Chapter 3
Wolf Meets Tanuki

It was a full moon that night, as the desert air turned cold.

As Nomasaki was making her way near the village gateway, she picked up a presence amongst the winds. It alerted her, sending a chill down her spine. It felt as if it were three or four chakras - all of them lurking within the shadows she could not see. One of them inched closer. Frightened, she weaved through the final maze of streets in efforts to lose them on her trail. Whoever they were, the did not seem the friendly sort. The ones who interrogated her could have lied - and now they were going after what they wanted.

Her.

Her new abilities frightened her even more. Even as she ran down the alleys and crevices between buildings she felt her blood boil inside, as if it were some beast that wanted to escape. Maintained her human form was a struggle, it seemed. All throughout her running she felt the different chakras of everyone she ran past. Each felt different and each gave her the sense of either friend, foe, or neutral. Her Kekkei Genkai gave her the ability to survive her plight and find the desert village, but it became clear to her then that it was a blessing as well as a curse. There was no way for her to tune out her senses - none that she knew of, at least.

Was she to live in fear at every turn?

As she ventured further away from the village core, she sensed the presence fading. Maybe they were retreating - for now, at least. Looking up, she found an old stairway carved from sandstone reaching the length of the wall behind her. It appeared as if it reached the sky from where she stood. Braving her fears, she climbed the steps carefully to see where it led. Upon making it to the top, she cowered in the shadows from the sight of border patrol shinobi who paced back and forth along the perimeter. As silent as the wind, she avoided them. Once she was a safe enough distance, she came out from her hiding and looked upon the sight that lay before her.

When she reached the top of the valley cliffs, she turned back towards the village. Her lilac eyes held onto sadness with a firm grip as her ragged kimono and straw-like hair swayed in the winds while she took in the sight. Looking towards the heart of the village and the dim glow of the lanterns in the distance, she felt deep sorrow as she pondered her options. If she stayed in the strange lands of Sunagakure, she would all alone in a foreign land. But if she tried to return to her ravaged home in the north, she would only meet the same outcome. Death. She had no home and she had no family.

Where could she go from there was a daunting question that held no answers.

As she held in her tears, her troubled thoughts came back to haunt her. Pushing back the terrifying recollections of fire and blades, the pair of eyes that found her haunted her memories. They were eyes ringed like a tanuki, their black bands reminding her of the tales her mother would tell her before she went to sleep. But there was something strange about them, she recalled. It was the chakra belonging to them. Her memory flickered to the mysterious boy she saw earlier in the daylight, his brooding eyes and fearful chakra evoking the same feeling as the eyes of the desert.

Why did she remember him?

The sand-ridden winds blew past and she felt an ominous chakra chill her bones. It felt the same as that chakra from earlier - only this time it felt closer. Nervously, she brought herself to turn towards it. Her eyes widening in slight shock, there he was – the boy with the ringed-eyes and crimson hair. Standing alone with his arms crossed over his chest, he was only a distance away from where she stood, overlooking the desert and the moonlight. As she watched him gaze at the desert night, her memory flashed before her eyes. Faintly, she remembered looking up at his gaze in the desert as the sandstorm blew past, and the feel of something lifting her up from the swallowing sands as she slipped further from consciousness.

In an instant, she remembered.

They were the same person - and he saved her.

Bringing herself to face him against his frightening chakra, she took her first steps forward, determined to figure out who - or what - he was. Causing her to flinch in her steps, she seen his glance look towards her from the corner of his eye. His ringed-eyes seen her in their line of sight, chilling her. Nervously, she paused - her body frozen. "You," She spoke. "You… seem familiar."

No response came from him, his glance returning to the moon.

"Were you the one… who found me in the desert? Did you… save me? I think I remember you... You have eyes like the ones I saw."

Once more – silence.

In her shy nervousness, she averted her gaze - trying desperately to ignore his dense and terrifying chakra. "I just... wanted to know." She said. "I don't remember how I got here... but I remember a pair of eyes looking down at me before I...-," She bit her tongue before saying anything further. My senses could be tricking me. She gave them the benefit of the doubt. "Was it... you?"

Her words caught his attention. Turning to face her, he saw the girl looking down at her feet with an averted gaze. Her white kimono was just as ragged as he remembered and her straw-like hair appeared slightly matted in the moonlight. She was ravaged, but she was alive. I don't know if she should be thanking me or cursing me. "You could've died out there. The sandstorm would have killed you." He finally answered. "I was returning from a mission… you were lucky I saw you when I did."

Surprised from his voice, she lifted her gaze to his, their eyes meeting each other for the first time. It was him, just as she remembered in her memory. He had ringed-eyes of a turquoise shade that lacked pupils, and they were both mesmerizing and terrifying at the same time. He was about her height and age, and she could feel the ferocity of his chakra from meeting his mere glance – although his outward appearance did not feel threatening to her in the slightest.

What was he, she thought, And where was the menacing chakra coming from? As she could feel him examine her lilac eyes from where they stood, she bowed her head, slightly. "I… just wanted to say thank you for… saving me." She stuttered, gratefully. "I'm… in debt to you for that."

"Don't be."

Nervous from his audible change in tone, she felt the chakra again, gnawing on hers. While he stood across from her, Gaara could feel Shukaku writhe and twist within its seal. Just as he thought, the girl had awoken the monster inside him. As he looked at her nervous eyes, he saw the same shade of violet he saw within the sands of the desert. The dullness of near-death gone, her eyes had a strange vibrance to them. Such a strange person, he thought. Being before the full moon was bad enough – but now he had to deal with the tanuki's thirst for blood and its insistence he let the tailed-beast emerge and attack the girl. Why her? Creeping into his psyche, the subtle thought of crushing returned. Pushing it back into his mind, he ignored it once more as he turned away from her - hoping she would leave for her own safety.

"You should return to where you came from…" He said, as if it were a warning. "You shouldn't be close to me. You should leave."

"Why… why not?" She was confused. "Why should I leave?"

Silence again.

Nervously, she gulped as she gathered up the courage to face the immense chakra she sensed, walking closer to where he stood along the wall. Despite her instincts telling her to leave as he said, she did not listen. There was something odd about him that made her dangerously curious of who – or what he was. Stubborn in her split decision, she paused after approaching at nearly an arm's length. Startling him slightly from her closeness, he shot back a glare from the corner of his eye.

"Didn't you hear me? I said stay away."

"Why don't you want me near you?" She questioned. "What... are you saying?"

In that silence, she seen him glance towards her again – only this time he seemed reluctant, pained. "I'm a monster, that's why. Or at least… I used to be."

"What do you mean?"

He turned around to face her, his expression blank and devoid of emotion as he met hers of nervousness and curiosity. "I'm a jinchuriki." He revealed. "I possess Shukaku the Sand Spirit, also known as the one-tail. It's the tailed-beast of these lands... in Sunagakure."

She could feel a tremor spur through her from his words.

Jinchuriki.

Shocked, her eyes widened in sudden fear from the realization. Remembering the tales her mother would tell her as a child, she recalled that the tailed-beasts were the living embodiments of chakra – causing natural disasters and misfortune to humanity. They were the greatest fear of mankind. If bound to a human host, that human would be called a sacrifice – a jinchuriki. If what he said was true, that would explain why his chakra felt so immense to her. It was not just his chakra, but also the chakra of Shukaku. His tailed-beast that lay within, a demon. Even now after meeting him, its chakra still frightened her, coming over her like a dense cloud of fear.

"A… j-jinchuriki?"

"I had it sealed inside of me to create the ultimate weapon for this village. And for that reason, I was considered a monster by my villagers. That's why you shouldn't be around me." He finished, turning back to the moon, feeling the beast's urges gnawing in his mind. "I could easily kill you within a heartbeat."

His words striking a chord with her, she looked upon him with sincere empathy, understanding his deep loneliness as he noticed his tone softened. She never met a jinchuriki before, but was certain they were just like everyone else. They were indeed human - only more alone. Watching his back as he gazed at the moon above, she felt the tremors of fear that plagued her slowly come to pause as she grew used to his unspeakable strength. Strangely enough, she did not feel the urge to run. She coped with it, accepting the risk that lingered in the night air.

"I'm learning to control its violent urges better, but I'm still dangerous." He said. "For your own safety… it's best if you leave me alone."

Sadly, her eyes closed halfway, remembering how she was treated in Yamagakure because of her clan…

Years ago, when she was a small child…

One morning, her mother was walking her down the main village street, holding her hand softly as their footsteps crunched in the soft snow - on their way to the small Yamagakure Ninja Academy that was showing its age. Wanting to right the wrongs of the past, Mikomi sought to end the prejudice by enrolling her only child and daughter into the academy with the other village children, hoping that it would dissipate any hatred that remained for the near-extinct 'wolf-people' of the northern mountains. In retrospect, that is what Nomasaki grew to believe. It was snowing, as she recalled in her memory. As the two Yamamori walked, the irked villagers nearby began to murmur as they passed by.

"There they go again… damn wolves…!"

"Why do they have to live so close to the village…?"

"They're a danger to everyone, it's their fault Yama is in the shape it's in…!"

"Shh! They're right there…!"

Sadly, Nomasaki looked up to her mother – her face painted with hurt. Upon looking up to her mother, Mikomi's delicate fair expression had turned into one of sorrow. Although she tried to keep her composure, her daughter could clearly see something was wrong - the villager's harsh murmurs pierced her like the sharpest ice.

"Mom?"

Her daughter's voice suddenly brought her back to reality – jolting her daze of verbal torture. Faking a smile, Mikomi glanced down at her. "Everything's fine, Nomasaki." She cooed. "Don't worry."

Nomasaki wished she could have believed in her words, but she knew how it hurt her mother and herself – all because of the clan they hailed from…

Biting her lip and trying to ignore Shukaku's massive chakra, she stepped forward towards him – her glance pleading. "I'm not afraid of you." Surprising him, he turned to her, meeting her sympathetic gaze, astonished at the foreigner who stood by him. "I can understand how you feel, being an outsider to everyone." She stated, quietly. "Because of my clan's Kekkei Genkai, I was treated differently by my villagers… Our power was… strange to them, so they… shunned us because of it. We went into hiding, and only my family remained in the village since. But... the hatred still followed."

"Your... Kekkei Genkai?" He asked, becoming curious.

"Yes…" She nodded, sadly. "If you saw it, you would probably shun me, too."

What was she getting at, he asked himself. "Saw what?"

She looked up to meet his gaze, her eyes turning sorrowful yet stern with strength. "My true form…" She answered, quietly. "…I'm a wolf."

Her words perplexed him. "A… wolf? What do you mean?"

Looking down with saddened eyes, she averted her glance from him – remembering her awakened power as she held her hands close to her chest. "My clan, the Yamamori… we were called the 'wolf people'. We lived in the mountains, but… during the Warring States Era, our numbers dwindled." She explained, silently. "Those who weren't familiar with our clan shunned us, cursed… blamed us for our isolation from the other villages… My Kekkei Genkai is called... Ōkamitoko."

While he stood before the strange nameless girl, he found her lingering pain just from the mere glance of her violet-colored eyes as she uttered the word of her heritage. Her calm composure was fragmented, torment and anguish hidden behind her saddened expression. Ostracized, alone, and abandoned. He knew those things very well - as did she. Stirring in the pit of his psyche was Shukaku, its menacing presence detecting the wolf in its midst. The moon was full and it had been a while since it stirred so incessantly and excited. The girl was indeed a strange and perplexing find – and he as determined to figure out why. Keeping his expression calm, he furrowed his brow, ignoring the gnawing urges of his tailed-beast as he became intrigued by the girl before him that night.

"If what you're saying is true... – ," He began, his eyes slightly narrowed towards her. "Show me. I want to see for myself."

His words shivered her.

Eyes widened, she examined his stern expression in the night, her fingers lightly trembling at her sides not just from his words - but from the lingering presence of the demon that lurked beneath his skin. His gaze was locked upon her, she felt the boring of his light-colored eyes into her, their ringed shape appearing near frightening. Strangely, she did not feel he was threat – but his tailed-beast certainly was. Hesitantly, she averted her glance from his as she shivered once more.

"Why–?" She stammered. "Are you... sure?" His gaze unwavering, he nodded his head of crimson only once. As she looked up at his curious expression, she mulled over the idea – realizing she had nothing more to lose. "Alright... if you insist."

Silently, she took a few steps back and closed her eyes. With the feel of the cold wind, she could feel her blood boil beneath her skin. Her teeth gnashed in slight pain as the warmth burst through her veins, her teeth suddenly grew into fangs within her jaws. As her breathing grew heavy, with each heave she lost bits of her present humanity. Suddenly, she felt her skin shake beneath her, a cloak of white fur appearing over her entire body - changing. Unlike the first transformation on the mountainside, the pain was easier to cope with. Before his widened eyes, he watched the strange girl transform into a horrid beast.

A wolf.

Releasing a bark-like snarl from her muzzle as she changed, the wolf stood before him in the darkness of the night – only the moon paying them any company. Never before had he witnessed something so unexpected. Wolf-people, he thought - as he found himself startled for all but a moment. The wolf had snow-white fur and the same lilac eyes the girl had, still possessing the same human quality but quite feral in nature. Standing still, the wolf's eyes bore into him, reading his chakra that stirred inside him and his expression of bewilderment as he locked eyes with the beast cautiously. Shukaku suddenly came to a standstill in his psyche, growing quiet after seeing the beast that stood before him on the wall that towered around the desert village. Stirring silently, the beast's excitement drifted elsewhere.

After a moment of silent staring, the wolf stepped aback. Transforming back into the girl's human form, she resumed her shape with her unkept shoulder-length gold hair and a ragged white kimono. Quivering, she backed away from him, her eyes glistening with forming tears – interpreting his reaction as fear and disgust. His reaction was just like the others, she thought, It was a curse. Memories of the villagers who shunned her clan suddenly returned to the forefront of her mind.

"There! You've seen it…" She cried out. "I'm neither a human or a wolf… I'm trapped!" Bitter tears streamed down her cheeks as she could feel the fangs in her mouth begin to show. Turning away from him, she looked away in shame. Bracing herself, she began to walk towards the path down the cliffs – ready to venture off into the unknown. "I understand now why you didn't want me around, and I'm sorry… I'll leave you alone now and get out of your village. There's no place here for someone like me…"

"Wait,"

Just before she could jump down into the valley of the unknown below, she felt something take hold of her wrist with a firm grasp – halting her departure. Turning, she saw a stream of sand holding on it. Not tightly, but it was enough to prevent her from fleeing. Looking towards him in shock of the sand, she could feel her tears become heavy in her eyes and hot upon her cold cheeks. His expression was calm and unchanging, provoking her response only more.

"I'm a wolf!" She shouted. "You just seen! I'm –!"

"I'm not afraid of you." He replied, his voice sounding much different than before. His tone was understanding and empathetic. Her eyes widened from his words, surprised from his reaction. Was she wrong to judge him? "You're just different… like me."

Surprising her, the sand holding her wrist returned into the gourd on his back, releasing her from its bind. "Is this... sand?" She stammered, watching the sand return into the gourd on his back. "How can you...?"

"Shukaku," He spoke. "This is my ability, being its jinchuriki."

Lifting up his palm, tiny grains of sand began floating in the air by his hand, as if attracted by a magnet-like force - swirling in a sphere of minerals before him. Mesmerized, she watched in curiosity. Never before had she seen something so strange and perplexing. Used to only snow and ice, she had never once thought that the sands of the desert could appear so beautiful. Maybe it was the moonlight, she thought.

"My sand acts as my... extension. It protects me, as my Ultimate Defense. It acts on my own when I'm attacked, so it's alive... in some way."

As she looked at his expressionless face and his ringed tanuki-like eyes, she raised a brow. Perplexed by his appearance and presentation, but also intrigued by his presence – an odd tattoo of the character for 'love' written on his forehead above his left eye, catching her attention. The kanji appeared as if etched into his very skin, masked only by the stray wispy strands from his messy red hair. Getting lost in her thoughts of its meaning, she averted her glance. Not once during their meeting had he shown any emotion towards her other than a slate of stone - stoic, calm, and collected. A boy of very few words and very few emotions.

"Why are you...?" She began, shyly, trying not to pry. "You're not very expressive, are you?"

His sand fading away, he relaxed his arm, turning to her with his emotionless expression, unsure of how to socialize with someone so pressing and opposite of himself. "You ask a lot of questions…"

Slightly embarrassed, she averted her gaze, her eyes closing halfway in shame. She did not mean to strike a chord with him, but he was very hard for her to read. She could not even tell if she visibly upset him. His expression reminded her of the ice from her homeland – polished, blank, and cold. Although he was from the desert, he could have easily been mistaken as someone from her land with that attitude, she thought.

"Keeping my emotions in check minimizes the chances Shukaku would break from its seal." He began, glancing at her timid eyes. "I have to keep controlled. Especially during a full moon... Shukaku's chakra becomes stronger, so having control over its urges during this time… is crucial."

Turning back to the darkened black skies above, he calmed himself from the light the moon shone onto him, feeling conflicted and at ease – all at once. Since he was a child, nights of the full moon terrified him form sleeping as Shukaku's bids for control grew ravenous with each passing day. If he stayed awake, he could quell its urges – but if he slept, the monster would awaken and destroy everything in its path until stopped by the Gold Dust of his father. Staying awake from insomnia was always the norm for him - but it came at the unfortunate downside of having to listen to Shukaku's rumblings deep within his mind. Only recently did he learn to tune out the beast from his thoughts, but during a full moon it was as if the beast were the only thing he could hear at night. A side effect of a faulty sealing jutsu, he often thought to himself. Although the moon was beautiful, he was risking a great deal to stare at it when full – especially with someone so close by. In the skies, the moon shone upon the sleek desert sands, illuminating the dunes that formed waves of sand as far as the eye could see. When the moon was full, Shukaku stirred and twisted inside him, bloodlust entering his senses as its calls for control went unanswered. He glanced down at his feet, his ringed-eyes closing halfway.

Was it sorrow?

Returning his glance to the moon's glow, he stood in silence for a moment. "One day, I want to be able to look at the moon without feeling I could lose control."

Catching her attention, the girl turned to him. Slightly surprised by his words, she then understood why he needed space earlier, resonating with what he meant. Following his gaze, she looked at the full moon above them, its light reflecting onto the wide expanse of desert beyond the wall they stood upon. In pity, she smiled to herself, hiding her shamefulness. "It's funny," She spoke, quietly. "How everyone says wolves howl at the moon, but... not once have I ever wanted to."

He glanced at her, feeling strangely at ease and comfortable, understanding what she meant as he watched her pained gaze towards the moon above. The foreigner from the mountains was the second person to understand him and his pain the way Uzumaki Naruto did. In a way, she reminded him of Naruto as he also understood her loneliness and longing for acceptance.

It was mutual.

Jolting her, she felt the chakras from earlier draw near once more. It was them, she thought, They've come again. And now they were closer than ever to their target - approaching them slowly within the still night. Although small in numbers, she could feel the alertness shake through her. Turning her head to the direction of the presence, her eyes widened. "Someone's coming!" She spoke, surprised at her own abilities. "I think it's shinobi from your village... maybe three? They've been tailing me earlier, but... I thought I lost them."

The last thing he wanted was a fight on his hands. "You should leave before they arrive, then. They might be looking for you, since you're not from these lands." He replied, his tone slate-like. "Why were you in the desert in the first place? Those of the Land of Wind know better than to venture off during the dry season."

"Oh," She realized. Turning away in thought, no answer seemed to come to mind. "I'm... not sure. My village was attacked so I... I had no choice but to flee. This was the closest place I could run to... until I passed out, that is." Feeling his eyes upon her, she glanced back towards him. "I'm from the north, the Land of Mountains. It always snows there, unlike this place. This land is so different than home... at least the night is cool."

"Snow?"

"Yes," She nodded, a faint smile on her lips. "Have you ever seen snow before?"

"No, I haven't." He answered, dryly. "What is... it like?"

His curiosity warmed her. "It's cold and strong." She said. "It's... sort of like sand, in a way."

As she prepared to make her disappearance, she hoped deep down that she could avoid being interrogated again by the intel division. Once was enough - or so she thought. While she turned her body towards the pathway that led to the village streets below, she paused as her curiosity returned for a final time that night. Giving him a curious and calmed glance, she examined the tone of his ringed-eyes as he stood across from her before the full moon. Once more, the kanji upon his forehead caught her attention.

"Who… are you?" She asked. "What's your name?"

"Gaara. And yourself?"

Shyly, a small smile appeared on her pale face. "Nomasaki."

Silently, the two shared a gaze together within the cool winds of the night. Although it was brief, she could feel her air of fear around him dissipate as she met the calm tone of his turquoise eyes. Shukaku's chakra still lingered around her, but she reminded herself that the boy was not the monster – Gaara. After moment, she turned away and leapt from the wall, shaking her skin with a painful wince as a wave of white fur enveloped her while in mid-air. A short snarl escaped her jaws as she shook off her human skin and changed into a beast. Swiftly, the wolf bounded down the stone wall in powerful speed, disappearing into the night.

Watching the wolf vanish into the darkened streets, he could feel Shukaku twist inside him once more. The feeling irked him, his psyche tinging with a slight pain as the chakra within him gnawed at his thoughts.

"You should have crushed her...!" Shukaku spoke within his mind. "That girl is bad news... Wolves are worse than foxes...! Let me kill her...!"

He shook the thought from his mind. He was changed, he remembered – he was changed since those dark times. No, he thought in his mind to the beast. He would not do such a thing. He would cause her no harm. Dismayed, the tailed-beast inside him stirred once more. As he felt the light of the moon upon him, he could feel his body grow weary from insomnia. Despite his control over its urges, he could not combat its relentless battle against his sleep.

For another night, he would lay awake in his thoughts within the comfort of the moon...