I don't own Naruto. Sorry for not posting this yesterday but I started college again and now I'm really busy. From now on my updates won't be weekly anymore. I will update when I can and if I can. I'm sorry but I'm not quitting so please bear with me.

Okay so this is the story that I'm taking over for bloodytears87. The story she wrote was great and funny and one that I truly enjoyed but sadly she decided to discontinue it. She offered to let someone take over and I volunteered at once. I could not let a story like this be left unfinished so I will be trying my best to live up to her expectations and finish this story.

If you all wish, please read the original story at her profile. it's a very good story and it will give you an idea as to where I'm heading with this. Even though I'm taking over, I'm also rewriting it to fit my writing style and also with a new beginning so as to not just copy her outright. Its still the same plot just told a little different. I hope that you all enjoy and that you will support me on this since this is the first time that I've ever done this. Thanks again and enjoy.

Stand In The Rain

Chapter 1: Shilo

Near the border of the land of Rivers and the Land of Wind, where the greenery had lessened to small desolate patches of dead grass. Here there were no more trees and the nearest ones were a mile away. On this barren path where the ground became looser and had begun to sink, a young girl tiredly ran across. She had long light purple that was flying in with the wind as it blew past her. Her clothes were so tattered and worn that it was hard to distinguish any features beside the obvious fact that she wore a loose long sleeve shirt and shorts. Both articles of clothing were sweat soaked and dirtied by the elements.

The young girl was staggering as she kept running, her stomach growling and her throat dry as the desert she had just entered. She was heading toward a village that she had been in once before. She had lost track of the days, all of them blending together as fatigue and hunger took its toll on her. Her eyes were drooping as she struggled to continue onward. She couldn't rest now, if she did she knew it would be the end.

The sand was too weak to support her weight, despite her small frame, and she stumbled and fell on her face. The wind was blowing against her, the sand slowly crawling over her. She was too exhausted to move, her eyes were closed, not even strong enough to open them one last time.

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Three young Genin were running toward their home village, jumping from tree to tree. They had been running for a day, with their fellow Suna Shinobi around them. They had just suffered a loss at their last major battle against their former allies. The one leading them back was a tall man with a white turban wrapped around his head, with part of it covering the left half of his face. He wore a Suna headband on his forehead and his standard Jonin clothes which were a black long sleeve shirt and pants. He had his dark beige flak jacket and also had a stern look on his face.

The force of a 300 Jonin had suffered and only about half were making it back, the rest either dead or captured. Though remarkably the only Genin to accompany them had also survived the battle. Though one of them was a given to survive, the other two were definitely lucky. The first was injured after a tough battle against a Konoha Genin named Naruto Uzumaki. His name was Gaara of the Desert and he was the Jinchuuriki of the One Tail Shukaku.

Gaara was 12 years old and had bright read hair with raccoon like markings on his eyes. He had a tattoo on his forehead that said Love yet his face was stoic and displayed none of the love. He wore dark clothing that suited the desert climate and had a large gourd of sand on his back. He had dried blood on his left shoulder from an old injury he obtained during the early stages of the Chunin exams but his prisoner had long ago healed it.

Running along side him were his older siblings, Temari and Kankuro. Temari was the eldest daughter of the fourth Kazekage and she was the oldest. She had sandy blond hair that was kept in four short pigtails. She wore a light purple sweater shirt and a light purple skirt. On her back was a larger fan.

Kankuro was the middle child and he resembled his father. He had messy dark brown hair with black eyes and had war paint on his face. He wore a black jumpsuit with a black hood with cat like ears. He had a large puppet wrapped up on his back.

All of the Suna Shinobi had been running for about a day and a half and soon they would be crossing the border between the land of Rivers and the Land of Wind. Baki was about to call the order to rest up when he spotted a patch of purple among the sand a head of him.

"Halt! I think I see someone buried in the sand!" he called out as he rushed over.

As he neared, he noticed that it was indeed a person, a young girl in fact, who looked no older than Gaara. Using his wind chakra, he blew all the sand off of her and quickly called for a medic. Luckily their medics had survived the battle and with their help, the girl was stabilized.

"Who is that?" Gaara asked with the mildest of curiosity. He had been watching as his sensei tried to help and save this perfect stranger. He, of course, knew of the dangers of the desert and if one wasn't strong enough to survive then the desert would swallow them whole. But ever since his defeat against Naruto, he had been rethinking his whole philosophy on life.

"I don't know, Gaara, but she is dire need of help. By the looks of it, she probably hasn't rested nor eaten in days." Baki said, look down at the poor soul. He knew that since they were going to run through the blazing unforgiving desert that the best thing to do was to put her out of her misery. Still, he felt remorse for having to be the one to do it to a defenseless young girl. Reaching for a kunai, he sighed as he readied himself to kill her.

"No." came the emotionless voice of Gaara as a wall of sand formed around the young girl.

Baki looked over to see that Gaara was standing with his arms crossed, glaring at him. Gaara had never glared at him with this much intensity. To be honest it unnerved him since Gaara was not known for his kindness.

"What do you mean, Gaara? Taking her into the desert in her condition would be a cruel fate for her. Its best to kill her now and end her misery." Baki said, staying on his guard incase Gaara decided to attack.

"No. I will carry her and shield her with my sand." Gaara said, his sand forming into a cloud and carrying the unconscious girl. Then he formed a done of sand above her to give her shade.

"Why are you doing this, Gaara? This is not like you." Baki asked, frowning. He was confused as to what had occurred to the blood thirsty killer he had been before the mission.

"Naruto Uzumaki showed me what true strength is…if I want to become truly strong then I too must protect others." came Gaara's reply. Though it was said with the same emotionless tone, Baki could hear the confusion in Gaara's own voice. He could tell that this was still foreign to Gaara but he was glad that he was at least trying to change.

"Very well, I'll hold you responsible until we reach the village." Baki said. Turning around, he face the rest of his troops. "Rest for an hour, then we run nonstop to Suna."

"Hey Gaara? Are you really going to save her?" Temari asked shyly. Even though Gaara had apologized to them and had told them that he wanted to change, she still wasn't used to this. She was proud of her baby brother but still wasn't ready to fully accept it just yet.

"Yes."

"Um…really?" Kankuro asked, fearful.

"Yes."

"Really, really?" he asked again.

"Yes."

"Really, really, really?" Kankuro asked just once more to be sure he wasn't dreaming.

"…" sand poured out of his gourd threateningly as Gaara glared at his older brother for his annoyance.

"Ok. Got it, you're going to save her. This random stranger that we have never met nor even know who she is. Yes, Gaara is going to do that and I better shut up now." Kankuro said quickly and nervously as his brother still held his glare. At least the sand had gone back it. "Just real quick, I'm proud of you little bro."

"Yea, me too Gaara. This is really nice of you." Temari chimed in happily.

"…What does that mean?" Gaara asked in confusion.

"um…it means that we see that you're making an honest effort and that we acknowledge you in a good way. One that makes us feel like bragging about you." Temari tried to explain. She had forgotten that Gaara had lived an isolated life before of his demon.

"Oh…thank you." Gaara said, sounding genuinely happy, though it was hard to tell with his stoic expression.

They finished their rest and ran toward Suna at a steady pace, making sure that no one was left behind. Gaara ran at the head of the column with Baki, using his affinity to make it easier to navigate the desert. He also shielded the purple haired girl and kept her safe and close by. It gave him a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach as he thought of her. It was strange for him to think about someone and not have them dying in his head. It was almost alien to him to think like that.

Still, with his help, they reached Suna by midnight and got the girl to the hospital. All of the ninja were allowed to go home and rest while Baki went to speak with the Village elders. Temari and Kankuro went with Gaara to keep an eye on the girl. Though the village was still terrified of him, Gaara either ignored them or didn't notice them as he stood at the foot of her bed, watching her. Kankuro and Temari had fallen asleep on the chairs long ago since they were exhausted. He was tired too but not by much since his demon replenished his reserves and he also didn't sleep.

The doctors had attached two IV drips to her arms to re-hydrate her as fast as safely possible. The Doctor had told Gaara that she would wake up in the morning if everything was alright. He was surprised that the doctor had given him a straight answer since he looked like he had seen the devil at first sight of him.

It was during the night that his demon would bother him most, making him unable to sleep. Tonight was no different as Shukaku woke up after healing his wounds and restoring his energy.

"Hey there kid! Whatcha got there? Ooh she's pretty! Are you gonna kill her? Huh? Are ya?" Shukaku asked quickly.

"No…I'm not…I saved her earlier so it would be pointless to kill her now." Gaara thought, knowing that his thoughts would be heard by the demon.

"But what's the fun in that? Come one, kill her! Give us blood! Me want BLOOD!" he said annoyingly.

"No, I will not kill her. Now leave me alone. I don't want to be bothered by the likes of you."

"But I'm the only one who understands you! No one else knows what you've been through but me."

"You're wrong…Naruto Uzumaki went through it as well and he didn't give into the darkness like I did…I won't give in again. I'll never give in again." Gaara thought adamantly. His will seemed to shock Shukaku because he was shocked.

"So you're really not going to kill anyone? Damn…and I was just starting to have fun. you're a real party pooper! Every party needs a pooper and that's why they invited you! Party pooper~! Party pooper!~" Shukaku sang, sounding insane as he did.

The rest of the night went with Shukaku annoying Gaara while he tried to ignore him and his constant singing. It was nearing sunrise when he noticed that the girl was stirring slightly. He watched as she slowly opened her eyes and shut them tightly once more, turning her head away from the sun. When she finally opened her eyes, she looked around for a bit until her eyes locked on with his. And for some reason, her cheeks became slightly pink.

Slowly she stirred, feeling that her body felt like crap. She could tell that she was lying on a bed, but whose bed she didn't know. She opened her eyes slowly and immediately regretted it, the sun light was too bright and it hurt her eyes. She tried again to open her eyes and she found herself in a white room. Looking around, she saw a young boy about her age staring intently back at her with a blank look on his face. She didn't know why but she couldn't look away, she felt trapped by him, by his light green eyes. She felt her cheeks become warm, something that she hadn't felt before.

They stayed like that for several long minutes, neither moving nor blinking. Neither of them noticed when Temari woke up nor when she woke Kankuro up. Nor did they hear the whispers the two siblings shared. Finally, Temari coughed after Kankuro seemed to chicken to do it and broke the eye contact the two young teens had shared.

"Um good morning…I'm Temari. that's my brother Gaara and this chicken here is my brother Kankuro." Temari said kindly to the young girl. "Do you remember what happened to you?"

"…yes…" she said in a low voice. She was still tired and very hungry. Even though she felt somewhat hydrated, she was still very thirsty.

"Oh you poor dear, hang on. You must be starving and dying of thirst." Temari said getting up from her chair. "Kankuro, go and get some food and water for her. Gaara, if it wouldn't be too much trouble, could you please go to the house and get some spare clothes for her? The ones she has on aren't suitable anymore."

With a nod, both brothers left, one exiting the door, the other vanishing in a swirl of sand. With them gone, Temari helped the young girl use the facilities and helped wash her up a bit using the sink. As she helped her wash away some of the dirt of her face, Temari saw that she had really nice skin. And her eyes, they were so intriguing, she could see why Gaara couldn't look away. They were dark purple, a lot darker than her light purple hair.

"Wow, you have really nice eyes." Temari told her with a smile.

"You don't have to lie…I know that I'm not pretty…thanks though…" came her reply. It wasn't bitter nor sad, it sounded as though she had accepted that fact long ago and just lived with it. It hurt Temari's heart to hear this from such a pretty girl.

"Hey now, don't say that okay? I don't know who told you that you were ugly but they are dead wrong. You're really pretty, at least once you shower that is." Temari said kindly. She was trying to encourage the younger girl, after all she must've been banished out of her home town is she was left to die all alone.

"Thanks…but really its fine…" she said, smiling at the older girl. "My name is Shilo by the way, Shilo Yagarashi."

"Nice to meet you, Shilo." Temari said brightly.

Soon Kankuro was back and he gave her a glass filled with nice cool water. She downed the drink within a few gulps, causing her to gasp for air once she was finished. During that time, Gaara appeared once again by means of his sand and handed Temari a black t-shirt and some black pants.

"Gaara…are these…?" Temari asked as she looked down at the clothes that he handed her.

"Yea. Is there a problem?" he asked in a disinterested tone.

"No, not at all. I was just surprised…I guess I thought that my clothes would fit her…" Temari said quickly. "That was really nice of you Gaara, I'm proud of you."

"Hi, I'm Shilo…I heard that you're the one who save me." Shilo said to Gaara. He just looked at her with a calm face and didn't say a word. "Um…I just wanted to say thanks…so thanks…"

"…why did you run away?" he asked suddenly, shocking her.

How did he know that she had run away? Well technically she was asked to leave but still, how did he know? "Its kind of a long story…" she said, her eyes down cast. She knew that she had to tell them, she could see their headbands. She knew that she was in Suna, a ninja village. If she didn't tell them now then she wouldn't be able to stay here with that mysterious boy, Gaara.

"…I'm listening…" Gaara said as he stood, his arms folded across his chest, staring at her intently.

This caused her to blush slightly as she looked into his eyes once more. But this time she was ready. She was able to pull herself together and release a long sigh. "I'll tell you…after all, you have a right to know that the girl you're all being nice to is a monster…"

End of chapter.

Well what did you think? I hope you enjoyed it, I tried to add humor to it but I'm not sure if I succeeded. Well thanks again and I hope that you will show some love to both my other stories and bloodytears87's as well. Thanks again. And till next time.

R&R