Disclaimer: Hey :-) Okay, so no I don't own the characters of Naruto…so sue me…no, no, wait…I mean don't sue me…hahahmm…(nervous smile)
A/N: I hope that you all have as much fun reading this story as I had writing it :-)
Summary: How would Gaara's life have turned out if he had met the other characters of Naruto as a little boy?
Speech - ""
Thoughts - italics
Gaara's Hope
Chapter 1
He ran…
He ran for miles and miles…
He ran for what seemed like forever…
He ran through the burning hot and scorching sands of the Wind Country…
He ran through the hot and cold shifting temperatures of the River Country…
He ran into the deep, dark forests of the Fire Country…
He ran until his chest hurt and his lungs heaved with the simple effort of pulling air into them…
He was tired…he was so tired…and hungry…it had been five days and five nights since he had last eaten…five days since he had left that place full of lies, deceit, betrayal, and…death.
He had had no choice but to leave…to get as far away from that place as possible…they wanted him dead…and even now he was sure that they were pursuing him…hunting him…watching his every move…he had to keep moving…he had to keep running…but how many more days and nights could he keep on going like this…he needed to stop and rest…he needed food and water…his little six-year-old body couldn't keep going like this indefinitely…many adults would have found this desperate race across sand, water, and forest a very physically and emotionally draining experience…and here he was…barely six-years-old, and being forced into doing it.
The strain of trying to keep up the fast pace that he had set at the start of the day finally caught up with him though…
So Gaara stopped and caught his breath.
He leaned back, and rested his little body up against a tree that towered beside him in the gloomy darkness of the forest, breathing hard, and trying to catch his breath.
I can't keep going like this…(pant, pant)…I'm too tired…(sigh)…oh Kaasan…you didn't really hate me did you?…Jisan Yashamaru was lying to me, right…right?…he…(sob)…lied…it's not true…you could never hate me…you were my Kaasan…all Kaasans are supposed to love their children right?…oh please Kaasan…please tell me that it's all just a big lie…please…why won't you answer me…Kaasan?…Kaasan?…KAASAN!
Gaara grabbed his head in pain as the only image that he had of his Kaasan, the little photo in the picture frame back at his old home, flashed across his mind's eye.
"No…no!…I won't believe that it's true!" Gaara exclaimed as he wiped tears from his eyes and his face.
"My Kaasan loved me…she did…I know that she did…I won't believe anything else…I WON'T!" Gaara shouted in defiance to the uncaring sky.
"I won't" Gaara said again, quietly this time as he dried the remaining tears from his eyes.
Slowly pushing himself off and away from the tree, Gaara continued his long and lonely trek through the forest.
An hour later cold, hungry, and tired beyond belief, Gaara came upon a small river that sparkled as the moons cosmic rays dusted across it's smooth surface.
Dropping to his knees in relief, Gaara desperately dunked both of his little hands into the cool, steadily flowing river, and scooped up the precious, life-saving liquid.
When that first taste of water slid down his dry and parched throat, Gaara let out a moan of pure ecstasy.
Water had never tasted so good in his life!
After that first taste of refreshing water, Gaara couldn't help himself…he bent over and dunked his entire head into the water, and began to drink as if there was no tomorrow.
Gaaara drank until his tummy felt as if it would explode, but he just ignored the feeling, and kept right on drinking.
It had been so long since he had had anything at all in his belly, and he wanted it to feel full again.
He started to think about the last time that he had eaten…it had been back at his home…the Hidden Sand Village…the night before his entire world had come crashing down around him.
He had been sitting around the dinner table with his niisan Kankurou, his neesan Temari, and his Jisan Yashamaru.
His Tousan, the Kazekage, wasn't there with them…but of course he never was.
They were all sitting down, waiting, as Temari shared out their dinner for them.
Even though she was only nine-years-old, Temari knew how to cook a good meal.
There was a huge bowl of hot, steaming rice, two big plates of mouth-watering fish, a big bowl of steamed vegetables, and Gaara's secret favourite desert…a delicious smelling cherry cheesecake with whipped cream and a cherry on top.
Temari had looked over at him and given him a little wink…she had baked the pie especially for him that night.
Kankurou, being the annoying niisan that he was, had reached over and tried to steal a piece of the pie when he thought that Temari wasn't looking.
He got caught though, as Temari quickly spun back around and smacked him upside his spiky, brown-haired head.
"Touch it Kani…and you die!" Temari had said, giving him a death glare.
"Damn it Tem!…why'd you have to go and do that for!…I was only going to take a little piece…it's not like I was going to take the entire pie…geez" Kankurou complained as he rubbed the back of his head, and glared back at his neesan.
"Ha!…knowing you Kankurou, you would have eaten half of the pie before I had even sat down…isn't that right Gaara?" Temari asked as she turned around to face him, adopting her classic 'yes-I'm-the-older-neesan-and-I'm-always-right' pose.
Gaara had looked from his neesan with her silly pose, to his niisan who was still rubbing the back of his head and grumbling about crazy girls, and their heavy fists, and finally to his Jisan Yashamaru, who had remained quiet throughout the entire episode, but who now looked over at Gaara and gave him one of his customary gentle smiles.
Gaara had looked at all of these people who surrounded him, then he had looked over at the photo of his Kaasan, and he had smiled one of his rare smiles.
It didn't matter that the world outside of his door hated him…that his Tousan was always busy and never home…he had these people right here, right now in his life…he had his own little family…and it made him feel whole…it made him feel as if he truly did have a place in this world, and that he wasn't just some monster like all the other kids and adults said he was.
Here…in the safety of his house…he felt happy…he felt safe…he felt loved.
Suddenly, a loud noise a short distance away from his resting spot snapped Gaara out of his memories, and he turned quickly in the direction of the sound.
All was quiet now…not a thing moved in the dark forest canopy…the only things that were moving were the leaves on the trees as a sudden, brisk wind blew through them.
Gaara slowly rose to his feet, wiping the excess water from his face, as he stared apprehensively into the forest.
Suddenly the sound came again, except now it was much, much closer…in fact it was much too close!
Gaara quickly turned around and made a mad dash across the shallow river to the other side.
He didn't stop to see if the thing that was making all of the noise was still behind him…he just ran as fast as his little legs would take him.
He knocked vines and branches out of his way as ran headlong through the forest, paying little attention to the sharp, pointy branches that would sometimes brush against his skin.
He couldn't get cut or scratched after all…his armor of sand saw to that.
Gaara continued his mad sprint through the forest for another ten minutes before his stomach suddenly cramped on him, and he had to slow down, finally coming to a complete stop.
Breathing heavily, his black-rimmed eyes opened wide in fright, Gaara looked back over his shoulder at the path he had just come through, straining to see in the darkness if there was anything following him.
He neither saw nor heard anything behind him, and after straining both his eyes and ears for a few minutes more, concluded that whoever or whatever it was that had been making all of the noise before, was now gone.
Breathing a deep sigh of relief, Gaara put his back against a tall, wide tree, and slowly slid down it's trunk until he rested on the soft, spongy ground beneath it.
His head hurt, and his stomach was aching after running so hard, and so fast when it was so full of water.
Wiping away some stray sweat from his forehead, Gaara closed his light, sea-green eyes, and thought about the very bad situation that he was in.
I can't keep on going like this…I'm tired…I'm weak…I…I'm all alone in this great big forest…I have no where to go…no where to turn…and there's no one who can or even would help me now…I killed my Jisan Yashamaru…my Tousan is trying to kill me…my Kaasan probably really did…(sob)…hate me…Temari and Kankurou probably hate me now that I've taken both our Jisan and Kaasan away from them…why was I born into this world…(sob)…I didn't ask for any of this…I…I…just want to be like everyone else…a normal little boy…I…I…didn't want any of this to happen…oh Kaasan…Kaasan…why did you have to leave me…please back to me….I want…(sob)…I want you to come back to me…please Kaasan…please…
Then little Gaara lifted his head towards the now storm-cloud filled sky, and wailed out all of the hurt, pain, fear, and anger that he had bottled up deep inside of himself.
He vented and raged for a long time, ripping up the small area of forest that he was standing in with the destructive power of his sand.
However, after doing this for a while, Gaara just stopped…there was no point in doing it anymore…it just made him feel cold and dead inside.
Gaara dropped to his knees, and then let his head fall to his chest…and he stayed that way, even as the sky opened up, and huge raindrops began to fall and splash against his now heated skin.
"No one wants me" Gaara mumbled into his chest.
"They were right…they were all right…I'm nothing but a monster…I can't even end my own life because this stupid, cursed sand won't allow me to," Gaara laughed bitterly, as he picked up a broken piece of wood, and tried to stab himself in the arm with it.
Just as expected the wood was knocked aside as the sand protecting his arm rose up in defense, and pushed the offending object aside.
Gaara laughed bitterly again, and wiped some rainwater from his black-rimmed, tired eyes.
"Just great" Gaara continued to himself. "As if things weren't bad enough, now this stupid storm is going to make it even harder for me to escape…I'm going to have to hurry up and find some kind of shelter."
So getting slowly, and painfully to his feet, then swaying slightly as he began walking, Gaara continued to push his way through the forest.
The rain continued to come down heavily on Gaara's small frame…and every now and then a slight tremor would rock his exhausted body, as the many days of no food, little water, and even less rest, finally caught up with him.
Just taking a small breath of air into his lungs became a huge task as a sudden spasm of coughs began to rack his body.
Gaara's vision began to waver as the trees in the forest around him began to sway back and forth.
Gaara raised a hand to the Kanji sign on his forehead, and squeezed his eyes closed as a sudden pain began to fill his head. That's why he didn't see the forest floor come to a sudden and abrupt end…or the cliff that had been hidden by the trees.
Gaara only knew that something was seriously wrong when he went to take another step and encountered nothing but air.
Unable to stop himself, Gaara tumble off of the edge of the cliff, and began to slip and slide down the wet, and muddy cliff face.
He tumbled, and skidded all the way down, only stopping when he hit the muddy, twig and leaf-covered forest floor at the bottom of the cliff.
Gaara lay flat on his back, feeling dizzy and disoriented, watching the storm clouds above his head move away, and the rain slow to a light drizzle, then finally stop.
I'll just close my eyes and rest here for a little while…not too long…I have to keep going…but I have to rest too…just five minutes…I'll…just…rest…here…for…five minut…
Gaara never got a chance to finish that last thought, as his tired, and battered body finally gave out, and he passed out.
From deep within Gaara's psyche…from the very depths of his soul…an even older, and more wicked soul awakened.
It's very presence caused many of the forest's night creatures, such as bats and owls, to take flight in sudden terror.
However, the malevolent being that inhabited Gaara's body, did not as yet have the power necessary to be able to break free and take over Gaara's body.
The little human body that it had been sealed into was still too young, and right now, far too weak for it to possess.
The evil sand demon named Shukaku…even though the very idea of it drove the demon mad with rage and blood lust…decided to let Gaara get away with sleeping this one time.
Shukaku could not take the chance of injuring the body any further that it already was.
So Shukaku went back to sleep…burrowing itself, once again, deep within Gaara's heart, body, and soul.
Gaara awoke the next morning feeling more awake, alive, and rested than any other point in time in his life.
Stretching his small arms above his head, Gaara sat up…and came face to face with a small, pink-haired, green-eyed girl.
Giving a small, startled yelp, Gaara scrambled back a couple of feet away from the girl.
The little pink-haired girl didn't even flinch as she continued to stare at Gaara with intense curiosity.
She then slowly raised her hand from where it was resting against her side, and gently brushed aside a few stray locks of Gaara's fiery, red hair.
Gaara sat transfixed…he was completely unable to move…it was the first time in his entire life that someone around his age had voluntarily wanted to be near him like this.
Then in a soft, musical voice, the little girl asked, "Hey there…are you alright?…are you hurt anywhere?…because if you are, I can go to my village, and get someone to help you?"
Gaara didn't respond…he just quietly sat where was.
Seeing that the boy wasn't going to answer any of her questions, the little girl decided to take matters into her own hands.
Bending down until she was eye level with him, the little girl said, "hey there…don't worry about it…you can just wait right here, and I'll go back to the village, and get someone to help…I promise…I'll be right back."
With that said, the girl slowly rose to her feet, and prepared to leave…but before she ran off, she looked back towards Gaara, and gave him a bright smile.
"Oh, by the way, my name is Sakura…Haruna Sakura…please tell me what your name is."
"Gaara…" Gaara replied without thinking.
Then realizing that he had just given away his name to a total stranger…no matter how nice she seemed to be…Gaara slapped both of his hands over his mouth, and looked at Sakura with wide, startled eyes.
When Sakura saw Gaara's reaction, her bright, emerald-green eyes dimmed a little, and a strange feeling of sadness washed over her, but the smile on her face remained in place…she didn't want to scare Gaara anymore than she already had.
So Sakura instead reached into a little pocket of her dress, and pulled out a small, stuffed toy.
It was a little white rabbit, with little sea-green colored eyes, and a small, fluffy, white tail.
Walking back over to Gaara, Sakura hesitantly raised her hand to his face, then she gently removed one of his hands, and placed the small toy in his palm.
Then not waiting for any kind of reply from him, Sakura slowly backed away, and ran off in the direction of her home…the Hidden Leaf Village.
Gaara hadn't known what the girl was going to do when she had approached him, but he certainly hadn't expected her to give him some kind of toy.
Looking down at the little, white rabbit in his hand, then squeezing it gently into his fist, Gaara looked back out into the now sun-lit forest, and did something that he did very rarely indeed…he smiled…for he had just realized that he had just found something that had been missing from his life these last few days…hope…he had just found new hope.
To be continued…
Translation Key
Kaasan - Mother
Tousan - Father
Jisan - Uncle
Neesan - Older Sister
Niisan - Older Brother
A/N: I hope that you all enjoyed this first chapter J I love the character of Gaara, and have always wondered what his life would have been like if he had been introduced to the other characters of Naruto a bit sooner in his life…then I thought to myself…why just wonder about it…create your own AU story about it…so that's just what I did J …I'm looking forward to writing much more for this story, and I hope that you will support me and let me know if you are enjoying it…domo arigato minna…thanks everyone J for taking the time to read this story.