AN: Don't own. Thank you for the reviews.
Suna Playground
She couldn't shake the anxiety that had plagued her for the past couple of days. She hated how weak the constant worrying made her feel. She was a Suna shinobi for Kami's sake, she was supposed to be above her emotions.
A ninja is never swayed by their feelings. That's what her father had taught her ever since she was little. She had taken his words to heart and strived to be everything a shinobi is supposed to be.
She had the perfect ninja to look up to as well, her father. A man who never revealed his emotions no matter what the situation was. He was strong and put the village above all else. That's what she wanted to be like, the perfect shinobi. Never too happy or too sad, always at a balance.
Yet Temari couldn't help herself as she messed with the hem of her shirt. It was a nervous tick that was constantly being called out on by her father. He told her that a good shinobi never got nervous, they always kept a cool head and a sharp mind. A nervous shinobi was a dead shinobi and Suna had no place for ninjas who lost their nerve.
Temari frowned, it was hard though. Surely not every shinobi never experienced nervousness. Even her father had after her mother…
She ended that line of thought quickly. Temari hated thinking of that day, the day she lost her mother. Everything was forever changed and she was positive that it all changed for the worst. She was glad that she didn't remember all of it, she was only a toddler after all.
All she actually remembered was being excited at getting to meet her new brother and anxiously waiting for her parents to come back to the village. For whatever reason they had left Suna's walls to have the baby. But when her new brother came home, he came without their mother and their father wasn't even holding the new baby.
Once more, Temari ruthlessly squashed those thoughts. It wasn't becoming of a shinobi to be caught in the past. She needed to keep a cool head. Since that day her father had shown no emotion and now, he was the Kazekage. She would follow his lead.
She couldn't afford to get emotional about this situation. Her brothers could take care of themselves. And if they couldn't, well Suna had no time for ninja who needed to be coddled.
Temari looked as a small child fell and started to sob. She nearly shook her head in contempt while she watched the kid be helped up by what must have been the kid's older sister. Soon after the child stopped sobbing and gazed adoringly up at their sister.
Temari snorted, they would fail as shinobi. Shinobi should be able to get up on their own. Her father always let her get up on her own, staring at her passively until she finally got up.
As she watched the siblings further doubt crept into her mind, she couldn't fight the jealousness that rose when she saw the two siblings interact and the love they obviously held for each other. She was sure they were just civilians due to their carefree attitudes, but she had to wonder- could she and her brothers be like that?
Her mother had always told her to look out her for her siblings no matter what that it was her duty to do so. But her father told her otherwise, a shinobi should have no attachments. But they were her younger brothers.
She stilled, others told her that her youngest brother was a monster and that he should be exiled into the desert, left to die slowly. Temari didn't fight the scowl that came up at the thought, Gaara couldn't be a monster. It was impossible, though when she asked her father, he simply said he was weak and should be forgotten.
Temari found it extremely difficult to compare the monster that so many considered her brother to be with the little boy that came to her when his nightmares kept him up. She never turned him away, it was her duty as a big sister. Yet, the rumors never quieted.
Rumors that Gaara was a demon that commanded the sands to kill anyone that dared even look his way. They didn't match up to the soft cries she heard from across the hall. What her father and mother told her also didn't match up.
She sighed as she warred with herself, one wanting to be the perfect shinobi like her father and the other wanting to do as her mother said. She hated being so unsure.
Temari was shaken from her deep thoughts as a shadow enveloped her. Looking up she saw the weathered face of one of the Honored Siblings and immediately gave a deep bow. The siblings had done a lot to ensure Suna's safety, Temari wouldn't dare disrespect one of them.
As she rose, Lord Ebizo cleared his throat, "Young people shouldn't worry so much or you'll get wrinkles before your time."
Temari gave a slight frown, "My apologies, Lord Ebizo."
The older man chuckled, "There is nothing to apologize for, worrying is only natural for an older sibling after all. I know Chiyo has worried over me more than she would have liked."
Temari, shocked at the man's induction, looked into the man's kind eyes, "My father says shinobi should only look out for themselves and that attachments will only lead to death."
Ebizo sighed, "Yes, that does sound like your father, but I think we can agree that he's a bit of a hypocrite, don't you think?"
Memories of her mother flooded into her mind as Ebizo continued, "I think having loved ones makes us stronger as shinobi. Having someone to fight for can be an incredible motivator."
Ebizo grew serious, "If I may, your mother thought that more than anyone. Even now that idea lives on."
Temari's eyes widened, unsure of what to say.
Ebizo gave a small smile, "My nephew is quite strong, he'll make sure your brother is brought home safely. Though when your brother gets back it's up to you to ensure that your mother's will lives on if you choose it to." With that the old man walked away leaving Temari on her own.
Temari loved her siblings so she decided right then, when her little brother got back she would be there for him and for Kankuro as well. She would fulfil her Mother's will. She would show her father that she could be an elite shinobi and still be where her brothers needed her.
Yet she still worried, where was her brother, was he okay? She wished she was there with him.
She drew a calming breath, Hisoka no Suna was rumored to be one of Suna's strongest shinobi surely, he could bring back her brother.
Suna Desert
Gaara did what he could to stop his release, unknowing if this person was friend or foe. His frantic movements made the stranger stop and Gaara heard harsh mumbling only able to make out, "weapon" and "just a boy".
"It's okay, kid, I'm a Suna jonin. I've been sent to find you."
Gaara let out a breath and cautiously moved his way from the bag. As his knees hit the sand, he drew himself up. The man in front of him looked to be a standard Suna-nin with the only difference being the man's flak jacket and that he didn't have any head covering just the Suna shinobi head band. He briefly paused on what stood out on the man's left hip, he had seen very few Suna-nin practice kenjutsu- this must be one of the rare practitioners.
His focus traveled up the jonin's face, toward his eyes, expecting what he always saw. Instead he found confusion and something else he couldn't understand. He saw no anger or hate in the man's eyes though, something that left Gaara stunned.
"Are you alright, any injuries I should I know about now?"
Gaara shook his head, "N-no," then adding, "I never get hurt."
The man squinted his eyes at him, "Ok then, we should get going. There could be more enemy ninja coming."
Gaara nodding and quickly looked around the haphazard campsite, at first not seeing any of his kidnappers. His eyes grazed over the immediate area and then he felt a cold chill travel down his back, high pitched laughter dominated his conscious.
Lying in a heap were the dead bodies of his captors and he could see blood seeping into the sand.
He clutched his head, "No, no, no, no."
"Hey, kid. What's wrong?"
"Stop it! Please, I don't want to!" Gaara was on his knees, his head nearly on the sand. The high pitched laughter now demanding more blood.
Sand swirled viciously around him, as if demonstrating his mental turmoil. The sand moved faster and faster as Gaara called out, "He saved me! I can't, p-please!"
Hisoka was at a complete loss, who was the kid talking to, was the sand responding to him? He cursed to himself following the boy's eye line, if he knew this so-called weapon was a kid, he would have hidden the bodies.
"Oi, who are you talking to? What's with this sand?"
The kid didn't answer him, instead sand formed a whirlwind that threatened to engulf the entire area.
Hisoka was forced to back up, sensing a massive amount of chakra within the sand. He was immediately put on the defensive as sand shot at him from various locations in the sand whirlwind.
As he maneuvered around the sand that seemed set on killing him, he noticed that the chakra in the sand was not the same chakra that he felt in the child. This chakra was older and sickly playful. Not at all like the calm and adolescent chakra that the boy possessed. Yet the older chakra was streaming from inside the kid.
From his blind spot, Hisoka was knocked to the ground and had to quickly roll to the left to avoid the pillar of sand rushing to his head.
"Damnit, what is this? It's not a jutsu but it's somehow connected to the kid."
As he continued to dodge, he gathered more chakra into his ears, increasing his hearing range tenfold. He focused on where he assumed the kid was and heard him.
"Why?! Please stop! Stop! Get out!"
The boy was obviously talking to someone or something and from the two chakra energies he sensed it was inside him. Moreover, it was something the kid had no control over.
He couldn't use his jutsu as he didn't want to hurt the child, regardless of what the Kazekage said. So, he tried something else and hoped it worked.
"Oi! Oi! Kid! It's okay! Just take a breath! Deep in your nose and out through your mouth, alright? Get it under your control! Just breathe!"
Hisoka moved away from the now massive sand whirlwind still adeptly dodging the wild attacks and waited.
He had a few close calls but slowly the whirlwind got smaller and the attacks happened with less frequency. Until finally he could see the kid curled up in the sand.
Hisoka cautiously moved toward the small figure, hearing the boy's haggard breathing.
"Oi, you alright? Gotta say, that was a pretty cool move though. Controlling all that sand like you did is incredible."
The child's tear ridden face looked up at Hisoka, "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. I ju-"
"I know you didn't, not your fault you have that inside you. Bet you gotta be really strong to be able to calm it like you did, though. Well done."
Gaara looked in the jonin's smiling face in awe unable to say anything. He watched as the man's face turned sheepish.
"Sorry but what's your name."
"O-oh, it's Gaara."
"Nice to meet you, Gaara, my name is Hisoka. Well, my Uncle named me Hisoka no Suna, but I prefer Hisoka."
Hisoka was smiling again, Gaara was only used to his uncle being so friendly with him even if his Father had ordered Yashamaru to do so.
"Are you thirsty, Gaara? I have some water."
Gaara gave a hesitant nod, drinking the water he was handed then handing back the canteen.
"Thank you, Mr. Hisoka." The formal address seemed to have flustered the jonin.
"Oh, eh, ha, um," Hisoka cleared his throat, "You're welcome, Gaara."
Gaara just stared at the jonin, "Gaara, aren't you one of the Kazekage's children?"
Gaara tried to hold back a yawn as he nodded trying to listen as Hisoka spoke, "What's it like having an older brother and sister? The three of you are all in the Academy together, right? Must be nice having them close so you all can watch out for each other."
Gaara was unable to answer as he had fallen asleep on the sand.
Hisoka let out a low whistle, muttering, "Usually it doesn't take that long, kid must have monster chakra reserves. Not even I could've stayed awake that long. Alright, Gaara I'll get us home and get you checked out at the hospital. I'm sure you could use the rest, those bags under your eyes look worse than my Uncle's tea tastes."
Laughing at his own joke, Hisoka unrolled a storage scroll, storing the bodies of the Iwa-nin so that they could be dissected and evaluated back in Suna.
Afterwards he positioned Gaara carefully on his back and made his way back to the village.