A/N: Beta'd by Errihu.


Chapter Seven


"Who is Yashamaru?"

An uncomfortable silence swept into the kitchen after that question, and Sakura again wondered whether her words had been an appropriate one or not. Though, the answer to that was painfully obvious the longer Shiori remained mute. Within time, the rosette was about to revoke her inquiry with a wave of her hand, going to tell the old lady that it was of no importance, but the image of a rattled Gaara from earlier stopped her from even opening her mouth.

Gaara had reacted so coldly, so oddly earlier, after that name was uttered, that it invoked Sakura's curiosity like a cat's. Was there a tie to that person and the young redhead? Maybe this would be a small step to understanding the young boy better. At this point, Sakura was willing to take whatever was given to comprehend this young Gaara. She had already angered him, watched him run away without an idea as to where, or when his return would be. If he returned, that is. In a way, the scenario would be comical to her. Perhaps a chuckle would have even escaped her at the idea that this was the exact scenario Rasa asked of her to prevent.

But she couldn't, because she was failing with Gaara, who was a danger to most. She couldn't even go to the only one she knew to help her with her predicament at the moment, Rasa.

Looking back up to the silent lady, Sakura was surprised Shiori's eyes instead fell to the two children at the table instead of on her. The rosette then let her eyes fall towards Kankuro, who now played with his food instead of eating it. He wore a heavy frown, eyes sad and settled on the plate. His gaze was distant, and his thoughts were now far from them and the dinner in front of them. Sakura next turned to Temari, surprised to see the young blonde's hard gaze settled on her already. Their eyes locked, and at that moment Sakura swore she could see the piercing, reprimanding gaze Sakura had seen in Temari's older self. The young girl chewed on her food slowly, and Sakura swore she could hear her silently asking her.

Why would you ask such a thing?

With time, Temari's gaze fell from Sakura's, a motion that would have probably never had happened if she was the older woman Sakura knew her to be. At this moment, Shiori cleared her throat, drawing back Sakura's attention on her.

"Yashamaru was their uncle."

Some light now shed on her, and Sakura again looked towards the children.

'Their uncle?' she thought, before turning to stare at Temari's hair. 'Gaara's too then…'

Sakura stared hard at Temari's blonde locks, her ponytail still left in the way she had made it earlier.

'Something about their uncle triggers Gaara.' Sakura thought, remembering all that Shiori told them earlier.

Now it made a little more sense why the child had acted peculiarly in the kitchen suddenly. Thankfully, he hadn't lashed out like Sakura was told he would. It still made the young woman's curiosity grow, she still had questions and wondered about this man named Yashamaru. Particularly at what had earned him Gaara's distaste so much that Temari was forced to shield any resemblance of him.

'...was their uncle.'

That sentence repeated itself in her mind, and quickly she brought her eyes back up to Shiori.

"Was?" Sakura asked.

The older woman nodded, glancing once again between the two children before answering.

"Kazekage-sama informed us that he was killed during Gaara-sama's rampage a few weeks ago."

Sakura's eyes widened then. It seemed like the more Shiori explained, the more questions would arise in Sakura's mind. To her, he was just some poor relative that got caught up in the Ichibi's destruction. He clearly wasn't the only one who had lost their life at the time. Still, Gaara held some sort of emotion towards this man, and while Sakura assumed it to be animosity, his sibling's eyes seemed to speak something else. They looked sad the more they spoke of this uncle, and Sakura wondered why Gaara felt opposite towards the man from what Temari and Kankuro did.

'Perhaps, he did not treat Gaara as well as he treated them,' Sakura's mind whispered. 'Maybe he was just like Rasa.'

"He was also Gaara-sama's caretaker."

Sakura's eyes widened again, and she was too surprised the even meet Shiori's gaze. Instead, eyes staring straight ahead at the thought.

"Yashamaru had been taking care of Gaara-sama since his birth. He was Karura's brother."

Now, another new name presented itself, and again Sakura was curious to learn all of what made Gaara the way he was. Though, this puzzle, given all the pieces she was now handed, was one she figured out quickly.

"Karura was Gaara's mother?"

The older woman opened her mouth to speak, but was cut short suddenly by Temari.

"She was our mother too!"

Her voice was loud, shrill, and anger was as evident in her face as much as her voice. Temari's gaze caught and locked Sakura's once more, and the young girl shook lightly trying to hold back tears.

"Why?!" Temari cried again, teeth grinding. "Why did mother have to have Gaara?! All he does is kill everyone! He just killed her too!"

Sakura said nothing as she stared into Temari's torn face, instead remembering her thoughts from earlier with Annaisha.

'Losing a mother, is a wound that never heals.'

The young girl fought to hold back her tears, yet her words were riddled with heavy emotion; and while any other would remind Temari that with a loss came a gain, that while her mother was now gone she now had a brother, the room was instead quiet. In truth, this young girl had lost something more precious than anything Gaara would be willing to offer her now. With mother came love, with Gaara came hate; and a dreadful, constant fear that a mother would shield their child from. This girl had found no comfort these past years with the loss of her mother, and it would probably be many more before she ever found, or accepted the fact. She still had yet to learn how to endure.

Sakura, however, found her voice, for she knew the love and concern Temari would one day have for Gaara, and him for her.

"Someday, you'll realize just how much you love Gaara."

Her voice was soft, but Temari's face fell as if she had just been yelled at. Her eyes were round, and mouth agape while trying to process Sakura's words. Her tears rolled down her face freely now, and it took her a minute to shake away the shock from her face. However, as she glared at Sakura, whose look was stoic and calm, the anger quickly resurfaced. She opened her mouth to retaliate, but Sakura beat her with her own words.

"He will love you too. Someday."

Temari ground her teeth harder, glaring at Sakura. Her tears were heavier now.

"You're wrong! I hate him! I hate him so much!" Temari screamed. "I just want my mommy back!"

Sakura's face was still stoic, undeterred by the young girl's wails. She couldn't understand the pain Temari was now feeling, her life was so drastically different from the one she knew that she could not relate to her. Still, she tried her best to sympathize with her, for Temari would be a good friend to her one day. So, Sakura opened her mouth again, to remind the girl to be patient, that with time things will change. However, as soon as Temari realized Sakura was to say more, she grabbed and covered her own ears.

"No!" Temari cried before Sakura could utter a word. "No more! I don't want to hear about Gaara anymore!"

Sakura shut her mouth, staring down at the girl's red, wet face. The rosette couldn't help but feel a little twinge of guilt since Temari was obviously now distraught because of her. Yet, Sakura knew deep down that her words were the truth, that with time the young girl would finally realize this. Bringing an arm slowly towards her, Sakura reached for the blonde to pull her into an embrace, it would be her silent apology for making the child cry, and ruining her dinner. However, like Gaara, as soon as Temari recognized Sakura's movement, she jumped from her seat.

"I wish he would just die and disappear forever!" Temari cried before turning and running out of the kitchen.

Shiori, quiet this whole time, quickly wiped a napkin over her mouth before following after the girl.

"Temari-sama, come back!" she called while leaving the kitchen.

With the old lady's departure, so, too, did any more answers Sakura had hoped to get from her depart. She still had questions about Gaara, about Yashamaru, about Karura, about Rasa, about this whole family basically. It dawned a little more on Sakura then how much she truly did not know about Gaara and his past. Perhaps, in her time, she should have indulged herself a little more about learning of the fifth Kazekage's childhood. It would have surely helped her here.

She sat staring at the spot Temari and Shiori had left through. Her mind repeated Temari's words of hating her brother and wishing he was out of her life. She shook her head the more she dwelled on it, for it angered her to see the blonde so against her own brother now when the future was so different.

They were siblings, their older selves loved one another. Why couldn't that bond between them happen now? Why did both have to be tortured emotionally for many more years to come before realizing how dear to one another they really were? Why was this suffering of the two allowed?

"I'm sorry," Sakura mumbled in secrecy, angry at the situation she had just caused.

Next to her, someone cleared their throat quietly, and she quickly remembered that she was still not alone right now. She looked down at Kankuro, rubbing her temple to numb the coming headache. He looked up at her curiously, yet Sakura could see the sadness in his orbs. No doubt, his feelings matched that of his sister's, and he wished the same as her. For their mother to be here now instead of their brother. Sakura sighed before softly smiling towards the boy.

"Forgive me," she whispered to him. "I didn't mean to ruin your dinner, or make your sister cry."

Kankuro said nothing, and his eyes were not readable to Sakura before he turned them back down to the plate. He was quiet as he rolled his food around with his utensil. From the display, Sakura realized how uncomfortable he now probably was alone with her. Still timid, still reserved, and he was definitely still wary of her, and probably more so now after this little fiasco. Another sigh left her, and her smile fell to a frown as she watched him silently.

"Please..." she suddenly whispered.

His eyes were back on her in a flash, curiosity in them as he stared towards Sakura and waited on her words. Meanwhile, the rosette had fallen quiet again, unsure what words to use to make Kankuro understand her request. Like his sister, he was still a child. Like any child, he was still naive, and with that, she wondered if he would even take her words to heart.

She had to try at least, right? For Gaara's sake.

"Please, don't hate him," Sakura whispered.

Sakura's hand slowly snaked across the table, her hand falling on top of the boy's own. Unlike his siblings, he did not flinch or pull away, instead staring at the small embrace as she gave it a squeeze before turning back to her eyes.

"Don't turn your back on him," Sakura softly said. "I don't think your mother would have wanted that."

Kankuro's eyes widened for a moment. Maybe it was from her alien words, since no one told him he should love his brother; Maybe it was the mention of their mother, whose smiling face he did not even remember. For whatever reason, he flinched under Sakura's hold then, and quickly pulled his hand from her, eyes falling down and away from her look. Sakura smiled sadly at the boy before excusing herself and leaving him alone in the kitchen. She had said what she had wanted to say, there was no more reason to stay, especially when she knew Shiori would probably not return anytime soon to answer her questions.

'There's still so much I don't know,' Sakura thought while climbing up the stairs. 'This Yashamaru was Gaara's uncle, and caretaker before. Now he is gone. Temari resembles him in a way, but was ordered by her father to hide this. Karura was the mother, dead since Gaara was a baby. How is it then he was able to kill his mother like Temari says?'

Sakura sighed when she entered the yellow room, once again eyeing its emptiness in hopes of finding the redheaded boy. She found nothing, and turned her eyes towards the window, glaring at the night sky and twinkling stars outside. Her mind was full at the moment that she couldn't decide what course to take next. Should she go look for Gaara again? Look for Rasa, explain how the boy fled from her? Search for Shiori to ask more of all she knew of Gaara and his past? Was there even a point of doing so, she wondered. This was the past, a time that no longer mattered to her. Things worked out in her future. Gaara was happy, she assumed, in his place as Kazekage in her future. There was no reason for her to pry now except to quench her thirst of curiosity.

Another sigh left her, and she brushed her hand through her hair. She was torn.

"I should be figuring out a way home."

Easier said then done, and she still was unsure which direction her first step should face. Should she ask the Kazekage now? He did offer his help, but only with time, and if she did the job she was asked. Yet, standing here alone, she knew she was unsuccessful with this task. Maybe there was someone else she could ask, or maybe even a book was available. She would take any and all information she could about time. Perhaps, instead of spending the afternoon looking for Gaara, she should have spent it searching for answers of her own.

Somehow, that thought alone made her heart ache. She tried to imagine his older self, tried to picture the young man near the same age as her leading his village proudly and content with life. However, it was the little boy she was tasked now that kept coming to mind. He was cold, bitter towards her, and shunned her as much as people tossed him to the side. He had no love from anyone at the moment, not even his brother and sister cared for him right now. Temari screamed at her how she wished Gaara was dead, and all of that was what made her chest pang with hurt.

No matter what her future held, despite her presence being here or not, everything came out okay for Gaara, yet Sakura still felt for the young boy. Nobody as good as he would one day become deserved what was happening to him now.

"He's just misunderstood," Sakura mumbled.

Taking another look at her appearance, Sakura scowled once more at her dirty clothes and skin. Though she had searched her mind for an answer to her many plights and found nothing, she was no closer to solving the fact that she was still dirty. She quickly marched her way towards the small bathroom with a new set decision above all the others.

She needed a bath.

Once in the small, white room, she took her time rinsing off the day's worth of caked sweat and dirt before dipping herself into the warm water. She relished in the feel, letting her mind come to a blank as she meditated in the small tub. Back home, the young woman would have easily been able to keep an empty mind, but here, now, it didn't take long before the image of Gaara came back sneaking into her thoughts. She sighed when she realized she would never be able to properly relax tonight, if ever again, if he did not return home soon; and with that thought, of the child wandering the streets alone, in the dark, Sakura washed her body all the more quickly.

"Damn it," she cursed at herself, almost finding humor again in this situation. "I really don't know what to do with him."

Though she spoke those words to herself, she rinsed the suds off her body knowing what needed to be done next. Like a new mother, unsure what course to take, a decision quickly came regardless of her uncertainty.

"I can't leave him out there by himself."

She had hoped, with time passing, Gaara would return on his own. Yet, with night awakening, she worried for the boy's safety. She rushed to dry and dress herself, wringing her wet hair up into a bun and trying to ignore the heavy drops tracing down the back of her neck. With the warm bath came a new set of determination within the rosette. She had to find Gaara, if not for his sake than at least for hers so her work would suffice in Rasa's eyes. At the moment, the Kazekage's wise mind and village secrets was all that she could rely on figuring out a way home. Despite the distaste she held for him, she wasn't ready yet to step on his toes.

"No," Sakura mumbled to herself, for she didn't want to think of her selfish when it came to Gaara.

He was Naruto's friend after all.

"I'll search the desert again if I have to," she told herself. "He's just a child. I have to find him. I have to make sure he is alright."

Opening the bathroom, Sakura stepped out with strong purpose. She would not return until she found the boy, and she took a few steps towards the door leading out of the room before stopping dead in her tracks. Though the room was still quiet as before, something in the air was amiss. She stood there, frozen, eyes swimming all around the room for the source of her sudden uneasiness. She had looked past it at first, but her eyes were quick to retract when a foreign object, one that was not there before her bath, was propped against a dark corner of the room.

'The sand gourd.'

Sakura stared at it for awhile, wondering how the object was now suddenly placed there. Once more, she turned around the room, hoping to spot the boy. She saw no other living thing though, and turned her attention back onto the gourd. Again, she stared at it for a long time, trying to pick up memories she had with it. For her, it gave her an eerie feeling. She felt uneasy staring at it so quietly, yet that tense feeling also made her curiosity grow. Soon, her feet picked up again, and she drew closer to the object and stared down at it.

"If I remember right..." Sakura said to herself.
"The sand in this is a little different. It's Gaara's own sand."

Her interest only seemed to grow the longer she thought about it. She wondered if this sand felt any differently than the grains outside. She wondered if it looked differently, or if her intelligence would be able to discern the difference between the two textures of this sand to the grains outside. With those thoughts, and anxious to learn something new, Sakura began reaching for the gourd.

Never did it cross her mind that her hands be kept to herself. At that moment she had forgotten that permission to touch was needed from the owner first. Or maybe the item she wanted her fingers to grace was fragile, because for whatever reason, if any of these were even it, the small boy suddenly fell in front of her. He shielded his gourd with his own body, his small frame wrapping his arms around it, and he looked back at Sakura with narrowed eyes.

"Ah!" Sakura beamed, pulling her arm back and smiling down at the boy. "Gaara! I was worried about you! Where did you go?"

"..."

Sakura watched the boy hug his gourd tighter before tearing his eyes away from her and her smile. The young woman remembered than how much the boy still didn't trust her, and wasn't surprised that he ignored her questions still. However, before a sigh could escape her, he actually spoke. Not to answer her question, but to speak words of warning.

"Do not touch mother."

Sakura's jaw fell slightly, and her eyes were completely fixated on Gaara. Baffling words, and to come from someone so small left Sakura so flabbergasted. What exactly was he referring to? Had he forgotten his mother had passed? Before she could reply, his eyes rose back to her, less anger in them, but he again spoke.

"Mother does not like you."

Gaara stared hard at Sakura, so hard that she wondered if he was expecting a reply, or some sort of retaliation from her. Perhaps, he was expecting what others had done or told him before, for this didn't feel like his first warning to be spoken. Yet, with time, his eyes fell back down and he rested his head against his gourd, arms wrapping more tightly around it.

Meanwhile, Sakura stood frozen in a stupor.

'Mother?' she kept questioning. 'Did he hit his head? Did he suffer some sort of brain injury while out in the desert?'

Sakura graced the boy with another analyzing look. He was extremely dirty, still without a wash or new clothes since gods know when, and Sakura could still see the dried blood on the side of his forehead. His familiar marking, one of Gaara's many signatures, was beginning to peel from the dry scabs and caked blood. The young woman blinked while staring at that mark, remembering how fresh it still appeared when she found Gaara. While she didn't think of it to be a source of head trauma, she couldn't help but wonder what events led to that mark. All she knew was the Ichibi had done this wreckage around the village before the young boy disappeared into the desert.

Her thoughts returned to his siblings and their distaste for him, the fear the house help had when simply speaking of this boy, and the cold negligence his father had in taking care of this son. Those thoughts, made her stare at nothing but that kanji symbol on the side of his forehead.

'It may as well say irony.'

Sakura shook those thoughts when she realized Gaara's eyes were back on her. He looked at her questioningly, and rightfully so, for she was quiet and lost in her thoughts this whole time. She was still a stranger to him, and her thoughts could be dangerous to him if she chose them to be. He was always prepared, it seemed, to assume that her thoughts were of a threatening one. So, with that idea in her head, she smiled softly to the boy and knelt down to his level to try to show him no hostility on her part.

"Gaara, why do you say your mother doesn't like me?"

Again, she wasn't given an answer.

"You do remember that she is gone, right?"

Sakura bit her lip as she watched the boy turn his head from her and continue to hug his gourd. As much as she feared a head injury, it made her heart ache reminding the child of what he no longer had.

"Why did he have to kill our mother?!"

While staring at Gaara, it was Temari's cry ringing one more in Sakura's head. Could he have really done such a thing as a babe, she wondered. Did he have any recollection of it? Had he ever been told? Was it even the truth, or was it a lie formed by all those that feared him?

"Gaara," Sakura spoke again, still worried he may have forgotten all of this. "Please, answer me. Did you hit your head while out in the desert? Can you at least tell me if you know where you are right now?"

Sakura sighed when long seconds passed, and the boy was quiet as ever. She wasn't sure if this silence came from uncertainty, or if he didn't want to humor her with an answer. A young Gaara would definitely make for an ornery patient, the young woman decided then.

"That mark on your head," Sakura tried again. "How did you get it?"

She wasn't sure where her curiosity for his scar came from. Perhaps because the mark was still somewhat fresh on his head, or maybe it was because she was learning and seeing more of this child's past. Whatever reasons, she knew she didn't hold this curiosity for the older Gaara in her world. Never did it dawn on her then to ask the young lord how the kanji engraved in his head came to be.

Her train of thought stopped when she watched the boy let out a breathy sigh. His movement was quick, and he tossed the gourd over his back before racing up the wall of his room. Sakura was surprised this young child had such good control of his chakra that he was able to walk the roof of his own room, but still smiled when she saw footprints paint the top of his roof.

"So, that's where you came from..." Sakura whispered.

There were a few round windows above her, but Gaara seemed to find sanctuary in a giant one that looked over the village. He perched himself next to the glass, finding a seat on top of the clay ledge and settling his gourd opposite of him. He stared out the window, the night sky painting an image of a bright moon and flashy stars. Yet, his eyes were distant, as if he was looking past the night and village all together, and Sakura again wondered what was going on through the child's mind.

Though he obviously sought his personal space, Sakura walked up the very same wall and towards the window Gaara sat next to, gripping the ledge to hold herself upright as soon as she came near.

"Is this where you been hiding all day?" Sakura asked.

Though she was sure he could sense her coming near, the boy refused to glance back at her, instead his eyes were set to the world beyond the window. She took a moment to study him, and where his stare to her all day had been either angry or passive, she swore she could see some sort of longing in his look now. It made her chest clench again, and she stared out towards the village along with him. Wondering once more where his thoughts were, or if his eyes held a sad story that he kept to himself.

Her mind went back to all that had transpired today, and yesterday, and where she knew her concern should be finding a way back home, her ideas still went to the hungry boy eating greedily in the kitchen earlier. It dawned on her then how little he had eaten today, in weeks honestly, and she stared back towards the child. She remembered a little shop she had seen earlier while searching for the child, and wondered if Gaara's hungry stomach would overcome his hostility towards going anywhere with her.

"Gaara," she called.

Her voice had been soft, but his head did actually turn to meet with her gaze. It shocked her even more that his eyes did not hold the anger from before, nor did he stare at her without any care, he actually genuinely looked up at her curiously. For once, including the Gaara from her time, he looked at her with wonder on what she would say next. To that, she smiled, happy the boy didn't completely ignore her at the moment. Perhaps, staring out the window, lost in his own thoughts, had calmed his demeanor for the moment.

Her smile grew to a grin.

"Let's go out," she beamed. "I know a place where we can get something sweet."