The Outlaw

Chapter 2

Twilight was easing over the land by the time the judge pulled the wagon to a halt in front of a large brick house. It stood two stories tall, larger than anything Gaara had ever seen. A huge porch supported by white columns welcomed visitors.

A man with the hair the color of muddy river sat on the porch. He slowly came to his feet as everyone climbed out of the wagon.

Gaara's feet hit the dirt path, sending up a plume of dust. For a moment he stood mesmerized, watching as the judge helped his son. Naruto placed his delicate hands on his father's shoulder's while his father wrapped his around Naruto's waist. He lifted him down as though he weighed no more than a wispy cloud.

Gaara had caught Naruto watching him several times during the journey. Every time he'd given him a hard glare, expecting him to look away. Instead he'd defiantly held his gaze, tilting up that cute chin of his until he'd finally looked away, embarrassed that he knew where he'd spent the last five years of his life.

The man who'd been sitting on the porch approached. "Judge."

The judge gave him a curt nod before turning to Gaara. "Gaara, this is Zabuza."

The wind and sun had practically turned Zabuza's face into leather, but his brown eyes held kindness. He stuck out his hand. "Welcome to the Lazy J, but you'll discover soon enough that we're anything but lazy around here."

Gaara wasn't exactly sure what to do. He'd seen the gesture a thousand times as he'd ridden through towns, whenever a man on the boardwalk stopped to talk to those they knew. But he'd never placed his hand in another's.

He could feel Naruto watching him, studying him, as the seconds touched by and his unease with the situation grew.

"The custom of shaking a hand in greeting was started during the medieval period," Naruto said softly, as though understanding his hesitation. "A knight extended his hand to show that he wasn't holding a weapon."

Gaara jerked his attention to him. "I don't have a gun."

"Of course you don't. I didn't mean that you did. I was just explaining-"

"An old wives' tale," Gai interrupted. "Just shake Zabuza's hand."

With reluctance, Gaara wiped his sweating palm on his britches before taking Zabuza's hand. Zabuza gave Gaara's hand a quick shake and released his hold. Gaara didn't understand how that little action told a man that the other wasn't carrying a weapon. After all, a man had two hands.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Naruto asked.

Before Gaara could answer, the judge said, "I think we've done all the talking out here that we need to do. Let's get up to the house."

Gaara was hoping that order didn't include him, but everyone else started up the steps, leaving him rooted in the dust, he had a feeling it did. He was torn between going inside and staying where he was.

He'd never been inside a house that looked like this one. Oh, for a while when he was small he'd lived with a widow who'd kept her house as clean as she'd kept him, scrubbing his body with the same brush she'd used for the floors.

But he'd never been inside a building that housed a family.

As uncomfortable as he felt about following them, he was equally curious and desperate to know what other people possessed.

"Gaara?"

Gaara jumped at the judge's insistent voice. The man waited in the doorway.

Gaara trudged up the steps and entered the house. The scent of flowers greeted him. He'd never been in a place that smelled like a field of wildflowers in spring. For the most part, when he'd stayed indoors before prison, he'd usually stayed in storage rooms or barns.