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

Chapter 8: Sabaku no Gaara

Feza opened her eyes just a bit. All her body felt painful and ripped out. The orange sunbeams entered through her window but she couldn't say what day or what hour was it. The late afternoon perhaps, because of the warmness of the sun, but she wouldn't bet on it. Everything was so confusing.

"You finally opened your eyes".

That voice! Kaji Feza turned her head toward the right side ignoring the pain in her neck and she discovered the Fifth Kazekage sitting on the couch next to the bed. He was looking at her with his legs and arms crossed. She tried to guess if he was angry but his face was mostly expressionless.

"What happened?" She asked feeling suddenly scared.

"What's the last thing you remember?"

"I..." She thought about her answer for some seconds "I was training with Konohamaru and I went to pick the kunai we were using when...I am not very sure. I felt a lot of pain in my neck and then my body got paralyzed. Later, I saw something in the woods waiting for me to fall asleep. So I just got strength from inside me, somehow... I couldn't allow myself to faint"

"You lost control of your fire jutsu and I think Shukaku helped you too," Gaara explained. "You burnt a big part of the forest. Sasuke Uchiha had to stop you using genjutsu because the fire defense you created was impenetrable".

"Did someone get hurt?" Feza asked closing her eyes and she made a painful and embarrassing grimace.

"Just you".

"Well, that comforts me".

The woman stared at the ceiling for some seconds. She frowned and then, after trying to contain it with all her will, her eyes filled with tears. Slowly they started to roll to the side of her cheeks.

"I just got very scared! I didn't know what to do..." She sobbed "I didn't mean to harm anybody. I just didn't want that thing to hurt me or take Shukaku away!"

"Feza-san," Gaara said again uncrossing his arms and staring at the girl with a completely different expression. He seemed sad. "I want to apologize to you. I am sorry. I should not have sent you away. This is not your fault".

Feza didn't know what to say for some seconds her eyes looked at Gaara with perplexity. Then, she turned her sight again to the window. Both remained in silence for some minutes. Meanwhile, Gaara kept looking at her and the soft shades that were formed in her face because of the sideways sunbeams entering through the window. After those two months, he had partially forgotten Feza's face. He noticed it because sometimes he tried to remember her when he was alone trying to fall asleep; normally after one of those weekends when Shinki came back from Konoha and the boy seemed so happy. For his own amusement, this time, he found something really touching in the woman's face. It was, perhaps the thrilling deep black of her sorrowful eyes, the sun-kissed skin of her cheeks, or the fragile combination of the whole composition, like a young blossom at the beginning of the spring.

"I am also responsible for this," Gaara explained calmly after a while. "I should have taken care of you because I know how it's like to be a jinchuuriki. Especially since Shukaku has a bad temper and is not easy to tame".

"You've already done so much for me since we were young," Feza said finally when the tears stopped rolling. "They called you Sabaku no Gaara back then when you arrived at the burrow I was trapped in. I was just eleven years old when I saw your siblings, your sensei, and you for the first time, entering that cave in the middle of the desert. You alone confronted Haru Kaito for his crimes against Sunagakure and he perished under the power of your sand. I remember that day, twenty years ago, as if it had just happened. That was the day that the water cage that man had kept me trapped in finally broke and the first day I could see the light of the sun".

"Why did Haru Kaito kidnapped you?" Gaara asked immediately "What happened to your family?"

"He was my father but he killed the rest of us".

Gaara's lips separated as if he wanted to say something else but the words didn't come out. He remembered that day as well. He was twelve years old, some months before he presented the Chunin exams, The council had sent him on an S ranked mission to trap a terrorist called Haru Kaito. The man was accused of attempting to kill the Fourth Kazekage several times and developing forbidden ninja techniques and weaponry. Gaara barely knew about politics back then and his only intention was to have a feeling of accomplishment by killing people. He arrived at the cave first and found the man working in his secret laboratory. The terrorist had modified his own body with his experiments and he could use different defensive jutsu styles. It took some minutes for the redhead boy to catch him with his sand. The teacher of the siblings told the kid to wait until they could interrogate the man. However, Gaara smashed his bones without paying much attention to his sensei, just to fulfill his blood desire quickly.

"I hid in the laboratory until you left. Perhaps that's the reason you don't remember me", The woman explained staring at Gaara "But I saw you until you disappeared through the desert".

"I was a very different person back then, Feza-san" Gaara replied feeling embarrassed. "I'm really sorry you had seen me acting like that".

"There is nothing to be sorry about. I'm glad our paths had met again for me to say thank you. Of course, I wanted to say it since the first time we met, but I couldn't find an appropriate moment, especially since you are such an important person".

"That is something I wanted to talk to you about," He said then, but somehow he felt a bit nervous. "After all that happened in the forest, I consider we should have closer communication. My brother and I haven't found yet who is responsible for the ambush and the attack on Shukaku. However, it is also very important you keep learning how to control your power and the new chakra that Shukaku can give you. Naruto suggested to move you with a sensei with more experience like Hatake Kakashi, who was also his teacher in the past. As from my side, I wanted to tell you that you can also talk to me at any moment. Unfortunately, it is impossible for me to be your mentor right now, but I would be glad to help you with anything you might need".

Feza nodded softly with her head and in her lips a smile was drawn.

"Thank you".

Gaara could notice that her eyes turned blue like two pieces of shiny sapphire. He thought it was really beautiful and feeling less embarrassed he spent the rest of the afternoon talking with her about her life in Konoha for the last two months even though Shinki had already told him most of it before.