OK, so i have decided to totally rewrite this entire story. After a few years of hiatus i am happy to report that i am back and writing agin. After loong consideration i decided to rewrite before posting anything new.

Hope you like it, tell me what you think of the new chapter!

"I could not stop death

so he kindly stopped for me

the carriage held but us and immortality"

The chunnin exams had finally arrived at it's second stage. Sarutobi had already warned me that numerous gennin and chunin would be entering the forest. I suppose he expected me to be on my best behavior for the duration of the exam. That meant no lunging out of the shadows and attacking the unsuspecting, unskilled prey who smelled oh so sweet.

It would be easier to avoid the temptation if Sarutobi hadn't asked me to watch over the exam. I could have easily kept my distance from the newbie ninja due to the fact that i could hear them from five miles away and knew this forest like the back of my hand. Unfortunately i was put into a situation where i had to be on the constant lookout for trouble. Not the usual trouble of genin killing one another, but for genin attacking chunin or any other unusual circumstances that might present themselves.

I did not like having this many people populating the forest i had come to think of as a type of home. There wasn't a sliver of peace to be had. The constant drone of thoughts created a dull ache in my mind that i had come to the forest to avoid.

I nimbly jumped from tree to tree, making no noise as my feet lightly touched the branch only to push off again. Reinstating my years of mental practice, i easily blocked out the pesky thoughts of the gennin. The only thoughts I didn't block out were the chunin in the forest, because I needed information on what was going on, and so they could easily call me if needed. The hokage had already informed them of my presence, that they were to alert me if trouble arose, and that they were not going to have the privacy of their thoughts while within the forest of death.

These humans were pathetic, if they were ninja they should be able to fend for themselves instead of relying on me. If the couldn't them they deserved to be dead, survival of the fittest.

A small breeze filtered its way through the dense trees and ran silky fingers through my short silver hair. It brought with it something that had me halting abruptly. I easily identified the smell of blood, being naturally drawn to it, but there was something odd mixed in.

"Sand?" i questioned inaudibly.

Even though i was reluctant to involve myself and bring myself any closer to the humans, i figured this was worth checking out. Just in case.

Wanting to get this done with as soon as possible, i ran at my full speed, reaching my destination in under a minute. The smell had been thick a left a clear trail so it was easy to follow it to the source. I came to a stop at the edge of a clearing. Within were two boys, i put their ages around 16 and 15, and a girl, who i pegged at 17. Hidden in the bushes, just under my spot in the tree, were two boys, a girl and a small dog.

Those were only the people still living. There were three dead rain-nin. The were very mangled, and i assumed it was thier blood painting the clearing a bright red seeing as none of the other people were hurt. This was the smell that had attracted me. The smell had been so thick simply because there was so much of it. There were a few particles of sand mixed with the blood but the bulk of the smell was wafting off of the boy with red hair.

During my intial observation none of the genin had noticed me. Pathetic really, but then i hadn't expected them to anyways. I took the opportunity to snoop around in the minds of the Leaf team below me.

'Akamaru's freaked,' the boy with the red markings on his face remarked, 'That guy must be really strong – we have to get out of here!'

'T-Those guys are s-scary,' the only girl stuttered in her mind. Pathetic, what kind of kunoichi stutters. Weren't they teaching the shinobie rules of conduct to these kids at the academy anymore?

'My bugs, they're acting strange.' So the boy with the glasses was an Aburame.

The genin on the ground were clearly scared shit less. The information i had gleaned from their minds told me that the red hair boy, the youngest, had ruthlessly slaughtered the rain-nin.

I turned my attention to the three in the clearing that the ones in hiding were thinking about. The girl was standing about 20ft away from the bodies, her blond hair was tied up in four ponytails, and she had a look of confidence on her face that faltered when the killer turned to face the bushes where the other three were hiding. He sensed them and was going to attack. Since it was not my place or job to interfere, i watched passively, yet with great interest. Before the sand boy could close his fist and release a wave of death upon the bushed the other male stepped forward and roughly grabbed the strap that held he gourd upon the green eyed boy's back.

"Listen, I'm the older brother and you will do what I say!" his voice was loud and rang through the clearing and to my ears. Although, even if it had been the faintest whisper i would have picked it up.

"I do not consider you a sibling, let alone a person I would take orders from. Let go before I kill you." his tone was cold, so cold it scared the boy clad in the jumpsuit into letting him go.

"Please Gaara, for your sister, no more killing," the blond said hesitantly, speaking for the first time as sand began to pour from the gourd 'Gaara' carried on his back.

So they were siblings. There were a lot of differences, but I could clearly see the subtle similarities that no one else would even notice. But it wasn't how they were related that interested me, it was the fact that the boy Gaara had the power to control sand. Although i had already determined him to be the source of the sand, i had yet to see it in action. It slithered from his gourd with a dry rushing sound and coiled to the ground like a lazy snake bringing with it an almost overpowering smell of blood.

'So this is Shukaku's container,' I realized, putting two and two together. i knew that the sand had the one tail in their possession and that i had been placed inside a jinchuricki. What really gave it away though, besides the control of the sand, black rings around the eyes, and the obvious blood lust, was the massive amounts of chackra leaking off of him. i didn't know why i hadn't realized it sooner.

As his cold green eyes slid over in her direction she visibly flinched. He grunted, the sand slowly retreated back into his gourd and she breathed out a sigh of relief.

I didn't need to look to know that the three in the bushed had already hightailed it out of there. As soon as their muscles had allowed they were gone, running from the danger the animal instincts of their brain had picked up. Humans were no better than animals.

'God, I thought he was going to kill me!' the boy in black thought in relief. 'I wouldn't put it past him though…' his last thought was laced with resentment and hatred. It was feelings directed towards Gaara. I was almost relieved that he didn't share my ability to read minds and couldn't hear what his brother was thinking.

'Thank god – I thought he was going to kill him,' Temari's thought were nothing but a dull annoyance in my mind. Such trivial thoughts were not worth my time when humans only thought about their own self preservation or that of someone they deemed necessary to their existence, what they usually called bonds.

They older boy and girl, now identified as Temari and Kunkuro, continued to think about trivial things and i tuned them out once again. i prepared to leave, the situation had tuned out to be nothing that required my attention. Suddenly i realized that i had only blocked the thoughts of the two older siblings and yet all was quiet. There weren't any thoughts coming from Gaara.

Unnerved, a rare state of feeling for me, i turned back towards the clearing where the sand-nin were starting to take thier leave. I studied The silent boy, saw every move of his body, every blink, every twitch he wasn't even aware of. I probed lightly with my mind towards his, trying to enter his mind, but still heard not the faintest murmur.

It was strangely irritating. I had longed for silence, to have my mind as my own and not have to endure the mundane thoughts of everyday humans. But now that there was one i couldn't read i felt unsettled.

Obviously i was to caught up in my contemplation or i would have never leaned so far forward. The slight movement caught Gaaras eye and he stopped, angling his head in my direction. My state of confusion only became more tangled as his eye stared at me with hate. i couldn't read the thought behind those eyes, the reason for such a look. i suposs it didn't matter though, he was going to try and attack me any second.

His sand whipped towards me at a surprisng speed and destroyed the branch i had just occupied. i landed lightly in front of Temari and Kunkuro, who had turned thie heads at the sound of swishing sand. They abruptly snapped their attention forwards and settled into battle stances.

"Who the hell are you?!" demanded a surprised Kankuro. Although he was trying to hide it behind a charade of cockiness, he was slightly afraid. i could smell it on his skin.

I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. I wasn't really interested in him; it was Gaara whom I was here for. As long as i was in the clearing and in plain view i might as well investigate the inigma before me. I walked around the two older siblings and regarded each of them icily. They were stronger than normal gennin but nowhere near my level. I would be more than enough of a match for them if they chose to foolishly attack. They both tensed up in anticipation, thinking that I was here for their scroll. I turned my back on them, no longer interested, and faced Gaara. I walked slowly towards him, testing his shielded mind with every step.

A gust of wind rushed by, blowing up some stray leaves so they danced in the air, Gaara directly in the path of it. The wind although a gentle breeze smacked me full in the face with his smell. It wasn't the smell of blood soaked sand like earlier, it was fresh and sweet. It was his blood.

I only had a second to register the smell and to fight what was going to happen when my mind gave over to instinct. And they were telling me to kill this boy. Fire trailed harsh punishing kisses from my throat to my brain as i tried to take a gasping breath of air laden with his scent.

The rational side of my brain, gagged in the corner, knew what was going on. He smelled to good and my instincts were winning in the fight for control. Instinct hadn't ruled my thought process since a very long time ago when i had been made anew, before i had control. I remembered what i had looked like back then, black eyes, elongated dirty nails caked with blood and grime, mouth twisted into a feral snarls, and fangs that dripped with salivation.

I could already taste his blood. My throat was suddenly as dry as the desert from which he came. I knew that only his chackra infused blood could quench the burn, would make me feel bliss for a few fleeting moments.

He looked at me, his facial expression was unemotional but i didn't need to read his mind to recognize the shock in his eyes. I could also recognized the reflection of myself in his glassy orbs. Somehow i had ended crouched on the ground, lips twisted into a snarl, eyes black as ink, and claws that gripped the earth. It was what he saw, a deranged monster in the woods. If i wasn't consumed with the strain of not ripping his throat out i would have laughed bitterly at the truth of the reflection.

His scent made my rational brain slow, hazy, and unwilling to cooperate. It made my instincts sharp and pronounced, heightened. It was a struggle between my mind and body. I crouched lower to the ground and dug my finger into the earth, fingers that wanted to clench harshly around his throat. The ground made way easily for my finger leaving ten deep furrows and my nails digging sharply into my palms.

I tried to focus on the face I had seen in his eyes a few seconds earlier. I was revolted. In my mind I was standing before a mirror. In that mirror was my reflection; a monster. A monster, me. The thing i had worked long to suppress, to overcome.

The wind blew his scent to me again and the few moments of control I had ended. I felt a stab of bitter emotion towards the wind, it was torturing me.

Unwillingly i began to form plans of attack. I would approach him and kill him, it seemed so inevitable. But first I would have to destroy evidence – the number one rule.

If I killed him first it would give his siblings about 15 seconds to react. It would be more difficult to catch and kill them if they were fighting or running away. Not impossible, not even hard. There would be plenty of time for screaming and attacking though. Anyone would be able to hear the ruckus. But i doubted anyone would be able to investigate before i was finished, if they even bothered.

But his blood would lose its warmth if I killed him first.

So his siblings first, then.

I would have to kill them quickly. They wouldn't be able to escape into the forest; I was faster and could stop them before they reached it. It would take about two seconds to snap each of their necks, giving Gaara only four seconds to react.

No.

I couldn't kill them. Normally I wouldn't try so hard to keep a human alive, especially from myself. But this one was different and my need to know why was a powerful contender against my need for his blood.

My breath became ragged. But I didn't have to breathe.

I quickly stopped the flow of air to my lungs. The relief was immediate but not complete – I still had the memory of the scent in my head, the taste on the back of my tongue. I wouldn't be able to resist for long, but maybe long enough to get out of there.

My instincts raged trying to pull the monster that was me forward into action.

I released the last of my air with a loud hiss. I hated this kid, his mind taunted me with its silence, and his blood tortured me with its smell.

It was an uncomfortable feeling, not breathing. My body didn't need oxygen but it went against my natural instincts which were struggling o lavish in his deviously sweet scent. Smell was the main sense I used. It was used in the hunt and warned me of danger. Not that there were many things as dangerous as me.

I was snapped out of my thought's and struggles when I heard sand being sent my way. I dodged with ease and jumped into a tree. His attack gave me a distraction, survival outweighing hunger. My rational mind got grasp and i without hesitation shot away from the clearing before the sand nin even knew what happened.

Three rock-nin lay dead at my feet, their tan skin already turning blue as death took its hold on their bodies.

It hadn't taken much effort to kill the three. They were weak and I felt no remorse at killing them. They were eventually going to die anyway, I was just speeding up the process. They had been the first people I had killed in a while.

I could last for quite some time without drinking blood by my body in a sort of stasis that required pumping chackra at a continuously slow pace throughout me body. But the encounter with Gaara had left me with a thirst tat wouldn't abate and i knew the only solution was to hunt. With no other prey available i killed the closest warm blooded humans i could find. When i was out in civilization i made a rule to only kill the worst of the scum, to rid the world of the worst humans, taking a sort of vindictive pleasure from it. But the rock nin would do.

I hadn't spared Gaara out of some sort of guilt or glimmer of humanity. I needed to know more before he died, to find out why i couldn't hear his thought and read his mind. To simplify the overcomplicated mystery that was presented before me.

No, he defiantly couldn't die before then.