At the top of the building, the desert breeze swept past the two Sand siblings as they stood side by side, their eyes drifting over the bustling village below.
The air was heavy with anticipation, the Chūnin Exams hanging over everyone's heads like a storm ready to break.
Temari adjusted the giant iron fan on her back, the sunlight gleaming faintly off its polished surface. Her sharp eyes cut toward her brother.
"I thought you were told not to let Gaara out of your sight…" She said, her tone sharp, though there was the faintest trace of concern beneath her words.
Kankurō smirked, folding his arms lazily, the smirk tugging higher at one corner of his lips. "You don't need to worry about him anymore…"
His confidence was unshaken, almost mocking.
Temari's lips pressed into a thin line. She remembered Gaara's chilling words after the ninth round, the eerie calm that accompanied them. For just a moment, her expression softened, though she quickly masked it with a sigh.
"Yeah…" She murmured, almost to herself.
Kankurō glanced sideways at her, his painted face unreadable, before abruptly shifting the subject. "More importantly, that guy Dosu. What are we going to do with him?"
Temari blinked. "Dosu?"
Kankurō shrugged, rolling his shoulders. "He's not going to surrender to you just because we're under the same plan, you know what I mean…"
Temari's eyes narrowed dangerously, a smirk curling across her lips as she placed a hand on her hip.
"Hmph! I'm not going to surrender to him, that's for sure," She shot back firmly. Her voice carried the kind of steel that left no room for doubt.
Kankurō chuckled, leaning back against the ledge.
"Then, shouldn't you be formulating a battle plan?" He asked, his tone deliberately needling, almost taunting.
Temari flicked her bangs aside and clicked her tongue.
"Hmph! There's no way I would lose to a guy of that level," She said, her words laced with pride.
The breeze caught her ponytails, whipping them gently behind her, as though the wind itself agreed with her confidence.
Kankurō tilted his head, feigning innocence before smirking again.
"Besides, you botched it, didn't you?" He teased, his voice sly.
Temari's eyes snapped toward him, narrowing. "Botched what?"
Kankurō gave an exaggerated shrug, his tone smooth as silk, but sharp as a kunai. "I mean… if you had taken the exam one year earlier… you could have made Chūnin easily…"
Temari's jaw tightened, her fingers tapping once against the handle of her fan. She turned her face slightly, hiding the irritated flush on her cheeks.
"Tch… you've got a big mouth for someone hiding behind his puppets all the time," She shot back, her smirk returning as she aimed the barb straight at him.
Kankurō chuckled low, clearly amused by her reaction. "Touché, sis."
------
"Balloon!"
The small boy's voice rang out as he stumbled after the drifting red balloon, his little arms stretching toward it but never quite reaching. His steps were clumsy, desperate, as the string danced higher and higher out of reach.
A man nearby noticed, sprinted forward, and leapt lightly into the air. His hand closed around the string just before the balloon could escape into the sky. He crouched, handing it gently back to the boy.
"Here you go!"
The boy's face lit up with a smile as wide as the sun. "Thank you!"
The man ruffled the child's hair and waved before walking off, blending back into the crowd.
...
From the rooftop above, Gaara watched.
He had not moved from this spot in nearly a day. His pale-green eyes tracked every small interaction in the village below, every flicker of humanity that seemed so foreign to him.
He watched a man steady his drunken comrade with an arm around his shoulders; lovers walking hand in hand, whispering to one another; parents clasping the hands of a child swinging happily between them.
Each display of emotion fascinated him. Each fragment of warmth stirred a strange restlessness inside his chest, a tightness he couldn't name. His sand gourd rested heavily on his back, but for once it felt less like a weapon and more like a chain.
"Gaara!"
The voice snapped him from his thoughts.
He turned. Kankurō stood at the rooftop entrance, his painted face creased in curiosity.
"Kankurō," Gaara acknowledged quietly.
Kankurō strode forward, glancing over the edge toward the bustling street below before turning back to his brother. "What are you doing here?"
Gaara's silence stretched. The wind whispered across the rooftop, tugging at his robes. Finally, he spoke, his voice low and steady. "Kankurō… I don't want to continue with this plan."
Kankurō froze, eyes widening. The words didn't register at first, as this was Gaara speaking, the brother who had once looked at life as nothing more than a series of enemies to crush.
"Gaara… are you—" He stopped himself, the word nuts dying on his tongue. His jaw tightened as he searched his brother's face.
Gaara's gaze didn't waver. "I want to live like a normal ninja… in a normal team."
For a moment, Kankurō felt as if the air had been sucked from his lungs. He swallowed, his throat dry.
"Gaara! What do you mean by that?" His voice cracked, part disbelief, part desperation.
"Aren't we a team?" he asked, softer now, almost pleading.
Gaara's eyes drifted back to the village below. "We were sent here for destruction, not as a team on a regular mission."
The words cut.
Kankurō clenched his fists. "Is this a joke? Do you even hear yourself?"
His voice rose with frustration. "You've killed countless people... on the way here, in the forest…!"
He stopped, breath heavy, chest heaving with anger and fear alike.
Gaara didn't reply. His face betrayed nothing, but in his silence, there was a heaviness Kankurō had never seen before.
Kankurō's next words came slower, almost reluctant, his voice lowering as though he hated what he was about to say. "I don't want to say this… but you're nothing but a frightening weapon to the village…"
The sentence hung in the air, sharp as a blade.
Gaara's pale eyes lingered on Kankurō, unreadable, unblinking, as though weighing every word his brother had just spoken.
The rooftop breeze ruffled his auburn hair, but his stance remained rooted like stone.
Kankurō folded his arms, his brow creased with unease. "It'll just be a struggle for you to join a regular unit at this point. The superiors don't think well of you… Especially that man."
His voice lowered, almost as though the name itself was poisonous. "Our father looks at you like you're nothing but a monster."
For a moment, silence blanketed the rooftop. The lively chatter of villagers drifted up from below, laughter and footsteps echoing through the night. It was such a normal sound, yet so far from what Gaara had ever known.
"I know that…" Gaara finally answered, his tone quiet, deliberate. His words carried a weight that made Kankurō's chest tighten.
--- ✦ ✦ ✦ ---
📢 Author's Note 📢
If you're enjoying this story and want more chapters right now, I invite you to check out my Patreon. There you'll find:
✅ Daily updates – never miss a day of new content
✅ Advanced chapters – read far ahead of public releases
✅ Exclusive perks & extras – only available to patrons
Your support not only gives you early access but also helps me dedicate more time to writing and expanding this story. Every reader who joins makes a huge difference.
👉 Dive into more chapters today: patreon.com/Myth_Valley
Let's keep the adventure alive! 🔥📚✨