Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Flowers in the Sand ❯ Chapter 6

Chapter 6

 

“My sand protects me,” Gaara told her, his face stern. “Nothing can touch me.”

 

In response, Gobi stood up and walked slowly toward him, her tails even with her back. She stepped right up to him and looked him right in the eye. She was tall enough in this form that she met his height.

 

“Nothing?” she said, with almost a tone of humor in her altered voice.

 

The sand around him stirred and released the remains of the one ninja, flowing back into his gourd. The other sand shifted around their legs as they stared at one another.

 

Then, slowly, leisurely, the Five-tails leaned forward and licked the sand-master on the cheek.

 

The four men and dog watching nearly freaked out, their eyes going into “stupefied” mode. “D-did… did she…?” Naruto stuttered, a look of complete weirded-out-ness on his face.

 

The other three guys and Akamaru nodded frantically.

 

Gobi ignored them and proceeded to pad slowly around Gaara, her five tails wrapping around him, almost caressing him but not quite touching him. The Kazekage didn't move, but neither did his sand. “I touched you,” she murmured, with a hint of humor in her voice. “And your sand did not stop me.”

 

Gaara wondered about that as well. His sand stopped any unknown person from touching him- his family was able to touch him only because he knew them, therefore the sand knew them. But this female… “You also did not try to harm me,” he informed her. He tried to concentrate on controlling his sand and not the entirely too-pleasant tingle he could still feel on his skin from where she licked him.

 

“But how does the sand know that? My teeth could've very easily met your throat.”

 

“Impossible.” Gaara narrowed his eyes as she continued to slink around him. “My sand would stop you.”

 

Gobi was now in front of him again, a portion of her body curled around him and her five tails brushing the backs of his legs in a particularly strange sensation. Carefully she leaned forward and opened her mouth, placing her fangs on his neck.

 

The sand remained dormant.

 

Gaara's eyes widened slightly. What was wrong with his sand? Why wouldn't it rise up and stop her from doing this? He closed his eyes and tried to will the sand to come up between them and stop her attack. His sand armor was in place, but even he wasn't sure how well it would stand up to a point-blank Biju attack.

 

“Naruto,” Kiba nudged his friend. “She's not really going to kill him, is she?”

 

The blonde man looked utterly confused (and still rather weirded-out). “I… I don't think so…” He rubbed the back of his head. “Won't Gaara's sand protect him if she tries to?”

 

“Her fangs are on his neck!” Neji hissed, not taking his eyes off the two in front of him. “There is nothing between her and his throat but skin!”

 

There is his sand armor, Naruto thought, crossing his arms across his chest. He only hoped that would be enough if she decided to attack.

 

Gaara opened his eyes and looked at Gobi. “If you were an enemy, you would not be allowed this close,” he told her.

 

Gobi tightened her grip on his throat, cracking his armor. Still the sand did not move. “If I were a friend,” she replied in a low tone, “I would not have your throat in my jaws.”

 

Naruto pulled out a kunai and ran towards the Five-tails. “Don't you dare hurt him!” he hollered, intent on scaring her away from his friend.

 

Gobi didn't move. Naruto raced forward and ended up face-first in a wall of sand.

 

Kiba looked confused. “Why did Gaara protect her? Naruto wasn't going to hurt her.”

 

Gaara's eyes were locked on Gobi's gold ones. “I didn't,” he said. “The sand moved on its own.”

 

Gobi managed a smirk. She released his throat and sat down on her haunches, watching as the sand returned to the gourd. Gaara continued to stare at her as she shifted back to human form.

 

Safaia stood up and turned away, heading back to the waterfall's pool and her now-dry clothing. “I'm done tolerating you,” she informed them as she picked up her jade-green tunic-dress. “Please leave.”

 

Shikamaru muttered a few choice words under his breath. “This gets more troublesome than I prefer,” he told Naruto.

 

Naruto took a step forward, his face determined. “Why would you want to stay out here, all alone, when we're offering you friendship and a chance to live somewhere safe?”

 

“Gobi protects me,” Safaia replied, her hands going to the belt around her waist that held her tattered white robe closed. “And friendship is overrated.”

 

Shikamaru and Kiba both turned around and raced for the trees as if the hounds of hell were after them. “We're outta here,” they said in unison, leaving a cloud of dust behind them.

 

Naruto blinked in confusion at his rapidly retreating friends. What's their problem? he mused. He turned back to see that Safaia had untied her robe, obviously with the intent to get dressed in her now-clean clothing, not caring that she had an audience of three strange men and a dog. “Oi, woman!” he hollered, his eyes going back into freaked-out mode. “We're standing right here!”

 

Safaia blinked at him, her hands on the edges of her robe. Neji looked like he was about to sprout a nosebleed. “I told you to leave. It's not my fault you cannot follow simple instructions.”

 

Naruto growled, shaking a fist at her. “Why, you…!” He was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. He looked back to see Gaara behind him, his aquamarine eyes focused on Safaia.

 

“Go. Now.”

 

Neji didn't move. Akamaru nudged Naruto's leg. “She's just going to escape once we go,” he informed his red-headed friend. “When those two Akatsuki agents don't return, we may end up with actual members showing up next time.”

 

Gaara opened his mouth to say something when he noticed something odd.

 

His sand had flowed out of the gourd and was creating a wall around Safaia, obscuring their vision of her as she methodically changed clothes. Naruto followed his gaze and blinked in surprise as well.

 

“Hey,” he poked Gaara's rib carefully. “If you're so sweet on her, why didn't you just say so?” he asked mischievously.

 

Gaara scowled. “I am nothing of the sort. The sand is acting on its own.”

 

“That's strange,” Neji strangled out.

 

Safaia finished dressing and the sand retreated, heading back into the gourd. Naruto scratched his head. “I thought your sand was just for offense and defense,” he said in confusion. “I didn't know you could use it as a dressing room.”

 

Gaara did something completely out of the ordinary- he bonked Naruto on top of the head. “Baka,” he muttered. “Sometimes I think only your body grew up.”

 

Safaia turned towards the trio, now dressed in a jade-green halter-type dress that fell to her ankles, the sides cut open to just above her hipbones, revealing black shorts underneath. Elbow-length black gloves covered her forearms and were secured by a band around her middle finger, leaving her hands bare. Her knife was strapped to her right calf, showing once again that she had no training as a ninja- they wore their kunai holders on their thighs. Neji fought another nosebleed as he noticed how deep the front cut of the dress was- and how well-formed she really was.

 

“I will go with you,” she finally told them, but her eyes still held the same emptiness as before. “But only because Gobi wishes it.”

 

Naruto looked clueless again as he rubbed the bump on his head. “She does?”

 

Safaia looked straight at Neji, unblinking. “Yes. But her reasons are her own, for now.”

 

Neji narrowed his eyes slightly. There's no way she can tell…

 

She bowed infinitesimally to the men. “Please lead the way,” she said quietly.

 

Naruto exchanged a glance with Gaara. “Suna or Konoha?”

 

“Suna offers more protection,” Gaara said emotionlessly, “but it is your choice. This is your mission.”

 

Neji nodded without taking his eyes off Safaia. “The infinite amount of sand at Suna would allow Gaara more leeway for defense and attacks,” he agreed.

 

“Let's go,” Naruto agreed. He turned and leapt into the trees, leaving Gaara and Neji standing behind with Akamaru and Safaia.

 

Safaia sniffed lightly. “Does he expect me to jump into the trees too?”

 

Neji moved slightly closer. “You can't do that, can you?” he asked her. She shook her head.

 

“My clan was made up of gardeners and farmers, not ninjas,” she told him. “If it weren't for Gobi, I'd be long dead by now.”

 

Gaara narrowed his eyes. “Was?”

 

She shrugged as if it didn't matter. “They're all dead now.” Her gaze went even more distant and unfocused than usual. “They paid for what they did to me.”

 

Gaara could sympathize, all too well. So could Neji, but on a different scale.

 

Akamaru barked. Safaia turned to him. “That's very kind of you, brother, but you should be with the Inuzuka you came with. Go to him- protect him as you swore to.”

 

Akamaru whimpered slightly, but ran off in search of Kiba. Neji looked at her again. “I'm Neji Hyuuga,” he introduced himself as they began walking, leaving Gaara behind. “I'm a Jounin from Konoha. The loud, annoying blonde man that just left was Naruto Uzumaki, Hokage of Konoha.”

 

“Blonde man,” she murmured.

 

“Akamaru's partner is Kiba,” he continued, nodding. “He can be just as loud as Naruto.”

 

“Kiba Inuzuka,” she echoed. “Fitting.”

 

“And then there's Shikamaru Nara. He's lazy and often bored, but he's an outstanding strategist.”

 

Safaia turned her head slightly to look back at the man following them. “And the sand user is called Gaara, correct?”

 

“Gaara of the Desert, yes.” Neji looked at his new female companion. “He is the Kazekage of Suna.”

 

“He is a quiet one.”

 

“Yes,” Neji agreed, looking back at their path. “But not nearly as quiet as he used to be. He used to be a heartless, merciless killer, when Shukaku was still in him.”

 

“You knew him then?”

 

Neji's white eyes hardened slightly. “I saw what he was capable of,” he corrected her quietly. “It wasn't until Naruto defeated him and befriended him that he changed for the better. And once Shukaku was extracted, that changed his personality quite a bit too.”

 

Safaia nodded slowly. “That raccoon was an evil one,” she conceded.

 

Gaara, following behind with his arms crossed as usual, narrowed his eyes. “How is it that Gobi is so friendly with you?”

 

She shrugged. “She is a dog, after all. And dogs are fiercely loyal to their humans.”

 

“But she is also a Biju. They hate humans.”

 

“Not all of them do. Nibi got along quite well with her Jinchuriki.”

 

Neji saddened slightly. “But that didn't stop the Akatsuki from defeating her and extracting the Two-tailed Neko from her.” He looked at her askance. “I… don't want that happening to you too.”

 

Safaia gave him a curious look. “Why? I am nobody. I am nothing. Merely another unwanted child in this uncaring world.”

 

Such familiar words, Gaara thought wryly. She is much like I was, back then.

 

Neji just looked embarrassed, which was odd for him, to say the least. “Well, you have friends now,” he said simply. “Two of which know what you've been through from personal experience.”

 

Again she turned and gazed at Gaara. “Ah, yes. Shukaku's host.” She gave the Kazekage an unreadable look. “You have my sympathies and my respect for putting up with that short-tempered tanuki for so long.”

 

“I did not have any choice,” he muttered back. “It is impossible to inflict any harm to my body because of the sand defense. Death was not an option.”

 

“And now?”

 

Gaara scowled. “That is none of your business.”

 

They walked in silence for a while, until it became apparent that Safaia was becoming less sure of their path. Neji moved closer, concerned. “Are you okay?”

 

Safaia tried to brush off his unease. “I do not know the terrain,” she explained. “I am unsure of my footing.”

 

She tripped over an upraised root and stumbled, nearly falling forward. Both Neji and Gaara's sand helped prevent a face-plant into the mossy ground. “You sure are a klutz,” Gaara commented. “You remind me of Naruto.”

 

Safaia shot him a glare that would've scared off anyone but the sand-master. “You'd be clumsy too if you were in territory you'd never been before.”

 

“I have been in many territories I've never seen before.” Gaara glared right back. “Yet I've never been as clumsy as you.”

 

She growled, her hair lifting almost like her hackles were up. She turned completely around, causing Neji to stop and watch as she stalked back to the Kazekage. She stood as close as she could and looked up at him, her nose nearly touching his. She put her hands on her hips and scowled at Gaara.

 

“You, you arrogant bastard, are not blind, either.”

 

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A/N: Please read and review. It helps to know if the story is interesting. Thanks!