Sabaku no Momo
(2. Mission Time! Part I)
By Anke-chan
Pairing: Gaara x OC
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, only the plot and OC
Warning: There may be lots of OOCness~ If there are [ ] after a certain word or phrase, it is the definition or translation of the word or phrase :D
A/N: I forgot to mention in the last chapter that the title "Sabaku no Momo" means the "Desert's Peach"
"Momoko! Watch out!"
The dark-haired girl jumped out of the way just as a letter bomb exploded. She was breathing heavily as she hid behind a large red-brown boulder. She would have to thank Hiashi later for warning her. Their cell leader really was ruthless, even if she was a woman. Momoko slowed down her breathing, allowing herself to catch her breath before she carefully peeked out from behind the rock's face. Her dark eyes quickly roved over the area, noticing the shy blond-headed Haru under cover as well. Hiashi was nowhere to be seen, as was their cell leader, Amaya.
Momoko made eye contact with Haru and gave hand signals, telling the other girl to watch out for Amaya. Haru nodded in acknowledgement and Momoko turned to the rock face. Channeling her chakra to lightly cover her hands and feet, she climbed up the boulder, keeping herself pressed flat against the rock's surface. It was a hot day and Momoko was ready to finish the training session.
She peeked out over the top and looked around her, trying to find their cell leader without success. Amaya was a talented kunoichi and one of her special talents was that she was good at camouflage. In this training session unfortunately, it was a handy tool against Momoko and her comrades.
It was only by luck that Momoko caught sight of Amaya, who was so well hidden in the shadow of a large pile of red-brown boulders that it would have been hard to see her at all from ground level. From where Momoko was perched, she spotted the telltale dark-green of Hiashi's hair not too far from her position. Their eyes met and Hiashi's told her all she needed to know; he had seen Amaya, too.
Momoko slowly backed down the boulder and jumped down to the ground below, landing without a sound, her black sandals digging lightly into the sand. Standing up, she crept to a spot where she could see Haru and signaled to the large pile of boulders, telling her without words that Amaya was close by.
Haru nodded and carefully turned around in her hiding spot, inching out the other side and emerging from beneath the rock pile she had been hidden underneath, trying to see their cell leader without being caught. The three youngsters were ready to catch their cell leader.
Momoko wordlessly directed her two cellmates to meet her behind the boulder and once they were by her side, she softly whispered a plan to them, "Haru, I want you to go and draw out Amaya-sensei. Make sure to attack to kill, okay?" ["-sensei" is a term that means "teacher"] The blond girl nodded silently. Momoko turned her brown eyes to Hiashi. "I want you to get at Amaya-sensei from above; catch her by surprise. Make sure to push her towards Haru. I'll come in from behind Amaya-sensei." Hiashi nodded in acknowledgement as well. "Okay, break!" The three young shinobi scattered.
Amaya, a beautiful kunoichi with unevenly cut burnt orange hair cascading along a heart-shaped face, sharp chocolate brown eyes and a beautiful slim, curvy figure, stood by, waiting for her three young shinobi to catch her. She had told them to attack her as if they meant to kill her and they had been doing an amazing job so far, only now, she was hidden and waiting.
Suddenly, Amaya was surprised when Haru appeared, standing on top of one of the massive rust-colored boulders. Without a word, Haru flung shuriken at Amaya as she charged towards the older woman, her fingers nimbly reaching into the pouch bound around her thigh to grab more shuriken. Amaya deftly dodged all the shuriken, although one managed to be close enough to cut a small strand of her already uneven orange hair. The older woman landed on her feet, her eyes focused the determined Haru as another shadow from above jumped down on her open back.
Amaya, sensing the killer aura from behind her, spun around, her hand pulling out a kunai which she used to deflect Hiashi's own kunai away before it cut her. She turned and ran from the cramped space, jumping up and over Haru, even though Haru quickly jumped back, not willing to allow her teacher to escape as Hiashi landed and jumped after his teacher. Amaya, caught between her two students, stood glancing at them both with approving eyes. Now, there was only one of her students left… Amaya smiled at her students, her lips parting to ask, "So where is Momoko now?"
Amaya immediately noticed how Haru and Hiashi relaxed the tiniest bit before she spun around and locked her kunai with that of Momoko's. The woman dug her black heels into the ground as the full force of Momoko's attack followed behind the girl, pushing back the woman a few feet before they were left standing and struggling to overpower the other. Amaya smiled approvingly at Momoko, although her arched brows were furrowed with effort. Finally, she managed to push Momoko back and slashed forward with her kunai, which the younger girl managed to dodge by jumping and flipping back. Amaya nodded at her students. "Well done. You caught me. Good work. You're teamwork has improved since the first time."
Haru smiled, reverting to her shy self. "Y-yes, Amaya-sensei!" She scuffed the toe of her sandal against the ground timidly.
Hiashi grinned from ear to ear. "It was because of Momoko that we were able to catch you, Amaya-sensei~! She's awesome, you know!" He turned his kind eyes to appraise Momoko, but the girl's eyes were focused on Amaya.
"You held back, Amaya-sensei," Momoko commented.
"But of course. Did you want me to go all out on you? That would have been bad, you know," Amaya replied.
Momoko smiled slightly. "I'll get you to go all out one day, won't I?"
Amaya laughed. "Maybe when you reach chunin, I shall consider it, Momoko. For now, shall we call it a day?" No matter how ruthless Amaya was, she looked out for her students and comrades on or off the battlefield.
Haru and Hiashi nodded eagerly. "YES~!" They chirped together happily. They dashed off to get their packs of supplies.
Momoko smiled as she looked after her two cellmates, then, turned her head to look at Amaya. "I'll go get my pack, too, Amaya-sensei." She turned to go, but Amaya's voice stopped her.
"Momoko, your determination will take you far, you know?"
Momoko stopped, then turned to look at the older woman. "I've heard many people tell me that. Thank you, Amaya-sensei." She bowed respectfully, then turned to go, but Amaya speaking stopped her again.
"I do not just mean it so casually, Momoko. The fact that you took on the role of directing your cell members is impressive. You acted quickly and that can save you in a life or death situation. This is a good skill to have." Amaya said, her usually light voice serious.
"I mean it, too, sensei. Thank you," Momoko smiled.
Amaya went to the younger girl's side. "I am sure that you and your comrades will be ready to take on the chunin exam soon. It will be taking place in Konohagakure soon." She walked a few steps ahead, looking back at the younger girl. "Walk with me, Momoko."
"Yes, sensei," Momoko responded, quickly going to her teacher's side. "And the chunin exams? I appreciate the fact that you find us prepared… But we've barely just started being genin. Besides that, we've only been a cell for about two months, which isn't enough time for us to have bonded…" She still remembered the first day they had been chosen to be a cell two months ago…
***********Flashback***********
"So the three of us will be in a cell together, huh!" Hiashi excited exclaimed, smiling happily at the two girls.
Haru blushed, fiddling uneasily with her fingers. "I-I'm not all that great though, so um… I'm sorry if I get in the way…"
Momoko laughed at Hiashi's exclaimation, but turned her attention to Haru. "Don't say that, Haru! You'll do amazing! Besides, we can look out for each other! Right? Don't you think so, Hiashi?" She turned her brown eyes to look at Hiashi.
Hiashi laughed heartily. "Got that right! I got your backs and you got mine! We'll definitely look out for each other!" He gave Haru a thumbs up.
Haru smiled thankfully at her two teammates. "T-thank you both… I hope I learn much from the both of you!" She smiled, her eyes lighting up happily as she looked at her comrades. She turned to Momoko, looking at the girl intently. "Please teach me everything, Momoko-san! I look forward to working with you!" She took Momoko's hand enthusiastically.
The dark-haired girl was just about to respond when a woman appeared, cutting off Momoko's reply with a curt, "Have you introduced yourselves to one another yet? Good. I am Machida Amaya and I will be your guide and teacher. Follow me."
With wondering looks pasted on each of the three youngsters' aces, they followed the older woman out of the classroom. They had been the last cell.
The woman, Amaya, had led the three young shinobi to a secluded training area, where she stopped and turned to face her young cell, who had come to a stop in front of her. "We'll be conducting a training session here. I've seen all of your reports, but I want to see with my own eyes your skills and abilities." The three nodded numbly. "You'll attack me in any way possible, trying to take away these from me," she showed them a pair of shiny ebony chopsticks, which she then used to pin her hair up. "Attack me as if you mean to kill me. When I say 'go', we shall begin. …GO!"
Haru and Hiashi jumped at Amaya, kunai brandished to cut the older woman. Momoko looked at a lost for words as she watched her two cellmates try to attack the woman. Each strike they aimed at the woman seemed to be flicked aside without so much as the bat of an eyelash from the older woman. Momoko quietly but quickly followed along with the fight, watching both the movements of Amaya and her cellmates. Then, she jumped in.
The dark-haired girl lunged forward, kicking for Amaya's feet, which was deflected as Amaya pushed her other two cellmates away and grabbed Momoko's foot, stopping her in midair. Momoko, reared back and brought her arm forward, her fingers clenched into a fist, but Amaya caught that as well. With her free hand, Momoko motioned to her cellmates, who quickly jumped in, their hands outstretched and reaching for the ebony chopsticks that held back the woman's orange hair.
Quickly noticing the situation, Amaya let go of Momoko and jumped back just as Haru and Hiashi's hands closed around the empty space where the chopsticks would have been a moment before. Hiashi landed for nothing but a moment before he jumped back at Amaya. Haru hung back, afraid now, having sensed the powerful presence that lay hidden behind Amaya's calm exterior.
The dark haired girl looked at Haru, her dark eyes questioningly whether the other girl was going to continue or not; the blond-haired girl shook her head in fright and backed off.
Amaya noticed this and called out, "Enough!" Hiashi skidded to a halt, looking over his shoulder at the other two girls. Amaya approached Haru and her eyes were not so kind. "What is this? Are you quitting now? Do you want to have to watch your comrades die? Is that it?"
The sharp seriousness in her voice brought tears to Haru's magenta eyes. "N-no…! T-that's not-!" she began weakly, trying to refrain from crying.
Momoko stepped in, moving to shield Haru behind her. "Please stop, Amaya-sensei. This is Haru's first time and she wasn't sure what to do. I'll help teach her."
Amaya sneered. "Is she so weak that she needs you to protect her?"
At this point, Hiashi jumped in. "No! Haru is not weak! Yes, she's shy, but both Momoko and I know that she's strong! You haven't seen anything just yet!"
Haru smiled tearfully but appreciatively at her friends.
Amaya was silent as she looked over the three of her students. "Your bonds seem to be very strong, even though I have a feeling you haven't know one another that long…" The woman was quiet, then, she smiled approvingly. "That's the first step in growing stronger: trusting your comrades. Let's get to work on the rest of your skills."
***********End of Flashback***********
Amaya shook her head in disagreement. "I very much disagree with you, Momoko. You told me how long you three have been friends. Two years is a very long time. You could have been full-fledged chunin by now."
Momoko sensed that the last part had been directed more towards her than the others. "I appreciate the kind thought, Amaya-sensei… But I would like to become a chunin with my friends. They aren't holding me back." A memory of a red-headed boy flashed by in her mind.
"I understand. I still believe that the three of you are ready to go through the chuunin exams though," Amaya said. The teacher and student heard the shouting of the other two and Amaya sighed, although she was smiling. "I better go and check on those two."
Momoko laughed, but nodded. "Yes. I'll catch up."
Amaya started ahead, but then paused, glancing back at Momoko. "A smile suits you much more than a serious face, Momoko. It makes you shine." With that, she ran off to find her other two pupils.
Momoko was surprised by her teacher's compliment. "A smile… Suits me more…?" she whispered to herself. She tucked back a few strands of her black hair behind her ear. Her thoughts pulled an old memory back to her, one of a sad faced boy whom she had seen what seemed so long ago… "Gaara…" She couldn't help but whisper her name. She closed her eyes a moment, then opened them and ran to catch up with the rest of her cell.
The next morning, after all her daily warm-ups and breakfast, Momoko went to meet up with her cell in the mission office. The girl arrived at the door just as Hiashi arrived, looking flustered.
"Are you okay, Hiashi-kun?" Momoko asked worriedly, taking note of Hiashi's reddened cheeks.
Hiashi laughed, like he always did. "Haha, yeah! I'm perfectly fine! I just decided to jog here this morning so I might seem a bit flustered." He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "So how about you? How are you feeling today?"
Momoko returned a kind smile. "I'm doing well. I did my usual warm-ups and had breakfast before I got here. Did you remember to eat breakfast this time?" She looked at Hiashi with a questioning eye.
"Of course!" Hiashi laughed. "Well, let's go in before Amaya-sensei yells at us for being late. Haha!" He reached forward and turned the bronze knob, pulling open the door and holding it open for Momoko. "Ladies first," Hiaishi said, smiling.
Momoko laughed and went first, thanking the boy on the way in.
The two quickly went to the office and found that Amaya and Haru were already there, waiting for them.
"Where were you two? I was just about to send Haru out to find you," Amaya commented.
"Gomen na sai, Amaya-sensei. We didn't mean to be late," Momoko apologized, bowing slightly to the older woman. ["gomen na sai" means "I'm sorry"]
Amaya sighed, but smiled. "At least you two are here now. The Kazekage-sama will be giving us our mission now." She turned her attention to the serious-faced man who sat at the table, garbed in a white and blue robe. [-sama is an honorific used for a person of high rank]
The Kazekage didn't smile as he spoke, "Your mission will be to go and find the heirloom of Yamada Korin. She says she probably dropped it somewhere on her way home from her trip to Tanigakure. Search along there. Here is a picture that she left to show what the heirloom looks like." The Kazekage handed them a color photo of a pretty young woman wearing a necklace. "The necklace she is wearing is the heirloom. You may go now."
"Thank you, Kazekage-sama," Amaya said, taking the picture from the Kazekage, her smile gone and her approach business-like. She turned to her pupils. "Let's go and get ready. Meet at the village gates in an hour. Is that understood?"
"Yes, ma'am!" The three all said in unison before they left.
As Amaya held the door open, Haru and Hiashi walked out, Momoko following behind them. As she passed the door's threshold, she saw a flash of black and red walk past her and she thought her heart stopped as she looked back over her shoulder. Was it…? Could it be…? It was. It was Sabaku no Gaara. Momoko paused a moment in the doorway, staring at Gaara's back. She held back a gasp of surprise when he turned to glare at her, his sea green eyes cold.
"Do you want to die?" He murmured coldly.
His expression, his voice, his eyes… They were all cold. As cold as death… Yet Momoko didn't flinch away.
She did look away so as not to offend Gaara further and left the room just as Gaara's older brother and sister entered the room. Momoko looked at the three of them, the Sand Siblings, as they had come to be known as. She didn't know what to feel… The only thing that she could feel was how cold she felt at the memory of Gaara's icy glare.
Then, the door closed and Amaya approached her, stopping to look at the young girl's face questioningly. "Momoko? Are you all right?" She glanced back at the closed door, then turned her eyes back to Momoko. "He won't hurt you, don't worry. Let's go. We need to get ready for our mission." Amaya waited for Momoko.
Momoko numbly nodded her head and turned away, heading out of the office and back to her place. Only one thought crossed her mind as she packed her things: This was going to be harder than she had thought.
~TBC~
A/N: Gaah! How intense, huh? And wow! NINE pages…! I had a total writing frenzy today… I hoped you enjoyed! R&R please and thank you~! :D
