Sand Crossed (Naruto Fanfic)

Not So Loved

Kankuro frowned at Ebizo, his fingers pressing into the ground as he looked at the man. "Hold on a second. Father believed the actions of the child are the fault of the parent? I don't buy that, as he always blamed Gaara for everything."

"Did he now?" A silence fell over the children, wondering why the Kazekage's brother reacted the way he did.

Gaara pulled up one knee, a book on the ground long forgotten. "Actually, father would tell me he was upset with my actions, but he never once blamed me to my face, nor did I catch him saying such things when he didn't realize I was there. He..." The auburn haired shinobi paused, deep in thought for a brief period of time. "I think father did, in fact, blame himself for his my behavior. I think that's why he was always frustrated with me, though I always thought he was frustrated because of what I did."

"Something like that." Ebizo leaned forward.

"I don't know. I really find it hard to believe that man cared about Gaara." The puppet master froze, realizing suddenly that the others in the room were staring at him, not at all sure if he'd said the right thing. "Never mind. This is a conversation I should be having with Gaara and Lord Ebizo privately. The story's a work of fiction anyway that the old man made up."

" 't's not fictionalized." Ebizo glared at the young man but went back to telling his story.

...

Rasa's stared at the ceiling, his mind filled with various thoughts and emotions a shinobi shouldn't have. His strong, muscled arms crossed behind his head, his eyes continuing to stare up at the ceiling, his lips pushed together in frustration. The young auburn-haired young man's body became stiff with the lack of movement, and he knew he would have to ask, no beg, for some time to train. "I need to at least remain fit. They can't argue about that. Maybe they'd offer some suggestions."

The eyes of the fourteen-year-old snapped shut, his mind rushing to his older brother and how it would have been that person who ended up helping through this latest teenage crisis. His brother's face, name, sound of voice though were starting to fade from his memory, frustrating the young man. "It feels like they've forgotten about him too." Soft footsteps made Rasa turn his head, and he saw Sasori wandering the halls. "Hey, shouldn't you be in bed."

The five-year-old simply continued walking, and Rasa found himself sitting up to follow after the boy. He watched as Sasori stopped in front of his parent's room which was near Rasa's own room. The teen remembered being eight to nine years old and hearing strange noises only to walk in on a rather embarrassing situation that he'd blocked from his memory. "Hey, Sasori."

The child looked up at him and then proceeded to walk away, back to his own room. Rasa stood in the hallway, his thin arms crossed, wondering why Sasori acted in the manner he had. As the boy passed, he caught a glimpse of Sasori's eyes and noted how dead to the world the boy's eyes seemed. Rasa brushed it off, figuring he had more pressing matters to worry about. It felt good though that Sasori hadn't forgotten his parents and the fourteen-year-old found his mind easily moving to angsting over not being able to perform his duties as a shinobi.

His eyes drifted up to the calendar when he ate breakfast the next , noticing the red mark circle. The mark had been there a few days, but for some reason he never noticed. "Say, Lady Chiyo..."

"Rasa..." The woman let out a sound, and the fourteen-year-old looked up to see his mother glaring at him. Rasa flinched, knowing he'd done something wrong, but continued asking about the mark on the calendar.

"What is the red mark on the calendar for?"

"You don't know? That's the day the academy starts back up for the year. It is also going to be Sasori's first day. He is five years old now, after all."