"Three days," Kushina growled. "It's been three days and we still haven't been given an audience with the Kazekage."

"I know," Shinzou said patiently. "I was there too."

She gave her brother an exasperated look. "You're not helping you know."

He shrugged. "It's not like anything I say would really help."

When they had arrived they had been brought to the Tower of Wind and told the Kazekage would meet with them. They'd spent the entire afternoon sitting in the lobby waiting as others arrived and were shuttled in and out of the Kazekage's presence.

While they waited.

Finally a secretary had informed them the Kazekage was done for the day. She told them they would have to return early the next morning to again await an audience. Kushina had asked about setting up an appointment, only to be politely told there were none available. They would simply need to come back and wait for some opportune moment when the Kazekage might, 'find time' for them.

Kushina and all the ninja did as they were instructed. They had spent all day yesterday and all day today sitting there. Forced to watch as others were permitted to meet the Kazekage as they cooled their heels. And at the end of each business day a secretary would come over to inform them they would need to return again tomorrow morning.

"He's doing this on purpose," she growled.

"Obviously," Shinzou said.

"If you don't have anything useful to say then don't say anything!" Kushina snapped. She had decided on this course. She was the one who had uprooted them from a pleasant routine in River country and brought them to the middle of the desert. Now not only were her efforts running into a stone wall, she was being made a fool of. "If he doesn't want to meet with us why the hell did he approve our visas and give us permission to come here in the first place?"

Shinzou grinned at her. "You're not looking underneath the underneath Kooky."

"Don't call me that, you know I hate being called that!"

"Fine then, you stop calling me Urusai (Shut up.)"

"Like that'll ever happen." She stuck her tongue out at him.

Saishu let out a groan. "I swear you two are behaving like children."

Annoyed she looked at her big brother. Growing up he had always been more logical than she had. He's had a real gift for strategic thinking and solving mysteries with the clues given. She on the other hand had been blessed with a devious mind and the ability to think on her feet and think outside the box. As a child it had helped her invent some interesting pranks and later on helped her set up ambushes and other surprising ploys. Her brother however had always been better at spotting patterns and figuring out what the enemy was up to.

"All right, Shinzou what do you think is going on?"

"The Kazekage is just putting us in our place is all," he told her. "He wants to make it clear that even though we have a Sannin with us and the Copy ninja that we need his help more than he needs us. This is just his way of letting us know we're not really that important."

"Humph, well if we're not that important maybe we should stop going to the Tower and just wait for him to contact us."

"That would be a mistake," her uncle jumped in. "It's no accident that a secretary keeps coming up to us to tell us to come back the next morning."

Shinzou nodded. "She's certainly acting on instructions. The Kazekage wants us to be inconvenienced and unhappy. He wants to make sure we're at least committed enough to put up with a little bother in order to meet with him."

Kushina didn't look happy. As usual her brother was making some good sense. "So what are we supposed to do?"

"What else can we do? We keep going there every day, all day, until he finally decided to meet with us."

"What if this is all just some sort of joke to him and he never meets us?"

"You don't invite a whole group of powerful independent minded ninja into your village just for a joke. He is definitely interest in us; don't doubt it for a second."

"So what do we do?"

"What can we do? We keep going there every day, all day, until the Kazekage sees fit to actually meet with us."

"And how long will that be?"

Shinzou shrugged his shoulders. "Who knows? Days, weeks, maybe even moths, I'm not the one to ask. The only one who knows for sure is the Kazekage."

"Wonderful," she muttered.

The door to their hotel suite opened and Aoi came in followed by the children. When Kushina and the others had arrived she'd hoped to be given a residence that could become the new Uzumaki compound. But so far she'd heard nothing on that front. So for the time being they were renting suites in the most expensive hotel in Suna.

Shinzou greeted his wife with a kiss and then gave each of his boys a hug. Kushina picked her son up and planted a whole bunch of kisses all over his face. "Did you have fun in the park today Naru-kun?"

"Yeah momma," he said excitedly. "We got to play all day, it was great." A small shadow of sadness crossed his features. "But most of the other kids wouldn't come play with us though, they stayed away."

Looks like they don't like foreigners here an more than they do in Konoha. "Don't worry about it honey," she said lightly. "I'm sure they'll play with you once they get more used to you and your cousins." At least here they don't call you demon or monster.

"They stayed away because of me," a quiet voice called from the hallway.

Kushina glanced over to see a very nervous little boy standing there clutching a teddy bear in his arms. She noticed there was a pile of sand at his feet. "Hello, and who are you?" She asked in a friendly tone.

"This is Gaara," Aoi answered. "He's the boys' new friend. I invited him to come and have dinner with us. I hope that's all right."

"Well of course it is," Kushina said happily. She was glad that Naruto and her nephews had started to make friends. "Any friend of my Naru-kun is always welcome. I'm Kushina, Naruto's mother. That is Shinzou, Michio and Minori's father and that is Saishu my uncle. Won't you please come in?"

The boy looked at her with a mix of fear and hope. "Thank you very much for inviting me," he said softly. As he entered the suite she noted that the sand followed him in moving just like a living thing. He saw the way Kushina was watching the sand at his feet. "It's all right," he said nervously. "I promise I won't cause any trouble and the sand stays with me so it won't make a mess."

"Isn't it cool momma?" Naruto said. "He can make sand do anything he wants!"

"That's a very interesting kekkei genkai you have," Saishu said. "I've never seen anything quite like it."

Gaara looked at the man confused. "What's that?"

"It's what's known as a blood line limit," Kushina said. "An ability that is inherent to certain people with certain DNA. You're able to use sand like that because of what's in your blood. Hasn't your family ever explained to you where your powers come from?"

Gaara cast his eyes down. "I get my powers because I'm a monster."

Kushina and every adult in the room stiffened. "Who told you that?" Kushina demanded.

"Everyone," the boy said sadly. "Everyone calls me a monster, even my family, everyone but my uncle Yashamaru. He's the only one who has never called me that."

Kushina set Naruto down and then knelt in front of Gaara. "Come here." She reached out and brought the boy into her arms and embraced him. It was the first time anyone had ever hugged him.

When she touched him Gaara stiffened with fear, afraid she was going to try and hurt him. The sand reacted to his emotions and began jumping about wildly. But he didn't will it to attack her and it didn't automatically rise to prevent her contact. When he realized that Gaara understood she wasn't trying to hurt him. Whenever he was in danger or whenever there was intent to harm the sand would react on its own. As his fear passed the sand at his feet settled back down. He abruptly realized that this felt… good. This embrace felt warm and comforting, it felt good to be held.

"You poor child," she said to him tenderly. "You're no monster; you're just a little boy. And whatever is in your blood doesn't change that. The people who say that to you, they're the monsters. Never ever call yourself that again. You're a human being and no one should ever see you as anything else."

He didn't understand why, but hearing her soft words and feeling the warmth of her arms and body he suddenly began to cry.

"Shhhh, there, there," she whispered to him and stroked the back of his neck. It broke her heart to see how deeply he was affected by just this tiny bit of comfort. Hadn't this poor boy ever been shown any kindness at all? Just what sort of family did he have? Is this what would have happened to Naruto if I had dies and he'd been left all alone? It was a horrible thought and made her wonder if this place was really any better than Konoha after all.

She held and soothed him until his tears finally passed. Then she gave him a happy smile. "All right, no more sad feelings, o.k.?"

The boy nodded and wiped his eyes. "O.k."

"Now let's order room service and have a nice dinner."

XXXXXXXXXX

A couple hours later the adults were sitting watching as the children played together. Looking at him Gaara seemed no different than any of the other children. (Aside from the sand that followed him about.)

There was a knock on the door. Kushina got up to answer it. Standing there was a slightly effeminate looking fellow with long blonde hair. She also noted he wore a Suna hitai-ite, marking him as a ninja. "Pardon me," he said in a courteous voice. "But is Gaara here? I have come to take him home."

"Uncle Yashamaru!" Gaara called out happily. He got up and ran over tot eh other man's side.

The man smiled down at the little boy. "You seem very happy Gaara, did you enjoy visiting?"

"Yes uncle, they were all very nice to me." He looked up at Kushina. "Thank you for being so nice to me, no one else ever has been." He glanced back at the man. "Except for uncle Yashamaru."

"It was our pleasure Gaara," she informed him. "You are welcome to come and visit us any time that you like."

"Really?!" Gaara said excitedly.

"Of course," she reached down and patted the top of his head. "You are a good boy Gaara; I can't imagine how anyone could ever see you as anything else. Only a fool would blame a child for something that was inside of him. You can only choose what you do not who you are."

Yashamaru heard her words and stood there silently. "Thank you for being so generous to Gaara," he finally said.

Kushina smiled at the man. "Well of course, he's just a child after all."

"Yes," Yashamaru said. "Of course he is."

XXXXXXXXXX

They were walking through the darkened streets of Suna hand in hand. Yashamaru could not remember ever seeing the little boy so happy. For his part he tried to hide the feeling and thoughts that were swirling about inside of him. His exterior he managed to keep calm. No one looking at him would ever guess he had strapped fifty explosive notes to his chest and was planning to kill himself and his nephew.

When he had set out to transport Gaara home he had determined that it would be tonight. He had tried to love Gaara, tried to see him as the last remaining link to his beloved onee-sama. But no matter how he tried he couldn't bring himself to love the boy. It had been his fault his precious sister had died. She'd been sacrificed to make him a living weapon. She had named him Gaara meaning it to be a curse, 'the demon that loves only himself.' She had died cursing him and the village. He resented Gaara, hated him for stealing her away. And yet…

Only a fool would blame a child for something that was inside of him. You can only choose what you do not who you are… he's just a child after all.

Those words from that woman. Why did they bother him so? Gaara wasn't just a boy! He was a monster! He was the reason his sister had died. Ending his existence was the right thing to do!

"Yashamaru?" The boy called uncertainly.

"Yes Gaara? What is it?" He spoke in the same gentle tone he had always used around him.

The boy looked fearful. "Uncle would you… would you hug me?"

Yashamaru blinked, caught totally off guard by the request. "Yes, if you like. We are family afterall."

The boy held out his arms to him eagerly. Yashamaru bent down and took him into his arms.

Now is the time, he thought. I should do it now while I am holding him.

"Warm," the boy murmured. "It feels so warm."

"Yes," Yashamaru said quietly. "It is warm. When… when I was a little boy your mother would hug me like this. It always made me feel happy to have onee-sama hug me."

"I wish I still had my mommy." Gaara said.

"Yes, so do I."

Gaara looked up at him. "Yashamaru, if my mother were alive would she hug me?"

"Of course, if she had lived she would have treasured you and always wanted to hold you."

"I miss her," he said. "But I'm glad I at least have you uncle."

"I…" he hesitated. He doesn't seem like a monster right now. He picked Gaara up and began to carry him in his arms. "Let's go home Lord Gaara."

XXXXXXXXXX

As they approached the Sabaku mansion a lone figure waited for them by the gate.

"Father," Gaara said nervously.

"Gaara," he spoke coolly. He had never once referred to him as son and didn't ever plan to. "You seem unusually happy."

"I got to visit with my friends and their family."

"I see."

"They, they say I can visit them whenever I want. Is… is it all right if I go see them again tomorrow?"

The Kazekage gave a curt nod. "Certainly, spend as much time with them as you like." The man then shifted his focus to Yashamaru. "I am a little surprised to see you here. I had thought you were going to handle that mission I'd assigned you tonight."

Yashamaru bowed his head. "I apologize Kazekage-sama, but I have had a change of heart. With your permission I would like to decline the assignment."

"I see," the man said neutrally. "That's fine; I won't force you into it."

"Thank you Kazekage–sama."

As the Kazekage watched Yashamaru bring Gaara inside an interesting idea was forming. Perhaps there's a way to solve my problem and still keep him for the future.

XXXXXXXXXX

The following morning Kushina and all the ninja of her party were once again in the Tower lobby.

"Here we go again," she muttered quietly.

"Excuse me," the secretary that dismissed them at the end of each business day approached them.

Now what? Kushina wondered. "Yes?"

The secretary bowed and motioned for them to follow her. "The Kazekage will see you now."