When Zang opened his eyes, he realized he was floating in midair.
*Floating?
In the air?* He looked around his surroundings.
It appeared to be a child’s bedroom.
Judging by the kunai and shuriken among the decorations, it was still the Naruto world, but the style of decor suggested it wasn’t Konoha.
While Zang was pondering, the System rushed over in a hurry.
Seeing that its host baby already looked like Danzo, it let out a small sigh of relief.
But looking closer, it noticed that its host was not only translucent, but also drifting back and forth in midair.
System: …
Zang: …
Host and System stared at each other for a few seconds.
Zang raised a hand to stop the System from bursting into sniffling sobs, instructing it to check where things had gone wrong first.
Otherwise, in his current spirit form, even trying to die would be a hassle.
After the System left, Zang continued to float in the air.
Only after a while did he notice a child curled up in tears in the corner of the room.
Red hair, panda-like dark circles under his eyes, and no eyebrows.
*Oh, what a familiar kid.* Lacking a physical body made him feel weightless and unanchored, which oddly put him in a lighthearted mood.
Taking advantage of being a ghost, Zang drifted over to the kid, leaning in with a “You’re really crying?” meme-worthy expression as he watched the boy sob and hiccup.
*Honestly…
after crying for so long, hasn’t a single adult come to comfort him?* The child wiped away his tears as he wept.
Opening his eyes to look for a tissue, his gaze met translucent Zang’s head-on.
At that moment, Zang was even more startled than the kid.
Although he habitually maintained a calm expression, his heart—which theoretically didn’t exist right now—thumped wildly in his chest.
*Holy crap, the System never said anyone else could see me.* Gaara stared blankly at the old man who had suddenly appeared in front of him like a legendary ghost.
The old man was looking at him with curiosity and concern.
Realizing their eyes had met, the old man seemed a bit surprised, raising a hand to gently wipe away tears from Gaara’s cheek.
Wasn’t he a ghost?
Yet that slightly rough palm undeniably brushed across his cheek, conveying genuine warmth from its touch.
“Is someone picking on you?” Zang asked, looking amusedly at the dazed child.
“Stop crying.
It’s bad for your eyes.” Gaara opened his mouth.
At this moment, he wasn’t sure if being ostracized by the other children counted as being bullied, so he avoided the topic and asked the spirit timidly, “Who…
who are you?” Zang twirled airily in the air to demonstrate his non-human nature, then began coaxing the kid with total confidence: “Just call me Grandpa Zang.
Your mother entrusted me to come check on you and act as your guardian spirit for a while.” *When you’re out and about, you give yourself whatever identity you need.* Gaara’s eyes instantly lit up.
“Oh…
right, you probably don’t know much about ghosts,” Zang said, earnestly sliding into storytelling mode.
“Ghosts stand in line to visit their living loved ones in the mortal realm.
It was my turn in line this year, and since I don’t have any blood relatives left, I accepted your mother’s request to come see you.” Gaara immediately asked eagerly, “Then when can my mother come see me?” Zang feigned a look of regret.
“It’ll be a long, long time.
There are far too many spirits waiting in line, and only a select few are allowed through each year…
By the time it’s your mother’s turn, you’ll already be grown up, and adults can’t see ghosts anymore.” The expectation on Gaara’s face withered away.
He pursed his lips, looking pitiful and deeply aggrieved once more.
“Don’t be sad.
If your mother finds out, she’ll worry about you again,” Zang said, cupping the child’s chubby face and squishing his cheeks unceremoniously.
“So cute.
Just as cute as your mother said.” Seeing how this kindly old man seemed to know his mother so well, Gaara forgot his disappointment and hurriedly pestered him to ask about her.
“Your mother was a beautiful, kindhearted young woman,” Zang said, gathering Gaara into his arms as he spun his tale to soothe the boy.
“Her hair was the color of sand, her eyes were indigo blue, and she always had a warm, gentle smile.” Seeing the sparkle in the child’s eyes, Zang acted as though he had just remembered something, poking Gaara lightly in the tummy.
“Oh, right!
Karura left you a gift before she passed away—one that will protect you for the rest of your life.
Have you noticed it?” “The sand will protect you even without you controlling it.” Gaara’s eyes widened, staring blankly at the old man’s affectionate smile.
Assuming the boy didn’t know, the old man explained further, “Karura’s health took a toll when she gave birth to your older brother, Kankuro.
The Sand Village didn’t have great medical resources, so she quietly endured the pain…
But when she became pregnant with you, she was determined to bring you into this world safely.” “Gaara—that was a name she spent day and night pondering while carrying you.
It means ‘my most beloved baby.’ It was the very first gift she wanted to give you when you were born.” “However, her frail body couldn’t hold out until full term…
After giving birth to you, her life force was completely exhausted by consecutive pregnancies…” As Gaara listened, tears that had almost dried up welled in his eyes once more.
Wiping away his tears, the old man continued to share the story of his mother’s final moments in a gentle voice.
“Seeing how small and premature you were, yet crying with such vigor, she felt immense comfort.
*Well done, Gaara.
You survived so bravely!*” “Yet she could sense that her life was coming to an end…” “Rasa was always buried in his work, leaving the family behind.
Temari and Kankuro were still too young to care for you.” “A mother’s love truly is something to behold.” “In the brief moments she had left, she thought of so much.
She even left behind a trace of her soul right inside your body.
You don’t need to do anything consciously—her soul will automatically manipulate the sand to protect you steadfastly.” Zang rambled on, sprinkling in made-up anecdotes about Karura during her pregnancy.
Sometimes he laughed out loud when he got carried away, and other times he shook his head with a sigh.
In the end, he gazed gently at the tear-streaked child in his arms and patted his vibrant red hair.
“Gaara, you are your mother’s most beloved precious baby.” After saying so much and spinning so many tall tales, his only true purpose had been to convey this single, crucial sentence to Gaara.
Though much of the story was fabricated, the love left behind by his mother was entirely real.
“No matter what happens, you must remember this above all else.”