Genius

"Who is it?"

Through the door, Rasa's firm voice sounded.

"It's me, Gaara. May I enter?"

Rasa? Why is he coming to see me?

"Come in."

Rasa gently opened the door and walked inside before closing it back again. His expression was light, and he carried what looked like a…Box? Anyways, he sat down on the bed and placed the mysterious box next to him.

"Good afternoon, son. First of all, I want to congratulate you on becoming a Genin. Like your siblings, I hope that you make me proud out there."

His mouth formed a sad smile as he looked over at the me and sighed.

"Over the past eight years, I have taught you how to use your bloodline efficiently. The results, as you know, were amazing. Truth be told, I believe you are the most talented ninja our clan has ever produced."

"Seeing you work so hard has reminded me of something important. Up until now, I have sacrificed my family's well-being in favor of the village, but now I see that I was going about it the wrong way. Seeing you suppress Shukaku on that day, against the Akatsuki… It made me think."

"Look, I'm not trying to sound sentimental or anything, but I want you to know that you're my son, and I hope that you know that I don't see you as a mere weapon anymore. Up until now, I have told my self the contrary so that it would be easier to kill you if needed… But after spending time with you, I can't bring myself to see you in that light anymore."

Seeing his genuine expression, I couldn't help but feel some pain in my heart. This man is stupid, but I think that he's finally coming to his senses… Finally.

"Father… I-"

Rasa raised his hand, and interrupted me. He turned to the box once more and opened it, revealing its contents. Inside, were two small gourds.[1]

They looked like the one Gaara wore in the last, strapped to his waist. What was different about these, was that one was golden, and the other was dark grey.

"These are my gifts to you, for your birthday and for your graduation. Better late than never, right?"

"What are these?"

"These are special gourds made of gold and iron respectively. They basically work like a summoning scroll, but can hold only gold and Iron dust respectively. The amount you can hold inside is quite big, about fifty square feet."

Oh my god. These are invaluable treasures for the current me! This'll make me at least ten times stronger!

"Father, thank you very much. You didn't have to."

With a smile, Rasa got up and started leaving. Before he could though, I thought for a second before stopping him.

"Father, I have something important to talk to you about."

"What is it?"

"I… I heard that you've struck a deal with Orochimaru… Have you not?"

Rasa's face turned into disbelief as he looked at me, shocked. Thousands of questions must be flooding in his head right now.

"How do you know?"

Scratching the back of my head, I looked down on the ground before facing him once again. I'm going to help him out.

You see, losing our Kage would be a big loss for the village, and I don't want the situation to get any worse before I take the steering wheel. Also, he's changing, albeit slowly.

"I overheard one of your conversations… Well, that doesn't matter. What matters, is that we're dealing with Orochimaru here. I don't think it would be a good idea to meet him anymore."

Rasa's head was spinning. I guess that at the thought of his son knowing so much is a little too much to take in at once. Well, him being the Kazekage, he quickly composed himself and sat back down.

"So, you're saying that I shouldn't trust Orochimaru. Why should I listen to you? Do you even know who Orochimaru is?"

"Well, I'm not very well informed… But from what I know, Orochimaru isn't one to trust. If he betrayed his village, why wouldn't he betray an ally?"

Rasa looked at me with a serious expression, seemingly forgetting that he was speaking with a child that had just graduated from the academy.

"But, if we don't go through with the plan… I'm afraid that the village would suffer the consequences. We need the money."

Smiling, I crossed my arms and pretended to think. As if this was not a plan I had been devising for thirteen damn years.

"Well, how about this. Konoha would give anything for Orochimaru, so we could use that in our favor. What if we betray him before he betrays us? How does that sound?"

Rasa's face lit up as he thought of the details. This plan could work.

"Do you mean that we should strengthen our bond with Konoha by giving them Orochimaru's whereabouts, and helping them capture him? Not only would we get a reward from Konoha, but the Daimyo of the wind would look at us in a new light! This might just be the solution!"

Well, this guy is smarter than I thought. He figured my plan out in a couple of seconds.

"Anbu!"

With a loud shout, an Abu flickered out of nowhere and got on one knee next to Rasa, ready for orders.

"Notify the Honoured Siblings and the council. We shall meet in ten minutes!"

"Hai!"

Quickly, the Abu disappeared without a trace. Rasa rose to his feet and placed his hands on my shoulders.

"Your mother would be proud. Kagura, our son is a genius, a genius! Oh, an you'll have some explaining to do later."

With a smile, he left in a dash, Yashamaru, who was in the kitchen, looked perplexed. Still holding ingredients in his hands.This was the first time he had seen Rasa act this way.

"What did you do to Kazekage-dono, Gaara?"

Smirking, I shrugged and acted as if I know nothing.

"Tell me or no dinner."

"Alright, let's calm down. I just told him…"

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After dinner, I went back to my room in a good mood. I eagerly took out the gourds from the box and examined them. They shined brightly and looked quite expensive, especially the golden one.

Rasa went all out.

Inserting my chakra in the golden one, I retrieved a bunch of gold dust from it. It seemingly appeared out of thin air, how convenient.

Having trained in magnet release for eight years, I was already familiar with these materials. Although controlling them consumed more chakra, it wasn't that hard. Also, these could be more deadly if used well.

In my head, I see them as my trump cards. I'll keep on using normal sand for everything since it' way more practical. I could even mix them sometimes to increase the defensive and penetrating power of my sand.

All in all, these are great additions to my arsenal. I guess all the money I was saving up to buy gold will have to sit in the bank.

Feeling happy and satisfied for the first time in a while, I went to sleep.

Tomorrow I will officially wear my full ninja outfit. Well, it's basically what I wore today, my headband, the tool-pouch, both gourds, and a Shinki-style coat, made with my sand. [2]

Yes, a sand-coat. I can't wait to look like a badass. Ninja world, here I come.

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[1] http://bit.ly/2UhpDOD (The gourds look like this, but golden and metallic grey.)

[2] http://bit.ly/2L3qyPC (Coat kinda looks like this but smaller, and made of normal sand.