Something New
Enma sat atop the cracked beige wall as he did every morning before training. His routine was like clockwork; Up at 4:00, out of the house by 4:30, warm up exercises by 5:00, and a good two and a half hours of training after that.
There was only one segment of his rigid morning schedule that never quite lined up or fell into place no matter how hard he tried, or pleaded, or cursed, or threatened.
Izanami and Jigoku Nomikoto two of his best friends, and the worst students anybody could ask for. Their arrival ranged anywhere from on time to a full hour and a half late. It drove him crazy and generally ruined his mornings.
But not today. Today was going to be a great day, dammit! He was certain of it. So, as he sat there still waiting, he decided that today, he was going to do something different. Instead of waiting in the same spot for the next forty five minutes, he was going to walk around the corner, to the drink machine and by himself some tea.
Simple. Envisioning in his mind a nice, cool plastic bottle of green tea, he pushed off with his feet and landed evenly on the sand. The metallic clink of coins in his pocket was reassuring and uplifting. He often found that a desired beverage could change a person's outlook on life.
He began the slow walk over, appreciating the little details of an early morning in Suna. Birds were starkly silhoutted against the blue tinged sky and the air was not quite oppressive but it maintained a firm warmth. The warmth seeped into your clothes, into your skin, and even into your bones. It was nice. He loved his home here.
But life was hard. The ninja in suna had a fearsome reputation to live up to, although they needed to clean up their foreign relations after the little mishap in Konoha. They had to be stark and harsh, just like the desert they inhabited. Of course, that takes time to build in a ninja. It takes time, money, and, above all teachers. Only recently had a school been introduced to the public. That in itself was a monumental undertaking especially for one as young their current Kazekage. Enma had... doubts, about him.
Nontheless, they had been strapped for strong shinobi as of late and that had led to some... interesting cell arrangements. The school would no doubt help to avoid these uncomfortable situations in the foreseeable future.
Enma was only a year and a half older than his three "students". He had grown up with them, played with them on the swings. He had even played dress up once or twice, although he would deny it if ever Izanami got that look in her eyes. It made it difficult to lead them, and it made it difficult for them to look up to him.
Sure, he was a talented ninja, but a teacher? Talent alone can't make you a teacher. Teaching was an art all its own, one that Enma had yet to master.
That wasn't the part that bothered him. He had always seen himself in a place of authority. Maybe the army, or perhaps a guard for the Kazekage. Yes, even a cell leader. However, this was a technicality. He hadn't really earned this position and it left a bitter taste in his mouth.
Which brought him to the drink machine. The red lining framed the multitude of bottled liquids inside. The large, ovular buttons glowed underneath the price and he carefully shelled out 150 yen for his tea.
It was just as he was getting ready to press the button, that he heard... humming. Familiar humming. Lotus must be close by.
"Hi, Enma!" He didn't jump, or lurch, but his internal processes seemed to grind to a halt. Shit, shit, shit. What did he say? He couldn't just out right send her off. If she came with him to training though... everything he'd planned to get done would be impossible to accomplish. What was more important?
Lotus... progress... Lotus... progress...
"What are you doing?" she lifted a white eyebrow, one round eye crinkling in confusion. He snapped back to himself, mildly embarrassed. She giggled which further stung his pride.
Progress it was. "I'm grabbing a drink. Hopefully, Izanami and Jigoku won't be much longer. I'd like to start training on time this morning." he watched her cautiously. Sometimes she took the news lying down and other days she fought back. Which was it today?
"Okay." she smiled, seeming unfazed. "Actually," she began with a faintly smug tint to her smile "It's good that I caught you. I'm starting training with someone else today."
His finger slid from the button and his brow furrowed. Interesting.
"Who is it?" Lotus' smile grew a bit wider.
"The Kazekage." Enma's eyes narrowed.
"You're a little old to be telling such tall tales." He pressed his finger back to the machine, but he didn't look where.
"It's not a lie. He's going to tell you today." She tilted her chin, coquettishly, and winked. "So... No need to wait up for me." her eyes darkened a little and the smile frosted over. Not that you were going to anyway.
Enma didn't seem to hear her. This was... bad. Very bad. There had been one reason that Enma had vied to have her on his team to begin with. Not because she was valuable, not because she was strong or an asset to a cell. It was because, although he hated to admit it, he cared for her. And to be honest...
Lotus was sick. She had been since he'd known her when she moved here all those years ago. It was up to him, her best friend to keep her safe. That's why he kept her from these missions. If she was out of his sight for even a moment, he could only imagine what would happen.
And with Gaara? The abomination may have been able to frighten enough people to allow him the position of Kazekage, but Enma wasn't entrusting any one of his comrades to him if he could help it. Lotus had always been indecisive. Could he play off of that?
"Does he know about your asthma?" He had to stop her. The little moron was going to get herself killed.
Lotus lost her smile entirely and seemed to grow a little nervous. "Well..."
"You didn't tell him?" Perfect. If, and he did mean if, she was telling the truth, he at least had some ammunition.
"He didn't exactly give me a chance!" Lotus flushed, and began to twirl a strand of a hair around her finger. Would that change things? She certainly hoped not.
Enma allowed himself to relax. The chill in his stomach vanished. "Listen, just forget it. I know I haven't had much time for you lately." He really had to swallow his pride for this. "But, if you're really serious, Izanami, Jigoku and I can all tutor you." He looked at her sincerely.
"I promise."
His young friend blinked in surprise, and her eyes seemed to darken, darken, darken until she looked ready to kill him. He wondered if she was going to slap him. That would certainly be something new. As soon as her anger came, it pulled back and she fixed her too long mouth with a frigid, stiff smile.
"I'm sorry. I have somewhere to be." she pulled herself up as importantly as she could and marched away. It would have been cute, were Enma not pissed off beyond belief.
He slammed his fist into the machine and shut his eyes for a minute. God, why did he have to care so much. He heard the machine whir and a drink drop down the shoot along with the plink of change. Wait, change?
He had put in the exact money for a tea. He shouldn't be getting any change. He leaned down and pushed open the thick, clear flap and blanched. He had bought a *Qoo. This morning was getting better and better. He snatched it from the machine and grabbed the remaining fifty yen from the coin slot and stalked back to his training ground. No sense wasting it since he'd paid for it.
Once there, he realized with a start, that Izanami and Jigoku had gotten there before him.
"Well, well, lookie here!" crowed Izanami, jumping onto the wall where Enma had been sitting. She looked a lot like Peter Pan shrieking his victory over Captain Hook. He wondered if she would call him a cod-fish. "Daioh Sensei is late!" she laughed and Jigoku cast him a sympathetic look.
He cracked open the bottle in his hand and took a sip of the too sweet drink, nearly gagging at the shock of sugar.
"Is that Qoo?" Izanami broke into a new fit of giggles, nearly falling off the wall in her amusement. Jigoku seemed to think this was funny too, as she covered her face and shook for a minute or two, her stubby pigtails bobbing.
Yes, today was different. It was even shittier than usual.
Lotus walked, and she worried. She worried and she walked. She tried to focus on all the ninja know how she already knew, but wound up checking her bag for her inhaler at least twelve times. It was there all twelve times, too. Imagine that.
She took deep breaths that turned into sighs and those sighs turned into vocalizations. Singing wasn't going to fix anything, but she found herself doing it anyway. *Akai Tombo came spilling out of her mouth and for the few minutes it took to sing each note and remember each syllable, she felt safe. Everything was okay... until she reached the imaginary double bar line at the end.
She started in on another song, sorely wishing that her repertoire of ninjutsu outweighed her freakish knowledge of musical literature.
Maybe Enma was right? She couldn't do this. She should go call it off. No, she shouldn't. She was going to do this and shove Enma's face in it. That would teach him.
Maybe... she should just hang out outside the Kazekage's office. She had nothing better to do. Besides sing *Kagome, Kagome and watch little kids start playing along, which was fun. But not today. With dread tingling through her body, she headed to the Kazekage's office.
Gaara examined the paper in front of him intently, trying to drown out that niggling feeling that he had done something drastically wrong this morning. Shukaku had been rather quiet, which, while pleasant was worrying to him. He knew that it was planning something.
Then again, it wasn't always acting up. Sometimes it just fantasized about the "Golden days" when it wasn't trapped in a tea kettle, or being restrained by some scrawny little ginger who had suddenly gained a conscience.
Maybe today was one of those days. He glimpsed the clock and felt his stomach churn a little. It was 5:30 already. In about thirty minutes he had to commit himself to the torture of teaching. God, it was a terrifying prospect. He'd been fine with Matsuri, but of course, Shukaku hadn't seemed half as interested in her as he was in this one.
It didn't really make any sense to him, either. Shukaku usually acted up around strong opponents, other Jinchuriki, and on a very rare occasion, attractive women. It was a little known fact that Shukaku had a lecherous streak. Namely because Gaara had always been repulsed by everything outside the human body.
He was interested in shredding sinew, crumbling bone, tearing flesh and sprays of blood. Not who had the prettiest eyes or which whore could slather the most make up on her face or show the most skin and pretend she was tough. Mind you, Shukaku tended to like those girls and as his protégé didn't fit that description, he was fairly certain that Shukaku didn't view her as a sexual object or as a threat.
Maybe he'd ask it sometime.
The door opened and he saw Lotus' cell enter. He sat up and slid an official document across the table along with the mission scroll.
Enma handed the scroll to Jigoku, casting Izanami a look when she began to protest. Then he scanned the document. His fingers gripped the paper a bit tighter and he set it down.
"No... It would be a waste of time for you to take her on." Gaara leaned forward, looking mildly irritated with being questioned so often lately. Why was it that the adults seemed to respect him more than the youth? It should probably be the other way around, but...
He gave no response. He waited patiently for the objection to be explained.
"She is... not of sound body." said Enma, slowly. Gaara nodded, remembering that being written in her letter of resignation.
"I was aware of that."
"It's fairly disruptive to her ability to perform her duties." said Enma, watching Gaara. "Crippling asthma."
Gaara frowned slightly. That could be a problem. It would need to be discussed later.
"Thank you." he said, curtly. He returned to scanning a finished document, having nothing better to do with himself. He was not continuing this conversation. He had made his decision and he would deal with this new development later and at his own discretion. This was his way of saying, "Get the fuck out of my office before I have you hauled out on a stretcher." Diplomacy. It's a wonderful thing.
Jigoku and Izanami took the hint and rather quickly darted from the office. The girl with red eyes paused at the threshold and smiled nervously at Gaara. "Um, Enma… I mean… Daioh-sensei? I think we should leave…"
Enma made no motion to leave for another minute or so. Finally, having gotten the message he left rather grudgingly, shutting the door a bit harder than necessary on his way out.
Lotus paced outside the office door, humming Akai Tombo again. Two minutes, fifty seven seconds and counting.
Her mind seemed to swing on a pendulum, and her opinion changed with the direction she was pacing. She walked to the right, and her mind screamed "Go get 'em!". She walked to the left and it half whispered, "Um, nevermind. I'm sorry to bother you."
Do it, don't, do it, don't, right, left, right, left.
Finally, the door swung open and Lotus narrowly avoided sharing Izanami's fate as the aforementioned girl came rushing out.
"Good luck, baby cakes!" she called, smiling when Lotus crinkled her nose at the pet name. She watched Jigoku hover nervously by the doorframe before skittering off after her sister and giving Lotus a quick, thin smile before disappearing outside.
She peeped around the door and watched Enma stare down Gaara. He had more nerve than some. Lotus had nearly wet herself just talking back to him, let alone her thirty second stare off. Suddenly, he snapped around and stormed out, grabbing the door and shutting it much too hard.
"Good luck." He spat, giving her a hard look through his jade eyes and stomping off after the dynamic duo. Lotus took a deep breath and smoothed her hair.
Smoothed her hair? That was new. Well… No time to think about it. She started to open the door, and then remembered what Gaara had said their first meeting in the office.
She breathed in again, and knocked lightly on the door.
Gaara looked up, eyes on the clock again. 6:00 on the dot.
Here we go… He stood up and walked over to the door, opening it and coming face to face with Her.
He was close enough to feel the tiny breeze her rapid blinking was causing. She gasped, backed up, and stared at him. Then she backed up some more.
"Sorry! So sorry!" She was turning red at an alarming rate. He allowed his face to remain passive, hoping that the lack of reaction to the situation would calm her down. She smiled, seeming indecisive.
He bobbed his head slightly in the direction they would go, and then he took off, Lotus jogging to keep up with his quick, deliberate strides.
"Why is Enma so pissed?" whispered Izanami, cupping her mouth and leaning over to her twin.
Enma's neck stiffened when he heard his name mentioned.
"He's worried."
He crinkled his nose. How long until they realized how loud they were talking?
"About what?"
He turned around, waiting for him to notice that he was listening. A vein pulsed in his temple.
"Lotus."
"Will you two shut up and focus for once?!" He watched them both jump and crack their heads into each other. It was almost like watching someone walk into a mirror.
"Sorry…" mumbled Jigoku, rubbing the red spot on her forehead. It matched her artificially colored eyes.
Izanami glowered at him, seeming far from contrite. "Jesus, what was that for?" Enma quirked an eyebrow, his mouth twitching slightly. "You didn't do your job, so Lotus went and found someone who would." Enma felt his blood boiling. "So don't take it out on us. You only have yourself to blame."
Enma looked as if he'd been struck for a moment, before he allowed his attitude of indifference to prevail. "Whatever."
The three of them stood awkwardly at the gates to Suna. The sun was setting and they had just returned from their mission. It had been nothing special, just a short precursor to their weekend which was a full three days without missions. Enma usually spoiled it by scheduling training sessions at the most inconvenient times. And his mood often dominated their schedule.
Needless to say, Izanami's righteous anger had cost them their weekend.
However, Izanami wasn't particularly concerned at the moment. Her eye had fallen upon a choice candidate for the flirtation of a lifetime. "Ji-chan," she began in the most simpering tone she could manage. Jigoku groaned inwardly and glared at her, half listening to Enma and half listening to her sister.
"What?" she hissed it through her teeth.
"Cover for me." Izanami disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving behind a clone as she ran off after her newest target.
Enma stared apathetically at Jigoku. "She's gone, right?" Jigoku sighed and looked at the ground.
"Well…"
"Jigoku."
"Yes, she's gone." Enma gave a grunt of frustration and kicked the clone in the chest, watching it vanish in a cloud of sand.
"Dismissed."
He bound off quickly, leaving behind their training schedules. Jigoku sighed, scooping them off and walking back into the village. "I wonder how Lotus is doing…"
Yay! New chapter! Hope you guys like, please read and review yada yada yada. I don't own Naruto, guys. I hope you realize that. By the by, I just felt like experimenting with some Kankuro OC. Don't shoot me. I might not even make it a thing. As of right now, Izanami is a gunnin' for old Kanky-kun so let's see how it pans out. Like the idea? Let me know. Hate the idea? Let me know.
*Qoo- A child's drink in Japan. It is a very sweet juice that comes in a sturdy plastic bottle that has a cute little blue… thing on the front. Google it, I'm sure you'll find something.
*Akai Tombo- Traditional Japanese folksong. It's about a red dragonfly which is coincidentally, the title.
*Kagome, Kagome- A song sung with a game very similar to "Ring Around the Rosy". It is often used in horror movies in the Japanese culture. If you want the translation, I can give it, but it's kinda weird. In the game, children stand in a circle while one child sits in the middle and pretends to be the "Oni" or ogre. The Oni covers their eyes and listens to the kids sing while they circle the oni and when they stop, the oni guesses who's standing behind him. Neat huh?