Chapter II: Red Meets Yellow
In Konoha, a bright sun beat down upon a dismal scene. An old man dressed in Hokage robes and a pipe in his mouth surveyed the burnt and blackened room that used to be Naruto's apartment. The blaze had completely destroyed the apartment before the fire squad had been able to extinguish the flames. It was sad – a boy bearing a burden too big for his shoulders had finally been killed by those he was protecting. The old man could only shake his head and hope that he could find a predecessor soon. He was too old for this grief. He heard the soft step of an ANBU landing behind him, kneeling and waiting for instruction.
"Report," the old man ordered.
The animal-masked shinobi replied, "There is no sign of the boy anywhere in Konoha or the surrounding areas."
The Hokage sighed. "Then it is as I feared. His body has been burned inside his apartment."
"It does appear so, Lord Hokage."
"Then you are dismissed."
With a final bow, the ANBU jumped away. The Hokage then turned to a dog-masked shinobi leaning against the side of a nearby building. He seemed to be at ease reading a dirty novel, but the Hokage knew better.
"Kakashi, what have you found?"
Kakashi closed his book, hiding it inside his ANBU cloak. "My nin dogs have scoured the area. There was a lot of blood out on the street near us and up in the apartment, so much blood, that the scent survived the fire and the rain. The amount of blood still left outside suggests that he was killed first, and then his body was left inside to burn. The attackers scent did not survive the rain or the fire."
The Hokage took a deep breath, letting it come out slowly. "So, we cannot even punish his murderers. What has this village turned into?"
"It's not your fault, Lord Hokage."
"But it is. I could've given him more protection. I just never thought…" The old man turned his head away, trying to overcome the want to shed tears.
"Grief can drive people to do things that one would never expect of them, some things good, and some things bad," Kakashi said wisely.
The Hokage eyed the scarecrow, knowing that he was referring to his own personal experience. "You're right, of course. But it was a great loss for this village. I had never met a more motivated spirit. He was a good, pure soul, and now, he's just ashes." They stood in silence, honoring the spirit of the lost boy. After a while, the Hokage spoke up, "I must go now and write an official report on the child's death. I'm getting much too old for this."
"Me too," Kakashi agreed as he took off down the street, his book back in front of his dog mask. Why did Kakashi even bother to wear a mask? As if anybody else had the balls to walk around reading smut in public.
Temari knocked on the door to her brother's room. She was worried about him. He hadn't been at breakfast, or lunch, and he had just missed dinner. Where was he?
"Gaara, are you in there? Do you want something to eat?" she asked nervously. Her brother was a roller-coaster of emotions at the best of times, and his mood swings made him very dangerous. But once his anger passed, there was always only a sad little boy left. She wondered what made him so sad, but she was always too afraid to ask. Her father didn't seem too fond of Gaara either. Was it because his wife, their mother, had died giving birth to the boy? Did her father blame her brother for his wife's death?
There was no answer from within the room, so the curious Temari cautiously opened the door. What if he's in a bad mood?
"Gaara?" she whispered.
No answer.
Looking around, Temari found the room empty. Where was Gaara?
"Father," she said sometime later, standing in front of the Kazakage's massive desk, "I think Gaara is missing."
The kazekage looked up from his paperwork. "Temari, why do you bother me with that concern? I am very busy and I am sure that your brother is fine."
"But he hasn't been to any of the meals today and he's not in his room – "
"Temari," her father's voice turned stern, "That's enough. Your brother is capable of taking care of himself. Leave me."
Temari looked up at her father in surprise. Her brother was five years old. How was he supposed to take care of himself? She forced herself to bow her head. "Yes, father." She left.
Soon after, the Kazekage turned to a Shinobi who had just entered via the window.
"What did you find?" he asked.
"We found pieces of Yashamaru's body littered upon a rooftop where witnesses say an explosion occurred last night. There is no trace of the boy, so we believe he must have run away. Should we pursue him, sir?"
"Mmm…Is that so? No. Do not pursue him. It is futile with his sand shield. The report will say he died in an unordered attack by Yashamaru. I wash my hands of the monster."
"Yes, Lord Kazekage. It will be as you have asked." The shinobi gave a bow before leaving.
When the Kazekage returned home that evening, he gathered the children he truly considered his and told them the news.
"I must regrettably inform you that Gaara's body was found today next to Yashamaru's. Witnesses report that Gaara lost control of his sand and it kill both himself and his protector. I'm sorry for your loss."
The Kazekage then left to go to his room. He missed the narrowing of Temari's eyes. She couldn't help but think that he was hiding something from her.
After miles and miles of traveling through the sandy desert, Gaara, for the first time in his life, was in a forest. The glorious greens of trees surrounded him and the air was saturated with water. Rabbits and squirrels scampered around him. He couldn't help but gaze about in wonderment. Suna was nothing like this.
Suna…He cursed that place. It was dry and scorching and the people were worse. Such a lonely place. But I am meant to be alone. Gaara cursed his very existence.
The emotions from his last night in Suna started catching up with him again, just when he thought he could leave them all behind in the sand. His emotions soon began to overwhelm the five-year-old. He began to cry again.
"Why me…why am I always alone…why am I the only one who has to go through this?" Tears dotted the ground he was kneeling on.
"You can't be the only one. This world's a huge place, or so I hear. I haven't seen much of it yet."
Gaara's eyes widened in shock at the new voice. His hands came up to quickly wipe away the tears as he looked around for the owner.
It was a boy his age, with the most yellow blond hair he had ever seen, whisker marks on his cheeks giving him an animalistic look, and eyes an intense color of blue. They seemed to hold such emotion. Gaara notice the boy's clothes were tattered and worn and were practically rags, and he was nothing but skin and bone under those rags. The boy was completely filthy, but Gaara could still tell that he had very tanned skin. Marring such a beautiful skin tone were white scars, cover his arms in gashes, and continuing under his clothes. The most notable of these scars was the slash across the boy's throat. How could the young boy have survived so many wounds?
"It's okay to cry. It doesn't make you weak as long as you get up from it," the boy said.
Gaara shook his head. "It is weakness. And weakness will not help me survive. It will not let me prove my existence."
The blond boy shrugged. "Suit yourself." He jumped down from the branch he had been on. Growing up in a ninja village had taught him certain things, like how to jump through the canopy of a forest. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki," he greeted, holding a hand out to shake. The friendly gestured went ignored by the redhead.
"Why should I care? You will just be like the rest of them." Even as he said those words, Gaara began to doubt them. This boy didn't seem to be afraid of him like everyone else was. But then Gaara remembered the demon inside of him. Once he finds out about it, he will be just like everyone else. At those thoughts, Gaara began to go in to one of his darker moods again. Sand began to drift out of his gourd and stir around his feet. "You will be just like the rest of them and I will have to prove my existence against you."
"Whoa, that's a crazy-ass power you have there," Naruto said in awe.
He didn't notice the sand trickling closer to him, piling under his feet.
Gaara's eyes shifted between icy green and gold. "Now die so that your blood can prove my existence. So I can live as my mother wanted." The sand rushed up and enveloped the blond boy. Gaara fisted his hand and the sand responded, crushing the boy. The sand dumped the body and slithered back into its container. He turned his back on the scene and began to walk away. This would be his life now. Not three steps later and the hairs on Gaara's neck stood on end. Something eerie was going on.
"That doesn't seem like any reason to live at all."
Gaara's eyes widened to an unbelievable size. He spun around. The body he had crushed was moving. The blond kid was picking himself up gingerly off the ground and was wiping the blood away. He seemed perfectly fine.
"But how…?" Gaara asked amazed.
"I'm…complicated. Yeah, that's the best way to put it. I heal fast. Really fast," the blond tried to explain. He looked embarrassed as he crossed his arms behind his head. "And like I said before, I don't believe that life should just be about killing people to prove your existence."
Gaara was skeptical, but he had just witnessed the unbelievable. "Then what is the purpose of living?" he asked, genuinely interested in the answer this strange scarred blond would give him. Gaara's life had turned so drastically since Yashamaru's betrayal.
The blond looked intensely thoughtful. "I don't know yet, but I plan to find out. I'm going to travel the world to find out." Naruto pinned the boy with a serious look and friendly smile. "I don't want to chose too hastily and end up picking the wrong thing. I guess that means right now my purpose is to seek knowledge. So I will travel the world on my quest." The look on Naruto's face made Gaara want to believe him.
"You're going to travel the world by yourself? You're too young." Ah, the hypocrisy.
Naruto put a finger to his chin in thought. "You're right of course. But I'm all I've got, so I'm not going to let that stop me. But hey!" Naruto struck a great idea, a finger in the air. "If you travel with me, then I won't be alone. And who knows, maybe you'll even find a better reason to live!"
Gaara mulled it over. Really, it seemed so simple. Naruto made it sound so easy, like a walk in the park. What else was Gaara going to do? Wander around lost and by himself. But what if he betrays me like Yashamaru? Gaara's expression turned fierce. Then Kami protect all life on earth. Gaara looked over the boy one more time, not sure if he should completely trust the boy. But, he seemed so earnest, so…
He nodded.
"Yay!" Naruto jumped as he celebrated. This could be his first true friend! "So let's go! There's so much ground to be covered….uh...I still don't know your name."
"It's…Gaara."
"Gaara, huh? Well, we'll have lots of adventures Gaara! You can be sure of that."
Maybe Naruto was right. Maybe there could be more to life.