"Hya!" I yelled, blasting chakra through my palms as I threw a sword towards another set of wooden dummies. Their necks splintered apart in an instant, sending one of their wooden heads barreling in my direction. I quickly steadied my breathing and twisted my body, ignoring the sweat running down my face and sending a roundhouse kick in the air that collided with the debris. It flew back in the other direction and I returned to an upright position.
Taking a deep breath, I spun around and called on my chakra once more before forming quick hand signs and slamming my fists on the ground.
"Earth Style: Rolling Ground Jutsu!"
The sand began to ripple and roll away from myself, gaining incredible height the farther my attack spread. It was as if I managed to turn the solid ground into liquid, if only for a moment, as the sand replicated the action of waves in the ocean. The rippling ground collided with more training dummies 50 kilometers away, weakening their forms and ripping them apart as the sand devoured them.
I let out a long exasperated breath that I didn't realize I was holding as I realized the ground was still vibrating off my hands. It was an odd sensation, creating a warmth in my palms that I wasn't accustomed to. Dismissing the sudden realization as an aftershock from my jutsu, I placed my hands on my knees. The wind was particularly absent today, and I silently wished for a breeze to waft by to cool myself down. The sun was only just peeking over the horizon, and I decided that I probably had about an hour before I had to be at Gaara's office. I smiled down at the sand before straightening my back.
Things between Gaara and I have been pretty easy going for the past week, ever since our two a.m. tea. Knowing that we shared something, even something as small as lack of sleep, seemed to make me feel more comfortable around him, and I think he noticed that. We shared more conversation now, most of which was still centered around being Kazekage and the village, but it was progress. He was opening up more, slowly but surely, and so was I. The awkward tension that once was, was now almost gone, and he seemed to be more at ease because of it.
He almost seemed more human somehow.
Maybe I could actually ask him soon...
I let out another breath, and suddenly I was torn from my thoughts as I began to hear a slow clap emerging from behind me.
I quickly grabbed a kunai from my pouch and spun around in a defensive stance, but immediately dropped my guard upon seeing who it was.
"Very impressive. That last jutsu did a lot of damage," Kankuro admitted, gesturing to the now absent training dummies on the other side of the grounds.
My face turned red without my consent as I gave him a closed eye smile.
"Yeah, I guess. I didn't really realize that I had an audience..." I trailed off, wiping my brow on the sleeve of my jacket. "How long have you been here?"
"About twenty minutes or so."
I cocked an eyebrow at him and he chuckled.
"Sorry," he said, placing a hand behind his head awkwardly. "Guess I should have announced myself sooner, but I assumed you'd be able to sense me, what with your skills and all."
He winked at me and grinned, causing me to roll my eyes.
"I guess I just wasn't paying attention," I said, simultaneously cracking my knuckles. He stood and stared at me for a moment with a twinkle in his eye before subtly shaking his head and smirking.
"Anyway," he started, "Gaara sent me out here to find you. He, uh, wanted you to meet him in his office a little earlier than usual. Apparently he has some stuff he has to go over with you."
"Like what?" I asked a bit too quickly, trying to rack my brain for anything I might have done wrong in the past couple days.
Gaara's never asked for me to show up early before...
He seemed to notice my change in mood and put his hands up in defense.
"Hey, by the way he talks about you I'm sure its not anything bad. Don't worry so much," he smirked at me and I tilted my head slightly.
The way he...? Wait, he talks about me?
"Oh okay, um," I stuttered, not sure why my face was heating up again. "Let me run home for a quick second. Tell him I'll be there shortly."
~~~~~
Gaara's POV
I stared down at Amarante's file in my hands, at her photo. Her younger self looked up at me from the image, eyes speaking to me as they always did. They used a language I was quiet fluent in. Pain.
I sighed.
This girl, she was so confusing. I'd never met another individual that hurt my head more than her, other than maybe Naruto when we first met.
"How many times are you going to sit there and go through her file?"
A voice I knew well broke me from my thoughts. I didn't bother looking up as she finished her question.
"Why are you here, Temari?" I quipped, slowly closing the manila folder in my hands and picking up a piece of mail from my right. She always had a knack of showing up when I wanted to be alone.
Temari smirked as she stalked closer to my desk, "I saw Kankuro leave and just wanted to see how you're doing, how you're feeling."
She placed emphasis on her last word and I shot her a dull glance, taking note of her wide grin before going back to reading my mail.
"I feel fine," I responded coldly. She rolled her eyes.
"That's not what I meant," she scolded, coming up to the right side of my desk and crossing her arms. I finished scanning the report from an ongoing escort mission and began writing a response as silence fell between us. Temari made an impatient noise beside me.
"I don't see why you don't just invite her over more," she said. I continued writing.
"Who?" I asked, not entirely paying attention. I quickly signed the bottom of my response and rolled the piece of paper into a tube before burning sealing wax onto the edge, closing the document.
"Tch. Amara, of course," she reprimanded. At the mention of her name I looked up and locked eyes with Temari as she continued. "I can tell that you've warmed up to her over the course of her new assignment. So tell me, has anything changed between the two of you?"
Understanding sparked in my mind as she asked her question. My assumptions were correct, she had been up to something when she gave Amarante this assignment. But what she was up to, I was still unsure of.
"I think that she feels less threatened now," I conceded, allowing my eyes to fall on the paperwork in front of me again. I absentmindedly grabbed another piece of mail.
"Is that so?" She quickly leaned over my desk, placed both her palms atop my work causing me to give her my attention again. Her face held an excited expression. "What happened?"
"We had tea," I slowly stated after a moment, looking back down at my papers. "Can you please move your hands?"
Temari looked down and seemed to realize she was covering my work as she took a step back. Her face held a smirk and her eyes twinkled as if she knew something I didn't.
"So, you had tea?" She was trying to sound nonchalant as she lifted her arm to look down at her nails. "When did this happen?"
As she continued to question me, the door to my office swung open and an unannounced Kankuro waltzed in with a grin playing on his features. I gave him a long look before returning my gaze to the papers in front of me. I didn't feel like wasting my breath on reprimanding him for his unprofessionalism yet again.
"Temari, I am trying to work," I said calmly, closing my eyes in an effort not to get upset at her prying. I didn't understand why I suddenly felt uncomfortable under her gaze. Her words were clearly beginning to get to me. I shook my head, telling myself that I should be used to this. She always tried annoyingly hard to get me to open up, be kinder, share more, but this time it seemed unusually intrusive.
"Yeah, Temari, he's trying to work," Kankuro agreed in a childish tone, sticking his tongue out at his sister. She rolled her eyes in response, ignoring him.
"Amara should be here any minute, I found her at the training grounds," he added as he made himself at home in the chair to my side, designated for Amarante.
I nodded to him as Temari let out an exasperated sigh, seeming to ignore Kankuro's words once more.
"I'm just trying to help, little brother. I know how important she is to you."
My eyes shot open at to her words as I quickly looked down at the papers in my hands.
I know how important she is to you.
The words echoed again in my head. Was Amarante that important to me? So important that other people could see it as well? I suddenly started to feel insecure as I felt my stomach ache. What was this feeling? I... I wasn't sure. I shook my head slowly, trying to convince myself that it was nothing. Of course she was important to me, she was an elite shinobi, one of the best sensory types in the whole village. My reasoning was valid.
"She is a Suna shinobi, of course she is important," I agreed gruffly. Temari let out another sigh beside me.
"Gaara, you really are hopeless."
Kankuro made a noise of agreement next to me as he grabbed a pen from my desk, balancing it on his fingertips with ease.
Suddenly, there was a small thud across the room as Amarante appeared in front of us. Her hair was damp, clinging to the side of her head and allowing her ears to stick out slightly on either side. She was looking down at her hands, holding an object in her palms.
"Sorry I would have been here sooner but I had to take a quick shower after my training," she admitted with a smile, not looking up yet. "I brought you this book for when you decide to take a break from working--"
Her words cut off and her smile slipped from her face as she finally shifted her gaze from her hands. Her eyes landed on Temari to my right, then shifted to Kankuro on my left, and her cheeks grew rosy.
I had to stifle my reaction as I felt another pain in my gut.
What's happening to me?