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Dash!
Jul 26, 2007 16:24:35 GMT -5
Post by Nagase, Yua on Jul 26, 2007 16:24:35 GMT -5
Yua was so very excited! She had been out when the new stock of books had passed her by, in a carriage, and she had asked the people in charge for any new titles of the moment. Much to her surprise, they had named one of her favorites.
So now she could be found trailing the carriage, running as fast as she could to keep up. Her hair and shirt fluttered and incommoded her, but there was nothing capable of keeping a desperate girl from reaching what she craved.
Book. Bookbookbook. That was all she could excitedly think of while she ran.
The carriage turned around, taking the path of another street, and she dove around the corner as well. Only to run smack into somebody tall, who was carrying a basket of fruit. Everything came tumbling down, except the man. Yua soon found herself on the ground, in the middle of a fruity mess.
"Oy... gomen nasai," she said, pouting as she rubbed her temple, where a tough orange had hit it.
No hopes of catching that carriage now. She would have to find the book store on her own. And the man looked rather angry... she was kind of scared, to be honest. That only putting the shame aside.
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Dash!
Jul 26, 2007 16:50:13 GMT -5
Post by Sabaku no Gaara on Jul 26, 2007 16:50:13 GMT -5
The day was pleasant enough, made bearable by the wind, as usual. And Gaara was used to the heat of Suna, anyway. In time, he had come to love it as yet another part of his homeland, another element that was always in the village he wanted to protect with his life. He had accepted it the way it was.
It still had some steps to take towards accepting him fully, though...
But today he as particularly optimistic and felt like it would, eventually. He wasn't sure what had put him in such a good mood. Maybe the fact that he had, surprisingly, found some free time for himself without actually struggling to make it. It must have meant things were going better than usual around the village.
So he had chosen to take a walk, maybe buy something to eat for lunch. He almost always skipped that meal entirely into oblivion.
As he thought of that, he felt something touch his sandal, and he stopped to look down at it. It seemed to be an orange. He raised his head, his eyes tracing its possible trajectory, and he soon found the origin: a half-spilled basket still containing other such fruits resided on the ground, at the side of a fallen girl. Somewhere nearby, a man wearing a carrier's clothes seemed to be preoccupied with the scene, so it must have been his basket.
"What's wrong?" Gaara asked as he approached, his tone a bit sharper than intended, but still leaking genuine concern.
"Kazekage-sama!" the man gave a start, taking a polite bow when he saw Gaara.
"Did you collide with each other?" Gaara inquired, having most likely figured out the right answer by himself.
"Hai," the man nodded, obviously feeling a bit uncomfortable.
Gaara eyed the girl. She did not seem to be seriously injured. And by the scene's placement and the exact location of her fall, it had probably been her fault, for the most part. She would have been able to see the man coming, not the other way around.
"She should pay for your goods," he decided.
"Oh, there's no need for that, Kazekage-sama," the man shook his head. "The oranges were left-overs that we weren't going to sell anyway."
"I see..." Gaara reconsidered in only the span of a second, looking back at the girl and trying to be more gentle. "Are you all right?"
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Usagi Taranabi
Genin
Sand Shinobi
Waaah, school starts today *sob sob*
Posts: 472
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Dash!
Jul 26, 2007 16:57:58 GMT -5
Post by Usagi Taranabi on Jul 26, 2007 16:57:58 GMT -5
Usagi, still disguised as Sango, was taking a walk around Suna. She had seen a girl, who looked vaugely familliar, chasing a carriage. Usagi decided things might become interesting, and followed her.
The carriage turned, and so did the girl. But unlike the carriage, she crashed into a man, who looked very annoyed. Usagi was about to go help her, but someone else came to her aid instead. " Oh, sh*t!" she whispered. It was Gaara. Thankfully, she was still a good distance from him.
But she was still in front of him.
She looked around frantically, trying to find a place to hide. She saw a tree, but it was pretty close to Gaara and the other girl.
She gulped, then ran towards the tree as if her life depended on it. she made it to the tree quite quickly, but she was almost positive they had spotted her. She held her breath.
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Dash!
Jul 26, 2007 17:16:22 GMT -5
Post by Nagase, Yua on Jul 26, 2007 17:16:22 GMT -5
"Yeah, I'm o--"
Hey, that was the girl from the other day!
It was enough for Yua's attention span to crack and for her to completely forget about finishing her answer. She brushed herself up to her feet in only an instant, forgetting about the red-haired boy.
"Sango-chaaan!" she called out excitedly, beginning to wave her hand in the air in the girl's direction.
Why was she trying to go away?
And wait. Rewind there a bit. Red-haired... boy... in Suna? Holy crap. Turning her head, she looked back at him, to see the mark in red on his left temple and immediately realize. Of all people she could have run into. She blinked, and then flushed with shame.
"Gomen nasai, Kazekage-sama!" she breathed out in a hurry, almost tripping one word over the other. "I didn't notice it was you. Yes, I am in one piece."
It was kind of late for a curtsy or bow. Kuso. She was so stupid.
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Dash!
Jul 26, 2007 17:36:04 GMT -5
Post by Sabaku no Gaara on Jul 26, 2007 17:36:04 GMT -5
Ever alert, always on his guard and receptive to even the smallest detail, Gaara did not fail to notice the exact person the girl was calling to. It was yet another girl, the bearer of, if he was not mistaken, a Sand forehead plate? That would normally not have been of any consequence, but he did not know who it could be. Sango? He did not remember seeing that name on any of his lists.
His eyes narrowed immediately, and the only person who caught that was the fruit merchant, who backed away a little, politely giving him space. That bothered him, in a way, as he had not meant to strike fear into an innocent person. But he had other concerns now and being gentle and supportive could wait.
"It's nothing," Gaara replied to the first girl's apology, rather harshly.
He turned his head only slightly, enough to look at her without losing the other girl from sight completely.
"Who is that?"
He was not asking for an answer, he was demanding it. He was going to be nice later, now he was dealing with something serious. Or possibly serious.
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Usagi Taranabi
Genin
Sand Shinobi
Waaah, school starts today *sob sob*
Posts: 472
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Dash!
Jul 26, 2007 17:48:09 GMT -5
Post by Usagi Taranabi on Jul 26, 2007 17:48:09 GMT -5
Usagi flinched as she heard the other girl call for Sango. Gaara was not going to take this lightly. She was sure he had seen her head band, and he wouldn't recognize any Sango from his lists.
Crap.
Usagi clamped her eyes shut, and gritted her teeth. If she stayed hidden, things would get even more out of control. She took a deep breath, then poked her head out.
She was right, Gaara didn't looked to happy.
" Just don't act ANYTHING like Usagi. Act like Sango, and you'll be okay," she said. She stepped out, then walked toward Gaara, and the other girl, who she eventually recognized as Yua from the hot springs.
She was finally in front of them. Her eyes showed no fear, in fact, they too showed a small spark of anger. She couldn't think of anything to say, so she waited for Gaara to speak.
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Dash!
Jul 27, 2007 2:11:49 GMT -5
Post by Nagase, Yua on Jul 27, 2007 2:11:49 GMT -5
This was a little weird. Why was the Kazekage asking her about someone from his own village? Wasn't he supposed to know everyone? Though puzzled and a letting it show, Yua looked back at him, hesitating for a moment.
"That's... a friend," she said. "Her name is Sango."
Noting that Sango had come over and wasn't saying anything, she turned back to her and grinned happily.
"Heya, Sango!" she said merrily. "Uhm... are you okay? You look upset?"
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Dash!
Jul 27, 2007 2:18:16 GMT -5
Post by Sabaku no Gaara on Jul 27, 2007 2:18:16 GMT -5
The first girl's answer cleared none or close to none about Gaara's doubts in regards to the other one, named Sango and supposedly from his village. As she approached, he fixed her with an impassive gaze, unmoving in his spot. When she was there, he took a small moment to look back at the fruit merchant.
"You can go, if you like," he told the man, recovering his polite consideration for a split second.
But when he looked back at the two, he was stone-cold and dead serious again.
"You're not a Sand shinobi," he told her, as sure of it as if he were saying the weather outside was hot. "What is the forehead protector doing on you?"
He didn't sound dangerous, not yet. He was going to give her the benefit of the doubt and wait for an explanation before he moved on to anything more drastic. But if she had dared to steal from, or even kill one of his men...
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Usagi Taranabi
Genin
Sand Shinobi
Waaah, school starts today *sob sob*
Posts: 472
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Dash!
Jul 27, 2007 2:24:32 GMT -5
Post by Usagi Taranabi on Jul 27, 2007 2:24:32 GMT -5
Usagi found it difficult to keep her emotionless face from turning red. Gaara was looking at her... right in the eyes... She wasn't sure how long she could this up, but she wasn't going to give in to her emotions.
She put on a slightly harsher look. " First of all, I didn't hurt any of your people, so don't worry about that." She paused. She wasn't using a disrespectful tone, but she still had to be careful.
" Second, I am quite aware that I am not an official Sand shinobi. This headband is not mine," she paused a second, wondering what she could say. An idea suddenly hit her.
" This is a friend's, and I'm looking after it while they are away."
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Dash!
Jul 27, 2007 2:33:16 GMT -5
Post by Nagase, Yua on Jul 27, 2007 2:33:16 GMT -5
"By wearing it?" Yua blurted out, unable to suppress her curiosity.
Then she realized that could probably get Sango in trouble, especially if she expressed doubt about the method. And she didn't want to do that, so she clamped her mouth back shut and thought better of what she was going to say.
"That's original!" she finally said, with a silly laugh. "So cool!"
That still wasn't going to be enough. While she searched for a change of subjects, Yua's eyes fell upon the man who was now gathering his fruit and putting them back in the basket. She noticed he had been right... these were the bad ones that couldn't be sold.
"By the way, Kazekage-sama... I'm sorry for causing trouble here," she said, as she began to help the man. "Hey, Sango, would you mind lending a hand? Heh, heh..."
She scratched the back of her head a little, looking up at Sango with somewhat of a stupid expression, before going back to work chasing oranges where they had fallen. It had been her fault, after all. And that should prove a good distraction.
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Dash!
Jul 27, 2007 2:39:59 GMT -5
Post by Sabaku no Gaara on Jul 27, 2007 2:39:59 GMT -5
For the next few moments, Gaara stayed silent. Sometimes it was annoying how a few words were all it took to make someone ponder for hours, if they had to. And he didn't have this much time to decide what he believed. So he had to weigh down the options quickly.
The dilemma was only two-faced, and that was lucky. One possibility always had to be true, when there were two opposites.
Firstly... If this Sango truly hadn't hurt someone in his village, then why was she putting it out for say so bluntly? She was going to just know he was thinking that, precisely? A bit strange, but plausible if she was just that intuitive.
On the other hand, she could only be saying it precisely because that was what she had done. It was least likely that someone would give herself in like that, but he did not absolve her of all suspicion just yet.
"Who is your friend?" he asked, not even minding the other girl's apology too much, more than to nod to her that it was all right.
Strangely enough, he realized as he caught a glimpse of her, she reminded him of Naruto with that attitude, except she was a little less natural than the blond Konoha nin. She had some organized thought behind that attitude, he was certain, while the blond was naturally that way...
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Usagi Taranabi
Genin
Sand Shinobi
Waaah, school starts today *sob sob*
Posts: 472
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Dash!
Jul 27, 2007 2:45:48 GMT -5
Post by Usagi Taranabi on Jul 27, 2007 2:45:48 GMT -5
Usagi didn't know if Gaara was starting to see the few simalarities between Sango and herself. Height, for instance. She had been this close to him a few days ago, in the sushi shop. Was he noticing? She hoped not.
" Her name is Usagi. Usagi Taranabi," Usagi answered. " She went away for a few days, and didn't want anything to happen to her headband. She can be rather strange like that."
" I'll help you in just a second, Yua, " she answered.
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Dash!
Jul 27, 2007 3:01:49 GMT -5
Post by Nagase, Yua on Jul 27, 2007 3:01:49 GMT -5
"Kay!" Yua enthusiastically replied, though she knew that, with how much she was hurrying to get done, there would be nothing left to do in just a second.
Obliviously happy and proud, she managed to gather the last orange, and she dropped all of them back in the basket, at the same time the man was bringing the rest. Now that seemed to be all of them and he didn't look so upset anymore. Though he did hurry to get out of there.
Yua blinked, turning to look back at the other two. Why was that man so afraid? It's not like Kazekage-sama or Sango would hurt anyone... right? This was getting kind of creepy, but she just stayed there, with a stupid smile, like usual.
Then she moved in back closer to the other two, not caring much if they didn't want her interference. She just couldn't stand the tension. It needed to stop... maybe they could all smile or something.
"Umm... is everything ok?" she asked, sounding a bit perplexed. "It's not like Sango is a killer or something..."
She looked from one to the other, puzzled.
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Dash!
Jul 27, 2007 3:09:37 GMT -5
Post by Sabaku no Gaara on Jul 27, 2007 3:09:37 GMT -5
Apparently the first girl, obvious in her absolute innocence, excluded the possibility of this Sango being any danger. And besides, she claimed to know Usagi, who had seemed like a mostly harmless person herself. Gaara allowed his mind to relax a little, the strain of too much worrying ceased.
"I see," he said, ambiguously.
If he found out anything had happened to Usagi, he would know who was responsible, anyway. Sango should know that lying wouldn't help her for more than a few days, at most. Then she would be caught, or at least chased by the village guards, anyway.
That was... if she chose to stay... and if she had not come to Sunagakure with another purpose that could be fulfilled by then.
"So you're another visitor, then," he remarked inexpressively.
It was a statement, and still, the way he made it clearly required a reply from her. A short glance the other girl's way told her, if she could even notice such nuances, that she should be quiet for the time being. It was odd to keep thinking of har as 'the girl', though.
"And you. What's your name?" Gaara asked quietly.
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Usagi Taranabi
Genin
Sand Shinobi
Waaah, school starts today *sob sob*
Posts: 472
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Dash!
Jul 27, 2007 3:17:27 GMT -5
Post by Usagi Taranabi on Jul 27, 2007 3:17:27 GMT -5
Usagi knew that Gaara still didn't trust Sango. She still had to keep on her toes.
She turned to help the fruit merchant and Yua, but they had already finished picked up the mess, and the merchant was no where to be seen. Oh well...
She turned back to Gaara, who was looking at Yua. Did he honestly think ' Sango ' would hurt Usagi?
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