"I want to have a baby with you!"
"Ha?"
"Sorry, I'm a bit nervous! I meant to say: please bear my child!"
"I didn't catch that. Can you repeat it?"
"Please give birth to me…"
Suddenly, a massive folding fan swished through the air, sending a figure tumbling backward. He rolled for over twenty meters before crashing into an abandoned earth wall. The blonde girl walked away, her anger evident in her retreat. Once the dust settled, a ninja with striking facial patterns and a bandaged puppet approached.
"Hey, are you dead?"
A large hand pushed aside the rubble pinning him down, allowing him to rise in embarrassment. "Thanks to you, I'm still alive, Kankuro. I appreciate it this time…"
"You really are an idiot! If I had known you'd say something so ridiculous to Temari, I wouldn't have helped you call her out…"
"You don't understand, brother-in-law…"
"Who's your brother-in-law? Keep your distance; I don't want your foolishness to rub off on me!" Kankuro grimaced, unwilling to share air with someone so foolishly infatuated with Temari.
"Isn't it just a matter of time with my sincere feelings for your sister?"
"Are you ever going to give up? You survived this time, but Temari showed mercy. You may not be so lucky next time!"
"I won't make the same mistake again. My feelings are clear to Temari. Once she gets over her shyness, she'll accept my love!"
"You're delusional. Knowing Temari, she'll probably think you're just teasing her in a different way now!"
"Eh? No way…"
"Consider yourself lucky and leave me out of it." With that, the proud puppet master sauntered away, leaving Daimaru frozen in disbelief.
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That night, the howling wind across the desert sounded like a ferocious beast. The barren landscape provided no shelter, with swirling sands obscuring all sight. In Sunagakure, the gusts swept through streets and alleys, whistling eerily, resembling the low growls of a ghost or the howling of wolves. For newcomers, the chilling noise could be terrifying, but the villagers had grown accustomed to these restless nights.
Amid the wind's relentless howl, a sudden scream pierced the air, followed by the sound of heavy objects crashing. "Another unlucky soul has met their end tonight. Gaara's been increasingly restless, especially on nights like this."
The winds intensified, shrouding the sky in darkness, making the full moon seem reluctant to witness such carnage. Those nearby, startled by the screams, instinctively flicked on their lights, only to quickly turn them off upon realizing it was the one-tailed Jinchūriki losing control once more.
Tonight, many shivered in the cold shadows, hoping this dreadful night would soon pass.
In a shared apartment building for young ninjas, the boy who had just faced rejection was now exercising in his small bedroom, groaning from painkillers. The heavy dumbbells rose and fell as his arm muscles strained. Eventually, he collapsed onto the floor, tossing the weights aside, where they clattered and rolled to a corner.
"Hey, Daimaru! Are you trying to make noise and disturb the entire neighborhood?" a clear female voice from next door scolded, her hammering on the wall only adding to the annoyance.
"I don't need to hear your nagging, you heartless woman…"
"What did you say? Incompetent fool, I'll make sure you regret that…"
"Hmph! So superficial."
Daimaru ignored her venomous words and stepped into the bathroom for a comforting hot shower. "It's good to be a ninja; how can ordinary villagers waste water so freely?" The warm water cascaded down his face, washing away the sweat and dust, revealing his powerful physique.
"Damn it, I thought I had everything under control, but now I've made a fool of myself." He punched the bathroom wall in frustration, causing his neighbor to yell even louder.
"What now? The Chūnin Exams are just around the corner."
Having traveled through time, his ten months in the womb felt trivial. Upon his birth in Sunagakure Village, he had arrived during the tail end of the Third Shinobi World War, when the village was reeling from defeat. His father, a dedicated ninja, returned gravely injured from Kikyo Mountain Castle, and before Daimaru could speak, his father passed away. His mother, though alive, barely scraped by with her elderly grandfather and young son.
As a ninja, Daimaru moved into a collective apartment for convenience, occasionally returning home to help support his family. Life wasn't overly difficult, but in the harsh conditions of Sunagakure, the resources necessary for training were limited. While his physical condition was average, making significant strides felt nearly impossible.
At a young age, he had dreamed of mastering chakra, climbing trees, and walking on water—aspirations that now seemed naive. The reality was far from that; it felt like trying to play a game with a faulty controller. He struggled with possessiveness and jealousy, often resenting Temari's interactions with other boys. Wanting to catch the attention of the girl he liked, he resorted to bullying, unaware of how annoying his behavior was.
As he grew older, his antics lessened, mainly because he could no longer overpower Temari. Now was the time to confess his feelings, but he never expected to blurt out something so shameless. "This is so embarrassing. Soon enough, I, Lord Red Dust, will be the laughingstock of the village."
At sixteen, Daimaru's body had matured, and he faced no major issues. It was just that his old soul, now fully integrated into this new life, had transformed him into a hot-blooded ninja who acted first and thought later—famous for his eccentricities years down the line.