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The Sands of Time: Gaara's Story (Chapter 4)

Read third chapter here Read on AO3

Chapter Summary: The elder, Jōseki, brings his concerns regarding the Tsunzu tribe to the rest of the council members, and the elders grow concerned that damaging their alliance with the tribe would spill disaster for their water resources. The elders purpose to have Gaara sacrificed and for Shukaku to be given to the Tsunzu tribe as a peace offering, and as a way to build a more impervious Jinchuriki.

Meanwhile, Gaara leaves the party with Kaiya where they both discover they have nothing in common and wouldn't make very good friends. Unless, of course, squabbling is a sign of healthy friendship....

Words: 2886

Warnings: Mention of murder, assassination

Author's Notes: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS ORIGINAL CHARACTERS. .

Chapter Four: No Friends Anywhere

“What is the meaning of calling this council, Jōseki?” One of the elders of Sunagature, Sajō, inquired as he let out a tremendous yawn. Through squinting eyes, he peered at the other elder expectantly, resting his face in the palm of his hand.

“Yes, what matter is so urgent that it couldn’t wait until tomorrow?,” Another councilman, Ryūsa, asked impatiently.

Jōseki scanned the table of faces before him, all of which held a variation of annoyance at having been called to the chambers on such short, ambiguous notice. However, inconvenience or not, it was Jōseki’s duty to address his concerns promptly.

“I implore you to once again reconsider the promotion of Lord Fourth’s children.” Jōseki asserted, his voice firm and full of authority.

“This again,” Scoffed Ryūsa. “The council has already cast its judgment, whatever personal spite you have against Lady Temari, Lord Kankuro and Gaara, please engage in some restraint. The village is in a vulnerable state, we need talented shinobi at our disposal.”

“Though our damaged relationship with The Land of Fire is still a pressing concern, I must inform you that an internal conflict has risen that requires immediate attention,” Jōseki argued, “I am not ashamed to admit that I have been the mediator for the Tsunzu tribe, and Lord Kōji has expressed his adamant dissent. He has threatened war.”

“War!” Sajō couldn’t help himself, bursting forth a dubious laugh. “What means does he have to wage a war on Suna?”

“Hold your skepticism, Sajō.” Ryūsa warned, leaning forward over the round wooden table, the long, white sleeves on his cloak draping over the glossy surface. His face darkened. “The Tsunzu tribe has been one of Sunagature’s founding families, and they specialize in channeling underground water streams. Their alliance is the very reason Sunagature has been able to sustain itself for as long as it has. They are the reason we have this oasis.”

“What?!” Sajō demanded, “I know of this family name, but they are a bunch of well-diggers, I have no knowledge of them being shinobi.”

“That is correct only on a technicality,” Ryūsa explained, “As a precautionary measure, the Tsunzu people do not use their clan name when enlisted. Some use a marital surname while others create a new name for themselves to protect their tribe’s identity.”

“That is correct,” Jōseki agreed, “As water users, they are invaluable to desert settlements, and thus their tribe could be the target of genocide from those looking to weaken our resources.”

Sajō’s face strained, his teeth clenching together to steady the alarm he felt. “Why have I never heard of this?”

“For the very same reason we’ve just discussed.” Ryūsa growled, his voice was as dark as the rapidly encroaching night. “Jōseki, what has Lord Kōji requested?”

“He decrees we strip Lord Fourth’s children of both their Chunin rank, and their ties to the Kazekage title.” Jōseki explained.

“No!” Sajō exclaimed, his voice booming and adamant. Though many of the Sunagature elders were resolutely pragmatic, Sajō’s loyalty to the newly deceased Kazekage was unwavering and thus made him impassioned. “There simply must be room for diplomacy in this matter. We can’t abandon the Kazekage name without dishonoring the village and all those who have sacrificed to build it.”

“Sajō-” Jōseki warned but was cut off.

“Though Gaara complicates this matter, Lady Temari and Lord Kankuro are good shinobi and their talents are an asset. We simply do not have the manpower to rely on any other family name to hold the title of Kazekage.”

“Indeed that does complicate things,” Ryūsa agreed before turning back to Jōseki. “Perhaps we can reach an agreement of sorts…I might have an idea.”

Jōseki squinted, his uncertainty apparent. “Lord Kōji was adamant in his demands.”

“Yes, and his demands could easily be met,” Ryūsa nodded, “But perhaps with a compromise: Temari and Kankuro may retain their status at the head of the Kazekage clan, but we sacrifice Gaara. With that, we could extract Shukaku from him and allow the Tsunzu tribe to create a jinchuriki of their own make.”

“Would that be wise?” Sajō asked, his demeanor had calmed slightly.

“We have long since understood the limitations Gaara’s abilities have with water, and now with Lord Rasa’s death and the lack of his gold dust to counter any rampages, we have to look at other options. Gaara has been and will always be unpredictable - a failure.” Ryūsa explained. “Although Gaara’s abilities are proving themselves to be more useful as he ages, his instability is still a cause for concern. If we eliminate him and offer Shukaku to the Tsunzu people, they may very well create a shinobi who may wield the same powers as Gaara, but who is also impervious to water. This shinobi would be fit to be Kazekage, if raised with care and caution, of course. We can learn from the failures in handling Gaara.”

“That plan would take years to conduct!” Sajō argued, but Jōseki immediately interjected.

“No…” Jōseki’s voice lowered, “This could very well be the solution. After all, Lord Kōji has made known his contempt for quick fixes…”

“Very well,” Ryūsa said as he leaned back in his chair, nodding to himself. “Then Jōseki, we shall leave it to you to bring this compromise with Lord Kōji.”

Jōseki nodded and was about to adjourn the meeting when Ryūsa cut in again. “Where are Lord Fourth’s children, anyways?” He asked.

“Undoubtedly at that frivolous Chunin Party,” Sajō muttered, his shoulders still tense and his unease still heavily apparent.

“And Gaara?”

“Likely skulking around the village, as he does in the evening.” Jōseki responded. “Are you implying that we take care of this matter tonight before I can inform Lord Kōji of our proposal?”

“No,” Ryūsa shook his head, “Not tonight. I was just thinking that we may have to promise Lord Kōji a later date than what would be desirable.”

“What do you mean?” Jōseki asked.

“Well you see, I have another mission lined up for the three of them that must be taken into account before Shukaku’s extraction.” Ryūsa explained, his voice smooth and casual.

Jōseki and Sajō’s eyes narrowed at the other elder, and at the same time asked “And what mission would that be?”

***

Gaara did not know how to react to his newly formed acquaintance, almost as if he had been sent on a mission without being briefed on all - or any - of the details. Though his intention in going to the party had been to try and chip away at the mountain of prejudice his village had formed around him, he hadn’t expected to be so…successful…if he could refer to his new predicament as a “success.”

Rather, Gaara was slightly taken aback by himself in realizing the sheer annoyance he felt in Kaiya’s presence. She nattered on and on, so much so that Gaara wanted to seal her mouth with sand, leaving her stranded until she got clever enough to work her way out of it, or until someone with more patience and understanding offered to assist her.

“Do you like reading?” Kaiya asked from where she sat next to him on a park bench. The night was quickly darkening and the streets of Sunagature were empty aside from the occasional bystander on their way home for an evening shift, or the rare wandering drunk who sang, sluring to themselves.

“No.” Gaara replied.

“Oh…” Kaiya said, but followed up again with, “Do you like chocolate?”

“No.”

“Oh…”

Kaiya carried on with an artillery of questions until finally she asked, annoyed, “Okay, so then what do you like? Just sitting here being all gloomy?”

A shadow fell over Gaara’s face as he responded.

“No.”

Kaiya squinted at him for a moment as if trying to decode a tablet with some ancient language which was lost to the sands of time. After a moment she leaned back and with a matter-of-fact tone said, “Y’know, I’m not sure we’d make very good friends.”

Gaara lowered his head, but he couldn’t help but glance her way. He couldn’t say that the sentiment was surprising, but the directness of it was; as if he had been expecting bad news only for said news to be something completely different than what was anticipated. In a weird way, it was somewhat refreshing to have her be so earnest with him with no traces of fear in her demeanor.

“Well of course she won’t be afraid of me…Until she knows the truth” Gaara thought miserably, and then he realized why he was so ill at ease around her.

Kaiya did not know the truth about him; his past, his crimes, his status as Jinchuriki. Why should he spend time getting to know someone who would inevitably become afraid of him just like everyone else?

“I see,” Gaara said, his voice was level, almost flippant. “Then you would be the same as everyone else.”

“What do you mean?” Kaiya looked over at him. Her voice was not cross or concerned, and Gaara would see that there was actually a curious light in her eyes, as if he had given her something interesting to consider.

This reaction surprised Gaara and he furrowed his brow at her questioning gaze, an uncertain expression creeping across his face like an eclipse. He watched as Kaiya’s eyes missed nothing, tracking his features with immense curiosity, absorbing it like the ocean in her bluish-gray eyes. She blinked at him, leaning closer in anticipation.

“Hmmm?” She insinuated before adding in a pressed, sing-song tone, “Do ya not have any friends cause you're a bit of a weirdo?”

“Forget it.” Gaara scoffed, turning away from her.

“Bit of a loaded statement to tell me to forget it,” Kaiya complained. She leaned back on the bench, pulling her legs up so that she could hug her knees to her chest. She rested her face on her one kneecap and peered at him.

“Someone like you wouldn’t get it,” Gaara said hotly.

“Okay, fine then.” Kaiya shrugged, and almost immediately her demeanor switched from enticement to that of complete boredom. She glanced around, yawned, and began ideally playing with the cuff of her jacket. A heavy silence fell over the two, which Gaara felt strangely insulted by, and even more so when Kaiya began humming softly to herself.

“You wouldn’t understand,” Gaara said defensively. “I grew up under very unusual circumstances.” Kaiya turned to look at him incredulously as he continued. “I did not have the luxury to grow up as perhaps you did, to be able to speak freely to people, to make friends…I…I was born a monster into a world that wished I would die and fade into the past. I have done terrible things, hurt people…I even killed the person I would’ve called ‘mother.’”

“You killed your mom?!” Kaiya exclaimed, her voice filled with the type of awe someone would have when interjecting during a story of grand heroism. “How did you kill her?” She asked eagerly.

Gaara didn’t answer right away; rather he faltered and stared into Kaiya’s eyes, seeing his own puzzled face reflecting in her pupils. There was an edge to her that Gaara couldn’t quite place, and after some time he cautioned, “She died giving birth to me.”

Kaiya immediately deflated, recoiling back as if she had lost at a bet. “Well that doesn’t count!’ She claimed, throwing up her arms. “How can you say you murdered her when you were just a baby?”

Now it was Gaara’s turn to recoil, and he stiffened. Thoughts beyond his control began filtering into his brain. He remembered his father’s disapproval; he remembered the loneliness in the dead of night, yearning for his mother to come and be with him; he remembered Yashamaru’s words about how Karura hated him and cursed the village.

“You just don’t get it,” he snapped, his voice highly corrosive.

“No, I get it just fine!” Kaiya exclaimed, “You can’t just go about your whole entire life feeling crummy about something that isn’t your fault, that’s just stupid.”

“Curious that a person in your position can claim stupidity so easily,” Gaara jabbed, his voice cold like the desert night.

Kaiya’s eyes narrowed at him. “Curious that a person in your position can’t pull his head out of his ass. You said it yourself, you were born a monster, but how can that be true?! You didn’t mean for your mom to die, that wasn’t your intention at all, and you’ve lived your whole life letting people feed you lies about it? You honestly seemed smarter than that to me.”

“I was not born a monster for what I had done to my mother, I was born a monster because I was crafted as a ninja tool for this village.” Gaara was acutely aware of how stupid this argument was, and yet he couldn’t help himself.

“Ninja tool?”

“My father was Kazekage and before I was bo-”

“Kazekage?” Kaiya interrupted, confused.

“The leader of Sunagature,” Gaara clarified quickly only to be interrupted once again.

“Like…This village, right?”

“Shut up,” Gaara insisted as Kaiya rolled her eyes at him, gesturing in an annoyed fashion for him to carry on. “My father was Kazekage and he sealed a beast named Shukaku inside me in order for me to wield its power and to protect the village, but I turned out to be a massive failure.” Kaiya’s annoyed expression softened slightly as she listened. “My father, realizing that I was unstable and a liability due to all the lives I took, sent countless assassins after me in order to eliminate the threat I had become…” Gaara trailed off.

Kaiya’s expression was full of pity, but Gaara - for a moment - felt that he saw a deep understanding pass across Kaiya’s face. She shrugged as if trying to offer something of use, and she began fiddling with her jacket cuffs again. “If that’s the case,” Kaiya said softly, “Why don’t you leave?”

“I have thought about it…” Gaara replied quietly. He could sense that Kaiya’s eyes were on him and he turned to meet them, seeing many things swirling in the depths of bluish-gray.

A quietness fell between them, but it was different than those that had come before.

“Well…” Kaiya offered quietly, turning away, “Seems to me that you don’t want to leave or else you would have by now.”

Gaara didn’t say anything. How could he? The statement caught him off guard and he reflected on it for a moment. Did he really not want to leave? How many nights had he wandered the village, hatred flowing through his veins? How angry he felt at the people, the world, his own village. There had been nothing to keep him there, really - no one powerful enough to stop him if he were to disappear into the night like the wind, no enticement from money or fame.

“So then…What is keeping me here?”

“Do you regret it?”

Gaara’s deep thoughts were interrupted by Kaiya’s question, her voice was the most serious it had been all evening, and Gaara looked at her quizzically. “Regret?” He asked, having lost his train of thought.

“Yeah, all the stuff you did. Do you regret it?”

“A shinobi has no use for regret,” Gaara replied simply, though he found himself disbelieving his own words.

“Regret…” He pondered, but he couldn’t address the notion further as Kaiya had suddenly become very loud.

“Shinobi?!” She cried in disgust, “Are you a shinobi?”

Gaara wheeled around, staring at her in the most condescending way he could physical muster. “Yes,” he said annoyed, “I told you I was born a ninja tool.”

“I know that, but it didn’t make any sense to me,” Kaiya asserted. “I thought you said that you failed at it.”

“You are really very stupid,” Gaara said as he simply could not hold himself back.

“You’re stupid!” Kaiya roared, “And you have a stupid life.” She jumped up suddenly, throwing her arms in the air. “Everything is so complicated with you.”

“I’m sure that everything must seem complicated to someone like you,” Gaara shot back and Kaiya whirled around to face him.

“I don’t need any friend who is a shinobi,” She spat and turned to walk away before stopping suddenly. With the edge and heat still in her voice, but seemingly without shame she asked him, “Which direction is East?”

Gaara blinked at her, his mouth pulled back in disgust and yet he gestured in the direction she had asked and watched her stomp off a few paces before she changed her mind and stormed up to him again, a finger jutting into his face.

“And you know what?” Kaiya snarled, “I have met shinobi before, and they’re all the same: Egotistical, mindless pawns doing whatever the hell someone else tells them. They’re all money hungry drones who blame their lack of morals on bullshit like honor and dignity. But you, you, you are no shinobi. You’re nothing more than a kicked puppy!”

With that Kaiya whipped around once again and tore off into the dark streets as Gaara watched her go in sheer astonishment. Had only she known that her insult missed its mark entirely and Gaara found himself sitting there, his heart beating rapidly; a small spark of hope flickering in his soul as it attempted to ignite.

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