Despite the lengthy sleeves, wide-brimmed hat and pants covering down to her ankles, overlapping her socks, the Sun laughed at her precautions and seemingly shined directly onto her skin. Her mind immediately jumped back to the old familiar loop of 'is this the day I get cancer? Am I carrying it inside me? How long do I have left to live?'
Oniyuri tugged her hat down.
"Keep on doing that and it'll swallow you," Ajisai groused, although he didn't look too well off with his black ensemble. She told him that white was better, but he ignored her and now who was the one cooking in their clothes and swarmed by mosquitoes? Not fucking Oniyuri.
"We are literally outside of Suna, stop your complaining," Rose laughed, giving Ajisai's small structure a nudge with his foot. The action made Ajisai stumble.
"Bara!" Asagao gasped and scooped Ajisai up. He looked like one big frowny face slapped onto a small ball of flesh. Oniyuri would have laughed. She hid her mirth behind the high collar of her shirt.
Rose rolled his eyes "Get off my dick, Asagao. He's perfectly fine!" his tone carried just a touch of lightheartedness to pass it off as joking. The look the three of them shared when Asagao huffed, dropped Ajisai once more and left was not.
"Let's explore the city once we're through!" There were only a few more adults to get through before they reached the children. Oniyuri was a little surprised at how young Rose was – Hanabi and Asagao were getting processed now, and Rose had yet to get in line.
"What is there to see?" Ajisai peered around Rose's large frame, but like Oniyuri, at his height all he could see was the sand-coloured domes, rising far into the sky.
"Suna is very interesting!" Rose said, offering his hands out. Ajisai respectfully shook his head. She bounded over, arms also up. Rose picked up from under her armpits and settled her on his shoulders. "There's a big mishmash of cultures; the food is amazing and they have a very good spice market as well."
From upon Rose's muscular shoulders, she could see the flow of the crowd around her and the tough faces of scowling Suna ninja. They were clothes that were slightly less tight than Konoha's style. Here in the desert, they were more concerned about cooling themselves from the heat and protecting from the freezing night than non-existent pesky tree branches catching on loose fabric.
There was a lot of covered faces, and even in the wild breezes whirling around the outside of Suna, Oniyuri failed to catch anything under loose fabric. She even saw some face paint she could half recognise as the Puppet Co-ops.
Suna itself also reflected the masses of culture present in its people. The dome-topped towers were certainly the tallest, but there were other architectures filling the space in between. The most common were square boxes simply stacked on top of each other. From the looks of things, it seemed to be made of earthy, dried mud, or close to. They had poles, a mix of wood and metal, beaten into the sides to create a shade when a cloth was thrown over them.
Oniyuri was surprised to see canvas tents peppered in between other buildings. They were an off-white colour, affected by the sandy environment and blinding sun. They were a vaguely hexagonal shape. A yurt, perhaps?
"Damn!" she said as Rose set her down, "Suna looks amazing!"
"Glad you think so," said a nearby guard. Despite his words, his face was still held in a grimace. "You. Ex-Konoha. Get up here." Now he was openly hostile, scowling at Rose. But Rose didn't back down – in fact, he sauntered up to the guard and gave him a smirk and flicked his eyes down and back up.
"Abid," Rose crooned. If Asagao was here, she would've already tackled Rose for his obvious advances. "It's been some time since I saw you. How about we catch up?"
The guard roughly shoved Rose towards the waiting inspector, now a thunderstorm next to Rose's uproarious laughter.
"Don't mind Rose – he loves to play games with other ninjas," Tsutsuji interjected behind Oniyuri.
"It's amusing," the guard visibly looked away at her words. The head guard chuckled along with several other older Suisei clan children. There weren't many, maybe ten or so, but the clan wasn't dumb enough to leave unprotected children on the other side of customs, so Tsutsuji and some other guards – plus a few Suna ninja – were circled around. They might all be adults, but they were just as useless as regular civilian children.
Rose was on the other side, waiting for them. Oniyuri was the last child to go through and took extra time because her chakra training was starting to show and it made customs antsy.
"I've already talked to Hanabi and Asagao," Rose informed her when she was finally allowed through. "they're fine with me taking you around."
"What did you have to sacrifice for Asagao to say yes?" Ajisai grumbled. Rose held out his hands to both of them. Oniyuri took it without a thought but Ajisai looked far more disgruntled. It was security, one that was needed everywhere but Konoha.
Rose led them through the city. Oniyuri was certainly the most active, pulling the three of them over to stalls she noticed, from food to omiyage to more non-touristy stuff, like plants and normal civilian clothes.
It was fascinating to look around. Suna wasn't a tourist destination so there were limited low-quality cheap trinkets and more highly qualified craftsmen-made designs. Suna also preferred that civilians were kept out of ninja areas, keeping a small guard on watch.
"Alright, I'm done looking around," she announced, finally giving into her stomach and Ajisai's growing glares. Rose laughed. "Time for food?"
"Finally. What's the local cuisine?"
"I'd have to ask someone. It's been a while since I was in Suna." He replied, and just because Rose was Rose, he politely asked the nearest locals for tips, and just because Rose was Rose, the locals were more than familiar faces.
If Rose told her he slept with, oh who knows, Kisame on one of his old ninja missions, she wouldn't have a problem believing that. Not with how he was best friends with Kakashi, but he also just happened to ask the child of the Kazekage for directions.
Ajisai looked over to her at her explosive sigh. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," she said and dragged him over.
"-show us some local food?" Rose barely blinked when the two of them stepped up to the conversation. "I'd love to show my younger clans members authentic Suna food, but it's been some time since I've been here."
"If you don't mind," Oniyuri tacked on, "I've gotten a little sick of plain food and want a little spice in my life."
Gaara blinked at the three of them. "I can do that," he murmured, and immediately began walking.
"Thank you very much," the three of them chorused.
It seemed like Gaara wasn't going to talk, and Ajisai had absolutely no problem with that. Rose probably thought he just wasn't interested in entertaining the tourists. She was hesitant about whether or not to try and strike up a conversation. Gaara was certainly recognisable by her standards – even without the love kanji on his forehead, his red hair was eye-catching and memorable.
Ajisai and Rose would expect her to strike up a conversation. But they didn't know how he might snap and kill them without remorse. Well, he didn't have the love kanji yet, so maybe this was an opportunity?
"My name's Oniyuri, that's Ajisai and that's Bara." She began.
"Gaara." He answered. God, it was like talking to Itachi. No attempts to continue the conversation at all.
"What are your favourite foods?"
"Gaara!"
The four of them paused. Two kids, about nine and seven, dashed towards them. They quickly pulled the breaks, standing before their brother. Or perhaps – guarding innocent civilians against a trigger-happy jinchuuriki.
"Gaara, who are these people?" Temari demanded, trying to be the picture of sisterly concern.
"Oh, my apologies, we just want to know where the best restaurants are," Rose replied.
"You're fine with that?" Kankuro peered at Gaara. "What about… Mother?"
Gaara crossed his arms and scuffed the ground. "She hasn't said nothing. She hasn't said… anything."
"Well alright," Temari eyed them nervously. Oniyuri was feeling a little sus too – how did they silence Ichibi? She glanced over to Rose, trying to gauge at his thoughts.
His face was… flat. Well – she could see a bit of awkwardness, and a little bit of boredom. Ajisai was flat out observing the buildings around him, the scene before him not even registering in his mind. With new eyes, she returned to the sand siblings. Oh – it really did look like a slightly weird conversation between siblings, but with how young they were it could easily be passed off as weird childish things.
Temari took a deep breath and dragged Kankuro to Gaara's side. Their younger brother watched them with wide eyes, barely blinking.
"Sorry about that!" she cheerfully announced. Oniyuri wondered if she was the only one who saw the slight twitch in her mouth. "We can all take you there."
"Thank you very much!" Oniyuri brightly answered, waving her hand in hello. "I'm Oniyuri," and thus set off a line of introductions.
"Are you all called flowers?" Kankuro inquired.
"Clan tradition!" Rose said brightly "But we do use nicknames and secondary names when needed."
"What are some traditions around here?" she tacked on. Previously she had been more interested in the clan's techniques and training her body. Now was the time to pay attention to the world outside her clan. Her books couldn't teach her all about cultures and environments.
"Well," Temari paused, thinking. "Some shops are closed today. It's Saturday, the day of no working."
"Shabbat?" Ajisai guessed. "Judaism?"
Kankuro gasped in glee. "Are you-"
Oniyuri was shaking her head before he could continue. "No, I'm an atheist. But our clan members are free to choose faith."
"Atheist," Rose said.
"Ex-Christian, now an atheist." Ajisai said. She idly wondered if his broken faith was because of his scientist mind or the re-birth. Because while some members still perused their faith, just as many lost it.
"That's cool!" Kankuro nodded. "Our family is Jewish, but we're called eth-ni-ni-nique-"
"Ethnic." Ajisai corrected.
"Yeah," Kankuro shrugged. "that."
"Are there other religions in Suna?" Oniyuri continued.
"Plenty! Suna's called the hot pot of religion. There's Judaism, Hinduism, Islamism, Buddhism, and a lot more, but those are the most popular."
"And then, outside of Suna, there's even more!" Kankuro grinned wildly and flung his arms wide. "To the North, there's Shintoism and to the South, along the coast, are the Mongolians."
"Oh yes," Oniyuri nodded. "We've been there. To the grass plains."
"You have?" his eyes positively sparkled. Even Gaara tilted his head slightly so she could see his eyes more clearly. She took note to meet his eyes more often. "How are the grass plains?"
Because of the ocean, the coastline was cool enough to allow grass to grow. Very rich grass, strong and soft, but nothing more than grass.
"I found the gers amazing," she confessed, "and their clothing."
"Really?" Temari tilted her head. She was just as curious as her brother but was more controlled. In their excitement, their fear of Gaara faded from their minds.
"Yes!" she smiled at them "The inside of the tents was full of embroidered murals, and the clothing was just as colourful."
"Like Old Man Nader's tent" Kankuro guessed. She visibly shrugged.
"Never been." The clothing certainly reminded her of Mongols, but while the tents were exactly like their gers, the embroidered insides remaindered her of the tentmakers of Cairo. A mishmash of cultures, it seems.
Kankuro began to chatter about Old Man Nader's tent and slowly the conversation dissolved into a discussion of the many types of buildings around Suna. Rose and Ajisai quietly hung back, allowing Oniyuri to take the stage. They were hungry – Oniyuri was more interested in the culture.
"So, what do you recommend?" she observed the slightly bustling street, mouth-watering aromas mixing beautifully. "Oh, damn, I'm going to have a hard time choosing."
"Oh, I like kibbeh," Temari said "But maybe goulash?"
"Shawarma," Kankuro crossed his arms. "Tourists always love them."
"But I want to eat your favourite food." Oniyuri protested. "What are the other two?"
Temari quickly gave a rundown on the food, and Oniyuri carefully listened, even though she was familiar with the food and their names. It would be a little weird for a foreigner to know the local food.
"I like goulash." Gaara murmured. Oniyuri beamed and gave a thumbs up.
"How about we go for that? It sounds very interesting!"
"Well then, for goulash, then we best go to…" the oldest of the sand siblings argued away at the location. But neither of them were backing down and they didn't seem old enough to believe in negotiating, so she turned to Gaara and got his attention with a small wave of her hand.
"Where do you prefer?" Gaara blinked… almost owlishly. He then said something that sounded like another language – probably the name of his preferred store. She then stepped out of his way and gestured down the street. "Take us there, please? You can eat with us if you want."
Gaara didn't make a sign of acknowledgement at her question, just shuffled down the road. Rose and Ajisai automatically followed them, but it took Temari and Kankuro a few seconds to realise that the rest of the group had already left.
"Gaara's leading the way!" she cheerfully explained once they caught up. Their questioning faces immediately flattened into nervous understanding.
Oniyuri let lose a little breath of air. Yes, she understood that Gaara sometimes went on murderous rampages… but he couldn't be that bad? She couldn't remember exactly how he acted before befriending Naruto, but he did have some moments of normality before he went crazy. And she didn't see the love character stamped on his forehead – she'd have to be really blind to miss that.
"OH!" Kankuro gestured wildly to an approaching storefront. "How did I forget Habib?" Even Temari looked like she wanted to facepalm.
"Is it popular?"
"He's got the best goulash recipe ever!" Kankuro grinned and strode in.
"I do hear someone singing praises?" a rough voice echoed through the cramped sandy interior. It was set up like a bar; one high table lined with stools and the rest of the area filled with tiny circle tables with tinier wooden chairs. There weren't many tables though, and some of them looked dusty. Truly, sitting at the bar would be the correct thing to do, but the group was majorly kids, all under ten years old. And Rose had to keep an eye on everyone.
Habib – well, she was guessing, but it had to be him – almost literally popped out from the back. His wide frame and a little fat proved a challenge to navigate the tiny kitchen but evidently it was something he was skilled with. He smelt strongly of spices.
"Here to recommend my dish to strangers?" Habib grinned and easily ruffled Kankuro's hair. "Nice to see the sand siblings pop by! And all three at once! A fantastic sign!"
Temari laughed and for a moment the weariness around her shoulders lifted. As if she forgot why she was so tense and had come home. Then Gaara shifted, and the fantasy died, her guard slamming back up. "Yeah, it's been some time."
Oh damn, there goes the atmosphere. "So!" she loudly interrupted. "Why so special?"
Habib winked and crossed his arms and puffed up his chest. "That's the secret! I can't tell anyone otherwise I'll lose my edge. I'll give you a hint though," he leaned down and comically checked the shop area, even though they were alone for now. "It's to do with the spices!"
Which would probably explain why he smelt like spices. She grinned, interested. "Then could we all please try your super famous goulash?"
"Six dishes of goulash coming up!" he squeezed back through the kitchen. Just as he disappeared behind the walls, a new customer walked through the door. She would've ignored them, except they wore the strangest cloak ever. Cloaks were a hit and miss in the desert – kind of cool, but the wind could make it more of a hassle than a help. Plus, the newcomer wore an entirely black cloak. That was just asking to overheat.
The hood was strange too – there were these bumps where the person's temples were, and a pair of two white eyes, wide enough to show the entire pupil. When they reached the stools of the bar area, they revealed their hands – covered in almost symbolic tattoos. There was one large picture of a wide-eyed hare on the back of both of their hands.
"Temari?" Oniyuri began, but Temari was already looking at them.
"They're from the Hare cult," she began with a massive sigh. "It's one of the world's oldest religions, up there with Judaism and everything else. But it's also the most unpopular." She cast a distasteful glance over.
"Oh?"
"Yeah, even Jashinism isn't hated as much." Kankuro put in. "They detest all who use chakra. Claims that it belongs to their goddess."
"The hare goddess?" a sense of forbidding chilled her to her seat.
"Well, no, 'Hare' is an insult. They don't like being called that. Their goddess is the rabbit goddess, Kaguya. They seal away their chakra and worship their goddess and the Black Messenger. But while they're allowed here, they're not liked at all. Hate all ninjas."
Black Zetsu. The answer rang clearly through her mind. Who else could be the Black Messenger?
"Mother doesn't like them," Gaara suddenly spoke, and everyone looked over to him. His face was thunderous and for a moment Oniyuri caught a glimpse of the boy Temari and Kankuro were so scared of. "That bitch isn't a god!" he sounded like he was quoting someone.
The cloaked figure twitched. But did not do anything else.
"Alright!" Habib announced, appearing once more. He quickly saw the newcomer. "Ah, my apologies, I'll get to you in a second! Here's your goulash, with a little… special thing included!"
The aroma of the goulash swelled around the table. "Oh, it's dill, isn't it? The smell is rather strong."
The table looked at her with wide eyes. Habib looked spectacularly shocked.
Oniyuri covered her mouth and quickly stood up to bow. "Oh my god I'm so sorry – I didn't mean,"
Habib let rip a laugh, but it was a little too nervous for her tastes. The Hare cultist hadn't moved and they could have overheard that easily. "No worries, just don't go shouting it from the rooftops. Please, do enjoy."
"Wow Oniyuri," Kankuro said, "How can you smell that?"
"Um," the dill now felt suffocating, burning her nostrils in accusation. "It's just – rather obvious." She finished weakly.
Gaara, who was sitting beside her, immediately began to raise his right hand. It – it peeled away, the sand detaching from his hand to about halfway up his forearm. He slowly picked at the goulash.
"Gaara, do you really think-" Temari began, but Oniyuri quickly cut her off.
"Oh right, clean the right hand." She detached a portion of the water hidden under her clothes and brought it out to her right hand. "Need some water?" she offered it out to Rose and Ajisai. Rose looked extremely amused, accepting her offer without hesitation. Did he finally recognise Gaara? Or did he secretly know who he was since he asked him directions in the streets? She was going to thrash him if that was the truth.
"Wait, what is that?" Kankuro pointed to the ball of water in her hand.
"Oh this? Our bloodline limit." She shaped it into the symbol of Suna's ninjas, the gourd, and smiled brightly at Kankuro. "It's nothing fancy, we just use it for dancing."
"Dancing?" Temari choked on her goulash, but swallowed it down after a few coughs.
"Yeah, I'd show you but it's a little too small… and the Hare cultist sounds like she wants to rip my head off." Rose sharply looked over to the newcomer, frowning strongly.
"What's he saying?" her friend demanded. Oniyuri cocked her head. He was muttering pretty loudly… could they not understand him?
"Uh, how dare they sully Her gift? Carelessly waste what is not Theirs? So similar to the monster. Scum, trash, vermin-" her voice naturally dropped to acquire the rough whisper the woman was speaking in. Soon she also adopted the heavy load of disgust, voice growing angry by the second. She idly changed the water in her hand, creating a large tree, water leaves reaching for the roof. It drew scorn from the woman, insults flying by so fast she didn't have enough time to swallow, and Oniyuri could hear the spit dripping from her lips and –
Rose put a finger over her lips. "Thank you,"
She blinked up to her large friend. "No problem? Anyway, our show is for about a week, we're not staying in Suna for very long, I'd like it if you could come. Do you need tickets? Temari?"
Temari jolted at her name. "U-uh, I'll have to check with dad first. And he'll – he'll have no problems getting tickets to anything." Right, Kazekage for a father. They would've attended anyway.
"Cool!" she beamed at Temari. "I'm also performing, so watch out for the smallest performer!"
"I'm not good at the bloodline limit," Rose added.
"I suck at dancing," Ajisai dryly said, goulash half done. It reminded her to start eating as well, so she deposited the used water on the ground and happily picked at her plate. It was just the right temperature to pick up too, and the dill really make the meal spark.
It was a really good meal – more so when the Hare cultist left before ordering anything.
Temari and Kankuro were fascinating conversationalists. Once Oniyuri had asked them enough about the local culture, they turned to other subjects that Rose and Ajisai were more inclined to join in. Gaara sometimes answered the questions she directed at him but didn't answer anyone else's. Not that Rose tried any more than twice and Ajisai didn't bother at all.
Once their delicious meal was done (Oniyuri apologised once more to Habib when they paid), the six of them began walking in a direction together. The older two siblings found Ajisai ok, so they stood side by side with him in front of Rose, Gaara and Oniyuri. Gaara obviously preferred to be on the outside of the row, so she chose the centre place.
"Is he important?" Rose asked in English. Oniyuri gave him a Look.
"Is he important," she said back at him and rolled her eyes. "He's Gaara! Controls sand? Carried the One-Tailed Beast? Has a big red kanji on his forehead?" Realisation crossed Roses face. He regarded the red-haired boy with an appreciative look.
"Ah, the emo that grows into a hottie."
Oniyuri gasped and slapped her friend on the thigh. "Rose!" He broke into peals of laughter.
"How do you silence Mother?" Gaara suddenly spoke up. He stared straight ahead. Rose opened his mouth so Oniyuri quickly elbowed him, right where she previously slapped him. Didn't have a lot of targets at this height.
"Mother?" she carefully asked.
"She's… always talking to me. Up here." He pointed to his skull and finally looked at Oniyuri. His wide eyes were full of curiosity. It reminded her that Gaara was a little kid and hadn't snapped yet. Maybe she could give him something to think about?
"Well, what was the last thing she said?"
Gaara frowned. "They carry her chakra."
Carry her chakra – oh! Kaguya's chakra. The key to their bloodline limit. If Gaara murdered the Hare cultists because of Ichibi's influence, claiming that they were wrong in worshipping Kaguya, then the Suisei clan, who carried her chakra inside them, could scare him.
"That's a clan secret, I'm afraid." She shrugged and then paused. "…What else does she say? When I'm not here?"
"She…" Gaara looked down at his sleeves. "She wants blood. All the time. I don't want to – to-"
"If you don't want to do it, then don't do it." She told him. Gaara looked up at her in shock.
"But she's my mother, how am I supposed to?"
Oniyuri shrugged, feeling a little guilty. "Well – to be honest, I've always found it easy to disagree with my parents. Any adult, really. Everyone makes mistakes, and sometimes adults don't have the best advice." That was a belief she had carried since her first time as a teenager. "I've never – not been able to say no when I don't agree."
"Oniyuri is right," Rose cut in, his voice easily carrying over her head. "Adults never have the final say. And if they're asking for blood, well, they've got to have a very good reason for doing so."
"A reason?" Gaara looked up at Rose for the first time since agreeing to take him to the restaurant area.
"Does your mother ask you to murder, Gaara?" he asked bluntly. When Gaara nodded, Rose let a small puff of air exit his mouth. "Then, I don't think there can be an excuse. For the better of the village is left to official ninjas. For the better of my family should be left to your parents. Gaara, you're only, six? You shouldn't be murdering, much less on the orders of someone else."
"Next time your mother asks you to murder someone, ask her why." Oniyuri added on. Gaara looked at her, eyes slightly wider than normal. "If she says something about revenge, then refuse. Don't get dragged into someone else's scheme, especially for revenge. It will never end well."
Gaara turned away, focusing on the ground before him. They remained quiet for some time.
Oniyuri sneezed. She tried to clear her throat but the heavy smell that snuck up on her refused to stop clogging, clinging to the sides of her throat. But it wasn't that bad, honestly, so she put it aside.
"Hey, have any of you guys seen Suna's spice market?" Kankuro turned around. Ajisai turned his head too, giving a shake.
"No, they haven't." Rose answered for them.
"Is that what I'm smelling?" Oniyuri muttered lowly, trying to give momentary relief by covering her mouth with her sleeve.
"I'm not interested," Gaara suddenly stopped walking with them. "I'm going. It was… interesting to meet you." And he walked off. That was rather abrupt. If she didn't have a better understanding of his character, then she could have assumed social awkwardness or aversion of the spice market. The group paused to watch the red-haired boy vanish down a side street.
"Alright, let's go!" Kankuro thrust his fist into the air and continued with a gesture to where the smell originated.
As they walked, the smell grew thicker and thicker. It was so powerful that it swam around her head. Her mind was trying to distract her from the burn in her mouth by identifying the spices (to her best ability) but it was hard.
"Too strong for you?" Kankuro teased when he spotted her hands securely over her mouth and nose. She tried to give a mild glare but was overrun by the urge to cough.
Rose gave a thoughtful frown. "Are you using chakra right now?"
Oniyuri shook her head. Right now she was dividing chakra into energies to control the water hidden under her clothes, and she couldn't simultaneously use chakra yet.
"You could be channelling it unconsciously to your nose. It's a ninja trick."
Once more, she shook her head. This time, a little water rose from her sleeves, trickling up her fingers to form the word 'dividing' in English. Rose nodded, understanding.
"I still wanna go," she manages to gasp out "the spice market sound wicked."
Temari gave her a weird look but continued on. Her hands remained around her nose and mouth.
It was, really, a pleasure to go to the spice market. Much like famous pictures from her old world, the spices were bright and wonderfully presented. There had to be new spices, because she was sure spices didn't come in dull purple nut-like capsules.
The smell, oh god the smell. It was so overwhelming and absolutely coated her mouth and throat she was sure she could easily taste it when she would return to Konoha. But after a while, she got used to it and only coughed every now and then.
"I just hope I'm not offending anyone," Oniyuri murmured to their group. Ajisai rolled his eyes. Kankuro at least shrugged.
"Well, that was very interesting," Rose smiled down at Temari and Kankuro. "Sorry for the lack of enthusiasm. Oniyuri's constant coughing is a little concerning."
"Oh no worries," Temari shrugged. "It does sound like she's trying to throw up a lung or something."
Oniyuri would've chuckled, except someone had bumped into her and grabbed her arms.
"Scum!" the passer whisper into her ears. Her skin crawled at the vast ocean of loathing seeping through her voice. Before she could see who – all she could see was a cape – her arms were wrenched away from her face.
The full load of the spice market's smell hit her like a truck. She'd blocked some of it by sealing the cracks her hands had and slowly pulled tiny amounts of air through. But not only did this person have Oniyuri's wrists in one hand, she also shoved one of the dull purple nuts into her face.
Now she was exposed to the full weight of spice and it hurt.
Tears stung at her eyes. The punch of spice hit her directly on her nose. She had never fallen unconscious unless it was sleep – and she was unhappy to find that involuntary sleep did NOT magically make the pain go away.
Whimpering, Oniyuri blacked out.
She awoke with a cough tickling her throat.
Her hand flew up to her mouth. Oniyuri was delighted to feel fabric covering her mouth and nose. A face mask? But it wasn't one like the cheap conbini style – she could not feel her breath escaping from the sides.
Her hand dropped back to the bed. Even now she could still smell the items around her. Her bed was carrying some fragrance, probably from the wash. Her clothes smelt of spice. And the whole building smelt of… sand.
Could sand smell of sand? Wouldn't it be more of the smells of whatever lived on it?
Despite the face mask, it was hard enough to focus on anything but smells. Thankfully the room seemed to be stripped of smells, or, as best as could be, so after half an hour she found that she could finally think of other things.
Of course, this was just as a new smell introduced itself. Male. But a little bit of floral. And it was coming closer…
The door creaked open. "Oh," Rose was surprised to meet her eyes, but quickly recovered. "How are you?"
She gingerly touched the facemask, feeling the little bumps of stitches under the pad of her finger. "This makes it a little easier."
Rose nodded. "It seems like your nose is far more sensitive than a human's could ever be – like an animal's. Himawari made that mask for you. It only gives you air that he's stored in there. He's trying to figure out a filtering seal."
"Is that why I smell roses?"
Rose smirked. "No, Abid took up on my offer, and even tried to… make me swoon with a special present."
Oniyuri squinted at her older friend. Does that mean he got a rose? A perfume of roses? Or maybe rose fragranced lu-
"But if you're smelling that, I guess the mask doesn't quite work properly." Oniyuri shrugged.
"It's better, at least. I do actually want to smell my surroundings."
"You're going to have to get used to the mask then. Every time we tried to take it off you'd start to flail around in bed, clawing at your nose."
Oniyuri sighed. "It's fine. I lived in Japan for years."
She flopped back onto the bed. Her nose was assaulted with the floral scent Rose carried. Oniyuri resigned herself to a lifetime of knowing too much of a stranger's highly private life just from scents.
It wouldn't interfere with her life too much, right?
Right?
She stood at the very back of the stadium, watching the mesmerised audience watch Kiku's opening dance.
It was beautiful. Brightest colours flowering as strips of water spun around Kiku, following the flower of the two fans in her hands.
But despite the wonderful show, regret and fear stung her stomach.
Because – not only could she smell the onigiri of the family a few seats away had, she was so sure that she could hear it too. The crush of the nori as the father bit down. The babble of the baby, feeling hungry.
Her hearing had been acting weird all afternoon. Sometimes she could hear normally, and then sometimes she could hear… more.
She lifted one arm to rub at her ear lobe. It wouldn't be a good idea to suddenly collapse mid-performance.
Oniyuri grimaced. Time to tell Magu she was leaving, and also not performing tonight.
The crowd collectively 'wow'ed as Kiku used a platform of water to rise, creating other platforms around her scope of water.
Oniyuri winced and hurried back to behind the stage.
Finding out that most of the seals the clan used were made by the librarian was simply a neat piece of information. Then Himawari whipped a face mask that would cut smells off if bypassed the limit he set, and suddenly she realised the clan had a Seals Master and several fuinjutsu learners.
She could even input a little chakra to completely seal off her mouth and nose to access a small pocket of air. How cool is that!
But he couldn't really do anything about her hearing. Like she predicted at the stadium, it didn't take long for her hypersensitivity to kick in and she had to be evacuated from the arena.
It wouldn't be good for her hearing to be blocked, and it was a little easier to accumulate, unlike with her sense of smell. But it was still too soon to return to the dance crew. Maybe when she was older, but certainly not anytime soon.
Yeah, she was still hung up on it.
Ajisai paid her no mind, choosing to continue reading his story. It was one of Himawari's English books, and he'd given Ajisai a book on some mathematic problem. It seemed interesting enough, so the only source of entertainment he offered Oniyuri was as a statue.
Oniyuri was tasked with leading him around while they waited for their turn to be processed out of Suna. She couldn't bare be the reason he was taken away from his book. She also was a bibliophile.
What she did, instead, was listen – much like she figured with her boosted sense of smell, a greater hearing sense meant she could find the hottest gossip every with absolutely no work done.
Such as Rose, (seductively) saying goodbye to Abid. He also said some sexy, sexy things that could easily fuel an explicit BL.
(Let it be clear that Oniyuri did not shame Rose. She found his open attitude relaxing and hilarious. Particularly when his partners seemed to be the uber Straight Men™ and his talk mixed between getting pegged and doing the pegging.)
Kiku's murmuring to the guards as they processed members could be heard clearly to her ears. She'd found a trick too – by focusing on a conversation or a voice, she could make it stronger and everything else not so loud.
But Kiku wasn't talking gossip, so she filtered through a few more conversations, pausing at some (seems like Nanohana's romantic life is more active than he realised, hohoho).
Then –
"Can you see them?"
Oniyuri snagged Ajisai's wrist and pulled him away from the crowd of clan members. They walked until they were on the edge, right in front of Temari and Kankuro.
"Hello," she grinned, genuinely happy to see them before they left. "Long time no see!"
Kankuro grinned back. "Yeah, last time we saw you, you were passed out in the spice market."
She waved her hand. "I got betta."
"Where's your older friend? Bara? Ro-zu?"
"I'd rather not say," seems like Abid had pulled Rose away for one more… round. "He's… busy."
Ajisai snorted, picking up on what she was getting at. Temari and Kankuro did not.
"You alright?" Temari worriedly frowned. Oniyuri could only shrug.
"She's getting used to it," Ajisai answered. "A few days ago her hearing also suddenly grew super sensitive too, but after the initial headaches, she's just a fountain of gossip."
"Gaara is over there." She pointed to a nearby roof. She'd heard the rasp of sand and someone breathing, but thought it was some guard until Gaara responded to 'mother.' When she looked, she could see a strip of fabric hanging off the roof.
"No way, that's wicked." Kankuro had evidently seen the loose cloth too. He cackled. "So what have you heard?"
"It's not my place to say," she didn't want to accidentally reveal any illicit relationships – or accidentally reveal a Suna ninja secret that would get her in trouble. She was sure she had discovered at least three.
Kankuro wined. Temari laughed at her brother.
"Has anyone seen Bara?" Kiku called.
"Give him a minute! He's on his way!" Oniyuri answered, turning around to see the clan leader jump at her shout. "She didn't yell that, didn't she?"
Ajisai shook her head.
"That was sick!" Kankuro laughed, childish glee lighting up his eyes.
"If Bara is up, then we're about to go through," Ajisai said, eyeing the crowd of Suisei members around him.
"When will we see you again? You're hard to forget."
Oniyuri exchanged a glance with Ajisai. "The clan will be back in about 4 years."
"But you won't?" Temari placed her hands on her hips and slightly leaned forward, narrowing her eyes.
"I'm… going to join Konoha as a ninja. I've made a promise to, sorry. Maybe we could meet again as ninjas? The Chuunin Exams, perhaps?"
Kankuro gave her the stink eye. "I can't believe you're a tree hugger." Oniyuri laughed and held up her hands, welcoming him into a hug. Temari shook her head when she looked at her so when she stepped away she did not offer her one. Instead, she turned to her right, smiling at Gaara.
"Hello again," she greeted, slightly amused by everyone else's shock at suddenly seeing him. "This is my goodbye. Did you talk to your mother?"
Gaara didn't say anything. Then very slightly, he nodded. "She hates humans because they are diseased – always stealing, murdering, poisoning, enslaving-"
Temari, Kankuro and so many other Suna ninja looked nauseous, scared and seconds away from choosing between fight or flight.
Oniyuri tilted her head to the side. "Does she use the word 'human' and 'they/them.'?"
"Yes."
"Then why do you? You are human."
Gaara didn't say anything.
"Do you really want to be caught up in someone else's revenge? You mother is so deluded she doesn't see herself as human anymore." She hoped he got what she was trying to say. She knew that Gaara's 'mother' literally wasn't human, but she was just a lowly civilian, part of a travelling act. She wasn't supposed to know about the Ichibi.
"No, I… don't."
"Well then, there's your answer. I know it might be scary, but try to say 'no' to her. If you have any problems, then you have your siblings. If you're still stuck, then you can send me a letter. Just address it to Oniyuri of the Suisei clan, and I'll get it eventually." Other clan members did often receive letters from around the world, so it shouldn't be a problem.
It just relied on Gaara sending something.
"I will… try."
"Well, it's really time for me to go," she could hear Kiku just beginning to put the children through. "Can I hug you? You can say no," Gaara even thought about it for a second, but declined, like his sister.
"Then, time to go. It was nice to meet you all and thank you for showing us around on the first day."
"Nice to meet you," Ajisai echoed and together they waved one last time and walked away.
She watched them as Ajisai was processed. Gaara stood separate of Temari and Kankuro, still as a statue. Kankuro talked and he talked with his body, waving his arms and making gestures. Temari had her arms crossed but also moved slightly, turning her head to Kankuro sometimes, moving from one foot to the other.
Would Gaara reach out to his family? Would his father allow this? Was it all futile and Gaara wasn't strong enough to fight against the Ichibi?
Kiku called her name. She raised her hand to give one last wave. Kankuro replied with a gesture of his own.
Only time would tell. But for now, it was time to start their trek to Iwa, Konoha's #1 enemy.
Pls ignore it took me a few days to upload.
I'm currently writing ch 17 (iwa), which i am big excited for, but its shaping to be very long, and very tricky. I definitely think it'll be split, but also I am trying to figure out how to write something I've never written before as I'm going. I'm going to ask for help but idk how long that will take lmao.
follow me on ammillefleur on twt for updates on the tag #Oniyuri_amy_updates
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