Authors' Notes: It's a bit short. Gaara is probably OOC...but isn't Jiyou's crush kawaii?
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After finding three shurikens Akemi wandered around the forest aimlessly. I wonder if I should look for more. Eh, only if I happen to find some. Instead of chasing after more weapons, Akemi targeted a tree and decided to practice the Shadow Shuriken Clone Technique. There's still time before it gets dark, I might as well practice useful jutsus. She hit the target fairly accurately and was lining up again when Maro jumped out from behind the tree and nearly got his head taken off.
"I was concentrating you idiot!" shouted Akemi.
"Well you're supposed to be looking for shurikens, not playing with them." Maro retorted.
At least I'm trying to train unlike some lazy bums! Akemi thought to herself. "Yeah, well, how many do you have?" He just gave her a look. "Well then I guess you'd better start searching."
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What should I do? Run, no that's stupid. Talk, no that wouldn't work. Climb? Up his tree? Am I nuts?
Again, Jiyou caught herself staring. She broke her trance and made sure Gaara was still there. He was. Jiyou slowly made her way to the base of the tree. Looking up at him she asked, "Are these yours, though?" He shook his head "no." "Oh, well…Thanks Gaara. I'm having a ton of trouble finding them. Actually, I bet I wouldn't if I just searched well enough." She made sure once again that he was still watching. Wow! He's not leaving! I must be getting better at this!
Gaara was silent. Is he going to say anything? Jiyou glanced down at the two shurikens, then in no particular direction, and finally back at Gaara. But he wasn't there. Sigh. Still staring at where he'd been, she began to walk forward.
Head turned, she almost ran into Gaara, who was now hanging upside-down from another tree. Startled, Jiyou screamed in surprise and fell backwards. She laughed nervously. I wonder how he does that? Why is he not talking to me? Jiyou sat up and looked at Gaara dumbly. "Next time don't run from a fight." With that Gaara disappeared into the tree tops. Jiyou sat holding her head. He's sooo cool!
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Meanwhile, Akemi was not so…lucky. She had refused to help Maro look for shurikens and he was complaining again. Finally she told him, "I'm reeeally tempted to just leave you here. If you don't return before dark it'll be your own fault! By the way, did I mention that Temari was looking for her brothers earlier? Who knows, maybe they're still here." Maro glared at her teasing.
Akemi left to find Jiyou. "And I found three so if Jiyou found three, you'd better find four!"
Passing through the forest another shuriken caught her eye. The word "teamwork," popped into her mind but Akemi didn't do anything. Let him do something on his own. Gosh, he'd be a lot cooler if he acted more like Sasuke...or even Gaara. Although that's more of a strange coolness.
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Akemi eventually found her sister and was glad to see that she had collected four shurikens. Well at least Maro ought to be competent enough to find three. Ha! Unless he goes on a wild goose chase looking for four! Akemi and Jiyou agreed to go back and look for Maro; they were running out of time.
On the way, Akemi asked, "Sooo, were you as bored as I was?" Akemi had noticed something weird about Jiyou's demeanor; she was her sister afterall, and sisters have a tendency to notice things.
"Uhhh….I dunno," Jiyou replied vaguely. Akemi quirked an eyebrow but couldn't ask for a detailed response. They had found Maro.
Immediately he began complaining about how he couldn't find four shurikens. Akemi noticed he must have had trouble finding his three, seeing the scratches all over his arms and legs. Hah. He never was good at tree climbing.
"Calm down, we have enough. All ten, see? Let's go." Akemi cut him off impatiently and they left to return the shurikens to their sensei.
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As the three came out of the forest, Akemi noticed Jiyou looking toward the trees. "Sooo, what did happen in there?"
Jiyou gave her sister a small grin, "Do you think this will be our permanent practice area?"
"I don't know, why?" Akemi asked suspiciously.
"Well, see I…uh…ran into someone in there and…um."
Akemi grinned, "Gaara?"
"Ya. He gave me two shurikens for some reason." Jiyou blushed and tightened her grip on the weapons.
"Ha! I thought you looked a little too happy. So, what did he say?" Akemi asked curiously.
"Well, nothing really. He pretty much stayed in the trees. But man, he's one of the hottest tree-sitters I've met!"
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