He had changed. Once again. Seemed older, taller, more experienced. Well. The job as Kazekage played a decisive role in this. Many tasks were imposed on him. On top of that, he first had to earn the trust of his subordinates. Gaara looked tired. As he always did. But this time it seemed particularly pronounced.
His turquoise gaze crossed with mine. His eyes widened a little before he narrowed them. Not good. He wanted an explanation. I swallowed before my legs shakily started to move. Practiced, I put the katana back into its sheath.
A few meters away from him, I landed silently on the ground before heading straight for him. Temari had gotten off him and began to examine the wounds of the others while a Medic Nin began to heal them.
„Please Sensei Gai, we are dying of hunger here."
I abruptly changed direction when I heard Choji's slightly whiny voice. The black-haired man seemed slightly taken by surprise. Taking advantage of this moment, I pushed myself between the two of them and held out a few of the stolen rolls and some of the wrapped cheese to the Akimichi.
My counterpart's eyes opened wide with surprise before gratitude began to show in them. His fingers began to tremble as he carefully reached for the food and then gave me a big hug. Wow, he had strength. I patted his back uncertainly before he pulled away from me again.
„Thank you, Tora. You're really worth your weight in gold."
I waved him off with a grin.
„That's each of us in our own way. Even though we're supposed to be enemies here. You shouldn't let anyone down, should you?"
The brown-haired man nodded vigorously before joining Ino and Sakura to show them the food. A smile crept onto my face. Now I still had the other half to share with my team and with... My eyes slid to the girl with the mint green hair, who was performing her victory dance up there on the back of the motionless scorpion. She still didn't seem to want to be disturbed by anything or anyone.
„She reminds me of someone I haven't seen for a long time," said a deep voice behind me. As if of its own accord, a smile appeared on my face. He was thinking of the same person as me. And actually, the parallels were easy to recognize. A similar untamed nature. The need to communicate with everyone and everything and to make friends. The hyperactive behavior. All of this pointed to countless similarities to Naruto.
„I know..." was my quiet reply. My gaze flitted to him hesitantly, unsure whether I should confront him with the truth or not. That she not only resembled Naruto in character, but was also a Jinjuuriki like him and the Uzumaki.
The redhead caught my gaze and nodded imperceptibly. He knew, had probably sensed the immense chakra emanating from her.
„She's just like you two."
„You like her because she reminds you a lot of Naruto."
I tilted my head slightly without looking at him.
„It's a little creepy that you already know me so well...but earlier...you should have seen her when I offered her friendship. Fu was like a different person, like...she couldn't believe it. And that realization that she wasn't expecting it hurt me so much."
He just nodded and remained silent.
„I will overlook the fact that you broke the rules, after all, I know your motives. However, should something like this happen again..."
I understood the unspoken warning. Of course I did. Otherwise he would end up being accused of not being consistent or strict enough, of favoring some genin or something similar. After all, he was the Kazekage and that wouldn't go down well at all... speaking of which.
„Ehhh... do I have to address you formally now?", it slipped out of me and promptly the unpresent eyebrow moved north.
„Well..., because you're Kazekage now and all that...", I pressed.
Help. Somehow this situation was quite embarrassing for me. But my counterpart remained unsurprisingly calm. As was usual for him. Only a very slight smile flitted across his lips before he took another step towards me.
„Still Gaara to all my friends," he said barely audibly before moving away from me again. The statement made me feel warm all over. It was nice to hear that he equated himself with us, so to speak, and that we didn't have to address him by that title.
„Go now and take the little one with you," said Temari, who suddenly appeared next to us, her hands clasped at her sides as so often. My gaze wandered to Fu, who was snoring on the scorpion's back. I grinned crookedly. Definitely like Naruto. He could saw a whole jungle within minutes with his snoring. It was no different here.
I quickly jumped up to her and put one of her arms around my shoulders. More asleep than awake, she stumbled along beside me until I finally gave up and gave the girl with the mint-colored hair a piggyback ride. She was really light. All the better.
I nodded briefly to Temari, Gaara and a rather tired-looking Gai before leaving the square and entering the building. Only now that I was surrounded by warmth did I realize how cold it had become outside. Hopefully no one had caught cold. I knew all too well how unpleasant a cold could become.
I knocked softly on the door of the room and listened. Hurried footsteps could be heard before one of Fu's teammates opened the door for me. His eyes widened in surprise when he recognized the girl on my back.
„But that's..."
He hastily stepped aside to let me in. I walked quickly across the room to the next room. All the guest rooms here were furnished in the same way. The girls' on the left and the boys' on the right.
I gently laid Fu down on the bed and covered her up. Mumbling something unintelligible, she turned to the side and curled her fingers into the blanket. As peacefully as she lay there now, apart from the slightly quieter snoring, you would never guess that she was actually very active and hyper.
Knowing that the eyes of Fu's teammates were watching me, I turned around and walked towards the door. I stopped on my heel and turned my body a little so that our eyes met.
„Take good care of her. Not everyone should know what Fu is," I said quietly.
From his stiffened posture, I assumed he had understood me perfectly. It was so important that no one found out what she was. It was enough that many people knew about Naruto and Gaara. And that fact alone worried me.
Naruto seemed to be out of danger wherever he was, but Gaara... he had a lot of envious people. And many people were still afraid of him. What's more, I had heard much earlier that the Akatsuki organization was very interested in Jinjuuriki. Nobody knew where they were now and what they were planning.
Nevertheless...I would remain vigilant...and do everything I could to protect my friends...whatever it took.
I reached my team's quarters shortly after midnight. Everyone was already asleep. Kiba's soft snoring drifted over to me. I tiptoed to my bags and put the rest of the stolen food inside. I had already stored some of the turkey meat there. Just in case.
We hadn't needed two of the small bottles of water either. All the better. This element was essential for survival on a journey through the desert.
„Where have you been?"
I flinched when Shino suddenly appeared behind me. The moonlight reflected in his dark glasses and the shadows gave him an eerie look. My goodness. He should stop sneaking up on me like that, it was just too creepy sometimes. Still. Shino didn't need to blame me here, after all, he had turned his back on Fu like everyone else.
„With Fu. We got Team 10 out of an uncomfortable situation and afterwards I had a conversation with Gaara," I replied sourly, not hiding my anger.
„You're angry," he said.
Really? Really? I'd forgotten all about that.
„Maybe you are. But I'm not in the mood for a discussion right now. The next part of the exam is tomorrow and I still have a lot to do..."
Shino interrupted me.
„Not now. You need to sleep. We need you in the desert tomorrow. Your senses, your mind. And that's only possible if you get enough rest."
I opened my mouth to object. In a flash, the Aburame took another step forward, pushing his face very close to mine. Even though I couldn't see his eyes, I could already tell that they were piercing me like an eagle's.
Annoyed, I slumped down and finally stood up. Reluctantly, I had to agree with him. Tomorrow, each of us had to be wide awake to meet not only the demands of the desert, but also those of our opponents.
Shino followed my every move without budging. Only when I went to bed did he come to life. The Aburame stood up and turned towards his room without saying a word.
As soon as my head touched the soft pillow, my body told me how tired it was. A soft yawn escaped me before I slipped into the realm of dreams.
I woke up before the sun could move over the sandy hills of the desert. My inner clock had never let me down before. If I made a firm resolution to wake up at a certain time, it usually worked. And so I took one of my fanny packs and the empty water bottles.
My only goal was to go to the canteen to refill the water. After all, we didn't know how long we would be in the desert. We had to be prepared for everything as best we could. The cool sheath of the katana penetrated the thin fabric of my leggings, which I always wore to sleep in. I hadn't bothered to change, as I wanted to be up and in the kitchen before everyone else.
I dropped a few apples and oranges into my bag on the way past the breakfast table. Half of them could serve as breakfast and the rest would go into the rucksack with the rest of the provisions.
The canteen was only partially lit. A single lamp above me provided light. It flickered, a strange noise emanated from it and goose bumps crept up my spine. I certainly didn't feel comfortable. I hurried to fill up the bottles.
When I got to the last one, I quickly put the lid on and tried to close the opening as quickly as possible, which was more than difficult with shaky fingers. Damn. Since when had I been so scared? I'd got a hell of a lot stronger in a year and a half. But was it possible to simply train away a fear of a possible, sudden attack?
Of course.
All the other genin from the other teams were just as keen to achieve the rank of chunin as we were, so many of them didn't care when another team was eliminated. Even if we weren't allowed to fight yet. The main thing was to fight as early as possible. What's more, I was alone. And if I got injured, we'd be out. What a pain. I really had to make sure I got away from here.
The kunai came flying at me out of nowhere. I hastily jumped backwards to avoid the deadly projectile, which shuddered and stuck in the sandy wall. More followed, which I skillfully fended off with a knife. A gust came up and I had to strain to withstand the pressure.
And with the wind came the shuriken, straight from behind. A second opponent. Who was so cowardly as to not show themselves and then fight when outnumbered? I tensed my jaw and dropped to the side. My cheek burned as it was grazed by one of the sharp knives. I deftly rolled my body, got back to my feet and, using raiton chakra, made a few finger signs so quickly that my opponent didn't see them and threw two shuriken in the directions from which the attacks had come.
They immediately multiplied and I could hear the horrified breathing of my opponents, but I was concentrating so hard on them that I didn't even notice what was flying towards me.
There was a crash and I coughed. My eyes were burning. I could only make out blurry figures through the smoke and a dark dot flying towards me. Three of them, these cowards. Out of the darkness, without wanting to show themselves. A letter bomb. Damn. There was something in that smoke. I couldn't move a single limb. I desperately tried to build up the shield around me.
Wind came up and dispersed the smoke that had formed around me. There was a clatter as the small bomb exploded at the back of the room. Still, it didn't seem to be much damage. Life came into my muscles as soon as the smoke was dispelled. I slowly lifted my head, only to look up at a black combat kimono flapping slightly in the wind.
„I think we specifically said that no more fighting was to take place before the second test," a deep voice sounded diagonally behind me.
Footsteps echoed on the tiled floor as the dark-haired man stepped next to me and held out his hand. His fingers were cool as mine gripped his. I stood between the siblings on wobbly legs, still weakened by the strange smoke. My teeth scraped against each other as three shadows emerged from the darker part of the room, slowly stepping into the light.
I knew that team... they were the ninjas from Amegakure. My face screwed up slightly as the girl with the purple hair looked up at Kankuro expressionlessly. No fear or any other emotion showed in the dark eyes.
„Forgive us. It won't happen again, don't worry. We were just looking for something..."
Kankuro let out a hiss, whereupon Temari gave her brother a warning look. The siblings' eyes turned back to the girl in front of them, who was looking at me blankly, not at them. A chill ran down my spine. Why was she staring at me like that?
„Fine. But I think you know that an attack like that won't be without consequences... hey!"
Without listening to her words any longer, the team started moving and headed towards the door. Temari - frozen in her tracks - stared after them, stunned. She didn't seem to be used to this kind of behavior. I might have reacted in a similar way.
„I say we delay the start by two hours so that everyone is in full possession of their powers again and fully prepared this time," Kankuro said, eyeing me and running his hand through his dark hair, the other hand resting on his puppet - which I only noticed now. He looked tired. No wonder. Organizing an exam like this required a lot of energy, after all.
„Then Gaara will have a little more time and won't have to stress himself out so much. Not a bad idea, actually," Temari said, turning to me.
„Lie down for a while and try to catch up on some sleep. Every participant should be one hundred percent fit."
A well-intentioned suggestion that I would put into practice. With a nod, I said goodbye to the two of them before sneaking back along the corridor to my room. Other genin ran towards me in the corridor, startled by the noise and heading towards the canteen. They didn't waste a glance on me.
When I entered my team's quarters, three serious faces looked at me. Kiba's irritated gaze immediately wandered to the spot where the kunai had grazed me. I ignored the Inuzuka as best I could, pressing the water bottles into his hands before shuffling into the adjoining room and dropping my exhausted body on the bed.
Two hours later, I woke up with a wet face. In front of me stood an angry Hinata, hands on her hips, looking down at me, a dripping rag in her hand.
I struggled to get up and shook my wet hair like a dog. My legs felt a lot stronger. Temari had been right. My body had been able to recover well in the time I had been given.
„I'm sorry. I was so focused on preparing our team for the desert that some other important things didn't even cross my mind," I said.
Her eyes softened. She quickly became the shy kunoichi that many people saw in her. But the year and a half of training had changed her. Well..., if she saw Naruto again one day, it would probably look the same, but still. The Hyjuga was much more involved now. She even suggested possible tactics, had helped me develop my new jutsus and I the other way around.
„I know, Tora. Just let us know next time and we'll go as a team."
My head lifted slightly and I nodded silently. She was right. I was an idiot.
A hot wind blew in our faces and I lowered my eyes, blinking. Damn, the sun was blinding like crazy. A perfect start to the second chunin exam. Exposed somewhere in the middle of the so-called demon desert, we were now sitting here, waiting for the starting signal.
Akamaru sneezed as a few grains of sand flew up his nose and shook his massive head. My nerves were stretched to the limit. My hands gripped the straps of the small backpack that contained some of our food. Kiba growled angrily and Akamaru let out an annoyed yelp.
„Well, for my taste, they're keeping us waiting far too long..."
A loud bang sounded and I began to grin. Come on then. Time to show what Team 8 had achieved over the last few years.