HI, Maze of Mirrors here. God its been a long time since I've posted anything on here, but I've had this idea in my head for a very long time so I decided to stay up and finally get it written. Hopefully its not too bad, and reviews are always welcome. Thanks all. And now…Chapter One.
12345678909876543212345678909876543212345678909876543212345678980
Rain pelted the windows as young Sabaku no Gaara stared out of the small kitchen window. He was waiting for his father to come home from what was supposed to be a simple meeting with another village, but his young mind couldn't remember the name of the village he had disappeared to. His eyes quickly flashed to the other side of the kitchen as Yashamaru shuffled around the kitchen preparing himself a small snack.
"Gaara-kun. You should be in your room right now, it's already midnight." He chastised softly. "Aren't you frightened of the dark or the storm?"
The five year old flashed him a bright smile, and he had to smile a bit, despite himself. He looked at the small brown bear that the little boy was clutching in his hands.
"I have Mr. Kuma, Uncle. He protects me from the dark. Nothing can hurt me while he is around." Gaara affectionately squeezed the little bear in his arms and turned his attention back to the window. He was aware of his eight year old sister Temari who walked in and grabbed an apple off of the counter. She openly avoided both him and Yashamaru and quickly made her way back upstairs. Gaara knew that Temari and Kankuro were both afraid of him, but he didn't exactly understand what he did that was so bad that caused not only the townspeople, but even his own brother and sister to fear him. He sighed softly, but he said nothing about the subject. For now, he would continue waiting up quietly for his father and admire a rain storm that almost never graced the deserts of Sunagakure.
It was about an hour later that Gaara picked up the familiar sound of his father walking up the porch stairs that would lead him to the front door. He smiled happily, despite knowing that his father would more than likely blow him off or get angry at him for something. Yet at the same time the small red head jumped off the kitchen stool and made contact with the hard kitchen floor. He clutched the bear in his hands, and followed Yashamaru to the main living room. There his father stood in all his Kazekage glory. He was soaked through due to the unexpected rain and donned a sour expression on his face. Gaara quirked up an eyebrow and wondered what exactly was going on, this was not a typical return for his father.
The Kazekage's eyes flashed down to his youngest son. His scowl wavered for a second before immediately returning to its original state. He was cold and his shirt was clinging tightly to his skin. Honestly, all he wanted to do was make his way upstairs, speak to no one and get to bed. Yet that was not an option right now, he had something important to do and there was no avoiding it.
"Gaara. Come here." His rough voice gently wafted through the house, and Gaara's head popped up. His father rarely ever spoke to him after returning home from business. His green eyes flipped up to Yashamaru questioningly, but he received no answers from him. His uncle just continued to stand still and wait patiently for some answers.
Gaara waddled slowly up to his father, confusion evident in his face. Mr. Kuma was wrapped tightly in his arms, and he innocently looked up at the towering figure of his father. "Stay right here." His father commanded, and then turned on his heel, walking out the door.
Gaara could hear the wind blowing through the village, and hard as he tried, he was unable to see what his father was doing outside. He heard a small scuffle and then his father entered the house again. This did not help poor Gaara in understanding what was going on.
He stopped walking a few feet in front of Gaara, and stared down silently at him. He squatted down so that he could look Gaara directly in the eyes, and said, "I have a gift for you."
Gaara just stared back at his father, not quite understanding why his father would bring him a gift. He looked back at his uncle who looked as if he as well knew what this whole thing meant. Then he heard a small noise coming from the door way. There stood a small girl with short pink hair with a red bow tied in it. She couldn't have been any older than he was, and he was immediately intrigued. He cocked his head to the side and looked at her long and hard.
"Sakura. Come over here and meet my son." He noticed her scared eyes darted up to his father's face, but she obeyed the order. The little girl named Sakura padded over to the both of them and stopped at the Kazekage's feet. She looked at Gaara's face and he noticed that she had green eyes as well. He blushed a little bit and turned to look at his father's face.
"Father, what is going on?"
"In light of certain..circumstances, I have found it to be necessary to find you a child close to your own age to be your friend. I am tired of hearing the town gossip and complain about you. I am tired of you injuring the children of this village because they will not play with you. So I found you a suitable playmate. I spoke with the Hokage of Konoha and made arrangements for her to live here with us. She will learn about your 'condition', and she will be your companion. Her parents were killed on a mission not too long ago, and she met the criteria I was searching for. The two of you will get along and be friends, have I made myself clear?"
Gaara could only nod to his father as he stared at the little girl who was shaking next to his father. The Kazekage nodded and then looked to Yashamaru. "She is your new ward. You will take care of her as you take care of Gaara." With those final words he turned to the stairs and walked away up into his room. The door slammed behind him, and then silence erupted through the house hold.
Sakura wiped at her face trying to hide the tears that were falling, to no avail. She was terrified of the angry man who took her from her home, and she had no idea what they were going to do with her. She plopped down on to the floor and proceeded to wail.
Yashamaru looked intently at Gaara, and pushed him gently in her direction. They would make no progress if they didn't speak to one another. Gaara whimpered, but walked over to her and sat down next to her.
"Hi." He said shyly. He had never had a real friend his own age before, and he was unsure of what to say to her. His mop of red hair fell into his face and covered his eyes.
"H..hi.." She stuttered out through her tears. "Can I go home now..?" She asked the small boy.
He frowned at her, his feelings slightly hurt. He wanted a new friend, but she didn't seem to want to be his friend. The lights flickered in the house, and he was beginning to want to cry.
"Do you not want to play with me and Mr. Kuma?"
"Mr. Kuma? Who is Mr. Kuma?" Sakura furrowed her brows together, and began to rub her eyes with her palms. Gaara saw this and gave her a shy smile.
"Mr. Kuma is my best friend in the whole world. He protects me from all the things that scare me. I'll…I'll let you see him if it'll make you feel better." He blushed again and looked away. He never shared Mr. Kuma with anyone, but he wanted this girl to like him, and he knew that no one could say no to his friend's fuzzy face.
He bashfully pulled his bear out from behind him and went to let her see him. He watched her expression change slightly and then he saw her give a tiny smile. She slowly put her hands forward and ran her fingers through his soft brown fur. She then proceeded to do something that surprised Gaara.
She squeaked. His eyes widened and he looked at her face again with child like wonder. Her smile grew a bit as she ran her fingers through his bear's fuzz and she seemed content for a moment. She clutched the bear to her chest and rubbed her face against him, causing her bow to loosen and fall out of her hair. Gaara's eyebrow quirked as he looked at his new playmates face. He leaned forward and poked her forehead with his chubby little finger.
"Your forehead is big." He said with a mix of glee and surprise.
Shock washed over her face as she began to whimper and a new wave of tears graced her face. Immediately Gaara retracted his hand and looked to Yashamaru for some help, but he just got an amused smile from his uncle. He began to get frustrated and guilty and he proceeded to start crying as well.
Sakura sniffled a bit and then looked at the crying boy next to him. She felt bad all of a sudden, but she didn't quite know why. She sniffed again, and looked around the large family room trying to find some way to comfort him.
She looked to her right and saw the red wrinkled ribbon which had been hiding her oversized forehead and she gingerly picked it up. Very slowly she turned and looked at Gaara.
"Hey, don't cry. It's ok." She tried to flash him a big smile, but it turned into a sort of grimace. Gaara's tear stained face peered up at her, and she slowly began to wipe his tears away with her ribbon.
"Ino gave me this ribbon," She said softly. "When I was crying one day, she said that it would make me feel better. Maybe it will help you stop crying too."
No one besides Yashamaru had ever touched Gaara's face quite like that. He quickly began wiping his face off with his hands and blushed yet again. He was a little embarrassed that she had seen him cry. He was a big boy after all. This was not befitting.
"Hmpf. I'm a boy, we don't wear ribbons." He pouted and snubbed her a bit.
She looked at him indignantly and then stuck her tongue out at him. "Fine. I don't care if you cry. Go away." Her temper flared and she grew more annoyed with this little boy. "I was just trying to be nice. Mommy said that its bad manners to be mean to a guest. You are rude."
The five year old scowled, but felt guilty at the same time. He didn't want to be rude, but he wanted to prove that he was a grown up. He didn't want to be treated like a baby.
"I'm sleepy." Sakura said quietly to the blonde man who was still standing and watching the two of the get acquainted. She got up on her shaky legs and rubbed her little fists against her eyes further proving her exhaustion. She had a very eventful day and needed to get some rest before her even more trying day tomorrow.
She picked up Mr. Kuma and walked over to Gaara. She stuck her hand out and tried to hand the bear over to him. Gaara went to grab it but thought better of it.
He stood up and looked at her sheepishly. He gave her a small smile, and then said, "I think Mr. Kuma might like you. Would you maybe want to sleep with him tonight? I mean, I don't need a bear anyway. Big boys don't sleep with bears."
She gave him the first real smile of the night and wrapped her arms around him, and gave him a tiny kiss on the cheek. Gaara's face immediately went red hot and he turned away in embarrassment.
Yashamaru nodded and she reached out her hand for his. He smirked at her and began to walk her to her new room.
"Hey..Sakura?" She turned to look at him as he played with his fingers, embarrassed. "Maybe I could play with him tomorrow? I mean, big boys don't sleep with bears..but we can sometimes play with them. I don't want him to feel abandoned, that's all." He tried to cover up the fact that he adored that bear, but she saw right through him.
"You can play with Mr. Kuma tomorrow, and maybe..I could play too?" She asked.
He beamed up at her. No one had ever asked him to play before. This was wonderful. He giggled and smiled up at her with his eyes sparkling. "I would like that. Good night Saku-chan."
He watched as she followed Yashamaru up the stairs and disappear from sight. He began to do the same, until he saw something on the floor where he had been sitting earlier. Sakura's ribbon lay wet and crumpled on the ground and he headed towards it. He looked to the left and right and made sure that no one was watching him as he picked up the ribbon and balled it up into his pocket. He then dashed upstairs and laid on his bed. As he changed into his pajama's he grabbed the satin ribbon from his pocket and balled it up into his fist and walked over to the bed.
He got under the covers and pulled the ribbon out and smiled softly at his and ran his fingers up and down the soft material. He softly touched the place where she had kissed and grinned.
Maybe his father wasn't such a bad man after all.
12345678909876543212345678909876543212345678909876543212345678980
Well there you have it. Chapter one in all its glory. Let me know what you think. Im trying to decide whether I want this to be a one shot or an actual multi-chapter story. Hope you all enjoyed it. Till next time!