Hoo, boy, this is gonna be interesting.

Iggy: Yep. This may be one of your better ideas

For those who didnt get it, this story is about Gaara and a young girl named Mitsuko who is afflicted with Aspergers Syndrome. It is a mental deficiency characterized by social ineptitude, including but not limited to failiure to pick up on social cues, literal interpretation, and formal and/or idiosyncratic speech. There are plenty more characteristics and Wikipedia actually does a decent job with it. It is one part of the Autism Spectrum.

Iggy: That's a lot of information.

...Yeah, I suppose you're right. Anyway, the reason that I'm not calling it that in this story because I dont think the psychology is quite there yet in the Naruto world.

Twenty-year-old Gaara stood in front of the building, hesitant to go in. Though he had started the whole affair and made it his business to check in on it every few months or so, he disliked the absolute respect and fear they nearly beat into the children they housed.

In all honesty, however, he had taken the idea from Naruto's own project in Konoha. Now the Hokage after Tsunade's resignation and subsequent acceptance to a seat on the Council, Naruto had started a small orphanage for the many children left without parents after the Fourth Shinobi World War. After hearing about the whole ordeal from Naruto during a diplomatic visit to renew their treaty (something that took all of two hours) he had proposed the idea to his own council. The idea went through swiftly. Soon enough, a string of small children's homes had sprung up across Suna.

Now, two years later, he still checked in on the Children's Centers every so often. Of course, he dressed in more casual clothes than usual, closer to the standard Suna shinobi minus the flak jacket, but that did not stop the small staff from standing up and bowing hastily with mumbles of "Lord Kazekage" when he walked in. He breezed past the reception area and slipped quietly into the noisy recreation area.

This particular center was smaller, around fifty living within its walls. This was because it was dedicated solely to those between the ages of ten and sixteen who had not enlisted or been apprenticed out. Those who remained were schooled well in various job areas so they would become contributing members to society. The experience tended to be worlds apart from the centers for the younger age brackets. The younger children tended to surround him, tugging on his pant legs or his jacket, asking a million different questions at the same time. He found that he did fairly well with small children – A fact that his older siblings teased him about endlessly, saying "You hated people when you were their age, and now you're everyone's best friend," – but he preferred the somewhat quieter, older age bracket.

Few of the teens noticed when he walked in. Those who did quieted for a moment and pointed him out for their companions to notice. They would whisper, then return to whatever conversation they were having at the time, because by this time they were used to his random appearances, making sure they were okay. Most were in large groups sitting around wooden tables, seemingly segregated by age.

One sat apart.

She sat against a wall, not twenty feet away from him, focused intently on whatever she was drawing on a ratty old sketchpad. Interested, he casually strode over to the girl. She closed her notebook as soon as she noticed him. She looked away. Gaara noticed that she bit her lip.

"Hello, Lord Kazekage," She said softly. She wore the standard uniform for this place – A short-sleeved beige top, similarly-colored pants, and sandals similar to those worn by shinobi – but hers seemed to be a bit more tattered than the rest of the teens. Her hair was a dirty blonde and cut very short, almost shorter than Gaara's own (which reminded him, he really needed a haircut. It was starting to cut across his vision.) All in all, the girl reminded him of Matsuri, when she had been a shy student who could barely stand to look at anything with a blade.

"What is your name?" He asked after a moment.

"…Mitsuko," she said quietly, and without looking up informed him, "It was nice to meet you, Lord Kazekage, but it seems Miss Hana would like to speak with you."

Gaara turned his head, and sure enough the manager of the facility was gesturing at him to come along. Inclining his head to the girl, he said, "It was nice meeting you as well," and turned to join the older woman.

They had not gone far before the woman known as Hana turned to the Kazekage. "Sir, what did you say to that child to make her speak to you?"

Gaara frowned. What an odd question, "She greeted me first, and I asked her what her name was. Should I not have?"

Hana shook her head, "No, sir, that isn't it. Mitsuko doesn't normally talk to people, and certainly not of her own accord."

"Is that so?" Gaara pondered this for a moment. "Why is that?"

Hana shook her head. "She has been like that since before she came to us. After a while, we noticed that she didn't talk with the others, didn't make eye contact, and she had some trouble keeping up with her schoolwork. Often, she completely shuts out the world and absorbs herself into whatever she draws in her sketchbooks – She hides everything, but it keeps her happy, so we give her a new one every time she runs out. A few months ago, we took her to a psychologist for testing… The results confirmed it." The woman sighed. "Mitsuko is, by medical definition, mentally retarded."

Mentally retarded. Gaara had heard stories of people described as 'retards.' They were few and far between, but they ranged from having learning disabilities to apparently being unable to comprehend the world, being stuck in a state of mind similar to that of a toddler for their generally shortened lives. A few papers on the subject had crossed his eyes when Temari would speak about something she read in a magazine. Some psychologist would do a group study on the subject suggesting there were various forms of such a disability. It wasn't really something he was interested in, or something he had time for.

"I see." He said, and that was all they spoke on the matter.

They spoke on finances, the possibility of a small grant to allow them to buy recreational equipment for the teens, and the problem of bunk space for the teens. The bulk of it was a review of their annual budget, what was spent where, and as Gaara left the facility he was promised the taxes and spending reports by the end of the week. He watched as the teens paraded past them, from the recreation room upstairs to the gender-segregated bunk rooms to make ready for dinner. Most of the teens shied away, but Gaara was used to that, and it did make his mood lighten when someone would smile at him when they passed. Mitsuko, he noticed, was at the back of the line, and inclined her head as she passed. Gaara noticed that she once again avoided eye contact.

As Gaara left the facility and returned home, he pondered over the girl named Mitsuko. Temari and Kankuro noticed his unusually thoughtful look over dinner, and it was Kankuro who voiced this observation.

"You look lost in thought, little brother. Care to share?"

Kankuro had wiped off his purple face paint by this time, so Gaara was met with his brother's unmasked smirk. Gaara shrugged, "I was visiting the teen's center today."

"Oh, really? Did the council ask you to adopt an heir again or something?"

Gaara rolled his eyes, a rare but sure sign that he was more amused that he wanted to let on, "Of course they did, but that isn't the point."

Temari raised an eyebrow, "Then what happened?"

Gaara fussed with a broccoli crown on his plate, "One of the cases there spoke to me of her own accord."

Kankuro snorted, "That's it? Well, that's kind of weird, but-"

"She's mentally retarded, Kankuro. From what I hear, she doesn't talk to people too often."

Kankuro's smirk dropped instantly. "Umm. Well, then. That's pretty…" He trailed off when he failed to find a fitting adjective.

Temari, however, looked interested. "What was her name?"

"Mitsuko," Gaara replied.

Temari nodded, "'Child of Light,' huh? What an interesting name."

Gaara nodded. "She was polite, but not overly so. It was …refreshing."

Please, tell me what you think. Is it an original, or at least interesting idea?

Iggy: That's why the button down there is for, see? The one that says "Review?"