Alive And Victorious Chapter 2: 2 The boy with the X ray eyes, a naruto fanfic

Story image by tariah23 . deviantart . com

I have her permission to use it.

Beta-reader: RANCHII

Enjoy.

Alive And Victorious

Chapter 2. The boy with the X-ray eyes

Matsuri took a deep breath.

"I didn't ask anybody, I really didn't, they accost me, nag at me, they talk to me even if I don't want to listen-" she recited desperately, pressing her hands against her chest.

"You want me to stop teaching you," Gaara interrupted. It wasn't a question.

The girl shook her head frantically.

"No! I didn't say that! I-I'm just..." Her voice quivered. "I just don't understand, sensei," she admitted timidly. "I know you would never hurt me. I'm absolutely sure of it. I trust you. I would trust you with my life."

The redhead watched her with an impassive face.

"How is that possible that you didn't know anything?" he inquired.

"My family moved out of Suna seven years ago, after my grandfather died on the mission. I can't remember seeing you earlier. I have only one memory when the village had been evacuated and only Yon-" The girl hesitated and looked at her feet. "Only Yondaime went back to the village with ANBU escort."

Gaara didn't comment on her words so she glanced at him shyly.

"You remind him a bit," she admitted.

"Who?"

"Yondaime."

He turned his head, gazing away, and slowly closed his eyes. Matsuri quickly dropped the topic.

"I might hear some stories, but I don't remember even one. Even if I did I don't think I could bring them all together and figure out the truth. Not until recently-" her voice faltered.

Gaara breathed deeply, opened his eyes and nodded, still looking away. His lips parted like he was about to say something.

"Sensei," Matsuri threw in quickly. "I don't want to pry into your past. I began speaking about it only because you asked me. I fully understand people of the village still live in a vast fear of you, but I don't have a reason to be afraid. That's why I'm going to believe in what I experienced by myself. I wish I could understand all of this, but I-" She broke off. "Let's not talk about that again, okay?" she offered, focusing on her feet and forcing chakra into them. She approached the stone wall they have been practicing on and glanced back at her teacher, who was still standing motionless where she left him.

"Sensei," Matsuri said with confidence and pressed her foot to the stone surface. "Let's continue."

o0o0o0o

The sky over Sunagakure has darkened and the blazing, gusty wind picked up suddenly, carrying the red and yellow sand dust from the inside of the desert. The villagers began hiding behind the closed windows and doors since they knew perfectly well what was coming.

Matsuri was sitting in the canteen, near the window, and calmly observed the bustle on the street and the sand's assaults on the plexiglass. Next to her Sari was sitting, sipping the grape juice – the delicacy rarely available in Suna, and very expensive. Sari must have spent the half of her allowance on it, but she obviously didn't regret it. Matsuri, who also spent most of the money that her relatives had sent her this month, was eating a most common vegetable tempura and talking with Yakku and Darui. The boys were sitting with their backs facing the window and Darui was rocking on the chair, glancing back from time to time.

"Seems a sandstorm's coming," he commented.

Sari nodded, drinking her juice with small gulps, her eyes half-lidded with delight.

"It's a tiny one. It will subside in no time," Yakku said, shrugging. "And you better be careful or you'll fall."

Darui acknowledged his words with a nod and started rocking back and forth again. The four watched an empty street, where only the wind was raging, hurling the clouds of dust. The sand was spiralling higher and higher, obscuring the sun.

"Just like Gaara-sensei's jutsu," Matsuri muttered absent-mindedly and her friends perked their ears. They were always interested in any news of her training, although they stopped feeding her with the gruesome stories with Gaara as the main character.

"Hmm?" Sari made a noise which, Matsuri just knew that, was meant to encourage her to share further details with them.

"His sand is just as the same unpredictable and fast. It is very difficult to fight it," Matsuri explained, raising the last bit of tempura with her chopsticks. "Just like you were trying to battle with a sandstorm."

Yakku leaned back in his chair with a nonchalant smirk.

"Phew," he snorted. "Tell me, why our conversations always end up around him?"

"You're asking about him himself," Darui mumbled and rocked back. The chair's legs scraped against the floor and the boy landed on the hard surface with a surprised "Ow!".

"I told you so," Yakku chided, stretching his hand. Darui grasped it and pulled himself to a standing position, hissing and cursing quietly. His other hand sneaked behind his back and he rubbed his rear end with a wince.

"You didn't train with him today, did you?" Sari inquired and tilted the mug to sip the last drops of the juice.

"Yrrght," Matsuri let out an unintelligible answer. "Yesterday as well," she continued after swallowing the food. "I had to train alone since Gaara-sensei is on the mission. A joint mission with Konoha."

"Oh?" Darui's interest was picked. "A joint mission?"

Matsuri shrugged.

"He said so. He went yesterday with Yaoki-san and Korobi-san. I don't know any extra details."

"And you miss him already?" Yakku mocked.

The girl glanced at him with a frown. There was something in his voice she couldn't figure out. She grasped the mug and took a sip of water.

"Always Gaara-sensei this, Gaara-sensei that," Yakku wasn't done with his mocking. "Bet you're sweet on him, aren't you?"

The girl goggled and burst with laughter, sputtering the water on her friends. Darui wiped his face with a disgusted pout and Yakku shook the liquid off like a dog.

"Some-somebodyyy is jealous heeere," Sari hummed and Yakku's eyes threw daggers at her.

Matsuri couldn't stop giggling with tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

"Look... who's...talking," she choked out at last. „"Yet it's you who is always staring at Temari-san's breasts, maybe not?"

The blush rose to Yakku's cheeks immediately.

"Matsuri scored a point on you," Darui chuckled, patting his friend on the shoulder.

"Gaara-san is cute," Sari said dreamily and Matsuri glanced at her from the corner of her eye. She sipped the water again and tried to picture her teacher's face in her imagination. She had never pondered over his looks but it was not necessary to tell that he looked completely different from all of the Sunagakure shinobi, even his own siblings, with his pale skin, red hair and large, pale, mysterious eyes. She had never seen such a bloody red hair before nor the eyes making her feel like she was being X-rayed. But what was the oddest was his skin, white like alabaster. Matsuri wondered if it was due to the monster living within him, but she didn't make any constructive conclusion.

Thinking of her teacher brought her to the topic of the mission he was assigned at. The girl hoped with all her might that there will be no trouble during the mission. She wanted so much other shinobi would look at Gaara with different eyes. She wanted them not to be afraid. When Gaara announced her that he joins the regular troops, she was astonished, to say the least. She didn't understand his reasons at all and wasn't in a position to voice her doubts then, but now she knew what his purpose was. He wanted the village to accept him and was ready to do anything necessary to achieve this goal.

And Matsuri could help him.

o0o0o0o

Matsuri was walking towards the training ground, or rather shuffling along. She really wanted to see for herself her teacher was fine, but on the other hand she just didn't know what to say. Since his return the gossips were roaring around the village because it turned out that the elders sent an ANBU assassination squad after him and his two companions. That thought gave Matsuri chills. Yes, she knew that villagers dreaded Gaara and despised him because of his past misdeeds, but the girl was convinced that they also accepted him, even though reluctantly, as the Suna's ultimate weapon, and considered all his madness being an indispensable price for them to pay for being able to use such a power. Matsuri has never thought before that their hatred and fear reach to such an extent as to murder Gaara.

The girl tried to push away that thought and concentrate on something else, which was maybe even more surprising. As the rumor ran, two Gaara's subordinates stood up for their captain and fought the assassins shoulder to shoulder with him. Matsuri was very happy to hear that since the prospect of two other people genuinely accepting her teacher was very exciting. Having that in mind, she quickened her pace and entered the training ground almost running. She could see Gaara in a distance and her heart began to sing. She wanted to throw her arms around his neck and express all her delight but it was Gaara – no hugs, please, at least until you don't want to be strangled by sand.

The girl walked slowy towards him, scrutinizing his face, but it was impossible as usual to read his expression. Her ribs ached from her frantic heartbeat and she dropped her gaze, scanning his entire figure to discover any traces of fight, but finding none. Nobody would say he battled an ANBU assassination squad a few days ago. Finally she stopped in front of him and put her hand on her chest.

"Gaara-sensei," she uttered with a trembling voice, her eyes watering. "I'm so glad you're back..."

He nodded calmly and opened his mouth, presumably to greet her, but gasped softly and flinched a bit, when twin salty streaks poured down his student's cheeks. Matsuri quickly called an apologetic smile upon her face and wiped the tears with her fist, taking few deep breaths to calm down. In this very moment she set the certain task for herself to complete. She decided to do anything to grow stronger and protect her teacher, even it it would mean fighting an ANBU assassination squad.

o0o0o0o

"I hate this!" Matsuri shouted, throwing her shirt aside furiously, and picked up another one. "I hate this, hate, hate, HATE!"

Her body started to change when she was twelve, but recently the changes increased that much that she couldn't adjust quickly enough. Her hips were becoming broader and broader, and her breasts were growing fuller and fuller and began to bulge too visibly for her taste, continuously frustrating her. Due to alterations in her physique she had to buy new clothes more often than she could afford it and, what was bad as well, the twin mounds were interfering with her training when she was throwing her jouhyou or flinging shurikens.

The girl put another shirt on and snarled quietly. The shirt was emphasizing her breasts way too much due to its low neckline. Even if she wasn't gifted with such assets like Temari, Matsuri didn't feel comfortable to wear an outfit exposing that particular area of her body.

I need new clothes, again! she thought to herself, annoyed, because she knew her family wasn't willing to increase the amount of money they were giving her. On the contrary, she had a suspicion that it would decrease soon. If it continues, I'll have to spend less money on food!

Matsuri wrapped the thin shawl around her neck and left her apartment. She closed the door, went downstairs and left the building, turning left to make towards Sari's house, since they were to meet at 11. After making a few steps Matsuri stopped, realizing her feet carried her on their own. She turned around and walked towards the shopping district where the sewer resided.

The girl was looking around the district with interest, even if she didn't have money to purchase most of the things she'd like to have. She even worried she would be forced to sell some of her belongings soon. That thought made the girl grim.

"Ohoho, look what do we have here," a voice uttered from behind her back. Even before she could glance back, a shinobi appeared next to her. His face seemed to be familiar, but Matsuri didn't think she had seen him many times. The guy watched her lasciviously.

"Need to walk you home?" he inquired sweetly, grinning. Matsuri glared at him with disgust.

"No, thank you," she stressed.

"Oh, we're sooo menacing, aren't we?" he mocked teasingly, winking at her. "You're very pretty, you know?"

The girl snorted and scowled. She could hear a low chuckling from behind her and it infuriated her.

"Ittetsu, do you know who are you trying to pick up?" the male voice asked and shinobi walking by Matsuri's side glanced back and shrugged carelessly.

"She's Gaara's student," another voice interjected, the name of her sensei sounding like the low hiss in the man's throat. Matsuri observed with kind of bewilderment how the guy named Ittetsu gasped and paled immediately. He stuttered, turned on his heel and went away quickly. The girl looked back where the voices she had heard before were coming from and her eyes caught the small group of ninjas standing in front of the weapon shop. They waved at her, turned around fast and entered the shop as if assuring her they didn't mean to pester her. Matsuri scowled at the shop window and resumed her pacing with a huff. She was almost reaching her destination when she spotted Temari in the crowd. The older kunoichi nodded at her and stepped closer.

"Good morning, Temari-san," Matsuri said, unable to completely erase the anger from her voice.

"Hello, Matsuri," Gaara's sister said. "What is it? You look annoyed."

Matsuri growled under her nose.

"I just managed to turn an idiot away. He tried to flirt with me but fortunately he decided to sod off when his companions enlightened him on who did he accost."

Temari gazed at her with astonishment.

"They told him I'm Gaara-sensei's student and he ran away," the younger girl beamed. "I will do this again when men will pester me, ha!" she exclaimed triumphantly.

Temari made a face like she wanted to say something but Matsuri bid her a quick farewell and went into the sewer's shop.

o0o0o0o

Kankurou was lying on his bed with his head settled comfortably against the pillow and the headboard and his eyes closed. He was bathing in the tranquillity and the silence he yearned for so much after an entire day of babysitting. The puppeteer hoped that the Academy in Suna will be established fast and he was sure he would never do as much as step through the threshold. His patience was always thin and now it was dangerously stretched to the extent where he almost couldn't control himself sometimes.

Children just weren't his specialty.

The footsteps sounded in the corridor and Kankurou perked his ears, immediately recognizing Gaara. The redhead was usually moving around silently, but when he decided to announce his presence with a shuffling of his sandals, it sounded kind of... sinister.

"Gaara, is that you?" the puppeteer asked even if he knew perfectly well that the person slowly walking down the dark corridor was his younger brother.

"Hn," the short, almost unintelligible answer came.

Yeah, definitely Gaara.

Kankurou propped himself up on his elbows and gazed at the open door. Frankly he wanted to talk and that's why he had decided to say something, but he still couldn't tell if Gaara was in the mood to talk. This new, reformed Gaara was still an awful introvert and you could count on the fingers of one hand the times when Gaara had been uttering five sentences in a row.

"You didn't have a training with Matsuri today?" the puppeteer called tentatively. "I've seen you watching my genins."

The short, fragile figure appeared in the doorway and Kankurou waved his hand invitingly. Gaara stepped inside, scanning his brother's face. Like I was being X-rayed, the puppeteer thought.

"Matsuri didn't feel well," Gaara answered at last with his usual indifferent tone.

Kankurou pulled himself to a sitting position when Gaara dragged a chair and settled himself on it. The puppeteer frowned.

"Is she sick?"

The redhead shrugged.

"I think I could catch the scent of blood from her but she insisted she wasn't wounded."

"The blood...?" Kankurou echoed hesitantly and when the realization hit him, he smacked himself at the forehead. "The blood!" he repeated, disconcerted, and leaned backwards.

Gaara glanced at him searchingly, obviously waiting for a continuation.

"Blood... you know..." Kankurou stumbled, scratching his head and laughing nervously. He could clearly recall the scene from few years ago when the old Gaara had approached the kitchen table his siblings had been sitting at and growled with a hateful expression: "I feel blood." Temari's red cheeks could rival the desert sunset when the poor girl had to explain her mad younger brother where did the smell come from. Gaara didn't look perturbed or disgusted at all with all those details of female physiology; he was too excited with the very scent. Since then Temari was avoiding him like a plague during these particular days of the month.

"It's a, uh, a girl's thing, you know," Kankurou shot at last with his cheeks flushed slightly when Gaara's steady gaze became too difficult to endure. "Maybe her stomach was aching."

"Girl's-" Gaara cut short and nodded – the puppeteer didn't know if it was to him or himself. "I see. Why didn't she tell me then?"

Kankurou's eyes widened and he watched his brother with the dumbfounded expression. This was not a joke since Gaara and jokes didn't mix. The redhead was absolutely serious and the puppeteer scratched the back of his own head. As the older brother he really should do something, tell something, but he didn't have the tiniest idea how to introduce the word embarrassment into Gaara's dictionary.

o0o0o0o

Gaara went into the canteen and approached the last shinobi standing in the short line next to the counter. The silence that surrounded him almost immediately was almost tangible, like he had been closed in the transparent bubble, which was expanding bit by bit in every direction. The shinobi sitting closest to the entrance were the first to stop eating and watch him with consternation. Then a man standing in front of him was pushed by someone and swayed unsteadily, until he lost his balance and roughly stepped back, almost trampling over Gaara's foot. Almost, because the sand reacted in a flash. The man, two heads taller than Gaara, turned around with a suspicious frown. When he didn't see anyone, his gaze lowered and in the very moment his eyes reached Gaara's face, he paled until his complexion matched Gaara's white skin. Gaara wasn't looking at the man. He stood with his arms crossed, watching the cooks on the other side of the counter and pretending that nothing had happened. The older shinobi turned again, very slowly, and Gaara could see from the corner of his eye the pure shock and terror in the man's eyes. His name was Ittetsu, if Gaara remembered correctly.

By this moment each and every one shinobi in the canteen realized already who had appeared amongst them. They were sitting still and casting glances at him, their eyes full of despise and fear, eyes which Gaara detested the most. He started to regret he came here but now he just couldn't retreat so he waited patiently for his turn. He took a tray with his meal and walked towards the unoccupied table by the wall, then unstrapped the gourd from his back and put it next to him. Ignoring people's gazes, trying to burn holes in his skull, the redhead settled down, split the chopsticks and began to eat.

The silence reigning in the place had been suddenly disrupted by an exclamation.

"Gaara-sensei?"

The redhead raised his eyes when he heard his own name. From the entrance Matsuri was striding towards him with the big grin plastered to her face. The girl didn't realize the tension in the air and obviously didn't notice the looks the other shinobi were giving her. Gaara nodded in acknowledgement and Matsuri stopped next to him, putting her palms on his shoulders and leaning forward to look at his plate.

"What is it? Looks tasty!" the girl chirped and the shocked whispers reverberated in the air. Gaara was literally frozen, unable to choke out a word, when her hair tickled his cheek. He regained his composure when he sensed trembling in Matsuri's hands. In fact the girl didn't place her palms on his body. Her fingers hovered an inch above his shoulders, brushing them gentler than a feather's touch.

"Chicken karaage," he stuttered out at last.

Matsuri pulled her hands back and sat next to him, eyeing his lunch curiously. Gaara glanced at her suspiciously. There was something in her attitude and her tone he couldn't understand. She wasn't Matsuri he knew. The redhead looked into the girl's eyes. They were frightened, but full of the unshaken determination.

It seemed that Matsuri wasn't that ignorant or naive as he thought. She spotted pretty fast that the atmosphere was thick and decided to carry on the little show for every shinobi present. Her words and actions were meant to carry on the certain message and Gaara thought he knew what message it was.

"Can I have a piece?" the girl asked and he knew she was doing it for him so he only nodded in silence.

The black-haired shinobi sitting in the farthest corner chortled quietly.

"This is Aoba's granddaughter, no more no less! Brave girl!" he said almost inaudibly, so the two he had been watching couldn't hear.

"Aoba's?" the younger voice added in a whisper. "The one fighting with chakra blades?"

"Yeah. He said he borrowed this trick from one of Konoha kids."

"Shhh!" another shinobi shushed them. "Look at them!"

They watched Matsuri who picked a bit of food from her teacher's plate and began to chew on it.

"Kyaaa!" she screamed and everyone jumped to the ceiling. The girl pressed her throat with one palm and searched blindly with the other until she grasped the mug standing on the table. She put the mug to her lips and drank the water so fast that the liquid poured from the corner of her lips and streaked down her chin and neck. "Th-thi-this is SO SPICY!" the girl could speak at last, with her chest falling and rising rapidly.

"This is how I like it," Gaara said nonchalantly and slowly took a piece of his meal with the chopsticks. Matsuri tried to wipe the tears staining her face while her sensei raised the chopsticks to his mouth and began to chew on the food with an apparent delight.

A few shinobi dared to utter a low chuckle. More of them grinned, turning their heads away or covering their mouths with their hands.

Matsuri glared at her teacher with her jaw dropped. Her astounded expression slowly changed into the infuriated one. Gaara wondered if it was still the show or was she really angry.

"Gaara-sensei!" she reproached, pouting. "You should have warned me!"

The redhead glanced at her and didn't say anything.

"Did you see it? Did you?" shinobi began to whisper. "What a girl!"

"I'm going to order the meal," Matsuri announced with a huff. Gaara only nodded, so the girl snorted and paced towards the counter. The cooks standing behind it were also staring at the two. Everyone in the canteen just couldn't decide if to watch Gaara, consuming his lunch with an indifferent face, or his student, who began to scold one of the cooks.

"Oji-san!" she called. "Close your mouth before a fly gets in. Okonomiyaki, please – but not spicy!"

Another surge of hushed laughter accompanied her words. The shinobi sitting in the corner elbowed his companion in the ribs.

"Brave girl, didn't I say so? And pretty."

"What does she have in herself that she managed to tame the monster?"

"She would never do that if she knew about Aoba."

"You think she doesn't know? But everyone knows."

"Shhh," another man hissed. "Look, look at them!"

Gaara didn't hear what they were talking about but he thought he could easily figure what that was. Most of the shinobi in the canteen still sat with their eyes stuck to Matsuri, who looked like she was completely oblivious. She held a tray with her meal and two mugs of water in her outstretched hands. She was just near the table, when she stumbled and the tray tilted dangerously. The people around gasped audibly and leaned back when the cork from Gaara's gourd shot up and the spiralling sand propped up the tray. Matsuri glanced at her teacher with a smile and released the grip, letting the sand put the tray on the table-top.

"Thanks for help," the girl said merrily and took a seat next to him. After the slight twitch of Gaara's hand the sand whirled in the air and obediently went back into the gourd. Matsuri didn't even glance at it. She raised the chopsticks and split them.

"Itadaki-" The girl ceased talking and grabbed the mug with the other hand. "Gaara-sensei, I'm sorry I drank your water," she apologized and pushed the mug in his direction, then glared at him with her eyes narrowed. "You've deserved it, you know?"

If Gaara didn't know that his student was capable to change her mood every minute, he would have been surprised, when Matsuri beamed a bright grin at him.

"Here you are," she let the mug go and looked down at her meal. "Itadakimasu!" she exclaimed and began to eat. Gaara sipped the water and the people around began to relax tentatively. Matsuri opened her half-lidded eyes and gave him a knowing smile. "So, Gaara-sensei, what is your favourite food?"

The end of chapter 2.

The next chapter: Control issues

A/N: I decided to make Matsuri's personality a mix of Tsukino Usagi and Yuuki Miaka. Even if she is growing up physically, her emotions and way of thinking are still that of a child.

As for the title of this chapter, does anyone still remember the band Babylon Zoo and its album "The Boy With The X-Ray Eyes"? Well, I do and I thought it fits Gaara perfectly :3

tempura=vegetables or meat battered and deep fried;

jutsu=ninja technique;

Ittetsu - a shinobi from Sunagakure, appearing in the manga and anime;

chicken karaage=small pieces of chicken marinated in a mix of soy sauce and garlic, then lightly coated with a seasoned wheat flour and fried in a light oil;

oji-san=mister;

itadakimasu=let's eat (literally: I humbly receive)