Reading Guide
"Hello" Talking
'Hello' Thinking
(Twenty Minutes Later) Time
Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece or Naruto.
Gaara slowly opened his eyes. Slowly sitting up he rubbed his eyes and looked around. 'Wha. . . what happened?' He was part of the way through his search when it hit him. His mother had never loved him. No one had ever loved him. The Villagers, the hate was evident in their eyes. They never came within ten feet of him but he could see it anyway. They made no effort to hide it. No one did.
Looking around he noticed a boy, no, the boy, standing nearby. The boy was hated by the Villagers nearly as much as he himself and they had developed a silent acceptance of each other. Looking again Gaara noticed that the cloth that usually covered his eyes and hair was gone.
He had distinct green hair and black eyes. The eyes, though, were not the eyes of a child. They were cold, unfeeling. They saw but they didn't see. They were the eyes of a dead man. In the furthest reached of his young memory Gaara could remember one shinobi who had the same look on his face. He had lost his wife and two kids to a group of missing nin from Kumo. The shinobi was never seen after that, presumably taking a 'final mission' as the adults said.
"You alright?" the green haired child asked.
"Who are you?" Gaara asked.
"I'm Zoro," the boy responded.
"What. . . what happened?"
"You lost control."
"Lost control?"
"Yes."
"What happened after that?"
"I helped you get back under control."
"Why?" At this question Zoro seemed to wince and turn away. It took him several minutes but eventually he responded.
"There are many things that can make a person lose control. Love, hatred, pride, lust, the desire to fight, confidence. All of these things can influence one's judgment and when one allows such things to control his actions. . ." Zoro trailed off.
"Do you have a wound on the inside?" Gaara asked out of the blue, remembering his talk with his uncle before. . . it happened.
"A wound? On the inside? Perhaps. I once allowed my confidence, my desire to fight, to overcome my common sense. I received an order and questioned it, costing crucial seconds. If I hadn't they would still be alive."
"They?" Gaara asked.
"They," Zoro responded as he replaced the cloth hiding his eyes once again, his dead eyes.
Since that day Zoro had stayed by Gaara's side most of the time. Every morning when Gaara went out he would be waiting and every night he would only leave once Gaara was about to enter the Kazekage's mansion. For a normal person this might have been an intrusion of privacy but Gaara welcomed it. Years of solitude had made him so eager for the presence of another human that he was more than happy with Zoro continual presence, even if Zoro didn't make the best conversation.
He had asked why Zoro chose to stay by him, which Zoro had answered with, "So that I can help you so you don't lose control like I did." How exactly Zoro intended to help him remained unclear for about a month until one fateful day.
"Why are we here?" Gaara asked. "Are we going to train?" It was Gaara's first time on a training ground. He wouldn't have been molested had he tried to enter one before he met Zoro, no one was willing to mess with the child they believed to be a demon. Even the most foolhardy Villagers never physically hurt the jinchuriki of their respective villages, but Gaara had his father to worry about.
"Yes," Zoro responded.
"Oh!" Gaara perked up. "Who are you?" It was the same question he had asked every day since he had met Zoro and every day Zoro would refuse to answer the question or give a vague answer. This time was different, though.
"We. We were famous throughout the world. We had reached the limit and gone past it, together. Though we had no relation to one another we fought the world as one and were more of a family than most real ones. I was once a part of them until I made a. . . poor choice. I allowed the frenzy of combat to cloud my vision and they paid the price." Zoro lowered his head. A tear fell from the mask that covered his eyes.
"But," he continued, "I lived where they died, and I've decided to help those who have been abandoned by fate. Today I shall tell you why the villagers hate you and how you can control it."
"Control it?" Gaara questioned.
"You want to, don't you? It'll be hard but it can be done."
A wide smile split Gaara's face. "Yeah," he said excitedly. "Teach me!"
The Kazekage frowned. 'Gaara and Zoro have been going of to a private training ground recently,' he thought to himself. Zoro's name had become common knowledge in the past month thanks to Gaara. 'He's frightening, taking on a Biju barehanded, even if it was the one tail, and winning is insane. On top of that he said he was a swordsman, not just a physical fighter. He's a wild card, but confronting him would be more dangerous than leaving him be.' The Kazekage gritted his teeth.
'But I can't even get any information on what he and Gaara are doing! Every time I send ninja to watch them they come back muttering about the 'creepy kid' who always seems to know where they. Well, on the bright side Gaara seems to be more stable now and I can't complain about that.'
(Five Months Later)
Gaara and Zoro stood alone in a remote training field.
"You ready?" Zoro asked. He had opened up to Gaara more every day and by now they were completely comfortable with each other. Still, comfortable or not, Zoro refused to elaborate on his past any more than he already had.
"Yeah!" Gaara yelled excitedly.
'He's so innocent,' Zoro mused. 'Excitable too. I wonder what he would have turned out like if I hadn't met him? He hadn't let the isolation get to him when I met him but I wonder how much longer he could have held out?'
"Then let's begin."
The two sat down and began to meditate. Meditation was the first thing that Zoro had taught Gaara. When they first began training it mostly consisted of meditation and basic physical exercise. From there Zoro had taught him Observation Haki which he had to use both during meditation and regular training. Over the past months Gaara had grown quite skilled with it. Still Gaara had always wondered how Observation Haki would help him control the Shukaku which Zoro had told him about.
When asked Zoro explained that while he didn't know anything about biju it stood to reason that to control one took great mental strength. This was later proved, about two months into the training, when Gaara was able to shut out the Shukaku's voice completely. He had always heard it from the very moment he was born and he had grown used to it. He was actually surprised when Zoro informed him that other people didn't have voiced screaming inside their heads.
Five months, that was how long it took Gaara to master Observation Haki to a level that Zoro deemed sufficient. Today was the day that, along with Zoro, he would venture into his own mind and face the Shukaku. He was confused about how Zoro would be able to go inside his mind with him and he didn't really understand Zoro's explanation but he did get that it had something to do with Observation Haki. Gaara actually wondered if there were things Observation Haki couldn't do, and then Zoro told him about the other two types of Haki. The fact that every single person could use such abilities with proper training amazed him.
After a moment of meditation Gaara felt it, the tug that signaled entrance to his mindscape. Even though he had never felt it before he instinctively knew that was what it was. Accepting the invitation he allowed himself to be dragged into the void. As he descended the voice of the Shukaku grew louder and louder until he eventually fell into a chamber of some sort. Seconds after he landed he heard another thud next to him.
'That must be Zoro. It's time to face him, we'll do it together. Shukaku. . .' Gaara thought as he stood to face the demon within.
(A/N: This chapter is dedicated to EpicJinx for helping me get motivated. Thanks for that. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter, and yes, Gaara won't be the only one. Zoro will find others and they'll. . . well, I don't really know. I guess we'll see.)