As promised, here is the Gaara fanfic meant to tide you over and hopefully keep you from getting mad at me. I'm really sorry about the other fic, but it'll be continued later. After this one. And er... the Yondaime one... Hahaha... Ha... (It's actually cute so check it out!)

I hope you enjoy this one.

Gaara and the Naruto series is not mine and will never be mine. Sad, but true. I'll learn to live with the harsh fact, though.

The Luster's Shadow

The full moon was finally beginning to wane. Shukaku's bloodlust; suppressed. The Kazekage of Suna sat lax in his office chair with his hands folded in front of his face. His two older siblings stood in front of him with grave expressions on their faces.

It truly was an odd sight to behold. His oldest sister had short blonde hair pulled up into four ponytails. His older brother had short brown hair that was hidden by his black hood making him resemble that of a cat. He, himself, had short and messy blood-red hair that would not obey him if it were the end of the world.

All three of them bore dark rings around their eyes to show their sleep deprivation over the past few nights. The youngest was the most apparent, however, since it was caused by both being the raccoon demon's container and sleep deprivation- over the collection of years and not just days. It was more of a permanent feature that accentuated his sea-green eyes. Temari opened her mouth to break the silence.

"Gaara, the elders want you to train your taijutsu but… It's only another month before…"

"I know."

"Then you shouldn't go! We should start making preparations."

"What preparations could we possibly make?" Temari stopped her argument and sighed.

"I don't know. It just seems like we should do something to prepare for the worst case scenario."

It was Gaara's turn to sigh but he did so inwardly. Kankurou stood on his younger brother's side and tried to reason with Temari.

"Gaara can handle himself. Besides, wouldn't it be nice to let Gaara take a break from his duties right now?"

"He already has enough trouble handling Shukaku on normal full moons!"

"It's another month Temari. Besides, it's not his choice to leave. The elders want him to train with the old man. We can't really argue with them." Kankurou pat his sister's back trying to calm her nerves.

"What? I'm really not that old guys!" All three sand siblings instantly shot their eyes up to look at the sudden intruder. The man stood right behind between Temari and Kankurou. He seemed to be in his early thirties. His long blond hair was swept back and left in a ponytail. He wore a black tank top with long black pants and a silver-painted Jounin vest over it. His eyes portrayed kindness but his facial features looked rough as though he had experienced many battles in his time.

"Taka-sensei." Gaara merely nodded from his desk. The man gave a nod back and smiled at Temari.

"Don't you worry, little lady. I'll be taking good care of your little brother. I'll be sure to have him back a few days before the next full moon." He gave a thumb up and grinned, his teeth sparkling.

Temari stared at him as if he were a little blood-squirting toad to be squashed. This man was utterly ridiculous!

"Excuse me, but do you happen to have any relation to Konoha's Gai-sensei?" Kankurou asked with a raised eyebrow.

"He happens to be my adorable little cousin three times removed. How do you know him?"

All three siblings had the same thought. Related? There appeared to be no similarities on the outside since this man was rather handsome but the similarities personality-wise were uncanny.

"T-That's not important right now." Kankurou mumbled. "When are you leaving with Gaara?"

"Oh, actually, that's why I'm here. I intend to start right away." All three stared at him. He moved towards the door and gave a glance back. "Coming, Gaara-san?"

The red-head stood and crossed over the room following Taka. He felt the concerned looks of his older siblings on his back. He paused in the doorway and without looking back gave his directions.

"Take care of Suna while I'm away. I'll be back soon enough." It was not given merely as a farewell but a polite warning that when he came back, he expected Suna to still be in one piece and the children protected from Kankurou's wrath.

Gaara walked beside Taka toward his home on the very edge of the wind country, carrying only the clothes on his back and his gourd. This man liked to live secluded and far away from people. It was no real wonder why since this man had become rather famously known for his taijutsu skills. Which was the exact reason why the elders had recommended him to watch over Gaara's training for he greatly lacked in those skills.

The man seemed funny and easy-going but was actually quite serious, contrary to his siblings' first impression on him. They continued to walk along the sand towards their destination, Taka occasionally taking a swig from his canteen. After quite the sum of hours, Taka pointed towards the trees that were starting to spring up randomly in the sand. Behind the stretch of them lay the dense forest bordering the Fire country. A few hundred yards of walking later, they came upon the middle of a circle of trees.

"We're finally here." Taka sighed. He formed several hand signs before resting his hand against some kind of barrier in the air. Gaara watched with interest as the air around his hand blurred and swirled until it revealed a small house. He entered the house with Gaara slowly following him with his arms sternly crossed.

Once they entered the house, Taka shuffled around and removed a straw mat from the floor in the middle of the room. He then lifted another mat that matched the ground perfectly to reveal a hidden wood door on the ground. He glanced up at Gaara with his dark green eyes and chuckled a bit.

"Just an extra precaution." He grinned and jumped down through the hole.

Now, Gaara paused and recapped on Taka's file and possible motives before deciding whether or not to jump. He had not heard any screams as of yet so he cautiously peered down the opening to find a set of narrow and long stairs cast in shadows. He stepped down and continued down the stairs before he heard the wooden door shut on top of him. He was now cloaked in complete darkness and stood still for a few seconds.

"Hey, are you going to come train with us or stand there on the stairs?" He heard Taka yell.

Gaara caught what he said though and wondered what Taka meant when he said 'we.' Sure enough, he would find out as he continued following the curves of the stairs leading him deeper underground. He spotted the blinding light and passed through it.

He slightly squinted into the light and before his eyes could adjust, several kunai were thrown towards him. Instantly without his even commanding it, sand shot out from his gourd and absorbed them.

"Hmph. It doesn't look like he's any good at taijutsu whatsoever. It's absolutely pathetic how much he relies on his sand to protect him."

A feminine scoff was heard as Gaara's sand lowered and dropped the kunai with a metal clang. Revealed to his eyes were Taka and two younger people in a large room lit brightly with large hanging lights. There was a man that looked to be close to Temari's age of 18 with dark forest-green hair. Taka and the older man stood next to each other but the third person stood farther away. It was the female that had scoffed at him earlier and presumably thrown the wayward kunai. Taka opened his mouth to speak.

"Yoko. You are too harsh." He ran his hand through his young golden locks and closed his eyes.

"Besides, it's wasn't sensei's choice to train him." Spoke the older boy.

"Jin." Taka spoke in a slightly warning tone. "I took on this mission myself because Suna needs our help. It's the least we could do for our home, ninja or not." Gaara didn't miss the glance Taka gave to the girl.

"Do what you must. It does not concern me." The girl named Yoko turned and started to walk away towards the open space that seemed to be used as an underground gym.

"Yoko. It will be partly your duty to train him as well as yours, Jin."

The green haired boy nodded while the girl merely looked back with an agitated expression on her face.

"I'll need to leave and run a few errands. I'll leave you three young students of mine to get properly acquainted with each other." Taka grinned and headed past Gaara towards the stairs and called back as he walked with a wave. "Yoko, be good. See you later." With that, he was gone and all three students of Taka's heard the door slam shut. They stood in silence for a while before Gaara watched Yoko turn to stare across the gym at him.

"So this is the great Kazekage that's just come into office."

She started to walk towards him and Gaara finally took in her full image. She was his age and wore black shorts with a simple gray tank top. On her legs were dark blue leg warmers with white pin stripes. Her silver hair was in two braids that stopped short just below her shoulders and her eyes were an unfazed cold blue. She seemed to be sizing him up as well as she circled around him with a stern expression.

"You really don't seem like much. Looks don't tell everything though." She sneered.

"Yoko." The older boy, Jin called. She did not heed his warning though and continued circling Gaara.

"Your eyes betray your stoic form. You've seen pain. You've felt it personally, haven't you?" She laughed lowly. "Betrayal? Tell me, was it a family member that you trusted?"

"Yoko." The boy called again. Yoko merely glanced back up at Gaara's eyes.

"Ah, so it was. Tell me, how did it feel? Good? Was there blood?" Gaara kept his expression straight but he felt a spark of anger within him. Who did this young girl think she was to speak to him so? "You've yet to love, hm? Want to protect the village to prove your worth and gain respect?"

By then, Yoko had circled him for the sixth time and stopped behind him. He felt her lean up and speak lowly in his ear.

"What does dear Shukaku think of this? Aren't you betraying him as well as the village by putting them in such danger?" At this, Gaara's sand started to stir beneath them.

"Yoko, enough!" Jin shouted. "We're supposed to train him to become stronger, not interrogate him for the sake of revenge."

Revenge? The red headed Kazekage thought he felt something graze his shoulder before he heard Yoko laugh. It was not possible for the girl to touch him, however, since his sand defense would not permit it thus, he passed the feeling off as a chill from the room.

"You train him. I'm not training a monster." Yoko gave one last menacing glare at Gaara before stalking away towards what was presumed as her own room.

"I'm terribly sorry for Yoko's rudeness, Gaara-sama. She can be quite cruel sometimes." Jin laughed nervously, desperately trying to lessen the tension in the room. "She'd make a pretty good interrogator though, neh?"

His laugh echoed in the room but did little to comfort them. Gaara gave a curt nod before turning his penetrating gaze upon the wide array of wooden equipment.

"The sooner I finish training, the sooner I will be out of your way." Gaara said coldly.

'Why does everyone seem so cold?' Jin sighed and went ahead to show the red head around.

When the silver haired girl shut the door to her tidy room, she locked it and slid down the wood with a heavy sigh. After a moment of sitting on the floor, she stood and decided to take her body to the softer bed in the corner of the small and darkly lit room.

Her eyebrows furrowed as she passed an old picture of herself and an older man placed on her dresser. As soon as she lay herself down upon the bed, she curled the thin light blue sheets around her form as if to protect herself from any vile monsters from under the bed or sand. She closed her eyes and clutched the corner of the sheets towards her heart.

The shadows embraced her tightly with no hesitation.

Author's Note: Ahem. Er... Okay, let's all be honest. Yoko's a bit of a bitch but I think you'll warm up to her later on.

By the way, in case this confuses you, this takes place shortly before Shukaku is extracted (or Shippuden). Oh and when you're reading , try to look out for the importance that shadows play in this story. It's pretty important.

Zomg, I love reviews. (I'm sorry to ask!)