Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or its characters... that honor belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. Airi Saito, however, is my own invention.

Sabuku no Gaara examined the growing stack of papers on his desk, his bright green eyes skipping over the words. Though he was aware he should be giving more thought to the matters outlined in front of him, the paperwork held no interest for him today.

He glanced out of the window of his office, gazing upon the buildings of Sunagakure. The air resonated with silence, only occasionally broken by a cry from outside the window, the frustration of a young Shinobi attempting to learn a new technique.

It was peaceful today, he realized. The people of the village were going about their lives as if nothing was brewing just on the horizon, as if there wasn't a war coming. Maybe some of them didn't even know.

Innocent people, who could be shoved aside and massacred by the ambitions of the remnants of the Uchiha clan.

The thought of it made him sick. They give you power, and you still can't protect anyone.

Pulling himself away from the window, Gaara sat down, facing the endless stack of work. He took the first one off the pile, and began to read.

This was going to be a long day.

He was only about halfway down the page of the most ridiculous petition he had ever read, when someone knocked on the door of his office, before throwing the door wide open and striding in anyways.

Temari crossed her arms, smiling down at her little brother. "You told me to knock last time, so I did."

"It defeats the purpose if you simply come in anyway." Gaara noted wryly through gritted teeth, continuing to read.

Doing paperwork was already not the most riveting of tasks especially when he had other matters on his mind, but his sister's intrusion was an unneeded hindrance.

"Did you need something, Temari?"

Temari gave him a skeptical look. "I came to inform you that you have a visitor."

This was enough to draw his attention. He glanced up at her, green eyes inscrutable.

"Actually, I noted that, considering you just about took my door off its hinges."

"Not me," she sighed exasperatedly. "She's waiting outside. Should I tell her to come back later? Seems like you're busy."

"No, just send her in," Gaara excluded the second part of what he had been thinking: 'since I've already been interrupted' and looked back down at his paperwork, signing off on a more reasonable petition than the first before moving on to the next one.

Temari stomped out of his office, leaving a faint breeze blowing behind her. It rustled a few papers on the top of the pile, sending them spinning across the room. Gaara mumbled under his breath, making a mental note to put better locks on his doors sometime in the near future.

He stood, about to attempt to catch the papers, but was surprised to find that someone already had. A slender hand placed them back on his desk, neatly stacked.

"Thank you for taking the time to see me, Kazekage-sama. I know you must be working on quite a tight schedule."

His visitor was certainly not what Gaara had expected.

The kunoichi was of average height, dressed in a simple white tunic and crimson leggings, with what normally served as a forehead protector instead worn around her waist, the symbol of Suna etched into it. Her skin was surprisingly fair, as though she hadn't seen much sun recently, though her honey colored hair was highlighted with streaks of gold that were obviously natural. Her hair was cut short around her chin, framing a thin face, and her bangs fell at a slant, almost obscuring the view of one eye. The one that could be glimpsed was a deep indigo, almost purple.

A spark of recognition ran through Gaara, but he gave no sign of it.

The girl stood firmly, not fidgeting, but her gaze was downcast.

'Remnants of the fear my father caused,' Gaara considered.

"Can I help you?"

"I'm not honestly sure, Kazekage-sama," she answered, swallowing what might have been a laugh. It passed too quickly for him to tell. "I—"

She stopped as she looked up from staring at the floor. A look of shock ran clearly over her face.

"Gaara-sama…" she whispered, then swallowed quickly, averting her eyes again. "I'm sorry, Kazekage-sama, I didn't know—"

"You've been gone from Suna for some time." He said matter-of-factly. "I suppose no one has bothered to fill you in on what has transpired since then?"

She looked back up slowly, but when she did, she met his gaze levelly. The fear was gone from her demeanor.

"I had been informed of the Fourth's passing, but I must have been on a mission for the Feudal Lord when they discussed your appointment. I… I didn't mean to intrude. I simply needed to discuss the arrangements concerning my reassignment. My term with the Feudal Lord's guard…"

Gaara held up a hand to cut her off and she stopped immediately.

"Have you just arrived?"

"Only a few hours ago, Kazekage-sama. I came here as soon as I could see to it that I had a place to stay."

Gaara was quiet for a moment, and she watched him, not fearfully, almost… curiously, he thought. If this was the same girl he remembered, it didn't surprise him. She had always been this way, showing no fear even when others had called him a monster...

However, that was a different time. Now he noticed a hesitancy to her manner that had not been present previously. Somehow the years had worn on her.

"We will discuss your next mission later. I am not sure how much you have been informed of, but Suna has some pressing concerns at hand. You should rest now, and the council or I will get back to you in short order."

She bowed her head in assent. "Thank you for taking the time to see me, Kazekage-sama. I hope it was not an inconvenience."

She began to retreat, but something was gnawing at Gaara's insides.

"It's Airi, isn't it?"

"Hn?" She half-turned, realizing a second too late that 'hn?' was not the way one replied to the Kazekage.

But he had already begun speaking again. "Your name. Airi, isn't it?"

A second look of shock crossed her expression. "Yes, Kazekage-sama. It is."

With that, she left his office, just in time to miss the breathless figure that entered his office afterward.

"Gaara-sensei, we just—!" Matsuri paused, glancing between the door and the Kazekage's strange expression. "Who was that?"

Gaara shook his head, pulling the next paper off the stack. "Just an old acquaintance…"

"We're never gonna get it down," the young boy said despairingly, staring up the face of the cliff. A red ball was perched at the edge of it, where it had been thrown by the children in the course of their game.

The little girl tugged at her big brother's sleeve. "Do something, onii-san!"

The other children looked at him also. As the oldest of the group, he was expected to take care of their problems, but he had no way of controlling this.

Just as he was about to admit defeat, the other children pointed above him. As if by some miracle, the ball was floating down toward him.

"Wha…" he began, but then he noticed the sand. A shiver of fear ran through him as he raised his eyes to view the tiny red-headed boy walking toward them.

"Sabuku no Gaara…" he whispered, his voice filled with dread. The boy grabbed his little sister by the hand. "Airi, we have to go."

The little girl blinked up at him, her large indigo eyes registering confusion. "But, onii-san, that boy… he helped us. Shouldn't we let him play with us?"

The boy shook his head, ushering his sister along, despite the sound of Gaara's pleas echoing behind him.

The little girl couldn't help but glance over her shoulder at the little red headed boy. She tried to run back, but her big brother scooped her up, carrying her in his arms. She could only watch sadly as the boy got smaller and smaller in her vision, tears running down his pale face.

A/N: This is a revision of one of my old fics, but I'm going in a different direction with it. Read and review please, lovely readers! Any constructive criticism is wonderful!

- Senka Hitomi