Summary: A survivor of Kiragakure finds her way to Sunagakure, looking for aid wherever she might find it. However much she might know of the Kazekage, though, notihing can prepare her for what awairs her.
Warning: None yet.
Disclaimer: Don't own anything related Naruto, except this fanfiction, plot, and OC.
Hey, all! I'm finally back, and with a new story to kick off the end of my problems with It's a Gaara/OC fic, but I've done my best to keep his character definitely the way we all know it. I hope you all enjoy it. Oh, and if anyone knows how to make jutsu names or something like that, please message me! All names are taken from reliable sources.
Please review if you read. Comments, ideas, suggestions, and helpful criticism welcome.
The kuonichi winced at the wet sound of her shuriken hitting a pursuer, but didn't stop her running over the sand, wishing there was some cover so she could take a rest for a second. Dodging another weapon, she winced as a second sliced into her arm, blood spattering onto the hot grains beneath her feet. Grateful – as she always was – that she had mastery over her chakra as much as the best shinobi could, and hoping she had enough in her reserves to make it, the young woman quickly made several hand signs and ignored the screams that reached her ears as she poured chakra into her feet, willing her body to go faster than it was supposed to.
Unable to go much farther, she paused, not hearing any more attackers behind her, and took a moment to catch her breath before pushing her body to its limits, sensing her chakra was almost gone. Stopping for a second time, she performed a final hand sign before dropping to the ground, her body almost dead from exhaustion.
"What the hell is this?" the shinobi demanded to his companions, coming upon an unusual sight outside of their village. They were from Sunagakure Village, and had been almost finished with their daily patrol of the border of their lands when they had spotted something in the distance. After ensuring that there was no immediate danger, they had immediately gone to investigate.
"It looks like a young woman," Temari commented dryly, crouching down to inspect the figure. Blood and dirt caked the person's clothing and features, and sand had blown over it as well, but Temari was almost certain it was female.
"There aren't any weapons on her, ma'm," another cell member reported, inspecting the figure. "Could she really be a shinobi? There's no makimono pouch."
"If it's a spy, it's in our best interest to bring her in for questioning," she ordered, straightening and turning to the other two jônin beside her. "And if she isn't, we can hardly just leave her here. Who knows what kind of trouble that could cause? One of you get her and we'll bring her back to the village."
"Yes, ma'm!" the first shinobi saluted, and immediately slung the unconscious figure over his shoulder as if it weighed nothing. Without further conversation, Temari led her cell back to Sunagakure, wondering what her brother would have to say about this development.
"First an attack on Iwagakure and almost killing the Tsuchikage, and now you find some half-dead person in the sand?" Gaara demanded, obviously unhappy with recent events. Now twenty years old, the Kazekage had long since earned respect in his village and among other shinobi – but was currently not in the mood for surprises. "Why didn't you just kill it?"
"If she was a messenger from Iwagakure or any other village, it wouldn't have been prudent to just slay her," Temari informed him calmly, though on the inside she was choosing her words carefully. "And if she's a spy, then I believe it is in our best interest to capture her and interrogate her to the best of our abilities."
"Yeah, yeah," the Kazekage waved his hand impatiently, getting to his feet. "Anything else unusual on patrol?"
"None of the cells reported anything," she replied, and he narrowed his eyes suddenly.
"That isn't what I asked."
"Not to my knowledge, no," she corrected, suppressing an urge to take a step back as her brother moved forward.
"Fine. I suppose I have to go see it for myself," Gaara muttered, walking right past her and out the door of his office. Temari released a silent sigh of relief, and turned to glare at Kankuro.
"You could have said something, you know!"
"Hey, I already said my cell was fine," her other brother defended himself. "I have a feeling Gaara wants you to go with him, so you better hurry to catch up."
"Ohh…" she growled, and mumbled something under her breath in aggravation, but quickly spun around and stalked down the hall in an effort to catch up with the temperamental Kazekage.
"This is the person we found in the desert," Temari told him, as they entered a hospital room. "She's in bad condition, but we found her before she could drop dead. We found this next to her, but I can't make it out," she added, handing her brother a shinobi hitai-ate, with the marking appearing to have been deliberately scratched out by someone.
"Hmm…strange," Gaara muttered, while his gaze rested on the figure in the bed. A young woman, appearing around their age, had been cleaned up and bandaged, revealing smooth features and straight dark-brown hair. "There were no weapons or anything else on her?"
"No, Gaara," his sister shook her head. "Nothing except that nearby. I sent a cell to search the area, but they came up empty-handed as well."
"Who is she?" he demanded, moving closer to inspect her.
"We don't know yet," his sister reported. "She should regain consciousness soon, though, and we'll get to work on her as soon as she does."
"Have her blindfolded as soon as she wakes up," he ordered. "If she is a spy, we don't need her to see anything of Sunagakure."
"There won't be any need for that, Lord Kazekage," one of the doctors interrupted, nervously taking a step forward. "While we were inspecting her for injuries, we naturally looked at her eyes, and – well, it was obvious what was wrong," he finished, moving closer and lifting one of her eyelids for them to see.
"She's blind?" Temari realized with surprise, as they saw the girl's eyes. They were a grayed-over blue, lacking any pupils, and a misted appearance.
"Are you sure this isn't a trick?" Gaara demanded. "After all, the Hyuga clan doesn't have normal eyes – neither do I. It could be a kekki-genkai, or a shinobi bloodline."
"We performed several tests, Lord Kazekage, and all indicated she is indeed blind," the doctor said, quickly covering his tracks. "However, I suppose there will be no way to tell for sure until she is conscious…"
"Then blindfold her now," the young man ordered. "I'm not going to take any chances."
"Yes, Lord Kazekage," the doctor nodded, retrieving a piece of cloth and quickly tying it around the female's eyes.
"Inform me as soon as she wakes up," Gaara continued, turning to leave. "Temari, you stay here in case she tries to pull something."
"Yes," she nodded, a little irritated at having to baby-sit a prone shinobi – if that's what she was – but definitely not going to argue with her brother.
As Gaara left the room, she sighed and pulled a chair up beside the bed, leaning closer to a table to inspect the girl's clothes, hoping a clue would be in them. They had been removed when she had been brought to the hospital, and cleaned of all previous dirt and blood. A fishnet shirt with long sleeves, with a solid black piece of cloth to cover the breasts and interrupting the pattern of the net was folded on top of a pair of white capris, while black zoki rested on the floor beside the bed.
"Hmm…pretty generic stuff, and no symbols of any kind," Temari mused, leaning back with a sigh. "Oh well – I guess Kankuro will have to take over the cell supervision until I can leave," she grinned, remembering Sunagakure had been on high alert since the attack on Iwagakure, putting pressure on the two siblings in their meetings with Gaara.
"Do you require anything?" the doctor asked, and she shook her head in annoyance, hating to have to deal with the sniveling lower-class shinobi that had a job in the ward as the head doctor. Granted, his skills were top-notch, but there was no need for such…spinelessness.
"No, you can leave," she said sharply, and closed her eyes once the man had left. "Finally," she muttered, preparing to get some rest.
Several hours later, as the sun began to descend from the sky, Temari was woken by noises coming from the young woman in the bed, and quickly shot to her feet and glared down at the girl. The wounded female had been trying to sit up, and Temari pushed her down onto her back with one hand, glaring down at her. The girl quickly bit her lip, muffling a swear, and Temari realized she had pushed onto a wound. Feeling slightly guilty, she shook the emotion away, reminding herself they didn't know who she was.
"Not so fast," she warned the girl, who grinned up sheepishly, appearing embarrassed. The shinobi doctor had rushed off as soon as the patient had started to move, and was nowhere in sight.
"Wh – where am I?" the young woman asked curiously, and Temari raised an eyebrow.
"I'm the one asking the questions here," she returned sharply. "Who are you? Your name, age, and rank – if you're even a shinobi." Temari untied the blindfold, deciding it would be easier to tell if she was lying if she could see the girl's eyes – if she wasn't blind, that is.
"Seki – age nineteen – jônin," the girl replied calmly, her eyes gazing unseeingly at the ceiling. Temari narrowed her eyes suspiciously, but was almost positive the girl was indeed blind.
"Last name, shinobi," Temari ordered, and the girl sighed.
"Yahagi Seki."
"So, she's awake," Gaara stated, returning with the doctor following behind him. "I thought I told you to inform me when she woke up, Temari," he said harshly, and the woman winced slightly.
"She was moving, and I had to pin her," she explained, and Gaara's gaze shifted to the young woman on the bed calmly.
"Has she said anything?"
"She says her name is Yahagi Seki, that she's nineteen, and a jônin," Temari told him, and her brother nodded slightly before moving directly next to the girl and grasping her chin in one hand, forcing her head to move to face him. She quickly pulled the sheet around herself to prevent herself from being exposed, and briefly frowned unseeingly in his direction.
"So, Yahagi Seki, did you fake those wounds as well?" he asked quietly, and Temari kept a shudder back, hearing the cold tone in his voice. The girl blinked nervously, obviously unsure what was going on, and took a moment to answer. It was a moment too long for Gaara, who shook her head sharply and glared at her – not that the glare had much effect. "Did you use a jutsu to create your wounds like you created your unconsciousness?" he repeated, his voice almost a hiss.
"N-no…I used a jutsu combining genjustu and taijutusu to knock myself out without further injury," Seki finally revealed. "I thought it'd be easier to get inside Sunagakure if I was a wounded, unconscious stranger, instead of just a wounded stranger."
"Why did you want to get inside our village?" Gaara asked, tightening his grip slightly and roughly using his grip on her chin to lift her to a sitting position. Seki furrowed her brow, but didn't offer any noise of protest. "Are you from Iwagakure?" he guessed, narrowing his eyes even more. "Did you come from Iwagakure?"
"I…I escaped from Iwagakure," she admitted, and Temari frowned in confusion.
"Escaped from Iwagakure shinobi, or from the attack?" Gaara's sister demanded, but quickly fell silent when his 'basilisk' glare was directed towards her.
"From the attack," Seki told them. "I was…staying there when it was attacked."
"So, where are you really from?" Gaara demanded, and Seki hesitated before answering, the pause between her previous answer painfully obvious to both Sunagakure shinobi.
"Kiragakure – the Village Hidden in the Mist," she said finally, forcing the words out. Both Gaara and Temari's eyes widened in surprise, but Gaara quickly recovered.
"I've never met a Kiragakure shinobi I didn't like to kill, Yahagi Seki," he told her calmly. "Ever since Zabuza caused all that trouble eight years ago, they've seem to come out of the woodwork, and I've had nothing but trouble with shinobi from the Village Hidden in the Mist. And why did you ask where you were before, if you know you're in Sunagakure already?"
"I didn't – I was assuming," she told him, trying to free herself from his grasp and only getting held tighter for her troubles. "But I was trying to reach here."
"Why not Konohagure?" Gaara persisted, and she sighed.
"Why not Sunagakure?" she retorted, and Temari waited for her brother to do something to the young woman for her tone. However, Gaara kept his temper in check and only gritted his teeth, his grip so tight now it was sure to leave bruises. "I came here because it was closer where I was coming from – and it's harder to get to. And Konohagure and Iwagakure are hardly allies – they'd be even less pleased to see me than you are."
"You think the shinobi are hunting you," Gaara stated flatly. "So you came here in order to make pursuit harder, and put my entire village in danger. I can't say I'm pleased either. What were you doing in Iwagakure?"
"I'm not going to tell you my life story, Lord Kazekage," she said dryly, and Temari blinked.
"How did you know…?"
"Easy, Temari," Seki retorted, and her sudden expression revealed a sharp mind behind the unseeing eyes and apparently-naïve face. "Every shinobi has to be observant, and since I'm blind, I pay attention to every little detail. He said your name at the beginning, so that was easy enough. And I've heard of Gaara of the Sand – enough to remember his name, and that he has two siblings named Temari and Kankuro. Plus, he said 'my' village, and Temari defers to him. Besides, who else would be interrogating a rogue shinobi, right?"
"Correct," Gaara nodded reluctantly, certain this girl was no ordinary young woman, if she was able to determine his identity from their conversation. "And if I'm correct, Yahagi was the Mizukage of Kiragakure when Zabuza staged that coupe. As a result, the Village went into chaos after the Mizukage died from inflicted injuries. What relation are you to him?"
"Damn, I should've known you'd figure that one out," Seki sighed, and winced slightly. "Can you please let me go first? I'm not going to try anything – it'd be pretty asinine, after all. You're hurting me. And it's a bit embarrassing to be naked under here – can I get dressed before I keep going? I'd appreciate it. "
"Fine," the Kazekage said shortly, releasing her after a pause and returning his hand to his side, where he quickly crossed his arms across his chest.
"Thanks," the shinobi grinned easily, and turned her head curiously. Bright red prints were on her face where his fingers had gripped her, but she didn't seem to notice the pain anymore. "Now, where…"
"Temari, bring her to my office in five minutes," Gaara ordered, stalking from the room.
"Sure," his sister nodded, and moved to gather Seki's clothing from the table. "I have your clothes right here, so just wait a moment. And you're really lucky."
"Lucky? Yeah, I guess – I could've guessed wrong and died in the desert instead," Seki agreed, gratefully taking her clothing and getting out of the bed, the sheet slipping from her body to the bed. Temari narrowed her eyes when she saw the long scar going across the young woman's breasts, beginning at her right shoulder and stretching almost to the left side of her waist. She refrained from commenting for the moment, and instead handed the shinobi her zoki when she was ready for them.
"I meant Gaara – he doesn't have the best temper," Temari informed the young woman, who turned to her curiously.
"What do you mean?" Seki asked, finally finished dressing. The white pants rested low on her hips, fitting snugly to her knees and flaring slightly beneath them, where her zoki peeped out. The black shirt ended just at the pant's beginning, and the loose sleeves stretched to her wrists. A small symbol was on the corner of her left sleeve, but Temari paid no attention to the dark-blue color.
"He could have killed you without a second thought if he thought you were an irritation," the older woman told her calmly, and Seki blinked nervously.
"I heard that about him…but…I wasn't sure…"
"He's not as bad as before, since he became Kazekage all, but I wouldn't want to be in your place for the world," Temari assured the young woman, peering at her sharply as the shinobi turned her back to Temari to reach for her hitai-ate. The shinobi's hair reached to her shoulder blades, with her hair cut at a sharp angle beginning at her cheekbones and angling down to the bottom and parted on the right. The shortest pieces covered her left eye completely, but the obstruction obviously didn't matter to the blind girl.
"Really," Seki commented, digesting this information about a potential ally. Tying her hitai-ate high on her head sideways, so that the metal brace rested just above her right ear, she pulled her hair over the knot and frowned when she realized her holster was empty. "Where're my…"
"You didn't have any weapons on you," Temari informed her, and the young woman looked slightly surprised before laughing shortly and shaking her head. "That's a bit unusual for a shinobi, especially for a jônin," she continued, and the girl shrugged.
"I forgot about that…" she sighed. "I used the shuriken to set several traps behind me while I worked my way here."
"No comment," Temari said shortly, unsure what to make of the young woman. "Let's go."
"Fine," Seki nodded in agreement, and didn't resist when Temari gripped her upper arm to lead her out of the ward.
"She forgot her shuriken?" Gaara shook his head in wonderment, having used his Third Eye technique to invade the senses of the shinobi doctor who had been nearby them to observe the entire exchange. "I wouldn't be a decent Kazekage if I didn't know what was going on in my own village," he mused to himself, releasing the chakra and leaning back in thought.
Well? I hope it's not too bad, for my first Naruto fic. Please review.