Author's NOTE: *crawls out from rock* hopefully I still have readers after the last chapter, ( ~). This chapter may be a bit rough, apologies! It is getting really close to the end and I don't like it! Please enjoy! Please review! Thank you for reading!
*Gaara's POV *
My eyes blankly stared at ground as I used a stick to draw small marks in the dirt. I had stopped crying few hours back when I could no longer bring tears to my eyes. No one spoke any words following Orochimaru leaving with his men. The strong odor of burning wood indicated, to me, that they had seen to getting rid of the ship.
My body felt hollow, void of any morsel of feeling. I am sure I could just stay here for an eternity. I could feel my mind sinking further and further into the void in my chest. I can stay here and die here. Eventually my body will be nothing as what I have left in this world.
I regret ever choosing to come here, regret having accepted Orochimaru's offer. I was too careless. She warned me, yet I turned a blind eye. No, even before that, Sasuke warned me…everyone warned me against reaching for the only thing in this world I desired. Now look at me…perhaps at my lowest making marks in the dirt.
I could hear footsteps approach me. I stiffened for a moment, then continued my dwelling in the self hatred rising in my mind. I needed to stay there perhaps I would learn something of value.
"Gaara…when we leave this place…" I heard Neji speak, but didn't acknowledge his existence. "I will seek to put an end to my life…" He muttered. My eyes widened at his words. Slowly I looked up at the once proud council member. Now he had a trouble expression on his face along with a long cut from under his cheek to his ear. He had several scratches at his neck and a few bruises blemishing his once statuesque face. His eyes were dead set on mine. His hands were at his side and gripping his slightly oversized torso.
I lowered my gaze to his legs then to the ground, settling back on small markings I had drawn in the ground. 'Do not blame him.' I remembered the mermaid telling me. At that moment, the void in my mind began to fill with so many thoughts; ideas whirling in head speaking to me. Even if my life would be better left to rot where I lost Sasuke, I needed to take care of a few problems.
I slowly stood up and whistled. Neji stood back surprised by my movement, despite the pace. I stepped to the shield and whistled again. The other men came closer to us looking out at what I was whistling at, but in truth it was who I was whistling for.
Suddenly, Shukaku emerged from the ground. He shook excess dirt from him purring madly. "How-?" I heard Neji ask.
"He had gotten onto me when I broke the shield and merged with the ground, when I got to Sasuke." I stated dryly, not wishing to think too much about it. Shu came to the shield and rubbed his head on the ground. I began muttering an incantation and he immediately began drawing a seal on the ground. The others gathered around watching him drawing the intricate markings.
When Shu completed the seal, I turned to the seal I had drawn. I walked to it, continuing muttering my incantation and held my hand over it. Suddenly the sand in the dirt began to glow a dark red color. "I need a blade." I ordered.
I reached my hand back and felt a small knife placed into my hand. I took it and placed the blade at the hand over the seal. I winced as I pushed it into my flesh and slowly pulled it across the palm of hand. I watched as blood dripped down onto the seal.
"You know how to make seals?" Neji asked quietly just above a whisper. I stared down the seal watching my blood spreading through the seal.
"Yes, my father taught me several incantations of dark magic." I muttered in response. "Dark magic?" Kiba asked stepping closer to me. "Yes, it requires you sacrifice something precious. In the case of seals, though they are valuable to leaders, each seal you make, takes from your mortality." I muttered.
When my blood finally filled the seal, sand began to rise from the dirt. I looked at Shu and saw the seal he made begin glowing. I grabbed Neji. "Grab onto Neji…now." I ordered and they did.
I closed my eyes and muttered the final verse of the incantation to open the seal portal. Suddenly I felt my body tighten and my muscles tense. I opened my eyes and saw we were on the other side of the shield.
I went to the seal at Shu and watch as it quickly disappears. I smirked. My father taught me a few tricks, before leaving this life; one being how to make seals disappear after they are used. Shu scurried up my body to my shoulder and snuggled up to my neck. I turned and began walking back in the direction of the mermaids. I wished I could be just as affectionate as he is, but that heart laid destroyed on the ground where Sasuke's blood still remained. Orochimaru took the heart that would have tremble at Shukaku's actions. A heart that would have sought to hold him close to me, like I would do when on Choji's ship afraid of my fate.
"So, what are we going to do now, eh?" I heard Kiba ask impatiently. I ignored his question and quickened my pace. I couldn't be bothered with answering him yet.
We came to the same clearing as Sasuke and I had. The mother mermaid sat on the same large set of rock in the small spring with several of her daughters. They all looked at us and the daughters squealed with excitement.
"We will get your precious item for you!" I shouted to them, stopping just before the water. The daughters stopped smiling; instead, they all looked at their mother. The mother's eyes widened, "Ah…Gaara you-"
"As you told me, I am open to what you have to say to me today. However, be open to what I say as well." I ordered feeling far bolder than I was yesterday. I have nothing to lose, so why come to them under the same pretense as I did before, when I was in desperate need for their alliance. I was desperate to uphold our trust when so easily they threw it away, just like Iwaga.
"We will retrieve the precious item you want and when we return it, will you aid in protecting Suna from Orochimaru, and any threat that may rise to take our land?" I asked. I felt chills fall from my head to my feet as I stood before them.
The mother lowered her gaze to the water. Slowly her head nodded, "Yes, I will go against my father if it is possible that you will bring back our precious item. However, if you fail such a task, then you will be forced to stay with us on this island." She muttered and met my eyes. Something I would have done after insuring Suna's safety. I nodded watching her begin gathering her dark red hair and pulled it to the left side of her head.
She turned to a few of her daughters on her right. She began speaking to them in a foreign tongue. They pouted in protest, but nodded in response to what their mother spoke. One brunette mermaid swam to the shore further away from us, near some small brush. Her green fin separated and she had legs. She ran into the brush and came back with a small cloth wrapped around her waist. Her long hair covered her bare chest. She timidly came to us, her face blushing bright red. The other mermaids swiftly ducked into the water.
"Follow my daughter, do not lay a finger upon her, or you will see your life ended." She ordered sternly. The daughter looked at her nervously. She looked at us nodding and started walking to the left side of the waterfall. She came to some bushes and trees. She moved between them and disappeared in the growth.
I started to follow behind her first. "Gaara, stay." The mother spoke. I stopped and watched as the others continued following the daughter. Neji stopped and looked back at me. I waved him away and he reluctantly followed behind Kiba.
A few minutes had passed, when the mother slowly got down from the rock. She swam up onto the shore and now had legs. She walked onto the shore and stopped in front of me.
She stood taller than me, taller than many of the Suna women. She placed her hand on my cheek gently and a smile rose from her lips.
"Gaara…your mother is the golden-tailed mermaid." She whispered. Her eyes filled with sadness, despite the small smile on her lips. "Her name is Sunlayia (Soon-lay-e-ah)!" One of the daughters exclaimed loudly. I looked past the mother and saw the girl who had spoken to me yesterday biting her lip at her outburst.
I looked back at the mother, whose gaze remained on me. "So she is my mother?" I asked. She nodded and placed the hand she had on my cheek on my shoulder.
"Sunlayia was quite a free spirit…unlike me. She interacted with humans far more than she would interact with her own kind. Even going so far as to give people a blessing of the sea." She explained. The Uchiha.
She took a deep breath in and slowly exhaled, "However, the worst yet was falling in love with your father," She muttered lowering her gaze.
"She would leave the sea for months at a time, in order to be with him, in a small hut he had made for her. She sought to live on land with him and for him to take her as his wife…" She trailed off and slowly began shaking her head.
"He refused as he was already married to a woman. Being a king, he could not expose such a scandal as to take a new bride. Sunlayia was deeply saddened by his actions and words. She then simply asked that he would give her a child to bear, so that she could be happy. He did." She muttered her voice remorseful. Her words were beginning to fog my mind.
"When she came back to the sea, our father cursed her to remain in the water. She could only go onto wet rocks with human legs." She spoke and lifted her eyes to mine. "She was shunned from our city. Even though we still held the deep love for her we refused to see her." She paused
"She then had you," A small smile came to her face, "And oh my goodness she would show you to all of us, when she came into our city. She bragged about having the most beautiful baby in all of the sea." She smiled brightly and placed her hands on my cheeks.
"You were her love, her life, everything that had meaning to her was you," She whispered and I could see tears forming in her eyes.
"But-" "However, one day her life was taken from her." She muttered and her smile disappeared. Her eyes fell and she removed her hands from my shoulders.
"That snake monster took her from us!" The same mermaid shouted. "He took her life!" She exclaimed. I looked at her and saw tears streaming down her cheeks and anger reflecting in her eyes.
"That disgusting creature drained her of her blood! He wanted immortality! But he only needed a drop! A single drop would grant him such a gift! No he wanted to rob her of life! He wanted to take her from us!" She shouted crying.
"Enough! Go now!" the mother shouted angrily. The mermaid jumped from the rock into the water. "I apologize for my daughter's outburst…she bore witness to the tragedy and holds a strong hatred towards Orochimaru." She spoke bitterly.
"I can understand as I am becoming to grow such hatred. Now that I know, he not only took the life of my beloved, but also, he took my mother's life. Why would your father agree to aid him?" I exclaimed angrily and moved away from her.
"Because she is the precious item!" She exclaimed and tears formed in her eyes. "Orochimaru promised to return her to us…to our father…our father despised her choice to be with humans, but he did not want her to be forfeit."
"So you will strike your alliance with Suna, instead of reaching for us in you time of need!" I exclaimed becoming aware that I still harbored ill feelings towards their behavior, despite still seeking to help them.
Her nostrils flared and she took in a deep breath, "Do not talk to me as if you would have done anything less!" She shouted, "Had it been Sasuke-"
"Do not bring him into the this!" I shouted in reply. She scoffed, "Had it been Sasuke, you would have bent over and given Suna over to Orochimaru that instant. Am I wrong? You are so enthralled with that impotent human, that you would give your own country in order to keep him alive. However, Orochimaru did not give you such a choice!" She exclaimed her words slashing at my cold resolve. One more word and surely I would fall to the ground defeat, yet in agreement.
She reached out and grabbed my wrists. "Orochimaru may not have given you such a choice, but if you quick to act, you will not need to decide…Orochimaru will not come through on his promise, I have not seen his true intention, but even I am not blind to his two-faced nature. So I beg that you do bring back my sister," She spoke and gripped my wrists. "Then we will protect Suna for as long as you live. But you will need to act quickly, as your success or failure will determine the future, as have all things you have done." She stated.
"Your words do not fall on deaf ears; however, I will not fail at this task and you will protect Suna for as long as your father lives." I stated sternly, my eyes not leaving her eyes. She smiled and leaned forward kissing my forehead. She leaned back and lowered her gaze to her hands. She let go of my left wrist and slowly lifted the other. She gently moved her hand across my forearm.
Her eyes met mine, "A secret I will share with you…you are like you mother in so many ways. You are able to cast the dark magic spells with fair ease…you can thank your mother for such a gift." She whispered and looked back down at my arm.
"Your mother could cast dark incantations with fair ease and without worry of her life being shortened for she was immortal. She passed that ability on to you." She stated and rubbed her thumb along my forearm.
Her gaze lifted to mine, "Do you understand what I say to you?" She asked intently. I stared at her, I heard her, yet my mind had been elsewhere in thoughts. In fact, I felt as if I had been hit by a ton of bricks. I had suspicions that maybe she was my mother, but I did not see myself as being the son of the golden-tailed mermaid. Nor could I imagine my father loving another woman than…so the letters were true. My mother talking intimately towards him had not been some small fling. No she was in love with him, not only that but my father…my true father had harbored the same feelings towards her.
"Gaara, strike such thoughts from your mind for they are no longer a concern to your heart. I implore you do not dwell on them," The woman spoke and placed her hand on my left cheek drawing my attention to her.
"Gaara, your mother's blood flows through your veins like a river's current flows steady through rocks." She stated. 'That disgusting creature drained her of her blood!' "Your mother gave you many gifts." 'He wanted immortality! But he only needed a drop! A single drop would grant him such a gift!'
"Manda and Orochimaru gained immortality from my mother's blood?" I asked her realizing the answer as I asked the question. She nodded, "The greatest gift your mother could give to any who knew of it is same gift you can grant to another." She whispered.
Then like a mad storm frozen images of the past fell into my vision, all of them were of Sasuke licking the blood that trailed from my wounds. Then slowly they moved as I recalled the alluring stare his eyes held as he did the act. My thoughts are utterly blank, but words filled my mind and I wanted to silence them. I could not hope for such a thing. I saw him die. I witnessed his life end.
Suddenly my heart felt as if it ceased to beat. My breath became shallow. I slowly lowered my gaze to my arm and stared at her thumb gently rubbing my forearm. "Yo-you said he…died." I muttered still wanting to fall victim to some facade.
"Gaara, my visions serve a single purpose, to reveal the future. However, they only reveal passing glances of the future. Silence fills them and I can only see what is obvious to me. However, destiny will reveal our fates in sweet time whether it is sooner or later." She explained. Sasuke. Sasuke is alive? Is he really?
"Destiny has given you a blessing, be swift to receive it," She spoke and leaned forward touching her forehead to mine, "Or witness his life snatched from you again."
Another Author's NOTE: Who saw that coming? Like oh my gosh! -Sorry I am fanning out about my own fanfiction...odd is it not? Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed!