After Chizhao left, Yashamaru sat alone at the table, his gaze unconsciously falling upon the photo frame, his thoughts drifting back to the night before last.
That night, dressed in his duty uniform, he arrived at the Kazekage's office and stood behind Rasa, finally plucking up the courage to speak his mind:
"Lord Kazekage, I implore you, please stop sending people to assassinate Lord Gaara."
Rasa's eyes were sharp, his tone full of confusion: "Why? He is the culprit who harmed your sister."
"But he is also my sister's most precious memento!"
Rasa frowned, his voice tinged with displeasure:
"Yashamaru, you are too sentimental. You should focus more on how to bring benefits to the Village, rather than just caring about personal feelings. Such a person is destined to be weak and at the mercy of others."
Previously, Yashamaru had indeed hated Gaara.
But as time went on, Gaara's smiles became more frequent than before, transforming from an insecure and sensitive child into a confident and lively ordinary child.
Gaara also often shared interesting things from his life with him, relying on him and receiving his care... That feeling of family seemed to return to his heart.
However, the changes he felt were not just these...
He noticed that the villagers' address for Gaara was no longer prefixed with 'monster,' but had changed from the usual 'that child.'
These changes also subtly influenced Yashamaru's heart, unknowingly smoothing away the resentment within him.
And the one who made all of this possible was the girl named Shiratori Chichao.
"This time, I choose to listen to my heart. I will protect Lord Gaara, and I hope Lord Kazekage can also see the changes in the Village. Now, I will take my leave."
Yashamaru left these resolute words and departed the office without hesitation.
Rasa turned around, his gaze dark as he watched Yashamaru's retreating figure.
After a struggle of thoughts, he looked up at the myriad lights outside the window and murmured to himself:
"Forgive me, Karura, all of this is for the future of the Village."
Evening quickly arrived. Yashamaru came back to his senses and checked the time; it was time to pick up Gaara, who had finished his training.
At this moment, Gaara was enthusiastically manipulating sand into various shapes.
Kankuro clapped his hands continuously, praising him, while Temari smiled, watching her two younger brothers, truly embodying the image of a good older sister.
"Lord Gaara, I've come to take you home."
Hearing the call from afar, Gaara politely bid farewell to Kankuro and Temari, then ran happily towards Yashamaru.
"You're here, Yashamaru."
Yashamaru patted Gaara's head, gently brushed the sand from him, took his small hand, and walked towards home.
Along the way, Yashamaru gently asked,
"Did you have fun with Lord Kankuro and Lady Temari today?"
"Of course! Because Father wasn't here, we didn't train. I built a really, really big castle with sand, it was super cool. I wish Chizhao and Yashamaru could have seen it."
Gaara's face was beaming with a happy smile, imagining how delighted Chizhao would be to see the castle he built.
"Then let's wait for next time. I also want to see the castle Lord Gaara built with my own eyes. It must be very impressive."
"Mm! I'll build an even more amazing one for you!"
Under the setting sun, the two walked hand in hand on the sandy road, their figures drawing close and then separating in the afterglow, as if an inseparable bond existed between them.
After dinner, Gaara excitedly wanted to go out to find Chizhao, but Yashamaru called out to him: "Lord Gaara, are you going out now?"
"I... I want to go play with Chizhao..."
Gaara was shy, not daring to look Yashamaru directly in the eye, clutching something behind his back.
"Lord Gaara?"
Under Yashamaru's gaze, Gaara finally took out the item he was clutching in his small hand.
A small glass bottle lay quietly in his tiny palm.
Inside the bottle, a small flower made of sand floated, sparkling with tiny glints under the light. The entire flower looked adorable and unique.
Yashamaru had an understanding expression and chuckled playfully: "So, you're going to give a gift to a girl?"
Gaara's small face flushed, his secret exposed, and he stammered: "It's... it's a return gift..."
Looking at the adorable Gaara in front of him, Yashamaru's heart also softened.
He knelt down, his large hand covering Gaara's small hand holding the glass bottle, his eyes gentle:
"Then let's go together and deliver this return gift to Chizhao."
Yashamaru deliberately emphasized the words 'return gift,' and seeing the thoroughly flushed cheeks in front of him, he smiled even more happily.
Under the moonlight, the surrounding streets were unusually quiet, which made Yashamaru's heart uneasy.
Gaara, whose mind was solely focused on delivering the gift to Chizhao, did not notice this.
He only wanted to see her bright smile, to keep her happy forever.
Suddenly, a figure rushed towards them.
In the bright moonlight, they finally saw who it was—Shiratori Chichao.
Upon seeing Chizhao, Gaara happily greeted her, but Chizhao ignored him and ran directly to Yashamaru, panting, "Yashamaru, I have something to tell you."
Yashamaru was startled at first, looked at the equally puzzled Gaara, then knelt down to meet her gaze: "What's wrong?"
"It's just........"
Yashamaru's pupils suddenly constricted. He felt a sharp pain from his chest, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, and he looked in disbelief at the small knife plunged into his chest.
In Gaara's horrified eyes, he collapsed into a pool of blood.
"Yashamaru!!!"
And the culprit—Shiratori Chichao—stood indifferently in place, coldly watching Yashamaru twitching and bleeding on the ground.
"Yashamaru! Yashamaru! What's wrong with you...."
Gaara anxiously ran to Yashamaru's side. He laboriously lifted Yashamaru's head, tears falling one by one onto his face.
"Lord Gaara..... I... I'm sorry........"
Yashamaru already understood what had happened. It seemed Rasa had made his choice between family and the Village.
He weakly brushed Gaara's forehead with his blood-stained hand, and Karura's figure appeared before his eyes.
I'm sorry, sister.
I failed to protect your memento. You must be blaming me, right?
Yashamaru's vision gradually blurred, his breathing became shallow, and his mouth opened and closed as if he wanted to say something more.
Finally, he slowly closed his eyes and stopped breathing.
Looking at Yashamaru, whose arm hung lifelessly to the ground, Gaara seemed to stop thinking, his whole body stiffening in place.
"What? He died so easily? How boring....."
Moonlight fell upon Chizhao's distorted face. Her petite figure contrasted sharply with her cold eyes.
"Why?... Chizhao... Why...?"
Gaara trembled all over, tears already flowing uncontrollably. He clutched his heart, as if that knife had also fiercely stabbed into it.
"Of course, it's to get rid of you, monster. The recent acting has made me sick. The friendship you thought you had was just a carefully woven lie by me."
Chizhao's cold voice rang in his ears, every word like a sharp knife piercing his heart.
"No.... You're not Chizhao... Chizhao wouldn't treat me like this!"
Gaara roared in pain. He couldn't believe that the girl who had treated him so gently, whose smile was so beautiful, was all fake. He couldn't believe it, and he didn't want to believe it!
"Speaking of which, to make you drop your guard, I played the desert demon, and you played the righteous Ninja saving the children. It truly was a disgusting and childish act."
These words were like a thunderbolt, completely shattering the last shred of hope in his heart.
Because this matter was known only to him and Chizhao.
Gaara only felt a dizzy spell, his head aching as if it would split open, and he cried out in collapse: "No! It's not like that!"
However, Chizhao's words continued: "Gaara, you don't deserve anyone's love. You are a cursed person. Look at the people around you; they all died because of you."
Every word from Chizhao continuously impacted Gaara's psychological defense, as if in the next second, his last bit of sanity would completely collapse.
He, who had originally stood in the sunlight, no matter how hard he tried to escape, could never shake off a pair of pitch-black hands, dragging him little by little into the endless abyss.
Gaara clutched his head, collapsing to his knees in pain, gasping for breath.
The intense psychological impact caused his eyes to be bloodshot, tears soaked his pale face, dripping from the corners of his mouth onto the sandy ground.
Suddenly, a short knife lunged at Gaara, but sand swiftly blocked the blade.
Gaara looked up, reaching out to control the sand, binding Chizhao tightly. He gazed at everything before him in despair.
However, when he heard Chizhao's painful cry, his eyes changed slightly, and he slammed her against the wall, causing Chizhao to instantly faint on the ground.
Gaara was drenched in sweat. He looked at Chizhao and Yashamaru lying on the ground, ceaselessly asking:
"Why? Why do you all leave me? Why does no one want to love me?"
The glass bottle in his pocket fell to the ground. The sand flower inside instantly turned into a fine blade, rushing towards Gaara's forehead.
Gaara roared in despair, looking up at the sky.
Yes, no one would love him.
From beginning to end, he was all alone.
Since everyone around him would leave him, then he would love himself and become a demon of hell!
The sand grazed his forehead, and there, a bleeding character for "love" distinctly appeared.
Gaara's eyes became cold and filled with killing intent. He looked up and roared at the sky:
"I am Gaara, a demon who loves only himself!"