Chapter 9: Sands Of Time
(The Godaime Kazekage, Sabaku No Gaara reflects on his life thus far as looks over the town of Sunagakure)
Time usually has a way of blurring the events of the past.
But not to the Godaime Kazekage, Sabaku No Gaara. Everything that had happened in his life is as clear to him as if it had only happened yesterday.
Everything from his hardships as a child, his initial encounter & conflict with Uzamaki Naruto, his capture at the hands of Akatsuki as well as his subsequent rescue to his inaugaration as Sunagakure's new Kazekage were all engraved to his memory.
But having that kind of total recall had it's advantages & drawbacks for he remembered all the good times as well as all of his bad experiences with equal clarity.
Looking out at his village from his office, he could see the fruits of his years of labour as the Kazekage. His village had prospered greatly despite the unpleasant if sometimes hostile environment it was constantly being exposed to. As one of the region's major trading areas & source of protection, it had definitely grown into a major power to be reckoned with.
But there had been a time when Sunagakure wasn't as fortunate. During those times, people were starving in the streets & the standard rule had been survival of the fittest which basically meant that all those who didn't have the power to fight back were treated as garbage & disposed as such.
They had been bitter & ambitious people back then who only wanted power, respect & recognition for themselves. Orochimaru had taken advantage of that & had used Sunagakure in his plan to invade & destroy Konoha.
The plan had failed & Orochimaru escaped. He had left Sunakagure to face the consequences of their actions. Orochimaru had also left Sunagakure financially devastated & had robbed it of it's best shinobis. It took his village years to recover their strength.
And although they had acquitted themselves admirably well when they assisted the Konoha nins during the failed mission to recapture the then missiong nin Uchiha Sasuke, the stigma of their treachery remained. If not for the trust that Konoha had shown in them, other countries would've used that excuse to initiate hostile actions against Sunagakure.
Then came the time that he was nominated by the elder council of Sunagakure to be the next Kazekage. He didn't quite know how to react to the announcement. Perhaps it was because they had recognized his worth to them or maybe it was simply because they feared him. Either way, it had been an excellent opportunity for him to show the villagers that he was there, not as a monster but as a fellow villager who simply wanted to protect their home.
And that he did.
Gaara went on to govern Sunagakure, becoming well loved by the villagers for his firm but fair handling of village affairs.
But still, that didn't disguise the fact that he was still the container of the bloodthirsty one-tailed demon Shukaku. Unlike the nine-tailed Kyubi whose naturally wild instinct went well with the somewhat robust personality of it's vessel Uzamaki Naruto, Gaara had to work doubly hard to keep Shukaku in check. As a result, he did not sleep often for fear of losing control.
Then came the time when members of Akatsuki had attacked his home. The dastardly Deidara & the traitorous Sasori had come to claim Shukaku. Gaara faced them head-on but ultimately, the fact that it was 2 on 1 plus his concern for the lives of his fellow villagers led to his defeat.
Akatsuki then went on to extract the demon Shukaku from his body & he would've died if he hadn't been rescued again by Naruto.
But his rescue had come at a high price.
One of his village's old advisors, Chiyo baa-san, had given up her own life to save Gaara from the brink of death using a forbidden jutsu.
After his return to Sunagakure, he held a great funeral for Chiyo baa-san befitting that of a great hero of the village. In his mind & that of his siblings, she was exactly that. And though some people may have disagreed with him on this issue, who would dare second guess the Kazekage & 2 of Sunagakure's strongest jounins?
But that did not stop an ambitious few from trying to overthrow him. A year later, upon learning that Shukaku had been extracted from his body, a small group of traitors had tried to take over the village while Gaara's siblings & most of the most loyal sand nins were away. They thought that Gaara was now powerless without the monster within him.
They were wrong.
Gaara had personally seen to it that the traitors would learn their error in the most painful way possible & proved that even without the benefit of Shukaku's power, he was still a dangerous & ruthless shinobi who is known as one of the most powerful in the history of their country.
There had also been that business with Orochimaru as well as Akatsuki's.
He & his siblings had participated in the covert infiltration of the Sound country to defeat Orochimaru himself.
He had also wanted to participate in the all out assault against Akatsuki but Naruto had vetoed it, saying that Akatsuki wanted Kyubi & they were going to get him.
It was a good thing too since Deidara as well as a squad of Akatsuki's lower rank members decided to invade Sunagakure to finish what they had started. This time however, Gaara was ready. He & his siblings had repelled the attack & Gaara himself was able to permanently settle an old score with Deidara.
But these past years wasn't all about sadness, blood & violence. Their had also been happy times for his family.
The birth of Keiko, his sister's daughter whom he absolutely adored, was one fine example.
Even though he didn't quite agree with her arrangements with Keiko's father Shikamaru (truth be told, he was absolutely furious when he learned of Temari's pregnancy & her agreement with Shikamaru but later calmed doown when Temari informed him that the agreement was HER idea), he nonetheless respected her wishes.
His brother Kankuro had also just started a family of his own & is very happy together with his new wife.
As for Gaara himself, he slept peacefully these days secure in the knowledge that he wouldn't wake up in the morning to see the smoking ruin that was his village as a result of his lost of control of the beast that was no longer inside him.
And his lovelife? He was way too busy running his country for any romance but perhaps sometimes in the near future...
"Kazekage-sama, the council is ready for you."
Author's note: There, my 9th chapter is done. I should really start planning for this story's prequel since I've got a lotta back stories here like how Sasuke got back & how Akatsuki & Orochimaru got their butts handed to them. What do you guys think? Please R&R
