Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.

Uhm, does anyone know which one of Kankuro and Temari is the eldest? No? Thanks anyway. Don't worry, this fanfic it's rather descriptive in the first chapter but the others will be different. Something WILL happen to Gaara while he's away. Guess that'll be in the next chapter. This is some sort of intro...

Devil's Child

Chapter one: Determination

He closed his eyes for a moment, hoping that if he didn't pay attention to it it would just go away. So it did, but the feeling left behind deep inside him did not agree and remained there for a while, making him wish he could have gone to sleep and forget everything.

Gaara winced when Temari touched his shoulder and rolled over to look at her better. The girl breathed freely and put her arms on her hips. She had her hair loose so he knew it was late at night because she always had four pigtails and she would loosen them before going to bed.

"I thought you were sleeping." she said to him, sitting on the edge of the bed. "I was going to bed and the door was open and I was afraid that... well, you know."

He nodded slightly and she lowered her eyes. Temari had always felt bad because she could sleep and her little brother couldn't. Gaara looked at her inquisingly and the girl stood up, walking to the door.

"Do you... need anything?" she asked before leaving the room.

"No."

"Okay... good night then."

Temari closed the door behind her. She really cared for him and she felt sorry for everything he had been through. He was just so cold... No one could make him speak more than ten words at one time. No one could gain his trust, not even she and Kankuro, his own flesh and blood. No one could make him change.

Well, Naruto had changed Gaara's opinion about some things, like killing somebody at every five minutes... he wouldn't do that anymore if it wasn't absolutely neccessary, but he was still very distant from people and winced every time she or anyone else would touch him, he was still locked inside himself and wouldn't get out.

"What are you doing here, Temari? Did Gaara kick you out of his room?"

Temari looked at Kankuro as if he was an alien, then shook her head.

"I was just thinking."

"By the way you look, you should be sleeping instead of thinking."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" she frowned at him.

Gaara opened the door and stopped.

"I didn't mean to offend you!" Kankuro defended himself.

"No, really! Mind your own business!"

"Will you two argue about this some place else?" Gaara asked, watching his siblings closing their bedrooms' doors silently. He sighed and went to the kitchen for some milk from the fridge. He had a lot of paper work to do and he liked to feel his stomach ready for it.

Being a Kazekage was not easy at all. The entire Sunagakure was counting on him to do his job as good as possible, but sometimes he got himself too tired, working to exhaustion, to a point at which he couldn't even keep his eyes opened anymore, to a dangerous level. The Shukaku was just waiting for him to fall asleep, because he could then devour his personality.

"This is getting out of hand." he thought, rubbing his eyes. "I was about to fall asleep when Temari came. Maybe I should have a break. Get myself rid of those papers and be on my own for a few days... some nights spent in the desert should do the trick."

He didn't like leaving Suna and his responsibilities, but Gaara was afraid of what could happen if he pushed himself like that. He had no choice but to leave Temari in charge. She was good with politics and giving orders anyway.

Gaara went back to his room and sat at the desk, in front of a white sheet, looking at the clear sky outside. Beautiful, but in the desert it was always very cold at night. He knew that better than anybody.

Temari,

I will be gone in the next few days. Take care of everything for me.

Gaara.

He read it again and added a small and faint "please" at the end of the last sentence. Gaara was cold and indifferent, but not impolite. It would have been mean of him to "order" her to do it, mostly because she would have done it anyway.

Leaving the note on his desk, Gaara sneaked outside only with his gourd over his cloak. These were the only two things he couldn't leave behind.

Suna was so peaceful under the moonlight... almost divine. The sand was sparkling vividly on the streets and no sound was disturbing the midnight silence. The beautiful Suna was now under his care. What if some crazy enemy found out that he was not there to protect it and he would regret the decision of leaving for a few nights just for his own pleasure for the rest of his life?

A soft wind played with his red hair, caressing it with invisible hands. He closed his eyes, feeling the sand all over the skin of his face. He couldn't leave Suna. He was not yet prepared to do so and risk its safety. The Kazekage had to stay home and defend it no matter what. No matter what...

Gaara let out a loud sigh and looked at the sky, pulling his cloak around him. The stars were so far away, yet he felt like he could touch them by simply holding hid hand out. His black ringed eyes closed, everything became dark, he emptied his mind, concentrating over his breathing as he slowly slipped into meditation. He needed to clear his mind, to think about every problem that tormented him.

First, too much work, even for someone with nights to spare. A break would have been welcomed, but not by risking Suna's safety. He had to go on no matter how hard it was. He had responsibilities and he had to get used to that.

Secondly, he had no time for training with so many meetings and things to organize and think about and people to help and documents to sign and other problems to take care of... his body was feeling the lack of physical activities (except for the usual office-village 'patrol') although his head was spinning like crazy most of the time. Well, he could put off some of the meetings, ignore the less important documents in the enourmous pile rotting on his desk (though chosing the most important would have taken a long time as well), ask Temari and Kankuro to talk to the people... and that strategy would only work for a day or two.

At least he was respected, although a bit feared because of his violent past and killer reputation. The youger people (females especially) respected him the most, whilst the elders were still reserved. He didn't care about that. Gaara was not a Kazekage who would force the people to like him. He knew he could prove himself to them when the time was right.

He sneaked into his room through the balcony just as the sky was turning white at the horizon. His cheeks welcomed the warm air with a slight blush as his hands stareted to feel as if thousands of needles pricked in his flesh one after another.

Hardly had he stood on the floor when somebody knocked at the door.

"Come in." he said, forgeting about the heavy garment on his shoulders.

"Mornin', Gaara." Temari said, rubbing her sleepy eyes while burying her other hand in her blonde hair. "Would you like some crepes for breakfast?"

"Sure." he replied, putting his gourd down.

"I can take care of some of those papers after breakfast if you want to."

"Okay."

She wanted to leave but looked at him again after a loud yawn.

"Where have you been?"

"Out."

Temari decided not to insist, although Gaara was not in a bad mood, he was still unforeseeable. His bad moods meant no talking at all, not to mention about no answers, frowns and, eventually, growls of displeasure. He had probably went out to clear his mind and judging by the fact that he still had his cloak on he must had arrived minutes earlier.

"I'll ask Kankuro to help us too." she thought,going to get dressed for the day.

Gaara went to the bathroom, feeling that he needed a shower to start the day properly. He stared at himself in the mirror for a while, his eyes moving just enough to memorize every feature of his pale face, every line of the red tatoo on the left side of his forehead, partially hidden under red, short bangs. His slender fingers spread as he held out his hand to touch the reflection staring at him with the same cold gaze lighting the white skin, the same rebel red hair spread around his head in a soft mess.

He drove his fingers through it, tousling the red strands even more. There were a few flecks of sand here and there, he could feel them rough and dry on the sensitive skin of the tips of his fingers.

Gaara simply broke eye contact with his reflection and began to undress, taking his shirt off after getting rid of the heavy cloak on his shoulders. The movements in the mirror made him look again. He couldn't count his ribs through the skin of his torso, not yet at least, because last week he had lost at least 15 pounds. That would soon become visible. Happily, he used to wear large clothes.

The water began to pour on his skin like a warm, wet blanket. Finally, something that felt good, although after months of hard work even five minutes with Temari cooking was a blessing and she was really annoying when doing it. Even Kankuro cooked better than her...

Gaara closed his eyes, leaning on the wall with a deep moan. His muscles were strained and sore but the pain was finally fading, running with the water over his body and draining silently. His hair had become neat because of the water but he knew that as soon as he got out from under the shower it would go back to its usual rebellion.

Despite his inattention and the shower's noise, Gaara still heard Temari yell from the kitchen:

"Kankuro! Get your fingers off those crepes!! I mistook sugar for salt and you might get yourself killed!"

"I thought you wouldn't have a problem with that!"

"Well, normaly, I wouldn't, but we have to help Gaara with his work! You can die after that."

The Kazekage stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist while wiping the water from his upper part of his body with another towel.

"Gaara! Breakfast!" Temari's voice came to his ears.

"Ouch! My ears! Stop screaming like that you crazy woman!" Kankuro protested.

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Temari took half of a pile of documents and used the Hokage's signet to seal each and every one. Kankuro sorted another pile and put the unimportant files away in a separate place. The door opened and Gaara entered. He had come late to breakfast and he finished eating a few minutes after his siblings did.

"Tell me, is this really neccessary?" Kankuro sighed, jolting his hand to get rid of a brave earwig.

Gaara shrugged with indifference as he sat at his desk and took some papers himself. Temari peeked to see if he was actually working. The red head's eyes were looking anywhere except in the paper he was holding in his hands.

"Listen, Gaara." she said, hiding her worries behind a frustrated frown. "Why don't you leave Suna for a few days? Kankuro and I can take care of everything. Why don't you go visit Naruto, in Konoha? I'm sure he'd be very happy to see you!"

"I can't leave Suna." he said coldly.

"Nothing is going to happen to Suna! We're talking about a few days, maybe a week, but not years!"

"I cannot leave Suna." Gaara repeated, angrily.

Kankuro frowned at the blondie and she lowered her eyes. Why the hell was Gaara so stubborn? And why was Temari so stubborn? It was for his own good and that meant it was also good for Suna. Why wouldn't he leave? Nothing was going to happen to the village! She bit her lip hard enough to make it bleed.

"I... I'm worried for you, Gaara." she whispered, making Kankuro hope the red head didn't hear it although he did and chose to remain stuck with his nose in a paper before lowering it enough to see the two. He was waiting for her to continue. "You're not made of stone, you know. You are already doing too much! Think about the fact that neither the Hokage or the Mizukage or the others suffer from insomnia, like you do, and..." she stopped to swallow a thick lump in her throat as he let out a low growl. "... and they still have enough time to finish what they have to do. Anyway, what I am trying to tell you is that you should have some more time for yourself. Trust me... us, Gaara. We can handle it."

Kankuro winked at her dumbly, wishing she had never said that 'we' part. He wasn't going to do anything. He saw Gaara looking at him and realized that Temari was doing the same thing. Damn. They were really waiting for an approval.

"Okay, fine, I'll do it!" he mumbled, earning a concealed smile from Temari and a slight frown from his brother. "But she's responsible for everything bad that might happen!"

"Whatever." the girl shrugged, throwing him one her defiant glares.

"Let's get these done." Gaara simply said, lowering his eyes in the papers again.

Well, Temari had asked for it. He would make her wish she never had if he found something wrong with Suna when he got back. He thought five days would be enough. Maybe even less. Besides, he trusted Temari more than he would have ever shown that. Much more than that. Kankuro... well, not him. Kankuro was good with other things. Like cooking, for example...