This story was inspired by "Desert Rose" currently being written by The Doormaster! I wish to clarify that I will not be stealing his story, I just thought of this while reading his and decided to run with it. You may notice some similarities between his story and mine within the first chapter or so but will be going mostly in a different direction. I think, he hasn't finished his story yet so maybe they're going the same direction. Anyway, hope you like it!

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Thoughts

Shukaku

Speech

Chapter One: Heart Of Darkness

"That pain of being alone... I know how that feeling, I've been there... in that dark and lonely place. Now there are others... other people who mean a lot to me. I care more about them than I do myself and I wont let anyone hurt them, that's why I'll never give up. I will stop you even if I have to kill you!" the blonde explained as he continued to shuffle forward in a commando crawl, too weak to lift himself up, blood smeared across his forehead with cuts and bruises covering him from head to toe.

"But why? Why would you do this for anyone but yourself?" Gaara asked confusion clear in his voice.

"Because they saved me from myself! They rescued me from my loneliness, they were the first to accept me for who I am. They're my friends"

Yashamaru's words echoed in Gaara's head "Love is the hearts desire to serve someone who is precious to you, to watch over them, like my sister did for you"

"Love?" he choked out "Is that the thing that makes him so strong?"

Laying on his back staring at the hospital ceiling Gaara continued to reflect on this memory unable to shake his interest in the boy.

How could he be that strong from fighting for others? That's an easily exploitable weakness yet it gained me nothing in my fight with him.

Looking towards the door he sighed painfully "Typical, you've been here for a whole day and they still haven't come in here to treat you. I hope you realize just how weakened I am right now, you could've killed us both back there if you kept fighting that punk"

"That punk just kicked our ass, maybe next time don't get overconfident" he breathed out annoyed.

"Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black? You underestimated him just as much as I did, maybe next time I shouldn't get too excited at the thought of freedom"

"You may get your wish sooner than you think, at this rate they're going to let me die in here"

"And after all the trouble your siblings went through to carry you back here. Useless, where are they when you need them"

"Where everyone else is most likely, cowering in a corner waiting for me to die-" Suddenly he felt a presence in the room. Scanning the room he grew confused when he couldn't find anyone.

"You have some interesting conversations with the tailed beast" a deep voice stated from beside him. Whipping his head around he groaned in pain to see a tall man in a black robe and an orange mask with black wavelike lines across it and one eyehole on the right side, he had short spiked black hair and a small black book in his hand.

"Who are you?" Gaara demanded.

"Who I am is inconsequential" he answered standing from his place beside him.

"Why are you here then?"

"I wish to know about your relationship with your tailed beast"

"What do you wish to know exactly?"

"Your relationship with it is unique among your kind"

"My kind? There are others?"

"Yes, there are nine tailed beasts and each one has it's own jinchūriki or hosts that carry them. Most jinchūriki use the tailed beasts as a source of power when caught in a tight situation or befriend them like Killer Bee of the Hidden Cloud has done. But you and your tailed beast hate each other, yet you both work together to keep you alive... I want to know why"

"Maybe try asking him, he makes no sense to me whatsoever, he tried to convince me that he was my mother for quite some time"

"And you totally fell for it!"

"Intriguing-"

"Shut up" The masked man grew quiet, cocking his head to the side "Wasn't talking to you" Gaara clarified.

"Ah, may I speak to it?"

"You already are" Came Gaara's reply his voice changing dramatically along with his eye color becoming gold.

"Why is it you keep your host alive when all you want is freedom? If you simply stopped using the sand shield of yours Gaara would die and you would be free to roam as you wish"

Gaara was silent contemplating his answer "If it isn't this kid, then it's just going to be the kettle again. It's more fun to have someone to torture than staring at a wall for a few decades" he returned control to Gaara his eyes reverting back to their normal teal

"I see... well then I regret to inform you that I will be taking you from Gaara. The villagers already made this easy on me by sealing your chakra when you got here, so do me a favor and don't fight back" he explained as he drew closer to him. Reaching out for him with his right arm the eyehole on his mask began to emanate a swirling vortex with Gaara trapped in its pull in his weakened state.

Not good! Whatever that is doesn't bode well- Gaara's thought was cut short when he noticed a familiar glint from under the mans mask. "Sharingan" Gaara choked out in shock.

"I ain't going down without a fight!" roared the tailed beast in rage, changing Gaara's left eye from it's natural teal to gold. Gaara's arm transformed into the beast's arm attacking the man ripping his arm off from his shoulder, the masked man screamed in pain the vortex opening above them as he fell to the ground. The second vortex pulled with greater force than the first pulling Gaara and the hospital bed into it with several pieces of equipment as well as the mans arm. The masked man phased through the ground as the vortex began to close.

Temari came crashing through the door with Kankuro shortly behind her to find an empty room with the window shattered.

"What the hell!" she yelled confused.

"How did he escape he could barely walk let alone crawl out the window?" Kankuro asked surprised.

"What did he drag the bed along with him?" Temari asked with sarcasm dripping from her tone "We have to warn the guards that he's loose, who knows what trouble he'll cause"

"His chakra was sealed the minute he got here, how much could he do?"

"This is Gaara we're talking about, you really want to leave that to chance?" she asked fearfully.

"Guards!" he yelled jumping out the window towards one of them.

Qrow walked towards the grave of Summer as he always did after the girls had been put to sleep, he missed her more than he let on. Ruby would be crushed if she knew she made it harder to grieve silently as she reminded him too much of her. Qrow took another sip from his flask, he wondered why he encountered more Grimm than usual, they never got very large on Patch so it was never a problem. Arriving at the grave he read the words aloud.

"Summer Rose, thus kindly I scatter" he sighed taking another sip. after about five minutes he noticed Grimm approaching him, turning he was surprised to see they were ignoring him and walking towards the edge of the cliff Summer was buried on. Following them with his eyes he noticed a small blood trail leading to the edge, ending on a small redheaded boy who lay unconscious over the side.

"What the hell is this kid doing out here?" he asked aloud unsheathing his weapon and quickly cutting through the Grimm approaching the boy. Checking his pulse he felt nothing and sighed sadly "Dammit kid, should've just stayed inside" Just as he was removing his fingers from the boys neck he felt a single faint pulse. Turning the boy over he placed his ear to his chest to be sure, he heard the heartbeat again after several seconds "He's alive!" he yelled in shock. "Man I've got to get you somewhere warm, you're an ice block" he groaned lifting him from the ground.

Crashing through the door Qrow ran towards the fireplace, placing Gaara in front of it.

"What the hell Qrow!?" Tai yelled waking up in his chair at the sound.

"I need blankets, Now!" he yelled back breaking open a shell casing and pouring the dust into his hand quickly tossing it into the fireplace igniting it. Tai sprung into action racing up the stairs and returning with some clothes and blankets, they began wrapping Gaara in them while stoking the fire trying to make it as hot as possible.

"Dad? Is everything ok?" Yang asked coming down the stairs with Ruby not far behind.

Tai got up and walked over to them placing his hand on her shoulders reassuringly "Everything is fine, Qrow found a boy out in the cold and we are warming him up before we take him home" he explained keeping his voice even.

"Should I take Ruby back to bed?" she whispered so Ruby wouldn't hear. Tai nodded simply with a silent thank you. Yang pulled Ruby along with her back up the stairs.

"Where did you find this kid?" he asked rejoining Qrow.

"He was hanging over the cliff nearby Summer's Grave, I only spotted him because a pack of Grimm just ignored me for him.

"Was there anyone else around? Any indication of where he came from?"

"Not a one, only thing I noticed was a small trail left by him, assuming he crawled his way to the cliff for some reason or another"

"Once we have him settled could you go back and see if you can find anything? Someone could be looking for him, at the very least we should know what happened"

"You got it, hopefully someone who knows him is nearby or we're going to have to bring this to local authorities"

"Even dead it seems Summer couldn't resist helping the misfortunate" Tai sighed with a small smile on his face.

"She never could turn away a cry for help"

"That was one of the things I loved most about her" he laughed.

"What did you find exactly?" Ozpin asked leaning forward with interest.

"Not much to be honest" Qrow answered "I followed the shallow trail he left behind south from the gravesite and all I found was a lot of blood, a hospital bed with some equipment and a frozen human arm"

"Did you bring the arm with you?"

"Yes, I gave it to Glynda. She said she would find out who it's from"

"Excellent. Is there anything unusual about the boy you can tell me? It might make it easier to locate his family"

"His hair is red and he's got a red tattoo on his forehead just above his left eye, I'm not sure what it means but Ruby drew it for me" he answered handing him a small sheet of paper with the symbol on it.

"Thank you, I shall begin searching where I can at once, please let me know if you find out anything else"

"Dad, when is that kid going to wake up? He's already been here a few days, shouldn't he be brought to a hospital or something?" Yang asked as they all ate breakfast together with Gaara unconscious on the couch by the fireplace.

"I already asked around town, nobody knows who this kid is and I am perfectly capable of taking care of him myself until we figure out where he's from, we can't exactly let him stay at the hospital when he wakes up" Tai answered.

"I guess so..." Yang agreed reluctantly.

"Cheer up, Yang! Maybe he'll be nice and we could have a new friend at school" Ruby chimed in. Yang smiled unable to resist her sister's cheerful attitude.

The boy in question began to stir on the couch grabbing the group's attention. Qrow stood up and walked over to him watching his eyes slowly fluttering open "The kid's waking up" Qrow smiled. Gaara's eyes focused on Qrow fixing him with a questioning stare.

"Hey kid, what-" he began extending his hand towards him, Gaara interrupted him smashing his arm against Qrow's chest throwing him into the nearby wall. Standing up Gaara pushed through the nearby door only to be greeted by the cold snow forcing him back inside "Uncle Qrow!" Ruby yelled concerned running over to him.

"Where the hell am I?" Gaara breathed out barely above a whisper taking a step backwards into the house. Grabbing his head in agony he dropped to his knees "Kid calm down!" yelled Tai placing his hand on his shoulder only to have himself thrown out into the snow with tremendous force.

Gaara was hit in the back of the head by a wooden spoon, turning he saw Yang by an open drawer with a spoon in each hand "Leave Dad and Uncle Qrow alone!" she yelled throwing them at him.

"Yang stay back!" Qrow yelled getting between them. Gaara dropped to his knees in pain, having used all his strength to throw Tai.

"Easy kid" Tai said placing his hands up in surrender as he approached him "We're not gonna hurt you"

"Why should I believe you?" he asked struggling to get up.

"I dragged you out from the snow a few days ago saving you from both Grimm and frostbite" Qrow offered.

"Grimm? What's a Grimm?"

"Have you been living under a rock for the past century or two? Grimm: The big scary monsters that try to kill anyone and everyone that isn't another Grimm" Qrow explained.

"Where am I? There's no such thing as Grimm where I am from"

"Patch, we live here away from most other towns, you're lucky he found you when he did" Tai answered.

"I... I'm sorry for attacking you, the last thing I remember was someone trying to kill me. I've never heard of Patch before, but we don't exactly get a lot of snow in the Land of Wind"

"Land of Wind?" Yang asked confused.

"Yes, that's where I am from, have you never heard of it?" he asked surprised. The group shook their heads. Gaara fell down to his knees again, Ruby approached him extending her hand with a small smile towards him.

"What're you doing?" he asked confused.

"Helping you up silly" she answered like it was obvious. Hesitating briefly he accepted her hand, she pulled him up onto the couch nearby, he laid onto his back across it groaning as he did.

"Thank you?" he said unsure if he was correct or not.

"Your welcome" she replied with a bright smile on her face.

"Mind telling me who you people are?" he asked as they formed a wall around the couch.

"You can call me Tai, this is Qrow and my two daughters Yang and Ruby" he answered gesturing to each as he said their names.

"Where's their mother?"

"Summer... passed when they were very young. Qrow found you out by her grave"

"I see... I'm sorry to hear that, I know that pain all too well"

"You lost your mother too?" Yang asked still unsure if she should trust him yet.

"Yes, she died giving birth to me, my father and uncle both blamed me for it which made everyone else in the village afraid of me, beyond the usual reasons" he answered "Though according to my uncle she cursed my name when I was born because I killed her, she hated me-"

"That's impossible" Ruby interjected.

"What is?"

"Mothers can't hate their children no matter what they do. Right, Dad?" she asked for confirmation.

"That's right, No mother could" he agreed.

"See? My Dad never lies! Your uncle must've been lying to you" she concluded.

Gaara sat in shock at this revelation "Mother loved me" he breathed in disbelief.

"Mind answering a few questions for me?" Tai asked as Gaara sat down painfully at the table.

"Depends on the questions" he answered honestly.

"What's your name?"

"Gaara, I have no last name as I refuse to associate myself with my father and I don't know my mothers"

"Fair enough. Where are you from?"

"The Hidden Sand Village"

"Where is that?"

"In the Land of Wind"

"Would you be able to show me where that is on a map?" Tai asked still confused.

"If you have one, yes" Tai pulled out a map and placed it on the table waiting patiently for him to show him. Gaara stared at Tai in confusion.

"What is this?"

"It's a map of Remnant" he answered.

"Remnant?" he asked confused, returning his gaze to the map he sighed "The Land of Wind isn't on this map"

"Are you saying your from another land?"

"I suppose it's possible. I was unaware there were other lands beyond the Elemental Nations"

"Can you tell me more about it? Maybe we can help you find it again"

"The Elemental Nations had many nations the greatest being known as the five great nations, they are The Land of Wind, Fire, Water, Earth, and Lighting with other lesser lands like the Land of Iron where the Samurai reside. The five great nations where the only lands with shinobi villages that held the title of Kage, the five Kage where the Hokage for the Leaf Village in the Land of Fire, Mizukage for the Mist Village in the Land of Water, Tsuchikage for the Stone Village in the Land of Earth, the Raikage for the Cloud Village in the Land of Lightning and finally the Kazekage of the Sand Village in the Land of Wind" he explained.

"And you were from the Sand Village?"

"Yes, I was a Genin"

"A what?"

"Genin,one of the shinobi ranks. I was taking the Chunin exams in the leaf village a few days ago, never would've expected to find a different land"

"What are the shinobi ranks?"

"Genin, then Chunin, then Jonin, and lastly Kage. Genin usually handled simple D and C rank missions like clearing a lake of garbage or protecting merchants from bandit attacks. Chunin were given C and B rank missions which usually included protecting caravans from enemy ninja or infiltrating a compound of enemy ninja to obtain a scroll or save hostages. Jonin were given A rank missions which usually were assassinations or capture of powerful wanted criminals. S rank missions are seldom given and those that are selected for them are among the best the village offers, most of the time the whole team won't return"

"I believe I have derailed our conversation with my own curiosity. Let's get back to things about you"

"Very well"

"Do you have any relatives?"

"My older siblings Kankuro and Temari. My father died recently and my uncle has been dead since the night I killed him six years ago"

"You killed your own uncle?"

"He tried to kill me on orders from my father"

"I see... How did your father die?"

"He died fighting the Third Hokage in a battle he instigated. That's where I got most of these injuries"

"I take it you didn't have the greatest relationship with your siblings?"

"They blamed me for mothers death until recently, they were decent people. My father's influence no longer affected them as they grew older, much to his disappointment"

"You said your father instigated his own death?"

"We had a peace treaty with the Leaf Village, the treaty was broken when my father ordered us to attack the village alongside the Sound Village during the final round of the Chunin exams. That's when he died"

"You were fighting a war when you were only twelve years old?"

"I was their secret weapon. I have done a B rank mission without even a scratch, before that battle I had never been touched in battle before. That blonde kid was tougher than he looked.

"Blonde kid?"

"I threatened to kill his friends and he kicked the shit out of me. I underestimated him, never going to underestimate an opponent again"

"What happened after the battle?"

"After I lost Temari carried me back to the Sand Village, several days of traveling we arrived and I was placed in a hospital, as usual they didn't do anything for me beyond placing me in a bed a bandaging me up. After an hour of waiting for someone to come in a masked man appeared in the room, I am still confused as to where he came from"

"Do you know who he was?"

"No, but he was of the Uchiha Clan or he stole the Sharingan, either way it doesn't really matter"

"What's the Sharingan?"

"An ability the Uchiha Clan alone are blessed with, it allows the user to basically defy all logic and do whatever they want. Seeing seconds into the future to anticipate attacks, placing someone into a deep sleep by locking eye contact with them, to copying their movements exactly"

"Incredible"

"Indeed, to my knowledge the only people who should have the Sharingan are Sasuke Uchiha and his older brother Itachi, Kakashi Hatake has one in his left eye as well, but no one else does"

"So which one was it?"

"The eye was in his right eye, Sasuke is the same age as me so he's impossible and Itachi is the only other person who it could be so I assume it was him"

"What did the masked man want?"

"He wanted me dead, he grabbed me and some vortex opened from his eye, I wounded him before it took me which opened a second more powerful vortex above us which pulled me inside it.

"That's it?"

"That's the last thing I remember before waking up on your couch, I briefly remember clawing at something soft and cold, snow I imagine"

"Thank you for answering my questions. You may sleep on the couch until we figure out what's to be done with you"

"That shouldn't be a problem, I don't sleep much anyway"

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed, if you didn't well that's too bad since I enjoyed writing it. Next chapter coming soon!