"This mission is of utmost importance, so I expect no objections," the Kazekage ordered calmly, his dark eyes never leaving the stoic young man standing in his office. Sasuke stared right back, a silent challenge to see who would look away first. Besides Sasuke, Baki read over the mission scroll with a frown. After reading the entire thing twice, he angled it a bit so that Sasuke could glance at it as well. Sasuke did so gladly, but soon frowned deeply.

Sitting at his desk with his sister-in-law standing behind him, the Kazekage scowled at the two men. Team captains normally did not openly show their subordinates the mission scroll so quickly after reading it themselves. To pass the scroll over to Sasuke so quickly showed that Baki considered the outsider an equal and did not hold authority over the boy. It surely threw a wrench into the Kazekage's carefully marked plans.

Looking at the mission scroll, Sasuke knew something was up and he had to be careful from here on out. The mission was a simple retrieval mission: Kirigakure shinobi had stolen a relic from a temple and the temple's priest was paying greatly for its return. There was no danger of death or any threat to Suna itself, so the mission could've been assigned to any Chuunin team. But here they were, a Jounin team mostly known for assassinations, assigned a retrieval mission? Sasuke had no doubt that the Kazekage had ulterior motives.

"I don't have time to go on a stupid B-ranked mission," he growled underneath his breath so that only Baki heard. With a hard face, the older Jounin fixed an eye on him.

"It's a simple mission, one that we can finish by tonight if we work hard," he ordered quietly, careful to not let the other occupants of the room hear their small conversation," So suck it up and deal, boy. Whatever you have planned can wait for tomorrow."

Sasuke said nothing, but glanced back at the Kazekage. He could always go to Konoha tomorrow, that he was not worried about. The trip took three days at the least, by any chance. No, the Kazekage wanted him out of the village for the night. To this day, it still angered the devious man that Sasuke wasn't fully under his control and was, to say, a wild card in the deck. He had something up his sleeve and he didn't want Sasuke messing it up, so he decided to send him on a useless mission.

"Hai, Kazekage-sama," Baki bowed to their leader and Sasuke reluctantly followed suit," We will assemble the team and leave right away." The Kazekage waved them off with his hand and the two Jounin's poofed out of the office.

.

"Why do you want us to not leave the house tonight?" Temari demanded, standing in the doorway as Sasuke packed his weapons pouch. Gaara sat on the bed next to his mission pack, silently watching his older brother with curious eyes. (Kankuro was effectively tied up on the floor at Temari's feet after trying to steal Sasuke's katana.)

"There's something going on and I don't like it," Sasuke answered her, shutting his weapons pouch close and then strapping it to this thigh. He fixed a hard eye on Temari," Your father is sending me out of the village because he wants me out of the way. I'll be back tonight, but I want you three to be careful."

"Gaara," he glanced at the little red-head who straightened up at the mention of his name," Keep your brother and sister safe. Don't let any harm come to them or yourself, no matter what you have to do. Do you understand me?" Gaara stared up at him with wide eyes. What Sasuke had implied was to use the power of the demon inside him if necessary. To order him to do such a thing said that Sasuke was worried, and didn't want to take any chances. Silently, the jinchuuriki nodded, too stunned to speak.

Content with his response, Sasuke turned back to Temari and knelt down to her level," If I'm not back by nightfall, the three of you lock yourselves in my room. It's trapped and no one will be able to enter without your approval. Do not leave this room until I arrive, got it? Don't let anybody in, no matter what."

Temari's eyes widened," Not even for Yashamaru-san?"

Sasuke frowned," Especially for Yashamaru, and especially your father." It was hard to throw this all onto the kids, but there was no choice. Gaara was most likely his target and Sasuke would be damned before he handed the kid over. It was cruel to tell these children just how evil their father was and what ruthless things he was capable of, but their safety was Sasuke's first priority.

"Be safe until I get back," he ruffled Kankuro's hair one last time before leaving.

The moon hung high in the sky, illuminating the sand in an eery way. Baki and Sasuke stood back to back, eyes sweeping the scene in front of them, wary of an attack from any side. Their teammate's bodies laid in various humps around them, what was left of Team Baki were just piles of flesh and blood now. The two co-captains of the squad stood back to back, kunai's drawn and alert. Nine shinobi surrounded them, each smirking or grinning evilly. Suna headbands adorned each of their foreheads.

"You bastards would dare turn against your own comrades?" Baki spat at one of them, recognizing him as a teammate from a mission a couple months ago. The man just smirked back at him, unaffected by Baki's harsh words. Sasuke remained silent.

"You two are getting awfully chummy with that monster kid," the apparent captain of the betraying team spoke up," Especially you, kid." He glared darkly at Sasuke, who returned it with a blank stare. Keeping his anger in check was much more difficult with Konoha-nin, not these pompous brats. Yes, that is what Sasuke thought of them at the moment. These were the best of Suna's Jounin? They were pathetic in Sasuke's eyes and he missed the old days where Jounin and even ANBU sometimes posed a threat to him.

Oh well, one gets exceptionally strong as a missing-nin eventually.

"We have orders from the Kazekage himself to take you two out," the captain continued, not noticing Sasuke's smirk when he saw one of the traitor's guard go down," It's two against nine, you have no chance. And by tomorrow, we won't have to worry about that monster bothering our village ever again."

Baki had to physically clamp down on Sasuke's wrist to stop him from erupting in a fit of fury. "Keep your head on your shoulders, boy," he ordered quietly," If we survive this, then you can go back to being the overprotective big brother."

Sasuke growled at him, then openly glared at the surrounding Suna-nin. He did not have time to fool around here. These fools had to be taken out immediately and he needed to go back to Suna now.

Dropping his kunai, Sasuke slowly and methodically pulled out his katana, Kusanagi. A few Jounin jumped at the threatening sound of metal and Sasuke smirked. Weaklings.

"Baki, can you keep a secret?" he asked, and Baki gave him a confused glance out of the corner of his eye.

"…If I were to ever tell you one of the secrets I carry, I'd have to kill you."

"Good," Sasuke smirked and his eyes bled into deadly maroon.

The streets were silent and that bothered him. Blood stained his vest and the metallic scent of it rose up to greet his nose. He shrugged it off, the scent was not unfamiliar to him and over the years, it followed him wherever he went. It was not the blood that covered him that had him so bothered. It was the stillness of the air, the foreboding hanging over his head, the feeling that he was too late.

As he ran, something crunched underneath his foot. Pausing in the middle of the street, he looked down and saw a stepped-on brown paper bag. Swiftly, he bent over and dumped its contents out onto the sand. A jar of medicine rolled out. He quickly recognized it as Yashamaru's homemade medicinal cream. Teeth grinded together and he set off at a run, 'Damn you, Yashamaru!' That woman was part of this, and it couldn't be for innocent reasons. He had already checked the house and found that none of the kids were there. All three of them were out there somewhere, lured out by the cunning of Yashamaru, and he had to find them soon. Their lives could be at stake.

...

"Gaara! Gaara-kun!" Temari cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted into the darkness. But the streets were quiet and no answer came back to her. She waited for one more moment, disappointed that she couldn't find any sign of her youngest brother. She had promised Sasuke that she would keep her brothers safe in the house.

"Gaara! Come back! We have to go home!" she shouted one last time, hoping that maybe he heard her this time. Beside her, Kankuro yawned, but looked for his little brother none-the-less.

"Something doesn't feel right, Temari-chan," he whined," I've got a bad feeling about this. We should go back to the house."

Temari rounded on him with a glare," Of course something's wrong! That's why we have to find Gaara-kun. Yashamaru sent him to that boy's house with medicine hours ago, he should be back by now! We can't go back without Gaara."

Kankuro just frowned at her," Gaara has Shukaku, you know nothing can hurt him. His sand will always protect him. So let's head back and wait for him or nii-san."

"That sounds like a good idea," a foreign voice spoke up and both children froze stiff," What are you two doing out here all alone?"

Temari was the first to recognize the voice and sighed in audible relief," Baki-sensei, I'm so glad it's you." Turning around, she saw her sensei with his hands on his hips... but then she saw the blood.

"Sensei! Are you hurt?"

Baki sighed and knelt down to her level. "I'm fine," he reassured her," Nothing that I can't handle. But you shouldn't be out here. Your father is planning something and I have to make sure you are safe. Where's Gaara?"

Both children averted their eyes, letting him know that they had no idea. "Why were you outside, anyways?"

"Err, Gaara hurt a kid earlier today and he wanted to apologize. So Yashamaru-san gave him some medicine to bring to him. But that was hours ago and he never came back. So we left to go find him," Temari explained, waving her arms around as if to prove her point. Baki merely frowned at her, making her arms fall back down to her sides.

"It's too dangerous for you out here," he said and stood up," Come on, let's head back home, shall we?"

...

The smell of blood hung thick in the air, but he ignored that. Even though it smelled fresh and warm, even though he could see the trickle of it coming from the corner of her mouth. Had it not been for the blood, she would've looked like she was just resting, leaning against the wall. But he knew better. That blood meant she had been crushed. Her heart was no longer beating; he could no longer hear it's steady beat. Yashamaru was dead.

Sniff... Sniff...

Sasuke slowly looked up from Yashamaru's body. There huddled a small figure, though his sand was still partially protecting him. His soft sobs could be heard as he cried for the closest thing to a mother he ever had.

"Gaara," Sasuke spoke up and hell broke loose. Faster than he could blink, a small whip of sand shot out at him, narrowly grazing his left cheek. Even when he felt it cut his cheek and the pain soon followed, even when he felt the blood run down his cheek, Sasuke didn't flinch. Not an ounce of fear showed in his face as he faced the child's back. Yes, Gaara now knew he was there, but refused to turn around.

Sasuke sighed," Gaara. Can you not face me?" Gaara said nothing as the sand formed an even bigger sheild around him. Sasuke glanced back at Yashamaru, then back at the sobbing boy.

"She tried to kill you, didn't she?" he spoke and again, the sand cut another line deep in his cheek, though on the opposite side. But Sasuke still continued on," She betrayed you, and I bet it hurts like hell. To have someone to know and trust so much to betray you. It makes you feel like they never loved you in the first place; makes you think they were faking it from the very beginning."

"... How can you know how I feel?"

A small smirk appeared on his face. Finally, he was getting somewhere with him. "Someone betrayed me too, a long time ago. So I know exactly how you feel, Gaara."

There was another moment of silence as Gaara contemplated his words. Eventually, Sasuke was relieved to see the sand fall back to the ground and Gaara turned to face him. A tear stained face looked out at him from a hollow shell and Sasuke felt a pang in his chest.

"She said I was a monster," Gaara sobbed," A monster that killed her sister. I'm the reason why my mother is dead." The tears began to fall again as Gaara couldn't hold them in anymore. They fell down his cheeks in waves, rolling down like fat raindrops. "I don't want to be monster!" he wailed," I never wanted to hurt anyone! Why couldn't I be normal? Why did I have to be this monster?"

Sasuke stared at him with unreadable eyes, for he really couldn't grant Gaara's wish like he so wanted to. There was nothing he could do. But Sasuke was a stubborn man, and he never liked being told there was something he couldn't do. So instead, he stood his ground and faced the child with a determined resolve.

"You are no such thing," he spoke valiantly, the words coming out strong and supported. In his eyes, a child sat crying. A child lost and looking for love. How anyone could ever see a beast, a monster, Sasuke could not fathom.

"You are not the Shukaku," Sasuke continued," Though he may be sealed inside you, you are not him. No matter what people say or what you do, you are just Gaara... Subaku no Gaara."

Gaara sniffled. Taking a slight sigh, Sasuke's eyes softened," You don't have to suffer anymore, Gaara. You don't have to let this demon control your life and destroy your happiness. Others have managed to be happy, so you can to."

"What would you know?" Gaara startled him by whirling around and fixing him with a glare," You don't have a demon sealed inside you. You never had to suffer with people hating you. You never had to endure people calling you monster and saying you were better off dead."

Sasuke frowned at the young boy. No, he never experienced things like that. And it would've hurt. Probably even made him hate them back. But nevertheless, he's seen them happen. He's seen the hatred in people's eyes as they looked at his ex-teammate. Yet... look where he was now. Naruto couldn't have had better friends.

"I know because I had a good friend," he told Gaara," My best friend was a Jinchuuriki, just like you. And yet, people love him and they are his friends. Not because they fear him, but because of who he is. They love him for him."

Wide aqua eyes stared up at him and Sasuke felt it safe enough to take a few steps forward. Wordlessly, Gaara raised his arms slightly and Sasuke never hesitated. He took his adopted brother into his arms and held him tight, much like Itachi used to when he was little. Gaara began sobbing again and buried his face into Sasuke's chest. The youngest Uchiha just stayed still, not quite sure how to comfort him, but knew this was the best he could possibly do.

The sand hovered around them , uncertain and wary. Yet never once did it attack. A loose shield formed around them and Sasuke knew that even the sand had accepted him. Sasuke could never harm Gaara and he was trusted to be this close.

"Come on, Gaara," Sasuke spoke," Let's go."

Gaara lifted his tear-stained face," To where?"

"To find home."

...

Alright you maggots! REVIEW! Honestly, only 6 reviews for this entire story? Bad readers! Bad bad bad bad bad bad!