[Open] I have too many Gaara mused OTL

[a_touch_of_rose]

In the blink of an eye, from one moment to the next, she was somewhere else. The redhead blinked in mild surprise and stared around at her surroundings. This...didn't look like Kumo. She'd been there a moment ago, speaking with the Raikage about possibly reworking some of their treaties, and now...

She appeared to be standing on the outskirts of a village that she didn't recognize; from the numerous pinpricks of strong, trained chakras, she suspected it was a shinobi village of some sort. That was...not a bad thing, she decided. And so Sabaku no Gaara began walking toward the village, long red curls lifting briefly away from her neck in the stray breeze.

If this is genjutsu, it is unlike anything I have seen before, she mused as she walked, easily weaving between others visiting the markets and wandering. The gourd strapped to her back earned her a few surprised looks, but she ignored them in favor of searching for someone who was likely to be a shinobi; civilians rarely had the answers she required.

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[1000tinycuts]

The color of the hair and the gourd were right, but the length of that hair? No way Gaara would let his hair get that long. It would be in his way. So, she continued to watch and noticed something else that had been bothering her as she watched this person... The gait was all wrong, almost as if it was...a woman.

With an inner growl, Temari hopped onto the roof of the nearest house and ran along them to catch up, hand going to the secret hiding place she kept a few stray shuriken and letting them loose at the imposter. The wall of sand? She expected it, but it still annoyed her.

[a_touch_of_rose]

She knew she was being watched, of course; there were many eyes directed her way. She was used to being stared at for one reason or another, be it the unusual red hair, the scar on her forehead, or the gourd. So for that, Gaara was unconcerned. What did almost immediately catch her attention, however, was the sudden spike of harming intent, followed by an immediate reaction from her sand.

Predictably, the civilians in the area scattered; she turned, immediately pinpointing the chakra, and leaped onto the nearest rooftop. Strategically, it was a bad idea to let this opponent have the high ground. She folded her arms over her breasts and gazed coolly at the other woman, sand spilling from the gourd to swirl at her feet. She didn't recognize the other at first, but the chakra was vaguely familiar. Pale green eyes, rimmed in heavy rings and framed by dark eyelashes, narrowed.

If she disregarded the female frame and the strange hairstyle, the other would look eerily similar to the eldest of her two brothers. "...Tamaki?" she asked, hesitantly.

[1000tinycuts]

"Name's Temari, but I'm guessing you're Gaara. No way to be anyone else, girl or not," the blonde said with a huffy sigh.

[a_touch_of_rose]

"...Temari...?" Now that the other woman wasn't hell-bent on attacking her, Gaara was able to reign in the sand so that she could really look at Temari. Mint green eyes widened. "...you really are the image of my brother - aside from the curves." Apparently, Sabaku women just had killer curves; it helped that this particular Gaara had been raised by a father who loved his children.

But that aside, this was troubling. "...where am I?"

[1000tinycuts]

The blonde sighed at the other girl. "Yes, well, you look like my brother, who is here." Her frown turned into a shark-like smile. "Oh, this is going to be so much fun when you two meet!"

Although, watching her...sister's face as she looked around killed Temari's good mood. "This place...is Hell."

[a_touch_of_rose]

"...considering that you attacked me on sight, forgive me if I do not share your enthusiasm for meeting...myself." Seriously. Two Shukaku hosts in one room? Pass. Er, this Gaara still has Shukaku, by the way.

But that statement makes her frown. "I would understand completely why I would come to be in hell, though I do not recall dying - but you... Well... My brother, at least, never did anything to deserve hell." Aside from being a shinobi, anyway.

[1000tinycuts]

She waved the other girl's statement off. "Eh, the other you is as crabby as you are. I doubt he'd want to attack you. Unless you pissed him off, I guess. Kankurou's not here, so it's kinda hard to guess what the other you will do."

Temari leaned in close. "This is Hell, Gaara. There are five Narutos here, and I think there are about fifteen to twenty different Uchiha. Trust me. And Shikamaru's here."

No, she wasn't smiling. "I didn't say I deserved Hell. It just is. I mean, what else do you call a place like that?"

[maddyragequits]

There was someone else that was weaving through civilians, except this time it was in annoyance.

Like a good shinobi though, he knew when it was too crowded below that taking to the upper levels was better. He ahd to get back to the battlefield, after all. There was one thing such as not revealinga surname to others, but his war garb clearly had the Uchiha clan's symbol on its back, and he did have his sword anyway.

And so, a black-clad figure leapt high, feet connecting to the face of a building before he jumped towards another. Once he landed on the roof of an opposite building, however? He was mysteriously thrown back.
He did not scream in shock, but his face did twist in a 'what the hell!?' expression before he flipped in mid-air and landed easily atop a large tarp that covered the fruit seller's stand.

People were used to ninjas here though, so it was normal to them. What was not normal to Madara, however, was that this building somehow had acted like a trampoline.

[a_touch_of_rose]

Under normal circumstances, she could have cared less what other shinobi were up to unless it actively affected her in some way. But in this situation - given that she had no idea where she was or what was going on - she had to pay more attention to her surroundings. This was hard to do given the amount of people milling about, however, so she did what any other shinobi would have done; she hopped to a higher point to take the less crowded route.

It was because of this decision - a good one at any other time - that she blinked as another shinobi crossed her path, leaped off a building, landed on another, and...bounced. As it happened, the other landed only a few feet away from her. Looking him over, she supposed he could be a genin, given his apparent age, but what caught her attention the most was the tell-tale clan symbol on his garments.

Instantly she was wary. An Uchiha, even a child one, was rarely what they appeared to be. The only one she'd ever dealt with was the youngest son of the clan head, and that was only through Naruto; how her blonde friend could enjoy spending time with Sasuke was beyond her. Still, that was no reason to be rude, and she wouldn't want to see anyone actually hurt, so she stepped across the roof, folded her arms, and stared at the Uchiha.

"...are you all right?" she asked at last.

[maddyragequits]

"..." he gave a glance, instantly aware that no civilian would be able to climb walls as he had seen her do off the corner of his vision after their paths had crossed in mid-air. Only shinobi could do that, and anyone not Uchiha was an enemy.

He was instantly uarded, shuffling a step backwards, studying her. She was 'concerned', but it could so easily be a facade. Not to mention it had taken hera while to ask. "If I wasn't, I sure wouldn't have been able to land on my feet, right?"

[a_touch_of_rose]

Gaara knew that expression: wariness. She'd seen it echoed on her own features so often as a child that she didn't even have to think about it to identify it, and the information was neatly cataloged and set aside as she gazed at the other. She gauged his age at older than ten, but not quite fifteen without any reason to doubt herself. Despite the fact that she was older, he was barely shorter than her - but she was used to that, given she'd always been short.

"I suppose that could be an accurate statement. However, the nature of your fall leads me to believe that it was not a mistake in chakra control on your part - and there could easily be repercussions that are not visible." If she was insulted by his clipped words she didn't say it. "It is somewhat surprising that an Uchiha - even a young one - would land on such a trap."

[maddyragequits]

Oh yeah! Go ahead, mention the not visible reppercusions, and THEN tell him that! "Did you just say I sucked?" maybe, maybe not, where did he even gather that?

"Hey, not my fault this building there just decided it -bounces- people off instead of lettin them land!" nope nope. NOPE! Not his fault at all! He did NOT just fall for a trap!

[a_touch_of_rose]

Well, you know... Sometimes seals had residual effects that were hard to see, even for someone who was supposed to possess the sharingan. It was possible that this one hadn't awakened his yet, she supposed - not that it really mattered to her.

"It is a building," she observed coolly. "Inanimate objects do not decide anything. Likely, there is logical reason for it to have repelled you."

Yes, little hamster-who-is-not-so-bright; you definitely just fell for a trap.

a wild shishi appears!

[hydrophobicity]

He had just paid for that kid's dango and was in the process of turning around to hand it over when he happened to almost slam into her. Shisui stepped back, preventing sticky syrup from getting on the stranger's clothes in the nick of time. "Woah, sorry about that." He flashed her a smile, and then leaned over to hand a little boy his dango. He ruffled the child's hair. "Here ya go, kid. Stay out of trouble. If you want any more dango, just ask me." Yes, don't steal.

Now, he would have just walked on his way again after that, but this time he couldn't help but stand up straight again and turn slowly to see if she was still there... He was doing it rather subtly, too, though he was pretty sure she'd figure him out.

Go! Pokeball!

[a_touch_of_rose]

There were a lot of people around, she realized, but very few of them had the trained chakra paths of shinobi, so she was rather out of luck when it came to gathering information. She supposed she could talk to some of the shopkeepers, see what they knew-

The sudden body pressed briefly against her, with enough force that she actually stumbled a step, caught her off guard. The sand rustled in her gourd, but since it had seemed to be an accident, she didn't say anything. There was a moment where she paused, watching the interaction between stranger and child. How interesting. This person was clearly a shinobi - but he was just as obviously busy.

When he turned, it was probably just in time to catch the flash of red hair that had jumped to the nearest roof; arms folded as she stared off into the distance, clearly thinking. What she neglected to realize, however, was that the light scarf she'd kept wrapped loosely around her hips had been a little too loose, and it fluttered to the ground when she jumped to the roof.

Shishi used Chivalry

[hydrophobicity]

He'd noticed the scarf, and smirked as he watched it flutter down. Perfect. He didn't have to get too creative today after all~

Shisui weaved his way quickly through the throng of people and managed to catch that scarf before it could hit the ground. All it took was a boost of chakra to his foot before he'd flash-stepped his way up to the roof he'd spotted her on, landing right behind her, as quiet as ever.

"Nice view?" If she turned, then she'd see that he was holding her scarf in one hand, smiling.

Gaara is confused.

[a_touch_of_rose]

...what would you have to get creative about, Shisui? That scarf was white and red and oh-so-soft to the touch; expensive silk, actually. She'd be ever so sad to have lost it, actually.

But luckily - apparently - the stranger that had bumped into her had seen it fall and caught it before the stamp of careless feet could grind it into the dusty, hard-packed earth of the market. She didn't hear him land, but she'd felt the burst of chakra as he followed.

Sand puffed from the mouth of the gourd warningly as she turned, the question of 'why are you following me?' obviously on her lips - then she caught sight of the scarf and blinked down at herself. "Oh-" She'd dropped it. She glanced at the cliffs, then at Shisui. "...I suppose it could be?" she replied, slightly confused, and reached for her scarf.

It is super effective?

[hydrophobicity]

...About making up an excuse to follow her, maybe~? But the smile widens as he hands over the scarf, and then glances over at the mountains. "Hm, perhaps." But he sort of had a much better view right in front of him just then~

"Are you new here?" Quietly shifting behind her, Shisui sits cross legged on the roof, eying her from his spot.

Perhaps. She's used to chivalry, /kage's daughter

[a_touch_of_rose]

Are you being a creeper, Shisui? Good thing Gaara wouldn't have any idea if you were either way. Taking the scarf, there's a moment where she examined the length of fabric for damage, then wound it around her hips again and turned halfway to look at those mountains as well. Have a pretty profile view, Shisui - that jacket and lilac vest hide quite a lot.

"You might say that. One moment I was speaking to Raikage-dono, the next..." She shrugged, lightly brushing red curls over her shoulder. "The next, I was standing outside this village. I am still uncertain as to what happened." She slanted a glance down at him, unaware of the fact that he might be looking at her. "You?"

[itachi_san]

Well, if Gaara was looking for shinobi, she was about to find one. Albeit, probably not the type she was looking for.

There was a thin man sitting on a bench, sipping a cup of tea while watching what appeared to be a flock of crows on the ground. He appeared to be alone, but there was an empty wheelchair with a blanket hanging over it next to the bench. Most notably - he was wearing an Akatsuki cloak.

[a_touch_of_rose]

No, not really the type she was looking for. Despite the overflow of people in the markets, she would recognize that cloak anywhere. How could she not? Those cloaked people - those Akatsuki - were the cause of her father's death, had tried to kill her, and had damn near succeeded in completely wiping out the shinobi world; or at least ridding it of free will.

Sand rustled in that gourd, puffing around the mouth in anticipation of a fight. Luckily, she had long since grown out of the 'crush first, ask never' phase, but it didn't stop her from approaching with an obviously belligerent air. Gaara stopped a few feet away, gaze flicking from the chair to the birds and finally to Itachi. "I did not know Akatsuki took a break," was her rather acidic greeting.

[itachi_san]

Itachi noticed the woman's chakra immediately. It was impossible not to, with sharingan activated. This was a jinjuriki. The spots of red reminded him of Gaara, Deidara and Sasori's main target, but not quite. Another timeline, perhaps... and clearly one in which those two did not succeed.

He was thankful for that, and a small smile escaped his lips.

"There are... no Akatsuki here..." he insisted politely, in spite of his cloak.

[a_touch_of_rose]

The sight of a sharingan gave her pause, and her wariness only tripled. She flicked long red hair out of her eyes and over her shoulder, stance shifting. Just in case. Though...this one had made no move to attack. Why was that?

His polite insistence made her frown and stare, pointedly, at that cloak. "So this is simply...coincidence, that you are wearing an Akatsuki cloak?" she returned.

[itachi_san]

The crows all looked up at Gaara at the same time. And all of them had sharingan too. But they didn't move. Itachi had them too well tamed/controlled for them to attack rashly.

"I get... cold out here too easily..." He answered. "My cloak... is better than almost anything I've found in the village, so far."

This answer was equally polite, but he did call the cloak his. It was clear he not only knew what the Akatsuki was, but he also just admitted he was one of them. At least, he had been.

[a_touch_of_rose]

She wasn't afraid of crows, though she was concerned that she'd already been caught in a genjutsu, to be seeing that. And to be fair, she hadn't attacked yet, either, despite her clear desire to do so. That cloak did not put her in the best of moods.

And yes, she definitely caught the claim that the cloak was, in fact, his. Sand rustled but, like Itachi's crows, she had it well under control by now - mostly thanks to Minato-sama's secondary seal.

"...you are an Uchiha," she said at last. "And you are, or were, if your word can be trusted, a member of Akatsuki. So you must be...Itachi. Yes?"