A storm of sand and blaze (Gaara fanfiction and The Love Story He Deserves)

Chapter 18: Once again

When Gaara opened his eyes, it took him a while to adapt them to the intense sun. It was as if he had been falling in the darkness for so long that his eyes were almost blinded.

Where am I?

He repeated again and again inside his head trying to open his eyes. He felt the rough touch of sand under his back and immediately he held it with his hand to make sure it was indeed what he imagined.

"Feza?" He called her as soon as his eyes distinguished a shape next to him. "Feza?"

"Uh? Who is Feza?" The voice of Temari asked kind of concerned but still distant. "Gaara, you just passed away for a minute. Are you feeling okay?"

Finally, Gaara could see clearly what was around him. Temari was staring at him steadily but she looked different. Gaara blinked again just to realized that he was not dreaming. Temari frowned and then rolled her eyes. She was used to her brother not replying to her questions anyway.

"How old are you, Temari?" He asked after a couple of seconds.

"Uh?" She raised an eyebrow. "Fifteen... Geez, are you really okay?"

The boy's heart suddenly fluttered and he stood up from the sand in a quick jump. Could it be possible? He ran as fast as his legs allowed him. The palace was the same but the decoration reminded him a bit of how it was before the age he became Kage. All the servants around looked at him as he crossed the corridors with speed. Once he arrived at the fountain he discovered what he was already expecting, but that he feared to realize. In his reflection, he could see a young version of himself. He was short and his red hair was messy like morning sunbeams. Additionally, he noticed how tired he looked due to the lack of sleep back then.

Still intrigued, he sat down. He tried to calm down and breathed deeply. Had he gone back in time? Or was it only an illusion? Gaara tried to recall the last things he remembered: He was trying to defend Sunagakure from the Devil Centipide had brought its destruction. He had seen Feza use her fire jutsu flying around willing to distract the monster. She had succeeded. They saved the village but both of them had been swollen into the darkness.

Feza... Feza...

Gaara was seeing at the water in the fountain without even looking. He had kissed her. It had happened. He could remember it and the soft touch of her lips. Her hair had shined as bright as starlight, excited, shimmery. He knew it had happened and yet in those circumstances, it just felt like a mirage.

"Hey, Gaara" Temari called him approaching with hurry.

"Oh, Temari. Forgive me for not talking to you some minutes ago..."

"Uh?" She could not believe that her creepy cold-blooded brother acted so politely all of a sudden. "Well, I just wanted to ask you what you are doing here. You cannot come inside this building, remember? Father will get mad if he knows. And all the servants just saw you, so..."

"Father..." Gaara realized his dad was still alive back then. Therefore, the chunin exams in Konoha had not been yet to occur.

"Yes, c'mon. Let's get out of here before any unnecessary scandal happens".

The boy nodded and followed his sister back to the backyard of the palace. She kept practicing with her fan some wind techniques while Gaara took a sit to keep thinking. If the chunin exams had not yet happened that meant the mission to kill Feza's father, Haru Kaito, had not yet happened either.

Why back to this moment?

Was there anything he had to pay attention back then and he did not because of the impatience that characterized him back in those days?