Title: A Demon's Tale
Author: swiftstar85
Genre: Drama/Friendship/Romance
Rating: T for some strong language, violence, suggestive material, and crude humor.

~Chapter Twenty-Two~

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, though I wouldn't mind if I did.

Both of the two Sand brothers tensed up immediately and almost snapped into a defensive stance. But to their surprise, there came a light crash right next to them, tearing their eyes back towards Yukimaru, who had swooped down to quickly start picking up the flowers from the box that had fell from the table. "Oh! Guren! You have startled me!" Yukimaru said, sounding a little sheepish. "Look, you made me knock over my flowers. I do hope that they haven't been damaged." He made a quick glance up at Gaara, catching his eye before looking back down at the fallen flowers.

Gaara caught on immediately and swooped down to help Yukimaru to picking up the flowers. He ignored Kankuro though as he continued to stand tense right beside him. Only a brief glance towards the door, he spied Sen on the floor, wincing as she rubbed her jaw where she seemed to have been smacked. She was shooting Guren a very nasty look before she made a very rude sign behind her back. It didn't seem to be noticed by the angry Kunoichi at all though.

Guren just glared at Gaara and Kankuro, her fingers inching towards her kunai pouch. She was looking highly agitated. "What the hell is going on here? Who the hell are you and what are you doing to Yukimaru?" She demanded.

Quickly, Yukimaru began waving his hands and looking very sheepishly at her. "No, no, no! Guren, it's all right! I was trying to bring the flowers into this room and I needed assistance by opening the door because my hands were full. They were only helping me! They are only patrons of the Onsen and they were trying to be helpful! There is no need for any violence against them! Please, do not be angry at them! If you must be angry, be angry at me! I asked for their help!"

For a moment, Guren continued to glare before the intensity of the glare died down. She dropped her hand completely away from her pouch and she stepped into the room. "Is that so? Well, we don't need your help any more, losers! Get out and stay away from us!" She snapped viciously.

Gaara merely glared right back at her for talking to him and Kankuro like that but he felt Yukimaru's hand brush against his, almost giving him a sign to do as she said. So he stood up, dumping a few flowers back into the box that had fallen out before brushing himself off. He had to grab Kankuro's arm and had to give him a sharp tug to follow him, due to the Puppeteer didn't want to move. He ignored the look he had gotten from it.

"Wait." Yukimaru called, standing up and moving after them. He ignored the sharp hiss he got from Guren as he held out a hand towards Gaara, smiling. "Thank you for trying to help me. Accept this flower as a thank you gift. I appreciate your kindness." He said softly.

Gaara turned back to him and eyed the white camellia in Yukimaru's hand. It was almost closed though, not in full bloom. But he nodded politely and took it from the young man. "Thank you. And I apologize if I got you into trouble." He told him, glancing over at Guren before he and Kankuro backed out of the room, still looking at Yukimaru. He did his best to keeping a distance away from the woman, not wanting to be too close to her at all.

As soon as they were out of the room, Gaara was pulling Kankuro after him, heading straight back towards their room, with Sen quickly tailing after them.

"What the hell was that about? And would you let go of my sleeve?" Kankuro hissed quietly to Gaara.

Gaara shook his head as he clutched the flower in his hand, glancing over his shoulder at Sen as they disappeared out of the hall where Yukimaru was now getting a loud lecture from Guren. "No." He merely grunted at Kankuro.

When they got back to the room and were safely inside, Kankuro almost opened his mouth to start demanding what the hell just happened. But Gaara shushed him with a hiss as he turned his attention onto the flower, pulling the petals back to reveal a quickly scrawled note.

It read: Please Leave.

"Well, that's very nice." Sen muttered a little sarcastic as she folded her arms across her chest. Then she reached up and rubbed her face where it was still a little red from getting smacked by Guren. "Ow. That bitch. I am so going to kick her ass for this."

Kankuro grinned while Gaara rolled his eyes and tossed the flower to the side. He had to think on all of this. "This still presents us a problem. We still do not know where the Third Tail Turtle is and Yukimaru will not tell us. We may have to attempt to follow him to find its location. But one thing is for sure," He paused looking directly at Kankuro. "It's going to be very difficult speaking to it. If it has been in the wild for so long, it may be almost impossible." He turned his head away, reaching out to Shukaku. 'Shukaku.'

The only answer he got was a sleepy grunt.

Gaara would have been stunned to realize that the damn demon was actually sleeping. But instead, he mentally prodded the Tanuki until he received a snarl from him. 'Shukaku, have you been sleeping all this time? Did you not hear what just happened?' He asked irritated.

'Yaaaaawwwwn! Yes, I was sleeping! You never allow me out so what else am I suppose to do? And no, I did hear what just happened. I hear everything that you do, and sometimes it's really annoying!' Shukaku growled. 'The boy might be right about not being able to communicate with Sanbi but I can guarantee you, if anyone is going to be able to talk to him, it'll have to be me. If we can get Sanbi to use some of his chakra and I can connect mine with his, we'll be able to speak to him. Wild or not.'

"Just like what we did with Naruto." Gaara said, not even realizing that he spoke out loud.

Kankuro understood exactly what he was talking about, at a certain extent. He knew that Gaara was speaking to Shukaku. He was used to him drifting off like that. But Sen, however, frowned, crinkling her nose and stared at him with confusion. "Huh?" She asked, almost stupidly.

Gaara didn't pay too much attention to her but continued to speak to Shukaku while Kankuro leaned towards her. "He's just talking to Shukaku. He tends to do that sometimes." He explained to her.

"So...he's talking to himself?" Sen asked, raising eyebrow.

Kankuro shook his head as he smirked at her. "No. Not quite. Shukaku and Gaara may share the same body but they both have their different personalities. They're own minds. They always talk to one another. Sometimes Gaara hates talking to Shukaku but he does it because it's necessary. Especially when it deals with the other tailed beasts. Shukaku is the only Tailed Beast that we can actually talk to without him trying to rip us apart." He told her.

Sen tilted her head, looking curious before shrugging. "Okay. I always thought that the Bijuu were so violent that it was almost impossible to work with them. I've always heard horrible stories about them." She said, biting her lip.

"Heh! True stories, Sen! Believe me! Shukaku used to try and kill anyone that came near Gaara, or even tried to harm him, himself. But Gaara's got him on a tight leash now. He's nothing more than a dog on a...OW!" Kankuro yelped when sand lashed out and smashed against his head. The impact nearly sent the Puppeteer crashing to the floor if Sen had not lashed out and caught his arm. "Gaara!"

"That was not me, Kankuro. You know better than to insult Shukaku when I'm around." Gaara said dryly. He then looked at Sen, shaking his head. "Shukaku and I have made a deal years ago that if he ever harmed anyone close to me, to extreme measures, I would punish him by destroying myself. I die, he dies. We have become rather close over the past few years. But he still finds time to smack Kankuro when he says something stupid."

Sen was nearly shaking a little from laughter. She was really trying not to laugh but it was extremely hard as she helped Kankuro back to his feet, who was rubbing his head vigorously and glaring at Gaara. "I'll try to remember that. I don't think I want to get smacked because I said something wrong." She said, laughing softly.

"Man, I hate Shukaku. That hurt." Kankuro grumbled before dropping his hand. "So what did he say?"

Gaara shook his head as he folded his arms and looked thoughtfully away from his brother. "Shukaku said it would be best if I connected his Chakra with Sanbi's. It's just like what happened with Naruto when he was helping Grandmother Chiyo revive me. When Shukaku's Chakra mixed with the Kyuubi's, we were able to communicate. He believes that if he talks with Sanbi, the Third Tail may listen. The only downside, he may try and attack us. According to Shukaku, they don't get along very well. None of the Tailed Bijuu do." He informed his brother.

Kankuro folded his arms and pinched his brows in thought. "So, how in the hell are we going to find him? That Yukimaru kid won't tell us. He wants us to leave it alone." He grumbled.

Again, Sen bite her lip before she began to pull at her neckline and brought out the silver pendant with the black diamond. "I think I have an idea. It's a little risky but it might be all we have. I can talk to Okami and see if he will send out one of his wolves to tail Yukimaru and Guren. The wolf can track them to where the Third Tail is at and then return to tell us." She told them.

For a moment, Gaara and Kankuro looked at one another, thinking about it. They figured it was worth a shot. So the young Kazekage nodded, looking over at Sen. "Agreed. How long before we will have any answers?" He asked, quietly.

"It might take some time. We don't know if Yukimaru will go straight to the Third Tail or not. I don't really know what he does when he's not here. The wolf can follow him though without looking so conspicuous. Wolves are not very common in these areas but they have been seen before." Sen explained. "The Land of Hot Water don't have problems with them so they don't do anything about them. Okami's wolf can blend in very well."

"Then we will try it." Gaara said completely.

Sen smiled before holding the metal up to her lips and closing her eyes. She stood there for a moment, looking like she was concentrating hard on something before a light breeze began to blow around her, surprising the two Sand brothers. The breeze picked up, swirling all around her and causing her bangs to swish all around her face.

Suddenly a cloud of smoke nearly exploded right beside Sen, causing the two Sand Ninja to tense up. Especially on how big the thing was that emerged from the cloud. It was a steel gray wolf that suddenly appeared right next to Sen. It, however, was almost shoulder high to her, a little bigger than Kiba's dog, Akamaru as. The wolf's paws were no doubt bigger than Kankuro's hands. It's icy white eyes sharply went straight to the two it began growling, as if sensing a threat.

In return, Gaara heard Shukaku starting to growl right back, now starting to vibrate right out of his chest.

"Hey!" Sen immediately said, frowning as she clapped a hand onto the wolf's neck and began massaging it to get its attention. "Stop it. They're not a threat. They're friends." The wolf, however, did not stop growling as it eyed Gaara. It's lips even curled back to reveal his fangs and it only caused the vibrating to rise in Gaara's chest. "He senses a threat in you, Gaara."

"Shukaku, stop it." Gaara said, looking off to the side. His only reply from the demon was another growl before it slowly stopped.

The wolf did not stop growling until Sen grabbed a fist full of its fur and gave a light tug. "Hey! Knock it off or you're going to be answering to Okami." She told it sternly. The wolf shot her a look but it's growls died down. She looked back at Gaara, looking apologetic. "I'm sorry. He must sense your demon. Okami's wolves are highly sensitive to stuff like that. And they're extremely overprotective for me. I've been considered a part of their wolf pack because of my family's connection to Okami."

Gaara merely nodded as he looked directly into the glare of the wolf. "I understand." He nodded to the wolf. "We will not harm her, if you can understand me." He told her.

The wolf gave a low growl but stopped it as Sen gave it a very impatient look. It sank down on its hindquarters and turned its icy gaze onto her. After a minute of giving it a very stern look, Sen softened and began running her fingers through its coarse fur, almost soothingly. "Siri, I need you to tail someone. The boy, Yukimaru. Don't let him or Guren notice you. We're trying to find the Third Tail Bijuu, Sanbi. Now, I know how you and the others feel about the Bijuu but it's very necessary that we locate it. You understand, right?" She asked it.

The wolf named Siri gave a light growl before it lashed out a tongue and licked her chin, causing her to laugh. Even Gaara's mouth had to quirk up a little, as well as Kankuro's. It was almost kind of cute by watching this strange sense of compassion from such a dangerous animal like this.

"Good. Thank you, Siri. As soon as you find its location, come tell me." Sen told it, giving it a scratch between the ears. The wolf growled again before seeming to explode in dark smoke. It was almost like it just teleported itself right out of the room.

"Well, that was some big dog you had there. Reminds me of Akamaru." Kankuro said, sharing a glance with Gaara.

Sen merely smiled and shook her head as she tucked her pendant back into her kimono. "Believe it or not, but there's a big difference between dogs and wolves, Kankuro. Dogs are extremely friend and can be trained to be man's best friend. Wolves can't. They are extremely stubborn that way. They choose who they want to be best friends with and who not to be. Especially Okami's wolf pack. They don't listen very well to anyone but me. They don't even listen to Chiro and it irritates him." She told them.

Gaara just shook his head as he thought about it. "How long do you think it will take for him to find the Third Tail?" He asked, frowning.

Sen shrugged. "Like I said before, it varies on Yukimaru. The only thing you can do right now is try and relax. I know it's going to be a little hard but just try. I know..." She paused for a second, biting her lip. "I know that Rin...Rin has been wanting to talk to you, Gaara. Probably about your life in Konoha. And maybe about Kakashi."

The young Kazekage looked right at her with a frown but he found himself agreeing. He kind of wanted to talk to Rin about a few things, himself. There was so much she could tell him that he had been questioning for nearly four years. Everything always dealing with Kakashi. He knew the Copy Ninja very well but he didn't actually KNOW him. He had a feeling that this was his chance to actually get to know his friend and comrade.

"I would very much like to speak to Rin, myself." Gaara finally said after a moment as he met Sen's eyes. "Would you let her know that? In the mean time, I think I would like to think on our situation."

Sen just merely nodded before she looked at Kankuro. "Hey, Kankuro. I get off work in a little while. Wanna hang out?" She asked, smiling.

A wide grin spread out on Kankuro's face and he bobbed his head up and down. "Oh, yeah! Definitely!" He said brightly, earning an equally bright smile from the young Shadoai right in front of him.

Gaara wanted nothing more than to just roll his eyes but in truth, he started thinking about Sakura. It had only been a few days since they left Konoha on this self given mission and he was already starting to really miss her. It made his heart clench only a little as he looked away towards a window, spotting a tree full of cherry blossoms. The petals of the flowers reminded him of Sakura's hair and it was starting to make him feel a little worst. He could not wait till they got this entire thing with the Third Tail over with so that they could go back to Konoha. He couldn't wait to see Sakura again. Or Naruto for that matter. He just prayed that his former student, Quoi was behaving for Iruka. It made him sweat drop to even think about it. 'Quoi, you better be good.' He grumbled to himself.

'Quit thinking about the kid, Gaara. He'll be fine. If Iruka could deal with Naruto for thirteen years, he can deal with Quoi.' Shukaku grumbled within his head. 'Besides, I want to think about Sakura again! I can't wait till you just get it over with and finally mate...'

"SHUKAKU!" Gaara snapped, without meaning to say it out loud.

Both Kankuro and Sen looked at him with wide eyes before the Puppet Master snorted, already guessing that the Sand Tanuki was opening his big mouth again. He just nudged Sen's arm as she stared in shock at Gaara. "Don't worry about him. He does that sometimes too." He said chuckling.

A few hours passed and Gaara was left alone in the room. Kankuro and Sen had taken off to hang out, though it was more like a dessert for his older brother. He knew very well that Kankuro's interest in Sen was just building up more and more, especially when she had showed up at their room actually dressed like a Shinobi. Gaara wasn't too surprised though. Even he had to admit that Sen was pretty cute and she seemed very outgoing. She seemed all right, herself. So if Kankuro did find some way to catch her attention, he would give his older brother his blessing.

Temari, on the other hand...Gaara almost shuddered to think that his older sister might turn into the overbearing older sister and start demanding questions of Sen. She was like that.

Gaara's head came up when he felt a presence approaching his door and he didn't need to tense up for anything because he knew who it was. So he wasn't surprised when he used his sand to float over to the door and slide it open to reveal Rin getting ready to knock on it. She looked surprised though.

"Oh!" Rin said before smiling and nodding politely to him. "Hello, Gaara. I guess you must have sensed me coming." She shrugged when he dipped his head into a nod before she folded her arms across her chest. She was wearing her lavender Shinobi outfit again while her long brown hair was pulled up into a high ponytail. "Gaara, I'm just about to go on a walk outside the Onsen. Would you like to join me?"

Nodding, Gaara was already moving towards the door and joined her out in the hall. They did not speak for a little until they left the Onsen from the front lobby. Nor did they speak for a little while as they went down a somewhat dry path.

After a little while, Rin turned her attention onto Gaara, folding her arms behind her back. She caught his eyes for a moment before looking forward again. "Well, I guess we should start up a conversation. And surely you must have some questions for me. But first, I'd like to ask you one. What's Kakashi like nowadays? Is he still ANBU?"

Gaara merely glanced at her, somewhat surprised before making it vanish. He should have known that Kakashi might have been ANBU once. He did have quite the skills and he did have quite the name he lived up to. So he shook his head. "I never knew that he was ANBU. He never mentioned it to me and my squad mates. He didn't mention a lot to us, actually." He told her before going on to telling about how he first met Kakashi and about how they became a team.

It took a little while to tell her about his life being on Team Kakashi. He even explained to her about Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke and even Kakashi. He told her pretty everything of what he had been through with the Copy Sharingan Ninja. He even started to tell her about what happened while fighting the Akatsuki and Kakashi fighting alongside with Naruto to rescue his body from Deidara of the Akatsuki. He knew he might have mentioned that the night before though but Rin never interrupted but listened in content. She seemed very polite that way.

Finally, he finished by telling her that Team Kakashi ended up changing a little while he had still been recuperating in the hospital while he and the others went out on the mission to retrieve Sasuke.

And for a moment, Rin didn't say anything but stare off at the path they were walking on before they found a tree to sit under. She looked so thoughtful once Gaara had finished. But after a moment, she leaned back onto her palms and looked up into the somewhat sunny and cloudy sky. "I'm not surprised that Kakashi didn't tell you anything, Gaara. He never did like talking about himself. I always guess that he just didn't people to get close to him because he always felt that he would lose them someday in our world." She told him softly.

"Like his best friend?" Gaara asked quietly as he leaned against the tree and watched some of his sand swirl in his hand.

Rin merely nodded. "Yes. Maybe it was Obito that made him drift off from other people. I think that was why he became ANBU because he didn't have to deal with very many people who shared their life stories. He even drifted away from me a little but whenever I really needed him, he would show right back up and always be there to hold my hand when I needed someone to."

"Can I ask what happened? To Obito?"

There was a light shrug from Rin as she brought one knee close to her body and she rest her chin on top of it. She had a sad look in her eyes and Gaara grimaced to think that he might have brought something out that he shouldn't. But she didn't seem to hesitate at all. "When we were kids," She began quietly. "Kakashi was already the star student of the Ninja Academy. He was a brilliant ninja. The youngest Shinobi to ever pass from the Academy and become a Genin. He was six years old when he graduated from the Academy. His teacher was the Fourth Hokage, himself." She smiled a little when she saw Gaara's face light up in surprise. "Hm. He didn't tell you that either, I'm guessing. He was very young but the most skilled Shinobi of the Generation, maybe even a century. Everyone always looked up to him to be the face of Konohagakure. I heard that he had been so excited when he graduated from the Academy. I had heard that he had once been so enthusiastic about being Shinobi. This was before I even met Kakashi."

Gaara only nodded still watching her carefully.

"But it all changed for him. You probably know him as a very serious Shinobi, don't you?" Rin asked, nodding when the young Kazekage did. "He wasn't always like that, from what I've heard. When I first met Kakashi, he wasn't excited about anything. He was so serious and so...he was too grown up for a kid of ten years old when I met him. I later found out..." She hesitated, now resting her head in her arms on her knee. "He lost his child like excitement the day he graduated from the Academy."He became so serious because the day he graduated was the day his father, Sakumo Hatake, took his very own life."

Again, Gaara was surprised and horrified at the same time to be hearing this. He had not been expecting this at all. "Kakashi's father killed himself? Why?" He asked, frowning.

Rin shook her head, not looking at him. "There was this big mission that the White Fang of Konoha went on. It was against enemy ninja of the Fire Country, before the Great Shinobi war. Enemy ninja kidnapped the Country's Lord's daughter and Sakumo was to lead a squad to rescue her." She looked even more sad to think about it. "Something went wrong. His entire squad, his friends were captured and he had to make a choice. Save his friends or save the Lord's daughter. He made his choice." She turned her head and looked right at Gaara. "He chose to save his friends and for it, the Lord's daughter was murdered. It put Konoha Village in a very bad situation. Sakumo Hatake was disgraced by the entire village just because he chose to save his friends instead. Not wanting the disgrace to fall upon Kakashi, he took his prized Kunai and shove it into his heart, killing himself." Her eyes dimmed with a greater sadness. "Kakashi saw it all happen. And it scarred him for a very long time.

"Anyway, for a very long time, Kakashi decided to always do things by the book. He never broke rules, he scolded other kids badly for whenever they did. He did not have friends whatsoever for a very long time." Rin continued. "And then Obito and I were assigned to his squad after we graduated. Kakashi was a year older than we were but it took us a little longer to even graduating. He wasn't happy at first because Obito was so loud and obnoxious." She began to laugh. "He was always so enthusiastic and I guess your friend, Naruto is the same as he was. As for me," She smiled softly, looking down at the grass under them. "I had a crush on Kakashi."

'This sounds familiar.' Shukaku snickered but he was ignored.

"I always knew about Kakashi's youth legacy, about how he was the most brilliant child Shinobi in history. I always admired him but I never got to meet him until I was assigned to Team Seven, which we always called Team Minato." Rin said smiling.

"Team Minato?" Gaara asked curiously.

Rin smiled at him and nodded. "Minato Namikaze. That was the Fourth Hokage's name. Not very many people of your age would know his actual name because no one really used it. He was always called Konoha's Yellow Flash or just the Fourth Hokage." She shrugged lightly. "Anyway, we were Team Minato for a few years and then the Great Shinobi War got out of hand. The Countries were at each other's throats and there was so much bloodshed all over the continent. Team Minato eventually was assigned an S class mission to destroy a bridge so that the Iwagakure's Rock Ninja were planning on crossing so they could invade the Country of Fire. If they would have crossed the bridge and invaded us, thousands of people would have died. Well," She looked saddened again. "Well, a lot of things happened. Obito and Kakashi never really got a long very well but this mission tearing them further apart. They hated each other. They would always bicker and fight and because I kept siding with Kakashi because of my crush on him, I started losing my best friend. Obito was always there for me. In the Academy, on the team. He was always there, watching my back and being my best friend.

"But then things really got bad somewhere else and Minato-senpai ended up having to leave Kakashi in charge of the team because he was needed somewhere else. We were to go on and finish our mission by destroying the bridge." Rin stopped for a long moment, her face falling into a look of despair. "I was the medic of our team, so I wasn't very good at fighting. It was always up to Kakashi, Obito and Minato-senpai to protect me. I was the weakest of the team. So when we were ambushed by two Rock Ninja, who caused a nasty rock slide, I was captured by them and taken."

Gaara just stared at her in silence. This was sort of reminding him about Sakura. She had always thought she was the weakest of Team Seven and she depended on all of the guys to protect her until she learned how to become one of the strongest Kunoichi of the entire village. He always knew that she was strong though. But for Rin, it must have been very hard.

"Anyway," Rin continued. "Obito and Kakashi had a choice to make. Continue on with the mission and destroy the bridge, and save thousands of lives. Or come after the Rock Ninja and rescue me, risking all of those thousand lives." She shook her head. "In truth, for Kakashi, it was his father all over again. He was being forced to walk in his father's footsteps. He chose to destroy the bridge and leave me to die." She merely smiled when Gaara frowned. "Obito was furious but he refused to leave me to die. I was told that Kakashi told him that he was stupid and it was stupid to come after a weakling like me. And I was told that Obito beat up Kakashi for it." She said laughing a little. "He told Kakashi that when one breaks the rules, they are scum. But..."

"When one breaks the rules, they are scum. But when one abandons their friends and team mates, they are lower than scum." Gaara finished with a light smile. He remembered exactly when Kakashi first told them that. "Kakashi used to tell us that all of the time."

Rin just smiled, her eyes looking slightly glaze over. "Obito taught him that. It was the greatest thing he really said, actually. Other than his last words to me. The greatest thing he ever said to me was that he had loved me since the beginning of our friendship." She told Gaara.

Gaara's face fell a little to hear that. He was already starting to get the picture that this Obito had died during that mission.

And as if Rin heard his own thoughts, she nodded. "Obito was killed saving mine and Kakashi's life when the cave I was being kept in collapsed because of the Rock Ninja. That happened hours after he told Kakashi those words though. Obito had left Kakashi just sitting there at the bridge we were suppose to destroy to come save me. And some time after, Kakashi made his decision to join him. We would destroy the bridge after I was rescued. I was only kidnapped because the Rock Ninja knew that I was rather close to Minato-senpai and they were going to use me to distract him during the war. He would have done anything to keep me, Obito and Kakashi safe. But at the time, he wasn't around. And I knew that Minato-senpai felt so guilty after what happened.

"Kakashi and Obito came to save me and for it, Kakashi lost his left eye during a fight with the Rock Ninja. He had been savagely injured but he still managed to kill the Rock Ninja that nearly killed Obito, and together, they came after me." Rin told Gaara with a shrug. "The remaining Rock Ninja was going to kill me but the guys showed up and killed him before he could. His last thing to do was to cause the cave to collapse. Kakashi and I were nearly crushed but Obito shoved us out of the way in time and that's what killed him. He died telling me that he loved me and that he wanted me to transplant his Sharingan eye into Kakashi's lost one as a gift to his best friend."

"Sharingan? You mean..." Gaara was saying frowning.

Rin nodded with a sad smile. "Obito Uchiha. I believe he was...your Sasuke Uchiha's cousin at one time. He died a great hero, Gaara. He died saving our lives and it nearly killed us. To have lost Obito, it nearly ripped us apart. He made Kakashi swear to protect me though. And he did for a couple of years until the Nine Tailed Fox went out of control and started destroying Konoha." She sighed softly. "I...I was so hurt throughout those few years. I blamed myself for what happened to Obito. If I had not been so weak and had been paying attention to my surroundings, I wouldn't have gotten captured and he would have still be alive." Tears began to trickle down her cheeks as she rest her chin on her knee. "It was my fault that Obito was killed in battle. Kakashi wouldn't hear anything of it though. He never blamed me. He blamed himself for being mean to me and causing me to feel so weak. But it was after Minato-senpai sealed the Nine Tailed Fox into his own son that I decided that I would..." Her eyes snapped wide open and she slapped a hand over her mouth looking horrified.

But the damage had been done. And Gaara had heard it. His eyes snapping very wide, he looked directly at Rin, stunned. "What?" He cried out in alarm.