First Kazekage

The puppets were eventually disabled by the sand from continuous blows from the sand hammer. Seeing this, the brown-haired man stuck the rod back into the ground to replenish the hammer. At this point, he was visibly panting due to the exertion of fighting twelve high level puppets. Fortunately, the sand he used on the scorpion was finally taking effect. Its movements became slower and more rigid. With one last final swing, a hammer ten times the size of the original was flung out, crushing the puppet and sealing it in sand.

The sand shinobi immediately threw several sealing tags on the sand coffin, causing fuinjutsu patterns to spread across the surface of the sand. Once it was complete, the brown-haired man let out a sigh of relief. However, Natsume noticed something strange in the last moments of the puppet master. She secretly activated her sharingan while no one was paying attention to her and saw a chakra signature darting out underground once the barrier went down.

Natsume pulled out a scroll filled with explosive tag kunai and launched them like a carpet bombing in the direction that the chakra was going. The sand shinobi noticed this and thought that Natsume was trying to interrupt their work, but before they could make a move the brown-haired man stopped them. The dozens of kunai landed and exploded in succession. The concussive force from the surface was enough to launch the sand away in every direction revealing the fleeing puppet master below. He was already weakened from the fight and was caught off guard by the explosions.

The brown-haired man made a hand seal and then gripped his hand into a fist causing the puppet master to be lifted into the air with the sand. The sand shinobi quickly arrived around the bundle and sealed it the same way. Once the sand hardened from the fuinjutsu seals, the man let go with a groan. Sweat trickled down his face from the exertion. He looked over at Natsume and saw that she was calm during the whole exchange.

"What clan are you from?" he asked after a deep breath.

"I don't represent a clan."

"What are you doing in my desert?" He crossed his arms and exuded an air of authority. Natsume raised an eyebrow and handed him the scroll she was given by the daimyo's people. The moment she took out the scroll the man smirked. "I see, you must have come from the Land of Fire."

Natsume didn't confirm nor deny. She had her own thoughts on the matter and her conjecture was just confirmed. The desert was not a simple place, and it seemed that the kazekage's faction was already gathering. Her desire to join the sand shinobi grew. From her memories, she knew that the first kazekage unified the desert to create Sunagakure. Perhaps this was always the plan, Hashirama may have just accelerated the process.

"I am called Reto, the leader of the sand shinobi. Since you have helped me and are seeking refuge in my land, I will allow you to come to our village."

"Thank you for your hospitality… My name is Tsume." She replied with a look of gratitude, but her heart had almost given her away. She wasn't able to remember much about the history of Sunagakure, but the name of the first Kazekage was vaguely familiar. However, once she heard it and matched the description, she knew who she was facing.

Despite the offer to join them, Natsume could clearly feel the hostility from the sand shinobi. Since she could have just let the puppet master go and went about her business, they gave her the benefit of the doubt. However, in this time of war, shinobi would go to great lengths to infiltrate other powers. Betraying their comrades to win the trust of the enemy was despised but not unheard of. Clans with little honor or in cooperation with other clans could be quite unscrupulous.

The puppets were stored in scrolls and the puppet master's sand seal was carried on their way. They traveled day and night without stopping. The desert's influence had reduced since she began traveling with Reto and the others. Natsume took this time to scan her memories for all things related to Sunagakure. The information was quite scarce but would expand later in the future. She would just have to wait to see the current state of the village.

The sands and desert would occasionally beguile her senses, but Reto still confidently led them forward. After several days of travel, the terrain became rockier. A sandstorm had brewed during their travel, but it seemed to completely avoid the group as they continued without stopping. Meanwhile Natsume had began to notice something that bothered her greatly. Despite being careful, she could feel sand in her boots and under her clothes.

While Natsume complained internally, the sandstorm instantly subsided revealing a giant mesa. A small crack in the front of the mesa seemed to lead into the depths like a cavern. She overlayed the image in front of her with her inherited memories and felt a bit in awe. It was completely different to experience the magnitude in person. Reto smiled when he looked over and saw her expression. He was very proud of his home!

Several sand shinobi appeared before the group and bowed toward Reto. "Reto-sama, you've returned! The seal is weakening again!" As if responding to his words, an explosion and howl was heard from within the village. Reto frowned and left immediately. This put Natsume in an awkward position since he never clarified her status. The sand shinobi looked at her and decided it was best to gently detain her until the disaster was dealt with.

The buildings inside were very simple and there were many civilians walking around. Unfortunately, she didn't get a chance to explore since she was immediately placed into a room near the entrance of the village. The buildings continued to shake occasionally for hours before finally stopping. Natsume was surprised that the Ichibi had already been sealed! Although, it seemed that the Land of Wind's fuinjutsu was underdeveloped.