"Run! Let's go!"
The girl grabbed hold of the youngest's hand and ran into the night. Street lamps flickered as they ran past, the middle child shortly behind them. Beyond the trio was a man of 6ft with a muscular build and a menacing face. If hell was a human, it was him. The man's thick and strong legs were no match for the three children for he was moments away of grabbing the middle child.
"Come back here you little punks!"
She led her two brothers to the left, only to find an alleyway with a dead end. The fence was manageable for the older two but not the youngest, he was far too small and weak.
"I got you all now!"
The voice became louder and louder. There was no choice anymore. The grip on the little boy's hand tightened as they charged towards the fence.
"Kankuro! The box!"
Said figure nodded to rush over to a wooden, rusted box which was too heavy to carry. The eldest turned towards the red haired boy with her hands on his plump cheeks. Her knee was bent and she planted her trademark smile on her soft face.
"Gaara, everything is going to be okay. Your brother is going to take you away from here."
On cue, Kankuro had pushed the box until it hit the rigid fence.
"But what about you oneesan (1)?" the voice was still fragile and high pitched. Only 6 years young and having to run from a life of crime and hatred, all in the name of survival.
"I'll be fine. Now go," her words left in a hurried whisper. The hands on his cheek left to pass him to the second oldest brother.
"Okay now little dude, grab onto my back."
The giant man stood by the entrance of the alleyway. He walked agonisingly slowly towards the three children with the knife in his hands and a beckoning smirk. Doing as he was told, Gaara hopped onto Kankuro's back. Time was running out but the taller boy wouldn't climb the fence until he knew his brother was properly secured on his back. Safety of the youngest was the biggest priority for the two older siblings.
"Go. I'll catch up."
The two were already at the top of the fence and made their way downwards carefully. Upon safely landing, Kankuro had worry engraved in his eyes as he looked at the back of his sister's hair through the silver fence.
"He's tough Te-"
"Go."
She meant business.
Kankuro looked away with closed eyes before their figures disappeared into the distance, However the red haired boy turned around to look at his sister with concerning eyes.
This man was the worst thing the siblings ever came across. And they came across many, many, many people. One remarkably famous example was the butcher of a meat shop on the outskirts of the city who chased after the siblings, throwing knives and insults. It was a miracle that his fat figure couldn't keep up with the energetic speed of the siblings. Another example was the son of a manager who owned a gun shop. Gaara was the wisest and the smartest for he distinctly pulled his siblings by the back of their clothes before they entered the back of the shop. The feeling he had was worse than terrible, and knew the force inside was beyond nature itself. The two older siblings had to learn the hard way that it was indeed, not a food shop when the manager's son emerged with a rifle in his hand and aimed to shoot the oldest. Luckily, the shot from the rifle had backfired with such power that the aim was more than a mile off. The three never came across that shop again.
But this man was something else.
You would think as the owner of a bakery shop, there'd be a soft nature about him. Maybe he'd look past the three children, malnourished and dying, and throw partly burnt loaves of bread towards them. If they were unsuitable to sell for customers, there would be no harm giving them away right? Perhaps he'd chuck an extra loaf for the road, especially if several of them weren't enough to feed three hungry children for a long time. The siblings' instincts improved and were incredibly advanced for those of their age. One could say they had the judgement and strategic ideas of a military leader. Therefore, experience after experience, days after months after years, the trio trusted and relied on their instincts like a hawk.
However.
Their judgement of the owner had betrayed them catastrophically.
But who could blame them? They're still too young to know of the dark secrets that lurk in every house, in every corner of the city. The typical plan - or rather - ritual of the siblings is to sneak in from the back and to steal the food. Fairly straightforward. They've been doing it for years. So when all was according to plan and Kankuro sneaked into the room from the back, to find a bloody knife stuck on the table but no food, it was a bit weird. Besides, the shop didn't sell meat. So where was it?
"Temari," he signalled her to crawl towards him as he hid behind the table. Gaara was by the entrance of the back door with his eyes looking into the room, he was on lookout for the owner entering the room. The girl saw the knife on the table but developed an empty pit in her stomach, the kind of uncertainty and anxiety rather than the cry for food.
"I don't like this. This isn't right. We need to go, I'm taking Gaara."
"This shop is so big there has to be something!"
"Don't be stupid we need to leave right now." Returning to the back entrance of the room, she stepped outside of the house where the little figure stood.
"Sorry Gaara but there isn't anything in here. Let's go to the next one okay?"
As she shook his messy hair, a little laugh left his lips. Throughout all their troubles and their grief, Gaara's innocent smile was their remedy. The eldest smiled back with a beautiful grin and continued to play with his hair.
Temari is acting stupid. There must be someth- hey there's a fridge and freezer!
A smile lifted Kankuro's lips as he dashed towards the seemingly massive fridge. Given their height, they found anything huge. The moment he reached the handle and pulled, there was nothing in the world whatsoever that could have prepared him for the mentally scarring image. Bullets of sweat enveloped his face and the his pupils shook before he stepped back slowly.
"Kankuro! Hurry up we need t-" once she looked over to her brother from the door, her reflexes brought her hand to her lips and guilt invaded her fragile body. What was this monstrosity?! Was that...what she thought it was? She wasn't stern enough towards her brother and hadn't been forceful enough to drag him out. Now, she could never forgive herself for letting Kankuro see something so disturbing. Even so, she was failing to fight the urge of not vomiting and scream. To let Gaara see such sight would kill him so when her hand covered his eyes, he screamed in response.
"Oneesan, what are you doing?!"
He heard that!
The sounds of loud footsteps entered the room in the darkness. A gigantic adult eyed the little girl by the door, now holding his youngest brother as tightly as possible.
"What are you punks doing?!"
He paused in his tracks when he realised Kankuro stared at the contents of the fridge. The darkest secret of the city was revealed, and a low growl left the owner's mouth.
"You fools..." the growl grew louder and faster until a hand reached for the knife on the table. With a yank, the crack on the table deepened and spread.
Kankuro gasped as sweat flew from his hair. It took a stumble for him to realise the reality of the situation and that they needed to just run. Never look back, just run. Temari and Gaara left behind a cloud of smoke from their head start run.
And now here they were. One against one.
Temari against the local murderer who stored body parts in his freezer and fridge.
One step forward, one step backwards. Two steps forward, two steps backwards. The sound of Temari's back hitting against the fence signalled the end, a dead end, with no escape. In a state of shock, she collapsed with her shaking soul and hands on the ground. The figure towered over her and blocked her view of the night sky, resulting in a mixture of anger, fear and sadness. Her last sight would be the view of the most ugliest man that breathed the same air as she did and she would die in unnatural, disgusting ways. When the man extended his arm backwards, the knife sparked in the night sky and the young girl saw her life flash before her eyes. They all had a dream, herself and her beautiful brothers. They were going to start an organisation of peace and opportunity, giving an equal chance to everyone and never saying no to anyone regardless of their experiences and background. If they all shared the same passion they did, it didn't matter if they were from the poorest, abandoned orphanages, or the grand palaces of the highest status. Passion and love was all that mattered and they were going to be the very best of the best. They would wake up one morning as successful adults with the biggest of smiles, and tell each other "we finally made it".
Temari didn't want to give up that dream, not just yet.
Fingers desperately travelled around the rough, dirty ground until she felt a sharp pain in her index finger. Her teal eyes hadn't left the blood thirsty pair staring at her but her instincts told her that her finger touched the tip of what felt like a shiv. This was it. This was her escape. In a flash, she placed her hand on the sharp object and ignored the sensation of blood trickling down her hand.
In one smooth motion, it was all over.
"It's okay Gaara shhhh. She'll be here soon," his arms wrapped around the little boy's shoulder. The smallest and youngest rested his little body next to Kankuro's as they both crouched.
"Oniisan...did she die? (2)"
He winced at his question. Of course not. Temari wouldn't die like that. All three had endured the most difficult situations and found a way out, this was no different.
"No Gaara, I'm alive and well."
The brothers looked up from their position to look at the fatigued girl with a trembling smile. The youngest stood up to hug his dear sister with open arms, but Kankuro felt doubt rise in the air. Her normally relaxed eyes hadn't looked that way whatsoever. Kankuro thought he smelt something salty, and perhaps flesh. Was it blood?
'What happened?' brown eyes asked with a frown.
Temari ensured Gaara's face was buried in her chest before Temari shook her head. It was not the time for that conversation, nor would it ever be for many many years. She hugged back tightly with her arms wrapped around his body.
"I'm sorry I couldn't find any food for today. Let's try again tomorrow when we're not too tired."
The girl carried Gaara in her arms before sitting next to Kankuro against the brick wall. She tickled his cheeks and nose as well as shaking Kankuro's hair; he grimaced, making Temari grin.
"Listen here you two. We're going to live our dreams."
She reminded them why they were doing all this, why they ran every busy night scavenging for food and why they always stuck together. It was to grow mentally and physically before inevitably becoming world conquerors.
"As in the organisation?"
Kankuro glanced towards his sister.
"Mhmm. Whilst we're at it, let's think of a name for ourselves."
Gaara looked up towards his sister's shining face and the night sky beneath them. His baby lips fell into a straight line as he brainstormed ideas.
"How about Kankuro and co.?"
"I'm the oldest here so if you're going to add a name it should be mine."
Temari spat with red burning her face. Kankuro could be so idiotic sometimes.
"But siiiiiiis it's a cool name."
"It really isn't."
"I think it is!"
"Trust me it really isn't."
"The Sand Siblings?"
"Eh?"
The bickering pair looked at the wisest of the three.
"S...sand. We play with it everyday and we...we're from the sand city."
In addition to being the wisest, he was simply creative and patient.
Temari looked at Kankuro as a blank canvas before her lips raised into a smile, showing her teeth.
"The Sand Siblings. I like it. It's catchy! Kankuro what do you think?"
The figure brought his hand to his chin and closed his eyes, eyebrows furrowing even more.
"Hmm I do like the other name more though."
"Kankuro."
The stern tone of her voice sent shivers down his spine.
"Although I like this one too. Yeah! From this point onwards, we are the sand siblings."
The moon's brightness was nothing in comparison to Gaara's delighted face. It had been official and they were going to be unstoppable.
"We're going to tackle the world, just us 3."
"Nothing will stop us."
"No one is better than the Sand Siblings!"
"And nothing will tear us apart."
Years and years passed as they lived through the growth and eventual success of their dreams. The trio were unstoppable and no one could touch them otherwise. Blood may have been thick but sand was thicker. The siblings never went back on their word and would stick with each other through the darkest times.
Their rise to fame began from their unimaginable escapes from the police force and in worst case situations, even the army. People who wanted to be like the siblings began to find them, wanting to participate in their activities. But some of these people weren't getting the message: no one could join the Sand Siblings. It was just those 3 and those 3 only. That isn't to say they couldn't help others right? So the three had other plans.
"Hey, what have you always wanted to be?"
It was the classic first question Kankuro would ask to those who approached them. The trio knew that those who begged to join them could have placed their passion elsewhere, becoming a better person and contributor to society rather than becoming criminals like them. They would be used to the puzzling faces that stared back at the three with some responses proving hard to not laugh at. But the siblings had to keep a straight face and a good composure if they wanted to look professional. With a stutter, they heard a variety of responses, ranging from the most ambitious to the most bizarre.
"A...doctor I guess? I want to save lives."
"Oh man how cool would it be to become the president?!"
"Judge me all you want but being a stripper seems cool. Sex appeal and sex itself is all about exploration and I'm ready to embrace it." (Temari would remember this request out of all others because the shades of red that enveloped her brothers' cheeks was hilarious to not laugh at. The days of puberty had rendered the boys curious after all, and it was the only time they lost their composure and Temari had respected the woman. She didn't give a shit about what anyone thought and she loved it.)
"Lawyer. Justice in this world is dying and I need to bring it back."
"The best teacher world!"
And many more ideas. As part of their organisation, they would help such people achieve their dreams and goals. For instance, they'd pay for particular clients' university fees to help those become the next major doctor or lawyer. Other ways included helping them achieve the experience for the jobs they wanted to do. (So imagine the brothers' shock when Temari had decided that they needed to escort the aspiring female stripper to strip clubs every evening. She would always see them come back with nose bleeds and she'd laugh so much). Although the most typical way of helping them meet their dreams happened to be more or less...how should we call it:
Illegal.
Certain people in the world just simply refused to provide opportunity for those less fortunate. Words would never seem to persuade those unwilling to budge their stereotyped, ignorant selves. So it was a tradition for the siblings to sigh before their actions did the deed. Some people would be tied up to chairs and threatened to provide that 'law firm job to the boy you've been purposely ignoring for 2 years' or to provide 'the girl that acting job she trained and has the talent for'. Many conformed to their threats without hesitation but then again, the very few hadn't been threatened by the group of youngsters.
The trio were just a "bunch of brats" after all, what harm could they do?
They would have to learn it the hard way when those beloved to them were one step closer to the death in a stroke of a knife, or their bank account was one click away from 10 figures to 0. By that point, they had everything. They gave those who asked for their help an opportunity, and they got it. They never failed to meet the demands of a single customer. So it was only customary that they would pay back.
This was how three teenagers took control of the hospitals, police forces, governments, schools and nightclubs of Sunagokure within the first few years of their career.
Three so called 'brats' ran the entire city and eventually took control of neighbouring cities and more industrial services, spreading their power across multiple systems and places.
But things weren't all that they seemed.
Over the years, their perceptions on reality began to change. You could say that their visions were distorted and disturbed. Of course they had their wolf like instincts that hadn't failed them since the bakery incident. But when it came down to confronting what was right and wrong, their views were controversial. Their punishments were deadly and if one hadn't known their reasons for their various actions, they would be regarded as the coldest siblings ever.
When people had failed to meet their expectations or certain deadlines, the trio deemed for it to be appropriate to cut off the tip of their fingers. Just a little warning. Only a simple and fair warning. However, those who failed to repay debts after a while or hurt their comrades met justice in the eyes of the siblings: having their body parts removed, typically the hand. This represented the idea that with less body parts, they had to increasingly rely on others. And may God forbid those who dared to land a scratch or a scar on the siblings themselves, for they would fall into the sweet, delicious hands of death. And that was just the mere tip of the iceberg. They were capable of more.
Oh you wouldn't even understand the meaning of torture unless you messed with them. Their unnatural actions made hell look so cute.
Rumour has it that night, Temari had murdered the owner of the bakery store by landing her shiv in between a dangerous pair of eyes. The moment the owner's lifeless body struck the ground, a new feeling stirred in her heart. She begun to relish the feeling of murdering others in the name and love of her brothers; this was when the innocent girl's perception of hatred had changed and her idea of love was to always be very protective and mature
Love was protecting those who you'd die for.
Many years later in the dark streets of numerous cities, people gossiped that for anyone that hurt her siblings, male or female, she'd torture you by slashing 1000 cuts with knives or she'd use the powers of her breathtaking beauty and sex appeal to tease and seduce her victims, all before a dagger entered the centre of their forehead.
A dagger. Could you blame her for being old fashioned? She didn't like guns after all, not after she was 'almost' killed by one. Once her view of life begun to change, the domino effect hit her brothers.
When Kankuro was 12, he was separated from Temari and Gaara as they were running away from a police officer. Any shop to hide in was enough, so luck had it that he entered a shop deemed too terrifying for children like him to enter inside. Even adults cringed from the shop, such as the police officer who concluded that a kid like Kankuro wouldn't hide in here, it was too goddamn horrifying.
When the child analysed his surroundings to see lifeless figures of wooden puppets hanging from the ceiling and different puppets of animals such as bears and birds presented along the window and walls, he found it aesthetically pleasing. The amount of time to smoothen the texture of the puppets, form sharp shapes and create many figurines showed dedication, and that was stunning to him. Turning towards the man at the counter, he expressed his amazement towards such puppets and the grey haired, dark skinned man smiled at his words. He even offered Kankuro to take one for free. It had been years since someone entered his shop, let alone compliment his years of work and the owner of the shop was one of the very few loyal people in Kankuro's life.
When the siblings finally became successful and the puppet business was dying, Kankuro gave more than enough money for the shop and its art to continue. He hadn't even thought twice about it, he did it immediately. Despite their controversial and terrifying acts, the owner knew that they were all good people at heart and continued to carve and create puppets for his favourite customer until his sad passing. The puppet boy would lay flowers on his gravestone every Sunday morning, keeping the first ever puppet he took close by him.
Love, to Kankuro, was dedication. Those who displayed nothing but respect and loyalty were the most brilliant and worthy of promotions and rewards. This explained why out of the three siblings, the punishment for betraying Kankuro was one of the bloodiest and hereby the worst.
Finally, it was time for Gaara to have his revelations.
His case is rather complicated; he hadn't understood the idea of what was love as young as his siblings. Rumours say he still doesn't know the concept of it but that was a ridiculous lie. The truth was, he understood it the hard way. He was 15, Kankuro and Temari were 17 and 18 respectively. They were at the point where their career had took a massive turn for the better and were only becoming increasingly popular. Girls would swoon over the sight of Gaara and Kankuro but boys would drop to their knees at Temari's womanhood. Men idolised her curves and were attracted to her mysterious nature. Nevertheless, the siblings didn't care for relationships and were more focused on themselves, each other and their career. Their ideas of love only applied to each other and they wouldn't start to romantically notice other individuals until they were at the top of the world; that was their promise to each other.
One night, the siblings had approached another trio of males on the streets of Sunagokure. The boy in the centre demanded a fight, only to be declined by the siblings as they continued to walk. Their insults and taunts were ignored until one line paused them in their tracks.
"Why aren't you an all man squad? Women are sluts and have no power in this society."
Kankuro was the first to react, fist up and ready to beat the living shit out of the source of the voice.
"Don't bother Kankuro, they're nothing." Temari stopped her brother. She was used to this all her life hence why she'd take advantage of her womanhood to 'seduce' sexist men to death.
"Would a person who's 'nothing' do this?"
Said person charged towards Kankuro followed by the second male, landing punches and kicks to the second oldest child. Gaara froze whilst his sister ran to help Kankuro, defending kicks and punches aimed towards him. Screaming at them to leave him alone, the leader of the trio pulled out two guns and aimed for the unconscious, bloody, beaten Kankuro and the so called 'slut'.
"You three don't know how to run a town like this properly. It's time to leave it to us."
Before his finger could ghost over the trigger, a knife was thrown from a distance to strike the neck of the leader. The red haired boy calmly walked towards the enemy, who still stood with blood leaking from his neck and mouth. The boys beside them had run away until they were shot in the head by their leader's guns.
So not only was Gaara wise, creative and patient, he was one hell of a shot without ever using a single gun before in his life.
"Do not threaten my brother and sister," he calmly spoke as the dying figure landed on his back. Dead bodies were the least of their concern because someone would clear it up for them. They had many links and in that scene, they were very thankful for it. Gaara dropped the two guns before kneeling over to look at Kankuro. Temari had already fed him water and patted away the blood on his face with a napkin. She knew he was going to be okay but if this happened years ago, his body wouldn't have been able to handle it.
"Since when did you learn how to use a gun?"
"Since never."
Despite the haunting situation, she managed to smile. Her brother was truly amazing.
"Gaara, if you can."
He nodded. A grunt escaped Kankuro's lips as the pair lifted him up and took them home to retrieve better care. Gaara's lips moved slightly upwards upon realising how far they've physically come. Their once poor and feeble bodies were able to lift each others' malnourished and parched bodies so easily. If anyone had known of what they used to look like back in the day, they'd die of shock. But given Kankuro's frequent visits to the gym, Temari's tessenjutsu (3) sessions and all three participating in martial arts classes, their bodies had undergone such drastic change. It was now becoming increasingly difficult to lift each other easily without a sweat. Upon seeing Temari fighting the strain of carrying his heavy brother, he praised her bravery to dive head first into a situation with unknown consequences. The element of bravery...he wanted to know more about such an astonishing thing. He wanted to practise it, learn about it and perhaps teach it one day. The idea of love and bravery together made sense to him, and it was what he chose to believe.
Love was protection, dedication and bravery.
So it was on that night all three of them had their ideas on love. The night was lined up. The scene was set. Kankuro had recovered from his injuries quickly and the siblings promised a better, pain-free world for those worthy of it.
.
.
.
Legend says that on this bloody, revolutionary night, one of the most notorious group of gangsters were born and ready to unleash hell:
The Sand Siblings.
A/N: I will be continuing my other story too but I hope y'all like this so far! This story has more characters than the other one and is based in an alternative reality (imagine Tokyo, New York, London, it's more of a city vibe but with the same names from the Naruto series)
(1) Oneesan: older sister in Japanese
(2) Oniisan: older brother in Japanese
(3) Tessenjutsu: martial art involving the tessen
This world (clearly) has no ninjas and ninjutsu's but rather just weaponry and fights (hence the M rating)
I'd highly appreciate it if you could give a rating to see how I can improve and develop my writing.
Thank you all so much for reading it means a lot xx