"Nii-San!"
Gaara stopped working on his paperwork and closed his eyes.
"Nii-San! Nii-San! Niiiiii-Sssssaaaannnn!"
He thought briefly about using his sand to block the door as her calls came louder. She was nearing his office and he didn't dare to venture for what yet. He thought back to the day they had come to an agreement. Perhaps it was he who hadn't understood when she said, "...Thank you, Gaara."
Every chance she had to annoy him, she had. In her own way, he thought, of rebelling against the terms she was given. He could understand her frustration. Yes, she had escaped Danzo, but she had not won her freedom yet. Gaara looked out his window in thought. Kohana trained hard, he demanded it. He could respect her for her sheer willpower alone. Much like Naruto's, he smiled slightly, sometimes too much like Naruto.
"You can't go in-" he heard Kankuro's feeble protests as his door burst open. Gaara took in her disheveled appearance, her hair having escaped its binding. She was breathing heavy as if she had just ran the entire expanse of Suna, which would also explain the sweating. Her eyes were bright with excitement but her body language was all attitude. She had grown so much in the passed year. It was hard to believe this wild creature was the same little spitfire he had taken in.
"I'm sorry, Gaara, she barreled passed me," Kankuro apologized as he glared at her. Kohana glared right back.
"It's alright, Kankuro," Gaara began and she stuck her tongue out at him, "we can't help it if our little sister has no manners." Gaara watched amused as she whipped her head back towards him.
"Nii-san!" she smiled suddenly and sprinting forward she jumped on his desk sending his paperwork flying. Kneeling on his desk, looking at him innocently. Gaara closed his eyes in slight annoyance.
"What in the world have you been doing that would make you smell like the home of a dung beetle?"
She very nearly growled at that as her eyes narrowed. She plopped down on the desk, further causing damage to his current paperwork.
"I won't tell you if you want to be like that," she sniped and glared at him.
"Then kindly remove yourself from my office. Some of us have work to be doing."
She grinned mischievously and folded her arms in front of her, "Make me."
Gaara was sorely tempted.
"Come on, Gaara-sama. Come see what I have been working on," she finally nudged him. Gaara sighed and stood.
"Very well, Hana. Let's go see what you have accomplished."
She clapped her hands together and grinned, "I'll meet you at the field."
"Why don't we walk-" he was cut short as she disappeared in a puff of smoke sending even more paperwork flying from his desk. He stared at where she had been.
"She's certainly gotten much better at her clones," Kankuro said from the doorway. Gaara had to agree and he felt a lot of pride in that, having been her main teacher.
Kohana continued laying where she was in the middle of the field, letting her breath even out and grinned. She was wishing she could have seen the look on their faces when she had recalled her clone. Standing she moved over to the water barrel. Still the same pale girl from a year ago, a bit dirtier, she thought and used some water to wipe her face clean. She wanted to be so much further in her training. They had to start at the basics and though she had pushed herself hard to learn what most learn in a few years she still felt like she was falling behind.
Gaara watched as Kohana walked to the water barrel. From the way she moved he could tell how she was feeling. Cocky, on top of the world. He preferred seeing her this way. Often times he would look in on how she was doing as she trained without him. She never knew he was there but he could see it, that moment that defeat seemed to creep in on her. Like now, he watched as her shoulders slumped slightly. A moment he would never of seen if she knew he was watching.
"Hana?" came Gaara's voice. She had never gotten used to that, how quietly he could walk. She shook herself from the fog that wanted to blanket her.
"Gaara-sama," she turned all cheerful. Not many would have realized the mask she wore. The village had accepted her the moment it had been announced. He wondered how much of that acceptance still had to do with his people's fear of him. While he had proved himself many times over there were those who couldn't forget the monster he had been and remained wary of him.
"You had something you wished to show me?"
Her eyes lit up, "I've been working on it for a while now but today I finally understood how to make it work."
She moved to the center of the field so he wouldn't be in her line of fire. While she knew he could protect himself, she wanted this moment. She wanted to show him the results of her hard work. She looked at him watching her and felt a surge of emotion. This was it, this was the moment. Closing her eyes she let the moment ride over her like a wave. Two chakra chains released from her back and dug into the ground lifting her into the air. Two more released and flowed effortlessly around her, slow at first, then picking up speed. Through the two chains in the ground she felt where her targets were, two dummies made of straw.
Kohana sent a third chain to join the others around her. Then a fourth until she was completely hidden behind her chains. She concentrated allowing her chakra to barb two of the four chains around her. Taking a deep breath and releasing it, she felt the rhythm of the chains, letting them swirl faster and faster. Suddenly she sent out a chain, latching on to one of the dummies and retracting the chain, much like a tape measure. It exploded in a puff of straw and before the straw even had a chance to land she had already grabbed the other dummy.
Instead of retracting that one though she loosened the chains around her and sent all but the two in the ground towards it, wrapping around it tightly. When the chains slowly pulled back into her they revealed only dust of what was left. She slowly lowered to the ground. As Kohana felt her feet touch the ground, a calmness spread over her. She grinned like a mad man as she was able to successfully show...
She looked to where she had left Gaara standing, then all around the training field. Disappointment landed heavily upon her. She had done so well. She argued with herself that she should have waited until their training tomorrow but she had been so excited that she was able to finally control the chains. She couldn't wait to show him.
"Very well done, Kurai."
Kohana's eyes snapped open, alert, angry, and afraid. She couldn't sense where the voice was coming from. A kunai came flying at her from behind, a chain reached out of her hooked onto it and flung it back.
"You seem to be doing quite well for yourself," the voice came again from a different direction, "Lord Danzo will be all too pleased when I bring you back to him. I might even get a promotion."
Kohana tried to calm the swirling emotion in her. She needed to remain calm and focused. She needed to prove she could take care of herself. To prove she could handle moments like this.
"Gotcha," a malicious whisper in her ear along with the feel of hands on her made her snap. Two chains with hooks whipped out of her digging into the guys' shoulders. An inhuman type of scream was ripped from him. Two more chains released from her to wrap around him. She moved him to the front of her and spoke to him, almost as if she were someone else.
"Your biggest mistake in this life was thinking that a scumbag like you could ever capture the wrath of Kurai," she growled in a low voice as she tightened the chains slowly. She smirked wickedly. The sounds of bones snapping and his screams filled the air.
"Hana! That's enough!"
The chains retracted at his voice and Kohana seemed to shake herself. She stumbled back, falling to the ground, as she realized what she had been about to do. What she had been doing. Wide-eyed she drew her knees to her chest staring at the man's broken body. The fact that it was still moving, this lump of flesh and broken bone, was still trying to breathe. She began to shake, no longer seeing anything else but what used to be a human being struggling for air.
Gaara ordered Kankuro to take the man away and he moved to her. Kneeling in front of her, he shook her.
"Kohana," he whispered but when she didn't respond he called to her with command, "Hana!"
Her eyes took in his face and she let him help her up.
"He's not dead, Hana. Broken badly, but that man will live."
"I didn't kill him?" she asked in disbelief. She was white as a sheet.
It was as Gaara thought, it would have been the first time she had remembered taking a life. Though he remembered quite vividly of how they found her surrounded and covered by blood, it was not something she remembered. Probably for this very reason.
"He might wish you had once we begin our interrogation," Gaara promised darkly and he held her to him. Kohana relished in his warmth for the world seemed so very cold. Her mind racing, despite what Sai had told her... She had darkness within her. She had felt so much happiness as her chains crushed that man that it frightened her. She dared not say anything to Gaara. What would he think? What would he say? She hid in his arms a moment longer.
Gaara leaned back and looked at her. She had grown much but she was still sheltered in the ways of life. That was something only she could learn in her own way. He could only show her the ways of the world, only she could learn to accept them and put them into practice.
She pulled away first, blushing, "I'm sorry-"
"You don't have to apologize, Hana," he said, "but I do owe you one. I stepped away for only a moment, I'm sorry. I can tell you have been working hard to master the chakra chains. You seemed to have much more control over them."
She looked at him. Did he just compliment her ability? She smiled slightly, "Thank you Gaara-kun," her eyes widened, "sama! Gaara-sama."
Gaara narrowed his eyes a little at her but thought nothing of it. She had just gone through an ordeal, it was expected that she would still be a little shaky.
"Think nothing of it, Little Sister."
Kohana groaned inwardly and wanted to sink into the ground but it seemed he didn't really notice her slip up. Not in the way she thought anyhow.
"Do you have any classes today?"
She left her inner turmoil alone and looked at him, "Temari is supposed to meet with me later to go over a few techniques. Why? Is there something else you would like to go over?"
"The reason I was called away... A message came from Konoha. We will have visitors tonight."
Kohana was both anxious and wary at the same time, "Visitors?"
"Kakashi, Sai, Neji, and Hinata are coming."
She couldn't understand all of the emotions she was feeling. She frowned. Gaara watched closely as she tried to sort through it.
"Naruto will not be coming?" she finally asked and looked up at him.
"I'm afraid not," he said with a small smile, "It is still too soon for him to know the whole truth. Believe me, Hana, it is for the best."
Anger rose within her, that one she recognized perfectly, "When will it be time, Gaara-sama?" she asked sarcastically. She turned to walk away, Gaara pulled her back to him.
"Please, have a little more patience. The time will come, Hana."
"You wanted me to learn all these things!" she whispered angrily, "All of these rules! And for what?"
"Do you not realize how far you have come?" he asked in turn, "When you first arrived here in Suna, I was told that to escape Danzo's clutches you found the courage to break free and make a run for it. You fell, and hid... Hoping that no one would find you, until Sai rescued you."
She yanked out of his hold and turned on him pointing a finger at herself, "I'm still hiding!"
Gaara closed his eyes, "You are not hiding, Hana. In military terms, you retreated. Now you are regrouping your forces, preparing for the attack."
She felt tears come to her eyes and she shook her head, "He's been watching me. He knows where I train, where I sleep, where I eat. Don't tell me he doesn't," she said when he shook his head, "You and I both know that the man that came here today, that I nearly... It was never his intention to capture me. It was to let me know he hadn't forgotten about me. That he could get to me at any time he wanted. Deny it, I dare you."
Gaara couldn't because it had been his thoughts exactly and he knew that even if the man did survive that they would not get much out of him. He was merely a pawn to Danzo. Expendable and he had served his purpose.
"I will not deny that was his purpose. We both know that it was more than likely his mission but if you want to cave in and let today beat you I won't stop you. I believed you were better than that. You HAVE come a long way in your training but since you don't believe it's doing any good, why should we continue?"
She looked as if he had just slapped her.
"But if by some miracle you do suddenly come back to your senses you will take today as a learning lesson. You need to become stronger, faster, and smarter than your enemy and you won't get that by tucking all nine tails under you. Now, what would you like to do?"
Kohana looked at him and knew he was right. She couldn't just stop her training, while she could probably defend herself against a few low-ranked ninja she had no chance of taking on the more highly skilled ones, but she wasn't ready to concede his point just yet.
"I need some time," she said and walked off of the field.
Gaara watched her go. He knew she had already made the decision to continue the training, Kohana was intelligent, but he let her go at that. When the others arrived was soon enough. What he hadn't told her was that he had specifically sent for the Hyuuga cousins just for their ability to see chakra. Soon they would begin her advanced training as a Jinchuuriki and he wanted to get a reading on her without her knowledge first.