Naruto Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Sands of time ❯ Part 1 ( Chapter 1 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Well, here it is. The lovely first part of this very short story. Enjoy, read and review. Critiques are asked but be warned.
Flames burn and I will burn you back.

Bold= shukaku
Italics= thinking

Part 1

"KATSU!!!!!!!!!"

Shit. Turquoise eyes widened as two innocent white birds fly towards the whole in the ball of sand he made for
protection. Sending up a quick prayer, the eyes close as darkness falls in as his trusted sand protects him from the oncoming
explosion that rocks like an earthquake and an accompanying tsunami.

Panting from exertion, Gaara closes his eyes and tensed for what will be the next and final round of fighting. Dammit,
that was too close. If- He looks in front of him to see his sand falling away. Shit.

"Hn, thought so. That special sand guards you right away. Yeah." Deidara of Akatsuki smirks slightly and flies his
clay bird in a bit closer. "Heh, you may have managed to crush my left hand... but I took the opportunity to eat some of your
sand and mix it with my clay." He grins and flies a bit closer and crosses his one remaining arm over his chest. "The moment
you used that sand to guard yourself, it was the end for you. Yeah." He smiles full out and raises two fingers in concentration.

"Everything went like I planned."

Oh, shit. Shit, shit, shit. Clay bombs inside MY sand? Red hair dripping with sweat, Gaara's eyes widen in
unaccustomed panic as spider like bombs crawl ominously out of the sand. "Fuck me."

"Art is...."

"Shi-"

"....A BLAST!!!!!!"

BOOOOOMMMMM!!!!!!!!!

Pain. Unlike any he's felt since he first fought Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto nearly three years ago. Groaning,
Gaara manages to stay conscious enough to slump over and gather a bit of chakra to aid his village. Why...why are they
attacking me now? For what purpose do they need me for? Is it all for Shukaku?

Perhaps.... kozo.....

Shukaku, why are you awake?

You are close to sleep, to give up and give me ability to stomp that dandelion headed bastard and this village to
smithereens. They will PAY for trapping me inside a human!

Gaara opened his eyes. Never will I allow you to harm this village, Shukaku, I swear it on that I am the Kazekage and
Sabaku no Gaara!

Once his sand ball had mostly melted off him and to the village below him, Gaara twitched the fingers of his right hand
and began to move the giant sand shield that was used to protect the village from Deidara's "specialty."
The Akatsuki member immediately flew back a few hundred feet in alarm until the sand was over the edge of the village
and in to the dirt. He might have looked like an idiot, but he wasn't stupid.

Panting and injured, Godaime Kazekage Gaara gave Deidara of Akatsuki once last glare before falling at a rapid speed
toward the ground. Diving toward the falling Jinchuuriki, Deidara extended the tails of the bird to capture him. Smirking
slightly, Gaara twitched two fingers with the last bit of chakra he had left to use to knock the bird off balance and miss him. He
knew that his village elders would be pleased to know he'd finally died. There wouldn't be a lot of people to miss him.

It kind of hurt once he really though about it.

Shukaku was really starting to panic inside his head. He groaned and felt blood come out of his nose as it flew up into the
air because of the demon's rantings. He forced the demon back inside his cage and muted the sound to spare his poor head in his
final moments.

Gaara felt peace. He had finally done something good for his village and it wasn't for himself. He loved other people than
himself.

Goodbye Kankuro, Temari, Baki-sensei...Uzumaki Naruto...

And with that Kazekage Sabaku no Gaara disappeared into an old dry and dilapidated old well next to an equally old tree
that had mystical stories about demon bones thrown into it and the bones disappearing. No one noticed the violently purplish
light coming from the well.

"Shit. I missed him. Sasori-sama isn't going to be pleased." Deidara sighed and went to consult his partner on what he
should do next.

Kankuro near the lookout tower with Baki froze and in anguish cried out, "GAAARRAAA!!!"

******

Kagome knew the moment her Hanyou protector dropped her more than ten feet away from the well after she just got
back that something was wrong. "Inuyasha?"

The Hanyou's ears twitched and his aristocratic nose flew up into the air before pointing at the well. "Someone injured is
inside the well. Blood is a very distinct scent along with sand."

She bonked him on the back of his head and ran around his restraining arm, ignoring his garbled curse. "Baka, let's go
help this person!" In a troubled voice she said, "We were just in there... How did he get in there?"

"O-oi! Kagome! Dammit..."

Digging into her pack, the Miko from the future found a flashlight and proceeded to shine it down the well shaft. Red hair
and a burgundy outfit greeted her. She gasped and pulled red firerat to the well. "Go down there and help him!"
"Yeah, I hear ya!" He grumbled but very, very carefully, he climbed to the bottom and just as carefully grabbed a hold of
the boy, who seemed to weigh a lot more that he looked, up and safely out of the well.

Kagome gaped. The boy- no man- was hauntingly beautiful even in sleep, he pale skin a washed out color as he continued
to suck in air in his exhausted state. The dark circles around his eyes, tell-tale signs of chronic and serious insomnia Kagome
noted, stood out more as he grew a bit pale and then grew some color into his face. She brushed back blood red locks to see a
very well done tattoo of the symbol of "ai" or love on his forehead. How beautiful...Can a man be called beautiful? Kagome
wondered. Inuyasha had an air of rugged handsomeness about him as he moved to straighten out the man's legs to make him
more comfortable. This man.... He was truly beautiful.

With a ragged groan of pain, said man opened dark rimmed eyes as he froze in alarm when he felt two sets of hands
accessing his injuries. Turquoise met blue and gold as the three of them stared each other down.

***

That was a little too close for comfort was Gaara's first though once he awoke in the dark space. He didn't believe that
Deidara had captured him as he didn't hear his annoying voice anywhere near his person. In fact, all the Kazekage could hear
was the light chirping sound of crickets and the smell of the forest.

That's impossible, he argued with himself. He was in the desert the last he checked so it wasn't possible in the short span
of a few moments to be transferred from the desert to the forest. It was at least a day's run from Sunagakure. He soon became
aware that he wasn't alone and that did not comfort him. An injured ninja, a Kage no less, by himself and mostly unarmed in
hostile territory was a very bad thing.

A feminine voice could be heard arguing with a man's as she told him to go down to wherever he was and no doubt
retrieve him. He heard the man agree and in slight alarm tried to move. But he could barely move his arms and legs underneath
him. He couldn't even open his eyes nor speak or do anything to aid him self lest they be enemies. He heard a few short hops
and felt two strong arms underneath his arms and knees to gently lift him off the ground. How odd that he can lift me so
easily...He was further surprised that it took the man but one large hop to get them out.

He suppressed a groan as a feminine gasp touched his ears and soft cool fingers trailed over his face and in his hair as he
endeavored to put air in his aching lungs from his earlier battle. Wanting to see his rescuers, Gaara blearily tried to open his
eyes and with a low groan of pain opened them once he felt the other hands of his male rescuer on his legs to straighten them.

Sabaku no Gaara couldn't help but stare. He saw the funniest looking ninja he'd ever seen and the most beautiful woman
he'd ever laid eyes upon. Her hair was as dark as pitch as her companion's was the color of moonlight. Her eyes were the same
blue as Naruto's, he noted thoughtfully. Her lips were luscious and begging to be kissed skin and her skin was a creamy peach.
Arousal flared for a moment but then the injuries of his body cut that feeling off real quick and he clenched his teeth.

"Shh, its alright. We're not here to harm you, we want to help you." The woman kept her voice soft and it soothed Gaara
to relax a bit.

"Who are you?"

Kagome couldn't help but visibly melt when the man spoke and she ignored Inuyasha when he whipped his head around
to glare at her. His voice was low with a purring tilt that spoke of arrogance. He had the most unusual eyes for a human that
she's ever seen. A bright turquoise, they took everything in: the eyes of a hunter and a fighter; they looked to be too old for him.
Inuyasha has those eyes. "My name is Kagome. I'm a Miko, but don't be alarmed. I help all people as one of my calling
should."

"I know nothing of Miko's, are you a Medicnin?"

"Nin? Ninja? No! I'm sorry but all the ninja were wiped out but two a few years ago."

"That is impossible."

Kagome blinked at the blank stare the man was giving her. "I'm sorry. But we can't seem to find anymore. Now who are
you, so that I may aid you easier?"

"It is just as well. We live in... hidden-villages. I am Sabaku no Gaara, Kazekage of Sunagakure."

"Man, you must have hit your head hard in that fall. There ain't no deserts around here for days, weeks. You have to go
to the mainland to get to one." The silver haired one smirked slightly at Gaara, making his eyes narrow.

A quick groan and a wince and Gaara managed to pull himself to his feet. He stood up about the same height as Inuyasha
and looked him in his strange gold eyes. "I know you are the one that pulled me out of the hole-"

"Well. You were in a well. The Bone-eater's well." Kagome chirped.

Gaara glanced at the now short and petite woman standing beside her companion. He eyed her quickly and quietly once
she was standing. His eyes lingered on the curve of her legs. Damn, she has a set of legs on her. He mentally shook his head to
get his brain back on track. He pursed his lips. "....Well..." he conceded to Kagome and Inuyasha's immense pleasure, "I
would like to know the name of the one who saved me."

"Keh, I'm Inuyasha. And yes, before you ask I'm a Hanyou." Gaara froze in shock. He immediately looked to his head
and saw a pair of puppy ears blinking out from underneath his fall of hair. Inuyasha was glaring at Gaara to try and say
something negative about him. But Gaara couldn't find the words as he could imagine that Inuyasha suffered the same rough
treatment that Naruto and himself suffered at the hands of villagers.

So, instead, he bowed respectfully, albeit wobbly. "Arigato gozaimas for rescuing me, Inuyasha-san. But I must know
where this well is." Looking dumbfounded, the Hanyou pointed to the left and led him to the well. Looking down into the dark
abyss, Gaara took in a deep breath and smiled. His special sand was down there. He glanced at Kagome again who smiled shyly

at him. Trying not to choke, he gave a tentative smile back, "Please move back." And with that his sand rushed out of the well
and formed into his gourd and attached itself to his back.

"Sugoi!"

"O....Oi! How come you didn't ridicule me?" Gaara found himself facing an irate and very frustrated Hanyou.
Giving a small sigh, Gaara decided to tell them the truth. "I was born with a demon inside my body. Shukaku, the sand
incarnation and the ichibi, the one tailed Youkai that eats at my soul and my mind every time I try and rest. I control sand and it
is seldom that I get injured as it is automatic." He looked at Kagome who had made a soft noise. Her eyes were large and sad.
He smiled softly. "I can imagine that all of us Jinchuuriki were treated as you were, Inuyasha-san. In fear and with great
malice."

Inuyasha sniffed and crossed his arms. "I think you'll get along just fine here."

***

With Inuyasha and Kagome's aid, Gaara managed to get to Edo and to Kaede's hut for help. The two of them had
reassured him that along with Kaede to help Kagome, Gaara would be healed. Gaara conceded to their logic, thinking that
having Kagome's soft hands on him wouldn't be such a bad thing. They reassured him that the walk wasn't that far from their
present position.

Gaara however didn't count on the enormous pain that came from nearly being blown up and walking soon after, so he
broke down his sand armor to Kagome and Inuyasha's astonishment to save on his remaining chakra. By the time they made it
to the village limits, he was panting and paler than before and he was clenching his teeth in alarming pain. He hadn't been this
pain filled since his battle with Naruto and he immediately regretted ever wondering what it felt like to be in pain. It was a
stupid mistake to call in his special sand. He should have known that Deidara was up to something by allowing, Gaara mentally
growled at this thought, Gaara to rip off his arm.

"Kagome! You have returned early, child. Who is this?"

Kagome tried to fit her body closer to Gaara's to further help him and Inuyasha's movements. She nearly shivered at the
feel of his long lean body beneath the strange cotton fabric and leather vest and knew that he had to be in pretty good shape the
way he was moving while injured. Securing her arm further around him and her other hand entwined with his over her shoulder,
Kagome answered briskly to keep down her blush, "He needs help, Kaede-obaa-chan. We found him at the bottom of the well."

Kaede nodded briskly, "Hyaku, bring him in and set him on this futon." She motioned to a mat in the corner.

"Kagome," Inuyasha grunted, "let him lean on you all the way while I take off this gourd thing." Kagome braced her legs
as his other arm and hand settled on her hip. This time she couldn't help the shiver at his touch and locked eyes with his. He
was panting slightly, his formerly blood red hair, dark and soggy with sweat.

The moment was broken by Inuyasha's exclamation, "Damn, man, how in the seven hells do you carry this thing?"
Grunting, he set it by the futon and braced him as Kagome lowered him to the futon.

Kneeling between his spread legs, Kagome bit her lip as he let go of her arms as he was finally on his back on the futon.
He gave a ragged groan and threw his arm over his eyes.

"Kagome-sama, you must remove his haori, we must get to his injuries if we are going to make him better."

Unable to help it this time, she flushed a light pink as she put her hands to his chest and unzipped his vest, stopping at the
buckles until it was finally undone. "Inuyasha," she tentatively said, "I need you to lift him up so I can take this off him."
Giving a faint scowl, the Hanyou did as she bid, lightly sitting him up just enough so Kagome could move around Gaara's legs
and set about completely removing his vest. Visibly red now, she unwrapped the pieces around his hips, glaring at him as she
head his low chuckle of amusement at her embarrassment. She went to the button on his collar next and unzipped his shirt
unable to stop from staring at the bared flesh. He was long and lean, muscled from evident years of hard work. She winced
when she seen the burn marks all over his chest where the bomb had burnt through the fabric of his clothing. "By the Gods,
what happened to you, Gaara-kun?"

He gave a little sigh, "A bomb by a rouge ninja from a band called Akatsuki come to kidnap me for Shukaku." He
glanced down and glared at himself. "It was so stupid. How could I be so stupid? If I hadn't called in my sand to protect me
from another bomb I wouldn't have been this seriously injured. But he mixed in his clay with my sand when I tore off his arm,"
he glanced at Kagome when he heard her gasp, "and it was my special sand. Dammit."

"Come, Kagome-sama, we must put salve on his wounds. Inuyasha, if ye will be so kind, fetch some water and boil it
please." Kaede looked at Gaara and gently stroked back his hair with a knobby old hand. "This will sting a bit but it will heal ye
fast and be soothing after a few moments." Gaara hissed when the cold salve touched his wounds but then turned them
pleasantly numb.

"I'm sorry."

Gaara glanced at the young woman who was keeping her face shielded as she aided Kaede. He touched her other hand the
one that wasn't being used and entwined her fingers with his. Later he would ponder on why it felt so right to be affectionate
with this beautiful onna whom he barely knew but now he waited for her to look him in the eye. "It is alright. If it is to heal me,
I think that I and the sand understand."

Kagome gave a small smile and continued.

"Methinks ye will be healed in no time. But what ye really needs now is rest. Ye already are by the looks of it." Kaede
announced once they were done and Inuyasha had finished with the water and helped Kaede with the removal of his shoes and
pants and the application of more salve. The old miko had shoed Kagome out the door because she thought that it was unseemly
for and unmarried woman to look at a man that way. Red as Inuyasha's fire-rat, Kagome had complied with the light chuckles
of Gaara floating by as she left.

Once she had returned, Kagome knelt down and rummaged through her backpack to search for some dinner and
everyone's presents.

"Ya know, Gaara-kun, you really ought to go to sleep. It'll speed your recovery."

Gaara frowned, unused to the "kun" honorific to his name and shook his head. "I am unable to sleep. I will heal just fine."

Kagome sighed and glanced over at him, three ramen bowls in her hands. "Well, Gaara-kun-"

"Just Gaara. You do not need to worry about honorifics."

"Okay...Gaara. Are you hungry? I can get you some ramen or some vegetable soup."

Gaara smiled at the young woman. "Soup would be nice."

*****

Nearly a week later and Gaara was pronounced healed and able to get up and move around the village. He didn't actually
go exploring until nearly eight weeks later after Kagome and her friends had healed after returning home from defeating Naraku
and completing the Shikon no Tama. They had all been seriously injured and needed to heal their bodies as well as their minds.
They finally stayed home as Inuyasha hadn't been able to drag them away on shard hunting.

His sand gourd in tow, he walked around the small village in awe feeling like he stepped back into time a few hundred
years. He mentally groaned when he heard the sighs of the young village girls as the watched him move around the village. It
was the same thing back in Suna, with all the young female ninja fawning over him because he was Kazekage instead of his
looks.

"Gaara!! Over here!!" His heart nearly stopped as he glimpsed a giggling Kagome waving at him, her bright blue eyes
twinkling with mischief. He strode over to the exited girl and noticed a young woman carrying a huge weapon beside her.
"Gaara, this is Sango-chan. Sango-chan, this is the guy I was telling you about." Kagome smiled at him. "She my very best
girlfriend and practically my sister." She smiled that heart-stopping grin again. "She's been away at her village paying homage
to all of her relatives that died because of Naraku. She would have been here sooner, but..."

"It is understandable, Kagome." He inclined his head toward the Taijita. "Nice to meet you, Sango-san."

"Just Sango and it is nice to meet you, too, Gaara-san."

"If-"

A scream tore through the air, interrupting their conversation. "DEMON!!!! THERE IS A DEMON COMING TO THE
VILLAGE!!!!"

Kagome sighed. That was the problem holding the complete jewel and staying in one place. She hated to put villagers in
danger when it came to the Shikon no Tama. "C'mon, Kagome-chan!" Sango hissed, breaking Kagome out of her thoughts, and
picked up her weapon.

"I'm coming, Sango-chan. Gaara-"

He interrupted. "I would like to see these demons, if I may?"

Kagome blinked and picked up her bow and arrows and started running. No one had ever asked to actually go with them
and see the demons. She should have known that Gaara would be curious after seeing Shippo, Kirara, Inuyasha and now lately
Myoga. So she conceded to his wish. "Ok, just be careful and stay in the treeline. You never know what kind they may be."

Gaara knew Kagome enough to understand she was worried about him and that touched a place inside him long thought
frozen after Yashamaru betrayed him. He also trusted her enough to understand that she knew what she was doing and agreed
with her.

***

The demons were nothing like Gaara had ever seen. They were not incarnations of the sand that he was so much a part of,
they were actual demons. When one glanced his way, it flung a branch at him that his sand caught and threw right back at it. He
glared at the demon and took his battle stance: his legs spread shoulder-width apart and his arms crossed over his chest. "That
was very stupid of you, demon." Making sure that Kagome or any of her friends were out of his way he popped the cork from
his gourd and let the sand gently start to pour out. He flung up a hand and caught the demon in his sands' grasp.

A little smile found its way maniacally on to handsome features. "Sabaku sousou."

"Gaara, what was that?" Kagome asked her eyes wide. She'd never seen anything like that in her entire time fighting
demons. It was as if the sand did obey his every whim. He didn't answer her. He just kept crushing his hand until it was a fist
and a sickening crunch before the sand dropped to the ground. Kagome noticed Gaara's eyes narrowed. She wondered if maybe
he was telling the entire truth after all.

The demon was crawling in pieces out of the sand.

Moving his hands once again, Gaara created a hole in the ground that sucked the remains of the demon and every other
attacking demon other than Kagome's friends to the bottom like quicksand. Making a few seals, Gaara put his hands on the
ground and called out, "Sabaku Taisou!"

"Gaara?"

He cried out and clutched his head. Barely, she heard him growl out, "I'm sorry... mother; I won't give you such bad
blood again. I promise... I'll get you better when we go home. That blonde-headed dickhead will be yours, I promise." He
straightened with a telltale twitch to his eye and a flush; with that, Kagome knew the horrible truth and grew angered at both
Shukaku and the people that put the demon inside of Gaara.

She slowly made her way to the shaking redhead. "Gaara? Are you ok, now?"

His turquoise eyes sharpened and grasped her arms to place her behind him and behind his gourd. He slammed his hands
back onto the ground and called the strange words again.

And the ground shook.

And all was well. Mostly.

****

It was nightfall and the village was celebrating. Not only was it a harvest moon, and there was a huge surplus of food for
the winter to come, but the village had fought off the largest Youkai invasion since the moth Youkai Menomaru's arrival a few
years earlier and Naraku was gone. Everyone was in awe and celebration over the one man who saved the village, and he didn't
know what to do with himself. Gaara managed to extract himself from the drunken villagers cheering him and his name and
moved off to a quiet clearing outside of the village. He broke down his gourd into the sand it was made out of and let it gently
sit on the ground underneath the grass. It would follow him as he moved throughout the forest. He heaved out a sigh and
plopped to the ground, his sand making a small chair for him to sit comfortably on.

His life had changed dramatically over the last few days. First, he's attacked and fell down a well into what it seemed like
another dimension. Then, he's got this unreasonable attraction to Kagome and her obviously jealous Hanyou guardian/suitor
knows and doesn't like it. Inuyasha had kept them apart for days off on a dead-end shard hunt before he'd been fully healed up.
He had also gotten himself sat and Gaara couldn't help but laugh at the Hanyou's expense. He'd then asked Kagome if she
would do that again. He started to chuckle when she had innocently said, "Nani? Osuwari?" He had exploded into a fit of
laughter the likes he'd never been in.

He sighed again when he thought of the way his body reacted to the impish look she'd flashed him under her lashes once
he was finished laughing. He groaned and put his head in his hands. I'm supposed to be with my people but always alone, Gaara
thought to himself in frustration. I'm not supposed to like or be attracted to anyone and they are supposed to fear me, not
celebrate me or ogle me. Though, he did catch Kagome ogle him and that he supposed was a plus. He got up and wandered
toward the well, wondering to himself if Kagome was attracted to him as much as he was to her.

He leaned against the well and looked into the dark depths wondering if his village was alright without their Kazekage.
He never heard the soft footsteps behind him only the silent hug from behind. He stiffened and then sucked in a breath.

"Gaara, are you alright?"

Kagome. The object of his thoughts. He mentally groaned as his body reacted to the sudden warmth on his back. "Hai,
Kagome. I'm just fine. Just missing my village and wondering how it is doing." Truthfully, to himself, he could admit that he
had only thought of his village once since now and that was the day after he was injured. But he would never tell Kagome of
what he was really thinking of.

"Are you sure? You seem really tense for some reason. I know you aren't used to a bunch of people but it couldn't be that
bad, could it?"

He sighed slightly and turned around to see Kagome's upturned face looking at him expectantly. He noticed that she
didn't let go of his waist and kept herself close to him like she wanted to comfort him. He brought up a hand to absently stroke
her cheek in his palm as he thought of how he would put his dilemma.