Gaara dreaded going to sleep.

For the past few weeks he'd had pretty much the exact same dream. He was stuck on a small wooden boat in the middle of a vast ocean. The air he breathed in was salty and cool and should be refreshing yet it was not. Not a single thing was as it should be in the strange world of his dreams. And he once again found himself there stuck on the boat with nobody to talk to, the thing that came closest to some kind of conversation was the hollow lapping of water against the side of the boat. Despite having nobody to talk to, Gaara was not alone on this raft, there was another passenger, a mysterious ferryman who pulled the boat along.

The ferryman stood at the front of the boat, he was tall and thin and wore long black robes that were tied at the hip with a greasy belt. The robes concealed most of his body except for his upper arms and feet. His hands were gaunt and bony, and his skin was greasy and brown like rotting seaweed.

"Hello again." Gaara spoke to the strange man.

The ferryman stopped pulling the boat on his long pole for a moment and turned to face Gaara. The man's eyes burned red like hot embers, he had a dirty and unkempt beard that trickled down from his hollow face. The ferryman did not say a word to Gaara, and went back to pulling on his long stick.

Gaara was not surprised by the ferryman's silence. The boat was surrounded by a vast and empty ocean with small waves flittering silently across. There was nothing much for Gaara to see so he lied down and stared at the sky waiting for the dream to pass, as he had done a number of times previously. Sometimes he would wait for what seemed like hours, sometimes it was less than that. And the odd time it would last for so long that he'd start to loose sense of himself. As Gaara stared up at the astral ceiling above him he recalled that previously the sky had been a brilliant and deep blue, much like during a sunny day in the world which Gaara hailed from. But that was not the case anymore, now it was a deep monotone grey. The sky had become less and less colourful with each new dream that Gaara spent in this unsettling place. Even this worlds sun had lost its vigour. Where it once shone a bright and vigorous gold, now it radiated a drab white light that gave ghostly illumination to all that it touched. This change was not sudden, it happened so slowly that Gaara became accustomed to the change and did not realise that the colour was draining out of his surroundings until he thought back to how it was when he first came here. Since Gaara could not control his dreams in this place there was not much he could do other than to lie down and try to empty his mind of all thoughts. He cast aside a thought as soon as it arose only to for another thought to come along which in turn would have to be expelled. After doing this for an undiscernible amount of time Gaara was roused from his meditation without warning.

PLUMP!

Gaara shot up to see that the heavy crashing noise came from the boat docking into shallow waters.

KHHH! KHH! KH!

The boat scraped against the gravelly sea floor below, however the ferryman was unperturbed and guided the boat into a small wooden dock that stood over the deathly still waters. Gaara got up and saw that the ferryman was pointing towards the dock, motioning Gaara to get off the boat. Gaara did as was suggested and took in everything around him as this had not happened before in his dreams. All around him was grey. Grey sky above him with grey clouds, grey waters behind him, and a grey sandy beach in front of him. Even the wood underneath him was grey. It also looked centuries old and rotten. Hesitantly Gaara turned to the ferryman.

"Where have you taken me."

For the first time ever the ferryman spoke. His voice was deep and raspy like the sound of a sickly old man. He did not answer Gaara's question.

"Go to the beach. I won't leave. I can't anyway."

Gaara gave a bewildered nod and tiptoed across the platform and onto the sandy shore below. There was no wind, everything was silent and Gaara felt very cold.

Once he reached the shore he turned to the ferryman. "OK I'm on the shore!"

The ferryman stared at Gaara with his fiery eyes and raised his knobbly hand to point upwards in front of Gaara to the top of a grassy dune. The grass also had no colour other than another shade of grey. But a single figure stood at the hilltop where the ferryman pointed and Gaara recognised her.

His eyes widened with a mixture of disbelief and glee. "Fuu!" He cried out as he lost all hesitation and galloped towards her with the determination of a race-horse. As he came up the hill Fuu waved her hand against Gaara. "Go back!" She said. "Don't come any closer it's a trap!"

Gaara did not heed her words and against her warnings he came up to the hilltop panting for breath, but the dry and icy air left him parched and breathless.

He looked at Fuu and reached out with his right arm to touch her hair. Unlike everything else around the two of them Fuu's colour was not gone. Her hair was still the beautiful mint green that he adored. Her skin was still reddish bronze like it had always been. Everything about her was just as he remembered the last time he had seen her, her clothes, her deep orange eyes, her amber hairclip and even the appearance of her age. Nothing was different. When Gaara had known her she was 17 years old and he at the time was 15. Over two years had passed since then and she had not aged even a month. Gaara brought his hand down to her cheek and much to his terror she felt cold. He shakily retracted his hand. "What's going on Fuu? Where are we?"

"I don't know." Fuu replied. "I didn't come here by choice and it seems like neither did you. Although all of you isn't here right now. All of me is though."

Fuu's words confused Gaara just as much as everything else around him. "What do you mean?"

"You're not dead yet Gaara. But I've died. Everyone else here is dead too, except you."

"Yeah." Replied Gaara in a voice that was barely above a whisper and sounded of repressed emotion. "I forgot that you died." He stood in silence for a long time and Fuu didn't reply. Eventually Gaara turned around and heaved a sigh. "This is all just a dream. I'm not really talking to Fuu, this is just all in my imagination."

"I wish you were right about that." Replied Fuu. "If this is just a dream then I wouldn't be stuck in this horrible place. But this is real! If this is a dream then why don't you just wake up."

"I will eventually." Gaara muttered more to himself than to what he thought to be a figment of his subconscious. "But right now I just can't. Still, I wish I could really talk to you Fuu. There's so many things I wish we could've talked about."

"I'm right here."

Gaara continued on talking to the sky. "There's so many things we could've done. You told me that we were friends, but we never got to spend any time together after the Chunin exams. It's sad. I really missed you when I found out you died. I still miss you."

"Well, on the one hand I don't like that you are suffering. But I am glad that you cared about me enough to miss me. I always worried that my life was so insignificant that I would die and nobody would care."

Gaara looked back at Fuu, all the memories that were flooding into his head about his friend that he'd secretly loved were making him emotional. Gaara didn't really believe in life after death, he figured that the continuation of the ego would be too good to be true. His life made him get used to the idea that nothing would ever really be as it should. Never the less, when he heard the first reports of Fuu's death from his Akatsuki informants Gaara stormed off alone and paced around the Sunagakure gardens feeling the exact same emotions that came to him whenever he'd visit the grave of his mother. It was a feeling that made him think about death and wonder "what's next?"

It was with that same hopefulness that he tentatively stepped closer to Fuu. "Tell me, if you really are Fuu. How did you end up here?"

Fuu smiled. "I knew you would believe me. You're my friend after all." She sighed. "I'll answer your question. I died not long after the Chunin exams. When Kegon, Yoro and I were heading back to our village we were confronted by the Akatsuki. The two who attacked us were really strong, one of them was Kakazu, he was legendary a missing nin from our village. I don't remember much of it. They killed Kegon and Yoro and then I got so angry that I just saw red. I think the Nanabi took over me. But the next thing I knew I was surrounded in black, and I felt that the Nanabi was being drained out of me and then I died. I saw a lot of memories from my life, a lot of bad things happened to me, but I saw some good things too like when Shibuki saved me and when I became your friend. After the memories finished playing there was a white light that sort of just enveloped me. I was so tired, so I just let it happen. I figured this was all meant to be. But then I saw something that didn't make sense. It was a spot of grey. Just a little spot at first. I was confused because it wasn't meant to be there. I don't know how I knew that it wasn't supposed to be, after all I had never been told about any of this. I just knew. Kind of like how you know how to breath. It's like the white belonged and I just knew it, but the grey didn't belong and it was so obvious even though I don't know why it was obvious. Anyway, the grey got bigger and bigger and sucked me in against my will. I wanted to fight it, but I was just so tired. And then I was in a coffin and I had a body again. Except the body wasn't mine, it was like a puppet that my soul was called into, and the Nanabi was back. I felt the other Jinchuuriki too from other Ninja villages. They like me were forced to fight against our will against the last two remaining Jinchuuriki."

"Edo tensei." Murmured Gaara. "So you were brought back during the 4th great Ninja war? I'll have to ask Naruto about that."

"Yeah, Naruto. He was one of the guys I was forced to fight against."

"I didn't know that." Gaara began to think more and more that this wasn't just his imagination. "Go on. What happened next?"

"Right." Fuu continued. "Then the spell we were all under was broken and I returned to the white and all seemed like it was going to be well. But once again, I saw something in the whiteness that should not have been there. I was meant to go on to whatever it is we do after we all die, but another grey smudge appeared and something else pulled me in and I woke up here. I've been here for a while now."

Gaara didn't know what to say to Fuu. Everything she told unsettled him but he needed to know more. "How long have you been here for?"

"I don't know. I feel like its been a while. I lost track of time. There's nothing in this place that's alive so time doesn't really matter here. I don't like it."

"I know what you mean. This is just un-natural."

Gaara remembered that Fuu used to be bright and lively. But now she quivered in fear and her words were all wrong as she spoke. She was meant to be happy and full of jokes. But now she spoke with no excitement, like this place had gotten into her. "It's not just un-natural it's bad, really bad." She pointed behind her. "The further in you go, the worse it gets. But you can't stay here or in any once place for too long, you can't rest or you start to lose yourself. You just have to keep walking. Sometimes I get pulled around by something. I don't know what. I was further in just a while ago but I got brought back here somehow and then I saw you. I can tell that you didn't come the same way as me. I don't know what brought me here, but it must want you for some reason. You can still go back. Heed my warning, and pray for me."

"I'm not going to go back!" Gaara shouted. "There's no way that I'm going to just leave you here!" He grasped onto Fuu and pulled her into a tight hug. For a moment Fuu felt solid, but then her body de-solidified and Gaara saw her form become like wisps of smoke and she was pulled away by a sudden wind.

"Pray for me Gaara! But don't come after me!" She cried out. Then she was gone and Gaara awoke in his bed in tears.

"One hundred and one! Come on Kazekage-Sama you can do it! One-hundred and two! One-hundred and three!?"

THUMP!

Gaara's muscles could take no more. For a good while they had been screaming at him to stop but he kept on pushing himself until he collapsed to the floor.

"Good Job Kazekage-Sama! That's a new record for push-ups! You're making great progress!" The man encouraging Gaara was called Shira. He was a Ninja from Gaara's village that served in the special forces. In the time since Gaara met him he'd worked his way up from Genin to the rank of Jonin. "I think that's a wrap for today. You don't want to push yourself too much or you'll do damage."

Gaara pulled himself up from the ground shakily. "Mastering Taijutsu is no small feat."

Shira reached out with his lean but muscular arm to help Gaara up. "It sure isn't."

When Gaara took Shira's hand he felt that it was extremely calloused from years of healed cuts, scrapes and bruises.

"But the harder you train" Shira continued, "the less of these you get." He pointed with his thumb to a rather nasty scar on his neck. Many other scars cris-crossed the young man's light skin all along his body and there were a few old knife wounds on his face too. "It's what you have to do when you can't use Ninjutsu."

"Yeah." Gaara replied sadly.

"Don't worry Kazekage-sama! Under my tutelage your Taijutsu will go beyond anything you've ever managed before! And besides I'm sure your Chakra will return to you soon enough!" Shira flicked his grey hair and gave a cheesy smile and thumbs up.

"Hmph." Gaara smiled. "You remind me a lot of Rock Lee."

All of a sudden Shira's eyes widened and he bowed down to Gaara. "KAZEKAGE – SAMA!" He screamed to the ground so loud that Gaara jumped backwards and his hair shot up.

"I'm not deserving of such high praise… I wish I could train you for longer! But sadly my duties with the Special forces calls."

"Come on now Shira no need to start crying over this." Gaara rolled his eyes.

Shira stood up. "When I first heard of Rock Lee it gave me courage. Knowing that there another Ninja out there just like me who kept on fighting against all odds it gave me strength! And seeing you now Kazekage-sama even though you've lost your Ninjutsu powers you still fight on!" His face curled up to hold back even more tears. "I will remember this day!"

After the emotional outburst from Shira, both he and Gaara did a cooldown jog and some final stretches to finish out that days training regimen. The schedule of the Kazekage, the leader of Sunagakure was quite a busy one and soon after washing up Gaara found himself heading towards a Sunagakure council meeting. However before the meeting he made sure to talk to his brother, Kankuro who was also on the council.

Kankuro was two years Gaara's senior. At the best of times Kankuro looked quite serious. His brown hair and dark sunken eyes were the cause of that, and when he went on missions he would don a black cloak and mask his face with purple war-paint. However now, even with his bland councillor outfit and his face as normal he looked more serious than ever.

"How are you getting on in your Taijutsu training bro?"

"I think I'm making progress, but it's a slow process. I think I'm better than most Chunin would be now. Mastering Taijutsu takes many years of rigorous training. Shira worked incredibly hard ever since he was a child, always pushing his body in order to break past his limits. If I am to get to his level it will take me quite a while."

"Yeah." Kankuro replied grimly. "I suppose there's nothing else you can do other than train your taijutsu, and try to find out the cause for your loss of Ninjutsu."

"About that, I think I might be on to a possible cause. It's a bit vague though, but it's something."

Kankuro eyes lit up at Gaara's statement. "Do explain."

"I've been having these very strange dreams. The first of these dreams seemed normal enough in the sense that I couldn't remember very much of them and they were hazy. However they soon became increasingly vivid to the point where they were hyper realistic. I couldn't control my surrounding, I only controlled my actions. It was more like I was in another world, not a dream.

"What happened in these dreams."

"The whole time I was stuck in a boat in the middle of some ghastly ocean. There was a ferryman with me in the boat, pulling it along slowly and silently not saying a word. I would simply lie in the boat and wait for time to pass. These dreams would seem like they went on for hours, even days. Sometimes I would meditate for the time to go by."

"Wait", Kankuro interjected, "don't mean you that dreamed you were meditating?"

Gaara shook his head. "No. It felt as real and clear as actual meditation. It's like my mind was transported to another world and I was fully conscious in that world. I haven't had dreams so vivid since I had talked to the Shukaku in my dreams when I was a kid."

"I see." Kankuro stroked his chin thoughtfully. "So, you were sitting in a boat waiting for time to pass. Then what?"

"All the dreams went that way, until last night that is." Gaara began, before explaining everything he'd seen from the most recent dream. Kankuro listened intently, he noticed that his brother who was usually aloof spoke uncharacteristically emotively when he got to talking about Fuu. When Gaara finished his explanation and asked for his brothers opinion, Kankuro was at a loss for words.

"Weird isn't it." Said Gaara to break the silence.

"Very weird."

"I suppose one way of seeing if its real or not would be to try to confirm some of the details in the dream that I didn't know about."

Kankuro nodded in agreement. "You know Gaara, I was thinking of getting Rock Lee to help train you in Taijutsu while Shira is away doing his mission for the Special forces. His Sensei Might Gai fought against the masked man alone with Naruto before the Edo-tenseis were undone. He might be able to give you the information you need. I'll apply for a mission with Konoha asking for him. I'll only mention the training part though."

"That would be great." Gaara smiled. "I'm sure Shira would be very happy to see Rock Lee as well."

"Rock Lee and Shira are bother very brave men." Said Kankuro with fortitude. " I couldn't handle always fighting up close. I don't like they idea of you being a close quarter combat taijutsu specialist my brother. We're both better off being mid to long range fighters. I've seen so many close quarter fighters get mauled to bits."

Gaara nodded sadly in agreement. "Me too."

"Well, this possible explanation kind of relieves me because it means you might get your powers back soon." Kankuro pursed his lips together and breathed in sharply. "It also worries me though, because if it is real then who or what will you have to deal with in that dream world. I don't like the descriptions Fuu gave of it either."

"True." Gaara said as they both stopped outside the Suna council meeting room doorway. "But right now I'm more worried about this meeting. I'm sure the council is going to crucify me today!"

Kankuro placed his hand reassuringly on his brother's shoulder. "Don't worry little bro, I got your back. I'm always looking out for you."

Gaara smiled back at Kankuro and whispered "let's do this!", as he burst open the doors to the Sunagakure Council meeting room. In the background there were statues of the first four Kazekage. They looked over the Suna council as a reminder of the village's history. The council sat at a large roundtable with ten seating positions. Gaara and Kankuro took the two seats which remained unfilled.

Sitting opposite from the Kazekage's seat was Ebizō, one of the village's most prominent elders and the head of the Suna council, for the time being at least. His now deceased sister Chiyō had saved Gaara's life at the cost of her own. Ebizō and Chiyo bad been given the title of "The Honoured Siblings of Sunagakure". It is rare that a high up Shinobi survives for very long, yet despite having taken a huge part in Sunagakures politics and its many wars since his youth Ebizō still managed to reach the venerable old age of seventy-three. This was due to his calm demeanour and sharp analytical mind which had always been imperative to his own survival and the survival of his village. Ebizō was a former enemy of Gaara's, Chiyo was the one who decided to make Gaara a Jinchuriki and Ebizō did not argue with his sister. When Gaara failed to control the Shukaku, Ebizō and Chiyō were among the many council members who decided it would be best to have Gaara replaced with another Jinchuuriki. However, he later retired from his Shinobi duties and was no longer a threat to Gaara. After the death of his Sister he decided to come back to the council to keep himself busy, and by then Gaara had proven himself to be a worthy Kazekage so needed not fear Ebizō..

Sitting beside Ebizō was Tōjurō who held the number two position in the Sunagakure Council. He was another venerable elder, however unlike Ebizō he very much resented the generations which came after him. For this reason Gaara did not trust him.

Then there was Jōseki, a man in his fifties who was concerned very much with peace and stability of Sunagakure. He had previously believed Gaara to be a threat to the village and as such was part of the faction which plotted Gaara's demise. Since Gaara became the Kazekage his opinion of Gaara had changed for the better. However his overriding loyalty was to the village and he would act in what he perceived to be Suna's best interests at any cost. Gaara knew that Jōseki would be quite displeased with the current state of affairs regarding his chakra.

Ikanago was the fourth in command in the council and the third most elderly of the Sunagakure shinobi. He was very loyal to Gaara's father, the previous Kazekage and had shown a degree of loyalty to Gaara too. Most likely because of a strange emotional investment he had the bloodlines of the village. He had often suggested to Gaara that he should continue his bloodline. Gaara of course was still bereaving over Fuu and so he did not listen to Ikanago's suggestions much which was the cause of annoyance to the man.

Gōza was a council member who cared intensely about the villages appearance to the rest of the world more than anything else.

Sitting beside him was Sajō a fifty-one year old man who had served on the council for many years, Gaara was not too close to him, however he knew that Sajō always put the village first and Gaara had a degree of respect for him.

One of the council members who was loyal to Gaara was Ryūsa. He was cleanly shaven man in his forties. Gaara had once been abducted before, and when that happened Ryūsa was against the idea of electing a new Kazekage immediately.

Another member of the council who Gaara could trust was Baki. Gaara always kept Baki sitting at his side along with Kankuro. Baki had previously been the Jonin in charge of Gaara's team and he was the Sensei of Gaara's siblings Kankuro and Temari. Baki was a skilled and powerful master of Wind-Style Ninjutsu and was ruthless in battle. His prowess and reputation was such that he became the second youngest Sunagakure councillor ever. Even at his current age of thirty-four he was still one of the youngest men in the room.

And then of course there was Gaara's brother. Kankuro was the youngest man to ever become a Sunagakure councillor and alongside Baki he was the only man to become a councillor in his twenties.

Ebizō stood up from his seat to commence the meeting and everyone else in the room followed suit. "Now that we are all here, let us commence the meeting."

With that everyone sat down. There was a brief moment of silence as each man looked across the room waiting for somebody to make the first move.

Gaara decided to make the first statement. "I know you all want to discuss my Chakra problems, however before we get bogged down in that lets take care of some of the other matters first."

Tōjurō shook his head. "No I that is an extremely important talking point!" He smiled slyly. "I hope you are not trying to dodge the topic Kazekage."

"That's Kazekage-sama to you Tōjurō!" Kankuro said with clenched teeth.

Tōjurō's smug demeanour became expressionless. "Of course Kankuro. My apologies."

"I agree with Tōjurō", said Joseki. "As Suna is one of the five great villages we must have a Kage who is stronger than most Jonin across the world. The fact that you have lost that prowess is a major threat to the stability of the village."

"Yes." Added Sajō. He stared at Gaara through squinted eyes. "A strong Kage is what the village deserves. No matter what Gaara, the village must come first."

Gaara sighed. "I understand your concerns. I'm not trying to dodge the issue at all. I just think we should finish the meeting by discussing that issue in order to get all the other talking points out of the way first."

"I agree with Kazekage-sama." Announced Ryūsa. "His chakra problems are by far the least straightforward issue of the day. All the other matters we can deal with swiftly. We'd better deal with them first before getting to the dicier issue."

"What else is there to talk about?" Joseki inquired.

"Well." Baki began. "Our exploratory Geologists were successful in discovering some gold seams to the south. This could significantly boost our village's economy."

Suna's economy was something that Joseki always was concerned with due to being the treasurer of the village. "Ok, let's talk about that first so!"

As Gaara had correctly predicted the many mundane matters of the day were progressed through swiftly. Or at least quick by the standards of council meetings at any rate. The topics of conversation varied from clan compound infrastructure development, to economic affairs to relations with other villages. The topic of Gaara's loss of Ninjutsu abilities came up from time to time however Ebizō wanted the meeting to move along so he instructed the council to move on to the matter of the day until there was nothing left to discuss except Gaara's predicament.

"Now then." Ebizō began. "We've gotten almost everything covered, there's just one more matter."

The entire council stared at Gaara and there was a moment of silence.

Gōza broke the silence. "We cannot have a Kazekage who can't even use Ninjutsu. Sunagakure is one of the Five Great Shinobi villages of the world, we have to think of the dignity of this village!"

"Absolutely right!" Tōjurō added.

Ryūsa shook his head. "No need to rush matters." He faced Gaara. "If your condition continues, then yes Kazekage-sama will have to step down. But I think it's too early to make that call."

"We're still hoping that whatever my brother is currently facing can be cured." Kankuro added.

"Well, there's no breakthroughs in that area now is there?" Said Tōjurō.

"Unfortunately not yet." Replied Gaara.

Kankuro looked at him as if to say, "why didn't you tell them about the dreams?"

Gaara shook his head at his brother. He wanted to keep that matter to himself for the time being, and besides it was too vague a breakthrough for the council to accept it anyway.

"See." Tōjurō insisted. "We can't just wait for a cure that may or may not come!"

"You could take some time off and focus on securing your bloodline Kazekage sama" said Ikanago.

"Oh not this again." Gaara muttered to himself. He quietly shut his eyes and let the arguments unfold. The councillors went on and on and on and argued endlessly and needlessly. Gaara closed his eyes and cleared his mind, it made him very upset that the councillors were so brazenly talking about replacing him. Had he not served this village selflessly for years now? He led the village in a great war. The village took away his dignity as a child, yet he got over it and worked to improve Sunagakure! Did this mean nothing to them? In addition to this Gaara had a long day and was starting to become quite tired. He tried from time to time to get back into the discussion, however he'd lose track of the conversation pretty quickly once again. This happened again and again as an hour and a half passed by.

"Hey Kazekage are you listening!"

Gaara was roused to attention by Tōjurō. "Uh, yes of course."

Tōjurō snickered. "Well then do you have any objections?"

"Shit." Gaara whispered under his breath. He knew he'd been caught out. It was a grave embarrassment for the Kazekage to not pay attention due to a council meeting. "Objections to what?" He sighed.

"So you really weren't paying attention!" Tōjurō shouted indignantly. Though behind that angry tone Gaara could tell that Tōjurō loved having a little bit of power over him.

The other councillors did not look pleased. Gaara hung his head in shame.

Ebizō spoke up. "As head of the council, I think it would be best that you remain nominally the Kazekage for the foreseeable future. However, a regent will take over most of the role for the time being so you can focus on personal matters such as securing your bloodline and finding a cure for your condition."

Gaara stroked his chin. "Who will be the regent?"

"That is for you to decide." Said Ebizō. "Though we will vote on whether or not we will agree with your choice of regent."

Gaara faced Baki. Before he could say anything Baki shook his head. "I have that long term S-ranked mission to take care of."

"That is true." Gaara said. "If you didn't have time to fight in the war because of it you wouldn't have time for a regency either." Gaara shifted his perspective to Kankuro who nodded back to Gaara.

"I will designate my brother as regent!"

"You're brother?" snarled Tōjurō. "Nepotism much?"

"Kankuro is my right hand man. And he's well respected throughout the village." Gaara replied. "Call the vote Ebizō."

The venerable head of council nodded. "All councillors in favour of Kankuro becoming regent Kazekage raise your hand."

Kankuro, Baki, and Ryūsa were the first to raise their hands. Ikanago then followed suit saying, "Kankuro is of lord Fourth's bloodline, he would be the perfect regent." Gōza also raised his hand. "Kankuro is quite popular." Finally Joseki raised his hand. "I'm glad we've come to a decision. This will make the village more stable."

"Hmmph!" Grunted Tōjurō angrily.

Ebizo clapped his hands. "Very well then. Kankuro you have been designated as regent by popular vote. I now call an end to this council meeting. Thank you all."

After the meeting ended Gaara chatted briefly with Kankuro about the implications of the council's decision. Then Gaara went to his office where he set out to do a large amount of paperwork. Normally he dreaded doing so much work, however he reasoned that it would at least take his mind off things. It needed to be done at any rate and Kankuro becoming regent added to it considerably. Gaara got about half way through it before his fatigue got to him and he fell asleep at his desk.

Gaara couldn't exactly tell when it was, but at some point he once again returned to the strange grey world. He was back on the grassy knoll by the sea. "Dammit I must have fallen asleep!"

Gaara remembered that he'd talked to Fuu at this very spot. He looked around for her, but it was in vain. By the beach there was only the ferryman waiting at the dock and behind him was the vast empty sea that stretched out to an endless abyss of blackness. Gaara knew Fuu wouldn't be there. He remembered that Fuu seemed to be taken further inland by some unknown force. He looked ahead of him to the empty grey plains and wasteland that stretched out before him. He could see further ahead it got darker until it reached the black and rapacious horizon where even the clouds stopped, where everything stopped. "That's where she is." Gara murmured to himself. "I'm coming Fuu!" He set out hesitantly at first, taking small steps. He wasn't sure that this was the right decision. Slowly he picked up his pace until he was trucking along at a steady rate. As he stepped his feet in the sandy ground below, it pulled back at him very lightly as if it was trying to sap away at his strength. Eventually he saw another person on a hill in the distance. This excited Gaara and he hurried along. Eventually more people came into view. When he got close to them Gaara was struck by their appearance. They were all naked. Their skin was hard and flaky and they slowly dragged their weak and emaciated forms across the plains at a snail's pace. They all headed in the same direction as Gaara.

"Why didn't I have more time." One man spoke in a raspy voice. "I never got to say what I wanted to her. I was gonna win the archery competition to prove myself to her." Gaara looked at the man. Though his body seemed to be marred by the landscape he could see that when the man came here was young enough.

Gaara watched in horror as the young man dug his hand into his chest tore andopen a bloody cavity with his nails. Then he plunged his hand into the cavity and pulled out a rib. It came out slowly and caused the man so much pain that he tore apart his throat from screaming. "I'll make a bow." He rattled in a barely audible manner from his torn throat. "I'll make a bow and become a master archer. A master archer like I should have gotten the CHANCE TO BECOME ARGH!" He dropped his rib on the ground and faced the horizon. His ears twitched like he was hearing somebody's voice. "I'll get another chance you say? OK I'll go then. I'll go and get another chance! Or I'll make everyone who sent me here pay!" Then fell to the ground. For a moment he was still, but then he began to pull himself along by his arms leaving a bloody trail as he went."

"What the hell." Gaara muttered. "This is horrible. I've got to get out of here!" He turned back towards the sea and began to run as fast as he could.

Then he woke up.

Gaara's face was buried in a ton of papers. When he lifted his head off his desk and finished rubbing his eyes he noticed that Kankuro stood at the back of the room with a concerned expression.

"Are you OK brother? You looked terrified in your sleep."

Gaara shook his head. "I would hardly call that sleep."

A/N Hello everyone. Thanks for reading please review.

Edit: 5th Oct 2019, I slightly changed up a bit of the dialogue to go with some minor details int the plot that I've changed.

I'm working on a different way of writing with this fanfic. In the past I was more of a discovery writer. I would make some basic plans for how the story would go but often discover things along the way. This time however, I've planned out the entire plot for this fanfic so I'm going with more of an outline based writing method.

If any fans of my other story Tales of a Rogue Jinchuuriki are reading this, I will continue working on that story. I haven't given up on it. I haven't been thinking of it much in the last three months due to being more focused on real life but I do plan to continue on with it. I also figured out how I want that fanfiction to end.