"So Gaara, why do you seem afraid of everyone?" I asked as we sat down beside the lake. It was summer time, so the snow had melted and their were fishermen out on the water.
"W-what do you mean?" He muttered, looking down at his teddy bear.
"I mean, you don't seem to be familiar with people." He looked down, frowning.
"I...I'm not supposed to talk about it."
"You're an outcast too, huh?" I whispered and looked out at the waves. I could hear the gasp and sense his eyes on me.
"You're an outcast here?" I frowned.
"People look at me weirdly, because of my eyes. I have the birth trait of the village, but it scares people. There hasn't been someone with these eyes in years." I muttered.
"Your eyes look completely normal to me." He whispered, putting a hand on my cheek. I sighed and looked at him.
"These aren't those eyes. Its hard to explain...it's something I'm not really supposed to talk about either. But..." I trailed off.
"But what?"
"But I like you, Gaara." I smiled at him. "That's why I really hope we can be friends."
"Friends? You want me to be your friend?"
"Of course! Why wouldn't I want you as a friend?" He looked down.
"Because of what's inside of me..." I looked at him confused.
"Inside of you? I don't get it." He said nothing as we heard someone coming from behind us.
"Are you two having fun?" We turned and I saw Rasa standing there.
"Yeah!" I smiled.
"Y-yes father..." Gaara stumbled.
"Well I hate to cut it so short but we must be going, but we'll be back in about a month if that's alright with you, Mia?" I smiled wider.
"Of course, bye Gaara. I hope you'll smile the next time we see each other." I exclaimed. He rose and began to follow his father, he looked back at me once and gave me a small smile.
"Bye Mia.." He waved.
~
I looked up at Gaara as he completely transformed into Shukaku. Naruto had come with Sakura to help, but I knew there was nothing they could do to stop Gaara.
"Gaara..." I coughed up some blood, causing Shukaku to look at me. "Shukaku..." I gave them a small smile. "Its been a long time..." Shukaku reached down and carefully picked me up. It hurt to breath, with every movement of my chest I felt the broken rib digging into something.
"Mia, you're hurt..." A mixture of Gaara and Shukaku's voices stated.
"You have to stop this...you're going to kill a lot of innocent people for no reason. Is that what you want? To be a murderer for the rest of your life, Gaara!" I yelled, wincing in pain as the air burned my chest. They looked at me with a look of sadness in their eyes, but it washed away as Naruto kicked him in the face. Temari jumped up quickly and grabbed me, vanishing away from the scene before I could say anything. "You have to take me back!" I growled at her.
"You'll die if you get involved. Gaara is too far gone to be reasoned with."
"You're wrong..." I whispered, feeling the wavering of consciousness from the pain.
~
"Gaara, welcome back!" I hugged him as him and his father walked into our home. He smiled slightly.
"Hey Mia..."
"Well it seems our kids have become good friends." My mother smiled at Rasa. He chuckled.
"So it would seem. Why don't you two go and play upstairs?" Rasa smiled at me and I took that moment to go upstairs with Gaara. When we got to my room I quietly shut the door.
"What are you doing?" Gaara asked as I put a finger to my lips.
"Do you want to get caught?" I opened my window and jumped down to the ground. Gaara followed my lead and we went to the lake again, only this time we sat in the tree outlooking the water. "I hate being trapped inside, I find it much more peaceful to be here. Especially at night, the night is always so much better than the day. No one to bother you, no one to tell you what to do, just you and the world around you. Do you feel the same way?" I asked, letting the wind blow my hair.
"Yeah, I like the night better. I can't really sleep very well." I looked at him out of the corner of my eyes.
"Because of what's inside of you?" He looked at me surprised. "I remember you telling me that the last time you were here. I never did get to find out what it was."
"Shukaku, the One-Tailed Demon." I looked at him confused.
"Huh? A demon?" He looked down as if to hide himself from me.
"When I was in my mother's womb, a demon was sealed inside of me to save my village...but everyone is afraid of the demon..." I frowned.
"I take it your mother died when the demon was sealed inside of you?" He nodded. "I'm sure your mother loved you with all her heart. That's how mothers are, they would protect you with everything in their being because you're their child." I smiled at him.
"You're not afraid of me?" I shook my head.
"Gaara, we can't choose how we're born or what we're born with. I don't think people should get to judge you based on what happened before you were even alive." I explained and grabbed his hand. "I want you to be my friend, if that means I have you and Shukaku then you're both my friends." His eyes went wide and I could see a smile come across his lips.
"Thank you, Mia..."
"You don't have to thank me, you're my friend. I want you to be happy in the body you have."
"Gaara! Mia! Are you out here?!" I heard my mother call out.
"Well looks like we got caught." I giggled and jumped out of the tree with Gaara.
"Hey Mia?" Gaara asked before we went out to meet her.
"Yeah?"
"Next time, can I see your eyes? The ones you were telling me about?" I smiled.
"Sure!"
~
I opened my eyes sharply as I felt the burning in my chest return.
"Gaara...!" I looked left and right but he was no where to be seen.
"Relax, you'll be okay but you have to not move around too much." Temari scolded me as she walked over with her other brother.
"Is Gaara okay?" I asked, panting with the strain.
"Yeah, he's going to be fine. It seems Naruto was able to stop Shukaku, we were about to go and get him. Are you able to move?" I nodded and sat up slowly. Temari helped me up with my good arm.
"Why did you patch me up?" I asked as we headed back in the direction of where Shukaku once was.
"I realized that you were right...you stood up to Gaara when Shukaku was possessing him and I could see that it recognized you as someone Gaara held close to him." I didn't say anything as we appeared through the trees. Gaara was laying on the ground, but he was alive. I landed next to him.
"Gaara..." He reached up slowly and touched my cheek.
"Mia...I'm sorry I hurt you..." I held the hand to my face.
"You idiot...I don't care about that, I care that you and Shukaku are alright." He lowered his hand and looked me dead in the eyes.
"Your eyes...I had never seen them before, they're beautiful." I sighed and gave him a smile.
"Next time I see you, I better see the smile I remember." I stated and moved away as Temari and her brother took him. "Take care of him." I muttered and Temari nodded with a smile.
"Until we see you again, Mia." They vanished and I was left sitting there, a stupid grin on my face.
"Mia, you need to see a doctor." Kakashi appeared almost immediately.
"Alright."
See you around, Gaara...