A sunburn seared my skin, the contrast between my pale color and the irritated redness was very noticeable. I was always very pale, and it stayed that way. No matter how many times I was burned, no matter how long I ran around in the Suna sun. I would become nice and crispy for a day or two, and then the burn would vanish, leaving no traces that it was ever there.
I carried my belongings in a sack, just to contain all of the books and papers piled onto me. I had a hard time carrying everything without the wind blowing it away. So, I got a bag, courtesy of Nakomi-sensei. For some reason, he just enjoyed stacking me with book after book. This bag was apparently his old one from the academy. The marbles. Extra work packets for me to do when I get bored. A dull set of training kunai and shuriken. A book on chakra control and theories.
He was always handing me something new and I had no clue why, I felt smothered. Did he want something from me? Was he scared of me? Did he pity me? What was it? It was driving me insane, probably in a literal manner.
I took my place next to Gaara as I continued playing with the smallest marble, still trying to figure out the mystery behind it. I've been at it for weeks now, to be honest.
"Alright, everyone, today we will be doing something a little different. You will be assigned a peer to spy on. Your mission is to gather intel on your target, and even befriend them if possible, although you don't want to make it obvious on who your target is. After a month of this project, you will take a guess at who was spying you, and then you will turn in a written report on your target to me." He explained. "Are there any questions?"
"Will anyone have to follow Gaara?" Someone in the front row asked. Gaara shifted beside me.
"Yes, everyone will be included in this activity," Nakomi-sensei responded. "Anything else?"
No one else spoke up. "Alright, well, I have everyone's partners decided, so I will pass you a slip of paper with some general information, and who your person will be. Don't let anyone else see it." He handed out the papers face down on everyone's desk.
He then reached Gaara and I, placing my paper first, and then Gaara's. "Now that I have explained our long term project for this quarter, lets begin with today's lesson."
I spaced out as Nakomi-sensei rambled on, drilling multiplication into our skulls. I took a peak at my paper. My heart skipped in unease at the scribbled words on the white slip. Gaara Sabuku.
Why did everyone want me paired up with Gaara? Couldn't I have gotten someone less nerve-racking, like Yuno? I lived with him, it would've been a piece of cake! But no, I was matched up with Gaara. He would probably end up killing me if I got too close! What's the word? Psychotic.
I sighed, barely being able to concentrate on the marble or my teacher.
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After class came lunch, which I usually skipped. My only meal on an average day consisted of ham, mashed potatoes, and boiled vegetables. With the tiniest bit of seasoning. The only accessory foods I'd have in a day were bread and jerky, which was all I brought for lunch.
I sat on the sandy stone ground of the lunch courtyard, other kids mingling with their friend groups, chowing down their nicely packed lunched, and were those fresh vegetables I saw? That was a blessing in itself.
I took a sip of my water as the sweltering sun poured down on me. Temari and Kankuro were sitting together a little ways away, eating their vegetables and fresh, warm bread. And jerky. Decent jerky with spices, not a ton of salt, meat aged just right.
I only got stale bread sometimes, whenever the local baker sends the leftovers to the orphanage. The village troupes would give us leftover rations of jerky and the butcher would sometimes leave scraps.
Then there was the very 'generous' donations from various merchants on the search for profit. Although these donations were spoiled, rotten, or outright inedible. On the other hand, we gained enough money afford our own ham, rice, potatoes, and jerky for the month.
So, Reena-san handed Yuno and I our bagged lunches for the day. I ate like a prisoner during war times.
I looked over to Gaara, who was sitting not too far away from his siblings, eating what looked like some kind of meat, bread, and celery sticks. I remembered that as I continued eating. I didn't notice as a face glanced towards me.
.
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.
Tonight Gaara wasn't here, probably off spying on his target. I wondered who he matched with. I felt pity for the poor sap.
I played around with the cool marble at my fingertips for a few moments, until I abruptly heard a soft crash in the nearby alleyway. I sat up quickly; grains of sand clinging to my backside as I looked around. A black cat hastily scurried from the alleyway out into the street.
It was all skin and bones, with pure, black fur and round, owlish green eyes. I watched the cat as it jumped onto an empty stall in front of the alleyway. It groomed it's loose fur. I doubt it saw me as I approached the thing.
Maybe it could be my friend?
Just as I got close to the stall the cat stared at me for a few seconds, before running off and down the street.
I let a sigh escape my lips. I guess not.
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After a week of school, it was finally Saturday! The day of the blessed! As I sat at the table, Reena-san placed a plate in front of each of the kids, speaking as she did so, "Yuno, Himoko. Your teacher told me to tell you that you both should work on your physical training. Himoko, work more on your chakra control, and Yuno work more on your academic grades, and chakra control."
I stared down at my food; a slice of fried ham, a small of bread, and some water. It's something.
I quickly devoured my meal and got up to leave the orphanage. "Yuno! I have a book on chakra theory if you're interested! Its under my bed!" I called to my classmate as I left the orphanage.
So, I had to work on chakra control, which was basically just saying, "figure out the marbles." I had to exercises, too. I hated it in my past life, but in this one, it wasn't terrible. Then I got an idea...
I took off running around the village with quiet footsteps, flowing my chakra into my legs as I ran faster. Yes, I ran faster, but I ran louder, too. I didn't want to be caught, that's exactly what gets you killed in this world.
I drew back my chakra and grew quieter, but I also got slower. I huffed. So I took away more, still nothing new. The trick was obviously not to take away or add chakra, so what was it?
I was frustrated that I couldn't figure out this stupid puzzle. I continued my run, messing with the marble in my fingertips. I stopped. Then I thought of something.
I pushed part of my chakra into my feet, and began running once again. This time it sounded slightly quieter, but I was still running at the same pace. It made sense, since I applied chakra solely to my feet, rather than my whole legs.
I thinly streamed chakra into my legs, feeling the energy spread out through my leg muscles. I was noisier, but not as much as before.
Another idea. Shifting the chakra to only my toes and the fronts of my feet. Maybe I should change the way I'm running? I ran, although only ever letting the front of my foot touch the ground.
Nearly silent.
I beamed to myself as I dashed across the sand, messing around with the marble.
Then, out of the blue, I bumped into something and fell down to my butt. "Watch where you're going-jan!" A familiar voice complained.
"Sorry! I wasn't paying attention!" I exclaimed as I quickly got up and held my hand out towards Kankuro. He glared at me slightly and ignored my hand, dusting sand off of his clothes.
"What were you doing-jan?"He asked, crossing his arms.
"Oh, well I was just experimenting with chakra control," I explained, rubbing the back of my head sheepishly. I then realized something. "Oh, no! I lost it!" I sighed in distress as I dropped to the ground and began looking for the little marble.
Kankuro got down in front of me. "What are you looking for-jan?" He asked, watching as I scrambled to find the object.
"A marble, its metal and shiny," I explained, "It helps me practice with chakra control."
"Is that what you're always doing in the back of class-jan?" He said with a laugh, beginning to sift through the sand a little bit.
I nodded quietly. Why is he asking so many questions? What does he want from me? Is he going to take it? Is he going to make fun of me?
Our silent search continued until Kankuro stood up, holding up the shiny marble and inspecting it. "Is this it-jan?"
I nodded quickly, swiping it from his hands and shoving it back into my pocket.
"What the heck?" He huffed out, his tic completely fading as he crossed his arms. "I wanted to look at it, I'm not going to steal it or anything."
I stared at Kankuro wearily for a few moments, before deciding to fish the marble out of my pocket, and hand it to him.
He didn't say anything as he analyzed the orb. He was quiet. Was he mad at me? Why wasn't he saying anything? Is he just thinking? Is he thinking of how to steal it?
"I mean it looks cool-jan, but how does it help with chakra control?" Kankuro suddenly asked up as he stared at it more intently.
"Well... You basically have to get your chakra into the center part of the marble. Then whenever you do it starts to glow, I guess. I never figured it out. I can get passed the first layer, but the second one is impenetrable." I explained quietly. Was he judging me? Is he going to laugh at me?
He perked up, interested as he changed his position to sit with his legs criss-crossed. I followed his position. He concentrated on the small marble in his fingers for a moment, and then shifted slightly.
"Dang, it's more difficult than I thought, to get through-jan. Like you said, you can't even get your chakra to the center part-jan!" He said, tossing the marble back to me.
"You'll have to let me borrow it some time, it was cool to mess with-jan! But I have to get going," he sighed, picking himself up and dusting off his clothes. "See ya!" He waved me off before running off somewhere.
I stared after him for a moment, it was weird. I didn't feel anxious. Just an ever so slightly tingling in my stomach. I forgot about this sensation after a while, but I'm sure this was what being happy felt like.