A Broken Promise

Chapter 1

The world was pitch black.There was nothing.No sound, no living thing.Just black.The silence rang through the only human's ears, causing an uncomfortable feeling to flow through his body.What was this place?Why was he here?His body felt stiff, and as he tried to move, he found that his limbs would not listen to his commands. He tried to stand, to walk to try to find someone to help him…But he was frozen.His mouth felt dry, as if he hadn't had a drink of water in decades. He opened his mouth to speak, to call for help.But for some reason, he stayed quiet.A heart began to race, sheer panic spreading through the boys body.He wanted to move. He wanted to shout out to whatever was there, hidden in the opaque shadows that surrounded him. He still struggled to try and move, straining his body as much as he could. He tried to raise his arms over his head, to even stretch out his fingers.Nothing happened.

'What… is this…?'

It was just odd. This had never happened to him before. Why was he frozen? Why couldn't he move?

He could feel the sweat dripping down his face, he could feel his eyes clamp themselves shut as he continued to struggle.

Then, came a sound that made him stop moving all together.

"Gaara. You look pathetic."

His heart felt like it had suddenly stopped, as his pale blue eyes resurfaced, quickly snapping open.

He stared, he looked around, but there was no one around in the dark shadows.

Who was there? Why wasn't this person helping him?

Then, it hit him.

It hit him like a brick to the face.

His heart started up again, beating faster than it had ever done before.

There, floating above him was a pair of eyes.

Large, golden eyes, with round dark pupils.

They were staring at him as he lay there on the floor, staring at him like he was some pathetic bug.

This… couldn't be, could it…?

"Sh…Shukaku…?"

A laugh echoed in the dark surfaces, a low, dark laugh that he was awfully familiar with.

It made every fibre in Gaara's body twitch with fear, something that he hadn't felt for a very long time.

"I'm surprised you remember me," the Shukaku said, his loud voice booming in the shadowed area. "I feel honoured to be remembered by the great Kazekage."

The boy felt his face twist, his eyes narrowing in hatred.

"How could I forget you, Shukaku? You made my life a living hell."

Another low laughing echoed in his ears. This time, it seemed darker than before.

"Such anger, Gaara," it replied. "Really, I thought that part of you was gone. But I guess not."

Again, the place was silent. An annoying buzz rang through Gaara's ears as he stared back at the eyes that continued to watch his shadowed figure. The ominous yellow eyes of the demon that had lived inside of him for most of his life.

They continued to stare at him, even though he was quiet.

Though, he was not quiet for long.

"…Why are you here?" he asked the simple question. "You're not supposed to be here anymore. Because you were-"

"Ah, yes, I know," the Shukaku interrupted, suddenly showing off it's glimmering white teeth in a wide grin. "I know that I'm not supposed to be here. Because I was sucked out of your body by that damned Akatsuki, correct? I'm supposed to be dead, aren't I?"

Pure silence.

Then, more laughter.

"I suppose, I am dead. I'm no longer apart of you, Gaara."

"…Then… why are you here?"

The grin which was now visible to Gaara's eyes had grown, and suddenly, the whole figure of the great demon had shown itself.

It's shoulders reigned high, it's tail coiled around it's bent down legs. The racoon-dog's claws were dug into the dark surface of the floor, and it's eyes narrowed as it bent foreword towards the boy who was seemingly pinned on the floor.

It's dark tanned body was shadowed, though many cracks were visible.

It's massive head was now inches from Gaara's face as he continued to stare down at him with it's large eyes.

Suddenly, the grin was gone.

"I've come here to give you a message," it replied to him darkly. "Stop acting so pathetic and get a hold of yourself. And for Kami's sake… stop your damn crying. This was fate's choice. Not mine."

Crying? He wasn't crying. The last time he cried was when he was just a child.

The moisture on his face was sweat. He knew it was.

…Wasn't it?

He felt his faded blue eyes widen, wider than they had been before.

He could now see his pathetic self reflected in the Shukaku's eyes, his pathetic self that was just lying there.

His face seemed dirty, darker than it had been. His locks of red hair were messier than usual, which was probably from tossing and turning to try to get up.

Then, he saw it. He saw what had made his heart stop all together.

There were his eyes, circled with black from the insomnia he suffered all these years. Droplets of water were falling from his circled, tired eyes, staining his pale white face.

They fell down his cheeks, past his lips; they flowed like a never-ending river.

His pale lips slightly parted, the slightest bit of noise escaping from his mouth.

He was…crying.

- - - - - - - - - - -

"N-nn…"

A low noise emitted through the pales lips of the Kazekage as his dark circled eyes opened, the brightness of the morning sun blinding his vision for a few moments.

It blinded him from the sight of his room, from the sight of the white tall ceiling, from the sight of his entire bedroom.

But he was glad for that moment of blindness.

Because he was finally free from the shadows.

It filled his heart with relief. He never thought that he would be grateful to be in the sunlight again.

What was that dream? Gaara hadn't had one like that in a long time.

And strangely enough, the Shukaku was in it…

The words of the demon played back in his mind as he continued to lay there on his bed.

They didn't make sense to him.

"Get a hold of yourself"? "Stop crying"? "This was fates choice, not mine"?

Gaara didn't understand the demon's message at all.

What was he doing wrong? And he wasn't crying, that was only in his dream-

No… it wasn't just in his dream, was it?

He could still feel the moisture from his eyes trail down his face, pouring from his pale blue eyes.

He felt the salty taste of tears fall into his parted mouth, dripping down his tongue.

And they continued to drip down his face as he sat up from his bed, the white night shirt he wore falling past the top of his shoulders, revealing just the slightest of his pale chest.

The tiniest bit of a noise escaped his pale lips, his thin shoulders suddenly beginning to tremble.

Why? Why was he crying?!

It made no sense!

He no longer felt such emotions. He wasn't… supposed to feel them.

Ever since his uncle told him he was hated, and when he killed himself on that day…

Gaara no longer felt such emotions.

So what was so different about this morning?

Well, actually, it wasn't different.

Not from the past month and a half, anyways.

Yes, this wasn't something new. Gaara had been having that same reoccurring dream for a while, now. And had been waking up crying.

Ever since the day… when the Shukaku was taken out of him by the Akatsuki.

Sucked out of his living body, for some selfish plan they had.

"…Ever since that day, I've been able to sleep…" he murmured to himself, his voice breaking out slightly to turn into a low sob as his hands caressed the front of his face. "But why… am I crying? Why am… I so pathetic?"

The Kazekage sat in his mess of white sheets, in the rays of the sunlight, with his hands over the front of his face.

He sat there and started to cry, sob like he was some child.

Subaku no Gaara, the demon of Sunagakure, was crying.

And he continued to do so for quite sometime, the only noise in the whole room was his sobbing.

He just sat and sat… wasting the hours of the morning.

Quite frankly… he just wanted to sit there and never leave his current solitude.

Not now.

Not when he was like this.