Chapter 4: The New Suna Generation:
"Oy, Chiaki, get your head out of the clouds already! We decided this was the day to visit dad today, remember?"
"Alright, alright, I'll be there in a sec'."
I took the time to brush my bright, red hair before I exited my brightly decorated room, while taking with me a small bag of sand. I then made my way down the stairs to find my little brother, Riku, waiting impatiently by the front door, with his foot taping repeatedly and his arms crossed tightly. His dull, chestnut brown hair glowed in the sweet sun with a pleasant feel while his dark brown eyes told another story.
"About time you showed up," Riku said in a bored and slightly annoyed term.
"Hey, it's not my fault that my hair likes to turn into a bird's nest every morning." I defended my case.
"Psh, no wonder dad prefers me over you," Riku mumbled under his breath.
By the very mention of that statement, I felt like some of my ribs had punctured through my abdomen and heart. I felt cold tears well up in my sea green eyes, and later wiped them off as we moved on to the building where dad works as the Kazekage.
You see, I'm not all that good with using the Wind Release or Fire Release, so dad thought it would be a better idea for Riku to be the next Kazekage, since I overheard him say that training me would be a waste of time. I can sort of see why, what with my constant daydreaming and weak ninjitsu skills. I'm really good at taijutsu, but either way it probably won't change his mind. Pleasing Mom is easy, but I really want to please dad and Riku.
Yet I also found out something when I was five years old: I could control sand. I've kept this ability to myself and honed this power up until I was nine, which my mom found out about my sand abilities by then. It was a bit of a shock to her at first, but we still kept it our little secret, nonetheless. I've considered telling my father, but mom has prevented me from doing so every time I got the chance. But not this time. Today, I was going to tell him about my sand powers.
As we moved on through the streets of Sunagakure, my wandering mind reared it's ugly head on me as I couldn't help but be distracted by someone bumping into me accidentally, causing me to loose my balance a little.
"Oh no, I'm terribly sorry," I apologized.
"Oh, that's perfectly fine," the woman replied. I noticed her young appearance, from her cherry hair with only one purple striek to her perfectly skinny body. I also noticed that she was with two other people: one was a man with red hair, like mine, but only a duller shade, and the other was a girl around my age, possibly younger, with an innocent appearance and light violet hair with delicate and neutral green eyes.
"Hey, Chiaki, you coming or what?" Riku called out from a couple steps away.
"I'll catch up, Riku!" I called out as a response.
"Well, we best be going. Nice to meet you, erm, Chiaki, was it?" the older woman asked.
"Yep," I replied with a pleasant tone and smile on my face.
"I thought so," the woman said as I left, with the man and girl, who gave a friendly smile and wave towards me, but then, I noticed something strange. I noticed at the back of my vision, I noticed a faint smile. It was hardly noticeable, but I grew very uncomfortable at it's presence.
I later got my head out of the clouds and decided to catch up to Riku before visiting hours at my dad's office were over. After an experience like that, it started to feel really good that I would see my dad.
At the Main Sunagakure Building:
As me and Riku walked through my dad's work building, we managed to come across our cousin, Shenzi, with her back against the wall, snickering.
"Hey, Shenzi, what 'cha up to?" I asked.
Shenzi regained her composure, then turned to me and Riku, then pointed to a rope, which was tied up to a bucket elaborately placed on top of a restroom door.
"Me and Kagari are currently having a prank war," Shenzi explained. "Once he pops out from the bathroom, he'll get showered with a mixture of barbecue sauce and scraps of dinner from last night!" Shenzi laughed to herself.
"You're definitely your father's daughter, Shenzi…" Riku mumbled sarcastically.
Then, to Shenzi's super sensitive ears, she heard footsteps heading towards the door.
"C'mon, c'mon, step back!" Shenzi whispered, while me and RiRi (my nickname for Riku, which he couldn't stand) obeyed our cousin.
Soon, the footsteps became louder. "Here he comes!" Shenzi exclaimed.
Then, at the exact time when a single foot stepped out of the bathroom, Shenzi pulled down hard on the rope, bringing the bucket with the sauce and rotten food fell on top of her unsuspecting victim.
But wait. It wasn't Kagari at all.
"Uh…. Oops… Sorry, Reizo, I…" Shenzi stuttered in embarrassment.
In fact, it was the eldest of Shenzi and Kagari, Reizo. We could both tell it was him due to the fact that he had a spiky widow's peak and dark brown hair, darker than Riku's eyes, but not by much, in contrast to Kagari having light brown hair and spiky bangs.
While I giggled to myself, Reizo was lecturing Shenzi on how that wasn't funny to him and made her think about if it were someone else, like someone working here, or even my dad and yada yada yada…..
"But it would still be funny either way, right?" Shenzi questioned hopefully.
Reizo just sighed and lowered his head in annoyance.
At the Kazekage's Office:
Knock, knock, knock.
"You may enter."
Me and Riku entered our father's office quietly, with my brother entering first.
"Hello father." Me and Riku bowed.
"Hello Riku, Chiaki." Dad responded.
"Well, we're here, just like we promised." I said aloud.
"Yeah," Riku said, turning towards me. "we could have been here sooner if someone hadn't had her head in the clouds."
I lowered my head and felt my cheeks warm up. "Yeah, sorry about that, dad."
"Chiaki, you need to concentrate more. Life just doesn't slow down simply because you decide to take a break from the real world." Dad said to me with a straight face.
"Again, I'm sorry." I said again. I looked to Riku, then back to dad, and then back to my brother.
"Uhm, dad?" I asked nervously.
"Yes, Chiaki?"
"C-can I speak to you? Alone?"
As soon as Riku heard "alone", he exited the room, as if he knew that it was time for him to not be there anymore.
"What is it do you want to talk about, Chiaki?" dad questioned intently.
I took in a deep breath, exhaled, and took out the little bag of sand I had brought with me, and excelled the sand onto my father's desk.
"Chiaki, what are you doing?" His voice had an uneasy vibe to it.
"Dad, there's something… I have to show you…" I explained.
I then concentrated as hard as I could on the sand below me, and the delicate sand started moving in the same direction my left hand did: left, right, up, and down. Finally, I had saved a morphing trick for last: I had managed to mold the sand into a small flower shape, face down on top of the pouch I kept my sand in. Then later, the sand molded back to it's original form.
By the time I looked back at my dad, his eyes were widened and his mouth was slightly opened in shock.
"Well?"
"Well?" dad responded after a long silence. "What do you mean 'Well?'" My dad said in an angry tone. Why was he so mad?
"I- I thought that…"
"Those powers are to never be seen or used in Suna again, you understand me, young lady?"
"But dad, it's completely harmless!" I defended.
"Hmm, and the next thing you know you're the most feared person in the village. Those powers are a danger to everyone!"
"But daddy, I haven't even used them to hurt anyone! I would never hurt someone intentionally!"
"Listen to me, Chiaki: You are to never, and I repeat, NEVER, use those powers in my village again, you understand?"
I took in a deep breath, but then I felt myself getting choked up in a knot of my own internal sobs, with tears in my eyes and my face red in my cheeks and under my eyes.
I could no longer handle the atmosphere, so I ran away, crying in a mist of my own tears. Why couldn't he accept my powers? What did he mean by 'a danger to the village'? I ran home without turning back and eyes just barely closed, in total sadness to the situation. I thought confessing to my dad would make me feel better about my abilities, but it only made me feel worse….
(Later That Night, 3rd Person)
Gaara sighed as he overlooked the Suna during the night. He also thought about him discovering Chiaki's powers.
"Have I done the right thing, Ryoko?" Gaara asked his wife, while rubbing his neck, in regret of the things he had said to Chiaki that day. He had told her about today's experience, and decided that she have a talk with her husband. "I just want what's best for her… I- I don't want her to have the same past I did…"
"I know you're trying to protect her, but you have to understand that you can't keep her abilities caged up the rest of her life. Chances are, she's going to end up using them, anyway." Ryoko responded. "I suggest you have a talk with her tonight, and see if you can't try to work something out."
Gaara sighed once again, not knowing what to do with the dilemma with his teenage daughter…..
(Child List):
Chiaki and Riku= The kids of Gaara and Ryoko (one of my OC's)
Reizo, Kagari, and Shenzi = The kids of Kankuro and Michiko (my final Naruto OC)