Gaara's Love
Summary: Gaara remembers someone from his past. He also questions a door with a false warning on it that he's been forbidden to see into, even as Kazekage. When he goes against the village council and goes in, he finds something unnerving.
Rating: T
Genre: Romance/Drama
Chapter 1: The Girl of My Memories
I remember her from when I was a child, about five or six. These boys were always playing in the park with a little rubber ball. I remember it being red. I followed the movement of it. One day, a young girl with black hair that was as long as she was tall started to play with them. She had lovely white eyes, but she must have been about four. She was a klutz and was always falling on her face. I saw her everyday and I watched her. I wasn't allowed to play with these kids because I'm a monster. I was born one. She was the only one who ever thought of me differently.
I watched her and the red ball. She threw up so high all the time. Once it got caught in the high branches of the only oak in our village. None of the kids could reach it and the black-haired klutz began crying. It was painful to see her crying and I wished that I could help her. Then, the sand that is always with me and always protects me rose up around the ball and brought it down to me.
"H-here is your b-ball," I said in a small voice, approaching the crowd. The girl stopped crying and looked at me in wonder. The other kids ran away.
"Monster! Monster! It's Gaara of the Sand!" The shouts of the kids hurt me as they ran away and I dropped the ball. I tried to leave, but the girl came towards me. She was a little shorter than I was. She picked up the ball and held it out to me.
"Pway with me?" she asked in cute voice. She smiled sweetly.
I don't rightly recall what happened afterwards. I know that I never saw her again. At least, not until after I was Kazekage.
It had been fifteen years. Naruto-kun, my first friend, was Hokage in Konoha. I hadn't seen him since the incident with the Akatsuki. He was dating Sasuke now. They sent me pictures every chance they took. Every letter that came out of Konoha to me was written by Sakura. She told me how busy Naruto was and how he was still able to pull off pranks on Sasuke's subordinates. Sasuke was a Jounin and had own Genins to look after.
As Kazekage, I had trouble with the people of my village. Everyone thought me a monster, but they never knew how much I set out for looking after them. I only stepped into fights if I felt that the Jounin couldn't handle it alone. I never underestimated them, but I think they underestimated me all the time. The council always hid things from me. They still thought of me as a monster. The biggest secret they kept from everyone, including my brother, Kankurou, and my sister, Temari, was hidden behind a locked door that had "toxic" written on the door. However, everyone I saw that walked in and out of the room never took any precautions for themselves.
"What's in that room!" I demanded from the head council member in my unnervingly calm voice.
"Nothing, Kazekage-sama," he replied.
"Don't lie to me. If you don't tell me, I'll go in there myself." A threat. The pressure would break him.
He sighed, but didn't say anything. I turned to the door. My sand crawled over to the edges, slipping inside. Once it had a good hold on the entire perimeter of it, it pulled it off, hinges included. I stepped into the room and stared, dumbstruck.