Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto…sigh…
Chapter 2: New Lands, Familiar Faces
The girl woke up to the feeling of a damp towel on her forehead. She cracked open her eyes to see a blonde girl sitting on the side of her bed. The girl looked young, but it might be because of the four ponytails her hair was in. Who wears ponytails like that? she thought. She winced as she felt her upper arms throb. I'm going to murder those bastards who did this to me! The sound of a door opening and two pairs of footsteps caused her to shut her eyes and pretend to be asleep for a little while longer.
"Temari," a cold male voice asked, "how is she?"
The girl, Temari, answered, "She's better now that I've cleaned her wounds. She should get her money back from whatever idiot inked her though."
"Why?" another voice, also male, inquired.
The girl felt Temari gently prod a bandage above her newly acquired yawa (1) tattoo. "Whoever did this didn't use a needle," Temari explained. "It was branded into her skin with fire. Blood filled into the burn so quickly that instead of a white scar, which is usually what happens when an animal is branded, she'll have a red scar/tattoo. Kind of like yours, Gaara."
Gaara, the girl thought. I've heard that name somewhere before.
"Hn," was the reply.
"But when will she wake up?" the other male asked. "We need to know if she has any talents that can help us. Sound nin are constantly testing our borders. If she can help us, then she should stay. If not—" (2)
"She stays," the owner of the cold voice interrupted.
"But—" the protest was quickly cut off. The girl listening to the conversation was curious to know why, but fear kept her eyes closed.
"Leave. I will watch her now."
"But, Gaara," Temari said. "You have paperwork to do."
"You do it," came the response. "I have no intention of going through all of that. Now leave."
The girl silently prayed for one of them to refuse…she had finally remembered where she had heard the name "Gaara" before and she didn't want to be left alone with the Sand nin. She had no way of knowing exactly when she was placed in this land and didn't want to anger the volatile teen. If he hasn't met Naruto yet, I'm dead!
"You can stop pretending you're asleep now," Gaara said as he sat down next to the bed. The girl let out an "Eep!" and scrunched up on the other side of the bed as she felt Gaara's arm reach toward her. But he only took the towel off of her forehead. Slowly, she opened one eye then the other as Gaara just sat impassively staring at her.
Oh, boy, she thought to herself. He's even yummier in person! (3) The Sand ninja's dark red hair matched the kanji tattoo over his left eye and his clear green eyes strangely reminded her of spearmint chewing gum. An involuntary giggle escaped her and she cringed when she saw the boy frown.
"What is so funny?" he asked.
"Umm…nothing," the girl answered in a surprisingly husky voice. She painfully sat up and rested her back on the headboard of the bed she was in. No way was she going to have a conversation with Subaku no Gaara while lying on her back.
Gaara remained silent and continued to stare at the girl. She had tanned skin. Almost as brown as his jounin "teacher" Baki, he noted. Long black hair that someone, probably Temari, had pulled into a braid lay over her left shoulder and fell into her lap. Her eyes, when the girl had summoned enough courage to actually look at him, were a surprisingly dark purple. Like the desert sky at dusk in August, he thought to himself. (4) Gaara shook his head, unused to such thoughts in his head. The anger he felt at such a lapse filtered into his next question.
"Who are you?"
Her hand automatically went to the hollow of her throat—between her collarbones—to her amulet for courage. Only to find it missing. "Where is it?" she suddenly demanded, glaring at Gaara.
Idly, he noticed her black polished nails. "What? Do you mean this?" he held up a jade green pendant with alibata writing on it. (5)
The girl hissed in a way that reminded Gaara of a certain blonde ninja and made a grab for the amulet. "Give it back!"
Gaara easily brought it out of reach. "Give me your name and I'll give it back."
She blinked and stared at the redhead. Gaara was being uncharacteristically reasonable. She instantly didn't trust it.
"You only want my name?"
"For now."
"And you'll give me back my amulet?"
"Yes."
"Fine. It's—" Shit! I can't give him my real name! I don't even know if my name even exists here! The girl panicked and looked at the amulet again. "Kinabuhi," she answered. "My name is Kinabuhi, but you can call me Kina."
Gaara noticed the slight hesitation and immediately knew she lied. Although he didn't know why, he decided to let her keep her identity secret. She had gone through enough in the trader's tent and she would tell him her real name—eventually. "Interesting name," he muttered. "And what kind of parents name their daughter blood?" (6)
"Warriors do," Kinabuhi shot back. "Now give me back my amulet."
"Fine," he said, holding out the amulet. "Take it."
Reaching out her hand, Kina made to grab the green stone, only to have Gaara pull it back a bit. She felt her anger get the better of her as she brought her other hand forward and grabbed the boy's elbow with her Ipit Kamay, which immediately locked the joint. (7) Once the arm was immobilized, she slid her free hand to the amulet and took it from Gaara's unresisting fingers.
Gaara stared at her as she calmly placed the necklace around her throat and absently rubbed his elbow. How did she manage to do that without my sand protecting me? he wondered. She definitely has some talents. I think I'll keep her. (8)
"You will remain here until Temari deems you fit for work," he said as he stood up. "Once you are, you will remove yourself from her household and be placed in my own. There you will work as a housekeeper until Kankuro has the time to test you on your skills. Don't try to leave Suna or disobey any of my orders. I'll know if you do and do not think I will always be so reasonable." (9)
Kina waited until he walked out of the room and shut the door before she started banging her hand against her forehead. What the hell was I thinking? she yelled at herself. That was Gaara! How could I use that move against him?
"Wait a minute," she gasped. "Test? Reasonable? Housekeeper? What the hell! If he thinks I'm going to clean his messes for him, he has another thing coming. I don't even clean up my messes!"
Her rant was interrupted by quiet laughter from the doorway. Kina slowly turned her head and saw two more familiar faces. Temari and Kankuro stood there staring at her with laughter in their eyes. They are definitely better looking in person, Kina decided.
"So you don't clean up messes, huh?" Kankuro said. "That's too bad, cause my little brother is in dire need of a housekeeper to make sure he keeps things neat. Now that he's Kazekage, he can't be caught living in a place that has piles of sand mixed in with piles of laundry!"
Kazekage, huh? she thought. At least now I have an idea of when I am.
"Stop teasing her Kankuro," Temari said, hitting her brother with a small fan. "She still needs to bring up her strength before I can send her to our brother's house. Dinner will be up shortly along with some pain medication. I suggest you take it." A frown marred the beautiful kunoichi's features. "You don't have to tell us everything, but how did you get caught up with that bastard anyway?"
Kina gestured for the two to sit down and sighed. I can't tell them what really happened, she thought. "I don't really know," she half-lied. "One moment I was in my own bed in my father's house and the next I was tied up and given to that trader by another man."
"You were given away?" Kankuro asked, shocked.
She nodded. "And before you ask: no, I didn't recognize the man who gave me away. I just want to go home." Kina felt tears burn her eyes, but refused to let them fall.
"You can't. Unfortunately, Kazekage-sama has claimed you," Temari said softly.
"Claimed me?"
"As a ward," Kankuro hastily corrected. "You are now a daughter of Suna and as such, you cannot leave without the Kazekage's permission."
"Oh," Kina felt her stomach sink at this news. Great, not only am I supposed to clean up after him; he's now my "adopted" father.
"I'm Temari, by the way," the blonde Sand nin said. "This is my brother Kankuro and the Rude One who just left is our other brother, Gaara, the Kazekage."
She laughed humorlessly and gave a half smile. "I figured as much," she replied. "I'm Kinabuhi. Kina for short."
"Well, Kina," Temari said, plumping up the pillows behind her as Kankuro placed the dinner tray that had just arrived on her lap. "Eat up and don't forget the medicine! I'll check on you tomorrow." With that the two left her alone again.
Kina ravenously ate the food given to her after sniffing each piece—checking for drugs, of course. It was surprisingly good for her first taste of Suna cuisine. Deciding that they wouldn't hurt her—for now—she took the pain medication and lay down on her side. Before she fell into a deep slumber she couldn't help but think one thing.
Kina didn't know how and she didn't know why, but her younger cousin's belief that all TV shows were really alternate realities suddenly didn't seem so stupid anymore.
A/N: Yes! This is one of those "normal Naruto watching fans gets sucked into the world of Naruto" fanfictions! Hahahahahahahahahaha!Yes! This is one of those "normal watching fans gets sucked into the world of " fanfictions! Hahahahahahahahahaha!
Things will really start rolling now.
(1) Yawa is Cebuano for "demon"
(2) Yes, Kankuro is a little OC right now. But let's pretend he's Suna's version of Shizune, okay? Besides, when the three Sand nin leave Konoha after helping Shikamaru at the Academy, he said something about judging the "talents of the next generation of Leaf nin" so I figured he'd say something like that to Gaara.
(3) Gaara is yummy, isn't he?
(4) If you haven't seen the desert sky at dusk head for your nearest desert! It's absolutely beautiful!
(5) Alibata is the Filipino version of katakana…alas, the practice has been lost thanks to centuries of Spanish, English, and American rule.
(6) Kinabuhi is Cebuano for "life" but it can also be substituted to mean "blood" so obviously, Gaara only knows this translation.
(7) Literally meaning, "hand pinch," Ipit Kamay is one of the hand positions used in Escrima fighting. (Filipino martial arts)
(8) Gaara's so wonderfully arrogant isn't he?
(9) Since Gaara is the Kazekage he lives in the Kazekage's residence and not with his siblings.