Ghost in the Sand

by Yemi Hikari

Gaara sees an apparition only he can see at the same time he's accused of something other then murder. The forth Kazekage finds the behavior of his youngest child strange, and finds himself pressured by both the council as well as the need to fix things with Konoha. (No OC pairings. OC is in the story as they're important for the plot to progress.)

1. Shukaku's Shrine

Disclaimer – I don't own Naruto. I started this piece for Wattpad's JustWriteIt June 2015 challenge as well as Wattpad's ParanormalCommunity's first Weekly Paranormal prompt as the one-shot for the prompt ended up becoming a much longer story for which I could make ten-thousand words within the month for a Fanfic. This is an AU where the Kazekage wasn't killed by Orochimaru.

Ghosts in the Sand
Shukaku's Shrine

Stay away, stay away
Hitodama float back and forth
Across the path to the shrine
Teru teru bozu lie on the floor
Sand rains down from the sky

Stay away, stay away
Bloody is the path to the shrine
Children weep salty tears
Every child knows they will never return
From the shrine bringing death

Stay away, stay away
From the path there is no escape
The bloody monk eats children
Hear the bones and bodies crunching, snapping
In the maul of the beast

A small face peeked out at the streets of Suna as the sound of the warabe uta floated up from the street where the small children bounced a pall back and forth. The twelve year old girl leaned forward as her mouth pushed together. Hearing the rhyme regarding the beast caused the girl's shoulders to tense up, her stomach to lurch, and an over whelming feeling of fear and panic to drum in the back of her mind. Every time she heard the song she remembered the demon child with the red hair.

"Come away from the window Kaiya. We have guests."

The girl stepped away from the window, and saw her mother motioning for another woman from the village to take a seat. The girl hurried over to sit on one of the chairs and remained quite as she watched her mother start preparing tea for their guest. Her hands crossed in her lap as her mouth closed tightly, and her hands gripped each other tight enough that her knuckles turned white. She didn't try breathing in a manner which would cause a sound and instead tried being the perfect young lady her mother wished her to be.

"Have you heard Masuyo? Our troubles with that demon may be coming to an end."

A sound escaped Kaiya's lips as the mention of the local monster was mentioned. Her mother turned her head to glare at the small girl as she shrunk back into her chair. Her eyes darted over to her mother for comfort, but when she found none coming she instead looked back at the other female as she tried forgetting about the red haired monster. Her mother's voice remained thick with malice. "As if we should be so lucky. The few times Kaiya's been out of the house she's run into that monster."

"Perhaps she would have better luck if you actually let her out." The woman took a deep breath as if Masuya had given her a glare. "Truth be told I can't blame you for keeping your daughter inside. That monster is unpredictable to say the least. Hopefully though the council will order the beast to be put down. Surely the council will realize there will be other problems regarding that thing other then just a bestial blood lust. He doesn't care what happens to others so long as his urges are taken care of."

"That monster is also the spawn of the Kazekage." Masuya came over to the table and poured each a cup of tea.

"You shouldn't talk about the Kazekage in such a manner." The words came out of Kaiya's mouth. "You told me as much mother. We should not blame him for the monster."

"My saying that monster is his spawn is not a reflection on the Kazekage, but on the fact I refuse to address that thing in the same manner I do his actual children."

"It should be." The other woman took her cup of tea. "Rumor has it we're going to war with Konoha, and it's all the Kazekage's fault."

"You shouldn't speak of our Kazekage like that."

"It is though his fault. Rumor has it..."

"I don't care about rumors. I simply want that thing to stay away from my daughter and to leave us in peace."

"Except these rumors are regarding things which will effect us sooner or later. The rumor is the Kazekage tried starting trouble with Konoha at the Chunin exams and he tried using that monster to do so."

"Sicking that monster on another village makes sense though if one really thinks about it. That thing has no control so it is better it loses control on someone else and ends up being another persons problem." Masuya stopped speaking. "Wait... you said he tried using that thing against Konoha."

"I'm not sure. The shinobi who went to Konoha came back, and none of them were happy."

"Are you sure they simply had to deal with that monster before coming back? There is no way the Kazekage would mess up."

"Nobody knows where the Kazekage is. Apparently he was absent during the ordeal."

Masuya sat down. "I don't care to hear such things. The only thing I care about is whether or not my daughter is safe from that monster."

"I told you. The council is going to order that beast be put down. It's of no use for us anymore. Instead it simply poses a danger to the entire community."

Kaiya looked at her mother from the corner of her eye and watched as the woman took a drink of her tea. "I'll believe it when it actually happens. The assassination attempts certainly didn't work. In my opinion things are going to get worse instead."

The twelve year old girl felt her shoulders tense up, and the feeling of panic and fear didn't go away when the woman left. Her attention was drawn again to the outside where the children continued the warabe uta. She leaned up against the wall to her families small house and tried not to think of the things she'd heard about the red haired demon that took the form of a child. "Why does he always show up whenever I come out?"

Eventually the singing stopped and Konoha felt her eyes closed. Night had fallen over Suna, and her mother went to bed believing her daughter was safely tucked away in her bed. Kaiya looked out at the night sky and shivered at the site of the moon. While the object wasn't at it's fullest the moon still caused her to fear what was to come. A doll remained clutched in her arms. A whistle came from below her window causing Kaiya to turn her head to the street below.

Her dark eyes widened as she recognized the young man below her. The light haired youth was also twelve years of age, and also remembered speaking a few times with him about the monster. A finger motioned for her to come out, and at first she shook her head causing the dark locks of hair to bounce on her shoulders. The young man motioned for her to follow again, and she finally slipped out of the room and headed down to the street.

She watched as he remained slightly ahead of her. Here bare feet felt sand between her toes as her white nightgown hung down to just below the knee. She clutched the doll to her chest tighter when she saw him stop in front of a run down torii belonging to a run down shrine associated with Shukaku. She felt her entire body tense up with sudden fear as the lines of the warabe uta played through her head.

The boy's lips turned up slightly. "Do you wish to be rid of the demon once and for all or not? As long as he's around you'll always live in fear." Kaiya swallowed before limping up the stairs after the boy. She tried not to note the hitodama floating around the place, but stopped part way up. The path went into the mountain side, and no sky was seen above. The boy turned to her again. "Is that limp because of something he did?"

Kaiya's head jerked quickly back to the boy, but no words came out of her mouth. "That's what everyone says."

"Don't you want to pay him back for what he did? The shrine's farther up, and I need your help."

The girl continued on up the stairs as her chest tightened from the fear she felt. "This feeling... I wish it would go away."

"That feeling you feel every time you think of the monster will go away if you help me stop him. Now is the best time to make our move."

The two twelve year old children arrived up at the top of the shrine and the boy motioned her to sit on a raised spot in the court yard. She clutched the doll to her chest and waited for the boy to say something to her about what they would be doing. Instead she watched him pull out a flute which he placed to his lips. She knew the boy blew on the flute, but no sound came out of the instrument. Her eyes blinked a couple of times as she looked at the instrument, and her head titled slightly to the side.

No sound came out of the instrument, but then she felt a pulling feeling around her middle. A different kind of fear overcame her. She found herself getting up and running down the stairs as she felt something continue to pull at her from deep down. Her body suddenly felt light as she feel down the stairs, and her doll fell down below her. She blinked a couple of times before she completely blacked out.