Gaara closely watched the young woman leading him around. She seemed strong enough to be a decent shinobi, yet usually women didn't enter into the ninja academy from what he'd gathered.
'Perhaps she's from an old family. A proud, ninja family.' Gaara thought. He felt strangely drawn to this woman, though he wouldn't quite admit it. It felt as though he shared a connection with her. He shook such thoughts off, suddenly angry with himself.
He was a demon, and as such had no feelings other than bloodlust, hate, and joy when bringing fear. He was supposed to terrorize- especially him. He, who had done such awful things in his past, who even lesser demon feared... he especially wasn't supposed to have feelings, and even more so no feelings for an enemy. When it came down to it, he would have to kill her or order her killed.
He was brought out of his thoughts by the woman's voice.
"We've arrived." she said, looking over at him.
'Stop thinking.' Gaara ordered himself, staring up at what must have been the Kazekage's building. It was grand and imposing.
'Just like humans to make it so easy to find their leaders. It's like posting a sign saying 'Here he is, come and kill him.'' Gaara smirked a little at the thought, but the smirk quickly disappeared.
"Follow me." the female shinobi said, walking into the building. Gaara stayed silent and followed quietly.
Naruto glanced around the village of Konoha. Smelly human brats ran around in their yards, their mothers keeping a close eye on the. A few people glanced at him as he passed, obviously curious but cautious as well.
'As well they should be.' Naruto thought, following the nin who had so kindly and trustingly let him in.
'He's probably taking me to the Hokage- the human general. From what we gathered, the Hokage rules over even the Kazekage, the leader of Sand. Konoha is still fighting, but Sand is near dead.' Naruto couldn't hide a smirk at this. He had managed to get into the most guarded place for the humans without breaking a sweat and would be taken to see the one person that was able to keep the war going.
"We're here. Hokage-sama will be with you in a moment, if he has time. Please wait." The ninja bowed politely, then quickly turned to locate the Hokage, leaving Naruto outside the Hokage's headquarters. Naruto glanced around, bored. Apparently, Konoha was so small they had to squish the Hoakge's HQ by the hospital, a few small stores, and homes. Naruto glanced at the hospital, sniffing the air. The stench of blood was there, as well as disinfectant and death. Suddenly, the door to the hospital opened, and a girl with annoyingly pink hair walked out stiffly, eyes red. She had been crying, Naruto noted, smelling the saltwater. Suddenly, a girl with bright plantinum hair ran out after her, hugging her and crying as well. Naruto could clearly hear what they were saying from him spot in the doorway of the HQ.
"-I'm so sorry. I know that it can't make up for it-" the platinum-haired girl said.
"It's not your fault, Ino. It's the demons, and mine. I wasn't there to protect them. Mom, and Dad... " The pink-haired girl collapsed, sobbing. "They're dead, and I couldn't do a thing! Tsuande-san is teaching me, but I couldn't do anything to help them!" Naruto felt a small stab of guilt pass through him. He had never really cared about the humans he was killing. They were just things trying to kill him, beings that had invaded demon territory. Things to play with and kill. He had never had to face the grieving of humans, only the sorrow of demons as one close to them was killed. Demon mouring was so much different- most didn't allow anyone close, but when one demon did get close to another, the results were catastrophic when one died. He had hated the humans more and more for each demon that died and was mourned.
He had never seen a human cry for another like this.
"I'll go get Lee. He isn't dead- you still have family left, Sakura! And we're practically sisters- I'm still here." The girl that had been called Sakura just nodded.
"Come on, get up- you can sit down on a bench until Lee gets here." Again, Sakura nodded and let her friend- Ino- help her up and sit her on a bench near where Naruto stood.
"You goning to be okay? I'll be right back." Ino said. Sakura nodded, still crying.
"I want... I want to see Lee." Ino nodded and left, leaving Sakura to cry.
Curiously, Naruto walked closer to the crying human. A twig snapped under him, causing Sakura to look up in shock and fear, almost jumping out of her seat. She calmed when she saw what was apparently a human man.
"Who are you?" she asked. "Did you come to help? With the war, I mean. That's usually the only reason people travel now, and I haven't seen you before..." she babbled, quickly wiping her eyes. "I'm sorry, this must be awkward." Before her face was dry, the tears started to fall again.
"I'm Uzumaki Naruto- from Sand. I did... come to help with the war. Why are you crying?" he asked, even though he knew perfectly well why. He couldn't explain the sudden impulse to talk to her- he felt like he had to find out exactly why she was crying. Why did she mourn?
"My... my parents are dead. They were just watching the house when the demons attacked." Sakura's voice choked up then. "They weren't ninjas or anything. They were just killed for being here, and I was on watch. I was too far away to help. By the time I got to them, demons were already ripping them a- apart." Sakura had dissolved into tears by now.
"I'm sorry." Naruto said. He hadn't realized how difficult it would be for him to carry out his self-assigned mission until now.
"Well, it's not like I'm the only orphan. There are hundreds of kids without their p-parents. It's just... I always felt s-sorry for them, but now my parents are g-gone..." Sakura was still crying. Naruto looked at her sadly.
Demons never formed close ties with their parents- the parents abandoned the kids as soon as the kids were able to walk. Many ended up killing their parents themselves.
'Is that the main difference between humans and demons? For each human killed, many mourn. Very few mourn or even realize if a demon is killed.' He was brought out of his thoughts by a gentle hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see the man that had led him there.
"Hokage-sama will see you now." The man turned and started walking. Worldlessly- with one more glance over his shoulder- he followed.
"Kazekage-sama, we found this man outside our gates. He claims to be a reinforcement from Konoha, and has requested to battle a ninja to prove himself useful." the woman said. The man sitting at the desk- the Kazekage, Gaara assumed, as he wore long white robes and had a large hat with the character for 'wind' on it- looked up from his paperwork. He was a thin man, with one large scar across his face from below his right ear almost to his left ear. His skin- from what could be seen- was tan and slightly sunburned.
"Is that so?" he asked, looking at Gaara. Gaara nodded- that was his cover story, and he was getting rather bored just walking around.
"Well then, we should give you the chance to prove yourself. Nekoi!" he called. Beside Gaara, a young man with brown hair materialized.
"Yes?" Nekoi asked. The Kazekage gestured to Gaara.
"I want you to fight him. He wants to prove himself capable of fighting in the war." Gaara studied his soon-to-be opponent. Small but strong, no doubt. Gaara faced him.
"Yes sir." Nekoi said, not acknowledging Gaara yet. The Kazekage turned to the woman that had lead Gaara there.
"Yami, watch the fight. Make sure that neither recieve serious wounds- we can't afford a casualty from a friendly fight. Stop it if it gets too serious." The woman- Yami- nodded.
'So that's her name- 'shadow'.' Gaara thought.
"You're dismissed." the Kazekage said, waving them away. The three left the office, Nekoi motioning for them to follow him.
A/N: Like it? Hate it? Sorry if the characters are a bit OOC, but this is an AU, so they will be a bit different.
If you have any ways for me to improve, please tell me instead of complaining to your computer screen about what a lousy fic this is.