Gaara couldn't remember the last time he had actually been to this place. He looked at the many canyons that littered the earth and sighed.
This was the place that he always went to when he was bothered with something. It gave him someplace where he could be away from the frightened glances and soft murmurs as he passed. He was just tired of it.
He still couldn't get yesterday's events out of his mind.
After returning from Konoha from the batched invasion mission, finding the dead kazekage, they began the process of giving him a proper burial.
Many of the villagers were in mourning of the fourth kazekage, but not Gaara. He attended the burning, but only in the back away from everyone else.
After all he was most likely the only one that was actually glad the bastard was dead.
'Serves him right' Gaara thought to himself. He quickly shook his head and confused with what he had thought he decided to leave and go to the only place he knew he could think in peace.
He was so wrapped up in his thoughts he did not notice the small flare of chakra move towards him.
"GAARA!!!" He was snapped back into reality when he heard his eldest sibling call for him.
Normally no one would try to speak to Gaara like that , but Temari (who he now identified by the chakra) was different.
Yea she was wary of him, but at least she SPOKE to him without flinching.
He stood up, and looking down from the 60 foot drop he regarded his sister as she squinted up the cliff-face in hopes that Gaara was there. Her face seemed to brighten as she saw his head pop over the edge.
"Hey! The council is meeting to see who is to become the fifth. Are you gonna come and watch?"
She obviously meant the next in line for being the Kazekage. He could care less about that. I mean why should he even be present on that? All that man ever did in his life is make it horrible. But considering that Temari had come all the way there to ask him, he decided to satisfy her.
Giving her a nod, he focused his chakra into the soles of his feet; when he felt the tingling sensation which meant that his chakra had settled and he was now able to walk on the cliff side safely.
He walked over towards the edge and placed one foot firmly on the cliff side to test his chakra strength. This was the hardest jutsu for beginners, and sometimes even still hard for the chunin and jonin levels.
He carefully began to place one foot in front of the other, trusting that if he did fall he trusted that his sand would catch him.
As he began to walk vertically, and not having any problems, he quickened his pace down the cliff.
"I'll come, but don't expect me to stay long." Gaara replied when he reached earshot of Temari.
Her eyes widened in surprise. Gaara was actually agreeing to come along. Temari smiled a little and nodded her head.
"Okay just for a little bit. So how's your wounds?" Temari's eyes glided down Gaara to see if any wounds were still present.
The demon inside of him had rapid healing; so she knew that they were probably healed, but this was her little brother, she wanted to know if he was okay.
Gaara stopped walking and carefully looked at his sibling. His first reaction was to ignore her and keep walking. Why did she care?
Then images from the other day flashed through his mind like his sand does when it is protecting him.
He rememberd that the blonde boy that was protecting Konoha from him; what was his name…….. Naruto, that's right. He remembered Naruto fighting him with everything he had to save a village that didn't care for him.
Why?
Why did he risk so much?
Gaara figured he would never really understand.
'Who do I have to protect? Everyone hates me; so why should I care for anyone…..'
"Gaara!" he heard for the second time this night. "Are you sure you really want to come?" Temari asked, her face showing some signs of concern. "You do look tired, maybe you should just go home; it wasn't so long ago that you had that fight"
Gaara was confused by this look on his sister. "I'm fine." he said and continued to walk on.
Temari decided to leave it alone and decided to just keep an eye on him. She followed him through the street to the council structure. The sand was whipping around again, so they needed to wear a cloth over their heads.
There was a large group that was blocking the doorway, it seemed like it would be hard to get into the council room. Gaara knew though that once they saw the gourd the people would run off with fear like they always did when they saw him remotely close. And sure enough once he took off the cloth covering his face from the sand, the people began to wander away and look at him with fear in their eyes. Gaara ignored them and kept walking until he found the spot in the corner. He slinked over into the corner as the murmurs began.
He didn't have to listen to the murmurs much more. A door open and he saw Baki, his teacher, come out of the room the council members stayed in. The room immediately got quiet. Baki looked at the crowd and cleared his throat.
" The council has decided that they will take on the roll as the whole decision makers until a new Kazekage is announced." Baki told the crowd of scared individuals.
Gaara stood motionless in the dark corner. He listened carefully as the crowd erupted in shouts and breathless murmurs.
"What will we do? Now that there is no Kazekage, who will protect us?" Gaara heard the murmur of a frightened woman to his left.
Gaara scoffed silently.
Was his bastard of a father really that important?
Why couldn't they protect themselves?
He remembered his uncle telling him that many of the villagers did not become shinobi, they were the one's that kept the village alive.
After taking a better look at the worried face, he did recognize her as one of the pot makers in town.
'Well why should I care if she lives or dies?'
Gaara heard a voice ring loud in his ears.
"I won't let you hurt anyone, even if I have to kill you!"
Uzumaki Naruto
Again he thought about the blonde.
'I thought caring for people made you weak'
he thought.Gaara looked around at the people in the town building, he turned and walked out and stopped in the middle of the square.
The sand storm had dissipated and the setting sun gave a warm glow to the people retreating to their homes for the night. Gaara watched children tugging on their mothers, chattering away, he watched as lovers embraced; sad they had to part, and friends waving their goodbyes, knowing they would see each other in a few hours anyways.
No one looked at Gaara that way, and he knew no one would. He placed a hand on his chest over his heart, wincing as he did it. His chest hurt. It was the same pain he felt when Yashamaru confessed everything to him.
Heart pain.
That's what he called it.
'Why am I feeling this? After Yashamaru I should feel nothing. Then why…'
"Gaara!"
Gaara was brought out of his trance to see Temari and Kankuro standing in front of him.
"Huh?" was all Gaara could think of to say.
"Does your chest hurt?" Temari's eyes darted from his face to the hand still pressed against his heart.
"I'll be fine." he said simply, almost reflexively, as he moved his away and letting it fall to his side.
"It's getting late; let's go home." Kankuro said hefting Karasu back onto his shoulder. In his other hand he carried a small bag. "I even have dinner." he holds up the bag. Temari and Kankuro turn towards their home, ready to call it a day.
"You go. I'm not hungry." They heard Gaara say. They turned to see Gaara jump on the roof of the village meeting building and jump out of sight.
Temari sighs and looks over at her younger brother. "I'm getting worried." she said. "He hasn't eaten since we returned from Konoha."
" He's fine. He is probably eating when he gets home. We'll leave the food out, okay?" Kankuro said. He wasn't really bothered. He began walking back towards home as the last light slipped behind the canyon. Temari watched the place that Gaara was last for a few more minutes, then followed after her brother; hoping that Gaara would come home soon.