Hello! Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy and perhaps honor me with a review. I'd also like to invite you to read my other Gaara fanfiction, which is complete, and more action oriented.
2. Shifting Sands
Hana silently observed the change in their surroundings, often times picking an unfamiliar leaf or flower. Whenever she did this, she quickly discarded the plant, not wanting to draw attention to herself. The others were a few feet ahead of her. She knew she wasn't slowing them down, since she never actually fell behind. She just held back, feeling isolated from the group. They were strangers. They were ninja. She wasn't accepted by them.
"We're almost there now," Temari informed the girl, glancing back at the slender figure cradling a camellia in her hands. "We'll be in the desert soon." They'd been traveling for a couple of days now. Hana was glad she'd get to see a real desert soon.
"Once we hit it, you'll have to stay closer to us," Kankuro stated. "It's easy to get lost in the desert." Hana nodded and glanced back down at the camellia. It was so beautiful, red and full. Suddenly, she threw it in the air and watched with childlike delight as the wind gently carried it to the ground on the side of the path. Then she glanced at the sight unfolding before her. The trees were clearing out into a barren landscape of sand and cracked earth. She took a series of quick steps to catch up with the group, not wanting to get lost.
The siblings paused, all happy to be going home. Hana stared across the landscape. It's so empty, she thought with despair. Maybe the village will have more colorful sights. It's hotter here too. But at least there's a breeze. A hot, dry breeze. Hana frowned a little, not really liking it all. She wasn't sure what she had expected, she had learnt about deserts in school, but she hadn't expected this.
"What do you think, Mayonaka no Hana?" Kankuro asked as they began to walk through the shifting sand.
"I think everyone in the village must suffer from terrible sunburns." He glanced at her and then laughed.
"We have special clothing to protect us from that."
"Oh." She trekked on and when they finally reached Suna, she was relieved. No, she hadn't liked the desert at all.
After a small greeting from some of the villagers, they headed straight to the center of the village, where a round building was. It was obviously the Kazekage building. She wondered if she'd live there. She figured she would, the Tsuchikage lived in his building, but she couldn't be sure. It really didn't matter to her either way. So far, the village was bland. Nothing really peaked her interest.
As they strolled through the village, Hana could hear various whispers about her. It seemed that the rumors and hatred from her village had followed her to Suna. How lovely, she thought solemnly.
Suddenly, they came up to another ninja. Half of his face was covered, and he didn't appear to have hair. "You must be Lady Mayonaka. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Baki," he said, staring down at her.
"Hana," she corrected him softly. "The pleasure is mine, Lord Baki."
"Lady Hana," he responded calmly. She blushed a little, liking the respect but, at the same time, feeling like it was mockery. Gaara glanced at her, noticing the red tint to her cheeks, and then greeted Baki himself, introducing him to Hana as his sensei. Then they went inside.
"Come on, Hana. I'll show you where you can put your pack down," Temari offered, heading to the stairs. Hana followed without hesitation. They went to the third story where various rooms were. Temari opened one door and held it for Hana. "This is your room."
"It's already occupied," she noticed uncertainly.
"It's Gaara's room too." Hana couldn't stop a look of horror flashing across her face. Panic welled in her mind, thinking of all the things that might happen in the room. Would they share a bed too? Probably, since she only saw one bed. Again, those ghosts of fingers trailed down her spine, making her shiver. "You're going to be married soon. Married couples share a room. Besides, Gaara doesn't come in here often anyway. You'll barely notice you're sharing."
"Right. Of course." Hana stepped in hesitantly, glancing around the rectangular room. Temari almost felt bad for her, until she realized how much the girl was gaining with this marriage and how she most certainly didn't deserve it. The Sand Sibling shut the door as she left Hana to herself.
Mayonaka no Hana could hardly breathe as she stared around the room. No, there weren't very many personal belongings, but there were enough that she'd notice. And if she was going to share a bed with Lord Kazekage… Did she really want him to see her in any of her nightgowns?
"I can't think about that right now. I have to stay calm. I want to make a good impression on everybody. I don't want to be hated here," she reminded herself, getting to work putting her clothes in the drawers that had been emptied for her. Suddenly, she heard someone behind her. Hana whipped around, kunai in hand, to face the newcomer. Sand encased her wrists, stopping the attack.
"I thought you weren't a ninja," Gaara said unsurely.
"Lord Kazekage! My apologies. You startled me." She dropped the kunai knife and his sand receded. As Hana waited for some sort of reprimanding, she tried to figure out how he managed to sneak up on her. She hadn't heard a single footstep, or even the door. He probably used some sort of transportation jutsu.
Her reaction time was instantaneous. If it wasn't for my sand, I doubt I would have dodged the attack, Gaara noticed silently. "Dinner is ready," he said instead. She nodded and followed him to the dining room. The other Sand Siblings, along with Baki, were already there. Gaara sat at the head of the table, and she sat to his left.
"Do you have any hobbies, Hana?" Kankuro asked, trying to start a pleasant conversation. He still didn't like her, but he admitted that he knew almost nothing about her. Besides, he had yet to see her ugly side.
"No."
"Then what do you do in your spare time?"
"I train."
"And when you're not training?"
"I'd walk along the mountain paths above the village and clear my head."
"Nothing else?"
"No." This was said with slight hostility. She didn't like people butting into her business. And there was her fear of being discovered. Hana's father had long ago beaten her hobbies out of her. Hana enjoyed making sculptures, and used to spend hours on her creations, but, when Seiji found out, he destroyed every sculpture he could get his hands on. He thought she should be devoting her time to becoming a ninja. Hana still sculpted, but she did it privately and without anyone knowing. Only Kaito knew of her secret.
"If you spend all your spare time training, how are you not a ninja?" Temari inquired.
"I don't have the skills for it."
"Then why train?"
"Because my very existence dishonors, not only my clan, but my village. And now that dishonor has been passed on to you."
There's the smart mouth, Kankuro deemed. "You say that like we've been fooled," he noticed. Dark purple eyes flashed over to him, sincerely surprised by the statement.
"That's not what I meant," she responded immediately. "This marriage was arranged with the sole intention of strengthening alliances between Suna and Iwa. The only reason why someone more worthy of the position wasn't offered is because Iwa can't spare any shinobi. We're shorthanded enough as is. But I'm not going to lie and say that I'm bringing any honor to the name of Lord Kazekage. I know what I am and I know what I'm not. The only honor that will be made out of this marriage will go to Lord Kazekage for putting the village before his own pride."
"Well, at least we're all on the same page," Kankuro muttered. It looks like I'm not going to get any relief from the hostilities of the village in this home, Hana realized. Not all that surprising though.
The girl turned back to her meal and studied it, feeling nauseous at the thought of eating. A strip of black silk fell out from behind her ear, soon followed by blue. I have to eat or I'll be insulting their hospitality. And I need to watch my mouth or I'll cause unnecessary trouble between the villages. She forced herself to swallow a piece of salted tongue.
"Lady Hana, please tell us more about yourself," Baki began, reattempting to start conversation with the girl.
"There's not much to tell," she admitted. "My mother died when I was young and my father remarried soon after. I've never had a likeable personality, and I don't tend to like anybody else. I've trained since the time I could walk but I've never succeeded in becoming a ninja. This upsets my father and his wife and so we've never gotten along. That's all."
"In other words, you shut yourself off from the rest of the world when you failed to meet your father's standards?" Temari rephrased it. Not my father's standards, the clan's standards, the village's standards. Everywhere I go I am met by glares of despise and loathing. Nasty rumors follow me about, some with so much force that I have no choice but to make them true lest I go insane. Even here, in this very room, at this very table, I am not safe. I see it in your eyes. You all hate me as well, Hana retorted silently.
"I was born a string in a world of swords," she answered instead.
"Perhaps your failure is because you lack conviction," the kunoichi responded. Gaara observed all of this in silence. His fiancée was peculiar and he wished to know more about her. Her lack of response hinted at a key personality trait: she wouldn't be drawn into a conversation that would lead to an argument. She was level-headed and was obviously thinking about more than just herself. Mayonaka no Hana was brutally honest, but she had the ability to be diplomatic when she tried.
"You don't have a comeback?" Kankuro demanded. Again, silence. "Well, come on!"
"Kankuro," Gaara intervened calmly. "Let her be." Purple eyes glanced up in surprise, the inner turmoil slowly dissipating. No one had ever stood up for her before. Even Kaito, the closest person she had to a friend, was only kind in secret. Around others, he would regard her in cold, understandable silence. Sometimes he'd throw in a nice word or two about her training to ease tension in the room, but that was all.
"You shouldn't marry her, Gaara! Even if it is for the sake of the village. She sits there, moping like a spoiled brat without realizing how fortunate she is. No one deserves to be bound to such a woman!" Hana's hands curled into fists and the last of her self-control snapped.
"Fortunate! What part of my situation is fortunate! I…," she trailed off, trying to calm herself, to be level-headed again. When she spoke again, her voice was as cold as ice, "I don't know why I bother. A ninja like you will never understand." So, she has a breaking point, Gaara noted. And it appears that she loathes shinobi. He could see it then. Her childhood wasn't much different from his, but, instead of being feared, she was hated for being a sore disappointment. She had been isolated by the village for it and, being her unique person, she handled it differently. She, like Gaara, had come to hate those who had caused her pain, but she had never been rescued. She still stood in that shadow, waiting for a ray of light.
"That was uncalled for, from both of you. You're siblings now. Act like it," Baki stepped in. Hana shook, hearing the same words echo in her head but in her father's voice.
"You're not better than me! I'm going to be a ninja, too, one day!"
"You couldn't be a ninja even if someone made you into a puppet!" Eri shouted back.
"That's enough, both of you! You're siblings now. Act like it!"
"But, Father…"
"I said that's enough, Hana! Go to your room!" Her lower lip quivered, moisture building in her eyes as she fled away from the new family, the family she didn't belong to.
"My apologies, Lord Baki," she responded coolly. Kankuro clenched his jaw but said nothing. As long as she knew her place…
After dinner, Hana headed back to her room to wash and get ready for the night. Gaara escorted her, making sure the newcomer didn't get lost. "Thank you, Lord Kazekage," she muttered as she entered the room. Gaara tilted his head in acknowledgement and followed behind her. She was calm about this, realizing it was his room as well.
"May I help you with anything?" he asked as she began to rummage through her drawers.
"That's the washroom, correct?" Hana reconfirmed, pointing to the second door in the room. He nodded. "Well, that's all. Thank you!" She tried her sweetest smile but it had no effect. The girl stood awkwardly, eyes downcast and arms wrapped around her nightgown. The redhead, unsure of what to do himself, stood just as awkwardly. He could command armies but this was beyond his area of expertise.
"Excuse me," Gaara finally muttered, leaving her to herself. He'd let Hana become familiarized first before he asked any requests of her. Since she obviously despised shinobi, it wouldn't be beneficial to assert his authority over her in any way. Besides, she was going to be his wife; he'd have to treat her like it.
A steady breath of air escaped pink lips as Hana was left to her own devices. Quickly, she took a shower and changed, wanting to be done before Lord Kazekage returned. She retired early, tired from the journey and not seeing any point to staying up.