Disclaimer: I own nothing of Naruto. That enormously addicting, successful, influential piece of trash goes to Kishi. However, I did somewhat create this piece of trash, and as a result, OC's such as mean-villager-lady belong to yours truly, I guess.

The Promise

Genre: Hurt/Comfort

Pairings: Fem!NarutoxGaara

Nari met Gaara long ago. Their week-long friendship is something she holds close to her heart, one good memory amongst all the bad. However, when they meet once more, neither is the same. The promise they had made when they parted ways has been broken on both sides, harsh realities having shattering their hopeful naivety. As each hurtles further down their respective paths, can they find a way to return to their previous relationship? Or did breaking the promise so many years ago destroy any chances of recreating the best thing either has ever had?

Notes: Nari knows about everything via Kurama

Warnings: bullying, child abuse, rape

PROLOGUE

It was a well-known fact throughout the ninja village of Konohagakure that four-year-old Uzumaki Nari was an expert at puppy-dog eyes. The little redhead could make even the hardest people melt when she gave them the pout. Of course, this didn't change how they treated the demon brat; she was still a monster. But if she wanted something badly enough, even the villagers who despised her would find it extremely impossible to resist those eyes of the prettiest blue on her innocent little whiskered face. And if you said otherwise, it probably hadn't been used on you.

Currently, "the face," as it had been codenamed by her ANBU guards, was being turned onto the owner of a ramen stand, who had the unfortunate fate of dealing with the girl and her insatiable appetite whenever free food was involved.

"Ne, Teuchi-jii, could I have another bowl?" She looked at him, eyes wide. Normal people - Konoha's residents - would have attempted to resist what some had speculated was a strange, hypnosis kekkai genkai, but the kindly old man just laughed and passed her another bowl (it had already been ready the moment she had begun to slurp down her first).

"Of course, Nari-chan. It's on the house." Oh, how she loved Ichiraku's. They were the cause of her ramen obsession; Teuchi-jii and Ayame-nee were two of the only people who welcomed Nari with open arms. Speaking of which, where was Ayame-nee?

Sticking her head up from the new bowl that she had already halfway devoured, Nari voiced her question out loud, and was replied with a throaty laugh from the girl's father. He beckoned her close.

"Ayame is..." He looked looked around conspiratorially, before adding in a stage whisper, "On a date!"

"What? With who?" She demanded, wide-eyed. Despite being only ten, Ayame was very pretty, and therefore very popular with the other gender.

"A young Uchiha lad, I believe." Nari wrinkled her nose. The Uchiha always seemed a little stuck up to her, so she always avoided them whenever they came marching down the streets in their fancy police uniforms.

"Did you make sure he was good enough for Ayame-nee?" She asked seriously. She was very protective of her surrogate sister.

"Ah, I was in the middle of interrogating him, but Ayame dragged him out of the house. Now he better be a perfect gentleman to her, or-"

"Shisui was a perfect gentleman." The girl in question entered the shop, cutting off her father. "He's a little wild, though. Not like any Uchiha I've ever met."

"Ayame-nee! Ayame-nee!" yelled Nari, running over to the girl. Her sister laughed, picking her up and spinning her around, before setting her back down with a pat on her head. "Tell me all about the date! What did you do? Was he nice? Did you kiss?"

"Yes, Ayame." Teuchi leaned over the counter. "Did you kiss?" She shot him a dirty look and he backed off inside the kitchen.

"No we didn't, for your information." She said the last part to her obviously eavesdropping father, before turning to the red-headed girl who was still hanging off of her. "I'm only ten, and it was our first date. Also, I'm not sure if he liked me that much. He didn't say anything about seeing each other again." Nari gave this a little thought, screwing her face up comically, the way Jiji did when he was thinking about paperwork. Her eyes suddenly widened in an epiphany, and she turned to Ayame.

"Then he sucks."

"Oh, wow. I guess I wasted my time coming here, then." A preteen boy poked his head in through the flaps. "And I was going to invite you on a second date, too." He gestured to the purple petunias in his hand.

"Shisui-kun!" Said Ayame, surprised. "You didn't need to get me flowers!"

"Ah, my aunt said it would be a good idea, so I did. I didn't know how to ask you back on the date, so..." He looked down at his shoes, suddenly shy. Nari took this as her cue to leave.

"Have fun, Ayame-nee!" She laughed, running out of the shop.

"Matte, Nari-chan!" Despite the blush on Ayame's face, her sister was still able to scold her. "You left your ramen!" Eh, she'd get to that later. More importantly, Ayame was getting asked out, and she didn't want to be in the middle of that to ruin it. The villagers said she ruined a lot of stuff just by being there, and while she didn't believe them, she didn't want to take any chances.

As she ran, dodging angry civilians, she daydreamed of a day when she'd be in Ayame's shoes. 'Maybe I'll grow up pretty like Ayame-nee, and boys will like me too! And they'll blush and give me flowers, and, and...' She shook her head inwardly, changing her mind. 'No, not flowers. If a boy gives me ramen, I'll love him forever!' But as all fantasies seemed to do for her, this one came crashing down, as Nari bumped into a an elderly woman.

"Gomen!" She called out behind her, rushing away as fast as she could. It was a strategy she had developed, running as quickly as possible to avoid hearing comments people made about her. She was not fast enough.

"Irritating demon-gaki." The lady muttered. "Takes away my son and then tries to ruin my day, probably because no one will love her like I did my poor Hiroshi."

Ah, that was right. How could she have forgotten, when she had heard that line before? Whether it came from a nursing mother or an old man, everyone seemed to share the same opinion that no one could love her. And if so many people thought it was true, it must be. There was no point in getting excited over something that would never happen.

But despite Nari's acceptance over the situation, she could still feel tears coming to her eyes. She ran faster to get out of the area, as her tears only seemed to spur the villagers on. Using every shortcut she could think of, she turned corners, climbed walls, anything that would get her home quicker. If she cried in public, who knows what would happen?

It happened as Nari was ducking into an alleyway, looking around for anyone who might spot her, but not in front of her.

"Oof!" said the person she slammed into. Immediately, her teary eyes grew wide and she shielded them from view.

"Gomenesai, gomenesai!" she yelped, bringing her hands up to ward off an invisible hit. Nothing came. Hesitantly, she lowered her arms too see a confused boy. Sand swirled mystically around him, and she watched transfixed, as it flew through the air, funneling into a peanut-thing he had on his back.

"Whoa." She said, before looking up at the boy's face. His eyes were as wide as hers had been before, and he backed away, looking terrified.

"M-matte!" She yelled, running after him. Sand bullets shot out at her as he dashed further down the alley, but she just dodged them. She was used to things being thrown at her.

As he reached the end of the alley, he stopped, turning to face her with his back pressed up against the wall. If it were Nari, she would have climbed over the wall, but the boy didn't look very athletic. He was already winded, just by the small chase. His sand built up a barricade in front of him, like he thought she was going to hurt him.

"What's your name?" She asked softly. Ayame-nee had spoken in the same tone to a small kitten she had found on the side of the road, telling Nari that it was better to not scare the poor thing by speaking loudly. She figured the same principles applied here.

"You're not scared of me?" Replied the boy tentatively, and he barrier of sand lowered, enough for her to see his suspicious face.

"No, why would I be?" She answered, confused. The wall came down completely, and the boy just indicated to it.

"Why would I be scared of that?" She asked. "If anything, I thought it was really cool, and... cool." She finished, lamely. Her vocabulary was fairly developed, but she was still only four. The boy laughed loudly, sounding like a bell. Nari stared at him in shock.

"W-what?" He asked, self-consciously.

"You looked so scared before, so I didn't expect you to do that."

"Oh." He looked down shyly. Nari wracked her brains, unsure of what to say now. People she talked to usually always knew how to continue the conversation. She was startled out of her thoughts by him saying something.

"Sorry, what?" She asked, proud of herself for adding the sorry like Jiji always told her to.

"Why were you crying?" He repeated softly. Oh. She had forgotten about that. She reached up to her face, and could feel the traces of some tears.

"Oh, well..." She was unsure of what to say. If she told on the old woman, she might get in trouble and come after Nari. That's what happened when she told Jiji about the orphanage matron. But this boy was just a kid, and even with his cool sand thing, he probably couldn't do much. So she settled for the truth.

"An old lady said something mean." She answered. "She said that no one would love me."

"Why?" He asked, sounding horrified.

"Well, people don't really like me here." Nari admitted. "They say that I'm a demon." She waited for him to run away, but he just stared at her, shocked. The way Jiji did when she copied all of his paperwork and tricked him into thinking that he hadn't done any of it. Like it was familiar.

"Are you a demon?" He pressed himself against the wall even more.

"No!" she yelled quickly. "Ku-chan's the demon, and he's inside of me dattebayo!" Crap. Kurama told her not to tell anyone that. Once again, he didn't respond the way most people would. He just stared at her, jaw wide open. Nari hoped it was because of her verbal tic, and not because of the secret she had just blurted out. She poked his cheek, ignoring the sand that moved restlessly on the ground, like an animal baring it's fangs threateningly. He didn't respond.

"Hey... Are you okay?" She asked, scared.

'I think I broke him.' She was going to be in so much trouble for this.

"K-ku-chan?" He stuttered. Well, Nari had already told him. She might as well elaborate.

"Yeah. He doesn't like it when I call him that, though. His name's Kurama." She took a deep breath. "The day I was born, the Yondaime Hokage sealed Ku-chan into me. Everyone in the village hates me because they think I'm him. But he says that I'm just his container."

"A jinchuuriki." He breathed. She looked at him, confused.

"What's a jin-jinshoo..." Struggling to sound it out, she gave up. "What's that?"

"Someone who has a demon inside them." The boy stared at her intently, his pale blue-green eyes locking on her cerulean ones. "I'm a jinchuuriki too." Nari took a moment to process that.

"You have a Ku-chan in you too!?" She gasped.

"No... A different demon. The one-tailed tanuki, Shukaku." Something about the way he phrased it struck a chord in Nari's mind.

"Oh, yeah. Ku-chan said he was something like that. The nine-tailed fox."

"You host the Kyuubi?" He practically squeaked. "Mother's ranted about him before."

"Mother?" Lucky boy, he had a kaa-san. She probably protected him from anyone hurting him because they hated him.

"Er... Shukaku." Oh. She blushed, angry at herself for jumping to conclusions. "I don't have a mother."

"Neither do I dattebayo!" The boy was more like her than she thought. "Or a father. Or any family."

"I have a father." He said softly. "And a sister and a brother."

"Really!? What's it like?"

"Um." He looked away uncomfortably, and Nari instantly felt bad for intimidating him.

"Gomen." She looked down at her shoes, feeling the hole at the front with her big toe. "I don't really have friends who tell me about their families. All the mothers want their children to stay away from me." He looked at her sadly.

"I know the feeling." Her head shot up, surprise evident in her eyes.

"I thought you said you had a family. They could play with you."

"My dad's the Kazekage, so he works all the time, and he doesn't really like me. Kankuro and Temari - my brother and sister - are both scared of me because of Shukaku." She stared at him in wonder.

"You're from Suna? And your dad's the Kazekage? Cool!" He shook his head ruefully.

"He brought me here because he wants me to learn to interact with people better. But he didn't want me around him, so he pushed me out of the room."

"He doesn't sound that nice."

"He's not. My uncle, Yashamaru, is the only one who really likes me. But he doesn't count as a friend."

"Same with me. I've got Teuchi-jii and Ayame-nee, and even Jiji, the Hokage," she added for his benefit. "But none of them really count either." They lapsed into silence, each wanting to continue, but not knowing what to say next.

"Ne..." She said, breaking the silence first. "What's your name?"

"Gaara."

"I'm Nari dattebayo!" She grinned. "Ne, Gaara, want to be my first friend?" She held out her hand. He returned the smile shakily, as if he couldn't believe she had asked that.

"Y-yes." Clasping her hand tentatively, Gaara shook it. "I'd like that." Suddenly, there was a great rumbling noise. Nari scratched the back of her head sheepishly.

"Gomen, I didn't get to finish eating my ramen. I had to run out quickly because Ayame-nee..." She jumped, remembering why she had left in the first place. "Ayame-nee! I need to find out what happened!" Before she could run away, she remembered the boy in front of her.

"Gaara, want to come with me to my favorite place in the whole wide world?"

Uncertainly, he answered, "I don't know. I should be getting back to my father..." She pouted, unknowingly giving him the face. "...but I guess that can wait." Eyes sparkling, Nari grabbed his hand and began running.

"Gaara?" She shouted at him, as he tried to focus on not tripping over his own feet while she navigated.

"Yeah?"

"How much do you like ramen?" He looked taken aback by the question.

"I-it's okay…" He replied, nervously. Nari grinned.

"Gaara?"

"Yeah?"

"I think this is the start of something great." It was a corny line, one she had read in a book in Jiji's office when she was waiting for him to return. But she couldn't help but feel that it was the perfect thing to describe that day.

OoOoO

The Kazekage's political visit to Konoha with his son took a little over a week. And during that week, Nari and Gaara became inseparable. They learned everything about each other, from Gaara's sleeping habits to Nari's dreams.

So close were they, that Nari burst into tears when her best friend told her that he was leaving.

"I don't know when I'm coming back." He told his fellow redhead softly. "I'm a jinchuuriki and the Kazekage's son. Dad said that they barely let me leave Suna for this. He said they wouldn't want to risk it. You're the Kyuubi's host, so I'm guessing that it'll be the same for you. I think the only way to get out would be to be on a ninja mission."

"Good thing I'm gonna be Hokage then." She said, trying to dry her watery eyes with the back of her hand.

"And I'm going to be Kazekage. And we can show everyone that we're worth something, that we're not just demons."

"Mhm." She stuck out her fist. "Don't ever let anyone change you, Gaara. It's you and me against the world."

He bumped his fist against hers. "I never will. And you can't either. We'll meet again." He promised. "I'll remember you. I don't think you're that easy to forget."

"And I'll recognize you by the peanut on your back." She joked, and he laughed. She had refused to call it a gourd when he told her what it was, claiming that the name sounded stupid.

"Bye, Gaara." As he stared at those pretty blue eyes, the same shade as the sky behind her from where they sat on the Hokage Monument, he grabbed her outstretched fist before she could retract it. He pulled her towards him, setting her lips on hers. They were four; it was clumsy, awkward, and perfect.

"Bye, Nari." He whispered, taking off running. She stared at his retreating back, her mind a whirlwind. She swore to herself that she'd see him again, her irreplaceable best friend. Their promise to never change was what would keep her going until she did.

Little did she know that long before the day they reunited came, that oath would would be shattered into a million pieces on both sides.