Suna no Mugetsu Re-ku (Naruto Fanfic)

Mirroring of Fears

Accepting the change in Gaara wasn't something which happened over night, but Baki found himself taking care of the three siblings, and thus was one of the first people outside of Kankuro and Temari to notice the changes in the young sand Shinobi. On top of noticing the fact Gaara's personality calmed down, he also found that the child had various quirks, some of which mimicked the fourth Kazekage's own as a child. The fact Gaara neither understood social customs, or knew how to take care of himself became obvious quickly.

Thus if one let him be, he'd forget to drink or eat enough, just in the same manner Gaara almost never got enough sleep. Even know one could describe the young Kazekage as having a very childlike personality, and thus Baki developed a soft spot for the boy. The sight of Gaara reaching up to clutch his head made his instincts lurch, but not with the same fear as before. Despite the need for a Shinobi to feel no emotions there was pity, particularly if Baki had to kill or abandon Gaara on the spot, as this was something he didn't wish to do.

"It's not... it's different."

"Not good." Baki felt a twist in his throat when he would normally feel relief from Shukaku not protruding into the boy's mind. The man watched as Gaara's body suddenly lurched, and his foot sunk into the sand. Gaara's hand's moved to try and stop the sand, only for the whirlpool to worsen. Baki moved forward and hooked his arms under the boy's arms in an attempt to pull him out, and the man felt the strange feeling he felt only when it came to the three siblings. "You know he doesn't want you to rescue him, but that's not actually an option. You would never forgive you."

Instead of helping he felt himself pulled down into the sand, and soon the others were being pulled down. Eventually Gaara was pulled from his grip, and he himself soon felt himself pulled down to the ground and falling. Baki closed his eyes to prevent the sand from going in, and opened his eyes to see himself rushing to the ground, and noticed that Gaara was right underneath him. The man's eyes widened when he realized Gaara's sand wasn't forming a barrier between him, and the young Kazekage. The unexpected factor made Baki not react, and instead of feeling sand underneath him, he felt the soft body of the youth underneath him.

Worse yet Baki was sure he heard the sound of a bone snapping, or a muscle tearing meaning that landing on the boy caused some kind of damage. He pushed himself away, and took note of the situation. Gaara's arm seemed to be in a precarious position, and the boy favored one side. The Suna council elder noticed the vomit near the boy, and knew what small amount water the young Shinobi consumed earlier was now of no use. Gaara's sea foam eyes were wide, as if the boy were in pain. Most noticeable was the fact the young teen was unable to use his powers.

"It must have something to do with what sucked us down here." Baki noticed Gaara's mind was elsewhere, and called out to him. "Lord Kazekage?" The man's throat tightened as he watched Gaara's hand reach up to grip the place over his heart. "That's his sign that he's having a panic attack. He's not had one of those since, well, when we first decided to call them panic attacks rather then psychotic episodes." The man called out to the boy again. "Lord Kazekage..."

"Father..." Something felt off about Gaara's voice.

"I'm not your father."

"You saw father."

Baki felt his entire body tense up. "So, the issue here isn't that he thinks I'm his father. He thought I was calling out to Lord Rasa rather then himself, which means..." A sinking feeling hit the pit of the older man's stomach. "... that means he doesn't remember he's now the Kazekage. That isn't good, and it sounds like... it's fear I hear. I'd forgotten that there was a time when he feared that man. No, this is exactly what I feared when I came out here, that this feeling of fear would return. But..."