Chapter 4:

The girl visible only in the shade red

"Its YOU!" Temari shrieks, the anger seeping out of her like boiling water left on the stove for far too long. Maybe it was just the way her eyes looked then, or the way the world just came down on my two seconds ago, I'm not sure but the second the gaze of pure disgust crossed her face. I lost it. The next thing I know another blast of pain rattles my brain, Chi's laughter bubbling through the chaos. Do I get to play yet young Hebi? Let me tear her to shreds. Hell I'll even rip the face off that boy so you can keep it for yourself. My eyes widen, what am I even thinking? I can't let Chi out! She'll slaughter everyone. If I let her out…I'll lose control again. She'll hurt Gaara.

"NO! STOP TALKING!" Temari, Kankuro and Gaara all jump at the command. It is Temari who seems to understand that it isn't her I'm talking to. Quickly she takes old of her fan and opens it to the third moon. I know what she plans to do…with me cowering on the ground, trying my best to keep Chi at bay, it's her perfect chance. The absolute perfect chance to chop off my head and finally be able to let go of the loathing she has harbored for me all these years. Smirking under the mask of the shadows I extend my head out, giving her the chance to take a swift clean cut. I understand. I'd take the same move too, I'd slice her face off her shoulders and finally have one less thing to carry in my memories. One less thing to regret not doing, yet this death is meant for her. If I am not put out of my misery, Chi will undoubtedly get out. She'd wreak havoc and wouldn't stop until her blood lust was satisfied.

"Do it." I whisper. Temari hesitates at my words, they've confused her. They've made her question why I am so willing for death. "DO IT! NOW!" I holler at her. Fear takes her body and leads her through the movements, lifting up her giant fan and raising it high, letting the wind take it as it drops down. Down. Down.

"TEMARI STOP!" We both falter at Gaara's voice. It is confused and frustrated, it always is when things don't go exactly his way. It makes me smile behind the curtain of my sleek hair.

"G-Gaara…I was only trying to-" He glares at her, the coldness so real. It reminds me of five years ago, I almost shiver just observing it. Taking two steps forward he crouches down, a knee in the ground and one in the air. Immediately I react to this, sitting up straight I place my hand on his knee without even thinking about it. It makes everyone gasp, even I do inside.

"Get your knee off the ground or your pants will get dirty." There is a moment of silence at my awkward display. Then I notice the twitch on Gaara's lips, he is trying his absolute hardest not to smile. Though the beam in his eyes are there, it is obvious he is still oblivious. That is okay though, all I want is to see him smile again. Even if it means he'll never even once remember my face. He stands up and offers me his hand, I accept it without a moments thought. I seem to be developing a habit of that quite quickly. The hand I hold, it is bigger then I remember. Its rough from battle, but it is warm and almost as cautious as I had memorized. Suddenly I realize that Chi's voice has stopped and the pain has eased. I feel better, just because he touched my hand.

"There was a girl," Gaara mumbles under his breath, "a long time ago she used to smile whenever I was around, but I can't..." My heart flutters, anticipation seems to be nothing but a completely lethal drug for me. I remember when he used to hang off my every word, like I was the only on in the world, to him I probably was. Yet now, in this brief moment between time and space, it's completely reversed-I only want his voice and that's all I've ever wanted for five long years. "I can only remember her laughter, but when I try to dig in deeper everything fogs over. I'm not even sure if it is real." Temari glowers, her face clouding over with distaste. I can tell that she doesn't like that Gaara can recall even that much. He turns towards her and continues, that voice unwavering and smooth even though it is coaxed with frustration and confusion, "Yet somehow Temari knows you well enough to despise you with all her being. That in itself helps your case immensely."

"Gaara, y-you mistaken! Of course I don't know this murderer! She is just the criminal we came to execute remember? She is dangerous." Temari is fluster, her words have been sucked dry and her hope for convincing Gaara is very low. She should have taken my life when she had the chance. I smile soundly inside, that rotten egg still has a lot to learn.

Gaara only glares with pure rage apparent in the light of his eyes, his motionless silence stilling the world and beckoning the laws of motion to ease into a complete stop. Kankuro takes a few steps forward from the background and motions for Gaara to calm down. I stand steadily and watch this scene, I've never quite seen them interact so familiar before. Before, when we were still children, they kept the farthest distance possible from Gaara, their disgust very real. Then when we reached the age eleven they were glued to him twenty four seven, it was not out of affection they did this though, but more so out of fear. They need to monitor him or he would fall from their vision and slaughter whoever passed his judgment. This time they act, the closet to siblings I have ever witnessed from them. It is almost like the world has toppled over on its side, things certainly have changed…

"Gaara, we're your family. Who are you going to trust?" A flicker of anger blacks out my soul, what a dirty trick, Kankuro. I was family to Gaara before both of them could even withstand his gaze. My pride seems to be chocking me but I keep quiet, if I said anything it wouldn't help me much.

"I see it…in her eyes. She is not an enemy." So he learned how to see, did he? I guess that time together wasn't a pure waste of his time.

The stones under my bare feet are smooth and sleek, polished to perfection by the rivers rapid currents. The water comforts my feet and cools down the burning cuts that will soon become scars. This is my sanctuary. This open fielded that is shielded from the naked eye by thick woods and strangling vines. Flowers grow carelessly here, an off sided babbling brook snores noisily near overgrown boulders and pond agley. Sometimes I camp out here when I can not stand the beatings grandmamma gives me. No one knows where it is so it is easy to keep it a secret. Cocking my head slightly I notice Gaara standing a foot behind me, his uncertainty almost like a book to me. This makes me smile. I showed this place to Gaara and he was really happy that I did, I know he knew the truth behind it. Every shard of grass whispering on the marshy ground, every aging petal on every tall flower-every slick stone caressed by each sloshing dance of water was a piece of me. I had let him into my world; I had let him see a part of me not even the birds I sang with knew. We were, almost in every sense, one being in my eyes. This meant the breath in my body to me; I know that it also meant his too.

"Gaara-kun, why do you hold back from the water? It won't bite I promise." I beam at him, holding out my hand with the most ease I've ever dare felt. There is a glimmer in his eyes and I know he trusts me with his life. Gently I take his hand and gingerly guide him to the water. He only manages at this pace until we reach the edge, then he stops abruptly, the grip on my hand tightening. Giving him a squeeze back I tug him a few inches more then lightly release my grip on him. Gaara tries to take hold of me again, those tiny fingers desperate; flinging himself forward he manages to catch my forearm without touching the water. Smiling at him, I bend down and stick my free hand into the water and pull out a smoothed down stone. I readjust myself and twist the round stone around in my hand to remove the pond scum, and then I offer it to Gaara. With his mouth slightly agape he contemplates my gift then takes grasp of it, his eyes admiring it like a precious gleaming emerald. That look of awe sends a spark of enjoyment into my heart.

As the stone steals away his attention I lead him two more steady steps forwards, he allows me to lead him-until his toes touch the rapids. A struggled gasp escapes his throat as he falls away from the stream, yanking me with him. We fall to the earth together and with little to no spacing he wraps his arms around my waist and burrows his head into my side. This takes me by surprise, I've never once seen someone so afraid of water, I didn't understand at all then. Then I looked down at his toes. The flesh that the water had licked him turned his toes a deeper shaded color, slowly the wet are begins to flake off and show the pale skin of Gaaras real toes underneath. The discarded skin covers the ground and I lean forward to study it, it doesn't look like skin though, it more resembles…sand. Glancing back at his toes, I notice how the sand starts to repack itself onto Gaara's exposed flesh. I understand now…it's like a fully body mask made of Gaara's sand. I hear the sobbing, and feel the wetness soaking through my shirt, I know this type of tears well, and they are very bitter and filled with sorrow-he thinks he is a freak. Suddenly a thought hits me.

"Gaara-kun, tell me-do you know how to see?" I inquire quietly.

"What do you mean?" He whispers through his chocked up tears and my now wet shirt.

"Well from a very young age I have been able to see. For example-I see you, but it's less of seeing you as a person and more as a soul." I explain thoughtfully-Gaara lifts his head from my side and gives me an uncertain expression.

"A soul?" Curiosity heightens his voice a few notches and I smile at him, it's a motherly smile, and I know he feels the warmth behind it.

"Yes, you see since I was a young child I have been able to look into a persons eyes and read them like pop out books. I didn't understand why I could do this but I figured it was just because I was different. I must be a freak, no one else could do this as well and as accurately as I and this made me sad. I didn't quite understand. Then at the age of four I met my father and my nii-san, the second I looked into my fathers eyes I realized that I did Not like him. There was a feeling of coldness in his soul that I could simply not get past, but when I looked at my nii-san I knew instantly that he was a good person, I knew I would love him forever. The very next day I had found out that my father had gone to my mother's house during the night and slit her throat in her sleep then burned down the house she was staying in. After that he went to attack me but my nii-san wouldn't allow this and ended my father's life, but he had taken a fatal wound and ended dying that same night." I know my eyes are clouded over by shadows because indeed that this was still a very tender subject to me but I managed to cast a happy beam at Gaara and continue on, "I saw the soul of evil in my father before anyone with just a simple glance, and saw the heroic nature of my nii-san in a short passing. Do you want to know what I see when I look at you?" He nods his head wearily, a fear to hear the answer. I lean in as if I am about to tell him the secret of the world and whisper, "The purest, most precious soul I ever did see."

Gaara smiles a big toothy grin and then asked slightly embarrassed, "Kana, will you teach my how to see?"

He must have mastered it while we were apart. At this, my heart fills with pride, I'm glad-if he learned to see he probably avoided most of the unwarranted difficulties in life with ease. Gaara, you don't even need me anymore do you?

"Gaara, don't be ridicules! We can't bring her back to Suna! For gods sake she slaughtered fifteen ninja from her own village and injured hundreds more! She is merciless, who knows the danger she would pose to your people!" Kankuro squeaks and I feel my face go blank with wide eyes, 'Gaara's people?'

"I am Kazekage and I know she isn't a threat. Besides, I've done far worse damage then that in a single week." There is a deafening silence, its like water drowning out my breathing. Gaara? You're Kazekage? Has life really exceeded so much? With that the red shade that kept me visible all these years evaporated before my very eyes and the world that I was lost in kept spinning without the thing that kept my drive for so long.

To the Readers:

Thank you so much for reading! I really hope you enjoyed this chapter, and if not, tell me why! Readers are always welcomed to share their honest opinions, no matter if it is to suggest ways to better the story or simply to say 'good job'! Again thank you very much for reading, I promise to update as soon as possible!

Shiori Mio

Also, if I am taking a while to post the newest chapter ofThe Sand Filled with Tears and you are anxious to read something new: Check out my new story!

A Mind UnboundBy Jesses Dark Heart: A Gaara/OC Not So Fairy Tale FanFiction