Of the Sand 5
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Chapter Five: Spying
Gaara wasn’t sure what to make of the two that approached him out of nowhere. They said that they weren’t afraid of him, but everyone was afraid of him. Yet, they still played ball with him and they continued even when the other two joined them. They played with him, but didn’t seem to be trying to kill him with the ball or any other weapon. He was slightly worried when the older brunet disappeared, but then Cam and Daniel started adding conditions onto the game and he became absorbed. He was right, playing ball was fun, which was why he was so disappointed when the older boy said that they needed to go. The two that he was playing with reluctantly said their goodbyes and the four of them disappeared into the fading crowd.
Gaara absently noticed that dinner would be ready for his siblings, but decided against attending himself. He had something more important to do.
He didn’t want the four to go, so he decided to follow them with his sand. He had only recently learned the technique, so he found a safe spot and focused his attention and chakra. An eye formed from his sand and he sent it up into the sky, easily picking out his four playmates from the crowd. Gaara had expected them to live on the outskirts of the village, but he was surprised to find them slipping past the village gates when the guard wasn’t looking. They left the village and kept moving away from it, aiming towards the cliffs in the distance.
The trip took them all night and the dark one ended up carrying Daniel for the past few kilometers, but Gaara managed to follow them the whole way. He didn’t mind wasting the whole night watching them, as he didn’t sleep and had plenty of Chakra to keep the jutsu up until the quartet made it to their place in the cliffs. It seemed like an odd place to live, but Gaara dismissed that thought in favor of inspecting the others that lived inside of the cliff. There were nine of them in total and each looked as foreign as the quartet that Gaara had played with.
Gaara stayed and watched the group for a while before he commanded the sand eye to come back to him. The sand traveled a lot faster when not following people and it made it back to him within half an hour. It was almost dawn, which meant that Temari would forget herself and threaten to kill him for staying out so late. He didn’t want to risk angering her any further; he didn’t want his sand to kill her and take away his afternoon snack. So, Gaara gathered his sand up and headed back to his siblings’ house.
“Gaara, where were you?” Temari demanded when he got home. She looked like she wished to approach him - whether to strangle him or hug him he didn’t know, but neither appealed to him - but thankfully, she stayed back. “I expected you for dinner and you stayed out all night!”
“I was playing,” Gaara still found that word to be uncomfortable, “and I followed them when they went home.”
“Really?” Temari perked up in interest. “Where do they live?”
“Where do who live?” Kankuro asked. “And why are you freaking out about Gaara staying out all night. This isn’t the first time that he’s done that.”
“But I expected him for dinner this time around,” Temari told him.
“But why?” Kankuro repeated.
Temari ignored her one brother and turned to Gaara. “Where do they live?”
Gaara blinked. “You know of them?”
“I bumped into the older brunet at the market and we got to talking a bit. Then I saw you playing with him later on,” Temari answered.
“They live in the cliffs,” Gaara answered. “About a day’s walk away. And there were others living there.”
“Others? You mean their parents?” Temari asked.
“No, other children like them,” Gaara answered.
“Orphans?” Temari asked, mostly talking to herself.
“I have no idea who you’re talking about, but it’s almost time for lessons. Let’s go before Baki yells at us,” Kankuro said as he stood up.
“Right,” Temari exclaimed, rushing them out the door.
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Chapter 6
Chapter Five: Spying
Gaara wasn’t sure what to make of the two that approached him out of nowhere. They said that they weren’t afraid of him, but everyone was afraid of him. Yet, they still played ball with him and they continued even when the other two joined them. They played with him, but didn’t seem to be trying to kill him with the ball or any other weapon. He was slightly worried when the older brunet disappeared, but then Cam and Daniel started adding conditions onto the game and he became absorbed. He was right, playing ball was fun, which was why he was so disappointed when the older boy said that they needed to go. The two that he was playing with reluctantly said their goodbyes and the four of them disappeared into the fading crowd.
Gaara absently noticed that dinner would be ready for his siblings, but decided against attending himself. He had something more important to do.
He didn’t want the four to go, so he decided to follow them with his sand. He had only recently learned the technique, so he found a safe spot and focused his attention and chakra. An eye formed from his sand and he sent it up into the sky, easily picking out his four playmates from the crowd. Gaara had expected them to live on the outskirts of the village, but he was surprised to find them slipping past the village gates when the guard wasn’t looking. They left the village and kept moving away from it, aiming towards the cliffs in the distance.
The trip took them all night and the dark one ended up carrying Daniel for the past few kilometers, but Gaara managed to follow them the whole way. He didn’t mind wasting the whole night watching them, as he didn’t sleep and had plenty of Chakra to keep the jutsu up until the quartet made it to their place in the cliffs. It seemed like an odd place to live, but Gaara dismissed that thought in favor of inspecting the others that lived inside of the cliff. There were nine of them in total and each looked as foreign as the quartet that Gaara had played with.
Gaara stayed and watched the group for a while before he commanded the sand eye to come back to him. The sand traveled a lot faster when not following people and it made it back to him within half an hour. It was almost dawn, which meant that Temari would forget herself and threaten to kill him for staying out so late. He didn’t want to risk angering her any further; he didn’t want his sand to kill her and take away his afternoon snack. So, Gaara gathered his sand up and headed back to his siblings’ house.
“Gaara, where were you?” Temari demanded when he got home. She looked like she wished to approach him - whether to strangle him or hug him he didn’t know, but neither appealed to him - but thankfully, she stayed back. “I expected you for dinner and you stayed out all night!”
“I was playing,” Gaara still found that word to be uncomfortable, “and I followed them when they went home.”
“Really?” Temari perked up in interest. “Where do they live?”
“Where do who live?” Kankuro asked. “And why are you freaking out about Gaara staying out all night. This isn’t the first time that he’s done that.”
“But I expected him for dinner this time around,” Temari told him.
“But why?” Kankuro repeated.
Temari ignored her one brother and turned to Gaara. “Where do they live?”
Gaara blinked. “You know of them?”
“I bumped into the older brunet at the market and we got to talking a bit. Then I saw you playing with him later on,” Temari answered.
“They live in the cliffs,” Gaara answered. “About a day’s walk away. And there were others living there.”
“Others? You mean their parents?” Temari asked.
“No, other children like them,” Gaara answered.
“Orphans?” Temari asked, mostly talking to herself.
“I have no idea who you’re talking about, but it’s almost time for lessons. Let’s go before Baki yells at us,” Kankuro said as he stood up.
“Right,” Temari exclaimed, rushing them out the door.
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Chapter 6