"Gaara, what are we doing here?"
"...Shut up."
Kankuro scowled, but looked away and continued to follow behind Temari, who sighed, "Gaara, we've been camping out for at least two days..." She said in a low tone, but Gaara remained silent and continued to walk through the forest, head forward but eyes glancing around at the tree branches. Temari frowned, but gave a yawn and folded her hands behind her head.
'Strange, making us come with him...'
"You two; we're going."
"What? But Gaara, it's late-"
"Shut up." Temari sighed, but crossed her arms over her chest, "We're coming...Get up Kankuro."
"Damn..."
//+//
"...She's been in for two days...Do you think we should see if she's alright?"
The blind one shook his head, turning his face towards the large, hollow dome of dried mud behind them. It floated in midair idly, the moon shining along the left side. "You know as well as I do that interruption is fatal." He replied quietly, and the lazy one sighed before crossing his hands behind his head.
"Still...The only time she's been in there longer was when, well, you know..." The lazy one pressed, the last part said a little softer. The blind one shrugged and turned his face towards the trees.
"Maybe she had a bad dream."
"That wasn't even close to being funny." The lazy one said in a low tone, brow furrowed. The blind one crossed his arms over his chest and lowered his face to the ground.
"It wasn't meant to be..."
The lazy one frowned, but sighed and relaxed his arms so that they fell to his sides, "Want me to grab some food? It looks like we're camping out again." He suggested in a slightly lighter tone than before, and the blind one turned his head slightly in the other's direction.
"...I'll get it." The blind one said, and the lazy one smiled; his indirect apology was accepted.
"Oh, wait, how will you read the...." The lazy one's voice soon died away when the blind one gave him a deep frown. The lazy one laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck, "Eh heh, sorry."
"...Whatever." The blind one mumbled before doing a few swift hand seals and disappearing in a whirl of dust. The lazy one sighed; the apology from earlier had just been rejected.
//+//
Gaara looked down at the ground and his eyes narrowed; the faint imprints of sandals could still be seen.
'I knew it...'
Small piles of sand were scattered throughout the room of an inn as he sat stolidly in the middle of a bed. The other two were sleeping; after all, they could.
It wasn't fair.
"Why don't you go to sleep already?" He turned his head towards the open doors that led out onto a small balcony, sand already crawling out of the gourd he kept on his back. She was leaning against the railing, arms crossed over her chest and her head tilted in a bored manner.
"You." He said plainly, and she shrugged.
"Me. Now go to sleep so I can go." She added, obviously in a hurry. His eyes narrowed, but the piles of sand remained in place for the time being.
"I can't sleep." She blinked.
"Why not?" She questioned, arms falling back to her sides as she stared at him through the open doorway.
"The demon inside of me will take over if I do." He answered coolly, expecting something much more than what she was giving. All she gave was shrug.
"It only takes over when you sleep? It must be easily controlled." She said idly, looking off to the side and at the night sky; if he wasn't going to sleep, then she would be able to leave in time.
"What do you want?" He asked, and she glanced over at him before sighing and resting her hands behind her head.
"I guess we are alike in some ways." She mumbled, ignoring his question. He narrowed his eyes and was about to speak, but she shook her head and jumped up on the railing of the balcony. "You control the sand...And you don't sleep..." She said idly, gazing around the room of the inn before resting her eyes on him. There was a pause as she stared, head tilted and brow furrowed in thought. Then she smiled, "Goodnight, Mr. Sandman."
And then she fell backwards, just as he stood up from the bed with eyes narrowed in curiosity.
//+//
"Shut up."
Kankuro and Temari both became silent at Gaara's command. furtively, they hopped down to the next tree branch, and Gaara examined the clearing below with narrowed eyes. After a moment, he closed his eyes and disappeared in a whirl of sand, but not before ordering Temari and Kankuro to stay put.
Quietly, he appeared in the clearing with the sand, straightening himself up as he looked around.
"Yo, get back." A thin sheet of sand formed in front of Gaara's face, blocking a kunai and letting it rebound before falling to the ground. The sand lowered and Gaara coolly looked forward to see a blue-haired boy standing in front of a large, hollow sphere of mud that was hovering in midair.
"You deaf? You can't come closer." Gaara looked back at the boy, who was in a lazy position with his hands behind his head and his face twisted into a scowl.
"...You were with that girl...Meyu." Gaara said lowly, turning to fully face the boy, who raised an eyebrow.
"Meyu? You mean-"
"And you're Sabaku no Gaara...Gaara of the Desert; correct?" Gaara remained impassive when another boy, the one blinded by the Suna head protector, appeared next to the blue-haired one.
"Correct." He replied with his arms crossed over his chest. The blind one motioned to the blue-haired one.
"He's Azi, and I am Jiko. Are we troubling you by our presence?"
The blue-haired one, Azi, scowled at Jiko, the blind one. "Suck up." Azi mumbled, but Jiko ignored the comment and turned his face towards Gaara, who narrowed his eyes.
"Yes, you are."
"Gaara!" Gaara glanced up to his dismay to see Temari and Kankuro jumping d own from their places in the trees.
"Shut up." Gaara said coolly, and Temari frowned.
"But, I just-"
Jiko looked back at the sphere, and his brow furrowed when he saw that it was slightly vibrating. He sighed, "Prepare yourselves." He warned quietly, covering his ears with his hands, Azi following suit. Temari and Kankuro looked at each other oddly while Gaara glared.
"Where-"
He was interrupted by a blood-curling scream, coming from inside the floating sphere.
Temari and Kankuro yelped as they covered their ears, but Gaara merely flinched. The sphere glowed before sharp wires began to burst out of its shell, the scream growing louder while doing so.
Finally, while the wires curled around the exterior of the sphere, the scream faded, and the blue glow with it.
Jiko sighed and moved to the front of the sphere, along with Azi. Temari and Kankuro lowered their hands from theirs ears and glanced at Gaara, who was watching the two Suna boys curiously.
Abruptly, a large square of the dried mud was cut out from the inside, and it fell to the forest ground with a thud.
Gaara narrowed his eyes as he tried to peer into the sphere from a distance, but all he could see was darkness. Then, a figure stumbled into view, one arm against the side of the newly created doorway from the sphere, head hung low.
The figure then fell forward.
"We got you..." Azi mumbled just loud enough to be heard as both he and Jiko caught the unconscious figure, whose head fell to the side. Gaara blinked; it was Meyu.
"Her..." He mumbled, and Jiko and Azi glanced at each other.
Then they sprinted, with Meyu on Jiko's back.
"After them." Gaara ordered, jumping into the tree branches after the Suna-nin, while Temari and Kankuro sighed; this was going to be a long night.
//+//
"Usaka-san, where's Yukio-kun?"
"...Don't think about him, Yume-chan." He replied coolly, easily bending the wires that she had accidentally trapped herself in away. She frowned.
"Samuru-sama says that he's with the snake man."
"Hush. Don't worry about your brother, he is fine." He said coaxingly, and she sighed before stepping out of the wire trap.
"Usaka-san, are you going to leave me again?" She asked quietly, and he fixed his eyes on her.
"No, never again."
She gave a tiny smile and nodded, "Okay."
//+//
"Jiko, follow me."
Jiko nodded and followed in exact tune as Azi hopped from tree branch to tree branch a couple feet ahead. Azi jumped from side-to-side twice, forward five times and then diagonally on the left three. All the while, Jiko was easily following, concentrating on the vibrations in the air and the direction they were coming from and going to.
After a moment, he clicked his tongue. He visualized the low tree branch hanging above and lowered his head while shifting Meyu so that she was also lowered. He darted under it after Azi, who twisted his foot and jumped up into a high tree branch on the left, Jiko following.
"We're ahead far enough for some time. Hold her." Jiko mumbled, lowering Meyu off of his back and carefully setting her against the trunk of a tree, making sure she didn't fall off of the branch. Azi nodded and grabbed onto her shoulders while watching Jiko fish a vial out of his kunai pouch.
Jiko uncorked it and held it underneath Meyu's nose, shaking it slightly. "Hurry; sixty yards." Azi stated, looking out to the distance as he held onto Meyu tightly, shaking her just a little. Jiko frowned.
"She's not waking up."
"You're a genius to have figured that out." Azi said with a scowl before standing up, bringing Meyu with him. Jiko stood as well and glanced back.
"We've got three miles to go; I think I'll need to make a distraction..."
"Have fun." Azi replied, carefully putting Meyu over his shoulder before jumping off the tree branch and down onto the ground. Once his feet touched the soil, he bolted, leaving Jiko to stand in the tree, arms crossed over his chest and head bent.
'Hm...I can't kill him...'
He looked up to see a few blurs speeding towards him.
'This will work...'
//+//
"This will help regulate your body. After the experimentation, you'll have to do this about twice a month."
"Okay. Will it hurt?"
He put his hand on her head, "No, of course not. You won't feel a thing."
//+//
"Gaara, what's the point? What's so special about-"
"Go."
Temari blinked and glanced over her shoulder, stopping to stand on a tree branch while Kankuro landed next to her. Gaara was a few feet behind, arms crossed and head bent.
"Gaara?" She tilted her head. Kankuro smirked.
"No problem."
"You two are just a nuisance..." Gaara stated coolly before jumping in-between them and onto the next branch and so on. Temari watched him with a furrowed brow while Kankuro sighed in relief, plopping down on the branch so that it wobbled under his weight.
"Man, that brat's been making us run around for two days! I'm going back to the inn."
Temari frowned as she watched Gaara's back fade into the forest. She sighed, "I'll go bring Gaara back..."
"Be my guest."