Chapter 51: The Three Siblings.
Arc: Against Foreign Powers

Disclaimer:
I do NOT own Naruto. Naruto is the work of Masashi Kishimoto, please support the original work.

He could still remember it. Those fearful eyes, watching as if he was a terrifying hunter and they were pitiful prey. Those looks… he just wanted them to look at him with kindness, but the old saying was true.

The more you expect, the more you are disappointed.

Therefore, he stopped caring.

As soon as he did, he felt as if the stuffy feeling in his heart had disappeared, yet an unknown dull ache replaced it. He didn't know what it was, so he ignored it, but seeing them again, and remembering how they tried to steal away his light, he couldn't help but feel pangs of pain in his heart, even though his face remained as impassive as always.

With cold, pale blue-green eyes, he stared at Naruto, who was standing behind his two siblings, and asked, his voice rough and rigid.

"Uzumaki, what is…?"

However, before he could even finish his words, his vision was blocked by two warm bodies, who embraced him like he was their lost treasure. Gaara stood there, unmoving like a picture with wide eyes and halted breathing.

"Gaara!"

Jolted awake by the shout, Gaara looked down at his body and got lost in thought. 'My sand armor didn't protect me, again. Did it break during my fight with the Uzumaki or something?'

"Gaara, we're sorry. We…"

Temari sobbed, looking at Gaara's impassive eyes that were as dull as a stone. She knew that her brother didn't believe her, and wouldn't believe her. She didn't blame him for it. 'If only we didn't treat you so badly before…' Thinking up on this, Temari couldn't keep the tears in her eyes as they fell to the ground, drop by drop. Inwardly, she chuckled. 'I never knew I was so emotional.'

As she had guessed, Gaara didn't believe her in the slightest. 'What's the use of apologizing? Right after I thought I was able to find a place to call home or at least a temporary one, you went in and blocked me. Why? Is it because I was the village's precious weapon that you couldn't afford to hand me to someone else?'

Gaara had so many thoughts, yet his mouth was forever shut. Even though there was a dull ache in his heart, he couldn't bear to outright say his words to his brothers and sisters. He knew they hurt him before. They cast him aside when he had no one to hold on to, so he should be just as cold to them.

But for some reason, he just can't do so. Every time he remembers Naruto's ambiguous sentence, he is filled with hope, yet at the same time afraid that the hope he feels will get crushed by them. That's why he chose to remain impassive, even if it was just a front.

Temari sighed. "Gaara… I know it's hard, but please… let me tell you what happened first. After that, you can judge whether or not to accept our apology. But please," Temari pleaded, her eyes watery and by her side, Kankuro was looking at him with a firm gaze, "Please listen to us until the very end, okay?"

Taking Gaara's lack of response as an affirmative, Temari breathed a sigh of relief and began to retell her and Kankuro's story.

[FLASHBACK]

"Mama, will I get another little brother? I want a little sister!" Inside a room full of soft pillows and carpets, three figures leisurely sat on a chair as they chattered. Two were small, one had blonde hair and the other had brown, while the third figure was an adult female with brown hair and a faint smile. "Temari, why do you want a little sister? Isn't having a little brother cute?"

"Hmph! Kankuro is always annoying me—"

"Hey! When did I annoy you?!"

"Stupid, you annoy me every time!"

One moment, they were harmonious. Next, they were cats and dogs. The woman chuckled as she watched her two children, caressing her stomach which was strangely small despite already being pregnant for 8 months.

'I wonder if my child will be alright…'

Despite her worries, she has no choice but to ignore them and hypnotize herself that it will be fine. She knew she shouldn't worry herself too much, lest she complicates her already difficult pregnancy, but she couldn't help it. She was a mother, it was impossible for her not to worry about her child.

"Ah!"

Suddenly, she felt pangs of pain in her abdomen, and water started leaking to her legs.

"Mama!"

"Mom!"

Seeing the tiny baby in the cradle, Kankuro and Temari looked at each other with sad expressions. They had been crying to bed all week, black bags had already formed under their eyes.

"Why?"

Temari asked, her voice shaking as she bit her tongue whilst her fists were clenched tightly.

"Why did he have to do it?"

They didn't know the full story, but Temari was smart. Her brother was not as smart as her, but he was plenty intelligent too, above average. So after talking to each other for several sleepless nights, they finally came to a conclusion.

Their father killed their mother.

"Temari, shh! Little baby is sleeping," Kankuro said, making a hushing gesture.

"But… I just want to know! Why did he have to do it?! What's the point?!"

Most of the time, Temari had a calm temperament, but there was a reckless side to her. Of course, no matter how reckless, she would never yell in front of a sleeping baby, but she was just a child after all.

"Sister! L-Let's talk outside, okay? Gaara is..." GASP!

Bewildered, Kankuro stared at one spot, neither blinking nor breathing. Confused, Temari turned her head to look at where her brother was looking.

"Wow! Gaara's eyes are so pretty!"

"G-Gaara, calm down…"

"Shut up, Kankuro."

Seeing the bloody bodies beneath Gaara's feet, Kankuro gulped. 'What if they blame you again for this?'

He and Gaara were on a mission while Temari was recuperating at home, injured and bloodied. One time, a group of rogue ninjas ambushed them and she was caught off-guard, resulting in her injuries. Kankuro immediately went to her aid, while Gaara slaughtered the rogue ninjas as usual.

'His eyes look so lifeless.'

Kankuro had already witnessed the scene multiple times, but every time, he would still get scared witless. He has no problems killing people, but Gaara killed so…

'It's like he doesn't see them as humans!'

Nevertheless, he still had to bring Temari back to the village so he didn't pay any more attention to his little brother.

"What happened?"

It was the Kazekage, their father, and he was looking at Gaara with cold, ruthless eyes. "Father…"

"Kankuro, I'm talking to Gaara."

"I killed those rogue ninjas, they ambushed our team."

"…but they were able to hurt Temari? Ridiculous. With you, that's impossible," the Kazekage scoffed. Kankuro wanted to refute, telling his father that the rogue ninjas had the ability to remain hidden like a damned chameleon, but Gaara's emotionless look made him hesitate.

"Whatever, you're dismissed. Next time, this is not allowed to happen, do you understand?"

". . ."

Gaara didn't respond and turned to leave, making the Kazekage's eyes turn darker.

"F-Father, listen…"

"Kankuro, go out. I already dismissed you."

Kankuro ran, he ran as fast as he could to catch up to his little brother, who was sitting atop a rooftop, looking at the clouds with an impassive gaze. When Gaara looked at him, he smiled.

"Gaara, are you okay? Father didn't mean it, he just misunderstood—GAH!"

"Shut up, Kankuro, or I'll kill you."

"Ugh!"

With a sand claw gripping his entire body, Kankuro could only stare at Gaara with widened eyes and a look of shock, nodding his head despite the pain in his body. He felt like all his bones were being crushed, it was unbearable.

"Good."

After releasing his brother from the sand, Gaara walked away, not looking back at the panting Kankuro on the rooftop, holding his neck that had a nasty bruise. Kankuro looked up, looking at Gaara with sadness and betrayal but he didn't chase after him again.

"Gaara…"

He was scared. Gaara was his brother, and his father was unfit to be one. Aside from his sister, he really had no one else around him other than his puppets.

'I'm… sigh…'

Even though his little brother hurt him, Kankuro couldn't hate Gaara. It was like your little brother throwing a tantrum, how could you hate him because of it? He knew what the other boy was going through and knew that Gaara didn't mean to hurt him. If Gaara did, he wouldn't be breathing right now.

'Damn it, when will this end? Why did it have to be like this?'

All he wanted was a normal life, but his father just had to be the Kazekage, and his little brother was the One Tail's jinchuriki. 'So messed up.'

"We're… invading the leaf? And you want Gaara to be the main—"

Temari was cut off by his father's cold gaze, as if asking what the matter was. Gritting her teeth, Temari carried her battle fan and slammed the door behind her as she left the Kazekage's office.

"Gaara… sigh… let's be careful out there, okay?"

Despite her fear of her brother, he still had to remind him. If she didn't, who would? Kankuro was scared stupid by his little brother, the boy couldn't even look at Gaara without trembling, so only she could tell her brother these words, albeit her voice was shaky.

"I don't need your reminder."

"Sister! Gaara is in danger!"

"WHAT?!"

Hearing Kankuro's yell, Temrai didn't even have time to respond as the latter already dashed away, running straight to the arena. When she saw Gaara's condition, his guts nearly spilling out of his body as blood and flesh scattered around him, Temari's eyes nearly flipped.

"GAARA!"

They both yelled, flickering in front of Gaara to protect him. How could they expect that they've guessed wrong?

In the middle of a forest, two figures crouched on the ground, the moonlight cast upon their backs and their faces dyed black, though their eyes seemed to shine a dim luster. "Unseal," one of them muttered and opened two scrolls the size of a house cat.

POOF—POOF!

"We meet again, Temari and Kankuro of the Sand."

"Naruto Uzumaki," Temari mumbled, fear etched in her eyes as she gazed at Naruto's vibrant lavender eyes. When she glanced to his side, she saw another person there and narrowed her eyes upon recognizing her. "…and Hinata Hyuga," she added a bit awkwardly.

"What do you plan to do with us? Where are we? Where's Gaara?" just as she was trying to assess the situation, her brother started rambling nonsense. She couldn't help but wonder if her brother was stupid. Naruto and Hinata were their enemies. Clearly, they wouldn't answer his questions. It was better to observe first.

"Well, we're headed to the Land of Whirlpools, and Gaara is already sealed inside a scroll. As to what I plan to do with you…" Naruto chuckled, his laughter seemingly out of this world. The two sibling's eyes trembled upon hearing their brother's fate. Their brother was sealed… meaning that he would most likely die from having his tailed beast stripped away from him.

"You…"

But before their fantasies spiraled down for the worse, Naruto cleared up the confusion.

"I plan on letting you meet Gaara again. Don't worry, Gaara and I aren't enemies and in fact, we were planning on becoming allies if not for your disturbance," Naruto said, amusement practically leaking into his voice.

"What kind of deal did the two of you make?" Temari inquired. 'Gaara wanted to make a deal? Impossible. And with someone he just met, too?' Temari's doubts could stack up above the clouds.

"We planned to have a mutually cooperative alliance as we are both jinchuriki, but he can tell you that when the time comes. For now, just know that I have no ill intent toward you three siblings so when I summon you again, it will be in front of Gaara. I don't want you to complicate things, so I'm telling this to the two of you beforehand. Now, have a good night sleep, when you wake up, you'll meet your brother again."

[END OF FLASHBACK]

"Gaara, we're sorry," Temari said, her eyes glistening as she held Gaara's shoulders with hands shaking like a cold newborn bird. "We love you, we really do. We don't want you to leave us, and we never thought of leaving you. We only wanted what's best for you, Gaara."

"Gaara, when I saw you lying there on the ground, bloody and barely breathing with an enemy ninja right next to you, my heart dropped. There wasn't anything on my mind back then, just a screaming soul that begged to be faster than light. I wanted to protect you, Gaara, I…" Kankuro clenched his fists, looking at Gaara with a stern gaze.

"I was the one who dragged sister to protect you, so don't hate her. Hate me, I was the one who misunderstood your condition, I accept your hate," Kankuro said and bent his knees, getting ready to kneel when Gaara stopped him and held his shoulder, gripping so tight that a hole could be punched through his shoulders but Kankuro didn't wince.

"You… two…" With a hoarse voice and tears clinging at the edges of his eyes, refusing to let go as his eyelashes trembled, Gaara hugged his siblings, finally understanding what Naruto meant before he summoned the two.

"Don't apologize, you didn't do anything wrong. I'm the one who was wrong, I'm the one…" Before he could even finish, Temari yelled out his name and hugged him tighter, while Kankuro smiled, chuckling silly with tears running free from his eyes.

Meanwhile, at the front of the cave, four observers sighed in melancholy. 'I guess he's not all that he seems. You truly can't judge a book by its cover,' Hinata thought and averted her gaze. Seeing the three hugging each other reminded her of her younger sister.

'Haku… I really treated you badly all these years. Just because of my pride, I insisted on calling you a tool instead of what you really meant to me. A son…' Zabuza clenched his fists and pattered Haku's shoulder, who was slightly startled as he jumped. "Master?"

"What a reunion," Naruto mumbled and shook his head. In the entire group, only he was unable to relate to the trio so he turned to leave, but before he could even show his back, Gaara called out to him, forcing him to look back.

"Regarding our deal, are there any restrictions?"

Naruto smiled, noticing Gaara's worry. "There's nothing to worry about. If you want to bring your siblings along, you can. They'll be safe in here as long as you protect the Land of Whirlpools from enemies and not betray it, of course. You can also bring them back to the mainland, it's your choice really," Naruto said.

Hearing his explanation, Temari looked at Naruto and then at Gaara, and then at Kankuro, whom she noticed was also looking at Gaara. On the other hand, Gaara was deep in thought when he suddenly raised his head to give Naruto a firm gaze.

"I plan on helping out for the moment with my siblings. Afterward, we'll go back to the mainland to experience more of what it has to offer," Gaara stated.

"No problem."