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Chapter 4 – Sand of Time

Two men in Akatsuki cloaks marched menacingly into an old shabby inn, which was situated in the depths of the mountains. The cold wind blew at their faces morosely. Itachi, the shorter man among two, lifted his straw head lazily from his head, showing off his long jet-black hair that nearly fell to his shoulders. A shiny headband protector on his forehead had an irreversible, deep cut on it. His crimson red eyes were frighteningly cold and emotionless and had two sinister lines below them.

Itachi took his seat at a broken table in a dark and isolated corner. His long-time partner followed suit, before furiously stabbing his bandaged shark-skin sword into the earthen sand.

"Itachi-san, I wasn't keen when you told Deidara-kun about the Jinchuuriki's whereabouts. That 'Jinchuurki' is yours to claim."

Itachi put his yellow straw hat onto the dusty table, his blood-shot eyes silently looking sideways at his accomplice, as if saying, "I know what I'm doing, Kisame."

Kisame smirked dismissively, "It's been a while since we caught any 'Jinchuuriki', Itachi-san. Let's forget that 'Jinchuuriki' I've spoken of. Naruto is our perfect target. I heard that he has grown strong…"

Itachi stared thoughtfully at Kisame, whose face had distinctive shark-like appearance, complete with a pair of small white eyes, pale blue skin with bulging gills, and sharp triangular teeth. Similar to Itachi's, a shadowed forehead protector with a vivid cut was fitted right onto Kisame's forehead under his ocean-blue hair. Kisame's evil smirk then subsided into a bemused frown, noticing how long he had waited for Itachi to give him an answer, a good answer.

Finally, Itachi spoke with his eyes closed, "Not now, Kisame. I have my own matters to settle."

Kisame shrugged, his bored eyes diverting away from Itachi to look at the empty space at the door. Suddenly, a boy trotted inside, his small hands holding out a piece of paper excitedly.

"Papa!" He exclaimed on his way to an old folk standing at the counter, "I got an 'A' in the writing exam!"

The boy's father gave the paper a quick look and spoke hastily, "Good for you, my boy. Now help me clean the dishes."

The ear-to-ear smile drawn on the young boy's face faded away immediately into a disappointed pout. "Okay, Papa," his sorrowful voice tailed with a note of resentment.

"Sasuke…" Itachi uttered curtly at the boy, who looked at him with bewildered, teary eyes. He added with a vague smile, "Sasuke…or whoever you are, congratulations."

The young boy blinked his deep blue eyes repeatedly, triggering hot tears to splash onto the dirty sand. He quickly mopped his annoying tears away with his stained sleeve.

"Thanks, mister," The boy sniffed, "My grade's nothing, actually, compared to my older brother. I wish I could be just like him…"

The boy looked down ruefully at his bare feet, watching his tears dropping onto the ground into small, insignificant puddles. Upon seeing this, a bittersweet sense of déjà vu crossed Itachi's mind, taking him back to the vista of years where he had killed his entire clan and deliberately left the only living Uchiha alone, his younger brother, Sasuke Uchiha. Somehow, Itachi thought that he did the right thing of sparing his brother's life, knowing that Sasuke would become stronger than him when the time comes.

"Don't be like your brother. Be yourself," Itachi patted the boy on the head, "You'll eventually surpass your brother one day."

The boy was startled more by Itachi's piercing red eyes than his rather strange, dark purple fingernails that touched his flame-haired head. He smiled nervously, "Mister, I'm not sure of what you're saying, but thanks, anyway."

The timid-looking boy gave Itachi a respectful bow, before running off into the kitchen. His test paper was still held high in his proud hands.

"That reminds me…" Kisame's gruff voice broke Itachi's concentration on the disappearing boy, "You do have a little brother, Itachi-san. That midget tried to kill you in our pursuit for Naruto two years ago. His name is-"

"Sasuke," Itachi interrupted, "But I doubt he's a midget now."

"Hmm…Probably, Itachi-san. I can't wait for him to show up, so we can shave him off for good," Kisame said with finality, his pale blue hand pouring some sake (Japanese wine) into a small cup made of china. As he was enjoying his favourite drink, a loud, shrilling voice rudely shook him out of his sweet reverie.

"Deidara-sempai! Where are you, sempai?"

Cough! Cough! Kisame coughed out his sake miserably, his hand thumping hard onto his chest in an effort to relieve his flaring choked throat. Without any word spoken, Itachi's eyes switched from the coughing Kisame to Tobi, who was already at the door. Tobi zoomed towards Itachi's table, his glowing orange mask sweating profusely.

"Itachi-san… Kisame-san… Have you… seen Deidara-sempai…around?" Tobi panted.

"No, Tobi-kun," Itachi replied solemnly, "Aren't you supposed to be catching 'Jinchuuriki' with Deidara?"

"You're wrong, Itachi-san…Deidara-sempai promised…we play 'hide and seek'…today… Tobi needs…to find him..." Tobi said breathlessly, his gloved hands resting on his wobbly knees.

Purple with rage over how Tobi had ruined his intimate moment with his precious sake, Kisame pulled his sword from the rough ground and growled out at Tobi, "I'll help you find him, once I'll tear you apart from limb to limb!"

Tobi spoke chokingly, his right eye shining with happy tears, "Really? You'll help Tobi…find him…Thanks, Kisame-san…Tobi will share…delicious ice-creams…with you…"

With that awkward line, Tobi toppled onto the solid ground at Kisame's feet.

O O O

Gaara's greenish feline eyes fell upon a photo of a beautiful girl smiling back at him with a sincere smile. Studying the girl's face with great interest, his heart slightly fluttered with an odd tingling feeling of happiness. In the sepia-toned photo, she still had those kind emerald eyes that she had years ago, when Gaara first met him, long before he was the Kazekage of the Sand Village, long before he befriended Naruto, and long before everything good that had happened to him…

"He's a monster!" The sharp voice of his darkest past was swirling maniacally in Gaara's brain, "Don't go near him! He'll kill you!"

It seemed like it was only yesterday when Gaara played on the swing of solitary in the sandy playground alone. He had no one to play with, except the lifeless sand that can move into different shapes on its own accord. Saying 'hi' to anyone was an unforgivable sin, because the only reply that would be bestowed upon him was a cold, frightened look that spoke no words of love. Tears kept falling from his swollen eyes, yet no one seemed to care, not even his own Kazekage father, until…

"Hi!" A girly voice suddenly reached his ears, "Want my ice-cream? It's vanilla."

Gaara looked up at the complete stranger. What he saw made him stared at her with pure surprise. She was the most beautiful 'angel' he had ever seen in his lifetime. Is she smiling at me? Is she really smiling at me? Another large tear flowed down his chubby cheek, slowly but surely. He had realised how a mere smile could mean so much to him; it made him feel so good inside, like he was worthy enough to exist on the face of this planet.

The girl with gentle emerald eyes frowned, "Hey…Are you crying?"

"Go away," Gaara spoke in a raspy, choking voice, "You don't want to come near me. I'm a monster."

"If you're a monster, I'm a princess," The girl retorted, before dissolving into silly fits of giggle.

"Why are you laughing at me?" Gaara squeaked innocently.

"I think you're cute. What's your name?" The girl smiled warmly.

Gaara's mind was a complete blank, but something inside him made his lips mouth, "Gaara."

"Gaa-ra…" The peculiar girl giggled again, her long ponytail shaking along with her, "You know what? I'll have that name stuck in my head forever. So Gaara, here's your ice-cream. My treat!"

The girl had a snowy ice-cream in her dainty hand, and it was already melting. Gaara's trembling hand made an effort for the ice-cream -the first kindness that had ever been shown to him by a human, apart from his dearest maternal uncle. Then, as fate would have it, Gaara's sand instinctively curled around the ice-cream, wrapped it into a tight ball and violently crushed it into countless droplets of cream. The girl screamed, her sticky hand cupping over her gasping mouth.

"I'm sorry…" Gaara's voice broke, "I didn't mean to…"

"Wow, that's amazing!" The girl's eyes dilated into shiny emerald orbs, "That sand can move by itself! You're so cool, Gaara!"

Gaara's face turned ghostly pale, "B-b-but the ice-cream…"

"Forget about the ice-cream! I'll get you another one!" Smiling gleefully, the girl held out her wrinkleless hand to Gaara, "Speaking about 'forget', I forgot to introduce myself. My name's…"

"Eva!"A tanned hand swooped Eva's arm away by force, "Are you nuts? That's Gaara you're talking to!"

"I know he's Gaara, Ken! Stop dragging me!" Eva struggled to break free from Ken's clutches, but Ken's brute strength was proven too much for her.

"Eva, that 'Gaara' is not normal! He's…He's a…" Ken bit his lips, while his index finger kept pointing at Gaara.

"He's a monster."

O O O

Tuk tuk tuk! "Kazekage-sama!" A male voice trailed from the office door, prompting Gaara to sit upright. The door slammed open, and came in a familiar figure into the room.

"Have you received my letter with the photo, Kazekage-sama(Sir)?" The boy said with a worn-out expression on his dashing face.

Gaara's bony fingers ran along the edges of the passport-sized photo he was holding, "Yes, Ken. I'll save Eva-chan from the Akatsuki."


End Of Chapter 4

(Author's note: To those who are wondering, 'Kazekage' is the chief of the Sand Village, whereas 'Hokage' is the chief of the Village Hidden in The Leaves. The word 'chan' is used for a close female friend. However, in this case, Gaara had never seen Eva again since the first day they met, though he sometimes felt that Eva was some sort of a very close friend to him).

Thanks for reading until this far! I'm trying to finish this story as soon as possible, so see you soon!