A new clan
Four years had passed since that night, and Yashamaru loved every moment of it. Temari had recently started at the shinobi academy of Suna and it was clear how much fun she was having by the big smile on her face when she came home.
Problem was, the years leading up to that made Temari & Gaara inseparable. The look on Temari's face when she saw a third bed in her and Kankuro's room! In a moment of cruelty, Yashamaru told her the bed was for old man Ebizo, who took care of the siblings while Yashamaru was working. Before Temari could react, a grinding noise could be heard from the room. As it turned out, Kankuro had been nearby and heard what they said. And now he was trying with all his might to drag the bed out of their room.
"Uh-uh, no way, not happening!" Kankuro said, straining with the heavy bed.
Yashamaru was laughing until Temari went in the room to help.
Gaara was just sitting in the corner holding his teddy bear, watching his big brother and sister pulling hard.
"Temari, Kankuwo." he said quietly, "I don't think Ebizo-san would fit in that bed."
Temari stopped, looked at the bed, frowning, then up at Yashamaru, glaring, and then over to Gaara, beaming.
"That's right!" she said, brightly, "My little brother's so clever!" giving him a hug.
When Temari first left for the academy, she was ecstatic. She was up & ready before Yashamaru had hit the snooze button on his alarm clock. And then to his surprise, even though he should've seen it coming, Gaara tried to go with Temari, who didn't exactly stop him. How she managed to fit him in her backpack Yashamaru will never know.
So now every time Temari left for the academy, Yashamaru had to keep Gaara close in case he tried to escape again. Which he did. Every time. It broke Yashamaru's heart to see him so down, but with rumours circulating about Gaara, he didn't really have a choice.
But in the afternoon, when Temari came home, not even the third Kazekage himself could stop Gaara from peeling out of the bedroom & wrapping his arms around Temari's waist, on the verge of tears. Once again Kankuro was there to comment.
"Aw how cute, did ya miss ya big sista?" he said, making a kissy-face.
Temari was about to yell at Kankuro when Gaara spoke first.
"Kankuwo." he said, turning slowly and glaring at his older brother, "Did you say something?"
A few seconds past as the brothers looked at each other, Gaara's eyes kept steady while Kankuro's confidence, and self control, failed him.
"… I - uh, I gotta go." Kankuro stammered, before turning and running into the bathroom. Yashamaru sniffed the air and cringed.
That evening Yashamaru decided to take the three of them down to the park. Temari & Kankuro were thrilled, but Gaara seemed uneasy. Yashamaru had decided to keep Gaara out of the public eye as much as possible. Classified information had a way of making its way around in a desert village and now most of the inhabitants believed what Yashamaru had thought all those years ago. But Temari received top marks in her last exam so Yashamaru thought it would be nice to treat them.
"First the park." he had said, "And then ice cream."
Temari & Kankuro eyes doubled in size. Ice cream?
Gaara looked from his siblings up to Yashamaru.
"What's ice cweam?" he asked.
"It's… HEAVEN!" Kankuro said with a dreamy look on his face.
"Come on you guys." Yashamaru said, walking off. Temari and Gaara caught up with him but after a brief head count Yashamaru glanced back & sighed.
"Temari, could you go get your brother?" he asked, "If he keeps drooling like that the council are gonna build a well at his feet."
* * * * *
"Hi guys! See ya later uncle Yashamaru!" Temari said brightly before running over to couple of her friends.
"Yo! Riku-kun!" Kankuro yelled out, running over to a little guy throwing stones at cans.
Yashamaru looked at the two, smiling, before realizing something.
Looking down at his side he saw Gaara still standing next to him, clutching his bear with an uncertain look in his eyes.
"Hey Gaara," he said, kneeling down to his nephew, "Why don't you go play on the swings, ok?"
Gaara looked up to Yashamaru, still wearing a worried expression, but when his uncle smiled warmly at him, Gaara nodded.
"Ok uncle Yashamaru." he said & walked over to the swings.
Yashamaru got back up & sighed. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to isolate Gaara like he had. The villagers had been very kind to Temari and Kankuro after their parents died, why not for Gaara too?
"Yashamaru-san."
"Hm?"
Yashamaru turned around to find a shinobi, who appeared to be a chunin.
"What's this guy doing here?" he thought.
"The council wishes to see you." the shinobi said.
Yashamaru groaned.
"Right now?" he said, thinking of Temari & her brothers.
"Those are the councils orders." the other man said, in an accusing manner.
Yashamaru sighed, "Alright just let me take my niece & nephews back home."
As Yashamaru turned to call out, the chunin quickly spoke.
"There is no need. I will watch them until you return." he said.
"Huh?" Yashamaru said, turning back, "Don't you have work to do?"
The chunin shook his head, "Passing on this message was my last job of the day."
Yashamaru regarded him for a moment. It was a little suspicious that this chunin would offer his services, when he was now off duty, to a complete stranger. But then again the council knew that Yashamaru had adopted the three little ones so maybe they asked the chunin to watch them if needed.
Yashamaru shook his head. Whatever the case he couldn't refuse an order from the council.
"Alright, but please watch them closely." he said.
Stealing a glance back at his family, Yashamaru used a Shunshin no jutsu to teleport away.
* * * * *
Gaara watched as Yashamaru disappeared.
"Where did he go?" he wondered, as the chunin who Gaara saw his uncle speaking with walked towards him.
"Hey little guy!" the chunin said sitting on the swing next to him, "Your uncle asked me to watch you for a little while so-"
"Hey!"
Gaara and the chunin both whipped their heads round to find Temari standing with her hands on her hips, glaring at the chunin.
"What do you think you're doing with my little brother?" she asked the chunin, who smiled at Temari.
"It's ok, your uncle had to run an errand so he asked me to watch you." he said, holding his hands in the air to show he meant no harm.
"Well watch from a distance!" Temari replied angrily.
The chunin stood, "You're lucky I don't hit kids." he growled.
"Yeah, yeah, walk away tough guy." she said as he left.
When Temari was satisfied that he was far enough away, she sat on the now empty swing and looked over at her little brother, who was silently rocking back & forth.
"You ok?" she asked with a concerned look on her face.
Gaara just stared at the ground. Temari sighed and rocked slowly alongside him. Across the park Kankuro and Riku were mock fighting & from the looks of things, Riku was winning. The park was placed in the middle of a square, with outdoor stores surrounding it. In some areas there were groups of adults talking amongst themselves, occasionally glancing in their direction. There was a light breeze, gently blowing through Gaara & Temari's hair.
"Temari?"
"Huh, yeah?"
Gaara sat silently for a few seconds, eyes fixed on his feet.
"Why does everyone die at night?" he asked.
Temari looked shocked "What do you mean?" she asked, staring intently at her younger brother.
"Every night, when uncle Yashamaru tells us to go to bed, I see you and Kankuro die. And when I stayed in uncle Yashamaru's room, he died too."
Temari frowned, "That doesn't mean we die. That means we're sleeping."
Gaara looked up at her, "Huh, what's sleeping?" he asked.
It was then that Temari saw it. The dark rings around Gaara's eyes. How could she not have noticed that? She gasped and her hand covered her mouth.
"Gaara," she whispered, "You don't sleep?"
Gaara shook his head, "M-mm. One time I thought I was supposed to die at night too. So I closed my eyes. But then I saw something really scary that made me open them again."
Temari got off the swing and hugged her little brother. Gaara could feel something wet on his neck.
"Oh Gaara. I'm so sorry, I'm your big sister, I should have realized you were in pain." she said, tears running down her face.
Gaara was looking at the back of Temari's head.
"What's pain?" he asked.
But before Temari could answer, Yashamaru rushed over.
"Hey, what's going on?" he asked, concern etched on his face.
"Uncle Yashamaru, something's wrong with Gaara!" Temari said, letting Gaara go.
Gaara looked at Temari, "Huh? Something's wrong with me?" he thought.
"What is it?" Yashamaru asked worriedly.
"He hasn't been sleeping!" Temari replied.
At this Yashamaru looked at Gaara. "Yeah, I know. Listen Temari, I need to take Gaara somewhere, do you think you and Kankuro could go get your ice cream yourselves?"
He then handed some money over to Temari.
"After that, head on back home. Ebizo-san will let you in."
Temari stared at her uncle for a few seconds.
"Ok." she said before hugging Gaara again and walking off to get her other brother.
Gaara looked up at Yashamaru, "Where are we going?" he asked.
Yashamaru crouched down and patted Gaara's head.
"I just need to check something. It's alright, we'll go home soon." he said, smiling."
Yashamaru then stood up & took Gaara's hand before heading off.
They had been walking for a while, silently. The last rays of sunlight had disappeared and the moon now shone brightly.
"Uncle Yashamaru?" Gaara asked nervously.
"Here it is." Yashamaru said, as they approached what appeared to be a run down building.
Gaara looked up to the top of the building, which was pretty far up.
"Why are we going in her uncle Yashamaru?" he asked.
Yashamaru pulled out a key & unlocked the door to the building. The inside was filled with dust, cobwebs & broken furniture. At the left side of the room was a door leading to a staircase.
"There's something inside that I need your help with." he said, walking inside, with Gaara at his heels.
"Me? What could I do?" Gaara asked, frowning.
Yashamaru smiled at him.
"Come on, I'll show you." he said.
With that they began climbing the staircase. After the first couple of floors, Gaara grew tired and couldn't keep up.
"Uncle Yashamaru, can we stop?" he asked, breathing heavily.
Yashamaru turned and picked Gaara up, placing him on his back.
"I'd like to get this over with." Yashamaru said, "So I'm gonna speed up. Hold on tight, ok?"
Gaara nodded & tightened his grip.
A few minutes later they had reached the top of the staircase. Yashamaru pushed open the door and stepped through into a room unlike the others. Inside, the room was clean and well furnished, with crimson drapes covering the windows. The room was very dark & had an eerie feel to it, like just being inside made you a little less innocent.
Yashamaru let Gaara down, who walked around the room, gazing in awe.
It wasn't just the drapes that were crimson, but the walls too. They had a swirling pattern in black all across them, as if the wind was blowing through. One side of the room had a black, marble fireplace, lightly shining from the small amount of moonlight coming from the chimney.
All of a sudden candles all around the room lit up. Gaara whipped his around the room, a fearful look in his eye, then he stopped.
On the wall, above the fireplace, was a beautiful painting.
In it was a mountainous landscape, with the summits reaching beyond the clouds. The centre of the mountains was split in the middle, with a river opening out to sea. And at the horizon, the sun was rising, fiery and red. But the ocean and river didn't reflect the colour of the sunlight, they instead shone with the white light of the moon.
As Gaara stared at the painting, he heard the door close & footsteps telling him that Yashamaru was now behind him.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" his uncle said, his voice sounding dreamy, "This painting certainly brings back memories."
"What is this place?" Gaara asked, captivated.
"This is a wondrous place, a secret & sacred place in the Land of Fire." Yashamaru said.
"The Land of Fire?" Gaara repeated, looking up at his uncle and froze.
His uncle was changing. His hair was growing longer and darkening. Soon it fell down his back, long black & spiky. His skin paled & he grew taller, Gaara's eyes following the other man as he grew. Then his clothes changed from the baggy shirt & pants, turning instead into red armour with tight black shirt & pants underneath.
Gaara watched as the man continued to stare at the painting. Gaara knew he should be afraid for his life, but he wasn't.
"I- I know you." he thought.
The man before him spoke, in a voice slightly deeper than his uncle's.
"This place was my home. This is where my clan was born. We called it Gensanchi."
"Who was your clan?" Gaara asked, to which the man smirked.
"Most people think that my clan was named after an uchiwa, mainly because we had a natural affinity for Katon jutsu. But that is only part true. You see this painting, here? This is my clan. We simply used an uchiwa because of its resemblance to this. I found it to be an incredibly lazy and insulting choice to name our great clan after a mere fan! I myself vouched for a different name but it was denied because "Uchiha was less complex!". Simple-minded fools."
"Uchiha? I don't know that clan." Gaara said, making the man smile.
"Of course you wouldn't. Not since its name was spat on by that teme Senju Hashirama! Now our formerly great clan is nothing more than a police force! When I left the clan I requested of them that anyone who felt as I did would follow me, and you know something? No-one did! After everything I had done for that clan not a single one would follow me! But now, now I have a new clan. A clan that I shall make the mightiest of all!"
Gaara was feeling uneasy. This man was powerful, he could tell. Gaara couldn't sense chakra or anything like the big shinobi could, but he could tell that the man standing next to him was strong. He also seemed unstable.
"You have a new clan?" Gaara said, repeating the words of the man.
The Uchiha sighed heavily.
"Perhaps I am getting ahead of myself. I am in the process of building my new clan."
"What's it called?"
The Uchiha smiled again, "You will come to know it well, in due time. In fact I believe in the future you will become an important part of this new clan."
The Uchiha then turned his head towards Gaara, his eyes closed.
"A long time ago I made a promise to someone." he then slowly started opening his eyes, "Now I intend to follow through on my word!"
As he said the last part, he snapped his eyes the rest of the way open.
Gaara stared deep into the others eyes, visibly shaking in terror.
"Those eyes! They're from my nightmares!"
* * * * *
Twenty miles west of Sunagakure, a man stood with a large sack across his shoulders. The man's black cloak was billowing in the wind, the red clouds on it seemingly moving across the fabric.
Dropping the sack, the man scanned the area with his black & green eyes.
He picked up a shovel & started digging.
After a half hour of labour, he was satisfied.
Climbing out of the hole, he kicked the sack into the pit and began filling it back up.
From inside the bag came a whisper, so soft it didn't pass through the fabric.
"…Gaara…"