Gaara pressed a hand to his temple, pressing down in a vain attempt to keep the pain at bay. The pulsing headache had worsened over the course of the day, and he knew Mother would be making demands soon. The last month had been strange. He'd resisted Mother more in the last few weeks than he could remember ever doing, before, and she, in turn, had not pressed him as hard as she could have. There was a fragile equilibrium between them, now. One which he felt might shatter at any moment.

"Gaara?"

He tensed, sand rising up around him in response to Hanako's voice. How hadn't he sensed her? He knew the positions of the various Konoha Anbu watching him where he sat on a roof top, could sense civilians in their homes, but, somehow, she had slipped under his radar. He turned to look down at her where she leaned out of an open window, the yellowed light setting off golden highlights in her brown hair. Her mask was off, and he beheld her face for the second time, noting the pointed tips of too large teeth as she smiled up at him.

"What are you doing up there?"

Inside him, Mother's chakra roiled.

Why is she here? How long has she been watching?

She cocked her head inquisitively. "I live here, silly. This is the Hatake compound."

Had he spoken aloud? Not good. If Mother was already taking control, he had to get away from Hanako as quickly as possible.

"Stay there," she said as if in response to his thoughts. "I'm coming up."

NO!

Hanako had already leapt up onto the roof, a blanket wrapped around her narrow shoulders. She came over to sit beside him, knees pulled up to her chest. She smiled up at him, teeth gleaming in the moonlight.

Were they why she wore the mask? It was unnecessary, if so. They were unnerving, to be sure, but hardly unattractive.

"So," she asked, bumping his shoulder with hers. "What's up? Can't sleep?"

She didn't know the half of it.

Cheeky brat. She knows the answer to that question. Don't listen to her. She's manipulating you.

Was she? Her soothing chakra was already reaching out to him, wrapping him up in a foreign calm. There was something different about it. The anxious undercurrent was gone, replaced with a still certainty. No longer a stream rushing nowhere, her suiton was a deep seated river with a set destination. There was still that hazy overlay of grief, though, tinting every other emotion with a tangible sadness, but it wasn't as thick.

Something must have happened.

"Hn," he answered lamely, unsure what to think about Mother's words in the face of Hanako's honest chakra.

Fool. That's literally the first skill any manipulator learns; how to be honest without being honest. What she feels doesn't have to match what she says.

That was true. He was still hesitant to believe it, though. Not after she clung to him so tightly in the Forest of Death. The memory of her fear and pain had his own anger rising up alongside Mother's. If even he couldn't elicit such a reaction from her, then what had Orochimaru done?

A pang of guilt rang through him and he frowned at the foreign emotion. He and Mother were in agreement when it came to the snake—he was an unnatural fiend to be avoided at all costs—but his loyalty, however thin, was to his village. If his father saw fit to ally with the snake, then he would do his part and kill any who stood in his way.

Even Hanako.

Another flash of guilt ran through him at the thought. She'd been so kind...

Because she wants something, Mother insisted. They always want something! Show no mercy!

"Hey, Gaara," she said softly, head craned back as she gazed at the full moon. "Can you do me a favor?"

See!?

She turned black eyes on him before the disappointment could set in. "Don't hold back against Sasuke."

What?

She smiled, dimples catching his eye as she continued. "I know you're way stronger than him—than any of us, really—and I know you've been holding back a lot, so far. Sasuke is a strong genin," she huffed. "But only a genin. He was the Rookie of the Year, and he's stronger than most of his peers, so he thinks he's a lot better than he is. He's a frog in a well with no idea about the world outside Konoha. Someone his age giving him a good smack down will a be a much needed wake up call, I think."

Gaara stared openly at her, and even Mother was at a loss for words.

Does she know what she's asking?

She smiled when he repeated the question, resignation in her dark, dark eyes. "I'm not asking you to kill him—in fact, I sincerely hope you don't—but Sasuke needs this. He needs to understand that there are people out there who are stronger than him, that he isn't the best. Uchiha in general have a tendency toward arrogance, and, with no one else to compare himself to, he's developed an inflated sense of self. As his friend, I would prefer that illusion be broken here, in the village, under controlled circumstances where I and others can help him rebuild in the aftermath than out in the field where it could spell his doom."

This kid isn't normal. She's a freak. Her eyes are freaky, her brain is freaky, her chakra is freaky! Don't let her corrupt you! She'll turn on you like everyone else once she gets what she wants from you. She'll leave you in the dirt! I'm the only one who'll stay! Listen to me!

She must have sensed his inner turmoil, because her straight brows furrowed. "I understand if you don't want to. It is a bit selfish of me. I just thought," she trailed off and shook her head. "Never mind. Forget I said anything."

"No."

She looked at him in surprise and he realized he'd spoken aloud.

"No," he continued, trying desperately to ignore Mother's hissing. He wouldn't hold out for much longer. "I can do it."

Her smile was wide and brilliantly white, those eye-catching fangs glistening. "Really?"

He looked away. "I was going to beat him, anyway."

She laughed, the sound light and airy. "I know, Gaara. Thanks."

"Mah, kiddo, this'd better not be what it looks like."

Both genin turned to see Kakashi Hatake leaning out of the same window Hanako had come from, single eye trained on them with mock civility.

Gaara could feel his annoyance, the emotion radiating off the legendary jounin in waves. Beside him, Hanako made a show of rolling her eyes, her own exasperation rolling over him.

"Daddy, please. I'm eleven."

A silver brow rose with dramatic slowness. "Which is exactly why you shouldn't be having moonlit dates with foreign nin. Get in here."

She sighed bodily, leaning against Gaara in an obvious display of defiance. "But daddy, Gaara's my friend."

Warmth welled up in him at her words, a tiny, private joy taking hold in his heart. Kakashi's lone, dark eye zeroed in on him.

"Mhm, right. Friend."

She whined, scrunching her face in an expression Gaara hadn't seen before. On anyone.

"Daddy~."

"In. Now."

"Ugh." She stood and Gaara immediately felt her absence, his side where she'd leaned chilled by the night air. "You're just a clone! Real daddy would let me stay."

Clone-Kakashi dropped his smile. "In."

"Fine." She looked down at Gaara with an apologetic smile. "Sorry. I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow, Gaara. Good luck."

He didn't respond—he had no time to—as she leapt back down to her windowsill, blatantly ignoring the clone as she slipped back into her home. The clone leveled one long look on Gaara before closing the window and drawing the curtains shut.

Hmph. How ridiculous. As if that girl would hold any appeal.

Yeah. Ridiculous.