waist, "It seems we have been caught Sakura. Even the dragons know now."

Yuka climbed aboard Tsuki, Kaida onto Kizoku, and gave a small groan, "If you've finished smelling our guests, we can leave."

"Yes, yes," Tsuki turned around but curved back so she and Kizoku could share a dragon's smirk, "but I wasn't talking about the pink haired girl, there is another bearing."

Wheels slowly turned in everyone's minds, even after taking off the shinobi continued to process it. Once in the air and on their way to the mountain the Leaf ninja heard two very audible screams coming from bellow them.

"TEMARI‼"

* * *

"Be on your best behaviour Yousei, don't go causing unwanted trouble," Yousei ranted to herself as she paced irritably on Momiji's back, "Can you believe them? Just because they want to play with the humans I have to be 'nice' to the filth? This is below me. This is below them! Something terrible is going to happen and it's going to be because of those damned shinobi. I know it."

Momiji laughed lightly at his frustrated companion, the girl could be rather sweet and naïve at times, "You care a lot about your friends don't you?"

"No duh. Who else do I have to rely on here besides Kaura?"

"You have me."

"Yeah I know," she slid down the frowning snout and looked back into his fiery red eyes, "I love you too Mo-Mo."

"Until you leave me for your…lovely…husband…"

"Oh…you heard about that huh?"

"You're nineteen now, you still have a whole year to make up your mind about this," Momiji nipped at the girl as she slid off him, "Don't go rushing into things."

She stuck her tongue out at him and quickly dodged another one of his painful nips, "I'm the oldest ever Sori, everyone else settled down at sixteen/seventeen. I'm already being frowned upon because I communicate with other subgroups."

"So who is the lucky man anyway?"

"Ryuu…"

"Yousei! He's nearly three times your age‼"

"He has ordered me to."

"I'd rather see you marry a human than that pig of a man."

"I can't believe you just said that."

He placed a heavy claw on her dress and effectively stopped her from running away, "Listen to me Yousei. I won't allow you to marry that man, you should marry when you want to not because you have been ordered by the leader from Sori. That man is disgusting if he thinks he can just order you to marry himself."

"He's been a great leader for many years."

"Too many if you ask me. It's time he let someone else take over and make the right decisions," the black dragon lifted his claw and nudged his beloved companion, "Just say the word and I'll take to the very ends of this world."

* * *

Blood slowly dribbled out of Yuka's broken lip as she bit it to keep her laughter suppressed. She had listened to the Sand siblings bicker over Temari's pregnancy the whole journey back to Dragon's Peak, and even as they reached their destination the fight continued.

"How the hell could you get pregnant Temari?"

"Well you see Kankuro, when two people get together they have this special hug…"

"Not funny."

"It's not like I was trying to get pregnant. Would you just drop it already?"

"Is that some kind of bad pun?"

"Oh ha-ha."

"It's Shikamaru's isn't it? It had better be his," Gaara threatened for no reason in particular, "oh it had better be his."

"Look I didn't even know. I don't know how the dragon knew before me!"

Tsuki shook her head in amusement as she crawled over the final ledge and onto the flat top of Dragon's Peak, "We dragons have a keen sense of smell, keener than a dog's, we can smell when other mammals are bearing. I know it sounds strange but that is how we have been made. Please do not take it the wrong way."

"It's kind of hard to do that now."

"Hey Yuka!" Kaida called as she and the others finally landed, "look at this place. Can you believe how busy it is?"

"Indeed, you'd think there was some sort of festival on."

Looking around the rocky terrain the shinobi were terribly confused, a couple of groups of about three or four scuttled past after taking a quick look at the ninja. Apparently this was thriving. They began to wonder exactly how many of people actually lived up on this mountain. Yuka gave a small sweep of her arm and indicated down one of the lanes on the mountain, "Shall I show you to where you are staying?"

"Please," Naruto nodded politely but stared wide eyed at the scenes around him. All kinds of dragons popped their heads around to look at the group before bobbing back to wherever they were hiding, the people doing the same. Obviously the mountain was full of them but they didn't want to reveal themselves. He quickly caught up to Yuka and began to question, "Why is everyone hiding from us?"

She took a while to process his question but answered eventually, "They aren't hiding from you; this is how we normally are. The Ryūzoku have been keeping to themselves and their companions ever since the New Moon Massacre centuries ago."

"New Moon Massacre?"

"It was the night when the shinobi attacked the Ryūzoku and nearly killed off our entire race."

"Sorry."

"Not your fault. You weren't even alive back then. Anyway the survivors of the massacre found their way to the top of this mountain, named it, and since then we have grown back into a somewhat thriving race. It was then that we practically came one with the dragons and the alliance of companions started."

Sasuke gave a bored yawn, "Please do continue with your history lesson."

"I plan to, and I don't care for your sarcasm. The dragons split into three main groups; Kossori, the land dragons, Hikou, the flying dragons, and Omoimasu, the dragons that seek knowledge. The Ryūzoku train beneath one of the groups, deciding at age five, and it is kind different but the same. Omou are the thinking Ryūzoku who spend their time gaining knowledge of the past, strategizing, gaining skills with mapping, interrogation and other things along those lines. I myself am an Omou and we descend from those who have always been looking for an alliance to live with you humans. Kou study under the flying dragons, being the greatest warriors as they train in the sky and with their dragon, the most skilled have even learnt to grow their own wings. Kaida is a Kou and their view point is really they don't care all that much what happens. Then there are Sori, they specialise in stealth, speed and other spy like disciplines which make them extremely hard to catch. Yousei is one and as you can tell they would very much like to see the entire human race destroyed for the actions they made all those years ago."

Kankuro listened as hard as he could be only managed to grasp the basic points, "So whatever group you study in is the kind of dragon your companion is?"

"No way," Kaida answered this time, normally knowing nothing but did know this particular topic, "as you already know, dragons can live you thousands of years and still not die. When they've been alive for about five hundred years they pick a new-born child and mark them as their companion for life, giving the child a part of them that acts as a call," she held up her small whistle, "and it only works when we use it. From there the dragons basically raise us until we're five and then we decide our own discipline and move into lodgings accordingly."

"What about your parents, your siblings?"

"What about them?"

"Where are they?"

"Dunno," she answered simply, "we never knew them, no one has."

Sakura looked at her teammates, knowing their past lives, and felt a small pang in her heart, "Don't you miss them?"

"How can you miss something you know nothing about?"

"I guess that's true."

"Anyway the group we study with basically becomes our 'family' as you would put it," Yuka continued the long history lesson with ease, "but we do similar things to you; we marry and have children, the only difference being that we never see them. That and the men here a fat sobs who think that women should do all the work; hunting, intelligence gathering, planning, fighting, birthing, you name it and we do it. It's pathetic really."

"Blasphemy!"

"Hi Yousei."

The small girl slipped down from the rock she appeared on and glared at her tall friend, "Why are all the Omou so blasphemous? The men saved and looked after us all those years ago and now we are repaying their kindness."

"Brainwashed."

Temari held out her hand to the small girl with curiosity, "You must be Yousei, I'm Temari."

Yousei just stood there and stared at the hand, "Why is the filth talking to me?"

"Not a fan huh? Can I ask as to why?"

"You're nothing but garbage that belongs at the bottom of an active volcano," she began to count of her fingers, "your kind is full of negative emotions like jealousy, revenge and vanity, you have wars, you all smell, and you're incredibly weak."

Gaara folded his arms glaring warningly, the girl was badmouthing his race at his sister and he didn't approve, "You say all of this but you know nothing about who we are."

"You know nothing about who I am."

"That's not my point."

"I don't care about your opinion."

Kaida shook her head softly and didn't really seem to care, "Is anyone else hungry?"

Gaara smirked evilly and slowly unfolded his arms, "You'd be surprised at how friendly we are."

"Please, you're all trash."

He leapt swiftly and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her in and getting the smell of human all over her. She screamed like she was in pain and began to lash out at him, only causing the rest of his family to join in the awkward looking hug. Her screams drew her dragon in and he gave a terrifying roar at the huddled group. Yuka watched calmly as the Leaf ninja nearly wet themselves and the Sand let go of Yousei. She picked up a small rock and threw it at the black dragon, "Behave yourself. Stupid dragon."

Yousei didn't bother composing herself as she ran off, mumbling vaguely about going to scold herself clean. The ninja shifted awkwardly as the dragon slowly stalked after his companion, breathing again when he was out of sight. Naruto cleared his throat but spoke in a slightly higher tone than usual, "So where are we staying?"

"The building just over there," Yuka pointed to a large wooden cabin that looked very hospitable, "and just a note for the future, don't ever try to piss of a Sori again unless you want to get eaten or burnt to death."

"We'll keep that in mind."


	8. Fangirls And The Wobbling Mess

Dawn sprung brightly over the jagged rocks of Dragon's Peak, a beautiful yet unusual view to the still slightly shaken shinobi as they awoke from their uneasy sleep. Opening cupboards to find nothing more than empty spider's nests and dust bunnies scattered around the dark holes. Stomachs growled painfully as the desire for food continued to grow. Naruto always being the first to complain, "You'd think that they'd be courteous enough to at least to put something in the cupboards for us. I'm starving."

"Shut up Naruto."

"That's no way to speak to your Hokage."

"I'm talking to a moron," Sasuke sighed gently as he collapsed into one of the wonky chairs that had been scattered around an uneven table, "not my Hokage. I'm sure whatever happens we'll get, or find, food at some point during our stay. Besides, you don't need to eat any more than the rest of us and are they complaining?"

"…no…"

"No. So be quiet and be patient for once in your life."

"Geez Sasuke, ever since you got married you've been a real pain in the ass."

Sakura snapped her head around, hormones raging violently, "What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Nothing Sakura, you look really pretty today by the way."

"Don't flirt with my wife."

"I'm married too you know."

The Sand siblings stood in an awkward silence, not only were none of them married but they were also all completely terrified about upsetting the mood swinging cherry blossom. Before any of them could interrupt the increasing argument the door did it for them, a few short taps and opening creak made the entire group fall silent. Two pleasantly smiling girls and one heavily glaring one allowed themselves to enter the house bearing all sorts of fresh fruits and cold meats. They placed the dishes calmly on the table and Yuka gave a warm wave, "Did you all sleep well?"

"Well enough," Kankuro picked up a large slice of meat and sniffed it gently, "What is all of this?"

"Breakfast. Or don't you want to eat?"

"No, no, I just haven't seen these kinds of meats before."

Kaida shrugged casually, subtly looking at the sexy ravenous looking blonde to her left, "It's mainly boar, you know, mountain pig, because it is the only tasty beast that lives on the mountain. The other bits are duck when they fly south for the winter. The fruit is mountain fruit from trees scattered all over the place and are actually pretty good."

"Alright then."

"Try it."

"Yes try it," Yousei had moved back to the door way, an evil smirk lingering on her face, "I dare you to."

Naruto stopped with a piece of fruit halfway in his mouth, slowly pulling it back out with caution and replacing it on the plate. Yuka sighed and put it in her own mouth, showing them all that there was nothing wrong with it, "Ignore her."

"Yuka that was a really bad idea."

"Stop being a little bitch."

"I'm actually serious," she smiled once more and threw a little container at her, "you might want to drink that."

After taking a quick look at the unsure faces around her, Yuka opened the container and held it out to them, "It's just water, she's trying to mess with you."

Temari picked up a pink circle of meat cautiously, "Are you sure?"

"If not than you have my permission to bash my head in with whatever pleases you most."

Naruto attacked the plates without a second's hesitation, groaning in delight at the sweet and savoury flavours that wrapped themselves around his taste buds. The others soon followed suit in a more dignified matter before the Hokage could eat it all. Yuka turned to leave and groaned inwardly, Kaida continued to just stand still and stare at the men before her. They were a nice sight.

* * *

The young whelps squawked cheerfully as they chased each other around their little bordered off play area, a group of five young Ryūzoku girls sat silently watching them as they had been ordered to for that day. Obviously they were from different groups and refused to converse with one another. It wasn't until the passing rustle of clothing that they all turned to see the humans walking past very casually, just looking around the local sights, and they all gasped at the sight.

One of the girls ducked behind a rock and watched until they were just in her line of sight, "I didn't know men could look like that."

"None of us did," another joined her, followed shortly by the remaining three, "they all look so…so…"

"Toned?"

"And tight, look at that one's ass."

"It's so perky."

"Nothing's jiggling."

"And they were all smiling."

"Like happy smiling."

"Call me blasphemous but I would love to get my hands on one of those."

"Amen."

"You said it sister."

"I wonder how long they're here for."

"Forever?"

"That would be nice."

"Holy shit."

"What? What did I miss?"

"The one standing next to the pink haired chick, the one with black hair, did you see him brush back his hair?"

"So cool!"

"So freaking cute. I bet he's one of the leaders."

"There's two right?"

"So him and the guy with the makeup?"

"Na the red head, he's cuter."

"Okay so I can have the blonde?"

"Only if you don't mind sharing."

"I wonder if there's more where they're from…"

"I hope so, we might have to move."

"I'll start packing."

"I'm right behind you."

* * *

"Do you get the feeling that we're being watched?" Kankuro questioned as he spotted another group of girls duck down behind a rock, their giggling very audible.

Naruto smirked happily, liking the fact that girls were checking him out but wasn't going to tell anyone, "I noticed it too. I wonder what their problem is…"

"Maybe we're just way too hot to handle."

"Maybe some of us, but not others. AH!" Naruto cowered suddenly as Sakura sent him a death glare, "I WAS TALKING ABOUT KANKURO NOT YOU. I'M SORRY SAKURA, I'M SORRY‼"

She withdrew her terrifying gaze; she was only messing with Naruto because she was bored, and ran her hand through her hair, "So what do you want to do now? I haven't seen Yuka since this morning when she and the others just randomly vanished after giving us the food."

Sasuke grunted lightly, "We've already walked around this place, I don't know how many times, and it's not like we can go anywhere else."

"So we go find her?"

"I don't see any other options."

A surprised squeak escaped Temari's lips when she felt something tug on the back of her skirt. A small yellow dragon had latched onto her and seemed to be playing some sort of tug-of-war with the sturdy material. She laughed gently and continued the game with it, the others stopping to watch her, and bared her teeth playfully, "That's mine."

The dragon growled lightly and pulled again, it was surprisingly strong for its size. The dark material began to rip gently so Temari decided it was time to stop playing and lightly pushed the dragon off with her foot, though it didn't look like it wanted to go. It didn't take long until a young girl came running out of nowhere and picked the dragon up off the ground, a snarl on her face, "How dare you touch the whelp you sadistic bitch."

"Whoa now," Naruto streamed forwards and stood between the two girls, aiming the comment at the sand brothers, "just relax a bit and we'll talk this out. Temari didn't mean anything bad by that, she was just playing with the little…little…thing…"

"It's called a whelp you pathetic moron."

"Sorry, the whelp, and it looked like it was happy and there isn't any harm done," he smiled brightly at the young girl, "right?"

"Ah…" she stood speechless at his smile before smiling back at him and shyly brushing back her hair, "yeah, no harm done…"

"Good!"

"Hey Sara, how dare you brush it off. You call yourself a Sori?" a deep voice rumbled dryly from one of the nearby caves. It took all the strength and willpower of the shinobi not to laugh at the unfortunate looking male before them. His arms looked like pillow cases full of lumpy porridge and his body looked like a chunky uneven mess. His cheeks sagged sadly with paler skin then Gaara's, it made it very comical to look at as he shook his head sadly, "Get away from those vermin."

Gaara looked him over carefully, comparing his own toned body to the large mess in front of him, "No wonder all the girls here are staring at us…"

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You're unpleasant to look at," Sasuke answered simply, his wife laughing quietly behind his back, "How old are you?"

"I'm nine‼"

"Years old? And you're ordering her around like that?"

"She's a woman and women follow the orders of men," he huffed proudly and pointed at the girl who was clearly his senior, "get your ass back inside and make me something to eat."

It enraged Naruto to hear someone being ordered around so unnecessarily, "Don't speak to her like that."

"What are you going to do about it you…you…dumb bum," he laughed loudly at his own horrible joke, "yeah, you dumb bum."

"I will hurt you."

"No you won't you're a dumb bum."

Naruto simply reached out a flicked the boy, not even trying that hard and still managed to make the boy scream in pain. He clenched his fat teeth and charged at the sorry looking Kage, flabs bouncing almost hypnotically, and began to slap at him. Obviously he had no training in any sort of combat as his attacks bounced right off and only made Naruto cringe in pity. Completely bored with the fight now, Naruto pushed the boy away from him and turned back to the girl, "Why do you let him speak to you like that?"

"The men have done so much," her voice had dropped to a whispered awe, like she had just witnessed the most amazing fight ever, "we are humbly to accept the jobs that they bestow upon us."

Kankuro sighed sadly, she sounded like she had been completely brainwashed like Yuka had said, "Well you shouldn't unless they ask nicely and from the look of it you should actually be making them do more. He looked like rotten milk on legs when he was running."

"But…no…"

"Yes, that's what he looked like."

The boy began to cry pathetically, a small scratch on his elbow from when her fell over, and blew on the dark whistle around his neck. A grey wingless dragon appeared not long after and stared quizzically at him, "What happened now?"

"Th-th-the boy hi-hi-hit me!"

"So fight back."

"You're sup-p-posed to!"

"Only when your life is in danger," the dragon scooped the boy up, not bothering to even acknowledge the shinobi, and turned to leave, "it is time you learnt to fight young master."

Temari scoffed even before the dragon was out of sight, she was really starting to dislike this place, "Women are not slaves, if all the men here are like that then we really need to get an alliance sorted. I don't understand how they can live in such a separated society."


	9. Unwritten Laws and A New Foe

"See Zu-Zu, I'm gonna marry that one."

"From what I've heard he's already married."

"Aw, to who?"

"The pink haired girl beside him."

"Oh. What about the blonde?"

"I heard he's married too."

"The other blonde?"

"No, someone else."

"What about the last two?"

"How about if you want to marry them you go up and talk to them?"

Kaida's cheek began to fill a soft pink, "What would I say to them?"

"Whatever comes to mind."

"The only men I've ever talked to have always just ordered me around, you know, tell me what to say," she shook her head sadly, "no, I'm good with just looking right now."

Kizoku stretched over the rocks so the rough material scratched his itchy belly, "Just so you know I'm happy with you marrying a human, I know most dragons and Ryūzoku are against it but I don't think they're that bad. He'll just have to pass a few of my tests first."

"Zu-Zu…"

"I don't want you to marry someone who can't look after you, like the men here. I want a man that will keep you interested and excited for the rest of your life, and preferably I would like him to be strong enough to protect you from anything, including a dragon. That's the type of man I want for you."

"One more thing, he has to look good."

"You're surprisingly vain, you know that."

"What's wrong with wanting to have someone that looks good? All my life I have had to look forward to marrying that," she indicated to one of the Ryūzoku men currently winking at her in an attempt to distract her from the shinobi behind him, "I think I deserve to want something nice."

"I guess that's true."

"Besides, marriage is just two people who agree to spend their lives together," Kaida sighed thoughtfully, "they agree to procreate with each other and then get in trouble if they try to with someone else."

"You make it sound so romantic…"

"Romance would be nice but I have yet to see it in marriage, and don't you dare try to tell me you've seen it because I asked Tsuki and she said that she hadn't seen it."

Kizoku gave another quick scratch to his belly before crawling down the rocks, his soft blue tail knocking his companion onto his back, "You win, now we have to go scouting the desert. You want to invite your future husband?"

"Zu-Zu, shut up."

"Hey, Kaida!"

"Huh?" she turned at the new voice, her 'future husbands' and the other two girls stood at the foot of her dragon, realisation coming to her slowly, "How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough to hear that you're going to the Sand," the blonde girl jumped up beside her, a new focus stuck in her mind, "why would you be going there?"

"Orders, we've been scouting the area trying to find the rogue dragon that destroyed the villages out there."

"Wait, villages?"

"There's more than just the Hidden Sand out there," Kaida was generally surprised, she thought that a Sand Shinobi would've known this, "there's lots of little villages scattered all over the place, near oasis's and the forest edge, and they're all gone."

"Shit," she looked to her brothers, they too were obviously feeling horrible too, "I have to go check it out."

Kaida looked at the concerned boys then to the girl at her side, "Zu-Zu and I can give you a ride, we'll be back before the sun is down."

* * *

Fingers tapped impatiently on what once was the desk of the Kazekage. He'd been waiting for the reports for well over three days now, and his anger was truly starting to show. His cold eyes stared out through the giant hole where a wall should've been as the sands shifted once more. The stupid dragon had finally returned. He didn't bother removing himself from the torn chair as the dragon rose out of the sand, its eyes were sun golden and while its claws were powerful and massive its teeth had been dulled down to numbs. Its voice rumbled at a deep feminine tone, "How long have you been waiting?"

"Too long."

"My apologizes but even dragons get tired, I was lucky to live through the last attack I was so exhausted…"

"I don't care for your excuses," the slender man picked up a picture frame containing the Kage's family and studied it carefully, "are they gone or not?"

"Yes, they're all gone. The desert has been cleansed of all human filth and you are free to start raising your armies. Is there anything else you require for me to do?"

"I'll call you when I'm ready, this is your whistle correct?" he lifted up a black circle with an engraved moon on it, waiting until the creature nodded before continuing, "I'll use it when I need you, until then you can search for the survivors."

"But they aren't in th-"

"I believe that I've already said that I don't care for your excuses, find them and destroy them. You know the deal."

"Yes…master…"

She slowly reclined back into the sand, her golden eyes dimming to a gentle grey. He had all of these dragons wrapped around his finger and they had no way of stopping them. They were beasts that could only function productively when ordered to be a superior race. Tossing the photograph against the wall he finally rose out of the seat, he had no other reason to still be there after all. Snakes slithered out of nowhere and wrapped themselves around his body, he smiled gently at his pets, "Let's go home, surely someone else would have something interesting to tell me by now don't you agree?"

They nodded the reply he wanted to hear. Allowing a small smile to creep onto his paled face the man slowly vanished with the wind, he was going to become immortal and rule over this pathetic little world. Something Obito could never have achieved.

* * *

Hospital beeps were becoming all too familiar sounds for the young wife of the Hokage as she finished up her latest ultrasound with Ino, since Sakura was out. Her worries were obvious, "It's been a whole day Ino, those creatures could kill them all without hesitation."

"You're such a worry-wart Hinata," the blonde scolded with a friendly smile, packing away the expensive hospital tools, "Naruto is the Hokage now, and he's got some of the best shinobi out there with him, if those beasts dare to even try to touch him they'll take it down in the blink of an eye."

"I hope you're right…"

"Of course I'm right, when have I been wrong?"

The Uzumaki wife didn't need a minute to think of an answer, "There was the time that you thought Sasuke was going to propose to you."

"Fine, but that was only one honest mistake."

"The Choji incident, the Shikamaru crisis, the really awkward few months with Kankuro…"

"Okay, when have I been wrong and it doesn't involve me dating someone?"

"A few months ago when you asked to be part of the Chunin exams and you sent all the applicants Ichiraku Ramen instead of the Forest Of Death because you took Naruto's note to me instead of the location of the next round."

That memory had been forcibly removed from Ino's mind and she was not happy about being reminded about it, "That one wasn't my fault."

"I'm pretty sure that the note had my name on it."

"It wasn't. My fault."

"Okay, okay, you're always right Ino," Hinata heaved herself off the bed and gave up on her temporary doctor, "are you finished for the day or should I wait?"

Ino began to wash her hands, unfazed about what just happened, as she thought it over carefully, "I think I've got a few more patients to check up on before I can go home but I've already called Neji, he should be waiting for you outside."

Hinata gave one final thank you before waddling her way down to her awaiting cousin with a new spring in her step, faith restored in her husband's safety. Of course her cousin wasn't as faithful as she was, his face was hard and his eyes were cold, "How could he just leave you here by yourself? You're due any day now."

"You'd be doing the same if you were in his position."

"I'd send capable shinobi so I could be with my wife while she is in labour."

"I know you're upset about him leaving but he'll be back," Hinata smiled lovingly as she rubbed her overflowing belly, "he'll be here for when the baby is born, he wouldn't miss it for the world."

"He's chasing mythical beasts."

"They're real! You know this Neji, he's with the beasts trying to find out what they want."

"That's if they haven't already eaten him."

As the comment slipped off his tongue, Neji knew that it was the wrong thing to say. Hinata's tender hand began to grasp uneasily at her baby belly, her skin paling and her eyes welling up with painful tears. He shook his head apologetically and placed his hand over top of her shaking one, gently rubbing the unborn child, "I didn't mean to frighten you, I'm just upset that he's not here with you like a husband should be. He managed to pull us all through the war with minimal casualties, he brought back Sasuke which has nearly doubled our strength, he became Hokage without any hassle and even won over your father for your hand in marriage. He'll be able to survive a few fairytaled creatures."

"You don't sound like you believe it yourself."

"Forget everything I said Hinata, I didn't mean any of it," trying to find something to distract her he waved his arms around the passing shops, "What do you want to eat?"

She already knew, she had been craving it ever since he left, "Miso Pork Ramen."

"Are you sure?"

"It's all I want."

* * *

The place seemed untouched but Kaida could tell from the sky, "A dragon has been through here, and someone with it, but they didn't leave or arrive together."

"How can you tell?" Temari tightened her arms around the driver's waist, not quite at ease about the whole 'riding a mythical beast' thing, "Everything looks exactly the same as when we left just over a week ago."

"It's fascinating how time flies when exciting things happen."

"Wasn't what I was thinking but I guess it's true, are you going to answer my question?"

"Oh? Sure," she slowly lead them down closer to what was left of the Hokage mansion, pointing at a subtle unnatural circling pattern in the sand at the base, "a sand Kossori can travel beneath the sand like water, the circles are where it come up for air or in this case it seems like it came to talk to someone."

Temari looked over her shoulder and watched the sand, "I don't see tracks, how can you tell that someone was here?"

"The scent."

"Scent?"

"Yeah, both the Ryūzoku and dragons don't have a scent which is why we've been able to hide from you all for so many years. Humans have scents and since we don't have one we are able to pick up yours very easily, like I can smell it from here."

"How do you know it isn't from me?"

"Men and women smell different, and each human has a subtly different smell."

"So who was here?"

"No clue."

"Well that's helpful," Temari gladly jumped from the dragon into her brother's office, picking up the shattered frame of her family with a sigh. She was standing in her home and it was uninhabitable, she would give anything to bring it back to its former glory. Kaida landed close by to look at the picture, Temari smiled herself and held it out a bit more so it was easier for them both to see, "We took this picture the same day that Gaara became Kazekage, it's one of the better memories."

"That's sweet."

"Yeah," removing the picture and carefully putting it away in her pocket she went back to investigation, "so the person that was here was human? I thought dragons hated humans."

Kaida nodded and sat herself down in the half destroyed chair, "Most do, some don't, but I've never heard of a dragon revealing themselves to a human, it's kind of against an unwritten law. So I don't see how any of this works."

"But it is still important information, and all that we need," Kizoku sniffed the air, checking for any nearby creature, and shook his head sadly, "there's nothing more here for us to see."

"Come back later?"

"That's the plan, give whoever it is time to return."

Temari wanted to speak out and look for more clues but knew better; she may have been in her home but it wasn't her territory. She climbed back onto the scaly back and began to finger the picture in her pocket, at least she was able to retrieve something of importance besides vague information.


	10. The Unwanted Marriage

Arms folded, patience gone, and the stench of humans hanging around was too much for Yousei, she would give anything to be able to pull out her little daggers and slit the throats in front of her but that would be going against their laws. She looked at the lot in front of her and simply stated, "Never."

"Come on sempai, you can do anything," a group of young girls, barely hitting puberty, pleaded pathetically to their senior, the blonde girl leading was actually on her knees begging, "all we want is a hair clipping, we don't care which one it's from."

"That is disgusting. What section are you girls from anyway?"

"Well, I'm an Omou, those two are Kou and she's a Sori."

"Don't you know that is forbidden for the groups to interact before you are of age."

"We're of age."

"The age is fifteen which you are clearly not."

"Sempai…"

Yousei's eye began to twitch, what were those shinobi doing to her people? "Get back to training, and I don't ever want to hear you requesting my assistance for something so meaningless again. Do you understand me?"

"Yes sempai…"

The group dispersed, defeated, back to their individual training leaving Yousei to chew on her hair in frustration, a bad habit she had had for her entire life. Munching gently she stormed past the others training, there was so many out today which was also frustrating. Ryūzoku had always kept to themselves but lately have been taken to trying to impress the stupid guests, well the girls were while the boys sulked in the houses or with their tutting companions. Things were changing and they were changing too fast.

* * *

Yuka rubbed her tired eyes, she had been up all night making sure no one broke into the visitors rooms, and gave a weary sigh, "No, I don't know when they'll be back. It all depends if they found anything or not and how exhausted Kizoku would be, it's not exactly a short distance to fly you know."

"I asked if my sister was safe," Kankuro continued the conversation while waving to a group of girls who were busy sparring, "you know, what if the dragon eats her?"

"I'm sure that he'll find something else to eat besides your sister…"

Gaara, however, was ignoring the giggling locals and his brother's 'concern' as he had other matters on his mind, "When will this meeting be held exactly?"

"Well, Kaura is very tired at the moment and you're too busy worrying about your sister so basically when everyone is ready."

"That was an extremely vague answer."

"It's the only one you're getting. Anything else?"

"Yes, what is she doing?"

"Oh, her?" directly heading their way was Yousei, still chewing profusely on her hair like a starving rabbit, but it didn't concern Yuka in the least, "She does that when she's pissed and trying not to hurt someone. Mind you I haven't seen her chew that hard since the day Kaida nearly broke her whistle…"

"You know I really don't get her," Kankuro stopped flirting with the locals long enough to join in the conversation, "everyone else seems to be happy to see us so why not her?"

"Yousei's year group was probably the most brainwashed, you won't see any of her year group because they're already married and therefore banned from ever leaving their houses and husbands."

"That doesn't sound too good."

Yuka nearly fell over at his stupidity, "Of course it's not good, they're slaves and don't even realise it because of their upbringing. I'm just glad that Yousei has chosen not to be married and is still fighting otherwise we'd be losing our best spy."

"Thanks Yuka but you should probably know," Yousei pulled the hair from her mouth as she meet with the trio and joined in their conversation, keeping downwind from the shinobi, "I'm engaged and therefore retiring."

"You're nineteen…"

"I've had this lecture from Momiji, I'm getting married so deal with it."

"Married at nineteen, sounds like hell to me," the puppeteer decided to voice his opinion, there was nothing else for him to do after all, "so what is your husband, like ten or something?"

"Shut up pig."

"Hey," he held his hands up in a fake defence, "I'm just going off observations here, little brats back talking to their superiors and what not."

Yousei began to tap the handle of the blade on her thigh, contemplating whether or not to cut him in front of her friend, "Your observations are off, he's actually fifty four."

Oxygen escaped all of the warriors, no idea what to say to the statement. Eventually Yuka choked up words, spurting them out painfully, "Not Ryuu! That man should've retired twenty years ago when he had that series of heart attacks."

Completely lost Gaara raised his hand, "Ryuu? Please explain."

"Fattest piece of lard you will ever meet, hasn't left his house in six years and is current leader of the Sori."

"Well, love does strange things…"

"What's love got to do with it?" both Yousei and Yuka became generally curious, having heard the word from their companions but never fully knowing the term, the smaller girl speaking out with all thoughts of cutting gone from her mind, "we're talking about marriage. Is there some connection between the two?"

Yuka pulled out her notebook, ready to take notes, "What does it even mean?"

"What does it feel like?"

"When does it happen?"

"Does it hurt?"

"Is it real?"

"Can you touch it?"

"What do you mean by the term 'falling in love'?

"Does that hurt?"

"Yousei don't be stupid, it's like a drink right?"

"I thought it was a book?"

"How do you fall into a book?"

"How do you fall into a drink?"

"It's liquid!"

"But cups aren't very big."

"You can still fall into them."

"I guess, but that means you can break it right?"

"Whoa girls take a breath or something," a small chuckle escaped Kankuro as he was interrogated, he never thought he'd have this kind of conversation with anyone…not even his naïve younger brother, "what you are asking is a very complicated subject and not a matter that can be explained very easily. If you want to know about it we'd have to go somewhere to have a proper conversation."

Yousei quickly returned her hand to her thigh, pulling her dress material back and revealing the knife attached to her upper leg, "Touch me and you will bleed."

"I wasn't planning on touching you at all."

"It's a good idea."

"I'd like to see more of your leg though so if you want to lift your skirt a little higher…"

There was a quick flash of metal as Yuka caught Yousei's hand, Gaara's sand also in the mix, holding her knife away from Kankuro's throat. He wasn't fazed, he had prepared himself for it, but none of that stopped the fact that the knife grazed the very outer of his skin. It took a bit of effort on her part but Yuka managed to push the blade back to its owner, shaking her head in disappointment, "Don't attack the guests."

"Whatever," the blade returned to its holder while Yousei backed up slightly, "I don't even know why I'm still standing around, I have a wedding to plan."

She didn't wait around long, going back to her hair munching and jumped over the surrounding rocks to escape. Yuka let out a small sigh once she was sure her friend was well out of ear shot and turned to the two shinobi, "You really want to do me favour?"

A small smile lingered on Gaara's face as he raised an invisible eyebrow, "What would that be?"

"Help me stop this stupid wedding anyway you can."

"What's in it for us?"

"I have a dragon, you have sand."

"It's a deal then."

* * *

The rush of beating wings made a few heads turn before going back about their business, it was just a dragon returning what was so great about that? The blue claws landing gently and a loud yawn echoing around the stones, Kizoku lay his head on the ground and let his heavy eyes start to close, "We're back. Get off."

"Aw, poor Zu-Zu," Kaida was first off so she could give her companion a small kiss of thanks, "how about I clear out the hot springs and we take a nice long bath huh? I'll scratch your belly."

"With my scrubbing brush?"

"Yes with your scrubbing brush."

"Alright, you win," he slowly got back to his feet and followed the two girls up the winding paths of Dragon's Peak in search for the others. Of course it didn't take long since Kizoku was very keen to go bathe and he pounced at the group he spotted, his voice sounded raspy and tired, "Don't run, please don't run."

Temari slid over the scales and jumped into her two startled brothers, "What did I miss?"

"You're okay, good," Kankuro sighed relief at her safety, quickly recovering from it and getting back to the topic at hand, "so what exactly do you want us to do about it?"

Yuka shrugged casually and gave Kaida a friendly welcome back wave, "I don't know, I've never had to deal with a situation like this before."

"Well you know her, we don't."

"Yeah I know that she's as stubborn as a mule and she won't listen to a damn word that I say have to say to her."

"And we'll do any better?"

"Let me guess," Kaida rose her hands to her head and began to gently massage her temples, "you're talking about something stupid that Yousei is going to do."

"You're not one to talk Miss I-Fall-Off-My-Dragon."

"Shut up, besides I know how to fix the problem."

"What's the problem?"

"Doesn't matter, just get her and meet me in the hot springs in ten minutes."

She left without another word, leaving the others to stand in confusion. Eventually Yuka returned to her senses, remembering the others around her, and pointed down one of the many paths, "The hot springs are this way, you're welcome to join us."

Blood slowly began to drip from Kankuro's nose, "You have mixed bathing?"

"Well…I guess we would but the men don't bathe much."

"Gross."

"Yes. So if you find your friends feel free to bring them along, you guys really need one…"

She too ran off without another word, leaving the siblings standing in yet another confused silence. Mainly they were surprised at how quickly the girls changed subjects or made plans and acted on them without another thought on the matter. A few awkward seconds passed before something clicked in Gaara's head, "Did she just say that we smelled?"

"I think so."

"Yes she did."

* * *

Steam wafted gently, rising out of the natural hot springs on the top of Dragon's peak, giving a warm and comfortable feel even before people slipped into the boiling water. Chirping giggled from the young local girls began to break the tranquil feel of the hot springs and that only increased with the incoming shinobi. Yuka couldn't stop her eye from twitching in anger at the base of the springs, her orders once again being ignored, "Get out right now and get back to training."

"Oh my God they're actually heading this way."

"Do I look alright?"

"You're naked, of course you look alright."

"What should we do?"

"Get out!" she tried again but was completely ignored. The shinobi, who now stood at the base with her, being the only main concern in their little busy brains. Being ignored becoming too much for Yuka her fists began to shake in straight frustration, "Bloody hell, GET OUT‼"

"Get out."

A soft, familiar, twinkle was terrifying to the juniors in the springs, making them all jump out and vanish before the voice could speak again. Each of the visitors sighed happily and slipped into the pools with ease, thankful that the amount of steam covered them up completely, a deep sigh escaping the Hokage, "This feels so goooood…"

"Glad you like it," their host quickly followed suit and dove in, swimming around a bit before resurfacing and waving into the mist, "come on in Yousei, the water is great."

Feet landed gently at the top of the pools, the owner being not the least bit amused, "Why the hell did you call me here?"

"To have a bath. Why else?"

"I'm fine."

"Get in or I'll get our visitors to hug you again."

The threat was enough to get her into the water, not happy, but she still got in the water. An eerie silence hung over the now cooking group as they settled into what felt like an uncomfortable truce, the shinobi being too frightened to even converse amongst themselves. Hoping for some sort of distraction which was quickly fulfilled when a reptilian looking creature jumped in, sending water flying everywhere but leaving plenty of room for the other visitors to swim around in. The dragon rolled over onto his back, his dark eyes swiftly catching onto them, "Hello there, I see you found the baths alright."

Now unnerved about the dragons, Sasuke gave a sharp nod, "Yes we did, I didn't realise that dragons bathed."

"Of course we do, we made these springs large enough for even Momiji to fit into and still have lots of room for others to still bathe."

"How thoughtful."

"I'd like to think so."

"Alright I have the scrubbing brush and now we just have to wait for Yousei to show up," Kaida quirked without even bothering to observe the situation.

"I'm already here moron."

"Oh, hi Yousei!"

"Idiot."

Starting to scrub the dirtied underbelly of her purring dragon, "So you know why we are here right?"

Yousei simply jumped up and began to scrub with a pumice stone she always brought with her, "Yeah I'm helping already, you're so see through Kaida."

Speaking from the heavy mist, the Kazekage spoke his piece, "She was going to convince you to not get married."

"You're getting married? Wait. Who said that?"

Kizoku blew the steam away, letting all members in the springs see each other for the first time. Seeing the bare toned bodies of the Leaf and Sand shinobi for the first time gave all the Ryūzoku girls light blushes, and small smiles. All thoughts about why they were actually there vanished completely. It was no surprise that Yuka was the first to recover, and to quickest to spot her friend's reactions, "Stop staring Kaida, it's rude."

"Hu-efh-sd f-efa-fsed."

Flexing his tanned muscles, Kankuro gave her a warm smile, "You'll have to use your words."

"Wow you guys look good."

"We know."

"Bet you can't beat me in volleyball."

"What?"

A ball seemed to appear out of nowhere and smacked him in the face, Kaida recovering from her shock and now looking for competition, "It's something to do instead of just lazing about, so be a man and hit back."

"You're on‼"

The duo began to beat the poor ball between each other, with kunoichi and two Leaf shinobi joining in also. Yuka drifted over and joined the Kazekage in relaxation, never really seeing a point in working up a sweat when the heat did that for her, "See we're not that bad."

"We aren't either," he replied, eyes on the game but focused on the girl behind it, "I wish your friend knew that."

"Don't hate her, she'll come around in time I hope."

"I think I've come up with a solution to your marriage problem though."

"Oh?"

"She's a spy correct?" Yousei slipped off the dragon and grabbed a towel for her nose, seeing the blood dripping from it made him smirk lightly, "We could use someone in the village like that to get messages to the other villages or to find information we don't contain."

"Move her to the village?"

"It would stop the wedding."

"And give her time to look at the local cuisine," now loving the idea Yuka began to get excited, "it's perfect Lord Kazekage, I'll tell Kaura and she can go back with you when you leave."

Gaara began to get slightly worried with Yuka's intentions, "Sure…"

* * *

Off in the distance the topic of conversation finally stopped the blood from escaping her nose. She hated herself for being attracted to the shinobi, and was completely jealous of the fact that Kaida was so at ease with them. Yousei looked at her blood soaked towel then back at the pools, deciding to leave before she had second thoughts about her stupid marriage.

No! Her rightful marriage.


End file.

Naruto, Fantasy, Humor