A/N: Short, I know but meh...
After the last of the students had gone, Temari and Kankuro faced Gaara who was strapping his gourd to his back.
"Not a bad first day if you ask me," Kankuro said with a smile. Temari nodded.
"Agreed. Suna has some talent with this group. Don't you agree Gaara?"
Gaara gave a stiff nod and walked past them, intent on going home. His thoughts turned to his student, the only one who chose him. She was completely covered in black, dense goggles covering her eyes and a mask covering the rest of her face. He didn't know what she looked like, or what colour her hair was underneath the black hooded cloak but he was impressed none the less. Emi was quick and cunning but still rough around the edges. He had no doubt she would become an excellent kunoichi with further training.
He hadn't missed the way she tensed at the mention of her father, but he chose not to press. It wasn't his nature to delve into others personal lives.
He had his own demons – both figurative and literal – to deal with but each day was getting easier. Naruto Uzumaki had saved him from himself at a time where he thought he was lost to everything. He owed the blonde demon fox jinchuriki his life.
He walked calmly back home, people crossing the street to avoid him. His father's actions had honed him into what he was, calling him Suna's ultimate weapon before deeming him a menace and a failure. The assassinations had started when he was a mere six years old.
He lived only for himself, and he still did because he didn't know any other way to live, but Naruto had opened his eyes to the alternative. He could live a normal life, and he could have friends. At least, he could try. He was shown that his emotions could be shared with the people closest to you, that you didn't have to go through life completely alone.
He arrived home, his siblings following a little way behind him as he walked through the door. He didn't blame them for being a little fearful of him, still wary and untrusting of this new change in him but they loved him because he was family nonetheless.
Closing his bedroom door, he bypassed the bed and slipped out of his window and used his sand to lift himself to the roof. The sun was just beginning to set on Suna, the last rays of sun shimmering through the heat waves off the desert. The temperature was already beginning to drop, but he didn't mind. Housing the rowdy Shukaku meant he dodged sleep as much as possibly, the days and nights melding into one.
He often spent most of his nights star gazing, waiting for the world to wake and join him once again, even though he despised useless company at the best of times.
Activity down below ceased as the night crept in, the world shifting and the stars following. Gaara traced the moon and counted the stars, noting familiar constellations and even making up new ones, the village silent save for the slow rush of wind over the desert.
He inhaled, the familiar scent of a sand storm sweeping over him. The season was almost upon Suna, meaning their new found trade with Konoha would slow to a trickle until it passed. Movement on a rooftop a few hundred metres away drew his attention. What little Suna jonin they had left were deployed at key points along Suna's wall. Had an intruder managed to slip through?
With that thought, Gaara released his sand and let it wrap around him, transporting him to the rooftop where he saw the movement. A blur darted away from him and his sand whipped out to wrap around the shrouded figure, a startled gasp sounded letting him know he had caught them. With a quick tug, Gaara bought the figure towards him and into the dim moon light.
His eyebrow quirked as the person struggled.
"Get me the hell out of this thing!"
"Is that any way to talk to your sensei?"
Emi stopped struggling to look at him, no doubt glaring at him through her coverings. Gaara tilted his head, curiosity nearly overwhelming him. "Why do you cover yourself so?"
Emi growled low. "None of your damned business! Let me go!"
Gaara noted how different her demeanour was to that afternoon. What had happened in those few short hours? Slowly, Gaara released her and sent his sand back to his gourd. He watched her closely as she dusted her arms where a few grains of sand were stuck.
"It is nightfall," he pointed out simply.
"No, really? I was on my way to brunch," she snapped sarcastically. Before, Gaara would have felt overwhelming anger and she would have been dead, but now he was merely surprised. And intrigued. Didn't she fear him? Emi stopped brushing herself off and noticed Gaara staring at her. She planted her hands on her hips. "What?" she snarled.
Gaara said nothing for long moments, no emotion flitting across his face. He simply turned on his heel and went to leap off the roof.
"They're wrong about you, you know."
Gaara froze, a foot on the roof edge. He waited for her to elaborate but she didn't. He turned to glance at her, only to realise that she was gone.
Without a word, Gaara leapt off the roof and sped back to his home, wondering what he had gotten himself into with his new student.