Authors Note: I would think this was clear but I don't own either the characters nor the story of Naruto.

Seiou the Drifting Swordsmen

The sun peaked over the mountians when a dark silhouette burst forth. It dashed across the vast sea of sand as it shifted from black to light brown with the rising of the sun. The mans features also became clearer as the light covered the desert landscape.

The man was fairly tall in stature, probably around his twenties. His short red hair poked from the rag tied around his head, probably to keep the desert heat from roasting his brain. His body was covered with a skin-tight suit he wore under his red shirt and blue belt laced pants.

It was around ten when the desert reach an potentially leathal temperature. The increased heat also brought more heat, sending curtains of sand across the desert and rubbing the man's exposed skin raw. He decided to look for some shelter and wait under the shade for high noon to pass. However, there wasn't even a rock face or cactus indicating any life had ever lived in the bland harsh environment. Shukaku, the desert spirit must've carved this place long ago.

The flat landscape proved inhospitable, but he could see a small figure in the distance. It was difficult to make out, but it looked like a wall from here. If that was truly a wall, then the Hidden Sand Village must've been inside. Even if it wasn't the place, he could use it for much needed shade. It had only been a few hours but the slicing winds blew sand in places he didn't even know he had. He decided there was nothing to lose if he did go and ran into the point.

Two hours later, the man stood at the outskirts of the wall. The wall towered for hundreds of feet formed completly from compacted sand! It was so high, he could bearly make out the people patroling on top. Most looked like Chunnin or Jonin but he couldn't decern there details from here. The entrance was in eyeshot and it of course was guarded more proficiently than the wall. Ten ninja, at least jonin level juging by their clothing, were pearched around the entrance to the gate, all with a look of pure boredom on their face.

As he approached the gate, he was instantly surrounded by the entire guard. These guys had been trained well. A ninja wearing sand colored clay mask emerged from the circle to verify him. He must've been an ANBU member to be wearing a mask like that.

"Who are you? State your purpose!" The ANBU member barked.

"My name is Seiou Kenyo. I've been traveling for most of the night, and I need somewhere to rest and replenish my water during high noon." He replied passively.

"Leave," the man said firmly, " If you don't have official business then you are not welcome!"

"But its high noon, if I travel like this, I'll be dead in a couple of hours. Please, show me the slightest bit of compassion and at least let me have some water."

"No." he replied bluntly. Even though Seiou couldn't see his face, he was sure he didn't even bat an eyelash. He started slouching away from the village when another man came from the gate entrance. The clay masked ANBU emerged from the crowd to look at the stranger. Normally, the man would have watched him leave as he would with most people. This time however, he noticed the two swords on Seiou's back.

The ANBU dashed in front of the sulking traveler and urged him back to the gate, trading pleasured greetings along the way.

"What happened to you?" the ANBU asked concerned.

"I needed to cross the desert to reach the Hidden Mist Village but the desert was harsher than I ever thought. I could feel the heat scrambling my brain. Before I knew it, I finish all the water I had. I though I was done for until I saw this village in the distance. Now after running all the way here, I can't even get a drop of water because I don't come on 'official business'," He replied.

By the time he finished, they already reached the gate.

"He said what?!" He exclaimed turning to the other ANBU, "Do you know who this is?!"

"Well no but."

"This man is the captain of the Hidden Leaf's ANBU squad. He's the one the Hokage brings to diplomatic meetings for protection."

"All the more reason to not let him in," He said, "If he is that skilled, he poses a threat to the Kazekage."

"This man saved the Kazekage once on his way to meet with the Hokage, he was attacked by a large squad of jonin! They caught his group by surprise and his guard was quickly eliminated. Then, they were about to finish him, this man came and defended him."

"Oh come on, your men already had them on the ropes by the time I got there." Seiou commented bashfully.

"You're just being modest."

"But orders are orders sir," The ANBU guard said hesitantly.

"This man saved the Kazekage's life! And you're just going to send him away in his time of need?!"

"B-but what if he-"

"I'll take all the blame if he does anything. Now hurry up, can't you see he needs water?"

"Y-yes sir."

"And make sure you have a house ready for him to stay in tonight."

"Yes sir"

"Good."

It took a long time to get through the gate as the walls stretched for hundreds of feet inward. As they walked further into the village, he noticed the guard was much weaker here than at the front. They might've had explosive traps placed in the neighboring walls. That way, they could easily close there village to all outsiders.

When they were out of earshot, the ANBU man began with an apology: "Sorry about him, he's new to the squad and is a little stiff with the rules."

"Yeah I noticed," Seiou replied.

"SO Seiou, what have you been doing since we last met."

"It's a long story," Seiou replied cheerfully, "How about you Baki? I heard you were being promoted."

"Yeah," Baki replied, "you know, I'm surprised I saw you sulking away like that. I bet you were going to sneak in after you were out of sight weren't you?"

Seiou cracked a big smile clearly said "yep" to his question. A big grin appeared on Baki's face and the both laughed all the way down to the village.

The village itself was even more magnificent than the wall surrounding it. Like the wall, everything was made entirely of compacted sand. It went in a complete circle and ascended like a staircase towards the center that was almost the same height as the wall itself. The overall architecture of the village was ingenious! It clearly symbolizing the village's preparation for battle.

"That's right, you've never been in our village before have you," Kaze said noticing Seiou's mesmerized look.

"Come to think it, no I haven't. It was always such a blast when you came to the village Baki."

"I should give you a tour of the area later, but first I need to notify the Kazekage of your arrival. Meet back here in an hour alright?"

"Alright," he replied.

Seiou decided to burn some time and sat down to inspect his swords. He looked up to see some children staring at him from around building corners and out of windows. Clearly, these kids rarly saw strangers come to the village. For a while, they kept their distance, slightly afraid of him but eventually one of the kids, looking about six years old inched his way towards him.

"Hey what's your name?" Seiou asked.

"Um… Kota," he said a little hesitantly.

Seiou started rubbing his black ragged hair, "Come on don't be so tense, you look like Baki when first meet," he leaned in to wisper in the kids ear, "between you and me, he still looks like that."

"You know Baki?" he asked curiously.

"You bet! I've known that guy since we were both genin," Seiou put the boy on his lap, "I believe I first meet him during the chunnin exams. At first, he was a big fart to me saying he was the greatest thing since ramen, all because he was three years older than me! He made me so mad! So I decided to play a trick on him."

"What did you do?!" asked the boy sitting attentively.

"Well the night before the first preliminaries, I snuck into his room and poured itching powder all over his bed. I laughed so hard the next day when he came to the prelims scratching like this," Seiou said comically imitating the move.

The other kids were interested now, they all started coming out from behind the houses and some even went to get their friends. In a matter of minutes, he was surrounded by kid's eager to listen to his stories. Seiou went on and on about his relationship with Baki. He told them when Baki got revenge for Seiou's prank by placing a fake eye in his drink. It shocked him so much; he fell backwards hitting his head on the floor. Both of them laughed so hard and from that point they were friends. Baki even joined him during the second prelims and helped him fight off a band of ninja's as well as an army of giant centipedes.

The kids sat attentively, eager to listen to him weave tales of his childhood. Seiou was having a great time making the children laugh but one child caught Seiou's eye in particular. He was still behing a nearby building, cluching his stuffed bear tightly to his chest. His green eyes stared with just as much enthusiasm as the other children but he kept his distance.

Seiou put the boy on his lap down: "Hey you over their come here don't be shy."

At first, the kids looked at each other, wondering who he was talking to. The boy in back didn't say anything but pointed at himself asking if it was he was referring to. Seiou simply nodded and patted his lap. The red haired boy slowly walked towards him through the crowd of children.

Then, as the boy walked to him, he sensed the atmoshphere change. The kids eyes suddenly turned hateful as they look at the boy. He could fell fear emanating from them, as if this little boy was dangerous somehow. Just as he sat on Seiou's lap, a little girl approached him got on her tiptoes to whisper something in his ear: "I don't think you know mister but that boy is a monster."

"This little guy? You've got to be joking." Seiou said slightly shocked.

"No," the girl said, "I've seen him kill people before, we all have."

"But he looks about as harmful as any of you. Hey what's your name?"

"Gaara," he said.

"That's a nice name. Hey Gaara, you wanna fly?"

"Fly?" He queried but without even waiting for permission, Seiou picked Gaara up spinning him round and round. At first, he was screaming, frightened of the new experience bit his screams soon dissolved into laughter and pure pleasure. He even spread his arms out when he realized he wasn't going to fall. It felt like so short a time to him when Seiou put him down and he wanted to fly again. He looked so happy, it made Seiou wonder how the children thought this small shy boy could possibly kill.

"Who's next?" He said but no one was there. No one wanted to be even close to Gaara.

It was around then when Baki returned for the tour. He gave Gaara one final pat on the head and urged him off into the streets.

"Your just as good with kids as ever," Baki said.

"Your just as good as me," Seiou commented.

"You even made Gaara happy."

A serious look crossed over Seiou's usually happy expression, "Baki, why do those kids hate Gaara?"

"Well, it's hard to say."

"Come on, how bad could it be?"

"Gaara,,, was infused with Shukaku at birth."

"They infused a child with Shukaku?! Why didn't you try to stop it?"

"I did, but the Kazekage wouldn't listen to me. To believe he would do it to his own son."

"Gaara is the Kazekage's son?!"

"Yes."

There was a long silence between the two that was broken by Seiou. "I need some time to be alone." He said.

"But the tour-"

"The tour can wait! I've got to go."

"Seiou!" Baki shouted but he was already out of sight. He had to find him quick. Seiou rarly got mad and in this case, his anger might lash out at the children.

Seiou wandered through the streets in a complete fury. How could the Kazekage infuse his own son with Shukaku?! It didn't seem possible that his own father would curse him so. When he rescued the Kazekage before, he seemed to be the type who would protect his country but to believe his ambition was so great!

He found navigating the village a lot easier than he thought at first glance. The buildings were taller towards the center so he knew how deep he was in the city. He wandered around asking where Gaara was but no one seemed to know or care. He was about to give up and ask Baki where he lived when he came across the the playground.

Gaara was bent over, his hands covering his head as children threw rocks at him, all the while calling him a monster. The horrid sight made Seiou's blood boil. He rushed towards the scene, placing himself between Gaara and the boys taking several stones to his stomach. He rushed up to one of the boys and hit him square in the face sending him flying several feet and knocking him out.

Seiou's breath came in heavy, "What the hell are you doing?!!"

"We were teaching that boy a lesson," said the boy with an evil grimace.

"You make me sick! This boy hasn't done anything wrong!"

The boy was lifting his knocked out companion, "Why do you side with that monster?"

"He's as human and nothing you say will change that."

"And to believe I thought you were cool," he dragged his friend around the corner of the next house.

"Are you alright Gaara?" Seiou asked holding out his hand.

"Y-yeah."

"Gaara, come with me, I want to talk to you."

Seiou put Gaara on his back and took him to the peak of Kazekage's tower, the tallest building in the village. While the sun was setting, they both sat there in still silence, unable to say what they wanted to the other.

"Mister," Gaara finally said..

"My name's Seiou."

"Seiou, why did you stand up for me? Nobody has ever done that for me."

"Because Gaara, you're you, not some monster everyone makes you out to be."

"I don't understand."

"They don't understand who you are Gaara. Because you are infused with Shukaku people think you are merely a weapon."

"How did you know about that?"

"Gaara, you and Shukaku are entirely different beings, don't let anyone, not even your father say otherwise. Prove to them you are more than a weapon. Prove to them you are human."

"But it isn't that easy. What do you do with someone who doesn't want to think your human?!"

"Gaara do you know why I brought you here?" he said looking to the sky, "The sun is truly beautiful but its only one star in the sky. Once it sun is gone, the other stars can show themselves and their beauty." Suddenly, the flames of the village pulled towards Seiou's outstretched hand forming into one unified flame that danced on his palm. He squeezing the minature fireball and blew small sparks into the sky.

The stars glowed with more beauty than Gaara had ever seen: "I created this jutsu so I could see the stars at there brightest. After all, when I die, I hope I can see my sister amongst the stars and beg her forgiveness."

Seiou was crying. Gaara recognized those tears, the tears of one who have felt the pain of loss. He couldn't control himself and he fell on Seiou, burying his face in his vest. He cried and cried until he fell asleep in Seiou's arms.

Gaara must have been moved for when awoke, he was in his room. That night was so mystical yet it felt so real. Did he dream the imagine the entire thing? Questions were still burning in his mind but he knew one thing for certain. Seiou had completly enticed him. He wanted to travel the world with his and see the other stars in this world. He ran to the gate where he first saw him hoping he would take him beyond the searing sun of his village.

A large crowd had gathered surrounding something covered in a white sheet. His father was there himself next to the object.

"Silence! the Kazekage speaks," said the guards on either side of the Kazekage.

"People, as you all know, a visitor entered our town yesterday in hopes of rest and water, or at least that's what he claimed to do. His true objective we believe was to steal Shukaku, our ultimate weapon and bring it back to his village!" There were mummers throughout the audience. The Kazekage waved his hands to silence them: "Luckily, we managed to kill the man before he could escape."

Cheers ran through the entire crowd while Gaara's stood there shocked. It was a lie, there was no way Seiou would kidnap him to be used as a weapon. Yet, as he played it through his mind, it made since. Rage began to build within him and Shukaku became restless.

"And now I reveal the body of the traito Seiou!" He ripped off the sheet but what they saw sent everyone, even Gaara for a loop. For what lay on the table wasn't Seiou but a human shaped straw doll with a note on its chest. The Kazekage was furious at his incompetence, knocking over the table and letting the straw doll land on the ground with a dull thud. Gaara ran up to the straw man and took the note.

"Gaara, I'm sorry, but it seems I couldn't take you with me. As much as it hurts to say, I can never truly relate to you Gaara for you are possessed and I am not. However, there is a boy in the Hidden Leaf Village who like you is infused with a demon. I hope one day, you can meet this boy but until then, remember Gaara, as long as I'm alive, I will always think of you."

Wishing you stay well

Seiou Kenyo

A tear ran down Gaara's face that day in the scorching sun of the Hidden Sand Village.

Authors Note: Thank you for reading this whether you liked it or not. Please leave a review.