AUTHOR'S NOTE! alfkjlkdsj FUSSSSSK. SUCH a long wait. Dx I'm so, so, so sorry! There have been a million and one things going on, and just...ARG. I haven't had the time to write much. -sigh- This chapter was supposed to have more, but I was too tired to write anymore. Well, I hope you enjoy this one.
DISCLAIMER! I do not own anything, except for Suteki. And Denki-Denki. Yep.
02. "Denki-Denki Says You're A Cold Bastard"
Sea-green eyes of a pale tint moved slightly, watching the small girl's every movement. She darted from table to table, looking at the few remaining weapons with a serious, round little face. The only visible caramel eye (the other was hidden by a shock of dark, sandy hair) was narrowed in concentration. Gaara merely stood still in his usual stance; arms crossed, legs placed firmly on the ground.
Her lips were moving in such rapid succession, that it took the sand shinobi a moment to realize she was speaking. However, he could not hear any of the hushed words - despite the fact that his hearing was more sensitive than that even of the average ninja.
"...No, he can't be..." the snatch of words were the only thing he was able to hear as she darted past him. A gust of wind picked of several bits of sand and lifted them into the air. Suteki sneezed, rubbing her eyes with the back of one hand.
"Nasty sand..." she whispered to herself, continuing her appraisal of the scattered weapons. A quiet sigh escaped Gaara's lips, and Suteki instantly stopped her quick, clumsy movements. She looked at him through a widened caramel-colored eyes, waiting for him to speak. The flame-headed boy did not offer any words, but merely locked his own eyes with hers for a moment, before closing his dark-rimmed eyes and once again resuming the task of waiting patiently.
He did not see Suteki's lip jut out in a tiny pout, but he did hear the tinkling whisper that followed.
"Denki-Denki! You shouldn't say those kinds of things!"
There was a flash of sea-green, "May I ask who it is you're talking to?"
Suteki let out a soft, muffled sort of shriek and stood rigidly, nearly falling over in the process. She caught herself in time and looked at Gaara through those same wide, caramel eyes.
"No one!" she answered smoothly, still staring at him owlishly. But any fool could see she was lying, and the sand shinobi would be damned before a simple girl would get the better of him. However, rather than pelt her with unnecessary words, as others would (even his own siblings), he merely kept his stance and stared back at the girl, narrowing his eyes by an infinitesimal bit.
Suteki noticed this and chewed on her bottom lip, unfazed. Staring contests were such fun! She narrowed her own eyes as well, and leaned forward a tad.
Moments passed...
Eyes watering, Suteki jutted out her bottom lip once more (it was slightly swollen from her previous chewing). Her eyes twitched, and the wind blew up more sand. Her nose began to itch.
"Ne..." she muttered in agitation. Gaara - having had years or practice in the fine art that was staring down other people - was unmoved by her little act, and thus kept his gaze locked with her. He wasn't playing her foolish little game - oh no, him? Never! - and resigned to waiting for her to finally stop her antics.
Finally, with tears streaming down her face, Suteki was resolved to blink at last. She quickly brought a gloved hand to her eye and rubbed the water and sand out of it. Letting her hand fall to her side limply, the girl blinked a few more times (for good measure) and sent the flame-headed one a tiny, tiny smile.
"You won!" she declared, fidgeting with her choppy, short hair. Gaara still did not blink, un-amused. The girl frowned.
"You're not happy...?" she began to ask - but was cut off by a pillar of sand rising up from in front of her. Suteki's eyes shot open, and she quickly jumped back. Landing a few feet back, she landed with her foot in the wrong place and fell backwards. The sand made a deafening grating sound as it hovered above her, waiting for the order to strike. The girl tried to crawl back, but slipped once more and fell on her back, laying there.
"If you were in a fight," he began, using that same sort of placid tone from before, "You'd be dead right now. I have no time for this foolishness. Do you want to become a shinobi of the sand, Densetsu-san?"
Suteki looked at him for a while. But then Gaara's eyes widened a tad, and the hovering sand fell limp before returning back to his gourd. Quickly, he was at Suteki's side, staring at her intently. The girl remained unfazed, still with...With that look on her face. That look.
"What is it? Why are you looking at me with..." and for the first time, Gaara was without words. He couldn't describe it, didn't even know where to begin, "...That face."
Silently, Suteki picked herself up - as she had so many other times before - swaying slightly before straightening up and looking at her new mentor with owlish eyes.
"What look?" she asked in a small voice. A pallid finger was pointed to her face.
"That look," he confirmed, still giving her an empty stare. The gears in his mind were hard at work, trying to piece a word to that expression she wore so blatantly. Thin, dry lips stretched into what could be described as a smile. Gaara let his hand fall to his side.
"Respect. Admiration, maybe. The look all students give their mentors in such a moment. I don't know..." Suteki shrugged a skinny little shoulder, and kept her ground; an act most of her age group would have given her a citation of bravery for.
"Not fear?" the words where spoken dryly, and Suteki's smile died down. As the girl fiddled even more with her hair, Gaara suddenly regretted unleashing the sand so bluntly. Well, he only regretted it a tad bit. Not much, honestly.
"No. I wouldn't think so," the girl giggled hysterically, "Denki-Denki, shut up!"
Oblivious to his actions, Suteki broke her stare and twisted her body half around, wobbling for a moment as she did so. Catching herself, there was a sound of rummaging, and - from a pouch that was attached to the back of her skirt piece's belt - produced a filthy, torn-and-then-poorly-stitched-back-together, stuffing-leaking cat plushie. A wicked grin came unto her pale little face, drastically changing her previous innocent appearance.
With the air of handling a precious jewel, Suteki brought the stained old thing up to her ear, "Come again?"
Her expression was one of rapt attention, and Gaara felt the muscles were his eyebrows should have been furrow into a slightly confused expression.
"Ah. Yes, yes of course. No...Well, I suppose," Suteki muttered rapidly, still appearing to be listening to her cat plushie.
"Densetsu-san, are you speaking...To a toy?" There were very few moments in Gaara's life where he was caught by surprise. Needless to say, this was definitely one of them.
At his voice, Suteki flushed and whipped her arms around to hide the cat plushie behind her back. Caramel irises shifted from side to side. She stood on her toes, leaning in towards her new mentor.
"No..." she drawled out in a sing-song voice, returning to her position and smiling cheekily. Eyebrow-muscles rose in a strange mixture of confusion, frustration, and a dash of amusement.
"You're lying," he stated, crossing his arms. The girl nodded in response.
"Yeah."
"And you won't tell me that you were talking to a stuffed cat? Even though I saw you with my own eyes?"
The flame-headed boy stopped speaking then. He realized something; those were the most words he had spoken to anyone in a long time. Well, not counting that Naruto kid. But that was different story.
Suteki chewed on her bottom lip, oblivious to her mentor's epiphany.
"Well, in that case..." she leaned in towards Gaara once more. It was still some distance between the two (the young girl did not like to be close to other people physically), and a normal person would have had a hard time hearing the small girl's words.
"Well, his name is Denki-Denki..."
Suteki's eyes shifted once more, and she whispered the next part conspiratorially to the teen:
"Denki-Denki doesn't seem to like you. He says you're a cold bastard..."
KAZ SPEAKS! HAH. I told you more of Suteki's personality would show in this one. At least that's one promise I kept. Yeah...
Well, not much to say. But reviews are the ramen to my inner Naruto. SO LEAVE THEM. Please?
Oh, and a million thanks to those who reviewed before. I was ecstatic! Five reviews in one chapter!!! -SQUEE-