Legends of the Fox

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never will, don't want to. But it's fun to dabble!

Chapter Twenty Four: One Day

It seemed like an ordinary day for the young Kazekage.

By the time that everyone else in the village was waking up, Gaara of the Desert had almost done the paperwork for the day. And with that over and done with, the day was pretty much his to do with as he wished.

Gaara was considered by many to be cold and unemotional. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, Gaara thought of himself as remarkably lively and fun loving!

He just had slightly different definitions of fun and lively.

After finishing the paperwork Gaara went for his morning walk around the village. Although it wasn't really a walk as such since the only way it involved his legs was that they stood on a floating platform of sand.

The redheaded teen swooped and soared around the Hidden Sand at a breakneck pace, savouring the ever-familiar sights and sounds of his beloved home from high above. Villagers going about their early morning routines waved, and parents pointed their children's gazes towards the flying Kazekage.

At eighteen years old Gaara had been a protector now for a full third of his life. The twelve years before were something that the now-Kazekage didn't like to think about, but something that was on his mind constantly. When you're the only person awake in a whole village, your mind wanders easily. If that's true all night, every night, then you just can't help it.

But a third was significant. Soon he would have been a good person for a half of his life, then two thirds, and so on until the twelve years of fear and hatred and death were just an irrelevant prologue to Gaara's life story. There were already children born and living in the Sand village who had no idea what Gaara had been like six years ago.

Gaara liked that, he did. Those children would grow up thinking of him as a kind and generous man who would give anything to keep them safe and happy. That was something that Gaara didn't have a problem with his mind wandering to.

One day there wouldn't be anyone alive who could remember those dark times.

Gaara stopped off for a morning meal at a nearby ramen stand.

In all honesty, Gaara didn't really care for ramen, but Gaara had based his life on that of Uzumaki Naruto, and once he'd learned of the fox boy's obsession with ramen, Gaara had determined to eat some every day. Perhaps it was a key element in Naruto's positive attitude. Gaara wasn't going to risk missing out on something that important!

Speaking of Uzumaki Naruto, the other boy had recently achieved his own dream and become the Hokage of the Hidden Leaf. Gaara thought that it was ironic that on the way of achieving his dream to become like Naruto he had beaten the blonde to his own dream. Naruto didn't think that it was ironic. He thought that it was annoying! Oh, so so annoying. Gaara would laugh, except Gaara didn't laugh. Ever.

Gaara did smile occasionally, but he didn't make a habit of it. People might get the wrong impression and expect him to do it again. And Gaara did not like giving people the wrong impression, like all those years when he'd been a vicious, bloodthirsty psychotic. Some people might take the impression from that time that Gaara was not a nice person, and of course they'd be wrong! So that was why Gaara didn't smile very often. That and the wrinkling – Gaara's smooth skin was his treasure.

In fact his beautiful skin was one of the many reasons why Gaara was popular with the ladies. He'd had several girlfriends in recent years, and more admirers. Girlfriends could be so inconsiderate. Always asking Gaara to stay with them in bed. Why would he do that? Gaara slept a few hours here and there, but other than that why would he want to stay in a bed? Beds were for sleeping in. If Gaara wasn't going to sleep, what use was a bed? Why couldn't they understand?

So inconsiderate. Gaara worked long and hard to protect the Sand village, so the least people could do was respect Gaara's right to not be trapped in a bed for hours on end. Especially when he could be making much better use of that time doing some work. Gaara was in the habit of doing as much paperwork as possible over night, leaving the days free for more entertaining prospects.

Speaking of which, that morning Gaara had finished up his breakfast ramen – which had been a particularly unpalatable bowl, but Gaara was willing to make the sacrifice – and gone to hand out the day's missions.

At the Suna Administration Building, Gaara flew in onto an open balcony and hopped off his sand platform. Taking the stairs down to the front room, Gaara passed a few aides who knew better than to try and make small talk. It wasn't that Gaara didn't like talking to people; it was more that he didn't really… get… small talk. Talking solely for a social purpose? Gaara thought that was pretty strange. But Gaara didn't judge.

Gaara sat down at his desk and waited for the various ninjas to arrive. Each ninja and team who were getting missions that day would come, be handed a slip of paper or folder, depending on how complex the mission was, and then leave to do their work. It was a good system, mostly because it didn't require Gaara to really talk to anyone. People would come, be respectful then take their assignments and leave. The only people who ever needed to talk to Gaara were the ones who questioned his decisions (very rare) or the ones who thought he was outright wrong (even rarer).

With the exception of any on-the-spot requests made, of course, but they simply stated their needs and Gaara would make a decision. In fact those people were even less likely to question Gaara, since any complaints might make him less obliging.

Of course Gaara always handled everyone fairly, but others didn't necessarily realise that of Gaara. So many people got the wrong impression. That was something Gaara would need to work on.

When the missions were done, Gaara leapt up from his chair at a dignified rate. He didn't look any different, but Gaara was excited. It was time to go see his brother!

Kankurou was one of the Sand village's top Jounin, and at the age of twenty-two had just become a husband as well. Technically Kankurou was the head of the family under Hidden Sand law, and the various accounts and the deed to the family estate were in his name, but with Gaara being the head of the whole village, things could get a little confused at times. Especially since their father had been the previous Kazekage – what officially belonged to Gaara as the Kage and what was Kankurou's inheritance could get jumbled up rather terribly. But Gaara didn't really care. Gaara just wanted everyone to be happy and safe.

Gaara knocked on the door to the family mansion. Then knocked again. After a while it opened, and a bleary-eyed Kankurou faced his brother. He hadn't put on his makeup yet. His hair was a mess (although to be fair it was always a mess under that hood, though he made damn sure that no one knew). And he was half naked.

"Gaara… I've got the day off. You knew that, right? Right?"

Gaara knew that.

"Kankurou, I knew that."

"So if you knew that, why are you here?"

"I thought we could spend the day together."

Gaara thought this was a wonderful idea. There was nothing he wanted to do more than spend time with his family.

"Gaara, I wanted to have some time with Sora on my day off. Alone. Sorry."

This was no real setback. Gaara could find other things to do. Surely in the whole wide village Gaara would be able to find something to fill his time.

The cloud of sand whisked the tanuki teen away once more, this time taking Gaara to the centre of town and the Sand's ninja academy. Gaara always enjoyed watching over the children of his village and seeing them grow was one of Gaara's truest joys in life.

No one made an effort to stop Gaara from entering the building, of course, since he was after all the Kazekage. He stopped by the first classroom he came to and stood solidly at the back like a marble pillar. The teacher, a bespectacled Sand Chuunin, acted flustered by the sudden attention from Gaara, but he managed to keep going commendably well.

"Children, our very own Kazekage is invigilating the lesson today, so I want you all to be your most respectful for Gaara-sama."

There were plenty of free seats, but Gaara stayed standing. He was a very linear person.

Gaara almost felt like smiling as he watched the youth of Suna passionately walk forward with their lives. But he didn't. They were like gusts of wind in the air, flitting from one fancy to another capriciously. But they were also like a cool breeze that soothed your soul. It was very comforting to Gaara, and he needed as much to soothe his soul as possible.

Eventually the class finished and Gaara walked out, followed a reverential distance behind by a horde of screaming children on their way to have lunch and make merry. Gaara almost envied the children their innocence, something he had lost far too young. But Gaara was Kazekage now, and that was just as good as innocence. Sometimes better.

As much as Gaara would have liked to stay and watch the children some more, he really had to go to a meeting. Most of the meetings were really very boring, but Gaara endured them. If there was one thing Gaara was good at it was sitting still and conserving energy – something any forced insomniac needed to learn how to do – so meetings were useful in a way.

This meeting, back in the Suna Administration Building, was just as boring as ever. In fact Gaara had calculated that it was around six percent more boring than the average. That was another skill Gaara could thank his almost constant consciousness for. Gaara could coolly and calmly (although in all fairness that was how Gaara did everything) sift through his memories of all the past and compare any situation to another.

Gaara would much have preferred to be off fighting or on an exciting mission, though it didn't show, but he had been accustomed to this life for years now. And Gaara knew full well just how important the minor details, like whether someone was breathing or not, or if their head was technically still attached to their body or not, could be. Minor details like that were what made the world go round. That and physics. Gaara liked physics.

With the meeting over, Gaara decided it was time he had some more food. He eschewed the possibility of more ramen since Gaara had already fulfilled that requirement for the day, so instead Gaara went home and fixed himself a nice healthy salad.

With his belly adequately filled, Gaara pondered on what to do for the rest of the day. Soon the mission requests would be filed and he would have to get to work, but there was still a good few hours left.

Gaara's pondering pose was very specific. That is, specifically it was just like all his other poses. Gaara wasn't much of one for changing habits.

Gaara pondered for a good and long time, but could find nothing else to do for the day. He was currently sans girlfriend, since his last one had proven slightly too needy for the young Kazekage. Kankurou was busy. Temari was visiting the Leaf… aha! Gaara could take a trip to Konoha! It had been a while since he had seen Uzumaki Naruto, and that was always fun. Even if Gaara didn't show it.

Oh, but no… Gaara would have work to do. Gaara was far too responsible to just up and run off to another country for a few days without at least telling someone. Damn responsibilities.

Oh well, tomorrow was another day.

Author's Note: This was a nice interlude between the Chuunin Exam chapters for me in some ways. Writing a just about pure humour chapter was fun.

It might seem a little dull, but unfortunately some stuff has been happening that really doesn't make me feel like writing or really doing anything at all. The people and management of a certain forum have horribly abused a friend of mine, and the whole process has been very depressing.

I hope to continue this fic soon, but right this second I don't feel like it.

I apologise for the apparently confusing nature of the last chapter. I didn't think it was, but a lot of people have criticized it in that regard. It's half my fault and half 's fault, because the site doesn't like the method I use to separate sections, and I think their alternative is pretty ugly. I guess I need to experiment and find another solution.

Most of the reviews were about that so I haven't answered them individually.

Later.