AN: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters, only my OC's…wait I don't have any OC's, they're all my co-authors *sigh*. Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.
AN: For those of you wanting to see Madara, just hang in there! He will be introduced later in the story. Also, if some of my characters seem slightly out of character, forgive me, as we get later on, I will make some as I wish (considering you don't see them enough in the Anime to really know their personality), so just warning you ahead of time. Any pointers are accepted though!
Masked Affections
A Naruto FanFiction
Chapter 2: Dawn
"Don't interfere boy." He warns.
"You are mistaken. I am no boy." Gaara steps forward with an emotionless blink, "Now I suggest you leave."
"I will leave with her then, so now you leave. I don't really care what or who you are. I am doing my duty." He states, "Why are you defending this traitor anyways?"
"Because I protect people, rather from my village or not. She is of no harm to you; this is your last warning.
"You have no authority over me." The ANBU laughs, "Besides will you really defend her once you come to know the truth?"
"I order you as Kazekage of the Sand to let her go, and turn her over to my authority." Gaara blinked again, defiant.
The ANBU visibly stiffens, knowing he's been beat, "Fine, but I will let you know that she is wanted. Now you will have to deal with her yourself." He backs away, and then jumps to the top of a building and disappears into the night sky. The girl stands there, still wary, looking to flee at any wrong move.
"You are safe now. The only thing that I require is that you travel back with me, when the festival is over."
"You helped me…but why?" She looks at him, curiosity flickering in her emerald eyes.
"You were in danger. I suspected you at first, but I have not seen your crimes. You do not seem guilty to me. If you manage to prove your loyalty to my village, you will be offered a safe home in the Village Hidden in the Sand." He blinks, sincerity in his sea foam green eyes, "Otherwise I will have no choice but to let you be hunted down by men like that again."
"Hmm…" She ponders, "Either I go with you to your village and work for you, or get chased for the rest of my life…hard decision huh?" She chuckles, sarcasm laced into her smile. "I am surprised on the other hand, that you do not want to know more about me."
"I will…in time. But that is your choice to tell, I'm sure you don't want to spill your soul here, besides I will not force you. As I said all I need is your loyalty to my village, my people must be safe, or you will pay the consequences." Gaara warns.
"You do understand by bringing me to your village that there will be more ANBU after me until they get me?"
"I do understand. They will not challenge me once they hear my name." Gaara assures her.
"You really are sure of yourself aren't you?" She scoffs.
"They fear me. They will not oppose me, or my family." He states, a cold edge to his voice.
"Ah…yes…fear. It makes people do what they wouldn't do normally." She nods, "So suppose I do work for you…what would I be doing?" She cocks her head to the side, like a small dog, her stance relaxed, unafraid now.
"You could do many things, as long as you are loyal to the village. You could be a kunoichi, or a medic-nin. Anything you wish to be, even one of my assistants." Gaara says, and she watches him with eyes like an owl's.
"So as long as I do what is good for your village, you don't care about my past or any ANBU that come because of it…just because you want to help a stranger?" She looks at him, skeptical, "So what do you get out of this anyways?"
"I get more help in my village, I cannot argue against a helping hand; besides one day you may tell your story." He pauses to look at her, his eyes searching her intently, "If you cause harm to my people on the other hand…I will not think twice about turning you over…or taking care of you myself."
"How would I show loyalty to you if I did decide to come along?"
"I will give you simple missions, so I can watch you. If you succeed, then harder missions will follow."
"So how are you going to watch me on every mission? You're a kage, you can't just go on missions all the time." Her hands move to her hips and her eyes glint in amusement and expectation.
"Either you will be in my office, or I will have other trusted ninja observe you." He answers simply.
"Hm…sounds kind of boring, but it's better than what I have been doing. It's just a matter of time before more ANBU find me." She looked back at him, a glare in her eyes, "Though if you make me do something against my morals, I will show you what I'm wanted for."
"You will have your choice of your job, so you will not go against your morals." He promises.
She thinks for a moment, "I will take your offer Lord Kazekage."
"Very well, you must follow me, in case the ANBU returns again." She nods, and they head back, only to run into Temari on the way.
"So what are you doing, and who is she?"
"She is a new member of the village." He states blankly.
"What?" Temari exclaims.
"I will explain." He begins to walk, then turns for a moment, "May I least have a name to call you by other than 'Masked Lady'?"
She blinks and her eyes widen a bit in surprise, "It's Dawn."
"A pleasure to meet you Dawn." Temari offers.
"I'm sorry for keeping him Temari. He was helping me with some problems my lady." She apologizes.
"No problem…anyways can we go back to the festival? I wanna go bother Shika." She grins deviously. When they return, the last singer is up, and slow-dance songs are playing. Sakura's trying to drag Kakashi into dancing with her, and Naruto's pestering Shikamaru, who looks bored out of his mind again. Shikamaru spots Temari and he even seems to cheer up a bit, though he does his best to hide it.
"I don't want to dance…" Kakashi whines.
"But I want to dance. Please…?" Sakura begs Kakashi.
"Fine…" He mumbles, defeated. Sakura hugs him, and drags him off to dance.
"So is Naruto that boring?" Temari pushes Shikamaru playfully.
"He isn't boring…just this whole party thing is a drag." He sighs.
"So even I'm a drag Shika?" She pouts.
"Not everything is a drag…" He hides his mild blush and Temari coos and laughs. He points over at Kakashi, quickly diverting the attention from himself, "Look at that, Kakashi is dancing with Sakura." Naruto turns, and faints in utter surprise, and Shikamaru laughs at him, enjoying the moment for once.
"So do people usually ignore you? Since we are left out of the picture…" Dawn ponders.
"I don't socialize much. I am very busy as the Kazekage." Gaara explains blantly.
"Usually I don't either. It's just…well hard to at times." She sighs, "It's not really busyness that keeps me away, just…well things from my past usually pop up. Sometimes I don't do well in a crowd." Gaara simply blinks in response, "So when do we leave to go to the Village Hidden in the Sand?"
"Tomorrow is when we can leave. When we return on the other hand, I do have to meet with the Village Elders, and you must be under my watch, so you will have to come with me."
"Why are you having a meeting though?" She questions.
"To tell them of you, of course."
"I don't want to be there for that." She argues.
"I cannot help the conditions. I must have you under my watch."
"Well do you really think they would want some outsider listening on about their meeting…especially a kunoichi from somewhere else?" She reasons.
"Perhaps…perhaps you are right; maybe Kankuro or Temari can watch you instead, they are my siblings."
"Your siblings? I bet they would be happy with a babysitting job." She says with a small smile.
"Enthralled, especially Kankuro. Maybe Temari and Shikamaru could both help babysit; I'm sure he'll enjoy more time with her." Gaara looks to the two of them, laughing and smiling.
"Well I haven't met Kankuro, but I have heard of his reputation of hitting on women. And I do think they would love to spend time together." She looks back to Gaara, "What do you think of them together?"
"I do know they like each other, they are just too afraid to say it. I want my sister to be happy, and Shikamaru…he is a smart, honorable man…even if he is very lazy."
"Well maybe he just needs the right motivation." She rationalizes.
"I don't know how to help. I think they may do it on their own."
"Maybe. I really wouldn't know. I haven't ever been in a relationship before, so I wouldn't even know how to help."
"Neither have I."
"I'm surprised. I would have figured someone as handsome as you would have at least one girlfriend."
Gaara raises one nonexistent eyebrow, "No one typically tries, not until I was Kazekage. But that is the only reason they show their affections."
"Hmph…that seems like a stupid reason to like you; though I do know firsthand how power attracts the parasites." She ponders, "So are we going to stay at the festival until it is done, or are we going to leave early?"
"We may leave anytime you wish; we are staying in an inn close by for the night."
She looks at him, "I'm not ready to go to the inn, but I do want to leave the festival. I have to get Valiant. I can't leave him behind when I leave."
"I must accompany you…though I must ask…what do you speak of?"
"You'll see. I have to leave the village to get him."
"Then I shall follow you." They leave the village, and come to a small clearing out in the forest, not far from the village gate. She stops and whistles.
For a moment nothing happens. A loud screech comes from above and a shadow covers the moon, blocking out the light. A golden eagle as tall as Gaara's waist with a 7 foot wing span swoops in and lands in the clearing.
A vicious screech sounds from the beast's throat, like a battle cry tearing at Gaara's eardrums. It cocks its head from one side to the other, and its bright yellow eyes glare at Gaara. It hops forward, beak open and claws extended, straight towards Gaara's throat.
AN: And I know there wasn't much action going on, but give it time. Have to have some fluff you know, and I made Kankuro somewhat of a flirt, I like it that way.
AN: Will Gaara get his throat torn out by this mysterious bird? Has Dawn set him up for his own demise? What will happen next? Stay tuned for the next installment of Masked Affections!