Chapter One: Born from Cursed Sand

Centuries ago, the Sage of Six Paths, Hagoromo Otsutsuki and his brother Hamura Otsutsuki, defeated the most powerful demon in the ninja world, the Ten-Tails, and they were praised as gods for the virtue of their victory. In order to protect the world from the Ten-Tails, the brothers developed a certain technique to seal the beast within Hagoromo's own body, giving him the ability to harness and control its overwhelming power; he became the first Jinchūriki. However, this offered only a temporary solution. In the event of Hagoromo's death, the seal would break, and the Ten-Tails would once again be unleashed upon the world.

Aware of his impending fate, Hagoromo used Creation of All Things to divide the Ten-Tails' chakra into nine individual constructs that would become known as the tailed beasts. As a final precaution, he used Chibaku Tensei to extract the Ten-Tail's husk from his body and sealed it into the moon, resulting in his death. Sometime later, Hamura and the rest of the clan departed to the moon, in order to guard this mother's sealed remains, though not before receiving instructions from his brother to wait for a full millennium and observe mankind.

Hagoromo also gave names to each of the tailed beasts. The Sage would leave behind a tablet for his descendants, detailing the history of his struggle with the Ten-Tails. Only those who possess the Rinnegan can fully decipher the contents of the tablet, while a reader with a lesser dōjutsu can still partially interpret the information. Sometime after creating the tailed beasts, the Sage told them that they would be together even when separated, and that one day they would again be a single entity.

Hagoromo's ultimate wish was to establish peace across the world, but it was a goal that would never be achieved in a single lifetime. Knowing this, he chose to entrust his strength, dream and legacy to his two sons. The older son, Indra Otsutsuki, who inherited Hagoromo's "eyes" (his powerful chakra and spiritual energy), believed that power was the true key to peace. The younger son, Asura Otsutsuki, who inherited the Hagoromo's "body" (his powerful life force and physical energy), believed that love was the true key to peace. On his deathbed, Hagoromo chose Asura to be his successor. Overcome by bitterness and envy, Indra attacked Asura, beginning a war between them. Their feud would continue on through their descendants: the Senju clan and the Uchiha clan.

As time passed, the Hagoromo ultimately faded into legend. His bloodline was divided into the descendants of his two children, which would eventually form the Senju clan - and through distant relations the Uzumaki clan - and the Uchiha clan.

Over the centuries, humanity failed to recognize the tailed beasts as sapient individuals, instead seeing them only as monsters, demons, or mindless beasts worthy of fear and disdain. Because of their immense power, the tailed beasts were sought out by humans to be used as weapons in times of war. The beasts resented this treatment and came to hate humans, at times willingly becoming the monsters they were viewed as. Shortly after the hidden villages were created, Hashirama Senju, who had captured several of the tailed beasts with his Wood Release, distributed the beasts amongst the new villages in order to stabilize the balance of power between them. In order to harness the beasts' power, the villages began sealing them into humans, creating their own Jinchūriki.

Decades later in the land of Wind, during the month of January on the nineteenth day, screams from two women echoed through the halls of the hospital. One was the wife of the Fourth Kazekage and the other was a young mother of the Mine clan. Both of the soon to be born children had been cursed. They were about to be born from the cursed sands of the Shukaku. The cries of a baby suddenly echoed through the halls. A baby girl was born but her mother was fading fast. The father and his young son stayed close by, hoping she would pull through. From the next room, the wife of the Fourth gave birth to a son, her life was also fading fast.

"We're losing both of them! Both babies are healthy and no signs of physical problems!" The nurses and doctors rush to both rooms, trying to get both women stable.

The hospital was now quiet. The babies were sleeping soundly, and the light beeps of life support was beeping in one of the rooms. Kiyoshi Mine had pulled through, but Karura, the wife of the Fourth, wasn't so lucky. Kaname Mine sat at his wife's beside with their new baby girl wrapped in his arms and his son was sleeping on the other side of the room.

"Look at her Kiyoshi. Look at our beautiful child you brought into this world." Kaname stroked his little girl's check when he felt a presence behind him. He turned to see the Fourth standing in the doorway.

"Lord Kazekage!? Wh..."

"She's a beautiful child Kaname, and you're lucky that Kiyoshi was able to survive unlike Karura. Both our children are vessels to the Shukaku and will now forever bear the burden of the hate that will follow them for what they are. Are you and your family ready for what's to come because of what she is?"

"Lord Kazekage, I don't believe it will come to that. I'll do whatever I have to, to protect my child. Even if I have to help her carry that burden for her. I'll raise her to follow her dreams and to know that she has friends and family that love her. Hopefully sir, your son will get the same treatment from his father." Kaname was stern with his reply. "How could the Fourth say something like that, and about his own son too? Does he really loathe his son so much that he would say something so unloving about his own flesh and blood?"

"Think what you want Kaname, but that child of yours, along with my son, are forever going to be the curse of Suna." The Fourth left the room, leaving a gloomy feeling in the air.

Kaname looked down at his little girl, turned to his wife, and then looked over to the other side of the room to his sleeping son, Takuto Mine.

"I don't carewhat the Fourth says, you're not a curse, you're a gift and I have a feelingthat you will help that poor child. You will be a great ninja...Isuzu."

The Mine family went on with their lives. Kiyoshi was released from the hospital, Kaname was keeping a close eye on Isuzu, and Takuto was enjoying playing the part of big brother. Throughout the years, as Isuzu got older, she realized that she had a special gift of being able to control sand at will. Isuzu practiced everyday with her new abilities, but she couldn't help but feel that she didn't quite feel whole with them.

Gaara's life on the other hand was the complete opposite of Isuzu's. Gaara's father, brother, and sister ignored him and all the villagers saw him as a monster. Gaara didn't know why people treated him this way or way he hurt so much inside.

One day, just by chance, Isuzu and Gaara were finally going to meet. Isuzu was walking through the village, on her way home when she suddenly heard children screaming. Wondering if something was wrong Isuzu quickly made her way over to where the screaming was coming from. Several children went running pass Isuzu, leaving a small boy crying in the dirt. The screaming children disappeared into the distance, but the crying boy was still there. Isuzu slowly started make her way towards him, trying not to scare him.

"Hey, are you alright?" Isuzu knelt down next to Gaara, trying to get a good look at his face.

"Just leave me alone." Gaara sniffed in-between words.

Isuzu didn't want to leave Gaara alone. She sat in the sand with Gaara and started playing in the sand. The sand started to wrap around her finger and rested in the palm of her hand. Isuzu then started to make figures out of the sand. Gaara snuck a peek to see what she was doing. An amazed look formed on Gaara's face. His seafoam green eyes watched as Isuzu changed the sand from the village symbol, to a heart, and then to the sun.

"What would you like me to make?" Isuzu asked Gaara with a smile when she saw him staring at the sand.

"Can you make a flower?" Gaara's eyes were still fixated on Isuzu's sand.

"A flower? Sure, I can make a flower." Isuzu formed the light brown sand into the form of a flower and using her chakra, she hardened the sand and gave it to Gaara. "You can keep it, a gift to my new friend."

Gaara blushed a little bit and took the sand flower from Isuzu. Looking at it, Gaara decided to give Isuzu something as well. "What about you? What would you like?" Gaara's voice said shyly.

Isuzu laughed and then smiled at Gaara. Giving it some thought, she finally decided on what she wanted.

"What about...a heart." Isuzu was just about to make a heat out of sand when she saw Gaara making it instead. Isuzu was amazed to find another with the same ability as her. Gaara did what Isuzu did with her sand and then gave the heart to her.

"I can't believe it! You and I have the same ability! Is that why the other kids are scared of you?" Isuzu was excited and sad at the same time.

Gaara didn't say anything. He just nodded his head and tried to hide his face again.

"Well, that's okay, we're friends now and we've given each other something that shows we're friends." Isuzu wrapped her arms around Gaara, giving him a big hug. Once she wrapped her arms around Gaara a sudden surge of energy went through Isuzu's body. It felt like she was finally one with her sand. "My name is Isuzu Mine, what's yours?"

"Gaara."

"Gaara...you're Lord Kazekage's son! Well Gaara, I'm glad we became friends." Isuzu's smile grew bigger which made Gaara blush even more.

"Isuzu! Isuzu, where are you? It's time to come home!"

A male voice suddenly called out to her. Isuzu knew who it was. Kaname was looking for his daughter. He came around the corner to find Isuzu and Gaara sitting together.

"I'm coming daddy! I'll see you later Gaara." Isuzu tightly held the sand heart that Gaara gave her in her hands and went running up to her father. When she stood next to her father and they started making their way home, Kaname noticed the item in Isuzu's hands.

"What do you have there, Isuzu?" Kaname asked after seeing the object in her hands.

"That boy back there, his name is Gaara, the son of Lord Kazekage. He has the same ability as me and we made each other something out of our sand. He made me this heart and I made him a flower."

Kaname knew that one day Isuzu and Gaara were going to meet, but he didn't expect that day was going to be so soon.

"That's great that you found someone with the same abilities as you Isuzu. Now, let's hurry up and get home before dinner gets cold.

Kaname and Isuzu raced home to see who could get there first. Isuzu ended up winning only because Kaname let her.

After eating dinner, Isuzu quickly ran up the stairs to her room and placed her sand heart on her nightstand. It was time for her to go to bed. Sitting on her bed she looked over at the heart that Gaara gave her when she suddenly heard an explosion coming from a rooftop that was not too far away from her home. Smoke poured into the sky and then suddenly, Isuzu's head started to hurt. Isuzu screamed from the pain that was pulsing through her head. Kiyoshi and Kaname came running into Isuzu's room.

"Isuzu!?!?"

"Mommy...daddy... it hurts, my head hurts all of a sudden...something really bad is happening to Gaara..." Isuzu held her head tightly in her hands.

"Kaname!" Kiyoshi's voice was full of panic as she held her daughter in her arms.

"Stay with her Kiyoshi, I'll be right back!" Kaname jumped from Isuzu's window and headed towards the rising smoke.

In the light of the moon Kaname saw something truly frightening. The physical image of the Shukaku towered over the village. Gaara had lost control and had let the Shukaku take over and for some reason Isuzu was feeling the effects of it too.

Kaname saw the Fourth standing on one of the rooftops watching his youngest son go wild.

"Lord Kazekage! We need to do something about your son! You can't just let him go on a rampage like this!"

"Don't tell me what I already know Kaname! I will stop Gaara. Just go home and be with your family."

"But sir, Isuzu is feeling the effects from Gaara's half of the Shukaku! I fear if that Gaara isn't stopped soon Isuzu will lose control as well!"

The Fourth ignored Kaname's pleading and disappeared. The Fourth did stop Gaara by using his Gold Dust, a technique known to be used by the Fourth. Isuzu had also calmed down soon after Gaara was stopped. Fearing for Isuzu, Kaname went to the only person he thought could help him, Lady Chiyo.

"Lady Chiyo, you're the only one who can help my daughter Isuzu. Since you were the one how sealed the Shukaku into Gaara and Isuzu, you must know something that can help her. She's only the secondary Jinchūriki of the Shukaku but I'm afraid that she may not be so lucky next time something like this happens."

"The only way to help that child of yours is for someone to learn the sealing jutsu that helps control the Shukaku when the host is about to lose control. Also, give her this." Chiyo handed Kaname a clear crystal that had what looked like sand in it. "That crystal holds special properties that will help suppress the power of the Shukaku. Take this scroll as well. Pick someone you can trust to study it."

"Thank you, Lady Chiyo."

The next day, after the chaos Gaara had caused to Suna the Fourth approached Kaname. He gave Kaname orders to leave the village and to take his family with him. They would live in a safe house on the edge of the Land of Wind.

"What's the meaning of this Lord Kazekage?! My family have been members of Suna since it was founded! Why must we leave?!"

"This isn't for debate Kaname! The only ones of your clan that are leaving is you, Kiyoshi, and your children. Besides, having both hosts of the Shukaku in the village is dangerous for the village. I warned you that you and your family had to be prepared for baring the burden for what your child is! Pack what you can, I'll have an escort take you and your family to the safe house."

Kaname was outraged with the Fourth but at the same time he wasn't wrong. Maybe moving out of the village for a while would be a good thing. Kaname returned home and told his family of their move. Isuzu slowly went up to her room and started packing her things. She grabbed the sand heart that Gaara gave her and noticed a small crack in it.

"Gaara...?"

The Mine family made their way to the entrance of the village where their escort was waiting for them. Before heading out, Isuzu looked back at the village one last time to see if Gaara would come after her. He never did, but Isuzu made a silent promise to herself and to Gaara.

"I will return Gaara and then we can be friends again. As long as we have the gifts we gave to each other, we'll never forget each other and then we can become friends again."