“Arrogant prick,” Tenten mumbled under her breath as she stormed out of the door, “I can’t believe I even considered going out with him.”
He was temperamental and unyielding to the needs of others, not unlike the hot and humid summers of his home. Just now he had chosen to spend the rest of his day attending to his life-sized dolls instead of with her, the girl he had supposedly been seeing for the past few months. All that seemed a forgotten memory to the kunoichi from Hidden Leaf as she stood under the sweltering sun of the Hidden Sand Village.
“What did he do now?” came a bored question.
Startled by the sudden interruption to her fuming thoughts, Tenten turned towards the sound of the voice and spotted the youngest sand sibling casually leaning against the house, hiding from the unforgiving sun under the shadow of the building. Glad to have a possibly willing ear to vent to, she focused her attention towards the usually anti-social young man, a bit surprised that he would wish to start a conversation with anyone let alone her.
“He‘s your brother, Gaara,” the leaf kunoichi stated flatly, placing her hands on her hips in annoyance, “You figure it out.”
“I see,” the red-head commented evenly with understanding, “Spending too much time with his craft, again.”
“Yeah,” she confirmed, joining him under the cool shadow of the house.
Unconsciously, the kunoichi crossed her arms over her chest and leaned her back against the side of the house, taking on the same stance as the younger shinobi beside her. Through the years when she had learned to become friends with the eldest of the three siblings, Tenten had found herself developing an odd relationship with the future Kazekage. Each held an unexpected understanding with the other, feeding off the loneliness that both shared. It was in that way that Tenten slowly became one of the only people Gaara could actually tolerate being around for long periods of time, aside from his brother and sister. In that same aspect, Gaara became one of the few people in Tenten’s life that she could trust with her darker thoughts and emotions.
“Is it really too much to ask that he spend a little more time with me?” the older kunoichi asked absentmindedly, expecting no answer from the other shinobi.
“When dealing with a citizen from Suna, yes,” the demon carrier stated bluntly, “That much should have been clear to you.”
Gaara glanced at his companion out the corner of his eye just in time to see a ghost of a pout grace her lips at his statement, making her appear more endearing in his eyes. His naked brows furrowed instantly at the thought, reminding him of those dreaded human emotions that would pop up every now and then when he was in her presence. There was no denying that after all these years, he felt a slight allure to the leaf-kunoichi. But out of some strange feeling of respect, the younger sand-nin had ignored such emotions for the sake of his older brother. But Tenten was making it perfectly clear that she no longer wished to pursue that empty relationship any further. Perhaps now…
“Very rarely are we quick to change in our ways,” he added, shaking away such thoughts once again.
“How troublesome,” the leaf-nin mumbled with dismay.
“Could you not say that?” Gaara unintentionally snapped, “I hear it enough from Temari, I don’t need to start hearing it from you as well.”
“Sorry,” Tenten apologized sincerely.
She kicked around the sand underneath her feet, a nervous habit she had developed recently in the presence of her current confidant. There was always something about being in his company that unsettled Tenten, though, she had to admit, not in a bad way. It was more of the strange comfort and familiarity of his spirit through their shared past that unnerved her. The kind of understanding she received from him was unlike any other that she had experienced with her other friends.
“So, does anything in Hidden Sand ever change?” the kunoichi asked in hopes of forgetting her current train of thought.
“…The weather,” Gaara replied flatly.
“Will wonders never cease,” Tenten called out in amazement, chuckling as she glanced over to her companion, “You actually have a sense of humor.”
Tenten saw a ghost of a smile grace the lips of the future Kazekage as he tried to suppress his mirth, merely scoffing at her sarcasm as he stared off at the heated mist of the horizon. And it was in that brief moment that she saw the innocence that Gaara still held despite the dark past he was forced to live. Deep down, he was still the gentle spirit she had once known, trapped behind the rough and chaotic exterior of the demonic soul residing within him.
Like tiny grains in a sandstorm, innocent in their nature but unable to fight the strong wind that carry them, she mused.
“But you’re right, I should have known Kankuro wouldn’t have changed for me,” she agreed softly and more somberly to Gaara’s earlier statement, pushing aside all other thoughts, “Even the weather here doesn’t change that often.”
As soon as the words had left her mouth, Tenten felt the calm air around them noticeably shift from the calmness it had settled into before. Short strands of her hair that had managed to escape the buns on her head flew about in the wind, brushing along her baked skin as she gazed in the distance at something she couldn’t quite make out yet. She was forced to shield her eyes from the partials of sand swirling about them.
“Looks like I spoke too soon,” the kunoichi from Konoha mumbled.
The kunoichi could see dark shadows lingering around the rocky edges of the surrounding plateaus, standing out amid the pale coloring of the desert. Normally she would be able to see clearly, but a thin wall of sand obscured her view. Turning towards Gaara, she saw that he was having no problems with the current weather. Familiar with the changing climates that occurred frequently in the region, she expected no less from him. The kunoichi only wished she had managed to gain such knowledge after all the time she had spent there as well.
“A sandstorm is coming,” was Gaara‘s simple statement.
“I see,” was Tenten’s response, “So it's that time of year again?”
A slight incline of his head was all she got in reply from the red-headed shinobi as he kept his eyes on the horizon and the raging winds that were expected to come. It would be hard to judge how far they were from the village, the flat terrain of the desert giving no distinction or marker for distance. They would have to make due with Gaara’s familiarity and connection with the sand.
“It came sooner than I expected this year,” the younger shinobi commented, “Usually sandstorm season would come at the end of August.”
“The weather’s the one thing you can’t predict in Suna,” Tenten responded with a shrug. Then turning to face him, she started to ask, “Should we go warn -”
“No,” Gaara interrupted flatly, “The villagers already know.”
“Oh…of course,” was all that the kunoichi could say.
Glancing around, Tenten noticed that indeed the streets had emptied of pedestrians and wanderers. As citizens of the Sand Village, it was obvious that they would be able to see the telltale signs of any oncoming danger from the desert that surrounded them and manage to run to safety. Even now, gusts of sand were swirling rapidly around the tall buildings, kicking up clouds of dust and debris. The kunoichi had to raise a hand up to shield her eyes from the assault, squinting as she tried to look between her fingers at the scene developing before her.
Whether out of some daring attempt to see how long they could withstand the brunt of the storm or something else entirely, neither made an attempt to escape the brutal winds whipping about them, both choosing to stand there amid the haze sand. Tenten could feel the tiny grains scrapping against her skin, individually harmless but overall extremely dangerous. The gritty texture was starting to find its way into her mouth and ears, creeping into every opening it could. And still she remained standing there alongside him, awaiting the beauty of nature to reveal her art.
The weapon goddess from the Leaf stood there in awe as she watched the world unfold before here. Ripples moved along the sandy ground like snakes slithering towards their prey, objects twisted and turned in the wind like birds soaring in the sky. It was a show of Mother Nature that was both dangerous but still mesmerizing to watch. All the while she was oblivious to Gaara’s observance as he marveled over the strength of will she presented before him. There weren’t many he knew who could withstand a sandstorm this close in proximity let alone tolerate the grating winds long enough to survive. It was obvious that she had lost all train of thought for her surroundings, but even she could not ignore the biting sting from the desert’s essence. Even he had the use of his sand armor to protect his body from the harsh elements.
As if she could hear his thoughts, Tenten turned towards the forgotten sand-nin and away from the winds of the storm, coughing as the sand began irritating the inside of her throat. Pulling up the collar of her shirt, the leaf-kunoichi attempted to shield herself further from the assault, each grain being moved and controlled by the untamed wind. Her cough was starting to become uncontrollable as the gritty texture made its way down her throat, clogging up her air passages. Out if instinct she backed up against the house, closing her eyes to a strong gust of wind and dust as she pressing hard against the building in hopes of gaining some shelter from the storm.
She was relieved when the wind lessened a fraction around her, just as she had expected to happen. But the leaf-nin became completely confused when it suddenly seemed to disappear almost entirely. Taking the risk of exposing herself Tenten slowly opened her eyes only to find them staring straight into Gaara’s green orbs. He was standing mere inches away from her, so close that the kunoichi could feel his soft breath grazing against her cheeks. In this close proximity, she could smell the faint scent leaves with a hint of wood that could only be from the Fire Country. Whether it was some trick of her imagination or the last traces of his previous mission didn’t matter much. It was mesmerizing all the same.
“Gaara,” Tenten finally managed to whispered, barely audible even to her.
“We should go inside,” the sand-nin stated evenly, finding the situation a bit too awkward for his liking, “The storm is shifting.”
“Right,” Tenten slowly agreed, speaking a little louder to be heard over howling wind.
Not willing to wait and see if the kunoichi would follow, Gaara slowly made his way towards the doors of the house, keeping one hand on the walls of the house to guide him. The moment she was out from the safety of his form, Tenten felt the strong winds of the storm push and pull against her.
“Hm, shifting indeed,” she mused to herself, scoffing at the metaphoric irony of her statement.
With a sigh of contentment accompanied by a small grin, the older girl finally scrambled to follow her companion indoors. In a window above them stood two lone figures, the elder occupants of the house. One blonde was smirking with glee at how good her plan had turned out while the other merely looked on with a skeptic attitude.
“Are you sure it was a good idea trying to get those two together, Temari?” Kankuro inquired as he glanced over to his sister.
Temari merely sent a knowing look towards her younger brother before taking a step back from the window. All the while a smile remained on her pale lips. Kankuro watched as she wordlessly left the room, leaving him to curiously look out the window once again at the empty space that had been previously occupied by his brother and the girl from the Leaf village.
“Well,” he mumbled with a shrug, a small smirk finding its way to his lips, “Looks like the weather isn’t the only thing that’s changing.”
