Mouse

4

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Gaara veered off to the right of town where he thought he remembered seeing the training grounds. Some days ago when he and his sibling's had first arrived in Kohana, there had been a guide there waiting to escort them around the village. Upon doing so they'd come upon the training grounds, and though Gaara was distracted the whole time with thoughts of murdering his escort for being obnoxious, he had deliberately taken mental note of it's location. He knew he'd have to remember the place if he was ever going to get a good look at the upcoming competition. Not that there was any who really qualified as competition.

The training grounds were huge. Not only were there miles of forest in which to exercise stealth and trap-setting, but there were also target sites set up within every half mile of the course. Finding the girl might prove to be somewhat of a challenge. Gaara sped through the area with amazing speed. He was certain almost no one caught site of him, except for maybe a few jonins, but they didn't really bother because they were too busy coaching their students.

He caught a quick glance of the blond ninja who he'd seen at the ramen shop yesterday. That bright carrot colored outfit wasn't easy to miss. His team was bickering as usual. What fools. More pathetic prey. But the other ninja, the stoic one who was outright ignoring the blond, jerked his head in the direction in which Gaara was moving. He probably didn't know who it was that he'd seen, but even so, he was of no importance at the moment. The only time he'd be worth paying attention to is during a match.

Along the way Gaara also caught site of a lazy looking ninja who lay sprawled out on the grass soaking up sun while another, a more corpulent ninja, was eating something out of a bag while sitting next to him. He thought he saw a girl there too, but he passed right over her.

The next squad ahead of him that he'd fully been intending to speed by without a second glance, actually caused him to come to a halt. There was a boy there…a boy with long smooth brown hair and overly pale skin who wore a cream colored jacket and dark shorts. Gaara thought he was Hinata for a second, because of his skin and foggy glass eyes, but he was indeed male.

An exact facsimile of Hinata. Her brother perhaps?

The boy was training with two other ninjas; one with strange round eyes and another with her hair done up in buns. Together he was sparring with the other boy. It was an impressive battle. Gaara observed the one who looked similar to Hinata the closest. There were veins popping out on either side of his eyes and his expression was hard--extremely focused--with an extraordinary amount of concentration in them. He'd never seen anything like it. The boy was also using a fighting technique that was unfamiliar to Gaara. That too, was very intriguing. Shots of blue chakra spewed from his palms each time he proceeded to strike, while the other nin contiued to dodge with an ungodly-like speed.

Gaara continued to observe from the trees for a few moments longer, then ran swiftly on his way.

When he'd finally found Hinata, Gaara was surprised to see she was alone. He was even more surprised to find that she was not cowering in fear like in his imagination. Instead she was practicing some sort of jutsu that he'd never seen before. Veins stretched through her skin on either side of her eyes, exactly like the other boys', and the amount of focus in them seemed to be just as intense. He could even feel the amount of chakra she was generating from her body.

The girl produced several quick hand signs, then stretched her arms out to her sides in a stance resembling that of a stilled propeller. Instantaneously her hands came up and began forming incredibly swift, clean movements that Gaara had never seen before. It was only a minute or two but Gaara was certain her arms had formed about 60 different paths of motion before a green metallic light began to form under her. The placement of her arms hinted that it was some kind of defensive technique.

But something went wrong. Her body convulsed, causing her to lean over, arms clutched at her side. The green light disappeared, and she fell to one knee, panting and gasping. Hinata allowed herself a seat on the soft grass, taking a short intermission to catch her breath. Just how long had she been practicing? Was this something she did every day or was it a recent developement in preperation for the chuunin exams? If that was the case, then it was unexpected. After their previous encounter Gaara hand't even expected her to venture out into the public.

Gaara noticed Hinata had a large bag with her containig shurikans and other weapons. There were small unmarked containers of what Gaara presumed to be a kind of medicine neatly organized on a nearby log next to her bag. Next to that was a half emptied bottle of water which she staggered over to and chugged with a decent amount of effort considering she was almost completely out of breath.

By the time her team mates came along she had fully collected herself. Hinata wiped the sweat off her face and applied the ointment where necessary. After everything was neat and packed away, a boy rushed to her side, calling out to her with a grin and happy gleam in his eyes. He wore a grey hooded jacket with too much fur which housed a small barking mutt. Following not too close behind him was a brown fuzzy haired ninja with dark round glasses and a calm, unmoving exterior.

"We knew you'd be here!" The dog boy said.

So she did come here often.

"Hello, Kiba," she greeted.
Kiba was his name.
"And hello, Shino," Hinata called from over Kiba's shoulder.
And the other one's name is Shino.
Gaara was certain he could take the both of them on without much of a challenge. There was no immediate indication that there was anything extraordinary about them and even if there was, Gaara was certain it wouldn't make much difference.

"Kurenai had us looking for you," Shino said monotonously, his voice muffled behind his high collar. "It's time to head out."

Head out where? Gaara wondered.

"I know," Hinata nodded. "I'm ready. I just wanted to do some early training." A few more words were exchanged and then the three of them took off. Gaara gave a small snort and headed in the opposite direction.

Originally he'd been looking for his stupid siblings. Who knows what they were doing by now?

As it just so happens, when Gaara found them Kankuro was picking on a small child while Temari just stood there, weakly pressing him to let go. Idiots. He had no choice but to intervene. They were wasting time.

Aside from the boy, Gaara saw that there were three other nin there as well. He recognized them immediately. They were the ninja from the ramen shop. Gaara found out that the raven haired ninja was named Sasuke Uchiha. Figures. Gaara knew he'd sensed something about him. The sole survivor of the Uchiha clan. Gaara had heard about the massacre a long time ago when he was in the Sand Village…and when his uncle was still alive.

The annoying blond haired Ninja was angered when Gaara had not asked for his name. Gaara had picked it up before but hadn't bothered to remember it. And didn't now. Those so insignificant do not deserve to have a name, much less be remembered.

Gaara and his siblings headed back to their sensei's residence not too long after. It was a temporary place to reside in the Leaf Village until the whole chunnin exam nonsense was over. However, Gaara realized that fighting the Uchiha would be something to look forward to. Maybe he'd even get to kill that obnoxious blond haired ninja--Naruto or whatever his name was.

When night--his favorite time of day--had finally descended, Gaara perched himsef ontop of the roof where he knew he would not be bothered. It was a perfect place and time to meditate. During this meditation Gaara took the time he needed to satiate the need for sleep--which has been he'd been deprived of ever since birth--by submerging himself in isolated quietness.

But there was something different tonight. Tonight he couldn't concentrate. There was a slight ping of excitement spurring in his chest, and he wondered why. Surely it couldn't be because of Hinata. A weak, white-eyed, discrace of a ninja. "Hinata..." Gaara whispered into the air. Strange that even though she was so insignificant--if not more so than the blond haired ninja--he'd memorized her name right away, and only through the acknowledgment of others. But that wasn't the most absurd part of it. The real absurdity was in the fact that he not only memorized her name, but also the names of her teamates, Kiba and Shino. Why? Hinata wasn't someone important. She was just another victim that he was going to kill within a few days. Someone weak…tivial…no bigger and no stronger than a mouse. A little white mouse.

The thought frustrated Gaara, putting him in a fouler mood than usual. Whenever he was having a bad day, Kankuro and Temari woud be the first ones aware of it. Baki noticed too, and so the three of them kept pace away from him unless it was absolutely necessary. The only act of intelligence they've ever displayed.

Every now and then the Shukkaku would inject an oppinion or two, trying to drive Gaara's patience to it's limits, and that was very dangerous. Not only for him, but for everyone that came within three feet of Gaara.

He was almost certain the Shukkaku had twisted his thoughts as they were now, but his voice was strangely absent, nowhere to be heard. Gaara wondered if maybe it was only himself he was torturing this time. His head...it was beginning to hurt. A familiar pain, but one he never got used to. This time, however, it was a little different. It wasn't particularly mind shattering as it usually was, but merely incomprehensible and aching, where as the other pain was sharp and relentless. Could this be what a normal headache felt like?

Unconsciously Gaara raised a single hand to his head and gripped his forehead roughly. He had never given a second thought about the people he killed, so why now; especially when the girl was still alive? They were all garbage to him. And yet this one little mouse…he had taken the liberty of learning her name, the name of her team mates, given her extra time to live, and after deciding to kill her shortly after still left her alive. Why?

Gaara's thoughts started coming to him in a rush.

The thing that was frustrating him the most was the throbbing persistent curiosity to want to know more about her. Her last name, who her sensei was, who her family was, what school she went to…and even more stupid, insignificant things like her team number, her training schedule, and other ludacris things of that nature.

He sighed and dropped his hand onto his lap. A bitter smirk crossed his face. "Mouse…" he whispered roughly, devilishly. To think that this little white mouse could cause him so much confusion. And without intention. He hadn't even been aware of her existence until yesterday.

And even now she could train and talk freely with her friends as if she'd never met him. As if he didn't exist.

An unfamiliar…and unpleasant feeling stirred in his chest. How dare she…

She should be cowering in fear at this very moment; whimpering and shaking with anxiety--weeping--or at the very least begging someone for help. But she wasn't, and this bothered him greatly. It angered him.

Well…if she wasn't fully aware of his existence yet, she would be soon.