Test Drive Post!

[sunshinemods]

Sunshineverse

Okay everyone, it's time to test some people out! The rules of the game are simple. You have a character you would like to try out as a native to the setting of this game. You want to see if this is the right setting to play said character in, right? Well, then all you have to do is drop them into this post as a top level comment with this as the header: Character name | Series (OC's just put Original here) | Planned Village Affiliation Then you comment around and play with everyone else! If you need some ideas on how to get started, you can drop your character in during the middle of a mission, have them at an eatery around their village, or maybe even just doing weapons practice. It's up to you how you want to set out, so feel free to put your characters in this version of the Naruto universe however it most seems appropriate. Just be sure to say where you put them somewhere in your post though, otherwise two people might not even be threading in the same country. One last thing! Remember that your character was born in this universe, so whatever else you decide, your character is a world native, even if they might be a tourist in the village you decided to test them out on. And that's it. Just be good to each other and have fun! Threads you do here can count toward future activity checks, so long as the person you're threading with gets in too. These threads can also be used for samples on your application. Communities♦ Main Community ♦ Missive Network ♦ OOC Community General Info♦ Premise ♦ Rules ♦ F.A.Q. World♦ Country Information ♦ Maps ♦ Sunshine Timeline ♦ Character Histories Applicants♦ Applications ♦ Character History FAQ ♦ Nationality Guide ♦ Taken

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Gaara | Naruto | Sunagakure | ihavenoideawhatimdoing.jpg

[ninjasloveme]

[Option A: Mission]

There didn't seem to be any limits to what the villages would do in the name of cooperation, especially when it involved stray cats and a request for a joint training mission came up at the precise moment when the active Sunagakure roster was decimated by chakra measles. Even though he was one of the only jounin up and about, Gaara was sure he had only been given the three genin reluctantly, and even then they were the worst of the lot. Probably, and he couldn't help but smile at the thought under a shell of grit, these were the ones listed under 'acceptable losses' in the reports. Sacrificed to the wheel of false diplomacy.

And now all three of them were staring at him. They'd been doing that for the past two days during their animal hunt, so it wasn't particularly new, but somewhere along the way the staring had shifted from outright terror through several shades of resignation and into bewilderment. One of them had even asked a question. It had been unpleasant for everyone involved.

He suspected that the shift had occurred during the hour he had spent trying to coax a large, bad-tempered cat down from a roof with a series of sand mice, but by the time the tiny genjutsu specialist of the trio had managed to grab the animal Gaara could have cared less about paying attention to their mood. He'd spent most of the trip feeling sand coiling around him like so many restless snakes, not wanting to chance a tendril that darted out here or there driving straight through a small torso rather than catching them as they stumbled, not trusting the platforms to support their weight without swallowing limbs and crushing. They had no idea, or were happy enough to forget that danger in light of a few grainy, squeaking sculptures and three rescued cats, but he couldn't help the mixture of relief and dark, dulled disappointment when they reached the rendezvous point and he could hand the group on to their next assignment.

Then again, the looks could be the occasional plaintive echo reverberating through the huge gourd strapped to his back, its lid suspiciously open.

[Option B: Backstory - let me know what!]

You mean Gaara is almost eight and meeting Obito in Suna right? Right.

[thebestuchiha]

It was with a dire kind of humor that he finally managed to make his way to Suna with his negotiations. He felt like the various villages had been ping ponging him around but he knew eventually someone would start to give and he wouldn't be the only one trying to make something out of the quiet era that the land had settled into.

That didn't mean that it wasn't frustrating talking to people who took one look at him and dismissed him as some random Uchiha that had no idea what he was doing. Admittedly, that was why he was out int he desert air, breathing deeply and taking in the crispness that was so very different from home.

He'd been hearing about their festivals, and was sad to have missed it, but it was alright. He'd get this treaty worked out well enough he wouldn't miss the next one, and he just moved through the parts of the village he wasn't barred from, looking here and there at the distinct buildings.

He didn't expect to see children wildly fleeing another one just by walking up, and it made him curious enough to go up to the boy, seeing no reason to be afraid himself.

"Hello."

that's exactly what I meant. how did you KNOW.

[ninjasloveme]

The part of Gaara that imagined, almost wildly, that the other children would wait to greet him had shrivelled to almost nothing, but the hope was lodged in him like a burr. Every so often he'd make another attempt. He swallowed, making himself look away from their backs and choose which area of the playground he'd occupy today. Honestly the appearance of an armed stranger before he could pick was so familiar that it filled him with a sickly relief.

No point talking, really. They never wanted to talk. They didn't expect him to respond. It was so easy. A bludgeon of dark sand cracked towards Obito in greeting, instead.

Magic~

[thebestuchiha]

"...No hello back huh? I guess when people greet you like that I can't blame you." He watched the sand, alert, and let it pass through him instead of running. Running, he was pretty sure, wouldn't help anything.

Poor kid. "Still, you don't need to attack me, I don't have any interest in hurting you."

awestruck applause!!

[ninjasloveme]

Foiled in its attack, the sand swept around instead to catch the ball the other kids had left behind, flicking it into Gaara's hands like a dog fetching for its master. He looked at it for a moment, as though surprised to find himself holding it, then looked up at the adult with narrowed eyes.

"Liar."

[thebestuchiha]

He peered at the child for a long moment, then let out a soft sigh. "And what would be my reason for hurting you? You're a cute kid."

He hitched up a shoulder. "I have a cousin your age and my sensei's kid I watch all the time and I don't up and atack them. Yeesh."

[ninjasloveme]

Huh? Cousin? Cute? Gaara blinked rapidly, suspicion growing after the momentary lull.

"No one wants to be near me." Wasn't that obvious? Shinobi from other villages really were stupid. He watched him for a second longer, then dropped his gaze to scowl at the floor between them.

"You're a liar," he repeated, more confident now, "Leave, or I'll kill you."

[thebestuchiha]

"Yeah, I kinda noticed that bit, though I have no idea why. So you've got an impressive stare on you, big deal." He shrugged, brushing it away. "I'm not leaving either, so I guess you'll just have to put up with me. Wanna play catch?"

He nodded to the ball in the kd's hands.

[ninjasloveme]

This wasn't going as expected, but that was okay, because now it all made sense. He just hadn't recognised Gaara. He wasn't there to kill him, he was just offering to play with some normal child he'd run into.

Or he was a good actor, like Yashamaru had been.

"Why won't you leave?" With his nose scrunched in confusion, Gaara dropped the ball to the sand coiled at his feet. The stuff promptly, almost eagerly, sent it onwards, shooting towards the adult's head. Willing him to drop the act, he folded his arms under his scarf. "Do you want to die?"

So Suna Chunin Exams almost four years ago?

[gentledheart]

The match was intense. She should have been with her team, celebrating, but she couldn't get the image out of her head. The way the red headed boy went crazy as he was dragged off in that cage of dust. The initial thought had been to pass the small jar of salve off to some Suna-nin to be delivered, but that changed when her attempts were rebuffed with several deep head shakes and even more demeaning disdainful guffaws.

It took the whole day for her to finally find the boy. The sun finally setting and Hinata finally having the chance to feel like she could breathe as the heat cooled. It helped shake the nerves that had been crawling up her spine all day. Not completely but she was calm if you ignored how her free hand kept twisting in and out of the hem of her shirt. Or the way her bottom lip kept finding its way between her teeth as she worried it before slipping inside the room after a gentle knock.

Hinata's grip on the jar tightened some as she stood there unsure and then she crossed the room on cautious feet. "Ah, Sabaku-san," she murmurs announcing her presence so she didn't surprise him. Not after his show of rage and power at the arena.

looks like!

[ninjasloveme]

For hours he had ranted and railed against the implacable wall of the Kazekage's anger, screaming until his reserves emptied and he felt Mother go silent inside his head; now the sun had set and his mind was dull and empty. He hated it. Hated that guy who had pierced his shield, hated the teachers who had defended their genin, hated his father for defending other people from him. Hated losing, hated having no resolution to that fight.

He would have won. Uchiha Sasuke would have bled across the desert.

Except his sand was gone, faint swirls of dust around him the only remainder, creating a wind in the still room as it brushed around him. He could sleep, for once. But his shoulder and neck ached, stung where his shirt had stuck to the blood and torn anew, grains of sand making the stuff gritty and unpleasant. He hated his own blood.

When the knock sounded, he barely flinched. Didn't react at all, until he saw who had stepped inside the room. A Leaf? Who had let her in here? No one bothered to watch the corridors near his rooms any more, but that also meant there was no one around to direct her. She had to have come specifically to find him-- his hands tightened into fists, trying to access the dregs of his chakra. Sand stirred feebly, and his shoulder protested.

"Gaara," he corrected, blankly. Then, with more force, "Why are you here? Who sent you?"

[gentledheart]

She doesn't flinch so much as freeze in her spot, completely still as the sand stirs. It might look feeble but she can just imagine him toying with her. The way he'd acted in the arena, it wouldn't surprise her at all. She takes another tentative step forward, her nerves resurfacing with a vengeance as her fingers twist tightly into her shirt.

"You were hurt." The words barely above a whisper as she lets her gaze connect with his. "No one sent me." There's defiance there, coupled with something akin to annoyance that she would need to be sent at all. It's enough to remind her she isn't just the shy member of her team anymore, she's grown since her genin team was announced.

There's a part of her that's glad she went alone. Her teammates were many things but they were terrible at hiding their protective streaks. And it had it's uses but here in this room it would have only made the situation more tense as she she shifted her weight and her shoulders back.

She was confident in her abilities as a kunoichi. Even in the face of a boy who only hours earlier wanted nothing more than to spill her best friends blood on the arena floor. She steps lightly but with a confidence that was missing only second before her lips pressed together in a frown.

"I thought you might find this salve useful." Hinata holds the small jar out to him waiting.

[ninjasloveme]

She would be waiting for a while. Without the cues from Mother, either in the sand or in his head, Gaara was at rather a loss at how to respond. He'd gotten more and more tense as she'd crossed the room, until he was staring at the jar in her hand like it was a scorpion, but she was just... standing there.

"Salve. You brought medicine?" As he tried the words out, he dimly remembered seeing her do the same to other genin during the previous rounds. To that guy, as well. She hadn't looked annoyed then- but he was used to that look, the one that said he was something unpleasant to be tolerated. He was surprised she'd gotten this close, though perhaps it was because he looked weak, like this.

[gentledheart]

The wait wasn't entirely unfamiliar to her. She was always waiting at home in Konoha. Her family preferring to leave her waiting and squirming than give her a clear directive. From his lack of movement one way or another she knelt down, the jar on the floor between them.

She nods her expression shifting at how her actions seemed to puzzle him. He wasn't an exception, she'd done for others that had been injured after the round closed, there was no reason not to do so for him as well. "The wound looked like it would need attention. I'm surprised no one has seen to it yet." Her very tone speaking to her disapproval that they would leave one of their own to lay wounded for so long. Of course it was only an assumption but she could still smell the light hint of blood in the room and he was still wearing the same shirt from before.

"Has anyone seen to it?"

[ninjasloveme]

"Why would they?" He sounded genuinely curious now, though perhaps that was no less sinister for the way his eyes widened. "I'm an unwanted existence... Everyone would be happier if I died."

That said, he actually had no idea if the injury would kill him. Probably not, but it was still unpleasant. He glanced down, and flicked the jar up onto his lap with a small corkscrew of sand.

[gentledheart]

"Because it could get infected if not taken care of." Hinata stares at him perplexed. Did he really matter so little that no one bothered to check his injury? Based on what she'd seen it wasn't a life threatening injury, even with the way he reacted.

She can't help but jump a little as the sand send the jar flying. Though she remedies it by keeping her eyes on him, and not in a 'I-don't-trust-you' sort of way, just the sort of eye contact one made with people they respected or considered as one they'd like to know better. "I'm not a medic-nin but I can take a look if you want," she offers with an awkward shrug of her shoulders.

[ninjasloveme]

Perplexed, and rapidly tiring from the burst of conversation, he just nodded and held the pot out again. The sand seemed to settle, swirling lazily around the floor at Hinata's feet like some sated pet, and Gaara was paying it no attention whatsoever as he continued to stare at the Leaf genin. Why did she remind him of that Uchiha adult? It was strange

"Do what you want."

[highly_strung]

Kankuro hitched the mummified form on his back a little higher, evening out the weight with a small huff of noise. He had just excused himself from a small, hushed discussion with his father and a few council members, and was making his way toward his room with the detail of his next mission folded in his hand when he passed his younger sibling.

He couldn't quite pin-point the last time he'd seen Gaara, but it had been at least a few days.

He tightened his grip on the bandages around his shoulders, the paper of his missive crushed in his hand, and his eyebrows dipped to deepen his firm scowl. He wasn't even aware he was holding his breath as he passed.

[ninjasloveme]

It had been longer since Gaara had seen Kankuro; he'd been preoccupied with preparations to travel with Temari the week before and had done his usual trick of blocking out everything else. Now he was back, it was as if his sense of himself had extended outwards beyond his skin. People walking past, voices in adjoining rooms, he noticed more and resented more that he had no real place amongst it all. It was always worse after being away from the reactions of Suna. Away from the village, Temari almost treated him normally.

But still, he had promised that he would try. So when he caught the tightening of a fist, a flash of purple and the familiar hiss of a held breath in his periphery, he stopped. Took in the paper, the puppet held ready. Frowned.

"You... have a mission?"

[highly_strung]

Kankuro turned to give his response, but his fist didn't slacken. He'd learnt long ago that being distantly polite was the easiest way to deal with Gaara; being ignorant or rude only bit him on the ass afterward, and he'd never lower himself to the level of pandering to his little brother's will, so this was a satisfactory medium that both of them would have to just get used to.

"Yes," Kankuro nodded, biting his tongue to hold back any quip about stating the obvious. "I'm taking all I can get."

[ninjasloveme]

"You met the requirements three missions ago," came the reply, almost absent-minded. If Gaara had noticed his brother's irritation, he didn't show it - he was already thinking of the upcoming exams, and who would be attending. It hadn't actually occurred to him before now that Kankuro would have to take it without them. "Temari said so."

[highly_strung]

The puppeteer rolled his shoulder, the joints clicking in their sockets, a tic of Kankuro's annoyance breaking through the façade of his irritableness and a slip of emotion he wouldn't be able to get back.. but he could reel it in, and reel it in he would.

"I'm still taking all I can get," Kankuro repeated, nearly through gritted teeth. His jaw was firm, set; defiant or terrified. "It's better to be above the bar than below it."

[ninjasloveme]

He wasn't in the practice of hanging around once it was obvious he wasn't wanted, given his own reactions and those of a certain tailed lodger to even the slightest slip in his patience, but Gaara was nothing if not determined. He shoved down his own burst of irritation at Kankuro's expression, and shifted sand across his skin until he looked even blanker then before.

"You'll pass this time."

It would have been better, in retrospect, to emote. Rather than an encouragement, it ended up sounding like a threat.

[highly_strung]

Kankuro wasn't easy to insult, but he couldn't help the twitch of his expression at a comment like that coming from Gaara.

What if he didn't pass? Was Gaara threatening repercussions, was he implying his father would perform them? Was he insinuating the entire village would look down on him if he spent another five months a chuunin? Gaara had never once lorded his higher rank over Kankuro, but that didn't mean the older brother hadn't felt it.

"I know." He swallowed the bile in the back of his throat, and ignored the awful taste the words left on his tongue. Civility was a hard pill to swallow.

[abluntwind]

She was just planning to update her father on how the negotiations with one of the smaller villages were progressing. What Temari hadn't counted on was the traffic jam caused by her brothers staring at each other. And if she were to judge, Kankuro didn't have the first clue what to do right then. Looked a little bit like he was feeling threatened if she was reading her younger sibling right.

Clearly, they needed big sister to jump in.

"So, what are you two up to?"