Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Combined Elements ❯ Friendship & Ideas ( Chapter 11 )

Combined Elements

 

Chapter 11: Friendship & Ideas

During the afternoon, the day after the encounter with the three water ninjas, everything was quiet. Gaara was still fuming with frustration and an empty feeling of uselessness, while Saara was lost in thought, and the rest didn't bother them. Kakashi stood at the edge of the camp, leaning comfortably against a tree. They still kept up the guard duty, although nothing had ever come to them yet. Naruto was out to train, and the rest were sitting around the fire, attempting to keep the heat within their bodies. A piece of ripped clothing captured Sakura's complete concentration. Everybody had long learned not to disturb her when she was like that. If you did, heads would roll.

A spark jumped away from the flames, and unto Gaara's bare hands. He flinched, returning from his own little world. The whole day he had been ignoring the others and their surroundings, but now, he looked around, wondering how late it really was. At the other side of the small fire, Saara sat staring into the distance. Her usual braid hung loosely over her shoulder, almost completely hidden in the fur lining of her coat. Only her hands were bare, and when Gaara looked more closely, it seemed she was playing with a strand of water. He leaned slightly to the right to get a closer look around the fire.

Saara had formed the water into a long string, letting it stay in that position while at the same time leaving it as flexible as the real thing. It rested between her fingers, and as she moved them, she twisted and knotted the string of water, eventually ending up with a complicated figure. Gaara was so concentrated on following the movements of her fingers, that he almost looked frozen in place. When Saara had done all of the figures she knew, her hands automatically started over.

By now Gaara attempted to memorize at least one of them. Slowly, he allowed some sand to separate from his gourd, not bothering with the cork. It gathered in his hands, and with much concentration and will, he made it form a long string. Next he put his hands in the right position, attempting to have the sand rest on them, but still retain the same length. But as soon as his concentration shifted from the sand to his fingers, the `string' fell apart again. He tried several times without success.

When the sand collapsed again and he was about to give up, he felt somebody come to sit next to him. “You should use your imagination more. Think of the sand, not as sand, but as an actual string. It cannot fall apart, it cannot stretch. All it can do is twist and turn according to your movements.” So Saara had noticed his useless attempts. He felt a little embarrassed, but none the less, he wanted to succeed.

“What is this for anyway? Did you think of it?” He didn't think it could be used in fighting or anything else. So why did she do it? “It is just a game that the children in the village used to play. They use real string and try to memorize figures as well as create new ones.” Gaara was surprised at her answer. She used her abilities to play games? He had always thought of sand as a nuisance. Great for fighting, but useless and annoying for anything else, yet this was actually fun.

He tried a few more times, with Saara giving tips and showing him how to move his fingers. Eventually, he grasped the concept of imagination. The sand no longer fell apart when he concentrated a little more on his fingers, and within minutes he finally completed a figure. As strange as it was, he enjoyed doing this. It calmed him and made him forget other events.

The afternoon wore on, with Gaara learning more figures from Saara. Eventually, Sakura finished fixing the clothing, and joined them with a real piece of string. She already knew some of the basic moves, and soon memorized the new ones Saara presented. Even Naruto gave it a try, though he was too impatient to learn the complicated figures. He entertained himself by trying to make one figure as fast as possible. His fingers soon became a blur and he was sure nobody could go faster, until Saara proved him wrong. She was even able to keep up the pace without looking at her hands.

In the evening, Kakashi switched guard duty with Naruto, and Saara started cooking their dinner. Gaara joined Naruto and Sakura cleaned up the camp. Although the string game had taken Gaara's frustration away for a while, it soon returned. He remained quiet during dinner and afterwards. When Saara had helped Sakura clean up, she stood, stretched, and walked into the forest. Gaara automatically got up and followed.

This time, Saara made sure they didn't wander off too far. She had no intention of repeating yesterday's events. A small clearing appeared in front of them, and she settled down at the base of a tree near the edge. Gaara easily jumped up and sat down on the thick branches. They remained in silence for a few minutes, enjoying the crisp, evening air. Then Saara interrupted. “Gaara, do you think you could lend me some of your sand? I have an idea.” Truth be told, she had been thinking of this all day. She hated seeing him so frustrated, and after the string games, Saara was almost positive her idea would work.

Gaara was confused by her request, but didn't see any harm. After removing the cork from his gourd, some sand leaked out to hover by his ear. When there was enough, he closed the gourd again and let the sand drop down into a neat pile in front of Saara. She smiled and thanked him before letting some of the snow next to her melt. The water pooled into her hand, and she then dropped it onto the sand, making it wet and useless for Gaara.

Saara kept adding little bits of water until the pile of sand was replaced by a pool of mud. Next she attempted to remove some water, so the mud became slightly stronger and more solid. Finally, a grin spread across her face. “I'll need your help for this.”

 

 

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this FanFic except Saara Mizu and some of the minor enemies. The rest belong to Masashi Kishimoto.