[Mad Tiger] Chapter 68

“I remember the hate,” Naruto said, scratching behind my ear as he spoke, though Gaara—sitting right beside him—was clearly listening too. “It felt like it had always been there. Like it was part of me. The looks adults gave me. That cold, heavy silence. The way people whispered behind my back. How other kids weren’t allowed to talk to me or be my friend. I couldn’t figure out what I’d done wrong. Why everyone hated me. Who I even was. I didn’t know anything about my parents, or even what I was supposed to be doing with my life.”

He paused and smiled, giving me a few more scritches.

“About six months ago, I met Tora-chan. He became my first real friend.”

Damn right I did. That earned Naruto some happy purring and a dramatic flop into his lap.

“I think he didn’t like that I was alone,” Naruto went on, “so he helped me and Sasuke get closer. Technically, yeah, we already knew each other—same class at the Academy—but we never really knew each other. We were both stuck in our own stuff. Alone, but next to each other. Tora-chan fixed that. He gave us both something real. And now he wants to help you too. I see the same pain in your eyes that I used to see in the mirror.”

He took a breath.

“I found out two months ago that I’m a jinchuriki. That there’s a monster inside me. I was terrified my friends would leave if they ever found out. That they’d be scared of the thing inside me. That I’d end up all alone again. Worse, I was scared I’d lose control one day and hurt them. The person who told me about it said some really awful stuff. But I made a promise to myself. That no matter what happens, I’ll protect the people I care about—and I’ll never let the monster inside me hurt them. And you know what? My friends didn’t run away. They still see me as me. I can’t let them down.”

Gaara leaned back against the wall, and I climbed into his lap like an emotionally supportive, purring football.

“He wants you to talk now too,” Naruto smiled gently. “That’s how Tora shows love.”

I nodded, giving Gaara my patented Big Cat Eyes™. He reached up and touched the red kanji scar over his left eye.

“Love…” he echoed in a dry, rasping voice. “You said you didn’t know who you were. Or who your parents were. My family? They hated me. Every one of them. My father—he is the Fourth Kazekage—he wanted a perfect weapon. So they sealed a demon inside me the day I was born. My mother… they say I killed her just by being born. I was a mistake from day one. And my father made sure I never forgot it. I was raised alone. Spoiled, untouchable… and completely unwanted.”

His voice turned flat and empty.

“There was one person who took care of me. Yashamaru. He said he was my mother’s brother. Said she loved me. But when he tried to kill me, he told me the truth—that she hated me. That he hated me too. That he only tried to love me because it was his duty.”

Gaara choked a little and rubbed the mark on his forehead. I bumped my nose against him gently.

His wild, panicked eyes found mine, and he took a few shaky breaths.

“I was created using a special technique,” he continued. “It left my mind… unstable. People in the village figured out I was dangerous. Unpredictable. My father considered me a trump card, but he was terrified of me. When I turned six, he started sending assassins. Everyone did. The elders, other villages… I just kept killing them. One after another. And that’s when I decided—I was done asking why I existed. I live to kill. My name—Gaara—it means ‘Demon who loves only himself.’ That’s what my mother named me. And I believed it. That as long as I lived for myself and killed anyone who got in my way… that was the only time I felt alive.”

His hands went to his head, fingers clawing at his scalp. His eyes were glassy with tears.

“You really believe that crap?” Naruto snapped, grabbing Gaara’s shoulders and giving him a shake. “Because I don’t! That’s not who you are! That’s not the guy I’ve been talking to! That’s not who Tora-chan believes in! And I’m your friend too! I said you were my friend—and I never go back on my word! That’s my ninja way!

“And why do you even think you’re unstable?” he demanded.

Gaara swallowed hard.

“There’s a technique… a possession jutsu. ‘Tanuki Neiri no Jutsu.’ It summons Shukaku, the demon. But only when I fall asleep. If I sleep, he tries to take control.”

“Wait, wait—so you don’t sleep at all?” Naruto blinked. I yowled in outrage loud enough to make both of them jump.

“That’s the root of all your problems!” I declared with the authority of a fluffy therapist.

“Tora-chan’s clearly trying to say something,” Naruto said, eyeing me thoughtfully. “Let me guess… Gaara needs sleep?”

I nodded solemnly and let out a purr of approval. Good boy.

“So—get this,” Naruto rubbed the back of his head. “Sasuke had trouble sleeping too. Bad dreams. He was all twitchy and messed up. Can’t blame him—his whole clan got wiped out in one night. He couldn’t sleep for ages. Said sometimes he’d hear things, see things that weren’t real. And that’s without having a tailed beast sealed in him. So… wait. Don’t you need, like, hand seals to use that summoning jutsu? Can you even cast ninjutsu without seals?”

Gaara’s mouth opened, then slowly closed. He stared at me. Then back at Naruto.

“Seals?” he echoed, almost whispering. “Yeah… it takes seals. Eight, I think…”

“So, you need the seals and to fall asleep for the demon to come out?” Naruto asked, narrowing his eyes.

“Well… yeah…” Gaara mumbled. “And Tora-chan and I… we’ve been sleeping together…”

He immediately froze, clearly realizing how that sounded.

“You didn’t feel possessed afterward, right? No crazy dreams? No voices in your head?” Naruto asked, sounding suspiciously like a doctor diagnosing sleep deprivation.

“…No,” Gaara admitted, blinking hard.

“I knew it!” Naruto pointed at me triumphantly. “Tora-chan told you the same thing, didn’t he?”

I nodded again, puffing my chest out proudly. Honestly, poor kid got gaslit into thinking his REM cycles summon Satan.

“And besides,” Naruto added, “you were a baby when they put Shukaku in you, right? You slept before that, obviously. You didn’t know anything. If that thing only shows up after the seals, then sleep isn’t the problem—it’s the damn jutsu. You just didn’t know better. They scared you into thinking you’d go full monster mode if you nodded off. But I’m a jinchuriki too—and I sleep great. So that theory’s busted.”

Gaara lifted his head, eyes distant.

“The first time he ever appeared,” he murmured, “was when someone tried to kill me. I couldn’t fight back. I was in pain. Scared. Furious. The hate… it made the monster stronger.”

Yeah. No kidding.

“Oh… I’m sorry. Really,” Naruto said, biting his lip. “I wish you could stay in Konoha. With me, and Sasuke, and Tora-chan… and our friends.”

Suddenly, there was noise—like a crowd rushing somewhere—and my ears perked up like satellite dishes.

“What was that?” both boys tensed.

The door slammed open and Sasuke darted in, sharp-eyed and serious. He scanned us, sitting there like we were just having tea and cookies.

“There’s an alert,” he said curtly. “The exam proctors are all on edge. Told all genin to stay in their rooms. No one’s saying what it is.”

My tail twitched. Yeah, I knew that kind of tension. Whatever it was, it had “Kushina-san and Orochimaru” written all over it.

The windows were tiny slits way up near the ceiling—more like glorified vents than anything else. But hey, I’m a cat. That’s practically an invitation.

“Okay, team, we need a meeting,” I announced as I trotted a circle around the room to grab their attention.

Three pairs of eyes turned to me. Time for some Grade-A kitty charades.

I hopped over to the massive wall, looked up at the itty-bitty window vent thingy, and started jumping and pawing at the wall dramatically. Honestly, I looked like a hamster in a jar. We used to have one like that back home—he’d just belly-smear the glass in protest.

“…I think Tora-chan wants out,” Sasuke said slowly, watching my aerial performance.

Yes. YES. Thank you, Captain Obvious!

“Yeah, I bet he wants to go peek at what’s going on,” Naruto added with a snort. “But you know, if it’s dangerous out there—”

I interrupted him by springing onto Gaara and smushing a paw over his eye. Then I hopped down, scooped a bit of sand off the floor with my paw, jumped back on Gaara’s chest, and dramatically covered his eye again.

Third time’s the charm.

“…You mean this?” Gaara touched his temple and concentrated. Sand shifted, and a small floating eyeball formed right in front of his face.

“Whoa, what the—?!” Naruto flinched as the eyeball hovered and stared at him like an overenthusiastic drone.

“Third Eye Jutsu,” Gaara said. “It links directly to my optic nerve. I can see whatever it sees. And… don’t poke it.”

“Dude. That’s so cool!” Naruto said, sticking his hands behind his back before he could poke it anyway. “Alright! I’ll handle the window!”

He made a hand sign and poof—eight clones popped into existence. Three of them dropped into crouches and turned into a human step-ladder while the rest climbed up. The top one—probably the original—started picking at the vent with a kunai, prying the glass and frame loose.

“Sasuke!” he called down.

“I got him,” Sasuke said, scooping me up like the precious loaf I am.

He backed up a few steps, sprinted, and leapt onto the clone tower. The top clone popped as he jumped off, the rest collapsing like dominoes—except Naruto caught the falling kunai with a smooth ninja flourish because of course he did.

Sasuke stuck to the wall mid-jump like a gecko, and boom—I was face to face with the hole.

With the elegance of a feline missile, I slithered through, scraped the wall with my claws, and skidded out onto the roof.

Right behind me, Gaara’s sandy eyeball zipped through like a magical GoPro.

TARARARATATATA! Charge, my fellow feline cavalry!