I do not own any rights to Naruto (story or characters). Just the characters I make up along the way! I have full love and respect for Masashi Kishimoto!
While this isn't my first story it is under my pen name, Aubrei Seraph. I hope you enjoy it and feel free to ask me any questions or offer any suggestions!
Have fun!
UPDATE: It's been awhile. I've had a lot of stuff happen since I originally published this but my heart has never left this story. I am working on editing chapters 2-4 and I've got through chapter 8 written. Please let me know what you think! :)
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Fate was cruel mistress. Was it my fate to be stuck in this existence? Was it fate that I had to watch as those I loved died? Fate had it out for me or at least I always thought that. I cursed the hands of time and their ignorance of me. I hated those around me that wished for eternal life, not knowing how lonely and cruel it could be. More than anything though, I wished it all to end. Then one day I met a small boy. Seeing myself in him and connecting with him through our shared pain I think I finally understood fate. Fate brought us together that day for a reason, just like it brought me to the desert many years ago.
Finding myself walking the familiar path home I let my thoughts wonder. It was becoming a trend with me, my mind wondering randomly at times. It was a frustrating habit that I couldn't seem to break. Funny how my wondering mind was what distracted me all those years ago; funny because fate decided to repeat itself. I froze seeing that same mop of red hair in the same position that I saw him back then, only this time there were no tears. The teddy bear was gone as well and the child that I once met. Here in this same back street that boy had grown into a man. His face had thinned out, sharpened, leaving intense eyes on a face that was familiar and yet different.
Looking into those intense eyes I could see the change. No longer were they filled with anger and sadness; they now looked almost peaceful. They were the same jade, a beautiful mixture of green and blue that reminded me of the sea. That hair that always drew my attention had once been an unruly nest on top of his head. Now it was smoothed down giving him a more mature air about him. I wanted to laugh out loud seeing him now so tall when he was such a small child.
Of course he wouldn't remember me even if I hadn't changed in all these years. When my eyes moved back up to his own I was shocked to see them staring at me. The same distrust was there as before but this time no sand came out to grab me. It did, however, swirl at his feet and in the air around us. Snapping out of my trip down memory lane I focused my attention back on the man in front of me. I had to remember that he was the leader of his village now and even more deadly than as a child.
His eyes were locked on my face with an intensity that left me unable to look away. I had let my mask down once I entered the village leaving my mouth free to speak to the vendors. There was nothing for him to see other than the tan fabric covering me and yet his eyes looked at me like he could see right through it. His voice as he spoke was low and rough. It was a voice that reminded me of my father's; deep and meant to be obeyed. "Hello." It was a greeting even if the look he was giving me was not friendly. My mind was screaming at me to run away. Getting involved with this man would not end well; my past experiences proof of that.
He didn't move from his spot and I knew he was assessing me but I remained still ready should he attack. It had been years and I doubted that he would remember me but the faint twinkling of memory in his eyes made me curious. "Who are you?" I wanted to answer him surprisingly, the draw to reacquaint myself with him again almost pushing me to speak. "I know every person in this village and I have never seen you before." I chuckled at him. Had I been anyone else I would have said I had a death wish, but for some reason I couldn't help but provoke him. "It's sad when the Yondaime doesn't notice someone that has been coming in and out of the village for years." Most people were easily provoked but not him. He just stood there watching me obviously bored with my response. "I won't ask again." I watched as his sand moved slowly towards me.
There was a hesitation as he watched to see if I would reply. His harsh words would scare most but to me they were still coming out of the mouth of that same scared little boy. "Why is it important for you to know me? I haven't done anything against you or your village." I couldn't help the words as they spilled from my mouth feeling slightly annoyed. I wanted to remind him that I was at least double his age, but that required explaining who or what I was; something I had no intention of sharing. The Kazekage in front of me, however, didn't seem to care that I was annoyed. He just stood there analyzing everything that he could about me in quiet contemplation. It felt like forever before he spoke again this time with more force. "What is your name?"
"Maybe I don't have one? A name is only a label put on humans to classify them. I am who I am, nothing more." There was no hostility in my words, just a matter of factness that seemed to throw him off guard or at least confuse him. "Why do you answer my questions with a question?" His words sounded curious as if he found me fascinating. The sand had halted in it's path almost hesitant to attack me. Another person and that hesitation would have gotten him killed. "I find you can really get to know a person by the way they react when thrown off guard. Like for instance I know that you won't harm me despite the sand making it's way towards me." Anger replaced the confusion on his face in an instant and I cursed myself. I was trying to distract him from him long enough to leave and here I was actually provoking him. What was wrong with me?
Ok so I needed to calm the situation before it got out of hand; I really didn't want to hurt him. "There's no reason for me to harm my best customer. I make more money with the village intact than destroyed." He didn't look convinced at my answer and the sand started moving towards me again; however, much to his shock and my confusion it stopped right in front of me. Maybe it remembered me even if he didn't. I let out the same pulse of chakra that I did back then and watched as it curled around itself before disappearing back to where it came. "If I wanted to hurt you, don't you think your sand would have stopped me by now?"
The anger from before was gone replaced once again with a searching look. "Have we met before?" He asked looked like he was fighting for a memory just out of his reach. I didn't want to bring up our past, it was safer for us both if we just forgot that meeting. "Seeing the Kazekage way out here for the first time makes me wonder what he is doing; alone... with no guards." I changed the subject cocking my head to the side in curiosity. "It's my village. I go where I see fit." It was a snappish reply and I could see the shock register on his face at his own words. "Forgive me." It was obvious that he was tired. I could see the puffiness around his eyes.
After the last war everyone had to put the pieces back together again. The strain of it along with the stress of ongoing peace would drain anyone and Gaara was no exception. I couldn't fault him for seeking a moment to himself way out here. It was peaceful and the noise of the village muffled. That he sought solace in the same place as long ago amused me. "It seems that we once again had the same idea." I smirked at his confused expression not willing to elaborate. My smile drew his attention to me once again his eyes lingering on my face, half hidden behind goggles. "Have we met before?" He asked regarding me again with that same searching look. "I've met many people in my life. I don't remember them all and most of them don't remember me." I didn't realize that in all our conversation that the sun had started to set. I had been here with him for over an hour, an hour longer than I had spent in Suna since I was left here as a child.
Just like all those years ago I couldn't seem to leave him. Trying to distract myself from those deep jade eyes I turned my eyes too his clothes. As much as I knew about desert living the black pants and shirt that he was wearing were not enough protection. The shirt he wore was loose and had no sleeves leaving his arms bare from the shoulders down. He wore the standard under-armor that most in his profession wore but it only covered his chest where the shirt dropped low. I let my eyes follow that column of pale skin left uncovered up to that mark over his left brow. Love. It wasn't there all those years ago and as I looked closer, something else caught my eye.
That massive red chakra that had overwhelmed his system as a child was gone. There was faint traces of it still hovering along his paths but the oppressiveness of it was no longer there. The beast that had almost drove him mad was gone. Forcing my eyes back to his own I could see the difference it made. There was lightness to them now that I had not seen before. I couldn't hide the happiness that revelation made me feel. His eyes were drawn to my face curious as to what provoked such a reaction out of me.
"Forgive me for intruding. I will leave you in peace Kazekage." I bowed and turning I felt the weight lifted from my heart knowing that he was ok. It was his voice that stopped me from leaving. When I turned he was right in front of me almost touching me and I could feel the heat from his body warming my own. The air in my lungs froze on it's way out leaving me staring up at him in shock. "Wait, we have met before, haven't we." I wasn't sure if it was the proximity or the look in his eyes that made me speak. The sudden thudding of my heart compelled me to answer and with it a want for him to remember me. "Yes, a long time ago." Those eyes that I was starting to like a little too much widened slightly, almost as if he remembered. "And yet I don't even know your name."
Something at that moment, seeing such an open expression on his face broke down my walls. Maybe they had been breaking down for years. Whatever the cause I let my name flow from my lips. Words have power and even the giving of my name could harm me, but I couldn't deny him, like I couldn't deny the sad little boy all those years ago. "Yuumei." I didn't give him a chance to respond and turned on my heels and walked away. Had he wanted to stop me he could have but instead he let me go.
I let that fact roll across my thoughts as I walked home. My heart was still beating a little too fast and I could still feel the warmth of his body near mine. It was the closest I'd been to another person in a long time. While It terrified me it also left me feeling content. Here all this time I thought I had changed him, even if only a little. Now I was convinced that he had also started to change me. I could feel this connection between us beating with each beat of my heart. Years ago it started and I hadn't even realized it, but now I knew; the winds of changes were battering down on me and whether I wanted to face them or not, whether I choice to ignore them or not, I feared I would be helpless to stop them.