Kapitel 22: Meeting the Representatives
"This is the Village Hidden in the Leaves? It's kinda pathetic isn't it," asked Kankuro with disgust. We stood at the main gate to the village, waiting in Baki to verify our arrivals with the guards. It was strange to Izumo and Kotetsu in person. I still wasn't used to seeing characters who used to be fictional suddenly be real.
"Try to be at least a little respectful while here Kankuro. We are trying to keep up good relations with our only Great Nation ally," I told him. He merely shrugged my comment off and went back to looking at the Hidden Lead Village.
"He is kind of right Gaara, it certainly isn't Sunagakure. I guess it has some charm but we will just have to see," said Temari. I just rolled my eyes and looked around. I had several places I wanted to look at, including the Great Stone Faces and Ichiraku ramen. Tasting the supposed legendary ramen was a definite must.
"Gaara, there is a meeting of the village representatives in an hour. Kankuro and Temari won't be allowed in and the only supervision you will have is the Leaf shinobi. The Third Hokage will be giving a speech on peace. I expect you to represent us very well," said Baki sternly. Like he really needed to say that to me. He should be reminding Kankuro to be respectful.
"Where will you be at Baki-sensei," I questioned. I wondered what Baki would be doing in a village like the Hidden Leaf.
"There is a meeting to brief all of us squad leader jonin. I will also be attending a conference similar to yours Gaara after the Third Hokage speaks to you," said Baki. He didn't sound too enthusiastic about having to listen to the Third Hokage. I knew that Hiruzen Sarutobi was a firm believer in peace but I guess I had underestimated his dedication to it. I hoped it was a good speech that didn't just drag on.
"Where is this meeting at," I asked him. Baki turned and pointed toward where the Great Stone Faces the Hokage's office.
"It will be held in a room on the first floor in the Hokage's office. I will go with Kankuro and Temari to sign you all in at the Academy of theirs," said Baki. Kankuro and Temari seemed less than happy to have to go sign in but it wasn't my problem.
"Thank you Baki-sensei, I'll be on my way," I told him. I then began my walk to the Hokage's office. I had almost an hour until the meeting but I was hoping to see some familiar faces. I then remove red something and quickly diverted myself to a dark alley. I took sand from my gourd and formed sand armor around my face. I wanted to be totally expressionless for most of the chunin exams and this was the method the old Gaara used. He used it to hide his crazy and deranged expression but I would be using it for a different reason. I wanted to stay as close to the original Gaara as possible, anomalies in the timeline would just screw me over in preparing for the future. Besides, it would be fun to mess with people by not showing almost any emotion. I then continued on my way, passing through many lively shops and restaurants. While walking I searched the crowds for any familiar faces. I finally spotted one just as I got close to the Hokage's office. Shikamaru Nara, accomplices by his team as well as Asuma Sarutobi. They were all eating barbecue, Choji Akimichi shoveled food into his mouth without hesitation while Ino Yamanaka stared on in disgust. I observed in disguised awe, joyous to see one of my favorite characters. I looked at them for too long because Shikamaru looked up and locked eyes with me. At his current level, Shikamaru was extremely lazy but still a genius. It would be wise if I stayed out of his notice. I swiftly shifted my gaze and walked onward. It wasn't long though before I sensed someone following me.
"You going to keep following me or tell me what you want," I asked as rough sounding as I could. Shikamaru walked out in front of me, hands in his pocket along with a lazy look on his face.
"Your good, a Hidden Sand genin right? I take it you are here for the chunin exams," he said slowly and lazily. Observant as always, even as a young kid. He was one to watch out for and be careful of, something I should follow to the letter.
"Yes, I am a Hidden Sand genin. Is there anything else you want from me," I asked. I didn't exactly have much to say to Shikamaru, as nice as it was to see him.
"What were you doing looking at my friends like that? That look wasn't exactly a friendly one," he said. I guess with my sand armor mask I hadn't looked very friendly.
"I was just observing my competition," I told him coldly. I then wiped around and continued on my way. If only Shikamaru knew how nervous I was under my sand armor mask. Meeting one of my favorite characters was definitely nerve-wracking.
"Wait, what's your name," asked Shikamaru. I smiled under my mask, this was something I had to get right. I slowly turned around and gave him a light glare.
"Gaara, Gaara of the Desert," I told him with as chilling of a voice as I could manage. It seemed to work because Shikamaru flinched a little before nodding and walking away. I hope I had pulled it off, I was trying to copy the interaction Sasuke had with Gaara when they first met. I quickly moved away from Shikamaru before he might ask me something else he had forgotten. In my haste, I came across a sacred treasure of the Hidden Lead Village. Ichiraku ramen stood in front of me in all of its shining glory. I wanted to go inside so bad but I couldn't risk breaking character or being seen by Naruto before our first interaction. The smell coming from it certainly made my decision to leave it behind incredibly difficult. Nevertheless, I continued onward with regret. Just as I was about to reach the Hokage's office I felt a piercing gaze on me. It made me glad to use the sand armor mask otherwise, I'd look shaken. Whoever was looking at me had an intimidating aura surrounding them.
"What are you doing," said an authoritative voice from above. Looking up, my blood ran cold when I saw the boy who had spoken to me. The similarities between him and his relative were striking but he had black hair that was shorter than his relative's. A red and white fan crest armband was on his right bicep. One of the new Uchiha, the boy was a dead ringer for Shisui Uchiha and Sasuke put together. The boy looked maybe a year or two older than Sasuke. He had a tanto strapped to his back and wore a black shirt and grey shorts. None of that was what caught my attention, it was the two tomoe Sharingan he currently had activated. Both eyes had them, unlike Sasuke who currently had two tomoe in only one eye and one tomoe in the other. Recomposing myself, steeled myself and did my best to remain calm.
"What do you want," I asked him. The boy merely frowned and leaped down to stand in front of me. He was taller than me, probably by a few inches.
"Why are you doing that with your face? Got something to hide," asked the boy. It felt like his Sharingan were burning right through me, it was very unsettling. I couldn't back down now though, I had an image to uphold. Who cares if his Sharingan could see the movement of chakra in my sand armor mask. I didn't want to reveal any of my tricks but I decided now was a good time to mess with him. Sand poured from my gourd, piling onto the ground. The boy jumped back and drew a kunai.
"Mind your own business Uchiha, I'm on my way to do something important," I told him aggressively. For a moment, there was absolute silence and it felt like the whole world was frozen. The boy definitely seemed to be calculating things in his head, weighing what his best course of action would be. I wasn't that patient though so I simply began to walk away. That wasn't the smartest idea because I then heard the whistle of a kunai flying towards me. I forced my sand shield not to protect me, no reason to reveal my Ultimate Defense. Right as the kunai was about to piece my back, I used my Sand Particle Conversion and turned a section of me to sand. The kunai went through the sand part of me harmlessly. It then hit a wall and stuck there. I reversed the Sand Particle Conversion and turned to look at the boy. He looked baffled that his kunai had passed through me. He was obviously trying to figure out how I had allowed it to pass through me.
"A word of advice, don't attack unless you are ready to put your life at risk. I could squash you like the bug you are but I have places to be," I said coldly. I then put my sand back in my gourd and walked away. The boy made no move to stop me or attack. Would both the new Uchiha's be such pushovers? No, that wasn't it, I had caught him by surprise. He hadn't been expecting any retaliation and wasn't prepared for what would happen if there was. Awakened two tomoe Sharingan in both eyes was no easy feat. The boy must be tough if he had accomplished that.
With no further delays, I made it to the Hokage's office with time to spare. The Great Stone Faces stood proudly over the building. They truly were a sight to behold. I could see a few other genin from other villages standing outside the building. Dosu from the Hidden Sound, Shigure from the Hidden Rain, and a Hidden Waterfall girl I didn't recognize. I slowly walked up and stood next to all of them. Each of them eyed me warily and I did the same. Ironic how this meeting was supposed to be for peace yet we were some of the most powerful and violent genin in the exams. When I looked at Shigure a difficult question formed in my mind. Did I need to kill him and his teammates like in the original anime? Gaara had done it because of the disrespect they had shown and the bloodlust he had. I didn't really have a reason to kill them but I also didn't want them creating trouble in the timeline. I would simply have to cross that bridge when I came to it I decided.
"Who are you," asked Dosu dryly. All the other genin representatives also looked interested in hearing who I was. Grinning under my mask I could barely hold in my excitement.
"I'm Gaara of the Desert. Who are you," I asked him in return. Dosu seemed to think for a moment.
"Dosu from the Hidden Sound," he replied. His eyes were full of distrust and wickedness. Dosu was another genin who I was supposed to kill, though with how the plot was working out I wasn't sure if it would remain the same. Currently, the Hidden Sand wasn't involved in the Konoha Crush and Rasa was still alive. I imagined the Hidden Sound would still attack but who would be backing them up? Gaara and Shukaku were a critical part of the plan in the anime. So it was puzzling o see who they would replace me with as the main weapon. It was still entirely possible that Orochimaru would kill Rasa to get close to the Third Hokage. I wasn't sure how I felt about the possibility since Rasa was still my father.
"It seems almost all of you have arrived," said a friendly voice. We all simultaneously turned to find the Third Hokage standing at the doors to the building. He was smoking a pipe as usual and had a playful look on his face. Two Hidden Leaf jonin accompanied him, one with a scar and the other I didn't recognize.
"Only the Hidden Grass and Hidden Leaf representative are not here yet," said Hiruzen. He seemed a little embarrassed that the Hidden Leaf representative wasn't here yet. It didn't exactly make sense for the Hidden Lead representative to be late since it didn't take much time to get here.
"We will start without them then," said the Third Hokage with a chuckle. The two Lead jonin opened the door and we all reluctantly followed the Hokage inside. Going down several long hallways, we eventually entered a room with a huge table. The table was in the shape of a U, with the ends facing the door. At each seat of the table was an iron nameplate with a Hidden Village's symbol. The Hidden Sand, Waterfall, Leaf, Grass, Sound, and Rain. We all got the message and sat down at the seat with our village's symbol. Hiruzen took his seat at the head of the table where there was no nameplate. To my left was the Hidden Waterfall representative, a girl with a cruel and scarred face. To my left was an empty seat where the Hidden Lead representative was supposed to be sitting. My seat was in the middle of the table. Across from me was Dosu, and to the right of him was Shigure. To the left of Dosu was an empty seat where the Hidden Grass representative was supposed to be sitting.
Right as everyone sat down, the doors burst open. Everyone including myself turned and found two people standing there. One was a girl and the other a boy. The boy had a Hidden Grass headband, he was covered in bruises and cuts. He looked like he had just been through a war. The girl wore a Hidden Leaf headband and an Uchiha crest armband on her right bicep. She had long brown hair that went past her shoulders and a kind face. She wore a purple shirt with a collar, black shorts, and fingerless gloves. The girl smiled nervously while twirling one of her bangs. So this was the other Uchiha that was new. She seemed much different than the boy but I knew better than to judge by appearance. I grudgingly had to admit though, the girl certainly was beautiful.
"I'm sorry for my lateness Lord Hokage. The Hidden Grass representative got lost on his way here," she said with a warm smile. The Hidden Grass boy flinched at her words and looked very wary of the Uchiha girl. It was obvious that something else had transpired between the two. I would bet good money that the Uchiha girl was responsible for the boy's bruises.
"That's quite alright Migaki, please take your seat," said the Third Hokage with a sigh. Migaki Uchiha huh? Quite an interesting girl from what I could already tell. Migaki and the Hidden Grass boy quickly took their seats. Migaki then looked at me and smiled. I realized I had been staring, I then averted my gaze as swiftly as I could. This sand armor mask was coming in handy, I'd be even more embarrassed if they saw what my expression was now.
"It's good to finally have everyone present. I can see we have a wide variety of representatives today, even from the newly formed Hidden Sound Village," said Hiruzen with a gesture to Dosu. Dosu made me gesture back and actually looked a little annoyed to be called out. Then again it was hard to tell what the boy was thinking since his face was almost entirely wrapped in bandages. I found it hard to believe that Hiruzen didn't know that Orochimaru was behind the formation of the Hidden Sound Village, it seemed impossible not to know.
"This representative meeting is for you to each understand more about the other villages. We are all currently allies and would stand to benefit by getting to know each other more," he said. This was already boring, I doubted anyone in the room actually wanted to sit through this. Hiruzen then started with a long-winded presentation, mainly on the history between all of our villages. The Hidden Sound was barely included due to how new it was. We all were asked to stand up and tell everyone about our village. I kept my description brief and simply talked about the geography of the Land of Wind for the most part. Shigure and Dosu kept their explanations extremely vague, basically saying stuff everyone already knew about their villages. I understood their secrecy, Dosu was Orochimaru's puppet and Shigure was Pain's puppet. They probably had been told not to divulge any information that could be harmful to their villages. Surprisingly the Hidden Grass boy, as well as the Hidden Waterfall girl, spared no details about their villages'. Finally, Migaki got up to tell us about the Hidden Leaf.
"The Hidden Leaf is my home, a place of great happiness. There are many shops and places full of vibrant people that I live to visit. I train frequently in the forests surrounding the village and have gone on many exciting missions," she said. She promptly sat down and smiled at everyone. We all then redirected our attention back to Hiruzen.
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Two hours later we were finally released from the hell we had been trapped in. Dosu and Shigure we're the ones who existed the fastest. They were gone by the time I made it to the doorway. I looked back and found the boy from the Hidden Grass and the girl from the Hidden Waterfall having an animated conversation. At least two people had benefited from this meeting.
"Excuse me, you're Gaara of the Desert, right?" I turned to find Migaki looking curiously at me. Scratch that, maybe those two weren't the only ones to have benefited from the meeting.
"Yes, I am. Your Migaki Uchiha," I said bluntly. She giggled at my response which made me blush under my mask. How could this girl be so happy? Compared to Sasuke, she was the complete opposite. Her whole clan had been wiped out yet she still found the strength to smile at almost everything. Migaki must be far tougher than I could know.
"Would you like to walk with me? I find talking to someone to be better than walking alone," she said. I stood there dumbly for a moment, too shocked to respond. It didn't last long though because I reminded myself I couldn't look like an idiot in front of her.
"Sure, where might we be going? I have to meet up with my teammates soon," I informed her. We began walking out of the building side by side.
"Don't worry, I need to meet up with my teammates as well. My brother gets super annoyed if I'm late," she complained.
"Your brother? I believe I met him earlier when I was heading to the meeting." Her face turned sour and she looked at me with a pitiful look.
"I apologize for his behavior, he lets things go to his head pretty often. I imagine he did something rash and provocative?"
"You could say that I guess," I said. Maybe it was best if I spared her the details.
"Ugh, what a little knucklehead. Sometimes I don't even know how we could be twins," Migaki said with annoyance. We were now outside and walking down one of the busy streets of Konohagakure.
"Twins? I was told there wasn't many Uchiha left," I said hoping to get some information.
"You heard correctly, only four Uchihas currently remain. My brother, my mother, our cousin Sasuke, and I are the only Uchiha still alive," Migaki said with a stony expression. I had forgotten that the Massacre must still be a very sensitive topic. She was talking about her clan after all, including her father from what she had said. Her mother had survived though, making her the jonin Uchiha who had survived that night. I wonder how she had done such a thing, evading both Obito and Itachi.
"I'm sorry, I didn't realize it was such a sensitive topic. I was merely wondering if the rumors were true," I said with a hint of regret. Migaki didn't seem to care though, she was already back to smiling as if there was nothing wrong.
"Don't worry about it Gaara. It's best not to get caught up in the past anyway," she said offhandedly. I couldn't have said it better myself.
"Do you think your squad is up to the task of competing in the chunin exams?"
"Yes, we are all very excited to put our skills to the test. My brother especially wants to become a chunin so he can get higher rank missions."
"But not you?" Migaki shrugged before stopping and looking at me. I stopped as well, waiting for her to respond.
"I want to become Hokage someday Gaara. I will do anything it takes to get stronger," Migaki said fiercely. She had been so relaxed and laid back about everything. Now she had a fire in her eyes and looked very intimidating. I definitely liked this girl's attitude, she reminded me of Naruto.
"That is quite the goal to strive for," I responded. If only she knew how big of a smile I had under my sand armor mask.
"Don't worry, I'm more than up to the task."We continued on our way until we came to a crossroads. We chatted more about our experiences as well as our expectations of the chunin exams. A tall brown-haired woman suddenly appeared in front of us out of nowhere. She was obviously a shinobi, she wore a similar outfit to Migaki and had an eye patch covering her left eye. An Uchiha crest armband was also on her right bicep. It must be something they wore pridefully.
"Migaki it's almost time for us to meet with Isori and Toziwa," said the woman. She glanced at me before looking back at Migaki. This woman was definitely Migaki's mother but apparently her sensei as well. It must be strange having your parent as your team leader.
"I know I was on my way right now. I need to talk to Isori about his attitude again," Migaki said sternly. Her mother rolled her eyes a little before vanishing. She definitely was a fast shinobi, that was certain.
"Looks like I should get going. I'm sure you need to meet up with your teammates anyways," she said with a laugh. She then jumped up on the roof of the building next to us and disappeared. Well, quite the first encounter there. I noticed it was almost time for Kankuro, Temari, and I to meet up. I had to get going if I was going to stop Kankuro from attacking Sasuke. I hurriedly got on my way, I didn't want to miss the confrontation.
I got to what I was pretty sure was the location just in time. I was behind the wooden fence and could hear the familiar voice of Naruto threatening Kankuro. I then heard Sakura chastise Naruto for threatening Kankuro. I quietly chuckled at those two, what idiots they sounded like.
"You're annoying, all of you. I don't like runts or any other scrawny weaklings. So when a wimp like this starts shooting off his mouth, I just wanna break him in half," said Kankuro from beyond the fence. Chills went down my spine, he was saying exactly how he had in the anime. This was so cool, beyond what I thought it would be like.
"Fine, I'm not involved in any of this okay?" That was Temari saying her exact line as well. I prepared myself, it was almost time for me to make an appearance.
"First, I'll take care of this little squire and then I waste the other one," said Kankuro. He must really be on edge about the chunin exams if this was how he was blowing off steam. I then heard Naruto let out of cry of anger as he went to charge Kankuro. I then looked up in time to see Sasuke chuck a pebble over the fence. I then heard Kankuro grunt in pain and Konohamaru drop to the ground with a grunt of pain.
"You're a long way from home and your way out of your league," said Sasuke Uchiha. They all rambled on a little longer, with Sasuke telling Kankuro to get lost. Then I heard my cue, Kankuro readying the Crow and dropping it to the ground. I stealthily leaped up to the tree branch near Sasuke's and hung off of it upside down.
"Kankuro, back off."
Everyone's eyes darted to me and I could see everyone staring in amazement. I grinned nervously underneath my sand armor mask. I hadn't expected all the limelight to go to me. Gaara's original lines were harsh and rude to Kankuro so I decided to change them up. He didn't deserve to get humiliated in front of Naruto and all the others like in the anime.
"We can't be making a mess in the Hidden Leaf, it could create an incident. I don't want any of us to be barred from participating in the chunin exams," I told him. Kankuro seemed less than happy to be told to back down but he begrudgingly returned Crow to his back.
"Fine Gaara but they started all of this," he said. He was obviously irritated but I'm sure he would calm down after a bit. I turned and looked at Sasuke. He looked very curious about me, which he rightfully should be.
"Sorry for any trouble," I told him. I leaped down to stand next to Temari and Kankuro.
"Let's get going, Baki-sensei is probably waiting on us," I told them. They both nodded and followed me as I walked away. Sakura then stopped us and I let Temari handle the explanation about the chunin exams. Naruto was as clueless as ever, needing Konohamaru to explain it to him. I chuckled at Naruto's excited demeanor toward the exams. This was way too much fun, I wished I could talk to them all but I had a role to play.
"Hey! You! Identify yourself," shouted Sasuke. I could barely contain my excitement, this was it.
"You mean me," asked Temari with hope. She was blushing, I had forgotten how smitten she was with Sasuke just like every other girl.
"No, him. The guy with the gourd on his back" said Sasuke. This was it, the moment I had been waiting for.
"My name is Gaara of the Desert. I'm curious about you too. Who are you," I asked him.
"I'm Sasuke Uchiha." A long pause along with a staredown followed that statement.
"Hi there, I bet you're dying to know my name, right," asked Naruto with arrogance and a stupid grin. This was too funny.
"I couldn't care less," I said harshly. I had to play the part of the bad guy. With that, we jumped off and left them in the dust.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein