Leaving the Valley

Natsume stayed in the stone room until it became dark. She could still vaguely hear sounds of fighting and destruction. It wasn't until the moon was reflecting light through her little window that the terrible chakra was sealed away once more. Someone knocked on her door and called her outside. "Reto-sama is calling for you."

After being led through the village, she could see signs of ruin and piles of sand that were slowly being cleaned up by the sand shinobi. There were several civilians being escorted out of bunkers and back to their homes. Natsume could sense that the shinobi escorting her had the chakra reserves of a top-ranking shinobi. Based on his outfit, he had a high status in the village.

Natsume was led into the central building. She felt a breeze from the halls and guessed that there must have been some damage here as well. Outside a door, she could hear people inside arguing. "… We can't keep this up, Reto! The demon is uncontrollable. Those monks are scam artists."

"The monks have guarded the secrets of the desert for hundreds of years! Why don't you just spit on your ancestors!?"

"The seal has been weakening more frequently. The inheritor of the seal is not as capable as the previous generation. It's only a matter of time that the demon breaks out when Reto-sama is too far from the village to help."

"Enough! I have heard your concerns. I will consider our next action. Return to the relief and rebuilding. We will reconvene in the morning." Reto ended the meeting since everyone's emotions were charged so no real conversation could be had. The disgruntled councilmen left the room. They gave Natsume a glance and frowned but didn't say anything. "Bring Tsume in."

Looking side the room, she saw the large section of wall destroyed. From there, she could see the main destruction. Much of the back village was demolished. The only building that stood still was a temple made from a different kind of material than the rest of the village. It seemed to predate anything else here. "Seen enough?" He grumbled. Natsume turned back to face Reto, slightly embarrassed at how she was staring.

Reto cleared his throat and went straight to the point. "The truth is the Wind daimyo's people sent you out to die. There is no rebelling clan in the area in your mission. I intended to give you an opportunity, but the village cannot accommodate any variables at this time. I will have someone escort you through the desert."

Natsume understood the situation, and although it was regrettable, she decided not to push it. She sighed as she exited the office. A lot of time was wasted in the desert, and she didn't gain anything substantial. However, Natsume was hopeful for the future. Seeing the state of Sunagakure before the true formation of the village was interesting.

"Where do you wish to go?" The sand shinobi that escorted her spoke up, breaking her train of thought. After thinking for a while, Natsume decided on a route.

"Land of Earth." The man frowned but nodded. And like that, Natsume was guided out of the valley. As they exited through the cleft, Natsume turned back to give the village one last look. The shifting sands gave this place a timeless feel to it. Perhaps the next time Natsume visited, the world would already know the names of Madara and Hashirama.

The two traveled in silence for three days. Natsume was not much of a talker anyway, so she didn't mind. Since she was feigning to be weaker than her true strength, she had to stop repeatedly to rest and recover. On the fourth day, they made a slight detour at an oasis. There was a nomadic merchant tribe already set up which allowed the duo to restock supplies for the remaining journey.

Natsume was told that it would take seven more days to make it to the border of the Land of Earth so she made a gesture of buying more food and water. Although she had packed a lot in her custom storage scrolls, those were better saved for emergencies. While shopping around, Natsume found a young girl that was selling hand-made trinkets. One was a sash made of coarse fibers depicting a god-like figure coming to kneeling people and granting them gifts.

"What does this mean?" Natsume asked the girl.

"Ah, this is a story passed down for generations. One day, the Great Sand Sennin appeared before the First Tribe and granted the bravest warriors the gift of power." She spoke enthusiastically and with pride. Natsume resisted stroking the girl's hair since the way her expression lit up was very cute.

"Who is the first tribe?" Natsume was curious and kept asking questions while she felt the coarse material the sash was made of.

"The First Tribe is the ancestor of all desert tribes! The brave warriors who received gifts broke away to create their own tribes."

After going through her memories, she could not find anything related to this information. This was either unknown in the future or was reinterpreted in the future. Perhaps the so-called Sand Sennin was actually the Rikudo Sennin or Asura. Nevertheless, she was curious about this seemingly forgotten or lost history. This small merchant tribe seemed to heavily favor oral tradition and artistic depictions of their history, so it was likely they did not have written records.

"What kind of powers did those warriors get?" Natsume asked another question, but the little girl frowned. Having misunderstood the reaction, Natsume gave her some Ryo and bought the coarse sash. The girl quickly took the money but still had a nervous expression.

"Actually, big sister, I only know a little…" Then she seemed to figure out a solution and beamed again. "Ah, my uncle knows everything! Follow me, big sister! Uncle seems a little mean at first but he's nice, I promise! What's your name big sister? My name is Aya." The girl took Natsume's hand and dragged her toward a tent while talking. Natsume smiled and followed along.