The Sand People

Stage 1. Chapter 2.

Sail

By AWOLNATION because a lot of the lyrics describe Hiro, more or less, and because the characters are finally starting to sail through their ninja lives.

Note: I realize this and the before and next chapters might seem slow-paced (introductions and setting up the characters) but it really picks up as the story advances (we get to the love triangles, drama, Sasori, pregnancies, deaths, and what not).

Warning: This chapter contains some pretty major cussing!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Haruki-sensei had to be one of the scariest men Kana Karura ever had the misfortune of meeting. For a fairly handsome man of eighteen, he was extremely loud, angry, insulting, and unnecessarily violent.

"A fan? You want to fight enemies that will be carrying kunai, shuriken, and explosive tags with a fucking fan?" He spat at Karura's face. "You gotta be fucking kidding me! You really are the brainless shit all the other jounin were complaining about! But guess what, girly? By the end of today, you'll have toughened up or my name is not Kaneko Haruki!"

Karura cleaned her face with her shirt sleeve and took a few steps back, her lower lip trembling as she was on the verge of tears.

"Don't cry!" he screamed at her, rolling his eyes mockingly. "Don't you dare fucking cry!" God, was she a little girl! He snatched her beautiful, extremely heavy fan with one hand and threw it over fifty yards away, then cupped her chin on his palm and warned her clearly and dangerously softly, "If you cry, if you can't stand this, I will kill you."

Karura hugged herself tightly, fighting back her frightened whimpers, and her body recoiled when he finally let go of her face.

Her brother looked on in anguish. He wanted to have the courage to just get out there and protect her from the man, but he didn't dare. He was scared for himself. Haruki-sensei was not the sensei he had had in mind….

The man, only a few years older than them and with copper red hair, turned his wrath against Yashamaru as if to prove his point. "What about you? Are you a pussy like your bitch of a sister?" he asked gracelessly.

"No, sir, I'm a real shinobi, sir." Yashamaru replied quickly. He looked the man straight in the eye, afraid to get spat on like his sister had, but determined to not let Kaze no Hiro be the only decent ninja in the team. Slightly more important than tending to Karura, he wanted to leave a good impression on his new sensei— was eager to have his name recognized as an important one.

Haruki sneered at the little blond boy's bravery. The kid's chakra was all over the place, absolutely terrified, but following the how-to-be-a-perfect-shinobi code he put up a good show of remaining rather sturdy. That was braver than not fearing at all. "How are you planning to defeat your enemies?" he asked, obscure interest evident in his voice.

"Weapons…" Yashamaru said for the lack of a better answer. "I want to master weapons."

"You want to kill your enemies by using weapons?" Haruki lowered himself so he could be at Yashamaru's eye level.

"Yes," the boy replied, gulping.

"I like that. You want to see a lot of blood, eh? Never would've guessed you were a bloodthirsty one." He grabbed the blond boy's face and analyzed it from different angles. "You're too cute. I never would've thought."

He never would've thought because Yashamaru wasn't bloodthirsty. He was far from that actually. "I'll do whatever I have to for Suna," he mumbled nervously.

Haruki nodded, his expression empty of all emotion. "You would do us all a huge favor here in Suna if you killed your twin, you know?"

Yashamaru, Karura, and even Hiro froze.

"I—I could never—I would never hurt Karu!" Yashamaru sputtered. "She's my sister!"

Haruki-sensei shrugged. "What a shame. And here I thought you were worth a dime. But," he yawned, "I guess you're just a pussy as well."

He stood up, and Yashamaru looked shattered.

Haruki turned to face Hiro. "You," he said boredly, "How are you planning on fucking up your enemies?"

"I am a Kaze," Hiro responded nonchalantly, arrogantly, confident. "I use the magnet release kekkei genkai just like my grandfather, Kaze no Kankuro, and our Sandaime Kazekage-sama."

Haruki rubbed his bearded chin thoughtfully. "You're the grandson of Kankuro-sama, the Third's sensei back in the days?"

"Of course," he said proudly. "Haven't you ever heard of me?"

"Uh, was I supposed to?" Haruki raised an eyebrow. Of course he had heard of the brat, but why admit it?

Hiro looked flustered; he wished he had kept his big mouth shut. "Well, it doesn't matter. I answered your question, didn't I? My kekkei genkai is my weapon."

"But that represents a problem, Kaze-kun. Your beloved kekkei genkai is an even dumber idea than Blondie's fan over here," Haruki teased. "Her fan might be girly as hell, but if she wields it like her mother used to she can create deadly hurricanes. Your stupid magnet release is, in comparison, worthless."

"You obviously have not seen a magnet release user in action," Hiro snapped defensively. "I can kill without even moving from my spot."

"Really now? You don't look like you are that good of a shinobi to me. You are too cocky and overconfident," Haruki said, irritation filling his voice once again. "You really get on my nerves."

"Well you get on my nerves as well," Hiro snarled. "Who the hell are the idiots that decided to make you a sensei anyway?"

"The same idiots who decided to make you and these two fucks genins."

"Stop the name-calling already! You don't scare me, and just because they—" he glanced at the twin siblings with disdain, "—are weak doesn't mean you should intimidate them either."

"Listen to your own advice, son," Haruki said plainly. "You're the most conceited piece of shit I have ever met. You're not better than these two kids. You're a brat yourself. Just because you have a kekkei genkai doesn't mean the world has to bow to you, you know?"

Hiro's cheeks turned an embarrassed shade of pink. "Yeah, well, I might be conceited but at least I'm not as rude as you…" Staring at Yashamaru from the corner of his eye, he cringed at the memory of his own bad manners the previews day. His blush deepened. "Okay, so cancel that. I can be a total self-absorbed jerk, as much as I hate to admit it, but I would never spit in a girl's face or mess around with the mind of a fellow Suna-nin just because. I would also never insult my students and try to break their spirit. These two and I are Suna's future shinobi in case you haven't noticed."

"If you guys are the future of this village then I'm moving to Konoha."

"Now you've done it!" Hiro growled, making a single hand seal. "You do not mess with me, Haruki!"

Haruki suddenly became worried. He had a feeling that whatever it was the Kaze brat had done was really going to hurt him.

It wasn't a surprise, but it was still startling, when kunai and the shurinken flew towards his body. Hiro had used the hand seal to help conduct his own magnetic chakra towards his sensei, thus magnetizing the man. Now the metallic weapons flew to the source of attraction, and escape was futile. All Haruki could do was use his arms to protect his vital points.

It did hurt. Seven shuriken and five kunai struck him across his body, lodging in his torn muscles and jarring at some bones. Haruki let out a loud, anguished groan and fell on his back, his bloodied arms frozen in place. His black shirt turned even darker as blood pooled around the wounds in his stomach and lower ribs, and his bright green eyes were wide in horror and pain and, most of all, disbelieve. His stomach was churning violently and a metallic taste sat in the back of his throat. He felt cold, sick, and couldn't wrap his mind around the rotten luck he'd been dealt. He was going to die like this? Killed by a fucking kid? Well, fuck him!

Then there was screaming. The girl was screaming. What have you done? She shrieked in panic. Stars were dancing before his eyes and the chaos around him was becoming a wave of slurring echoes that he couldn't decipher. Then there was nothing.

"Fix him, Hiro! Fix sensei right now!" Karura was yelling.

Hiro was bewildered. "What do you want me to do? What's done is done! I'm not God!"

"What were you thinking, you idiot? You killed him!"

"Calm down, Karu," a pasty Yashamaru looked over the unconscious man. "He isn't dead. He protected his head, neck, and heart, so he can still survive if we get him help fast."

"See, stupid? He's alive!" Hiro argued with Karura.

"Go get a medical-nin right now, you idiot!" Yashamaru screamed at him. "If he dies, you're going to be held responsible!"

Hiro was mad. They called him an idiot? Who did they think they were to call him an idiot! They were just losers!

Then again, being mad was easier than being scared. He hadn't meant to hurt his new sensei! It had been done on impulse, really! He hadn't been thinking straight. He ran to the clinic as fast as he could, praying to gods that he wasn't really sure existed to not let Haruki-sensei die on them.

Meanwhile, Karura was fretting around nervously, eyes on her brother who was working arduously on Haruki's mangled flesh. The sight was gory, and the scent of blood filled the air as Yashamaru pulled out more and more of the sharp weapons from the man. Yashamaru's red-stained hands were glowing a blue aura that attempted to heal the wounds, but he was just a beginner and the damage was severe. When he would mess up his new sensei would writhe in pain.

It still amazed his sister though, the ability her twin had to learn. Just by watching medical-nin in action during the past few years, Yashamaru had figured out the basics of simple healing. He'd healed her before on occasions; sometimes completely and other times just enough to get her to being able to bear the pain. Karura opened her mouth to congratulate him on his skills and suggest he get professional medical training, but he spoke before she had a chance.

"You should've gone to get water instead of just standing around being useless," he said.

"I— I'm sorry— I'll go now—" she started, but Yashamaru rolled his eyes.

"They are pretty much here already. It's too late for that." He could feel Hiro, followed by two medical-nins, quickly approaching.

"You should've told me earlier then," she mumbled back.

He should have. He knew it, but he… he had wanted all the credit for himself. He loved Karura more than he loved his mother and father, but he desired his parents' attention all the same and Karura was his rival when it came to that. Every time he did something right, Karura would be scorned at for not being as good. No one ever praised him; Karura stole his attention. Even when formally meeting Hiro she had gotten more attention! It's not like she asked for it; she didn't even understand the bitterness in her dear brother. It had become a one-sided rivalry to Yashamaru however, and the thing he wanted the most in the world was acknowledgement from someone: anyone by this point.

Karura was crushed. She was used to being looked down upon by her mother and father; it didn't even matter anymore. But it was when Yashamaru was harsh on her that her heart nearly broke.

"Hey," he saw her watery teal eyes. "I shouldn't have said that. I didn't mean it. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," she choked. "I should've tried to help you or something. I'm sorry, Yasha."

"It's not like you would've known what to do," he said guiltily. "I apologize." He wiped his bloody hands on his shirt as Hiro landed in front of him.

Dark eyes analyzed his sweaty, pale complexion, dilated, silvery blue-purple eyes, and dark red grime coating his skin and clothes, and then spotted the half-healed Haruki. Hiro exhaled a weird noise full of surprise, relief, and anger.

"Yashamaru-san, why did you make me go get a medical-nin if you're one yourself? You got me in trouble!"

"Hey! He isn't a trained medic!" Karura snapped defensively. "He only knows what he learned from watching!" Then, proudly, she announced, "My brother is a genius!"

Hiro rolled his eyes. "I still got in trouble because of him." He sulked.

"Or just maybe it was your temper that got you in trouble!" Yashamaru retorted.

Hiro shrugged uncaringly, grumbling something about annoying blonds ganging up on him. He walked towards the medical ninjas who were bent over Haruki, healing all of the leftover wounds.

Yashamaru shook his head. How he wished he were in a normal team! "Karura, let's go home."

"Yes, brother," she replied, and together the twins walked away from the scene.

The medics finished patching up a now semi-conscious Haruki soon after.

"Hiro, was the Kana boy the one who treated Haruki-san while you went to get us?" asked the female medic.

"I guess," Hiro said. "It looked like it."

"That boy must have excellent chakra control," the male medic told the female. "Even though he did all the easy stuff, that was half the work we would've done ourselves."

"And he worked some of the worst injuries too," the female pointed out. "He probably kept this man alive. He could've bled to death, or have some severe internal hemorrhages."

"Hiro, you are one lucky kid to have the Kana boy in your team," the male told him. "It's not often that there are kids your age with healing abilities. Most of you are barely learning to control chakra."

"Go to Kazekage-sama's office," the female ordered. "We will take your sensei to the clinic and meet you there."

"A report will be made. Plan what you're going to tell your dad."

"My father is fighting in the frontlines," Hiro said. He hadn't seen the man in months.

"Then plan on what you'll tell Kankuro-sama," the female stated sternly. "What you did is serious, kid. We are in times of war; you know that! We need able Suna shinobi. You almost killed one of your own!"

"It was an accident," he mumbled, but before the woman could continue chiding him he walked away towards the Kazekage's office.

It was a very long afternoon that day. Between being chastised by the village leader, by his grandfather, by the medics, by some elders, and by many other shinobi, Hiro felt bored. Between trying to give his parents the detailed story on why he was covered in dry blood, only to be completely ignored, and then trying to find enough water for a decent bath, Yashamaru felt frustrated. And between trying to avoid her ever-nagging mother and trying to find a way to be less "useless" to her brother, Karura felt depressed.

At night however, at least Yashamaru and Karura cheered up enough to eat dinner together and play. The same couldn't be said of the lonely Hiro.

Not the best, but what can I say? I've suddenly become a very busy person, and if I try to reach excellence I'll never finish :D Thanks for reading, and also I decided to name my chapters after songs, so if you think there's a song that applies better, or just applies, to this chapter let me know ^-^ I'm making a playlist. And ummm... I'll be uploading for this around every 2-3 weeks unless I don't have time at all. See ya next time? I might upload some 'artwork' on deviant art about this story later on too :p