"What?! Nee-chan, you're leaving too?" Fuu complained as she realized after following [Name] around for some time that she was heading for the exit.
"Yeah, sorry, I have to get back to the other building," she swung the door open revealing the dust storm that kicked up after a short amount of time. "Hm..." she swiped a kunai from her pouch, gripping it tightly, "Good night Fuu-chan, I hope you do well tomorrow."
"Mm..." she is aware of the tint of sadness in Fuu's response. However, they both sense the trouble that lurked behind the sand, "Nee-chan!"
[Name] avoided the clutch of a beastly claw, measuring three times the size of her own body. She hopped backwards, hoping to get a full view of her opponent, and out emerged a gigantic scorpion from the clouds. It's hooked tail shuddering as if anticipating to strike either Fuu or her. [Name] lunged at it, boosting herself from the claw swung in her direction, and as she fell from above, aimed for it's back. The shell felt hard beneath her feet, "Rose Garden." She can hear the dry earth crackle, and watches victoriously as thorny vines entangle around the scorpion. Roses bloomed, releasing an intense perfume she had long gotten used to. To unlucky foes, a harsh whiff is sure to cause drowsiness. It swayed to and fro, but hardly submitted to the aroma since the currents of the wind immediately divided it. "Fuu-chan, get-! Where'd she go?" the kunoichi is no longer in sight.
"Wow!" Fuu suddenly appeared beside her, "You have really good control, Nee-chan!"
"Yeah, but with this sort of land, my hold won't be able to last long," the vines are already loosening, as [Name] does her best to extend her strength.
"Don't worry, Nee-chan!" Fuu held the kunai that [Name] dropped. She let out a cheesy battle cry, and shattered through the shell of the beast using the kunai. It broke beneath them as if it was made of porcelain. "We did it!" she cheered, dropping down to bust a move as the monster collapsed. [Name] stared at the girl, wondering if she is even real, wondering if a girl like this actually existed. Fuu pounced on her, hugging her tightly, pressing their cheeks together, "We did it!"
"Is everything okay?" they look below them, still sitting atop of the scorpion. A couple of figures stood at the bottom, the one who called out she identified to be Temari, "[Name]?"
"Yeah, all good!" she yelled back, Fuu's arms still around her.
"Fuu!" she doesn't recognize the voices calling for the girl.
"Aww, it's my team," she groans, giving [Name] one last squeeze, "Night, [Name]-chan! See you-" she shows off by doing a flip, "Tomorrow!"
[Name] huffed, pulling her legs in before standing, and peeking down to whoever else came outside. She scanned over the jounin, Temari, and Kankuro, and landed on Gaara, however, he was eyeing Fuu who walked back with her team. She frowns, feeling envious even though he could be looking at Fuu out of curiosity in her strength, or her history. Whatever the reason, [Name] still felt a blow to her heart. She joins the rest on the ground, assuring Temari, and other concerned faces that she was fine.
She and Temari walked together. Gaara stepped up when she approached him, but she continued the conversation with Temari, purposely passing him without a word. She knew she would regret the decision, already beginning to feel the effects, but this time she let her annoyance determine her actions.
Her sleep was terrible.
...
[Name] had never awoken at such an early time. The sun was hardly rising, the sky painted teal than it's usual light color. She stood back along the other chuunins on the balcony of their building, Gaara in the middle, and Temari standing at the far edge, waiting for all the drowsy genin to step out. It's the first time she sees him fully dressed with his robe and hat that shrouded two-thirds of his face, having an opening in the front.
"Senpai!" Kazami swung his flag, but his pompadour is already his main highlight. She shyly waved back, Burami and Muyami beaming at her acknowledgement.
"Nee-chan!" she tried her best to maintain her smile as she gestures to Fuu who had been frantically jumping up and down for her attention.
"Quite popular aren't you?" teases Temari, but quickly switches back to being serious as she explained the second round of the Chuunin Exams. She shivered when Temari held up a consent form, considering there may be "fatalities." She fearfully stared back at Fuu, and her "Kusagakure" genin, gulping her stress down. Without her knowledge, Gaara is the only one to pay mind to her panicked expression. "Now...get to your designated places!"
"Excuse me," [Name] hurriedly pushes herself off the balcony to join the three boys before they parted. She gave Burami a joking punch on his jiggly stomach, a firm grasp of Kazami's hand, and finally, pulled Muyami, the shiest and tiniest one for a forceful hug, leaving him the most flustered. Fuu tackled her down, her team having to yank her off.
Kankuro smirks at Gaara who seemed to be scowling, and haughtily asks aloud, "Who's jealous now?"
Temari lets out a restrained giggle hearing Kankuro's remark, Gaara felt the vain of being the youngest. His subordinates knew it too well, keeping control of their twitching lips from forming a giddy grin. Guy was too busy cheering his team on. Asuma and Kurenai being the only ones to keep silent. The slightest movement from Gaara shushed them all, and [Name] returned to a silent crowd, sensing something off, but didn't question anything. She paces back to her spot, trying to stand with the same confidence the jounin are emitting. Confidence over their students, confident that they will return whether they pass or fail. She nervously watched the teams divide to their starting checkpoints. She watched until they were all out of sight, and when she finally broke her gaze, she realizes it is only her and Gaara left standing. She swallows once more, turning to him, meaning to bow and leave, but forced herself to stand by him.
"...I used to train them before," she felt compelled to explain why she excused herself.
"...I see," a passing silence passed for a good five seconds, but to her it felt much longer. He leans in to whisper, "Meet me at my office later, you know where it is, right?" She nods, trying her best to keep her thoughts pure.
...
The guards at his door were surprised at her presence as she strolled down the hallway leading to Gaara's section. [Name] hid her unsteadiness by stiffly straightening her back and continuously looking forward, avoiding eye contact. Her confidence broke as she reached for the handle, her fingers nervously hooking around it. The two men debating whether to offer help, their very being caused her to sweat. They motioned her to go on even after she shot a glare. She sharply inhales, and lets out a long, shaky breath. Propelling herself inside and immediately shutting the door. She hears the squeak of his chair, her hand unable to let go of the knob. Finally, she faces him, observing the space around them as well. It is definitely smaller than his original, there's no cactus at the corner of his desk, there is, however, a tiny model of the Demon Desert.
She had stood by him exchanging small talk, eaten dinner with him, and so forth, but still cannot break the fact that he is the Kazekage. A figure to uphold, not to dawdle with. She bravely strides closer to his desk.
"That girl, Fuu, was it?"
"Yes?" she had turned in her report to Temari offering indication that Fuu may be someone to check up on. Other than that, even if many of Suna's genin had their own variety of suspicious characters, she had her intuition set on Fuu the moment she burst out of her locked door.
"The men on her team...are jounin."
"What?"
"The others have yet to find out," he turns to her with a reassuring smile, "I'll handle it on my own."
"...why are you telling me this then?"
"I trust you," there was more to this exam and she knew it. However, Temari and everyone else have excluded her from knowing. Gaara was always accompanied by a guard or one of his siblings, and when he resided in his office, his door is protected as well. She would obliviously agree it is for his safety, but pondered if it was for something else. To keep him from escaping? Why would he need to escape? "[Name]," she blinked, suddenly caught in his captivating gaze. She leaned over and stared past his hat, pushing the tip upwards, "...what?" She then reaches for the accessory, lifting it off his head and holding it to her chest.
"Sorry, it's hard for me to talk to you casually," she brushed a hand over the kanji symbol etched on his hat "Kaze." He stands, circling around to stand before her, and she stood still, trying to predict his next move. The cap fumbles out of her hands when she is taken back from Gaara pulling her by the arm to get a closer look at her. "Um...?"
"Sorry..." he parts to look at her from head to toe, and then in the middle, at her stomach which is wrapped by her obi. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, of course," she placed a hand over where her bruise is located. "That was two nights ago..." she did her best to act laid-back over the whole situation.
He leans against his desk, arms crossed, an empty, vacant look, "[Name], I want you to listen to me...and understand." She relaxed beside him as he spoke, "Other than improving relations...there's another reason." There's a hesitance in his voice, even he's doubting to allow her in the circle, "The Akatsuki...you know of them, don't you?" She lifts her head, "...a group of-"
"Rogue ninja, yes, I know," she recalls a member to have strayed from her village.
"...before, two members attempted to capture a jinchuuriki from Konoha, that being Naruto Uzumaki," he had referred to the name a few times, but other than that she had no idea who the boy he spoke of is. "They failed of course, and have laid quiet for the past two years, but..." he motions back to his chair. "If they really are targeting the jinchuuriki, the Hokage and I devised a plan using this exam as a mere distraction." She placed the pieces together, seeing the whole picture and already hating it. "Putting me as bait is the real reason." She flicks her head in his direction, a face of rejection, "Temari, Kankuro...even you are against it, but...I want this to be a way to redeem myself."
"...to put yourself in danger?" her displeasure is obvious, she made it obvious.
"[Name], if you were to see me as who I was...you would understand." As he thought, he hated the pained expression that spread on her face, he simply turned away, "I want to show the village...that I changed. I want people to know that I changed. I'm trying to change..."
"...that's why, trust me on this!" begged Akio. In their current situation there was no room for arguing. Hiro is calling out for help after hurling himself towards A-Class enemy ninjas, wanting to extract more valuable information. "Let me be the bait! Take Hiro and go!" she bit her lip, usually she had Akio stay back, but it was for his own safety. She stood up, exasperated over losing control of the mission and her teammates. Maybe Hiro was right, she was a control freak at times, but she stared back at Akio.
"...you can't expect sudden change even if you're planning to do something this reckless, Akio. I mean...look at Hiro," she pointed a kunai at his direction where he struggled to escape the clutches of two shinobi. She counts the extra bodies, five skilled ninjas, the suspects that have attempted to assassinate their leader, "Doing something like this isn't going to promote him to being a chuunin." She jumps out of the bushes they hid in, throwing her kunai that had a paper bomb attached along with powder, "Get down, Hiro!" A shadow flitted past her, "Akio, stay down!"
"There's two more!" coughed their opponents, Hiro crawled from beneath to join [Name]'s side. She had stunned two, Akio tackled the other three head on, his actions based on instinct. One broke away, running towards her and her injured comrade, but using the forest setting to her advantage, entangled him with vines that sprouted from the grass. "You got this Hiro?" she begins weaving hand signals to entrap the other two using genjutsu, pursuing forward to Akio. However, she is shocked to see the man she had held down intercept her. Peering back, Hiro was gone, and twisting back around, Akio had a katana running through his torso.
"You can't expect sudden change even if you're planning to do something this reckless, Akio," she gasps, perceiving the name she had called out. He looked back at her, shocked by the tears that have pooled behind her lids, overflowing, pouring down her red cheeks. "Ah, no, I didn't mean..." she hiccuped, knowing the agony she had stored away for so long has been unhinged. She staggered, backing away from Gaara who immediately reached for her. He followed as she fell to her knees and covered her face, doing her best to hold in her sobs.
The illusion of her innocence towards him had been chipping away. He is aware now that it had already been shattered, but illusions can always be rebuilt. Her reason to come to Suna was to rebuild herself, to forget, but he was unaware that every meeting of theirs slowly cracked it. The pressure of the previous days must have crushed her. Her shoulders convulsed in his hands, she seemed more fragile than before. Her fists balled on her lap, her head hanging over and leaning on his chest, drops falling to the floor. No, she is broken. He was afraid of holding her, embracing her. He expected her aggravation, her refusal, but he could not predict this incident. Her trembling halted, gaining more control over her voice. Soon, she fell silent.
"Sorry..." she positioned her back towards him. He watches her from behind, sopping the sweat and tears off with her jacket, fiddling with the stray strands of her hair. He also turned opposite from her, pulling a knee up to get comfortable. He twitches from the sudden the company of her back on his. As she thought, she felt small compared to him. If she tilted her head back the top brushed against his neck. She felt comfort in this action, he felt somewhat bubbly, arching himself to close the space between. He felt helpless, having to submit to her making a move for comfort when he is the one who should be providing it.
"Akio...is he and I similar?"
"No, only the words that you spoke was...just about the same," she felt exhausted, drifting in and out. She forgot how physically tiring it was to cry, "You two are nothing alike..." Akio is inexperienced compared to Gaara. The "redemption" he craved was similar though, wanting to gain respect for himself and the other genin, hoping his "heroic" action will show that he is no longer timid. Her eyes felt swollen as they dried, she gave the statement some thought, making a resolution as she laid against him. She did not want to pull, what the villagers back home called, a "Hiro." A horrible nickname for "someone who abandons their comrades," but she never defended his new title. "That's why...whatever you're planning to do, I'm going to follow along whether you like it or not," he didn't envision this reaction either, he expected quite the opposite. "Besides," she reaches for the cap that had fallen on the ground not too long ago. "I like you too much to let you go off alone."
She could feel the pressure leave her back, placing his cap on in order to hide her messy appearance.
"You too," the light returned to illuminating her tear-stained cheeks as the cap is set upon it's original spot. Gaara extends a hand, but doesn't wait for her to take it, he reaches for hers that laid on her lap. She found herself a sap to this gesture of his, less intimate than a hug, but his touch consoling her.
She smiles, shifting the position of their hands into a formal handshake.