However, living in the barren village of Sunagakure, his family simply couldn't afford many of the resources needed for a ninja's training.
Although this body was in decent shape, it was merely average. Accomplishing anything significant would be incredibly difficult.
Refine chakra at age one, climb trees at three, practice walking on water at four, master chakra nature transformation at five, become known as a genius at six, a Jonin at seven...
*What a ridiculous pipe dream.*
A child's vagus nerve is underdeveloped. They're lucky if they can control their bladder at night.
He possessed the mature, calm, and efficient mind of an adult, but it was shackled to a weak body and an immature nervous system. He couldn't control his actions with precision and was instead influenced by ridiculous instincts. It was as frustrating as playing a video game with a faulty controller.
Driven by immature possessiveness and jealousy, he could never stand to see Temari with other boys. He wanted to attract the girl's attention but had no idea how, so he resorted to bullying her to make an impression, completely oblivious to how obnoxious his behavior was.
As he grew older, his worst tendencies finally began to improve—though that was also because he could no longer beat Temari in a fight.
When the time was finally right to confess his feelings, he ended up blurting out something so shameless.
*How humiliating. In a while, I, the great "Red Sand Dust," will have another embarrassing story to my name.*
A sixteen-year-old's body was fully developed; there shouldn't be any major issues. It could only be that his old soul had been fundamentally changed by its new vessel. After they had completely merged, the calm and cautious adult from his previous life had, over a decade later, become a hot-blooded ninja who acted before he thought and had a reputation for all sorts of eccentricities.
Still, becoming more passionate wasn't necessarily a bad thing. A young man should act like a young man. What Daigan hated was the sudden emotional outbursts that led to uncontrollable, negative consequences. Fortunately, over the years, he had learned a few tricks to manage his emotions. By channeling them, he never stopped his rigorous training. His power might not have increased dramatically, but his fundamentals were exceptionally solid. Otherwise, he never would have survived so many close calls in the perilous Land of Wind.
By the time Daigan finished washing up, the kunoichi next door had apparently tired herself out and stopped her tirade.
That was the downside of living in the communal apartments. If you got a neighbor with a bad temper, you were in for a rough time. And Daigan was extremely unlucky; when he moved in, this was the only suite available. He had wondered at the time why such a good place was empty. Now he knew: his next-door neighbor, Saya, was an exceptionally foul-mouthed and vicious kunoichi who specialized in the Puppet Technique and secret mental arts. She was practically a young lady from a well-to-do family, yet she insisted on moving here. She didn't get along with any of the neighbors, and after Daigan moved in, they argued every few days.
Thankfully, everyone left early and came back late, so they rarely saw each other, and their conflicts remained verbal.
Listening to the wind howling outside his window, Daigan gradually drifted off to sleep.
***
The next morning, a revitalized Daigan rushed out the door. The traces of Gaara's rampage from the previous night had already been cleaned up, as if nothing had ever happened.
He followed the wide street to a familiar door, arriving just as his teammate of many years was opening it.
"Yo, Toki, long time no see."
Daigan greeted him familiarly, slinging an arm around his shoulder. "Miss me? It must've been a pain doing missions without me. Starting today, I'm back..."
Toki, uncomfortable with Daigan's enthusiastic approach, spoke with embarrassment. "Daigan, I'm sorry. A lot has happened while you were gone."
"A lot?" Daigan looked strangely at the uneasy Toki. "You look pale. Are you feeling okay?"
"No, it's not that!" Toki replied apologetically. "That last C-rank mission... we never thought you'd make it out alive, so..."
"Right. What's the problem?"
As Daigan had grown, more and more of his memories had become clear. This body, though decent, seemed to be cursed with bad luck. During his nearly four years as a Genin, he frequently encountered bizarre accidents. Over two months ago, he'd faced what seemed to be a fated death, swallowed by the vast sea of sand. No one in Sunagakure, from top to bottom, had imagined he could possibly survive such a desperate situation. To commemorate his heroic sacrifice, he was posthumously awarded the title "Red Sand Dust." To everyone's surprise, however, the Sunagakure Anbu's corpse disposal unit had dug the barely-breathing Daigan out of the quicksand.
Winter had passed and spring had arrived. The "Red Sand Dust," Sunagakure's hero who had cheated death, had made a full recovery. So today, he decided to visit his old teammate.
"Actually... our squad already has a new member."
Toki bowed deeply, not daring to look at the pained expression on Daigan's face. "I'm so sorry!"
"What do you mean?" Daigan hadn't processed it yet. "You're saying you don't need me anymore?"
"I'm sorry. We all thought you were dead, so..."
"Did Master Iron Sand agree to this?" Iron Sand was a highly experienced bald Jonin in Sunagakure and, nominally, Daigan's squad leader.
"He didn't agree at first, but the mission requirements were urgent, and we had to find a temporary replacement. It just... ended up this way."
What was done was done. There was nothing Daigan could do.
"Who's the new team member?"
"Komaza. You know him. The one with the bad attitude."
"Oh, him." A guy with so-so skills but an incredibly arrogant attitude, who thought he was better than everyone else and had a terrible reputation.
Toki lowered his voice. "Honestly, we all think you're a better teammate, but now... it's too late."
"So..." Daigan let his arm fall from Toki's shoulder. He opened his mouth but didn't know what to say.
"I have to go. You take care, too."
With that, Toki left without a backward glance.
Suddenly an outcast, Daigan forced a bitter smile. He had planned to take on a few missions before the Chunin Exam to earn some money for better ninja tools. Now, that plan was completely ruined.
In low spirits, Daigan trudged back to his apartment, but after thinking it over for a long time, he couldn't accept it.
*If this goes on, I'm screwed. Not only will I miss the Chunin Exam and the Konoha Crush, but a Genin without a team can't even accept missions. Am I just supposed to sit back and watch Temari flirt with Nara Shikamaru?*
His plan to nip their budding romance in the bud was dead before it even began.
His original idea was to defeat the still-immature Team 10 in the Forest of Death, eliminating them directly. Or, he would lead his own squad through the trial, disrupting the match-ups for the third preliminary round so that Temari and Nara Shikamaru would be in different brackets, preventing them from ever interacting. That would have been enough to achieve his goal.
Now, it seemed the biggest obstacle was simply qualifying for the Chunin Exam. His luck was just that bad.
After racking his brain and coming up with nothing, Daigan gritted his teeth and decided to go straight to the Kazekage.