Beginning

"Sora-kun, do you see that?"

"… It… looks human…"

The two guard-nins nodded to each other then turned to mumble in the ear of the guard next to them, and so the pattern continued until every shinobi there was aware of the approaching figure. Every single one of them kept bringing a hand to their weapons then letting go, unsure of whether to move into an offensive or defensive position.

Out of the swirling sand a battered female emerged. Her clothes were badly torn and barely holding together, leaving a lot of skin exposed to the elements. Several kunai were sticking out of her back, arms, and legs along with many needles. The wounds were bleeding profusely, and the guard-nin Sora was the first to jump down from his place, and land in front of the girl. His comrades protested loudly but he huffed and ignored them.

"I am Tamaka Sora of the Hidden Village of Sand." He started. The girl took another step forward and he noticed the unsteadiness in her movements. He rushed to continue. "Who are you?"

The girl stopped in front of him and her green eyes locked with his. "K-Kamichi R-R-Rai."

She opened her mouth to continue but the muscles in her face went slack and her legs fell out from under her. She collapsed into the sand and slipped slowly, and totally unwillingly, into unconsciousness. Sora bent down beside her and threw her arm around his neck as he snaked an arm around her waist. He heaved her upwards as a large amount of guards stopped in front of him.

"Get a medic-nin quickly," He said to half of them and when they had run off, he turned his attention to the remaining half. "Alert Baki-sama and then get some patrols to scout the area. We don't know who, or what, attacked her."

"Hai!"

Sora glanced mournfully down to the girl and frowned. "Let's hope you're strong enough to withstand this, Kamichi Rai."

- x - x -

"Gaara… Kazekage-sama."

Baki pushed open the door to the Kazekage's office slowly, peeking his head in the door. Gaara stared at him from his seat behind the desk, barely raising an eyebrow or showing any signs that he heard him. Baki slipped in and bowed apologetically before he spoke.

"I'm here to report that an unknown ninja has found her way to the village. She's been badly wounded, and she's being taken care of. We've sent out patrols to check the border's for her attackers but so far no one has reported anything."

Gaara nodded slowly, but refrained from saying anything. Baki was far too used to his silence to mind, and proceeded to bow his way out of the room. The door thudded shut behind him, and only at that moment did Gaara respond.

He clasped his hands together on top of the desk and sighed. Not out of frustration, but out of curiosity. "I guess I have a trip to make."

A/N: Muaha. I love the fact that this is so bloody short. Okay, so I'm lying through my teeth, but you didn't need to know that, did ya? I apologize for the length of this chapter… prologue… thing, as well as the overall shitty-ness of it. I'm not one for loving my own writing, so you can argue if you feel like it.

Oh, and if you don't like that I'm writing a GaaraXOC story, then navigate away from my story and get over it. I don't appreciate flames, because honestly they're pointless. Just because YOU don't happen to like my pairing decision doesn't mean everyone else will shun it. I like it, and I chose it because I liked it. I don't mean to sound rude, but I'm letting your know that your protests are going to fall of deaf ears.