[[from here]]No one had been within immediate range of the door, but Sasuke took care to keep in the shadow cast by the walls as he slipped outside
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As Naruto opened the door, Gaara followed him outside. It hit him with the air. The smell of soil. His irritation became too high. Abruptly, he stepped in front of him, turning to face the ninja from the leaf. There was a commotion not far off, but he ignored it. The sounds were filtered into the back of his focus; he bored his eyes into Naruto, bright hair and brighter personality.
His arms crossed over his chest. "Go back."
It had been barely one day ago that he had been Kazekage, and before that, accustomed to having his demands met by fear. He did not know refusal before this place, and his tone was empty of anything but the strength of the order. No, not quite empty. Gaara, emotional shell as he tended to be, had an edge of vehemence, his eyes lit with something like frustration.
The last time Gaara had been anything like afraid was when Naruto Uzumaki crawled to him on his chin. Now, there was dirt all around. Ground. Fresh air. He was afraid to try, already knowing. Already knowing it wouldn't move, it wouldn't grind, it wouldn't become sand. The fear tasted like bile in his mouth, and Gaara hadn't tasted bile since he was six and kneeling in front of Yashamaru's body. It was disgusting.
"Go back." He said again, to make it clear, very clear to the ninja. "I will get you a bat. Go with Uchiha Sasuke."
Outside. Like an animal kept caged for too long, instinctively he wanted to bolt. Thoughts of Konoha, and would he ever see it again.
Naruto was about to take a step, but was surprised by Gaara's blocking their going forward. He raised his eyebrows at the sand ninja, who stood very plainly in front of him and-- yes, stared him down. There was a flicker of something complicated in his black-ringed eyes, but it was neither inviting nor soft.
Gaara told him to turn around, not once, but twice. He couldn't read pride as well as he could feel it, and felt instantly like a child being told to retreat-- for the repetition, for the assurance that he would receive his bat, and for being told to go back to Sasuke, who had a less than one percent chance of waiting around for them anyway. For being told every step of the way.
Naruto's brows furrowed, a flash of quick anger. He opened his mouth and demanded simply: "Why?"
Stubbornly, the blond mirrored Gaara by crossing his arms over his chest, making every intention to stand his ground clear.
Gaara was not sure what he had expected. No, a lie: He had expected the blond to agree, to turn around, to go back. To listen. All previous experience had hinted, not at all subtly, that Uzumaki Naruto would do the exact opposite of any demand given. That seemed to be the case, and it proved true now.
The logic of it, of taking the sum of encounters and deciding on disposition, was simple enough. Keeping to cool logic proved strangely difficult, and that in itself was another irritation. Naruto's question was a fair one, but Gaara could not see it as anything but impudent. As if he, Gaara, had some right to order him around when he saw fit. His eyes narrowed further, but he did know better than to retort, simply, because I told you to do it. The reason, however, was hard to find. Hard to express. The mix of unfamiliar, maddening emotions.
He glowered at Naruto, and then at the ground, as his chin dipped down in consideration. Why? Back up.
"I do not need your help." Gaara lied, knowing it was a lie and hating that knowledge. It was strange. He had never needed to before, if this was need. Gaara had never lied before. "I do not want it." Truth. Comfort level marginally returned, but nowhere near enough.
"I did not ask you," he continued, his words clipped and slightly awkward as he worked his way to them. But never unfirm, never rooted in anything but steel, but conviction. And if he meant more, it was, I cannot be useless. Words he could not say, a pride he could hardly define but in these words meant for repelling. His fingers twitched on his arm and nothing happened. Nothing happened. Nothing happened. It shouldn't have been disappointing; they had admitted all this indoors. Gaara wanted to close his eyes, might have, if not for the need to stare Naruto back inside and away.
"Go back. I have this." The demand again: Gaara was not the type to plead.
Naruto held the stare and the glare, attempted to look twice as fierce as all that. It was only when Gaara lowered his head, just for a moment, that he felt his anger refined into something more difficult to grasp.
It couldn't be helped. Before Landel's, any interaction with the suna-nin wasn't exactly positive, nor were they on, technically, good terms. He learned only of Suna's cooperation after Sasuke's defection to Sound, but hadn't witnessed any of it. Only appreciated it after the fact.
Watching Gaara speak took the edge of his anger for some reason-- nothing he entirely understood, mind you. It was as if he was asking, but telling, but asking. Naruto's arms unfolded, if a bit reluctantly. "Hey," he started, hands fumbling onto his hips, posture indignant, but not as formally so. "Did you ever think that maybe I need your help?"
He pouted. "Sasuke's gone by now. If I go back I'll be alone."
It wasn't a way for him to be secretly brave; honestly, whatever his intital intentions had been, Naruto didn't want to turn back now and wander the corridors by himself. With things like ghosts and Phil Atio and who knows what the hell else was in that place at night.
The intensity of his glare, of the stubborn hold of his arms together, wavered in the face of Naruto's loss of posture. The face-off was short-lived, and there seemed little point to unnecessary rigidity. Gaara would be caught further off-guard by what Naruto said.
A more vocal, casual speech familiar Gaara might have asked him if he was kidding. His eyes said enough, widening a little, disbelief strong. No, Gaara had not thought of that. It was completely illogical.
"You don't need my help," he said, as fact. "I cannot do anything. I am useless." Facing it. Grinding in the truth, like so much soil that would not. It made him nauseous, it was frustration in every inch of him, but said as if a commentary on the weather. As if Gaara ever commented on the weather. (Except when all forecasts indicated a blood rain).
He did remember his initial stance, and amended that statement. "I can get the bats. Uchiha Sasuke is upstairs." This alone, of Naruto going upstairs by himself, was not the same as that other loneliness. It did not strike Gaara as being a problem.
Still, he lacked that earlier conviction. Naruto's expression was stupid, but also remarkably effective in wearing away his platform.
"Wrong." Naruto corrected him immediately and loudly, pointing a finger to emphasize. "People are worth more than their skill levels in taijutsu."
He was not a coward, but he was, sometimes, incredibly clingy. As much as he wanted to stay with Gaara because it would reassure him that the sand ninja was not alone, it was also reassuring to stay. How could he explain that?
"Hell, he probably anticipated that we'd go running upstairs and went somewhere else to lose us." Actually, Sasuke was an asshole, but he wasn't stupid. Two other shinobi with bats couldn't hurt, even he had to recognize that. Still. "Well, that's not the point. Where ever Sasuke is, I still want to go get my own bat."
There was plenty of space on this field. Gaara was still standing right in front of him, so he tested walking around the other ninja. In the distance he could hear what sounded like some kind of scuffle-- instinctively he was drawn, but had to scold himself. Bad, no. No chakra. Bat first.
Naruto didn't quite stride over to the shed with complete and utter confidence-- he did peek, once, over his shoulder, to see if Gaara would finally accept his decision.
Gaara blinked. Naruto was loud and pointing, and Gaara might have argued: Yes. They are also worth ninjutsu and genjutsu, and without those, they are useless. They became unable to be needed, and abandonment was nigh. If they could not then destroy, being useless, what was the point?
Naruto had a way of plowing on, and Gaara found himself giving in. It was not the time or place to launch into an extended debate, and Gaara disliked speaking.
He kept his mouth shut, lips pressing into a thin line. He doubted the Uchiha had gone that far, but the important part was the bat. Gaara nodded, and keeping his focus well away from the unresponsive soil (the back of Naruto's neck was a good spot, until the shed became primary), followed.
Gaara did feel slightly put out that he, the Kazekage, had had his decision over-ruled by another ninja. As consequence, he moved forward to initiate opening the door. He did not examine the outside of the shed, only noting the door and its damage, including a forced lock. No doubt Uchiha Sasuke's work. Nice and convenient. He walked inside.
As Naruto opened the door, Gaara followed him outside. It hit him with the air. The smell of soil. His irritation became too high. Abruptly, he stepped in front of him, turning to face the ninja from the leaf. There was a commotion not far off, but he ignored it. The sounds were filtered into the back of his focus; he bored his eyes into Naruto, bright hair and brighter personality.
His arms crossed over his chest. "Go back."
It had been barely one day ago that he had been Kazekage, and before that, accustomed to having his demands met by fear. He did not know refusal before this place, and his tone was empty of anything but the strength of the order. No, not quite empty. Gaara, emotional shell as he tended to be, had an edge of vehemence, his eyes lit with something like frustration.
The last time Gaara had been anything like afraid was when Naruto Uzumaki crawled to him on his chin. Now, there was dirt all around. Ground. Fresh air. He was afraid to try, already knowing. Already knowing it wouldn't move, it wouldn't grind, it wouldn't become sand. The fear tasted like bile in his mouth, and Gaara hadn't tasted bile since he was six and kneeling in front of Yashamaru's body. It was disgusting.
"Go back." He said again, to make it clear, very clear to the ninja. "I will get you a bat. Go with Uchiha Sasuke."
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Naruto was about to take a step, but was surprised by Gaara's blocking their going forward. He raised his eyebrows at the sand ninja, who stood very plainly in front of him and-- yes, stared him down. There was a flicker of something complicated in his black-ringed eyes, but it was neither inviting nor soft.
Gaara told him to turn around, not once, but twice. He couldn't read pride as well as he could feel it, and felt instantly like a child being told to retreat-- for the repetition, for the assurance that he would receive his bat, and for being told to go back to Sasuke, who had a less than one percent chance of waiting around for them anyway. For being told every step of the way.
Naruto's brows furrowed, a flash of quick anger. He opened his mouth and demanded simply: "Why?"
Stubbornly, the blond mirrored Gaara by crossing his arms over his chest, making every intention to stand his ground clear.
Reply
The logic of it, of taking the sum of encounters and deciding on disposition, was simple enough. Keeping to cool logic proved strangely difficult, and that in itself was another irritation. Naruto's question was a fair one, but Gaara could not see it as anything but impudent. As if he, Gaara, had some right to order him around when he saw fit. His eyes narrowed further, but he did know better than to retort, simply, because I told you to do it. The reason, however, was hard to find. Hard to express. The mix of unfamiliar, maddening emotions.
He glowered at Naruto, and then at the ground, as his chin dipped down in consideration. Why? Back up.
"I do not need your help." Gaara lied, knowing it was a lie and hating that knowledge. It was strange. He had never needed to before, if this was need. Gaara had never lied before. "I do not want it." Truth. Comfort level marginally returned, but nowhere near enough.
"I did not ask you," he continued, his words clipped and slightly awkward as he worked his way to them. But never unfirm, never rooted in anything but steel, but conviction. And if he meant more, it was, I cannot be useless. Words he could not say, a pride he could hardly define but in these words meant for repelling. His fingers twitched on his arm and nothing happened. Nothing happened. Nothing happened. It shouldn't have been disappointing; they had admitted all this indoors. Gaara wanted to close his eyes, might have, if not for the need to stare Naruto back inside and away.
"Go back. I have this." The demand again: Gaara was not the type to plead.
Reply
It couldn't be helped. Before Landel's, any interaction with the suna-nin wasn't exactly positive, nor were they on, technically, good terms. He learned only of Suna's cooperation after Sasuke's defection to Sound, but hadn't witnessed any of it. Only appreciated it after the fact.
Watching Gaara speak took the edge of his anger for some reason-- nothing he entirely understood, mind you. It was as if he was asking, but telling, but asking. Naruto's arms unfolded, if a bit reluctantly. "Hey," he started, hands fumbling onto his hips, posture indignant, but not as formally so. "Did you ever think that maybe I need your help?"
He pouted. "Sasuke's gone by now. If I go back I'll be alone."
It wasn't a way for him to be secretly brave; honestly, whatever his intital intentions had been, Naruto didn't want to turn back now and wander the corridors by himself. With things like ghosts and Phil Atio and who knows what the hell else was in that place at night.
Reply
A more vocal, casual speech familiar Gaara might have asked him if he was kidding. His eyes said enough, widening a little, disbelief strong. No, Gaara had not thought of that. It was completely illogical.
"You don't need my help," he said, as fact. "I cannot do anything. I am useless." Facing it. Grinding in the truth, like so much soil that would not. It made him nauseous, it was frustration in every inch of him, but said as if a commentary on the weather. As if Gaara ever commented on the weather. (Except when all forecasts indicated a blood rain).
He did remember his initial stance, and amended that statement. "I can get the bats. Uchiha Sasuke is upstairs." This alone, of Naruto going upstairs by himself, was not the same as that other loneliness. It did not strike Gaara as being a problem.
Still, he lacked that earlier conviction. Naruto's expression was stupid, but also remarkably effective in wearing away his platform.
Reply
He was not a coward, but he was, sometimes, incredibly clingy. As much as he wanted to stay with Gaara because it would reassure him that the sand ninja was not alone, it was also reassuring to stay. How could he explain that?
"Hell, he probably anticipated that we'd go running upstairs and went somewhere else to lose us." Actually, Sasuke was an asshole, but he wasn't stupid. Two other shinobi with bats couldn't hurt, even he had to recognize that. Still. "Well, that's not the point. Where ever Sasuke is, I still want to go get my own bat."
There was plenty of space on this field. Gaara was still standing right in front of him, so he tested walking around the other ninja. In the distance he could hear what sounded like some kind of scuffle-- instinctively he was drawn, but had to scold himself. Bad, no. No chakra. Bat first.
Naruto didn't quite stride over to the shed with complete and utter confidence-- he did peek, once, over his shoulder, to see if Gaara would finally accept his decision.
Reply
Naruto had a way of plowing on, and Gaara found himself giving in. It was not the time or place to launch into an extended debate, and Gaara disliked speaking.
He kept his mouth shut, lips pressing into a thin line. He doubted the Uchiha had gone that far, but the important part was the bat. Gaara nodded, and keeping his focus well away from the unresponsive soil (the back of Naruto's neck was a good spot, until the shed became primary), followed.
Gaara did feel slightly put out that he, the Kazekage, had had his decision over-ruled by another ninja. As consequence, he moved forward to initiate opening the door. He did not examine the outside of the shed, only noting the door and its damage, including a forced lock. No doubt Uchiha Sasuke's work. Nice and convenient. He walked inside.
[ walking on in here ]
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