"Have I always been surrounded by love?"
After hearing Mirai Uchiha's explanation, Gaara's eyes—cold and dark—flickered with confusion.
Could this sand that instinctively shielded him truly belong to his mother—and not that monster?
But...
"What a joke!"
"My mother died in childbirth. How could this sand possibly be her power?"
"And besides, she hated me until her dying breath—it was me who stole her life."
"How can you claim this sand comes from my mother?"
Facing Gaara's outburst, Mirai Uchiha replied calmly, "That's exactly how it is. No mother would ever stop loving her own child."
"You've lost the Tailed Beast yet still retained your strength. That itself is the best proof."
These simple words failed to convince Gaara, who shouted back, "If that were true, Yashamaru wouldn't have tried to kill me for my mother's sake."
"He told me everything before he died. He never loved me—and neither did my mother!"
Seeing Gaara's hysteria, Mirai Uchiha spoke slowly, "Some things aren't meant to be seen with your eyes—they have to be understood with your heart."
"I'm standing above this situation, so I can see things far more clearly."
"If you're willing to listen, I can explain it all to you."
Gaara clenched his fists tightly but eventually nodded without refusal.
"It seems there's still hope..."
Witnessing Gaara's reaction, Mirai Uchiha understood his intention.
The troubled young man standing before him had not yet completely fallen into darkness.
In that case, she'd lend a hand.
"Originally, when the previous Jinchuriki of the One-Tail grew old, Rasa searched all of Sunagakure for a new vessel before the Jinchuriki passed away naturally."
"Unfortunately, no one in the entire village—including his two children—was qualified to become the next Jinchuriki of the One-Tail."
"Faced with such a situation, Rasa came up with an idea."
Mirai glanced at Gaara before continuing quietly, "So he decided to simply have another child."
A surge of ocular power caused Gaara's vision to blur as his consciousness wavered.
When he came to, he found himself lying on a medical cot.
A strange yet familiar woman lay in bed. A man with the same face as her memory of her father stood coldly by the bedside: "Karura, the One-Tail Jinchuriki is on the brink of death. To prevent losing the One-Tail, you must go into premature labor..."
Upon hearing this, Karura gently touched her belly, wearing an expression full of concern: "It's fine for the sake of the village, but it's such a shame my child will suffer even before birth..."
As Karura spoke, silent tears streamed down her cheeks.
Seeing the woman's condition, Gaara suddenly felt a strange sensation in his chest.
He took a couple steps forward, but before he could speak, the scene before him shifted once again.
***
"Waaah! Waaah! Waaah..."
A baby's cry echoed through the medical ward. However, unlike most newborns, this infant was unusually tiny and its cries sounded weak and feeble.
Karura turned sideways to gaze at the child smaller than her palm, her pale face filled with worry and affection.
"I truly wonder if bringing you into this world was the right choice, but no matter what happens, Mother will always love you."
"Gaara!"
Karura pressed her face against Gaara's body, then slowly closed her eyes.
Yashamaru stood beside her, stubbornly holding back his tears as he spoke: "Sister, I promise I'll protect Gaara for you."
Before his words had fully settled, Rasa entered the room accompanied by others.
After glancing briefly at the lifeless Karura, Rasa said coldly: "We don't have time. Seal the One-Tail into Gaara's body immediately."
"Yes, sir!"
***
The scene changed again, and before Gaara's eyes, the setting transformed into a spacious office.
Outside was already deep into the night. Rasa stood alone by the window, hands clasped behind his back.
A masked ninja pushed open the door and walked in.
Although only a pair of eyes showed from beneath the mask, Gaara immediately recognized the intruder's identity—
Yashamaru!
"Kazekage-sama!"
Hearing Yashamaru's voice, Rasa slowly turned around, his tone devoid of any emotion: "Gaara has lost control too many times already. He is a failed experiment."
"I'm going to kill him."
Upon hearing this, Yashamaru dropped to his knees and begged loudly: "Please give Gaara another chance—he's just too young."
Rasa replied indifferently: "Then you should assassinate Gaara. If he doesn't rampage upon discovering your identity, I'll allow him to live."
Yashamaru trembled slightly, bowing his head solemnly: "Understood."
***
"Gaara, I've always hated you. You took my sister's life away."
"Even on her deathbed, she still hated you. There's no love between us at all."
"So you don't need to feel guilty for betraying me."
"If I can't kill you, you monster, I'd rather choose to die myself."
After hearing Yashamaru's words, the young Gaara covered his head with both hands, his eyes dazed, wearing an expression of extreme sadness.
Seeing this, Yashamaru weakly murmured, "Gaara, I'm sorry. This is the only thing I can do for you."
"Please don't go on a rampage because of my death..."
Looking at Yashamaru dying in front of him once again, Gaara knelt blankly on the ground.
So this was the truth behind everything?
Dazed, Gaara saw Mirai and Temari again.
He first looked around in confusion before realizing he had returned to his own home.
Temari asked with concern, "Gaara, why are you crying?"
From her perspective, Gaara had just been loudly arguing against Mirai's point one moment, then suddenly started tearing up.
Gaara regained his senses and hesitantly looked at Mirai, "Was everything I just saw... real?"
Mirai replied indifferently, "These matters should all be recorded in Rasa's files. You can check them if you want."
The last bit of doubt in Gaara's heart vanished.
So all along, the power that kept protecting him and preventing him from being harmed was his mother's!
And Yashamaru had also loved him deeply all the time.
So many people had sacrificed their lives just so he could survive.
Yet he had stubbornly believed all along that the entire world had abandoned him...
Thinking of this, Gaara was overwhelmed by intense feelings of guilt.
He could no longer hold back and sobbed uncontrollably.
Behind him, a pile of sand coalesced into the shape of a woman who held out her arms and embraced Gaara tightly.
Seeing this, Temari blurted out in shock: "Mother!"
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