Chapter Eleven: Toeing the Line
Fred sat alone at Ichiraku's, finishing up her dinner before she had to go to the bar for work. Lynne ducked out when she saw Naruto, and began pestering him about some guy named Sasuke Uchiha. Fred remembered from the many conversations around the lunch table that Sasuke was the hottie "everyone" loved in Naruto. She said "everyone" because literally in their group, only Lynne liked Sasuke. Both Rox and Cordi said he was a grade A douche-canoe. Ronnie was kind of meh on the subject. But, it was a fact that he was the most beloved character in the franchise, technically, if they went by the poll numbers. Seriously, Fred felt she already knew too much about a show she didn't care one iota about just from those lunchtime conversations.
Rox had finished her ramen early and left to call her sister. After their shopping trip, Rox was fully stocked with an arsenal of hot training clothes to make Shikamaru sweat. Fred couldn't be prouder of her. Rox was the type of girl that if something didn't work out, she'd let it be, and happily do nothing for the rest of her life. But that wasn't a way to live, Fred felt. Life required risk sometimes. You couldn't find happiness unless you were willing to put everything on the line for it.
So, Fred ate alone at the ramen bar. It wasn't the first time, and she doubted it was the last either. The ramen bar was run by an old man named Teuchi and his daughter Ayame. Ayame was pretty, but unassuming. She had mousy brown hair, and dark eyes that were very pretty when she smiled.
"Hello?" someone called, ducking under Ichiraku's curtains. Fred turned to see their teacher, Iruka stepping in with a friendly smile.
"Iruka?" Ayame gasped with a bigger smile than usual. "Hi." There was a long pause as Ayame stared at the teacher for a moment before a small blush crossed her cheeks. "Are you picking up, or …"
"Picking up," Iruka stated. He wrinkled his nose, his scar scrunching weirdly as he said, "I have a ton of tests to grade tonight."
"Your regular, I'm assuming then," Ayame offered. The way she stared at Iruka made it clear to Fred that the ramen girl had a thing for the teacher. Fred pursed her lips, reminding herself she shouldn't be sticking her nose in other people's relationships so much.
Iruka gave an affirmative nod, and Ayame whisked herself off to make it for him. Iruka put his hands in his pockets, taking a long look around the establishment before noticing Fred. "Oh. Hello. I didn't see you there. Fred, right?"
"Yes," Fred stated. She originally didn't want to bring attention to herself. It was always awkward seeing your teacher out in the real world.
"How are you doing?" he asked, clearly making polite conversation.
"I'm doing well," Fred answered hesitantly. "I'm just grabbing dinner before my shift." He frowned at that. "I took your advice, and got another job while we do all this training and stuff."
"You did?"
She jutted her thumb over her shoulder, as if gesturing to a bar across the street. It wasn't. It was five blocks closer the Hokage building. "Yeah. I bartend at the Nomu Ki Bar. It's pretty good money."
"I'm glad to hear you're settling in."
"Yeah," Fred finished awkwardly. That would have been the end of the brief conversation if it wasn't for the fact she noticed Iruka staring at the back door to the kitchen pretty intently. More intently than just waiting for food. "You know she likes you," Fred commented, knowing she would regret it as soon as she said it, but it was out of the bag now. "Ayame, I mean." She decided to go ahead and pay. Her shift started in fifteen minutes, and she had to get down there.
"What?" Iruka chirped, dragging his eyes away from the door to address Fred.
"She likes you," Fred clarified, putting her money under her almost empty bowl. She shrugged as she stood, adding, "I'm just paying you back for the advice on the job with some of my own. The way you're staring, I get the sense you like her too. You're both adults. So ask her out."
"What? I don't- I mean she wou-"
Fred turned to walk out as she finished, "I'm just telling you what I see. Do with that knowledge whatever you will." She shot the now nervous teacher a pursed smile as she said, "I'm running late for work. I'll see you tomorrow in class." With that, she left Iruka probably more nervous now than before.
Cordi stood outside of the Suna arena where Gaara informed her last night where she was to report for her assessment. This was during last night's dinner, before Kankuro returned from his mission. Cordi got the feeling Temari was upset with her, but she didn't get to go into it with her. Temari instead stated she needed to get used to Suna time, and went to sleep early. Gaara went to his office to catch up on some work, since he was predicting this assessment would take some time.
Cordi fidgeted with her claddagh ring as nerves seized her, and she steadily paced at the entry doors, waiting for one of the Councilmembers to come get her. She didn't know what to expect. She wasn't a fighter. Well, maybe verbally, but she'd never thrown a punch. If they asked her to attack someone with the intention of harming them, she wasn't sure if she'd be able to do it. Then again, if someone came at her, maybe she would act. She'd never been in that position. She just didn't know.
She wore basic workout clothes with good flexibility to not hinder her movements. Black yoga pants, a red crop top and white short-sleeved bolero hoodie. The only part of her outfit that would have raised eyebrows were her iron-toed combat boots that went halfway up her calf. They had a slight heel and platform. The heel was an espadrille style, so it was easy to run in them. She'd found them for sale, and they were easily her favorite pair, but what made them ideal for a fight was the iron-toe. Perfect protection, and let her deal extra damage if she needed to kick someone.
The doors suddenly swung open, and she froze her pacing, seeing no one there. She made a cautious step through the door. Then another. She looked around, trying to get her bearing as best as she could as she continued in.
Gaara stood in the center of the sandy arena, arms crossed in his standard fighting stance. As she looked around, she noted it looked like a smaller version of the Roman Coliseum. On the arena walls stood more Councilmembers than she met when she arrived. Temari stood there with Kankuro, and their old team leader, Baki. Cordi didn't realize they were all going to watch her. She gulped back her nerves seeing all the eyes on her.
"Cordelia Turner," Gaara called out from the center of the arena. "For your assessment, you are tasked with retrieving this flag." Cordi turned towards him seeing he gestured to a white sash that was tied to his belt, opposite his gourd.
Cordi pointed at his waist and asked, "That flag?"
He nodded boredly.
She let out a harsh laugh.
He looked at her curiously. "You think it's too easy?"
"More like impossible," she replied. She pointed at the ground, stating, "Don't think I didn't notice you control the ground."
He gave a small shrug. "Sometimes ninja fight fights with insurmountable odds."
She did her best to suppress an eyeroll as she said, "Yeah, never give up and never go back on my word. Naruto's whole nindo, right?" Gaara's eyes flicked his recognition, and she smirked. "It's all about how I approach the fight."
"Begin," he called.
She didn't move, careful to watch for his first move. He quirked his head slightly at her inaction, but didn't say anything. It was only when she noticed her eye level was lowering did she notice he was pulling her under with his sand. Subconsciously, fire shot out of her feet, propelling herself up like a rocket. She quickly shot up over a hundred feet in the air, and she let out an involuntary yelp as she arced through the air. She threw her hands in front of her with fire shooting out of them that immediately steadied her. She chanced opening her eyes, seeing Gaara looking up at her, but he and the Councilmembers were so small, she couldn't make out their expressions.
Her heart pounded as she saw the world seemingly shrinking away from her. She knew it was just her fear of heights playing on her mind, but she couldn't help the curse-words tumbling out of her mouth. "Shitshitshitshitshit." She tried to move her hands, but it pushed her back several yards, so she put her hands right back. "Oh, this is bad," she breathed. She licked her lips, trying to think of her options. She noticed Gaara gathering his sand and … was it shooting up. "Can … Can we pause for a moment?" Cordi called down, seeing the encroaching sand. "This … This is new, and I don't know the controls yet."
"No," Gaara called back.
"Oh, you motherfucker!" she howled. Below she heard Kankuro cackle, and she bellowed, "Shut up, Kankuro!"
The sand was a second away, and she winced as she leaned right, then shot right, dodging the sand with ease. She threw her right hand up, and she slowed, now fifty feet away from where she started. "Ok. Ok." She tried her best to think of an example to mimic, and remembered watching Iron Man, how he flew with the thrusters. "Think like Iron Man," she told herself, and put herself in the same position he used to fly, and immediately she shot forward, she angled herself, and she turned, spiraling down back to the arena. She laughed as she called out, "I think I'm getting the hang of it!"
A wall of sand shot up in front of her, and she angled up, narrowly missing colliding with it. She let out an involuntary whoop as she realized she'd never felt so fast in her life. She looked down, seeing the sand couldn't keep up with her, and she was high enough to see almost all of Suna. She could almost touch the clouds. The air was light, and she knew she'd gone too far without a breathing apparatus. She cut her flames, and fell down, angling herself into a dive. She tucked her arms back, slimming herself down and letting gravity accelerate her. This was surely suicidal, but thrilling. Her flames kicked back to life, rocketing her back towards earth. Her stomach felt as if it was flying out her ass, and she let out a laughing scream.
As she closed in on the arena, she noticed Gaara was no longer there, and she threw her hands up, stopping herself enough to hover twenty feet above the ground. Quickly, she looked up, knowing Gaara could levitate on a platform of sand. Maybe she'd gone out of his reach, and he felt he needed to float to catch her.
As soon as her eyes caught his, she felt something encasing her wrist, then arm, dragging her back to Earth. She struggled as his sand captured her, cursing all the while. Gaara landed in front of her with ease. "You learn quickly."
"Well, it was either that, or dying," Cordi snarked back as the sand covered her body and immobilized her. She was a little thankful for that, because her body began to feel a little off, like she'd just come off the most extreme rollercoasters. She could feel herself shaking under the sand from the adrenaline.
He pursed his lips. "Well, now that I've captured you …"
"You think I can't get out of this?" she interrupted him.
He frowned at her curiously.
She smirked. "I think you forgot," she stated, her muscles in her neck straining. Her eyes landed on his as she finished, "I know your sand's weakness."
He only had a moment to react, as fear crossed his eyes at her statement just before she was struck by lightning out of nowhere, throwing him back as the ground around her was electrified with a billion volts. She could feel the electricity rippling through the ground as she tried to focus through her ears ringing, feeling the sand fall away with ease. Gaara looked dazed as he stood, holding his hand up to pull his sand up around him, but it didn't move.
Her hearing slowly came back as she called to him, "I've short-circuited your electro-magnets. You can't use your sand until it stabilizes." She smirked with a nonchalant shrug as she said, "So now…"
He squinted at her, lifting his hands, readying to fight hand to hand. She felt a little proud seeing him look somewhat nervous now. She was going to make this quick. She jumped at him, using flames at her feet to rocket herself towards him. Again, he only had a moment to react, but her shoulder connected with his sternum, and she wrapped her arms around him. The force of her body against his knocked them back, and they skidded against the ground for a few yards. He coughed as his diaphragm spasmed from the impact.
"Damn," he coughed, trying to gather his thoughts. What the Hell had just happened?
"Language Gaara," Cordi chuckled as she clumsily stood, jostling something at his waist. She stood, waving the white sash in front of him with a cheeky grin. "Looks like I wo- ohurk," she groaned, dropping the sash and stumbling two feet away as her body caught up to her, vomiting up whatever contents she had in her stomach.
There was a chorus of "Ooh" from the councilmembers as she continued to vomit. Gaara tried to stand, seeing Cordi bent over and holding herself up by her knees. The effects of being blasted back from the lightning were wearing off, even though he still couldn't move his sand, which was troubling. His diaphragm calmed down from her tackle, and he walked towards her, making sure to steer clear of the mess as he asked, "Are you alright?"
She spat and gasped from her heaving. "Just motion sickness," she grumbled. He could see she was shaking all over, and he realized her adrenaline had sapped her strength.
"Do you need to sit down?" Gaara asked. When she only responded with a bitter laugh, and her fingertips digging into her knees, he looked up at the councilmembers, then waved at one, calling, "Keiko. Some assistance."
A younger woman jumped down, probably about Kankuro's age. She swiftly made her way to the fire user, and began to help her sit down. She tried to get her to lie down, but Cordi demanded she just sit, and tried to put her head between her knees, although Keiko wanted to check her eyes. Cordi let out a groan as several of the other councilmembers joined around her, each deftly dodging her puke. Keiko got to work checking her vitals, as Cordi tried to say, "I'm fine. Seriously. I wasn't ready for zero Gs. It happens."
Gaara frowned and looked at Keiko for clarification. Keiko only shrugged.
Cordi scoffed, "Oh, come on. Ya'll don't know what motion sickness is?"
Keiko looked skeptical as she stated, "You're sure it's motion sickness? Most people moving on their own don't get sick like that."
"If you're talking about people like Rock Lee or Might Gai, it's because they've trained their bodies to handle it," Cordi replied tiredly. She hung her head as she added, "In my world, we have these things called roller coasters. People ride them for excitement. They're like really fast and dangerous trains." She pushed down another wave of vomit by taking a deep breath and exhaling. "The more advanced ones move so fast they apply gravitational forces to the body, and can throw someone around or make them feel weightless." She waved her hand as she tiredly explained, "If your body isn't ready for that, you get sick." She huffed down another wave before adding, "I've ridden a few, but not enough to be used to the sensation." She looked at Gaara slightly pleadingly. "I swear, I'll be fine."
"That was an impressive lightning strike," one of the councilmembers commented. Toska, if Cordi wasn't mistaken.
"Thank you," she grunted.
"It's rather remarkable," Keiko stated as she finished her preliminary assessment. "Usually when someone is struck by lightning, their body short circuits, as well as other issues. You don't seem to be affected."
"Because I only act as a conduit for lightning," Cordi explained. She gestured for assistance in standing, and Keiko helped her up. Cordi stumbled back to where she'd been standing when her lightning struck, before bending down and picking up a jagged, sandy tube out of the sand. It was rather large, and surprising it was there. "My target was the sand," Cordi explained. She waved the tube at them as she added. "It's fulgurite. It's what happens to sand when it's struck by lightning. Lightning is five times hotter than the sun, so when it hits the ground, it can melt it, and in sand's case, turns to glass."
Ebiso made a weird smile. "Fascinating."
"Is it true you can remotely explode things with a flick of your hand?" Mai asked, sounding very skeptical, but curious. Like she didn't believe what was reported to her, but now that she'd seen some of Cordi's abilities, she was intrigued.
Cordi shrugged, chucking the fulgurite in the air, then with a flick of her hand, the glass tube exploded with a resounding pop. Several of the Councilmembers gave her a small round of applause, sounding an awful lot like a golf course audience.
"So, Lord Kazekage?" one of the younger Councilmembers, Riku, if Cordi remembered correctly. "Is she shinobi material?"
Cordi's gaze shifted back to Gaara who stood behind the Council and saw his own appraising gaze on her. She felt herself tensing in her shoulders as nerves seized her as Gaara made his decision. "No," he answered clearly.
Her heart plummeted. "What?" she barely breathed.
"My Lord," Riku questioned, clearly not understanding that decision. Several of the other Councilmembers looked at their village's leader with apprehension while others with curiosity. Riku scoffed as he argued, "You can't deny the powers she's demonstrated here would be a great asset…"
"Yes," Gaara stated, walking around towards Cordi. The fire user scowled at the Kazekage apprehensively. "They will be a great asset when she knows how to control them," Gaara clarified. "But what I saw today was a serious lack of training and control, in spite of quick learning. In an actual fight, a ninja doesn't have time to pause to learn a new skill. Especially a skill that can kill you if not handled right."
Cordi set her jaw and crossed her arms, mirroring the Kazekage's own stance. "I completed the task, so what exactly are you getting at?" she asked testily.
"What I'm saying is if that was an actual mission, not only could you have killed yourself, but you would have put your team in danger too," Gaara stated plainly, as if explaining the situation to a child. He looked at her like a disappointed parent, too. She hated that.
"Fine, I won't take off like that," Cordi replied flippantly. "Any other tips, sir?"
Gaara was surprised she somehow made the word "sir" sound like "asshole." He wasn't sure he'd ever met anyone as obstinate as she was. "It wasn't just your flying that was the issue," Gaara remarked. His bored gaze leveled her as he stated. "You're not ready to be a shinobi. You need better control over your powers."
Anger built in her as her mind whirred. What the hell was this all for?
Gaara raised a hairless eyebrow at her as he looked at her feet. She followed his gaze and saw smoke rising from the ground where she stood, as Gaara commented, "The first step clearly needs to be controlling your emotions."
She sneered at him as she said, "You're really just pushing my buttons right now, aren't you?" Gaara's expression was completely unreadable, and she hated it. She inhaled deeply, and exhaled through her nose, and saw the smoke pluming out. "Fine," she snipped bitterly. "Don't want me to be a ninja, I won't be a ninja." She pivoted and began to walk off.
"I didn't dismiss you yet," Gaara said as she walked past him.
"I'm sorry," she snarked back, "I didn't realize as a civilian, you had any say on my comings and goings."
Gaara internally sighed. "You may not be a ninja, yet," Gaara said, wondering what exactly he'd done to deserve such a fate forced on him, "But the Council has decided to make you my assistant for the time being. So, I am still your boss."
She blinked at him annoyedly, before shifting her gaze back to the Councilmembers whispering amongst themselves at Gaara's and Cordi's conversation. She rolled her eyes as she scoffed, "Brilliant." Gaara scowled at her glib tone, and she scowled right back.
Kankuro approached at that moment, even though neither Cordi or Gaara shifted their gazes from each other. "You could cut this tension with a kunai," he remarked easily.
"Shut up, Kankuro," both Gaara and Cordi said in unison.
Kankuro slowed, looking at them both awkwardly. He pursed his lips, then offered, "Just thought you'd like to finish this discussion away from the watchful eyes of the Council."
The only sign either of them registered what Kankuro said was Cordi's challenging look to Gaara that told him she didn't care at all if the Council listened to their argument. Gaara's nostrils flared only minimally before he said, "My decision's made. She isn't ready to be a shinobi. Everyone's dismissed."
There was small tittering of whispers among the members before they poofed away. Cordi rolled her eyes, and moved to leave the arena. Gaara stepped in front of her as he said, "We're not done."
"You said everyone was dismissed."
"Everyone but you," he clarified. "We have to be able to work together, and currently we won't be able to do that."
She made a frustrated grunt as she threw up her hands in way that said she was giving up on something, but he doubted it was this argument. He'd garnered enough knowledge of Cordi over the past few weeks to know she didn't stop verbal confrontations until she thought it was completely done. "I just don't know what it is with you," she started her rant, "It's like you're two different people. One is Normal Gaara, who is nice, but shy, and who makes an effort with people and is understanding, and sweet. And then there's Kazekage Gaara, Lord Asshole of the Sand who at the flip of a switch forgets how to function beyond being Lord Asshole."
Gaara's gaze narrowed on her, but didn't dare say anything.
"Normal Gaara is cool, and I like being around him," she added. "Kazekage Gaara is just a high and mighty pretentious dick I have no time or patience for." She crossed her arms, and set her stance with her hip cocked out as she finished, "So, since I have to work with you on a regular basis as your assistant, exactly which Gaara am I assisting?"
He sucked in a breath as he glowered at her. "This doesn't have to be as difficult as you're making it," Gaara grumbled.
"For you, you mean?" she huffed.
"For both of us," he clarified. She looked at him skeptically, and he licked his lips before adding, "The Council has dictated we have to work together. It would be a lot easier if you weren't constantly angry."
"I'm not constantly angry!" Cordi snapped. "In fact, yesterday, I was pretty nice. I got you a cactus and taught you how to dance."
"Yes, it's curious. It makes me wonder what happened to make you change so swiftly."
"Do not," she warned, although, he wasn't sure what she was warning him against. "If you mention the phrase 'time of the month,' I will show you just how scary it can be when it comes around. I have a good reason to be angry today, and you fucking know it."
He looked at her with a mix of curiosity and skepticism. Of course he knew what she was referring to, having lived with his sister for the better part of a decade. He remembered his first run in with those mood swings vividly. But he didn't realize it was such a trigger for any woman. He scoffed as he said, "Somehow, I doubt it's scarier than I can be."
She rolled her eyes at him as she said, "You know, if it wasn't for already knowing the worst of what you've done, and the fact I can turn off your sand powers if I need to, as I demonstrated in your little test, that threat might have been scary." Gaara made a face at that that told her he doubted that statement. She exhaled sharply before she rattled off, "Look, I don't handle rejection well. Alright?" That gave him pause, and he let her continue. "And I woke up early for this assessment, and I was nervous, so I could barely eat anything to begin with. And now, it just feels like it was a huge waste of time and effort, which is frustrating and annoying. And rather than letting me walk it off and ignore your existence for a week or two, you're holding me here and looking at me with this blank look that just makes me want to punch you." She finished with her dark eyes connecting with his so he could fully see the anger behind them.
He raised a hairless eyebrow at her, then stepped up to her, his chest practically bumping into hers as he offered, "Then punch me."
Now she looked at him like he was crazy. "I'm not going to punch you."
"You said you wanted to."
"Yeah, but I'm not an idiot."
"Why would that make you an idiot?"
"Because punching you would be a dumb idea on so many levels. Plus I don't actually want to hurt you." That was just confusing to the redhead. Another thing that was confusing was this sensation he got when he looked her in the eyes, standing so close to her, to lean in further. He resisted the sensation, though. He watched her shake her head and shift her stance. "I was being honest yesterday when I said I wanted to be your friend. But you, for some reason, are making it impossible."
"Are you saying I should have made you a shinobi, even though you clearly aren't ready?" he asked, wondering exactly what the acceptable mode of preserving a new friendship in this situation was.
"No," Cordi said. "You just didn't have to be a dick about it!"
He pursed his lips as he said, "You know, you are very vulgar."
She glowered at him as she replied, "Well, tell the Kazekage I'll endeavor to be more professional in his presence. But for right now, he can fuck right off."
"Be at my office at one to start training," Gaara barked before turning to see his siblings who had been watching the argument, clearly very entertained. Kankuro was trying his best not to laugh, only to get slapped on his shoulder by Temari. His expression soured as he shunshined off to get his workday started.
"Gaara's going to kill her in a week," Kankuro chuckled
Rox stood next to her friends, panting. The first half of their training session was running, long distance. Shikamaru stated it was around a ten-kilometer course, and Rox had to duck back a couple times to use her inhaler. He said it was to work on their endurance. But even Lynne groaning by the end of it. Shikamaru took the lead while Hinata ran behind them to make sure they stayed on course. At the end, neither of them were breaking a sweat or acting the least bit winded, as if this run was nothing more than a leisurely stroll. Shikamaru stated by the end of their training, they should be able to run forty kilometers straight.
Lynne shook her head as she muttered, "That's almost a full marathon." Back in school, the cross-country team only had clearance to run up to a 10k. Lynne ran it occasionally, since anyone who qualified on either the guys or girls' team could qualify, but it was mostly run by the guys' team.
"Still, you will be able to run it with ease by the time I'm done with you," Shikamaru stated. "And in three and a half hours. That's a respectable rate for a low-chakra ninja." Lynne made a face that said she begged to differ on that front, but the ninjas pushed on.
After their run, which took an hour and five minutes, he ran them through some stretches, then sprint work across the field, and then shuriken and kunai throwing drills. Finally, for the last hour of their training, he had them working on their special abilities. Lynne worked on holding multiple objects with her telekinesis of varying sizes. Fred worked with Hinata on combat, and Ronnie and Rox worked with Shikamaru on evasion tactics. At four, Shikamaru called an end to their physical training, saying, "This is the normal training schedule from here on in the afternoons of your academy class days. For the last section, we will rotate who is working with who on what which day. On Saturdays, we will meet in the morning at eight for the daily run, then on teamwork after that. Understood?"
He was met with a small chorus of halfhearted, "Yep" ringing through the group.
"Good. I'll see you all tomorrow." Hinata made her notes for the girls as they made their way across the green, before showing them to Shikamaru. Hinata gave a small bow, and poofed away as the girls grabbed their bags, Fred slinging hers over her shoulder, and a few of them guzzling what was left of their water when Shikamaru called, "Roxanne, stay behind, please."
Ronnie and Fred made the standard, "Ooooh," people made when called down to the principal's office or asked to stay after class. Rox rolled her eyes, but walked over to the jonin as the others left the training grounds. "You wanted to see me?"
"Yes," Shikamaru stated, his mouth pressed into a worried line. "According to Hinata's notes, your throwing skills are way behind everyone else's."
Rox frowned, taken aback by the statement. "What?" She paused thinking about it. Fred and Lynne were understandable if they were sneaking their powers in, which they weren't supposed to do. But … "Even Ronnie."
Shikamaru nodded, scratching his head. "Yes. Especially Ronnie. She and Fred did surprisingly well, hitting the most bullseyes of the group. Ronnie made about seventy-seven percent accuracy. Fred seventy-five. Both of which are respectable at your level. Lynne only a few behind them, coming in at sixty-eight percent, which is still decent, but we'll work on it."
Rox frowned. She had been trying really hard, but she was never good at throwing things. It's why she hated baseball and dodgeball. "How far behind was I?"
Shikamaru pursed his lips, looking at the horizon. "Thirty-two. Almost about half of Lynne's score."
"Damn," she hissed. She knew it was bad, but she didn't think that bad. "Well, you said not to use our powers," she tried.
Shikamaru shook his head. "I had Hinata watching with her Byakugan for that reason especially. None of you tripped up on that direction." Rox pursed her lips as he added, "Throwing knives is an essential ninja skill. If you're going to get you ready to become genin by the exam, you need to be throwing better."
Rox did her best not to pout, but she always had trouble not letting her emotions get in the way when someone was disappointed in her. "So what do I do?"
"Well," Shikamaru stated, "Hinata and I agree, until your accuracy picks up more regularly, after the main training, you'll stay to work on your throwing until you hit a bullseye. The sooner you hit it, the sooner you get to go back to your friends. Sound fair?"
If it had been anyone else in their group, they would have complained, but Rox just swallowed her hurt feelings, and marched back over to the targets, and began to throw. Shikamaru stayed and watched her while she threw her kunai, then shuriken. Once she was out, she'd go retrieve them all, and start over again. After the third time, she stopped counting how many times she had to go replenish her bag. At about twenty minutes, she finally complained, "This is killing my arm."
"Well, when you're in battle, your arm will thank me," Shikamaru stated tiredly. He stood next to her at the throwing line, watching her every move.
She rolled her eyes, and threw again. It hit on a ring just outside the bullseye.
"Close," Shikamaru offered.
She smiled hopefully as she asked, "Close enough to be considered a bullseye?"
Shikamaru laughed. "No."
She huffed, and threw another knife. This one landed to the right of the post, hitting the ground with a clang. "Agh! This is hopeless!" she howled. She readied another, huffing, "Something's gotta' give."
Shikamaru pursed his lips as she threw it and it went to the bottom of the target. She glared at it as if it'd betrayed her. "I think I see the problem," Shikamaru offered. Her head whipped to his as he pointed at her, "Your stance is a little off. Your toes aren't pointed right, and you're releasing at the wrong part of the throw." He walked over to her, stepping up just behind her as he began to direct her. He placed his hands on her hips as he nudged her feet to the correct stance, saying, "Point your feet forward to towards your target. This allows your body to focus on it."
She did her best to ignore his hands on her hips as he stood so close to her, his body pressing against her backside as he lifted is arm toward her hand. "Second, you're holding the star wrong. Hold one point between your thumb and this knuckle," he placed the star in her hand the way he wanted it held, and she did as directed. "Now, horizontal takes a little time to perfect, so we'll stick with vertical." He grabbed her wrist, directing her hand to be held by her ear, and her forearm horizontal before moving it in a chopping motions, adding, "Throw like this, and release the star here." He put his hands on her hips as he added, "And it's important not to move your lower body when throwing. So, keeps your hips still, and your feet in place."
She threw as he held her hips in place, keenly aware of his hands on her body. Her heart seized as she heard the THUNK in the wood.
"See?" he asked, sounding a little smug.
She gasped as she looked at her star hanging in the bullseye. "I did it? … I DID IT!" She jumped as she squealed, turning around in Shikamaru's arms and grabbing his shoulders as she jumped excitedly.
He smiled at her girly excitement, letting out a small chuckle. She beamed back at him happily as she slowed her jumping.
As soon as she slowed, she felt it in full force. How close they were to each other. Her chest so near his that she could practically feel their hearts beating together. His hands were still on her hips. And his lips curled pleasantly at her, pulling her to him, inviting her in. On instinct, she pressed her lips to his. His tongue licked at her lips and she let him in, licking him back as her eyes fluttered closed. She felt his fingertips sink in her hips, gripping her with a possessive fervor.
Just as Rox began to feel the world fall away, Shikamaru pulled back, taking a deep breath as he stepped back, his gaze distant and betrayed, as if he hadn't meant to kiss her back. Reality came rushing back to Rox as she remembered they were broken up. He was her teacher now. She blinked a few times, and gulped awkwardly as her mind raced. Did Shikamaru change his mind? Or was it a moment of weakness? Did it matter?
Whatever questions her mind whirled in its hurricane of thoughts, the howl for her to leave roared loudest. She pursed her lips, as she turned to leave, only for her wrist to be grabbed, spinning her back into Shikamaru's arms as his mouth came down on hers again. This time more needy and starved than ever before. His arms encircled her, pressing her body completely against his as his tongue delved in her mouth, stirring something inside her that made her heart pound and butterflies flutter to life in her stomach. His hands roved around her back, his left hand snaking up to her neck to hold her head at the best angle for him as his other hand slid down to her caress her butt through her yoga pants. His hand stretched and he squeezed and kneaded one ass cheek through her clothes, causing Rox to gasp against his lips and her knees to go weak. He just let out a contented growl as he seized her lips, kneading her butt more. Pleasure pooled in her at the sensations, and the world fell away again fully.
It was when his other hand fell to her ass, and began kneading her other cheek, her legs gave out under her, and they tumbled together in the grass in a heap, Shikamaru laying over her splayed form. Their fall broke their kiss for a second, and as Shikamaru laughed over her, his hips shifted against hers, something hard pressing against her. She bit her lip at the sensation, her gaze clouding with pleasure. His mouth seized hers again as his hips shifted a little more purposeful. His hands moved to her hips before she felt fingers slipping between clothes and skin. One hand moved through her shirt up to her sports bra while his other hand played with her waistband, slipping under as soon as it gave way to feel her bare ass.
Finally, she got her hands to listen to her, as her fingers went to his Leaf ninja vest, and unzipped it, exposing his black turtleneck underneath. She grumbled annoyedly at how covered he was compared to her. He chuckled against her lips as his hands continued their assault. His left hand grasped one of her breasts in its entirety. She gasped and shifted her hips against his almost involuntarily.
It was odd how her instincts were kicking in, wrapping her legs around his hips, and her hands pulled his turtleneck out of his pants so her hand could travel up his back. She dragged her nails back down, not hard enough to cut, but just enough to earn a heady groan from him.
He paid her back by pushing her sports bra out of place, exposing her breast with her tank top's low neckline. He thumbed her nipple first, her breath hitching as he played with the sensitive bud. Then his mouth left hers, and she let out a smile whine, until his lips replaced his hand on her breast, and she gasped. One of her hands dove into his hair, her fingers digging under his ponytail holder as his tongue made lazy circles around the rosy bud. All the while, his hips ground into hers, his groin against hers, if not for her incredibly thin yoga pants and his own ninja issue gear. Both were so thin, she could feel him unmistakably hard rubbing against her.
Suddenly, something in her lower body snapped, starting a spasm in her groin that shot pleasure through her being, seizing her brain and claiming her body as she let out a high-pitched gasping moan. It rippled through her, curling her toes and tightening her grip on Shikamaru's hair. And just as quickly as the feeling arrived, it was gone, leaving Rox panting. She opened her eyes and saw the clouds above them had been twisted by the wind in strange ripples.
She felt a breeze across her exposed nipple, and her gaze drifted to Shikamaru, who was just watching her curiously. "Did you already have an orgasm?"
She blinked rapidly as she tried to catch her breath, letting go of his hair as she asked, "I think … maybe. Is that what that was?"
He frowned, his hands pulling out of her clothes. "You've never had one before?"
She suddenly felt self-conscious as she dropped her hands to herself, tucking her breast back into her shirt as she confessed, "No. I've never … I've never …" She didn't know how to finish. Never had an orgasm. Never had sex. Never been touched. Never been kissed like that. Suddenly she blurted, "I'm a complete virgin."
As soon as she said it, she wished she could turn back time and stop herself.
Shikamaru's eyes shifted, and she could see a ghost of internal horror he was trying to hide sitting in the back of his light brown eyes. "Shit. I'm sorry," Shikamaru mumbled, quickly pulling himself off her. He offered his hand to help her stand up, and she took it. "I shouldn't have gone that far," he offered, embarrassed.
"Stop," Rox said, caressing his cheek. The look he gave her was self-flagellating, and she pulled him to kiss her again. There was no passion or need, just comforting, reassuring love. "It was lovely."
He looked skeptical. "I was ravishing you in a field."
"And it was lovely," Rox reiterated, giving him another small peck on the lips.
Shikamaru opened his mouth to say something, but they were cut off by Rox's cellphone going off. Rox walked over to her bag and reached down to answer the call. She saw the caller ID said it was Lynne. "What's up?"
"Don't you what's up me?" Lynne huffed back over the line. "Are you still with Shikamaru? It's been over an hour."
"Yea-" Rox cut herself off as she looked behind her, and noticed Shikamaru had run off. Her heart dropped a little, confused why he would run. "Uhm – no. Actually, he just left."
"What were you two doing?"
"Apparently my shuriken skills leave a lot to be desired," Rox joked as she made her way out of the field, feeling this afternoon could stick between just her and Shikamaru. If it went anywhere, that is. She silently prayed it did.
As Gaara got into his office, he saw a friendly face waiting for him. A smile crept to his face as he greeted her, "Shijima." He closed the door behind him, preferring this meeting be private.
"Lord Kazekage," she replied, looking at her watch. "Sorry, I thought your message said nine thirty."
"It did," he said, a slight awkward lilt on his lips, "Sorry. My first meeting went long."
Shijima and Gaara's story was a bit odd, even for their backgrounds. She was the elder sister to Hakuto, the woman Gaara had been betrothed to back in March. Shijima and Shikamaru were the only two people other than Gaara who knew what actually happened with Hakuto and her lover. She'd gone with him to track Hakuto down after the coup, only for Gaara to realize about halfway through their journey, Shijima had been the one to facilitate Hakuto's escape to her lover. It was that loyalty and willingness to act that Gaara admired about her, and why he invited her back to Suna, to join him.
"How's my sister?" she asked once he'd sat down.
"She's well, as is her husband," Gaara stated, fixing his pens just so on his desk. He gave a small smile as he stated, "She wanted me to tell you they are expecting."
Shijima's eyes went wide. "Already?"
Gaara nodded. "She said it's early, but she wanted you to know." He left out the part where Hakuto added that she didn't know the next time Gaara would be in Konoha to take a message back to her sister. That was an odd twist of fate from March. He'd promised Shijima that when he'd traveled to Konoha, he'd check on her sister for her. While everyone in the Land of Wind thought Gaara had killed Hakuto and her lover in a jealous rage, the truth was Gaara had Shikamaru meet them at the border of the Land of Fire, and fake documents to make them legal citizens of Konoha. But being legally dead meant communication to left loved ones was difficult. But Gaara did feel a little guilty about the predicament in a way, so it was the least he could do, given he traveled there now almost twice a year.
Shijima beamed at him. "Thank you."
"It was nothing," Gaara replied. "I wanted to see what type of accommodations Shikamaru was able to pull together for them, anyway. It's a nice house. Not far from the Nara complex, if I'm not mistaken. They'll be comfortable there."
"It really is sweet of you to do that," Shijima stated, unable to hide her bittersweet smile. He knew too well she missed her sister dearly.
But her comment gave him pause as he wondered, I wonder if Cordelia would class this as Normal Gaara or Lord Asshole of the Sand, if she knew. He shook his head, realizing thinking about that argument would just annoy him. It was a dumb argument, and it bothered him that he couldn't let Cordelia's comments just go. They always seemed to dig under his skin and fester like parasites.
"Is something wrong?" Shijima asked. She'd always been very observant of Gaara's expressions, even when they were chasing after Hakuto, and he knew her all of a few hours.
He shook his head mildly as he explained, "The Council has assigned me an assistant, and she's a piece of work."
Shijima raised her eyebrow with great interest. "Tell me more."
He pursed his lips, wondering what he could say about the otherworldly girl that seemed to have been sent just to pester him. "She's not a Suna native, and beyond that, I can't really discuss," he started, looking up. "But because she isn't from Suna, she constantly questions or commentates how things are done."
"Might be a good thing," Shijima offered, clearly keeping an open mind.
"Maybe, if it wasn't so annoying," he sighed. "Also, if she was the least bit respectful." This made Shijima's eyes widen with great curiosity. He scoffed, "She has now called me an asshole to my face I think six times, not to mention other colorful names. Just at the meeting this morning, she called me 'Lord Asshole of the Sand,' which I guess has a ring to it."
Shijima laughed at how dry he presented it. "How long have you known her?"
"Three weeks," he answered. "Something happened in Konoha," when Shijima looked nervous about that note, he clarified, "Nothing serious, just this girl's been around us ever since. Again, I can't go into the details."
"By around, you mean …?"
"She's essentially living with us," Gaara answered. "Again, starting to get into confidential territory."
Shijima frowned, "How confidential?"
"Kage and Council clearance only. It's really a need to know situation."
"I'll try not to pry," Shijima replied with a trusting nod.
"Thanks," Gaara sighed.
"What do your siblings think of her?" she asked, settling further into her chair across from him.
He gave a small shrug. "They like her, I think. Kankuro has found a good détente with her. Temari and she were friends starting out, but then there was some drama with the girl's sister, and Temari's been distant with her since. I don't think that will last."
"There's more than one?" Shijima asked, but a swift look from Gaara told her he couldn't answer. "Right," she breathed. "What else is there about her that has you bothered?"
Gaara set his jaw as he thought. He couldn't mention the dreams that made him uncomfortable. It was really just her vulgarity and disrespect. "I don't know," he sighed. "She said she's trying to be my friend, but that it's like I have two personalities. One is friendly and good, while the other is distant and a bit of a jerk to put it nicely."
Shijima smiled. "Lord Asshole of the Sand, I presume," she said with a tinkling laugh.
Gaara let out a tired sigh. "Yes." He paused as he asked, "You don't think I have two personalities, do you?"
"Honestly?" Shijima asked.
Gaara nodded.
She made an odd face as she answered, "I think it's more two personas. They're both you, but you do put on this tough Kazekage persona when you're uncertain or guarded. It's helpful when leading a country, but it can be impersonal when you're with people you're trying to get to know." She gave him an odd smile as she said, "When we first met, I only saw the tough Kazekage persona you tried to project, even through the marriage meeting. The only time I saw a hint of the other side of you was when you saved me, and when you were passed out."
And I'd cried in my sleep, he filled in for her, trying his best to forget it.
"From what you've told me, I like her," Shijima offered. "She sounds ballsy. You need someone like that."
He frowned at the jonin. "You would like her." He shook his head in disagreement. "But I don't think I need someone like that. She's completely unpredictable."
Shijima scoffed. "Yeah, you do. Especially if she's unpredictable." She bit her lip as she said, "Remember what you told me in that cavern. You wanted to do something illogical. Live like the wind that crosses the desert. Not restricted and freely loving everyone?"
He nodded, although he was fairly certain those weren't his exact words.
"Well," Shijima said, "Wind in itself is unpredictable. The same wind that grants respite from the heat is the wind that brings the sandstorm."
He shook his head. "Cordelia Turner is nothing like the wind. She's fire and lightning, and all the destruction that entails." Shijima shot him a knowing smile, but he decided to let it go. He licked his lips as he reached for a scroll he'd left on his desk the previous night. "Now, onto why I've asked you here."
Shijima sat up in attention, now that they were moving onto missions.
"The Daimyou has requested that I issue four jonin to join his security team. It's a semi-permanent position, and I need a man inside the Daimyo's palace I can trust." He pursed his lips as he handed the scroll to Shijima and said, "I'm hoping you'd be that man."
She grabbed the scroll, holding it as if it were a holy artefact. "Thank you, m'lord." She pursed her lips as she added, "But surely there's someone more qualified."
"None that I can move so easily," Gaara answered, "or trust as much."
She closed her hand around it, "Then I accept."
Gaara smiled evenly. "Good." He opened a file, and added, "Three other jonin are needed, and since you are the team lead, I'd like you to pick your team members. Here is a file of jonin I think would be applicable." She took the file, and opened it, and they began to discuss who would be protecting the daimyo. It took them a few hours to hammer out the details. But once it was done, he sent Shijima to assemble her team for their mission debrief.
As she opened the door stood Cordi with her hand up as if to knock on the door. She'd changed from the tight-fitting pants and crop top she'd worn that morning, and instead wore a black flouncy skirt that went to her mid-thigh, with a white t-shirt tucked in at the waistband, and a silver pendant necklace that dropped past her rather large chest and swung against her breasts with every step. She still wore those boots she'd been wearing this morning, and again he made the note that they didn't look tactical. This time though, they were topped with gray socks that went halfway up her calf, and bunched at the top of the shoe.
Gaara could see this outfit was definitely designed to be more appealing to the eye. It would be ludicrous to wear into battle. She also looked as if she showered and she was wearing makeup he was almost certain. It wasn't obvious make-up, but it was enough to look presentable. She also held a notebook at her side with a pencil tucking in the spine
"Sorry, I …" Cordi started a little sheepishly as she noticed her hand was right at Shijima's head, and she began to lower it.
"You're very early, Cordelia," Gaara stated, looking at the clock on his wall. It read eleven forty. He looked back at Cordi, and noted Shijima looking the fire user over with great interest.
"Yes, well, getting the boss's lunch is Executive Assistant 101 where I'm from," she replied from the doorway, leaning on the frame. "So I figured I'd start there, and then we'd get the ball rolling."
He frowned as he asked, "You've been an assistant before?"
"Well, several months last year, I temped as the front desk assistant for my Dad's office when their prior assistant was diagnosed with cancer, and had to start treatments two states away," Cordi stated with a small shrug. "So, yes, some experience." Her gaze flicked to the woman beside her and she flashed her a friendly smile and stuck out her hand, "Hi. Cordelia Turner."
"Sh-Shijima Hoki," the jonin replied, grabbing her hand and shooting an equally friendly smile back.
Cordi smirked as she asked, "Hoki?" As she dropped the ninja's hand, she couldn't help but comment, "That's an interesting name."
"Oh, th-thanks," Shijima replied, a small blush crossing her cheeks as she tucked her hair behind her ear.
Cordi shrugged the comment off with ease as she turned back to Gaara. "So, what do you want to eat?"
Gaara shook his head. "I hadn't even given it a thought."
Cordi sighed disappointedly, then grumbled, "I knew you were going to say that." She scoffed to Shijima, "I mean, what is it with guys that they never decide what to eat, and then joke that we're the indecisive ones when it comes to meal planning?"
"Uh, I don't know. I don't have much experience," the jonin replied a little apprehensively.
Cordi frowned. "Really? But you look like a runway model."
Shijima just gave a small nervous shake of her head, blushing more. Gaara gave a small wince, realizing Cordi hadn't picked up on the fact that Shijima preferred women to men. Gaara didn't understand it either, but he'd noticed it shortly after she joined him in Suna and they went out to eat the first time. Their waitress had been objectively pretty, and Shijima immediately became a stuttering mess. Otherwise, Gaara would have asked her to be his girlfriend rather than Matsuri. Shijima was a little more understanding.
"Huh," Cordi grunted as she maneuvered her notebook up as she opened it, then pulled out several sheets of paper from between the sheets and cover. She took them over to Gaara and put them on his desk before leaning her butt against it. "Pick a menu," she directed, tapping her finger on them.
Gaara scowled at her before looking over the different sheets of papers. He frowned when he realized he'd never even heard of half of these places. He didn't order out all that often. Temari usually picked him something up if he couldn't get out of his office, or he just skipped lunch. "Where did you get these?" he asked, wondering if they were still in date.
"Downstairs lobby," Cordi answered. She snapped her fingers as if she just remembered something and added, "The lady at the lobby desk did mention that the empanada cart is outside. Apparently, he's very popular."
That caught his interest. Temari had gotten him the empanada man's empanadas when he came around. They were delicious. "Go to the empanada cart, and get me a carne seca empanada."
Cordi gave a nod, then handed out her hand, and said, "Cash?"
He reached in his pocket and handed her a fifty.
She pocketed it, then gave him a salute as she popped off the desk and strode out, addressing Shijima as she walked out, "It was nice to meet you, Shijima."
"Yes, it was …" Shijima trailed off watching Cordi walk off towards the elevators.
Gaara narrowed his eyes at Shijima wondering why exactly she was watching the fire user. Cordi may be pretty, but as soon as she opened that bossy, vulgar mouth of her the spell was broken. "Shijima?"
The dark-haired beauty blinked a few times then turned to the Kazekage. "Sorry, m'lord," she breathed. "When you talked about her earlier, I wasn't expecting her to be so …" She shot a glance at Gaara, and he could still see she was very flushed. She didn't have to finish the statement. Gaara could tell she was besotted. He didn't understand it, or at least he tried his hardest not to. "You are a very lucky man, Gaara," she stated before walking out, saying, "I'll bring the other jonin back for their debriefing."
Gaara closed his eyes, and sighed. He had work to worry about. He moved onto the stack of reports. Half an hour passed before Cordi returned with the empenadas. She placed a lidded drink in front of him, placing hers on the desk momentarily before moving his report out from in front of him and digging into the bag of food she brought up and handing him his empanada. He didn't like her moving his work, but when she placed the meat pie in front of him, he decided to let that go. Then she reached in her pocket for the change, placing it on his desk in front of him. He put it away before digging into his empanada. She grabbed her drink, then looked around awkwardly as she said, "I'll eat this at my desk, if you show me where."
He'd just taken a bite, realizing how hungry he really was as soon as the scent of the food hit his nose. He swallowed through pursed lips before answering, "The Council had to order your desk. So, until it's delivered and built, you'll be working in here." He gestured to the chair Shijima had used earlier.
Cordi frowned, setting her drink on the desk opposite him before sitting down. She pulled out these little balled cheese rolls that looked as if they were coated in butter, placing them next to her drink, and then pulled out her empanada, placing it in her lap.
Gaara frowned at the balls, and asked, "Are those *cheese buns?" He loved cheese buns.
Cordi nodded, grabbing one, "Someone was raving about them downstairs, so I decided to get some." She took a bite, and she made a pleasantly surprised face, and when she caught Gaara staring at them, she gestured to Gaara to grab one. "Take one. I got them to share," she stated.
He blinked at her, internally frustrated. Three hours, she wanted bite his head off. Now she was offering him cheese rolls. He decided the easiest course of action was to just accept the cheese buns. He grabbed one, and popped it in his mouth. It was rather delicious. He ate another, then another and another in rapid succession. He was rather hungry. And these buns hit his tongue just right. The garlic with the cheese and butter was perfect. And they were the just the right level of fluffy.
Cordi was only on her second roll as she watched him with a raised eyebrow. He mildly blushed, then took a sip of his iced tea to wash it down as she shot him a pursed smile. "I take it you like them."
He gave a small nod as he swallowed. "They're pretty good," he chirped.
She smiled victoriously as she took a sip of her drink, and closed her eyes blissfully. She smiled as she swallowed, and said, "I will say, something I love about Suna is that ya'll make your iced tea just like home." She took another sip as she smiled.
It was times like this that made him think having her around wouldn't be so bad.
The phone rang while they ate. Gaara hated the phone. It was a newer addition to his office, brought in only a few months ago. He scowled at the first ring as he dropped his empanada on its wrapper, until Cordi held up a finger and grabbed the receiver, answering in an almost unrecognizable voice, "Hello. You've reached the Kazekage's office. Unfortunately, he's unable to answer the phone right now. May I please take a message?" She pulled her notebook over to her, flipping it open and pulling out her pencil. Apparently, the man on the line said something that made her laugh. "Yes, I'm his new assistant." She flipped her pencil between her fingers with an oddly practiced level of skill, until the man said something worth noting, which she jotted down as she said friendly, "I understand. And does he have a number to contact you with?" She jotted something else down, then dropped her pencil on her notebook. "Alright. I'll pass that along. You have a great day. … Thanks. Bye."
And just like that, she hung up the phone, and went right back to eating her food. He watched her with slight confusion on what just happened. She gestured to her note as she stated, "That was your doctor's office, asking to schedule your annual check-up."
He just blinked at her as she continued eating. He felt as if he was being handled like a child. Handed food. Talked for. He wasn't sure if he liked that, but he did appreciate how formal she sounded on the phone.
"Are you done eating?" she asked.
"Is that your job now?" he asked. When she looked at him confused, he clarified, "Speaking for me. Getting my food. Is that what an assistant does?"
"More like screen your phone calls so you don't have to deal with telemarketers or spam calls. But yeah, get your food, take notes in meetings, handle your schedule, take messages, and you know take care of the minutia for yourself that gets in the way of handling the big picture issues. You know. Assist." She said it so sarcastically. She made a weird expression as she added, "Unless assistants here do something different?"
He shrugged. "I've never had an assistant, so I'm not sure."
She nodded, "Well, then that's what I'll do. Handle all the small things for you, so you can handle the big things. Does that work?"
"Yes." He paused as he thought about their argument this morning. "I also think we need some ground rules." She pursed her lips as he took a deep breath. He hated broaching subjects like this, but if they were going to work together this closely, they had to be on the same page. "You can't argue with me in public, especially in front of the Council. When it's just us in this office or in the penthouse, if you have a disagreement about something, just tell me. But otherwise, you cannot raise your voice to me like that."
Cordi pursed her lips into a thin line, clearly holding back some anger before replying, "Alright, but by the same token, do not treat me or talk to me like a child, or like you're above me. You're my boss, but where I come from, all men are created equal." She realized the phrasing would be confusing to him when he tilted his head slightly. "All men and women are equal. I work well in a team setting, but I don't take orders. And you won't be able to change that ideal in me. If you are making a bonehead decision, I will tell you it's a bonehead decision."
He made a small accepting nod at that. "As long as it's just us."
She gave an acquiescing nod to that, then winced as she added, "I'm also not in the habit of calling anyone Lord, except God. So, don't assume I'll pick that up easily." Gaara frowned at his curiously. She held up a hand as she said, "I'll try to work on it. But my country eschewed the nobility and royalty two hundred and fifty years ago. So we don't have Lords, and aren't generally in the practice of differentiating people by class rank."
He nodded understandingly, murmuring, "All men and women are created equal?"
She smirked as she corrected, "Well, the full quote is, 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.'"
He raised an eyebrow curiously. "The quote?"
"From my country's Declaration of Independence, penned July 4th, 1776," Cordi filled in. "It's the document we sent to the king that previously owned us."
"And eschewed the royalty and nobility," Gaara filled in. It was difficult for him to imagine a country without a Daimyo running the social laws and trade treatise half of the country. Running the military and education it pertained to was difficult enough. But here was a woman who came from a country where the man in charge had both the responsibilities of the Daimyo and Kage, but also wasn't considered a Lord among his people or above reproach. And that country had been running for two hundred and fifty years. The position of Kage only started eighty years go with the first Hokage.
Gaara gave another understanding nod as he said, "I will try to keep your background in mind."
Cordi went back to her food, finishing it quickly. She then cleared the lunch mess from his desk, and started working with him catch up on his reports. After an hour, Cordi noticed that there was no specific order Gaara was running through the reports. Just whatever was on top was done first. She quickly declared this madness, stating new reports would automatically overshadow older reports that still need to be attended to, but would only be buried. She then took out all the reports, which the stack was hefty. She did a primary scan of the stack, pulling out all the one to two-page reports, of which there were somewhere between fifteen and thirty. She placed those in front of Gaara, reversing the order so he was looking at the older reports first. She took the other reports, and began setting up a system for him to prioritize reports to maximize his daily turnout.
There was the Cordi he needed to see to forget the dream Cordelia. This Cordi was annoying, bossy, and grating. As well as a bit obsessive. When Gaara tried to tell her his system was fine, she was already ignoring him and taking his reports from him to "fix" his system. She wouldn't take no for an answer. In the end, he just had to accept the tsunami on his office that was Cordelia Turner. She wasn't something he could fight. She just was something he had to live with now. Even though, he begrudgingly had to admit her system was already working to make him faster. Only to himself. He'd never give her the satisfaction.
When Shijima returned with her team of jonin for the mission debrief, he caught Shijima and the two male jonins drooling over Cordi as she read reports for Gaara, sorting them into newly specified groupings Cordi designed for her new system. This burned something in his chest. An odd sense of anger and annoyance. He noted that he might need to discuss dress code with her. If his men couldn't keep their eyes off her, it would be a problem.
Friday was weird. Lynne couldn't shake that feeling. It started with Rox being weird about Shikamaru making her stay behind for shuriken control after Thursday's training session. Rox was so late getting back to the dorms, she almost missed going to dinner with the rest of the squad.
Well, minus Ronnie. Ronnie and Kiba were practically conjoined at the hip. Sometimes not even figuratively. This meant wherever Ronnie ate, so was Kiba.
What was most annoying, at least for Lynne, was whenever she looked at Kiba, she saw all the dirty things he wanted to do to Ronnie. She'd say something if it wasn't the fact that Ronnie and Kiba were in the honeymoon phase of their relationship, and as with all of Ronnie's relationships, this was par for the course. Ronnie's boyfriends would always dote on her, and fall over themselves to keep that sexual access. Lynne hadn't needed to be a mind-reader to know that about Ronnie's previous boyfriends. They were all annoyingly obvious about it. Kiba was no different.
The problem was Lynne couldn't eat with those intrusive thoughts Kiba projected popping in her head ever five seconds. This meant if they were going to eat, either Lynne went or Kiba. Fred had even commented on it on the way to dinner last night, asking why Lynne was being even more of a hardass on Kiba than on Ronnie's previous boyfriends. All Lynne said was, "Trust me. You're better off not knowing." The way she said it made it clear that Kiba thought of little else than nailing the younger Buchanan.
But back to the weirdness that was Friday, July 10th, 2009. It started with Fred leaving Rox's room that morning. Apparently since Ronnie and Kiba began hooking up, Fred had been sleeping in Rox's room, but that was the first time Lynne had noticed it. And then Ronnie left her room alone. This was very odd, given the past couple days of her and Kiba's shenanigans. But Ronnie assured them that Kiba and Akamaru left early that morning for a mission, and that he'd be back that afternoon.
Then, Iruka had been abnormally upbeat. Again, Lynne tried her best to not pry, but she could read that he had a date he was nervous about that evening. It explained his frazzled approach to today's lesson. Rox was also acting a little frazzled, and again Lynne did her best not to pry, but she did get flashes that something had gone on between Rox and Shikamaru, at least a bit more intimate than just learning how to throw shurikens.
It was a problem, because she desperately wanted to ask what happened, but she didn't want her friends pushing her away because her ability sometimes opened up thoughts she shouldn't know.
Like Naruto.
Two days ago, she and Fred ran into Naruto and Lynne abandoned Fred to get some answers on the elusive Uchiha who was mysteriously still alive. In the process, she learned that Shikamaru's summation of events was only mildly accurate. Sasuke had originally joined the war effort with the goal of killing Naruto and the five kages to essentially become a dictator. In the end, specifically the Valley of the End, Naruto and Sasuke had a battle while the ten tails essentially held everyone in limbo for a day, resulting in them each losing an arm. Oh, and Sasuke now had a rinnegan.
And she'd gotten all of that from just touching Naruto's shoulder. It was like an odd wave of information, like her brain just downloaded it directly from Naruto's memories just by touching him. She'd tried to replicate it with other things, but she didn't have any luck.
At the end of class, Iruka thanked Fred for her advice, which Fred brushed off, leading their group to their training session. On the way back to their dorms to change, Rox called Cordi to check in, using the video chat feature on their phones. Apparently, Suna was three hours behind Konoha, so she was just starting her workday. It was surprising to hear the Suna Council had made her Gaara's assistant. She was getting them their morning teas, so she was free to tell them he was a bit of a stick in the mud when it came to work. Yesterday evening, because apparently a Kage's work day went to the wee hours of the morning, and therefore so was his assistant's, Gaara had a comment on everything she did. From lip syncing music on her ipod to how she tapped her pencil against her knuckles to how she dressed. Apparently, the dress conversation devolved into an argument between them that Cordi finished with, "So, I told him I wouldn't be caught dead in those snuggie-moomoo bullshit robes everyone wears here. I swear it will be a cold day in Hell when that happens."
Cordi had to hang up as she reached Gaara's office, flashing her phone to him and saying, "Say hi, Gaara." He only responded with hard stare at her, then her screen. Cordi flipped it back to her as she said, "Welp, I gotta go. I'll talk to ya'll later. Byyeee!"
They got changed, then arrived at the training field five minutes early, which was odd for them together. Shikamaru had them do their run, which was exhausting again. Both Lynne and Fred had noticed Rox disappearing for a few moments during the run to use her inhaler, and they both covered for her when either Shikamaru or Hinata asked, realizing Rox probably hadn't said anything for a reason. Lynne was certain of one thing though. If they kept this ten-kilometer run every day, Rox was going to run out of her inhaler medication. That meant Rox was going to have to say something to someone at some point.
The rest of the session went as usual, with Rox's shuriken throws only slightly better than yesterday's. At the end of training, Rox hung back, waving her friends on as she said, "I've got a question about the shuriken stuff. I'll catch up with ya'll later." Ronnie and Fred accepted that, and walked off.
But something gnawed in Lynne's gut. Something had been off with Rox all day. So she hung back, watching her friend walk over to the shadow ninja, a coy smile playing on the wind user's lips. She said something to him, but Lynne couldn't make it out. But Lynne could see Shikamaru did not agree or appreciate what Rox had said to him. He said something that made Rox's smile fall. Lynne tried to focus on Shikamaru, to get an idea of what happened.
"Lynne!" Fred called, breaking the spirit user's concentration. "What are you doing?"
Lynne turned back to see Fred looking at her expectantly, and she automatically replied, "N-nothing." She looked back at Shikamaru and Rox to see they were looking at her. Shikamaru said something to Rox before disappearing with a poof.
Rox stared at where Shikamaru had been standing, then back at Lynne, and Lynne knew she'd been caught. Rox snatched her bag, and walked off in a different direction.
AN: So, now we're starting to get into the meat of Part 1. Tensions are rising. People are making mistakes. It's fun. This chapter came a little easier than the past couple, and I didn't have to split it in half for once. I did have to move a small section to the next chapter because of flow reasons (because I realized I needed to add a scene for one storyline to make sense), but other than that, we're now in a good general chug along. And you all have not idea how excited I am for the next chapter. It has a scene I wrote last year that made me realize just how much fun this story was going to be to rewrite.
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VOCAB!
*cheese buns – the technical term is Pao de Queijo from Brazil, which just translates to "cheese bread" or "cheese buns," however the recipe is particular which changes their appearance from what I'd call cheese bread (being from the U.S.). But because that's the name's literal translation, I felt it would just be called cheese buns in whatever language they spoke in Suna.
Honestly, I've been having difficulties deciding whether to go into "It's all in Japanese AND English at the same time," and dealing with the culture clash. I feel that Cordi, being the one who goes to Suna, is the one who has to deal with the culture clashing as part of her character arcs, especially as a U.S. American, where Latin American culture is very prominent and recognizable because of proximity. On top of that, going around the Samba being the canon cultural dance of Suna, I'm writing Suna and the Wind Country to be Latin America culturally (predominantly Brazil, but I'm also including several states in the US which were originally settled by Spain in that term, as well as South and Central America, just because the structure of the homes matches those areas more). Konoha is just Japan, with some slight American influences (Kiba asks for way too many cheeseburgers in the anime to make that negotiable. Boruto too). The Cloud I think clearly is American/Canadian culturally speaking, given demographics, Bee's Rapping, and Disco being their cultural dance. The Earth and Water Countries, I'm not sure where they fall culturally. (Water Country's salt water taffy isn't enough to go on.) Given Boruto mentions in several episodes that each of the nations has their own distinct cultures (predominantly food and art, etc.) that mirrors different regions of our world, I felt this was the best way to do it, but it is still very difficult to keep true to those cultures without overdoing it, because in the end this is still a Japanese story about ninjas (i.e. Japanese warriors/assassins). Hence the Taco-Sushi point in the previous chapter (note, that is an actual restaurant I've been too, and it is weirdly good). In the end, this is just how I've noticed cultural regions are assigned to each nation in Naruto, and how I've tried to show them on a deeper scale to give this fic more realistic depth, which ultimately has no bearing on the actual work of Naruto-verse. Thank you for reading my Ted Talk.