i'll be your sun | gaara x reader {one-shot}

A figure stood amongst the many memorial stones of the village's graveyard, with an umbrella above their head to shield themselves from the harsh rain. The sky was dull, painted with grey by the clouds, as the heavens pelted the rocky earth with freezing pearls.

A lot of people would perceive the rain as sadness, or a new start, but to this particular person, it only meant one thing; grief.

______ let out a shuddering breath, her tears mixing in with the rain. Closing her eyes, she felt them burn behind her eyelids. Memories of her deceased younger brother played like a movie in her head, adding to the aching pain in her chest. Images of his smiling face flashed before her teary (e/c) pools.

Lifting a hand to her face, she wiped her tears away and opened her eyes. ______ stared at the name carved onto the memorial stone in front of her.

Hiro (surname)
10 April 1996 - 23 September 2010

Hiro. He lived up to his name; born as a shinobi and died as a hero. A bittersweet smile made its way to her lips. It's funny how two different names with different meanings are pronounced the same.

'Hiro-kun...' ______ sighed sadly before she decided that it was time to go home. She gave the memorial stone one last glance and then left, her feet making pattering noises against the hard ground.

Hiro was ______'s only sun. Now that he's no longer here, her sun has burnt out, leaving her in the dark night again.

What ______ didn't know is that she will soon find a new sun.

______*~*~*______

______ came out of the shower, fully-clothed with a towel wrapped around her head. She walked out of her room and went into the kitchen to fetch a cold drink from the fridge. While she was downing its refreshing contents, a certain photo on the counter caught her attention.

Setting her drink on the counter beside it, she picked the photo up. There were two people in the photo; one girl and one boy. She instantly recognised them as her brother and Temari, the girl he had a crush on. ______ giggled, remembering his failed attempts to confess his feelings towards Temari.

In the end, when he took the initiative, he was friend-zoned.

The (h/c)-haired girl sighed deeply. She missed it. She missed the times of when her brother was still alive. As she gazed at the photo with a sorrowful look, she thought that there was no point in moping around about it.

'Life is too short for this,' she told herself, forcing a smile upon her lips, 'Might as well go out for some fresh air.' ______ quickly finished her drink before tossing the can into the bin. She sauntered out of the kitchen and entered her room whilst drying her hair with the towel. Then, she fixed herself up a bit before grabbing a bag of sweets from her drawer and stuffing them into her messenger bag. She also took the water bottle on her bedside table and dropped it in.

"Yosh, I'm ready," she said to no one in particular. She exited her room and left the apartment.

When ______ stepped out of the apartment, a destination came to her mind in an instant. The park. Sunagakure's park has a lot of swing sets; one of the reasons why Hiro would always drag her there after school.

On her way to the park, three boys ran past ______, laughing, with a ball. ______'s lips stretched into a smile at the happy sight.

______*~*~*______

______ plopped herself under a tree, the wide canopy providing a cool shade from the blazing sun. Her head leaned back against the trunk, her eyes closing.

It was mildly warm today, a nice exchange from the usual scorching heat of Sunagakure. The female (surname) sighed in contentment when she felt a small breeze whistle past her ears, its ghostly fingers caressing her face in a gentle manner.

Suddenly, something touched her leg lightly, causing ______'s eyes to snap open.

"Sorry Miss! Can you please pass the ball over to us?"

Her gaze landed on the group of boys who had ran past her on the way here. Eyes flickering to the ball beside her, she then looked up and gave them a brief nod with a kind smile. ______ stood up.

"Sure!" she replied, and promptly kicked it over to them. The boy who had asked her to do so beamed and thanked her, before returning to his game with his friends.

______ sat down again. She took out the water bottle from her bag, unscrewed the cap, and took one swig. She then brought it away from her lips and screwed the cap back on. The (h/c)-haired girl popped it in her bag and leaned against the tree with her arms crossed behind her head.

The sun's rays kissed her skin, its soothing warmth lulling her to sleep. Eyelids drooping, she shortly fell asleep.

Moments later, a scream sounded, alarming the female (surname). She awoke with a jolt. Head whipping around, her eyes were drawn to the group of boys who were sprinting out of the park as if their life depended on it.

"RUN! IT'S THE SAND MONSTER!" they screamed. ______ arched an eyebrow. Sand monster?

The sound of someone sniffling caught her attention. She looked back in the direction of where the boys originally came from, and found a familiar red-haired boy.

'Gaara?' she thought, rising to her feet.

______ has met Gaara several times before whenever Hiro would bring her to visit the sand siblings on Kankuro's invitation. The two boys were close friends because they shared the same fascination on puppets. You could say that they were also rivals.

While Hiro played with Kankuro and Temari upstairs, ______ would always stay behind to play with Gaara - the youngest of the sand siblings - in his sandbox. She was one of the only people who did not reject him because of his abnormal ability to manipulate sand. Of course, ______ was already aware of him being a jinchuuriki, but decided to ignore it, knowing what really matters is how he is inside.

Overtime, she came to like Gaara for she found him adorable, and Gaara came to like her too because of her kind and caring nature.

______ slowly approached Gaara, so as to not startle him. When she was about a metre away from him, only then did she notice that he was crying. She faltered mid-step.

Gaara cried softly as he shakily held the ball in his hands. Why did they run away from him? He just wanted to return the ball and play with them...

Sniffling, he dropped the ball and slumped back on the swing. He hugged his teddy bear close to him. Head drooping, he let out a dejected sigh and kicked up some sand, unaware of the (h/c)-haired girl nearing him, until she called his name.

"Gaara?"

Gaara's head shot up in response. He pivoted his head to see ______ behind him. His eyes widened by a fraction.

Once she has his attention, ______ smiled and said, "Don't listen to those boys, they're just being stupid."

"Y-yeah," Gaara mumbled, returning his gaze to the ground.

"Do you still remember me?" she asked. He gave her a small nod, and she ruffled his red locks. Then, she turned towards the vacant swing next to him and sat down.

Swinging back and forth gently, she said, "I'm sorry I didn't visit you guys lately."

Gaara didn't say anything. He simply nodded in reply, as if saying, "It's okay. I understand." ______ smiled slightly.

None of them said anything after that, and just enjoyed the comfortable silence that had settled in, until Gaara noticed that a certain someone isn't with ______ today.

"Onee-san?" he called, earning a soft hum in reply.

"Hm?"

"Where's Hiro?"

She stopped swinging abruptly. This caused Gaara to gaze at her worriedly, afraid that he might have brought up something bad.

"I-it's okay, y-you don't have to answer that," he quickly added. The latter smiled sadly and shook her head, a quiet laugh escaping her mouth.

"It's fine, I don't mind telling you," she assured, looking down. She suddenly found her sandals interesting. "Hiro... H-he died. He ran into a trap of explosives to save his teammate." She bit her bottom lip to prevent the tears from leaking.

______ knew that she didn't need to word it in another way because, well, Gaara is Gaara. She was sure that he has experienced enough pain to be able to handle these things.

______ shut her eyes as she waited for Gaara's response.

"I'm sorry."

Her eyes flew open in surprise, and she then stared at him.

"I'm sorry about Hiro's death, onee-san. I shouldn't have asked," said Gaara guiltily, eyes downcast.

When he felt a pat on his head, he looked up, confused. ______ was smiling at him, but he can see the pain masked by that fake smile she had perfected over the years of loneliness.

"No worries Gaara. It's not your fault," she said, attempting a cheerful voice, which failed. Her voice cracked as she spoke, tears brimming her eyes clearly. The red-haired boy looked at her straight in the eye.

"You don't have to hold it in," he said, noticing how they were threatening to fall, "I'm not going to laugh." The female (surname) went wide-eyed at his words.

"G-Gaara, it's f-fine..." She let out a shaky breath as a tear rolled down her cheek effortlessly. Realising that she wouldn't be able to hold her tears in no matter how hard she tried, she immediately covered her face with her hands and began to cry, the tears freely escaping its dam. ______ sobbed into her hands, unable to contain her emotions anymore. It felt good letting it all out.

She sniffled, stopping her waterworks momentarily when she felt a light weight on her lap. Peeking through the gaps of her fingers, she found Gaara sitting there. He placed his teddy bear in between the two of them and wrapped his arms around ______, as if he was trying to comfort her.

"It's okay, I'm here," he said. ______ threw her arms around the little boy and cried, burying her face into his red hair, which he didn't mind at all. He actually like the feel of her warmth enveloping him.

Pulling away slightly, he reached up and wiped her tears. Then, he gently brought her face down and kissed her forehead shyly.

"Don't cry. Hiro won't be happy to know that you're sad because of him. Smile, onee-san." Gaara flashed ______ a small smile, which in return, made her smile too. Even if it's just a tiny one, it's still a smile.

Soon, ______'s sobs subsided and was replaced with hiccups. She removed the traces of tears using her sleeve before looking down at the redhead on her lap with a genuine smile.

"Thank you, Gaara," she said, hugging him tightly, "I feel better now." The latter's lips stretched into a bashful smile, and he reciprocated the affectionate gesture. Then, ______ leaned down to kiss his cheek, causing his whole face to heat up.

She giggled. "Aw, you're so cute!"

She reached into her messenger bag, dug around the bag of sweets in there, and fished out a strawberry-flavoured chew. She took his little hand in hers and placed the treat on his palm.

"Here, a treat for a good boy," ______ said. Gaara accepted it and unwrapped the sweet, before popping it into his mouth. His face broke into a wide, adorable smile. ______ laughed at this, before taking out a sweet for herself and ate it.

The two chatted for a bit, while sharing some sweets. For once, they were actually having an enjoyable time.

All of a sudden, the female (surname) picked Gaara off of her lap and stood up. Then, she placed him on the swing, making him take her place. She manoeuvred behind Gaara and began to swing him gently.

"Onee-san?" he called, inclining his head back to look up at her questioningly. The (h/c)-haired girl simply beamed down at him.

"How about we play here for a bit, to make up for the days I didn't visit?" she asked. The redhead nodded excitedly, liking the idea of spending more time with ______.

"Mm!" He grinned. She chuckled.

______*~*~*______

The sky was getting dark. The sun dipped in the horizon, creating an orange hue that painted the void. ______ let out a long sigh. It felt as if she has just talked to Gaara about a minute ago. Time flew by too fast.

"Gaara, it's time to go home," she said. Gaara looked up from drawing on the sand with her, disappointment written all over his face.

"Oh." His face fell at the thought of leaving her. He then pouted. "But I don't wanna go home yet. I want to be with onee-san."

______ bit her bottom lip. "Yashamaru and your siblings will be worried though."

He shook his head rather stubbornly. "No. I don't wanna."

She cupped her chin and tried to think of something. A mischievous smile crawled up her lips.

"Ne Gaara," she called, gaining his attention, "I'll walk you home and give you a kiss." She winked, then smirked at his flushed face. "How about it?"

Nodding hesitantly, Gaara rose from his crouching position and walked over to her. Holding out her hand, he grasped it and ______ stood up. Together, they left the park.

The walk to Gaara's house was silent, not that they both minded. They simply admired their peaceful surroundings and the night sky, which was lit up by thousands of twinkling stars as they walked. Zephyrs whistled past them, creating a cool sensation as they brushed past their skin.

Once they have reached the familiar house of Gaara's, ______ released her hold on Gaara's hand. She turned to him and crouched down to his level. ______ gave him a quick hug.

"Bye Gaara. I'll see you later," she said, pecking his cheek. The (h/c)-haired girl then smiled. Gaara nodded and also kissed her cheek, before running off in the direction of his house. He ran up the steps and disappeared inside.

A deep sigh slipped past ______'s lips as her eyes saddened. She's going to be alone again tonight. For an age she felt overwhelmed at the notion of being alone. But most importantly, she's going to miss Gaara. They'll meet again though, won't they?

Right as she was about to leave for her apartment, a voice called out to her.

"Onee-san!"

______ stopped and lifted her head to see Gaara waving at her through his window, a grin on his face.

"Bye, I love you onee-san!" he yelled, blushing at the end of his exclamation.

Smiling softly, she returned his wave and giggled.

"Bye. I love you too, my little taiyou[1]."

---

Gaara clutched his head in pain as the memory of ______ played through his mind.

'No... I-I must...' he thought, before Naruto grabbed his head and smashed his forehead against his, drawing blood. The two ninja fell to the ground.

Naruto... He defeated me...

"Gaara!"

"Stay away from him blondie!"

______*~*~*______

"Gaara!" A familiar figure barged into the hospital room. Gaara turned his head, his gaze landing on the panting (h/c)-haired female. His eyes widened, their eyes locking.

"Onee-san..." he whispered, genuinely surprised. Striding over to his bed, ______ threw her arms around him and pulled him into her chest. She bit her bottom lip as she cried silently. She hugged him tightly.

"Baka... You made me so worried," she sniffled, face buried into his red hair, "I was afraid that I was going to lose you like Hiro."

Gaara smiled apologetically, feeling somewhat guilty for making the only person he cared for worried sick. He returned her warm embrace.

"Gomenasai."

She stroked his head lovingly and smiled in relief. "It's okay, just don't do it again. I don't want my sun to disappear like before."