In a big windy desert 7 people could be seen walking through it. The sun was on the Horizon and beads of sweat can be seen on everyone's faces. Even the two Shinobis wearing Sand village headbands couldn't help but curse the heat and the dry desert.
"How much more do we need to walk in this desert. It has already been almost 6 hours." Lee asked as he had used up most of his energy racing with Guy and now his lips had become dry and he was walking sluggishly.
"We are almost there. We should be able to see the Village walls and entrance any minute now." Tao said. The group had killed a couple of animals who tried to sneak up from underground on the way here. Luckily they had Neji who with the help of his byakugan could pinpoint any dangers wandering around them.
After a few minutes, an outline of a large wall could be seen. A smile bloomed on the faces of the 3 genins as they felt they were on their last leg. Although Neji and Yami didn't show, they really couldn't handle the desert.
'I will have to practice making a thin layer of chakra around my body to protect myself from such extreme weather. Even in my past life, I can tolerate extreme cold but not extreme heat like this where each grain of sand hits the skin like a hot iron pellet. No wonder Temari carries such a big fan' *sigh*
As the group of 7 reached the gates of the hidden sand village a guard approached Mako and the Sand Jonin. He looked at Yami and the other leaf shinobis and signaled the guards behind him to open the gates. Team Guy and Kakashi were led by the Sand Jonin inside the village. Unlike the hidden leaf, the sand village was desolate. There weren't many people roaming the roads and the houses were all the same color. The entire village looked quiet and bland.
"This village is so much different than our village. " Lee said to which Guy replied "Lee this village is in the middle of the desert so the greenery here is non-existent and the houses made here focus more on safely from storms rather than looks and luxury."
"You all must be tired after traveling so much so first I will take you guys to your quarters and at night you will meet the Kazekage and Senior Baki's team."
The Sand Jonin led the group to a hotel that was at the center of the village and looked a bit better than its surrounding buildings.
'This hotel must have been built especially for diplomats and Damiyos to stay when they visit.' Kakashi thought as he saw the interior of the hotel. It was heavily guarded and all the guards were Jonin or chunin. Everyone was assigned their own rooms. After Yami entered the room he saw that it was a simple room but all the necessities were made available. Yami was just about to throw himself on the bed as he was very tired but he heard Kakashi's voice from outside the door and a knock.
Yami opened the door and looked at Kakashi with droopy eyes.
"I know, I know that you are tired. I just came here to tell you that you have shown your skill to Mako so it won't be surprising that Kazekage and Baki won't know about it by now. So I suggest you watch your back because we can't rule out the possibility of them trying to harm you." Kakashi said.
"Got it. I will take care." Yami said and Kakashi walked away to his own room.
Yami knew that news about him must have reached Gaara's ears. He provoked Mako intentionally so that he can attack Mako. This accomplishes two things. First will be that when the Kazekage hears it, one other person will hear it too, Yura who was currently unknowingly spying on the village for Sasori. He will definitely tell Sasori about shinobis from leaf coming to the hidden Sand and finding out that the kid is an Uchiha Sasori will inform Itachi. All Yami wanted was one meeting with Itachi before Tsunade becomes the 5th Hokage.
The second thing that was accomplished by Yami's show of strength was to indicate the Kazekage and Baki that Yami is impulsive and short-tempered. Which was exactly the opposite of what Yami truly was.
'I hope Yura knows I am an Uchiha before he informs Sasori.' Yami thought as he fell asleep on the bed.
After a few hours, Yami woke up and saw the sun was about to set. Yami freshened up and wore some loose clothes. He left the room and saw Guy and Kakashi speaking in the lobby with the same Sand Jonin.
Guy looked back and saw Yami step out of his room and said "Oh Good Yami that you are here. We both just met the Kazekage. Now we have to go and meet Team Baki so that we can formulate a plan."
Two more doors opened and Neji and Lee stepped out of their rooms. Now that everyone was ready the Sand Jonin let the group to an underground prison.
"The traitor has been locked here and is brought to the interrogation room when Senior Baki and his team is waiting for you guys. After walking for a few seconds they saw a dimly illuminated room. As they entered they saw a bruised man tied to a chair in one side of the room and on the other side they saw a tall man sitting with 3 kids.
The man had two red tattoos on one side of his face while the other side was covered with a cloth. Yami instantly recognized him as Baki.
"Might Guy and Kakashi Hatake. It's an honor to meet S-ranked shinobis like you." After that, he looked at Yami and his 2 teammates and signaled them to sit on the chairs opposite them.
Beside Baki was his genin squad. Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara. They all had serious expressions on their face.
As Baki's eyes landed on Yami he said "You must be Yami Uchiha. Mako told me little about you." Kakashi was about to say something but Yami put on a smile and said "I'll take that as a compliment."
Hearing this Baki raised his eyebrows because he had expected an apology or an embarrassed expression and even an arrogant reply but Yami's response flabbergasted him.
Temari and Kankuro frowned hearing this and Gaara glared at Yami.
The group sat in front of each other and the whole room was silent. Their attention was on just one thing. Gaara glaring fiercely at Yami and looking at him with an amused smile.
'This kid is not simple at all. Mako you idiot giving me half-assed information.' Baki cursed in his heart. The last thing he wanted was Gaara to go ballistic and destroy everything around him.
Kakashi and Guy didn't know why the rivalry between Yami and Gaara was stressing out Baki so much. They had no idea that Gaara was the Jinchuriki of the 1 Tailed beast Shukaku.
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