6 Summoning Jutsu, Training with Iron Sand, and Confrontation

I unrolled the five summoning scrolls taken from the Sand Archives and laid them out on the floor in a half-circle formation. I took more sand out of the big gourd in the corner of the room, which I laid in a pile between the scrolls. It was now time to test my theory. It had hit me when holding the scroll full of iron sand in the Sand Archives. If they could store iron sand in a compact scroll that's easy to carry, why wouldn't normal sand work? There would be times when I'd be in a situation where I wouldn't be able to make my own sand by grinding up rock under the ground. Even if I did use that method, it took a while and restricted my move sets to only the sand in my gourd that wasn't being held back for my sand shield. Moves like Sand Tsunami and Sand Prison would be off the table because of this restriction. Even if I did attempt that kind of Jutsu, they would hardly be very effective with their lack of sand. Which was what lead to my plan of putting my chakra-infused sand into summoning scrolls. They were very light so they wouldn't weigh me down and small enough to not get in my way when fighting. I could simply hang them off my waist with a piece of leather. I would still have to carry a gourd around so my sand shield could automatically protect me from danger while I was summoning in more sand.

I picked up the scroll closest to me and pressed it against the large sand pile. My first test was to see just how much sand I could fit into one scroll. I didn't want to have to carry a bunch of these scrolls in order to get enough sand to make a noticeable difference. So if that was the case I'd have to scrap the idea, unfortunate as it may be. I activated the Summoning Jutsu and with a large poof, a little over a third of the pile disappeared into the scroll. I let out a breath of relief as my idea hadn't been immediately foiled. Every shinobi had a certain affinity for Summoning Jutsu, some couldn't use it while others could only summon inanimate objects with scrolls. A large portion lot people could only summon small animals or normal creatures. An example might be a hawk or a dog that had no special abilities and was regular size. More powerful summoning animals required a contract usually, an example being the summonings the three Sanin used. I didn't know yet if I could summon animals but I'd have to look into it another time when there was an animal to test it on.

I rolled up the now full scroll and put it off to the side. I repeated the process again with another scroll, leaving less than a quarter of the sandpile still on the floor. I wouldn't need another scroll full of sand, I had plenty with just these two. I strapped them to the sling that I wore across my chest. They rested right next to my Hidden Sand headband, the scrolls sandy colored outside matching me nicely. I put the leftover sand back into the big gourd. I then placed the remaining five scrolls on the small desk I had near my bed. I had never used it in the past but now it would serve as a workbench until I could get an actual one transferred into my room. I brought out the iron sand scroll and unraveled it on the desk. I took my gourd off and rubbed my sore back, thankful that I had taken the gourd off. I sat down and summoned the iron sand, which piled up and covered most of the desk's surface. I'm really glad that I could simply cancel the summoning when it was connected to a scroll. It meant I didn't have to hand gather all of the sand back into the scroll. There were specific scrolls that held attacks like Tenten's that need to be carefully reset manually. Thankfully I didn't have any of those right now so I was fine. It would be annoying to meticulously reset each scroll, a waste of my time I believed.

The first thing I did was infuse the iron sand with my chakra. Lord Third's chakra that had previously been infused had faded since his death. It eventually completely vacated the iron sand after a while, perfect for me to infuse my own. After I was done with that, I tried using my kekkei genkai on the iron sand now that my chakra was infused in it. All that did was magnetize it, making several metal objects fly to it and stick. I frowned at this reaction, my kekkei genkai didn't feel as natural with the iron sand as my normal sand. It felt uncomfortably heavy, like a big lump instead of an extension of my body. I tried moving it around only to be met with resistance from how heavy it was. I managed to form a weak little tentacle out of it which was very difficult to control. I kept having to switch the magnetic forces in order to move it, which was slow as well as ineffective. At this rate, the only use of iron sand to me was a cool little trick I could do. I stopped using my kekkei genkai to let the sand fall uselessly down.

It wasn't looking very promising, I had hoped I'd at least be able to move the sand around at a decent pace but I couldn't even do that. Forming any sort of shape was out of the question as well, I didn't understand the properties of Magnet Release well enough to do that. Basically, I could turn it into a magnet, that was it for now. I leaned back in my chair in disappointment. Iron sand was by far the most lethal, as well as the strongest weapon ever produced in the history of Sunagakure. It was what made the Third Kazekage the strongest out of both his predecessors and successor. I guess I couldn't complain too much since I had only spent a few minutes using it, maybe I'd grow to understand it better by practicing. With that, I got out one of the books I had taken from under Lord Third's statue and began reading. Simultaneously I was weakly manipulating the iron sand on the desk into many unstable shapes.

I spent hours working like this, going through several volumes of research notes written by Lord Third. They weren't exactly the most exciting to read but they could be insightful. Thanks to those books I had managed to make a few advancements in the technique of manipulating the sand. I could now hold a solid iron sand ball for a total of three minutes before it crumbled. The ball was only about the size of my hand but it still felt like progress. I knew if I kept this up I could maybe get better control over it. I did realize deep down though that unless I talked to Shukaku for help. I would never achieve good enough manipulation of the iron sand on my own to make it useful. I rubbed my weary eyes and set my book down with the rest.

I walked over to the window and looked out to find it nighttime out. The sandstorm that had persisted all morning had stopped at some point, probably when I was in the Sand Archives. I would probably never get tired of the perspective the window gave me. It was a direct view to the front of the Kazekage's office with the large kanji symbol on it. I wasn't as happy to see the building as I had been when I woke up this morning in this new world. This was because I'd have to meet my father tomorrow at that office to discuss something of importance. I was hoping it wasn't to tell me what role I am supposed to play in the chunin exams. In the anime series, Gaara had been given the role of being the main weapon against the Hidden Leaf. It was a joint effort headed by the Hidden Sound Village. Their leader was actually Orochimaru who wanted the Hidden Lear village destroyed. The Hidden Sand would benefit from its destruction by getting many of the missions that had been given to the Hidden Leaf instead of them. This would save their village's financial crisis due to a lack of funding from the feudal lord. Rasa would in fact be assassinated by Orochimaru who would impersonate him at the chunin exams. This would leave both the Hidden Leaf and Sand weakened by Orochimaru's scheme. I didn't mind attacking shinobi from other villages, it's simply part of life. The part I didn't like was when l would have to surrender control to Shukaku through Playing Possum Jutsu. I didn't like the idea of Shukaku wreaking havoc on innocent villagers. They would be caught in Shukaku's quest to quench his bloodlust. I didn't need the death of countless innocent people on my hands. This is why if I was ordered to, I'd have to find a way to avoid using the Jutsu. This Naruto Uzumaki might not be strong enough to defeat me with Gamabunta. Who knows how different the Hidden Leaf could be in this universe, only time would tell.

My deep thought was interrupted by a loud knock at the door. I glanced one more time at the Kazekages office before moving to open the door. I opened the door to find Baki, solemn as he always was.

"Lord Gaara, may I enter?" The jonin was back to being courteous and restrained compared to earlier after the training. I wondered what he could possibly want. He had never asked to enter my room before, concerned about his own well-being probably.

"Sure Baki-sensei" I was curious as to why he wanted to talk to me, possibly about our training session tomorrow morning? Baki entered, his eyes quickly surveying the room before turning back to face me. I should probably initiate the conversation I realized.

"I'm here to talk about how you've been acting lately Gaara," said Baki with a cool tone. My heart skipped a beat when he said that, then I quickly regained my composure as best I could. I understood that I'd definitely changed how Gaara acted but what was Baki going to question me about? Did he think I was an imposter of Gaara? I couldn't let these thoughts get to my head, I had to stay coolheaded.

"What do you mean how I've been acting?" I needed to act like I had no idea what he was talking about. Playing dumb might actually work for once in history.

"You've been calling me Baki-sensei, I haven't even heard you call me my name before this morning, much less sensei," said Baki with accusing eyes. Are you kidding me? The old Gaara never once called him by his name before or sensei? I guess I'd only been thinking about how Team 7 referred to Kakashi when thinking about how to refer to Baki. I really should've looked through my memories, I guess I still wasn't used to them totally. I didn't think playing dumb was going to work after that, so I'll just have to play the conversation by ear.

"What are you getting at?" I was all business now, I needed my A-game to get out of this conversation.

"You're a far cry from the normal Gaara. I tailed you after training this morning and found myself shocked at every turn. You went to the library which you wouldn't be caught dead in before. Not only did you go there, but you also helped a girl that fell, even offered her help." As Baki spoke it felt as if I was getting a nail put in my coffin with each line. This was really bad, I had ignored my own reminder to not underestimate Baki. Because of that, I was now paying the price. I also hadn't noticed him tailing me which really made me feel dissatisfied with myself. I'm supposed to be Gaara of the Desert, not your average clueless genin.

"You then sat quietly in the library for hours on end. That was the most calm and focused I've ever seen you before. I then decided I'd see enough of your actions. I reported to Lord Kazekage on your unusual behavior who was just as stunned as I was." If I was having a hard time keeping calm before he said that, it was nothing compared to how I was feeling now. My whole body was frozen with terror. Baki had told my father about how I was acting? This was far worse than I'd hoped, Baki had done the unthinkable. I now had the vigilant eyes of Rasa on me, I'd need to be very careful. If I had one slip up he could do who knows what to me. Rasa wanted the perfect jinchuriki weapon, he'd go to any length to do that.

"Why would you do that?" I wish I didn't sound like such a scared little kid when I said that. It might as well be impossible with the history of me and my father shared, unfortunately.

"I report to the Kazekage and the Sand Council Gaara, when our jinchuriki starts acting differently it is something to mention. I couldn't keep the information from them it is my duty to tell them. Due to you being my student though, I only told Lord Kazekage. What he does with the information is completely up to him." Baki told me this in a reassuring tone and it did help to know that he hadn't informed the Sand Council. I had enough to worry about with Baki as well as my father knowing, forget a dozen other people.

"Now that I have explained what I've done, it is now your turn to do some elaborating. Why are you behaving so differently now Gaara? What is happening with you and Shukaku?" Baki wanted answers, my father as well I could safely assume. What they didn't realize is that they weren't the only ones looking for answers to difficult questions. I wanted to know just as bad as them what was going on with Shukaku. Fear had kept that curiosity in check, but I had a feeling I wouldn't have a say in the matter much longer.

You could only contain a Tailed Beast's will for so long before it got what it wanted.