Gaara

"G-Gaara?"

Hearing Shira's call, I snapped out of my trance. The stench of the blood assaulted my nose and made my head spin.

I just killed somebody. I just murdered somebody... And I'm not even feeling a tinge of remorse.

In fact, I don't think I'm feeling anything at all. My head went blank as soon as I killed the man.

Well, that's probably a good thing... In the future, I won't have a problem killing when on a mission outside of the village.

[System notification.

Congratulations. Hidden quest completed. Rewarded with 800 EXP and 10 points.]

Hidden quest? What? Did those even exist?

The goal should've probably been to defeat that guy... Whatever, I have too much on my mind right now. I'll think about it when the shop opens next time.

Now to the main issue. I have to clean up this mess... Or I might get in trouble. My face showed slight traces of panic.

Shira looked at me with understanding eyes and smiled reassuringly.

"Don't worry. If you're worried that this might have consequences... It won't. People killing each other is very common in this area. Most of the mercenary gangs of the village reside here, and the Kazekage basically ignores it all. It's probably a hassle to get rid of them, especially with the current crisis..."

I see... That's reassuring. Once I become Kage, it seems that I'm going to have to do some cleaning up behind my father... Great.

Struggling because of my current low chakra reserves, I willed the sand to sweep the place and get rid of all the blood. I buried all the pieces of flesh under the sand and tied up the woman with some rope Shira conveniently brought.

I used some water that was around to clean myself up a little. The strong smell of blood was making me nauseous after a while.

We patiently waited for her to wake up. Once she did, she looked around in confusion. She was probably looking for the sand monster.

Remembering, I controlled the sand once more and formed the same claw that beat her down. Her lips started trembling, and her whole body couldn't stop shaking.

Satisfied with her reaction, I cleared my throat.

"Ahem. I'm assuming that you are Shira's landlady?"

"Y-yes. I allow him to stay in one of my spare rooms..."

Looking over at Shira, I asked him a simple question.

"Shira... How much is the normal cost for a room of that size?"

Shira looked down for a second and responded almost immediately.

"It should be around three hundred Ryo per month. But she makes me pay five hundred... That's almost all of the money I receive from my parents back at the farm."

(AN: 1 Ryo = 10 yen)

Nodding, I turned my head back at the woman. Her face paled once more and she struggled to speak.

"S-Shira-kun... We can fix this... You know I've always favored you..."

"So you call those beatings you make him go through all the time favoring?"

I grabbed Shira's arm and pulled up his sleeve, ignoring the resistance he offered. There were plenty of bruises and scars on his arm. And that was only the arm.

"H-How did you know?"

Shaking my head, I turned my gaze towards the scared woman once more. This time, with a gaze that made the whole room's temperature drop by a few degrees.

"From now on, I will be coming here every day. You will let Shira stay in the room for free, and provide him with food. If you dare to not follow my orders or call another one of these mercenaries, you'll end up just like the last."

Raising my hand, the massive sand claw moved a little, and an eyeball popped out of it... Falling right on the woman's forehead before slowly sliding down on the ground.

Realizing that my intimidation tactics were successful, I removed the ropes from her body and looked towards Shira once more.

His eyes were forming tears, and he looked at me with gratitude. I shook my head once more, and put my hand on his shoulder.

"I know that you practice Taijutsu. That just so happens to be my weakness... So I'll be coming here every day so that you can teach me. Consider it as you repaying me."

Shira's expression changed once more, this time to surprise.

"How did you know that too?"

Smiling, I removed my hand and walked away. Leaving him there to figure it out. I made sure to grab Mezawari on my way out too, I want to study it at home.

It's the first ninja puppet I've come across after all.

Well... Overall, mission accomplished. Now I'll have this guy as my first loyal subordinate. If I groom him correctly, he might end up close to Lee's level.

I have to form a circle of people that I can trust. Being Kazekage by myself isn't going to be easy. Next on my list are Kankuro and Temari.

Heh, this is going to be easier than I thought.

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Once I got back home, I placed Mezawari on the floor and sat on my bed to meditate. My head was still muddled from earlier... And I ran out of chakra.

Taking deep breaths, I meditated like this for the whole afternoon and night until the crack of dawn. Concentrating for that long had become really easy for me.

...

A small bird entered through my window and placed itself on my shoulder, waking me up from my meditative state.

"Chirp! Chirp!"

Surprised, I looked at it and offered my hand. It hopped on it and moved it's head around cutely. Laughing, I released it back outside.

Animals are nice... They're not like people. I can trust them at least. I used to have a dog in my past life, and it still loved me no matter how much others hated me.

Well, enough of that. I have to go to the academy.

Heading out, I took a left-over rice ball from the fridge and ate it slowly. I noticed Mezawari and hid it in my room. Since Yashamaru isn't here, I'll be able to study it in peace later.

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The day went by slowly, and we learned very little as usual. Bored out of my mind, I rejoiced when it was time to leave and made my way to Shira's.

Once I got there, I entered the tavern and was greeted by the landlady. I looked around and asked her to lead me to Shira's room.

She obediently complied and we soon arrived at a door. Having fulfilled her purpose, she bowed and left in a hurry.

Knocking on the door, I waited for a reply.

"Who is it?"

...

"It's me."

The door then swiftly opened, and a healthier Shira showed up. His injuries seemed to be getting better thanks to the ointment.

"Come in!"

Smiling, he made way for me to enter and I saw his small room. There were only a bed and a small desk, with a small c.h.e.s.t that held his clothes. It was the b.a.r.e minimum for a room.

Shira looked happy, and he told me to sit on the bed's edge while he sat on his desk's chair. He was visibly excited, not able to suppress the smile on his face.

Maybe I'm his first friend. Well, I consider him my colleague for now... I don't really like the idea of friendship.

Clearing my throat, I initiated the conversation.

"So, you know why I've come right?"

Shira seemed to remember and took out a book from the drawer under his desk. He then handed it to me with sparkling eyes.

"What's this?"

"That's a training program that I especially made for you. Seeing your scrawny body, no offense, I can tell that you won't be able to train at my pace."

Hmmm... He has a point. I won't learn anything without a proper foundation. Nodding, I opened the book and slowly read it's contents.

It contained a training regime that I had to follow every single day for three months in order to achieve a strong body. It contained everything from running, push-up reps and so on.

"Will I end up turning into a massive, ripped guy if I do this? I'm not sure if I want that..."

Shira's face had a trace of panic and explained himself to me.

"To be strong is not to look strong... That's what my father always told me back at the farm. This training regime that I made for you will tone and develop your muscles while maintaining a slim figure that will not take away from your speed... All the while maxing out physical power."

"Furthermore, to practice the style that I am currently developing, you need to be agile and flexible. That's why there are so many stretching exercises inside."

Oh, I see now. This fits me perfectly... I don't want to look like I take steroids, ugh.

"You're developing a style?"

"Yes. I've called it the silent fist!"