Naruto: Rebuilding the Hidden Sand Village

Time passed quickly.

Before anyone realized it, it was already mid-June in the shinobi world.

Aside from the rising temperatures, Sunagakure remained calm and peaceful.

The village's shinobi, who hadn't been dispatched on missions for over six months, had grown accustomed to life under Suna's internal reforms.

While a new Toy Workshop had popped up outside the village, no one really paid it any mind.

Seriously—wasn't the land around Sunagakure already filled with factories of all kinds?

One more wasn't anything worth fussing over.

The only thing giving people headaches was... a shortage of workers again!

As for rumors about the Fourth Kazekage's third son having red hair—well, no one really cared anymore.

"So... why does the Kazekage's third son have red hair?"

Baki took a gulp of cool boiled water to beat the heat, splashed his face, and then looked suspiciously at Yashamaru, who was wiping sweat from his brow.

"Lord Kazekage and your sister don't have red hair."

"Brothr Rasa has reddish hair," Yashamaru rolled his eyes. "It's just... not that obvious."

"Not that obvious? Come on, it's basically brown. But I remember Lady Kana's hair was—"

"Alright, I know what you're about to say." Yashamaru cut him off and pushed Baki's lecherous face away. "Brother Rasa's not that kind of man. And I can assure you—Gaara came out of my sister's belly. Even his name, Gaara, should tell you how much she loves Rasa."

That name was practically a love letter.

"So the red hair? He just took after brother Rasa. Just... a more intense version."

"Fine, fine, 'a bit more intense.' I heard Lady Karura gave birth with help from Lady Kana?"

"She did. What's weird about that? Kana's the most skilled medical ninja in the village, aside from Chiyo—who never comes down from the mountain. So of course she helped."

"Yeah, but... I also heard Lady Kana knows sealing jutsu?"

"Oh, still going?" Yashamaru slapped away Baki's nosey face again. "Those sealing tags on the supply bags at the factory? You and I went to Kana for those, remember?"

"Oh, right~" Baki nodded, then grinned. "You know, someone once said a jinchūriki is when they seal a huge tailed beast into someone's belly, but their belly doesn't even swell at all!"

"Of course not... wait!" Yashamaru suddenly froze, dark lines appearing on his forehead. "Don't tell me you think my nephew came out of Kana's belly?! You've got quite the imagination, don't you?"

You better watch yourself, buddy. That's how you get decked.

"Hahaha, just kidding." Baki quickly laughed it off when he saw Yashamaru's expression. "Anyway, I've got things to do, gotta run!"

"You—"

Yashamaru watched as Baki ran off, grinning, and could only shake his head helplessly.

"That guy's mind really goes wild sometimes... I mean, I—"

He paused.

"Sealing jutsu... could it really work like that?"

"This is ridiculous," Rasa said with a laugh, looking over at Karura, who was still resting on the bed.

"Bijū are chakra constructs. Even if you seal them, how could one lifeform be sealed inside another? What is this, surrogate pregnancy?"

...Of course, guys like Orochimaru crawling around inside people's bodies like a snake didn't count.

Looking at Gaara, sleeping peacefully while sucking his own fingers...

"And the red hair? Maybe you just absorbed too much of Kana's chakra."

Yep. Red hair.

So, Rasa's brown hair plus Karura's light blond... somehow equals bright red?

He reached out and ruffled the heads of his other kids—Temari, whose hair was pale yellow, and Kankurō, whose hair was a deep brown.

"Don't pay attention to those bored busybodies. The heat's driving them crazy and they've got nothing better to do than gossip."

"I don't care," Karura said with a roll of her eyes. Her face was still pale from the birth, but she smiled as she gently picked up Gaara in her arms.

"I was just curious why his hair turned out red. But your theory sounds good—too much of Kana's chakra."

She softly patted Gaara's back, speaking in a sweet voice:

"Gaara, Gaara... you're so cute."

"..."

As long as you're happy, dear. But when he grows up, we might wanna warn him that if he ever runs into a blond kid, he should either bring a steel plate... or stay the hell away.

Rasa smiled faintly. Watching the mother and her three children together calmed the irritation the summer heat had stirred in his heart.

After a moment, seeing Karura begin to yawn tiredly, he took Gaara from her arms.

"Rest for now. Nothing urgent today—I'll stay here with you."

Today...

He planned to skip work and just spend time with his wife and children!

No matter who showed up—

Just as he made up his mind…

"Kazekage-sama! The first group of traveling merchant-nin have returned!" a Suna-nin suddenly appeared at the door, calling respectfully. "They've brought some refugees with them... how should we handle it?"

"..."

Rasa paused, then glanced down at the baby in his arms and at Karura in bed.

He cleared his throat seriously.

"Let Advisor Chiyo handle it. Tell her to make the arrangements."

Today… he's spending time with his wife.

No exceptions.

But before he could even settle back—

"Ehehe~ Kazekage-sama, I'm here! I heard this time—"

Meanwhile, in the Land of Rain—

It had been over a week since Yahiko returned to Amegakure.

With food, supplies, and jobs distributed, the area around the village had slowly started to stabilize. Even the ninja and civilians who had only recently joined the new regime began to trust Yahiko's leadership—especially when they saw actual food.

Mining teams started digging. Laborers followed shinobi to Sunagakure for work. No resistance, no complaints.

As for the remaining insurgents...

Yahiko rubbed his temples, clearly troubled.

"Why are those guys still resisting? Didn't they hear we're offering food and work and trying to bring them in?"

"It's not that simple," Konan replied, equally frustrated.

"After all the lies they were told during Hanzo's rule... it's no surprise they don't believe us yet."

That bastard still had the nerve to call himself the Demi-God of the Shinobi World...

He broke promises, ruled with terror, and deceived the people.

Now even Akatsuki was paying the price for it.

"Give it time. Once they realize we're not lying, they'll come around."

"Guess that's all we can do."

"Oh, right—what about Orochimaru of the Konoha Sannin? I heard while you were away, he expressed interest in joining us. What do you think?"

"Orochimaru... and Jiraiya-sensei..." Yahiko furrowed his brow in thought, then shook his head seriously.

"Lord Orochimaru was exiled for conducting inhumane, anti-shinobi human experiments. But Akatsuki stands for hope. We're a group of shinobi united by a shared dream—working toward peace together. We are a bright and righteous organization. Orochimaru... doesn't belong with us."

"So you mean...?"

"Out of respect for Jiraiya-sensei, just kick Orochimaru out. That's all. Don't bother with anything else."

Akatsuki must remain true to its ideals.

No matter how strong rogue ninja were, they couldn't betray their original dream.

Which meant...

Rogue ninja with malicious intent toward the shinobi world must never be accepted!