บท 20: Trouble on the rooftop
As everybody looked at Jirou with admiration, Sensei gathered our attention once again.
"The exercise is over. I have no doubt about Gaara's strength, so he won't need to fight any of you... In a way, you should thank me."
"That's unfair!"
Hearing the teacher's words, Jun's face showed only jealousy as he looked towards me.
"What... Do you wish to fight him yourself?"
"N-No..."
Feeling anger, Jun lowered his head once more and looked unresigned. The rest were just happy that it was all over.
...
I wanted to fight too.
...
Suddenly, the bell rang and we were dismissed... Leaving me unsatisfied. I set my eyes on Jun, who freaked out and ran away with the rest.
Sigh... Why are they all so scared? I just want to spar...
Looking around and making sure that no one was following me, I made my way to the library.
Once I got there, I noticed a familiar figure standing at the entrance. Feeling my feet growing cold, I immediately made a U-turn.
Sadly though, it was too late.
"Gaara-Sama!"
Ugh... Here we go again. I turned my head and forced a smile as I greeted Shira.
"H-hey man... How's it going?"
Shira looked at me with a smile and spoke up.
"Gaara-Sama, you look way healthier than you used to! I am happy to announce that we can start your Taijutsu training today!"
Although I'm happy to hear that, I'd much rather talk about it after school... Right now, there's an interesting book about wind release that I want to read...
"G-Great... Uhm... Well, see you la-"
Interrupting me, Shira spoke up with his strong voice.
"Where are we going today Gaara-sama? The usual?"
Shifting his gaze, he pointed at the library's entrance with a smile.
I give up... This guy has been so clingy that I seem to have gotten used to his company.
Wait... I just remembered something.
The love letter!
"Shira, I wish we could go there, but I have some matters to attend to today. You see, I was handed a love letter..."
His eyes started sparkling, and he looked at me with even more respect in his eyes. Ah, I dug my own grave, haven't I?
"As expected of Gaara-Sama. You must have all the ladies at your feet."
Crap, why did I say that. Now he thinks I'm some kind of playboy... He's gonna stick to me even more now.
Organizing my thoughts, I started walking to the school's roof. Shira followed right behind me, almost like a bodyguard.
When we got there, it was empty. I looked around for a while, but only caught sight of a few birds on a water tank.
Damn... This must have been some kind of prank. And here I thought I was popular.
Someone's definitely going to pay.
Feeling anger welling up in my stomach, I prepared to leave alongside a confused Shira... But suddenly, a voice stopped us in our tracks.
"You're Gaara? The son of Lord Kazekage?"
Facing the direction of the voice, I caught sight of a red-haired kid. He looked like Jirou but had different face paint and an older appearance. He was carrying something on his back.
More importantly... A headband covered his forehead.
Genin, huh?
Shira quickly moved in front of me and assumed a fighting stance.
"And you are? I'm pretty sure one should say their name before asking for someone else's."
"Heh... You sure are smug for a five-year-old kid. I'm Dami Ichiro... Jirou's older brother. I have come to teach you a lesson."
He looked at me with a smirk while crossing his hands in an act of confidence. Was he trying to intimidate me?
This is so cliche... The younger brother gets humiliated and calls for the older one. I expected more from that guy, Jirou.
Smiling, I closed my eyes and shrugged.
"So it's only you... Tell me, why are you in such a hurry to..."
"To what?"
"To die."
With the anger that I felt from being lied to, I raised my arm and prepared to send some sand... But I was stopped by Shira.
"Gaara-Sama. Leave this one to me."
With those words, Shira assumed his stance once more and breathed in before exhaling a bunch of air. He then burst towards Ichiro in an impressive show of speed.
The genin seemed to have been caught off-guard, but quickly reacted and tugged on some bandages that were wrapping the object on his back.
Shira thought he had punched the guy, but was met with a wooden shield... Raising a small cloud of dust.
Surprised by the sudden turn of events, he backflipped back to my side.
The dust settled, and a puppet suddenly became visible. It was completely red and had two black horns on its forehead.
"Shira, although you're strong... That's a genin. It's better if we cooperate on this one."
I don't think he's developed the seven heavenly breathing method yet, so it would be suicide to go up against this guy by himself.
If we were to team up though, there's a chance that we might just beat him.
As we were speaking, Ichirou made the first move by lifting his index finger.
Opening its mouth, the puppet sent a bunch of small-sized needles our way, Shira evaded them with ease while my sand shield blocked the attack for me.
"Go, I'll handle the puppet."
"Right!"
Controlling my sand, I sent it towards the puppet in order to keep it busy. Using my distraction, Shira took the chance and blitzed past it to close in on Ichiro.
"Tch."
Obvious annoyance on his face, Ichirou tried to bring back his puppet. Not on my watch buddy.
Before it could leave, I grabbed its ankle with my sand and proceeded to lock it in place.
Now unobstructed, Shira got in range and threw a powerful fist that was aimed at Ichirou's abdomen.
Not being able to dodge, he took the hit and blew up in a puff of smoke, leaving a large rock behind before reappearing somewhere else.
(AN: I don't think logs would be readily available in the sand, so rocks it is.)
"Cheh! You guys are stronger than I thought... Now I'll fight se-"
"Aniki! Please don't do this! I will be the one to defeat him! You don't need to butt in my affairs all the time!"
Before Ichiro could finish his sentence, Jirou appeared out of nowhere and started screaming. The Genin looked at his younger brother with a complicated look in his eyes.
"But you've been working so hard lately! I just wanted to know who drove my cute little brother to learn the clan's s-"
"Aniki!"
"Yes..."
Drooping his head down, Ichirou looked at me with one last glance before jumping away and disappearing.
Confused, I looked at Jirou with questioning eyes. He returned my gaze with an angry glare.
"Just you wait till the tournament... I'll definitely get my revenge for that day."
Disdain apparent in his eyes, he turned around and left the roof, leaving me and Shira alone... Still confused.
What's going on here?
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