Quick Note: To answer a review asking their ages, Gaara is 14 when he and Akira first meet, but is close to turning 15. Temari and Kankuro are 15/16 respectively. And as far as Akira is aware she is 14 like Gaara.
But thank you all for the reviews, enjoy!
Chapter 2 (Blame It on Bad Luck)
Temari sighs as she presses a hand against the hard-oak front door. She could feel the grain of the wood under her fingers as she stares at the letters she received. Her heart flutters with the news of peace talks with Konoha and she knows having allies would be good for the village. And having that little orange brat around would help her own redhead brat. The crisp white paper under her fingers folds easily as she tucks it away for Baki to see later.
She almost manages to tread her way back to the living room before a knock sounds at her door. She opens it to a smaller ninja and immediately recognizes them and she sighs heavily.
Her eye twitches as she closes them and gives an exasperated smile. "Don't tell me."
The flowers she bought has cost a pretty penny considering they were in the middle of the desert, but she isn't entirely sure what else to send. She and Akira trained together, had gotten lunches a few times, and had exchanged books and scrolls but that is the extent of it. Temari is blunt in everything she does but Akira is only blunt in her answers and often thought of others ahead of herself. Temari couldn't say she thought of everyone but she does think of her brothers. And now Akira.
She shifts the flowers in her arms and frowns as soft petals fell against the floor. She pauses a second at the crimson petal against the floor and wonders briefly if having a few red flowers in her arrangement had been a bad idea. Gaara has started wearing red to symbolize that the color no longer has a control over him but the petal on the floor now looks too much like a drop of blood for her liking.
Spreading her fingers wide, she channels chakra into her hand and focuses on shaping it into a gust of wind. Slowly and with more effort than she wants the petal rises and lands gently in her hand. She studies the deep red of the petal against the alabaster of her hand and sighs. Better to be safe than sorry she figures as she closes her hand around the petal and turns back down the hall until Gaara bumps into her.
She almost swears as they collide, and the usual rough wall of sand isn't there to stop her. He has gotten better at allowing his siblings in, but it was times like this that made her wish he had the foresight to keep it up occasionally. She glares at Gaara who looks back confused as her glare melts away to a smile.
"Here." Her tone is sweet as she shoves the flowers into Gaara's arms who frowns.
"Wha-?"
"Akira is injured again; different mission and I would like you to know my friends. Maybe they can be yours too. I'm not doing this out of pity," she adds seeing his eyes narrow. She looks her brother in the eyes as she takes a breath. "You're not a monster in human skin. You're my brother and I want others to see you as I do."
Mint eyes stare into her teal ones. Mother is there in the corners of his eyes, and the slimness of his fingers from what Temari has started to see. He wasn't entirely Father and he would be more than he was. Father had been the monster. She would help him see that. And when did he get so tall? He is coming up to her own height now chasing Kankuro who already sprouted to be a few inches taller than her.
Gaara studies his sister for a moment and nods. He could visit this strange girl again even as Shukaku growls at the thought. Shukaku personally didn't like the girl but Gaara ignores him, he didn't like anyone.
Gaara eventually finds her and the nurses are more skeptical than last time. The demon boy with crimson hair and gorgeous cold sea form eyes, carrying a beautiful assortment of flowers to a girl in the hospital. The staff is hesitant to hand her over this time around, but they ultimately do, better her than them. She isn't even a fully registered citizen of Suna yet.
Akira doesn't light up when she sees him, she's engulfed in a book Temari had dropped off earlier. She glances at Gaara and gives him something akin to a small smile and nods. He nods back as he sets the flowers down and Akira finishes her page before looking at him.
"You know you could just bring me a cactus, I'm sure they're cheaper than flowers." He pauses at that, plants had been interesting him recently. The life they had and represented, how they didn't judge and fear but relied on him nonetheless. He decides she meant it offhandedly and shakes his head.
"My sister insists on flowers." 'And she insists that I come with them.' He thinks but doesn't add, he's not bitter he finds. Just interested and confused by this girl who tilts her head curiously at him.
"Then tell her my favorite flower comes from a cactus. I mean I don't have a favorite, but I'd rather have something harder to kill. Flowers don't keep well in the desert." She gives him a small giggle at the simple logic and he keeps a blank face as she chuckles again. He used to find laughter grating, loud, obnoxious and yet….
"It's still obnoxious." Shukaku hisses as he shifts in the cage Gaara built him. But Gaara disagrees, maybe it's because it isn't a full laugh. Maybe it's because what she said doesn't have much humor or anything other than logic to it, but overall, he doesn't hate it.
"So, is Temari actually busy or did she just guilt trip you again?" she asks curious and Gaara raises a shoulder. He's gotten better at moving like a human; now if feeling like one wasn't so terribly confusing.
"She isn't busy, and she wanted me to come, she wants us to be friends." Akira blinks surprised and shrugs.
"Well if you want to try and be friends, would you like to come over for a cup of tea?" She offers and wonders for a moment if her mother would kill her for this later. If she doesn't die tonight first.
She heard the stories of the demon boy who hailed from Suna and helped destroyed Konoha. Had been warned by Temari of her youngest brother when she came but was also told how he was changing. She does care on some instinctual level, and knows to be cautious, but even now she isn't afraid as Gaara tilts his head forward and accepts the invitation.
She isn't afraid because even if Gaara is an actual demon, she has seen worse.
Much worse.
Gaara waits until she's released from the hospital that night. She had barely succeeded in her mission, having it be a two-man team, she sent ahead her teammate and had taken on a group of three. She had succeeded in defeating two of them but the third caught her in a genjutsu and sliced her calf trying to prevent her from running. He hadn't known it would break her out of the jutsu and allow her time to heal herself while she acted as if she was still caught. He didn't stand a chance from what she told him in the hospital, yet the council still was unimpressed with the events since she had managed to get injured on yet another mission.
That was almost an hour ago, however, and when she finally leaves she looks to the top of the building and starts to wave. Sand moves beneath her feet and she tenses, crouching a bit as she's pulled up in the air. Gaara understands, everyone is shaken their first time around as he lets her land next to him. Sand whirls around the two of them and she barely has a second to take a breath or get a mouth full of sand before they're outside her house again.
She smiles fully at him when she realizes where they are, and he takes a second to take it in. She still isn't scared of him as she leads him into her house.
The house is smaller than the others but given it's just her mother and Akira here, he isn't surprised. They made it homey in its own right with chocolate brown furniture against the sandy colored walls, a small coffee table with a book shelf is pressed against the far wall between a door and a staircase. The dining table is a small square table of worn mahogany with scratches and initials carved into it. The kitchen has the basic appliances, but the thing Gaara notices most of all are the plants. Large pots housing taller cacti and smaller pots that hang from the ceiling in various corners hold more fragile plants of the desert. The number of small knickknacks laying around and scrolls, books, pictures. He pauses as he looks at the chaos. The clutter. The life.
It distracts him from Shukaku grumbling in his head at this exchange.
Akira points to the scratched table as Gaara removes his gourd and smoothly settles it against a vacant chair with a small thud. She gives him another small smile before moving to the kitchen. He sits as she prepares the tea and he traces some of the scratches on the table as he answers some of her questions regarding things his sister may like, and what else in Suna he prefers. He also listens on how adjusting has been for her though she hasn't made it entirely clear where she's from yet. He listens and answers and waits and observes.
Akira isn't bothered by his mint eyes staring at her as she moves comfortably around her kitchen and prepares the tea. She assumes he must have his own questions and is simply waiting for her to be done. Still though, she can't help some nerves in her, the animal instinct telling her this is wrong, but she takes a breath as she sits down across from him and he thanks her for the tea. He watches as she takes a sip before taking his own. He doesn't think she would try to kill him, but there was always the chance.
"Why aren't you scared?" he starts before she can get a word in. Hell, he's almost sure the savory bitter tea is still in her throat when he asks as she swallows and looks at him.
"Do you know why we moved? Do you know where we moved from?" she asks tilting her head she stirs her cup on the table. The noise of the cup sliding over the table loud in his silence.
"No."
"We moved from Konoha directly after the Suna invasion. My mother saw you and decided that if the village had a demon, why not join the winning team. She was raised by mercenaries originally before they settled. She believes in loyalty only to her family and she raised my brother and I better." She slides her hand over to a pair of initials on the table and smiles gently. "We have different fathers, mine and his are dead, and he's five years older than me but we've always been thick as thieves. He stayed in Konoha since he's old enough. I didn't want mom to be alone." She slides her hand back and takes a breath.
"Anyway, I have heard the stories, the rumors of the demon boy in the sand village. I'm not stupid, I put two-and-two together thanks to Temari. Frankly," she pauses and tilts her head at him. "I've seen worse."
"What do you mean worse?" he asks as Shukaku snorts in his head.
"Who the hell is this gir-."
"I was kidnapped from Konoha at the age of six and held captive for six months. My mother managed to find me and get me out. I have scars, but I have no memory of this. The Third Hokage decided that due to my age and the trauma it would be best if they were sealed away." She taps a finger against her temple before she looks at her cup and sighs as she drains the rest of it. Leaning forward in her chair, her arms against the table, she looks into Gaara's eyes unafraid as she finishes.
"I don't want to pretend to know your history. And I don't care about it because you're changing. You're putting it behind you, learning from it, not letting it define you, and the day you tell me your history, I will spill the rest of mine. But you don't scare me. You have a demon sealed in you. Those men. The horrors they committed, not only to me, but to other children." She shakes her head leaning back and frowns as she closes her eyes. "I guess what I'm trying to say is you had evil sealed in you, those men were simply born with it. That's why you don't scare me. Because if you were truly terrible you wouldn't be trying to change."
Silence meets her and a part of her is worried she has overstepped as she opens her eyes and sees Gaara looking down at the table. Shukaku's laughter is loud in his ears and for some reason that's not the only reason he's trembling.
Temari has seen it, he's sure of that, that's why she wanted them to meet, to become friends. Akira is blunt, polite, friendly, and reminds him of Naruto with how she addressed his past so effortlessly. With knowing some pain of loneliness despite a family and acknowledging she also doesn't want to try and pretend they have the same level of trauma.
"I like this girl, she thinks she's seen worse then me?!" Shukaku cackles once again before settling though Gaara can tell he's excited as he takes a breath and meets her gaze.
Concern is written all over her face. "Do you want some more tea? I'm sorry if I overstepped." She says as she raises and pours him some more tea. He hadn't realize he has drained his original cup and savors the warm liquid as it steadies him.
"I did a lot of things monsters would do. And I understand why Temari wanted us to meet."
"I'm not absolving you, but you do have a literal monster inside you. And yeah Temari was taken aback at my lack of uncaring. No one should let their past define them though. It's in the past for a reason." She mutters as she sips her tea and Gaara pauses looking at her.
"You can't-."
"I said my memories were sealed away. I didn't say they stayed that way. I am slowly remembering, and I take it one day at a time. But until we are more fully comfortable with each other let's leave it at that." She doesn't smile when she offers a hand as Gaara nods and shakes it.
"Now I do have some things I would like to talk about." Gaara raises a brow.
"Such as?"
"Temari put it as having triggers. I don't need to know what they are, if you're uncomfortable. Just how to help and I want you to know my help is available any time. I usually don't sleep at night so if you need a quiet place with warm tea, my door is open. I prefer if you're honest with me. Logically speaking being honest helps relationships and maybe you don't need to tell me if I look fat or not or if I'm weak but tell me if I've done something to piss you off, and if there's something I can do to help." She says all of this with a shrug and sips her tea as Gaara stares, eyes narrowed trying to read her.
"Where do your loyalties lie?" he asks as Akira tilts her head toward him.
"First of all, to the village. I would give my life as a Suna shinobi, and if you're talking about between you and your sister. I told her these same things, only not the trigger part, but she is welcomed over as well as you."
This is a lot for Gaara, the house, the tea, Shukaku deciding he liked this girl. And now she is asking for him to trust her. Is it really this hard-?
"Hey, you don't have to accept this now. You don't have to accept it tomorrow either. I want to trust you and in return I hope you decide to trust me. But let's just start with this. One day at a time." She reaches forward across the table again only stopping barely a touch away from his hand. He hadn't realized he has pressed his palm flat against the table, and that he is clutching his head with his other hand as though it is in pain. He meets her eyes then and nods. Akira smiles at him softly before she turns and pulls out a scroll.
"I thought maybe you would like this? It has some mythology in it regarding Suna. Stories not commonly told anymore from my gathering, but I've only lived here a year." She presses the scroll into Gaara's hand. A peace offering. A start. He nods and thanks her gruffly as he sips his tea.
This would take some getting used to. This trust he is going to have to place in her, this tentative bond that is forming. They weren't blood related, not like him and his siblings. And she would never fully understand the hatred at oneself, at society, not like how Naruto understood him. But this is a change.
And Kami knows he needs a change.
-End- Song Choice: Blame It on Bad Luck by Bayside is basically Akira's mentally to a lot of things. Like shit happens and you deal with it. I also like to think the song is a good choice for Gaara as he's trying to turn his life around. As he is clawing his way back up and out of this grave he was in. Interestingly enough, this story is going a bit darker than I had originally planned. But given Shukaku is here, I am not entirely surprised.
Well I hope you enjoyed it. Until next time!
