Bullet to Your Heart
Chapter One
uthors Note: No, I do NOT own Naruto or any of Kishimotos wonderful creations. I DO own Tama and Joshua Henricks, so no one steal them!...
The sun beats down on the desert village. A gentle breeze rolls across the land, cooling the foreheads of the day laborers and blowing through the short, messy purple hair of a young girl of thirteen. She takes note of all this. She smiles proudly when she doesn't start sweating in the heat, despite her dark ensemble. It takes more than the sun to make Hendricks Tama sweat! Silver eyes sweep over the land as she surveys her new 'home' here in Suna. The smile turns to a scowl. Her father, a well built man of in his early thirties sees this as he comes around the moving truck with boxes in his arms.
"Oy! What you unhappy about? Actually, don't answer that. I already know. And you already know why we had to leave, girl" Tama's father, Hendricks Joshua, put the boxes for a minute to wait for her response, as he knew Tama would have one. He too had messy purple hair, though it was a different shade and was shorter, and dark brown eyes.
"Why'd we have to move here, though. It's a little friggin' village in the middle of nowhere in the desert! And it's so rundown!" Tama complains.
"Since when have you cared how 'rundown' something was. And you would have been hating on any place other than Konoha. And this is a Ninja village. I would think you'd be happy about that. And we wouldn't even be here if hadn't been fer that little incident" Joshua picks the boxes back up and continues to carry them into the house, but paused to yell over his shoulder, " And you are going to help set the shop up, now go get some of them boxes and bring them in!"
Tama's scowl had only deepened during her father's speech. She put her hands on her hips, mutters a small, "Yeah, yeah, whatever Papa" and heads to get some cargo. In her mind, Tama reflects on what her real home is. Home is where Anko-sensei and the Naras are. Home is the leafy green village of Konoha. Not this yellow dump called Suna! But I guess there's no helping it. Maybe I can finally become a Ninja here! The last thought made her brighten up.
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It had taken an entire day to set up the shop, bathroom, kitchen, and bedrooms. Some things were still in boxes, but the majority of the labor was over. Tama's father owned a weapons shop called 'Hendricks Metal'. He was a master weapons smith, and Tama was an apprentice. They had moved into a two story building. The bottom half had the shop, a small storage room, a bathroom, and the 'Metal Room' where the merchandise was made. The upper half had two bedrooms, one for Tama and one for Joshua, a kitchen, living room and one bathroom. Right now, it is five thirty, and Tama is sitting behind the counter, with a name tag that reads 'Tama'. Her and her father had made a deal.
The first two days after moving to Suna, Tama had to spend the whole day helping with the shop. After that, she would work ten in the morning to two in afternoon, than she would come back at eight and at eleven, close the shop. She had a thirty minute lunch break and could do whatever she wanted when she wasn't working.
Tama idly wonders how much business they would get as she flips through a comic while listening to the music in her headsets. Tama notes the front door opening out the corner of her eye. Oh, a customer. She places the comic down and takes the headsets off.
"And how may I help you this fine day." Tama turns the friendly on as she turns to meet the customers. They were an odd trio, two guys and a girl, all three carrying something heavy looking on their back. But what interests Tama most are the headbands they wore. Ninjas!
"Hey! I'm Kankuro. I heard there was a new weapons shop. I wanted to take a look." Kankuro started, "Oh, these are my siblings, Temari and Gaara" Kankuro, being the more friendly of the three, introduced.
" Nice to know ya, the names Tama. All three of ya look to your leisure, and if your interested in anything, just let me know" Tama said with a smile. Kankuro goes off to browse through all the stores wares. Temari looks through some of the wares at the front of the store, trying to be polite, but not really interested. Gaara just stays by door looking, well, like Gaara. Tama wants to ask the Ninjas, but is nervous. And first…
"Erm…" what was the red's name? "Gaara" That was it! "Why don't come into the store and look around. You might find something worth your interest. The Hendricks got the finest in the world." Tama brags, trying to make as much profit as she can today. Gaara, having been addressed, fixed the purple-hair with a stare. It wasn't a glare, but it wasn't friendly either. Tama was intimated, but refused to back down, and looked back into those green eyes unblinking. "Come on, I'm sure I can get you something you'd like." Tama added a smile for good touch.
"No" came the reply.
"…whatever." Tama finally admitted defeat with a frown and went back to her comic. Temari had watched the encounter carefully, looking for signs that it was about to get ugly. She sighed in relief when it didn't. Five minutes later, Tama brought up the topic she had wanted to bring up the minute she saw the headbands. "You guys are Ninjas, right?" She put down the comic she was reading and looks at Temari and Gaara. Kankuro is somewhere else in the shop. Temari nodded affirmative, and waited for the other girl get on with it.
"The thing is, I've had training before and was wondering if I could become a Ninja." Tama wasn't sure if mentioning Konoha was a good idea or not, and decided to keep it quiet.
"Why do you want to be a Ninja?" Temari inquired frowning. Gaara just watched and didn't say anything, not really caring.
"Ah, come on, right now all me and my Papa got to keep us alive is this shop, and that's not much to guarantee a bed in my future. But my dad's old, and isn't about to let go of this dump of his, and the only things I've had training in are Weapon Smithing and Ninja Arts. So what am I to do?" That was partially true, but money wasn't the sole reason Tama wanted to be Ninja. Temari nodded to that. It made sense.
"Where did you learn Ninja Arts from?"
"My mother was a former Ninja." That was true too.
"Where's your mother now?" Temari continued to interrogate the girl.
"Dead, don't ask how, it's none of your business, and can we quit the 20 questions"
"Fine, but before I can even mention you to the Kazekage, you have to prove yourself in battle." Temari answered.
"Fine, just tell me who, where and when and I'll be there and. I'll. Beat. Their. Butt." Tama feels confident that she can defeat anyone. No one's standing in my way!
"I'll battle you." Gaara finally entered the conversation. Temari suddenly looked worried.
"Hey now Gaara, you don't have to, she's probably pretty weak"-
"Excuse me." Tama cut Temari off, sending a glare her way, than fixed her eyes on Gaara, "Okay, I got a who, you, Gaara, now give me where, and whenever it is, is up to you, I don't care, just as long as it's between two and eight" Once again, she looked into his intimidating eyes, unblinking. Hm, he doesn't really look like a taijutsu guy, ninjutsu or genjutsu, or both, are probably his main arsenal. And probably not close combat either. Probably uses that gourd of his somehow.
"We'll meet at the East Border near the River Canyon, at five, I'll escort you there myself"
"Works for me, see you tomorrow around five." Tama finished. Temari had nervously watched the display, wanting to stop it, but knew she wouldn't be able to change Gaara's mind. At that minute, Kankuro had returned, with a few knives in hand. He noticed the tension in the air.
"What I miss?"
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