My first authors note….
I will rarely include these, for half the time I can't stand them ^_^. This is primarily to prepare you that your ripping away from Naruto for the moment.
To address an issue in my reviews… Yes I am aware of the various ways of spelling the names when switching from Japanese to English, so sorry if any slight misspellings of words from a foreign language to me ruins the experience for you, you can stop reading it now and I wont mind.
On a secondary note, unlike allot of authors around here I am not pinning for comments and reviews. I am writing this story solely for the fact that I want it on record, if you feel like reviewing it that's fine and dandy, but if you don't it will not slow my progress any at putting up chapters.
Thank you for your time
You know who owns what, and since this is the first chapter where I introduce my own characters I have to make my own disclaimer.
All Characters that do not appear in the Naruto Manga, or the show are MINE.
Chapter 4
Every Demon….
I can still hear you son, why do you trouble yourself so over me. It was that voice again, the voice that had been tormenting him since before he could remember. You know I love you, I know you love me, You didn't give me what You promised and I am Angry, nothing else. Just give me what I want.
"No!" A young boys voice called out. "No! No more Demands, I am sick of you being here, you don't love me, you love my ability to kill, and I am not going to live with you anymore. I don't need you anymore to prove my existence."
A stab of pain doubled the redheaded boy over onto the ground. His body shook, the sand around him flowed like water. If one did not know the boy they would say he was dieing but his teammates and siblings knew better. He was Gaara of the hidden sand, from the desert like wind country, and he had just suffered his first defeat at the hands of two inexperienced kids. Since days long past he had always been like this. The curse seal on his forehead held at bay a demon that could only be realized during a full moon, or when the person was emotionally heightened. Temari looked on with a sadness in her eyes as her teammate struggled vainly on the ground against a foe she could never understand. Kankurou was on watch for the night and was nowhere in sight.
I love you, and I know what's best! The voice inside Gaara's head snarled making the boy convulse in pain. You can not defy me, I control you.
The struggle continued for a few more moments, mind against mind, will against will. That was until Gaara was struck by a stray thought of the beast living inside him. He laid on the ground perfectly still, eyes and mouth wide open, as he began to let the sand surround him. Temari didn't have time to think before the sand had gathered the boy up and formed a rock solid cocoon around him.
"Gaara?!" She called rushing over to the solid sand ball. "Gaara? What's going on?!?"
"g-get away, Temari," Gaara choked from inside. "S-something good is happening, but you'll be in danger if this backfires."
Temari stood dumbfounded, Gaara had never been one to care about her health, his health, or anyone else's for that matter.
"G-Get away from here! Far, far away!" Gaara screamed from the inside of the sand shell. "Get Kankurou and get to the village!"
"What's going on?" Tamari said pressing her hands against the outer shell of the cocoon. "Gaara, I can't leave you, your sick, your hurt, you need medical help!"
"Damnit! Leave now!" Gaara said barley above a whisper. "Tell them I went off on my own to think, if I do not show up within this next week, I am dead."
"Fine," Tamari said turning and running away. "You better come back Gaara."
With that the sand shot outwards and enveloped the area. Gaara, had just challenged his worst foe, himself.
For hours upon hours Gaara faced off with the demon inside of him, it was will against will, feeling against feeling, and Gaara Didn't know what he was truly doing. However, even in mental warfare Gaara had the sand on his side. Blows were exchanged, and will's were torn to shreds, but neither wanted to bow to the other. Gaara had about given up hope when a strange Idea occurred to him.
"Demon, you can not be destroyed can you?" Gaara said his face the stony mask he had been accustom to wearing.
"So the boy grows weary," Said the large lizard like badger demon. "I can not be destroyed, I am a demon, I will exist regardless of how torn up I am. You need me love, I need you, together we can rule this world and destroy those around us."
Gaara thought for a moment.
"How do you keep something that can not be destroyed? A living thing?" Gaara said taking a step closer to the large demon.
"You seal it away in a prison from which it can not escape." The demon said simply. "You are my prison."
"In a prison there are walls." Gaara said walking towards the demon. "Cells within walls from which cannot be escaped unless specifically freed from them. I should know."
Gaara Jumped onto the demons nose and scowled down into one of it's large eyes.
"Yes, yes you should know, which is why you need me, I am your freedom from those walls." The demon said his eyes narrowing and trying to focus on the boy. "I am your freedom love, and you are mine."
"Yes I am your freedom." Gaara said a smirk forming across his lips. "But You are not mine, you never were."
The demon was just about to lash out and throw the boy off of him when a strange feeling rushed over his body. The demon tried to move his arms yet nothing happened regardless of the effort. He tried to move his legs. Still nothing.
"Wh-whats going on here love?" The demon cooed, trying to keep his voice from betraying the sudden fear he felt.
"Had I actually stopped feeling sorry for myself sooner I would have figured this out." Gaara said hauling back and punching the demon strait in the eye. The demon howled in pain, but couldn't move otherwise.
"You demon, are mine, Mine to control, Mine to do with as I choose." Gaara said taking his hand from the soft eye and shaking the gel from it off his hand. "You are mine, From now on nothing will be heard from you unless I need some power, got it?"
"B-But, you can't do this to me love, the village had a deal!" The demon squawked attempting in vein to struggle out of the invisible grip.
"They lied, your mine now, unless you stop your whining I will never let you see the light of day again." Gaara snarled. "This is your last warning, got it?"
With that Gaara turned and jumped off the demons nose and onto the floor of his mind. There were calls behind him but he didn't listen. Soon he turned around and raised his hands into the air. He formed a sealing Jitsu in his mind, and put thought proof, sound proof, and break proof barriers around the now captured demon. Gaara was more then tired from the mental battle, but he was proud. This was the first step to finding out who he really was.
With his first true smile since his childhood he collapsed into his minds eye, and lost consciousness.
****
Gaara? Gaara? Come back to me son.
Gaara groaned, the sun was to bright and he was laying out in the middle of a field with no tree's in sight. There was a woman, sitting there stroking his head with unusually rough hands.
"Who, who are you?" Gaara said squinting and trying to see the shape in front of him better.
I am the one that sold your soul Gaara, the form said sadly.
"Sold my soul?" Gaara said sitting up and getting a better look at the woman. She kept shifting and her face was hard to see.
You will understand in time…. With that the woman vanished and the biggest headache Gaara had had since the battle of the leaf not two weeks before hit him.
Had it truly only been two weeks since that epic battle. Gaara grabbed his head getting ready to curse at the demon, but there was nothing there. Nothing. With a start Gaara stood up and felt along his body. No bruises, no breaks, no scrapes that hadn't been there before. No, the battle had indeed all taken place in his head, and he had come out the victor.
"Gaara?!" A voice called. "Gaara? Where are you?"
"You shouldn't have left him alone, he is probably dead." A male voice this time, slightly older then his own.
"Shut up Kankurou, you didn't have to see him." The female said. "Besides, you couldn't deal with half of what he deals with without going insane…. GAARA?!"
Each time she yelled Gaara's head throbbed.
"S-shut up!" Gaara said, his own voice echoing in his now freed mind. "I am right here."
He heard the sound of feet on the ground and the sound of grass being pushed out of the way. Neither Kankurou or Temari were running with the typical ninja stealth, which meant they were actually worried for him, and this was Gaara's first taste of something he had never truly had before. Friendship. As Quickly as he could he stood up on shaky knees and waited for the two to appear.
"Gaara, Are you ok?" Temari said before she actually got within sight of the boy.
"Yeah, I am fine." Gaara said his voice betraying his weariness. "Just need to get back to the village so I can recuperate."
Finally Temari and Kankurou made there way to where Gaara was standing. Temari couldn't hide her surprise when she saw him, he looked completely different. His flaming red hair was standing on end, and somewhere during the night he had lost his shirt and sash and was left only with his pants, shoes and sand gourd. His eyes were more full of life then Temari had ever seen them, and there was something missing. The Ai seal on his forehead was nowhere to be found.
"Gaara?" Temari said approaching him. "Your seal it's gone, where is the demon?"
Gaara looked up to her with a sour look which caused her to step back.
"That seal wasn't the demon Temari." He said rubbing his forehead where the seal had once been. "The seal was put on me by Yashamaru when he died. It was a selfish yet simple seal, the only way to break it was to realize that I didn't need to live only for myself."
"So the demon is still here?" Temari said her eyes glazing over with fear.
"I sealed him away, he is mine now." Gaara said turning to face the two. "We fought last night, and I realized that I didn't really need him, or want him."
"How could you have fought him?" Kankurou said earning a look of dread from Temari. "You would have had to release him!"
"No, I wouldn't have." Gaara said looking up to the sky. "You see, back in the village of the leaf, when we fought that boy Naruto, I found out something about him. He had a demon trapped inside himself, much like I did."
Both Temari and Kankurou were dead silent.
"He told me in short that I needed to get my priorities strait." Said Gaara continuing. "So after thinking about it for a while, I realized that I didn't have to live with the demon constantly at the surface. I fought him last night in my mind, and I sealed him away in my mind. Now only when I need him will he come out. I can control him now, not the other way around."
"But, that creates a danger for you Gaara." Kankurou said reaching out his hand towards the flame headed boy. "That means the sand doesn't work does it?"
Gaara took the hand smiling. "The sand still works. It was a protection seal put on me by our mother."
Proving his point Gaara snaked some of the sand from himself to wrap gently around Kankurou's wrist.
"The thing is Now it is working the way it is supposed to." Gaara said withdrawing the sand and using Kankurou's hand to pull himself up. "Before it had so much Chakara pumped into it because of the demon that when I wanted it to perform simple actions like grabbing something, it would put way to much strength into it and wind up crushing it."
"But father said that the demon was the sand!" Temari said. Beginning to walk back through the tall grass.
"Father said allot of things, but we don't have to worry about him now." Gaara said following with Kankurou.
"What do you mean?" Kankurou said eyeing Gaara. "He should be back in the village."
"No, he isn't. Orichimaru killed him for his face." Gaara said. "Orichimaru is technically the kazekage now."
"Shhh Gaara don't say his name, we are still to close to the borderlands." Temari said glancing around. "besides we weren't even supposed to know who was coordinating this in the first place."
"Heh, well his attack was a complete and total failure." Kankurou said pulling his hood off to revile his dark auburn hair. "I'd say he is going to hightail it back to the sound and pout about his looses, leaving us to recover on our own. The partnership went void anyway if what Gaara says was true."
"Come on guys lets go and get back home." Temari said boosting her Chakara so she could bound through the grass.
Silence filled the three and they sped up their pace though the grass. Hours went by without the trio speaking, which left Gaara to enjoy something he never had. Peace of mind. There was no rolling turmoil, there was no demon telling him how tasty tamari's blood would be, there wasn't any kind of fight at all going on, and it was pure bliss. Gaara was enjoying the speed, the way the wind felt in his hair, the way the cloth on his front moved. The way the grass blurred as he passed it. It was phenomenal.
It was mid afternoon before the trio finally stopped again. The grass had shortened and was now sparse and dry. The land had become flatter. And the small town of Oasis stood in front of the trio, making the gateway to the country of the wind. Gaara had passed through Oasis on several occasions on travels with his team to complete missions. But never had the town looked so appealing as it did now. There was laughter traveling up to the team, and the smell of fresh water and food made all three salivate.
"We will stop here before continuing our journey." Kankurou said. "We will make it back to the village of the sand by about midnight by foot, unless…."
Gaara looked up to Kankurou having not paid attention to his speech.
"Huh?"
"Gaara, you can control the sand better now right?" Kankurou said a hopeful look in his eyes. "If you can, you can get us to the village faster."
"Right now, I need food, food, water and a soldier pill." Gaara said wobbling slightly. "That's all I need right now and I will make the decision about traveling later."
"fair enough," Kankurou said smiling. "Come on lets go."
Quicker then light the two bounded to the village, leaving Temari in thought.
"Could he have really changed?" She said out loud to herself. "He doesn't seem any different, I guess only time will tell."
She too bounded towards the village.
When Gaara and Kankurou set foot in the quaint little desert town almost everyone in the town got very quiet and all eyes were on the two. Gaara looked around and found most of the frightened stairs coming to his direction. It wasn't any different then any other time, but this time it hurt a bit more. He shifted closer to Kankurou and rubbed his arm willing the people to stop looking and to go back about their business. What was this feeling? Was it hate? No, Was it anger? No, he wasn't mad at the towns folk for looking at him. With a slight start it clicked. It was embarrassment. He had never truly felt anything but contempt for these people before because it was the demon not him. Now he felt bad that he had acted so aloof. He felt guilty. Allot of new feelings returning to him for the first time in several years.
"Hey guys, lets go to Hijemi's Place, he has the cleanest water, and the best food in this town." Temari said catching up with the other two.
"Yeah, though right now I probably would eat dirt if it was spiced right." Kankurou said beginning to walk forward into the town.
People began to go back to their business, movement and conversation started again. However the eyes were following them. Gaara felt ill. He had forgotten about all the contempt people held for him after Yashamaru died. Now he was exposed to it again and he felt very self conscious. In an attempt to block them out he closed his eyes and used his hearing to tell him were Kankurou was walking
"Temari, is this how it always was?" Gaara said, his eyes still squeezed shut.
"Was what?" Temari said sidling up to Gaara.
"The people, the stares, have they always looked at me this way?" Gaara said a note of hurt resounding through his voice. "Have I never been accepted?"
Temari rested a hand on his shoulder causing him to jump slightly but not loose step.
"Gaara, there is nothing I can say to improve this situation. You are hated because of the demon because of the sand." She said looking around at the people. "You have killed many of their family members by accident, or on purpose, they do have every right to hold you in contempt."
Gaara sighed opening his eyes and looking at the ground.
"I suppose your right," Gaara said. "If this is my punishment then I will take it. From now On however I am not going to kill unless I myself am going to be killed, and I am not going to hurt anyone for stupid reasons."
Temari smiled dropping her hand off his shoulder.
"Gaara, if you try hard enough, someday you will find acceptance." Temari said. "Something inside of you has been locked away for so long, and it is just now starting to surface. Just keep your eyes open to all possibilities ne?"
Gaara was about to agree when a little kid broke out of the crowd.
"You killed my brother you monster!!" With one smooth motion the kid chucked an apple.
Gaara was so surprised that he didn't move and the apple struck him in the head. For a moment there was a slight pain, then a hiccup of frustration and anger, but it was short lived, and Gaara began to feel bad. Everyone in the street was dead silent and a mother came running over to the child.
"Please! Please spare my son!" She wailed "Please he is just upset! Please don't kill him!"
Gaara at first was angry at the woman for thinking such ridiculous thoughts, but then he thought back to the demon and realized that the child would have already been dead.
"I won't kill him." Gaara said looking at the boy. "Show him how much an apple to the head hurts, he will learn his lesson."
Temari and Kankurou were dumbfounded. Kankurou got his wits about him first and grabbed Temari and began to hurry down the street. Gaara left the boy where he was with the startled mother and quickly followed Kankurou.
There was a loud resounding thunk as they made their way down the street followed shortly by a child's crying and an angry mother.
"What were you thinking!" Another thunk. "You lucky he spared you! Your going to go home and……"
The conversation trailed off as Gaara and the others got further away. The sad feeling left Gaara and was replaced by one of amusement. He kept his smile to himself however as they wound their way down the street. Pretty soon they reached their destination.
The little restaurant was out of the way in a quiet less crowded part of town. It was dark, dingy looking, but the smell that came from it would make just about anyone walk in out of curiosity. Quickly as they could all three walked into the tavern. The small conversations going on stopped and a few people left. An old man sitting at the bar smiled showing several missing teeth.
"Ah if it isn't you three again, welcome back!" He said his voice showing old age and a rough life.
"Hello Hijemi-sama." Kankurou said smiling. "We have came back to eat your nasty food again."
There was a full bodied laugh of the man at the bar. Gaara peaked around Kankurou's shoulder, this man had always amused him because he was never afraid of him, he also amused the demon to some extent so this man was never in any danger of being killed. The lack of fear probably had something to do with a problem the man had. He was blind. Gaara remembered him speaking of being a warrior in an era that was without wars, and getting trapped in a battle that shouldn't have been. He lost his sight in an explosion. His face was grizzled, and his eyelids were sewn shut, and his clothed were ragged. Yet this man was rumored to be the wealthiest man in the borderlands. No one dared question his appearance.
"You," He said hopping off his stool and grabbing a near by crane. "You three are lucky I ran out of poising on the last customer that came to bug me."
Kankurou laughed, Temari giggled, and Gaara smiled. His smile faded immediately when the old man was in front of him poking his chest.
"You Boy," He said eyeing the boy, as it were. "You have changed, allot, No more of that pesky sand demon eh?"
"I…uh," Gaara said his words failing him.
"HA HA!!!!! Good! That good for nothing rascal caused nothing but trouble for you." The man turned using his cane to see down the aisles and lead them to a booth in a dark corner. "You three better be warned, there is Chaos in your hidden sand, no one is opening their mouths as they pass through here, but sources say that there is a problem with leadership there right now.
"Leadership?" Temari said eyeing the old man. "leadership how?"
"Meaning there is none kid." The man sighed. "No official word has been spread but it looks like the Kazekage is MIA."
Gaara smiled, he was the one person the demon refused to kill. Now if he was dead, if his father was dead, maybe, just maybe, he could begin living as a person.
"Aw man," Kankurou said running a hand through his hair as he sat down. "Now they are going to want us to identify him."
"I don't want to see our father dead." Temari said crossing her arms across her chest. "He wasn't the best of men, but I try not to look at those I know when they are dead."
"Well that is only what I heard." the man said turning back towards the bar. "Three house specials?"
"Yep." Kankurou said.
With that the man walked back to his bar and the three were left alone. Gaara quickly unsnapped the gourd and let it hit the ground with a large thud. With that said he slid into the both to await their food. Again he caught himself letting his eyes take in the little details of the tavern. The smells, the textures, the voices. All of it was new to him. He got pulled out of his musings when Kankurou reached for one of his travel bags and pulled a cloth and some water out of it. Gaara watched carefully as he slid the rag over the opening and tilted the bottle getting it wet. He had seen this before but had not really cared for what exactly he was doing. The rag was set on the table, then Kankurou performed a series of simple hand seals and touched the cloth.
"What's so interesting?" Kankurou said to Gaara.
"I don't know." Gaara said.
Watching Gaara with a wary eye Kankurou lifted the rag and began wiping his face. The purple makeup seemed to melt off when the rag touched it. Quickly Gaara looked away when a rough looking women came up with three glasses of water and three plates. Gaara kept his eyes averted, he had always looked away before because the demon said that there was no point in looking at those lesser then you. Now Gaara could do what he wanted. But if he went around acting funny, he was sure to get some unwanted attention.
The click of the plates on the table and the smell of the fresh food began the frenzy of three very hungry teenagers. Between the three they ate just about ten plates of food and all three were feeling incredibly satisfied. The silence was broken by Temari.
"Gaara, we have to do something with your head." She stated earning a disdainful look from Gaara and a confused look from Kankurou. "Um, I mean the seal, it is gone, people are going to notice when we get back home."
"I just got it off I don't want something else put on it." Gaara said reaching up to feel where the seal was.
"Fine, then put your hand over it till I can get hold of some supplies." Temari said picking up her stuff and scooting out of the booth. "We can't let it get out that your Demon is controlled, and that your Ai seal is gone. There are far to many people who are and were afraid of you that will take that as a queue to hurt you."
"Fine," Said Gaara standing up and wavering. "Just not anything permanent, I want to be able to take it off."
"You still need that solder pill Gaara?" Kankurou said standing up as well. "I might have one here somewhere."
"Yes," Gaara said stumbling forward as he reached for his gourd. "My Chakara is low, and something is wrong. I am going to need it as soon as we reach the city limits."
I don't need to be running around killing people if this thing takes a bad turn. Gaara added in his mind.
Gaara hefted the gourd onto his back and strapped the supports on. And began the walk back out of the city.
The sun was just setting on the horizon bringing a cold breeze down the now relatively empty streets. Kankurou and Temari pulled some skins out of their bags and wrapped them close. Deserts were boiling during the day, and freezing at night. Gaara didn't need one, he liked the cold, and right now it was keeping him from completely loosing his sense of self with the strange feeling he had after he ate. All three walked in silence, ignoring the stares and the points from the few random people on the road. Gaara stumbled as soon as they were out of the gate and fell to his knees.
"Gaara!?" Temari said rushing to his side.
"I am fine, Give me that pill, I need to get back as soon as possible so I will take you two on the sand." Gaara said standing up shakily.
With some hesitation Kankurou handed Gaara the pill and Gaara examined it. Gaara had seen these used. They gave a ninja is strength back for a time, and boosted Chakara. He had never needed this before now so he didn't know what he was in for. Quickly as he could he put it in his mouth and began chewing. Much to his dismay it tasted horrible.
"Your not supposed to chew it, your supposed to swallow it." Kankurou said his eyes wide.
"It takes to long to absorb… I need it…." Gaara's eyes momentarily went wide and the sand around him fluxed causing Temari and Kankurou to jump back.
"Gaara?!" Both said in unison.
"Follow me now." Gaara said his eyes still wide and the sand still swaying around him.
"Uh…."
"Just do it, if you don't you'll have to walk." Gaara said stepping out onto the dunes.
Both hurriedly followed the boy onto the sand.
"This thing packs a punch." Gaara said sitting down in the sand.
"Yes it does…. Are you ok?" Kankurou said approaching Gaara.
"I don't know, all I know is if I don't release some of this now there could be some really bad consequences. "Hurry up and sit down, don't mind what is happening under you."
Quickly both teens scrambled behind Gaara and sat down. Suddenly the sand under them got solid and began to raise itself slightly. With Awe both teens looked beyond Gaara and saw an extraordinary thing. The sand, it had begun to move like water.
"Gaara, how fast are we going to be going?" Temari asked a bit of fear in her voice.
"Very." Came the simple answer from the now shaking boy.
"But we'll fall off!" Kankurou said looking over the side of the platform to the shifting sand below.
Without so much as a warning the sand creped up both Temari and Kankurou's back forming a support.
"We are going now." Gaara said the shake now audible in his voice. "Hold on."
The sand in front of them began to move inching them towards the quick moving sand several meters ahead. They hit the first minor speed boost which progressed their progress. Then another. The final boost was coming fast and Gaara smiled. That pill had taken away that weird feeling and left him feeling strangely hyperactive and needing to burn energy. He had never tried this before, but from what he could see ahead this looked to be a fun journey. Gaara's excitement was barley kept in check and the platform seemed to be moving so slowly.
"Speed increasing." Gaara said his voice monotone as he began to focus on the sand.
They barley had time to support themselves and the platform launched itself forward. The speed was intense and Gaara laughed openly as he navigated the small river around dunes rocks and random desert life. He couldn't hear anything except for Temari screaming to slow down and Kankurou's laughter, which told him that both of them were doing ok. He increased the speed and went rocketing forward. Dunes past in a blur.
"Marobak Canyon is coming up Gaara slow down, we have to take the bridge. Gaara laughed out loud and kept pummeling forward.
The dunes let out leaving behind cracked harsh ground and the sign of cliffs ahead. The sand spread itself before them like a snake elevating them slightly higher off the ground. They began to blast there way over and into the winding cliffs. Gaara twisted and turned his mind having memorized this area for a long time. The twisty area stopped and ahead of them was the canyon. Two miles across. Gaara smiled and sped up towards the split in the earth.
"Gaara stop!!!!!!!" Temari screamed but it was to late to stop their momentum.
The canyon edge approached and the two in the back cringed. The rush of ground left them and made the air creepily silent. Temari opened her eyes and was immediately surprised. The sand was building a bridge for them as they crossed the deep and deadly canyon. Behind them the sand supported itself on the far wall. Finally realizing that Gaara had everything under control Temari relaxed and began to enjoy the view.
Two hours later all three teens stood out in front of the Gate to the village. Every village had a gate, and all of them had a genjitsu that would turn people away if they weren't supposed to be near it. All three approached the gate Gaara stumbling and weaving in attempt to keep up with the two in front of him. That strange feeling had returned full force and caused him to be unsteady on his feet. Kankurou quickly knocked on the gate's guardhouse door.
"Open the gate and let us in!" He said calling to them.
A door swung open showing a young man in a Sandnin uniform.
"Well if it isn't the royal brats returning back from a failed mission...What the… URK" Drawled the voice, until it was suddenly silenced with a wave from Gaara's hand.
"No playing games, you open the gate." Gaara said putting his hand over where the seal used ot be. "Do not announce we are back, if you do I will end your life the second I hear my name."
Sand dropped from the man's throat. And he panted swinging for the gate release. There was a click then a slight groan and the gate opened enough for the three to get inside. Gaara was feeling miserable. Not like he hadn't been in this state before, but right now it was absolutely mind boggling. Usually the demon would perform some sort of hand seal and he would feel slightly better. But now there was no demon, just a nagging pick at the back of his eyes. Temari and Kankurou took the back alleys back to their house, no one traveled the back alleys at night, everyone knew that Gaara roamed and killed there at will. Just because he was gone didn't mean people changed what they did so the way was more then clear. Gaara saw the house ahead and stumbled towards it he didn't know why but he knew he had to get there, and fast. Quickly as he could manage in his current state he wobbled in front of Temari and Kankurou and was the first to barge in the door. Surprised eyes met his as one of the house servants scurried by.
"Master Gaara." She said fear reeking in her voice. "We have terrible news, something happened to…"
"I know." Gaara said growling.
"Gaara what's with you?" Temari said stepping though the door.
"Your acting strange."
"There is this thing, making me dizzy and slow, making my eyes feel like lead weights." Gaara said resting up against the wall as he un-strapped his gourd. "Never felt it before, almost like when I passed out after the first fight with Sasuke, but different, and strange."
The servant scurried out of the room to go tell the others that the masters had arrived. Leaving Gaara, Temari, and the just entering Kankurou alone.
"Does it feel like your mind wants to shut off, like everything is slow?" Temari said curiosity filling her tone.
"Yes, yes it does, what is it?" Gaara said stumbling to one of the staircases.
"Your demon, it worked by never letting you sleep." Kankurou said following the two up the stairs. "You need sleep Gaara, now that he is gone."
"Sleep?" Gaara said turning his fussy vision onto Kankurou. "I, I have never done it before, how is it done?"
"All you have to do is flop yourself onto your bed and close your eyes. Your body knows what to do it will shut down on it's own." Kankurou explained as they reached Gaara's unused room.
"Will I die? How do you wake up?" Gaara said a slight hint of childish worry filling his voice.
"Gaara." Temari said opening his door. "Your body will wake you when it is time."
With a worried look Gaara stepped into his room and shut the door. As quickly has he could manage he stripped himself of all his dirty clothing and put on a set of light silk pants and a top. He had never done this before but he saw Temari and Kankurou do it many times. With a skeptical eye he sat down on the mattress and then laid down on the pillow. A heavenly feeling washed over him. His body began to relax in ways it hadn't before, sore muscles began to stretch, blood flow began to slow.
"No wonder they do this." Gaara said turning onto his side to face the wall.
"For once I can be like them."
"Finally I can start understanding them."
"Finally I can start looking for my someone special to protect…."
Before Gaara had time for any more thoughts sleep washed over him for the first time in his life.