A Gift to the Sand

[Tensei Kaori]

So I was thinking of what we could do to kind of get some kind of plot or story depth to the fic, and I came up with an idea that would involve *GASP* LEAVING KONOHA!

The basic idea is that, in light of the tremendous aid given to the Leaf by the Sand, Kaori decides to travel to Hidden Sand Village to thank the sand personally in a ceremony that would take place in the Sand Village, in which she gives the Kazekage a token of good will - more on that later.

The full details of the ceremony will only be known by Kaori, the Kazekage, Akina - as Kaori's assistant and right-hand woman, she knows pretty much everything - and possibly one of Kazekage's closest advisors. The ceremony itself, however, will be kind of a shocker as this has probably never been done before - perhaps stirring things up as such a gift would almost undoubtedly cause controversy, and here it is:

As a token of goodwill, peace, and - on Konoha's side - gratitude, the two Kages exchange forehead protectors of their village, each granting the other status as an honorary shinobi of that village. This of course would mean that each will be able to come and go between the villages freely, not that that's likely. This could set the stage for future plot developments, such as controversy within the villages or that relationship between the villages coming to the rescue in a time of need, or both.

Spinoff idea: Maybe on the way back we could come across some sort of intelligence, either through being ambushed - possibly mistaken for an enemy, or we ARE the enemy, or we're just in the way - coming across the remains of a battle, or finding a messenger who for whatever reason didn't quite make it (perhaps we're still in Wind Country and the messenger couldn't survive without a Hidden Sand guide? It seems like we'd be in the desert at this point if we chose the "didn't make it" option so it would make sense; he could have suffered from dehydration or something). I hate to bring war up as a possibility of a plot after such a bloodbath in the backstory, but it doesn't have to be all-out war.

Well? Suggestions? Comments? Ideas?

[Kiel]

I like this idea,

I'm a big supporter of this idea,

I'm glad to be a part of this idea,

let's do it!

Keitaro wants to go, he's read all about the sand gakure.

[Tensei Kaori]

Cool! ^^

[Kiel]

*drops bag*

all packed!

Sooo....are we there yet?

[Kiri]

Count me in! *tries to get caught up* ;__;

[Kiel]

sandward bound!

let's sing a travelling song!

[Kiri]

Umm.......

The shinobi go marching one by one, hurrah?

[Tensei Kaori]

How's about we set about planning this thing so we'll be ready to launch it when the time comes?

....unless you guys want me to write the whole thing.... ()

[SeraphMazrakiel]

Sure.



lol

I've got a few ideas... perhaps as a return gift from the Sand, they offer a young child or something, who has extraordinary powers, to protect the village... who at first seems nice and kind, but in the future will turn around and challenge the village and attempt to seize it for Kazekage (a future storyline perhaps?). A Trojan horse of sorts. (trust Maz to weave a political web of deception into the story, lol)

Of course, that idea just seems like Gaara all over again...

Perhaps that messenger who didn't make it... maybe he's a missing-nin? We nurse him back to health and take him back to the village, only to have him steal the forehead protector Kaori just received... and he's going to use it to sneak into Sand or something?

Or MAYBE he's going to be REALLY evil, steal a Konoha Village forehead protector while he's in the village... go and attack the Sand Village, and almost starts up another war, when Kaori sends people to go find him? And they... 'deal'... with him? XD

I've got LOTS of ideas floatin' around in my brain... most of them involving deception of some sort... lol

[Tensei Kaori]

Hmm. Perhaps he was a spy from an enemy village who had been attempting a recon mission on Hidden Sand but couldn't survive the desert? Hmm... Konoha repays the Sand by coming to the rescue....

[Kiri]

That might be good... I don't really have any ideas. >_o;

[SeraphMazrakiel]

That works, I guess.

Perhaps we could even NPC some characters from Hidden Sand to help us out; Yuhiki's half Sand, half Leaf... may be cool.

Depends. Would Kaori be doing any fighting? I mean, perhaps, perhaps not... it's taken for granted she'll own in any battle she fights, and nobody would be foolish enough to take on Hokage. XD

Perhaps the contingent of Sand could actually come after us Konoha ninja, and at first want to fight us because they think we're the bad guys for attacking their village, but then after we tell them what happened they aid us in the battle or something...

...and then at the end of it, they take the body of the ninja, in an attempt to learn all its secrets and stuff (if not for intelligence on this enemy village, for possible future takeover of Konoha. Gotta love me. lol)

[Kiri]

I've suddenly gotten really lost.

[SeraphMazrakiel]

Alright, my idea in English (or the closest I can come to it... lol)

* * * * * * *

Kaori and several of Konoha ninja travel to Hidden Sand Village to thank them. In an extravagant ceremony, both sides offer to each other a forehead protector of each other's village, so whoever holds it can come and go between villages.

On the return trip home, we come across a ninja of some sort, a "missing-nin"... whoever he is, he is in the middle of the desert, suffering from dehydration. We take him in, and take him back to Konoha Village and nurse him back to health. However, eventually, he betrays us, murders someone and takes their forehead protector... and then disguised as a Konoha Ninja, he goes and attacks the Hidden Sand Village (at night, so they cannot see his face, but can see his forehead protector. Don't ask. lol). The HSV get angry at Konoha, and send some ninja at us. Meanwhile, Kaori sends several ninja out to search for Bad Guy, and unfortunately come across Hidden Sand Ninja Group. Massive argument ensues, with HSNG blaming Konoha for attack, while Konoha tries to blame Bad Guy. Bad Guy appears and unleashes trap upon everybody, almost killing everyone. States that HSV will attack Konoha, and with several of Kaori's most powerful ninja out of the way, the battle will be swift. Bad Guy reveals himself to be working for secret cohort under Kazekage; an emotionless, immoral force who carry out Kazekage's less ethical desires to achieve what he wants (the ideal perfect shinobi).

Before he can finish everybody off, Kaori appears, and says something like "I don't believe you. Kazekage wishes for peace for his people, just as any other leader of any other nation would want." Bad Guy disagrees with Kaori, but the other Sand ninja don't; in fact, they dislike the idea of Kazekage not seeking peace, and turn on Bad Guy. Bad Guy defeated. At peace once again, Konoha Group turn back to their village, and shake hands with Sand; the eternal ally of Konoha. Chapter end.

* * * * * * *

Perhaps as an epilogue as such, when the Konoha Ninja have gone, the Sand Ninja turn to fallen Bad Guy, and ask for forgiveness in death from 'their comrade': The Sand Ninja turn out to be a part of the secret force as well. They explain that they did what they had to do in order to fool Konoha into thinking that Sand was trustworthy again. But they thank him for that which he has left behind for the Sand Village: the Konoha Village forehead protector he was wearing (which Kaori and everybody else conveniently forgot about. lol). They smile, pocket it, and make their way back to their home village.

If we follow the epilogue, that will establish the fact that there really is a secret force employed by Kazekage. It will also undoubtedly mean that Kazekage's real desire is to take over Konoha eventually... and may even foreshadow a decisive battle between Hidden Leaf and Hidden Sand... maybe even a battle between the two Kages! But then, I'm always up for some interesting plot twists and betrayal. XD

I also suggested the use of Yuhiki somewhere in there, because she's half-Sand half-Leaf, so that could play some part in the story. (Plus the fact that Yuhiki hasn't participated in the fic yet)... but that's all up to NNG. Plus, I haven't really written the idea of focusing on Yuhiki's hybrid heritage... I thought the main focus would be on the bad guy, the supposed betrayal of Konoha... and the real betrayal of Kazekage (who in the end is put back in the trusted zone in the Konoha books).

(unless NNG's written a reason for it, perhaps this secret force are the missing-nins that killed her father? Maybe he worked for Kazekage, but wanted to leave the Sand Village for good, so this force did away with him? I bet she's got reasons written out for it, but if she hasn't... just my two cents. lol)

That's my dollar again. Love it or spit at it. Just an idea. XD

[Tensei Kaori]

Hmm. Well, part of this I like. It's a well thought out story with plenty of good fic-writing involved. But, well, there are just some things I don't really agree with. For one, I can't see why you're so set on having Sand betray Leaf (again), but that's just me.

While it's true that the two Kage will exchange forehead protectors, it's more than just a passport (Ninja A, take this forehead protector and go run to Sand Village for me), it's a personal gift between the two as a sign of both their friendship and their villages'. In the ceremony, Kazekage becomes an honorary Leaf, and Hokage becomes an honorary Sand. Both are entitled to the rights and priveliges of such - like free entry and so on - and also certain duties. If someone from your village is in trouble, you'd obviously go help them, and the gift exchange serves a dual purpose of sealing that promise, as well as strengthening the bond between the shinobi of each village as well.

Now, that alone wouldn't change the plot much, but it was something that I wanted to clear up. The one thing that makes the end of this plot impossible is that the Leaf and the Sand are friends. And they're staying that way. They've been through too much as it is with current Naruto's Chuunin exams, and besides : I'm trying to keep this away from looking like Current Naruto all over again (hence the reason I haven't mentioned Sound in all of this. Well, we also don't know what happens to them anyway....but still). Now, if we were to simply have mistrust and suspicion at first, that might be okay, but the two Kages trust each other and would work it out. I'll post a more detailed idea when I have the time to write it all out, but yeah.

It's a great idea and everything, and I'm sorry to have to shoot it down. Hopefully we'll be able to edit it so that we can use it in the fic. ^^