A/N: Hello everyone! I have some bad news and some good news. I'm reviewing my entire story and have decided to change the beginning of the story. Somehow, I find them a little...well, suffice to say that I'm not satisfied with how everything started between Gaa-sama and Kaguya. I've retained the early early EARLY sentences, but changes everything else.
I hope everyone would like it just like how I like the changes. Enjoy~
Chapter 1:
Ipaasha
Explanation: In this story, Gaara is the Kazekage of the Land of Wind. It has already passed the part where Chiyo revived him back from the death, but he still retained his One-Tailed Beast sealed in him. He is currently 16 years old.
To begin the story, the skies are blue and the winds are gentle. It was a nice weather in Suna. Temari, the eldest of the Suna Siblings, turned on the speaker, amplifying her current favorite song, Colors by Kaguya. The hypnotizing lovely voice of the singer accompanies the Suna Siblings everyday on their breakfast, lunch and dinner.
That is, if Temari is not sent out by Gaara to Konoha as Suna's Ambassador.
The day before today, Kankurou had, in fact, mumbled aloud that Temari's cooking tasted more and more like sand, and not to mention he was mumbling while munching on his food. Gaara had compared his looks akin to that of a munching desert camel. Gaara nodded his head unconsciously to the stack of paperwork he held in his hand while carrying on having his breakfast, his eyes fixated entirely upon the paper's content.
One might be wondering why on earth Temari herself would fix breakfast for her brothers instead of the many servants in the Kazekage's manor. The truth is that one day, out of the blue, Temari had decided to practice her cooking skills and declared that breakfast would be her sole duty in the house while the rest of the meals are done by a skilled chef who could cook almost anything. None of the siblings protested.
Until today.
Most of the time, Kankurou would mumbled something incomprehensible to any ears but Gaara's, but unfortunately for Kankurou, Temari had heard what he just said and came over to him, all the while beaming at her brother. Snatching away his half-eaten breakfast, Temari said in a toneless voice, "Then start preparing your own breakfast, young man."
Bewildered, Kankurou tried to get his luncheon stuffed sandwich back by utilizing his skills as a puppeteer, sending an almost invisible string of chakra towards the plate of sandwich, but was caught pathetically by his sister, smirking widely.
"Don't try me young man. You think I wouldn't know your stinkin' old tricks up your sleeves after living my whole 19 years of life with you?" barked Temari, her fingers immediately went towards him and pulled at his ear, which he reacted by moving his head as close to Temari's hand as possible to avoid more pain.
According to Kankurou, Temari's pinching skills are more fearsome and almost 10 times more painful than getting stabbed by a kunai.
"Ouch! Now! Ow! Nee-chan! Stop it!" pleaded Kankurou pitifully, standing up and moved closer to Temari while she moved her hand as far as she could, enjoying the pained looks on her brother's painted face.
"Missing your breakfast?" said the Fan Wielder seductively with a grin, dangling the sandwiches in front of Kankurou's nose and dropped it onto the floor with a loud smashing sound, sending pieces of bread and lettuces everywhere except on Gaara's and Temari's clothes.
"Opsie!" said Temari, feigning her innocent with her hand on her mouth. "I dropped it. Now," Temari continued, her smiling face slowly morphed into one of those that even the highest authority of the council members will think twice before snapping at her. "Get. Your. Own. BREAKFAST!" screeched Temari.
Snapping Kankurou's ear back into place with a loud 'snap', Temari watched in delight as the puppeteer basically scrambled onto his feet and muttered a quick farewell to Gaara and the swarm of tarantulas by the door in a large glass tank.
It had been 3 years since the Konoha invasions. Gaara had changed tremendously after a talk with Naruto, while Kankurou maintained his bad boy personality, much to Temari's dismay. Still, the fact that he would stuck up to Gaara whenever he heard unpleasant words about Gaara behind his back would never fail to bring a smile to her face. The Suna Siblings have grown to acknowledge Gaara as their blood brother, and would willingly go as far as to pick a fight with those who had talked bad about their little brother.
Temari, on the other hand, had recently become obsessed in listening to a particular singer's songs. Gaara had once tried to be nice and commented that the singer's voice was pretty nice in the hope of getting closer to his siblings as a family, and the next thing he knew Temari had started to blab and blab and blab nonstop about the biography of the mysterious Kaguya, or so she was known as. The one noticeable thing is that Temari had become much closer to Gaara than Kankurou; She finds the notion that Gaara had slowly learned how to smile delightful, despite it being just a twitch on the mouth, while Kankurou had turned into her new torture pet brother, picking a fight with him every single day, no matter where and what time it is.
Gaara finishes his breakfast and downed the cup of coffee in one gulp. Once he finished strapping his sand gourd to his back, he headed for the door with his Kazekage's hat when Temari surprises him by stopping him.
"I'll go with you today," Temari offered, grabbing her heavy iron fan and strapping it to her back. Since the change 3 years ago, Gaara had started talking to them in a less threatening tone. Instead, he actually conversed with them like any normal siblings would. Though, he still preferred to be a silent bystander while watching his two elder siblings' biker among themselves, smiling occasionally at their silly remarks against each other, taking note to do so without Temari noticing since she had started the habit of taking a picture of Gaara whenever he did smile. He liked the bickering, but he didn't like the picture sessions.
As Gaara transport them with his sand jutsu to the Kazekage's Tower, Temari noted a light commotion down below in one particular street. Realizing what it was, she called Gaara and said a quick word to him before jumping down from the cloud of sand.
"I'm going to get those," she had shouted. "See you later at the Tower!"
Giving a slight nod, Gaara watchs from the side of his eye as Temari jumped down from his sand cloud. Sighing in defeat, Gaara continued his way to the Tower, closing his eyes while trying to block out the screaming fan girls down below.
After becoming Kazekage, instead of gaining many enemies, Gaara had somehow accumulated a great number of fan girls in his village, starting with his only deciple, Matsuri. He almost cringed when he heard a girl screamed her lungs out with a, "I LOVE YOU, GAARA-SAMA! KYAAA!" He was amazed with their determination to get him to know that they love him, going as far as to chase him every day, to and fro the Kazekage's Tower. He didn't like it at all.
Then he passed by it again, the Miyagusuku Manor. His daily journey from the Kazekage's Manor to the Kazekage's Tower would inevitably bring him to pass by their manor. He had a memory from his past that he used to come by this place every night, listening to a pretty young girl singing a hauntingly beautiful song. He never managed to remember that particular song since he had vowed to leave his past behind him and move forward, since remembering that song would mean the recollection of his awful past life as a heartless monster.
Then again, in spite of what he had thought about leaving the past behind him, he couldn't help but to be attracted to this manor. There was this peculiar smell, a sort that is akin to a sweet, lily-like fragrance. He had never been captivated to a scent before, as he viewed this as a kind of weakness. As such, he never stopped by the manor.
However, he did conduct a small research on the Miyagusuku clan.
The Village Hidden in the Sand is constantly 'hidden' in sand filled wind. Only at night does it stop blowing. From the results of what he had searched in the great Kazekage's archive, the Miyagusuku clan is a clan practicing Apothecary and Kabuki arts, and in such, they are extremely affluent in Suna. They, too, had a special antidote that could also be used as a perfume fragrance, something called an 'Ipaasha', which requires great care and constant watering to survive. In Suna, indoor gardens, or as they named them as Desert Greenhouses, are rare. It requires one to care for it greatly and an extreme sum of gold to maintain and keep the plants alive in the dry desert, as they cannot stand the heavy winds blowing constantly. As such, Desert Greenhouses are only owned by capable people such as the Miyagusuku clan and the Kazekage.
But that particular day, Gaara decided to stop by for once to quench his curiosity.
Landing upon the Miyagusuku Manor's rooftop, he looked around and found his attention directed towards the interior of the garden, which is actually the rooftop of the Desert Greenhouse. From where he stood, he finds a single person looking into a piece of crafted hand mirror by the sides of the small greenhouse, where a dark wooden bench is placed. The hand mirror's reflected light bounces off the ground and the walls, while the person smiled at the sight of a small creature chasing the light to wherever it is reflected to.
It was a young lady, with long dark hair piled up on top of her head with a silver ornament. The rest of her hair flowed to her back, kept in place with a black ribbon that goes with two silver bells at the end of the tie. Her skin is as pale as his, and he finds himself captivated for once.
So, the Kazekage started to snoop around a girl's greenhouse, eh? Such scandal!
Shut up.
My, my. Gaara-sama, can't you be more gentle towards me and let me out sometimes?
If I be gentle to you and let you out, you would turn on my back and attack the people.
How could you! I, Ichibi no Shukaku, never break promises that I've made.
Because you never intended to keep one.
...
Gaara 107, Shukaku 58
Just as he was smirking over his 107th triumph against Shukaku's mind talk, the small creature suddenly stops chasing the light and looked up. Noticing a strange figure standing atop the transparent roofing of the Desert Greenhouse, the creature stood on its hind legs and started to yap up at Gaara, drawing the young lady's attention. Looking up, Gaara's eyes met with hers and immediately, past memories surged through his mind.
The young lady has big shiny dark eyes. She looked up at him innocently, and upon realizing who he was, her eyes widens in revelation. Slowly, her lips formed a soft smile, her hand raised to wave at him, mouthing the word, "Kazekage-sama."
Everything about her reminded her of someone in the past; her eyes, her smile, her face. He knew that face, and yet he couldn't place her properly as to where he had seen this face before. He raked his mind in search for the memories he had intended to lock away, and yet, the way the girl had smiled at him in such a fearless, willing sweet smile stunned his mind momentarily.
This is where Shukaku came in and interrupted his thoughts.
Oho! The tailed beast hooted. She smiled at you. And isn't she pretty?
Smiled...
Come on boy, didn't anyone smiled to you before?
Yes, but...never in that way...
In what way?
It's so…fearless…willing, even…apart from my siblings, no one had dared to smile at me that way…
Well, everything must have their firsts. Don't you want to return her smile?
... I don't smile.
Ha! Liar! You smiled when your siblings bikered stupidly against each other! I saw that…haha! You sure are a tough nut to crack.
You're so strange after Chiyo brought me back. You sure you're Ichibi?
... That sounds so stupid, so drop it. Come on! Smile back at her! Where is your manner, boy!
I never know how to smile.
The tailed beast sighed dramatically. It doesn't just because your name is 'Gaara' you have to love yourself only right? Then if that is the reason, then why do you become a Kazekage?
Because Naruto taught me about sharing... And I want to protect this village, even after what they have done to me.
...
Gaara 108, Shukaku 58.
While he was smirking silently over the victory against Shukaku, the girl had run up to the rooftop of her manor, exactly where Gaara stood over. But while he had a mind talk with his tailed beast, Gaara had walked to the edge of the rooftop and summoned his cloud of sand, preparing to leave for work. He barely stops himself in time when the girl slammed the door to the rooftop open, panting slightly from the run. It was then Gaara felt as if time had stopped.
The girl wears a white silk robe hanging loosely around her shoulder, tied together tightly with a sewn-on nature-patterned obi with a blue undershirt. According to the hoot he had heard from Shukaku from within his mind, the girl is a stunning piece of work.
Light blue orbs met dark green eyes. Shock painted across the lady's features, as if she couldn't believe that the Kazekage had actually stopped by her Desert Greenhouse's rooftop.
Then there's the small colorful pouch with a chestnut-sized bell hanging on her right wrist, bound to it with a thin silk red thread. For some reasons, Gaara felt in his being that Shukaku was drawn toward it, but make no remarks about it.
My, the tailed beast started. Wasn't she a beautiful piece of work?
Shut up.
Strange…there's something about her…
What is it?
She's so…strong.
Shut up.
How cruel... I still prefer you to call me 'Mother' than 'Shut up'.
Didn't I just tell you to shut up? Or was it you can no longer understand human language?
Excuse me, but I was created by human's thoughts.
Good for you then.
Just as he was going to count his 109th victory, the wind picked up its pace and the bell attached onto the small pouch ranged delicately.
As soon as the bell sounded its faint ring, Shukaku immediately fell silent. Normally, Gaara would have sighed in relief with the beast's silence, but he couldn't help but feel strange when Shukaku had chattered on and on about how ungrateful Gaara is when the beast just suddenly went into quiet mode in mid-sentence.
Strangely, the girl, too, have somehow realized Gaara's inner confusion, for she lifted up her arm and glanced at her little pouch dangling on her wrist, then at Gaara, then back at her pouch again.
The wind kept blowing softly, ruffling Gaara's hair fondly, while his robes lifted gently in the wind, revealing the blue yukata that he wears underneath the white cloak that signifies the position he is holding in Sunagakure.
Just as she opened her mouth to say something, the door towards the rooftop suddenly bursts open. A group of ladies-in-waiting tumbled out of the small door, looking very much ruffled as if they've searched high and low for someone. When their eyes landed upon the little lady, all of them sighed in chorus and bowed low to her.
"Kaguya-hime," they all said in unision. One particular maid stepped forward and bowed once again. "We apologize for interrupting your highness, but there is a situation at the garden that requires your immediate attention."
Kaguya's facial expression immediately turned serious. "Which garden?"
"The Ipaasha Garden, your highness," said the head of ladies-in-waiting, her head bowing low at Kaguya.
"Very well," Kaguya said gravely. "I will be there shortly. You are dismissed."
With another low bow, the ladies-in-waiting shuffled back to the door and disappeared.
Turning her attention back to Gaara, Kaguya said to him out of the blue, her words confusing and remained in his mind long after he had left the Miyagusuku Manor.
"Nice to meet you again, Gaara-sama," she had said to him that morning, her familiar eyes staring at his, as if she knew him before. Eyes blinking in confusion, Gaara stares at Kaguya. Realization came before her eyes when Gaara doesn't show signs that he remembers her, and her smile faltered.
"But it looks like you have forgotten me…" she said sadly, smiling a small sad smile. "But I'm glad you're no longer alone in this world."
One of his ANBU guards had appeared out of nowhere to inform him of the arrival of the councils. He had left without saying another word. Somehow, a strange feeling settled upon him when he did that. It was akin to the feeling of remorse.
