Disclaimer
AN: I feel like I'm driving to much amusement for Yashamaru's pain...
Oh well!
My morning started out as it usually does, though not always in the same order:
Return from genjutsu practice
Wake Gaara up
Play with Gaara
Teach Gaara things...on various topics.
Follow Gaara around as he does whatever he does and occasionally make snarky comments on people.
Talk to Shukaku and keep him entertained
Crash Shukaku's parties, meaning: mess up all of his plans, or try…
Freak Yashamaru out..
Play pranks on the Kazekage-he's stopped visiting after the "you killed me" prank. Which is totally fine by me.
Draw, Gaara now has a whole stack of drawings by yours truly.
Fill in all remaining hours somehow
Convince Gaara to go to sleep. Yes, this happens every day. That child hates sleep with a passion.
Everything was going according to schedule.
Until now.
Why? Because Gaara has asked me to tell him a story, and not like random stories that I usually tell
A very specific story.
A story about me, when I was a small child.
Cue a freak out fest from me.
Ok, I'm fine now…
And here I am, trying to convince Gaara that he really really doesn't want a story about me.
It's not working.
'Gaara, trust me, I tell horrible stories about myself.'
"No you don't! What about the time you told me how you came from another world?'
I blanch, he actually believed that? I'd only told him that story because I thought he would chalk it up to something I made up…
'Gaara, that one isn't true...I made it up.'
Gaara crosses his arms defiantly,
"No, you didn't!"
'How do you know that I didn't lie?'
"See? I told you it was true! Besides, it was too realistic to be a lie."
Remember what I said about scarily perceptive brats? Yeah, one of them is sitting right in front of me,
'Fiiine, I'll tell you a story-'Gaara opens his mouth to add something, '-About myself.'
"Ok."
I sigh, this is going to take a while...it actually needs to last about fifteen minutes. Yashamaru comes and checks in on Gaara in fifteen more minutes, so when that happens I can escape from the "tell my life story" moment. But how to sum up my life story up in fifteen minutes? If I don't finish it, Gaara will bug me until I tell him more...so a summary should do.
I really, really hate it when characters in an anime start monologuing about their sob stories and "woe is me for being alive" crap. Like really, there are people who have it worse than you in the same universe! This is also why I hate Sasuke who's all about "woe is my existence".
My story isn't all that sad, but still, I don't want to go there.
Especially with an easily influenced child like Gaara.
So summary it is,
'So about fourteen years ago, a baby was born in another world. Her parents originally lived in a place called America, but before she was born, her father found a job in another place called Japan.'
Here Gaara decided that he needed to add his opinion,
"But that doesn't happen here in the Elemental Nations."
'No it doesn't, all the ninja stay in their respective villages. But this is about a different world, remember?' I reply, the modern world is a far cry from the shinobi era...or is it the modern era is the shinobi era and the era I came from the past?
Aaargh, so confusing...I suppose that means I'm sticking with the different world theory since Shukaku seems to agree. That demon knows everything, and I really do mean everything, he's that knowledgeable. See people? This is why you should be nice to the bijuu, if they like you enough, you never know when they might impart some wisdom upon you.
Anyway, I'm getting off track.
And Shukaku?
Butt out of my narrative, you've taken enough space up in it, make way for other things!
Gaara snaps me out of my imaginary one sided argument with Shukaku, he's not even here and I'm arguing with him, my priorities need some fixing,
"The one with all the machines and some thing you call phones that you can talk into to communicate with other people?"
I smile happily, it would seem that Gaara has inherited my great memory for relative information, nevermind that I'm not his biological mother,
'Yup, and so the little girl's parents moved to Japan for her father's job. She was born soon after the move, so her parents decided to name her with a Japanese name in honor of their move to a new country. Her name was Hakumei.' The smile turns bittersweet, I've been dead for a year now.
Mom, Dad? How are you?
Please don't grieve for me, I don't deserve it...
"So Hakumei grew up in Japan?"
I return to my story, or is it a summary? Ah well, it can be both,
'Yes, Japan is very similar to the ninja villages but ninjas were a thing of the past there.'
The look one Gaara's face is one of wonder, I felt the same way when I first came to this world, though the copious amounts of sand ruined the effect of seeing a whole new world for the first time,
"Wow, how did they defend themselves?"
I snort, this world's children are perfect little soldiers, the first thing that he asks after being introduced to a place where there are no ninjas is ask how they defended themselves.
You can be proud of your son Rasa, though knowing you, you probably won't,
'There weren't very many wars in that time period, but they did have bombs. Bombs that could decimate a small country and block the light of the sun for days.'
You can thank me later Deidara, introducing your art to Gaara,
"That's scary, we don't have any explosives like that here…"
'Indeed we don't. The little girl grew up in the new country and went to school there.'
"School? Like the Academy?"
Oh right, the only thing besides school here for the civilians is the Academy. And I don't even know if Gaara knows about the civilian schools,
'It is like the Academy, she went to school there and when she turned eleven, her father's job changed again.'
"Again?" He asked in disbelief. My move was like a shinobi moving from one country to another.
In other words, it doesn't happen.
Unless you marry someone from another village, or they marry you.
But that needs the two villages to be on good relations with each other.
And that's rare.
So his his shock on how this happen twice for something as trivial as a job is understandable,
'This time, they moved back to America, so she had to leave her home and change schools.'
I sigh, this actually wasn't all that long ago, about three years,
'She didn't have many friends before, and when she moved to a new school, she didn't have many friends there either.'
Gaara looks down at his hands in quiet contemplation,
"So she's like me, huh? I don't have any friends either…"
I try to smile for him, but inside I'm banging the floor and cursing Rasa for the unfairness that this adorable chibi is put through,
"Yes, but that's because you haven't met anyone to be friends with, your uncle and your father do not count since they already have a role in your life.'
Gaara looks at me hopefully,
"So can you be my friend?"
I laugh, despite his genius he's still a child with the innocence that comes with being one.
'Some people say that a mother is her child's best friend, but really, you should have someone else about your age. Don't worry, you'll have a certain blonde haired jinchuuriki as a friend sometime in the future.'
"In the future? So you know what happens in the future?" Gaara frowns at my words
'Not really, but I do know some things. Like that blonde who's going to be your best friend. A word of warning, he's easily...excitable.'
His mood doing a complete one eighty from his previous depressed state when he found out that I couldn't be his best friend,
"But he's going to be my best friend! And that makes him awesome, right?"
I snicker,
'Yeah...right, he's...awesome.'
"So Hakumei is like me and didn't have many friends in her new school…" Gaara changes the topic back to my childhood,
'But she was happy with her life, she didn't really like interacting with people all that much, preferring to draw or read. So she slowly adjusted to her new school and learned a new language in the next two years. The language she learned when living at her first home is the same language spoken here, but the second language she learned is not one from here. I'm pretty sure thaT it doesn't exist…'
One can practically see the stars in Gaara's eyes as he pleaded,
"Can you teach it to me then? Pleeeeeeease?!"
I give in to his demands, maybe it'll be useful in the future, besides they say that the earlier the child starts the better they retain the information,
"Fine, that can happen later. But for now, stop interrupting the story that you wanted to hear so much.'
He looks abashed,
"Sorry.."
'It's alright. Two years passed since moving and on her third, she and a group of friends decided to join in on a holiday. It's like a festival where children go around to houses and people give them candy. Hakumei loved candy, especially chocolate. She and her friends had a great time and where on their way home when she got murdered,'
I pause, reliving my last moments,
'She was stabbed in the chest, the blade grazing her heart. It was fatal.'
One finger traces the wound hidden underneath the scarf,
'And she died. But then she met an adorable little boy…'
"That's me, isn't it?' Gaara pipes up, teal eyes serious.
Well, this was going to happen eventually, better tell him early so he doesn't resent me for keeping the truth from him later,
'Yup, I'm not your biological mother Karura, but I'm your adoptive mother.'
I hold my breath, I hope he doesn't hate me for this...In my defence, I never really did lie, I just withheld the truth,
"Oh, so does that mean you're dead? That's why nobody else can see you unless you want them to, right?"
Ah, the joys of being a child, your attention span is that of an over eager puppy,
'Yes, I am one hundred percent dead. You can even say that I'm quite spirited~'
Cue a deadpan look from Gaara,
"Please don't say things like that, Mother. You scare me sometimes.."
I give him an insane grin,
'Please child, if I'm not here to scare you, how else do you develop an immunity towards the horrors of life?'
"You could be more subtle about it, or do away with the puns."
I gasp, scandalized,
'Do away with my horrible puns? You truly wound me!'
"Mother, that's not going to work, and your slapping your wounded chest. It doesn't make sense because your heart is already wounded."
There goes my pride.
But that means that I've taught him well.
Maybe too well.
But well nonetheless.
Victory for me!
Look on the bright side or lif-ahem, death they say!
Wiping away tears of my pride,
'I'm sooo proud, Gaara! You really do take after me!'
Gaara looks disturbed and pleased at the same time,
"E-eh? Please don't cry Mother!"
'Ah, you adorable adorable child, come here and give your mother a hug~' I say, holding my arms out with a wide smile.
Gaara scrambles over, plopping himself down on my lap,
"So what are we going to do today? Uncle Yashamaru should be coming soon, should we play a prank on him?"
I consider his idea, it does have its merits,
'Hmmm… we should, but that depends on what news he brings us today. If we don't like it then we can prank him to our heart's content.'
"Ok." Chirps Gaara happily, bouncing towards the door.
It opens and a very nervous looking Yashamaru walks in,
"Good morning, Gaara-sama, Aneki-sama," Here he looks pleadingly at Gaara and the air beside him where he assumes I am, "And please don't prank me!"
Laughing crazily at his plea I make sure that I use enough energy to make myself heard. Poor Yashamaru has taken to calling me "Aneki-sama". He probably called Karura Aneki, but now I'm Aneki-sama after the Rasa incident as Gaara and I have taken to call the prank we played on the Kazekage.
"There's no guarantee of that, Yashamaru!"
"A-ah, I see. Kami please have mercy on my soul," Here Yashamaru respectfully bows his head for his prayer, "Gaara-sama, Aneki-sama, Temari-chan and Kankuro-kun are visiting today. They will be here in an hour, I thought that you would like to know."
With that, he promptly fled.
Well, I was wondering when I was going to meet my other "children" because Kami knows that Gaara is my only true child.
The adorable little chibi.
Ok, little chibi is kind of repetitive, but still.
But the Sand Sibs are visiting their little brother today~!
'How about we get the sandbox ready? We're going to meet you siblings! So we better have something fun for them planned out.'
"Alright! To the sandbox then!"
I laugh at his enthusiasm,
'Eat breakfast first tanuki-chibi! His most esteemed Ore-sama can only do so much to keep you alive!'
Here's another chapter!
And we finally see some back story of the Main Character, Hakumei.
Next one will be about Temari and Kankuro coming over.
So learning puppetry is out then?
(Reply to Guest: Thank you! I love Shukaku too~)
That's all for now!
Mizudoriko
