Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Wish I owned Gaara, but I don't. And yet I'm putting him through this. Maybe it's a good thing I don't own him.

A/N: For sake of clarity, because the Shukaku speaks in the flashback, it's speech is not italicized then. Otherwise, all formatting's the same.

Gaara continued running. Shukaku was the only one that had been there for him, through thick and thin. Shukaku had protected him, even when he'd tried to hurt himself. Shukaku was the only one that could see his heart and know how he felt. And yet...Gaara remembered the night he first met Sen.

About ten years before...

It had happened again. They ran from him. They always did. As he walked home, he passed a girl sitting on the steps of a nearby house. She seemed to be listening to whatever was going on inside, and yet not very interested in it at the same time.

As he passed her, she said, "Hey aren't y-"

He ran. He didn't want to hear it again. "Gaara." "Subaku Gaara." "Gaara of the Sand." "Shukaku Gaara." "Monster." The last one hurt the most. He ran home, where he knew Yashamaru would help.

A few hours later, after a talk about love and a failed apology attempt, Gaara sat on the roof wondering why, out everyone, he seemed to be a monster.

"You have a visitor," Shukaku said as the sand blocked a rain of kunai. Before he knew what happened, his would-be attacker lay bleeding to death.

"Well done Lord Gaara." The words echoed in his head, alongside the words, "Fight only for yourself. Live while only loving yourself." Suddenly, a girl's voice broke through his confusion.

"Hey. Hey! Are you okay? You're bleeding."

Gaara noticed the blood from the newly carved kanji ai or 'love' running into his eyes. "I'm fine," he muttered.

The girl came over and sat down next to him. "You don't look fine to me," she said quietly.

Gaara opened his mouth to say something, when the Raikage's voice drifted up to them.

"Sen? Sen! Damn it all you adventurous girl, where are you?" When the Raikage found a man and his boy, she began questioning them. "Hve you seen Katimi Sen?"

"Mizukage-sama's daughter?"

"Yes, baka, what other bloodline has that name?"

"Well, I haven't seen her," the man replied.

"Wait..." The boy's voice now. "There was a bit of commotion earlier."

Sen's hand flew over Gaara's mouth. 'Shh. Not a word, please?' she mouthed.

"What do you mean commotionand where?" the Raikage said.

"The Kazekage-sama's son. The failed experiment. The monster."

Gaara felt the anger rise in him again. He readied himself to bite the girl's hand, but stopped when he noticed the sadness in her face.

"That's absolutely insane!" they heard next.

"But Raikage-sama, Kaze-" She cut him off before he could go any further.

"You know what? I , personally, don't give a damn about the Kazekage's military plans but to kill an innocent boy, no less his own son?"

"But Raikage-sama-"

"No," she said angrily.

"But the boy isn't innocent!" the child cried, forgetting his place in his outrage. "He's unstable. He's a murderer."

Gaara flinched at the word. If the boy knew what it was like...

"Unstable?" the Raikage cried. "Don't make me laugh. If you're trying to say the boy's crazy, I may agree to that. Half the Jinchuuriki do become so. If you're trying to say he can't the control the damn thing, answer me this: Have you ever know a Jinchuuriki to be able to fully control their Bijuu?"

"Killer Bee-"

"Killer Bee?" This time she laughed. "One in a million. That took him nearly all his life as well. Did you ever even try to fucking accept the boy? Maybe he wouldn't be so unstable then, ne?"

Silence.

"Whatever. I don't give a damn. Keep Kumo and Kiri out of it and you can be assured the Kazekage will keep his head. If you see Sen, tell her that her mother is looking for her." She left, soon followed by the man and his son.

Sen moved her hand from Gaara's mouth and pulled her knees against her chest and circled her arms around them.

"So now that you know what I am, you're gonna run away screaming to your mommy, aren't you?" Gaara sneered.

"No."

Gaara stared at her increduously. She wasn't going to run? "Well, then I guess I'll kill you."

She laughed.

"What's so funny?"

"I may know what you are, but I don't know who you are. I don't think you could kill me either," she said.

"Why's that?"

"Just 'cause. Anyway, I gotta go. Mom's going to be furious. I hope we can get to know each other, Gaara-kun." With that, she was gone.

"Good riddance," Shukaku growled.

Gaara's eyes widened at the memory. I hope we can get to know each other, Gaara-kun. She'd wanted to get to see the person he truly was, not the monster that used him for a life source.

True, they were on opposite ends of the spectrum. He'd been made a Jinchuuriki to protect Suna, while Sen's mother had made her one so that Kiri could become the Blood Mist once more. And yet both plans had backfired. (1)

Gaara had become the murder while Sen had become the protector. No. The true demon was inside of him. Wait... Then could Sen...? Gaara sensed Shukaku's grumbles fading slowly. Why? Then he remembered what Sen had told him from what she'd learned from Killer Bee.

Only when you have a pure heart, free of any hate, can you control the demon's hatred.

That was how Killer Bee had done it and that was how Sen had done it. But, maybe, he, himself, needed something a little more. Maybe, what he needed was a hero to save him from the monster inside him...(2)

Sen ran. Oh, where was he? If he went on a rampage and his sociopathic tendencies came out... No. She couldn't think that. Even so... She collapsed to her knees in the dunes. Knowing that damn Ichibi, it had probably sent Gaara in the complete opposite of the direction she was going in. Nanabi, help! she cried.

What is it, little one?

I can't find him.

Little one, look up.

Sen looked up, straight into Gaara's eyes. "G-Gaara-kun..."

Gaara looked at Sen. How could he say what this part of his heart wanted to scream to the whole world.

"Sen, be my hero. Save me from this monster."(2)

So... What do you think? Oh, and two notes:

1) The comparison between why the two were made Jinchuurikis is just a statement. Gaara's not aware of that yet.

2) The hero and monster thing was based off of two of my favorite songs by Skillet. "Hero" and "Monster".