Sabaku no Gaara wanted a friend. Except… dragging the other children back by their ankles to play with him didn't seem to work how he wanted it to. His uncle wasn't happy with him, anyway, even if Shu was telling him that he had done the right thing. He should have dragged them back to him, hurt them – just a little bit – because everyone wanted to be friends with someone who was powerful.
His uncle had told him not to listen to Shu, though, so he didn't, and he escaped to the swing set. His shadow watched him as he creaked back and forth and he watched his shadow, wondering why it couldn't play with him. Why have a shadow if all it did was follow him? He raised the sand, danced it around the playground, and frowned when his shadow remained.
"You're useless," he told the black shape. It shivered as ground rustled. Shu growled and he blinked down at the teddy bear squeezed to his chest. "What's wrong, Shu?" Wait, he wasn't allowed to talk to Shu…
"Who is Shu, if you don't mind my asking?"
Gaara jerked and looked over his shoulder. A man was crouched some distance behind him, wearing a leaf forehead protector around his waist. Numbly, he held the bear up for the man to see.
The man smiled at him. "So Shu is your teddy bear? How cute! Well, Suna youth, my name is Rock Lee! What's yours?"
"… Gaara…"
The ninja frowned for a second, but then it was gone and he was smiling again. "Sabaku no Gaara? No one bothered to tell me how adorable you are! Do you mind if I swing with you?"
'Adorable? He thinks I'm adorable?' He tried to make the words make sense but him and adorable had never been put in the same sentence before. Slowly, he nodded.
Lee swung up and into the swing beside his… and then brought half the swing set down with him as the ropes on his swing snapped and Gaara's sand rose defensively to pick him up before he fell with him. "Hah hah hah! Forgive me, I forgot about my weights… Goodness, how embarrassing. I will have this fixed before I leave or I shall run backwards all the way from here to Konohagakure singing Pretty Girl, YOSH!"
Gaara frowned at the thumbs up Lee gave the sky. "What are you talking about?"
"Ah, sorry, I am always working to test myself, so when I say I will do something, I always make certain to have a backup challenge in case I fail. Do not worry, though! I will not fail this time! I can see that you enjoy spending your time here, I would not want to take that away from you."
Gaara was very confused. This man… didn't seem afraid of him. Or angry. He was really… nice. Hesitantly, the little redhead smiled.
Lee stared for a long moment and then squealed. "You have the most beautiful smile, Gaa-chan – do you mind if I call you Gaa-chan? YOSH, your smile lights up my day! … Ah, but so is the sun. Come, come, I'm sure we can think of something to do in the shade… if we can find shade. Hhmmm…"
Gaara reached out, slowly, unsurely, and took the ninja's hand. Lee flashed him a look but just kept smiling as Gaara helped him back to his feet.
"Thank you, Gaa-chan! You are so sweet!" Lee ruffled his hair. "Now, where do we go from here…"
"… Lee?"
"Hhm?"
"Why are you being so nice to me?"
"Well, why shouldn't I be? You're such a nice, gentle boy, I would feel like the lowest of the low – no, even lower than that! – if I was mean to you."
"R-really?" Gaara's eyes lit up. His uncle was the only one who was ever so nice to him. He brought his one hand up to his chest and squeezed over his heart. It was thumping really hard and it felt… it felt really good. His heart felt good! Was this medicine? But Lee didn't love him, Lee was just being nice to him… Was niceness another form of medicine? He'd have to ask his uncle.
"YOSH! Now, let's be off!"
Gaara was smiling… right up until his world spun wildly. Shu roared and the sand attacked and his vision was blurry and he couldn't breathe and then –
Then he realized that he was on Lee's back and they were in the shadows on the opposite side of the village where the sun wasn't high enough to touch. That was a strange transportation jutsu…
Lee put him down gently and laughed as he held him aloft till he stopped swaying. "Are you alright, Gaa-chan?"
He had never wanted to throw up before. He really didn't like the feeling of it. But he managed a nod and clung to Lee's arm. A wave of sand splashed around the corner of the building they were behind and tided down on them like a tsunami. Or would have, except they were a few feet away from the collision when it happened and Gaara frowned as his insides rose to his throat.
"Ah, sorry, sorry, I guess I should have thought of your ultimate defense before I brought you here! I was just so excited because I've heard so much about you and I was so happy to learn that – … I was very happy to learn that you are so much better than what I thought you would be."
Gaara wondered what that meant for a moment. An image of kids running away from him came to mind and he hung his head. Oh.
"No worries! Rock Lee is here to spend the day with you! YOSH, what do you want to do, Gaa-chan?"
"… Anything I want to do?"
"Absolutely anything!"
Gaara looked down at Shu who stared back at him with black button eyes. He smiled. "I want to play catch!"
.
Yashamaru was worried. A tidal wave of sand had rocked the village a few hours ago and not a single jounin had been able to come back and report the location of his nephew. He was missing. Gaara was missing!
He watched Kaze fly into a frenzy, glaring. 'This is all your fault, you selfish man.' But he couldn't say that for obvious reasons. Kaze didn't appreciate others opinions, wasn't that apparent? Yashamaru waited till the man tired of glowering at his desk and ordering search party after search party to find the child he would never admit to being his son.
"Why don't you go look for him? Wouldn't you have better luck?" Yashamaru smiled deceivingly. "You, after all, always know what to do."
"Yashamaru," Kaze growled, "shut up." He seemed to realize the wisdom of his words, ignoring his sarcasm, however, as he shrugged out of his robe and folded it over the back of his chair. "I'm going out. If anyone has to talk to me, tell them to hold."
"Of course, kazekage-sama," he chirped icily. "Good luck."
He left and Yashamaru was by himself. He stared at his feet. 'Please be safe, Gaara… Please, I need you to be okay…'
"Ah, Yashamaru-san! I believe this is yours?"
His gaze flickered to the window and the Konoha jounin who had claimed the sill for his own. "Ah, yes, thank you, that is – Gaara? Oh, Gaara, I was so worried!"
Lee put the redhead gently on the ground and swung into the room. Gaara smiled up at Yashamaru and ran up to him, hugging his leg. "Uncle, this is Lee." He was practically glowing with joy. "He's my friend."
"Is he now?"
"Yeah! We played catch and tag and shadow puppets and house and we raced and we fixed the swings…" he stopped, grinned so widely it was like his face was going to split, and laughed. He laughed.
Yashamaru's vision blurred and he self-consciously rubbed his eyes clear of tears. "That's so great, Gaara, it sounds like you had a lot of fun."
"I did. And Lee did too! Right, Lee?"
The jounin was smiling softly at the redhead. "YOSH! It was the best fun I've had in months." He crouched down next to Gaara and held out a hand, which Gaara happily shook. "Thank you, Gaa-chan, for being my friend."
Months. So Lee was the Konoha ally they had assigned to the joint Suna-Konoha mission. Yashamaru's happiness turned sour. Lee had to begin the trek back home in –he discreetly checked the clock on the wall – no, not in, as of two hours ago. Even if he had stayed behind to play with Gaara, he was still going to break the redhead's heart by leaving.
Lee either caught his train of thought or realized that he had something he thought vitally important to tell him. He clapped his hands and shot to his feet. "Which reminds me! Yashamaru-san, is it okay that I swapped home addresses with Gaa-chan? I do not want to lose connection with my friend! Until I am next sent here, I would like to continue mailing him."
Gaara looked so hopeful, so heartbreakingly hopeful… Yashamaru wrapped him up in one arm and brought Lee into a hug with the other. "I would… I would love it if you would stay in connection with my nephew."
'Finally' he thought at his late twin, 'someone who recognizes just how amazing your baby boy is.' But there was still one matter to take care of. "Gaara? Would you mind stepping outside for a moment? I have to talk to Lee about something."
"About what?" Gaara asked innocently. That damn teddy bear stared up at Yashamaru and though he knew that it was inanimate, he also knew what it represented and he wanted to catch it on fire.
"Lee has to give me his mission report," he lied. Lee had already turned in his report to the front desk when he had returned with his group earlier that day. "It's secret data that can't be said in front of little boys, ne?"
"… Okay, uncle." He turned to Lee. "Do I get to see you before you go?"
"YOSH! Of course, I will come say goodbye to you as soon as I am done in here." He smiled and Gaara, after a small pause, smiled back and then left. The door clicked shut behind him. "… It's alright, I don't want to hurt him."
"I know you don't. Rock Lee, isn't it? You're part of the original Konoha Twelve." Yashamaru decided how to word what he was going to say next, then decided that there really was no way to put things gently. "I've heard of your friendship with the Kyuubi container, Uzumaki Naruto."
Lee was instantly on the defensive, eyeing up Yashamaru as if he was determining in that mind of his whether or not his pal was being insulted.
Yashamaru laughed. "I love my nephew, Lee, jinchuuraki or not. I'm sure Naruto's not that different." Or wasn't, at least. He had heard of the great exploits of Naruto, who had overcome the hatred of his village to become the most beloved hero in nearly half the world. Meanwhile, here was Gaara… who was right where Naruto had begun. He could only hope, wish, pray, beg the gods that Gaara would grow up to become happy. That he would find a place to belong.
Slowly, Lee relaxed. "Hah hah, actually, they are incredibly different! I do not ever remember Naruto-kun being so shy. I think perhaps how people used to treat Naruto-kun for what he had in him is the only thing he has in common to Gaa-chan at this point…"
"… Lee, please know that Gaara… Gaara is fragile. If you really want to become friends with him –"
"I do!"
" – then stay with him for life."
There was a small silence. Then, maybe not so shockingly, Lee laughed. "I did not plan on spending any less time with him! Gaa-chan is amazing and he has a well of love in his heart, untouched by many, and I want to help him – and you – open it up so everyone can see just how beautiful he really is." He looked faraway into the sunset. "If it is okay with you, I would like to bring Naruto-kun here with me the next time I visit. I feel that he could help Gaa-chan greatly."
"We would both really appreciate that," Yashamaru agreed. "Gaara and I both."
"YOSH! Then it is settled! I must say goodbye to Gaa-chan now, thank you for having this talk with me."
"No, Lee, thank you. For… everything."
.
In hindsight, Yashamaru should have realized that Kaze would not let Gaara be happy. Gaara had been born to be a weapon and a happy weapon was a malfunctioning weapon.
Three months went by and Gaara never got a single letter from Lee. First Yashamaru was accepting. Maybe Lee had other things to catch up on. Maybe his hokage had forbidden him to have contact with the ruling family of Sunagakure. Maybe something else… Then he was angry. Lee had said he would stay with Gaara for life! Why was he ignoring him already? Why was he breaking his already hurt, burdened heart? That asshole!
And then he was suspicious. Lee had been sincere. Lee was widely known as Mr. Nice Guy. Lee wouldn't just ignore a child! And for Lee to ignore all the letters – sometimes three a day – that Gaara sent? Highly unlikely. So he went to the Post office.
"Kazekage-sama ordered us to confiscate and burn all letters received by Rock Lee," the man on duty told him blankly. "They were a national risk."
"And you believed that." Yashamaru rubbed his eyes and ignored how the chuunin answered his rhetorical question. "What about all mail sent by recipient Sabaku no Gaara?"
The chuunin flinched at the name but obediently sifted through his documents. "All mail sent by Sabaku no Gaara was to be confiscated and redirected to kazekage-sama." He didn't offer a reason as to why. He wouldn't need to. Gaara was a jinchuuraki, that was the only reason they ever needed.
"As of this moment, I order all mail sent by Rock Lee to be redirected to me, is that understood?"
"But kazekage-sama said –"
"Is that understood?"
The chuunin nodded very slowly as to not cut himself on the kunai grazing his throat. "Yes, Yashamaru-sama."
"Good. Rock Lee and his mail are in no way a risk to our village. If anything, they would be saving it. Now, if kazekage-sama asks, tell him that you are still following his orders. Understood?"
"Yes, Yashamaru-sama."
"Good. And I want all mail sent by Sabaku no Gaara to reach their original destination, understood?"
"Kazekage-sama would be expecting to get those…"
"Tell him that Sabaku no Gaara has ceased sending them, then. Understood?"
"… Understood, Yashamaru-sama."
The next month, a messenger handed Yashamaru a letter, bowed quickly, and left. The sender's address was from Konoha.
Feeling like he was offering his nephew rain, he gave Gaara the letter and stayed to watch his expression as he read it. The message was five and a half pages long, front and back, and Gaara read it all three times over in one night, sometimes laughing, sometimes cringing, and always smiling.
He turned to Yashamaru when he was done and looked breathless, like he had just climbed to the top of a mountain and seen the world in all its beauty. "Lee found a kangaroo!" He giggled. "He named him Baunsu. Neji really doesn't like Baunsu, he kicked Neji in the face."
"Did he now?"
"Yes. But then Lee made them make up." He frowned. "Gai made Lee put Baunsu back where he found him, though… Lee cried. Then Baunsu followed him home!"
"That's a nice happy ending."
"Yeah… I'm going to write him a letter back!"
"You do that, Gaara!"
"Uncle… will you help me?"
He smiled. "Of course."
Note – 'baunsu' means 'bounce'.
.
Lee stayed true to his word.
When he next visited the village, much to the displeasure of their kazekage, he came in tow with a blonde.
"Hey, Gaara, I've heard a lot about you from Bushybrow!"
Gaara held his bear tight to his chest. "Bushybrow…?"
"YOSH! That is what Naruto-kun calls me," Lee explained from beside the jinchuuraki, smiling softly. "Gaa-chan, I really enjoyed your last letter! It's so cool that you and your sister got to fight a sand worm! So dangerous, though…"
"We were okay." But it was obvious that Gaara was proud of himself. Temari had even looked at him differently after that.
Mostly, she had looked at him with more terror. But there had been a hint of sibling affection and Yashamaru felt that she finally understood that, in control of himself, Gaara wouldn't hurt her or Kankuro.
"Sand worm, huh?" Naruto chirped. "I bet Bushybrow couldn't take one of those down."
"W-what? Naruto-kun, I could most definitely defeat a sand worm!"
"Oh, yeah? I bet you couldn't!"
"Can to!"
"Can not!"
"Can to!"
"Gentlemen," Yashamaru interjected, "why don't we act mature now? There is a child present."
Gaara blinked up at him. "I don't mind." He smiled. "I don't have friends my own age."
Lee flinched and it appeared to take Naruto a moment to understand what had just been said. "OI! Are you saying that I'm a kid?"
"I am so sorry, Gaa-chan, you deserve to have role models, not squabbling brats…"
Naruto grumbled beneath his breath and Yashamaru and Gaara… they laughed. Here were these two men – teenagers, he had to remind himself – and they could act so… young. They could act like they had known Gaara and him for years and they were comfortable enough to pout and tease and make fun.
Gaara walked up to Lee and hugged his leg warmer. "Welcome back, Lee."
The jounin ruffled his hair affectionately. "I'm back, Gaa-chan."
.
Yashamaru felt his heart stop in his chest. "You want me to do… what?"
"I need to know if Gaara has control of his demon," Kaze reasoned with him calmly.
"And there's no other way to do that than this way?" He laughed disgustedly. "You're not even human, are you?"
"He loves you more than his own life. If he can go through this and still not let loose the demon, then I can know for sure that he is what we've been hoping for."
"We? Who's we? It's always been you, you, you! You expect me to, to try and kill my own nephew…? Karura died to bring him into the world!"
"I expect you to try and fail. And when you fail, you are going to tell him that you never loved him and that his mother hated him."
A lonesome tear crawled down Yashamaru's face. "And how are you going to make me do this…?"
"If you don't… there are worse things in the world than being unloved. I can put Gaara through that."
'Yes, there are worse things than being unloved. There's the chance of never being loved. He could kill Gaara, if he utilized his weaknesses and brought in the right team. Gaara can believe that we hate him, but at least he can grow up to have someone love him. Even when I'm gone, he'll still have Lee and Naruto.' The tears flowed freely. 'Oh, God, Gaara, I'm so sorry…'
Kaze let him be for a moment. Then, "you will attempt to assassinate him tomorrow night after the village has been evacuated. After you lie to him, if you are not dead, I order you to commit suicide. Thank you for your service to this village, you will not be forgotten."
"… One day, you're going to realize how precious that boy is… and that day is going to come too late. Kaze, I have just one thing… I want to say."
"Go on."
He looked up at his brother-in-law with rage and disgust and pain and bloodlust in his usually soft eyes. "I hate you… with everything in my heart and soul."
"I know. Dismissed."
.
What luck did he have that Lee came over the very next day? And with Naruto no less. Not that he could tell them what he had to do that night.
Instead, he waited for when they were to leave, only an hour or so before the ordered evacuation (not that he could tell them about that either).
"Do you have to go now?" Gaara pouted and held on tight to Lee's leg warmer, like he could make him stay. Though that was a failing attempt, the wall of sand suddenly blocking off the Sungakure front gate might do the trick.
"Yes, we do. Your father has warned us that any later and he will forbid us from coming back – for a while," Lee quickly caught himself.
Yashamaru knew he had been about to say "ever again". Chances were Kaze was still going to refuse them entrance back into the village. After this night, Gaara would be changed forever. Kaze wouldn't want to take the chance of him softening up or, god forbid, healing in any sort of way.
Naruto was growling to himself under his breath. "Yeah – just for a little while. Geez, Gaara, your dad's an ass-" he glared down at Lee's hand covering his mouth.
"Your father is an asset to this village, Gaa-chan," Lee finished with a smile. "Remember, be good and stay safe and be happy and – don't forget to write to me! I always enjoy your letters, they make my life so much brighter! YOSH, you make my day, no matter what, Gaa-chan…" He hugged the redhead close to his chest and Yashamaru had to look away.
When he looked back, Naruto was frowning at him. 'Please don't say anything, please don't say anything, please don't say anything, oh, God, please don't say anything…'
Instead, Naruto knelt down to face Gaara. "Hey, don't forget to write to me too, man! Bro-fist." Gaara did so. Naruto grinned. "Great! Alright, so we're ou-"
"Wait," Yashamaru interrupted, then paused. "I think Gaara and I would like hugs, neh, Gaara?"
The redhead nodded excitedly, though he had just gotten his. Naruto swung him up in his arms and Yashamaru was enfolded in Lee's tight embrace. He worked quickly on Lee's survival pack, then pulled away with a smile and went to Naruto while Gaara switched hands.
Then they left.
"Let's go home, Gaara."
"Okay, uncle!"
He could only pray that they came charging back in time.
.
Lee rushed back. The wise words of Gai were at stake! Naruto came with him because, well, in all honesty, neither of them would mind spending more time with Gaara!
They stopped some miles from the front gate. Towering over the buildings of Sunagakure was…
"Shit," Naruto breathed in horror. "How the hell did he get out?"
Lee wasn't thinking along those lines, though. "Gaa-chan! GAA-CHAN!" Wise words of Gai be damned. He could make a new databook, listen to everything his sensei had to say a hundred times over, but Gaara was irreplaceable!
He ran as if the wind couldn't catch him and then he leapt… clear over the gate, over the buildings, racing straight for the demon that slowly turned to pin him with a golden glare. A wave of sand rose and cascaded down – but Lee wasn't there. He was over it, flipping, and Naruto was there to rasengan Shukaku in his bulbous torso.
And there, in Shukaku's forehead, was Gaara, tear stains on his cheeks, blood dripping from his temple, and aquamarine eyes scarred and pained and full of hatred. 'No, no, no! Gaa-chan, what has happened to you? What has happened to my Gaa-chan?'
Lee sailed downwards, punched his way through a spike of sand, and landed on Shukaku's right eye. "Gaa-chan! Gaa-chan, it's me! Lee, remember me? Remember me, Gaa-chan?"
The redhead very, very slowly, almost jerkily, turned his upper body, his lower body sunk into Shukaku, to stare at him with none of the happiness he usually looked at Lee with.
GAH HAH HAH HAH HAH!
"Shit!" Naruto snarled from somewhere on the ground. "The raccoon's talking!"
WHO ARE YOU CALLING A MERE RACCOON, BOY?
"Shukaku-san, please let Gaa-chan go, he does not deserve this… this… whatever you are doing to him!"
YOU THINK I'M DOING THIS TO HIM? HE'S DOING THIS TO HIMSELF! GAH HAH HAH! I TOLD HIM HE WOULD BE HATED FOR WHAT HE TRULY WAS AND HE NEVER BELIEVED ME! NOT TILL NOW, ANYWAY.
"What are you talking about, you giant rodent?"
INSOLENT CHILD!
"OI! Be careful with that tail of yours, I've got my own little backup and he'll be more than happy to help me kick your arrogant ass!"
Shukaku paused. Sniffed the air. Stared at Naruto. IS THAT KURAMA? YOU ARE THE WIELDER OF KURAMA?
"Hell yeah! And that's my friend you've got stuck in your forehead! You sure you wanna mess with me, you overstuffed skunk?"
"Naruto-kun, maybe you should stop insulting him so much…" Lee edged his way closer to the unresponsive boy. The sand was dragging at his heels, sucking him in, pulling him towards Shukaku's jaw where he would most surely drop and meet his death beneath the crushing weight of the desert. "Gaa-chan, can you hear me? Gaa-chan, please tell me what happened…"
FOOL! HE CAN HEAR YOU, HE JUST CHOOSES NOT TO ANSWER! WHY SHOULD HE? YOU'LL ONLY HURT HIM LIKE HIS BELOVED UNCLE DID!
Both jounin froze. "What are you talking about, coon?" Naruto barked.
DON'T YOU KNOW? Shukaku laughed mirthlessly. SWEET, LOVING YASHAMARU TRIED TO KILL THE LITTLE MONSTER! AND HE GAVE US SOME IMPORTANT INFORMATION, DIDN'T HE, GAARA?
"Gaa-chan, what is he talking about? Gaa-chan…?" He managed to dislodge himself and jump the few feet between him and the redhead. Sand cut into him, raked across his flesh, abraded beneath his clothes and skinned him, but he refused to back down, wouldn't think of leaving Gaara where he was.
"You're lying! Yashamaru loves Gaara with everything in him! I would know how to tell the difference between someone who wanted to protect a jinchuuraki and someone who wanted them dead! I'VE LIVED THROUGH IT! GAARAAA! LISTEN TO ME, I don't know what was going on with you and your uncle, and I have no clue what he said to you, but he loves you! I know he does! Bushybrow knows he does! We can find him and we can talk this –"
GAH HAH HAH HAH! YASHAMARU IS DEAD!
The shock was palpable. The silence was deep. Tears fell from Lee's eyes as he stared at the little redhead. "Gaa-chan… I'm so… Oh, Gaa-chan… I'm sorry…"
Gaara stared at him as if crying a new concept for him, even with his own face still stained by salty treks of water.
HE TRIED TO KILL US, DIDN'T HE, GAARA? WHEN HE DID, WE DEFENDED OURSELVES! WAS IT OUR FAULT THAT BENEATH THE MASK WAS DEAR YASHAMARU? WAS IT OUR FAULT THAT HE TRIED TO KILL US AGAIN WITH BOMBS? THE BASTARD BLEW HIMSELF UP! IS THAT OUR FAULT?
Lee and Naruto stared down, bangs in their eyes, and their mirror stances of pain were picked at by flying grains.
Then Lee smiled. "Gaa-chan, it isn't your fault. And Yashamaru-san… I don't know why he did that, but I know he loved you. Remember the first day we met? Remember when your uncle asked you to leave the room? He took the time to tell me that I could not be your fiend unless I planned to spend forever with you. Does that sound like something someone would say for the sake of someone they hated? Oh, Gaa-chan, your uncle adored you."
"… Then why…" came Gaara's small voice, "would he say that he hated m-me? T-that when I was born… m-mom hated me? WHY WOULD HE LIE TO ME LIKE THAT… if he adored m-me?"
"I don't know, Gaa-chan, but I promise to find out. Please, Gaa-chan, please, come back to me? Naruto and I want to help you and we want to cry with you and we want to honor the man who led us here."
Gaara snapped around. "W-what?"
"Bushybrow's databook went missing!" Naruto explained. "Yashamaru must have taken it from his pack before we left and knew that we'd come back for it if Lee thought he lost it!"
"Yashamaru-san must have known that this was going to happen and he wanted us to be here for you when it did."
LIES! DON'T LISTEN TO THEM, GAARA! HOLD ONTO THIS RAGE, THIS HATRED! YOU WON'T SURVIVE WITHOUT IT! WHY WOULD YOUR UNCLE DO THESE THINGS IF IT WASN'T FOR THE SAKE OF ENDING YOU? WHAT DID HE HAVE TO GAIN?
Lee raised a fist. Brought it down. Shukaku's nose fell off. "Hush with you, Shukaku-san! I am talking to Gaa-chan, not you!"
"Yeah! Go, Bushybrow!"
WHY YOU LITTLE –
Lee brought his foot down and Shukaku face planted into a building, thankfully empty. As a matter of fact, the entire village seemed rather quiet for having a rampaging demon about… where was the screaming, panicking villagers? Or at least someone trying to take down Shukaku – except there was no one. Not a sound in the night… It was all rather strange and Lee felt an inkling of an idea form in the back of his mind. Could someone be that cruel?
He looked at Gaara who was looking at him, something cracking in his newly formed expressionless face.
The answer was, quite simply, yes.
"Please, Gaa-chan, we can figure this out together – you, Naruto-kun, and me. We don't want you to hurt, you're our friend!"
"B-but…"
"Yes, Gaa-chan?"
The redhead cried. He cried hard and he pushed against Shukaku until he popped out of head and he ran like he was going to be attacked by his own sand. "LEE!"
He tackled Lee and Lee, despite his two shows of strength, fell with the momentum because he really was in tatters. What parts of him that were still covered in skin were stinging with the whip of Shukaku's power and what parts weren't were completely numb right up until Gaara ran into him and awoke a whole new world of torture for the young jounin.
But he bit back his scream. He wrapped his arms around Gaara and closed his eyes tightly as they teetered over and Shukaku at that moment chose to stand to his full intimidating height to roar in fury at them.
They fell… and fell… and fell… right until they fell into the embrace of three or so Naruto copies and Shukaku, no longer supported by his host, disintegrated back into the desert. It was almost anti-climactic how the demon merely shuddered and then fell and spread. It didn't happen in slow motion and there weren't any promising last words. The affair itself was pretty quiet as Naruto picked up both Lee and Gaara and dashed out of immediate reach of the sandy avalanche.
"Oi, Bushybrow, we need to get you help, man, you look bad!"
Gaara winced. "Lee… You shouldn't have… you got hurt… I'm sorry…"
"No, it's okay, Gaa-chan. YOSH, this is a small price to pay for having you back!"
Naruto patted him on the head. "Don't do that to us again, you got that? Geez, I thought Bushybrow was gonna go ballistic on the coon there for a moment. Did you see him? He totally owned Shumaka!"
"Naruto-kun… it's Shukaku."
"Whatever."
He weakly got to his feet, trembled for a long moment, and then collapsed. "Ah hah hah… sorry, it seems I really can't move at the moment…"
"It's okay. Gaara and I can get you back to our village."
Gaara's head snapped around. "What do you mean?"
"This village is evacuated, Gaara, and Yashamaru knew before we even left that he was going to try and assassinate you. But we know that he loved you with everything in him. That means that he was ordered to lie to you," Naruto deduced, surprising Lee.
To think that this was the same man who four years ago couldn't tell the difference between his sensei and a scarecrow. As a matter of fact, this was still the person who couldn't tell the difference between his sensei and a scarecrow.
"The only person who has the power to have forced Yashamaru to do something like that would be your dad."
Gaara flinched and looked at his hands, worrying the scraps of fabric covering Lee's chest. "Uncle told me that father ordered him to kill me… but then father gave him the choice to back out and he denied it so that he could kill me for taking away his sister."
"Aside from that first part, I'm sure the rest is a lie," Lee breathed, and brought Gaara into a one-arm hug. "I've said it before and I will say it again. You are a nice, gentle boy, and if no one has it in them to recognize your worth, then they have no right to be with you."
The child cried… and cried… and cried. He cried as if the floodgates had busted open and there was no stopping it, like tears was all he was made of. Lee held him through it all, not letting go for anything, including the pain of having Gaara's salty sorrow bathe his wounds.
Naruto stood to his feet, face turned away. Lee could still see the barely-contained rage that made his shoulders tense and his hands fist at his sides. "Hey, Bushybrow, stay here with him, will ya? There's something I've got to do."
"… YOSH, Naruto-kun. Naruto-kun? Be safe and please come back. Gaa-chan and I would be very sad if you didn't." He gave his friend a hard look. 'I know what you're going to do', he thought at the blonde and met blue, blue eyes that could practically read his mind and communicate back. 'And I approve.'
He smiled. "Don't worry about me! I always come back, there's no getting rid of me! Just wait here for me, will ya?" And then he was gone.
.
Kaze was watching the destruction of his village from afar. Gaara had been a failure. Except he was too far away to see why exactly Shukaku began acting strangely. First he went still, then began to fall apart, and, at one time, it appeared as if gravity had plummeted him to earth. Then he had risen only to dissolve into wave after wave of sand.
From his perch, it was all very confusing. The question left on his mind was, is this a good thing or a bad thing? On one hand, Gaara seemed to have gotten control over Shukaku at the minute after the last minute. On the other hand, Gaara regained control.
Possibly.
And then he wasn't thinking because his mind appeared to be left where he had been standing while his body flew through the air and landed on the edge of the cliff he had been watching from. Dazedly, he realized that he hadn't gotten there by his own devices.
A furious jinchuuraki stood some yards from him, hand still clenched in a fist, and eyes bleeding scarlet. "What the fuck is your problem?"
"Ah, Naruto… I should have realized that this had something to do with you. I suppose Lee is with Gaara somewhere?"
"No, you don't get to ask the question! You have to answer mine, you twisted freak!"
"And your question is…?"
"… Bastard."
"I can't wait around here all day for you to decide whether my parenting methods merit my death."
"You're parenting methods? So, wait, this was you at least trying to be a parent? Blowing up your wife's brother and trying to kill your son was a parenting method?"
"There are some things greater in the world than what you think are the greatest. What I've done, I've done for my village."
Naruto stared down at him for a very long time. Kaze hadn't felt so small and exposed since his way younger years. Then he closed his eyes. "You're not worth the effort of killing. You're just a sad old man who's never going to realize what you could have had with your son."
"Could have had? What are you talking about?"
"We're taking Gaara with us! You can keep Temari and Kankuro, you seem to be giving them better treatment, anyway. But Gaara deserves to have happiness in what little he has left of his childhood and he's not going to find that here with you!"
"… Is that what you plan to do? How do you expect him to get strong that way, by coddling him, exactly? Look at you, Naruto. Look at Lee. You can even look at Sasuke or that Hyuuga boy – when tragedy struck you young, you all grew up to be the best. You had to fight to get where you are and now you want to make things easy for Gaara? That's robbing him of what he could be."
"… No. That's giving him what we all should have had. We fought for a better future because our pasts were so bad – we've always wanted to just be happy and content! Gaara… we can save him the pain of going through all the bullshit we had to and just cut to the chase. He can be happy now and he can be happy when he grows up. We'll be there for him to make him stronger every day and he won't have our weaknesses either. So keep your stupid excuses to yourself, old man! They won't work on me."
"You honestly think you can get away with kidnapping the child of a kage?"
"We're not kidnapping him. He's coming with us willingly, and, one day, we're going to bring him back here so he can spread the joy with his people, after you die, you bastard."
"He will never become kazekage!" The audacity of it!
"Oh, yeah? We'll just see about that, you asshole. Gaara's coming with us! And if you try to stop us…" his eyes, darker than blood, were cold and merciless and Kaze's breath stuck in his lungs. "You'll regret it."
.
Lady Tsunade wasn't pleased with them. But, in the end, she knew there was nothing she could do about it. No, seriously, there was nothing she could do about it. She couldn't even hit them over the heads or throw things at them.
Gaara refused to leave them alone. He also refused to let anyone else touch them and the gourd of sand he was carrying was too difficult a defense to put the effort into getting by. She could wait. She could be patient. Because she was going to make them suffer. She just couldn't do it as of yet.
"Who's he staying with?" she finally asked, temples throbbing and the urge to kill still strong. "And why aren't you in the hospital, more importantly?"
"We came here to discuss this first thing! Then Naruto-kun was going to take me to see Sakura-kun to look over my wounds…"
"Wounds? You're one huge scab, Lee! Damn it, you're bleeding all over my floor."
Gaara gasped and looked down. Lee glared at Lady Tsunade. "Thank you, hokage-sama."
"No problem. So? Who's he staying with? Don't tell me! You've decided on joint custody."
Naruto frowned. "No. He's gonna stay with Bushybrow, seeing as how I'm hardly home anymore. But when Bushybrow's on a mission or something, he'll be with me. If we're both out, Bushierbrow said he'd watch him for us."
"Gai knew about this before I did?"
"YOSH! We passed by him at the gates." Lee giggled. "He stalled us quite a bit, he couldn't believe how wonderful Gaa-chan is."
"… Gaa-chan… Right. So, seeing as how my hands are tied on this and no one actually cares for what I think, I hereby pronounce you two temporary parents! Go make your baby proud."
"Alright! You hear that, Gaara?" Naruto knelt down and redirected the redhead's attention to him. "Let's give you a happy life, kay?"
The child gently touched the scar on his temple. Ai. He gulped. "F-full of love?"
"YOSH! We will overwhelm you with our love, Gaa-chan!"
The boy smiled. "I'd like that."
.
Author's Note: I don't exactly know how to explain the timeline here… I guess you could say that Sunagakure was put in a timeless bubble for about a decade while everything that happened in the manga occurred. I don't know… Anywho, Kurama is apparently Kyuubi's real name! I read the latest manga chapter as I was writing this and I was all, "what are the chances?" I love you all! Have a Happy New Years!