00000000000000000000000000000000
Going Against the Grain
0000000000000000000000000000000000
By Airyo
Scroll 5
000000000000000000000
"We were ordered to aid in the attack on Konoha..."
My world tilted sideways. Kankorou's words echoed through my mind, bouncing around in my head like a wayward ball that I couldn't quite grasp.
"We're attacking Konoha...?" I managed in a small voice. Kankorou looked at me strangely, having misinterpreted my reaction to the news.
"Of course. It's about time, if I do say so myself. Relations with the Leaf have been dwindling to the last line...hey, you alright? You look really pale." I nodded, forcing away the urge to heave.
"Yeah, I just suddenly feel really sick...it must have been something I ate," I mumbled absently, running on Asahi autopilot. Inside, my mind raced furiously, still not quite able to process what the hell was going on. I had needed to be on a team that attending the Chuunin exam...but not like this.
"I...think I'm going to head back home for today. I'll meet you guys tomorrow for practice and whatever..."
"Oh, okay, That encounter probably took a lot out of you today. We meet at Training Lot 12, 8 am. Don't be late," Kankorou told me.
"Yeah," I replied, still in a daze. I waved and walked away. "I'll see you later."
Damn...damn...DAMN!!!
How did I not know of this? Attack on Konoha?! This should have been whispered about in Suna for months! What the hell did I do wrong?! I have all the major rooms bugged and rolling with the best possible mix of technology and ninjutus. There was NO way that something this big should have slipped by me.
Unless...they know I'm here.
They could have planned everything in another secretive place, with the knowledge that someone was here to spy. It wasn't impossible, but I felt like hurting something badly, namely myself. This was the exact kind of shit that I was sent here for in the first place. And at very first true sign of war, I fail Konoha. Complete, utter failure.
I managed to reach my dorm without any suspicious outward show of emotion, even though I felt like tearing something apart and screaming until my voice broke. It was as if the news had broken a dam of emotion that had been building pressure ever since that...C-rank incident. With barely shaking hands, I unlock my door.
"You're running away."
I gasped and whirled around. No one. The hairs on my neck begin to stand up and I turned back around and looked up. Gaara's green gaze met mine.
"No, I'm not," I reply, my voice sounding girlishly petulant. "I don't feel well."
A pulse of demon chakra made my knees tremble.
"I'm not...afraid of you," I challenged him, even though my voice wavered like a leaf in a storm. I kept my eye contact with him, using what I hoped was my sternest glare. The redhead bared his teeth into a parody of smug smile, conveying his doubts about my claims.
"You should be," he warned. With a swirl of sand, he disappeared.
"If you value your life," his voice continued. With a squeak, I turned to realize that he had reappeared behind me.
"After all...I know your secret." A cold feeling sunk down to the bottom of my stomach. His grimace of a smile had turned predatory, like a cat that knew exactly how to find the mouse...and catch it.
I managed to not loose it right there and then, and instead, shot him a nasty glare.
"Which secret? Everyone has their little secrets," I sniffed. Don't worry, I coached myself as I reminded my lungs to breath. He probably only thought that I was some slacker Genin who secretly trained at night to surpass others without seemingly breaking a sweat.
"I saw you meet up with that ANBU."
My heart beat an odd rhythm, and it had nothing to do with affection.
"Yeah..." I replied with a nonchalant sigh. "You found me out." That gleeful expression on his face disappeared for a moment. Then it returned with an even greater force.
"I don't mean that," he drawled. He's speaking more words to me than he's ever uttered to anyone...and he had yet to mention his purpose to kill. The realization hit me like a hard punch to the stomach. That sick bastard was actually having fun playing with me.
"Then what the hell do you mean?" I spat. I gave up on my wavering facade of ignorance, challenging him with a full-on glare. His next expression terrified me more that any other.
Forget having fun – he was delighted.
"Everyone has their little secrets...and you're mine."
And then he was simply gone, his glee still lingering in the air. It was warm afternoon, but I felt cold...colder than I have been for a long time.
0000000000000000000000000
It wasn't until the next day that I found out why Gaara (and the Kazekage for that matter) behaved so strangely.
"You know...He mentioned you yesterday before your 'entrance'," Temari was saying as I ran though some warm-up katas. Since she was the one who was supposed to be training, her schedule was free for the time. The other blonde decided it was good idea to see how good her replacement was. Gaara was absent, but that was normal according to his brother. My head fuzzy due to a sleepless night mulling over the war, I didn't manage to process her words until several moments later.
"What?!" I cried, snapping my head towards where she sat under an overhand. She didn't seem to notice my delay.
"Yeah. The Kazekage asked for the usual report, and Gaara actually said something," she continued. "He mentioned one thing: the morning sun." I felt my eyes widen at this bit of knowledge. Temari nodded at my reaction.
"He could have meant a variety of things, but I only know one shinobi in our village who carries that name." Temari gave me a pointed look. Asahi, the morning sun.
That was me.
"Then..." I licked my cracked lips and continued, "then, what happened?" She shrugged.
"Kankorou and I told the Kazekage as much. We're not supposed to keep things from our Kazekage – he doesn't appreciate it. Although...I wonder why you are so special..." Neither of us spoke after that. I didn't trust myself to open my mouth at this point, and the other blond probably felt like she spoke too much.
"Whatever it is about you, be careful. Kazekage-sama's been acting strangely recently and he's taken notice in you," Temari finally commented as she got to her feet to leave. She sounded as she was was talking about the weather.
"Thank you," I replied with a small smile. She nodded slightly and left without another word. Temari had no business of any kind to justify a concern for my wellbeing. In fact, she had every right to desire my downfall. That she warned me at all was above and beyond the protocol of a Sand kunoichi.
0000000000000000000000000
So I trained with Kankorou. Gaara showed up, but he did little to no training. Most of the time, when he wasn't threatening to killed Kankorou, he just stared at me, a smug little glint in his stupid beady little eyes.
"Everyone has their little secrets...and you're mine."
What the hell did he mean by that? I'm his little secret? Gross. He made it sound like some sort of secret affair. He certainly seemed to hint at it with the way he stared.
One day, completely fed up with his ubiquitous eyes on the back of my head, I decided to retaliate.
And smiled at him.
The grin I sent his way was no ordinary smile. There not a single ounce of malice in that smile. Oh no, I powered that thing with 130 pure sweetness, in the way only girls seemed to be able to make their smiles. Complete with fluttery eyelashes.
The result was beyond satisfying.
He choked, blinked, coughed, and then flushed red all in the same moment. Then Gaara disappeared with a swirl with sand. Kankorou was convinced that I was one dead girl.
I just smiled ever so sweetly.
My theory had been right – so few people showed Gaara a positive gesture that the very parody of one made him squirm. It was sad. But Gaara wasn't one to submit to defeat so quickly, and a few days later, he was back with a challenging glare. Thus started our little game.
This trend of staring and smiling continued for the rest of the summer. It became a sort of a contest. Who could out-freak who? Who had the lower tolerance for discomfort? Gaara's staring versus my smiles. I once lasted an entire hour without retaliation, whilst his longest was only 30 minutes (my cheeks hurt that day after smiling so much). But he'd stopped skipping team practices and I had stopped feeling so uncomfortable under his perusal. Sometimes, I wondered what he'll do if I hugged him.
Eventually, we were given a few C and B-rank missions in the few weeks leading up to the Chuunin exam. It was only to solidify the teamwork, as well as further establish the fact that we are a legitimate team. Each mission was ridiculously easy with our combined skills, even though Gaara did most of the work.
Gaara served as the distraction while Kankorou and I snuck in and took care of the actual mission. We had absolutely no major injuries, and Gaara never had a single scratch on him. As much as Kankorou obviously feared Gaara, their teamwork was practically flawless, if only due to the fact that Kankorou obeyed Gaara's every order.
Only briefly, did I wonder how my teamwork with Yorokobi, Tsuru and Matsumaru might have turned out. I had set aside my multiple character roles, now that most of the people who would be suspicious are dead, and solely concentrated on improving Asahi. It was less confusing, but every now and then I would be reminded of those lighthearted days with my original Genin team...I try to not to dwell on it too much.
It was difficult, functioning as a part of Gaara's team, mentally, physically, and emotionally. But time still flew by, and before I knew it, the Chuunin exams were upon us.
So was the impending attack on Konoha.
0000000000000000
A week later after we left Suna, we arrived at the Konoha gates early morning. The Chuunin exam was set for tomorrow. After checking in with the guards, Team Gaara was told that we were free to explore...within reason, of course.
Not 10 minutes into our new freedom, a kid runs into Kankorou.
Poor puppeteer, who had been in a sour mood all day after Gaara threatened to mutilate him in 5 different (and rather creative, I must add) ways, was not happy.
"That hurt, you little piece of shit," Kankorou growled as he hefted the kid up by his collar. A blond kid in an eye-blinding orange suit ran up.
"Konohamaru!" he yelled, his whisker marks stretching across his face. I recognized him immediately, as I always remember the people that I use my family Mind jutsus on.
It was Naruto, the Kyuubi container. He looked underfed – what is it with Jinchuuriki and looking so undernourished? Gaara was the same way, though he covered it better...
The pink-haired girl behind him seemed even worse off. Her hair covered her forehead, and even then, it was apparent that her forehead was abnormally large, and she kept her eyes on the ground. The brief moment that she glanced up, I caught a flash of brilliant green eyes.
I remember her too.
Haruno Sakura, the crybaby from the pre-Academy classes for kunoichi. I felt a twinge of regret...I had wanted to help her so badly, anything to get that miserable expression off her face. She was a Haruno, and I had admired her for the Haruno trait of a split personality. I had tried to scare off her bullies, but I couldn't always be by her side without seeming like a complete stalker since I wasn't her friend. Too bad before I found a way to talk to her, I was called out on my mission.
Wait...did he say "Konohamaru"? As in the Sandaime's grandson? Crap, I'll get yelled at for letting the brat get hurt.
"Don't," I warned my teammate. "We'll get yelled at later." Naruto interrupted me before I go on to convince Kankorou to stop being such an ass.
"Hey fatass!!! Let go of him!!!" I blinked...Naruto was really, really loud for a Jinchuuriki.
"Let's play a little before the Boss gets here," Kankorou suggested with a grin. I gave him a disgusted glare. Kankorou hates feeling so weak in comparison to his little brother, so he often took it out on other Genin. Thankfully, for his own health, he respected my assignment to the team enough not to pull this kind of crap on me.
"Bastard!!!" Naruto charged straight for us. Was this kid stupid? You never charge in headfirst without analyzing your enemy...never! Kankorou grinned sadistically and flicked his fingers. I felt the hum a chakra string whip out and attach to Naruto's feet. He tripped and fell with a spectacular tumble.
Idiot...
"Leaf Genin," Kankorou commented with a sneer, "are weak."
"Let go of me," Konohamaru gritted out. Kankorou was hurting the kid. I gave him another warning glance, but he ignored me.
"Hey! YOU FAT PIG!!!! If you don't let him go, I'll MAKE YOU PAY!!! FATASS! IDIOT!!!" Naruto screamed his challenge. I twitched at the 'fat pig' comment even though it wasn't directed at me. My real name meant 'Pig'...of all things. I was still a little sore about that.
Sakura flared up for a moment and she grabbed Naruto back by the throat with surprising force. Huh, so Inner Sakura had spirit. I bet if Sakura let me fix her up a little, she could make a pretty cute girlfriend for some lucky guy.
"Hey, you are annoying," the puppeteer told the Konoha Genin. I rolled my eyes. He ignored my insistent jabs at his ribs, along with my warning glares. Stupid men, and their stupid ego trips. Kankorou thought he looked pretty cool being so strong – he looked like a jackass.
"Basically, I hate midgets...especially younger ones that are rude to me...makes me want to kill them," he drawled, raising his free hand and making a fist.
Shit!!!! He really was going to injure Konohamaru and I can't blow my cover as a Sand nin. My opinion of Kankorou dropped in the negatives and I gave him one last evil glare.
"Oh well," I said as nonchalantly as I could. "I'm not an accomplice in this mess."
Get the hint already, Kankorou-baka! We're the foreign-nin here. If we cause any undue trouble, the Kazekage will be displeased.
Not to mention my Hokage, the Sandaime. Which reminded me, Kankorou needed to let go of his little grudge and stop wasting time. I needed to meet with the Sandaime as soon as possible to relay the plans of an attack.
"YOU BASTARD!!!" Naruto was screaming in the background. Geez, he's so loud. It's not helping matters with my teammate when he makes such a big deal of things. Kankorou made as if he was going to punch Konohamaru. I moved to intercept him. Joke as it was, this was going too far.
I blinked and then suddenly, the Kankorou had dropped Konohamaru. A small rock clattered to the ground and I breathed a sigh of relief.
"What are you bastards doing in our village?" came a smooth voice from overhead. I looked to the person who had such good timing.
"Sasuke-kun," Sakura could be heard whispering with admiration.
Raven locks framing dark deep eyes...oooh...this Sasuke-kun was a grade-A cutie...
"Gah, another guy who pisses me off," Kankorou muttered as he gingerly rotated his wrist. Sasuke had nailed him right on a rather painful pressure point. He's good.
"Get lost," Sasuke told us with an arrogant glare. His attitude was starting to grate a little on my nerves – it reminded me all too closely of Matsumaru's character, which was one person I did NOT want to think about. Kankorou apparently agreed with me.
"Hey punk," he challenged. "Get down here! I hate show-offs like you the most." He started to unwrap Karasu.
"You're even going to use Karasu?!" I asked with disbelief.
This was starting to get out of hand. I realize that we were instructed to behave like normal Genin when we could have easily been instated as acting Chuunin, but this was ridiculous. Gaara better get here and put an end to it.
"Kankorou. Stop it."
I was slightly proud that I was the only one who didn't jump at the sound of Gaara's harsh voice. Even Sasuke, apparently one of the stronger Genins, flinched.
"You're an embarrassment to our village."
...why was Gaara standing upside-down on the tree branch of all places...?
For a moment, I thought he looked kind of cool...
I shook my head, blinking rapidly. Show-off. He looks stupid hanging there upside down...like a little red monkey. Gaara continued his little tirade.
"Loosing yourself in a fight, how pathetic...why do you think we came to the Leaf Village?"
"Hey listen Gaara...they started it," Kankorou tried to explain.
"Shut up. I'll kill you," Gaara snapped.
"I'm sorry...I'm really sorry...sorry," Kankorou babbled, cracking under the pressure of his own fear. I kind of felt sorry for the poor guy – it was his little brother that reduced him to a blubbering mess.
"Sorry to you guys," he said. With a small hurricane of sand, he teleported himself to ground beside Kankorou and me.
"We didn't come here to play. Let's go," he commanded and turned to leave.
"Wait!" Sakura called. She ducked back nervously when Gaara paused and stared at her questionally.
"What?"
"You're...you're shinobi of the Sand and allies of the village...but you're forbidden to enter without permission. Why are you here?" she blurted out. Gaara shot me a glance and I stepped forward to explain, extending out my Sand pass.
"So clueless...we are indeed shinobi of the Sand. We're here to take the Chuunin exam." Judging by the blank look on their faces, they had no idea what I was talking away. The stupid look on Naruto's face made me want to punch him for no reason. I settled for a small sneer instead.
"Geez, you really don't know anything...the Chuunin exam is an exam held twice a year for outstanding Genin of all countries to try to become Chuunin. All the countries gather for one exam to improve the relationships between--"
"Hey Konohamaru! Think I should this Chuunin exam thingy?!" Naruto interrupted, turning to Konohamaru excitedly. My left eye twitched...idiot...
"Hey you," Sasuke abruptly asked, leaping to the ground in front o me. "What's your name?"
"Me...?" I blushed at the attention.
"No," he said flatly. "You with the gourd." Bastard...that attitude of his is exactly like Matsumaru's...
Gaara studied him for a long moment before deeming him worthy of an answer.
"Sabaku no Gaara. I am also interested in your name."
"Uchiha Sasuke." Then they just stood there glaring at each other for several seconds. I think Gaara just found a new rival, but I didn't think much on , still sore that Sasuke just blew me off like that.
"Hey! What about me? Huh?!" Naruto interrupted.
"Not interested," Gaara said flatly and turned. "Let's go."
I sympathized briefly with my fellow reject blond, and then turned to follow, relieved the little fiasco was over with.
000000000000000000000000000
Eventually, Team Gaara made its way over to our living accommodations for the duration of the exam. Thankfully, I got my own room.
"I'm going to sleep for a few hours. Don't disturb me," I told Baki and Kankorou as I headed upstairs. It had been a long night crossing the cold desert, so they accepted my excuse. Gaara was present, and I knew that he didn't buy my alibi for a single second, but I had figured out a long time ago that he wasn't planning on revealing my true identity. For some reason, he seemed to enjoy the idea that he was withholding essential information from his village.
After locking my room and putting out a little "Do Not Disturb on Pain of Death" sign on the door, I faced the mirror and quickly dug out the enormous make-up kit buried deep in my luggage. The kit was a birthday present from my family here in Konoha. Disguised as just an over-elaborate make-up kit, it actually contained a hidden compartment that held the means for basically any disguise I needed for any occasion.
For example, for my urgent meeting with the Sandaime.
I slipped out the housing building, and with the experience of always sneaking around in Sand to listen in on meetings, easily exited Konoha walls unnoticed.
Now it was time to transform myself into a messenger from the Grass Country. The Grass leader had given his consent for me to impersonate a nin from his village, thus giving my latest character role an alibi should anyone become too nosey.
First came the eyes. I usually wore purple contacts, so I could get away with my own blue eyes. I flipped through the different ranges of eyeshadow, finally settling a smoky eye that make me look older, and thus, more viable as the bearer of an urgent message that required the Hokage's immediate attention.
Next, I removed the large scroll tucked away in the hidden compartment. I rolled it open to the section labeled "Grass Nin" and performed the necessary seals. With a soft poof, a Grass Nin jounin outfit appeared in my hands. After quickly pulling on the beige robes and jounin vest, I opened to another section labeled "Wigs". Rather than go directly to the opposite hair color, I chose a light brown wig cut below chin level. I brushed out the tangled strands and then spritzed it with some hair spray. Satisfied with how real it appeared, I then piled my long blond hair into a low bun and clipped the hairpiece in place. I shook my head, making the corkscrew curls bounce around. Not a strand of fake hair out of place.
Then, I put on the signature straw hat to top it all off. I threw myself around on the terrain to ensure that I looked like I had rushed here. A streak of dirt here, a rip there...good, this will suffice considering how short my time way. I absolutely had to make sure the Sandaime heard my message before dusk.
I approached the main gates of Konoha for the second time today.
"Halt! State your purpose!"
I looked at the two Chuunin in the booth with a desperate expression on my face.
"Hana Midori, from the Grass. I have an urgent message for the Hokage!" To further emphasize the urgency of it all, I fell to my knees, appearing to be on the verge of collapse after my mad dash here. A shaky hand extended the fake pass that my Eagle ANBU had given me a good year ago.
After checking that my pass was genuine, the Chuunin nodded. One of them got up and started running towards Hokage Tower.
"Right this way, Hana-san."
0000000000000000000000000