Chapter 14
The Bond of Friendship Overcomes all Evil
"Peek-a-boo, I see you," Gaara said looking down on me.
I gasped in shock and horror. My life flashed before my eyes, but one memory in particular stud out, the day Gaara and I met.
. . .
I was four years old and a semi-social butterfly (this was while the Uchiha clan still existed). Itachi was giving me a piggy-back ride home after Itachi, Sasuke, and I visited Aunty and Uncle. I yelled out the word "weeeee!" at random times while I rode on Itachi's back. I was licking my favorite type of lollypop when I saw one of the five Kage enter our house.
"Itachi, which Kage just entered our house?" I asked curiously.
"You're very observant," he told me, "That was Lord Kazekage and his three children, Kankuro, Temari, and Gaara."
"Do you think one of them will want to be my friend?" I asked Sasuke.
"You bet sis," he replied happily.
"Mother, we're home!" I called out as we entered the house.
My mother walked in with happy aura all around her.
"Asami, what have I told you about yelling in the house?" she said in a disciplinary tone.
"Sorry mom," I apologized.
"Come with me, you three," mother commanded, "We have guests and I want you to come meet them."
"Ok mom, we're coming," I exclaimed with a smile.
"Oh and Asami," my mother called, "No sugar till our guests are gone."
"Oh man, no fair," I said in a disappointed tone, "But Aunty gave me this lollypop to eat."
"You can have that, but that's all the sugar you'll be having for a while, so savor it while you can," my mother told me.
"Oh, ok," I replied as I finished off my lollypop.
My mother opened the doors to the kitchen and Kei ran out to greet me. He jumped up and knocked me to the ground with a load thud.
"Ow! Kei, that hurt!" I exclaimed as I sat up rubbing the back of my head.
"Oh, sorry Asami," Kei apologized.
"It's ok Kei," I assured him.
"I still can't believe that's the girl with the other half of Shukaku," I heard a young girl say as she made vibrations showing her walking into the room.
"Who are you?" I asked as I got off the ground.
"My name is Temari, first and last daughter of Lord Kazekage," she informed me.
Two more people walked into the room.
"Who are the two people who just walked into the room's names?" I asked while Nerugui jumped up onto my shoulder and rubbed up against my cheek to welcome me home.
"My name is Kankuro," one of them said, "First-born son of Lord Kazekage."
"And I am Lord Kazekage," a man with an older voice said.
"I thought you had three children, Lord Kazekage," Itachi asked politely.
"I do, but the third is still in the kitchen," Lord Kazekage replied.
"Asami," my mother called to me as she walked into the kitchen, "Come help me with the dishes please."
"Ok mom, I'm coming," I called back as I skipped into the kitchen after my mother.
"Hey mom," I said while washing and drying the dishes, "What did Temari mean when she talked about me having half of something called Shukaku?"
I felt someone sitting at the table behind my mother and me staring at me with curious eyes.
"Well, Shukaku is a sand demon. He originally was an evil monk from the sand village who was sealed in a jar of tea. Shukaku is a reincarnation of that evil monk," mom informed me, "You share that demon with Lord Kazekage's third son, Gaara."
"Wait a sand grain flowing through a timer second," I interrupted, "When did it enter my awesome body? Was there a demonic jutsu involved? Where's father right now? Why am I getting off topic? I don't know and I don't care!"
"Sis," Sasuke interrupted, "Are you on another sugar rush?"
"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not, I'll never tell," I told him.
"Sis," he said suspiciously.
"Let the sugar rush… BEGIN!" I yelled out stupidly.
I heard the person at the table start to choke on something. So, I ran over to them and did the hemlock maneuver for about ten seconds till the boy coughed up the object he was choking on. He coughed a few more coughs, inhaled and exhaled deeply, and looked at me in a shy way.
"Are you ok now?" I asked him kindly.
"Yea, I'm fine," he replied sheepishly, "Who are you?"
"My name is Asami Mai Hisoka," I replied with a kind smile, "What's your name?"
"It's Gaara," the boy told me, "Second-born son of Lord Kazekage."
"So, you're Gaara," I exclaimed happily, "It's nice to meet you."
"You're… You're not afraid of me?" Gaara said in a shocked and surprised tone.
"Why would I be Gaara?" I asked cocking my head to the side.
"Never mind," he told me, noticing my eyes and their fogginess.
I stud up as he did and looked away in an ashamed way. He got a confused aura around him. Then he asked the one question I dread.
"What happened to your eyes? They're all foggy," he asked in curiosity.
"Well…" I paused, looking down in embarrassment, "If I tell you, do you promise you won't make fun of me?"
"Why would I make fun of you?" Gaara asked in a concerned tone.
"Kids at the academy make fun of me all the time for it," I told him.
"What is it that they make fun of you for?" he asked again, "And I promise I won't make fun of you."
"Ok, I… well…" I paused and sighed in distress, "I'm blind."
"Really? I never would have guessed that," Gaara told me, seeing my sad face, "But you know, you shouldn't be ashamed of being blind. That's what makes you special. And don't think of blindness as a disadvantage, think of it as a way to improve your skills so that, even without your eyesight, you can still be a great ninja like everyone else."
"You really think that's true?" I asked looking at him with a hopeful look on my face.
"You bet I do," Gaara replied with happy aura, "You wanna be friends?"
"You bet I do," I replied.
We both giggled happily. Then, I came back to reality…
…
Gaara jumped down and prepared to strike. I covered my face with a fearful look upon it. Gaara looked at my fear-filled facial expression and stopped his arm raised high in the air.
"Asami, look out!" Sakura yelled out in fear.
Gaara held his position like a statue carved in marble. That's when Sasuke struck. I screamed out in surprise. I ran up to Sasuke, who was beating the heck out of Gaara, and tried to separate them. But then, Sasuke did something I thought he'd never do. Sasuke hit me and knocked me to the ground. The hit was so strong; I ended up blacking out and didn't wake up till a week later…
