Hey, everybody! So who knows if you recognize me with my new username, but I used to be A'isha Ishtar. My penname is Scriptor Bellum now, just because I feel like it fits my personality much better since I've changed. :)

So! As it says in the summary, this is a rewrite of my Naruto story You Changed Me Somehow. There are quite a few changes, and they come down to characterization and plot, mainly. I discontinued the original before we could get to any of the really good stuff, and besides that, when I look back on it, it wasn't at all what it was supposed to be. So I'm rewriting, revamping, and totally redoing it.

Hopefully, the tone in this rewrite and the setting stick much more closely to serious Naruto tone, as well as not having any anachronisms such as the last story did. And also, Kame in this story is definitely a LOT more mellow than her characterization in the original. She's still a bit fiery and does have her moments though, so if you were a fan of the original Kame, please give her revamped version a chance, because this is who she's really meant to be!

Alright, now that that's out of the way - down to business. Here's the first chapter, and I'm very proud of how it's coming along so far. I'm probably going to be VERY inconsistent and infrequent with updates, just because Naruto is, unfortunately, not one of my main fandom moods anymore. However, I hope that every chapter I post will be worth the wait! Reviews motivate me to write more, because when I see reviews, it means people like my writing, and that makes me want to write more.

Find a quick and handy translation guide of any Japanese words or suffixes featured in the chapter below:

-san = suffix equivalent of Mr./Mrs./Ms./Miss

-sama = suffix similar to -san but conveying higher respect, i.e., Lord/Lady So-and-So

Without any further ado, please enjoy the first chapter!

The day was unseasonably cold.

Chilly weather was considered an ill omen in Sunagakure, especially among the older members of the population. Perhaps there was even good reason for that. The desert was typically barren, hot, and glowing. Anything that wasn't business as usual tended to spook the residents. The cold could bring sickness, possibly going so far as damaging the few crops that survived the village's scorching sands, and it dulled the city's shining appearance.

All that it meant to twenty-six-year-old Kame Chi was that the joints in her fingers began to ache. She rarely bought into the superstitions that seemed to grip the majority of the village, instead content to judge things with her own eyes. Today's temperatures aside, her sore and trembling hands could also be due to the rush of anxiety she'd been feeling since that very morning. A shinobi had come to her home – her aunt's home, and Kame's current place of shelter. That alone startled her, because why would a shinobi show up at a civilian household?

The reason why he was there was no less nerve-wracking. He'd come to deliver a letter from the village leader himself, though expressed the clearly inward sorrow that he wasn't at liberty to discuss its contents. Upon reading the message, Kame discovered that it was a summons. She was to meet with the Kazekage before noon today, at a time that was specifically indicated on the scroll. The subject mentioned was an employment opportunity.

Given that she was an adult who'd been living with her aunt for quite some time, and it would be more ideal to have a place of her own, the offer was irresistible. Besides, it wasn't like she could turn down the Kazekage. If he was so inclined, he could make her life a living hell, and he was known for not being someone to test on his best days.

Her eyes kept shifting around the area where she'd been told to wait. The seat was uncomfortable, and to make matters worse, there was absolutely no one else here aside from the secretary. The woman with her perfectly knotted bun and slender fingers scrawling out information onto scrolls was not icy, but nor was she approachable. The clock on the wall seemed to be moving excruciatingly slowly.

Despite the fact that she'd been invited here, Kame felt more like an outsider than anything else.

When the woman called her name in the same apathetic tone she'd used before, the young lady felt relieved. Finally, the time for her appointment had arrived, and it was time to see what all of this was about.

The interior of the Kazekage's office was no more welcoming than the section outside. Though it was dim inside, she could chalk that up to the clouds that blocked the sun outside. It wasn't so easy to dismiss the fact that Kazekage Rasa looked exactly how she pictured him; stern, implacable, and very clearly no-nonsense. Kame wasn't an immature or particularly silly person by any means, but seeing the look on his face managed to be intimidating nonetheless. He looked almost like a statue, as if the hard angles of his face had been carved of stone, never to settle in any other expression.

"Have a seat, Chi-san."

His voice sent chills up her spine, in no small part because he sounded so… hollow. There was no emotion to be found in his voice, no jovial greeting, no polite edge to the business-like statement. Needless to say, she hurried in and sat down across from his desk rather quickly.

When it didn't seem like he was going to continue, Kame cleared her throat uncomfortably. "You, um… you wanted to see me today, Kazekage-sama? About some… some kind of job?" This was the most gut-wrenching experience she'd been through in the past few years, and his silence was decidedly not helping her to calm down.

It was a long moment before he spoke up. His fingers were laced together, hands folded and resting on the desk. This man was made of sharp corners, with no opening for anyone to feel completely at ease in the same room with him. (Unless, of course, they were also made of sharp corners.) "Yes. Thank you for being on time; hopefully punctuality is one of your strong points, although I doubt you'll require that for this job."

"Oh… well… good that I have it anyway, I suppose. It's a vital skill, as far as I know." Even though she was doing her best not to shift around or fidget, a little of both happened regardless. There was no way she could not be on edge in Rasa's withering presence. "May I… ask what the job entails?"

A slow nod was his initial reply, followed by some shuffling of papers on his desk – the first time he'd broken that immaculate pose since she'd come in. "I'm in need of a nanny for my youngest son, Gaara. The longest that one has ever stayed is two days, his primary caregiver works afternoon and nighttime shifts as a medic, and I am out of options as far as professionals are concerned. My secretary suggested I start interviewing unemployed civilians, and so, here you are. The first one on my list."

Well, she couldn't exactly pretend that wasn't embarrassing. Her name was the first one within a group of all the unemployed civilians in Sunagakure. Considering the village was a sprawling empire nearly on par with Konohagakure, that was a feat. Besides that, there couldn't be many people in the city without a job or career or some sort. "… Oh."

She was fast to pick herself up from the humiliation, hoping her face didn't fall too obviously. A job was a job, right? Beggars couldn't be choosers, and even though Kame had never been spectacular with children, maybe it was just because she hadn't interacted with many children. "Well, I'm – I'm definitely interested. But you should probably know, I just… I don't have that much experience with children, Kazekage-sama. Are you sure I'd be a good fit?"

"Regardless of whether you are or not, or whether you do, I am at my wits' end. Gaara's classes end at noon." Before she knew it, something was being pushed across the desk toward her; a photograph. "If you can take care of him for today, tonight, and tomorrow morning, you'll have proven yourself to be competent. Tomorrow morning, you'll decide whether you'd like to take the job full-time. If so, I will set up a salary for you, and you can live in-home to care for him. If not, I'll compensate you for the hours you worked, and send you on your way."

"Oh…" This time, the exclamation was much quieter and calmer as she contemplated her options. Her hand reached for the photo, fingertips curling around it and bringing it closer for a better look. The individual pictured was a small boy who looked awfully shy, almost as if he were afraid of the person who'd been behind the camera. His hair was fiery red, clearly not matching the expression on his face, and his eyes were a pale blue, the shade of the sky on a cloudless day. What was most striking about him, however, were the dark rings around his eyes. He almost looked like a little panda! Goodness. It made Kame wonder if this poor child even got any sleep… the photograph seemed to suggest he hadn't slept a day in his life. "Is this Gaara? Oh, he's adorable. He doesn't look like any trouble at all."

To her, he looked like an ordinary little boy. Why on Earth was it such a problem to get someone to care for him?

Part of her was saying that it was because of… well, who he was. She'd heard all the stories – that Gaara was a monster, a killer. That if you looked at him the wrong way, he'd crush you with his sand powers. That he went into people's houses, took their babies, and ate them. All the tales horrified her, because it seemed so terrible to think they they were true. If he really was a monster, he wouldn't be allowed on the streets, would he? If he really was a monster, surely Rasa would have locked him up as soon as he was born.

It seemed impossible to her that a young child could be the subject of so many horror stories. But at the same time, there was no telling what was real and what wasn't, with the way that gossip spread like wildfire in Sunagakure. That was no doubt why Kame had tried to stick to trusting her own eyes and ears, refusing to accept local hearsay as gospel.

After staring at that photo for a moment, she slowly lifted her head up. "Oh, um… how old is he?"

"Six. He's repeating a year of kindergarten classes for his own benefit; this year he spends in a classroom that mixes shinobi and civilian children together. It begins at seven in the morning, and ends at noon." If one didn't know that Rasa was talking about his son, it would appear from the tone of his voice that he was talking about business – or some wearying burden. There didn't seem to be any emotion in his voice at all. No fondness or concern for his child, nor even any relief that someone seemed interested in the position. "Now that I've explained the nature of the job, are you still interested? If you become Gaara's full-time nanny, the pay will be generous, and as I mentioned, you'll be provided with a place to live. You're under no obligation to agree to even today's trial, but I have a meeting in half an hour that I need to prepare for. So please, make your choice now."

Obligation, perhaps not. She couldn't honestly say that this didn't feel like a massive amount of pressure, though. Considering her past, a career of working with children seemed like an unlit path. Wavering, uncertain, and with no idea where it might lead. There was a good chance that a path like this would take her somewhere dangerous, unfamiliar, and scary. There was a good chance she would stumble and fall along the path, and be unable to continue down it.

The other path… was nothing. More of the same life. No moving forward, continuing to live with her aunt and feel guilty about not being a productive member of society. There were other jobs, and maybe one of them would come along eventually. They might all just end up the same way as all her previous odd jobs – being let go simply because she didn't mesh, because she wasn't the right fit for her employers.

By stepping onto this path, with the knowledge that she could always find her way back to the fork in the road, what could she really lose?

After her minute of deliberation, (which seemed like much longer than it actually was), she could feel herself nodding her head. Coincidentally, her head was filled with questions. Would she be good at this? Would Gaara like her? Would his primary caregiver like her? What if she did a terrible job? What if there was an emergency and she didn't know what to do? What if–

All those questions were suddenly silenced by the answer that left her own lips. "I'll do the trial period. It would be my honor, Kazekage-sama." And goodness, if that didn't sound at least ten times as confident as she felt.

"Wonderful." With that, the photograph was snatched from her hand, and slid back into the neat folder where it had previously been. That folder was put back into the desk drawer, which was shut with a muffled slam. "If memory serves, the school will allow you to show up and wait outside the classroom ten minutes in advance. After that, take Gaara home. Feed him when he's hungry. Care for him overnight. Deliver him to class in the morning. After that, report to me. If you take the job permanently, you'll be expected to keep house and cook for his primary caregiver as well, but for the trial period, you needn't worry about that unless you deem it necessary. You are dismissed."

So off she went – picking up her small bag of personal possessions, bidding a halfhearted farewell to the secretary, and walking outside in a daze. There were still about two hours before she'd have to head to the school building to pick up Gaara, and for the life of her, she couldn't think of what on Earth to do with the time. If she were to be truthful, everything left her in shock. Rasa's blasé attitude toward his youngest child, the absolute nonchalance about whether or not she was qualified to care for him, the fact that he hurried her out as soon as she'd agreed.

It all settled on her slowly, numbing her with the feeling in her stomach that something about this just seemed wrong. And for those entire two hours, Kame Chi was left to wonder just what she had gotten herself into.