Chapter 27.1- Gamer of the Desert

XXXXX- TEMARI POV

After Gaara’s sendoff, the rest of the trip to Konohagakure had been relatively simple and straightforward. Like everyone had seen coming, Kankuro was already complaining about his face feeling itchy on the second day of the trip. Idiot that he was, he didn’t take Gaara’s suggestion of waiting till he arrived in Konoha to apply the war paint, or even my own suggestion of forgoing the paint entirely. Sure, it had been hip seventy years ago, but now it just looked comical.

But apart from that, everything about the trip seemed to be going well. The other genin were nice and friendly. We got more attention than everyone else, but we bore it with ease. Being the children of the fourth Kazekage and the siblings of the fifth, it was understandable that the other genin would find us a bit odd, and there was also the jounin who watched us too with inscrutable looks on their faces.

I would have feared for my life if I wasn’t the sister of the kage that I was. Gaara wasn’t popular with the citizens or even the ninja populace as a person. Perhaps he never would be. People held grudges for a while, and memories of the Ichibi no Shukaku were slow to leave. But as a Kage? He’d probably go down as one of the best. He’d already fixed a lot of the day to day problems plaguing the average resident. Having lived in the mansion all my life, I didn’t hav emuch of an understanding about how living outside of it could be. I mean, Rin and the rest tried to give me context, but some things needed to be worked through. At least, according to the group of girls that I’d made friends with in the academy, things had been looking up since Gaara took the hat.

Things like water and electricity no longer needed to be rationed so strictly, and more and more citizens of Suna were being given jobs all around the Land of Wind. Rin’s dad had even been employed as a surveyor to help in increasing the mining efforts in the mountainous regions of Kaze no Kuni. I still remembered the way Naki had swept me into a hug and told me to thank Gaara for her. Both her parents were in danger of losing their home, but Gaara’s policies had gotten the both of them highly paying jobs in the mining and banking sectors. I didn’t understand everything they said. Things like economics and business were for career genin like them, not future elites like myself. But what I did understand was that Gaara was doing a good job.

That wasn’t the reason I wasn't scared of anything happening though. Everyone was scared of Gaara. I’m ashamed to say it, but until recently, both Kankuro and I would have fallen under that umbrella as well. It was just too easy to be scared of him. A prodigy like him? A chunin at six? A fully trained medical ninja before he turned 8, and Kage at 12? He was the kind of ninja you heard tales about? Not the kind you woke up to and met struggling not to burn the kitchen down as he tried to prepare pancakes for you because you’d told him your period had been kicking your ass the night before.

The fact that he was so sweet contrasted way too heavily with the reputation he had. I remembered one of the first things I’d heard about Gaara from Baki, “Your brother? He wouldn’t recognise you as such so abandon that idea now. Gaara of the Desert is a cold hearted killer. Never have I met anyone so well suited to being a shinobi than him. He would stab right through you if he had to to get to his enemy” Baki had said when I’d asked him about Gaara before we’d gone on that fateful mission.

And then Gaara had proved him wrong by saving our lives. That was when I knew that the rest of the world was wrong. They’d never see the brother I saw. The Kage I saw. Gaara cared. He improved things in Suna because he cared about the village. He stepped in to help Kankuro and I because he cared about us as his siblings. He had a bigger heart than anyone who didn’t know him would ever be able to guess. The sad part was that we didn’t know him until a few months ago. It was what made me a bit happy about Father’s death. We’d lost one family member and gained another, because without having Father around to keep us separate, Gaara could be our brother. He could be an actual part of the family.

Enough of that though, it was time to set camp for the night. We’d make it into Konoha tomorrow, and after that we had three days until the first stage of the chunin exams began.

XXXXXX

The first stage of the chunin exams. A written test. Of all the things they could go with, this had to be it. Bunch of weakling tree hungers. I’d heard of a chunin exam where all the competitors were trapped in a death room, and whoever made it alive got to make it to the next stage. That was the kind of thing I was looking for, not this pansy stuff. At that thought, I did my best to clear my mind. Kankuro was clearly infecting me with his peculiar brand of Kankuro-ness more than I’d expected.

When the sheets were passed around, finally, I just stared at the questions in shock. What was this? Barely anything here had even been covered in the academy. I mean I could see some questions I could answer, but the knowledge for those actually came from the occasional conversation with Gaara. My brother was taciturn most of the time, but Kankuro and I had quickly learned that an easy way to get him talking for long periods was to ask a question about something academic that he had to explain.

Sure, it wasn’t the most entertaining way to spend an afternoon, but it was our brother. Our perfect little brother. Back to the questions, and after I answered the few that I could, I stared at the back of Kankuro’s head, waiting to see what would happen. When something began to crawl up my leg, I did my best not to react as a puppet arm holding a piece of paper revealed itself. I waited till the examiner was busy sending someone out before I grabbed the sheet of paper and placed it right on top of mine on the desk. It had my name and exam number written in perfect script with all the questions answered correctly. I recognised the writing as Shira’s and wasted no time in hiding my original paper and leaning back to watch the exam unfold. Of course Shira could answer the questions. The boy had been held back at the academy for so long, he’d studied the entire curriculum and then some.

A few minutes later the proctor began to speak. I didn’t pay complete attention, but I did hear the bit about those who failed this exam never being allowed to take the exams again. What a terrible clown. I almost actually laughed when people began to fall for it and resign. Who was this jounin from Konoha who thought he’d be able to tell actual Kage what they could and could not do with their own military forces. As if. When a team from Suna actually fell for it, I was tempted to toss my shoe at the idiots as they walked away. Fools.

When the blonde haired loudmouth Kankuro had argued with yesterday stood up to begin shouting about how he’d become Hokage even if he had to do it as an eternal genin. What an idiot? But somehow, even his foolishness sounded inspiring. It gave me a lightness in my chest as he glowed with a light I couldn’t see. Was this what it meant to be charismatic? He spoke like an idiot, but still, part of me wanted to believe in his blustering. Reality was too strong for that, though. Kage were unfailing prodigies in every way. Being a genin by 12 (he looked 12) probably disqualified him immediately.

Of course, the stupid proctor then went on to reveal that the whole thing was a bluff after taking off his durag to show some pretty gruesome scars on his head. Fuck. That was metal as fuck. Hold on.  Metal? As fuck? And now Gaara was in my head. Of course, the foul mouthed kage just had to infect me with his way of speaking.

XXXXXX

After some rest, we stood in front of the gate set aside for our team and waited for the nudist proctor to begin this exam. Just get another scroll and head to the tower at the centre. Too easy.

Of course, that just had to jinx it. It was only minutes into the exam. We’d barely travelled more than a kilometre into the forest as we tried to get as close to the tower as we could, when we were attacked.

A/N; How does the foray into Temari's head feel? Did I get it right?