Blood Red Memories

Suddenly, the group of children had stopped. Stopped speaking and walking, and instead, stared at the slowly approaching boy. The air was thick with tension. Yumi whimpered, “I’m not allowed to be around him. I-I.” She stammered, slowly backing away. Reina, however, disregarded the other children, waving casually to Gaara, who raised his eyes in acknowledgement. The children gasped.

“She’s so brave!” one admired with wonder as she began to walk out of the pack towards him. Reina bowed in greeting.

“Hello, again,” Gaara said quietly, looking uneasily over her shoulder to her classmates staring in awe and fear. He paused for a moment, considering, then asked, “are these your ...friends?” Reina looked back at the group, and then shrugged. Not really.

“Oh. Well. I haven’t seen you much. I guess you’re in school now, right? That’s good, I guess,” he continued awkwardly, still under scrutiny. “I suppose you should get back to that then..” Suddenly a thought occurred to Gaara. He recalled Yashamaru talking to him about friends, and how to make friendly gestures, and even practicing a few together. Slowly, he reached out a hand, and placed it on Reina’s arm. “Ja ne, friend,” he said with a slight smile. Just as Reina was about to return, the children began to scream.

“Reina! Run away! Run away! He’s a monster!” Mass panic rippled through the group and erupted into outright terror. A few began to run themselves, but more daring continued to screech, begging her to run. She raised an eyebrow, still entirely calm, then turned back to Gaara to say good-bye, too. He was on the verge of tears, lips quivering, eyes turned away from Reina, too proud to show his pain.

Gingerly, Reina mimicked his earlier gesture, placing her hand on his arm. He looked up suddenly at her, in startled surprise. She smiled and nodded her head. Gaara looked away to wipe his eyes, and then bowed good-bye, quickly before running back in the opposite direction. Finally Reina turned back to face the two children who didn’t run away.

Suddenly they erupted into cheers. “First Haruka-sensei and then the demon! Who won’t she stand up to?” Her followers continued behind her, praising in complete awe the entire way. After a while though, she turned around and stopped them, waving them away.

“Oh, ok! See ya tomorrow, Reina!” the two ran off, back in the direction they had come from. “I can’t wait to tell everybody about this!”

“Yashamaru, Yashamaru! It worked, it really worked! You were right!” Gaara shouted as he kicked off his sandals and ran in the house.
“Gaara, what on earth are you talking about? What worked?” his uncle replied, genuinely wondering what he had been doing.

“She really is my friend. All the things you told me worked. Isn’t it great?” Gaara beamed.

“Of course, that’s wonderful,” he replied patronizingly, still certain Gaara’s new “friend” was merely a fabrication of the always-rejected boy.

-

“Hime, you’re home!” Immediately upon stepping inside, Reina was scooped up by Hiram. “And, do you know what I heard?” he asked, placing her on the ground once more.

She peered up fearfully at him. It was all over. He knew she had disobeyed by seeing Gaara again. Reina waited for her punishment, flinching at his booming voice. “You were ‘EXCELLENT’ in school today. I expected nothing less, didn’t I tell you she would do great, Kaiyo?”

She sulked into the room. “I suppose you did. Did you like your first d—” Hiram interrupted her, kneeling down to eye-level with Reina.

“And you made friends too, I’m told. Absolutely wonderful! And I have something to tell you, too. I have business here in Sunagakure, and you were invited as well. And you’ll never guess who we’ll be meeting. Go ahead, guess!” Reina was very taken aback; this wasn’t the response she was expecting at all. Not only that, but it seemed with his excitement about school, there was no way she could convince him not to make her go again. She stared at him.

“The Kazekage!” he smiled even wider. “Kaiyo, will you please get Reina dressed a little nicer? We need to get going in an hour or so. Fix her hair too,” he said, walking into another room.

After being thoroughly scrubbed by Kaiyo and put into some never worn dress-clothes, she was scooped up onto Hiram’s shoulders and into the streets. She rested her chin in his bright orange hair, contemplating how she could possibly avoid school now. It seemed inevitable to be back there tomorrow.

“Something wrong, princess?” he asked when she sighed. “You should cheer up, not everyone gets to meet someone as important as the Kazekage. He’s a very busy man, after all.”

As they approached the large, rounded building at the very center of Sunagakure, Hiram placed Reina on the ground once more. He walked purposefully inside a side door, leading her up flight after flight of spiraling steps. After what seemed like ages, they finally reached a landing, went through several doors, and found themselves in a waiting room overlooking half the city. Hiram lead Reina to a couch and sat down. “We just have to wait til he comes out,” he murmured.

Reina busied herself by looking around the lobby. It seemed nice, she supposed, though she didn’t know much about what adults considered nice. She could guess as much from the furniture, which wouldn’t be found in their home. Her ears began to prickle, hearing voices from the next room. It sounded like children. Odd, considering it was a grown-up work place.

She couldn’t really hear them, especially not enough to understand what they were saying, but she was nearly positive it was a boy and a girl. After a few more achingly slow minutes waiting and fidgeting, the door opened. “I’m sure you’ll be fine. Stop complaining, he is your brother after all. Now, go wait with your uncle, and I’ll see you both in an hour. Hiram! Good to see you.”

“Kazekage-sama, the honor is mine.” Her uncle immediately stood, bowing low. A very imposing man stood in the door. He has cruel, dark eyes, which was all Reina could focus on. “This,” her Uncle said, “is Reina. My niece. She just began at the Academy today, already the brightest in her class though. Reina, greet the Kazekage.” She imitated her uncle’s bow, now curiously gazing at the boy and girl, standing behind the man.

The girl seemed tall, with blonde hair in four pigtails. The boy behind her, probably younger, looked much like the Kazekage, down to his similarly-styled spiky brown hair. “Wonderful. These are my children, Temari and Kankuro. They were just on their way out. Perhaps your niece would like to accompany them? They won’t mind it.” The two narrowed their eyes at her, telling her to refuse. She took a step back, firmly holding Hiram’s hand. Don’t make me.

“She’s kind of shy, I’m not sure. Maybe some other time?” he said, patting Reina’s head comfortingly.

“Oh, she’ll be fine. Better to go than wait in this stuffy office. Temari, Kankuro, go ahead. Find something you can all do.” With that she was dismissed. She followed them out, looking forlornly over her shoulder as her uncle waved goodbye.