"You are aware that father will have your head for this, right?"
"Father has wanted my head detached from my body the minute I was born."
"Yes but now you will be giving him a justifiable enough reason to follow through with it."
"I can't keep living like this Kankuro. I am tired of being used by him to take the lives of innocent people. I am tired of pretending to believe that I have to kill to validate my existence. All he sees me as is a killer, all he thinks I'm good for is bringing him death." Gaara sighed and leaned against the curved wall of the outer staircase.
"I understand. Part of me doesn't want to see you go but I know she was right to order you to leave." Kankuro gave a small smile to his younger brother. A silent plea.
The redhead furrowed his brow. He never thought it would feel this sad. "You know I have no place here, not while father rules. I hate running away but Temari is right. At this point leaving is my only option, no matter how skilled an assassin I am he will surely kill me if I stay."
"Temari and I will try to keep them off your trail until you reach the northern border." Kankuro nodded, knowing Gaara had to leave the country for his own safety.
"Are you sure you want to be helping me? Father isn't a forgiving man."
"What kind of brother would I be if I sat back and let you do this on your own? And Temari loves you more than anything, you really can't expect her to not try and protect you."
Gaara nodded, his father may have despised him his whole life but his siblings did not. They were his true family, and the hardest part about leaving his home. They all knew it was for the best. Father would find out what Gaara deliberately failed to do by morning and hopefully the prince would be long gone before they could pass a death sentence for his defiance. They mounted their horses and rode out of the city to their meeting spot below a cliff in the dry desert landscape. A familiar woman on a white mare was waiting for them.
"Have they fled to safety?"
"I took care of it. Father won't be able to find them." The woman dismounted her horse and walked over to her younger sibling.
"Thank you Temari."
She handed over a cloth bag filled with supplies to the assassin. "She said if it's a boy it'll be named after you."
Gaara scoffed. "That poor child doesn't deserve the name of a monster."
"You spared their lives and the life of their unborn child. Her husband is eternally grateful you showed them mercy and gave them a chance to escape father. You are not a monster, Gaara."
"Tell that to my staggering kill count." He deadpanned as he stowed away the supplies in the saddle bag.
"Gaara. You know that your past does not define your future. Regardless of how father manipulated you, we will never think of you as anything but our brother."
Gaara paused. Was this the last time he would see his family? May as well be. He owed a lot to his brother and sister, without them his father might have succeeded in killing him before he could even walk. Gaara's life had been a difficult one. He killed his mother with his birth, his father's kindness, compassion and any sense of love for his youngest son went with her. He became burden to the widower king, an eyesore, a reminder of just how much he lost thanks to him, the demon boy. As he got older he gained favor in the eyes of the people, nobody really held him accountable for the queen's death like his father did. The subjects of the Wind kingdom loved the youngest prince and the king was enraged when he learned it. At the age of ten Gaara began taking on missions from his father. He was always given the hardest and most dangerous tasks in comparison to his siblings. Always a game of which horrific order would be the one to break the young prince. Unfortunately, Gaara seemed to have a knack for killing others and surviving. While he had no pleasure in slitting throats and watching the blood soak the sand beneath his feet, he knew better than to speak it, fearing his father would purposely make him out of spite. It didn't matter, the Wind King saw the advantage and made him kill anyway. The Reaper of the Sand brought death to his father's enemies, while the king pulled the strings and shaped him into the kingdom's most feared assassin.
Everyone that once loved and adored him as a child now ran and hid as he passed. No one dared to look him in the eye, or mutter a single word of greeting. His father had begun sending Gaara to kill anyone who so much as spoke ill of the current kings rule. Countless innocent men and women who simply voiced their displeasure with their monarch at the wrong time. Gaara had been sent to slaughter them all. Every single one of them cowering in fear, calling him a monster as he let his knife glide across their necks in a chaotic crimson symphony. He had accepted his fate, all he would ever be to his people was a harbinger of death.
The only thing in his life that kept him from giving up was his siblings. His sister, who fiercely protected and defended him as a child from the King's cruel words and heavy fists. His brother, who always gave him attention and company while the rest of the court would whisper about the horrendous things he had done at orders of the king. His siblings who never batted an eye as Gaara confided to them all the helpless lives he had taken because his father ordered him to. Temari was the true queen this kingdom deserved and Kankuro was to be the noble right hand. Father loved them dearly, the people loved them just as much. Unlike Gaara, they belonged here.
"I could never thank you both enough. When everyone else had turned on me, you both blindly jumped in to help me. And even now you still come to my aid, even if it's a stupid thing to do. I hope someday we can be together again, and at peace in our land. Please take care-.." Gaara was cut off by his sister gripping him in a tight hug, silent tears streaming down her face.
"Shut up. You're making her cry, you idiot." Kankuro cleared his throat as he spoke and placed a hand on his brother's shoulder as he was still being smothered by Temari.
"We will see each other soon. And you'll always be in our hearts until that time comes. So I don't want to hear any negative talk from you anymore." She finally pulled back and flicked him gently on the forehead.
"You are of the Sand, little brother. Never forget that." Kankuro embraced Gaara as he spoke.
"May the stars keep watch over you, until we meet again." Temari held her younger brothers hands as she began to recite their farewell blessing.
"May the moon shine it's light on your darkest days." Kankuro removed his hood and turned to stand next to his brother.
"May the sun guide your path, and bless your glorious reign." Both men kneeled before their sister as she held back more tears that threatened to spill over.
Their symbol of devotion and service to their future queen. If he survived, Gaara would come home again, but only at her call. He refused to serve his father any longer. His loyalty now lay with his Temari, and she was sending him away for his own safety. Because she loved him and knew the threat their father was. Gaara also understood how important it was to overthrow him before the impending war broke out. Which is why he had taken it upon himself to turn this into an opportunity for them. He would ride to the Northern Fire Kingdom, not to hide and wait out until his father's death like his siblings intended for him, but to try and plead for help. To end his father's tyranny and life.
Gaara mounted his horse and gave a final wave before charging off into the desolate dunes, kicking up sand behind him. If his father made him a vessel for death it was only fitting that youngest prince would be the one to usher his father into the afterlife. After all, it was what Gaara did best.