Namida No Ai
Gaara, the Godaime Kazekage, was crying. He understood what his father had tired to do when he sealed the Shukaku inside him as an infant, causing his mother's death. He had said so himself. "You tried to kill me six times, and every single time I grew to fear and hate you. But now, I do not hate you… I even understand now what you were trying to do… I am Kazekage now. It is the duty of a leader to protect the village…and eradicate any threat to his home." Gaara had said those words to his father. It wasn't until they battled that his father recognized his youngest son as a human being, and not a demon. Gaara's life was hell because of him. Yashamaru had died from his father's hand, by his father's orders, knowing that he would die by Gaara's young hand. Yashamaru was the only love that Gaara had known, and when that was taken from him, love became an empty word. No more, no less. Yashamaru had told the young Gaara that he was not loved, even by his own mother. She had died cursing him, as countless of other people had done. As Yashamaru had done. Gaara was not loved. He continued to believe that until his death, when Akatsuki took Shukaku away. "No…what was I originally? It just shared a consciousness with me…what is it originally? A mere small sensation…"
Gaara remembered those words, the despair…and the loss as he had died.
Naruto… Gaara smiled. Uzumaki Naruto had taught him about love, about joy, and about happiness. Gaara had found that his people acknowledged him at last. He was their beloved leader. However, after the Shukaku was gone, Gaara felt an emptiness inside him that even he could not explain. He could see the wholeness in people's eyes, including Kankurou's and Temari's. The love from a mother was not there in his eyes. That was why he felt so empty. Gaara's mother had died giving birth to a jinchuuriri. Throughout the years, Yashamaru's voice whispered to Gaara. "However…my sister did not give you your name out of love for you. The reason she gave you a name, in hopes that you would live…was to only let the world know her final, hate-full curse, and to remember it as long as you live! You were not loved."
But Yashamaru had truly loved him, his father had said. The person that he had hated was not Gaara, but the Yondaime Kazekage. His mother had loved him as well. "I'll always protect you…Gaara!" Gaara's sand had transformed into the shape of his beloved mother, who had protected him in their short time together. She had continued to protect him beyond her death, as a true mother would.
"It's okay," she seemed to be telling her beloved son. "It's okay to cry."