Rotted Rowan

Beautiful Rain

I revised chapters 37 - 40, I suggest re-reading those before reading these chapters.

Beta:

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

Gaara

Gaara came to like the rain.

It fell upon him, cold and refreshing. Completely opposite of the desert he had lived in before.

He stared up at the sky, dark clouds that covered it.

He hadn't seen a blue sky in years. After Guren took him out of Sunagakure, he had only ever been in rain.

Beautiful rain.

The past three years of his life had been the best years by a long shot. He didn't remember destroying Sunagakure, but he didn't really care about it. Ever since Guren quieted the bijū inside him, he hadn't heard a peep of madness. Under her guidance he was able to sleep deeply, peacefully, each and every night. The sound of rain soothed him more than mere words could describe.

He hovered near her in the Land of Water, quiet and eager to help the woman who changed his life for the better.

Today he had to be separated from her. While she remained in Water, he had to go to Ame.

It was a dark city, Amegakure. Its buildings reached into the heavens, looming above him. Some might have been intimidated by their odd styles, but Gaara merely thought them strange.

"Yoo-hoo," called a voice, a hand waving up and down in front of Gaara. "You there?"

Gaara blinked, noticing the tall red-head in front of him. They were lean with short, messy red hair. They wore the standard Jōnin uniform that all Amegakure shinobi wore. The only thing that stood out was the Akatsuki armband.

Gaara had his own Akatsuki armband.

The armband meant they directly served under an Akatsuki member. Gaara was Guren's disciple.

The person in front of him grinned. "Ah, got your attention? I'm Uzumaki Reo! I'm under Kisame."

Gaara nodded curtly.

"You're here for the extraction, right?"

Again, Gaara nodded.

Today, the Black Acolytes would extract the bijū from inside Gaara. Guren told him it would be a tiring process that would leave him weakened for weeks. He was supposed to stay and rest in Amegakure until fully recovered.

"I'm here to escort you," Reo said. They offered their arm to Gaara.

Gaara stared mutely at it.

"I promise I don't bite," teased Reo. Then paused. "Unless Owari-sama was into that kind of stuff, then hell yeah I do."

Owari-sama. The person who rescued Guren, and who orchestrated the Akatsuki's movements. Gaara had only met Owari-sama once, and that was when Owari-sama came to check up on the Land of Water. The country had undergone rapid development in the past three years under the Akatsuki's watchful gaze.

There were no civilians in the Land of Water.

Everyone was trained to hold a weapon.

Everyone was trained to fight for their cause.

To save the world from monsters.

Gaara remembered watching the small children throw kunai after kunai after kunai after kunai—