Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Just my OC.

Wanderer of the Sand

Chapter I

I was six years old again.

Back in Sand Village.

Playing in the dirt, bored out of my mind. It seemed like all of the Sunagakure kids were brats; I didn't associate with them much.

"Aww, man!" Aforementioned kids moaned. I glanced up. They'd been playing a ball game nearby; apparently someone had kicked the ball too hard. That, coupled with the wind, had, sent the ball flying up into a crevice in the cliff high above.

Looked like game over, as none of us had yet learned the jutsu necessary to go up and get it. But-wait.

I blinked. Several times, to make absolutely sure that my eyes weren't playing tricks on me.

They weren't. Sand, a thin trail of it, was snaking upward, climbing the cliff until it surrounded the ball and brought it down gently into the hands of a small boy I hadn't noticed.

My first thought was that the boy was just..cute. Probably about five or six, with red hair and bright blue eyes. Dressed simply, and dragging a large stuffed bear around. Adorable. The interesting things about his appearance were the thick black rings around his eyes. Like he'd never slept before in his life.

He stepped toward the other kids, smiling nervously, offering one of the boys the ball. "Here," he said shyly.

Just as the thought He seems nice crossed my mind, the boy who had been offered the ball gasped. His eyes grew huge, until they practically threatened to pop out of his head. He took several steps back, face stricken with terror.

"It-it's him," he choked out. "It's Gaara!" The same look of fear appeared on the faces of all the other kids. Huh? I thought in confusion. What's the matter with him?

Suddenly, all the kids screamed and started running. What the-?!

"Wait!" Gaara cried, stretching an arm out after them. He looked so confused and upset; I felt sorry for him.

Then sand, streams of it, came out of the desert floor and knocked the running kids to the ground. The screams intensified.

I heard a sickening crack, followed by a terrible shriek. Shivers raced up my spine. Had that boy's leg just been broken?!

I glanced back at Gaara. He still had that miserable expression on his face. He couldn't be doing this.

Could he?

Just as the sand streams darted for another kid, somebody leapt out of the shadows and in front of the kid, holding their arms in front of their face for defense. I winced as the sand hit, tearing deep gashes in the person's forehead and arms.

"Please calm yourself, Gaara-sama!" the person cried imploringly.

The sand halted its attack, and I squinted to get a better look at the person. It was a violet-eyed man with long blond hair, dressed in the uniform of a medical ninja.

Once more I looked back at Gaara.

He stared guiltily at the ground.

Then I woke up.

Thirteen years old again.

And Gaara was nowhere in sight.

I sighed. Of course he wasn't. Why would he be? He was probably still back in Sunagakure, the Village Hidden in the Sand. His home.

For a short eight years, my home as well.

No matter what the Kazekage had said, I still considered Sunagakure the place where I belonged.

But that was in the past.

For a minute I just sat there in my tree, lost in memories.

Then two things happened at once.

The wind picked up heavily, and a kunai knife came zooming out of nowhere, directly at my head.

I ducked, hearing a dull thud as the kunai lodged itself in my tree, right where my head had been a moment before.

What was it? Who could I possibly have offended this time?

Quietly, I unsheathed my katana and crouched. I wobbled slightly on the tree's thin branch, silently cursing the fact that balance had never been my strong suit.

A voice came drifting from a few yards ahead; sticks on the forest floor cracked under someone's feet. I braced myself.

"….landed right around…there!"

A girl hurried into view. I blinked. She hardly looked the assassin type.

She was pretty, with brown eues and brown hair pulled into two buns at the top of her head. She was carrying a large scroll, wearing a pink top, and-ah.

A forehead protector bearing the symbol for Konohagakure, or Konoha. The Village Hidden in the Leaves.

A kunoichi. A female ninja. Like me.

Huh, I thought. I must've ended up closer to the village than I meant to.

The girl frowned in confusion when she saw me in my tree.

Then, unexpectedly, she smiled.

"You must be here for the Chunin Exams. Right?"

Huh? Chunin Exams?

Wait…I vaguely remembered some bit of gossip I'd heard en route to Konoha.

The Chunin Exams were…Well, pretty much what they sounded like. A series of tests designed to determine which shinobi were worthy of promotion to the rank of Chunin.

Shinobi came from all villages, either as entrants or as spectators. Only thing was, you had to enter in three-person cells.

Long story short: You wanted promotion to Chunin, you had to be good, and you had to be part of a team.

As a 'missing nin,' or 'rogue ninja,' or whatever you wanted to call me, I was out.

Not that I cared, really. As long as your skills were up to scratch, who cared about labels like Chunin?

But this girl evidently though that I was here for the exams, so, figuring it would just be easier to go along with what she said, I nodded.

"Sorry about that," she added, gesturing to her stray kunai. "I threw it just as the wind picked up; it got carried over here."

I nodded again. As it didn't seem she had tried to kill me, I wrenched the kunai out of my tree and tossed it into the ground at her feet.

"Thanks," she said as she picked it up. "I'm Tenten, by the way."

I hesitated. Then decided what the heck. She seemed okay, and I could always make up an alias if the worst happened.

"Shara of Sand Village," I told her. My voice sounded dry and cracked; it hadn't been used in a while.

"Sand Village, huh? Nice to meet you," Tenten replied cheerfully.

"Tenten, unless your kunai grew legs and ran away, you've got to have found it," a boys' voice called dryly.

"Oh-I have it, Neji!"

"Then come on; you're holding up our training."

Tenten looked up at me. "See you around," she said before turning and hurrying off.

I stared for a second at the spot where she'd stood.

Out of habit I reached up to make sure my bangs were still in place over my cut. They were.

I sheathed my katana and leaned back against the tree trunk.

And I guess I fell asleep again, because the next thing I knew I was dreaming once more.

Remembering.

To Be Continued………………