After checking on each Jinchuriki, within a month, I returned to Gaara as I promised him because out of all the hosts, he needs more help. It seems like the others have bonded well with their tailed beast, so Gaara is my main concern right now.
As I enter into the Sand Village, I head straight to Gaara's house and into his room. Kankuro and Temari had told me that he's been trying hard to control himself, yet he still has the bloodlust.
"Gaara?" I knock on his bedroom door. When there was no answer, I said, "Gaara, I'm coming in." I open the door and I am attacked by the sand.
Acting quickly, I summon my scythe and slice the sand in half while I glare at Gaara. He's crying with his face in his hands. I should have expected as much.
"Oh, Gaara. What's happened to you?" I walk over to him and kneel in front of him while gently lifting his face.
"Everyone hates me. . ." He whimpers. "Nobody wants to be my friend. . . I'm all alone. . ."
"Do you remember what I told you before I left? I said that you were never alone because I'm here." I wipe the tears off his cheeks. "I told you I would be back, didn't I?" I recalled.
After wiping his tears, he opens his eyes and a smile appears on his face. "Akari!" He hops in my arms, hugging me. "You kept your promise! You came back!" He says all cheery.
"I told you I would." I give him a light smile while hugging him back. "No matter what, I will always be here, Gaara. Remember that, okay?"
"Yeah!" Gaara nods his head.
{Time Skip}
Over the months, Gaara has become an excellent genin. He has control over the ability to move sand around, but he has insomnia thanks to Shukaku. He hasn't gotten any rest, and I realized that Gaara has been keeping himself away because of the nightmares he's been having since I've left.
But now, Gaara looks cold, dark, and careless. I'm not sure what's gotten into him, but he still remains calm when I speak to him and tell him what to do. I guess being mistreated from his village must have really hurt him from the inside.
On the bright side, their sensei, Baki, allowed me to accompany them since today is the chunin exams, being held in the Leaf Village. However, I've been feeling Kurama's chakra rampaging like crazy. Either the seal has been broken, or Naruto got really upset about something. Looks like I have to go check on both of them.
"Thank you for coming with us. Gaara is calm when you're around." Kankuro tells me while we're on our way to the Leaf Village.
"It's no trouble. I hope you and Temari were watching over him while I was away." I reply to Kankuro.
"We have, but the village still treats him terribly. He doesn't listen to Temari or I anymore. He's been asking about you."
"Sorry for leaving in short notice. I had other business to attend to. I'll make sure Gaara doesn't get himself into too much trouble during the chunin exams. So, you don't have to worry about him as much. Right, Baki?" I look at the sensei with the corner of my eye.
"Yeah." He scoffs at me. He's only upset because I'm here and I proved to him that I can control Gaara without using any violence or force. Humans have strange methods these days.
Once we enter the Leaf Village, Baki leaves to register the siblings in. He tells us to stay close to each other and not to cause any trouble. But the moment he leaves, Kankuro and Temari walk around the village while I take Gaara to a private place to speak to the Shukaku.
We stand in an alley, all alone, as I place my hand on Gaara's head. "This time, you'll be with Shukaku so I can have both stories from you, okay?" I inform Gaara before following the procedure.
After Gaara nods his head, telling me that it's okay, we both close our eyes and we both enter into his mind, meeting Shuaku. "Welcome back, Lady Akari." Shukaku greets me.
"Shukaku." I greet back. "Tell me, what's been going on while I was away? You know had to attend to the other tailed beast."
"The usual. I don't really have to explain it. The citizens of the sand village treat him like crash and call him a monster. You're all that the boy an think, and talk about. He's been weeping out your name like a baby." Shukaku tells me.
"Respect your host, Shukaku. Don't make me remind you of your place." I slightly glare at the 1 tails.
"That's all the village does. . . They look down on me and tell me what a monster I am." Gaara frowns, looking down at the ground.
"Yet, you are not." I turn to the boy. "When people are scared, they say and do bad things. They don't know any better. In time, they will soon respect you. Don't forget, I'm here with you every step of the way." I turn back to Shukaku. "As long as you play your part in protecting this boy, I might reward you."
"What kind of a reward?" Shukaku leans in with interest.
"You'll have to find out yourself if you keep behaving yourself. Enough chit-chatting. We have to meet up with the others."
"Right." Gaara and Shukaku say at the same time. I disconnect us from Gaara's mind and we are back in our physical bodies. "Let's go, Gaara." I tell him and he nods his head.
When we look for Kankuro and Temari, we hear screaming and a lot of racket going on. Coming into view, I see Kankuro about to use his Crow on 3 little kids, and 3 other genin. I'm starting to wonder who's the mature one in the family. . .
Gaara is no longer by my side, and when I look up, I see him standing upside down on the tree branch. "Kankuro, enough. You're an embarrassment to our village. Did you forget the reason why we came all this way here?" Gaara interrupts his brother's fun.
Kankuro and Temari are frozen in place out of fear when they hear Gaara's voice. "H-Hey, Gaara. The thing is, they started it first and-"
"Shut up. . . Or I'll kill you." Gaara interrupts Kankuro's sentence with a death, cold glare. And there it is. The bloodlust. He really is damaged from the inside.
"R-Right. I-I was just kidding, Gaara. R-Really, I was." Kankuro swallows hard, putting the Crow away.
"Good grief. I'm starting to think that your brother is the mature one in the family." I sigh as I walk over to the group. "We can't waste any time here. We came here for one reason only."
"Yeah, let's go."
"You coming, Gaara?" I look at him, since he's still in the tree. He nods, telling me yes, and comes down from the tree branch with his sand.
The moment the sand siblings and I are about to walk away, a girl shouts at us, telling us to wait. Just by hearing her voice, I can tell she is extremely annoying.
"The Land of the Wind, and the Land of Fire are allies, they cannot enter the village without permission! So, state your business, and it better be good!"
I turn around to face her, with a look of bored as I explain why we're here. "We're here for the chunin exams. We have permission." I tell the girl with pink hair.
"But there has to be 3 of only!" She continues to shout.
"I'm not participating in these exams. I have no reason to. I'm only the help in the group. If that's all you have to say, then we'll be off. . . Oh, and it's nice to see you again, Naruto. I hope you're doing a lot better." I give the blonde boy a kind smile.
"Huh? You know me?" Naruto looks at me confused, then taking a long moment to remember. "Oh, yeah! Hey, Akari! How ya been!? I can't believe you're here in the village!" Naruto runs over to me.
"I've been doing well, thanks for asking. I hope you're holding up alright. I heard that you saved a small village all on your own." I kneel to his height and stroke the top of his head, ruffling his hair.
"You should've seen me out there in the land of waves! I totally kicked butt!"
"Keep up the good work. I have to go now. See you in the chunin exams?"
"I am so there!"
"Good." I stand up and walk away with the sand siblings. 'I hope you're behaving yourself while keeping the boy safe, Kurama.' I link minds with the 9 tails.
'You have my word, Lady Akari. I will not disobey you.' Kurama links back.
'Good.' That's what I like to hear. No hard feeling, right?'
'No hard feelings. . .'
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