Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.

Chapter 37

"So, your last day stuck down here, huh?" Minoko said as she went through her cool down exercises.

"Yeah. It's been pretty fun though. Got to meet this cocky kid that turned out to be pretty cool," Kankuro said with a half smile.

Minoko scoffed, "Thanks. You're not so bad yourself Kitty-chan."

Kankuro sighed dramatically, "Though I really wish you'd stop calling me that."

"You make it too easy." Minoko said while gesturing to his hood, "Why do you wear that anyway?"

Kankuro reached up and touched the hood and sighed, "I'll tell you if you tell me what landed you in here."

"You're still on that?" At the boy's nod, Minoko cringed slightly and sighed, resigned, "Fine. You first."

Kankuro sat back in the chair near the doorway and took a breath, "When I was little, people always said I looked like my father. I really don't like him. He can be ruthless." Kankuro winced at some memory before continuing, "My mom was always so kind. She died a while ago. She gave me a hat when I was younger that looked like this. She said that now if I wanted to stop people from comparing us, just let my personality be the first thing they see."

"And the face paint?"

The boy gave a half smile, "After mom died, I cried a lot. Didn't want my dad to see the red splotches and call me weak. Hence the war paint. After a while, it just became habit."

Minoko nodded in understanding. Sure she didn't have the same experience, but she could see how that situation could come about. She couldn't imagine how she would have reacted if her daddy got angry at her for crying after mommy left. She would have done almost anything to stop that from happening.

"Now your turn."

It was Minoko's turn to wince. She ran a hand down her face and leaned against the stone wall near the cell bars, "The Kazekage gave me a direct order and I disobeyed it."

"…That's it?"

Minoko nodded and pursed her lips. She really didn't like talking about this.

"What was the order?"

"An assassination."

Kankuro huffed an unamused laugh, "I kind of figured cause of our last conversation, but who-?"

Another guard came in and looked at Kankuro, "Time to go kid. Your shift's over."

Kankuro looked both annoyed and relieved as he stood from his seat. He looked over at her and opened his mouth, only for no sound to come out.

Minoko's lips quirked up slightly in a rueful farce of a smile, "Well, I guess this is goodbye. It was nice to talk to you Kankuro. Have a fun life."

Kankuro nodded and turned to leave, but paused at the opening of the doorway that lead to the outside world, "You know, I might just have to request a position down here."

Minoko's eyes widened as Kankuro, back facing her, raised a hand in farewell and walked away. Her face went back to a neutral position. There's no way he'd be back. He's free from this place and there's no reason for him to return.

She moved over to see if she could bug Koumi enough for her to teach her more about the inner workings of Iwa's daimyo court.

…

Gaara's face could have been carved from stone. He didn't move a muscle. Didn't twitch. He barely took a breath of air into his lungs. It felt like he couldn't breathe anyway.

He was used to assassination attempts. They were a monthly occurrence at this point. He was used to the glares that followed him everywhere and the stilted conversation he had with Taru.

He got used to having a place to feel at peace, too.

He shouldn't have gotten used to it.

He was just visiting like he always did. Yuri pulled him into a conversation about whimsical things while Kana looked on with fond eyes. Miko Kimura was sweeping the steps of the shrine while the other miko went about their daily tasks. It was peaceful. It was normal. He felt normal.

He let his guard down.

Yuri was crying in the arms of a man dressed to hide his appearance while miko Kimura held a begging Kana back. The man held a kunai to Yuri's throat. And Gaara didn't move. Didn't want to give this man a reason to draw innocent blood.

"It's over demon. If you want the child to live, you will have to die. Got it?"

Gaara slowly nodded and ignored the screaming coming from Kana. He wasn't even aware of what she was saying. He was just intensely focused on the razor's edge resting against delicate flesh.

"Good, good." In an instant there was another kunai on the ground at his feet, "Pick that up."

Gaara slowly bent down to retrieve the weapon, keeping his eyes on the man. The wind blew harshly in the afternoon sun, whipping stray strands of sand through the air. The man never suspected the grains that stuck to his sweat soaked skin.

Gaara rose back to his full height and lightly held the weapon, waiting for instructions.

"Everyone knows that no one can get close to you because of your 'ultimate defense', so you're going to do the deed yourself. Slit your throat or stab yourself in the heart. Whatever it takes to end your existence," the man growled while shifting the kunai in his hand ever so slightly. It pricked the skin of Yuri's throat and drew a drop of blood, causing her to cry louder.

Gaara twitched at the sound and had to stop a growl from coming out of his mouth. The grains of sand built up slowly over the agonizing seconds that ticked by. Gaara rose the blade to his neck and pressed down, feeling the sand armor resist the metal. He saw the moment the assassin relaxed his hold on the child, thinking he had won. The moment the blade inched its way away from Yuri was the moment the grains of sand on the man's arm jerked to attention and ripped him away from the young girl.

Yuri tumbled to the ground while the man yelped in surprise. Gaara didn't hesitate to bring up more sand to come in between the two and wrap around the man. He was vaguely aware of Kana running to Yuri and scooping her up, but he was too focused on the soon-to-be dead man in front of him.

"You harmed Yuri," he said in a gravely tone, eyes flickering to yellow and back again, "You harmed her and you will pay."

Gaara raised a hand and gradually closed it into a fist, crushing the man's hands slowly. His screams sounded sweet to Gaara's ears. Let him bleed. Let him scream. Let him pay.

Gaara started with the hands and worked his way up to the wrists, then the arms, then the feet and legs. He crushed the man slowly as the screams reached a crescendo. Gaara's smile was all teeth with a manic look to his eye. Yes. Mother was pleased. Mother was happy. This man would pay in blood-

Gaara felt arms wrap around him and he jerked in surprise. He blinked down at the arms around him and saw the tear streaked face of Kana kneeling in the sand by his side.

"Gaara, stop this. Yuri is fine now. You're scaring her."

Gaara's eyes widened as he jerked his head to look at the little girl hiding behind miko Kimura, watching him with wide eyes that held fear for the first time while looking at him. She was scared of him. What did he do?

Gaara dropped the severely disfigured, passed out man to the ground and stepped away from Kana's embrace. He looked at each person there in turn and felt a tear fall down his face.

Fear. There was so much fear here directed at him. And it was his fault. His fault that an assassin came. His fault that they targeted Yuri. His fault for losing control.

He took a step back. Then another. A moment later he was engulfed in sand and transported to a nearby rooftop before he sprinted away from the one place in the village that had felt like safety to him. He would never be able to go back.

He shouldn't have gotten used to it.

A/N: Let me know what you think!