Suna no Oshiro

Chapter One

By December at Midnight

Naruto and its characters are owned by their respective copyright holders.

This is primarily a GaaMatsu story. No bashing, please.

There were so many feelings Gaara had imagined he would have at this moment. Utter satisfaction was the first emotion that had came to mind, but he had considered others. He thought he might be angry that it took him so long to get here, or that he may feel a twinge of regret that his greatest obstacle had finally been overcome.

The Fourth Kazekage was dead at last.

His corpse rested on a platform erected in the center of village. The casket remained open so that the mourners who made their way through the line to see him knew their leader was truly dead. It was similar to the funerals of the Land of Wind's Feudal Lords and their relatives so that no one could later impersonate the deceased. There would be no pretenders to the throne of the Village Hidden in the Sand.

As children of the late Kazekage, Gaara and his siblings stood behind the casket. Decked in funeral mourning, they collected the villagers' attempts at solace as they passed through the queue. Kankurou was usually the one who accepted their consolation with a hushed but grateful word or two. Temari would speak when spoken to; however, she usually just nodded in acknowledgment of the mourners. As for Gaara, no one uttered a word to him. Occasionally they would give him glances of fear or contempt, but he gave no response. Calm, like a Buddha statue, he simply stood there.

I couldn't be happier unless I had killed him myself, is what Gaara would have thought a mere week ago. The new Gaara couldn't discern his thoughts or feelings. He couldn't tell what was going through the minds of his siblings, either. From what he could tell, the villagers' emotions ranged mostly ranged from anger to fear. Anger came from the ninja who had to protect the village which would be a great deal more dangerous now that their pillar was gone. Fear seemed to be what the noncombatants felt. A hidden village without a kage was a vulnerable target.

Gaara's eyes fell to his father's body. They wandered over the features that had mostly passed onto Kankurou, but Gaara could still see bits of himself.

How alike were we? Gaara wondered. It was true that the Fourth had been a ruthless bastard, but those same words could be used to describe him.

Did he ever see himself in me? The moment Gaara paused over his father's eyes he could swear he saw them blink.

Quickly, Gaara glanced to his siblings and then to the mourners. No one seemed to notice what he saw.

Attention snapping back to the coffin, Gaara gasped as his father's corpse stared up at him.

"I know what's on your mind, son," the words croaked out of the Fourth's stiff jaw.

Gaara's eyes darted rapidly about, but no one seemed to notice their Kazekage's resurrection.

"We're more alike than you know," the Fourth sat up in his casket. "We both know what it is to be powerful and to be feared."

Feeling him self take a step backward, Gaara denied his father's piercing words with a shake of his head.

"And now you want to follow in my footsteps as Kazekage?" was his sour chuckle, "Well, don't worry…."

The Fourth grabbed his son by the collar, "…there's enough room in this coffin for two."

"Temari, Kankurou!" Gaara struggled against his father's iron hold. But his siblings stood silently. There wasn't a trace of emotion on their faces.

"Baki, anyone!" he screamed as he was dragged into the casket, "help!"

Gaara's final plea was silenced by the lid slamming shut, and not even a single soul stirred.

Eyes snapping open, Gaara gasped for air. It didn't take him long to register that instead of being helplessly trapped in the confines of a coffin he was lying on a bed in a darkened hospital room.

A dream, Gaara realized. No, that was a nightmare… but how did I fall asleep?

The memories came to him in a flash. He recalled Matsuri's abduction, and the mission to save her. The very last thing he remembered was fighting the resurrected Artisan Village leader. Gaara had reduced Seimei into an unrecognizable mass of flesh that corrupted the earth far beneath its surface. Hearing Naruto and Matsuri's voices, Gaara had turned to see them running towards him. Knowing they were safe, he had allowed his weariness to overtake him. He lost consciousness.

That explained how a boy who never slept could have a nightmare, yet he still felt uneasy. Gaara had a hard time accepting that some part of his psyche could concoct a situation in which he would scream for help. He had cried out for Baki of all people.

Struggling to a sitting position, Gaara fought the sting of a dozen injuries. The pain would have been a great deal worse without the medication dripping though an IV into his arm. For a second, he wondered how the medic-nin managed to insert it without his sand shield getting in the way, but then he recalled he had lost his gourd in the battle. He had no sand to protect him.

Scanning the room, he was shocked to see he had a visitor. Matsuri had taken a chair at his bedside where she had fallen asleep. There was a large bandage on her cheek and several smaller ones covering minor wounds. Every scratch cut at his guilt. Matsuri was only involved because of her association with him. If she had only ignored him like her classmates she wouldn't have been hurt.

"Gaara-sensei…?" Matsuri stirred.

"Matsuri, what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to talk with you," she blinked her sleepy eyes. "How are you feeling?"

Gaara's eyes widened with surprise. He wasn't used to people being concerned about his condition, "…I'm fine."

That seemed to be the right answer, because it was met with Matsuri's delighted smile. Although truthfully, it seemed like his entire body was in pain. The gash on his shoulder was particularly bad. He wondered if the medication was doing anything for him at all.

"Gaara-sensei…" Matsuri abruptly stood and bowed before him, "thank you very much."

Gaara could only stare in stunned silence as Matsuri continued. "When I realized I had been kidnapped I was so scared, but then I saw you had come to rescue me, and… I knew everything would be all right."

His gaze fell, "why are you thanking me?"

"What do you mean?"

"They kidnapped you because of me. It was my fault!" Gaara raised his voice only to immediately lower it as he saw fear creep into Matsuri's expression. "Why aren't you angry with me? Why don't you hate me?"

People had despised him for a lot less than what Matsuri had endured. Knowing the girl's gentle nature, Gaara assumed she wouldn't outwardly shown signs of aggression towards him; however, he had no doubt she would shun him like the rest. Yet, here she was, acting as if she hadn't suffered at all.

Matsuri's smile was genuine, yet somewhat sad, "I could never hate you."

"Matsuri…" he was surprised by her sincerity, but then he once again turned away from her. "I don't understand. You saw it, didn't you? My true form…"

"Yes," she nodded.

"Then why don't I frighten you? How can you have the courage to speak to me at night and all alone?"

"I was scared, a little, when we first met. You were so unapproachable and of course I had heard all the rumors…" Matsuri admitted. "And, when you transformed during the battle with Seimei, I was really scared then; however…" she looked him square in the eye, "I may have only known you for a short time, Gaara-sensei, but I know you well enough to understand that isn't your true form."

"Matsuri…"

After fishing something out of her pocket, Matsuri returned to her seat, "I also wanted to thank you for what you taught me."

Revealing her jouhyou, she explained, "Weapons like this used to scare me. Whenever I saw a blade I flashed back to the time when my parents were killed. I never wanted to experience anything like that again… people precious to me dying right before my eyes.

"But you taught me something important," Matsuri managed a soft smile. "If I don't want to loose what's precious then I have to fight to protect it. Weapons can help me do that." She pricked her finger with the jouhyou's blade, "So being cut like this doesn't scare me anymore."

Proudly, Gaara smiled. Once, his student couldn't look at a weapon without trembling in palpable fear, yet now she was able to cut her self without so much as a shudder. Taking hold of her wrist, Gaara drew Matsuri's hand towards his mouth. He licked the blood that trailed down her finger and then sucked on the wound. Marveling at the warm, metallic taste, it took Gaara a long minute to glance at Matsuri's shocked face. Gaara withdrew instantly, a blush rivaling Matsuri's burning on his cheeks.

As if on cue, the neighboring patient moaned in his sleep, "Sakura-chan, you can't eat ramen like that!"

Is that Naruto? Gaara wondered, what is he dreaming about?

Nervously, Matsuri laughed, "I also wanted to thank Naruto-san. During the fight he helped me understand what you were trying to teach me. But I guess I'd better wait for some other time."

"I'm looking forward to learning more from you," she bowed again. "That is, if you'll still have me as a student."

"Are you all right with me?" he brought up the conversation they had when he became her teacher.

"Please," Matsuri grinned as she exited. "Get well soon."

Watching her leave, Gaara savored the taste of Matsuri's blood lingering on his tongue.

So sweet, he marveled. For the first time since his battle with Naruto he could feel his heart fluttering with excitement. It was very different than the feeling he'd once had when battling strong opponents, but was just as intoxicating. Gaara felt more alive than he had in months.

Matsuri…

Notes:

I've had this story in my head for years, but every time I tried to write it I'd come up with a new idea or grow frustrated with an old one. Even now I'm worried I'll change my mind halfway. On the other hand, I'm pretty proud of the outline, so hopefully I'll finish this fanfiction without any major adjustments.

I look forward to comments and constructive criticism. I find reviews highly motivational so please take the time to write one.