Life is Meaningless

By: kawaii-Cherimu130

Silence. Something so eerie, so dreadful, and so quiet, that it seems as if it was never even there to begin with. Besides the sound of the flowing river, there was no sound. Just quiet. Just silence.

A gaint tree, possibly 50 feet tall or more, stood alone by itself in a forest clearing. The massive tree was planted right by the flowing river. At night, the stars would twinkle as the ripples of the river disappered without a trace, and that large tree was there to see it all.

Gaara slowly made his way towards the gaint tree, his only salvation. He would come to this same tree each and everyday of his life and watch the birds swoop down by the river, and it seemed as if life was perfect during these times.

But not now.

Gaara grimaced as he remembered what had happened earlier that day by the riverside, and it was something that would cost Gaara his own life:

Both Temari and Kankuro walked side by side to the river, a wooden pail in Temari's hand. She was low on water, and needed to get some from the river. Bored, Kankuro offered to come along and keep her company. Temari had agreed, somewhat surprised by her own brother's actions, but had decided against asking questions since it might have been something personal.

Temari lowered her pail into the water. She ducked it under the cool liquid, and raised it back up, Kankuro standing behind her. "Hey, Temari," Kankuro began. Temari shouted back over her shoulder, "What?".

Kankuro looked down at his sister and replied, "Do you think Gaara's been acting...strange, here lately?" Temari stood up, her pail filled to the brim with water. She shook her head. "No, not really. Besides, even if he is, he can't help it. It's all Shukaku's fault, remember?"

Kankuro tilted his head back and looked up at the sky. "Yeah, I know. But..." "But what?" Temari asked curiously, the water in her pail splashing onto the ground. "It just seems like Gaara's not Gaara anymore. I mean, sure, he scares the hell out of me each and everyday, but now I think he's really trying to ignore us or something."

Temari smirked. "What? You worried or something?" Kankuro shook his head. "No, it's not that. It's just...well, he's weird. It seems like he's getting weirder each and everyday. I don't think it's Shukaku, either."

"You really think so?" Temari asked, a puzzled expression glued to her face. "Yeah. It's getting to the point that I really do belive he's a major freak. I mean, what person in their right mind would kill someone?" "That's Shukaku's fault." Temari pointed out.

Kankuro sighed. "No. I mean, I heard Gaara say that he actually enjoyed, better yet, loved to kill people. He said he loved seeing their frightened expressions and their blood flying everywhere."

"When did he tell you this?" Temari asked. Kankuro sighed. "Yesterday while we ate some ramen. You were too busy staring at the guys to notice." Temari gave a little blush as she began walked down the dirt path the two had took. "Yeah well...they were pretty hot." She chuckled.

"Anyway, I think Gaara's getting WAY out of hand. He's turning into a monster or something." Kankuro murmered sliently to himself as he followed Temari. "I think maybe we should leave him alone for awhile." Temari suggested as she removed a strand of blonde hair from her face.

"Yeah, good point." Kankuro replied. Soon, the two were nothing but blurs in the horizon, but what they didn't know, was that Gaara had been hiding in the gaint tree. He had been on a low branch that was surrounded by leaves and twigs, making it the perfect hiding spot.

Gaara glanced sadly down at the ground. Monster? Out of hand? They made it sound like he was a freak, and not really a person at all.

A flashback of his childhood played in Gaara's mind as he stared at the two black burs get smaller and smaller.

In his hand was a rope. Gaara tossed it over the side of a tree branch and leapt up on the branch. He quickly tied it, then he jumped back down on the ground and tied a loop at the end. He tossed the rope back over the branch until it was 5 feet off of the ground.

Perfect.

He leapt up on the tree branch and looped the hole around his neck. Gaara breathed in a deep breathe of air,possibly the last breathe he'd ever have. Taking a step off the tree branch, Gaara began gasping as the rope around his neck tightened.

Suddenly, a black kunai knife swooshed through the air, and sliced the rope in half. Gaara, along with part of the rope, fell to the ground. Gaara sat there, gasping. Whoever did this would pay.

"K-Kank-kuro? "T-Tem-mari?" Gaara stammered as he held his throat. Temari and Kankuro had their arms folded across their chests, and concerned looks plastered on their faces. It seemed as if they had gotten taller from where Gaara was laying.

"Get up, Gaara. We need to talk with you." Kankuro said. Gaara stood up, and before he could block using his sand, Temari had flung her arms around him in a gaint hug. "Oh, Gaara," Temari cried as she buried her head in her shoulder. Gaara was puzzled. Why were they so concerned? Didn't they detest him just like the men and women back in Sunagakure did?

"We were so worried!" Temari leaned back, her eyes locked on Gaara's face. "We came here to talk about why you were acting so strange. Then..then we saw you trying to kill yourself and..."

"And I threw the kunai," Kankuro interupted. "Gaara, we don't want to see you try that ever again. Do you understand?" Gaara didn't nod, or blink. "I understand, Kankuro..." Gaara replied emotionlessly. Both Kankuro and Temari turned around, Temari wiping away the tears she cried, and began walking away sliently, hoping that they had reached out to their little brother more than needed.

And for the first time in a long, long time, Gaara actually felt loved.