Hey once more, thanks for the Reviews, hang in there you meanies who can't be bothered to review, it gets better! Ho-hum are there any other names I should translate? Don't think any of the other names are meant to have relevence to character as of yet, uhhhh... NOPE, think we're fine! Heheheh, don't mind me, too much sugar, keep using my BIG voice! Enjoy :D:D!
Four Months previously...
"Why would I need a babysitter?"
Conversation abruptly ended as it was realised that it had been overheard by the last person they could have wanted to do so.
Kankarou, Muteki and Shimobe all turned with trepidation to encounter the icily cool blue-green gaze of Gaara. Kankarou grinned at his brother nervously before slapping a friendly hand on his shoulder, refusing to be put off by the dead-pan expression on Gaara's face. It had not been so long ago that the very thought of touching his brother had terrified him, even repulsed him. Gaara's defeat in Konoha had changed something fundamental about him - it had seemingly made him re-evaluate what he was and who his siblings were to him. Cold and distant he remained, but nonetheless a thin veneer of calm and stability seemed to reign in the murderous nature he had always possessed. It had astonished Kankarou the first time he had realised it. Gaara was trying, trying to be more than the Sand expected him to be. In turn it had surprised him the amount of warmth he felt for him. His little brother, ever the monster, and he had said 'Sorry' to him. It was not something he had ever expected to hear from him. He didn't understand his motivations, but he felt that he and Temari were no longer expendable lumps of flesh in Gaara's eyes. What they did mean now was not for him to guess. All he knew was that Gaara had altered, not in any way that could be specified, but certainly for the better.
"It's not a babysitter Gaara, it's just a precaution. You and I both know that you've been... well you have more control over yourself than you used to. But with the way things are at the moment, it will make the villagers feel safer knowing that someone can protect you from yourself."
"You mean that someone can protect them from me." Gaara stated blandly as Kankarou led him away from the other two confidentially. He was quite sure his chances of convincing Gaara that this was a good idea would be improved if he could speak with him alone. He laughed at the brutal honesty of Gaara's comment "Can't it be both?" he asked, pausing in the sidestreet they had entered to gauge his brother's reaction. Gaara's gaze was intently fixed upon a group of children playing Hide and Seek, shrieking excitedly as they chased each other. There was a long pause in which Kankarou felt the response could be tipped in either direction.
"Fine. If you can find someone that can beat me, I don't care." he said lazily before turning and walking back down the street.
The last few days had been exhausting as some of the most talented shinobi of the village had come forward to test their mettle against Gaara. At first people's reaction had been reluctant, but soon there was a regular swarm of people, all of whom Gaara defeated within minutes of them attacking. Skills of ridiculous proportion were rendered useless against his sand defence - only on rare occasions did he need to make any effort himself whatsoever.
"This is boring." he drawled coolly as the most recent unconscious Jounin was dragged away by a medic squad. Kankarou, seated up above on a platform with the Elders, sighed wearily. They had all agreed that this was, in theory at least, a good idea. But Gaara had been created with the very intention that he was inhuman, almost impossible to defeat. How were they expected to stabilise that? "There are only a few individuals left." muttered Muteki gravely, looking down the list an ANBU member had provided them.
"Geez we better hope we find another monster if they want to control Gaara." Kankarou overheard a Medical Ninja whisper as they carried away the Jounin. He heard a sharp crunch and detected a blur of movement before the Medical ninja dropped to the floor, holding on to his face and groaning.
Kankarou rolled his eyes "Temari you need to learn to not be so hot-headed."
Temari appeared beside him with a satisfied smirk on her face, hefting the end of her fan. Kankarou would not have been surprised if there was some of the Medical Ninja's blood on it.
"Well I can't have people talking about my baby brother like that nowadays now can I?" she replied, looking down at where Gaara remained still, eyes totally disinterested in the proceedings. Kankarou begrudgingly grinned also. Even when Temari had been utterly terrified of their brother, she had also been fiercely protective of him.
"The next shinobi is... Hogo Jiyuujin. Hmm, a Jiyuujin, should be interesting." commented Muteki, looking up as two figures entered through the side door. A girl, approximately a year older than Gaara himself, walked alongside the man Kankarou recognised as Meirou Jiyuujin. He was a tall statuesque man with a commanding presence, as well as a suppleness of movement that suggested a fighter, a movement the girl beside him shared. From the same sharp features and intense eyes he presumed she was his daughter, although her dark hair and full mouth were undoubtedly from her mother. She wore a traditional kimono in white and dark red, the Jiyuujin colours. The Elders all smiled and nodded "Meirou. It's been a while. How does your clan fare?" He bowed his head respectfully in return "We are as good as can be expected in such times. I believe my daughter might be able to help you." The girl stepped forward and bowed also.
"One more person come to view the freakshow. I'm not here for you to test how skilled your little girl is." said Gaara darkly, his eyes trained on the girl in front of him. The girl kept her gaze lowered to the floor respectfully but her father looked upon him angrily, offended. "I have brought Hogo here in order to aid this village Gaara-sama." he said sharply, not cowed in the slightest by Gaara's unwavering gaze upon his daughter.
Gaara was overwhelmingly bored of the amount of people who had taken this exercise as an opportunity to see how they fared against the 'Monster' of the Sand. And he doubted this pretty little creature in front of him was going to be of any greater importance.
Muteki briefly scanned the credentials they had on Hogo. Her grades at academy had been average, her general activities since becoming a Chuunin nothing distinguished, at least relative to her Jiyuujin predecessors. This was not unusual for Jiyuujin though. Their skill as assassins meant that they tended to flourish in the face of more intensive missions than she was likely to be dealing with at the moment. "What makes you think she is capable of uhhhh... dealing with Gaara?" inquired Shimobe, peering at her over his glasses. Meirou smiled grimly, his pride evident in his expression. "Watch her. You will not be disapointed." He turned to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it before leaping up on to the balcony to join them all.
Hogo's eyes slowly rose up to meet Gaara's, startlingly bright and evaluating without a trace of unease in them. "I'm not here for a freakshow Gaara-sama. And for that reason I ask that you don't hold back." A smile twitched the edges of her mouth "I'm not afraid of what you can do.".
Gaara remained immobile, his expression not changing before lazily stating "I had no intention of holding back"
Sand erupted out of the gourd on his back, pouring out around him in a dense cloud before shooting towards Hogo. Her smile broadened before she rippled... And disappeared.
Gaara blinked slowly and allowed his eyes to scan the room. "Another one." he said wearily. There was a sound that almost resembled air ripping and Hogo appeared to his right, her fist bulleting towards him. The sand intercepted with only a second or two to spare before rushing after her only for her to have swept round to appear above him. He coolly looked up as she flung a kick at his head that got so close it brushed his hair before she was forced to flip back by the sand.
"You're not the fastest person I've had to fight." he said quietly as she leapt back from the trajectory of vast chunks of sand flying her way. But she was, nonetheless, fast. Faster than anyone else he had fought today. Her grin was positively delighted as she continued to skip agilely away from the sand, shooting in a dozen or so more times with attacks that were progressively getting closer. "I didn't think I would be." He had never seen anyone smile like that in battle before. Not maniacal, not sinister. Simply revelling in the act of combat, savouring testing herself.
"But I do suspect you're holding back Gaara-sama. You're not trying to kill me!" she said, her face sharply becoming savage as she came tearing forwards so fast she blurred to his sight. For a second she disappeared altogether and he felt his eyes widen in surprise before he was rocketed to one side, knocked off his feet and sent rolling across the floor. The sand caught up with him swiftly and he panted as the armor of sand began to reform over his skin, bringing his eyes up to see the girl back at a distance, watching, the sleeves of her kimono settling as though she had only just abruptly stopped running. He felt irritation snare up inside him. Did she think she was playing, that she could afford to stand back and wait for him to collect himself? She was patronising him?
He stood slowly and faced her. He had allowed boredom to make him careless. With renewed vigour he sent the sand her way, wave after wave crashing after her in devastatingly tight-packed volume. Though she continued to avoid them for a while, she was progressively being forced into the position where he was behind her in her blind spot. Sending a further cocooning shroud of sand forwards, putting more speed and power into it, he caught her reflexively attempting to avoid another wave, leaping right back into the second. The sand coiled round her like an animated thing, wrapping up her body until it reached her throat. She struggled briefly but he only tightened the grip of the sand around her. Deliberately, he raised his hand up towards her, eyes never leaving hers.
"He's going to kill her!" Shimobe growled, standing up in utter futile protest.
Gaara opened his mouth to utter the Desert Coffin but stopped, his eyes widening as right before him, she started to melt. Slowly she became thin and listless, liquid-like as she degenerated into the very sand itself. There was the loud, sonerous tinkle as her forehead protector hit the floor. Stunned, Gaara slowly released the sand, keeping his eyes wary. Where could she have gone? It wasn't Kiwarimi no Jutsu, there was nothing for her to replace herself with.
And then he realised that he too had begun to melt, that his fingers were slowly dribbling away like candle wax, wafting off into the air to become nothingness. He stared at them in disbelief, shaking uncontrollably, his hands, his arms, his feet all disappearing right in front of him. This was not... possible. He attempted to grab at the disintegrating pieces of flesh with the lessening stumps of his arms, catching nothing, feeling nothing. He collapsed to the ground and began screaming in horror and fury, flailing with what remained of his arms and legs, eyes staring and mad.
This was not happening he was not disappearing he could not be just simply disappearing he was melting he was dying he was going to become nothingness.
"That's enough."
The voice erupted through the hysterical panic in his mind like a cold gush of wind hitting him in the face. He was still lying on the floor as he opened his eyes and felt the sand beneath him under his fingertips. He stared at his hands again in wonderment, touching them to his face. He could feel, he could touch, he was not helpless. He scrambled into a crouching position, breathing still shallow and harsh. Hogo stood before him, a touch of guilt in her eyes though her face was otherwise impassive. Her kimono was made dirty by sand and dust but otherwise she was entirely unruffled, that glossy hair not out of place, her stance relaxed. Rage boiled up inside him in a torrential mass like a tidalwave. "Bitch." He snarled out, eyes as they had not been for some time, deranged with the desire for blood "I won't fall for that a second time!"
"Gaara please stop!"
His venomous gaze shot round to Temari up on the balcony, seeing the distress on her face. With agonising slowness, he managed to control his breathing, to calm himself. He knew better. Standing up straight, he intended to affix his stare upon Hogo once more, only to find that she had sunk to her knees in a gesture of pure humbleness, touching her forehead to the floor.
"I am sorry if I hurt you Gaara-sama." she said quietly.
Of all the things she had done, this amazed him the most. Any remaining anger evaporated in the face of this defencelessness. All he had to do was take sand at this moment, and crush her. She would let him, he knew she would. He could practically feel the sensation of her hot blood hitting his face. She would not stop him. She called him Gaara-sama and she smiled in battle and she didn't care if he hurt her and she wasn't afraid of him.
Turning without saying a word, he walked out to the side door and left, his back tense with one too many thoughts.
Meirou stood and faced the Elders who had been watching all of this in total shock. "My daughter is a skilled Genjutsu user. Given Gaara's mental instability, her talents are ideal. The sand has created no defence for his mind. At this stage she may not be able to defeat him in a conventional sense, but she can completely incapacitate him." She had stood in the mean time and looked up at all of them with a calm face that showed nothing of the extremities that had just occured.
For the next few weeks Gaara tolerated his new and constant companion by quite simply ignoring her existence altogether. He went about his business, whether it was missions or his own personal time, without ever acknowledging her presence. It was simply like having an additional shadow. A deferential, tangible shadow that opened doors for him and followed several feet behind, though not far enough behind that she would seem a servant. She never got in the way, nor invaded his personal space, but was all the same permanently on the edges of his consciousness. She seemed to calmly accept this, not expecting conversation from someone used to being as alone as he was. His brief reprieves were in the nighttime when she slept whilst he wandered the roofs of the nearby houses, watching the night sky. And when the sun ventured back into their world she would always invariably find him and sit herself beside him, not saying a word, seemingly perfectly content in this role. It was in fact almost a month before Gaara even spoke to her.
"You don't have to follow me everywhere you know. If I have an urge to run beserk I'll be sure to let you know." he said, his voice devoid of emotion and yet dripping sarcasm as his eyes skimmed the horizon, the sun bearing up and washing them both in gold. She smiled slightly at his comment, likewise looking out over the rooftops before them. "That's very generous of you I suppose." she responded lightly, using a kunai to clean her nails. Silence settled between them again for a moment, undisrupted.
"What do you expect to get out of this?" he asked darkly, still not bothering to look at her. She glanced up and appeared to consider this for a moment before shrugging. "It's better than becoming ANBU." she said teasingly, grinning. Gaara did not respond to the joke, resting his elbow on one lifted knee and staring down at the street below. The steady thrums that told of the beginning of market crept up to meet them. Soon others would wake up, stores would open, and the normal animation of the village would begin. "I don't expect anything from this. I want to help my village, and my talents are best suited to taking care of you"
"Taking care of me. What a sentimental way of putting it." he said derisively, pulling himself upright and walking up the tiles of the building. "Gaara-sama..." she began, standing to follow him only for him to stop abruptly. "Do not call me Gaara-sama as though you respect me." he said, his tone chilly and threatening. Nonetheless she persevered, walking up the tiles and round to face him, looking him straight in the eye.
"But I do respect you. I respect you as a Sand ninja. You're the strongest ninja I've ever met." He searched her face, his icy blue-green eyes studiously empty. She was being utterly sincere when she said this. Too sincere. Whilst other Sand still backed away from him in the street, she claimed to admire him? "But if you prefer for me not to call you Gaara-sama then I won't." she continued, giving him a dazzlingly sweet and genuine smile. She looked truly beautiful when she smiled like that. Gaara gave a grunt of disinterest and carried on past her.
"There are ninjas stronger than me."
"You expect me to believe that you miss that creature, Hogo? Gaara is our greatest weapon - it's somewhat convenient that before your father left he had you made his guardian, as the only person who can control him. It would be so easy for you to incapacitate Gaara, even turn him against us, in the face of Baki's rebellion."
Chimitchi's hard words set Naruto's teeth on edge, and before he could help himself he was on his feet "TEME! What d'you think you're doing calling someone a creature!" He took a step forward, intent on punching that nasty smirk off Chimitchi's face only to be stopped by Hogo's words.
"It's all right Naruto."
He turned to see her eyes utterly murderous and locked on Chimitchi's face. He stepped out of her way, perturbed, not wanting to get in between her and what that look was fixed upon. "I don't expect you to believe anything Chimitchi. But if you intend to insult my clan, or Gaara-sama again, then do so now. So that our allies can see you make a fool of yourself as I beat you like a dog."
The words were practically a growl and for the first time since their initial meeting Akamaru whimpered, crawling up into Kiba's coat. Neji found he could practically feel the genjutsu that concealed Hogo's chakra straining, rippling as her chakra swelled beneath its constraints.
The two stood face to face as the Konoha ninjas watched, the tension thick in the air. If it had not been clear before just how unsettled the Sand Village was becoming, it was now. It was Chimitchi finally who backed down, lowering his gaze and seating himself upon a small rock.
Hogo continued to glare at him, eyes wrathful. "I love my village Chimitchi-dono! I am aware that the path I have chosen is one which will inevitably result in my dying. I cannot control Gaara-sama, I can merely distract him, incapacitate him! All I serve as is a thin protective barrier between his instability and our village, but a protection nonetheless! I hold no fear in knowing that one day he may kill me, and despite what you, and dozens like you think, I do NOT hate him for it!" she yelled furiously, muscles knotted with tension as she restrained herself from violence.
Chimitchi shook his head, for the first time genuine emotion seeming to show "And that I do not understand. You know that he will kill you one day."
She smiled darkly "He might. He might not."
"And yet you do not hate him?"
"And why should I? He gets called the monster and yet it was the Kazekage who made him as he was." At the name Kazekage Hogo spat at the ground in disgust, causing Chimitchi to rise up in anger once more.
"How dare you disrespect the former Kazekage!" he roared, rushing forward with a fist raised. Naruto, Rock Lee and Kiba all launched forward to intercept, but found they did not have to. There was a quiet thrumming noise and Chimitchi was rocketed to one side, Hogo standing over him with her eyes cool and empty once more.
Lee's eyes widened "She's fast.". She turned and grinned slightly at him "But not as fast as you I hear Lee-kun. You really did impress Gaara, much as he would never admit it.". Her gaze returned to Chimitchi who glowered up at her angrily. "I spit upon the man behind the Kazekage name. He destroyed his own son and for that I will never forgive him." The harsh, aggressive lines of her face softened "All I ask of you Chimitchi-dono, is to try and trust that I love our village just as much as you do. Suspend your doubt in me, in all of the Jiyuujin, or we will never be able to defeat the rebel-nin." She held out a hand to help him up which he fiercely swatted away before standing and walking off into the forest.
"Jeez what a moody guy." exclaimed Kiba, coming forward to check she was ok, as did the others. She sighed grimly, her eyes following his departure. "He's a good man. As are many others who now hate me in the village. But their mistrust may be the very thing that gets us killed.".
There you go monkeys, let me know what you think :D:D. RnR is oh-so-fun, you KNOW IT IS! coughs and tones down on the big voice