The wrong brother...

Chapter 6 - Misunderstanding...?

The next morning atmosphere is good again, no tension between you and Gaara. The game you played went quite well, you've learned new things about both of them. You need to admit that you like this mission. It does not even feel like a mission.

You are more than surprised how eager Gaara is when it comes to talking and playing games to know each other. This only proves to you that everything you've heard about him is not true. Either he has massively changed, or people were just making stuff up. Especially older people. Who knows...

Honestly? You don't really care. You've made your own opinion about both of them, and nothing else really matters to you. If they treat you nicely, you do the same.

The day is long, the sun is up, the boredom is real. Even with the chilled atmosphere, those two are back to running in silence. Is there any point in trying again, or will you just look silly? 

You can see that the sun is about to set. This has truly been a long day. 

"Is there anything nice nearby, or are we just camping later on?" You finally break the silence.

"Camping tonight." Gaara answers almost immediately before Kankuro even opens his mouth.

"Yay, he can talk." A quiet, snarky comment that hopefully starts the conversation. Or not...is this considered a bit rude? Is he in his Kazekage mood or Gaara mood? 

Before you can start to overthink, you are hit by the sand and almost end up flat on the ground. At the last moment, you regain your balance. Kankuro is laughing hard, while Gaara just continues towards Konoha.

"That was not nice." You add quietly, more to yourself than to anyone else. 

Not even a few seconds later, there is sand around your feet again and this time you almost hit the ground. 

"Are you done yet?!" You yell as you regain the balance again.

"Just making sure you are paying attention. And you clearly are not." You hear Gaara say and scowl his way. 

"Having a lot of trust in me, huh?" You're on the track again, the same pace as Kankuro and Gaara are running.

"Almost hitting the ground twice while paying attention, wandering off while overseeing chuunin exams. Should I continue?" His voice is not harsh, so you dare to roll your eyes.

"Jealous much? That you and your commands are not the centres of her universe?" Kankuro joins the conversation and you can feel your face going slightly red. 

As you want to grin at him, you notice that there is no Kankuro. Just you and Gaara. You look back and see the pile of sand and the puppet emerging from it and spinning wildly. As all the sand is gone, he is back with you. You look at him and can see he has a smile on his face too. 

You continue on your way for another hour. Gaara is being silent all the time, while you and Kankuro talk about everything and nothing. 

Out of nowhere, you feel a weird presence around and abruptly stop. And you're not the only one. Both brothers are alert. Not even in a split of a second, you can see a kunai heading your way. Too easy...

You dodge it quickly and send a massive fireball the way it arrived. From the other side you can see many rotating leaves with extremely sharp edges flying your way, so you jump and give a sharp wave with your left hand, scattering them into small pieces with your whirlwind. 

In the next second, you see a figure behind the tree trapped in some wines.

"Got it!" Both, you and Gaara shout at the same time but go with a different approach.