Chapter 4 (Demons)

Temari smiles as she stabs into her salad and Akira watches making a face at her glee of violence. It is moments like this that enforces the fact that Temari and Gaara are truly related, as she cuts into a piece of meat for her own meal. Temari glances up at her with steely teal eyes and prods at a tomato before smirking a bit as Akira sips her water.

"So how has it been getting my little brother every night?" She asks as Akira swallows hard and coughs hard as well.

"Well I'm glad it's not a secret, but-" She starts and Temari laughs a bit before waving her hand.

"Oh, I'm joking, I'm so glad you two are friends honestly, I just wanted to ask how that's going." She smiles as Akira grins back and shrugs.

"It's been a while since he's started coming over and he usually just sits at my desk doing work." Akira shrugs the single shoulder as Temari raises a brow.

"Usually?" She asks and Akira isn't surprised Temari picked up on her word choice as she moves some food around on her plate.

"Well it was earlier in the week…" She starts as she remembers.


Gaara had come over again and was hunched over the desk muttering darkly to himself. Akira had glanced at him a few times concerned but ultimately decided not to bother the boy. If he wanted to speak he would, and she would not be the one to piss him off. That ultimately failed however as Shukaku finally pushed Gaara a bit over the edge.

"Why am I here?" Gaara asked slamming his pen down on the table, shaking it violently as his cup of tea shuddered from where it was perched. Akira glanced up confused and concerned as he dug his fingertips against the wood. He fought the urge to let the sand whip out of his gourd, fought against this sudden rage and blood-lust that hit him so hard.

"Are you talking to me or yourself?" She asked and raised a brow as Gaara turned to look at her as though she had been the one to royally piss him off. Her jaw twitched as she clenched it and told herself to calm down; she hadn't done anything wrong however and detested that look on his face.

"I was given the impression that you were here to relax, get some work done, and hang out with a friend." She answered as calmly as she could but Gaara snorted and once more she found anger in her gut.

"And you're my friend?" He had almost sneered, just another twitch of his lips and she might have to just sock him.

"I thought so." She was getting very irritated and this time Gaara saw the twitch in the corner of her jaw as she tried to reign in her anger.

"I wonder what I did to give you that impre-"

"Get the hell out of my room!" She hissed shoving the window open and pointed out. Gaara paled and gaped at her as Shukaku cackled in the recesses of his mind. The bloodlust and utter rage subsiding as she waved her arm.

"I don't care if it was Shukaku or you. I don't deserve to be treated like shit in my own house. I know what I signed up for. I signed up for dealing with your demon, I signed up for maybe getting harmed when you lost it, but I will not tolerate getting treated with disrespect." She stomped up to Gaara when he stood to meet her. She glared at him and he looked at her with wide eyes as he realized his mistake. Her eyes softened a touch at his expression and she sighed irritated and surprised the hell out of both Shukaku and Gaara when she pulled him close for a hug.

"You're still my friend. I want us to stay friends and I'm not leaving your side. Just don't sprout bullshit at me. Don't yell at me when I do nothing wrong. And I'm hugging you to reassure you that we will be fine. I just need to calm down, and for you to leave so I can calm down." She muttered into his chest before releasing him. Gaara placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed once as he nodded. He quickly left as Akira flopped on her bed and groaned into a pillow. She took her time getting dressed in her usual night attire, in washing her face and making another batch of tea before looking for Gaara. She found him on the roof of her home as she raised a brow and he shuffled nervously from where he sat.

"I did leave the room I just- I didnt-"

"I'm sorry for letting my emotions get out of hand. I didn't need to yell." She said sitting next to him as he looked at her wide eyed as she tilted her head and gave him a small smile.

"It's fine you stayed. I was going to look for you anyway. But it's your turn now." She leaned over nudging his shoulder with her own.

"Shukaku is restless on a full moon, and when I'm about to go on mission. It reminds him of when he had more control and he fights harder now. It's not an excuse I shouldn't have said what I did. Just I wanted you to know." He dropped his head and took a breath before turning toward her. "I am sorry for treating you terribly." He muttered, and Akira lightly grabbed his hand and squeezed once to get him to look at her.

"You're forgiven." He looked surprised a moment before nodding once at her.

"...I forgive you too." He muttered softly, hesitantly, as she smiled at him before leading him back into her home.

He sat at the desk a moment before moving to sit on the bed. Work had strained him enough tonight and with Shukaku being up to his antics again he decided a change of pace might help better. He sat cross-legged on the bed nervous and unsure as she raised a brow.

"Did you run out of work?" She asked and was surprised when he shook his head.

"I had enough of it. But any books you recommend?" He asked a tad hesitantly and was happy he did when she beamed at him and gestured to the towering shelves with a grin.

"Depends on what you like."


Akira shrugs as she finishes her story as Temari blinks once and smiles at her.

"Well someone has a death wish." She jokes as Akira laughs and rolls her eyes.

"Oh please. I'm just glad to be helping I just don't want to be treated like garbage." She pops more food into her mouth as Temari nods and sighs.

"Honestly you have changed him, ever since he's started having dinner with you and Kana he's asked me and Kankuro about how our days went."

"Really?" Akira is skeptical and has a hand raised to her mouth covering it as she continues to chew as Temari smiles a bit.

"Yeah and even Kankuro wants to meet you now." Temari gives a cheesy grin as Akira frowns and pulls out her wallet as the two pay for their meals.

"Anyway, I'm really glad everything is going fine with the two of you. Let me know if I can help." Temari smiles at Akira and she simply grins back as the two exit the small restaurant.

"You can help by taking my sorry ass training. I have a mission tomorrow that I would like to prepare for."

"Well let's get to work then." Temari says a smirk on her lips as they walk towards the Suna training grounds.

It's on the tip of Akira's tongue, the conversation that had passed between Gaara and her after the fight. One that had left her feel heavier with guilt than what she had felt before. But as Temari grins and thanks her once again for being Gaara's friend. As the two begin to train Akira makes a decision about that conversation last night….


"How do you know if your human?" Gaara asked quietly, almost timidly, as Akira as she paused in her book and turned toward him confusion on her features.

"Well it depends on what you mean by that." Her voice was soft as Gaara stopped his own reading and glanced at her before looking away.

"When a child is born they are fifty percent the mother, and fifty percent the father. Therefore, I am both my mother and father. But most children aren't sealed with a demon inside. Shukaku was there before I was even really born. So if that is the case, isn't it easy to assume that Shukaku is a part of me like how Mother and Father are." He explained plainly and almost in slight wonder at the thought. Silence settled over them again but this time it felt heavier than it normally did as he glanced over at Akira.

His heart leapt to his throat at the sight of tears coming out of her eyes.

"I-I'm sorry I just... I'm t-tired and emotional." She wiped at her face with her sleeves and tried to give a convincing smile but failed as the corners of her mouth refused to turn upward. "Oh no d-don't console me we're talking about you." She waved away Gaara's nervous and awkward attempt to try again dry her cheeks with his shirtsleeves as she tried and failed to smile at him properly.

"Just give me a minute." Her voice cracked and she took a breath as she wrapped herself in a blanket so Gaara could only see her eyes as she shrugged from underneath it.

"I don't want to d-discourage you with making an unhappy face, so... this is how we're doing it." Gaara simply raised a brow at the absurd gesture as Akira cleared her throat.

"Ok so Shukaku was placed in you, before you really knew who you are. But no one at the time they are born understands who they are or even what anything is. As you got older Shukaku became a separate part just like how some things you get from your parents become separate in a way. But these elements do not make you who you are, you can change them." Akira frowned as Gaara shook his head.

"But how do I know I am not a monster like Shukaku?"

Akira was quiet a moment before raising a hand up. "Hold your hand against mine."

Gaara pressed his fingers against hers and the corners of her eyes crinkled like she was smiling. His larger hand overshadowed her smaller one, and his fingers were longer than hers. He was sure he could press his first knuckles over the tips of hers, but the base of her fingers were chubbier than his. He studied the way their palms, digits, knuckles were the same but different a moment before looking at Akira again.

"I know you are human because humans crave physical affection, they crave companionship, and they crave acceptance. These are all things that you have tried to achieve your entire life. Not only that but," She paused a moment as she gently pushed her fingers forward between his, interlacing their fingers together before taking a breath and continuing. "You and I bleed the same I'm sure. Shukaku may not even bleed and I know his hands don't look like ours. We look the same. We feel the same things. And if men can become monsters that means they can chang e. Sometimes monsters aren't capable of that. So Gaara, if you want to change, truly, does that mean to accept that you are also truly human?" Gaara blinked confused as she dropped the blanket and smiled, her eyes were still a little misty but it was genuine.

"I think you're scared of saying your human because if you do, then you're not what anyone expected. And if you're not that, what are you?" She asked as Gaara frowned, he wasn't entirely against what she was saying, he understood the points she was making but it did make him feel unsettled at how easily she was taking this.

"What would I be then if you know?" He asked it gently, but his eyes were hard as thought one wrong word and he would completely disregard all she had said so far. Akira took a breath and swallowed the lump in her throat.

"You would be a better man than them for starters. The rest is up to you to decide."

Gaara jerked back shocked, his finger retreating her hers as he yanked his hand back. She looked at him calmly, letting his fingers slide free, and he for a moment stopped thinking and really looked at Akira. A slight girl with dark hair that was cut short by her ears and dark eyes that turned to melted honey in the light. Pink lips and a face that he never really took note of before now. Her nose wasn't petite like the rest of her, her eyes were round, and he supposed she could pass as a boy if she tried hard enough, but there was a feminine curve to her jaw and cheekbones. He watched as those pink lips pulled back in a tight smile that didn't entirely reach her eyes as she sighed.

"I am so, so, sorry for yelling again I didn't know you were…. I'm sorry." She whispered and shifted on the bed as she put her arms out straight in front of her.

Then she slowly approached not wanting to scare him as she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him close. Gaara didn't move still reeling from what she had said, from the changes of the night, but she was warm and soft against him. The embrace wasn't bad.

Her embrace wasn't bad.

"You're my friend Gaara, and I think you're more human than you know." Akira pulled back and patted his cheek softly as Gaara leaned into her palm. He liked the physical touches, like what she was saying, and understood it. A part of him was still unsure (maybe it would always be unsure) but it didn't matter now. They were friends.

And for a moment, that's all Gaara really wanted.

"I have a few books on human condition and scrolls on anatomy if you want more proof?" She asked after a moment and laughed when Gaara eagerly nodded his head. "And Gaara?" She said softly as he looked at her from the bookshelf.

"If Shukaku ever does…, if anything happens, I'll help you come back, you know that right?" Her voice was soft again, and Gaara looked at her honey colored concerned eyes and nodded.

"I know you will…. Thank you."


Akira pauses for moment as she remembers that conversation and her heart almost breaks again. She also almost ends up being knocked out from Temari's attack in the process and shakes her head at her questioning look. Gaara and her only meet a while ago and now he is staying over more often. She still trains gruelingly hard with Temari in the mornings, and it seems like nothing has changed. But that conversation could have taken the wrong turn and she's worries but says nothing. Akira raises her hands in front of her and nods to Temari who gives a small shrug before attacking again. She wants Gaara to trust her and in return she trusts him to keep pushing to change.

He needs the change.


It's late at night when Gaara ponders on Akira's words and he goes to his rooftop to sit under the moon. He has decided earlier that he would go to Akira's for tea after he is done. He sits with an arm on his propped-up knee and looks at the moon. He hesitates for a moment but stops his doubt as he focuses. He is the one in control, and he needs answers, there is no room for doubt.

"Shukaku?" He asks quietly aloud to the darkness as the beast moves slightly in his mind.

"If this is about what Rika said then I don't care."

"Her name is Akira." He whispers this as he focuses on the cage around Shukaku.

He forces himself to visualize it, a large space for the demon to lay or sit up, with a strong gate in the front. Gaara could see the seal on it, if he thought hard enough about it, and the more he focused on the cage the clearer his mind became.

"Have you ever wanted accept-?"

"What I want is blood, and death. I don't care about other people when I, the great Shukaku, exist to cause misery and pain!" Shukaku cackles and Gaara sighs he knows he would never get a proper answer as he pushes the glorified container into the far corners of his mind.

At least he tries to.

Shukaku slams against the bars, hitting hard enough to shake them and Gaara can easily start to see them dissolve, could see himself lose control-.

Gaara forces the walls to stay steady and moves then racing through the village. He spies things to help focus his thoughts has he runs. Things that bring his mind into clarity and focus; a broken bottle, a drunkard against a wall-.

Shukaku's claws run down the length of the bars and Gaara's brain almost becomes mush as he finally reaches Akira's house.

"One of these days I will have control again brat." Shukaku hisses from the depths of his mind as Gaara all but throws himself into Akira's room and thanks her breathlessly when she presses a cup of warm tea into his hands without question. Shukaku's claws still twist and try to turn his thoughts but he ignores it. Akira watches concern on her face as Gaara shakes his head. He notices then her change of clothes.

"What are you-?"

"I have a mission tomorrow and I'm going to try and sleep for it. These," She gestures to her sweatpants, and her long-sleeved shirt. "Are my pajamas."

Gaara nods once, amused and secretly grateful for the distraction, when she lays in bed she takes a moment to point at Gaara.

"I'm going to assume you're ok and if you need anything feel free to wake me up."

Gaara nods again, and takes a breath to stop his hand from shaking, and watches as Akira lays down and tries to sleep. He pretends to read but watches with slight bemusement as she tosses and turns and before sighing and grabbing a book by her bed. He turns then to truly immerse himself when some realization hits him.

"Akira?" He asks quietly as she turns her head to him. He opens his mouth to voice what he's feeling but instead gives her a shrug and shakes his head. Akira in turn shrugs and turns back, and Gaara is thankful, truly thankful, that she doesn't pry.

Because as Akira's breathing turns smoother, and her hand falls to the bed with her book still in it, and as night rolls into dawn Gaara isn't sure what he wanted to say.

Because as he focuses on his tea, book, and her, he finds comfort and he isn't sure whether his own feelings are positive ones or not.


Akira's feet sink silently into the sand as she trails behind Gaara. She hadn't realized Gaara was her teammate until she had reached the Kazekage building and found him standing there already waiting. She isn't sure when he left her room last night, only aware that she had been alone this morning.

Then again, he never usually stayed the entire night.

The mission is simple and should only take about three days altogether. Between the two of them however Baki expects it done sooner since the need for sleep is hardly required with them. She keeps quiet as they journey and Gaara has taken lead as they navigate the desert quickly and efficiently. As night rolls around they stop and make a small camp with dinner. With that happened last night, Gaara isn't sure how to voice the thoughts rolling around in his head, and is grateful when Akira breaks the silence.

"Did you like the tea last night? It was a different blend than usual." He stares at her a moment and shifts.

"It was fine. Are you not going to-?"

"Are you comfortable talking about it?" He shakes his head no and she shrugs. "Then why would I ask?"

"I just burst into your room, I-."

"I want you to be able to come over if it helps. I want to give you a place where you can relax. You're my friend." She shifts to sit more comfortably as he stares at her a little hard.

"Are you sure? Are we really friends?" His eyes glow particularly bright against the fire and Akira realizes that this moment is her last chance. Her last time to have the choice of not being his friend, of turning away.

She doesn't hesitant as she answers, "Yes we really are friends…. Why do keep asking?" She asks after a moment as Gaara looks away.

"Because I want to be friends, but I also want to protect you from Shukaku." Akira jerks back at that and sighs, because of course Shukaku is the reason for his hesitance, but Gaara looks at her then making her pause. "If you truly want to be friends, if that is what you want, I won't stop you. But I can't promise to keep you safe if you stay."

She stares at Gaara a moment before speaking, "I am a ninja of Suna, and I have a life I want to live, I won't go down as easily as you might think." Gaara blinks as she smiles at him. "I really do want us to be friends. I want to stand by you and help you anyway I can. I'm not going anywhere. Not without a fight and Shukaku doesn't scare me." Gaara's shoulders relax a little at Akira's words and it's a moment later when he glances at her again.

"Do friends share their goals? Their dreams?"

"I believe so. I'll tell you mine if you want?" She volunteers, and he pauses a moment before nodding once.

"I want to be a teacher. I like little kids and I want to be a positive influence. I want to help them like I'm helping you. I mean when all is said and done, they are the ones who hold the future of our village." She admits, and her ears burn as she clears her throat. She's embarrassed, Gaara realizes as he tries to give her what he hopes to be an encouraging look.

"I have only told my siblings this, and Baki…." He trails off and Akira shrugs a shoulder.

"You don't have to tell me, but it would be fair if you did." It's lighthearted, but it does give him the nudge he needs as he nods once. He's nervous as he looks at her eyes and takes a breath.

"I want to be Kazekage. I know the villagers all fear me and I know the other shinobi don't care for my presence; but I also know doing nothing will almost certainly bring a greater pain." He pauses and looks into the fire. "I want to be part of this village. So, I'm aiming for the title of Kazekage, as a shinobi of the sand, I will work hard and connect to the people of this village." He waits a moment before looking at Akira whose eyes are bright and her face surprised. He wonders briefly if he made a mistake until a slow grin spreads over and she nods once slowly.

"Ambitious but achievable. I like it." Gaara sits up more. "I'll support you every step of the way, that's what friends are for. Just let me know how I can help and if I can." Akira leans forward with a hand outstretched in front of Gaara. He looks surprised as he takes it and Akira chuckles at little.

"To friends." She gives a gentle shake and a light squeeze and Gaara looks down and back up before shaking.

"To friends."

-End- Song Choice: Demons by Imagine Dragons was the theme for the ending bit when her and Gaara are on mission. The beginning with Temari and Akira's banter had a more C'mon by Panic! at the Disco and fun. since I just imagine Temari and Akira just making a mess of Suna at one point. Either way Gaara and Akira are slowly starting to understand each other more. Akira is seeing the damages done and Gaara is starting not only to trust in but also care about Akira.

Well I hope you enjoyed it. Until next time!