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I hope that you like this first chapter.
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"Temari, Kankuro...I'm sorry".
Did they hear him right? Did Gaara, the demon vessel that loved and cared for only himself just apologize?! His brother and sister glanced at each other in confusion and disbelief. Gaara had never even shown any kind of consideration towards them unless you count the threats that were given on a regular basis. But here he was in a crippled state leaning against Kankuro for support after a failed battle with a couple of Konoha ninja. Gaara had never been beaten before and neither of them knew what had come over him. Could he have finally reached his limit? That blonde ninja they faced earlier was the only person who had defeated him. Was it possible that Gaara's weak spot had been seen through? The two older siblings were at a loss for what to say; neither of them knew what kind of response was reasonable. They had never seen their youngest brother like this, it was downright terrifying.
Yet they still needed to say something, one of them would eventually have to speak up.
"Um...don't worry about it".
It had been Kankuro. Temari was rather relived that it wasn't her, she wouldn't have known what to say anyway. In all her years of knowing Gaara the older sister had never imagined that his heart would change. She had prayed that someday Gaara would see the light and perhaps become the person he once was so many years ago before his heart turned black. It all seemed like a distant memory now, but Temari still knew what her brother was like before he became a cold a brutal killer. She quickly pushed those thoughts aside. Now was not the time to dwindle. The mission to destroy Konoha had been a fail, now they had to get back to Suna.
She should've expected that they'd never succeed. Konoha was simply too big a nation to take down. They had far more advantages then Suna and luck was not on their side.
They would have to return home as failures, but at least that was better than being dead, if there was a bright side to this whole mess. For a long time the three siblings stayed quite as they continued to leap through the trees. It wouldn't be long now until they reached the borders to the Land of Fire. When they eventually did get there, it would take three days to reach Sunagakure; they had a long journey ahead of them. Temari's attention turned towards her youngest brother. She couldn't tell what he was thinking, his usual stoic face didn't show any sign of emotion it was so empty. Forest green eyes drifted downward to his wound just below his collarbone, from what she could tell it needed to be cleaned before it got infected. She stopped suddenly and Kankuro gave his sister a strange look.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing I think we should rest that's all".
She did have a point. They needed to regain their strength, they weren't even close to the border yet. Leaping down from the trees Kankuro carefully propped his brother up against one. He still didn't show any sort of emotion but the look in his eyes was as plain as day. They were full of regret. Kankuro was a little shaken seeing that kind of look in his brother's eyes he wasn't sure what to do. This was all a little too much for him to take in. He needed to a distraction of some sort.
"I'm going to get some water, be back in a minute".
Temari couldn't help but glare as Kankuro practically ran away from them. She knew exactly what he was thinking but at least she had enough sense not to act like that, the fool. "Temari" her head snapped over to Gaara not quite knowing what he wanted "Yes?" Gaara didn't respond right away his hesitation was a first, whenever he spoke he always got straight to the point. She had never seen him like this before. If only she knew what he was thinking. Would that even help? Did she want to help? Temari was at a complete loss why suddenly was she thinking this way?
"Temari I am sorry".
He did it again, he apologized again! Something had definitely changed now. But she didn't question anything. Once again she looked towards the wound below his collarbone, it needed to be treated now. She could try to approach him. But in the past he'd threaten to kill her if she got to close. At the same time if that would was left untreated it would get worse. Mentally slapping herself she slowly moved closer towards him keeping an eye out for his body language. He didn't move a muscle; whether he was too drained or actually allowing her to approach him was anyone's guess.
"I have to treat that". She pointed to his wound "If not taken care of now it could get infected. I have ointment it will help".
Temari quickly pulled out a small container, she may not be skilled in medical ninjutsu but she did have a basic knowledge of injuries to an extent. She was so close now all she had to do was stretch out her arm and she'd touch him. Gaara didn't move at all, he simply stared at her with the same eyes still filled with regret. As she slowly reached out her hand she expected the sand to wrap around her. But to her astonishment not a single grain came near her. Gaara stared at her as she gingerly applied the ointment to his wound, his older sister had never been this close to him before and he didn't know what to feel. Her touch was helpful as she tended to him. It made his eyes widen to a new feeling. Was this what it felt like to be cared for? To have someone look out for you in an affectionate manner?
"Temari...thank you".
She almost didn't catch what he said, but a part of her felt rather fuzzy that Gaara had showed appreciation for her actions. He was still her little brother after all and despite everything if she was truly honest with herself she loved Gaara dearly.
"Your welcome" her voice sounded a little shaky, but it wasn't from fear. Kankuro came back that moment with a canteen full of water he offered her some and she nodded in thanks as she took a drink. Hesitantly she nervously reached out forward to offer it to Gaara. Kankuro gulped a bit not quite knowing how his little brother would react. For a long moment the redhead simply stared at the canteen that his sister held out for him. Before he extended his own hand and took it from her before bringing it to his mouth to have a drink. Kankuro's jaw dropped as he looked at his sister. She looked right back at him with a rather blank look. He never expected that from Gaara but he took it without any tricks. Temari turned her head to her other brother and he seemed equally confused and fascinated. It was only when the three had quenched their thirst that Temari made the decision to keep moving.
"We need to go, there's still a long ways to cover".
It wasn't until well after nightfall did they finally stop again. The two older siblings fell into an exhausted sleep having not rested for the last twenty-four hours. Of course Gaara stayed up keeping a watchful eye. He never slept anyway and more often whenever these kinds of things happened he would always act as the look out.
Tonight however was different, something had changed. Under normal circumstances he would abandoned his siblings to look for unsuspecting prey. But he didn't move from his spot under the tree. And it was something that Shukaku noticed, he wasn't too happy about the retreat especially being beaten by the Nine Tails Jinchuriki of Konoha. He had been at least expecting his host to make him feel better with the taste of blood.
"What's the matter kid, you usually like to hunt at this time".
Gaara's body twitched nervously and he grabbed his head trying to steady himself. The Shukaku was not pleased and he would do everything to try and make him crumble.
"L-Leave me a-alone" he sputtered as he pulled on his hair. His fingers were starting to turn white he was gripping so hard.
Shukaku could only laugh.
"Don't be like that Gaara, I know you. You want blood, why not have it? We can kill them as they sleep and then all your problems would be over".
A throbbing pain hit him hard as he clenched his teeth. Normally it wouldn't take much for Shukaku to have him under control, but this time would be different. For the first time in years Gaara was resisting; it was taking all his will power not to fully transform and that was proving to be quite the challenge.
Kankuro was awoken the sounds of his younger brother in distress. His entire body froze from fear when he saw Gaara desperately trying to subdue the beast within him. His eyes were budging and he had broken out in a cold sweat. The red head locked eye contact with his older brother, he could see the terrified expression that masked his face and he felt a twinge of guilt shoot through him. So different from all those other times that he had looked at him.
"Kankuro h-help me".
Seeing his brother is so much distress Kankuro practically had to force himself to move. In an instant he was by Gaara's side squeezing his shoulders trying to offer some sort of support to help stop him from transforming. Temari who had also awoken could only watch what was happening with a scared look. She did want to try and help but she was too afraid to move. It was never a good thing when Gaara started to drift away, that always meant trouble and she wondered briefly what would happen to Kankuro should this go on for much longer.
The puppet master himself was freaking out. It was a strange instinct that he reacted so quickly, he honestly didn't know what had come over him but he didn't dwell on it for too long. After what seemed like a long time Kankuro had managed to get his little brother to calm down enough so that the Shukaku was tamed. It really wasn't too happy that his host had resisted the pleasures of killing and promised to get back at him later. Gaara was breathing heavily when he could no longer hear Shukaku's voice clawing inside his head. He quickly wiped off beads of sweat that acuminated on his brow and when his vision was restored he looked at his brother in a manner of confusion.
"Why did you do that?" He asked.
"Um...well". Kankuro scratched his head nervously, what was a good answer for that kind of question. He didn't even know the answer himself, but it just felt like the right thing to do.
"I...I just wanted to".
Gaara's eyes narrowed in confusion "Why? Why would you want too?"
"Because your my brother and I couldn't let you suffer like that".
Teal eyes widened by only a fraction at that response. He had never heard his older brother speak like that to him before. For a moment he thought of his uncle and how he used to talk to him like that. It made him feel so wanted and needed by someone else.
The long remaining journey back to Suna had been tiresome. Kankuro and Temari were very relieved when the saw the familiar rock structure that lead to the village. They had not attempted to speak to Gaara in the three days that it had taken them to make it back home. Rather their younger brother had not even bothered to make conversation either. He had remained quite the entire time trying to work out some internal battle in his head.
His brother and sister made sure to stay a respectful distance to him, Gaara could still be unpredictable and they really didn't want to push their luck with getting to close to him. Even though they've probably had more contact now in the last few days than they've ever had with him in years.
Walking through the streets of Suna, everything seemed rather quite. People were quick to move out of the way as the three siblings approached their home towards the center of the village.
Baki had been there to meet them. A grave look on his face. Too many things were happening all at once. Not only had the lost the battle with Konoha but now they've received word that their leader was gone. He stared at them for a moment before speaking deciding to cut to the chase.
"Temari, Kankuro, Gaara your father is dead".
There was a strange feeling of tension that resided in the air as each was in their own thoughts. Their father the Fourth Kazekage was dead? How? And more importantly when did it happen? All three siblings were at a loss for words. Gaara especially didn't know how to feel, his hatred for the man was too great but the case was slightly different for his brother and sister. What were they going through?
"Baki is there any information on how it happened?"
"From our investigation it appears as though he was murdered by Orochimaru".
Temari had a weird chill go down her spine as if some missing puzzle piece had suddenly been found. In truth she didn't know what she was supposed to feel. Her father wasn't exactly the type of dad most people had; regardless she still felt a twinge of grief for him.
"What will happen to us?"
It had been an honest question on Kankuro's part. As children to the Kazekage, they had been permitted to live within the mansion portion of the tower. Despite their struggles, they did have it somewhat easy due to the fact that everything they needed was provided for them thanks to their bloodline. But since they no longer had the support of their father, there was a chance that they could very well be evicted from their home. Unless there was some way they could stay. Baki couldn't help but feel a bit of sympathy for them; underneath that cruel and harsh nature was a much softer side that cared for them. He couldn't help himself, he had been watching them since they were all young.
"I am not sure. But I will do what I can".
He cleared his throat, hoping that they didn't hear the softness in it.
"I would suggest you retire to your quarters. Our mission was a fail and we must regain our strength I shall report back to you three when I have more information".
That was all he said before leaving them alone. Once Baki was out of sight, Kankuro met gazes with his older sister and both of them were thinking the same thing. Now that they were on their own, things were going to be difficult; it wasn't like they didn't have any knowledge on how to survive. The three of them had always been kinda relying on each other all these years so it wasn't that much of a shock. But one thing was for sure, whatever happened now it would be entirely up to them to make it through. Nobody would have their backs.
The two older siblings turned their attention to their youngest brother. His body language didn't give off any sign of what he was thinking and his facial expression didn't either. Both felt as though they needed to say something to him, but perhaps it was a bad time to do so. "I...I think we should get some rest". Temari knew that she sounded stupid but she was desperate to try and make everything seem normal. She was still a little uneasy but she really was trying, she had to not only for her sake but for her brothers as well. Kankuro nodded at her deciding not to say anything and the older siblings slowly started to walk to their rooms leaving Gaara to himself. He still didn't know what he was supposed to feel on the inside. These past few days had been nothing but surprises. Still the seeds of a new start had been implanted and one way or another the changes that were about to arrive would determine his future for the greater good once and for all.
That's the end of the first chapter.
I will have the second one up shortly.
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Thank you for reading this.
