Chapter 1: Version 1

"Agh!" a woman with brown hair screamed out in pain as she was giving birth. Large amounts of blood could be seen around her lower body. Far too much for normal birth.

"Where is Chiyo?!? Why isn't she here?!" A man with auburn hair yelled in fury as he worried about his wife

One man shinobi knelt down as he apologized

"Several members of the Anti-Kazekage faction impeded her way. We sent other shinobi to back her up but we do not know when they will arrive."

Rasa was about to yell again when he felt his wife's hand grab him. He turned to see the woman's pale face shaking silently.

"It's alright, Rasa. I've accepted my fate. You need to make sure that you take care of Temari and these two. You will be their only parent from this day forward."

Rasa wanted to say something but he couldn't come up with any words for his wife. All he could do was nod.

After a few more minutes of screaming and pain, two small babies were placed on the pillow in front of Karura. Both of them could barely fill her hands. She held them both gently in her hands as she whispered words that she wanted the pair to remember forever.

No one else could hear what she said but they could all see the unconditional love in Karura's eyes. Moments later, the woman passed away silently with a smile on her face. The desert had claimed another life that night.

Seeing his wife die before his eyes, Rasa was filled with rage as he looked at the two children in her hands. Even if his wife loved these two dearly, they were the ones responsible for his death.

Chiyo had arrived a few moments later and saw that she was too late. Before she could apologize to Rasa, she heard him speak and give her orders.

"Let the smaller of the two be called Gaara. The larger shall be Kotaro. Take them both away and raise them for a few years. I will come to collect them in due time."

Chiyo looked shocked at his declaration but nodded nonetheless.

"As you say, Lord Kazekage."

Chiyo took both children way reluctantly. Since she was told to take care of the children for a few years, she would surely do so. And when she saw both children's red hair, they reminded the old woman of her grandson that had left the village a few years prior.

"I will raise you both to be fine shinobi."

And that is exactly what Chiyo did for the next 6 years. Both Kotaro and Gaara were raised and trained by her alone. She educated them in basic human matters and manners while also teaching them about how to be proper shinobi.

She was the parental figure that they were lacking due to their father hating them and their mother passing away. She made sure both got in contact with their original family as much as possible though. Although their father hated them, they still had an older sister and uncle who adored them.

But besides those 2 and Chiyo herself, the pair were feared by all the residents of the village due to Gaara being the Jinchuriki. Since they were identical twins, many could not tell the difference between him and Kotaro.

So both were isolated and hated by the children and adults of the village.

Chiyo couldn't change the village's perspective and felt sorry for them both but felt sorrier for Kotaro since he wasn't even the Jinchuriki. But when she asked him if he wanted to change his hair or get some identifying marker to tell him apart from Gaara, the older twin smiled and rejected her.

"If I changed how I looked, all the hate would be directed to Gaara. But if we look the same, that means we can share the pain. Isn't that what family is for?"

Hearing this answer coming from a child, Chiyo instantly felt her heart melt.

'These two children are hated by almost the entire village but they have the kindest hearts. I failed with Sasori so is this really their mother's spirit influencing them?'

It did not matter what the reasoning was but Chiyo still felt glad that the world outside did not corrupt the hearts of these two children. That was at least until the fateful day.

On a night when Chiyo was called away on a medical emergency, the twins were on the rooftop and looking at the stars above them.

"Test time, Kotaro. Which constellation is that one?"

"That's Taurus. My turn. What's that one?"

"That's the Big Dipper."

The pair continued to test each other until the sand around them suddenly began to move. A small impact could be heard as a kunai struck the sand.

The pair hurried to stand up as they looked around vigilantly. They had been in this situation several times before but Granny Chiyo was always the one to rescue them. With her gone for the night, the pair were left on their own.

"Who goes there?!" Kotaro asked as he pulled out a pair of kunai from his pockets. Since he did not have Shukaku protecting him all the time as Gaara did, Kotaro had to be more prepared.

Walking out of the shadows, a man in Suna anbu gear appeared. Several kunai were floating around his body and aimed directly at the pair.

The anbu did not answer them but instead fired the kunai at the pair of children. Gaara's sand effortlessly blocked them but this attack happened on the wrong night.

Gaara had already been rejected by some more children in the village earlier that day and nearly killed one when his emotions became unstable. If not for his uncle Yashamaru appearing, Gaara would have become a murderer at only 6 years old.

This incident still bothered him though. So when he was attacked for no reason once again, Gaara's rage was unleashed.

The sand that had always protected him lashed out and crushed the anbu's body against a nearby wall. This attack left their would-be assassin on the brink of death.

No longer in danger, the pair approached the assassin. But as they got closer, they were shocked.

Gaara's attack had knocked the man's mask off and revealed that he was Yashamaru. Seeing that it was their own uncle that tried to kill them, the boys felt so many emotions that they could not put them into words.

"Hmm. Impressive, Lord Gaara. So this is how it ends. Well, I may as well be *cough cough* honest with you two before I die," Yashamaru started

"It was an order. I was ordered to assassinate you. By your father. By Lord Kazekage. Gaara was meant to house Shukaku. To be watched in isolation as an experiment. *cough cough*

But you have yet to be able to control that power. Whether it is due to your weakness or the bond you have with your brother, that no longer matters. So before you completely lose control... before you became a danger to the village..."

Gaara and Kotaro listened with tears streaming down their face. Both of them were clutching their chests in intense pain.

"Then you had no choice..." Gaara tried to excuse Yashamaru's actions

"No. I did receive the order but I could have declined it if I wanted to. Deep down inside *cough* I must have always resented the both of you. For coming into this world and stealing my precious sister from me.

I tried my best to love you as a memento of her but I couldn't. She never wished to give birth to you and cried in her dying moments. She was sacrificed for the village and died while cursing it.

Perhaps from that moment, I have been carrying never-healing emotional scars.

Your mother gave you your name, Gaara. 'This child's name shall be Gaara. A demon that loves only himself.' Love only yourself, fight only for yourself.

She wished and believed that your existence is forever as long as you lived. But she didn't give you the name out of concern or love for you.

The name was given to you in hope of your eternal existence... to let her grudge be carried down *cough* and be known to the world.

That you were never loved.

As for you Kotaro. You were meant to be the better son. The one that would live up to her expectations and not be dragged down by Gaara. But with how you have grown, she would surely be disappointed that her wish did not come true for you.

Because you are no better than the demon that looks just like you."

A sizzling sound could be heard as smoke came up from underneath Yashamaru's flak jacket.

"This is it. Please, die."

Chiyo arrived at the last moment. She created several chakra strings to grab both of the boys and pull them back but Gaara's sand armor protected him against her so she could only pull Kotaro back.

Kotaro was barely out of range when Yashamaru exploded and destroyed the roof both he and Gaara were on. But when the smoke cleared, Gaara was floating on a mound of sand.

Seeing that he was standing all alone, Gaara let out a scream of pain before several streams of pain burrowed into his forehead. When the sand was removed, there was a red tattoo of the kanji for 'Love.'

Gaara soon fainted with tons of sand started floating around his body. Soon, a giant tanuki appeared in the middle of the village.

Chiyo looked on as Gaara lost control of Shukaku for the first time in fear. She held Kotaro in her arms as she was prepared to run away with this child.

Just as she was prepared to run away, Chiyo saw large pillars of golden sand appearing all around the Tailed Beast.

'Rasa. So now you dare to show your face? I'm sure this entire incident is your doing in the first place,' Chiyo thought silently to herself while retreating with Kotaro in her arms.

The day after the incident, a decision was made by Rasa. Chiyo would continue to raise Kotaro but he would raise Gaara from then forward. He wanted a weapon that Suna could use to match the other nations' military power but Chiyo had been too soft in her senior years.

Thus, he would personally turn Gaara into a weapon or get rid of him so that way he could find someone that was actually capable of being the weapon he needed.

From that moment forward, the two brothers rarely met one another over the next 6 years. One was raised as an animal or weapon by their father while the other was raised as a shinobi.

Gaara was forced to undergo torture that could barely be called training in hopes of living up to Rasa's expectations. Rasa had even organized several assassination attempts on Gaara whenever the child failed to meet his expectations.

But Gaara survived it all. He became what Yashamaru said. A demon that only loved himself and lived for himself. So he sought strength that would allow him to live as long as he wanted.

And this terrified those around him. Even Temari who used to be close to Gaara was afraid to get too close. The only person that was not afraid of Gaara was his brother.

Kotaro was trained differently than Gaara. Although his training was rough and dangerous, it was never like Chiyo was trying to kill him. Only bring out the best he had within him And there was much to uncover because Aoki was a true prodigy.

And under her care, Kotaro began to dive into several different fields. Kenjutsu, taijutsu, lightning and wind ninjutsu, nintaijutsu, medical ninjutsu, poisoning, and puppetry. No matter what he trained in, he would quickly grasp the basics before improving rapidly.

This would have earned him the respect of other members of the village as well as the love of his father but his true abilities were kept secret. Instead, Rasa and the other villagers only thought of Kotaro as slightly above average in skill compared to other genin.