Chapter 3: Temari VS Kankurou and the Second Meeting of Masao

"Nothing to do today?"

The morning had started off as normal; early rising, Kankurou's mediocre cooking, and waiting for their sensei to come tell them what to do. Temari sat at the kitchen table, secretly sketching out Gaara as he stood with crossed arms glaring out the window. Kankurou continued to scarf down the eggs (the only thing he knew how to make edible). Their sensei was late. A rare occurrence, but not a surprising one. The war could make anyone lose track of time.

"What are you doing Temari?" Kankurou questioned around his food. She jumped, surprised, and looked at his uniquely decorated face for a moment before turning back to the paper. It looked all right, not one of her best, so she decided it couldn't be one to show them.

"Drawing" Gaara turned his head slightly; indifferently to the untrained eye. He liked Temari's artwork, no mater how terrible she claimed them to be. "It's not that great though. So you can't see"

In a breeze of wind and sand their sensei appeared in the room. The three of them looked up at him expectedly. Glancing around at them with his unveiled eye he said, "You have no missions as of now. The war is going smoothly and in our favor so you have nothing to do today." He knelt down by Temari and mumbled so softly that she could barely hear, "Keep Gaara close by. We may need him." Her eyes narrowed ever so slightly as he left in another cloud of dust.

They sat in silence for a moment, the golden-haired girl contemplating how many different ways she could get Gaara out of the house (even though it was wrong). 'Nothing to do' was a foreign concept to them. They usually had some one to fight, to protect, or something. But absolutely nothing AT ALL? It was unheard of.

Gaara abruptly left without any word of where he would go and when he would come back. Kankurou and Temari didn't question him. He wouldn't have answered anyway.

As the door slammed behind him Kankurou asked, "What happened last night, Temari? What'd he do to you?"

Sighing, she folded up the paper and tucked it into her sash. "It was an accident Kankurou, don't worry about it." He snorted and she glanced at him sharply.

"That beast doesn't have accidents. He tried to kill you. And he would've too"

"But he didn't! Explain that to me!" She already knew why Gaara didn't, but she wanted to hear Kankurou's stupid explanation first.

"Forget it Temari. If you want to be friends with that monster fine; but I'm not going to risk my life for it." He leapt backwards, dodging a swift blow from the black handled fan. "What the hell are you doing!" He realized her face was furious, her eyes flaming. The tips of her fingers were white where she clutched the fan.

"You're the monster Kankurou," she spat. "It's people like you that make him the way he is." She swung her fan again and he leapt over her landing behind her. Flinging herself around she threw the fan widely and jabbed powerfully it into Kankurou's stomach, pinning him against the wall. She got in his face and growled, "Ni-san, if I can even call you that anymore, you are cold-hearted and evil. You are the monster and Gaara is the human" Temari pulled her weapon away and Kankurou slid to the ground painfully.

"Temari," he gasped, winded, and grabbing his side. She glared back at him. "Why do you stand up for him?"

She replied, looking out the window absentmindedly, "I have to, or nobody will" Memories flooded her mind; memories of her half-brother when was still an innocent, untainted child. Of their mother before she died while giving birth to him. How stunning she had been; and when Gaara was born, he was a tiny red-headed baby. Small, fragile, darling. How Temari had adored holding the petite creature; how she loved when he would grab at her hair and giggle when she tickled his stomach.

Yashamaru, her uncle, had been kind to Gaara. One of the only ones who ever were. Temari snapped out of her reverie when she realized that tears were in her eyes. Cursing at herself she wiped them away with the back of her hand. It was taking away her brother, and somehow or other, It must be stopped. Temari didn't know how she could do that. Gaara, although he trusted her, had no one else in the world to go to. She needed to find him and talk to him, understand his plight more, and try to help him overcome the monster inside.

Kankurou asked, more for propriety than for anything, "Think we should go find Gaara? Sensei said to have him on hand." She blinked and shook her head no.

"I think we should leave him be."

Meanwhile, as Temari and Kankurou argue angrily after Gaara leaves, the Sand Demon went to the middle of the desert to train. He needed to get his resolve back under control, to make sure he wasn't going soft. Next time, he vowed, he would kill her without hesitation. His angry aura caused the sand around him to swell and burst, to collapse dunes around him, to crash large waves of sand into the ground. The grains erupted like thunder around him, reflecting his ominous mood.

A choked gasp sounded behind him and he clutched his fist again, preparing to compress them without a second thought. Unfortunately, he caught wind of the person's face and froze.

Wooden crutches clattered against the sand and ear shattering screams filled the air. Gaara's eyes widened and he dropped her. It was that girl again, Masao. She grabbed her crutches and tried to pull herself to her feet, wavering as she fell again. She was trying to act as if nothing happened. Like he didn't just attack her with hundreds of pounds of sand, causing her old wounds to rupture and making her shriek out in pain. Blood discolored her red shirt and white shorts and dripped down her legs. She gasped heavily, and looked up at him with fearless eyes.

Gaara winced. Fearless. Why? She should be afraid! Monsters were meant to inculcate terror! Again she tried to stand, but to no avail. Unexpectedly, her wounds vanished and the purplish bruises turned peachy again. Her clothes were unstained and clean, and her reddish-purple hair was neat and orderly. For a moment, he was thrown off, and then his eyes narrowed. "Genjutsu," he explained away.

"Good job," she joked, her wounds and stains returning. "Just trying to look a little less sloppy. But if you just see right through it what's the point?" But this time, she stood up with the aid of her crutches. She smiled kindly at him and asked, "What are you doing out here?" He blinked and looked at her in carefully hidden shock.

"Why do you care?" he retorted, crossing his arms, his sand barrier still swirling around him. Masao was still looking cheery, and he flew at her, disturbed, shoving her against a wall of sand he created. He saw that she had some fear in her eyes now, and felt slightly relieved. Her skin was warm and soft where he grasped her shoulders, and it felt distressingly invigorating to his Demon.

Her breath on his face when she spoke made It fidget almost uncontrollably. "Are you going to kill me?" There was no anger in her voice, no hate, only inquisitiveness. And it infuriated him, it confused him terribly. Her silvery eyes sparkled with pained tears. "I won't hate you if you do. It's just the way you were brought up. You're not to blame Gaara" His heart pounded when his name escaped her lips.

"What are you doing to me?" he demanded. Her eyes widened in astonishment, unknowing. Gaara dropped her to the ground and she panted in pain. A question nearly slipped out but he stopped it just in time: Are you okay? Instead he hissed, "Why are you being so kind to me?"

"Because I know what you're going through" He screamed in aggravation and she slunk back in fear.

Gaara shook his head. "You're just completely crazy. You could never understand what I'm going through."

"I doubt that," she replied fiercely. "And I'm kind to you because of that understanding."

Gaara glared at her angrily, clutching at his scarlet hair with one slender hand. "What is wrong with you? I'm a monster! You should be scared of me!" She crawled towards him, unable to get up again, a trembling hand outstretched. His eyes were squeezed tight, and he didn't see her hovering before him until he felt her hand cupping his cheek.

"I am scared of you Gaara," she whispered, the fear sieving into her voice.

He glared up, inquiring, "Why then!"

"I don't know…"

He shoved her forcefully away and yelled, "Get away from me dammit! Tell me something that makes sense!" Another frustrated cry. Blood spurted from her leg when he knocked her to the ground, and his Demon shivered in delight. Gaara could barely contain Its nature, Its want to kill. He towered over her unmoving body, realizing that she had fainted from loss of blood. She was so susceptible, so innocent, and so effortless to eradicate. Her burgundy hair fanned out beneath her, intermingling with the sand around her. She looked like a desert archangel.

Gaara decided what he was going to do before he realized what he had done. He scooped up Masao in his arms and vanished in a blur of sand.

…:oOo:…

"Dad! Dad! Some strange boy's here!" A tall male ninja looked up, his black hair falling across his face. He wore all black with a red belt across his waist and hitai-ate headband around his forehead. The chuunin looked behind her and saw the extraordinary, handsome redhead gaiting into their camp with one of their own in his arms.

The man stepped forward to meet him and the young boy looked up at him impassively. "I believe this is one of your kunoichi? I found her in the desert, wounded" His voice was cold and indifferent, and sounded like he wouldn't be there if he had any choice.

"Y-yes she is," he mumbled, nervous by this odd boy. He accepted Masao from him and the boy evaporated from their views.

The chuunin girl asked her father, "Is Masao all right?" He glanced down at her wounds (which he had bandaged the first time) and blinked. Someone had completely cleaned her cuts and replaced the gauze strips. "Dad?"

"She'll be fine…"