Chapter 7.2- Gamer of the Desert

“Yes, he did. His taijutsu was superb and he employed his ninjutsu expertly. The ANBU agents weren’t much to write home about, clearly more suited to stealth missions than direct combat. Each of them must have been just a cut above the level of the average Chunin,” he said, not going into the detail I needed from him.

“I see. Three Chunin is still quite a feat. Do you think he was the target of the attack?” I asked, prodding for more detail.

“It is possible. From what I could see, none of the enemy ninja were truly aiming to kill until they were pushed and near death. Even then, they still held back from true attempts to put him down, even at the cost of their own lives. Their mission might have been to kidnap him, but I fail to see why they just didn’t kill him when it became clear that the mission was impossible to complete. It’s what any ninja with a brain would have done in that situation.”

“And what about his sand? You said he made a breakthrough,” I asked again. Getting Baki to talk about Gaara was beginning to feel like pulling teeth. I’d have reassigned the boy to an instructor with less reason to hate him, but Baki was producing results - impressive results. Three Chunin-level kills at six years old. Even the Leaf’s disgusting prodigies could never compare to that kind of feat. We’d have our own Hatake Kakashi soon, and I’d love to see how Sarutobi would still be able to view himself as superior in the face of the Sand’s rise. Sand covers all.

“Yes. Yes, he did. As you told me, one of the reasons for this mission was increasing his loyalty to the village by showing him how different the rest of the world was, but somehow, he managed to produce his own sand in the middle of the Land of Rivers.”

“Produce his own sand?” I asked. “No Jinchuriki of the Ichibi has managed such a feat before. Are you sure he didn’t just call the sand over from Kaze no Kuni itself?” I asked, astounded by the feat.

“No. We were much too far for that to be possible. As you are fond of saying, once you rule out the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth. Calling sand over across dozens of kilometers has to be impossible. Besides, the sand had come rushing out of the ground, not from the skies as it would have if he’d summoned it from a distance away.” I nodded at his quotation of my predecessor’s favorite saying. Attributing it to me was a bit misplaced, but I wasn’t going to bother correcting him.

“I see. I will ask him about it personally when we meet up for training. Beyond that, what do you have to report on his progress?”

“There is nothing of note to mention. He continues to improve in all the areas we’ve worked on. His Earth-style ninjutsu is coming along nicely, and his wind release has become something most jounin would be proud of. His progress remains nice and steady. He will be ready for the next Chunin exams.”

I nodded in agreement with the previous statement. The Chunin exams in Kusa were a significant factor in my decision to push for intensified training for the boy. I needed him to be strong and visible to show the world that Suna was still a formidable force. I also needed him to demonstrate to the Daimyo that we were not inferior to the tree huggers.

“And what about our ally in the court?” I asked.

“Lord Chigiri remains steadfast in his support. The attack shook him, but it may have worked in our favor. I made him believe that the Anbu had been targeting him, and he was grateful that we saved him from what he saw as certain death.”

“But he still terminated the mission.”

“As a side effect of making him believe that assassins were sent after him, his paranoia has increased. He somehow believes that the ‘hired killers’ were sent by his cousin from the Land of Water. I don't mind him thinking that because it does not harm us in any way and may make him more reliant on our protection in the future.”

This time, I didn't nod, but I hummed in agreement. If he wasn't going to be strong enough to become the Kage, then I would need to reassign him to train Kankuro and Temari after Gaara becomes a Jounin in his own right. A mind like his must be involved in the training of our village's future, and I preferred the idea of Temari succeeding me. She had the temperament, pedigree, and I would ensure she had the strength. It was almost perfect.

“What about the mission pay?” he asked, causing my lips to turn downward. I fought the urge and returned to my placid expression. Money had been scarce in the village, and any payment would have to come from our own coffers. However, I still could not refuse to pay Baki his due. A Kage who did not pay his people did not remain Kage for long.

“You will receive the standard A-rank pay. Gaara will not,” I said, and he nodded without questioning me on the matter. Of course he didn't. His disdain for the boy blinded him even more than the scars that prevented him from fully opening his eyes. It would have been sad if it weren't so pathetic.

XXXXXXX - Gaara

I scowled at the man. He was saying something, but I wasn't really listening. His first sentence had completely ruined my mood. I should have expected it, but the sheer audacity of it was a shock to me.

I wasn't going to get paid for protecting Lord Chigiri because he didn't actually make it to his destination. It's not like I had risked my life to save the perverted idiot or anything. Fucking hell.

“The Kazekage has authorized me to offer you some sort of reward, though. I don't see why, but he believes you deserve some incentive to ensure future good behavior,” he said, after he was sure I was done glaring at him.

I scowled at the Bastard. After months under his tutelage, I had gotten used to his methods. He had waited until the last minute to mention that to ensure I spent as much time with him angry as possible. He enjoyed getting under my nerves for some reason, and I found it nearly impossible to resist falling for his tricks. I guess that was the thing about being a jounin: he would always be leaps better at deception and deception-related things than me.

“What do you want, boy? I don’t have all day to spend staring at your ugly mug.” My scowl returned as I wracked my head, trying to figure out what I actually wanted. It had to be training of some sort. Money was good, but definitely not something I’d use a favor like this for. Well, I had already decided what kind of training I wanted to pursue.

“Fuinjutsu training,” I said after a minute’s thought, just making sure there wasn’t anything else more pressing that I might have desired. The Bastard had the stones to burst out laughing. Not even a chuckle. Just full-bellied laughter. Overwhelming laughter. The kind that wracked his entire body and had tears building up in his lone visible eye.

“No,” he said, and then proceeded to fall into laughter once again. When he finally straightened up, he looked at me and fell into laughter again. My scowl grew and grew until I found myself lashing out with my sand unconsciously. The jounin sobered up and dodged the attack before he swept me off my feet in a movement I could barely keep track of. At least I could see him move now. That’s an improvement.

From the floor, I could barely make out his next words. “You are a Jinchuriki. There is no way we would ever let you get close to learning about fuinjutsu. Pick something else.” His words brought an interesting sobriety to my life. I mean, sure, I never forgot what I was. That would have been impossible with how many reminders there were in the village. But I’d also never really been bothered by it. I had no interest in making friends or even socializing, so being a Jinchuriki had helped rather than hindered. But now? It was actively preventing me from learning the things I needed to grow.

“Pick something else before the offer expires,” his words drew me back to reality, and I just blurted out my next words without even thinking.

“Medical training,” I said, shocking both of us. He just nodded and disappeared with a blur, perhaps to set it up. I sat up and began to think about the fallout of my actions. Would asking to learn fuinjutsu make them think of me as more of a threat? Were they going to tighten my leash? And medical ninjutsu? Where did that even come from? I mean, now that I thought about it, it seemed to be a good idea, but I hadn’t felt in control of myself when I said it.