Chapter 2

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"Did you sleep at all," Harry asked, as he saw Gaara in the same position Harry had left him last night.

"I can't sleep. He won't let me." Harry was instantly on guard. Voldemort had kept him from sleeping. Was there someone doing the same thing to Gaara?

"Who won't?"

"The demon." Harry was confused.

"Can I meet the demon?" Harry asked.

"NO! He'll kill you!" Gaara started panicking.

"Whoa! Hold it, kid. I mean can I go in your head and see him. You can come too to make sure I don't see anything you don't want me to."

"How?"

"Just look in my eyes." Gaara did that, and Harry used Legimens.

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"Where are we?" Gaara asked, looking around. They appeared to be in the desert with tons of tombs around them.

"We're in you're mindscape," Harry explained, "This is where all you're memories and feelings stay." Harry saw a half sealed tomb in the distance.

"That's where it is," Gaara said, following Harry's gaze.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Come on, then," Harry smiled, "Let's go see this demon." Harry started heading off towards the tomb.

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"Holy sh…" Harry trailed off. Gaara was right when he said it was a demon. It was a huge raccoon dog. Harry thought for a few seconds to what Hermione had called them. Oh, yeah…tanuki.

"That's one big tanuki," Harry said.

"WHO DARES INTERRUPT MY REST?" the tanuki roared. Harry grew an instant dislike of him, as he stepped forward.

"I do."

"AND WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT YOU STUPID HUMAN?"

"Now listen here Tanuki!" Harry yelled, "You leave Gaara the hell alone! Let him sleep!"

"AND WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO IF I DON'T?" the tanuki laughed. Harry, having grown prideful during the war and loosing his previous believes of 'light' and 'dark' magic, grinned at the tanuki demon.

"This," Harry said, pulling out his wand, "Gaara, tell me to stop if it hurts you, kay?"

"Okay," Gaara said. Harry smiled and turned back to the Ichibi.

"Crucio." Harry could feel the demon's energy fighting against his, but surprisingly his was stronger. The Ichibi started to roar in pain. Harry turned back to Gaara to check on him.

"I'm fine. I don't feel any pain," Gaara said, as if following his train of thought.

"ENOUGH!" the Ichibi yelled. Harry stopped the spell.

"You'll leave Gaara alone, and let him sleep?" Harry asked.

"I'LL LET HIM SLEEP," the Ichibi conceded, "BUT I RESERVE THE RIGHT TO TRAIN HIM. I'LL NOT BE KILLED JUST BECAUSE HE FALLS DOWN AND BREAKS HIS NECK."

"Is that alright with you, Gaara?" Harry asked. Gaara nodded.

"Alright then tanuki, you have a deal," Harry said, "But I'm coming back once a week to check on you, got that?"

"THEN YOU'LL AT LEAST BE USING MY NAME NINGEN."

"Which is?"

"SHUKAKU, GOD OF WIND."

"Sure thing Shu. And you can call me Harry. We'll be back." With that Harry put his hand on Gaara's shoulder and withdrew from his mind. Harry smiled as Shukaku had a fit for being called Shu.

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"Did that really happen?" Gaara asked, opening his eyes.

"Yep," Harry said, before picking him up, "C'mon kid. Breakfast time." Harry carried Gaara all the way too the Great Hall and set him down to open the two doors. Gaara shyly followed Harry into the room and up to the head table. The students weren't here as school didn't start for another three weeks.

"Good Morning Harry," Minerva said, "And who is this?" Minerva had become headmistress once Dumbledore had been fired and imprisoned for misconduct. Dumbledore had done a lot of things that he shouldn't have. It hit the wizarding world hard to know that Dumbledore was manipulating them all.

"This is Gaara. Stella led me too him, last night," Harry explained, sitting Gaara in the chair between him and Severus, the current deputy headmaster. Severus had gone "softer" so to speak after Voldemort's death.

"C'mon brat. What do you want to eat?" Severus said affectionately to Gaara. Gaara seemed to be confused that so many people here cared for him, as the female teachers (excluding Minerva of course. She was more dignified than that) started to gush over him. Harry started to pick up on the signs of an abused child and vowed to help Gaara in whatever he needed.