Chapter 11
That night…
They crossed the Land of Wind's vast desert, and approached the first evidence of forest…
The trees spread deeply along the border of the Land of Mountains to the unnamed land that contained Ishigakure.
Gaara was sitting below a tree in front of the faintly dimming campfire.
Across from him at the other side of the fire, Hanone was laying down.
His beastly eyes gazing into the flames.
On the wolf's back, Nomasaki slept.
"She didn't want us to rest from the journey, despite how tired she really was." Hanone spoke.
"Why is that?" Gaara asked.
"She knows about your insomnia." The wolf answered. "She thought resting would be a burden to us."
With a sympathetic gaze, Gaara looked at her sleeping.
Soundly, on a bed of white fur.
"She needs her rest…" He replied. "She's our sensory guide, so her well-being is crucial."
Hanone scoffed at him.
"Don't forget me due to arrogance, young Kazekage!" The wolf snarled, briefly. "She summoned me to cover more ground as well."
The wolf's snarl slightly alarmed him.
"I apologize." He said, as he locked eyes with the beast, almost passive-aggressive.
Looking down for a moment, he pondered his words.
"Hanone, I need to ask you something."
"What is it?"
Gaara turned to him.
His eyes visibly stern.
"The Yamamori clan, what became of them?"
Hanone turned towards the fire.
"No one really knows what happened to them, to say the least. Even I don't know what became of that clan, and I've been around for nearly a thousand years."
The wolf's eyes narrowed at the burning flames.
"All I do know, is that the Yamamori originated from the Land of Mountains. They were mountain-folk, specializing in wind style-ninjutsu, and had possessed a Kekkei Genkai which gave them the power to become a wolf. They were a battle clan with great strength and stamina, feared in combat…"
The fire grew weaker.
"As the years passed, their legacy caught up with them and they were wiped out… with any of their few survivors scattering themselves to the winds."
The wolf glanced at the sleeping girl on his back.
"There must be others bearing the name of that clan. Nomasaki is not the last of her kind… I know that much."
Then, after he spoke, the large white wolf fell asleep.
Gaara was now the only one awake.
Thinking about the possible reasons why the council sent him on this assignment.
Knowing fully well that he was ill-equipped.
But why assign his assistant as well?
As he sat below the tree, he gazed at Nomasaki who lay sleeping.
She looked peaceful.
It had been a long time since he had last slept and dreamed himself.
He could barely remember it at all.
Seeing her sleep so silently captivated him.
He would watch her sleep all the time if he could…
Morning arrived…
The air was thick and cold, while small flurries of snow fell from the sky.
It was getting cold as they approached further north, closer to the Land of Mountains.
Frost coated the trees on their path, while a thick blanket of snow covered the ground.
For the first time in three years, Nomasaki seen snow.
Familiar to only the desert climate, Gaara walked alongside Hanone with a thick white cloak over his shoulders to keep warm.
Although he was not visibly uncomfortable, the snow and the cold was strange to him.
There was no sand for him to make use of, and the frozen earth beneath would be difficult to reach in case of attack.
Trying not to think about the council's insistence of the mission, he walked on.
Hanone's nostrils flared.
"We're close to Yama." He spoke through his fangs. "This climate… how I've missed it."
Surprised from his words, Nomasaki nodded.
"I still can't believe it's been almost three years, since… I left." She agreed. "It's comforting to see snow like this."
Her breath visible in the cold.
She felt at peace.
"Tell me, Nomasaki," Gaara started.
As they were making their way down the snowy forest path.
Curiously, she turned to him as she sat on the wolf's back.
"Yamagakure, what was it like?" Gaara asked. "You've never spoken of it before."
Hanone looked up at her.
Waiting to see if she was going to answer.
Surprised by his question, she turned to him.
"R-Really?" She stammered. "You want to know?"
"Hanone said it was close by," He replied. "It's your homeland, so I'm curious."
From hearing the young Kazekage mention his name, Hanone let out a subtle growl.
"After all this time as your assistant, you still never bothered to ask...?!" He snarled through his fangs, quietly. "You desert-folk are so ignorant...!"
"Hanone, please." Nomasaki patted him, slightly embarrassed. "Don't say that."
"No," Gaara answered.
Surprising her slightly, she turned to him.
Noticing his eyes looked on towards the snowy path with a somewhat saddened glint.
Used to his stoic and expressionless demeanour, this made her curious.
"You're my assistant," He replied. "And being such, I neglected our friendship at times due to my duties as the Kazekage. For that, I'm sorry."
As the flurries continued to fall, he looked up to her.
His expression showing a faint genuine smile, masking his past guilt.
"So if it's alright, I would like to know more about you. Not as the Kazekage, but as your friend."
Humbled by his words, she softly smiled at him.
As she structured her words in her head, she looked up to the snowy skies above.
"Well," She began. "Yama was a very peaceful place. Since our village was on a mountaintop, it was always snowing. Winter lasted all year long. Our village was very small, and we had few shinobi, but we were happy there."
Slowly, she held her head down.
Her gaze saddened.
"I was… raised by my mother in the village. I grew up without a father. He left when I was very small."
Sadly, Nomasaki's eyes closed halfway.
Ready to tell him the truth of her family.
Her origins.
"During the Third Shinobi War, Yama was prone to ambush, and had few ninja in the village. In order to protect Yama, platoons from Suna were stationed there to secure the Land of Mountain's border against the Land of Earth. That's how my mother met my father."
A small smile formed on her lips.
"They were very much in love. They planned to live out the rest of their lives together, until the end of their days. Then…"
She gritted her revealed fangs.
"…I was born. My father discovered the Kekkei Genkai my mother and I possessed… and was disgusted."
Her eyes glistened.
"He left the village and was never heard from again. He broke my mother's heart, and I believe that's what killed her. Not her illness."
"I'm sorry to hear that." He said, quietly.
After a moment, a small smile appeared on her face.
Shielding the sadness she hid in her eyes.
"Part of the reason why I decided to become a shinobi was so that I could somehow find my father. But… I don't know if I'll ever meet him. I don't even know his name. I guess it seems impossible now."
"This is the first I've heard of that." Gaara stated.
He turned to her.
"How come you never said anything?"
Nomasaki lowered her head.
"I… I wanted to wait." She spoke, quietly. "I don't know who he is or what he'll think of me, so I guess I just wanted to wait until I was ready to finally face him."
Her lilac eyes narrowed at her pale hands.
"That was one of the reasons why I became a shinobi. I wanted to make myself braver. Stronger."
She looked up at the path ahead.
"That's all I know of my father to begin with. He's a ninja… So I thought maybe if I became one too, I'd be able to understand him when we finally meet."
Attempting to hide her sadness, she briefly chuckled to herself.
"I don't know how I would react if I met him. I... want to know him, so I can try to understand why he left but..."
She grit her teeth, her canines appearing slightly larger than usual.
"...I deeply resent him for what he did to my family. What kind of father thinks of their own child as a monster?"
Resonating with her words, Gaara turned to his side.
His eyes narrowing as he remembered the difficult upbringing he had with his father.
The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa of the Gold Dust.
His childhood of isolation, lack of affection, and menacing thoughts from his tailed-beast.
"My father said I was a monster." He added.
His words surprising her, she turned to him.
"I was primed to be the ultimate weapon for Suna when I was Shukaku's jinchuriki," He continued. "And was basically raised separately from my own siblings."
As he walked, his eyes showed visible contempt.
"It was his plan that I become a jinchuriki before I was even born. And because I couldn't be controlled, he deemed me a failure."
Turning to Nomasaki, his expression softened.
"Whether a jinchuriki or from a certain clan, that does not make you a monster. It's what you decide to do with that power that can make you a monster."
He looked down, his eyes closed in shame.
"I've done things in my past I'm not proud of," He lamented. "Such as proving my existence in... cruel and cold ways towards others. That made me a monster. But..."
As they met eyes that moment, she felt the security and warmth of his words.
"You are not a monster, Nomasaki." He said. "Your father was wrong. When you confront him, he will realize his mistake with shame."
Surprised from his words, she looked down to herself.
Her eyes glistening and her cheeks faintly blushing.
"Yeah." She nodded, containing herself.
With a gentle smile, she turned to him.
"Thank you, Gaara." She spoke. "Er, I mean... Gaara-sama."
To their surprise, Hanone paused.
"Hanone, what is it?" She asked, leaning close to his face. "Do you sense something?"
"Scum." He growled.
Silence.
Then she sensed it, too.
Her eyes widened.
Shocked.
"We've been surrounded!"
"What? How so?" Gaara interjected.
Preparing himself for combat.
"They're coming!" Hanone growled. "On your guard!"
A stream of lightning came from the ice-covered forest edge.
Making Nomasaki leap from Hanone's back, drawing her sword in her hand.
When she seen their adversary, she flinched.
"Well, well," A voice sighed. "It's the one we've been looking for all this time!"
A man clad in armor and scars emerged from the forest with a platoon of ten men wielding various weapons.
Hanone's growl ripped through the air.
His claws digging into the snow.
"This time, you won't escape…" The man threatened. "…wretched wolf!"
Gaara's glare became piercing.
Knowing that Nomasaki was indeed their target.
In an instant, his sand attacked.
And then the platoon closed in…
