Gaarafan12
Active member
Ok so explaining time: When I first presented part one, the begining was in its raw form, pretty much just an outline of the story. And I told you that if people liked it I would go back and write the actual story. I have done so. This part takes place before part one and introduces one of the main characters so it is important. This thing is LONG, and I'm sorry about that, but the character development along witht the timeline set up took a while which hopefully means it was well done! It is so long in fact it is telling me I have exceeded the character limit for a post so in order to not cause anymore confusing parts (can you image? Part 0 subpart 1? there's just no way) I have to post a little bit as a reply below, so don't get confused if the story drops off at a weird point.
I am going to go back to Part one and edit out what this part covers so there is no overlapping content. I have posted up to part III as of right now and will leave links to each of them at the end of the post. Please, Please leave your thoughts in the comments, negative ones (if posted as cronstructive criticism) helps me to become a better writer for you and postitive ones help me stay motivated to keep posting new parts. So either way your comment does good!
So without further ado, Part 0
It has been four months since the war ended, each country and village are recovering quickly, too quickly. The threat that had made us allies is gone, a victory won. But now, old grudges are coming to light in a new way, even my own shinobi whisper complaints against the other nations. This peace that united us for such a moment is faltering. It is everything I can do to keep up the trust between even our closest friends at Konoha.
My name is Gaara, Kazakage of the Village hidden in the Sand. I have endured what most would say is unbearable and even suffered death. Enduring these things would have been impossible without my comrades, namely one in particular. Naruto Uzumaki, Jonin of the Hidden Leaf Village, and the last of the Jinchuriki. I had once also been labeled Jinchuriki, a name given to those who have been made weapons for their country since the time of their birth. We had no choice in the matter, we both suffered the same fate, and I would have been lost, had I never met Naruto. This bond between him and I have created a mutual trust between our villages but now, fresh from the losses of war. Even this trust between our homes threatens to crumble.
This is why my team and I are traveling to his home, to meet with Konoha’s Hokage. A normal ninja team consists of a captain and three ninja, but my team is made up of myself and my two siblings, Temari and Konkuro. We once had a sensei that completed our team, but he was never active with our missions, and fell away from us quickly. We have never taken on another team member, because no one has ever fallen into sync with us, we know each other too well anyone who tries to join us was never able to be helpful. My advisors tell me it is too dangerous for me to travel with even just one team much less an incomplete one. But this is one area in which I do not take their advice. My siblings and I are more than capable of traveling alone and prefer it to having a slow procession of unnecessary guards.
The journey to the village is somewhat uneventful. We encounter two groups of rouge ninja, one has no idea who we are, looking to gain nothing more than any valuables we may have had. They are easily subdued and we move on. The next is a bit more prepared, they know who I am and in turn know who Temari and Konkuro are. They prepare a slightly more strategic approach, but my team reacts quickly and takes out the enemy.
“Man you would think they would like, team up or something, at least give us a challenge!” Konkuro mocks the group’s efforts. “I haven’t even worked up a sweat yet!”
“Well then maybe you should put a little more effort into running and work up a sweat there!” Temari rebukes, “Gaara and I would already be there if we didn’t have to move at your pace!” Her concentrated expression she wears while traveling falls for a moment to grin at her remark and the look of contempt Konkuro returns.
Temari is the oldest of us; she has grown into a strong kunochi recently. She was always strong in terms of battle, but now she is strong mentally. Ever since I was taken by the Akatsuki, a group hunting the Jinchuuriki, and in turn killed, she has become wiser and stronger. I can always turn to her; she has led us as a family and led troops into battle. Her ever present looks of concentration, tell me her senses are on alert, scanning for threats, always learning. But she is never too far gone to ignore Konkuro and his antics.
Konkuro is Konkuro, he is older than me as well, and has been a good brother and teammate. He has helped me become who I am today, by warning me of people and always telling me the truth. He never sugar coats anything to spare feelings. This is a quality I greatly respect, honesty. But this quality also drives Temari insane half the time, and is usually what begins their arguments.
“You’ve got to be kidding me! Gaara can freakin fly, so yeah, he could out run me but you?! Please! Don’t make me laugh!” Konkuro glared at our sister as we moved otherwise silently through the trees toward our destination.
“What do you mean I couldn’t out run you!? You’re about as quick as a snail compared to me!” Temari turned and jumped backward so to face Konkuro who was running behind her.
This was common for a lot of ninja, our senses have been sharpened enough to hear anyone running in front of you and know where to land your feet even without looking. Temari has excellent senses so this is not problem for her, but Konkuro can’t, and that’s exactly why Temari did so.
Konkuro didn’t disappoint, his face grew red with frustration and anger at this gesture and he opened his mouth to yell out at her. I knew what would follow and didn’t want to hear it.
“Enough, we are close.” This and a quick look at Temari shut them both up and Temari turned back around with a smirk. She had won this round, which also meant Konkuro had lost which put him in a bad mood all the way to the village.
Not long ago they both would have stopped out of fear of me, what I might have done. But now they did what I asked because they knew it annoyed me and cared about my feelings, today was one of the rare occasions when they both complied with my request, even though we were alone. When we weren’t in the village where I was in charge, things were very normal for us. No ‘yes sir’ or other recognition of authority, just a family traveling together. I liked these times, away from the stress of the responsibility I carried.
We were all anxious to get to the village hidden in the Leaves. We all loved being here and hadn’t been since before the war. I had sent forces to help the village after it was attacked, but the Hokage that had been instated following Lady Tsunade’s coma, sent them all back immediately. I would have gone myself but I needed to protect my village more than ever, and I trusted that Naruto would take care of things.
Since the war Naruto has visited my village a couple of times, personally bringing non-urgent messages instead of sending them by messenger bird just to come. He told us the village was making tremendous progress and things were pretty much back to normal. During his visits we started to notice the looks of distrust in the eyes of our people. Naruto was well known here and before the war was greeted like one of our own. The war had brought much suffering, through the loss of life. Now that the fighting was over the loss of comrades were blamed on those they fell among, ninja from other villages. If a Sand ninja fell while fighting with a Leaf ninja, those in the sand blamed the ninja from the leaf, saying they could have saved him. This wasn’t true of course, but those who had never known war, looked for reasoning, why so many had died. And blame began to fall on others from different villages. I did my best to defuse these thoughts from the beginning. But whispers of anger and loss passed and the distrust grew. Even to the Leaf ninja who was our closest ally.
I would do whatever necessary to maintain this bond with them, which is why we are going to the Leaf now. I will speak with the Hokage to see if they are facing the same problem and find a common resolve.
My question is almost immediately answered. We are almost to the village when Temari speaks, “There’s someone up a head.”
It would be unlikely for a rouge ninja to be so close to a village, so we all have a good idea of who it is. This makes a grin grow on Konkuro’s face, and he pushes himself ahead of our group. Temari stifles a grin, Konkuro and Naruto had become good friends as well. Both always pulling pranks and getting on each other’s nerves. Naruto’s ever growing work ethic, and Konkuro’s ever dwindling one made for clashing personalities that results in humorous arguments.
As we grow closer, we see the unmistakable orange hyperactive ninja sleeping in a tree. This is the perfect opportunity for Konkuro who is quite a way ahead of us now. Konkuro lands lightly on the tree Naruto is perched in and moved silently in front of him. Of course Naruto’s senses are great and his body reacts to Konkuro’s presence. He wakes up immediately and Konkuro screams in his face. Naruto returns the scream and loses his balance and falls to the ground. This of course is exactly what Konkuro has hoped for and he doubles over in laughter.
Temari and I land on the ground next to the screaming Naruto.
“What was that for you jerk?! Here I was having a perfectly nice nap, and I wake up and some freak in purple makeup is all in my face!!” This continues until Konkuro joins us on the ground whipping a pretend tear from his face while laughing.
“Oh that was perfect.” Konkuro remarks at Naruto’s fall.
“Naruto what are you doing here?” Temari asks, diffusing his anger at Konkuro.
Turning his attention to Temari and I, Naruto’s expression changes to his normal goofy grin and he throws his arms behind his head. “I’m here to be your escort into the village!”
“Escort?” Temari asks confused. We have visited the village numerous times before the war and never required an escort before. My earlier question was answered by Naruto; Konoha was facing the same unrest my village was.
Of course no one in Konoha would openly speak against us but the villagers would be uneasy. But Naruto was trusted so explicitly in his village, if he was with us no one would question us.
“I don’t know, Granny Tsunade just told me you were coming and told me to wait for you out here. It was pretty boring so I trained for a while, but you guys took so long I finally just took a nap.” Naruto answered unconcerned.
Naruto and I lead the group, running the rest of the distance to the village gate. If anyone I had met would be a candidate to complete my team, it would be Naruto, he works well with us and quickly falls into synch with our normal pace. Or as in synch as Naruto could be, as great of ninja Naruto is, if the time came that he felt it necessary, he would abandon his team’s goal to protect his teammates. This was still a bit strange to me, but it’s the way Naruto has always been.
We reach the village minutes later and are greeted by a girl I have never met. She appears to be a bit younger than Naruto and I, maybe by one year. She has brown shoulder length hair and blue eyes and wore her ninja headband on her upper arm. She is dressed in traditional ninja wear, light clothes and a vest jacket. I can tell she is shy by nature but genuinely excited to see our group. She wears a kind smile but seems tired.
“Guys this is Hannah, your other escort.” Naruto explained, Hannah’s smile grew at her introduction.
“Nice to meet you!” Hannah responded regarding each of us. “Naruto everything over there is ready for them, and Lady Tsunade got caught in a meeting with the elders it might be a while until the Kazakage can see her.”
She spoke to Naruto but then turned her attention to me, “I’m very sorry for the inconvenience.” She bowed her head slightly in respect as Naruto started laughing.
“Right, inconvenience. Well let’s get going then so you can get settled in. How long do you guys get to stay until the Sand village falls apart without you Gaara?”
“Perhaps a couple of days, my business with the Hokage shouldn’t take too long.” I answer. Naruto instantly closes the distance between us and puts his arm over my shoulder and mischievously asks.
“Sooo what are you and Granny meeting about anyway? Huh? Huh? Is something exciting going on? Ooh, is Temari and Shikamaru getting married?!” Naruto hardly has time to let the words out of his mouth before Temari hits him hard with the end of her enormous unfolded fan. Konkuro laughs again staring at Naruto. But Hannah isn’t looking at Naruto, her eyes are rested on Temari and her fan, the look in her eyes tells me that she is fascinated by my sister. And that’s when I notice Hannah’s weapon of choice. Hanging loosely from her kuni belt are two sister fans much smaller than Temari’s. Hannah must also have wind nature chakra like Temari and Naruto. Hannah notices my eyes on her and quickly looks away from my sister and laughs with Konkuro at Naruto.
“Oww what was that for?!” Naruto complains.
“Gaara’s meeting with the Hokage is none of your business!” Temari yells back.
“Oh I’m sure that’s all you were upset about, it had nothing to do with his comment about you and your boyfriend…” Konkuro pushes Temari’s buttons just too far, and a look he and I know well rises in Temari. That’s when Konkuro decides it’s time to run.
“Oh come on guys don’t make this escort thing a pain!! Wait up!!” Naruto screams running after my siblings.
“Haha, your brother reminds me of Naruto in a way.” Hannah laughs.
“Yes they are very similar in ways.” I reply honestly.
“Well if you want I’ll show you where you’ll be staying while you’re here and if you ever visit again.” Hannah said.
“Yes thank you.” I say as Hannah and I turn to walk into the village. “Hannah you said ‘and if you ever visit again’ what do you mean by that?”
Hannah and I walked through the newly rebuilt village, Naruto had told the truth, things were returning to normal. The shops are open, while civilians and ninja alike pass us through the streets. Several children run in-between Hannah and I as we continue on our way while Hannah explains.
“Well while the village was being rebuilt Naruto suggested that in order to show our support of a continued alliances between the villages, we build a house for any visiting Kage and their teams. I’m pretty sure he was mainly thinking of you and your team though. Everyone considered it a good idea and the house was built neighboring the Hokage’s mansion. Inconsequently your house is also neighboring Naruto!” Hannah finished carrying the same smile she wore when she met him at the gate. I was beginning to believe she wore this smile most of the time.
“How do you mean inconsequently?” I ask.
“Well there was also building built across from the Hokage’s mansion to house all of the ninja without families, there is no need for us to have large homes that take up space in the village when we are here only half the time. And we decided we would rather be near the Hokage in case of crisis than be strewn throughout the village in homes.” She explains.
“Us?” I ask questioningly.
“Yes I live there too, I’m like Naruto, my parents died soon after I was born and I have no memories of them.” She told her story so casually and without any sound of regret. I could tell Hannah was strong, made strong by her life circumstances. I knew how it felt to grow up alone.
Hannah’s expression told that she needed no one to say they were sorry for her life. The confidence she wore, I wasn’t sure if it was real, but if it wasn’t I admired her for faking it. I knew we were getting close as what could only be the Hokage’s mansion rose above the village buildings. It looked almost identical to the old one he knew, just new and more polished. Hannah led us right in front of the Hokage’s office and into the building facing it on the other side of the street. It was a large house with a beautiful lawn and ornate woodwork. It was three stories high and the top floor had a large window in the center about half the length of the house.
“Here we are!” Hannah chimed as she walked down the path to the house. She entered the house and moved about the obviously familiar layout giving me the tour. The inside was just as impressive as the outside with fancy furniture and large windows covering the back wall showing off the beauty of the backyard. It was equally beautiful as it was functional, I immediately knew Naruto must have had a part in designing it. There was large training areas connected to the yard beside ours that must have been where he and the other ninja would live.
“Well this is floor is the kitchen and lounging room, the second floor is for your team there are three rooms so Naruto will probably stay in it while you are here. And the third floor is your room.” At her words she leads us up the stairs past the hallway that would surely lead to Temari and Konkuro’s rooms and into a small area with a door into the third floor. After going through the door we entered a large office area, the large window I had noticed from outside was at the back of a large desk and faced the Hokage’s mansion. There were numerous couches that made up the room, but the room’s most surprising feature was the large paintings and pictures of my village that lined the walls. The room was almost as nice as my quarters at home. Hannah had been right; this house may have been meant to house any Kage, but it had been designed for my team. This was all ridiculously unnecessary, but I was grateful.
“It’s wonderful thank you Hannah.” Hannah’s smile grew at my thanks, as she turned for the door.
“Well I’ll let you get settled in; your bedroom is through those doors.” Hannah pointed to a pair of large double doors just to the right of the desk. “If you need anything or want to go anywhere, I’ll be downstairs.” And with that Hannah closed the door and left me in my oversized office to wait for the Hokage.
Not long after Hannah left, I headed downstairs just as Naruto and my siblings entered the house.
“Oh Yeah!! This is what I’m talkin about!!” Konkuro exclaimed as he took in our surroundings. Hannah stood up from her spot on the couch and walked up to Naruto.
“I’m going to go check on the Hokage’s meetings status. Will you stay with them for a while?”
“Yeah sure, somehow I think I can bear being trapped here with them.” Naruto laughed as he watched Konkuro inspect the fridge.
“Well I guess this will do…” Temari tried to not to show her happiness like Konkuro. “How long are we staying again?” Temari directed her question to me.
“A couple of days.” I answered consistently.
“I say a couple of weeks.” Konkuro said giving his opinion as always.
Hannah laughed before saying goodbye and heading back out the door.
I walked to face the back windows and Naruto moved to stand beside me. “This is unnecessary Naruto.” I said.
“I know, but I’m not all to blame.” He chuckled as he continued. “I just suggested we build something for you guys, I mean build a Kage house. Then others started standing up and saying it was a waste, that we should focus on other things, but then Hannah stood up and said nothing was more important than securing friendships and trust with the other nations; never before had a blatant physical structure been built with this in mind. After she spoke more and more agreed to the idea. Then the girls got in charge and this is what resulted.” He held his arms out to regard the house as he spoke.
“Luckily my idea of a training area was admitted into the plans otherwise the place would have been worthless!” He laughed again.
“Hannah spoke in our favor? Who is she?” I asked him. The moment I did Naruto’s face fell slightly.
“Well Hannah and I grew up in the same orphanage; she is a year younger than us. She has always been kind, even when we were young she tried to talk to me as much as she could.” Naruto chuckled despite the hard memories of his past. “Of course the orphanage workers tried to prevent this as much as possible, worried I might, well you know.” He paused for a moment before continuing. “Once she got into the academy she learned pretty well, we didn’t see each other much but she always had that smile for me. She has always had a hard time getting into her own groove to fight though, or at least that’s what Iruka sensei has told me. She has wind nature chakra like me and she fights or tries to fight with twin fans her parents left her. But her sensei couldn’t teach her how to use them and so she just fights using normal kuni and small jutsu. I’ll see her at the training grounds often though; she gets up real early and tries desperately to teach herself how to use those fans. But learning on your own just isn’t that easy. I feel bad for her, even tried to give her some tips sometime, but I don’t know how to use them either. She doesn’t give up though; it’s almost like, in her mind if she can master using those fans she will make her parents proud. She passed the Chunin exams while I was gone training and was finally on her way. Until the war, all of her teammates were killed, leaving her only family in the world gone. She has been strong though, helping rebuild the village and even watching the kids from our old home sometimes.
She is a good friend. There were a couple of groups that really didn’t like you guys coming, and Hannah defended you and all the other villages. People argued that she should blame the other villages more than anyone after losing her team. But she said that they would have wanted us to maintain our friendships and fight to keep them. ”
Naruto finished talking just as Konkuro barreled down the stairs fleeing from Temari again, he pushed his way in between Naruto and I out into the back lawn screaming: “I didn’t mean it sis calm down!! You’re totally overreacting!!”
“Guys I am not chasing you all over town again, no one is to leave this house until Hannah gets back, cause I’m sticking with Gaara from now on!!!” The rest of Naruto’s words faded in the distance as he chased my family throughout the lawn. Then Temari swung her fan and sent Konkuro flying into a tree. And with that motion I knew I had one other request of the Hokage.
Soon after Temari is satisfied she has punished Konkuro adequately, and Naruto who somehow found himself at the mercy of her fury; they all reenter the house. I take Temari aside and we head up to my office.
We both sit down, me behind my desk and she directly across from me in one of the two chairs facing the desk and looking out the windows.
“Temari what do you think of this friend of Naruto’s, Hannah?” I ask peering over my folded hands leaning over the desk.
“Uh well she seems nice enough, why do you ask?” My sister replies confused. I tell her Hannah’s story and she listens intensively. “So you want me to help her with those fans of hers?” She asks already at my reasoning.
“Yes, as soon as she saw your fan, I could tell she was intrigued. Teach her the basics, if what Naruto told me is true, her work ethic will take her from there.
“Sounds easy enough, as long as Konkuro leaves us alone I’ll be fine,” she chuckles as she contemplates the idea, “It’ll be like a vacation.”
The next few days followed a certain routine, I would go with Naruto to speak with the Hokage; while Temari stayed behind and worked long hours with Hannah teaching her the basics of combining their wind natured chakra and their fans. It was a bit different with Temari’s large one and Hannah’s two small ones. Hannah’s attacks ranged from mid distance to short distance while Temari’s have always been long range. My sister reported to Naruto and I that Hannah never wanted breaks; and after Temari would come in for the night she was pretty sure she would head out to the training grounds to go over what they had practice that day. Temari had never had such a dedicated student that would put up with her difficult regimens, and it impressed her to no end.
On the last day we stayed in the Leaf village, I felt confident that the Hokage had laid the groundwork for Konoha to maintain its trust in our alliances. And I had a pretty good idea of how to maintain my villages trust in them.
I told Naruto that I needed to speak with the Hokage once again before we left, and we left to the large building where she resided.
“Lord Kazakage!” Shizune, the Hokage’s student, assistant, and friend met us in the hall. “I thought you and Lady Tsunade had finished your meetings?” She asked.
“Yes, if the Hokage would have me, I wish to discuss one last matter with her.” I responded. Shizune smiled at Naruto.
“Oh I know for a fact she wouldn’t mind! Today she is supposed to be doing a week’s worth of paperwork she has neglected!”
“That’s just like Granny! I would be on your toes Gaara! She’s likely to throw something at anyone who comes in if she thinks you’re bringing more paperwork!!!” Naruto spoke with a laugh that could only mean it had happened to him before.
Shizune led us both down the familiar hall back to the Hokage’s office and knocked on the door.
“Shizune if that’s you bringing me more work I swear I’m gonna quit!!” The voice of the Hokage was filled with frustration and exhaustion. He couldn’t blame her, he knew exactly how much paperwork came with the position of Kage.
Naruto moved past Shizune who was giving an embarrassed smile, “It’s about time granny, I’m ready to take over for you at a moment’s notice!” Naruto threw his arms behind his head and gave his leader that goofy grin that we all know him for.
“Yeah right Naruto, what do you want!? I’m busy here!” At that moment I followed Naruto into the large office, “Ah Gaara, what can I do for you?”
Tsunade shot a look at her student for not warning her that I was here.
“I apologize for coming unannounced, but I have another matter I wish to discuss with you.” I begin.
“And what matter would that be?”
“The Chunin, Hannah who has served as an escort for my family this week; Temari has been teaching her this week and Hannah has responded with great promise. Naruto tells me she has no family here nor a ninja team.”
“That’s right.” Tsunade prompted me to continue.
“With your consent I wish to ask Hannah if she would like to return with us to the land of winds to train under Temari until we return next.”
This took the Hokage by surprise, Naruto smiled. “And what has brought this on?” the Hokage asked.
“I simply believe it would benefit her to spend more time with Temari; not only that it, would show my trust in the Leaf’s ninja by her presence in our home. I would not send her on missions. She would stay with Temari under her care as her student inside the village. No harm will come to her.”
The Hokage leaned on her arms deep in thought, and right on cue Naruto had to break the silence… “That’s a great idea! Hannah loves Temari and Konkuro and she would learn so much, no one in the leaf knows how to handle a fan like Temari!! Great plan Gaara!” Naruto was grinning ear to ear as he patted me on the shoulder, Tsunade on the other hand did indeed throw a book at Naruto’s head which he barely dodged by ducking, inadvertently bringing me down with him. My sand knocked him off and I quickly recovered ignoring his presence and bringing the Hokage’s attention back to me. You could practically see the steam coming from her face.
She composed herself then addressed me, “I see no problem with this, if Hannah wishes to go. But if she does I will expect monthly reports on her progress to make sure her presence is still productive. Also, I would like prior knowledge if you take her anywhere with your team, I want to know where my ninja are. Understood?” She finished with a smile; something told me she knew this would be good for Hannah.
“Understood, that is all I wished to discuss, if you are finished I believe my team and I will return home.” I said as she stood.
“Of course, I hope you have a safe journey, Naruto and Kakashi will escort you to our border.” The Hokage said.
“Thank you for all your hospitality, Lady Hokage.” I turned to leave and a grumbling Naruto followed. As we left I could hear the Hokage speaking to her student.
“All right, I guess it’s time for lunch.” “Oh no milady, you’ve got way too much to do, if you finish that stack I’ll bring you some lunch.” “Have you forgotten who I am?! I’m your Hokage!!” “Ahhh!!” I hear as a large thump follows.
“She’s got a real bad temper she does…” Naruto says rubbing the part of his head he hit when my sand threw him into the wall.
“Maybe if you didn’t set her off so often?” I offer as we walk across the street to our house. “Naruto, the village would have made you a house just like this one? Why are you living in the building with all the ninja?” I ask genuinely curious.
“I don’t need a house like that! Hopefully I’ll be on super important missions most of the time and besides!” Naruto stops and points at the Hokage’s mansion. “The next house I live in will be that one!!”
We continue walking the short distance to our temporary home, and I see Temari and Hannah out the back windows hard at work yet again. Konkuro, yet again, is asleep on the couch with remnants of stale food surrounding him and a movie playing on the TV long forgotten. I send my sand to roll him off the couch onto the plush carpet which wakes him with a start. Naruto curls over in laughter at my brother’s murderous expression. “We are leaving.” I say simply.
I move through the house to the back door ignoring the profanities being screamed at my back and then directed at Naruto. Naruto yells after me, “Talkin to me about not setting people off!!!” This almost brings a smile to my face.
I close the door behind me and escape to the peace of the outdoors. I follow the path lined with beautiful flowers grown in sand, some which are familiar to me from home others I have never seen. As I reach the end of the path and walk across the short trimmed grass to where my sister and Hannah are training they both stop to great me.
“Gaara, were you able to meet with the Hokage?” Temari and I had discussed Hannah returning with us last night and she had accepted the idea without hesitation. She loved Hannah and hoped she said she would come with us. We didn’t want to ask Hannah before the Hokage in case Tsunade rejected the idea.
Hannah gave another small bow of her head in respect as she greeted me. “Lord Kazakage.” The kind smile I had guessed was a great part of her normal expression lined her face for the millionth time in the days I had spent in her company. Temari spoke quickly.
“Hannah we have something to ask you.” Hannah responded to Temari’s statement with a small look of confusion.
“Hannah, I have spoken with the Lady Hokage, and she has agreed that if it be your wish that you may return with us to the Land of Winds to train under Temari until we return.” Hannah did not react immediately; Temari and I could see the information passing through her mind. She turned to Temari.
“Are you serious? You, you would take me with you to train?” Hannah looked completely caught off guard, and to my surprise, a tear threatened to escape the corner of her eye.
“Yes we’re serious.” Temari responded. Just as the word yes formed on my sister’s lips Hannah leapt at her and embraced her in a hug. This time I didn’t fight the smile that came forward.
The most surprising part of it all happened next, Temari hugged her back. I think Temari thought of Hannah as a younger sister she always wished she had.
Behind me I could hear Konkuro and Naruto chuckling and turned to see them watching the scene. Apparently Naruto had told Konkuro what we were talking about.
Right about that time I hear the small rustling of leaves that unmistakably means the arrival of someone. I glance up at the tree above our group and see Naruto’s sensei Kakashi.
“Congratulations Hannah, Temari may not go easy on you, but she will teach you well.” Kakashi said without taking his eyes off his novel.
“Kakashi Sensei! Thank you! What are you doing here?” Hannah said releasing her embrace on Temari.
“Naruto and I are escorting the Kazakage’s group to the border of the Land of Fire, which now includes you.” Kakashi said as he silently dropped from the tree. “Hannah, perhaps you should go pack.”
“Oh! Of course, thank you Temari!” she said giving her another small hug, then turned to me, “Thank you Kazakage!”
“Gaara” I say, bringing an even bigger smile to her face, if that was possible.
The journey back home was even less eventful. We were only confronted once and Temari and Hannah did the honors as a training exercise. Just in the few days since the two met, Hannah had learned much. As we approached the village, Hannah spoke.
“I’ve never seen your village before; Naruto tells me it’s beautiful.” She confesses looking between us all.
Temari smiles at her student who looks nervous. We approach the large wall that surrounds the village, and pass under the arch. The light passing through the dark passage prevents us from seeing anything but sunshine, until we move out of the enclosed space.
Hannah gasps as she instantly takes in the sight. Her reaction makes me evaluate the village as well, really noticing all of its features. It is nearing twilight and the sun is nearing its setting point directly behind the village horizon. Each building has a slight glow from the sand reflecting the light. My home rests in the center of the village, casting a protective shadow across the ground. The villagers are running around finishing last minute errands before returning home for the night. Off duty ninja walk down the streets laughing and speaking to occasional villagers. As we pass through the scene people greet us and those that we know well, we introduce to Hannah.
At one point a small child sees our group and tugs on her mother’s dress. Her mother leans in close as her child whispers too her. For a moment an old memory of people speaking in hushed tones about me rises up to the surface and I feel a twinge of sadness. But just as these thoughts creep back to my mind, the child reaches to grab the four wild sand daisies’s her mother gives her from the pots in her shop; and runs over to me and shyly extends the flower towards me.
Temari, Konkuro and Hannah smile at the child as I reach to receive her gift. She smiles as I will my sand to form a bouquet of flowers and condense the sand so hard it will remain in its shape for a few days. I hand my gift to the girl and return her smile. Temari has scolded me before for keeping a passive expression when these encounters happen. The girl lets out a giggle at her gift and moves to give the remaining flowers to Temari, Konkuro and Hannah before making her way back to me and taking my sand flowers.
“Thank you sir!” She says with a small bow of her head, just like Hannah tends to give. Then she turned around and ran back to her mom who also gave a small bow of the head to me. “Mommy! Mommy! Did you see what the Kazakage gave me?!” “Yes that was very nice of him wasn’t it? Did you tell him thank you?” I heard the mother chastise as we move out of earshot.
“They love you.” Hannah said gently. I turned to in surprise. Past her in our line was Temari whose smile paired with Hannah’s made me greatly happy I had brought her back with us.
We reached the base of my home, the Kage’s mansion of the sand. The two guards who stood at alert stiffened at the sight of us, but also greeted us with a smile. “Lord Kazakage, welcome home.”
“Thank you.” We passed through the door and made our way through the large building up to the fourth floor. There are stairs of course but the workers had also carved holes in the floor on each level allowing access to the rounded hallways that held the doors to the various rooms. This was designed so I could have a quick way to get to and from each level. This was how we traveled today, Temari, Konkuro and I stopped and Hannah followed suit. I summoned the sand beneath our feet to carry us smoothly up to our destination on the fourth floor. Hannah stifled a laugh as she felt the sensation for the first time. We walked onto the hallway floor, which was decorated with various plants and held a flood of sunlight from the large rounded window that was at the end of the round opening which was my personal elevator. As soon as Konkuro had walked onto safety of the hallway floor I let my sand drift gently back down to it resting place on the ground floor.
“Hannah.” I address the girl to move into the room for which I am opening the door. She moves past me into the office. The head Security looked at Hannah with surprise and confusion which melted away as soon as I entered the room.
“Lord Gaara!” The man rose to his feet and addressed us.
“This is Hannah; she has come with us from Konoha to train under Temari. She will have level 1 security clearance understood?” I spoke mater-of-factly and the man’s face showed humor then utter confusion.
“Sir, I must protest, level 1! Sir that would grant her access to you at anytime, and passage through the entire building!?” The head of security gaped in surprise as he tried to recover.
“I understand our security levels. And I am telling you that she will have level 1 clearance. She will also have clearance to come and go from the village as she pleases if she so chooses.” My tone had changed I didn’t like being challenged in front of a guest. I think he got the message from my authoritive tone.
“Uh yes sir! I will notify the staff immediately.” He says as Hannah and I turn to leave. I close the door behind us and Temari raises her eyebrows at me. I know what she is thinking Level 1? Yes, if I am to show my trust for the Leaf and its ninja, what better way than to give her such a privilege. Not only that, I do trust her. I walk past them and pull the cork out of the top of my gourd, my stride doesn’t falter as I let my weight fall toward the open hole in the center of the room.
“Whoa!” Hannah exclaims as she wraps her arms around me and pulls me back without success, my sand reaches the space moments before my foot and I turn to look at Hannah’s worried expression. It quickly turns to embarrassment as she lets go of me and turns her face away. “Sorry Kazakage, I, I thought you were going to fall."
I move to the center of the hovering disk of sand and turn back to face her, “Gaara.” That’s all I say as I extend my hand to her. She smiles, embarrassment gone, and takes my hand to balance her as she steps over the gap onto my sand. We move up another floor, and I send my sand back into my gourd. Temari takes over from there.
“Well this is where all of our rooms are.” Temari continues to point out all of our various dwellings to Hannah, and finally leads her to the guest room that she will stay in. Temari seems to have everything covered so I excuse myself. I’m sure what’s waiting for me is equally frustrating as what Tsunade was facing when I last saw her. I summon my sand yet again and move up to the next and final floor. The floors get smaller as they go up and the final floor is solely my office and dwelling.
The day draws to a close and I decide I have done enough for a night. It is hard for me to sleep now, for the longest time sleep was my greatest enemy. And now with the pressure off, I still can’t sleep anymore than a couple of hours a night. I look out one of the small windows in my room and face a full moon.
I will the sand that makes up the walls of the building to open and allow my gourd sand to carry me up to the roof before re-closing the wall I sit there for a while, simply looking over the village. It is beautiful even in slumber. A few windows show signs of life, shadows dance across the openings reveling figures moving about.
I lean back and move my gaze to the sky. The moon rising in the sky tells me it’s about eleven now. It will be at least three hours until my mind allows me to fall asleep. My mind wonders to memories of the past, and threatens to pull me into despair. Then I think about my new life, the Kazakage, that child who brought me a sand daisy. Hannah saying they loved me. Could that be true? Could people who despised me so, love me now? The answer comes to me quickly, yes. I know it is possible because I have seen it elsewhere. Naruto, he was despised just as I was, but I have seen without a doubt, his village loves him.
I pull my mind from these thoughts and decide I should make a pass over the perimeter and make sure we are secure. I trust my people explicitly, but I couldn’t call myself Kazakage if I didn’t take my people’s safety into my own hands. My sand forms almost before I think for it to come. And I move silently above my village surveying the streets. Everything is quiet, but a small figure almost passes without me noticing far beneath me. I fly lower and see it is Hannah walking around the Kage mansion. She doesn’t notice me until I am a few feet above her.
“Hannah, it may not be smart for you to walk alone out here at night.” I say to her as I land and my sand retreats back to its resting place.
“Oh yes, I’m sorry, I just couldn’t sleep.” She says in return. “I’m not sure, but I’d say your home is just as beautiful at night.” She says smiling up at me.
“Yes, it may be.” Then the inevitable question comes.
“What were you doing?” Hannah asks.
“I like to take a look over the village every night and make sure all is well.” I answer honestly. I summon my sand to hover inches from the ground and step up again. I beckon Hannah to join me and she does without question. “Temari will not go easy on you because of your lack of sleep.” I try to joke; Konkuro says it makes me more pleasant. I reach the wall that I know to lead to Hannah’s room and have it fall away so she may step into the building.
“Thanks for the advice, good night.” She laughs quietly. I send the sand back to reform her wall and return to my survey of the village.
I make my way from the center of the village to the outer wall and move slowly around its perimeter. Occasionally a ninja on duty will notice me and respectfully salute or nod. But otherwise everything is quiet.
I move back to the center mansion and don’t stop there. I push the sand to raise high over the roof to give me a view of the surrounding desert. I know what to look for to recognize a threat, moving or disrupted sand, unexplained shadows in the moonlight. Sometimes if I feel uneasy I return to the roof and summon up as much chakra as I can and feel the desert.
I can sense anything moving be it a desert hare or an intruder. There is no reason to do so tonight so I return to my room. There is nothing to do now but make use of my time until I make another round at four o’clock before I finally give into sleep. I return to my desk and busy myself with more paperwork and lose myself in my work. I may hate this part just as much as the Hokage, but I face it with a bit more of a ‘suffer in silence’ attitude. Somehow I can’t picture the Raikage ever doing any paper work. The thought jolts me from my concentration and I check the moon. It’s around three, when you spend years without sleep, one tends to learn the patterns of the moon. I leave my work behind and do another round checking the village before heading off to sleep.
The next day I wake up naturally at six thirty as always. I shower and dress before heading out to do another sweep of the village before the day starts.
On my way back I see Temari and Hannah already hard at work in one of the training arenas below. I would go and observe if I didn’t have all that paper works still left to do, much less the various meetings and missions to assign.
The days go on following this pattern, Hannah grows stronger and whenever I have a slow day I take her to the arena and train her in defense. She is attentive and respectful and works diligently. Every time she sees me or my siblings she asks if we need anything and thanks us for bringing her here. Temari teaches her to direct wind chakra past the ends of her twin fans like throwing kuni. She struggles with the nature change and it takes several weeks for her to perfect it.
Don't forget! Story continues in the first reply below! also includes links to parts 1-3!! I told you it was long!!
I am going to go back to Part one and edit out what this part covers so there is no overlapping content. I have posted up to part III as of right now and will leave links to each of them at the end of the post. Please, Please leave your thoughts in the comments, negative ones (if posted as cronstructive criticism) helps me to become a better writer for you and postitive ones help me stay motivated to keep posting new parts. So either way your comment does good!
So without further ado, Part 0It has been four months since the war ended, each country and village are recovering quickly, too quickly. The threat that had made us allies is gone, a victory won. But now, old grudges are coming to light in a new way, even my own shinobi whisper complaints against the other nations. This peace that united us for such a moment is faltering. It is everything I can do to keep up the trust between even our closest friends at Konoha.
My name is Gaara, Kazakage of the Village hidden in the Sand. I have endured what most would say is unbearable and even suffered death. Enduring these things would have been impossible without my comrades, namely one in particular. Naruto Uzumaki, Jonin of the Hidden Leaf Village, and the last of the Jinchuriki. I had once also been labeled Jinchuriki, a name given to those who have been made weapons for their country since the time of their birth. We had no choice in the matter, we both suffered the same fate, and I would have been lost, had I never met Naruto. This bond between him and I have created a mutual trust between our villages but now, fresh from the losses of war. Even this trust between our homes threatens to crumble.
This is why my team and I are traveling to his home, to meet with Konoha’s Hokage. A normal ninja team consists of a captain and three ninja, but my team is made up of myself and my two siblings, Temari and Konkuro. We once had a sensei that completed our team, but he was never active with our missions, and fell away from us quickly. We have never taken on another team member, because no one has ever fallen into sync with us, we know each other too well anyone who tries to join us was never able to be helpful. My advisors tell me it is too dangerous for me to travel with even just one team much less an incomplete one. But this is one area in which I do not take their advice. My siblings and I are more than capable of traveling alone and prefer it to having a slow procession of unnecessary guards.
The journey to the village is somewhat uneventful. We encounter two groups of rouge ninja, one has no idea who we are, looking to gain nothing more than any valuables we may have had. They are easily subdued and we move on. The next is a bit more prepared, they know who I am and in turn know who Temari and Konkuro are. They prepare a slightly more strategic approach, but my team reacts quickly and takes out the enemy.
“Man you would think they would like, team up or something, at least give us a challenge!” Konkuro mocks the group’s efforts. “I haven’t even worked up a sweat yet!”
“Well then maybe you should put a little more effort into running and work up a sweat there!” Temari rebukes, “Gaara and I would already be there if we didn’t have to move at your pace!” Her concentrated expression she wears while traveling falls for a moment to grin at her remark and the look of contempt Konkuro returns.
Temari is the oldest of us; she has grown into a strong kunochi recently. She was always strong in terms of battle, but now she is strong mentally. Ever since I was taken by the Akatsuki, a group hunting the Jinchuuriki, and in turn killed, she has become wiser and stronger. I can always turn to her; she has led us as a family and led troops into battle. Her ever present looks of concentration, tell me her senses are on alert, scanning for threats, always learning. But she is never too far gone to ignore Konkuro and his antics.
Konkuro is Konkuro, he is older than me as well, and has been a good brother and teammate. He has helped me become who I am today, by warning me of people and always telling me the truth. He never sugar coats anything to spare feelings. This is a quality I greatly respect, honesty. But this quality also drives Temari insane half the time, and is usually what begins their arguments.
“You’ve got to be kidding me! Gaara can freakin fly, so yeah, he could out run me but you?! Please! Don’t make me laugh!” Konkuro glared at our sister as we moved otherwise silently through the trees toward our destination.
“What do you mean I couldn’t out run you!? You’re about as quick as a snail compared to me!” Temari turned and jumped backward so to face Konkuro who was running behind her.
This was common for a lot of ninja, our senses have been sharpened enough to hear anyone running in front of you and know where to land your feet even without looking. Temari has excellent senses so this is not problem for her, but Konkuro can’t, and that’s exactly why Temari did so.
Konkuro didn’t disappoint, his face grew red with frustration and anger at this gesture and he opened his mouth to yell out at her. I knew what would follow and didn’t want to hear it.
“Enough, we are close.” This and a quick look at Temari shut them both up and Temari turned back around with a smirk. She had won this round, which also meant Konkuro had lost which put him in a bad mood all the way to the village.
Not long ago they both would have stopped out of fear of me, what I might have done. But now they did what I asked because they knew it annoyed me and cared about my feelings, today was one of the rare occasions when they both complied with my request, even though we were alone. When we weren’t in the village where I was in charge, things were very normal for us. No ‘yes sir’ or other recognition of authority, just a family traveling together. I liked these times, away from the stress of the responsibility I carried.
We were all anxious to get to the village hidden in the Leaves. We all loved being here and hadn’t been since before the war. I had sent forces to help the village after it was attacked, but the Hokage that had been instated following Lady Tsunade’s coma, sent them all back immediately. I would have gone myself but I needed to protect my village more than ever, and I trusted that Naruto would take care of things.
Since the war Naruto has visited my village a couple of times, personally bringing non-urgent messages instead of sending them by messenger bird just to come. He told us the village was making tremendous progress and things were pretty much back to normal. During his visits we started to notice the looks of distrust in the eyes of our people. Naruto was well known here and before the war was greeted like one of our own. The war had brought much suffering, through the loss of life. Now that the fighting was over the loss of comrades were blamed on those they fell among, ninja from other villages. If a Sand ninja fell while fighting with a Leaf ninja, those in the sand blamed the ninja from the leaf, saying they could have saved him. This wasn’t true of course, but those who had never known war, looked for reasoning, why so many had died. And blame began to fall on others from different villages. I did my best to defuse these thoughts from the beginning. But whispers of anger and loss passed and the distrust grew. Even to the Leaf ninja who was our closest ally.
I would do whatever necessary to maintain this bond with them, which is why we are going to the Leaf now. I will speak with the Hokage to see if they are facing the same problem and find a common resolve.
My question is almost immediately answered. We are almost to the village when Temari speaks, “There’s someone up a head.”
It would be unlikely for a rouge ninja to be so close to a village, so we all have a good idea of who it is. This makes a grin grow on Konkuro’s face, and he pushes himself ahead of our group. Temari stifles a grin, Konkuro and Naruto had become good friends as well. Both always pulling pranks and getting on each other’s nerves. Naruto’s ever growing work ethic, and Konkuro’s ever dwindling one made for clashing personalities that results in humorous arguments.
As we grow closer, we see the unmistakable orange hyperactive ninja sleeping in a tree. This is the perfect opportunity for Konkuro who is quite a way ahead of us now. Konkuro lands lightly on the tree Naruto is perched in and moved silently in front of him. Of course Naruto’s senses are great and his body reacts to Konkuro’s presence. He wakes up immediately and Konkuro screams in his face. Naruto returns the scream and loses his balance and falls to the ground. This of course is exactly what Konkuro has hoped for and he doubles over in laughter.
Temari and I land on the ground next to the screaming Naruto.
“What was that for you jerk?! Here I was having a perfectly nice nap, and I wake up and some freak in purple makeup is all in my face!!” This continues until Konkuro joins us on the ground whipping a pretend tear from his face while laughing.
“Oh that was perfect.” Konkuro remarks at Naruto’s fall.
“Naruto what are you doing here?” Temari asks, diffusing his anger at Konkuro.
Turning his attention to Temari and I, Naruto’s expression changes to his normal goofy grin and he throws his arms behind his head. “I’m here to be your escort into the village!”
“Escort?” Temari asks confused. We have visited the village numerous times before the war and never required an escort before. My earlier question was answered by Naruto; Konoha was facing the same unrest my village was.
Of course no one in Konoha would openly speak against us but the villagers would be uneasy. But Naruto was trusted so explicitly in his village, if he was with us no one would question us.
“I don’t know, Granny Tsunade just told me you were coming and told me to wait for you out here. It was pretty boring so I trained for a while, but you guys took so long I finally just took a nap.” Naruto answered unconcerned.
Naruto and I lead the group, running the rest of the distance to the village gate. If anyone I had met would be a candidate to complete my team, it would be Naruto, he works well with us and quickly falls into synch with our normal pace. Or as in synch as Naruto could be, as great of ninja Naruto is, if the time came that he felt it necessary, he would abandon his team’s goal to protect his teammates. This was still a bit strange to me, but it’s the way Naruto has always been.
We reach the village minutes later and are greeted by a girl I have never met. She appears to be a bit younger than Naruto and I, maybe by one year. She has brown shoulder length hair and blue eyes and wore her ninja headband on her upper arm. She is dressed in traditional ninja wear, light clothes and a vest jacket. I can tell she is shy by nature but genuinely excited to see our group. She wears a kind smile but seems tired.
“Guys this is Hannah, your other escort.” Naruto explained, Hannah’s smile grew at her introduction.
“Nice to meet you!” Hannah responded regarding each of us. “Naruto everything over there is ready for them, and Lady Tsunade got caught in a meeting with the elders it might be a while until the Kazakage can see her.”
She spoke to Naruto but then turned her attention to me, “I’m very sorry for the inconvenience.” She bowed her head slightly in respect as Naruto started laughing.
“Right, inconvenience. Well let’s get going then so you can get settled in. How long do you guys get to stay until the Sand village falls apart without you Gaara?”
“Perhaps a couple of days, my business with the Hokage shouldn’t take too long.” I answer. Naruto instantly closes the distance between us and puts his arm over my shoulder and mischievously asks.
“Sooo what are you and Granny meeting about anyway? Huh? Huh? Is something exciting going on? Ooh, is Temari and Shikamaru getting married?!” Naruto hardly has time to let the words out of his mouth before Temari hits him hard with the end of her enormous unfolded fan. Konkuro laughs again staring at Naruto. But Hannah isn’t looking at Naruto, her eyes are rested on Temari and her fan, the look in her eyes tells me that she is fascinated by my sister. And that’s when I notice Hannah’s weapon of choice. Hanging loosely from her kuni belt are two sister fans much smaller than Temari’s. Hannah must also have wind nature chakra like Temari and Naruto. Hannah notices my eyes on her and quickly looks away from my sister and laughs with Konkuro at Naruto.
“Oww what was that for?!” Naruto complains.
“Gaara’s meeting with the Hokage is none of your business!” Temari yells back.
“Oh I’m sure that’s all you were upset about, it had nothing to do with his comment about you and your boyfriend…” Konkuro pushes Temari’s buttons just too far, and a look he and I know well rises in Temari. That’s when Konkuro decides it’s time to run.
“Oh come on guys don’t make this escort thing a pain!! Wait up!!” Naruto screams running after my siblings.
“Haha, your brother reminds me of Naruto in a way.” Hannah laughs.
“Yes they are very similar in ways.” I reply honestly.
“Well if you want I’ll show you where you’ll be staying while you’re here and if you ever visit again.” Hannah said.
“Yes thank you.” I say as Hannah and I turn to walk into the village. “Hannah you said ‘and if you ever visit again’ what do you mean by that?”
Hannah and I walked through the newly rebuilt village, Naruto had told the truth, things were returning to normal. The shops are open, while civilians and ninja alike pass us through the streets. Several children run in-between Hannah and I as we continue on our way while Hannah explains.
“Well while the village was being rebuilt Naruto suggested that in order to show our support of a continued alliances between the villages, we build a house for any visiting Kage and their teams. I’m pretty sure he was mainly thinking of you and your team though. Everyone considered it a good idea and the house was built neighboring the Hokage’s mansion. Inconsequently your house is also neighboring Naruto!” Hannah finished carrying the same smile she wore when she met him at the gate. I was beginning to believe she wore this smile most of the time.
“How do you mean inconsequently?” I ask.
“Well there was also building built across from the Hokage’s mansion to house all of the ninja without families, there is no need for us to have large homes that take up space in the village when we are here only half the time. And we decided we would rather be near the Hokage in case of crisis than be strewn throughout the village in homes.” She explains.
“Us?” I ask questioningly.
“Yes I live there too, I’m like Naruto, my parents died soon after I was born and I have no memories of them.” She told her story so casually and without any sound of regret. I could tell Hannah was strong, made strong by her life circumstances. I knew how it felt to grow up alone.
Hannah’s expression told that she needed no one to say they were sorry for her life. The confidence she wore, I wasn’t sure if it was real, but if it wasn’t I admired her for faking it. I knew we were getting close as what could only be the Hokage’s mansion rose above the village buildings. It looked almost identical to the old one he knew, just new and more polished. Hannah led us right in front of the Hokage’s office and into the building facing it on the other side of the street. It was a large house with a beautiful lawn and ornate woodwork. It was three stories high and the top floor had a large window in the center about half the length of the house.
“Here we are!” Hannah chimed as she walked down the path to the house. She entered the house and moved about the obviously familiar layout giving me the tour. The inside was just as impressive as the outside with fancy furniture and large windows covering the back wall showing off the beauty of the backyard. It was equally beautiful as it was functional, I immediately knew Naruto must have had a part in designing it. There was large training areas connected to the yard beside ours that must have been where he and the other ninja would live.
“Well this is floor is the kitchen and lounging room, the second floor is for your team there are three rooms so Naruto will probably stay in it while you are here. And the third floor is your room.” At her words she leads us up the stairs past the hallway that would surely lead to Temari and Konkuro’s rooms and into a small area with a door into the third floor. After going through the door we entered a large office area, the large window I had noticed from outside was at the back of a large desk and faced the Hokage’s mansion. There were numerous couches that made up the room, but the room’s most surprising feature was the large paintings and pictures of my village that lined the walls. The room was almost as nice as my quarters at home. Hannah had been right; this house may have been meant to house any Kage, but it had been designed for my team. This was all ridiculously unnecessary, but I was grateful.
“It’s wonderful thank you Hannah.” Hannah’s smile grew at my thanks, as she turned for the door.
“Well I’ll let you get settled in; your bedroom is through those doors.” Hannah pointed to a pair of large double doors just to the right of the desk. “If you need anything or want to go anywhere, I’ll be downstairs.” And with that Hannah closed the door and left me in my oversized office to wait for the Hokage.
Not long after Hannah left, I headed downstairs just as Naruto and my siblings entered the house.
“Oh Yeah!! This is what I’m talkin about!!” Konkuro exclaimed as he took in our surroundings. Hannah stood up from her spot on the couch and walked up to Naruto.
“I’m going to go check on the Hokage’s meetings status. Will you stay with them for a while?”
“Yeah sure, somehow I think I can bear being trapped here with them.” Naruto laughed as he watched Konkuro inspect the fridge.
“Well I guess this will do…” Temari tried to not to show her happiness like Konkuro. “How long are we staying again?” Temari directed her question to me.
“A couple of days.” I answered consistently.
“I say a couple of weeks.” Konkuro said giving his opinion as always.
Hannah laughed before saying goodbye and heading back out the door.
I walked to face the back windows and Naruto moved to stand beside me. “This is unnecessary Naruto.” I said.
“I know, but I’m not all to blame.” He chuckled as he continued. “I just suggested we build something for you guys, I mean build a Kage house. Then others started standing up and saying it was a waste, that we should focus on other things, but then Hannah stood up and said nothing was more important than securing friendships and trust with the other nations; never before had a blatant physical structure been built with this in mind. After she spoke more and more agreed to the idea. Then the girls got in charge and this is what resulted.” He held his arms out to regard the house as he spoke.
“Luckily my idea of a training area was admitted into the plans otherwise the place would have been worthless!” He laughed again.
“Hannah spoke in our favor? Who is she?” I asked him. The moment I did Naruto’s face fell slightly.
“Well Hannah and I grew up in the same orphanage; she is a year younger than us. She has always been kind, even when we were young she tried to talk to me as much as she could.” Naruto chuckled despite the hard memories of his past. “Of course the orphanage workers tried to prevent this as much as possible, worried I might, well you know.” He paused for a moment before continuing. “Once she got into the academy she learned pretty well, we didn’t see each other much but she always had that smile for me. She has always had a hard time getting into her own groove to fight though, or at least that’s what Iruka sensei has told me. She has wind nature chakra like me and she fights or tries to fight with twin fans her parents left her. But her sensei couldn’t teach her how to use them and so she just fights using normal kuni and small jutsu. I’ll see her at the training grounds often though; she gets up real early and tries desperately to teach herself how to use those fans. But learning on your own just isn’t that easy. I feel bad for her, even tried to give her some tips sometime, but I don’t know how to use them either. She doesn’t give up though; it’s almost like, in her mind if she can master using those fans she will make her parents proud. She passed the Chunin exams while I was gone training and was finally on her way. Until the war, all of her teammates were killed, leaving her only family in the world gone. She has been strong though, helping rebuild the village and even watching the kids from our old home sometimes.
She is a good friend. There were a couple of groups that really didn’t like you guys coming, and Hannah defended you and all the other villages. People argued that she should blame the other villages more than anyone after losing her team. But she said that they would have wanted us to maintain our friendships and fight to keep them. ”
Naruto finished talking just as Konkuro barreled down the stairs fleeing from Temari again, he pushed his way in between Naruto and I out into the back lawn screaming: “I didn’t mean it sis calm down!! You’re totally overreacting!!”
“Guys I am not chasing you all over town again, no one is to leave this house until Hannah gets back, cause I’m sticking with Gaara from now on!!!” The rest of Naruto’s words faded in the distance as he chased my family throughout the lawn. Then Temari swung her fan and sent Konkuro flying into a tree. And with that motion I knew I had one other request of the Hokage.
Soon after Temari is satisfied she has punished Konkuro adequately, and Naruto who somehow found himself at the mercy of her fury; they all reenter the house. I take Temari aside and we head up to my office.
We both sit down, me behind my desk and she directly across from me in one of the two chairs facing the desk and looking out the windows.
“Temari what do you think of this friend of Naruto’s, Hannah?” I ask peering over my folded hands leaning over the desk.
“Uh well she seems nice enough, why do you ask?” My sister replies confused. I tell her Hannah’s story and she listens intensively. “So you want me to help her with those fans of hers?” She asks already at my reasoning.
“Yes, as soon as she saw your fan, I could tell she was intrigued. Teach her the basics, if what Naruto told me is true, her work ethic will take her from there.
“Sounds easy enough, as long as Konkuro leaves us alone I’ll be fine,” she chuckles as she contemplates the idea, “It’ll be like a vacation.”
The next few days followed a certain routine, I would go with Naruto to speak with the Hokage; while Temari stayed behind and worked long hours with Hannah teaching her the basics of combining their wind natured chakra and their fans. It was a bit different with Temari’s large one and Hannah’s two small ones. Hannah’s attacks ranged from mid distance to short distance while Temari’s have always been long range. My sister reported to Naruto and I that Hannah never wanted breaks; and after Temari would come in for the night she was pretty sure she would head out to the training grounds to go over what they had practice that day. Temari had never had such a dedicated student that would put up with her difficult regimens, and it impressed her to no end.
On the last day we stayed in the Leaf village, I felt confident that the Hokage had laid the groundwork for Konoha to maintain its trust in our alliances. And I had a pretty good idea of how to maintain my villages trust in them.
I told Naruto that I needed to speak with the Hokage once again before we left, and we left to the large building where she resided.
“Lord Kazakage!” Shizune, the Hokage’s student, assistant, and friend met us in the hall. “I thought you and Lady Tsunade had finished your meetings?” She asked.
“Yes, if the Hokage would have me, I wish to discuss one last matter with her.” I responded. Shizune smiled at Naruto.
“Oh I know for a fact she wouldn’t mind! Today she is supposed to be doing a week’s worth of paperwork she has neglected!”
“That’s just like Granny! I would be on your toes Gaara! She’s likely to throw something at anyone who comes in if she thinks you’re bringing more paperwork!!!” Naruto spoke with a laugh that could only mean it had happened to him before.
Shizune led us both down the familiar hall back to the Hokage’s office and knocked on the door.
“Shizune if that’s you bringing me more work I swear I’m gonna quit!!” The voice of the Hokage was filled with frustration and exhaustion. He couldn’t blame her, he knew exactly how much paperwork came with the position of Kage.
Naruto moved past Shizune who was giving an embarrassed smile, “It’s about time granny, I’m ready to take over for you at a moment’s notice!” Naruto threw his arms behind his head and gave his leader that goofy grin that we all know him for.
“Yeah right Naruto, what do you want!? I’m busy here!” At that moment I followed Naruto into the large office, “Ah Gaara, what can I do for you?”
Tsunade shot a look at her student for not warning her that I was here.
“I apologize for coming unannounced, but I have another matter I wish to discuss with you.” I begin.
“And what matter would that be?”
“The Chunin, Hannah who has served as an escort for my family this week; Temari has been teaching her this week and Hannah has responded with great promise. Naruto tells me she has no family here nor a ninja team.”
“That’s right.” Tsunade prompted me to continue.
“With your consent I wish to ask Hannah if she would like to return with us to the land of winds to train under Temari until we return next.”
This took the Hokage by surprise, Naruto smiled. “And what has brought this on?” the Hokage asked.
“I simply believe it would benefit her to spend more time with Temari; not only that it, would show my trust in the Leaf’s ninja by her presence in our home. I would not send her on missions. She would stay with Temari under her care as her student inside the village. No harm will come to her.”
The Hokage leaned on her arms deep in thought, and right on cue Naruto had to break the silence… “That’s a great idea! Hannah loves Temari and Konkuro and she would learn so much, no one in the leaf knows how to handle a fan like Temari!! Great plan Gaara!” Naruto was grinning ear to ear as he patted me on the shoulder, Tsunade on the other hand did indeed throw a book at Naruto’s head which he barely dodged by ducking, inadvertently bringing me down with him. My sand knocked him off and I quickly recovered ignoring his presence and bringing the Hokage’s attention back to me. You could practically see the steam coming from her face.
She composed herself then addressed me, “I see no problem with this, if Hannah wishes to go. But if she does I will expect monthly reports on her progress to make sure her presence is still productive. Also, I would like prior knowledge if you take her anywhere with your team, I want to know where my ninja are. Understood?” She finished with a smile; something told me she knew this would be good for Hannah.
“Understood, that is all I wished to discuss, if you are finished I believe my team and I will return home.” I said as she stood.
“Of course, I hope you have a safe journey, Naruto and Kakashi will escort you to our border.” The Hokage said.
“Thank you for all your hospitality, Lady Hokage.” I turned to leave and a grumbling Naruto followed. As we left I could hear the Hokage speaking to her student.
“All right, I guess it’s time for lunch.” “Oh no milady, you’ve got way too much to do, if you finish that stack I’ll bring you some lunch.” “Have you forgotten who I am?! I’m your Hokage!!” “Ahhh!!” I hear as a large thump follows.
“She’s got a real bad temper she does…” Naruto says rubbing the part of his head he hit when my sand threw him into the wall.
“Maybe if you didn’t set her off so often?” I offer as we walk across the street to our house. “Naruto, the village would have made you a house just like this one? Why are you living in the building with all the ninja?” I ask genuinely curious.
“I don’t need a house like that! Hopefully I’ll be on super important missions most of the time and besides!” Naruto stops and points at the Hokage’s mansion. “The next house I live in will be that one!!”
We continue walking the short distance to our temporary home, and I see Temari and Hannah out the back windows hard at work yet again. Konkuro, yet again, is asleep on the couch with remnants of stale food surrounding him and a movie playing on the TV long forgotten. I send my sand to roll him off the couch onto the plush carpet which wakes him with a start. Naruto curls over in laughter at my brother’s murderous expression. “We are leaving.” I say simply.
I move through the house to the back door ignoring the profanities being screamed at my back and then directed at Naruto. Naruto yells after me, “Talkin to me about not setting people off!!!” This almost brings a smile to my face.
I close the door behind me and escape to the peace of the outdoors. I follow the path lined with beautiful flowers grown in sand, some which are familiar to me from home others I have never seen. As I reach the end of the path and walk across the short trimmed grass to where my sister and Hannah are training they both stop to great me.
“Gaara, were you able to meet with the Hokage?” Temari and I had discussed Hannah returning with us last night and she had accepted the idea without hesitation. She loved Hannah and hoped she said she would come with us. We didn’t want to ask Hannah before the Hokage in case Tsunade rejected the idea.
Hannah gave another small bow of her head in respect as she greeted me. “Lord Kazakage.” The kind smile I had guessed was a great part of her normal expression lined her face for the millionth time in the days I had spent in her company. Temari spoke quickly.
“Hannah we have something to ask you.” Hannah responded to Temari’s statement with a small look of confusion.
“Hannah, I have spoken with the Lady Hokage, and she has agreed that if it be your wish that you may return with us to the Land of Winds to train under Temari until we return.” Hannah did not react immediately; Temari and I could see the information passing through her mind. She turned to Temari.
“Are you serious? You, you would take me with you to train?” Hannah looked completely caught off guard, and to my surprise, a tear threatened to escape the corner of her eye.
“Yes we’re serious.” Temari responded. Just as the word yes formed on my sister’s lips Hannah leapt at her and embraced her in a hug. This time I didn’t fight the smile that came forward.
The most surprising part of it all happened next, Temari hugged her back. I think Temari thought of Hannah as a younger sister she always wished she had.
Behind me I could hear Konkuro and Naruto chuckling and turned to see them watching the scene. Apparently Naruto had told Konkuro what we were talking about.
Right about that time I hear the small rustling of leaves that unmistakably means the arrival of someone. I glance up at the tree above our group and see Naruto’s sensei Kakashi.
“Congratulations Hannah, Temari may not go easy on you, but she will teach you well.” Kakashi said without taking his eyes off his novel.
“Kakashi Sensei! Thank you! What are you doing here?” Hannah said releasing her embrace on Temari.
“Naruto and I are escorting the Kazakage’s group to the border of the Land of Fire, which now includes you.” Kakashi said as he silently dropped from the tree. “Hannah, perhaps you should go pack.”
“Oh! Of course, thank you Temari!” she said giving her another small hug, then turned to me, “Thank you Kazakage!”
“Gaara” I say, bringing an even bigger smile to her face, if that was possible.
The journey back home was even less eventful. We were only confronted once and Temari and Hannah did the honors as a training exercise. Just in the few days since the two met, Hannah had learned much. As we approached the village, Hannah spoke.
“I’ve never seen your village before; Naruto tells me it’s beautiful.” She confesses looking between us all.
Temari smiles at her student who looks nervous. We approach the large wall that surrounds the village, and pass under the arch. The light passing through the dark passage prevents us from seeing anything but sunshine, until we move out of the enclosed space.
Hannah gasps as she instantly takes in the sight. Her reaction makes me evaluate the village as well, really noticing all of its features. It is nearing twilight and the sun is nearing its setting point directly behind the village horizon. Each building has a slight glow from the sand reflecting the light. My home rests in the center of the village, casting a protective shadow across the ground. The villagers are running around finishing last minute errands before returning home for the night. Off duty ninja walk down the streets laughing and speaking to occasional villagers. As we pass through the scene people greet us and those that we know well, we introduce to Hannah.
At one point a small child sees our group and tugs on her mother’s dress. Her mother leans in close as her child whispers too her. For a moment an old memory of people speaking in hushed tones about me rises up to the surface and I feel a twinge of sadness. But just as these thoughts creep back to my mind, the child reaches to grab the four wild sand daisies’s her mother gives her from the pots in her shop; and runs over to me and shyly extends the flower towards me.
Temari, Konkuro and Hannah smile at the child as I reach to receive her gift. She smiles as I will my sand to form a bouquet of flowers and condense the sand so hard it will remain in its shape for a few days. I hand my gift to the girl and return her smile. Temari has scolded me before for keeping a passive expression when these encounters happen. The girl lets out a giggle at her gift and moves to give the remaining flowers to Temari, Konkuro and Hannah before making her way back to me and taking my sand flowers.
“Thank you sir!” She says with a small bow of her head, just like Hannah tends to give. Then she turned around and ran back to her mom who also gave a small bow of the head to me. “Mommy! Mommy! Did you see what the Kazakage gave me?!” “Yes that was very nice of him wasn’t it? Did you tell him thank you?” I heard the mother chastise as we move out of earshot.
“They love you.” Hannah said gently. I turned to in surprise. Past her in our line was Temari whose smile paired with Hannah’s made me greatly happy I had brought her back with us.
We reached the base of my home, the Kage’s mansion of the sand. The two guards who stood at alert stiffened at the sight of us, but also greeted us with a smile. “Lord Kazakage, welcome home.”
“Thank you.” We passed through the door and made our way through the large building up to the fourth floor. There are stairs of course but the workers had also carved holes in the floor on each level allowing access to the rounded hallways that held the doors to the various rooms. This was designed so I could have a quick way to get to and from each level. This was how we traveled today, Temari, Konkuro and I stopped and Hannah followed suit. I summoned the sand beneath our feet to carry us smoothly up to our destination on the fourth floor. Hannah stifled a laugh as she felt the sensation for the first time. We walked onto the hallway floor, which was decorated with various plants and held a flood of sunlight from the large rounded window that was at the end of the round opening which was my personal elevator. As soon as Konkuro had walked onto safety of the hallway floor I let my sand drift gently back down to it resting place on the ground floor.
“Hannah.” I address the girl to move into the room for which I am opening the door. She moves past me into the office. The head Security looked at Hannah with surprise and confusion which melted away as soon as I entered the room.
“Lord Gaara!” The man rose to his feet and addressed us.
“This is Hannah; she has come with us from Konoha to train under Temari. She will have level 1 security clearance understood?” I spoke mater-of-factly and the man’s face showed humor then utter confusion.
“Sir, I must protest, level 1! Sir that would grant her access to you at anytime, and passage through the entire building!?” The head of security gaped in surprise as he tried to recover.
“I understand our security levels. And I am telling you that she will have level 1 clearance. She will also have clearance to come and go from the village as she pleases if she so chooses.” My tone had changed I didn’t like being challenged in front of a guest. I think he got the message from my authoritive tone.
“Uh yes sir! I will notify the staff immediately.” He says as Hannah and I turn to leave. I close the door behind us and Temari raises her eyebrows at me. I know what she is thinking Level 1? Yes, if I am to show my trust for the Leaf and its ninja, what better way than to give her such a privilege. Not only that, I do trust her. I walk past them and pull the cork out of the top of my gourd, my stride doesn’t falter as I let my weight fall toward the open hole in the center of the room.
“Whoa!” Hannah exclaims as she wraps her arms around me and pulls me back without success, my sand reaches the space moments before my foot and I turn to look at Hannah’s worried expression. It quickly turns to embarrassment as she lets go of me and turns her face away. “Sorry Kazakage, I, I thought you were going to fall."
I move to the center of the hovering disk of sand and turn back to face her, “Gaara.” That’s all I say as I extend my hand to her. She smiles, embarrassment gone, and takes my hand to balance her as she steps over the gap onto my sand. We move up another floor, and I send my sand back into my gourd. Temari takes over from there.
“Well this is where all of our rooms are.” Temari continues to point out all of our various dwellings to Hannah, and finally leads her to the guest room that she will stay in. Temari seems to have everything covered so I excuse myself. I’m sure what’s waiting for me is equally frustrating as what Tsunade was facing when I last saw her. I summon my sand yet again and move up to the next and final floor. The floors get smaller as they go up and the final floor is solely my office and dwelling.
The day draws to a close and I decide I have done enough for a night. It is hard for me to sleep now, for the longest time sleep was my greatest enemy. And now with the pressure off, I still can’t sleep anymore than a couple of hours a night. I look out one of the small windows in my room and face a full moon.
I will the sand that makes up the walls of the building to open and allow my gourd sand to carry me up to the roof before re-closing the wall I sit there for a while, simply looking over the village. It is beautiful even in slumber. A few windows show signs of life, shadows dance across the openings reveling figures moving about.
I lean back and move my gaze to the sky. The moon rising in the sky tells me it’s about eleven now. It will be at least three hours until my mind allows me to fall asleep. My mind wonders to memories of the past, and threatens to pull me into despair. Then I think about my new life, the Kazakage, that child who brought me a sand daisy. Hannah saying they loved me. Could that be true? Could people who despised me so, love me now? The answer comes to me quickly, yes. I know it is possible because I have seen it elsewhere. Naruto, he was despised just as I was, but I have seen without a doubt, his village loves him.
I pull my mind from these thoughts and decide I should make a pass over the perimeter and make sure we are secure. I trust my people explicitly, but I couldn’t call myself Kazakage if I didn’t take my people’s safety into my own hands. My sand forms almost before I think for it to come. And I move silently above my village surveying the streets. Everything is quiet, but a small figure almost passes without me noticing far beneath me. I fly lower and see it is Hannah walking around the Kage mansion. She doesn’t notice me until I am a few feet above her.
“Hannah, it may not be smart for you to walk alone out here at night.” I say to her as I land and my sand retreats back to its resting place.
“Oh yes, I’m sorry, I just couldn’t sleep.” She says in return. “I’m not sure, but I’d say your home is just as beautiful at night.” She says smiling up at me.
“Yes, it may be.” Then the inevitable question comes.
“What were you doing?” Hannah asks.
“I like to take a look over the village every night and make sure all is well.” I answer honestly. I summon my sand to hover inches from the ground and step up again. I beckon Hannah to join me and she does without question. “Temari will not go easy on you because of your lack of sleep.” I try to joke; Konkuro says it makes me more pleasant. I reach the wall that I know to lead to Hannah’s room and have it fall away so she may step into the building.
“Thanks for the advice, good night.” She laughs quietly. I send the sand back to reform her wall and return to my survey of the village.
I make my way from the center of the village to the outer wall and move slowly around its perimeter. Occasionally a ninja on duty will notice me and respectfully salute or nod. But otherwise everything is quiet.
I move back to the center mansion and don’t stop there. I push the sand to raise high over the roof to give me a view of the surrounding desert. I know what to look for to recognize a threat, moving or disrupted sand, unexplained shadows in the moonlight. Sometimes if I feel uneasy I return to the roof and summon up as much chakra as I can and feel the desert.
I can sense anything moving be it a desert hare or an intruder. There is no reason to do so tonight so I return to my room. There is nothing to do now but make use of my time until I make another round at four o’clock before I finally give into sleep. I return to my desk and busy myself with more paperwork and lose myself in my work. I may hate this part just as much as the Hokage, but I face it with a bit more of a ‘suffer in silence’ attitude. Somehow I can’t picture the Raikage ever doing any paper work. The thought jolts me from my concentration and I check the moon. It’s around three, when you spend years without sleep, one tends to learn the patterns of the moon. I leave my work behind and do another round checking the village before heading off to sleep.
The next day I wake up naturally at six thirty as always. I shower and dress before heading out to do another sweep of the village before the day starts.
On my way back I see Temari and Hannah already hard at work in one of the training arenas below. I would go and observe if I didn’t have all that paper works still left to do, much less the various meetings and missions to assign.
The days go on following this pattern, Hannah grows stronger and whenever I have a slow day I take her to the arena and train her in defense. She is attentive and respectful and works diligently. Every time she sees me or my siblings she asks if we need anything and thanks us for bringing her here. Temari teaches her to direct wind chakra past the ends of her twin fans like throwing kuni. She struggles with the nature change and it takes several weeks for her to perfect it.
Don't forget! Story continues in the first reply below! also includes links to parts 1-3!!
I told you it was long!!
