A/N: Ok, this is my first Naruto fanfic. I could think of no way to continue my little fma oneshot (btw, I thank all of the people who gave me such nice reviews! It's reviewers like you that make the world of fanfics go 'round!!). I hope you guys enjoy this story! I came up with this idea a few weeks ago when I watched that one episode where they show Gaara as a six year old...it just kind of made me wonder how it all began...gosh, he was a cute chibi, wasn't he?!?! Poor kid...

Disclaimer: I own nothing!! Except my OC's that appear in this chapter (No, it's not an OC pairing. They're not even main characters; I just needed them for a story booster.)

Chapter 1: What am I?

It hurt.

The three year old stared blankly at his collection of stuffed animals, holding one bear in particular close to his chest. The room was so painfully quiet; you could hear the laughter of children a mile away. The boy wasn't quite sure why his chest was hurting so much. The throbbing of his heart slowly became sharper. He hugged his stuffed bear closer to him, and shut his eyes tightly. It wasn't doing much good.

'Why…why does this keep happening to me? What have I done to deserve this?'

His breathing began to get more ragged as the pain spread throughout his heart as quickly as fire. His insides felt like they were burning.

'I-I can't breathe!'

He tried to scream, but his lungs felt as if they were about to burst.

'No more! Please, no more!'

He couldn't take it anymore. His entire mind was screaming in agony. Not even the cold sweat that now drenched every inch of his body could put out the flame that was raging inside of him.

A sudden knock on the door made the child jump, forcing him to gasp for breath. As the sharp pain slowly reduced to a mild throbbing, he was able to loosen his grip on the stuffed bear that he held to his chest. Wiping as much visible sweat away as he could, he opened the door for his uncle; as if nothing had happened.

"Good morning, Gaara!"

The boy, now known as Gaara, gave a light smile in reply to Yashamaru's morning greeting. The child had now been very good at hiding all signs of one of his attacks; he didn't want to worry his uncle.

"I brought you some breakfast. I was actually able to find these selling at half price on the market today, feel free to eat as much as you want!"

"Thank you, Yashamaru," Gaara accepted the food gratefully. Yashamaru opened up the window shades to let the crisp morning sunlight dance its way around the dark edges of the bedroom. Gaara had to wince for a brief moment so his eyes could adjust.

"That's a little better," Yashamaru said, taking his place next to Gaara. The three-year old had 'I-want-to-ask-you-something-but-I'm-afraid-you'll-say-no,' written all over his face. "Is there something on your mind?"

"Well..." Gaara replied hesitantly. "I did kind of want to ask you something…"

The older man smirked. 'I thought so.'

"I was wondering…well, would it be okay if I went outside today? Even just for a little while?"

Yashamaru sighed, and shook his head, "Sorry kid, but Lord Kazekage wants you in your room at all times. You'll get in serious trouble if you're caught."

"B-but what if I'm careful? I'll be good! Honestly!"

"You're father's rules, Gaara. I can't let you do whatever you want; I wouldn't be doing my job in protecting you."

"Why can't I go outside? Other kids do it all of the time, what's so special about me?" Gaara's eyes traveled to the floor, studying it. In an almost inaudible tone, he muttered, "What's wrong with me?"

His uncle's eyes softened at the boy's innocence. 'Poor kid, he's hated by everyone who knows him and he doesn't even know why.'

Yashamaru stood up, preparing to leave. He thought it probably would be best to leave Gaara's question unanswered. The boy's eyes bore onto him as he walked towards the door, begging the older man not to leave.

"Don't worry," Yashamaru said, "I'll be back in a little while. I just have to run a few errands."

Gaara sighed, "Alright."

The door clicked shut, signaling Yashamaru's departure. Gaara stared at the spot where he stood, unanswered questions floating all over his mind.

'Why won't anyone tell me anything? Am…am I that much of a monster?'

His gaze traveled to the window. The sun's rays shone with great brilliance and power over the sands of Suna. That must've meant that it was hot outside. The cloudless sky, the various houses scattered around the area, and the large portion of land that stretched out as far as the eye could see; it was enough to make their little village picture perfect. Gaara had to be a part of it. The chance of being in the pretty little sand painting called Suna was just too tempting to resist.

'Just for a little while.'

The young redhead stood up, and slowly made his way towards the window; there was too much of a chance he would get caught if he used the door. He took one last glance behind him to make sure no one was coming, and silently began climbing out of the window; keeping his favorite stuffed bear to his side at all times.

XXX

Everything in their village was so breath taking! Gaara had found it extremely difficult to keep his hands off of anything! He did have enough self control to keep away from the shopkeepers. After all, Yashamaru had said that they get awfully angry if you touch their stuff without paying for it. Truth to be told, this was the first time in a long time Gaara had ventured out into the village. He did go outside a couple of times when he was 1, but he always had an adult to accompany him, and he didn't really remember it all that well.

What had really caught Gaara's attention was the playground that he found after walking a few blocks. It was currently unoccupied by anyone else but him, and he was dying to start trying things out. His legs carried him over to one of the swings that sat innocently across the playground, occasionally moving slightly from a passing breeze. Gaara sat down on it, and held his bear even closer to his chest; rocking back and forth. There was something rather soothing about the slow pace, and for the first time in a long time, Gaara felt at ease.

As he started getting used to it a little bit more, he took himself higher. The wind was racing through his hair, and the sensation of flying overpowered him! He just barely was able to hang on to his bear a few times. For the first time in a long time, Gaara felt alive; allowing his first true smile to grace his lips. He could actually feel the pain in his chest begin to heal a little.

'This is so much fun!'

He finally pulled himself into a stop. His legs felt a little wobbly standing up, but he found his footing and did everything he could to muffle the little giggling fit that was trying to escape him.

'I still don't understand why they kept me away from this so long…what's out here that could possibly be so dangerous?'

As happy as he was, he still felt like there was something missing. There was still a twinge of pain leftover that hadn't quite been healed yet. He brushed his hand lightly over his chest, and brought it to his eye level to stare at it.

'I'm not even bleeding…'

"Are you new around here?"

The sudden voice caught Gaara by surprise. He turned around to face two kids that looked about his age; a girl and a boy. His eyes widened a little, his mind swimming with panic. The stuffed bear was once again being squished tightly to Gaara's chest (it's almost surprising the poor thing's head hasn't popped off by now).

'What should I say? What should I say? What should I say? What should I say?' he repeated in his mind. The awkward silence stretched another several moments.

"Can't you talk?" the girl asked him, staring at him quizzically.

Gaara had finally found his voice, "Uh, yeah…sorry…um, in answer to your question earlier; no, I'm not new here."

"Then why haven't we seen you?" the boy's voice chimed in. Both of them stepped a little closer to the frightened redhead.

"Well…my family's sort of been strict with me…actually this is my first time out of the house…" Gaara gulped. He thought his answer sounded stupid, but Yashamaru had told him to always tell the truth.

"Wow, that is strict," the girl said, "I don't think me or my brother would be able to live our entire lives indoors, it would probably drive us mad. What's your name?"

Gaara smiled a little sheepishly; this was going well, "I'm Gaara, how about you two?"

"I'm Ichiro," the boy said. He placed his hand on the girl's shoulder, "This is my little sister, Chiharu. Do you want to play with us?"

Gaara had no objections. The three of them played all sorts of games at the playground for a good two hours.

'Ah shoot, Yashamaru probably came home a while ago…I hope he's not worried…well, maybe if I tell him that I actually made some friends, he won't get mad!'

"I better head back," Gaara said, facing the two siblings. Laughing a little, he added, "I'm not really supposed to be out here in the first place, ehe…"

"Want us to walk with you?" Chiharu asked.

Gaara shrugged shyly, "If you want to…"

"Sure!" Ichiro said happily. "I wouldn't mind seeing where you live!"

The three walked on, chatting noisily about random subjects that seemed to come out of nowhere (such as, "How would a panda react to pink hair dye?").

Their trek was coming to an end. They were only a few blocks away from Gaara's house when Chiharu accidentally tripped over a rock. To Gaara, it seemed as if she were falling in slow motion. A strange feeling rushed out of him; like his energy was being drained. His stomach churned at the sudden reaction, and he felt like he was going to be sick. What met his eyes was even stranger; sand had risen up from the ground, and caught the young girl just before she fell.

After finding her footing, the sand retreated to its spot under Gaara's feet. The siblings stared at him wide-eyed.

"W-What are you?" Ichiro breathed, terror edging its way in every inch of his voice. Unfortunately, he and his sister took Gaara's sudden action the wrong way.

Gaara gave him kind of a hurt look, "I-I'm sorry…that's really never happened before." His gaze drifted over to Chiharu, who looked at him as if he were going to kill her. "Are you okay, Chiharu?"

"Don't go anywhere near my sister!" Ichiro moved protectively in front of her.

Gaara was speechless. Just a minute ago, they were acting like best friends. Now the two siblings glared at him with bitter hatred, and fright.

'What just happened?'

Tears were stinging Gaara's eyes, but he didn't let them fall. Instead, he moved a couple of inches towards them.

"Get back, you demon!" Chiharu spat from behind her brother. Gaara took one little step closer, and the two of them bolted in the opposite direction.

The confused redhead stared after them. He didn't even try to go after them to console them; he knew it wouldn't do any good. Involuntary tears were streaming down his face as his first two friends slipped away like sand.

'What's wrong with me?'

A/N: How was it? I'm actually kind of happy with the way this turned out, but I do think that it might've been a little fast paced. I'm sorry for any grammar/spelling errors; I can be kind of bad about that. It shouldn't be too off, though...I had my beta reader look over it, and she's just awesome!

R&R! I can't believe I'm about to say this...but go ahead and flame if you feel my story needs it...asking you not to express how you really feel about it is like hiding from the truth (and I need to get over the fear of criticism that I seem to be having lately).