Late afternoon was the absolute worst time a sandstorm could be happening. The blistering sun combined with the rest of the day's heat meant each little grain of sand was that much more of a threat – thousands of super-tiny, red-hot needles and pebbles brushing and pressing against any open square inch of skin they can find.

The village's watch had already called for everyone to go inside – they had to have a system in place for the land they lived in. Casting her gaze through a specialized pair of binoculars, a design standard for the guards of Sunagakure, Inoue Rika drew her vision along the horizon. This was something fiercer of a storm, not unheard of at this time of day but not entirely common, either. The odd thing was the sand's color – a deeper brown than what would normally be expected.

That meant it was a thicker storm than usual, too.

The watch milled around the top of Suna's walls, tracking the slowly advancing wall of sand and making sure their regular preparations were going through in time. "No, I'm good-" Rika took her eyes off the churning sands in the distance to decline someone's offer for water – her assistant, a young new chunin and outsider. Iseul and her sibling had been found near-death, and graciously allowed to live in Sunagakure in exchange for their services – which both had shown to be worth the welcome addition they made to the village.

Placing her view back in through the binoculars, Rika nearly missed it – she turned her head back, and called out, "ISEUL!" Nearly giving the poor newbie a heart attack, "Wha-what is it!?" The younger girl responded indignantly, turning around to see Rika's eyes caught up at some point in the storm, "Go get Lord Baki."

Less than two minutes and councilman reached their position, "What's going on?" He wasn't sure why he'd been called away from overseeing the village's preparations, if something had been spotted, Rika should have just sent her messenger with the message... but this young chunin was insistent that Rika had good reason for it, "This better not-" before he could finish, Rika pointed to the same area she'd been tracking. Baki's eyes followed her outstretched arm and there, far off in the distance, one could barely make out a portion of Shukaku's arm sticking out of the massive sand wall.

"…Go inform Lord Kazekage," Baki addressed Iseul, who looked at him, surprised that she should be chosen for that task, "Now!" There was more of a bite in the elder's tone than would've been necessary. The kid didn't even flinch though, just took a half-moment to collect herself before dutifully saying, "Yessir," and took off, making her way straight towards the heart of their village. Iseul was fast, faster than any other chunin Sunagakure had right now. She was young for that title, and had earned it – even more so that she was young and an outsider. It may have been wiser, more appropriate, to trust the message with a long-standing guard or someone originally from Suna… but this was exactly why Iseul had been chosen, too. The time was getting near to start weeding through the ranks again.

The wall of sand had stopped about two-and-a-half miles from their walls.

Rather than taking a direct approach, the Kazekage flew a little lower than normal – that normally would have placed him in greater danger, but he'd taken appropriate precautions. What concerned him more was Shukaku's behavior. If it had wanted to attack, it would have – and really, though it wasn't like he and the bijuu were anywhere near Naruto and Kyuubi's level of trust, much less friendship, the Ichibi had at least changed its nature in one major area: no longer massacring people despite not being inside of a jinchuriki.

Following the war, Shukaku had been glad to catch up on his rest. He hadn't so much as been spotted except in the extreme dead of night, moving from one area to another, and it was rumored that he'd been intentionally keeping far west even of Sunagakure – as if he was trying to get as far from the world of shinobi as possible without actually leaving it.

Gaara had been fine to leave him be, so long as his behavior remained in good check.

And that was exactly why this upset him. More than that, it was strange that Shukaku should be active in the daytime – near the height of it, no less.

Rising over the edge of Suna's wall, the Kazekage made his appearance.

He was being careful, considering this unique event.

The bijuu did not react, simply remained where he was hiding in the massive storm of sand he'd created. The color was darker than anything it should be. After taking in the sight for a moment, Gaara asked, "What's the situation?" Rika updated her Kage, including the fact that she believed Shukaku had indeed spotted them. When asked why she thought so, the woman explained, "I caught glimpses of his eyes, and it hasn't moved for over ten minutes."

It.

That wasn't to be unexpected, even with what Naruto's accomplished, even with what Gaara's accomplished and how he's changed since the years when Shukaku would rampage through the village, with his own jinchuriki's approval... And that was exactly why the people had a hard time accepting almost any bijuu, but especially the Ichibi, as being worthy of called something other than it. Or a monster, bakemono. He knew it all too well.

'Come on, kid,' they were taking their time. 'I know you're not dumb like the other one.' Shukaku thought to himself while he waited, coming here was a little bit of a risk, but better than what else he had going on. And really… no, he turned his thoughts away from any other ideas.

Better to have Gaara go do it than anyone. And Shukaku knew the others, his brethren, were not so sensitive to the call.

'What is he thinking?' Gaara pored over the area where Shukaku's head should be, trying to get a clearer view of the Ichibi. Technically, the Kazekage should be able to influence the sands enough to try and create a clearer portion – but not when they belonged to Shukaku. It was a curious, and fortunate fact; that the beast had never been able to influence his own control over the sands… aside from driving the man bat-shit insane.

Rika was saying something to Baki, probably asking about preparations to defend the village. He could tell that wouldn't be necessary, but considering…

"Set up a perimeter," the Kazekage spoke as sand formed under his feet, "…and prepare nonfatal artillery defenses." They would continue ensuring that everybody had moved indoors, and with canons loaded with smoke and flashbang grenades, not that he thought they'd need even those; the civilians would feel a whole lot safer knowing that artillery defenses had been prepared, once word of Shukaku's visit got out. And it would get it. In addition, this would put off any kind of possible backlash Gaara might get from the council. He could handle the remaining criticism of loading nonlethal weapons after that, once the situation had cleared – and he knew Shukaku well enough to see that Ichibi was playing into Gaara's hands. The problem, if there even was a question of one, was already under his control.

With that nonchalant command, Gaara made his way atop his sand towards the spot where Rika had seen Ichibi waiting. Once the Kazekage was less than three hundred feet from it, a section of the massive storm's wall cleared – Shukaku was inviting him in.

The opening was just barely clear enough that he could see exactly where the tailed beast was positioned. Gaara kept his eyes on it, he didn't like being in the storm where he could no longer see Sunagakure so well – no matter how at ease he was around the sand, any sand – even in a storm such as this. The fact was that it didn't help him sense much of the immediate areas around Suna, and he simply did not like the strangeness of this situation. But he wouldn't go so far as to suspect Ichibi of poor intentions yet, either.

"About time," Shukaku called out, his voice grating and deep. "You seem moodier than when we last spoke," the Kazekage observed, though that had been at the end of the war, when Shukaku had decided to go off on his own. "It was a while ago," the Ichibi began, "I haven't-" before the beast could continue, Gaara cut him off - he had no intention of playing around with this thing that'd once driven him insane. "Why did you come?" That gave Shukaku pause.

"Listen, brat," the fact that he was still using the tell-tale insult gave short rise to Gaara's anger, but he quickly controlled it. "I don't like coming here. I didn't want to-" "Then why did you come?" Gaara kept on target, straight to the point; defending his position but being careful to control his tone enough not to put Shukaku in a bad or worse mood.

The thing scowled, then let out a deep sigh, more than enough to shift the hair on Gaara's head.

"Do you know why I take sleep away from my jinchuriki?"

It was a strange question, and an uncomfortable one. And though still relevant to him, Gaara couldn't even begin to imagine why Shukaku had brought that up now, of all things. But perhaps it was better to play to Ichibi's senses. He couldn't track all of Sunagakure with his sand, and he preferred to get Shukaku out of here as swiftly as possible.

"…Why?" Gaara asked with no pretense of false-interest.

Ichibi set itself back on his haunches, closing his eyes. "It's because I hate remembering. More than I don't like humans," he wasn't claiming to hate humans now, at least. Still, Gaara never did like the incredible cynicism and nastiness of Shukaku's… views, and before he could ask a question, Ichibi caught him off guard.

"You know what I'm talking about, too."

It was a plain statement of a fact, one that Gaara wasn't entirely sure Shukaku could possibly be referring to.

"I have no idea what you mean by-" "Don't give me that shit!" His voice raised to a higher pitch and Ichibi sat upright, leaning into Gaara's face so that they were less than a few meters away from each other. He needed that space to still be able to see the comparably small human.

There was an angry, but somehow desperate look Shukaku's face. "I know you've heard the call too," and it wasn't something Gaara could necessarily deny. All the bijuu heard or felt it to some varying degree, and all jinchuriki did too. That was why he'd stare up at it's source so late at night – praying for a way to be freed from this monster. To be free from dealing with people at all.

Back then, he hadn't thought those things out of regret for what he was doing – Gaara had believed fully and outright, that this was his niche in life and that was all that had mattered. He validated his own existence by obliterating any threat in his way, anything or anyone he didn't like in his way, and he hated. Deeply. People, his family, his fellow villagers, the bijuu, anyone and everyone that was not him. That was allthat had mattered.

But in the midst of that hateful existence, there was one place that would give him some temporary calm – before the true calm and understanding Naruto would bring. It was when he'd look up to the moon, when he would converse with it. Not in the way one does with a bijuu, as a jinchuriki. This was something in his head – literally almost a part of him, but he knew it was not of him.

It was more like a telepathic connection, but telepathy without chakra is impossible. And so he thought he was insane for it, and for other reasons too. This was only another fact that validated the idea. Even so, he could – if he followed the 'telepathic' chain of thought back up towards the moon, if he extended himself and really tried, hard, to focus – he could sense something there, someone there. And there was a chakra signature to that being… more so, he knows now that it was not Kaguya's chakra he was sensing. And for that, the Kazekage is beyond grateful.

But even now, it still posed an unanswered question for him – even if his idea were correct, then why would jinchuriki focus upon the moon, where Kaguya is centered? Yes, the statue had a connection to it, but that had changed. He should not have been focusing on the moon after it was called down to the earth, if his only other quasi-logical idea about this was in fact, true.

Looking back at it, he'd realized even then that it was an esoteric, insane belief – at different times he had tried to logically justify the 'Voice' as belonging to the ghost of his dead mother, he'd believed she had cursed him – he convinced himself that she was haunting him, trying to drive him to find some way to kill himself (even though his sand prevented that). He'd believed it to be the spirit of the vengeful monk, he'd believed it to belong to another bijuu or perhaps to be a trick created by Shukaku. He'd driven himself mad over trying to figure it out and never could.

Until one day, a chakra matching that of the Voice was used to kill him, and tear the Ichibi away from him.

When he'd met the woman claiming to represent that power, Gaara had to stuff all these things, all these thoughts and whatever else came with it, away. It was too much, with all else that was going on, and with all else that he'd already been through; he could not begin to face these ideas again. And more than that, his duties and responsibility, his position as Kazekage, got in the way. It had to, and there was not a shred of doubt in his being regarding that.

But now Shukaku was pressing him about it. And for what?

Why now, of all times?

The guy's face had turned down, he was thinking – I could tell. So I waited, to see if he'd own up to it.

"You can't know-" "Yes, I do," it was a stupid thing for him to say. I'd seen his thoughts and actions, his heart, and so much of his life. Not that it mattered, just this brat sure as hell was not gonna be able to lie to me about these things.

"It doesn't mean anything. We, …I can't trust that it's-" he still hadn't returned his face to me, so I came down and put mine right up in his, nice and close. "Really." I let that sink in as his eyes locked onto mine, "You think I don't know what I'm talking about?" There was danger in my tone – the reverberating, lower key I usually reserve for right before I'm gonna lay waste to someone, something.

But damn, it pissed me off that this kid – that none of 'em – had any clue. It's always been the case. But he at least; this kid knows something. Problem is, Gaara doesn't want to admit it to himself. And these seals aren't just for show, or my use. They stop me from tellin' anyone anything, even when I do remember.

"You spent the first 12 years of your life slaughtering people and praying to something that you've been trying to convince yourself isn't real, now that it's shown up on your doorstep," he was trying to interrupt as I spoke, "and yeah, I get that it killed you but so what? You don't have any right to-"

"SHUKAKU." He'd sealed my mouth shut – bastard.

But I can still speak to him in another way, 'You know that's a dumb idea,' I could tell it worked – even without the grimace he made. The guy's arm shook a little – I hadn't pressed him like this since being torn out of him. It's not necessarily that I wanted to, just that he needs to accept it – preferably before I start an incident.

"…Why did you come here?" the Kazekage's voice held a very slight tremor. He undid the binding around my maw, of course preferring that to the bad familiarity of me speaking into his mind. By force.

I set back again, he at least got part of what I needed him to know now. "So that's the reason," I began, earning a confused look from the kid, "what I made you go through then and now, is exactly what it is for me to remember. And I can't stand it," my voice cracked between the higher pitch and the lowest of lows, the fracturing in my voice a precursor to the fracturing in my personality.

"You need to go to her," he turned his face, "'cause I can't handle this sh*t. And I know you're aware of it, that something's going on." That last bit was about the bird – Union messenger-hawks carry a different type of seal than all the others. That wouldn't be visible to humans, but for a bijuu who can see in ultraviolet light? Easy.

He shook his head and spoke with recollected conviction, "I am not-" the Kazekage was not going to be pulled along, influenced to any degree by this thing. "It's either you do something about this, or I lose it." Shukaku cut in, his voice had changed again to the softer tone he'd used when acknowledging Naruto back during the war – not that Gaara had heard it.

"I told you. I can't stand remembering." And with that, Shukaku turned, taking the sandstorm with him off towards the west.

There was something to what he was saying. And as the beast made its departure, the billowing, angry sands coming with it; the Kazekage called out, "Wait," Shukaku paused and turned ever so slightly, "Have you ever hear of a priest named Norb?"

The Kazekage wasn't entirely sure what made him ask the question then. Just that a monk had been sealed in with Shukaku before Gaara had been made into its jinchuriki, and something about the story Eien had told, at least that bit in particular with the Vodarac; it seemed highly similar to the branch of monks Bunpuku came from.

Shukaku's eye lingered on Gaara for a good long moment before turning away, "I don't know what you're talking about." The tone of voice he used was more than enough for Gaara to know Ichibi wasn't telling the truth. That and, Shukaku never repeated Gaara's words without intending to misuse them – he'd spoken in such a way intentionally.