Fragile
AN: Naruto is not mine and this is a work of love and obsessive fandom, and not meant for profit.
Chapter One
The women walked barefoot in the desert, carrying with them the wrapped bodies of the ones lost to them in the previous sand storm.
They placed the bodies down at the feet of the golden eyed man, looking up at him with pleading eyes, before backing away slowly.
If they noticed the sand rising behind them, they did not say, no emotion flickered in their grey faces as the winds picked up.
There were no screams as they were buried. For once the victims quietly accepted their fates.
Just one word that seemed to be whispered, the man remembered it was the youngest, the one carrying the corpse of her brother, who had the blue eyes that stared at him the longest.
"Monster..."
Gaara woke up panting and clutched his head, "Not mine," he whispered, "I didn't do..." his voice trailed off and he squeezed his eyes closed, that memory may not have been his, but there were others just as horrific that were...
He rose from the deep red couch and stepped over the strewn scrolls, books, and papers that littered his bedroom, which with the dark wooden bookshelves and desk, seemed more like an office. Reaching the only other piece of furniture, besides the couch that barely hinted at the room being a sleeping quarters, a dark wooden wardrobe, as plain as the rest of the decorations in the room, he opened the doors to pull out the clothes he was going to wear that day, stuffing the fears and despair from the memories down.
He had his duties to perform, and he couldn't leave Sunagakure to go crying into his sister's room and letting her comfort him, something he had embarrassingly done right after Shukaku was first removed and he felt it safe to sleep again.
That first night... he found out that it wasn't. The beast had gone, but the memories still were there, even the ones that Shukaku had given him, the ones that were not his, never would be his...
And yet he was still forced to carry them.
There were only two sets of the memories that he didn't mind, in fact rather enjoyed the dreams that came with them, one being of the first of the ichibi's containers, a girl named Seren.
She was the only one besides Gaara that actually tried to control him he had noted, though she didn't realize it until the last, and the only one out of the entire line of jinchuuriki that was lucky enough to have a lover. A vague part of him realized how perverse it was to watch her memories, but he couldn't stop...
Not even when they came and tied her to the stake and burned her... she never let the tanuki demon take over, instead stared at the amethyst eyes of the one who...
Will anyone cry like that for me? he asked himself, the memories of Seren were the first bricks laid down by Shukaku... the jinchuuriki after that never saw the tears of the amethyst eyed man, instead the betrayal that they assumed was from him.
Gaara was the only one of them that had dug deeper into the memories, watched the day to day memories until he saw what had happened between Seren and him.
Shukaku was reluctant, but finally had shown him right before he was appointed as Kazekage. And it was almost no surprise then to Gaara that Seren's lover had tried to save her, even going so far as to almost die in the fire himself before sand had pushed him away. She had been betrayed by her father and mother, not him, never him.
The only time in all of her memories that Seren had used the sand, and it was then that Shukaku realized that the seal that was keeping him in could be manipulated. It was then that the jinchuuriki were viewed as a possible weapon instead of simply a container.
Gaara shook his head, She could have saved her own life but instead... A rapid knock on the door interrupted his contemplation, and he looked up.
"Hey Gaara!" Kankuro's voice sounded, "Temari said that you better hurry up. She's not going to be late for this thing."
"I'll be right there," Gaara said quietly, and pulled the Kazekage's robe over him.
"Damn it, damn it," Temari muttered as she dusted the sleeve on the white kimono, "Gaara could you..." she pointed to the dresser.
Her brother handed her the hair pin with the small blue flowers, "What are these?"
"Ino made that for me," she smiled as she placed it in her hair, worn down for once, "They're forget-me-nots. They mean true love and memories." she looked at him with her deep blue eyes, "Hey you didn't have another nightmare did you?" She knew, if only vaguely, what the dreams contained, and at one point after the ichibi was removed had planted herself at the foot of Gaara's bed to guard his sleep.
Oddly enough it worked, and he slept peacefully for two weeks. But at the end of it, he asked her not to anymore, once he noticed the dark circles beginning to form around her eyes. I do have to fight these demons on my own.
A slight blush passed over his face, and he cleared his throat, "You can't be worrying about me. You're getting married today."
She puffed her cheeks and glared at him, "Promise me you'll take some time for yourself. The village will be alright, just take a vacation or something."
"A vacation?" he asked with a small smile, "Doing what?"
"Go to the ocean," she said gently, "There's a rumor that there's a place far off in the sea where you can forget everything." she flicked his forehead, "Just so long as you don't forget me."
He didn't show any indication of how much he wanted to go then, To forget... he shook his head and turned to her.
"We'll go as a family one day then. That way there will be no chance that we'll forget each other," he watched her nod at that and smooth out the kimono, "He's waiting... I thought you didn't want to be late."
"I'm making that lazy ass pay for something he did earlier," Temari grinned, "Besides that..." the grin faded a little, replaced by a sheepish look, "I'm a bit nervous. Don't tell Kankuro, he'll never let me hear the end of it."
"Hey!" Ino's overly joyful voice came as the blonde peeked into the room, "I know Shikamaru deserves it and all, but I think you've been making him wait long enough."
Temari considered it for a moment, before sighing, "Fine... five more minutes."
"I suppose we should leave a delegate here in Sunagakure," Kakashi's lazy voice said quietly as the Hokage stood next to Gaara, "It's only fair since your sister is coming to live in Konoha. Anyone you would want working for you."
"I won't ask for Naruto," the red-head said quietly, and he swore that the older man let out a sigh of relief, "Mainly because he would never let me get any work done."
The two watched the ninja in question scamper merrily about the wedding reception.
"Well... the other nin that you've really had contact with from our village... that would be Gai's team. Lee would provide the same problem," a glance was given to the green clad nin that had pulled Naruto into some sort of "Youthful Happiness" dance. Kakashi coughed, "Besides if my dealings with Gai are any indication, you'll be waging war on us in two weeks."
A very brief smile passed over Gaara's face, "Exactly who would you suggest?"
"Tenten's no good as well," a new voice joined the conversation, and both Kage's turned to see Neji standing next to them, "She complains entirely too much."
"Are you volunteering then?" Kakashi asked.
"I couldn't help but overhearing," the Hyuuga admitted, "And it is shameful of me to barge into the conversation like this, but if it would further help relations between our villages, then yes."
Kakashi smiled at that, "Well then, it's settled. I'll make it official as soon as I get back to Konoha." he walked away, leaving the two alone then.
"There's another reason," Gaara noted, "You're trying to avoid something in Konoha... what?"
"If you don't truly want my services, then I can withdraw," the cool response came, "Maybe I just wanted the opportunity to observe you a bit closer."
"Why?" Gaara asked, but Neji just smiled and walked away.
Temari's voice broke him away from staring after the Hyuuga, "Thank you all for coming," she started, but Gaara didn't hear the rest, instead was gazing softly at her smile.
It was the other memory he carried that he never minded, one that was actually his, the very brief glimpse he had of his mother, what Shukaku had used more than anything else...
Karura's gentle smiling face.
He wondered if Temari knew exactly how much she looked like their mother.
Behind him Neji quietly watched him and noted the single tear that slid down the Kazekage's cheek, unseen by the others, "That's why," he whispered.