As Ren's party neared the Sunagakure's gate, his travel companions were practically oozing a silent excitement to be finally home, while Ren's mood somewhat worsened. It started to feel more and more real, and he couldn't help but think that once he stepped past that gate, it would be a step that he wouldn't be easily able to take back.
Of course, he realized how nonsensical these thoughts and doubts were. He had done that step long ago. All the way back in Konoha, in the Arena, where he married Temari. For him, that was the step. But it just didn't feel as real and impactful as it did right now.
Trying to push his disgruntled mood down, Ren tried to think positive thoughts. Like the fact that Kankuro spent the last two hours glaring at his back.
A small, amused smile appeared on Ren's face as he stifled a chuckle.
Yeah, that definitely helped. The poor lad was not very happy when Ren told him he would first need a lot of training in the Wind Release if he wanted to learn the protective techniques he had taught Temari.
Somebody might even say that the desert was making him all hot and bothered. Of course, Kankuro did not appreciate that joke. But what can you do? Some people simply have no sense of humor.
Baki, on the other hand, didn't even ask for the instructions. The man had his own pride, and he would rather suffer the heat and sweaty discomfort than lower himself by asking Ren for techniques. The man was cordial with him, but Ren was aware he was in no way liked by him.
It was a bit unfortunate. To Temari, the man was something akin to a surrogate stepfather-ish figure. Ren knew that deep down, she wished they could get along well, but it was probably a stretch.
As the gates became more visible, Ren noticed that there was a small gathering of people that became visibly more animated when they spotted them. They were clearly not just some people wishing to enter or exit the village. No, this crowd was waiting for them.
'Oh, so that's what the message was about.' Ren realized with a slow blink as he glanced at Baki with the corner of his eye. The man abruptly stopped around an hour back in their journey while looking at the sky. He whistled in a particular way and got a hawk to sweep down onto his arm from the sky.
Ren had to admit, it was kinda cool. He had no idea the messenger hawks were freely flying around the village.
The man gave the hawk to Temari, who started petting it with a very adorable, indulgent smile, while the Jonin took out a piece of paper and scribbled a message on it. Taking the hawk from the girl, he put it into the holster for messages around the hawk's leg, before ruffling its feathers in a very deliberate way, before he threw it up, causing it to fly away in the direction of Sunagakure.
Ren paid a very apt attention to Baki's actions with the hawk, which earned him an unamused look and frown from Baki. But Ren just shrugged it off.
He understood the man's issues. These hawks were probably used as an information relay system for Sunagakure across the entire country. It is not as safe as delivery ninja, and hawks can not take any long messages as far as Ren knew, but for contact between the various outposts and the village? It sufficed.
Ren hummed, pondering if he could make the system better by switching the message holster with a small seal where a letter could be sealed. That would make it much safer, and even if a message was intercepted, it could not be easily gotten out of the seal. But it would also allow ninjas to send more detailed and longer reports.
The noise from the gate entered Ren's ears, and he decided to think about this idea later. It didn't matter right now anyway. It was not like Suna would let him overhaul their information network. They wouldn't give that kind of access even to ninjas who dutifully served their village for over a decade. And he was still a ninja from Konoha in their eyes, who was not to be trusted.
'Baby steps.' Ren sighed. 'You will get there. They are too desperate to say no.'
And with that thought, Ren and his companions crossed the gate before stopping in front of a small crowd of around a dozen people. Baki instantly smiled, and Ren's jaw almost dropped. He was not aware that the man was capable of that!
"Welcome back to Suna." An ancient-looking man stepped forth from the crowd and spoke in a polite, yet still somewhat unhurried tone. He was followed by a woman who looked like she had forgotten she should be long in a coffin at her age.
"Elder Ebizo, Elder Chiyo." Baki slightly bowed in respect, "We are honored by your welcome."
Anime did not do these two justice. Ren had no idea if it was the living in desert conditions or if they were really that old, but he would not have recognized them if Baki had not mentioned their names.
Ebizo's eyes swept across Baki, Temari, and Kankuro, only to momentarily stop on Ren with a barely hidden cautious awareness, before he slightly smiled, "And you must be Ren. We are happy to have you join our village and tighten the diplomatic ties between your village and ours."
It took everything Ren had not to deadpan at the old man. His smile was so fake, it made Ren's skin crawl. He smiled back, even if it looked a bit strained, "Thank you, Elder Ebizo."
Only when he saw several people behind Ebizo bristle did Ren realize they expected him to say some formal mumbo-jumbo in accordance with Suna customs. But here was the problem. He was not taught any!
Awkwardly staring at Ebizo, Ren tried to think of something when Temari suddenly elbowed him in the side, causing the attention to fall to her.
She gave Ren an apologetic glance before she gave Ebizo a deep bow, "I am sorry, Elder Ebizo. We were attacked in the middle of our journey, and tutoring my husband about our customs fell to the wayside after that. We were too preoccupied with trying to get back to the village and watching out for any possible ambushes." She spoke with admirable composure.
And despite the small awe in Ren's eyes, he still gave her an annoyed look. His standing in this village was already disadvantageous. He didn't need to make a political faux pas right off the bat.
They were busy, alright. Ren inwardly rolled his eyes.
She absolutely could have cut their nightly fun short an hour and actually given him the necessary lecture about what was expected of him when they arrived. As much as he enjoyed their tongue-training exercise yesterday, he wouldn't really mind coming here prepared.
It honestly made him exasperated. But he couldn't muster feeling genuinely angry at the girl. First, she was shaken by the sudden ambush, and then she... simply forgot. He could see that on her face.
His exasperation probably seeped into his expression because Ebizo let out a small chuckle.
"You were attacked?" Chiyo suddenly spoke, staring at them with cold eyes full of seriousness. "By whom?"
"We can talk about that later, sister." Ebizo jumped in, "Right now, we have gathered here to welcome Ren Yotsuba to Sunagakure." His lips twitched into a small smirk as he stared Ren in the eyes. "Let's start with the ceremony, shall we?" With that, Ebizo turned around and started walking into the village, clearly expecting everyone to follow him.
And Ren could only feel existential dread as he realized his ignorance was not going to be taken as an excuse to wiggle himself out of... whatever they had planned.
It was bad enough to attend these things when he knew what to do! And he was supposed to wing it?
His eyes strayed to the movers and shakers of Suna that stood silently behind Ebizo, assessing him and the situation. Some had blank faces, others were frowning, while a few actually looked incensed at his presence.
As one, they turned around when Ebizo passed them and started following him.
'Great. What an amazing start to my life in Suna.' Ren grouchily thought. He couldn't help but feel he was caught in some kind of cleverly planned political assassination.
Peeved, Ren's lips settled in a thin line. Doubts entered his mind and he glanced again at Temari.
But the girl just cluelessly grabbed at his tense hand. "I am sorry." She muttered with an apologetic expression, "I really forgot. I-, I will make it up to you?" She mumbled in a hopeful tone, giving his hand a small squeeze as they slowly moved through the Suna's streets.
Ren resisted the urge to rub the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath before he deflated.
"Oh, you will. You most definitely will." He whispered back to her in a gruff tone, feeling a bit satisfied when he noticed her small shiver of excitement.
He squeezed her hand back and leaned closer to kiss the side of her head, making her slightly smile.
But with his senses, Ren was monitoring their observers. Because, of course, privacy was not a thing in the ninja world, and every person in their procession had their attention fully on them. They were weighing how to use every gesture, how to gain an advantage from every emotion they saw, assessing their relationship and how it could be played to their own ends.
But that was fine. He and Temari were supposed to be a lovey-dovey, kid-making couple. That was expected of them. In fact, Ren was actually happy that this interaction did not need to be faked. It was relieving, really.
With his chakra, he could almost feel the silent satisfaction coming from Ebizo, who was leading their group toward the Kazekage Tower. As if everything went according to his plans.
Sage, how Ren didn't want to deal with another Sarutobi-wannabe. Yet, here it was. He inwardly sighed again. And the more he thought about the situation, the more he realized that this upcoming political assassination of his was not planned. Temari did not conveniently forget to teach him for 'reasons'. No. The girl just regularly forgot.
And that made it both much better and much worse, to be honest.
Ebizo was simply using the situation he had found himself in for his own ends. And Ren couldn't help but find it impressive how quickly the man grasped the opportunity and twisted the circumstances to his advantage.
Ren might not like the situation he had found himself in, but credit should be given where it was due. The old man knew what he was doing. He was one to watch out for.
Ren quietly chuckled under his nose, getting a questioning glance from Temari that he ignored. He would let them play their games. Let them scheme and manipulate, do these political shows. In the end, it didn't matter. This was not Konoha. This was Suna. They were a sinking man in the ocean. And his seals... his seals were the only boat that could save them.
They had already lost. They just didn't know it yet.