"I still don't understand why simple instructions can't be followed," Jiraiya argued with Orochimaru who only chuckled at his flustered superior. "I said red lilies, not white!"

"But you have to think about it, white does match with the snow," the man calmly replied while he fought to hold back his laughter.

"Am I the Hokage here or not?" the man grunts, plopping on his chair.

Letting out a chuckling laugh, the lean man places his hand together, hiding them in his sleeves. The smile on his face annoyed his superior whose face turned red from irritation. Jiraiya didn't know how to challenge his colleague, and he hated being belittled. And most especially if it was by his friend, Orochimaru whom he has known for so many years. For someone who became Hokage, he was quite a character.

"Anyway, has all the arrangement for tomorrow finished? I hope nobody changed anything else for the festival," muttered Jiraiya, squeezing the bridge of his nose.

The lean man with him looks over his clipboard and flips through the pages. Examining the things reported carefully  with keen eyes. He smiles and turns to his friend. "There's nothing to worry about; almost everything is set."

Jiraiya loosens up at the sound of this. "Good, good."

Then before he says anything in addition, a brief, loud knock on the door interrupts him. It alarmed the two, and Jiraiya quickly said, "Come in." Revealing a shinobi. Nervously the man walks in and bowed politely.

"A samurai demands your audience," he announces flatly.

The two gentlemen widened their eyes in surprise.

"From the Land of Iron?" asked a skeptic Orochimaru.

The shinobi shook his head.

"She claims to be from the Land of the Rising Sun," he said.

"The Rising Sun? I've never heard of such a place," exclaimed Jiraiya but his voice with awe. "Let this samurai in."

Once ushered in, his eyes widened to see a woman dressed in a ghostly white hakama. And by her side were two katanas, one white as snow in the highest peak of winter and the other as black as the feathers of a cawing raven. Her dark raven hair reached her shin and was loosely tied behind her.  The Hokage couldn't completely make out her face until she removed her wide hat from her head and placing it behind her; it hung by a black string. And in astounded awe, the men couldn't utter a word until they heard her gentle yet authoritative voice.

"Greetings, sirs. I am but a humble samurai from the Land of the Rising Sun. I came to you in hope of aid for my mission," she said once she was on one knee.

Jiraiya doesn't give a straight reply, his eyes still bewitched by a mysterious ghost. Shutting his eyes, Orochimaru gives his friend a sharp pat on the  shoulder which woke up the Hokage from the woman's eye-catching appearance. Jiraiya jerks in surprise and instantly cleared his throat with two coughs.

"Excuse me," he said. "Before we'll address your plea, I would like to know what kind of place you came from. Because honestly, I've never heard of the Land of the Rising Sun."

The samurai seemed indifferent to his comment.

"It is a beautiful place artists and musicians are respected, the warriors are praised for their strength and skill and bravery, where its full glory is realized whenever the sun kisses the earth's atmosphere. Where honor and integrity are practiced and served," she said. "It is a place where cowardice does not exist."

"That's. . . quite a place," replied a baffled Jiraiya, smiling and awkward smile.

"Actually, I may have heard of such place," said Orochimaru, stepping towards the window. It surprised the Hokage. "If I remember correctly from ancient manuscripts, it would take a week to get there. It's south of the Land of Fire, directly below. The country is shaped like a crescent moon, though not exactly."

"Huh, you didn't mention this to me from your research, you snake," grumbled Jiraiya, raising an eyebrow at his friend.

Orochimaru grins and shrugs his shoulders. 

"I thought that it was trivial matter so I didn't bother to mention it," replied the man calmly.

"Tch." Jiraiya sighs and turns back to the samurai. "But I still don't understand why I haven't heard of this country. And most especially that it is close to the Land of Fire."

"I don't know why either, I thought it was just a legend since it was never mentioned in our records."

"We samurai did not want to cross paths with the shinobi, as shinobi are despised in our country and the very few were concealed and only a handful even know their identities. The responsibilities of the shinobi are not considered honorable, but for the salvation of my country, I came to beg despite how humiliating it may be," the samurai spoke.

Jiraiya and Orochimaru give each other a skeptical glance.

"Then that would mean you're desperate for help enough to come to us," Jiraiya comments with a hearty laugh. "What do you exactly want, miss. . ?"

Still on one knee, the woman lifts up her gaze to the two gentlemen before her. Jiraiya getures her to stand, which she was quick to comply. Then she opens her mouth to dare speak of her name: "I am Yoshie of the Masashi clan of the White Dragon," she opens her pouch and takes out a stone, showing it to her audience, "I search for a red-faced demon who ravaged our land and turned human flesh into this."

* * * * * * * *

The room was in utter silence, like how two samurais are about to draw their swords for a duel. The atmosphere was tense, the aura of suspicion and doubt lingered in the air as proxies and selected officials stared at the woman before their midst who gave off a whole different demeanor. She was like someone of noble blood, sitting upright her hands laid on her thighs. Her long raven locks were loosely tied in the and while two short locks framed the sides of her face.

The shinobis with her were as stiff as stones while they waited for the arrival of one more witness before the meeting is open. There were a couple of them: Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, Shikamaru, Ino, Kiba, Neji, and Tenten; and all were young. Jiraiya, the Hokage, felt annoyed. The creases on his forehead were hard and wrinkled, and his arms were folded across his chest. Even Orochimaru couldn't help but feel a little annoyed. Nothing has happened, and the mysterious samurai arrived and caused an uproar amongst the residents.

Seeing a ebony black stallion is one thing, but seeing a samurai not from the land of Iron is a surprise on a whole different level. The woman had confessed that she came from the Land of the Rising Sun, a place that did not exist on their maps. It was shocking for everyone who heard her confession.

When the stationed ninjas at the entrance gate brought the woman to the Hokage, Orochimaru and his ward found their eyes wide open and their jaws dropped from the sight. The self-proclaimed samurai appeared more like a porcelain doll with fair flawless skin, eyes gentle and mysterious, and a calm, indifferent expression on her face. It made the people around her wonder why such a demure woman carried a pair of sheathed katanas with her. But what was more surprising was the stone shaped like a heart showed to them by the samurai.

"What is taking him so long?" groaned a frustrated Jiraiya.

"Perhaps the ladies are keeping him busy," Orochimaru replied with a sigh.

The Hokage tensed at this.

"Kakashi is never too busy with ladies."

"Well, ever since his face was seen from the war, he's been quite popular you know," smirked Orochimaru.

"This is serious," growled Jiraiya, clenching his fists angrily.

At that moment, a spiky gray-haired shinobi appears by the doors, and it surprised the guards who were on duty. He wore Konoha's redesigned flak jacket, dark blue pants, and a long-sleeve shirt. He also wears finger-less gloves with metal plates on the backhand and is seen with a chain necklace underneath.He also a red armband on his left bicep and boots instead of sandals like the others. 

Clearly he was in a rush, yet he had calm lazy eyes. Like the other shinobi in the room, he wore the standard uniform with only his band covering his left eye. His presence instantly got the officials' attention, and most especially the displeased Hokage who lets out a long and loud sigh. The man walked to his designated seat briskly and quickly sat down to allow the meeting to begin. 

"Why are you late?!" a pretty kunoichi scolds the man. Unlike him, she didn't wear the standard shinobi uniform but instead wore an outfit consists of a red mesh armour blouse with only the right sleeve visible. Overall, this is a very broad material which resembles bandages with a pattern on it similar to those of rose thorns. Her hands and upper thighs are also wrapped in bandages and she wears the Konoha forehead protector and regular shinobi sandals. 

Beside her were other shinobi, also distraught with disbelief. Even his self-proclaimed rival Gai seemed unimpressed. Perhaps he thought that Kakashi would have gone through the trouble of being on time at the very least at the sound of a samurai who was not from the cold, bitter snows of the Land of Iron. And a woman at that with no ordinary looks.

"Gomen, gomen," said Kakashi. "I got caught up with something."

"Tch, you and your excuses."

Even Kakashi's students were displeased with him, and all three were burning their eyes at him. They felt embarrassed that it was their sensei who was late of all people. Who couldn't be ashamed?

"I see that finally everyone is here," Jiraiya comments. "As you all know, I gathered you all here at the arrival of Masashi Yoshie, the samurai here before you. She has come to ask for our aid for there is trouble in the country where she is from."

He nods at her, then gestures at a young spiky haired shinobi, Shikamaru.

At that, the raven-haired woman pulls out a pouch and tosses it to the man Jiraiya gestured to. With curious eyes, Shikamaru first examines the given pouch before opening it. Then his nimble fingers travel into the pouch, quickly sensing something hard, rough with shape. Wanting to see what it was, the boy pulls out an object, revealing to be a stone. The stone seemed strange: having a round shape with tube-like ends. It had orange jewel-like stones that stuck on the surface. But suddenly, his eyes widened and he dropped the stone with shuddering fingers. Everyone with him was instantly alarmed with his reaction, and their expressions became exactly just Shikamaru's: shocked and afraid.

"I-Is that...?" Sakura's shaky voice asks, her expression full of fear.

"It's a human heart," said Yoshie, walking towards the stone and picking it up. "I managed to take this from a *shikabane, a human being who was infected with this disease. Although I would rather call it a curse because the symptoms are beyond medical standards. This stone," she holds the stone up, "Cannot be destroyed with ordinary weapons. I was only able to take this thanks to a sword forged out of that same stone."

"You've mentioned that when a red-faced demon appears, the disease ravages through the village it's visiting," said Jiraiya. "Mind explaining?"

"I've been traveling for many years now, trying to obtain the truth about this disease. I only noticed that it occurs when that ugly demon appears. You may not know it, but it makes a public performance: laughing evilly when chaos is born in the village. My theory may not be accurate, but that's all the lead I have obtained. I was hoping that you, shinobi who are familiar with the art of energy and different techniques."

"Are you saying you only came here with all that information?" a skeptical Sasuke asks. "Even if that's a lead, it's a mere theory with no grounds whatsoever. We won't be able to help you with just this."

"Sasuke!" Sakura whisper-screamed with a vicious frown on her face. Even Naruto disliked his comment; he elbowed his best friend.

Yoshie glares at him. 

"Are you mocking me, ninja?" she darkly asks. "Do you realize. ." Yoshie stops mid-sentence. 

Clenching her teeth, the samurai just turns away with a glare on her face. But she quickly retained her calm demeanor. Not saying anything else, she bows to Jiraiya politely.

"I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused. I'll leave immediately, so please pretend you didn't hear anything of what I've said," she told him.

She turns on her heel and leaves, but a hand grabs her shoulder from behind.

"Wait, how can you say that after going through all the trouble coming here?!" yelled Naruto. "Aren't you doing this for the sake of your people?!"

"The problem of my people does not concern you, ninja," she replied calmly. "Your onyx-eyed friend here is right. What I have can and will not be of any help since it is a mere theory based only on my own assumptions."

"But we could start from there," said Naruto, fighting to convince the woman.

Yoshie shrugs off his hand and leaves without another word, leaving the ninjas of leave speechless. The blond boy grits his teeth and hurls his fist at Sasuke, who was caught unaware.

"You asshole! We are always ready to lend a hand to those who ask for it!" Naruto yelled angrily while he latched on to Sasuke's jacket. "You don't need to tell her off by saying that she has too little information to begin with. But the very little information could still go a long way!"

Sasuke narrows his eyes at his friend. He slaps away his friends hands and grabs Naruto's.

"If she really wanted our help, then she wouldn't have given up so easily," he said. "Don't you find it suspicious? She just brings a rock for evidence and thinks she could just convince us with that? Sure there might be a country called the Land of the Rising Sun, but it would've been better if she had escorts or companions with her. You should be more suspicious of people when it comes to situations like this, you of all people should be familiar with that drill."

Naruto grits his teeth at this, glaring hard at Sasuke.

"But even then, we always found a way and we always make it out alive even with the toughest of death situations," growled the blond.

"Don't get cocky, Naruto," Sasuke growled back. "Whether her story is true or not, we can't just go all out."

"Okay, that's enough you two," Orochimaru intervenes. "My, what could poor Kakashi ever do with you two.

"Sasuke is right though," said Shikamaru. "There's no point in going all out when we know nothing about this."

"But we can't just sit here and do nothing," said Ino, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Yeah, we've got to help her," Kiba adds, who was back up by Akahamaru afterwards.

Sasuke clicks his tongue.

"Did you even hear what I just said? There's too little information to go around with!" he insisted angrily.

Kakashi and Gai laughs together like old friends, which appeared strange to their students. Their students may have known them for a couple of years, they were never seen together doing something as friends. The two *sensei became better friends after the Fourth Great Shinobi War, but they still remained self-proclaimed rivals just like how Sasuke and Naruto were.

"Look here, guys," said Kakashi, scratching the back of his head. "There's no need for us to get tensed over this." 

He turns to Jiraiya. 

"Could I say something, Hokage-sama?"

The white-haired man grins at this.

"Sure, I have no problem with that. Get the words out of my mouth, Kakashi," he replied with a chuckle.

Nodding, Kakashi turns his gaze back at the group. All the students seemed more than eager to hear what the famous Copy Ninja of Leaf. "It's probably strange that we're going through something this exciting again, but just as Sasuke said, there's too little information to go around. The best option would be to send a team to the Land of the Rising Sun and gather us much information as possible before making a formal mission to aid the country. We'll have two advantages in this: one, we'll avoid unnecessary casualties in case anything serious happens. And two, we'll gain political advantage and maybe ease the tension between shinobi and samurai."

The Hokage with them claps, impressed with Kakashi's efficient strategy.

"You never cease to amaze me, Kakashi," he said. Jiraiya smiles and says, "We'll be doing Kakashi's proposed plan. After all, we can't turn a blind eye as to what Masashi-san has told us. And to make up for what happened earlier, why don't some of you show her around Konoha?"

* * * * * * * *

"Ey, look here lady, we ain't got no change for metal scrap like these!" a man selling *senbei yells at Yoshie while he was examining her money. It stirred up a crowd around them, especially since the people have never seen a samurai before. But at least those who have never seen a samurai from the Land of Iron. Although even if they did, they never saw a samurai from the Land of Iron without his armor.

Whispers from the crowd filled the air, and a lot of curious eyes stared at the veiled stranger. Though the people from the crowd tried their best to be polite by hiding their gossip, a multitude of whispers are enough to sound like a scream. Even the voices of curious children were obvious to the samurai's ears. She could hear them gossiping with their parents or friends, asking each other in wonder of where she may have originated from. Some people were fearful of her, seeing the two katanas hanging by her side.

Then the man in front of her, was more than just rude. The moment she had stepped in front of him, he already discriminated her. Telling her that she had no business with him, saying that she didn't have the correct currency despite it being pure gold. The look on his face only bore pure disgust and prejudice. But it was a relief though when the crowd decided to disperse.

"Why don't you just go somewhere else already?!" yelled the man. "Tch, you foreigners are always causing trouble wherever you go."

Yoshie says nothing and tries to take back her money, but the vendor decided to hold on to it.

"You know what, Imma gonna keep this," he said, placing it into his pocket. "It ain't everyday to get something made of pure gold."

Without a second thought, the woman pulls out a dagger against the man's throat. The man gulps in fear for his life; beads of sweat roll down his temples while he stared into the burning eyes of the enraged samurai. Then before the woman could say anything, a pair of feet appeared beside her, making her glance at the person beside her.

"Two senbei please," a voice interrupts the tensed atmosphere.

"L-Look man, could you help me out first?" the vendor begged as a drop of his sweat dripped from his chin.

"I would once you return her gold ryo," the stranger told the man patiently.

His response instantly ticked the vendor, but he was in the complete wrong here. And he was fully aware of that. So, without much of a choice, the vendor slowly got the gold ryo out of his pocket and hurls it at the samurai who catches it with ease. Yoshie takes her knife away from his throat and took a good look at the man who gave her such assistance.

The man his attire includes a pair of black pants and gloves, with a white form-fitting shirt underneath. Over this he wears a purple, high-collared, long sleeve mantle that splits down the lower half and has the Uchiha crest on the back. Around his waist he wears a simple, light-purple obi and a belt. Strapped to his back is *gunbai, purple with black trimmings and black *tomoe, connected to a black chain that runs up his right sleeve. He had gentle kind, black eyes and spiky hair. In a way, he looked similar to Sasuke, except he had warmth that even took Yoshie aback.

"Why... ?" her voice escaped from her lips. Her fiery eyes watched the man pay the bastard of a vendor for the food before she met his eyes again.

"Hm? Why what?" The man asks with a dumb look on his face. He takes her arm and together they began walking away from the vendor. 

"Why did you help me, mister?" the samurai's voice asked again.

Smiling, he points at himself with his thumb for introduction. "I'm Uchiha Obito, nice to meet you, samurai-san. May I know your name? I'm sorry for what happened earlier, I guess people around here just hold a prejudice against samurai or at least people who aren't generally from around here. The pact with the samurais from the Land of Iron haven't been still hasn't been established."

The raven-haired woman hesitated at his words. Her thoughts wondered if she could just freely and easily reveal her name to him. Although after thinking about it, it wouldn't hurt.

"I'm Masashi Yoshie," she replied curtly, but said no comment about the earlier incident.

He chuckles and hands her a senbei, surprising the samurai.

"I believe this is for you," he said kindly with a warm smile, handing one of the two senbei to the samurai.

The woman refuses his gift.

"No, you paid for that," she said with a flustered expression on her face. "I don't particularly enjoy making debts for myself. Samurais are bound to debts until they are repaid."

He takes a step closer to her face and lifts her hat to view her eyes. "Then," he says as he removes it swiftly. "Spend the rest of the day with me, Masashi-san. And please eat this senbei, I did pay for you."

For a moment, Yoshie felt her heart flutter after a long time. She watched Obito walk on, but she didn't take a step with him. He was quick to notice and stopped at his tracks.

"Is there something wrong?" he asks.

Bowing her head, Yoshie took a deep breath to say a few words. "Thank you for your kind offer, but I would prefer staying alone for as long as I stay here."

Before Obito could reply or Yoshie continue, a loud yell broke the air. It startled them both especially when they saw the boy with marked whiskers on his face running right at their way.

"Naruto?!"

~~~

Number of words: 4145

*shikabane (屍) means corpse in Japanese.

*sensei (先生) means teacher in Japanese.

*senbei (せんべい) are Japanese rice crackers.

*gunbai (軍配, short for 軍配団扇 gunbai-uchiwa) military leader's fan (in old Japan); a type of Japanese war fan.

*tomoe (巴 or 鞆絵, ともえ) and tomowe (ともゑ) in its archaic form, is a Japanese abstract shape described as a swirl that resembles a comma or the usual form of a magatama. The origin of tomoe is uncertain. Some think that it originally meant tomoe (鞆絵), or drawings on tomo (鞆), a round arm protector used by an archer, whereas others see tomoe as stylized magatama. It is a common design element in Japanese family emblems (家紋 kamon) and corporate logos, particularly in triplicate whorls known as mitsudomoe (三つ巴). Some view the mitsudomoe as representative of the threefold division (Man, Earth, and Sky) at the heart of the Shinto religion. Originally, it was associated with the Shinto war deity Hachiman, and through that was adopted by the samurai as their traditional symbol. One mitsudomoe variant, the Hidari Gomon, is the traditional symbol of the Ryūkyū Kingdom. The Koyasan Shingon sect of Buddhism uses the Hidari Gomon as a visual representation of the cycle of life.

This chapter is dedicated to my favorite author, writer168. Senpai, I wanna thank you for the book which you have written, Stumble, because it was a given inspiration for me to start an AU Naruto Shippuden fanfic. I'll have to admit that there were anime that also served as an inspiration, but to know a writer who makes amazing an AU allows me to challenge myself to do something new. :)

The girl above is Masashi Yoshie, the OC of this book :3