Two Years in the Sand Village

Miyo

When I first entered the land belonging to the Hidden Sand Village, the first thing that hit me was how bright it was. Second was how hot it was; I barely took three steps into the territory before I was wilting under my sweatshirt and felt like I could barely lift my boots. Plus, my hair was too long, considering that it was dark purple.

There's a lot I'll have to get used to around here. The locals have grown up here and don't notice any difference.

When we officially reached the village, Gaara took one look at me gasping for breath and said, "We'll start your training tomorrow. Matsuri, help her settle in."

"Yes, Gaara-sensei."

She took me to her place. Fairly simplistic, compared to what I was used to seeing, but I kept my mouth shut.

At least, I kept my mouth shut until I sensed some uncertainty coming from her. "You know, Matsuri, I think the main reason Gaara, sorry, Gaara-sensei, chose to take me on is to help me practice my jutsu. It won't interfere with your weapons work."

"Oh! Um…I wasn't worried." She watched as I unloaded my things and blinked a bit in surprise as she saw that about half of what I'd packed was stuffed animals. To be honest, I'd packed relatively few ninja-dolls. Practically the only people I'd packed were Little Gaara, Mini Temari, Little Kankuro, Little Naruto, Little Matsuri – yes, I'd managed to make one in the brief time I'd seen her – Little Neji and mini-me.

Yes, I got my copy of myself back from Lee. I still don't think he's figured out why I gave him the thing to begin with.

"Um…toys?"

I looked at her and smiled. "I'm hopeless at weapons work, so I rely almost exclusively on my ninjutsu. These toys are truly my weapons. And if all of my opponents have the same reaction you just did," she'd double-taked, "then I'll be a pretty good ninja."

"Oh. …What can they do?"

"You know Kankuro's ability? That puppet thing?" At her nod, I continued, "My ability's similar. I can control any of these toys using a thread that I channel my energy through."

"But what can a toy do?"

I grinned. "More than you think." I picked up my hedgehog toy. "I've never been able to even practice with this one, because I worry about hitting myself." Taking hold of its short tail and its nose, I manually curled it up.

And every needle that was loaded in the thing showed itself.

"Now that I'm here training with Gaara-sensei, he can use his sand to keep me from hitting myself or him, and I can actually try out this bad boy." I uncurled the thing and tossed it aside.

"Wow." After a little bit longer – where no further information about my toys was forthcoming – she went off for…I think she was going to do some more training with Gaara. I mean Gaara-sensei. Sheesh, it was going to be hard remembering to call him that!

I shed my sweatshirt and boots and put them both away in the corner, sweatshirt folded under boots. I just wasn't going to wear them anymore, they were too heavy to use in hot places. Then I connected my thread to my own doll, picked up a kunai and…started giving myself a haircut. It was one of the stranger things I'd ever done, but necessary: if I wanted to see what I was doing, I needed to use the doll. It was still unnerving to feel any accidental tug, and to have my hair falling away from my head, when I knew there was nobody there.

Before too long, though, mini-me's hair had gone from mid-back to a shorter-than-shoulder length; and through jutsu, so had mine. I shook my head around violently to settle my hair into its new style. "Okay, step one of adapting to the Sand Village complete; now on to step two."

I still wanted to have something with sleeves I could carry stuff around in, but my sweatshirt was clearly out of the question. "I need something made out of a light fabric…"

I did actually have some bolts of standard fabric with me. I needed something to make those dolls out of, after all, along with their clothing. Choosing a color that looked good on me took some doing, but I managed: a bright green that I'd actually bought because Katsuro and Keitaro wore that color more than nearly everything. Frankly, that color didn't look that great on them.

I cut out the pieces I'd need for my own…thing…and from the scrap I cut out tinier pieces for a doll-size version. I honestly don't know what to name what I'm making for myself.

Then I pulled out a scroll and unfurled it, using a half-deliberate cut to streak it with my blood. "Summoning Jutsu!"

Kai appeared standing before me, but I didn't give her a chance to fall down; instead, I threw a couple of kunai – three, to be exact – with threads attached to them. All three embedded themselves in the ceiling, and I dashed about Kai, tying up both arms outstretched and tying my Leaf headband around her neck and tying the remaining thread to it.

Then I stared. "I've gotten…fast!"

The easiest way for me to use Kai in my seamstress-work is to use a blank doll – which I always kept on hand – and channel the changes that way.

I had to hand-sew the pieces of the back together for both, as well as set both halves of the front on by the shoulders, but then I just draped the whole thing on Kai. It was open in front, but it was supposed to be. It was like a kimono…mixed with…something else.

Matsuri came back around the time I was adding the sleeves. Again, I'd had to hand-sew them into tubes…for a value of tubes…and I'd untied Kai's right arm and slid the sleeve on, giving the seam-side one or two place-holding stitches so that it would stay more-or-less the way I'd wanted it, and I was working Kai's left arm.

"What the?"

She startled me, and I almost lost the sleeve right back off. "What?"

"What happened to your hair?"

I looked at her. "I cut it. It was too long to be comfortable in this heat. And could I have five minutes of quiet, please? I'm trying to finish this before I need it tomorrow."

At least she sat in silence while I finished sewing on the sleeves, made slits around the edges of the sleeves, and threaded pink ribbons through the slits to turn my sleeves into giant drawstring bags. A few more pink-ribbon trimmings, a red sash, and my creation was done. It reached to nearly the floor, but it wouldn't get in my way when I was running thanks to the slot left by having an open front.

"I didn't know that a ninjutsu could work like that."

I grinned at her while moving the little outfit onto my miniature. "I think I'm the only person who can do that." I untied Kai's wrists and pulled the curtain off. Then I swung it onto myself. It was a little big, which I'd done on purpose to allow for a growth spurt, and definitely showed off my figure more than my sweatshirt did. "What do you think?"

She studied me. "I think you're going to make a lot of girls here jealous."

I turned, watching my sleeves swish. "Wanna bet I'll set some new fashions?" If only Neji could see me in this.

She just laughed. Then she looked at Kai. "Where did this come from?"

"Kai? I dragged her along with a Summoning Jutsu. It seemed more convenient than trying to pack her into a bag she didn't fit inside." I pulled down the two kunai that I'd freed, untied Kai completely to get that last knife down, and sat her down on the floor with her legs folded.

Matsuri giggled. "If somebody just glanced over there, they'd think that was actually somebody."

"If I ever thought of it, I could have used that as a strategy." I studied my leaf headband. Then, I wrote an extremely short note to Gaara-sensei. Then I rolled it up, picked up Little Gaara, and stuck it inside his gourd.

"What are you doing?"

"I discovered by sheer chance that I can communicate with Gaara-sensei using my miniature version of him. Neither of us has any idea why it works, or how it works. I've decided to just accept it; it's useful for if I have a question and don't know where he is."

"So what did you ask?"

"I asked him what I should do with my Hidden Leaf Village headband. I mean, I'm kind of living in the Hidden Sand Village right now…"

I hadn't bothered to re-cork the gourd. The sand flew back out, all but tossing my note back…rolled inside-out.

I picked up the tiny scroll and unrolled it. He'd managed to fit a lot onto one small slip of paper.

"Just wear it. You will always be part of the Leaf Village, and nothing you or I do is going to change that. You will always stand out."

"What did he say?"

I looked at Matsuri. "He basically said there was no point in leaving it in my room when everybody in the village already knew I was from Leaf Village."

The next morning, I ran a little late. Matsuri was out the door almost as soon as the sun was up, but I knew that unless I wanted to go around squinting, some cosmetics needed to be applied.

A little black makeup right around my eyes…and I might as well include my eyelids in that…that should keep me from going blind.

After dithering around a bit more trying to figure out which toy I was going to work with today, I ran out the door with Little Gaara helping me track to the correct location.

Gaara and Matsuri both stopped in their tracks as soon as they saw me. I gave a wry smile at them. "I know, I know: I won the lookalike contest, didn't I? It was either this or wandering around squinting."

Matsuri started giggling a little. Gaara remained expressionless, although there was this tic on his forehead around the point where another person would have had an eyebrow…

I reeled in Little Gaara so that he was in my sleeve and my hand, and held him lightly, keeping my fingers so loose that I could tell what he was doing.

One of his little hands was over his mouth and his head was pulling the seizure typical of one of my dolls "giggling."

Finally, Gaara spoke. "Let's…just get started."

Was I disappointed that he didn't say anything about my kimono-thing? Not really; he's my teacher for the next two years, so what he thinks of my clothes, hair or makeup is completely beside the point, and besides, if I wanted to know his opinion on any of those things I could ask Little Gaara and probably get a way more accurate answer.

I settled into a routine over the next two years. Always using the makeup, always wearing my kimono when I wasn't practicing with my threads…

I did finally get the chance to actually use the hedgehog toy. I was so glad that it actually worked the way I'd hoped it would.

Nights, now…those were another story. Even with both Little Naruto and Little Gaara hovering like protective mother hens, I started having nightmares again after about three months. After the fifth day I ruined my makeup by rubbing my eyes, Gaara took me aside and asked what the problem was. And I told him what had happened years ago.

I hesitated a great deal during the tale, but he managed to continue listening patiently. And at the end of the story, he only said one thing. And he used his Danger voice. "I am going to kill him."

That was gratifying. "Anyway, the only real way that the nightmares stay away is when Naruto's there. When he isn't…my miniature of him has worked before…"

He studied my face. "Something has changed, then."

I shivered. "My guess: withdrawal of a sort. I'm used to getting a certain amount of contact from the real Naruto, and now I haven't seen him for a while. I miss him. I probably would have run into this problem if I'd stayed in the village since he ran off with, um…his sensei." I'd forgotten his name.

Gaara just looked at me for a minute. Just by reading his expression, I guessed that he was thinking hard. The only question was, about what?

Gaara

This was a side of Miyo I hadn't seen before…and I knew nothing of how I was supposed to deal with it. I have no experience with interactions of kindness.

She looked up at me and a shaky smile appeared on her face. "I know that look, Gaara, I've seen it on a couple of other boys; that's a 'Girls need an instruction manual' look."

She startled a return smile out of me. Well…it wasn't as if she wasn't accurate…

I closed my eyes, trying to remember how Naruto interacted with her. The trouble was, I'd seen her with him very rarely, and those were hardly normal times.

Then a memory came back:

I was barely standing, but Miyo was holding me up, constantly adjusting her grip so that she wouldn't interfere with my movement as I prepared a finishing blow. And then there was when we were going to leave the village: before she went to gather her things, she had hugged me. She seems to put a great deal of importance to the simple act of touching.

I looked at her again. She was no longer watching me, but instead was staring off to one side, her hand moving up and down along her arm as if she was cold, which in the Sand village was impossible.

I also figured I knew why she didn't just tell me, when she knew I was having trouble arriving at this conclusion: she didn't want me to feel obligated, but rather to do whatever I decided because it was my choice.

After another moment's thought, I held my arms out.

My motion caught her attention, and for a second we just looked at each other. Then she all but threw herself into my arms and clung to me, still shivering.

And even though Miyo's action had caught me by surprise, I still managed to put my arms around her and hold her close.

Now, I will be the first to say that I had no experience with giving comfort, reassurance or protection. But holding her like this…close enough to catch her scent with every breath…it made me feel…strong. It made me feel stronger than I've ever felt before.

Is this what Naruto feels every time he's protecting his friends?

Then I noticed that the light was reflecting strangely off a spot on her left cheek. "Miyo…"

She pulled back again, blinking up at me.

I caught her chin and tilted her head, studying the way the light reflected. Then I lightly touched the spot, which almost felt tacky. "Is this where…"

Her eyes, for once, spoke only of fear. That was answer enough. "I've tried washing every time I'm reminded. It hasn't gone away."

After a minute of silence, I called some sand into my right palm, completely covering the surface of my hand. Showing her, I asked, "May I try?" Sand can scour a great deal away, especially when chakra is involved.

Miyo stared at my hand for a second. Then she blinked at me. "Sand's the one thing I didn't think to try. You're welcome to." She sat up straighter, clutched her hands in her lap, and closed her eyes. "Just try not to take all the skin off my face, okay cuz?"

I didn't answer that. Instead, I just set my sand-covered right hand against her cheek and started making small circles over the spot, taking hold of her short hair with my left hand to try to keep her head still while I worked.

Miyo

It was a very good thing I trusted Gaara absolutely. Although I'm not sure I even trust Naruto this much. Probably the Naruto-equivalent would have been my letting him hit me or something.

After about a minute – oh yeah, that really did hurt, though not as much as Little Gaara's marking up my arm had, or at any rate not the same way – he removed his scouring hand and used the fact that he was still hanging onto my hair to turn my face towards the light again.

"Well? How does it look?" I kept my eyes on his face.

Finally, he answered me. "You're going to need a bandage there; now it's raw." And he let go of my hair.

I stared up at him. "At least 'raw' means that the mark's gone, right?"

"Only time will tell. Orochimaru is probably the most devious ninja I've heard of." Then he actually smiled. "But since that wasn't a proper mark, it probably didn't survive that."

I smiled back, trying to only move the right side of my mouth. "Okay."

So I spent a few weeks with a bandage over my cheek. And when the bandage finally came off, there was no reappearance of the abnormally shiny spot!

Besides that, after that day Gaara made it a point to touch me – a hand on the shoulder or maybe rumpling my hair to get dust out – every month or so. And with that new system, I got through the rest of the two years without any more serious nightmares.

My training went spectacularly, and I grew up.

When it was time for me to go home, Gaara walked me to the border of the village. Then we stood for a minute, just looking at each other.

"Are you sure you will be able to make it back by yourself?" There were several meanings to that question. One was that he didn't know how many days I would need, and I might need to rest. Another was that he wasn't sure how closely I'd been paying attention to the way. If there was a third, it was that he didn't know if I wanted company or not.

Since I didn't know which one he was actually asking, I answered all of them. "I'll be fine. Little Naruto should be enough to keep nightmares away for one night until I see my brother again, and if I get lost, I can use Little Neji to track my way back. And…" I grinned at him, "I won't be traveling alone!" I pointed with my thumb at Kai, who I'd dressed in my sweatshirt and boots and who was standing next to me using a tiny bit of my chakra. She didn't look like anyone in particular, mostly because I didn't see the point in doing so for a journey that wasn't technically a mission.

I was a little surprised that I'd grown taller than Kai. Not much taller, but taller. I would have to make a new doll that was closer to adult height.

Gaara and I just looked at each other for a bit longer and I added, "Besides, you're needed here."

Then I lifted my arms towards him.

He stared at me a moment longer. And then he slid his own arms into my sleeves like I had with him two years ago. This time, he returned the hug I gave him, clutching each other as tightly as if it was our final farewell. True to his name, he even smelled like the sand of the desert.

"Goodbye, cousin," I whispered.

He rasped back, "Until we meet again…cousin."

We let go of each other again and I saw as I turned away that he also had tears running down his face. (Okay, his were running down his face. Mine were standing in my eyes, and I was trying very hard not to let them flow because it would ruin my makeup, and I still needed it at least until I got out of the Land hidden in the Sand.)

To take my mind off of my melancholy, I tried imagining Naruto's face when he saw me again. Or Lee's. Or, best of all…Neji's.

I wonder what he wanted to tell me…

A/N: Don't worry, you'll get the full story when she's telling it to the remaining two people that she's actually going to tell.