90. Sand Siblings

Shiroken was merrily eating his dumplings despite the disturbance from Naruto from time to time. Gaara was still sleeping on his side. What Shiroken didn't know was that this was probably the best sleep Gaara was having in the entirety of his life until now. Because Shukaku had calmed down and was preoccupied with something else.

"Well, you know, Shiro. There are so many problems in this village. But the biggest one is that they are too selfish. I mean... It's good to be selfish to some extent when it comes to making sure you can live a good life, but Konoha's selfishness goes as far as to destroy a neighbouring country if it means riches." Monari commented while eating.

Naruto was a dumb kid, he had no idea about world politics or his village's policies. But, as said before, he was dumb, and that made him always butt into conversations he had no reason to, "And I will make my village better when I become the Hokage."

"Well, you need to become a Chunin first," Shiroken said, bringing Naruto's head down from the clouds.

"Do I have to? Can't I become a Hokage without becoming a Jonin?" Naruto asked.

Shiroken shrugged, "I don't know. People respect strength. Maybe if you can overwhelmingly become strong you can become the Hokage. But still, people will make fun of you for not at least being a jonin. I think Hokage is supposed to be the perfect Ninja, the pinnacle of all, and the idol of the little kids. Tell me, if all kids in the nation start thinking that even if they stay a genin they can become the Hokage, will they ever practice? Won't that make your village weak?"

Naruto's eyes opened wide in enlightenment, "WOAH! I never thought about that."

"Exactly, you never think, always using muscles first. Remember, a true master of war is the one who wins even without raising his arm. Develop your brain, kid. Now that your... New instructor is here, learn something from him." He advised.

As they were busy talking and joking around, two genins arrived beside the shop. Both of them were from Sangakure, but seeing the recent hatred towards Sunagakure, both of them had shed their village bands.

"GAARA?" Temari and Kankuro noticed their brother sitting at the ramen shop.

Shiroken turned back and saw a girl, with teal eyes and sandy blonde hair, which was gathered into four consecutive pigtails. There was also a boy who probably was into cats from the looks of it, as he had two cat-like ear shapes on his head under the hood. He wore a black, baggy, full bodysuit with a red and yellow circle on the front. He also had some tattoos on his face.

"Oh, come here, children. Your brother is just tired. He was rampaging outside the village not too long ago." Shiroken warmly greeted them as he knew who these kids were. Basically, Shiroken had no animosity with kids, and doing that was also counterproductive. What he needed was to be their role model and influence their growth, so they can grow up with good morals and thinking.

Both the siblings became alert. Temari slightly blushed though, Shiroken, no matter how old, was absolutely the most handsome looking man on the planet. He was fabulous and muscular at the same time.

"Don't be afraid, I am Shiroken Dama. The new Chief Executive of Sunagakure. I have replaced the previous Kazekage and also provided the village with a lot of food. Now Sunagakure is not starving." He explained his designation. Though for now, it was better not to tell them about his other statues. That he had basically bought the village.

Kankuro stumbled back in shock, "WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN?"

"Y-YOU ARE THE ONE. The one who sent us 100,000 Ryo?" Temari exclaimed as she remembered the letter was signed by the Chief Executive.

Shiroken chuckled, "Yes, that's me. Come and eat with me. Let Gaara sleep. You can order anything you want."

Looking left and right, and noticing no secret ninja hiding anywhere, they relaxed a bit. They were still not too sure if what Shiroken said was right or not.

"If you're paying, then sure. I'm starving." Temari was the first one to take the lead and sit on the other side of Monari. Soon Kankuro also followed and sat beside her.

Monari smiled and greeted her, "Hello, dear. I'm Monari Nidama, his sister."

Temari shook her hand and responded, "Temari, big sister of Gaara and this one."

"I have a name. I am Kankuro." The boy also greeted.

Monari chuckled, "Good, Teuchi here makes the best ramen in the whole village, so order any you like."

"And Dumplings. He makes good dumplings too." Shiroken interjected.

Temari and Kankuro felt a very kind energy from Monari, the type a good mother would have. So they instinctively felt calmer. Shiroken had the same energy too, but it was often overshadowed by his very peculiar looks which screamed stranger danger.

"ONE MORE!" Naruto shouted for his 20th bowl of ramen.

"Are you sure it's not Kurama that's eating all the food?" Shiroken asked in disbelief. Well, he could explain why he himself ate 30 bowls but Naruto was a real normal human, how could he eat so much.

Naruto patted his bloated tummy, "Hehe... this bad boy can hold many more bowls, don't worry. And Kuram... Lord Kurama said he can't eat as humans do."

"Who is Kurama?" Temari asked interestedly.

Monari backhandedly answered, "That's the nine-tailed fox."

Shiroken added, "And the tailed beast inside Gaara also has a name, he's called Shukaku."

Both Temari and Kankuro blinked their eyes in disbelief. Naruto started at that moment, "What? You thought they didn't have names? That they are just some mindless beasts? Well, you tell me, how would you react if you were forcefully locked in a dark prison for decades? Lord Kurama was also initially angry, and I thought just like you. But then, I met him and talked to him and guess what, he became my teacher."

Shiroken was very grateful for Naruto's words. The world needed more people like this kid. He ruffled his blonde hair, "Good boy, you can eat as much ramen as you want for a week now."

"AWESOME!" Naruto cheered.

Meanwhile, both Temari and Kankura glanced at their little brother. Temari was the eldest of the three, and since she was young she rarely had any friends as most were scared of her family name. She was a prudent, stoic and blunt individual who was rarely afraid to speak her mind. But, there was only one person she was afraid of, and that was Gaara. The same was the case with Kankuro, he was afraid of his younger brother.

They were constantly trying their best to make sure Gaara didn't harm them. So, it was shocking knowing that the tailed beast inside Gaara, whom they blamed for all things, was not really a bad person. But how could they believe it so easily?

"But what about Gaara's evil nature? He likes hurting people. Why does the tailed beast do that?" Temari asked as if rebuking that the tailed beasts could be nice.

Shiroken explained, "Well, just like humans have personality, tailed beasts also have that. Shukaku was always too proud of himself and also a bit moody. He would get annoyed pretty easily and get angry. Meanwhile, Kurama was a grumpy proud fox. So, you tell me, what happens when you are sealed inside a cage, which seals everything, from the tailed beast's powers to his emotions. Won't the caged beast be in constant anger? And won't that seal then be filled with anger and hatred? That can affect the Jinchuriki. Besides, can you truly blame all that on Shukaku? Because it was Sunagakure who caught him in the first place and started this cycle of Jinchuriki.

"However, to truly understand what's wrong with this kid, I will have to talk to him," Shiroken said and patted the sleeping Gaara's head.

Temari silently focused on her food and processed the explanation. Logically thinking, what Shiroken said was right.

"W-What about our father? What happened to him?" Kankuro finally asked what Shiroken had been waiting for.

Shiroken honestly answered them, as it was their right to know, "He was killed by Orochimaru. Orochimaru enticed Rasa with the proposal to attack Konoha. Rasa agreed in his self-imposed hatred towards Konoha. But Orochimaru was just using him... and the village. Thankfully, I thwarted their plan."

~Though I ended up destroying half of Konoha.~ He didn't say this part. Most people were not supposed to know that he destroyed the village, or else a new cycle of hatred would start again. This was why he had made Hiruzen sign the contract with the term that he can not spread propaganda against him.

Temari sighed after learning this. Honestly, none of them actually liked Rasa much. Rasa was one of the bad examples of a father. He only cared about his village and always saw his children just as tools of war and planned all the time how he could use them. Just like the case with Gaara, whose sole reason for existing was to be the Jinchuriki.

So, it didn't bring too much sorrow to her, except a few memories with her mother, she didn't have many favourable ideas for Rasa. "W-Why... what was the reason for starting this war? Why did our father agree to this?"

Shiroken sighed, "Well, that's humans nature, to be destructive. Sunagakure has deep-seated anger towards Konoha for some reason, maybe it's because the Land of Fire sits on the best agricultural land. Whatever it is, it's not good for both villages."

Monari added. "And Orochimaru wanted to use Sunagakure to accomplish his goals, which was to destroy Konoha."

Temari nodded and silently ate her food. She was about to turn 16 soon, so she was not a fool. She was a smart girl, who although sometimes was savage, wanted peace. She had been asking why they were going to start this war from the start, but she was just a genin and had no right to question. Now, she realised that her thoughts were correct… This war was pointless.

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