When Waves Meet the Sand

Kumiko very rarely gave in to her temper.

Like most Waterbenders, her strength came from channeling her emotions.

Unfortunately for the Oto nin, Kumiko’s temper never flared higher than when someone hurt the people she promised to protect.

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Dosu had never been more assured of victory.

The Uchiha was easily beaten down, the kunoichi even more so, and no one else that had arrived was much more than an annoyance.

Proud of his comparative strength, the Sound nin scoffed.

Konoha Genin were no better than cockroaches.

And it was his duty to squash them.

Melody Arm unsheathed, Dosu was fully prepared to do just that.

Just as the chakra began to build up…

“NO!”

Startled, Dosu turned sharply-

And was met with a fist to the face.

The punch was strong enough to send him flying off his feet and a few yards through the air before the Sound shinobi hit the ground hard on his back.

Dazed, he looked up into furious midnight eyes and thought better of his earlier statement.

Some Konoha Genin were wolves.

Just as Dosu thought to raise his arms and strike back, sand pinned him to the grass, constricting once in warning.

Zaku turned on their newly-arrived opponent, arms raised to blast her away-

Columns of rock burst up from the ground, smacking into the appendages with a sickening ‘CRACK’, and the Oto shinobi fell with a scream.

The earth shackled him down in moments, and the little brunette kunoichi looked down at him with a scowl.

“An’ stay down.”

Kin twitched, ready to attack, when a blade touched her throat in warning.

“I would not recommend it.” Her attacker stated calmly. “After all, I’m not particularly fond of you at the moment. Cleaning blood out of my clothes would be a small price to pay for satisfaction.”

The Sound kunoichi went very still, instinctively knowing that this Konoha Genin was not lying.

The ground came up to encase her arms, pulling down to force Kin into a helpless kneeling position as the blade was removed.

Squad Seven and Ten, as well as Team Gai, stared at the all-kunoichi team in different stages of surprise and awe.

In moments, they had defeated a group that had taken all eight of them to stall, and without much effort.

Sakura had never been more relieved that Kumiko and her friends were on their side.

Sand crept over all three Oto nin, and Gaara resisted the urge to crush them for their insolence.

He had promised Kumiko there would be no more blood.

Shukaku suggested a compromise.

Kumiko was actually about to let the trio leave of their own volition when the sand snapped up like whips, sending them flying over the tree tops and out of sight.

Blinking after them in confusion, the Waterbender turned to Gaara in disbelief.

“Why would you do that?”

“They irritate me.” He replied honestly. “And I promised not to kill anyone.”

“So you tossed them? What if the fall kills them?”

“It’s their own fault for not saving themselves.”

“I’m wit’ Red on this one.” Kana voiced, smirking. “Gettin’ tossed is more than ‘ey deserved.”

“Does no one appreciate the art of nonviolence?” Megumi muttered, sheathing her swords.

The Earthbender paused, as if really thinking it over, before grinning.

“Pretty much.”

Calm as could be, the redhead picked up a rock, testing the weight with a careful toss, and chucked it at Kana’s head.

SMACK!

“OW!”

“Meg!” Kumiko chided, oblivious to the amusement Gaara and the other observers were feeling at the sight. “You’re supposed to be the mature one!”

“Considering my options, that was the mature response.”

Arguing was clearly not going to get her anywhere, so Kumiko gave up with a sigh, turning her attention to the other Konoha Genin.

Worry overcame the irritation at the sight of a battered Sakura, and she immediately moved to help the pink-haired kunoichi stand.

“Are you alright?”

The Waterbender stopped as she finally noticed the biggest change, guilty.

“Sakura-chan, your hair…”

“Oh, it’s alright…” She assured, smiling shyly as she played with the tips. “I kinda like having it short again…”

Kumiko was silent for a moment, surprised.

There had been no ‘I’m sure Sasuke-kun won’t mind’ or ‘Maybe Sasuke-kun will like it’, just an ‘I kinda like it’.

It was the first time in six years that Kumiko had heard Sakura like something for herself.

The thought brought a smile to her face.

“I do, too.” She replied. “I think it suits you.”

Shikamaru took a moment to watch Ino approach them, hoping she would not somehow make things worse, before the feeling of being watched registered in his brain.

Turning, he found Megumi silently looking him over, gold eyes blank except for some hidden emotion that was hard to see.

Butterflies filled his stomach as the thought ‘She’s checking me out’ flew to the forefront of his mind, and did not disappear even as the more rational ‘She’s only checking for injuries’ followed.

“Are you uninjured?” Megumi wondered, somewhat awkward.

Shikamaru was fairly certain his heart jumped at the realization that maybe she had been, in her own way.

“I’m alright.” He replied, seeing a flash of relief in her eyes before the Firebender’s expression turned irritated.

The shadow-user reasoned that it was likely an emotion she was more used to.

“Were you thinking when you ran into that fight?” She scolded. “If we hadn’t come in time, you would be dead right now.”

Sometimes, Shikamaru wondered if girls were worth the trouble.

“I wasn’t given much of a choice.” He admitted. “Ino dragged me in.”

Those gold eyes snapped to said blonde, narrowing in what might have been upset, before Megumi regained control of her expression.

Arms crossed, she looked away as if embarrassed, though her face remained blank.

“You should be more careful.”

“Troublesome…” Shikamaru muttered, avoiding her eyes as well. “I will.”

Rubbing the growing bruise on her head and ignoring the others, Kana reached into her weapon’s pouch and pulled out an Earth Scroll, tossing it at Neji’s head.

Catching the impromptu projectile with ease, the Hyuuga eyed it skeptically.

“What is this?”

“It’s a scroll.” Kana replied, smirking. “Don’t tell me ya can’t tell that much, warugaki.”

He glared, but made no move to attack.

Neji convinced himself that it was a waste of energy.

“Why would you give it to me?” He rephrased instead, annoyed.

“Ya wanna pass, don’t ya?” The blind kunoichi countered, hands placed nonchalantly behind her head. “Figured if I wanna beat ya up in the next part, ya gotta pass this one. What, ya ‘lready got yer set?”

Neji frowned, unwilling to admit that his team had not yet retrieved a second scroll while hers had clearly obtained more than the necessary twin set.

Unfortunately, Kana could tell anyway, and smirked.

“That’s what I thought, warugaki.”

The Earthbender turned away before Neji could regain control of his anger and speak without sputtering indignantly, tossing a Heaven Scroll to Megumi and focusing on her new task of waking up a now-snoring Naruto.

Grabbing the blonde by the front of his shirt, she shook him rather violently, like a rag doll.

“Wake up, ya o’ergrown dipshit! I ain’t got all day!”

His snores never faltered, and Kana was beginning to shake him even harder when Megumi came up, rolling her eyes.

“Allow me.” She advised, motioning for the younger kunoichi to back up.

Kana stopped shaking him, but stubbornly refused to move.

Shrugging in reply, the Firebender said the one thing she knew would wake Naruto up from even the deepest sleep.

“Ichiraku Ramen.”

“WHERE?”

BAM!

“OW!”

“SON OF A-!”

Naruto had jackknifed up at the mention of his favorite thing in the world, smacking foreheads with a startled Earthbender.

Releasing him, Kana pressed on her new bruise and let out a string of curses, most of them directed at her teammate with the firm belief that both her head injuries were Megumi’s fault.

Gaara watched everything silently from the background, taking note of the unique interactions and staying out of sight.

There was no need for him to involve himself; he was here for Kumiko, not for them.

When said kunoichi broke away from the large group of Konoha Genin, Gaara was pleased to know that she still preferred him over everyone else.

Fubuki lifted her head from the apparent disagreement she was having with Tomo, tense, but the Polar Bear Dog relaxed and turned away once she realized where Kumiko was heading.

No one could blame her for being concerned, considering the day they had been having…

“Gaara?”

Shaking away the dark thoughts that had begun filling his mind, the Suna nin felt himself relax as Kumiko’s clear blue eyes peered up at him.

“Do you want to go?”

He wanted very badly to say yes, to get away from the crowd and not have to share his angel’s affection, but held back.

Kumiko had been very worried about the Konoha Rookies, and with good reason, so perhaps she wanted to stay.

“There’s no need.” Gaara assured. “Temari and Kankuro should be following us, and have picked up our second scroll.”

Taking Shukaku’s advice, he did not tell her that his siblings had likely taken said scroll from the defeated Amegakure nin and then killed them, if only to keep Suna’s secret safe.

Gaara agreed that it would likely upset her, one way or another.

But Kumiko had long ago learned to read a person’s thoughts from their face, their eyes, instead of their words.

“I think they’ll be alright. The hard part is over, at least.” Kumiko noted, checking over the group once more.

It was an opening, a retreat, and Gaara had never been so relieved.

“If we leave now, we can reach the tower first.”

Kumiko understood the importance of that; other teams would set up traps to capture their slower counterparts for scrolls near the finish line, whether they needed more or not, and those traps could be deadly.

“Right.” Kumiko agreed, relaxing. “Meg! Kana! Time to go!”

The Firebender looked up from holding a flailing Kana at arm’s-length, nodding once, and the smaller girl slumped in aggravated defeat at the interruption.

The goodbyes were short, some even awkward, but none were particularly curt or forced.

Even the Hyuuga was polite to the supposed bane of existence, Kana, which confused Gaara to no end.

As all of them parted ways, the thought stuck in his head, a stubborn thorn in a lion’s paw.

What made Konoha nin so…connected?

Was it…

Was it something he could have, too?

Kumiko looked over her shoulder, as if concerned, and when their eyes met, she gave Gaara that beautiful little smile saved just for him.

As warmth spread through his blood, the Jinchuriki decided that he did not care in the least.

Kumiko was enough.