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| - The sun stood proudly in the sky, the scorching heat making the air itself evaporate causing anything within the distance ripple. Among the endless sands walked Eimii, lost in the dunes. She looked around saying aloud, "Where are they? Damn my sense of direction." Saphiro was on his way to Sunagakure to spend a week observing the life of a routine shinobi there. His current mission as a Konoha detailing journalist sent him all over the world, and this was his greatest challenge, and largest upset yet. "Whoever assigned me this mission will die after I'm done," he muttered to himself, wiping his sweaty brow with his free hand, for the other was carrying various supplies, "Land of Wind, sure. They should call this place the Land of Heatstrokes!" As she continued to walk through sand, Eimii suddenly had an idea. "I should just turn into something that lives in the desert... A Fennec fox should do nicely." The brunnette stopped walking and began to concentrate on the animal she'd chosen. She clenched her muscles as pain erupted throughout her, she could hear her bones popping ad cracking as they realligned and reshaped themselves. Teeth turned into fangs, nails into claws and her ears travelled up to the top of her head where they enlarged and became more pointed. Upper and lower jaws extending outwards into a muzzle as Eimii growled from the hurt of shifting form, the tailbone growing into an actual tail as her body shrank. Her brown hair changed to a creamy colour and stretching to cover her shrinking form, clothes and skin disappearing under a sea of new fur until only her Leaf headband and crystal heart necklace remained. The pain soon subsided once her now vulpine body stopped at a certain small size, completing the transformation. "Now to find my team." She said to herself. She sniffed the air for their scents, after picking up the distinct smell of ramen, she ran north-west towards the source. "Why couldn't Genzo go on this mission instead?" Saphiro complained, lugging his supplies onward without any enthusiasm, "He likes hard work right?" As he continued onward, his eyes flashed as he noticed a small fox about a hundred or so meters to the east. He watched as it ran for a short while and noticed its chakra signature. Faint, he said mentally, but no animal should have a chakra capacity that large. It has to be something else right? Who knows, I could've discovered a new summoning creature! What a find! Pulling his camera out of bag, Saphiro formed a few hand signals an a disturbance in the world's space-time plane appeared, and he vanished into it. Eimii came to a stop when she sensed a faint chakra spike, she scanned every which way around her to see if she could spot someone or something. Finding nothing, she began walking away, slowly working up into a mild jog. "Strange." She thought. Saphiro then appeared from a vortex about fifty meters above from where the creature was and dropped down to it. Sky diving was a bad idea, he thought, The heat is even worse! But at least the animal is not too far. How do I capture it though? I got it! He then weaved a series of hand signals and shot a a giant ball of wind-enhanced fire around the creature, trapping it in intense flames. Her heart leaped into her throat as she was surrounded by fire, she would have shrieked but wasn't the screaming type. She looked around, she was inside a huge ball made of flames but it didn't really burn her it was just really hot. Luckily the thin layer of fur she had and large ears kept her from overheating. "I've gotta get out of here fast! Then find out who used this thing."The vixen began to think of a way to escape. Saphiro dispelled the fire as he landed next to the fire dome and looked down at the creature in it. "Grah," he scoffed, kicking the sand, "It's not mine to capture. It has a Konoha headband with it. In that case, someone has to own this thing right?" He then kneeled over to the creature and cocked his head to the side, "Hey there. Who do you belong to?" Hearing a distinct male voice, she snapped her head up to find a boy with brown hair and blonde on the ends of his front bangs and brown eyes. He looked like he was around her age, maybe a little bit older. With her shy nature, she flattened her ears against her head, tried to move further away from him while tucking herself into a small ball. She didn't answer not only out of shyness but also wariness, keeping her guard up. "Odd," he said, looking at the creature from all angles and rubbing his chin, "You look like a fennec fox, but why would one be around here? Plus, your chakra capacity is still high, even higher now up close. That is some mighty strong Transformation Technique you got there." He then reached towards the creature with his free hand. "Leg it!" Her mind yelled. Eimii slid away from his outstretched hand, ran up the length of his arm and jumped on to his head before leaping several metres away on the sand. She ran as fast as she could, not caring which way she went just as long as it was away from him. "I really don't want to fight, especially in the desert. But if it comes to that I have no choice." "You can't escape me," the boy said, running after her. As he sprinted after the creature, Saphiro noticed the great heat bearing down on him. He knew that running after it would prove to give birth to a heatstroke, so he would just have to use his signature move instead. He created a vortex and ran into it, reappearing directly in front of the creature, "I'm too fast?" he jeered. The female's greyish-blue eyes widened, wondering how he got there so quickly. She skidded to a halt before turning to run in the opposite direction. "Oh, no you don't!" he shouted, driving towards the creature and grabbing her with both hands. Using his lessons from animal training, he grabbed the creature by the skin on her neck and held her while he got to his feet, "This is disrespectful, but I just gotta know who you are. Why are you out in Sunburn-Land by yourself?" Despite not being able to move much from being held by her scruff, she tucked her tail between her legs and pinned her ears back again, hesitant to answer. "...M-My name's Eimii. Eimii Runō." She answered shyly and quietly, it was practically a murmur. "Eimii Runō, eh?" Saphiro repeated, his green eyes lingering upon the creature talking to him. He knew summoning creatures talked, in fact his wasp did. But, his eyes told him that there was more to him than that. "I'm Saphiro. Saphiro Kimza. Nice to meet you." He then noticed the headband again. "You're from Konohagakure too," he continued, "Why are you all the way out here? "Mission. W-We have to deli-deliver a package to someone i-in Suna." She explained as she analysed Saphiro, he says he's from Konoha but she's never seen him in the village before. She still had to be careful in case he decided to attack. "I guess there is no harm in letting a fellow shinobi off without a hitch," the boy replied, letting the girl-turned-fox go, putting her back on the ground. He looked around and realized that he had lost his bearings while chasing after this girl. "Awesome," he muttered, "Now I'm lost too. I should've kept heading east." "He's met up with someone," Otoshi Nagare said to himself, hidden behind a sand dune about fifty meters away, "And she seems important. No matter. This only means extra targets for examination or elimination. They will both be useful to my little guild." Eimii sat in the sand and used her back paw to scratch her ear. There was an awkward silence for a moment before she hesitantly said, "U.. Umm.. I c-could help you find your stuff if you want." Her ears perked up but she didn't make any other movements, she picked a strong chakra signature. It wasn't quite faint but it was enough for her to sense and she was sure Saphiro could possibly sense it too. Saphiro's breath hitched as he felt a strong chakra signature in the air. It was almost too familiar, but he knew the best way to counter it was to get to safety fast. "I am happy to get your help. We should get going fast," he said, "Before we get caught in temperature spike out here." He didn't want to believe that Otoshi Nagare was around here, but if he was, these two were probably in for a gruesome battle. The young fox nodded and frowned at the boy's breath hitching but also at the look of slight fear or worry on his face. "Does he recognise this chakra?" She asked herself. She deduced that if he does know then it may mean trouble for the both of them. So she took the opportunity to transform again but still intent on basically keeping the same form. She gritted her teeth as her body grew, almost taller than her original form with her bones popping and cracking again. Her form turned into one more reminiscent of a human's but still in her fox body, the digits on her paws extending into fingers and opposable thumbs. She let out a tired breath of air she had been holding in the whole time, this transformation didn't hurt as much as the first but it still did. She hunched over slightly, bending her knees and narrowing her eyes towards the source of the foreign presence. Saphiro looked over at Eimii as she changed and wondered if she actually a shinobi, or some sort of powerful summoning creature. He would've divulged himself in his wit and ask a question, but for now he was more focused on the presense ahead of him. He closed his eyes and opened them again seconds later. His eyes were now a light blue-green and six Y-shaped-like markings appeared in them, glowing from chakra. "Nokerrogan," he whispered to himself before raising his voice, "Otoshi! I know you're there! Show yourself!" Otoshi stepped from over the dune and gazed upon the two people ahead of him, grasping his Steel-Reinforced Cane with both hands, "Saphiro Kimza," he said, chuckling, "The last time we met, you were on the verge of death. If the Hokage didn't intervene, you would've been crushed beneath my heel." "How about we find out who's going to win this time?" the Kimza growled, his brow furrowing deeply. "Know him?" Eimii asked quietly, not taking her eyes off him in case he suddenly charged. As she stared at the old man, she couldn't help but think that this was gonna be one hell of a fight. "Know him?" Saphiro replied, looking at the girl and flashing her a quick grin, "It's because of him I am as powerful as I am now, and the reason I nearly became an international criminal. I can't let him get away! Fire Release: Hollow Flame Bullet!" Saphiro stepped back and launched a large sphere of wind-driven fire at the old man. "Is that the best you have?" Otoshi laughed, "You haven't improved at all! He's a taste of true fire!" He then released a larger blast of the same technique, almost twice its size, swallowing Saphiro's fireball and growing even larger. Eimii sucked in a huge breath of air until she felt like her lungs would explode and exhaled a large ball of water towards the fireball. A massive cloud of steam erupted upon the two opposite elements connecting, cancelling each other out. Taking this chance to dive into the steam ahead, Saphiro raced through it and covered his hand in a mass of sparks and drove his firey palm through Otoshi's chest. Blood splattered the ground as Otoshi stood, smiling wickedly. "Not so fast, little one," Otoshi laughed, a small glint appearing in his eyes. "What the...?" Saphiro gasped, quickly noticing what Otoshi did. My Nokerrogan should've seen through that! "Eimii! Get out of the...!" Otoshi turned out to be a clone, who triggered a massive explosion. Saphiro managed to backpedal away from him and warp behind a sand dune nearby. The explosion knocked Eimii far back into another dune, the loudness causing ringing sounds in her sensitive ears and scorching the fur on her chest and abdomen with a bit of blood marring the girl. She was just thankful that she decided to turn into a werefox when she did, as she picked herself up her wounds already started healing at a rapid pace, new skin growing over burned and new fur appeared as the singed locks fell out. Apart from the few spots of blood, she looked as though she was never injured. "Where's Saphiro?" She asked herself. She thought that he might be in another dune after being hit by the explosion. She went to go find him but stopped when she sensed a presence behind her, she turned and found Otoshi standing a few feet away from her with a calm smile on his face. "It seems as if your dear friend has had a stroke of bad luck," Otoshi said, his arms crossed, "Well, for now, you and I are going to have a bit of fun." He then stepped back and a wind sphere in his hands and grew to about four feet around. The winds is created blew sand around the area like the two were stuck in a sandstorm. "Wind Release: Kamikaze Rasengan! He then shoved the sphere towards the girl as fast as he could. Let's see what happens next, he thought. "Rasengan!?" She thought in shock. "How does he know THAT technique?" Not having any more time to think, Eimii quickly performed two hand signs for a jutsu. "Inu. Mi. Earth Release: Burrowing Like a Worm!" she cried in her mind. She dived into the sand, her hands quickly digging a tunnel for her into the sands to escape the attack. The attack narrowly missed and his hands drilled into the sand, a huge plume of it erupting from where the Rasengan made impact. As the dust cleared, Otoshi saw that the girl was gone. Where did that runt go? Otoshi thought, looking around. Before he could continue searching, Saphiro jumped from out of a vortex and slammed his shin into the left side of his face, hurling him into the ground. "I thought I killed you," Otoshi growled, rolling to his feet. "You thought wrong again," Saphiro growled, diving into another vortex and reappearing at Otoshi's side. He spun on his left foot and gave Otoshi a severe kick to the side. However, Otoshi blocked it and held onto his foot. "Wind Release: Large Spiraling Impulse Technique!" Otoshi shouted, blowing Saphiro away from him, making the boy slam into a sand dune not far away. "Sand Release: Scorpion Vicegrip!" A female voice shouted. Otoshi scanned the area for the girl who made the call, however his searching was interrupted by a giant white pincer erupting out of the ground and capturing the man in an iron grip. The body of a giant white scorpion with blue markings quickly followed its arm out of hiding and landed on the sand with a heavy thud. The female werefox burst out of the sandy depths with a joyful smile. "Who's idea was it to send me on this mission?" Saphiro groaned as he got to his feet, "When I find out who sent me here, I'm going to make them pay hell for all this." As the boy looked around, he caught sight of a white scorpion holding onto Otoshi with its pincers. Is that Asura? he thought, No, the thing lacks its own chakra signature. Maybe Eimii did it. "Do you have any idea who you are fighting against?" Otoshi demanded, "This fight isn't over yet! Earth Release: Antlion Pit!" He then created a large pit around them and used his chakra to convert the sand into quicksand. At the bottom of the pit were huge spikes made of glass. Waves of sand travelled down further into the pit, dragging Eimii along with it. The giant scorpion became impaled on the spikes, falling apart and allowing Otoshi to escape. The girl's breath hitched, panic flooded through her as the sharp glass got closer and closer. Not wanting to end up like her sand animal, she closed her eyes and cried out, "Meijingan!" She opened her eyes, no longer greyish-blue but gold with a black pentagram and her pupils within the centre space. A powerful burst of chakra freed her from the quicksand, sending her metres into the air along with shattered glass and a huge cloud of sand. She backflipped and landed on the ground with a thud, her Kekkei Genkai flaring brightly giving her a more bestial look. "Her chakra just increased many times," Saphiro said, his eyes flashing shortly, "It's like a storm out here, and I'm caught in the middle of it. But, I guess I can play along for a while. Shu Nokerrogan!" His eyes then changed once again, from green blue to a bright blue, and the markings fused to form three complex markings that were dark blue. He then entered a vortex and appeared above Eimii, landing next to her. "Nice eyes," he chuckled. "You're making this hard for me," Otoshi growled, "but I defeated your Shu Nokerrogan before! Fire Release: Great Dragon's Roar!" He then expelled a large blast of flames in the shape of a dragon's head that melted the sand around him into glass. "This could be trouble." She muttered quietly. Eimii decided it was time to shift into another form. The sand around her feet rose and swirled around her like a snake, it lifted her high into the air where more sand shot upwards and enveloped her in a sand sphere. Deep blue markings covered the orb as it spun on an axis, it slowly stopped in mid spin when it began to crack. All was silent for a brief moment before the sphere shattered like glass and a humongous figure was released from inside. Yellow sand rained down on the desert as the beast tipped its head back and roared. Lo and behold, the Ichibi no Shukaku. "I can only do this three times, so I better use it wisely," Saphiro muttered as the fire raced towards him, "Kuguari Style: Mystic Step Technique." Suddenly the air around him became white and his body glowed a pale blue. Saphiro took one step forward, and when his foot touched the ground, he vanished. The fire raced over the landscape, not hitting a soul. "What the hell happened," Otoshi growled, stepping back. "I happened," Saphiro said, standing back-to-back with Otoshi, "You're beaten. I reached full power and that girl had just turned into a Tailed Beast. You should consider running, or at least surrendering." "I'll not running from you!" Otoshi shouted, kicking at Saphiro. The Kimza blocked the attack and jumped back, not wanting to waste another Mystic Step evading that attack. Otoshi then closed his eyes and made a series of hand signsal, "See if you two can handle my trump card!" Sensing a strong attack about to be performed, Eimii poured small amount of chakra into the sand around her and her ally. Thanks to the Shukaku having already large amounts of chakra she didn't have to use much to make the sands shift in preparation for a counter or defence. A growl rumbled in her throat, she looked down at Saphiro wondering if he had any plans for a counter as well. She couldn't help but childishly think in the back of her mind, "Heh. They look like ants from up here." She smirked at her own thought, making her jagged mouth seem wider. Saphiro looked around and used his Nokerrogan to locate Otoshi. Whatever he was doing, it was demanding some time and a lot of chakra. He decided to take this opening to his advantage. Jumping over the sandwall, he jumped into the air and fired a series of fireballs at Otoshi, wondering if that would slow him down. He looked up at Eimii, who was grinning at him. That is so disturbing, he thought to himself. “Too late!” Otoshi shouted, “Your attacks will be futile. Art of the Elders: Energy Absorption!” He then erected a white barrier that swallowed the fireballs around him and negated the damage. “Now it’s my turn.” He then blasted a great degree of fire out of his mouth. A sand dome erupted out of the ground and enveloped Saphiro, protecting him from the intense flames. White smoke rose off the sand, the fire jutsu barely leaving a mark on the shield. Eimii sucked in a giant breath, her belly expanding as air was inhaled. She knew that her attack won't affect him at all but she thought that maybe she could find a weak spot in Otoshi's barrier. She linked her hands together into a double fist and brought down on her stomach, "Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet!" A giant ball of air shot out of her mouth towards the aged man. Saphiro guarded himself, but instantly remembered Eimii’s power over the sand and they were amount a massive amount of it. “That was almost too close,” the Kimza said, watching Otoshi’s barrier from a distance. He had the misfortune of running into that barrier before and it was powerful enough to absorb even his strongest attacks. He had to find a way to make this powerful technique backfire. Maybe there was a limit as to how much energy it could gather. Otoshi watched as the air bullet struck his barrier and the resulting sound nearly made his eardrums explode. Despite being pushed back a few meters, Otoshi was unscathed from the attack and on the offensive again. Cancelling his barrier, he raced towards Eimii and weaved a series of hand signals. The sand around him gathered onto his arms and formed two large stone gloves. "Earth Release: Double Giant Gauntlet Technique!" he shouted, drawing one of the gloves back and punching the tailed beast directly on the snout. The force of the punch made her stagger back a few steps and reel her head back with a pained grunt. It hurt a lot but it didn't feel as though her snout was broken which she was thankful for. Her upper back also arched from the impact and she used this opportunity while he was still in mid-air to rear her hand back and swat him with her massive claws. The force was even greater than his punch, sending him flying into the sand with a large cloud exploding upon contact. Otoshi hit the ground with an enourmous thud and slid to a halt a few meters behind. He got up and ran his across his wounded body and growled lowly, standing to his feet. Before he could move, he was struck in the face by Saphiro's foot as the boy kicked him while jumping out of a vortex. The Kimza punched at the man, but Otoshi erected his barrier in time to deflect the attack and send Saphiro reeling back. "I have had enough of these games," the former Hokage-turned-rouge said, "I am going to enjoy ripping your eyes out of your sockets and sending them to Lord Ziro." "You can tell all of Shinziro to bite me," the Kimza growled, getting to his feet. He then jumped into a vortex and vanished. He appeared above Otoshi and tried to strike the elder with an axe kick. Otoshi was far too quick and grabbed Saphiro's foot, slamming him into the ground harshly. He then summoned his Steel-Reinforced Cane and began to spin it wildly like a tonfa. Seeing that he was going to strike the temporarily stunned boy, Eimii quickly manipulated the sand with her Shukaku form to coil around his body and snatch him out of the way just before the cane came down with a slam, sending sand into the air. The sand wrapped around Saphiro shot towards the female and slowed down when it reached her feet, a pillar of send snaked its way into the air until it reached the desert beast's face. Eimii scanned the Konoha-nin for any wounds, apart from a few bruises and scrapes he looked fine. "Hn. He looks okay... *sigh* but better to be safe than sorry." She made the sand extend towards her and had it place the teen on top of her head. "You... You alright, Saphiro?" She asked. Saphiro slowly came to and gazed upon the girl-turned-beast. A smile spread across his face and he got to his feet, shaking his head. "I forgot how powerful Otoshi is," he said, "Underestimating him is a sure ticket to death. We have to approach him more cautiously. If he manages to summon his Zantetsuken, we're screwed. We can't let him to that." He then looked around and gasped, "What the hell? He's gone!?" Where could he have gone?" Several hundred meters away, Otoshi weaved a series of hand signals and smirked, his eyes flashing behind his glasses. "You couldn't even knock off my glasses, let alone injure me," he laughed, loud enough for the two people ahead of him to hear, "Now, let's see if you get around this. Pyroclastic Flow Technique!" He then blasted a large volume of sand at the two and ignited it with a fire ninjutsu, creating an enormous cloud of superheated gas and rock that could evaporate any sand nearby. Eimii's ears picked up the sound of something rushing at them. Something big. She looked in the direction it was coming from and saw a giant fireball heading towards them, her eyes widened upon realising how fast it was. "I can't make a jutsu in time! There's got to be another way." She thought to herself. She then had an idea. "Up." She whispered. She dropped on all fours, bent her elbows and knees in preparation and jumped as high as she could to avoid the blast, slamming her tail on the ground to give her a bit more lift. Just in time too, the attack zoomed underneath them and off into a further part of the desert. She could feel how the attack left the air scorching hot and it almost made her sweat. Saphiro raced straight towards the attack and warped when he got too close to it. Thanks to the vortex's mechanics, he could weave his way through the gas cloud and not feel any of its effects. He then landed next to Otoshi and punched at him. The Shinziro rouge dodged the punch and jumped back. It seemed to Saphiro that the man didn't want to fight. As the boy stepped back, Otoshi turned into a blast of smoke, revealing it was only a clone the whole time. Otoshi was just a clone? Saphiro asked himself, If a mere shadow clone was this difficult to defeat, I wonder if the real Otoshi is stronger now. Eimii stared at the spot where the Otoshi clone once stood, not looking bothered with the fact it wasn't the real one. "Oh well. Least we're still alive" She hesitantly walked Saphiro, being able to reach him within about ten steps. She stared down at him, waiting for him to say something. The Kimza gazed up at the girl-turned-creature and sighed in relief, bending over and panting, "That was abit harder than I figured," he laughed, his Nokerrogan deactivating, "At least we're still alive to laugh about it. Too bad my supplies are who knows where now." He brushed his hands on his pants and gazed at the desert around him, "Now, let's get to Suna, before something else happens." "Hn." She grunted. The female blinked owlishly and lazily looked around the desert. She figured that with her titanic size it would be easier to spot his things. She soon spotted several unmoving objects over a few dunes. She held up a finger to him as to say 'one minute'. She took giant steps towards the objects, upon getting closer she found them to be survival equipment and other stuff. Eimii carefully picked up each one so they wouldn't be crushed and placed them in her other hand. After making sure she got all of them, she strode back to the male ninja who was still standing in the same spot. She lowered her clawed hand to the desert floor and tipped the supplies and equipment infront of Saphiro. Saphiro walked over to his bag and inspected his supplies. His rations, map, and camera seemed to be in one piece, so that was plus. He knew that if he stayed here for too long, sunset would come and so would the giant scorpions he was told about. The Kimza closed his eyes and activated his dōjutsu again, leering in all directions. He caught sight of what seemed to be giant sand buildings about two kilometers away. "I think that's Sunagakure over here," the Kimza said, his pupils enlarging. "Hn." She grunted again. She placed a hand on the sand and asked, "Want a lift?" She was expecting him to either stay on her hand or go to her shoulder or head. "It'll be quicker if I carry you and you can rest." "I'd just warp there, but I expended enough of my chakra fighting that clone." Smiling lightly, the Kimza boy walked over to the beast-girl's hand and sat down. In his mind whirred many questions, but there were far too many to answer. Besdies, he was tried and he needed rest for his assignment tomorrow. Even if that mission was merely making a newspaper article. Once Saphiro and all of his supplies were resting on her hand, she lifted her hand and held it close to her chest as she began to wander in the direction Saphiro saw what might be Suna's buildings. Knowing that it wouldn't take too long to reach there destination thanks to her humongous steps, they wouldn't have to worry about these giant scorpions that roamed the desert at night. For half of her leisurely pace Eimii kept quiet but she decided to check up on her newfound ally. "...Hey. You still awake?" Saphiro was stirred from his daze and looked around, his dark green eyes contrasting his blonde bangs. "I'm awake," he said, "I just wanna know why Konoha wants me to go to Suna and write a newspaper article. Speaking of missions, I know you weren't some fox for kicks. Are you on a mission too?" As he talked, the boy gazed at the ground below and the group of buildings growing closer. Maybe the scorpion scare wasn't true. An invisible brow was raised at his mission. "Hn. You don't seem like the kind of person who'd be a journalist." Eimii looked ahead to find the buildings not far within their reach. "As I said, we just had to deliver something to someone in Suna. I got lost so I turned into an animal that could stand this heat. ...Why do you ask? A-Are you curious about my abilities?" The girl was hinting to both her shapeshifting and her Meijingan. "Yeah, I'm a Konoha journalist," Saphiro replied, gesturing to his camera. "Most people don't see it either in me, but I love writing about current events and historical things." His Nokerrogan activated shortly and deactivated, causing the boy to smirk. He could see the sand structures ahead and was now more than certain that Suna was within range, "Aren't you curious about me? I can teleport through space. It's a rare technique these days." "That was a really cool technique," she admitted. She looked down and could see a smirk on the teen's face. "But I've seen and have been taught rarer jutsus, thanks to my clan." Eimii briefly activated her Kekkei Genaki too before it was deactivated. "Plus, one of my teammates, his dad could do a kind of teleportation technique. Sadly, he's not around anymore." A tone of sadness and sympathy could be heard in her voice as she talked about her friend and his family. Saphiro listened as Eimii explained the situation about her friend and his father to him and nodded solemnly. "I had an entire family that could do such things like me," he went on, "A clan, actually. But, a horrendous monster brought an end to them. I could be the only one left, but that's okay. My clan were warmongers anyway." Saphiro fell silent for a short while until he could feel the lights from Suna up ahead. "Our destination has finally been reached, and I have not died from heat exhaustion so that's a plus!" Eimii hummed a chuckle, they had reached Sunagakure at last. "And I provided the shade." She looked at the stone wall that surrounded the village with only a large crag down the middle being guarded by two Suna-nin on either side. "I wonder how the guards would react to seeing the Shukaku roaming about." She said quietly to the male ninja. "They'd proabbaly flip and start attacking up," Saphiro replied, sliding down Eimii's leg and unto the ground below. "We'll just have to prove to them that we mean them no harm. Changing back into a girl wouldn't hurt our chances either." As the Kimza approached the Suna nin, the guards reacted by stepping back and making a hand signal, "Okay. This is gonna be rough." "Should I or shouldn't I turn back to normal? If I don't then I can easily take out the gaurds but then the whole village will be on my back. But if I do then things might calm down a bit and we'll get in easier... and I bet Saphiro's gonna mistake me for being younger than I actually am, like everyone else." She thought to herself. She shrugged her shoulders, "Meh, I'll just downsize a bit." Making her decision, she began shrinking, her Tailed Beast appearance growing smaller to make herself a little less threatening and her headband still on her forehead. Once she was a little smaller than Saphiro, Eimii walked forward putting her hands up in a non-threatening gesture. "We... We're on missions from Konoha, we got lo-lost in the desert and I got separated from my team. Have you seen them?" She explained hesitantly. "A group of Konoha shinobi was here not too long ago," one of the Suna nin said, "They were looking for their missing partner. We decided to let them in. You must be the one they were looking for." He then looked towards Saphiro, "What about you?" "S-Saphiro is also from Konoha, he's on a mission to write an article for the newspaper. Ain't that right?" She turned to look at Saphiro, who nodded in response. The guards seemed to believe it and they allowed us entry into the village but still watched us warily until we were out of sight. I breathed a small sigh of relief when we were in the clear, although I was getting a lot of stares from the villagers. And it was starting to get a bit uncomfortable.
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