At night, Gaara was almost completely alone. Only Shukaku stayed with him in
those late hours, but even he wasn't always awake. Gaara was often the only person who
was fully awake. After all, he could never sleep without succumbing to his inner demon.
He would watch as the cool night wind gently stirred the sands of the desert into a
rhythmic dance. The stars and the moon were the only things keeping Gaara company.
Yet the stars practically mocked him, flickering from far away, reminding him that
nobody ever wanted to be near him for long. The moon was even worse. Its glow stirred
Shukaku from his slumber unless it was hidden or it was a new moon. Sometimes, he
could even see his mother's face in the full moon. No matter how hard Gaara tried to
ignore it, that face would always come back to haunt him. It reminded him of one of the
few things that would have eased his eternal pain if she was still alive. Shukaku would
insult him constantly when he thought that he saw her face until he began to weep and
howl at the moon. It was a hollow howl so dreadful that it chilled even the kazekage
himself to the bone. It was so full of grief at longing that people would have actually
pitied Gaara if he hadn't contained Shukaku. But he did. So they just turned over in their
sleep and tried to ignore Gaara's pain. Even Yashamaru felt tempted to comfort Gaara,
but he knew that the face in the moon haunted his dreams already. He knew Gaara would
realize his true colors after seeing his extremely pained expression as he looked at the
moon. So he ignored Gaara and tried to sleep. But Gaara's howls of pain would haunt his
dreams. Shukaku knew of Yashamaru's intense hatred towards Gaara, so he knew what
his reaction would always be. So he continued to torment Gaara each night in hopes of
making him less stable. He knew the assassins would come soon enough. And he
couldn't wait to reveal the truth to Gaara. He just had to chip away at his fragile control
little by little until Yashamaru tried to kill Gaara. Then his master plan of influencing
Gaara to do his bidding would be complete. He just had to wait. Then he would finally be
able to satisfy his lust for blood and death.