Chapter 4: That Fate Which Condemns Him

A fortnight passed with no war contact for Temari and Kankurou, but Gaara was gone almost every day. Nothing changed, and there was no more mention of that enemy kunoichi. He seemed to be falling farther and farther away, and Temari was desperately concerned. He didn't talk to her anymore, and at night he had those strange spasms. Gaara locked his door to keep her out, and she didn't understand why. Sometimes she would listen by the door only to hear him mumbling incoherently to himself.

Something was tearing away his soul. Temari decided that to help him, she would have to talk to this Masao.

It was night again. Two weeks after he dropped her off at the encampment. He bolted his door again, not wanting to talk with Temari nor worry her with his fears. Yes, he had fears. Not that he would ever admit them to anyone of course.

He had no idea what he needed to do. Something deep inside of him told him he needed to see her again, but he didn't know why. A knock sounded on the wood of his door, but he ignored it. "C'mon Gaara, open up…" Temari's desperate voice sounded on the other side. Again he ignored it and continued to contemplate. "Gaara, I just wanted to tell you that I'm going out." That caught him off guard and he unlocked his door. The little bit he could see of her face through the slightly opened door smiled at him.

"Where're you going?"

"Just out. I wanted to tell you incase you thought someone tried to kidnap me or murder me" She said this so lightly that he blinked in disbelief. "Seriously Gaara. I won't be long I promise." Waving she hopped out the apartment door, locking it behind her.

She had a vague idea where this girl might be, and she was born and raised in the desert so that didn't bother her. What she was worried about, however, was what she planned to say to her. What'd you do to Gaara? or I wanna know what you did to my brother! or Hi I'm Temari, the sister of the guy who almost killed you. Can I come in? She trekked through the sand, racking her brain for a plausible reason to be knocking on this girl's door.

She viewed the camp on the horizon and removed her sand hitai-ate from around her neck. It would be a dead giveaway obviously. If she was to do this appropriately, she would have to go incognito. She stepped into the village after depositing her fan behind an abandoned house. A young man was upon her instantly. "May I help you Miss?"

"Yes," she replied looking around. "I'm looking for a young girl named Masao. Do you know where I can find her?" The boy looked at her suspiciously but nodded. He motioned her to follow him and Temari sighed. She had a back up story, but really didn't think it would have fooled him.

"What's your name?" he asked her. She blinked. It didn't seem out of regulation, but out of curiosity.

"Why?"

"So I can tell Masao who is visiting. She's in the infirmary you know." Temari wasn't surprised. After what Gaara had done to her on the field with his sand… They stopped before a white building with a red cross on the front and he looked at her expectantly.

"My name's Temari. Tell her that she met my red-headed brother before. Those exact words please." He nodded slowly and entered. He came back out a moment later and smiled.

"She says come on in." Temari nodded and followed him a few rooms down and saw that Masao was watching the door with expecting eyes. "I'll come back for you later Temari." He left, leaving her and the enemy kunoichi alone. She didn't know what to do, or what to say. They just stared at each other for a long time.

"You're Gaara's sister then?" Masao asked conversationally, trying to break the silence. "Please sit down." Temari looked at her warily before sitting down on the stiff chair by her bed. She sized the girl up, taking in her strengths, her weaknesses, her persona, and all she could perceive about her without a complete, thorough conversation.

"I want to know something Masao-kun," Temari started smoothly. "What kind of conversation did you and Gaara have?"

"What do you mean?"

"There's something wrong with him now. And it's your fault."

She looked completely astonished. "What happened to him? Is he okay?" The authentic worry in her eyes took Temari by surprise; and it took her a moment before she could start again. This girl actually did care about Gaara. He wasn't mistaken by his description of her.

"What do you feel for him?" Masao was obviously thrown off by that, her cheeks tinting pink. She stuttered for moment.

She fidgeted with her hands and looked out the window. "I… I'm not sure exactly Temari-san." Temari narrowed her eyes. Her expression frightened the injured ward and she sputtered out accidentally, "I really, really like him!" Of all the things she had expected, she didn't think feelings of this magnitude were being sent towards Gaara.

"Excuse me?"

"I can't explain it…" Masao bit her lip. "But when I saw him for the first time, how lost he looked, I couldn't keep my feelings of rage and revenge. I experienced such an overwhelming such of cleansing when I looked into his eyes." She shook her head and clutched at her wine-red hair in frustration. "And then, about two weeks ago, while I was out training I saw him again. And, again, he could have killed me but didn't."

Temari thought mystified, Why didn't you Gaara? This doesn't make any sense!

"Then he knocks me out, fixes the wounds he reopened, and carries me all the way back here." She was really confused now; it was so unlike Gaara that she might have though Masao was talking about someone else. "My heart's a battleground, where revenge and love mêlée for dominance." Sorrow laced in her voice; it indicated she was torn by her affection for Gaara and her need to avenge her brother. It was unlike anything she had ever encountered.

Then it hit her. Gaara's seclusion, the incapability to comprehend what exactly Masao did to him, the inability to kill her, not eating, no contact with anyone; it all made sense! She couldn't find any other solution except that he, Gaara of the Sand, the Demon of the Sand Village, the one they claimed had no heart or soul, was infatuated. He's never known anyone else besides family to love him, so he wouldn't understand the feeling of lovesickness.

But, of all the people, Gaara? She thought he had lost all his humane instincts when he killed Yashamaru. Maybe… maybe they were resurfacing. Was it possible? Could, after all this time, Gaara be experiencing the joys of first love? Temari shook her head. How to explain this to him was beyond her. She personally hadn't any familiarity with first loves, so she didn't know where to start with him.

She sighed. Temari was getting ahead of herself. She knew that even if she explained it to him, he would never go for it. He would brush it away and let himself suffer in loneliness. Never would he allow himself get close to Masao. Even if he did love her.

"Temari-san?" Temari looked at the kunoichi and sighed again.

"It's impossible Masao-kun." Her expression turned surprised, then confused, and then, in realization at what she meant, hurt. "That fate which condemns him to walk through seas of blood would prevent you two from ever being together."

"Fate or no, it won't stop me from loving him." The determined look in her eye was inspirational. Maybe this girl was the answer she had been searching for all along. Masao might be the one to protect Gaara from the choking black sea It drowned him in every day.

Maybe…

"But you don't even know Gaara. How can you love him?"

She smiled. A soft smile that Temari had seen only on the face of her mother. "Would you tell me about him then?" Her eyes widened. Masao's sincere expression made a bond develop between them, comparably close in the weakness of a hydrogen bond, but still there. Then she started. She poured out everything she knew about Gaara, everything that happened. From his birth, to Yashamaru; from the chuunin exam to his fights and battles at Konoha. Everything.

Then Masao relayed her history. She explained about her mother and father dying while helping fight the Nine-tailed fox in Konoha (they had happened to be in the village when it attacked). Her brother raised her, and then was killed during this crusade. Tears dripped down her delicately curved cheeks onto her shirt when she spoke of him, and Temari paid her respects.

She told her softly, "I had no idea."

"I also didn't know that much about Gaara. It's sad."

"You weren't far off when you said he looked lost. He has gone astray. It is taking over him." Temari looked her straight in the eye. "Do you think you have the courage to save him from his anguish?" Masao gasped quietly. "I love my brother dearly and I won't let someone who isn't brave enough to finish what she starts to get anywhere near him. He's been hurt enough in his life and he doesn't need someone to add to it. Are you heroic enough!"

Masao answered with without hesitation, "I am. But I'm not vain enough to say I can lift him from his despair. I can try, and I most definitely will."

Temari nodded. "Well—" The door to the hospital room flew open and four men and a woman ran in, heavily armed.

"Masao-sama!" the woman screeched. "That's an enemy shinobi! Watch out!"

"Dammit," Temari cursed, dodging a chained-scythe being hurled at her. "Good-bye Masao-kun" She raced to the window and broke through the glass. Yells and shouts of 'Get her!' resounded through the dark night as she picked up her fan from behind the house. Opening it, she blew away the plethora of sharp, pointy things being hurled at her.

…:oOo:…

It's midnight, Temari thought exasperatedly when she entered her apartment. She had been gone for almost four hours and was dead tired. She had to rest for a bit to replenish her chakra then continued on 'til she made it back. It was all right though; she could survive on six hours of sleep easy.

"Temari." She looked around and saw Gaara sitting up at the kitchen table in darkness, his blue eyes seeming to have their own illumination as they pierced through the shadows. "You said you wouldn't be long. I thought I'd have to go looking for you."

"Thank you for your concern," she replied gratefully. "But I'm all right. I just need some rest." She turned to leave, but Gaara grabbed her arm. She glanced at him in confusion. "What's wrong?"

His expression was slightly awkward. She would have laughed if he didn't seem so solemn. "I want you to help me understand something." Temari nodded and sat down with him at the kitchen table.

"What is it Gaara?"

He sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. "What qualities, exactly, go girls see in boys?" Temari's eyes flew open in complete and total shock. This was the most unexpected thing he could have ever asked her in million years. But he was totally serious about it, watching her for an answer. She stuttered, unsure of what to say.

"A-are you serious Gaara?" she blurted out without meaning too. He nodded. "What girl are we talking about?"

"For our purposes, let's just say you."

She tapped her chin thoughtfully and looked up slightly, imagining what she wanted her dream man to be like. "Well," she started, and he leaned in, listening intensively. "He should be brave and strong. He should be able to complete his duty to his country and he should love me no matter what." She smiled, seeing a way to work this to her advantage. "He should be handsome too."

He furrowed his brow. "Am I all those things?"

"That's my dream man, Gaara," she explained. "Preferences change for each girl." She could hardly believe she was having this conversation with him. All the while though, his expression remained impassive but attentive. "For example, that girl Masao," his eyes flickered up, "likes her men to be mysterious. Also, she wants someone strong who'll love her inconsequently as well. She wants someone good looking who is in danger of losing himself…" Temari broke off, staring into space. "She's a caring girl, a strong girl, and she really, really likes candy."

"Candy?" he questioned, thrown off guard. Temari nodded, remembering how she said her brother used to get the sweets for her whenever he could. She stood up and yawned, realizing that she was more tired than she thought at first. "Wait…"

"Yes?"

He narrowed his eyes. "Do you think that even a monster like me… could have some one like her?" Then he corrected himself, "Not her specifically, but someone like her?"

She smiled widely and he looked dumbfounded. "Anyone with a heart and soul can love Gaara. So yes, you can love her." She turned and left him in the kitchen. Then added, "Or someone like her."

He watched after, with the strangest feeling that she knew more than she was letting on.