White Moon Reminiscence

Surprisingly, Gaara did not execute Boruto on the spot for claiming that he'd had an affair with a married woman.

His teal eyes simply watched the blond like a hawk.

So Boruto screwed up his remaining courage to launch into a summary of his research on the Rokudaime Kazekage.

It went thus:

Gaara was not human, but a demon born in the desert who had been blessed by the Ichibi.

While Gaara was still young, a powerful witch came to Suna.

And she was able to enthrall his soul with her magic, transforming his demonic vessel into one of mortal flesh, all while making him her slave.

He was under her spell as a loyal servant even when she abandoned him not long after.

Since then, the citizens still regarded Gaara with much fear, awaiting the day the witch's magic would wear off and he would return to his demonic form.

It never happened, and both Gaara and the witch slowly became a local legend.

.

.

Gaara chuckled darkly, and Boruto went silent immediately, afraid for his life again.

But he wasn't in any danger. Actually, it was the opposite.

"You've sparked my interest. Continue."

"R-really? I-I mean, sure! Okay, so where was I, -ttebane?"

The older man's smile was too disconcerting.

Matsuri's expression was completely blank, and she'd remained unflinchingly quiet after her spirited entreaty to the Kazekage.

Inside, Boruto was quaking.

The whole "demon transforming into a human" thing wasn't true, was it?

Because if it was...

If that part was true, then there was a high chance that everything else he'd learned about Gaara was also true.

And Boruto didn't know how he was supposed to react.

.

.

Years later, still unable to forget the witch, Gaara crossed paths with a woman while he was still a diplomat and not yet a Kage.

This woman was Hatake Sakura, or 'Haruno Sakura' as she was listed in the Memorial Stone.

Gaara met Sakura for the first time in Konoha.

She was married to Hatake Kakashi, and they had a son.

What was incredible was that Sakura greatly resembled the mysterious witch that the Kazekage had met in his hazy childhood.

Not long afterwards they began a passionate affair, despite Kakashi's loyalty to the woman he married. Their family was broken, with their son Sakumo holding a grudge against his mother for abandoning her family.

As for Gaara...

Not only was he forcing Sakura to bear a love that she did not understand, he could not accept that she was married to another.

So the spell keeping him human was shattered, and he transformed back into a demon.

And then he murdered Sakura in cold blood, in her own apartment.

.

.

"Stop it, Uzumaki-san!"

Matsuri's angry voice cut through the air like a finely honed blade.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but I will not stand by as you slander Gaara-sama!"

This time, Boruto was cowering from Matsuri's accusing stare.

"N-no! I'm not pissing on anybody's shoes here, it's all just conjecture, -ttebane! I only had limited sources of information, so I had to put it all together somehow! That's another reason why I wanted to talk to the Kazekage directly!"

How else was he supposed to interpret the report written by Gaara's own hand? The one that clearly stated that he himself had killed Sakura?

Matsuri ripped her gaze away from those apologetic blue eyes and bowed low to her master.

"Gaara-sama... give me the order, and I shall show this rude Konoha ninja out of the mansion immediately."

For a while, the Kage did not speak.

His head was hung low and in silence, as if remembering something from his own past.

Watching him, Boruto thought it was safe to accept the older man's behavior as one of admission to his own guilt.

It all made sense, in a twisted way.

That nameless witch of Suna legend was definitely Gaara's first and only love. So it was logical to assume for Boruto, based on what little information he collected, that Gaara was ecstatic when he saw Sakura for the first time. Sakura, a Konoha iryo-nin whose face, hair and eyes matched those of the sand witch's perfectly.

Boruto cleared his throat.

"I don't have all the details. I don't really know anything at all, -ttebane. But the one thing I am one hundred percent sure of is that you really, really loved her, Kazekage-sama. So will you please, listen to my request to hear the whole story?"

Also, how a man shows his affections for a woman who happened to resemble his first and only love was none of the blond's business.

Boruto only wanted to hear the truth, and nothing more.

The Rokudaime suddenly slammed his fist onto the coffee table.

"...You think... that you can understand my love?! ...You, an outsider?!"

Gaara was visibly becoming very disturbed and manic. His eyes were glowing with desperation.

Boruto faced him head on.

"I'm not qualified to understand anything! But I don't have any authority to deny it, either! So please, tell me the truth behind the events of twenty years ago!"

To the blond's utter shock, "The Crazed Sand Demon" of Sunagakure broke down into tears.

"...S-Sakura... Sakura, please forgive me... Sakura, Sakura...!"

Apparently, the redhead's mood was as fickle as the autumn sky, being able to switch from anger to depression under a second. Boruto never knew how to deal with crying girls, and crying males were a completely different situation altogether.

Matsuri herself was standing stiffly off to the side, helpless as well.

All they could do was watch and listen to the Kazekage sob and brush away his tears in vain.

.

.

Funerals weren't for the dead. They existed so that the living could sever their ties to their dearly departed.

"You couldn't let her go, could you?"

Boruto began speaking again as more pieces to the puzzle fell into place.

"And when you killed Sakura, you didn't hold a service in her memory until yesterday, twenty years after her death. Because deep inside you couldn't allow the woman you loved more than life itself, to die. Doing so would mean your own death. And you were made the Kazekage immediately after your sister Temari, the Godaime, was assassinated so you had no choice but to lock those feelings away inside of you."

Locking those feelings in his heart had led to Gaara's "madness" in his later years.

Those stories of his bloody massacres, of offering blood to Sakura, and the title that his own people gave him which was "The Crazed Sand Demon"... everything that happened in the years afterwards was all due to the festering heartbreak Gaara could not show on the outside.

The redhead was still crying.

"Sakura... Sakura! Why?! Why did you leave me twice?! Your beautiful hair, your beautiful eyes, your kindness... why did you leave me twice?! I miss you so, so much! Please show me your smile, just one more time...! Sakura!"

By now, Gaara wasn't even trying to suppress his anguish.

He scratched at his own face until he drew blood. He threw his head back and howled towards the ceiling.

And he screamed Sakura's name, over and over...

"Gaara-sama..."

Matsuri's voice carried over her lord's cries. It was amazingly strong and firm.

She appeared to have come to a conclusion about something.

"Gaara-sama, please forgive my impertinence. But perhaps, since Uzumaki-san has gathered this much, it is alright to tell him the truth?"

TBC...