A/N: Okay, first Naruto fanfic. Please, no flames. My knowledge base isn't as extensive as most fans and I'd appreciate it NICE reviews, if any are given :) Apologies if anyone seems OOC, but this story has been floating around in my mind for AGES, and i needed to write it. Appreciate the written arts! :P Now, put those Icha Icha books down and continue reading :D
Emi stood waiting patiently for Temari and Kankuro finish their spiel to the new Academy students. She was a year older than most of them, and had been taught a few things by her late father about jutsu and weaponry but had been forced to come to the Academy by her mother who said that being a shinobi to protect Suna was a great honour. Her mother had married into Suna, so therefore Emi wasn't a native but she couldn't help but like the place, even though she'd only lived her for a year or so.
Emi glanced around at the other students, taking in every detail. Before them stood the three Sand Siblings; Kankuro the puppeteer, Temari the wind kunoichi and Gaara of the Sand, vessel to the One Tail Shukaku. I noticed others looking at him in fear before averting their gazes. I merely watched him in silence, my eyes missing nothing. He stood still with his arms crossed, cutting an imposing figure as he let his siblings rant on about weapons which were laid down in front of the class. Rope javelins, shuriken, kunai, swords, throwing hammers; any weapon you could name were spread out before them.
Emi stood at the back of the class, the others giving her a wide berth. She wasn't sure if it was because they sensed something off about her or if her appearance made them wary. Despite the heat of the desert, she was covered from head to toe in black; a black mask and black goggles shielded her face from view.
Suna was close minded and dull, especially since the Fourth Kazekage's reign and Suna's involvement with the attempted destruction of Konoha.
However, despite being used as mere pawns, Konoha had struck a treaty with Suna to become allies. Willing to make up for their mistake, the desert village readily accepted the olive branch and many changes have been made since then, namely by the Sand Siblings.
The Academy had adopted a new approach to training, similar to Konoha's, and so here they were.
Temari finished her lecture about matching weapons to each individual's mentality and ability when a mousy brown haired girl towards the front raised her hand.
Emi remained silent, listening.
"Um, excuse me? Are weapons really necessary? I mean, couldn't someone get hurt, or even killed if we practice with them?" her voice was soft and shy and Emi eyed the girl with curiosity.
"Your weapon is like…"
All eyes snapped towards Gaara, whose face remained impassive, his eyes closed in thought. From the shock of his siblings, Emi guessed he wasn't expected to say anything. More than one face paled at the sound of his low, raspy voice. His eyes opened and Emi noted the slight shock as he registered every face was looking his way. He looked away.
"Forget it, it's not important."
Without thinking, Emi spoke up. "Your weapon is like an extension of yourself."
All eyes snapped towards Emi, some surprised to even notice her further away from the class. Gaara's azure eyes bore into her own. Emi had no doubt others had fallen into a weeping mess under that intense gaze but Emi found it… intriguing.
"Explain," Temari demanded, Kankuro crossing his arms in silent agreement.
"Like jutsu, a weapon is an extension of the ninja. It can be used to attack of defend yourself and your teammates. Disrespect any weapon and the results would be… unpleasant." Emi's goggled eyes landed on the mousy girl who had spoken before, noting her face pale under her gaze. Emi inwardly sighed. Great, someone else who thinks I'm a freak.
A boy behind the mousy girl shoved her hard in the shoulder, muttering loud enough for the rest of the class to hear.
"Hey, if you're going to ask stupid questions like that to make Gaara mad, you're on your own!" He went to shove her hard again but Emi hand a hand clamped around his wrist before contact. The boy looked up in shock, no doubt wondering how she had gotten there so fast. "L—let go!"
Emi's grip tightened. "No question is stupid, especially when the answers could save your life." She shoved him away and turned towards the girl who had back peddled a few steps. With a sigh, Emi slowly walked to her original spot, ignoring the intense gazes of the Sand Siblings. The time came for everyone to choose their sensei. Emi hung back from the group and watched as everyone rushed to Temari or Kankuro. Only Emi and the mousy girl didn't move. Gaara's gaze lowered and Emi took a moment to study the red head.
She knew that he had been persecuted by his own people, had murdered and taken delight in it, but surely he was human enough to be a little hurt that no one had chosen him yet.
His black rimmed sea-foam green eyes flicked up to the mousy girl and she let out a squeak before running over to Temari, who was in turn looking at her younger brother with a mixture of pity and understanding.
No one had even noticed that Emi hadn't moved. Except for a certain red head, that is. She stood still as he approached, coming to a stop to stand a few feet away from her.
"It is time to choose your sensei," he rasped. Emi calmly met his eyes, even though he couldn't see hers because of the dark shields.
"Will you teach me?"
She saw the shock flash across his features before he schooled them once again, crossing his arms to glare at her. "Are you sure? It won't be easy."
"I never asked for it to be easy. I asked if you'd teach me."
Surprise flitted across his face once more before his usual sombre expression settled once again. He gave a short nod and Emi almost sagged in relief. She wasn't as scared of him as she should be, but surely he'd get into trouble if he killed the only person willing to be taught by him.
Emi caught the stares of the other students and met them calmly as Gaara lead her over to one of the last remaining batch of weapons. He stood on the other side and motioned for her to choose.
Emi eyed the club, broadsword, katana and rope javelin with a practiced eye. Reaching out, she grasped the rope javelin.
"That is a rope javelin. Have you ever used one before?" Gaara asked patiently. Emi nodded.
"A few times. I'm much better with a katana, but I thought I'd challenge myself."
"Why not go for a familiar weapon?"
Emi glanced up at him before answering. "Like I said, I want a challenge."
With a stiff nod, Gaara lead her over to the training stumps and took the javelin out of her hands, extending it and rotating it around his body, a slight hum renting the air as the javelin moved through it at a high speed. "The rope javelin is meant to drive your enemies back to a safe distance until you can incapacitate them. It is defensive, not offensive. Get your enemy close enough…" He did a quick spin and released the javelin, the weighted tip wrapping itself around one of the stumps tightly. "Get your enemy close enough to deliver the final blow." He let the rope go slack as he wound it back up and handed it to her, stepping away for Emi to try.
Emi let the tip drop until it dangled an inch above the ground and got into a stance like Gaara had. She raised her arms and began to spin the javelin until she was happy with its speed. Slowly, she began to twirl the weapon around her body, losing herself in the movement. Everyone had stopped to watch her with slack jaws, Gaara remaining impassive yet aware. She wielded the weapon like an expert.
Emi shot into a final spin and released the javelin, the weighted tip twirling about the stump tightly until the sharp tip imbedded itself in the wood. Satisfied, she turned back to her sensei.
"You wield that weapon like an expert, but you said you have only used a rope javelin a few times."
Emi heard the unspoken question. She wrapped the javelin back up before answering. "My father taught me how to wield a chain sickle. Similar principle, just using defence instead of offense."
"Where is your father now?"
Emi paused. It was an innocent enough question, and he no doubt saw how she froze. Shoving the memories aside, she gave a nonchalant shrug.
"You don't know?" he asked, eying her with curiosity. She narrowed her gaze on him and considered being sarcastic. No one would ever act such a way towards the Shukaku jinchuriki and expect to live. She deemed the retort ridiculous and continued rewrapping the javelin.
"As your sensei, I need to know if you are wielding your weapon for protection or revenge."
Whatever argument Emi had conjured up in her mind became null and void. She didn't want revenge on the men who killed her father; he had died a shinobi's death after all. She had no one to protect besides herself since her mother could care less since she was so wrapped up in her new husband.
Emi fixed her gaze on the ground. "My father is dead and I have no wish for revenge. I only have myself to protect."
"Weapons can be used to protect others also, not just yourself," Gaara said calmly, walking to pick up the katana and handed it to her. Emi pocketed the javelin and grasped the handle but Gaara held firm. Her gaze met his and she felt his eyes boring into hers, even though he couldn't see them.
"What is your name?"
"Emi, Gaara-sensei."
With a nod, he released the sword and watched as Emi tested the weight, balance and sharpness. She frowned. It was a practice weapon that was for sure; the weight was heavy enough for beginners to gain muscle, the balance a bit thrown from being warped and dented with wear and there was no sharpness to mention. She'd be lucky to cut a tomato with the blade.
"I want to assess your katana skills against an opponent," Gaara said, drawing her attention away from the shoddy blade. His ever present sand gourd was now at his feet.
Emi tilted her head in question. "Against who, Gaara-sensei?"
"Me."
With a wave of his hand, a hardened sword made of sand formed in his palm, a similar length to Emi's. Beneath her black mask, Emi smirked.
"Gaara! What are you doing?" Temari's voice barked out as the wind kunoichi stalked closer, her pupils trailing her like lambs. Gaara kept his eyes on Emi.
"Training with my student," he said simply.
Temari growled. "You can't spar with a student so soon, you'll hurt her!"
Kankuro strode forward to stand beside his sister, his face contorted in a scowl, his puppeteer makeup stretching with his skin. "Temari's right, Gaara. We were only supposed to assess the students basic skills and figure out which weapons suit them and then build up to sparring. You can't do this."
Gaara remained silent as Emi's blood began to boil. Sure, she was a student but she wasn't useless.
"If Gaara-sensei wished to spar with me I have no qualms with it."
Everyone looked at Emi with shock, a few of the boys snickering.
"Just let her fight! She's useless anyways! She's a freak!" one of the boys shouted from the back of the group. His friends joined in, but the Sand Siblings said and did nothing to intervene. To survive in Suna, you had to be a shinobi and be harsh and unforgiving like the desert. That much she had learnt since she'd moved here.
"Let the freaky bitch fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!"
A chorus of agreement ruptured as Temari and Kankuro sighed in unison and stepped back to let Gaara and Emi spar. Emi feigned disinterest as Gaara got into a low stance, his katana held steady.
A slight shift behind her and she realised that Gaara was intending to use his sand in this fight. She leapt away just in time, only to duck as Gaara's sword took a swipe at her neck. Emi rolled behind him, her katana flashing up to intercept a blow to her torso. Spinning, Emi brought her sword around to clash against sand, her covered face a hairs breadth away from her sensei's. His eyes were steely and intimidating, but Emi kept calm, remembering what her father taught her. Sand wrapped around her ankle and pulled her away, flinging her to the side. Emi spun mid-air to land on her feet, sliding a little from the force.
If he was going to fight dirty, than so was she. Emi charged him so fast she was a blur, dodging sand intent on whipping her off her feet and lunged for Gaara. He managed to shield himself just in time, Emi's sword tip striking through the sand barrier to stop an inch away from his nose. Behind the shield, Gaara's eyes were wide.
Something wrapped around his own ankles and pulled and he toppled down, realisation striking him as he lowered his sand. The sand that stopped her katana had also shielded her from view enough for her to incapacitate him with her rope javelin. He had to give his student credit, she was resourceful.
He pushed his hands onto the ground to stop his fall and his eyes fell on Emi standing a few feet away with the rope in her hand, pulling tight. He flung out a hand and shot a spear of sand at her. To his dismay she didn't move and the spear shot through her chest. He watched with wide eyes as she fell and collapsed on the ground. Okay, maybe not as resourceful as he thought.
Sand rushed to protect his throat from cool metal as Emi knelt on his back, dispersing her shadow clone.
"Does this mean I win?" she asked in a bored tone.
"This just means you can defeat an opponent with a mediocre knowledge of swordsmanship."
Emi stood and loosened the rope around his ankles, holding out her hand for him to take. For long moments, he stared at her hand as if it would bite but eventually ignored it and stood on his own. Emi turned back to the rest of her class and the other two Sand Siblings who were looking at her with dropped jaws. Kankuro recovered first, crossing his arms to smirk at her.
"Well, well, well. That was a surprise. Who taught you to fight like that?"
"My father, Kankuro-sensei."
"Impressive, but it still needs work," Temari said, the closest to a compliment she would give. Emi gave a short bow before turning towards Gaara.
"Is there anything else Gaara-sensei?"
"No. You are dismissed for the day."
Emi gave a short bow before returning the practice katana, pocketing the rope javelin when Gaara said she could keep it. Without a word or glance at the others she left the training grounds and headed home towards the outskirts of Suna.