On the Horizon

Kankuro & Gaara

A/N: Sometimes when you have a little faith, things turn out better in surprising ways…

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The puppet master stood solemnly against the evening sky, the shadow of his younger brother ending inches from his sandals. Gaara stood at the cliff edge, staring at the horizon, watching the rippling heat warp the sand, and the desert seemed like a dry ocean before them. The still air was thick with the dying heat of the day, and a cool breeze hearkened the coming of night. Eyes squinting in the blinding light, Kankuro stared at the back of his brother's head, waiting for a reply. An old nervous fear crept into his heart and he fought to suppress it, remembering the old days where a simple glance would set Gaara's fury ablaze. But, not now, now, like a sandstorm, he'd calmed, no longer a threatening force, at least not to those he cared about. And those encompassed the whole of the sand village and everyone who lived there. And for the first time, Kankuro saw something different in Gaara's eyes. No longer were they a black-bordered storm grey, but bright, like the windswept sea. No longer dull and without life, but brimming with something greater that brought a feeling to his heart…hope.