"Where am I?" Gaara murmured as he walked across a field of white. He looked down at his clothes and was surprised to see he was wearing casual attire consisting of a white tunic, and white pants with a black belt tied loosely around his waist. His feet were bare and he could feel a warm breeze ruffle his hair. He suddenly sensed another presence and turned around searching for the source of the sensation. "Is someone there?" he called out.
His eyes widened as he spotted a young girl standing with her back to him. She wore a simple white dress that reached down to just above her ankles and violet haired flowed down to her shoulders. He took a step forward and the girl turned her head towards him her amethyst eyes studying him curiously before she smiled and pranced up to him.
"Onchou?" he murmured in disbelief as he took in her rounded cheeks and carefree smile.
She giggled in response and grabbed him by the hand pulling her with him towards what he recognized as the village of Heiwa. She stopped as they entered a building and he glanced back shocked to see that the white void was gone and had been replaced with the wall of a house.
"I'm home!" another smaller version of the girl exclaimed rushing into the room walking right through him as though he didn't exist.
"What is this?" he asked the girl dressed in white next to him.
"Shh!" the girl said pressing her finger to her lips. "Watch."
He blinked and nodded as the girl pranced into the room and threw herself into the arms of an older man with violet hair that was streaked with grey and bright green eyes wearing lose grey robes. "Hello there Onchou my sweet." He said gathering her into a hug. "How did your lessons go today?"
The little girl smiled. "I made it to the top of the south tower!" she exclaimed. "None of the others even made if halfway!"
The older man nodded and ruffled her hair. "That's my girl." He said with a grin. "Go wash up for supper now."
"Yes grandfather." She said sliding out of his lap and bowing before she dashed into the kitchen.
An older, severe looking woman with dark skin, ashy blonde hair and golden eyes walked into the room. "Don't you think you're being a little hard on her? She's only a child. She should be out playing with the other children her age not studying combat and ninja arts." the older man said glancing at the woman.
"She's not like the other children." The woman replied. "The seal on her chest is proof of that. She must learn to wield that power and quickly. We're more vulnerable than we've ever been before. You of all people should know that."
"Even so." The man said standing up. "What happened wasn't her fault."
The older woman snorted. "You're right. It's that mother of hers." She hissed "If she'd only taken her duty seriously this never would've happened. We'd never be stuck in this terrible predicament of having a wretched child to protect us!"
Onchou's eyes widened from where she stood in the doorway her body trembling. "I'm so sorry grandmother." She murmured bowing low. "I will go to my room." She said as tears fell from her eyes.
"Guardians never cry!" a young woman with tangled violet hair and wild golden eyes said walking out from one of the rooms. "Get that through your head!"
Onchou's eyes widened as she turned to look at the woman. "Mother." She murmured.
The woman shied away. "Don't look at me with his cursed eyes!" she screamed. "Get out of my sight!"
The little girl bowed her head and dashed from the room, her feet carrying her swiftly down the hall. She slid open another door and dashed inside slamming it shut behind her. She flung herself on the bed tears wetting her pillow as she clutched a plush doll to her chest. The door of her room opened and she recognized the person as her grandfather by his song. She quickly sat up and wiped her tears from her eyes. "I'm sorry grandfather. I will try to be better"
The man sat down the tray in his hands on the small table in her room. "Here. I thought you'd want your dinner." He said with a smile. She nodded still wiping at her eyes. He frowned and sat down next to her pulling her little body into his lap. "My dear sweet Onchou." He murmured as he smoothed a hand over her hair. "Please forgive them. Your grandmother is hurting because she wants you to be stronger than she was and your mother is suffering from a broken heart and a broken mind." He squeezed her gently. "Forgive us careless adults for laying such a heavy burden on your tiny shoulders."
She glanced up and noted the tears on his face and wiped them away. "It is ok grandfather. I will become strong so you don't have to cry."
Gaara's eyes widened at the scene and looked down at the girl in white still holding his hand. "This is Onchou's past." He murmured. "But how am I seeing this?"
The images flew past as he saw her train until she dropped at her grandmother's request, try to avoid her mother while she was awake but secretly sneaking into her room while she was sleeping to hold her hand. He watched as she watched the other children play longing to join them but unable to as her grandmother pushed her to become stronger, faster, and more powerful. It was clear her only rays of sunshine were her grandfather, chakra boarding, and the beasts she learned to tame.
Time passed and he found himself looking at a slightly older, lankier girl with violet hair that reached to her waist. She rode her chakra board across the desert twisting and turning as she raced a scorpion the size of a large dog across the desert.
"Thanks for the race Scorpio." She said with a smile as they approached the village. Suddenly, sentinels rose up from the desert and she yelped as the large scorpion beside her hissed guiding her through the mass of writhing creatures.
"What is going on?" she demanded activating her advanced hearing and immediately gasped as songs of death and the screams of villagers. She heard the rage and anguish of the beasts as they were forced to attack their masters. She cast her eyes forward shocked as she saw flames rising from the buildings.
"What is this?!" she demanded pushing herself forward across the desert. "What's happening!?"
She leapt from her board and scrambled up to the rooftops her eyes wide with horror as she watched people running and screaming as a man wielding a giant sword cackled cutting people down.
"Come Itachi! You're not enjoying yourself properly. Isn't this sort of thing right up your ally? You did destroy the Uchiha clan after all." the man asked as he killed a man with a blast of water chakra.
"Uchiha?" Onchou murmured as a young man dropped from a roof to stand by the gilled man throwing kunai at the villagers trying to escape.
"Let's just finish this quickly." The young man said. "We still have to capture the guardian."
Onchou's eyes widened and she started towards her home when she spotted one of the few children she'd ever played with, a girl name Nanami cowering in front of sword wielding man.
"No!" she screamed leaping from the roof drawing her father's sword from her back. She landed in front of the girl and blocked the massive sword as best she could. Her muscles strained at the effort and she could hear her bones beginning to crack and gritted her teeth as she reaching inside her drawing on the power inside of her.
"What's this?" Kisame said stumbling back as lightning burst from her blade.
"Why are you doing this?" she demanded.
"We're just following orders." Kisame replied with a grin. "You have more fight in you than most of the men in this village."
"We should take care of her quickly then." Itachi replied grabbing her by the front of her shirt and dragging up to his level. She instinctively closed her eyes as his turned red.
She shivered and focused on his song her ears glowing as she focused on his song searching desperately for a weakness. "Sasuke." She murmured.
"What did you say?" the young man demanded his grip on her tightening.
"Sasuke." She replied. "You left him all alone after torturing him. What kind of big brother does that?"
"How does that girl know?" Kisame asked.
"Did you look at their faces as you killed them?" Onchou asked. "As you killed your parents, cousins, and friends."
"You will never understand." Itachi murmured "but how do you know?"
"I can hear everything." She murmured. "I can hear your soul. It's so loud." she opened her eyes and looked at him. "You hate yourself Itachi Uchiha." She reached up and touched his face. "I feel sorry for you but I feel more sorry for Sasuke."
His eyes glowed red and she gasped as she felt herself being pulled into a genjutsu. She gritted her teeth and started to sing casting her own.
"Your skill is quite impressive for your age." Itachi said from where he stood inside the white void she'd created to protect herself. "However you're no match for me."
She sighed. "If you're going to kill me just do it." She murmured.
"I'll spare you for now." Itachi said before he vanished and she sat alone in the void her legs close to her chest as she heard the screams around her.
"Onchou! Onchou!" a voice called pulling her from the void.
"Grandfather?" she murmured opening her eyes finding herself in the older man's arms. She glanced down and her eyes widened as she saw Nanami's shredded body on the ground. "Nanami?" she murmured her eyes filling with tears.
"I'm sorry." Her grandfather said leaving the body of the other girl. "We need to leave."
"No…" she murmured watching the carnage around her. "No!" she as her grandfather arrived near her mother and grandmother. Power exploded from her as she tried to block out the sounds of screams and songs of death. "Make it stop!" she screamed clamping her hands over her ears. "Make it STOP!"
Power exploded from her body and then everything went black. When she opened her eyes again, she found herself in the middle of the desert with her grandfather looking down on her.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
She groaned and sat up touching her temple. "Grandfather?" she murmured.
"You wretched girl!" her grandmother yelled slamming her across the face. "Our village is gone because of you!"
"I didn't know." She whimpered. "Please forgive me grandmother."
Gaara cringed as he watched the scene. It reminded him of how his father treated him. The man showed him no affection, just distain as a child.
The years passed as he watched her family roam from village to village seemingly nomadic but he soon sensed like she did that they were being pursued by something or someone. Then the day she'd once spoke of came and he watched helplessly as she found her strict grandmother and beloved grandfather dead and witnessed her mother's murder. His hands balled into fists as Takuma brought her to his underground hideout and branded her throwing her into the room that became her jail cell and began to experiment on and train her. Nearly two years past and Onchou had grown taller and Takuma took her and several other experiments to what the Kazekage recognized as The Land of Ogres.
"Do you remember the summoning jutsu I taught you?" Takuma asked the violet haired girl.
"I do." She replied.
"Good, now do it with me." He said.
She nodded and moved her hands through the motions bit her thumb and slammed it to the ground in time with the scientist. There was a loud explosion and she yelped as two dragons suddenly appeared. "Dragons!?" she exclaimed. "How!?"
The man chuckled. "I knew it! Tame them!"
"How am I supposed to do that?" she demanded. Her eyes switched between the two enormous dragons one with glittering silver scales and blue eyes and the other with black scales and ruby red eyes.
The winged beasts attacked and she fought alongside the other experiments to subdue them. The silver dragon unleashed a flurry of snow and ice as the black dragon used fire to attack.
"The silver one." Takuma said with a smile. "Bring out the first child!" he exclaimed.
An experiment brought out an infant with silver hair and ruby eyes as Takuma leapt forward and slammed a seal onto the beast. It cried out in protest as he began to seal the beast inside the tiny boy. His chakra began to dip and he grunted.
"269! Help me!" he demanded.
She blinked in surprise and nodded racing to his side frowning. "What are you doing to this baby?" she demanded.
"Don't ask questions!" he growled.
She cringed and nodded as she murmured words of sealing passed down from her grandmother and then looked at the silver dragon. "Hisame." She said meeting his gaze. "It's either this or death. This man will never let you go."
The silver dragon roared in protest even as the seal began to take effect. After several hours the seal was complete but the child was dying his body overwhelmed. She hissed in frustration and poured her chakra into him grimacing as the second dragon swooped through the sky.
"Leave it! We need to take care of the second one!" he exclaimed as another experiment carrying another child emerged. Rage burned inside of her.
"He'll die!" she screamed.
"I don't care." Takuma replied.
Something inside of her snapped as she looked at the baby screaming in her arms. She frowned and pushed more chakra into him. "I'll be right back." She assure the child as she slipped out of her sleeveless coat and wrapped it around him as be she could. Her eyes narrowed as she glanced up at the black dragon her eyes blazing and concentrated her ears and chakra.
"SHADOW!" she bellowed.
The dragon blinked in surprise and looked down at her rumbling in surprise as she began to create a barrier about him.
"What are you doing little girl?" he demanded. "Do you think a barrier like that will stop me? Shadow the Dragon of death and destruction! I will kill you all for imprisoning my brother!"
"Listen to me you giant lizard!" she yelled. "If you don't let me send you back you'll be trapped inside a human too is that what you want!?" she demanded.
The dragon growled at her. "Never!"
"They get through the damn portal before they figure out what I'm doing!" she snarled.
"My brother." He murmured looking at the weeping child.
"I'll protect that child's life with my own." She said to the giant creature. "That'll keep him safe but if you don't go now he'll die and Hisame will die with him!"
Shadow grumbled and then bowed to her. "As you wish. In exchange for protecting Hisame and saving me I will lend you my power and the power of my siblings when you call." He said.
Onchou cut her finger forming a seal to complete the contract and forced the massive dragon through the gate. She staggered towards the crying child and wrapped her arms around him letting the chakra left inside of her flow into the child to sustain his fragile life.
"What happened?!" Takuma demanded. "We were going to seal that dragon inside of this child!" he said motioning to a dark haired infant.
"That dragon was too powerful." She wheezed. "I would've killed the child and us. Isn't this enough?"
Takuma glared down at her. "Very well, but as punishment this child is your responsibility." He replied.
"You were planning on doing that from the very start." She murmured.
The blond scientist smirked and snapped his fingers. Flail lumbered forward one of the few that had survived the encounter. "Master." He murmured.
"Carry her and the child back to the hideout." He instructed. "I need to go ahead and prepare."
Flail nodded and lifted the two into his arms. "Are you alright Princess?" he asked.
"I'll be fine eventually." She murmured holding the child close to her heart. "What should we name him?"
The large man blinked. "Does he need a name?" he asked.
"Of course." Onchou replied. "Everyone needs a name." she thought for a moment. "Well, he does have a dragon inside of him now so how about Ryuu?"
Flail blinked and then shrugged. "Whatever you think is best." He replied.
The violet haired girl chuckled. "Ryuu it is then." She said looking down at the baby sleeping resltlessly in her arms. "I promise I'll protect you forever." She murmured kissing his tiny forehead.
Gaara's eyes widened his hands reaching instinctively towards her even as he went right through her. "I understand now." He murmured. "This is why Ryuu and Onchou are so protective of one another." He said as the years moved by again watching as she did her best to raise the silver haired child and herself.
Time moved forward and he watched as Takuma traveled with her through his own country to the now nonexistent Land of Pearls. Murderous rage ignited within him as he watch Lord Sugo lay his hands on Onchou intent on defiling her. His fist flew through the man's phantom image as he watched her struggle to fight the disgusting man off and eventually killed him. He shook his head as the guards entered the room and defended their fallen master adding fuel to the already dangerous fire raging inside of her. He watched as she destroyed the mansion and the betrayal she felt as the villagers once again defended her assailant.
"So this is what happened." He murmured as he watched the winged beast guided by the girl destroy the small island nation as the rage, hatred, and pain radiated from her in waves. "I understand this feeling." He murmured remembering how he'd been filled with the same emotions as a child after losing his uncle. His eyes filled with tears as he watched her collapse on the beach utterly alone and knelt in front of her reaching for her though he knew she couldn't sense his presence cursing when is arms went right through her. "You're not alone." He murmured. "Onchou…" his hand clenched into fists.
Time again moved forward as he watched her become stronger and more efficient her demeanor becoming colder towards everyone except for Ryuu who seemed to be the only source of warmth in her world. He noticed when a young man with a thin build and amber eyes appeared in her life and the light that came to her eyes when he was near her.
"Akira." He murmured as he listened and watched how Onchou lit up around him, how much she grew to care for him as they lived, trained, and fought together.
"Akira!" Onchou cried out as the mouth of the cave they were clearing collapsed. She focused her hearing and quickly scrambled to her partner's side who was groaning as he pushed a rock off of himself.
"That sucked." He muttered. "Now what do we do. I can't see a thing."
"Use your fire dummy." She replied as she focused her ears using it to sense their surroundings. She gasped and quickly scrambled to Akira shoving his hands down moments before they ignited.
"What are you doing?" he asked. "You just told me to."
"Shh!" she hissed slapping her hand over his mouth. "We're not alone in here."
Strange creatures with white skin, lidless eyes and pointed teeth approached them and Onchou shivered. She could hear their thoughts and knew that their intentions were to subdue them and eat them alive.
"What do we do?" she murmured. "I can't fight them alone."
"I don't know." Akira replied. "I could use earth style jutsu to get us out but I can't navigate in the dark."
She bit her lip as her heartrate pounded. "I can't die here." She murmured.
Akira reached out and grabbed her hands. "You're right." He replied. "Neither of us can. I'll do whatever it takes. To get us out of here."
An idea came to her and she took a deep breath. "Do you trust me?" she asked.
"Of course I do." He replied. "You're the only person in the world I trust."
"Ok then." She said reaching for him. She laid her forehead against his and murmured words and a silver glow surrounded them both making the strange creatures back away and hiss.
After a few moments they broke apart breathing hard. "I see you." Akira murmured touching her face. "Onchou, I…."
The creatures attacked and they broke apart to defend one another. "Can you make them out now?" she asked slicing through a pair of demonic looking creatures.
"Yeah. Let's do this." He replied swinging his chain and sickle.
Working together they managed to defeat the cave people and escape the hellish cave their bond stronger than ever having used the soul link jutsu. Soon after Takuma learned of their new bond and became angry sending the amber eyed shinobi on dangerous solo missions and conducting more sadistic experiments on the amethyst eyed girl. He watched the young shinobi attack the mad scientist during one such incident and his subsequent lock up.
"Akira." Onchou whispered as she knelt in front of the cell where he was kept touching his hands through the iron bars. "I'm so sorry."
"It's not your fault." The boy replied squeezing her hands. "Let's run away."
The violet haired girl's eyes widened. "Are you sure?"
Akira nodded. "Yes. We'll run with Ryuu and never look back."
"What about finding your sister?" she asked.
"I heard about her on my last mission." He replied. "Besides, I can't stand the thought of you being here with that monster any longer. Please."
"Alright." She agreed. "We'll do it."
That night she awoke to the sound of the song of death playing in the lab and panicked as she realized it was near Akira. She sprinted barefoot to the dungeon ignoring the pain as she cut her feet on the stones tears running down her face as she heard his soul cry out to hers. She burst through the door just as the two Dolls standing over him moved away. Power exploded from her electrifying the creatures and destroying the cell door and she staggered inside gathering the boy into her arms as she frantically tried to heal his wounds her body shaking as she realized she was too late.
"No. No!" she cried. "Don't leave me!"
"Onchou." Akira rasped. "It's ok. I'm glad you're safe."
"Shut up!" she screamed. "Nothing about this is ok! Akira!" she sobbed.
"Onchou. Live on." He murmured. "Don't give up. You'll get out of this place and finally find the place you belong. A place with someone who can really protect you."
"Please." She whimpered. "Please don't leave me."
"I'm sorry." He murmured before his soul song left his body and he went still.
"No…" she whimpered laying her forehead on his.
Gaara watched the scene in front of him his head bowed. He had grown to respect the boy as he'd watched them and seeing how much pain Onchou was in from losing him made his heart ache. When she finally raised her head, he noticed the light in her eyes was gone and her demeanor became much darker, like her soul had withered.
The following years remained gloomy as she became consumed by her own darkness. She did as she was told killing anyone she was asked to. He was surprised when he'd seen her standing in the tree tops near a village near the land of rivers searching for her assassination target. He recognized it at once as one of the villages he'd passed through frequently just before the Fourth Great Ninja War as he'd helped prepare his nation for war. Her eyes widened as his former self had passed by his face and hair hidden by the hat he wore during his official duties. She then smiled and closed her eyes and he heard a song in the air that felt familiar.
"That man's song." She murmured. "It reminds me of Akira's and my own." She smiled. "Perhaps there's hope for this killing machine after all."
He was shocked at how quickly her demeanor had changed back to what it had been during her time with Akira. She was more affectionate with Ryuu and her determination to escape her mad scientist captor and look for her estranged father returned. The Fourth Great Ninja War began and she watched from a distance with Ryuu waiting patiently until a stray shot flew from the battlefield striking Takuma. They ran and didn't look back and she knelt before the silver haired child and swore to protect him forever. He watched as they traveled alone and then with Fifield and his band helping those they could on their way until the beasts began to pop up and they left their musician companions out of a desire to protect them. He watched her first encounter with the leaf Shinobi smiling at how quickly his blonde friend had befriended her as well. He watched as she fought with the black water inside of her left by Takuma's experiments. How she'd left the leaf shinobi in the inn to try to protect them as she forced a wave of tainted chakra from her system before passing out. He was shocked to find that his life being in danger had been what had dragged her from her comatose state and how desperate she'd been to protect him despite not knowing who he was.
"You really don't care about my title, or my power." He murmured as he watched her interact with him and the other shinobi. Feeling her genuine love and care for them and himself grow. "You care about my soul and wellbeing as a whole." He watched as she cried over her fear of him learning of her dark past and her desire to be by his side to support, protect, and care for him. "Onchou." He murmured. "I know how you feel." He murmured. His eyes widening as he watched her use all of her power to save him from the black water. Realizing that they were nearing the present, he looked down at the little girl still holding onto his hand.
"The jutsu is nearly complete." The girl replied. "I will take you to the rest of Onchou now."
He nodded and the girl pulled him away from the scene playing where she confessed that she wouldn't mind if he hated her as long as he lived and into the white void where he'd started. The sand wielder glanced around the mostly empty space and soon sensed two more people.
"There they are." The little Onchou said pointing to something to the right of them. He turned and was shocked to see himself as a small child without the red mark on his forehead dressed in white standing in front of him. The child's hand was wrapped around Onchou's who was dressed in a simple white dress similar in style to the one her smaller version was wearing.
Her eyes met his and quickly filled with tears. "Gaara." She murmured. "Please forgive me for doing this to you." She said softly. "It was the only think I could think of to save you. You've seen everything I've done during the course of my life. I don't blame you at all for hating me. If you'd like, once we leave this place, I'll leave and you'll never hear from me again." She said her body trembling slightly "But before that…" she quickly crossed the distance between them and dropped the hand of the younger version of himself and threw her arms around his neck hugging him tightly. "I am so sorry you suffered for so long all alone." She said against his shoulder as tears slid down her cheeks. "You didn't deserve any of the terrible things that happened to you. I wish more than anything that I could've been by your side."
His eyes widened and he leaned back a little lifting his hand to touch her cheek feeling the wetness there. "Tears." He murmured. "Tears for me?"
"Of course they're for you." She replied her voice shaking.
"You don't hate me?" he replied. "Even after seeing everything I've done? The bloodthirsty child I once was doesn't scare you?"
"Of course not." She replied. "I felt that way once too. I wanted nothing more than to hug that younger you him that he was loved."
His own body shook as he dropped the hand of her little doppelganger and wrapped his own arms around her holding her close as his own eyes filled with tears. "Onchou." He murmured. "I feel the same way about you." He said softly. "All of those awful things you suffered alone make my heart ache." He pressed her tighter to closing the distance she'd left between their bodies. "I don't hate you. When I saw what happened in The Land of Pearls and I understood exactly how you felt. I wanted to hold you when you were by yourself on that beach and tell you that you weren't alone."
Her eyes widened and she pulled back to look at him wiping the tears from his face. "Are those for me as well?" she murmured.
"They are." He replied softly.
She smiled a little, her eyes still teary and leaned her forehead against his. "Gaara." She murmured. "You have no idea how happy that makes me."
"I think I do." He replied lifting a hand to touch her cheek. Her hand lifted to cover his and she closed her eyes.
"Are you ready to return to the others?" she asked. "I'm sure they're worried about us."
"What do you mean by return?" he asked.
"Right, you don't know." She said straightening slightly. "We're in a place created by the jutsu I used to save your life. It's the space where our two souls are bound and where the exchange of information, and power take place." She explained.
"Are you saying you used the Soul Link jutsu on me?" he asked.
She nodded. "I'm sorry. It was the only way I could save you." She replied. "I was able to transfer my chakra to you and repair your chakra network by giving you some of my network's flexibility."
"I see." He said softly. "Thank you for saving me. In exchange, I promise to protect you forever. You will never be alone again."
She smiled. "I promise to protect you too. I'll be by your side forever if you'll have me." She murmured.
He smiled and touched his lips lightly to her forehead making her blush. "We should return." He said softly.
The violet haired girl nodded. "Yes." She said softly as her eyes closed.
His own eyes closed and when he opened them again, he found himself lying on his back staring up at the forest green canvas of the tent above him.