Day 6
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Temari and Kankuro eyed each other cautiously from their seat across the table. They each had a cup of chamomile tea steaming in their hands; a polite gesture from the apprentice of the Hokage, and watched the conversation she was having with their brother unfold.
“What was that?” A cup of tea sat in front of Gaara as well, though he hadn’t touched it. He was sat on the floor by the table, a thin set of loungewear had been given to the three of them as their uniforms were washed, and he was slumped over with his head rested on his hand. It wasn’t typical for acquaintances of theirs to see him so casually but, with how exhausted he currently was, they weren’t going to say anything.
Sakura stood near their table after distributing their refreshments and repeated, “You’ll have to move it, Lady Tsunade’s request.”
From beside her, Temari heard Kankuro stifle a snicker as he turned away just in time to avoid a sidelong glare from their brother.
Gaara paused on his response, instead taking a moment to observe the young woman who had come knocking on the door to their loungeroom with a trayful of tea.
He and his siblings were in Konoha following their support of the Leaf genin during Sasuke’s defection. The three of them had answered the call for aid and made the best time that they could and, from what he gathered, all three of them had made it to their battles with seconds to spare. Kankuro had made quick work of his opponent, sustaining no injuries, and was currently enjoying a relaxing evening waiting for their return home. Temari had also handled her opponent with ease and efficiency, as well as a smug pride for saving her old opponent, and she had only recently returned from finishing up with Shikamaru.
Gaara, however, had clearly gotten it the worst of them.
His eyes were sunken and baggier than usual, his expressions were tired, and even his demeanor had shifted to reflect his exhaustion. When he returned with Lee, both of them had come walking out of the woodland trails together; sweaty, sore, and near collapse. The hospital had been their first stop, Lee was in a lot of trouble and Gaara was all too eager to return him there given the state he was in, and soon after that the Hokage tower placed he and his siblings aside in a comfortable waiting room while they waited for Gaara to recuperate. He had been their ride out there, and they wanted a ride back.
They’d had a dinner delivered, were given toiletries for showers if they wanted, and Sakura had been sent to them a little while later.
The young woman that stood in the quiet room with them, however, was not the sight he expected to see. He had heard that she was the first to apprehend Sasuke the night before, but he had laid hands on her and allowed himself a head start because of it. She’d even told him that she loved him, an envious turn of events, and he’d still turned his back on everything. Gaara had heard Lee say that she was likely distraught, inconsolable; she loved him after all, and that rejection must have broken her heart.
Those eyes, though, they weren’t heartbroken; they were mad.
Her face was stern and her expression sharp, she was poised and had been at the beck and call of the Hokage since the orders for pursuit were given. Welcoming her comrades back, she helped in getting them situated in the hospital, she had even thanked he and his sibling for their assistance before returning to the tower to further aid Lady Tsunade. Now, a few hours later, she was back before them, and giving Gaara an order no less.
Sakura sighed, not appreciating his muteness. “Can you, or not?”
Gaara retracted a little at the question. “Of course,” he responded automatically, though his defensiveness was clear.
“Great!” Sakura exclaimed. “So…?”
Gaara sighed and leaned back, making an open gesture to himself as he did. “Right now?” he questioned; his brow quirked over his azure eyes.
“Now, later, on your way home, it doesn’t matter. But it’s gotta go,” she said firmly, a hand held up to emphasize her point before she succumbed to a scoff. “I mean, it’s going to be terrible for our ecosystem!”
Perhaps his fatigue was wearing on him too much, or maybe that snotty look in her eyes got under his skin, but he quickly offered a retort that was altogether childish and beneath him. “Well…what about Temari?”
At this, Kankuro snorted on his tea and choked back a laugh while his sister shrieked at the notion.
“What?” she cried out. “Don’t drag me into this! This is on you,” she charged while glancing to Sakura; she was giving her a very approving nod, so she continued. “You should have known they wouldn’t want you to just leave it there.”
Gaara rolled his eyes and mumbled under his breath before his sister demanded he speak clearly. He glared over the table at her though his words were meant for the Konoha woman interrupting his recovery time. “It’s not like it’s illegal where we come from,” he said; teeth clenched, jaw tight, maybe he was a little embarrassed at being told to clean up his mess.
Temari laughed, “But no one asked you to cover the forest in a mini-desert.”
Gaara, incredulous, retorted, “You leveled thirty acres of old growth forest. You submitted a damage report!”
It was Sakura that came to her defense and Temari smirked triumphantly as she spoke. “Funny you should bring that up,” she began, her casual tone enticing Gaara’s eyes to slowly slide her way again. “We actually have a guy for restoring forests,” she said with a light smile and a nod. But then her smile fell. “We don’t have a guy for sand, though.”
Gaara sighed and rubbed his eyes.
“That’s you,” Sakura continued, point blank. “You’re the guy for that.”
“My control only goes one way, you know,” he said, looking back up at Sakura as she stood at their table. She quirked a brow in question. “Once it’s sand,” he said, punctuating his next words with a tap on the table. “It’s sand.”
“Then take it with you,” she said without skipping a beat.
Gaara thinned his lips and took a slow breath. This was not the same person he had heard about earlier that day, and her manner of address was not what he had been expecting of her.
Feeling the tension, Kankuro perked up and offered, “Just put it back in the ground?”
Gaara ignored him, and instead continued to hold Sakura’s stare. “What about all the bones?” he challenged. “Do I need to get rid of those for you, too?”
Sakura shrugged, her face still stoic and unaffected by his unusually expressive attitude. “If you wouldn’t mind.”
Surrendering, Gaara sighed and leaned back on the floor, taking a drink of his tea before it got too cold, and relented. “Very well, Sakura, tell your Hokage I will get rid of it tomorrow on our way out.”
Satisfied, Sakura thanked him, suddenly more pleasant now that she’d gotten her way and let them resume their recovery in peace.
With the door shut on their loungeroom, Temari snickered at him as Kankuro chucked. “You got in trouble,” he jeered.
Gaara shot them a half-hearted glare before swirling his tea and muttering, “No one cares where we come from.”
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