The universe holds many mysteries, each of which that is different between the real world, and that of which we fantasise about day by day through the use of movies and books. However, there is always that one fragmented detail that will always be the same; And that is the corruption built through war, violence and discrimination.

After the Third Shinobi War which brought forth a tremendous yet unpredictable battle between the five main reigning countries, things had finally calmed down. Each country kept to themselves. There was no alliance or even any sort of communication between the lands. Then again, after what had happened, it was understandable that they needed time to rebuild their own civilisation.

It was no different for Sunakagure, otherwise known as the Village Hidden in the Sand, a village located within the desert, isolated from the rest of the world. Because of the treacherous journey towards the village, they didn't suffer as much damage, other than the unaccountable deaths of those who fought in the war. Grief was spread to those who had lost family members, silence proceeding to push the hidden village into a state of recollection.

But as well as death, there was also life.

Not too long after peace was finally restored, a little girl was born in the Namazaki clan, one of which was built upon with prestige, strictness and high rank, next to that of the Fourth Kazekage and his family. Her mother and father branded her the name Kiyo, a name defining 'Purity' as if it was a way of foretelling that she was going to be bring honour to their small clan, as well as the village.

Her upbringing wasn't anything special, just the normality in the ninja world. Along with the unconditional, supporting love from her parents and friends that she had made, everything seemed to be going well in the midst of her early childhood.

However, there was one day that changed all of that.

Each and every child that was born in the village was brought into the Academy, a curriculum that was made to test the young minds of the future, and pick out those who had less to none potential.

Luckily Kiyo, who had been around eight years old, was one that was taught at an early age. Although it wasn't much, by the time she had been initiated into the Academy, she was able to do simple skills that would get her by the 'elimination process'. But there was one individual that always caught her eye during her time there, and that was the Kazekage's youngest son, and the Jinjūriki of Sunagakure, Gaara.

To the crimson haired girl, this wouldn't have surprised her if it was someone who was as per say, normal. But there was something about the male that intrigued her. Perhaps it was the sad, lonely look in his eyes that screamed out and begged eternally for a friend, or the innocent smile that he always gave to others, despite never receiving anything of the sorts back.

Every adult detested him, treated him like some sort of monster, whilst children who were told about him normally stayed away due to fear and deterrence.

She was also told about the situation with the red haired male. At birth, he was made to be the vessel of the One-Tailed fox beast, Shukaku, a creature with intense, destructive power, fuelled only on rage and hatred. This fact alone made it easy to understand why everyone was scared of him, but what Kiyo couldn't understand was how a child like him had to suffer as a consequence, to be treated as an outcast by his own kind. It was sad, but that was just reality.

All he wanted was a friend…

Another day had finally ended, the sun setting in the horizons beyond the tall, stone walls of the village, causing the sky to turn from a cloudless bright blue, to a heavenly haze of golden yellow, pink and orange. This was the time that most people came out of their homes, considering during the daytime, everything turned into a chore with the intense heat.

Just at this point in time was when the streets were teeming with life. The adults socialised among themselves, whilst the kids went to play together or even get up to some harmless mischief. All but one…

Gaara…

The lonely boy trailed himself through the streets of the village, hoping to at least find someone to help out but all he received was a set of scared and judgemental glares. This was nothing new, but despite being a regular occurrence, it still caused him pain. He was hurt, and the only person around he could admit that to was his maternal uncle, the only person who would see him as an innocent child, rather than a monster.

Even when he tried to join in with the kids his own age, it only ended with them running away elsewhere, leaving him isolated, alone and confused. Why was this even happening to him? Even his siblings were getting the same treatment. All of this pain and because he had a tailed beast sealed within him, waiting for it's chance to come out into the open to wreck havoc.

Tears began to grow in his eyes as he wandered away from the crowd, clutching his teddy bear that he always had for comfort tightly towards his chest for a sense of warmth for his cold, aching heart.

However, unlike the rest of the kids, there was a certain child who had seen through the beast within him.

"Hey? Are you okay?" Spoke out a voice behind Gaara, which alerted immediately. Maybe he was just overhearing someone else's conversation so he didn't keep his hopes up for the impossible. Quickly wiping his eyes with his arm, he slowly turned his head over his shoulder.

He noticed a young girl about his age, possibly a little older than he was by a couple of years. She had peachy toned skin with darker spotted marks across her cheek bones that she gained from her father, and eyes the colour of a lush spring day and long, flowing red hair the same colour as a crimson red rose that she got from her mother's side.

Despite being young, she was relatively attractive to the male she was talking to, but because of his shy demeanour, he would have never gotten the courage to say something like that. After all, with someone coming up to him, genuinely worried about him, he didn't want to ruin that and make the girl run away in fear.

The female awaited patiently for a response, a concerned yet friendly smile never leaving her lips for a second.

Gaara turned around to her, his teal blue eyes showing a hint of hope.

"I'm… I'm okay, now… It's just, I don't understand why people are always trying avoid me… I'm not trying to hurt them in any way."

It was then that he paused for a brief moment, a thought, or more so, a question popping up in his mind. He didn't want to ask it in case he was given an answer that would break his heart even more than it was but even with his shred of confidence, he managed to.

"Aren't you afraid of me?"

The question surprised Kiyo for a brief moment, however she knew why he was asking. He needed a friend, someone that would be there for him when no one else was. If she truly was afraid of him, then it wouldn't end well at all.

"I don't have any reason to be afraid of you." She simply implied, her expression turning rather serious, yet sympathetic at the same time. "You haven't done anything to hurt me at all, so why should I hate you?" She asked rhetorically. In a sense, it was a good statement to ask. After all, she seen the human side of him, rather than what was hiding deep within him.

"Let's be friends."

Friends?

Never to this day had Gaara was expecting to hear that one word being emphasised towards him. She wanted to be friends with him, someone who was being forced to play the role as a special military weapon for their own benefit. It must have been a dream come true for the male.

With an ecstatic smile that was very rarely seen, and a nod of his head, he agreed to Kiyo's offer about being friends.

Within days of secretly meeting up with each other, the two became as close as they could ever get. Every day at around the same time, they would always just find a quiet place and talk, as if there was nothing else going on in the world and that there was nobody that could ruin their happiness, especially Gaara's.

He was always impatiently waiting for that certain point in time where he could finally see this mysterious girl again who just showed up out of the blue one day but even in those few days, he began to experience feelings for her that he didn't even know that he had. It was indescribable! It was as if his heart and every part of his internal being was still aching, but in a good way. Her kind smile, her friendly attitude. She was everything to him, and even if he didn't understand it at all, he didn't want to lose their friendship.

However, what he didn't realize as of yet was that the world surrounding the both of them, was about to come crumbling down.

Word had been spreading around in secrecy within the village about the two spending a great deal of their free time together, and just as quickly, word was given to Kiyo's parents, who weren't at all happy about the ordeal, especially considering that they had warned her to stay away from Gaara when she had first joined the academy. It was all out of worry and protection.

But they were definitely going have a word with her…

Another meet up, which they didn't know was going to be their last, had finally came to an end. Each time, they kept stating that time had pressed on even quicker than they anticipated, considering how they both got so lost in their conversations that they never actually realised.

However, it was time to give their good-byes.

After giving their final few words, they both left and returned back to the safety of their homes before darkness filled the entire village with peaceful silence. But unlike Gaara, upon opening the door, she was greeted by her parents, and not in the same friendly way as they always did.

"We've been hearing around that you have been interacting with Gaara. Is this true?" The father asked with a stern tone, one of which was enough to bring shivers down the child's spine. After all, she had never seen her parents angry, but the fact that they were previous shinobi that have fought valiantly since their own childhood, she never wished to get on their bad side. That alone was enough to bring forth the truth.

Without giving a single hint of a noise, she silently nodded, to which caused her mother to sigh in disbelief.

"We told you to stay away from that boy. He's trouble. The last thing we need is for you to get caught up in Shukaku's attacks if he was to go out of control."

But that wasn't all…

As the entire village knew, anyone affiliated with the Jinjūriki was to be treated in the same way, whether it was his siblings, or any sort of friends. They were treated like outcasts, and with such a high ranked, yet small clan, this was unacceptable, and Kiyo knew this well.

With opening her mouth in order to proclaim, to defend the young Jinjūriki, she knew that this was an argument that she could not win. No one has ever taken a child seriously in this day and age, and she doubt that would start now.

"Okay..." She murmured in defeat.

"Good, just know that we are only doing this for your own safety. Myself and your mother would not be able to cope if something bad happened to you." Her father responded, kneeling down to her own height to speak to her eye to eye.

"Now that that is sorted, dinner will be ready soon so be sure that you get cleaned up..." Her mother said in a subtle tone, kneeling down to kiss her daughter on the forehead. Moments later, the only noise that occupied the room was her own thoughts, insisting that she had just made the worst mistake. There was surely to be consequences but she had no choice. As much as she wanted to see the young red haired boy, she couldn't disobey her parents.

Not again…

Meanwhile, in the Suna household, Gaara wanted to get some ideas on how to surprise Kiyo, however with his relationship with his father and siblings, there was only one person that he could turn to, and that was Yashamaru, his uncle.

"Someone looks pretty happy." He spoke out in a kind, calm voice upon being confronted by the strangely smiling child. "Did something happen today?"

As much as Gaara wanted to speak on and on, to the point of rambling, he couldn't bare to embarrass himself in such a way. Even what he was planning on saying brought a layer of pink to grow across his face whilst it was lowered.

"I… I want to give something to this friend, although I don't know what exactly..." He responded quietly and quite vaguely, his thumbs fiddling together nervously, which brought a humorous yet proud smile to grow on the sandy haired adults face.

All these years, he wanted to see Gaara be happy. He loved him dearly and was even mad about his father giving such a kind hearted child a tormenting life. However, since he worked directly under Gaara's father, the fourth Kazekage, he had no right to object his decisions. All he could do was stop his nephew falling down into the brink of insanity.

"And does this friend happen to be a girl?"

The question caused Gaara's head to pop up in surprise, the pink aura across his cheeks turning the colour of his hair.

"How… How did you know?"

"Just a guess." He responded with a loving smile, his finger tapping on his chin in thought.

"You know, my sister… Your mother loved flowers. You could try to give her some desert roses. I'm sure that she will love them and I will be able to get them tomorrow if you'd like."

The idea caused Gaara's face to glow with joy, his head moving up and down quickly. He liked the idea and better yet, he didn't have to say anything that would ruin the moment, or even do anything to screw up.

"Very well. I will collect some tomorrow. I still can't believe how fast you are growing. Our little man is falling in love."

Love? Was that that feeling he has been feeling as of recently? The growing butterflies in his stomach and his heart beating so much that he was pretty sure that that was the cause of the bearable aching.

"What...What is love?" Gaara asked softly, his hand closing on his clothing to where the heart was located. "Why does it hurt?"

"Love is an intense emotion." Yashamaru began in thought about what to say. "It's something that you feel towards somebody that you care about, someone that you can't afford to let go. At least in this case, that's what love is." His voice softened upon ending his explanation.

"However, love comes in all forms, even that of family. You're father may not show it as much as he should, but he truly does love you, as do your siblings."

Gaara nodded in response, although not saying a word in response. Although it should have been as easy to piece together the facts Yashamaru was telling him, he also came to the conclusion about one thing.

Love was complicated…

"Now, why don't you run along. I have some work to get done before tomorrow night, but if you have anything else that you'd like to ask, just find me, okay?" He finally added, messing up his nephew's ash red hair before walking out the room to deal with business.

Now he couldn't wait until tomorrow.

The night had drawn on slowly, every single hour feeling like an eternity. Even with heading down the streets in the morning, he didn't care as much about the others disowning him for what he was just like what they do every other day. The anticipation was killing him but with patience, time had gradually gotten quicker, each minute dropping down to zero. But after patiently waiting, it finally came to the award.

Gaara quickly rushed home to Yashamaru, who was standing by the doorstep, awaiting for the small child. He was carrying a bouquet of desert roses, the only flower that was possible to grow and stablize in the harsh conditions that the Land of Wind had for the majority of the time. Although they were common and simple, the beautiful blend of pink and white petals latched onto together in small bundles was what made them the perfect gift.

"Woah, slow down. I'm sure that whoever that you are seeing will wait patiently is she is there first." Yashamaru responded to the red-head's eagerness with a humorous smile and a light laugh in his voice. "But here, I'm sure that she will love these..."

He handed down the bunch to Gaara, who held them carefully in both of his hands.

"Thank you, uncle." He responded happily.

"Now, go have fun on your little date." He responded in a teasing fashion, making Gaara blush uncontrollably.

"It's not a date." Gaara quickly said in protest, even though his flustered face said otherwise but with turning to glance at him, the look he gave with just his eyes alone was unlike him. It showed a hint of agonising guilt for some unusual reason, despite a bright smile on his face.

"Are you okay?" He asked rather innocently. The last thing that he wanted to see was the one family member that he was close to be conflicted or hurt in anyway. Either way, the guilt disappeared the moment that he was asked that he was alright. Deep down, he wasn't, for reasons that he couldn't just openly state. After all, he didn't want to cause any unnecessary pain to the boy, not when someone else has arrived to keep him from falling into a darkness that nothing can escape from.

"I'm fine, don't worry about me." He responded a little more quietly. "I just have some important matters to deal with."

Gaara was sceptical about what had just happened, but he knew when to not push it and ask more questions. Besides that point, he didn't want to keep Kiyo waiting, although what he was about to find was a very disappointing reality.

With that, he unleashed one of his hands momentarily to wave to Yashamaru as he left to the meeting grounds.

With arriving to their usual meeting place, no one but himself was around. The area was eerily silent, mainly because it wasn't time yet for when everyone came out of the cooled down homes. It was still quite warm, but never-the-less, it was still bearable.

Maybe that was the reason why she hasn't shown up yet. Perhaps she was just busy and running late. Gaara had kept his hopes up that that was the case. It had to be, right?

Time had gone by just as slowly as it did for the rest of the day. The waiting game was anything but fun, especially with noticing how all the civilians were coming out of their homes to do what they needed to do. Gaara couldn't even hear the noise of the adult's conversation, the children laughing with joy and glee. In fact, there was something that spoke even louder than all of that combined, and that was the unnerving silence of not being able to hear that one certain voice, the one that he strived to hear once again.

But even waiting, no one came…

No voice could be heard…

The night sky soon came along, the bright blend of colours eventually lost in a dark navy blue.

Did she really abandon him like that? No, it wasn't possible. She promised him.

Flashback Start

"Hey Kiyo?" Gaara began to speak just as the female was about to leave. It was getting dark and their time together was done for the day. However, Kiyo had remained for a little longer to answer what was on her friend's mind.

"Hm? What is it, Gaara?" She asked with a sense of curiosity.

He didn't say anything at first, as he felt that what he needed to say was just pushing it a little too far. Maybe it was for the best to just brush it off as if he didn't really have anything to say.

That is if Kiyo didn't have anything to say about it…

She confronted the male once again, kneeling down so that she was sitting on her knees. "What do you need to tell me? It can't be that bad."

Gaara still remained silent, although took a deep breath to regain some sense of courage.

Here goes nothing…

"Promise me that you won't run away like everyone else." He finally said, looking up at her, eye to eye. If she was lying, this would be the case that he was able to tell whether their friendship meant something or not.

But never the less, everything that she was about to tell him was the truth.

"I'll always be right here for you Gaara, and you know that." She responded, taking a hold of his hands lightly whilst she gave a confident smile.

"I promise..."

Flashback End

He began to replay the same flashback over and over in his mind, each time causing all hope to drop like a ton of bricks. It was unexpected, and that was the worst part of it all.

Perhaps she just forgot. Yeah, that must've been it…

However, he was naive to believe that. Just as he was about to wait a little longer, a brisk, cold wind struck him, pulling the bunch of desert roses out of his hand and into the night sky. Within minutes, they were impossible to see in the darkness.

That was a sure sign, a symbol that allowed Gaara to take the hint that he was alone once again, that the girl he so longingly awaited for was not going to show up. He felt used, abandoned even and even though those were the emotions he had felt every single day of his life, it felt so much worse now.

Maybe it was for the best that he remained alone and accepted his destiny in being nothing but a weapon…

The night grew even more colder as time had stormed on. It was once again quiet. Most had been safely in their beds, fast asleep for the next impending day. Most but Gaara.

Once home, there was no one around. Not even Yashamaru. He must of still had some important business to attend to. Instead, he went up onto the rooftops for some time to think everything through. After all, there wasn't much point in trying to sleep either. Every point in time he wasn't careful and went into a deep, unconscious phase, this was always the time where Shukaku was unleashed upon the village. Even though everyone hated him, the feeling wasn't mutual. Revenge was the last thing he wanted to give back.

However, it didn't seem the same on the other end.

He stared down at his hands, which were trembling uncontrollably, tears building up almost like an ocean in his eyes.

"Why… Why am I the only one that's a freak? What am I!?"

In the moment of peace and tranquillity, there was a disturbance. Even in the silence, Gaara had been alerted to nearby enemies, thanks to his chakra infused sand that was believed to contain his mother's essence and love, giving him an automatic defence against the kunai knifes that were used in order to assassinate him.

He quickly turned around. One enemy who had their face hidden. Now that the young Gaara was fully aware of the situation, he was able to defend himself against the second round of kunai knives

In a moment of panic and anger, much because of the fact that they were attacking him, he trapped the enemy in sand. Struggle as the mysterious person might, the inevitable was going to happen. With just one quick movement of his hand, the body had imploded, leaving the person in a near to death state.

Quickly, he snapped back to reality, the, cold murderous look in his oceanic blue eyes finally calming down to mere innocence as if he knew that he has done something wrong. And he did. The proof was the body he had just mauled that was just lying in front of him, although still alive.

"Who? Why?" He questioned, his voice shaking just as much as his body. He wanted to know the truth, but what will the outcome be of it all? Unknown to him, just by removing the cloth covering the majority of his face, it was his worst nightmare.

Just as he was about to reveal to himself who it was, the mystery man did it himself. Gaara's eyes widened with shock and despair, the tears that have grown in his eyes finally streaming down his face like a river. He even dropped to his knees as his entire body just shut down entirely from the truth.

It was not just any sort of Shinobi that was trying to kill him.

It was none other than Yashamaru...