TaDa! Here I am again. Hoping to make you laugh and cry and all that other nonsense.
I don't own Naruto. Their loss.
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Three weeks and two boxes of sand. Gaara fingered the small, melon-sized gourd sitting in front of him. He was meeting friends for breakfast and to thank them for this small gift. It was now half full with the two boxes of sand he'd received and something about it made him feel just a little more solid.
Pulling the cork he tipped the contents into his hand. He'd not been able to manipulate the sand since he'd left Suna. The medics had thought it was the drugs, but that wasn't the case. He could make sand easily from the minerals and rocks in the ground. No, he'd simply been unable to control the sand at all. Tsunade knew. She thought it was a mental block he'd placed on himself. A form of psychological protection. He understood protecting the mind. He'd had little of that protection as a child but now... he just didn't understand.
Sighing he lifted a hand over the small puddle of sand. Gathering his chakra he tried to manipulate the tiny pile. A few grains of sand lifted to his hand, whirled, then fell. He didn't frown at the failure. It wasn't the first and he doubted it would be the last. He simply wished he understood why.
"Still not working?"
Gaara looked up to see Gai standing in front of him. He shook his head in answer then started sifting the sand back into the small gourd.
"No need to stop for me. Please, continue with your training. Your abilities will only grow more distant if you neglect them."
Gai gave his nice guy smile and a rather tame thumbs up before moving away from the table and toward a woman on the far side of the room. As he watched, Gai greeted her, kissed her warmly on the cheek and pulled out her seat. Gaaras eyes widened just a touch as the woman subtly ran her closest hand down Gais back to squeeze his ass, making the man blush to his hairline.
"She used to be a tea girl."
Gaara whipped his head around, startled. Neji stood in front of his table and smiled across the room as their team leader finally took his seat.
"You startled me."
"Because you were gawking so hard you didn't notice me coming." Neji pulled out a chair and sat opposite him. The whispers of the passing crowds and current dinners grew louder for a moment before dieing back down.
"I wasn't gawking. I was observing. It's what shinobi do." Gaara grumbled and returned to sifting the sand back into the gourd.
"She's older than him. About four years I think. She was a tea girl in the land of earth. She hadn't been treated well. Gai was only a teenager when he stumbled across her. Apparently Gai as a teen wasn't much different from Lee at that age. He apparently fell in love instantly and stole her away. She lives in the cottage next to his house. If I didn't know she'd been there for around twenty years I'd say the whole story was a joke but... there's just something about them."
Gaara corked the gourd and glance at the couple again.
"You never asked either of them?"
"Yes." Neji shrugged. "I asked Gai once. He said Chiharu was the light of youth and love and he wouldn't slander her good name by fueling such outrageous stories."
"So who told you?"
"Genma."
"Figures."
They fell silent as they turned back to face one another. A slow smile spread over Nejis face and Gaara matched it.
"You see her too?" Neji spoke low as he cut his eyes to the open store front.
"Yes." Gaara replied equally quiet.
Hanabis dark hair peeked from behind a cloth flap for a moment before sliding back out of site. A moment later she walked down the street, greeting villagers and fellow shinobi before stepping into the opposite stand and taking a seat.
"So it's been her?" Gaara kept a steady gaze on Neji, smiling.
"Oh, yes. Hinata followed her last night after the guard confirmed seeing her out after dark." Nejis eyes hooded and his shoulder rounded slightly as he leaned into the table.
"I still don't see why she thinks we're lovers?" Gaaras smile broke on a sigh be he quickly pulled a decent pout in it's place.
"I'm sure it has something to do with the 'doggy style' comment you made." Neji cocked his head to the side.
"I couldn't remember what you'd called it." Gaara groused still holding the pout.
"Dog paddle." Neji offered then fluttered his eye lashes.
"Dog paddle. Doggy style. Whats the difference?"
"A great deal. And I'm not about to explain it to you here."
Gaara felt his jaw crack ominously.
"I'm going to kill your cousin."
"If you two aren't careful, you're going to kill all the women in this room." Chojis voice broke into their conversation as he and Shikamaru moved toward the table to take a seat. "About half of them are red and not because they're angry."
Neji and Gaara continued to stare at one another for a moment. Hanabi, now very red and shifting uncomfortably in her seat, gathered her food and walked off down the road and out of sight. The smiles faded from the mens faces to be replaced with sneers.
"I'll help. How do you want her do die? Slow and painful or slow and humiliating?" Neji gritted out.
"What happened to quick and painless?" Shikamaru asked.
"It doesn't exist." Gaara replied then relaxed and looked down at the gourd he'd just corked. "I haven't been able to properly thank the two of you for this." He spoke to Choji and Shikamaru.
"No need. When I told Choji about the sand he thought you could use a new gourd." A serving girl came and took their orders. As she left the shadow shinobi continued. "Ino got it. Her mother does excellent work."
Gaara looked up, surprised, and fingered the small gourd in his hands. Unlike his old gourd, this one was made of clay but the craftsmanship was remarkably similar to the original. Only on a smaller scale.
"I will thank her personally." He whispered.
"I'm sure she'd love it but it's not required." Choji pulled out a bag of fruit chips and started eating. Shikamaru reached out and took the bag. Choji over sized his palm and engulfed the smaller mans entire hand to retrieve the chips. A small tug-of-war ensued.
Neji shook his head and stood. "We have a mission this afternoon. I'll see you then."
Gaara nodded as Neji turned to leave. Several eyes followed his departure. The battle between the two friends next to him settled down, with Choji the victor and Shikamaru shaking his hand vigorously to regain the feeling in it.
"I told you. This counts as fruit!"
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"I wondered why it was an A-rank mission." Udon sighed as he placed his slip on the desk in front of the clerk.
"I didn't know children could pee that much." Konohamarus eyes were still wide and a little shaken.
"You two watch Sasukes boys again?" The clerk asked as she looked down at the slip.
"And Tsunade and Hidekatsu. And Tadao is potty training. Do you know what happens when little boys potty train?" Udon sniffed and subconsciously wiped at his nose.
Since the clerk had two sons she had a pretty good idea. "No wonder it was A-rank. So why did they give it to two chuunin?"
At that moment Tsunade came through the hall door. She smiled when she saw the boys looking haggard and worn.
"How's my little granddaughter?" She asked with a smile that curdled their breakfast in their stomaches.
"She's wonderful, Hokage-sama" Udon spoke up as Konohamaru sneered.
It only made Tsunade smile more. "Good. I knew you two were just the men for the job. And since you're both up for promotion to jounin in a couple of months I thought it would be good practice." She patted Konohamaru hard on a rather tender bite mark then grinned as she walked away to the sound of his loud moan.
"That woman is a sadist!" He bit out through clenched teeth, rubbing the tiny bite Tadao had given him for trying to dress him last night.
The clerk simply laughed, handed the boys their pay and sent them on their way.
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Takako Uchiha slipped into Sasukes study and lifted the note from the desk. Sneering she crumpled it and tossed it in the nearby bin. At seven months pregnant with twins she was more than a little prickly that her husbands lover couldn't be just a bit more subtle. After all, she was making a little progress with him. She just needed more time and some space.
"Is there a problem, Takako?"
She turned awkwardly at Sasukes voice but put on her sweetest smile.
"No. I was just coming to speak with you for a while." Franticly she ran through options of acceptable things to talk to him about. "I wanted to discuss Naruto-kuns entrance into the academy this year."
Sasuke frown and she nearly panicked. She liked the boy fine but she never really spoke about him. She was more than a little upset that he was first in line to inherit. He was nothing more than a stray to the family. It didn't seem fair that her son should be left out because of him. But if discussing the boys entrance into the academy would win her time and consideration from her husband then she would do it. And once she had her husbands favor her son would have a proper place in the family. After all, her son was the only one truly noble born and the Uchiha name was legendary and highly revered.
"Take a seat." Sasuke broke in after a moments silence and moved to sit behind his desk.
She smiled and took a seat beside him instead of in front of him. He raised his head from staring at a point on his desk, raised a brow at her then simply sighed and leaned back into the seat.
"Tell me, Sasuke, about the academy and what it will be like for Naruto-kun?" She asked sweetly then smiled as he began to fill her in on things she could care less about hearing.
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Sakura stood in the center of the crowded street face to face with a wide eyed Gaara. Only he wasn't staring at her.
"It's been a long time since you've seen her. I keep forgetting that." She walked toward a small bench, motioning for him to follow.
She bent and lifted the little red haired girl to the seat. The child clung to her arm and eyed Gaara with wide blue eyes.
"I've only seen her the once. Not long after she was born. I'd forgotten Narutos mothers hair was red." Gaara bent down in front of her. Keeping his distance in case she became upset.
"She's two now and a little skittish. Don't be upset if she won't let you touch her." Sakura touched the girls hair. "Tsunade. This is Gaara. He was your daddys friend."
"Da-dee fwen." The child mimicked.
"That's right. Say hello. Don't be shy." Tsunades eyes never left the man in front of her but she did grace him with a small smile.
"Bye Bye." She whispered and waved her small slender hand.
Sakura laughed as Gaara looked a little confused.
"She hasn't quite got the hang of hello and goodbye yet. It's all the same to her."
Gaara nodded and gave the girl a small smile of his own. "You mentioned her a few weeks ago. I'm sorry I haven't been to see her. I know you don't want her on the training fields."
"It's alright. She spends most of the day with the kids in the village since I work the hospital as well. This is a rare day for us to be together like this."
A gust of wind blew dust into the air. Gaara blinked several times to clear his eyes, inwardly cursing the fact that he couldn't simply stop it from getting there.
Tsunades eyes widened ever farther then her lips separated to show a mouth full of baby teeth and an extremely sharp set of incisors. Her little hand lifted and she pointed one slender finger... straight at his eyes.
"Waccoon!" She squealed.
Sakuras mouth dropped open and she shot her eyes to Gaara but the former sand shinobi only sighed and shook his head.
"She spends a lot of time with Naruto and Hiro doesn't she?" He asked sounding resigned.
"Some. Yes." Then it hit her. "He's still telling that story again?! I hate that story! He made me a shrew!"
Gaara tried not to grin when she said that. Tsunade saw the almost smile and assumed it was alright to smile herself. She looked up at her mother with an even bigger grin.
"Shoo!" She giggled.
"I've been telling him for years to stop telling that story to the kids. But he never listens and Izanami thinks it's funny as hell... opps. Mommy didn't say that."
"Ell." Sakura groaned and Tsunade laughed.
"So, I'm a raccoon and you're a shrew." He thought on that a moment as Sakura tried to explain to the two year old why that word was bad. "What is Sasuke?"
"Huh?" She looked up from her useless explanation and shook her head. "Oh... A fox, what else."
Gaara nodded then smiled. "What is Neji?"
Sakura looked wistful for a moment before rolling her eyes and her venomous smile to her curious teammate.
"A house bat."
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"Son-of-a..."
Shizune looked up from her pile of paperwork to see a very stunned Tsunade staring at a single scroll.
"What is it?" She stood and walked over only to slow to a complete stop when she saw the seal.
"Suna?"
"Yeah... Suna." Tsunade dropped the scroll on the desk and drummed her fingers as her eyes slowly focuses and her face went blank. "They've sent their conformation for the chuunin exams."
Shizune grabbed a seat and sat down with a thump.
"Guess they aren't satisfied with just the Village Hidden in the Sand." The Hokage turned cool eyes on her assistant.
"What do we do?" Shizune asked. This could be a complete disaster or a blessing in disguise.
"I think we need to make sure they have the right people coming with them." Tsunade rummaged around on the desk until she came up with a scroll and brush. "I can think of a few 'sand shinobi' who would be perfect for the job. I'm sure they won't mind vollenteering."
Shizune nodded and turned, intending to retrieve the special seals.
"Oh, Shizune?" The brunette turned to look at her teacher. "I think Gaara would make an excellent examiner. Don't you?"
Shizune grinned. "Most definitely."
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Moegi stood outside the Tower and tapped her foot. She had things to do today and those boys were holding up progress. A noise from down the road caught her ear and she looked over to see Sakura with Tsunade on a bench. Someone was bent to the little girls feet, tying her shoe. Moegi smiled, at least until the man lifted his head. Her face went flat as Gaara gently touched Tsunades hand then stood and said something to Sakura that made her laugh. She felt like kicking the pink haired vixen.
A moment passed and Gaara turned to walk in her direction. He glanced her way as he passed, giving her a brief nod before moving on toward the training ground. And that was the most attention she was likely to get from him. She cursed her age, her looks, her personality and every fan girl world wide for his lack of interest in her. Not that it did any good. She was sure she'd aimed too high this time. But she just wanted a chance to get to know the real guy. Naruto had always spoken fondly of the former Jinchuriki. The man he'd described was much closer to the one she'd seen tying a two-year-olds shoe than the one that had just passed her.
She sighed and looked back at the tower door. Chuunin exams were in less than two months and a holy celebration was set at the end of the month. She'd be far too busy to worry about it soon enough.
"Oi! Moegi!"
She looked up to see Konohamaru and Udon finally exiting the Tower. Only they weren't exiting.
"Will you two hurry up! We have training and I'm not running laps because of you!"
Konohamaru cringed but waved her toward them. As she drew in closer the boys backed up.
"The Hokage has a mission for you, and she didn't sound like she was in the mood to wait. Shizune was sweating and running around like her life depended on it so it's probably important."
"She probably wants more Sake." Moegi groused and punched Konohamaru in the shoulder for good measure as she passed him to head up the stairs.
"Ouch! What do you women have? Some kind of radar that tells you where it hurts the most?!"
He and Udon walked out. Konohamaru covering his sore bite in case someone else felt the need to hit him.
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"Kankuro?"
The light whisper pulled him up from sleep and into pain but he tried not to make a sound. The more sound he made the more pain came.
"Kankuro? Can you hear me?"
He didn't recognize the voice. He couldn't be sure if it was male or female. He couldn't tell if it was hostile or friendly. He just didn't know.
"If you can hear me, open your eyes and listen carefully. For the next month you will be tended by a young woman with a tattoo of a jade dragon on her left wrist. Remember, the dragon is on the left wrist."
Kankuro opened his eyes just a little. He could make out choppy hair somewhere between brown and blond and an eye patch flipped up from one eye to show...
"Do exactly as she tells you. Follow her orders to the letter. In one month you will be moved. Do you understand?"
Kankuro nodded slowly caught by the spiraling comas of the sharingan eye in front of him.
"Good. Now sleep and forget you ever saw me. Just remember the jade dragon on the left wrist. Do whatever she says."
Kankuros eyes began to feel heavy as he watched the spinning eye. Forcing himself to move, he lifted one broken hand and lay it over the one pressed to his chest.
"Gaara?" He sighed out ready to tumble into sleep.
"Alive."
He heard the word just before he slipped from consciousness.
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Okay. I think I found all the mistakes but I usually don't so sorry for the mistakes. Hope you enjoy. Review are welcome. If you wanna flame me go ahead just make sure its constructive. See ya!
