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You've got a good heart
But I know it changes
A restless tide, untamable
You came my way, and I knew a storm could come too
You'd lift me high, or let me fall
But I took your hand, promised I'd withstand
Any blaze you blew my way
'Cause something inside, it solidified
And I knew I'd always stay
Karura knew that Rasa had other things in mind. He always had.
When they met she used to tell herself that he was already feeling the pressure of becoming the Kazekage in the future, but soon she learned that it was just the way he was. The way he loved. Always with something else in his mind.
The marriage proposal was surrounded by politicians and the elders of her family, right before they passed away. It had an almost business-like feel to it and she swore Rasa didn’t look at her in the eyes once during the whole ordeal.
Yashamaru said to her that Rasa simply wanted an heir, something to set him apart from the Kazekages before him, her parents never understood what she saw in him but accepted nonetheless, happy with the privileges of becoming the future Kazekage’s in-laws.
But Karura never cared about what others thought or said, she cared for the way Rasa made her feel. When they were alone when he whispered sweet nothing in her ear when he told her all the great plans he had for the village when he looked at her eyes and made her think for a second that maybe he would trade it all for her. But she would never ask that of him. Rasa was meant for great things, made to lead the Sand Village to prosperity again. She knew she would stay by his side and let his mind wander because she knew he was completely hers in those few moments of calm when there were only the two of them.
You can build me up, you can tear me down
You can try but I'm unbreakable
You can do your best, but I'll stand the test
You'll find that I'm unshakeable
When the fire's burnt
When the wind has blown
When the water's dried, you'll still find stone
My heart of stone
Her parents died just like many in the village. The droughts, the famine, the poverty affecting even the in-laws of the kazekage. The civilians were mad, but also too tired to fight for a change. Karura knew that they needed change, but Rasa was sure that their prosperity depended on their military force, so he made the genin training harder, the chunnin go on more dangerous missions, the junnin should work to the bone. In the end, Rasa wanted to dominate the other villages, not alliances, he said the time for deals had died after the last war, and the Sand needed to be ready for the next one.
Karura didn’t think he was right, but she wasn’t the leader, nor the one having to handle the elders and their demands. Every day, Rasa came home late and Karura was always ready to let him rest and lose the stress of the day. They normally talked for a few hours, she always had to remind him to go to sleep because he wanted to stay up brainstorming all the issues he had to tackle in the future.
Yashamaru still had worries about their marriage, but he worried too much. Karura was happy to support Rasa, loved him enough to stay by his side, and trusted him enough to know he wouldn’t trample that.
You say we're perfect
A perfect family
You hold us close, for the world to see
And when I say you're the only one I've ever loved
I mean those words truthfully
But I know
Without my son your love could disappear
I know it isn't fair, but I don't care
'Cause my love, will still be here
Temari came on a rare rainy day in the desert but Rasa wasn’t at his office or at the village celebration, he was by Karura’s side holding her hand the whole time. When her cried echoed in the room Karura felt like her world had just gotten brighter.
Ever since they found out about the pregnancy, Rasa and Karura were beyond excited, with her husband making sure she got rested and stopped talking too much about the Village’s issues to not cause her any distress, but still, she knew the elders were pressuring him about something. Rasa didn’t seem to be happy about it but let Lady Chiyo exam her one day, the elderly woman was more serious than usual while her chakra went through her belly, when she was finished and shook her head at Rasa, his relief was palpable.
Karura was worried but Rasa said it was nothing for her to worry about, and this time she didn’t need Yashamaru words to set her on edge. Still, Temari was born healthy, Rasa’s smiles and pride could be felt by everyone and that just made Karura even happier.
Temari had her eyes and her hair but her father’s temperament even as a baby. Karura knew Temari would never let anyone walk over her nor accept defeat. She was already proud.
The Sand Village celebrated the birth of the first child of the Kazekage but the elders didn’t seem happy to discover that Temari had not inherited Rasa’s technic but Karura didn’t care, her daughter was amazing and would help make the Sand better in the future, she knew it.
Kankurou came on a rare cold day in the desert but Rasa wasn’t there.
This time, when Lady Chiyo went to exam her they answered her questions. An jinchuriki to Shukaku. Karura didn’t even know what to say and when she found her words they had already left, both disappointed.
The village was not going well, the droughts were getting longer, and there were days that even the wind didn’t seem to help. Rasa was getting home later and later, not having the energy to even eat when he arrived. Temari didn’t cry at night and rarely complained during the day, but her company was the best thing Karura had had in her whole life.
She didn’t think her life could be even more full, and then her first son came into the world. Her boy cried more at birth than Temari had in her whole year of life, but the moment he was in her arms his eyes opened and Karura felt tears in her eyes at the absolute wonder he seemed to look at his mother. Temari seemed afraid to touch her brother at the beginning but she knew she would take care of him for the rest of her life.
Kankurou was Rasa in diapers, but his fussy nature seemed original. Karura couldn’t stop smiling at his first pout over not being able to push his sister’s hair. Yashamaru insisted that Rasa had a very important meeting on the day that he lost Kankurou’s first steps. Karura didn’t know when Yashamaru had started to make excuses for her husband, but she didn’t care. All the reward she needed for staying by Rasa’s side came in the form of her kids. Her two babies whom she would protect from the whole world if needed.
Then she got pregnant again, and this time Lady Chiyo widened her eyes and nodded making Rasa smile for the first time in three years.
Soon I'll have to go
I'll never see him grow
But I hope my son will know
He'll never be alone
'Cause like a river runs dry
And leaves it's scars behind
I'll be by your side
'Cause my love
Is set in stone
Gaara came on an ordinary dry and hot day, three months early and it didn’t matter that Rasa and all the elders were there. Karura knew it was her last day.
Karura wasn’t allowed to see Temari and Kankurou for the months after she discovered her pregnancy and they discovered the compatibility. Still, she made sure Yashamaru send her love and care to her kids and hoped they would love their little brother and protect her when she couldn’t.
The sealing was made even before the kid was born and Karura threw up the whole night after, knowing that morning sickness wasn’t to blame. Rasa came to talk to her only once, said the child would be the village’s hope, would save them all, would be the perfect soldier. But he couldn’t answer when she asked if he would be happy. She made Yashamaru promise her to take care of her kids and he tried to deny it saying she would be there to take care of them but she knew he was being naïve, Shukaku was taking her life force day by day.
When she started to feel the compressions she didn’t care that the nurses' first worry was to call her husband and the elders to watch than to tend her. She hoped all this privilege would be turned to her son when he was born. She knew it was a boy, with Temari and Kankurou she wasn’t able to tell but this one she was, she guessed it was heaven’s mercy for her not being able to see him grow.
His cries were low like he didn’t know how to do it correctly, and this time, when the nurses insisted on displaying her kid to the old and disgusting people in the room before her, she screamed, her vision was already blurred and she refused to go before getting to look at her son.
They put him by her side on the bed, knowing she wouldn’t have the strength to hold him. He had red hair and the greenest of eyes, not Rasa nor her. He was himself. And so small and frail.
At that moment she decided on the name. She knew Rasa would train him to kill, the elders would expect him to be a monster. She wanted him to be loved. Yashamaru was too naïve and Temari and Kankurou were too young. Struggling, Karura cradled her boy, her Gaara, and softly kissed his cheek, hoping and praying he would remember her, would remember her love and her final words.
“No matter what happens, I will always protect you, Gaara” She felt her chakra leaving her body and the last thing she could understand was sand and Gaara’s first loud cries.