Chapter 3 is ready, I do believe. I do not own Naruto. I own my OC's Enma, Jigoku, Izanami, and of course, Lotus! I hope you enjoy this chapter!
It was a fairly uncomfortable moment, filled with thinly masked tensions. Almost every reaction in the room was tangible; You could hear Lotus' self-esteem shattering, you could feel the thinly veiled rage radiating from Enma's pale face like desert heat, and you could smell the fear of the two girls in the back as they twittered to each other in nervous anticipation.
"You ask him, Jigoku." began the rougher looking one, purple eyes rolling nervously between the door and her sister. She clearly wanted to leave, badly.
"No, no. You're the brave one, Izanami." responded Jigoku, twirling a stumpy pigtail between gloved fingers and chewing on her lower lip. The pinkish tips of her fingers poked through the holes cut purposefully into the fabric. "You should do it." They fell back to whispering amongst themselves, not quietly, mind you, but whispering nonetheless.
Gaara's fingers remained closed around the fat scroll. It was cool and hard where the waxy green sleeve clung to the yellow parchment. He ran his thumb along the edge, feeling it bend slightly as he pressed it gently into the paper tube. He had no desire to mediate this issue and, to be perfectly honest; if the mission got done he didn't really care how they managed their cell. It was his job to guide the village and the intricate workings of its internal functions, not individuals.
Lotus kept glancing at him hopefully as if he was going to help her, stick up for her, maybe change his mind about teaching her a thing or two. Unfortunately, he would not be fighting this battle.
"Just go." he set the scroll on the end of his desk. His head was beginning to hurt again, and Shukaku was advocating for him to crack someone's rib cage open. He seemed most interested in Lotus, which made no sense whatsoever. It would be too easy. Too easy, but…
He was sorely tempted.
Enma nodded curtly and snatched the scroll from the desk.
"Come on." he commanded, briskly, moving past Lotus without so much as a glance and half pushing Izanami and Jigoku out of the room. They offered no protest, seeming all too happy to dart through the doors and escape. Lotus on the other hand stood stock still her eyes locked on the decorative plant nestled by one of the three round windows.
While he found this annoying in its own right, Gaara figured she would leave eventually and turned his attention back to the budget. He was just about to make some progress when she spoke up.
"See what I mean?" He didn't bother to look at her. Not his problem. "Do you even care?" there was a thin sharp edge to the question. Gaara focused on breathing and ignored the smell of blood that had begun to build up in the air. There was a very thin line between control and debauchery for him. He was slipping into the gray area, where he was still separate from Shukaku, but some of Shukaku's senses and... Urges were beginning to present themselves.
The Ichibi rustled anxiously, sensing an opening in Gaara's irritation. It unfurled its claws and batted lazily at a twisting chain around its right paw.
She's so little... I'll bet you would hear every bone break...
Gaara shook his head slightly and pressed his palm into the desk. His pulse was beginning to rise, and he grit his teeth against the slight points forming on his canines. God, if the little bitch didn't get out of his fucking office she was going to be hauled out on a stretcher.
"Lotus. Get out here." She cast another disappointed look at Gaara and turned to leave, her too long hair swishing behind her back as she left at the request of her leader.
With a sigh, Gaara's head hung from his neck. "Thank God..." The burning subsided and the demon gave a strange little huff.
It would be fun...
Hours later, after her teammates had managed to "subtly" dump her off at the gates, Lotus went to her private training ground. A large withered tree hunched near the sandy wall, surrounded by small flat stones. She undid the high collar of her blue shirt and flung the garment to the ground, leaving the mesh undershirt hanging strangely from her bony frame. Then she rolled up her pant legs and tied her long hair back.
The sunset cast a pale orange glow over her surroundings and set her at ease. It sapped the negative feelings from her, leaving her feeling determined and, dare she say it, optimistic about the impending training session. Lotus bowed her head for a moment, focusing her chakra into the pit of her stomach. It churned, leaving a burning cold licking at her insides. "I can do this." she murmured, lifting her eyelids just slightly. "I can do this." She smiled.
Time to get to work. Lotus reached into her thigh pouch and withdrew a wicked kunai, clenching it tightly in her pale hand. She spun to the left and tried to fling it directly into the X she had scratched into the bark a day or two prior. It missed by an inch, but the gash left behind by the sharp edges was deeper than the last time. Finally, some payoff. A smile quirked her mouth and she felt a little rush of elation, spiking from her toes to her fingers and out the top of her head.
Maybe today...
She raced forward, imagining enemies standing on defensive in front of her. If this were a shinobi, the best target would be right... There! Her fist cracked sharply against the bark, and the wood gave way just a bit. A chip flew into her eye and she raised her stinging hand to cover it.
"God... dammit." she grit her teeth and blinked back a drop of moisture, pale lashes fluttering. The throb in her hand seemed to push a thin trickle of blood down the back of her hand. Why had she thought that would be a good idea?
Lotus waved her hand in an attempt to alleviate the sting and examined the tree intently. There was a very slight dent where her fist had made contact. That wasn't impressive at all and it was highly disappointing. She dropped to the ground and began a series of shaky pushups. One... Two... Three... Four...
"That isn't good form." She jumped, her hands flailing slightly when they left the powdery ground beneath her. She landed heavily, a cloud of sand dusting her face and a few rogue specks found their way into her mouth.
Gaara wasn't entirely sure why he was watching her. There were at least a dozen other things he'd rather be doing with his early release. He had been walking home, debating when the best time to train would be, as it had been a day or two longer than he would have liked, when he saw Lotus' team part at the gates. They had left her standing there, one hand lifted in a half hearted "Goodbye".
Then, rather suddenly, she had darted off down a narrow alley. He couldn't help but wonder what the little nuisance was up to. So, against his better judgment, he had followed her to a small open space beside the city wall. It was crowded by the buildings around it, and the only defining feature was a small, crooked tree withering in a small circle of flat stones.
The young kunoichi had clasped her hands in front of her, appearing to gather her chakras. He watched her mumble to herself, then she began to... train. She flung a kunai at a tree and missed entirely, but she seemed elated. Then she punched said tree and seemed almost surprised that it hurt. No wonder she wasn't wanted on her cell.
If she'd been on his cell, he'd have killed her. After a moment of shaking her hand and staring at the tree as if it held some vastly important secret, she dropped to the ground and started in on a series of absolutely pathetic pushups. This was too much. Now he saw why she'd asked for help.
"That isn't good form."
Lotus stared at him wide eyed, attempting to pick the grainy dirt out of her mouth discreetly. "Um... what? The... the pushups?" She watched as Gaara dropped his gourd and walked slowly over to her, his robes swirling around him. He pulled them off, a pair of loose black pants and a tight black shirt hidden underneath the sea of cloth. He hung tossed them back over by his gourd and crouched to her level.
"Move your arms." he motioned for her to move them apart. She frowned in concentration, pushing her stick thin arms apart and attempting to keep her balance. "Now... straighten your back a little." She did this, looking to him for approval.
He nodded. "Try again." She began to bend her arms, the elbows shaking a little but keeping herself up. She lowered herself slowly... slowly... slowly, until finally her arms had formed a ninety degree angle. She paused, eyes squished shut as she attempted to push herself back up. She made it up maybe an inch, and that was generous, before she collapsed to the ground, coughing a little.
She blushed, staring up at Gaara through her white bangs. "Um... sorry." He gave no sign of understanding or interest. He was thinking. Here she was, abandoned by her team and without any physical strength. What was she trying to do? There was no hope for her, really... but she was still trying.
She wanted to change.
"How badly do you want to improve?" he asked, looking at her passively.
"More than anything!" she scrambled to her knees, staring at him and clutching her knees. Up close, he saw how very skinny she truly was. She was tiny, and she looked fragile. There were sickly shadows under her eyes and her thin hair hung limply from her skull. She had a long mouth that seemed to take up more room on her thin face than it should have.
"Why?" She paused, her slash of a mouth opening for a moment as she bit into her lip. What did she want? Was it to help others or to prove that she could? What made change so important?
"Because..." words failed her. There were so many reasons that she wanted to get stronger: She wanted to prove Enma wrong. She wanted to join in when Izanami and Jigoku trained together, attempting to one up each other with their new jutsus and maneuvers. She wanted... She wanted...
But why?
That's that for now. I'm hoping you guys like what I have. If Gaara is OOC, please let me now. Hit me with a Molotov cocktail, or something. I'll get the message. Please Read and review and thank you for taking the time to read it if you've gotten this far.