A Pain Understood
Naruto and Gaara – Friendship.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto in any way shape or form.
*Set after the Destruction of Konoha Arc.
_
Gaara was standing near a cliff, overlooking the sunset and sand dunes. He was thinking about what had happened a couple of weeks before, when then the destruction of Konoha took place, when he fought a certain blonde blue eyed boy . . .
'The pain of being alone . . . '
There was someone in this world who felt the same pain as him after all.
'I don't really know myself . . .'
He was actually afraid that for once, he would cease to exist – Disappear from the face of the earth.
'But I actually understand your pain, so much that it hurts . . .'
Naruto Uzumaki. He was the one who managed to get through to Gaara, had reached out to him, telling him in a way that killing was not the solution to 'feel truly alive,' that there were other solutions. Such as living to protect others, like he did.
'But I . . . Have people who are important to me now.'
Gaara wondered if he could forge bonds with people just like Naruto had. Could Gaara reach out just like Naruto had? But then again Naruto never gave up, he was determined to change the way people viewed him and with time, he had found people, befriended them even, and he slowly but surely, climbed out of that abyss of loneliness.
'I will stop you . . . Even if it means that I have to kill you.'
Where did his strength come from? Was it that kanji that he engraved on his forehead . . . Love? Was that what made him so strong? Then, Gaara thought about his Uncle Yashamaru's words about love:
'Well love is . . . The spirit of devoting yourself to someone important and close to you . . . And is expressed by that person caring and protecting you . . .'
That is exactly what Naruto did for his friends, he had protected them, cared enough to risk his own life willingly so that his comrades could live. Could he do the same? Could he go far as to willingly risk his life for the safety of others? Naruto Uzumaki had overwhelming strength when it came to his closest friends that got hurt. He was willing to kill Gaara himself if he ventured further if he tried to create more damage than he already had, he would stop him, because love is what made him so strong.
'That loneliness . . . That hell . . . They saved me from it . . .'
Gaara wanted to get away from that loneliness as a child, but people from his village wouldn't even go near him, much less look at him. But now, things were different. He was determined to carve a new path out for himself, find a new way life to live that did not involve needlessly killing people.
'And they acknowledged my existence . . .'
Gaara wanted his existence acknowledged. He wanted someone to accept and acknowledge him for himself. Not the Shukaku sealed within him. Not seen as a weapon but something more.
'But maybe,' Gaara thought 'maybe someday I will understand, and maybe I can forge a bond with others too.'
He may have not understood what bonds were then, but he was convinced that at least there was one person in this earth that had shared the same pain and loneliness. And that in itself gave him the strength to pursue bonds like Naruto had.
'If I do that, then someday . . . Someday, I'll be more like him.'