Drifting Sand

Chapter Four

Unwise Wager

As Gaara left the final gambling hall in flames, he took something with him. Someone to be more precise. One of the money men had run out the back door, only to find himself surrounded by darkness and unable to move.

He had taken his new friend, encased in sand, to the neighboring building. Gaara had been pleased that it had been so easy to find an abandoned shop in the run down area of the city, and he used it for a shorter than expected interrogation session.

The young Sand nin had bound the man in a chair of sand, ensuring that he remained hidden in the darkness. Apparently it had more of an effect than he expected (or the guy was a pansy, it wasn't really relevant), since it had only taken one broken finger to make the guy tell Gaara everything he wanted to know. He was lucky that Gaara had turned over a new leaf, and he wound up with just the finger and soiled underwear instead of death.

The Otoka Gento grifter had proved to be an adequate source of intelligence. It wasn't everything that the shinobi had been wanting to know, but it was enough to move forward with his plan.

He took his time walking to his new destination, stopping along the way to watch a street performer, who had puzzled Gaara with his odd puppet show, but was entertaining enough he supposed. He had also paused to try a nikkuman with some sort of spice mixed in. It didn't suit Gaara's palette very well, as he felt it needed more salt.

As he made his way to the other side of town, the streets seemed much cleaner while the people seemed lees desperate and more entertained. It was a far cry from the areas that the Otoka Gento gang operated in. The more differences he saw between the two areas, he became more convinced that he was correct in the path he was taking.

Since his showdown with Naruto, he had tried to change the way he dealt with life and the people around him. The idea that the blond boy had become so strong out of something so simple as the desire to protect others, the people he cared about, it had shocked him to no end. He wondered why something that seemed to come so instinctively to him, had seemed so foreign and impossible to Gaara.

Nevertheless, the young Sand nin found himself determined to find this strength for himself. He wanted to be strong, there was no doubt of that, but there was an ulterior motive that even Gaara had barely considered.

When he looked at Uzumaki Naruto, a boy who held a monster within him, just like Gaara, he saw something else besides strength. It was more than the fact that he had been powerful enough to defeat Gaara of the Sand. It was the memories of seeing the blond with others, and how they acted toward him.

His precious people cared about him. That was something that Gaara wished for desperately.

The people of the Hidden Village of Sand didn't give him much of a chance, though. He had returned, hoping that things would change for the better. Some things had changed, but so much of the hatred had remained the same. It hadn't taken very long for his heart to be shaken, and he knew that he wasn't strong enough to simply endure.

That was why he had left his home village. He needed to strengthen his heart so he could endure their spite for him. He would endure it for long enough to change their minds about him. He would show them that he wanted to protect, and they would recognize him not as a monster, but as a true shinobi of the Sand.

Wishful thinking. The people of the Sand have seen you at your most cruel, and they will not forget so easily.

I'm not asking everyone to love me, but I would like to be able to walk down a street without being stared at like a harbinger of death.

But that's what they know you as. Many of them had relatives or friends that you killed. Whether you were lusting for blood or defending yourself from attack, they will always think of you as the reason the people they cared for are dead. You will never win the heart of someone like that, so why even try?

Maybe I can't win their hearts, but that doesn't mean I can't try to keep it from happening again. Even if they don't recognize me, I have to do something to even the scales.

Hrumph! Even the scales? For what you have done, it could take the rest of your life.

Gaara considered this for a moment. He had done many terrible things, hurt so many people, and killed more than he could count. How could he ever make up for all those things? How many lives would he have to save? Would one of his murders be cancelled out if he saved someone's life, or can no person's life be an even trade for another's?

The more he thought about it, the more of a grey area it all seemed to be. Were there no absolutes in the world? Was there no goal that, when reached, allowed him to say that he was free from the sins of his past? Were things really so complicated, or was he simply thinking about it too much?

He set the thoughts aside as he realized that he had arrived at his destination while the morning sun was not too far from the horizon. Circling the three story building, he determined where inside his target would be.

The Boss finished washing his hands. He felt ten pounds lighter as he opened the door back into his office. Once he had closed it behind him, he froze.

"Who the hell are you?" he asked unpleasantly.

He could see the back of someone, silhouetted against the windows as the sun poured in. They were in dark clothes, with what looked like a trench coat. A little on the short side, too, with red hair. The Boss's mouth had opened in surprise as he realized he was looking at the boy who had cost him so much money.

"Sit down," the boy said, "We have something to discuss."

The Boss could do nothing but smile at the audacity of this red haired kid. "You must have the sack of a tanuki, kid," he chuckled as he moved to his desk, "I can't help but wonder just what it is that you wanted to die so badly over."

Gaara didn't move. He simply stared out the window with his arms crossed over his chest. "There's a girl named Kotori," he said, "Her father owed you money so you worked her parents to death."

The older man smiled lazily, "You'll have to be more specific than that. I know a lot of girls named Kotori. I slept with one last night, as a matter of fact."

"She managed to find shelter from you and your men," Gaara continued, eye twitching slightly, "however, she cannot leave there for fear your men would capture her."

"Ahhhh," the Boss nodded, "You mean the girl who works at the Daioh Hotel. I know who you're talking about now. What about her?"

Gaara finally turned to face the other man. The Boss could see steel in the kids eyes. There was definitely something there, something that he liked. He would have made a good gang member, but unfortunately he was playing the wrong side. "I want you to forgive her debt and allow her to come and go as she pleases."

The room was filled with boisterous laughter. "You want me to just say, 'Okay, you don't have to pay me what you owe! Have a nice day!'? That's what you want?" The boy nodded, which brought another laugh from the man, "I'm afraid I can't do that, kid. You see, she owes me quite a bit of money. Besides, if I just forgave her debt like that, it wouldn't be fair to the other people who owe me."

"That doesn't concern me," Gaara said, a dangerous glint in his eyes, "If you do not leave her be, you will have more to worry about than a few dice houses being sacked. I will be back in three hours to hear your answer." With that, the boy tossed a pair of dice across the room. "Han," he said as they clattered onto his desk.

The Boss watched the dice as they bounced off his cigar case and came to a rest on a one and a two. He looked back at the boy to find that he had vanished without a trace.

Picking up the dice, he spoke to the empty room, "You can't predict all the rolls of the dice, kid, even when they're weighted to your favor."

There was a knock at the door, followed by the hesitant voice of one of his men, "The ninjas are here, sir."

"Bring them here," he responded, turning the dice in his palm.

The door opened and the shinobi from Konoha entered. He felt his blood pressure rise slightly, "Three kids? Is Konoha trying to insult me?"

The girl seemed irritated but kept her voice neutral, "We'll be more than enough to capture one troublemaker, sir."

The boy with the vest on spoke up, not seeming overly excited about being there, "The fee is nonrefundable, but we'll be happy to go if you don't think you need us."

Not caring for the boy's tone, he chose to ignore it for the time being, "The plans have changed. He's going to be coming here in three hours. Capture him here."

Gaara had made his point, but he felt that he would have to drive it home a little harder. The leader of those thugs seemed quite stubborn. The shinobi knew that he would have to be ready to disrupt business for him again after the sun set.

He had difficulty keeping his mind occupied for the three hours he had given the Boss. Would he let her go? If he did, how would Kotori react? His thoughts kept drifting back to her as he wandered the city.

Why am I thinking about her so much? I don't even know her that well.

He would find out soon enough, he decided. The three hours were finally up, and he was back at the building he had visited with the Boss earlier. Knowing that he was expected, he kept his guard up and walked in through the front door.

The men and women inside knew about him from the rumors flying around all morning. They also knew that the Boss had left instructions to allow him in, but they were still dumbfounded by the fact that this kid fearlessly strolled in the way he did. He was starting to get annoyed with it by the time he made it to the office he was looking for.

He didn't bother to knock as he entered the room. The Boss sat behind his desk, almost exactly as Gaara had left him. He had a small grin on his face, and seemed as though he believed he had the upper hand. Quickly scanning the room, he searched for anything that was different from before.

The fireplace on the wall to his left was lit, and the sun was now overhead, so it wasn't shining through the windows to his right anymore. There was a bottle of liquor on his desk that looked as though he had just started on it. It felt odd, but he couldn't see anything else out of place. He stayed on guard and walked to the desk. "What is your reply?"

The Boss' smile grew slightly, "Straight to the point, huh? Too bad, I was hoping we could have a drink and talk a little before we got to the unpleasantness at hand."

Gaara crossed his arms, "I have nothing to talk to you about. You know what I want, now will you do it or not?"

"Unfortunately, I cannot agree to your demands," the Boss said.

"Then I will see you again tomorrow," Gaara turned, "Perhaps you will see reason by then."

"Wait just a moment, kid," the Boss spoke, "You said that we have nothing to talk about, but I beg to differ." Gaara looked at the man, saying nothing. "We have to discuss how you are going to compensate me for the damages you caused."

The red haired boy actually smiled in amusement, "Compensation?"

"Yes," came the reply, "Since you did so much damage, I was going to demand that you pay me back or work off your debt."

"You're dreaming," Gaara said, still smiling, "Or is it that you simply can't handle your alcohol?" He nodded at the almost full bottle on the desk.

The Boss chuckled at the remark, "I'm quite serious actually. There is a problem, however. Since by your clothes I doubt you are good to pay the cash, and your attitude tells me you wouldn't do very well working for me, there is really only one other option."

Gaara's smile had faded once again, "And that is?"

"In order to make an example of anyone who tries to pull something like this on me," he said, still grinning and pulling out what looked like a whistle, "I'm afraid I'm going to have to kill you."

As he blew on the whistle, Gaara felt something. It was like seeing something move in the corner of your eye, but it was less tangible. Right outside the room, outside the building, too. How did he miss them? Damn! He cursed his carelessness. He hadn't planned on him hiring ninjas.

He wasn't prepared for this. Most of his sand was in his room at the hotel. He could make sand from the dirt from the ground outside, but it would require a great deal of chakra, not to mention it would completely blow his cover, exposing him as a ninja.

It wasn't the time to think about those things, however. Within a second of the whistle being blown, Gaara had sensed his opponents and chosen a course of action. Escape.

Grabbing the bottle and a paperweight from the desk, he threw them in opposite directions. The bottle hit the fireplace and exploded at the same moment the weight shattered the window, quickly followed by Gaara as he flashed through the shards. He hoped that the bottle exploding up the fireplace and out the chimney would distract them for an extra split second while he put some distance between them.

It seemed like it had worked. His pursuers seemed to have lagged behind him, but he wasn't quite able to loose them so quickly. Of course, they likely had no idea that he was a shinobi as well, and hadn't expected him to move so quickly.

Gaara was tearing down the streets, leaping across roofs and off walls or light posts. If anyone saw them, he would have been too far away to notice by the time they reacted. He had covered in one minute the distance he had traveled in an hour at a leisurely pace that morning.

Suddenly making a hard turn, his momentum caused the electrical post he was on to groan and bend under the stress. As soon as he had launched himself to the left, he heard the clang of a ninja weapon striking the metal pole. They aren't giving up. I can't fight them with so little sand, and I can't just give up. What can I do to loose them?

Another kunai flew at him as he dodged to his left. He decided that he had little option other than to use the city buildings to loose them. Speeding up, he began to duck into streets and alleys, bouncing out the top of a shop and jumping off the side of an antenna through a mess of electrical wires.

Looking ahead, he noticed a narrow tower that had casino offices in them. At least that's what they looked like as he raced straight toward them. Seeing an open rectangular window, giving an opening of about one foot by two, he took it.

Jumping off another light pole, he flipped forward and slipped through the window feet first. Hitting the floor running, he flashed across the accountant's desks to the other side. Making his sand into a shield for just long enough to get through, he shattered a closed window as he flew forward to land on a mobile takoyaki stand.

Trying to feel out if they were still behind him, he realized just how persistent they were when he quickly felt them going around either side of the tower he had just gone through. One on each side…only two of them? Ninja never do missions with just…damn!

He had felt the surge of chakra too late. As he landed on top of the telephone pole, he stuck fast to it. Try as he might, he couldn't escape. It would have been more accurate to say that he couldn't move.

"You sure did give us some trouble," came the male voice, below and behind him, "You must have at least some training as a shinobi. I never expected you to run like that."

Gaara's lips curled upward in a barely noticeable smile, "Yet you managed to come up with a plan to have your teammates drive me right to you. It was well executed, but I would have expected a much deeper and complicated trap for me, Nara Shikamaru."

The Sand ninja felt his head swivel around to look at the Chuunin that had him in the Kagemane no Jutsu. The look on his face was more than a little surprised, then changed into a grin, "Like I said, I was expecting an easy catch. You ran so fast that I didn't have time to think of anything else."

"I was the one who fell into the trap, so I suppose I can't complain about how elaborate it is or isn't." Gaara moved his eyes to watch as the other two Konoha ninjas caught up. He knew very little of either of them, though he had seen both fight in the Chuunin preliminary matches. Both of them went very pale when they saw him.

"Uh, Shikamaru?" the large one asked, "Why is he here? Where's the guy we were chasing?"

"Yeah, what are you trying to do, you moron!" the blonde yelled, "Are you trying to get us killed?" She thwapped Shikamaru over the head. Not hard, but enough to make Gaara's head jar.

"How troublesome," he muttered, then spoke to his comrades, "Gaara is the guy we were chasing."

"What?" both of his teammates exclaimed in unison.

"If it's all the same to you three," Gaara spoke up, "I'd like to get down now."

Ino and Chouji didn't seem to be fond of the idea, but Shikamaru just looked at him for a moment before his chakra faded. The shadow slid back down the pole and returned to the Chuunin. When Gaara jumped down, he merely looked at each of the three in turn.

"This mission is over," Shikamaru said simply, "That guy said that we would just have to capture some random kid, not a ninja. You are way out of the mission profile, so the contract is voided."

Gaara hesitated a moment, then said, "I'm glad that we are not in opposition."

"Me too," the kunoichi nodded, then began to fidget uncomfortably when he looked at her.

"I recognize you, but I don't remember your name," he stated.

She blinked in confusion, as if she never would have thought he would care about something like her name. "Uh, Ya-Yamanaka Ino," she uttered.

Turning to the last of the group, the big guy answered before the question was asked, "Akimichi Chouji."

"Your teamwork was excellent," Gaara said, then was silent. The others seemed not only surprised at the compliment, but obviously expected him to say more. When he didn't, Shikamaru filled in the silence.

"Thanks, I suppose."

After another moment, there was the sound of an empty stomach as everyone looked at Chouji. "What? We did a lot of running!" he spoke unapologetically.

Ino and Shikamaru chortled at his words as Gaara watched them gently tease their friend. He found himself wanting intensely to feel that sort of camaraderie with someone. When he realized he had no one like that, he felt very much alone.

"Well if you're hungry too, Shikamaru," Chouji grumbled, "why don't we go get something to eat before we go tell the client to shove it?"

"All right, Chouji," Ino gave an exasperated smile, "We'll go get something to eat. But I pick where we go or you're paying for mine!"

The team leader seemed to be amused by his comrades as he told them, "All right you two. Asuma is going to kick my ass if you both eat till you're sick, so at least try not to clean out the restaurant." Turning to Gaara, he gave an unsure grin, "Well, we're going to tell that guy that the missions off, then we'll be on our way. I'm not sure why you're here, but I'll omit you from the report."

He nodded to the other ninja, "Thank you."

Shikamaru nodded back, "Well, I guess we'll probably meet again. See you later."

Gaara wasn't sure why, but his loneliness spiked painfully at that moment. He didn't know these people very well, but for some reason he didn't want them to leave. "Wait," he blurted out before thinking. They turned and looked at him as he searched for something to say next. A little unsure of himself, he said the best thing he could come up with, "My hotel is supposed to have good food. If you want, you can eat there."

They looked at him as if he had just started tap dancing. He suddenly felt very self conscious, and wished that he hadn't said anything. Of course they don't want to go anywhere with me. I threatened to kill Shikamaru on more than one occasion, and I'm sure the others are well aware of my propensity toward wanton murder.

"Sure," came the unexpected response from Shikamaru, "I think it'd be good for Sand/Leaf relations."

Gaara saw the grin that the Chuunin was giving him, surprised that he had agreed. Still looking a little wary, Chouji spoke up, "If it's at your hotel, does that mean the food is already paid for?" Gaara nodded, bringing a pleased smile to the large boy's face, "What are we waiting for?"

They all looked at Ino, who still seemed a little unsure about Gaara. After glancing at her teammates, she sighed. "Thanks for inviting us," she said with a weak smile.

The entire trip to the hotel, Ino stayed on the far side of one of her teammates (or both, when the opportunity presented itself). Chouji didn't seem keen on the idea of getting too close to Gaara either, but at least he hid the fact from his face better than the girl.

Shikamaru, it seemed, was the only one who didn't seem worried on some level that Gaara was going to change his mind and kill them all. They were aware of what he had done during the Chuunin exams, but Shikamaru had seen it first hand, and had almost found himself another victim of Gaara's sand on at least two occasions. Still, he was the only one who didn't act afraid, as if he were just traveling with an ally. It was comforting to the Sand ninja, and it made the attitudes of the other two much easier to bear.

They didn't speak much, except to discuss the new alliance between their villages. Shikamaru surprised Gaara once by asking about his siblings. He could have sworn he saw a hint of a smile on the Chuunin's face when he mentioned how Temari was, but he decided it was probably his imagination.

When they arrived at the Hotel Daioh, Gaara simply continued to the front door. It took him a moment to realize that the other three had stopped at the curb. Ino seemed like someone had just dumped a bucket of ice water on her. Chouji stared at the place as if he didn't belong there. Even Shikamaru seemed at a loss as he looked at the massive luxury hotel and casino.

"Is there something wrong?" Gaara asked them.

"You really have a room here?" Chouji asked. When he nodded in response, the large ninja continued with a strange look on his face, "So, all the food is included in the price of the room? We can eat as much as we want?"

Gaara thought for a second, "I believe that's the case."

The sizeable son of the Akimichi clan suddenly looked as though he were ready for battle. "What are we waiting for, then?" he called, "Itaidakimasu!" As he tried to dash forward, his face turned red from lack of oxygen. He was being held in place by the scarf around his neck which was being held by a surprisingly scary looking Ino.

"What the hell are you doing?" she practically exploded, "We can't go in there with these clothes, this place is high class! If we went in there looking like this, they'd laugh at us before they threw us out on our butts!" She spoke as if it were a fate worse than death. "Oh, geez, I'd be so humiliated," she draped an arm over her eyes in despair.

Gaara looked to Shikamaru for an explanation for his comrades' behavior, but received only a shrug. "If Chouji doesn't get something to eat soon, he's going to be complaining the whole way back to Konoha. I suppose we could go up to the room and have food delivered up to us," he offered, looking at Gaara, "If you don't mind, that is."

The red haired shinobi nodded in response, "That's fine."

Chouji gave a cry of joy as he clenched his fists, "Yakiniku! Maybe even a big, juicy steak!" He held his stomach as his head lolled back. A bit of drool appeared at the corner of his mouth and he made an odd noise as he imagined the flavors he would soon experience.

Ino crept forward, glancing continuously at the hotel, "Are you sure they'll let us in looking like this?"

"They were quite polite to me after I paid for my room," Gaara explained to her, "They also found some clothes that were more appropriate for me to wear in this place. I can ask them if they would do the same for the three of you."

Her face instantly shifted to one of starry eyed happiness, "Would you?"

Shikamaru was rubbing his eyes, muttering, "Let's just go to the room before you two do anything else to trouble him."

Gaara had decided that this Yamanaka Ino was one of the strangest people he had ever known. In contrast to the walk to the hotel, Ino was making sure that she was the closest one to Gaara. If he didn't know better, he would have thought that she feared being kicked out of the hotel more than she was afraid of his murderous reputation. The fact that her change in attitude toward him seemed to stem from his offer of new clothing confused him greatly. Either she was much more clever and deceptive than he had given her credit for, or she had the most bizarre set of priorities that he could imagine.

The large one was much easier to figure out. He wanted to eat. That was it.

Gaara knew that there was a hidden strength within the plump shinobi, as he had heard what Chouji had accomplished during the mission to retrieve the Uchiha boy. He was determined, loyal, and apparently far more powerful than he had demonstrated during his preliminary match in the Chuunin exams, but all that could not mask what drove his everyday desires. He was hungry, and if someone wanted to provide a free meal, that person couldn't be that bad.

His contemplations about the three Leaf ninjas were abruptly knocked aside when he approached the double doors leading to his room and saw them cracked and ajar.

Rushing in, he found only an empty room. Two small chairs had been knocked over, but aside from that, there were no signs of anyone having been there. Walking to his bed, he could hear Chouji grunting at the signs of forced entry while Ino spoke to no one in particular, "What happened? Did they take something."

Gaara answered as he picked up a note scribbled onto a hotel stationary. "They took Kotori."

"Who's Kotori?" Shikamaru asked as Gaara handed him the note. "Debts have to be paid. What the hell does that mean?"

"The man that hired you leads a gang who cheat people out of their money," Gaara explained as he walked to his backpack of sand, "If they don't get their money, they make entire families slaves of the organization to pay off their debts."

"That's terrible," Ino gasped.

"Yeah," Chouji agreed, "but it's not that uncommon in cities like this one."

"He's right, things like this happen all the time," Shikamaru added, "So what does this have to do with you?"

"Kotori was nice to me," Gaara tried to find the proper words to describe his jumbled feelings, "She didn't look at me with fear or loathing the way everyone back in my village did. I wanted to repay her for her kindness. When she told me that her family had been in debt to those people, I could make her happy by making them leave her alone." He hefted his sand onto his back, "It seems my plans have backfired on me."

"What are you going to do?" Ino asked.

Gaara looked at her, a determined gleam in his eyes, "I'm going to take her back from them."

Chouji spoke up, "I thought you were trying to keep people from knowing that you're a ninja. How are you going to get her back by yourself without, uh, you know…with the sand?"

"Whether or not these fools know I am a shinobi is no longer relevant," his voice was hard as he thought of the ones who took Kotori. "As to how I will get her back," he looked at Shikamaru, "that is where you three come in."

The Chuunin seemed to expect Gaara's words, even if the other two had obviously not. "So you want to hire us for a mission?" he asked stoically.

"I will pay you for a B rank mission," Gaara stated, "Though I suspect it will not be that difficult. I can do this on my own, but I do not want to risk her life."

"Normally we would have to run a mission request through the Hokage," Shikamaru spoke in a very business like voice. "Then again, your team did save my team's ass against those Sound ninjas," a somewhat amused grin appeared on his lips, "It's troublesome, but I suppose we owe you one."

A/N

I always feel as if my work seems rushed. Is it just me?

Anyway, sorry for the delay in getting this out. My time has been split between this and my other Naruto fic. That's pretty much how things will be from now until one gets finished, but I'll try to keep a chapter coming out at least once a week for each.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed! Keep 'em coming!

See you next chapter!

Katamari Damacy