Prologue: The cute little Raccoon...
"Haha . . . yes indeed!"
Joked an elder man. There was a small group of men that stood just outside one of the sand village's smaller playgrounds. Continuing their conversation, among these elite men were the Kazekage and four others. One which stood visibly younger than the rest of the crowd, was none other than the leader of "Divine" (the secret military under Red Ribbon Country). (But to the unknowing shinobi, they only knew him as the son of Red Ribbon Country's King, Yuudai) The young man looked no older than twenty-five; he had long dark locks that were loosely tied, by a thin white ribbon, near the end of his lower back and he had eyes that matched the color of the day sky. Accompanying him were two slightly older shinobi of the same residence. On each of the prime men, including the king's son, wore a distinct significant red ribbon on a single part of their bodies. The young military leader wore his wrapped tightly around his right arm; it was strapped like a bandage from the wrist to his elbow as strips of the ribbon hung astray.
The boy smiled sincerely at the much older Kage.
"I will tell my father of our stay here. Then we'll inform you of some sort of treaty concerning our union."
"Yes, I do hope your visit was of your liking, Taro. It's not very often we have such honored guests here in Suma."
The Kage chuckled.
"Oniisan! Oniisan!"
An innocent voice called to the young military leader. She ran toward her older brother and clung to his knees. She was the youngest sibling of the Red Ribbon's royal children. She had long night hair that ended barely near her tiny calves; in her hair were two bright red barrettes that divided the large dark mass into three parts (the bottom being the lesser of the three sections), there was also a third barrette that accented the side of her face, it held a small piece of hair that was a lot shorter than the back but slightly longer than her bangs. As like her brother her eyes pierced of baby blue.
She looked up at the older sibling, which seemed like a giant compared to her.
"Oniisan, can I stay!? Please!?"
Taro kneeled to his sister's height, then patted the top of the small girl's head. He eyed the huge red ribbon around her tiny waist. Underneath she wore a blue and green kimono top with the sleeves shortly cut right at her elbows, and a white bunny head drawn funny on the top of the left sleeve. The kimono stopped at her knees and to finish the ensemble, black leggings which ended before her petite ankles.
"I see you've become comfortable here young princess."
The Kage gave a warming smile to the small sibling.
"I tell you what, I promise the next time, when oneechan takes you, you can stay as long as you want."
The brother winked at the eager child.
"But, for now, you have forty minutes. Then we're leaving all right."
The girl pouted for a second, but then recovered quickly.
"Okay."
She began to run off but first quickly embraced her brother and kissed him innocently. He watched her lovingly as she rejoined the medium crowd of children.
He then averted his attention back to the group of men.
The Kazekage chuckled lightly.
"A young king in the making."
"She's favored more than I or Tsuhgi."
The young man laughed a bit.
"She'd probably take my father's throne before me. If he had it his way."
The gathered men chuckled in unison.
"Well, men I do have future business to return to so I'll be retiring early for this afternoon. I hope we'll be making future plans with the Red Ribbon's shinobi. I see a great development forming between Suma and Red Ribbon."
"And I, Kazekage-sama."
With that the Kage shook the hands of the younger men from the foreign country, and headed back to his sanctuary. His companion on the other hand, stayed behind to escort the men back to the heart of the village to gather their horses and supplies for their leave.
––
"Kick it over here!"
The laughter of children filled the dessert's air.
"Kick it over here!"
A girl screamed excitedly to the boy running and kicking a round rubber sphere.
"No over here!"
A small boy shouted in the mist of swiftly moving kindergartens. The boy that had the ball stood still for a second and before any of the sea of small off-springs could get any closer he lifted his leg behind him then fiercely kicked the rubber sphere into the air.
The ball flew high into the sight of the sun, everyone on the playground shielded their eyes as they watched carefully for the ball to land.
Finally, the ball bounced on the hard sand near the swing set. When the ball finally lost its excitement, it rolled to the feet of a young stranger.
Eyes widened and most of the youth gasped of horrid fear. Without a minute later, the group quickly dispersed in different direction, all of them shaking nervously and screaming of pure terror. When the crowd had finally died the only one who remained had a quizzical look on her face.
"What was everyone so scared of?"
The young royalty looked north and noticed a boy sitting quietly in one of the swings. He was distinctly paying more attention to the ground than his local surroundings. His hair was spiked and the color of red wine; his eyes had a shadowy outline that resembled that of a raccoon's and it was apparent his shallow seas of blue carried such a heavy burden. The boy looked no older then she was.
The small princess walked toward the lonely boy until she stood directly before him. Grabbing the chains of the swing, she leaned dangerously close to the depressed looking youth.
The movement startled the boy, he looked up abruptly and was greeted by a warm smile.
She giggled.
"Are you why everybody ran away?"
The boy looked away. A sudden caution feeling alerted the princess. He had looked sad again. The princess let go of the swing but then reached out her small hand. The young boy stared at it confused by her gesture. He then looked up at her face.
"I promise I don't bite."
She giggled again, and grinned so wide her eyes shut.
After a few seconds of consideration the boy finally half smiled and took the princess's hand. Pulling his arm without much effort she lifted him out of the wooden seat. Shortly after, he released her hand and grabbed the ball that was previously being played with.
Quickly thinking she sat a few feet away from the swings, with her legs crossed in front, then instructed the boy to sit the same way, parallel to her. Then the boy rolled the rubber sphere in the direction of the princess. Copying the same motion, she echoed the boy and rolled it back turning it into an endless routine.
"So, what's your name?"
The princess asked curiously as she pushed the ball.
"Gaara."
The boy spoke shyly. The princess smiled at the boy's demure.
"What's yours?"
The boy asked the princess.
"Karin. I'm from Red Ribbon Country."
Gaara looked quizzical.
"Red Ribbon Country?"
"Mmhm. It's where I live, and there is no fighting or killing because otoochan is the king. He watches everybody and takes care of everybody. And everybody works together to take care of each other."
The girl gleefully grinned.
The boy suddenly felt eager and became excited as he began to picture such a peaceful place in his mind.
'There's no such thing . . . '
A rash voice interrupted his frame of mind.
'Nobody lives like that, she's lying to you . . . '
Gaara suddenly pressed both his palms to the sides of his skull. He had a terrified look on his face. The princess quickly stood up then dropped the red ball and hurriedly ran to her new friend.
"Gaara-kun?"
She kneeled beside him and placed her hands on both of his. Gaara calmed, and looked depressingly to the ground again. Tears began to swell in his eyes but he vigorously wiped them before any could fall.
"Everyone is afraid of me."
He spoke blandly as he now clutched the dirt beneath him. He couldn't control the small waterfalls anymore as they flowed smoothly down his cheeks.
"Why did everyone runaway?"
He questioned himself, keeping his expression emotionless as the tears continued to drip off his chin.
'Because you are a monster . . . '
The voice returned as a dark image began to create in the back of his mind.
"Because I'm a monster?"
He choked on his words as the emotions of sadness and loneliness tricked its way back into his throat. He cried silently.
"Gaara-kun . . . "
The girl looked at her friend in such pain. Her heart jerked more and more as she continued to watch the boy slowly come apart.
Suddenly the dark figure had disappeared. When Gaara opened his eyes to his surprise, a person had embraced him, and a warming sensation began to develop at the center of his forehead. Her arms clung comfortably around his neck as she kissed him sweetly on his head.
'This person . . . '
It was Gaara's own voice again.
"You're not a monster," she rested her cheek on his head, flattening his short red hair.
"You're more like a cute cuddly little raccoon," she continued as she slowly released the boy then sat back relieved Gaara had stopped struggling.
Gaara wiped his eyes again then looked at the princess slightly confused, but for the first time, he felt happy.
"Karin! It's time to go!"
The male voice yelled loud enough for the two to hear.
"I want to be home within four days!"
The brother called again. The girl quickly glanced at her brother. Then faced Gaara.
"I have to leave now ..."
Karin stood up and patted the front and back of her kimono removing any excess sand. Still casually smiling she held down her hand to the quiet boy sitting. When the boy reached for her hand he pushed himself off the ground as she effortlessly pulled him up.
"Goodbye Gaara..."
She looked down sadly at their twinning fingers and began to turn away. When she began to walk she was taken aback when their locked hands didn't release. Gaara tightened his grip.
"Don't go."
"But I-"
"Karin! Come on!"
Her brother was beginning to sound impatient.
"I have to."
She reached over her other hand to relieve Gaara's small fingers. He loosened his hand until he completely released his grip all together.
Without a warning unwanted memories rushed through the boy's mind.
Everyone was running away from him...
"Don't leave me alone!"...
Everyone was so scared of him...
"Don't leave me alone!"...
"Don't leave me alone..."
He spoke softly watching the back of his only friend walk away. He began to panic again.
"Don't go!"
He reached out his hand. The princess stopped for a moment to look back. But suddenly there was a heavy grip of sand that tightened around her left ankle. She tried to step back but the sand only strengthened. Slowly it began to crawl up her calf. She became scared as it was continuing to swallow her leg whole.
"Please don't leave me!"
The boy was on his knees now as he pleaded for the girl to stay. He clutched his head tightly as it became more and more painful to bare.
"Ah!"
The princess yelped in pain, as a surge of what felt like thousands of needles incessantly stabbed her leg. She fell back screaming for the sand became relentless. Her body began to quiver as she tried to lift her body from the ground.
"G-Gaara-kun..."
"Release her."
Gaara's eyes widen as he was suddenly short of breath. He looked at the invincible barrier the sand instantly created, but to everyone's surprise it had been pierced by some sort of red steel that had wrapped unpleasantly around his neck.
Karin's eyes carried a sudden stir of freight as the sand and the barrier fell to the ground. She tried to stand but the excruciating pain of her leg refused to allow any motion at all.
"Let him go!"
The princess cried to her brother. Watching her friend's body become lifeless as he continued to suffocate began to horrify her.
"Stop it! You're killing him!"
She shouted as water spilled out the corners of her crystal eyes.
Following the red steel to its source stood Taro, his right arm was stretched to full length as a strip of the ribbon that was bandaged around his palm expanded back to Gaara's throat.
"I'll hate you! I'll hate you if you kill him!"
Karin choked on her words as the terrible fear of death creep into her voice. The brother's face remained expressionless as the little boy's body dropped into a bed of sand.
The ribbon traced back to its owner swiftly flying through the day air into his palm. She nervously lifted her body and flinched at the pain in her leg.
"Ouch."
She cried softly to herself, but she was more concerned for her friend that laid numb in the sea of sand. She motioned toward Gaara.
"Gaara-kun..."
She felt her body gently being lifted as her brother held her protectively in his arms. Her feet dangled loosely as she clung to the blanket that wrapped loosely around her brother's shoulders.
"Are you all right?"
She didn't look at nor answered her brother, instead She worriedly stared at her friend.
"Ouch."
She flinched again, this time the wound had opened revealing a heavy red liquid that began to drip into her shoe.
"Oniisan Gaara-kun-"
"He's fine."
The young man walked back to his stallion carrying the young girl. Once he reached his horse he placed the small girl atop the large animal. Digging into one of the saddle packs, he brought out a small white roll. He started stripping the roll and tore a long strip of bandage then wrapped it gently, concealing where the sand had penetrated the princess's skin. The princess fell quiet as she continued to stare at the ground.
"Uhm, eh heh . . . I hope this doesn't disturb our plans of the future for Suma and-"
"I've already told you," the young leader jumped onto the back of the dark stallion before the nervous citizen (the one that accompanied the Kazekage from earlier), "I'll have to discuss this with my father."
With that the eldest of the royal family and the two men that accompanied him, trotted off pass the gates of sand into the open dessert.
As she silently prayed for the young boy of the sand, the little princess leaned back onto her brother for comfort and nodded off into a quick and heavy slumber.
"Gaara-kun..."
The nervous citizen watched as the horses disappeared after the village's protective walls. He then turned to the boy that laid in the bed of sand. He watched carefully as sand began to generate atop the young boy's body. The young boy then slowly lifted himself to his feet as a sad look resumed his facial expression, he eyed the older man before him a few feet away.
The man's brow arched as he pondered something.
'The material of that ribbon was able to penetrate Gaara's sand barrier. How interesting...'
The sand that hovered over Gaara settled in the dirt near his feet. The man glared at Gaara with pure hatred then wandered back to the heart of the village.
Gaara sat back in the wooden swing and watched the ground below his feet.
A familiar emotion consumed him once again.
"I am a monster..."
So my first fic. TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK! I can handle it!
But do it in a gentle demeanor alright guys.