The Sand Meets the Light (A Naruto fanfiction)

Chapter 8: Meeting

        Gaara, Temari and Kankuro were all waiting in the council meeting room, with guards at their side, holding their weapons, ready to attack if they resisted. There were several council members, around eight of them sitting on one side of the table. The Sand Siblings were at the other side of the table. Kankuro and Temari felt anxious but Gaara remained calm, anticipating whatever judgment that was going to be thrown towards them.

The door opened and Yukari walked in with Kei. She looked serious and even annoyed, as if her whole plan for the day was ruined by this sudden incident. Although Gaara was unsure whether she was angry at the council or at him and his siblings. They stared at her all the way from the door to the seat she took at the front, while the councilmen stood up. As she sat down, she sighed heavily, with Kei taking the seat next to her.

"Alright," Yukari announced, feeling impatient. "What is this about?"

"Forgive me, My Lady," one of them spoke. "We were doing it out of precaution."

"You mentioned "Jinchuuriki". What is it?" Yukari asked. The councilmen looked at each other, hesitating to answer. "Well?" Yukari was becoming impatient.

"Jinchuuriki are people who have tailed beasts sealed inside of them. They are considered dangerous as those beasts could be released at any time-"

"Gaara's not a Jinchuuriki anymore," suddenly Kankuro spoke out with an angry tone to his voice. "He's no longer a danger to anyone, if that's what you're suggesting."

"Silence!" A councilmen barked. "You have no business intruding on our matters-"

"They have a right to defend themselves," Yukari cut in. "And I don't appreciate how you're keeping information from me." The sharpness of her voice made the councilmen fell back in silence.

"As for what the Sand Villager said, we already knew that the boy doesn't have the beast inside him," a councilman spoke. "That's why we might have suspicions that they were here for another reason."

"And what would that be?" Yukari asked.

"They are here to steal your powers," the councilman spoke. "They needed a replacement power source for the Jinchuu- the boy, since he is now without a tailed beast inside of him. You do have the Guardian's power after all."

Yukari straightened up upon hearing this and slowly turned to look at the Sand siblings with a quizzical look in her eyes. Gaara and his siblings on the other hand, all wondered what the Guardian is and what is its power.

"Is this true?" Yukari addressed the siblings for the first time. She seemed like she was about to be swayed into distrusting them. Gaara had to speak up.

"Yuka, as I've said before, my siblings and I just happened to stumble upon your village. I don't know anything about this Guardian power. I didn't even know of this place. Like you've told me before, this village was meant to be kept hidden," Gaara explained calmly.

"And what about you being a Jinchuuriki? The tailed beast inside you. What happened to it?" She pressed on further, still narrowing her eyes in suspicion.

"It was forcibly extracted from me, almost causing me to lose my life... and costing someone else theirs... It was a painful time of my life when I had it but it doesn't matter anymore since it's no longer a part of me," he continued, reminiscing about the sad events that led up to this moment.

"Is it true that it gives you a lot of power?" Kei asked.

"Yes, the beast gave a lot of power to my brother," Temari spoke out. "But my brother doesn't need it anymore. I could argue..." she looked at her brother, who returned her look. "-That he's much stronger without it. Or any other power for that matter." Upon hearing her answer, Gaara couldn't help but feel touched on the inside.

Yukari stared at them, taking a few moments to think about what they just said. Eventually, she realized that they were sincere enough in their answers, and decided to stop questioning them.

"And what is this motive about forming an alliance with us?" A councilman asked. "What could we possibly have to offer you?"

"You don't have to offer anything," Gaara answered. "Forming an alliance just means connecting our two villages in times of crisis. If your village requires help with anything, I'll be happy to oblige. And it can go both ways, if you have the means. Protection from danger is something we can provide-"

"And why should we need that?" a councilman scoffed at the answer. "We have the Guardian here with us."

Gaara and his siblings turned to look at Yukari, wondering how strong she could be if they were willing to risk it all on her. Yukari however did not look pleased with how the council kept trying to boast about her and scowled angrily, but she maintained her silence.

"I didn't come here with that intention initially. But now that we've come across it, I just thought it'd be a good opportunity to form a connection between our two villages," Gaara paused and thought about something. He turned to look at Yukari. "There was a war recently and it took a lot out of most of us. As the leader of my village, it made me realize the importance of having friends... I want to offer it to others in case they need it. It's fine if you refuse. We will leave on good terms."

That last sentence confirmed to Yukari of her own feelings and she decided to put an end to her doubts. Kei meanwhile, thought about his own experience with them. His daughters came to mind as well and he sighed, turning to the councilmen.

"Yukari already spoke with Gaara about the matter. She felt that this would bring a lot of good to the village... and so do I," Kei spoke out in support of them.

"But... My Lady," a councilman called out. "If we start making ourselves known to surface dwellers, the existence of this village will be exposed. It's dangerous-"

"Why would it be? Like you said, I'm here to protect us all," Yukari told him with a stern yet spiteful tone. One of the councilman couldn't take it anymore looked nervous and was shaking as he stood up.

"We keep this place hidden not to protect the people, but to protect YOU," the councilman blurted out. Yukari was surprised by the answer. "We feared that what happened with the Jinchuuriki..." he pointed out to Gaara. "...Might happen to you. Someone could steal the power away and it would cease the existence of the Guardian."

With that answer, both Yukari and the Sand Siblings became silent as they tried to process the information. Yukari felt dread upon receiving that information, suddenly thinking of her mortality. But eventually, she was fed up for being treated like her feelings didn't matter, and slammed her fists on the table and stood up, to the shock of the council.

"You gave me this," she snapped. "When I didn't even want it. But you know what? I did everything I could. You entrusted me to protect this village and I won't back down... Or do you not trust me anymore?" The council let out a silent gasp, nervous by the confrontation from their leader.

"N-No, we do trust you, but-"

"Do you think I'm weak?"

"Of course not-"

"Then there's nothing else to say," Yukari finished, making everyone fall into a collective silence. "It's my job to protect and lead this village. So LET ME." Her angry voice made everyone unsure of what to say. Yukari took a few seconds to calm down and sank back into her seat. She turned to look at Gaara, seemingly calmer after letting out some steam.

"I'll agree to it," Yukari stated. She turned to the councilmen. "My decision is final. Understand?"

The councilmen looked at each other momentarily, silently discussing among each other. Some of them looked concerned, some ashamed of their response and some looked unsatisfied, but remained silent. Eventually, the representative of the councilmen sighed and nodded.

"Yes, My Lady," he gave their response. Yukari stood up from the meeting table for the final time that day.

"The Sand Villagers want to go home, so Kei, Makoto and I will go and escort them back," she declared and walked off, with Kei following after her. She stopped by the door and looked at Gaara and his siblings, gesturing with her head to follow her. She and Kei exited the room, with the guards taking Gaara and his siblings out afterwards.