Son of the Wind
Serpentine Wisdom
Summary: Gaara's father, the Kazekage, reflects on his demon possessed son as he dies.
Author notes: Most likely this isn't how the Kazekage felt about Gaara but I wanted to do a new take on him. Practically every single story I've read about him has had him as either abusive or fearful of Gaara and I wanted a new perspective. After all, don't they say you hurt the ones you love?
Italics are thoughts or emphasised words
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto in any way or shape or any of its characters.
In the beginning he hadn't been very concerned about the child, he was only supposed to be a weapon when it came to the point ater all. But when they had said: "Kazekage-sama, you have a son." and pushed a tiny, screaming baby into his arms that had quieted to look curiously up at him something changed inside of him.
He'd hardly been able to believe it when he first saw Gaara, this pale, perfect little creature –his son– was the medium of Shukaku? For a second he could not believe he had done anything so horrible as he had done to the small child lying in his arms, despite the sand that was already starting to swirl around it like strange little clouds. The baby had giggled and reached out chubby little arms towards the Kazekage's face. It hit him hard, this was his child, his son, and he couldn't fully keep the smile of his face.
He had never been present to see either of his other two children being born, in fact, he hadn't even met his other two children until they were respectively three and two years old (he wouldn't have attended Gaara's birth either if it hadn't been for Shukaku), and had never felt this warm feeling in his heart that he did with this one for either of them. Then he realized what he'd done, what he had done to this child that he suddenly felt like he would give up his life for.
He had sealed a demon inside of his little baby boy. A demon. He had known from the very start that they would never be able to remove the demon from the child once the jutsu was done, it was irreversible, but at the time it had seemed like it was necessary to do this to save his village. His Gaara would grow up hated and feared his entire life. It wouldn't matter if he would be able to control the demon's power or not because it was a demon's power and every single villager would know it.
Gaara was Sunagakure's trumph card and he would be hated because of it.
A few years passed and he saw his prediction come through. Hated and despised by every living person in the village except his father. He could admit that he spoiled Gaara horridly, nothing the boy ever wanted, save love and friendship, was given to him no matter how little or how much was asked for. He could not stand to see those dark rimmed eyes stare up at him sadly but somehow he could not bring himself to comfort him like a normal parent would with hugs and reassurance. Instead he would teach him various ninjutsu, genjutsu and even a little bit taijutsu – as difficult as that was with the sand shield.
He had never felt so proud as when Gaara learned his first jutsu or when he first threw a shuriken correctly but he never said anything other than: "That will have to do." Just as his father had to him. He wanted to be closer, he wanted to be a better father then the one he knew he was. But he couldn't bring himself to do it. Sunagakure was in the middle of a barren and harsh dessert and it had left its traces in the people that dared live in it. Affection was something only rarely expressed and never in public, being raised in a noble family this had been even more true for him than for the average ninja. He had never seen his father smile or heard his mother laugh, it was considered inappropriate behaviour and he could have counted the conversations they'd had together and the hugs he'd received from them both on a single hand. And the time he had nearly died when he was nine the only reaction he got was: "You should train more."
So when faced with his green-eyed son that looked so much like himself, he froze and didn't know what to do. He could lead a Hidden Village, he could fight with the best ninja in the world –and win– and he could ruthlessly order the execution of those that did not deserve to die but were simply in the way, but he could not face his son and ease his pain.
What was worse was that recently after Gaara turned six and still had very little control over the demon inside him his advisors started pestering him to "do something about the monster before he destroys us all." It made him realize how wrong it had been of him to spoil Gaara because one day he would die and what then? Would Gaara be strong enough to be able to bear the pressure of killing those that needed to be killed? Gaara who despite all the power and the demon that rested inside of him was a very soft-hearted. So far the Kazekage had taken care of all the knives in the dark that threatened his son, would Gaara be able to do the same? Would he learn to harden his heart before it was too late?
He had decided to kill two birds with one stone, at one hand he would be able to make it look to his advisors and the council like he was handling the problem and on the other he would be training his son for his future. Yashamaru, his son's care-taker and uncle, had not hesitated when accepting his mission. It was a suicide mission, however, and he did not expect to see his former brother-in-law ever again. It was not a loss he would mourn.
The day after Gaara was different. He stopped speaking, he stopped attempting to make friends among the village children and his soft little heart had stopped being so soft. It was a strange thing, to look on you six-year-old little son, the person most precious to you in the world and think: I've ruined him.
Years passed and Gaara only became more cold-hearted and more unstable. Still he only sent assassins that he knew that Gaara could handle, a little bit more powerful every time and as many different kinds as possible to train his son in the painful art of survival. Even though it pained him to look in his son's eyes and only see hatred for every living being, including him –no, especially him– he convinced himself that this was for the best. No one would ever be able to get close enough to Gaara to betray him. No one would ever get close enough to kill him.
As he faced Orochimaru and his grey-haired lackey, whose proposal to crush Konohoa he had so foolishly accepted, he knew that he couldn't win. He was an excellent shinobi, one of the very best in the world (1), but he could not compare to this legendary sannin. I can't die, not now… Sunagakure needs me. Gaara… Temari… Kankuro, what…
"Don't worry Yondaime Kazekage, your village and your… ah, special project are in good hands. I think I can find a good use for them, Don't you think so, Kabuto?"
Orochimaru's mocking face faded out into darkness and all he could see as he fell to the ground, feeling the life drain out of him, was a three-year-old version of his son lying on his bed, quiet sobs rocking his small body. He had the feeling that, somehow, he had made a terrible mistake.
I'm… such a fool…The End.
(1) Well he was the Kazekage so he should have been pretty powerful since Sunagakure has such high standards on their ninja.