Hana continued on her way to the market, despite all of the yelling coming from somewhere ahead of her. It was probably the villagers being stupid again; she still could not understand exactly how one little boy could strike fear into their hearts.
All she saw was some of the village children being dragged by their ankles towards Gaara-sama, except that it was by sand. She didn't think that Gaara-sama could control sand that well. Then there was a ruckus about how Gaara-sama couldn't harm the other children, the usual. Again, how could a child be that much of a terror? It didn't make any sense to her but of course, not a soul listened to her because she was a recent addition to the Village Hidden in the Sand.
A couple of days had passed since what she had so lovingly dubbed the "Misunderstanding". It had been the first one that she had, even partially, witnessed and it would not be the last. She was minding her own business as usual, just sweeping off her front step when she heard weeping coming from the hills. She stopped - someone was in much pain. This was no ordinary weeping that a child does when they get a scraped knee or a hurt wrist; this was a weeping that came from deep within. She followed the sound of the weeping up a rather large hill.
She wondered how anyone could have gotten up there so easily. Nevertheless, she trudged her way up the hill to the top where she found a red headed child weeping their eyes out.
Kneeling down next to them, she placed her hand on their back.
"No one should have to weep like you are, little one. Tell me what is wrong?" she asked gently.
The child looked up at her, eyes bleary and nose running. It was Gaara-sama, she should have known. He sniffled before answering her.
"No one will play with me." came the whispered reply.
Hana sighed at the answer. She honestly felt very sorry for the little boy; no one, especially a child, should be this lonely.
"Why do you think that is, little one?"
Gaara sniffled again, wiping at his nose as well.
"Because Mister keeps hurting them." Gaara choked back a sob
"Ijustwantsomeone-toplaywith-mebutnobodywill-because,because-Misterhurtsthem-allthetime.Ijust-want,wanttoplay-ballandtag-andhideandseek." the Kazekages' youngest son managed to choke out in between sniffles and sobs.
Hana gathered Gaara into her lap and cradle rocked him while rubbing his back gently.
"Who is Mister and why would he hurt the other children?" she asked gently
Gaara sniffled once more.
"Mister is my, my sand. He protects me but he hurts the other kids."
"Why would Mister hurt the other children, sweetheart?" she asked again
"Be-because he thinks that they're gonna hurt me."
Hana sighed deeply and rested her head on top of Gaaras'. This little boy didn't ask for this nor did he deserve it. It was all his wretched fathers' doing; he was the one who infused his unborn son with the Sand Spirit in hopes of creating the perfect weapon. And for what? To seek revenge upon the villages who had done him and his village wrong? Why should you involve a child who was supposed to have fond memories of childhood; memories of playing games and interacting with other children. Instead Gaara would have nothing but memories of anger, hatred and loneliness. Sheer, agonizing loneliness.
She would put a stop to this madness and immediately. No child should be left alone in the darkness to fend for themselves like he was forced to do. She would become the light in his darkness; there was no way that she would not. She would not let Gaara be alone from now on.