Sands of New Genesis: New Beginnings (PS2:NG/Naruto Crossover)

New Beginnings

"Mama?"

ARKS were coming back.

"Where's mama?"

"I'm sorry Lady Nadereh."

"Jalil, Hadi, and I will take care of you from now on."

...

An ocean breeze blew in from the coastline, the smell of salt bringing about a calming sensation, and for a brief moment she felt as if she could relax, though in the back of her mind Nadereh knew full well the Dolls in the Retem area could at any time suddenly start acting up, drawing her into battle.

Then, on the breeze, she heard it.

It is the sound of a child. Her mouth pushed together as if wondering who would leave a child out there in the desert all alone. And of course, the voice of a child in distress would draw the attention of dolls. Without hesitation she jumped into the air, gliding swiftly to where the sound of the child calling out in distress came from.

And, as she got closer, she heard the child cry out. "Yashamaru! Yashamaru, wake up!"

She landed, seeing a child with vivid red hair, nudging at a man with sandy blond hair who didn't move from where he lay on the beach. Her eyes narrowed, carefully taking in the scene.

"It looks like they washed up on shore," the adviser who was with her today said.

She looked at the child with her dark eyes, her bangs falling over one eye as she pushed her lips together, wondering where the man and child came from. As she turned off her jet boots, Nadereh heard the sand squelch under her feet as she drew closer to the boy.

"Wake up. Wake up Yashamaru."

Nadereh knelt, going on one knee, drawing the attention of the boy.

His eyes reminded her of one of the colors she'd seen at the ocean, the waters and sky changing with the passing of the sun and the clouds. It was a soft green, almost like pale seafoam. He stared, and then nudged the man with him. "Fix him!"

"Fix him?"

"Fix Yashamaru!"

"I don't know if I can."

It was the truth, yet she'd not expected speaking the truth would cause the sand to shift, as if the boy—

"Lady Nadereh!"

She held up her hand. "I'm fine. There's no intent to hurt me. Just pain that he doesn't know what to do with.

...

She cried.

And cried.

Crying though didn't bring them back. Lashing out at her advisers, albeit in the privacy where her people wouldn't see wouldn't bring them back.

And they were true to their word, taking care of her.

...

"I'll take care of you," she held out her hand to the boy. "Come with me?"

"Lady Nadereh," this time her adviser spoke softly, although there was a definite tone of admonishment, one they'd rarely know that she was older.

"Yashamaru," the boy said.

Her adviser sighed. "We will see that he is properly buried, little one, but right now..."

Of course, dolls would be drawn to the sound of a child in distress.

...

Eventually, she called.

Eventually, she trained.

She decided she wanted to be what her parents wanted her to be.

The protector of her people.

She learned to fight to protect.

...

And so she fought. She fought with her adviser, to protect the young boy they'd just found, the one she decided to take in despite her young age.

Neither of them expected the dry sand to move, let alone take out one of the dolls as they took out the others. She turned towards the boy. "That was you?"

He seemed upset at what he'd done, as if perhaps—perhaps he'd been punished for this ability of his.

"That was a good job."

"Good job?" The boy seemed unsure.

"Yes."

He didn't seem sure. "But I'm a monster?"

"Because of your power?"

The boy nodded his head.

"I see," Nadereh contemplated what he said. "Someone told you that your power makes you a monster?"

The boy looked at his hands.

"I don't think that's true?"

"No?" The boy looked up at her, his smile—there was something sweet and innocent about it.

"No. Great power—it exists so we strong can protect those weaker than us."

"It does?"

"I, Nadereh, chief of Retem says it does, but I use my strength to protect all of my people."

"All of them?"

"It's like, how I suspect, this Yashamaru used his power to protect you. Don't ever forget his sacrifice, little one."

The child looked at Yashamaru.

Nadereh held out her arms. "Come here. I'll take you back to Retem City."

He looked at her hesitantly, but then, he came over. She scooped him up, feeling the wet sand fall from his body, almost as if there was a layer of sand there to protect him. He was an interesting child. She turned her head to look at her adviser.

"Take care of Yashamaru."

"Yes, Lady Nadereh."

...

"The stars. That's where they are now."

"Really?"

"Really."

...

"That's where Yashamaru is," Nadereh said to her young charge, who was certainly different. Her advisers were teaching him how to use the computers, the language. "And your mother as well."

They'd asked questions slowly, and pieced together parts of Gaara's past—for the child's name was Gaara. His name according to Yashamaru, who was, in fact, the younger brother of Gaara's mother and thus his uncle, meant, "Demon that I love."

She could see why, as the child, she decided to make her ward despite not much age difference was a very warm-hearted child despite the way his village treated him.

"Really?"

"Really."