The Boy in the Mirror

by CANARYwolf

The first time I saw him was odd. I got scared, and ran. The second time, I did the same. The third time… I got curious. GaaraXOC Mainly fluff

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Naruto world or characters. I do own this OC, Alexa. Nice. Let's get started then.

The first time I saw him was odd. I got scared, and ran. The second time, I did the same. The third time… I got curious.

I was six, that day- my sixth birthday- and I'd crept out of my room in the middle of the night. I guess it must have been around 4 or 5 in the morning, and I was so excited that I was six, 'the high and mighty six', that I couldn't sleep. I opened the door of my room a crack and slipped out into the dark hallway. The shadows from the windows didn't scare me, as light moved along the wall from the odd car driving down the street outside. Clutching Arnold, the long-suffering teddy bear, I was padding along the corridor when I heard a noise. I hadn't even been sure where I was going, but I froze all the same. It came again, a half-muffled sob, and I spun around to face my parents' room, only I could tell that the noise wasn't from them. I could still hear my dad's rumbling snores and my mother's quieter breathing. So I pulled Arnold tighter and snuck along the passageway a little further. It was dark enough that I almost missed him, huddled up as small as he was. He saw me, though. I had nearly passed the mirror when I detected movement to my left. My breath caught in my throat as, wide-eyed, I whirled to face the wall, away from the reflection. You know, if I can't see you, you can't see me.

"Hello…?" a husky voice whispered behind me, and I squealed, fleeing back to my room. Slamming the door shut, I threw myself under my duvet, hiding myself completely. A moment later, I heard movement outside and shuddered. The door opened.

"Lexy… Lexy…? What's wrong?" My mother's voice echoed into the night as I slowly peeked out. She smiled and my lip quivered, "Bad dream?" She asked with a hint of amusement in her voice as she came and sat on my bed, tucking me in again. I nodded slowly,

"There was a boy in the mirror." I muttered, and she patted my hair down,

"Sure there was. Right, you're a big girl now! Six years old! So are you going to be brave and go back to sleep for me?"

"Mm… but there really was a boy." I said sleepily as my eyes began closing. I didn't hear what she replied.

The next time I saw him, I was a whole year older, almost to the minute. Not that I hadn't tried to find him before that. On my sixth birthday, I sat in front of the mirror for hours, waiting for him to come back; only I didn't see him again. After a few days I gave it up as a dream. But I couldn't quite tell myself that when the same thing happened again.

I woke up at 4 a.m. on my seventh birthday, and wondered why. After a year, I had all but forgotten the meeting, and again I got wanderlust for my silent house. Feeling the déja-vu, I pulled the door handle with both my hands and swung it open slowly, to keep it quiet. Stealing quickly along the carpet, I soon found myself at the mirror. I stopped, captivated by the look of my big brown eyes in the moonlight, and that was when I finally remembered. Before I could think too much, I saw movement reflected, to the left of my shoulder, and looked around. The hallway was empty and, fearfully, I turned slowly back around. He was standing directly in front of me, and I could see that he was only a little taller. His pale eyes shone at me out of the mirror and I saw that they were ringed with black. He opened his mouth to speak, his eyes troubled, and I fled.

"Wait!" I heard him shout as I leapt back into bed. This time, no one came to comfort me, and I stared at the door- at the narrow sliver of light intruding under it from the windows on the landing. After a long time, I didn't know how long, I felt the small shivers dancing down my small spine, and I sighed, letting myself be pulled back into sleep.

It was years before I saw him again. I woke up in the night every single birthday. But I didn't venture out. I was too scared. By the time I was fourteen, I was starting to laugh at myself for an overactive imagination. So when I turned fifteen and woke up, I got up. Ignoring my nerves screaming to run and hide, I opened the door and padded back into the well-known hall. My thoughts were turned to my memories, to proving that a childhood monster of mine hadn't existed. After years, I could almost dismiss it all as dreams. Almost. I reached the mirror and, with my breath held, I slowly turned to stare into it. Nothing. I let out the air in a sigh and slid down the wall facing the mirror. A car drove by outside and I watched the patterns it made on the wall. My parents were away- a party up in town- and I wondered if that car would turn out to be theirs, but it roared away into the night. Then I looked back into the mirror, straight into his eyes.

"Don't run." He commanded, and I obeyed, hardly daring to breathe.

"Who… are you?" I whispered. He was older too, the same blood red hair falling into his eyes, the same dark rings around his eyes.

"You don't know?" He asked coldly, and I smiled,

"I know you keep appearing in my mirror." I said. He looked slightly startled,

"I appear in your mirror?" He asked incredulously and it was my turn to look at him in surprise,

"Yeah… who are you, anyway?"

He ignored my question, studying my face,

"What jutsu is this?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Why are you watching me through my mirror?"

"Why am I watching you? Why are you watching me, more like! You've been appearing here since I was six."

"So have you… What village do you come from?"

"Village? No, I come from a city. Birmingham. It's in the UK."

"The UK… where is that?"

"…Europe… what about you?"

"I am the Kazekage of the Village Hidden in the Sand of the Wind Country."

"…What?"

"You're rude, speaking to me like that. I am very powerful."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever- where did you say you were from?"

He looked a little pissed off, but sat cross-legged in front of me, where my wall should have been,

"You don't know where the Wind Country is?"

"No. And you don't seem to have heard of Europe. That's weird, you know."

"Don't call me weird." He snapped, and I put my hands up,

"I'm not! I'm not! Jeez, what's got into you?" I raised my eyebrow as his glowing eyes met mine,

"Do you think I'm a monster?" he asked quietly. I cast my mind back to the years I'd spent in fear of The Boy in the Mirror,

"… Not anymore."

"Anymore?" His voice sounded sharp,

"Well you're clearly just another guy. It just so happens that you live in my mirror." I shrugged, "I bet I'll get up in the morning and think that this is a dream. Maybe it is a dream."

"It's not." He said, "And you're wrong… I'm not 'just another guy'." I didn't like the dark tone of his voice, but I asked anyway,

"What do you mean?"

"You clearly live far away from where I am. I have a demon inside of me. I've killed."

I sat staring at him for a minute,

"You're lying!" I mumbled, but his gaze held mine and I frowned, "Look, I don't even think this is real!"

He rolled his eyes,

"So you are just like everyone else, then. Don't believe me. I just hurt everyone close to me anyway."

"Now I bet that's not true!" I chided in spite of myself, "You're interesting."

"Like an experiment?" He asked bitterly,

"No, because you're in my mirror." I said simply. We sat considering each other for a few minutes, "What's your name? You never said."

"Neither did you."

"So?"

"Sabaku no Gaara."

"That's a mouthful."

"Gaara, then."

"I'm Alexa. How old are you?"

"Fifteen."

"So am I! It's my birthday today."

"I don't have one."

"What? You don't have a birthday?"

"It doesn't matter anyway."

I looked at him suspiciously,

"So how do you know how old you are?"

He looked down, his eyes unreadable, and for a second I caught sight of a tattoo on his forehead- love. Strange.

"I use the new year. When the sun comes up on New Year's Day, I'm a year older."

"You like the sunrise?"

He didn't answer, not that I was expecting him to. I smiled to myself,

"This feels odd."

"What?"

"Talking to a guy in a mirror."

"You're the one in the mirror." He retorted, and I grinned,

"So what do you do? This 'kazekage' thing?"

"The Kazekage is the best ninja in the village."

"No way! You're a ninja! Really?"

He raised an eyebrow at me,

"Is that so odd?"

I shrugged,

"There aren't ninja in this country, not really. At least, I don't think so. You act like it's normal."

"It is."

"So you don't go to school?"

"No."

"Shame. I do," I looked at him again, "Is that a tattoo?"

He immediately twitched, causing his fringe to fall over the mark I'd seen on his forehead, hiding it,

"It's nothing."

"Jeez, don't worry! But I don't see why you're hiding it now. If it's embarrassing, you shouldn't have put it on your face!" I lectured, "Seriously, your parents let you get a tattoo even though you're only fifteen?"

I knew I'd said the wrong thing. He froze, his eyes glowing,

"My parents would not care. They are dead."

I gasped,

"Oh crap, I'm sorry! I mean, I'm really, really sorry-!"

"No." He cut me off, "They would not care. I am hated. My father tried to have me assassinated." I sat there in dumbfounded silence, not knowing what to say, "But that's normal. Is it that different where you come from?" I nodded quietly,

"That's… illegal."

He laughed bitterly,

"What? Killing is against the law?"

"Yeah…"

"We're a ninja society. That would be a little stupid."

I sighed,

"Even if it's a ninja society, I don't get why you thought I would have been inside your mirror, with a 'jutsu'."

He looked a little taken aback,

"You don't know about chakra?"

"Yeah, that's the stuff hippies talk about to make you calm and meditate or something, isn't it?"

He gave a small chuckle,

"No. Not quite."

I frowned,

"What is it then?"

He made a few hand movements, like sign language, on the other side of the mirror, and I heard the noise of rushing sand, flying around to surround him until I couldn't see him any more,

"Hey, Gaara! Gaara! What's happening?" I shouted. The sand suddenly dropped; revealing him crouching, unhurt, in the centre of the storm. A smile was playing around his lips,

"That was just one of my jutsus."

"… What?"

"All ninja can use chakra to make their own jutsus using the elements."

"Like magic?" I didn't want to believe him, but I'd seen the sandstorm he'd created with my own eyes, "Oh, you live in the Village Hidden in the Sand, don't you? So you do sand jutsus… it kinda makes sense… in a way."

He shook his head,

'You don't really get it, do you?"

"No." I bit my lip, "Take me through it one more time?"

He sighed, and started to explain it, slower this time, as I nodded along. His features had softened and I saw that he had high cheekbones and a defined torso. Then I mentally slapped myself for the inappropriate thoughts, and tuned back into his explanation about the three sorts of jutsu.

When I woke up, it took me a minute to realise where I was. The weak dawn light was hitting me at an odd angle, and I remembered that the boy in the mirror- Gaara, I mean- and me had talked for hours. I still didn't believe all the stuff he told me about where he lived, in the desert and all, but he looked so convincing when he said it. In the same way, he didn't really understand all the things I said about school and my city and cars and things like iPods, but he listened all the same. I shook my head, trying to fend off the dizziness that was creeping up on me, and staggered back into my room for another few hours of sleep before school started.

They didn't believe me, at school. Even my best friends, who listened all the way through the story, just nodded and rolled their eyes,

"That's a dream, Alex!" They groaned, and I just shrugged, in the end. I was sure it had happened, even though it was so unlikely. They could all live in disbelief. I was going to see Gaara that night as well.

Except I didn't, of course. I waited up all night, willing him to appear in front of me, in the mirror, but he never came. Not the night after that, or the one after that. I felt hurt, that I'd lost this new friend, this interesting mirror friend, and I spent more days than maybe were necessary eating ice cream straight out of the pot, then exams started creeping up on me and he got pushed to the back of my mind.

It was hard to forget him when I woke up at 4 a.m. on my sixteenth birthday. Exactly ten years after it had all started. I sat bolt upright and a grin spread across my face. Reaching for the door, my face suddenly grew hot as I realised I was wearing little more than a vest and shorts. Waving around in the dark, my hands grabbed a long, grey dressing gown and I quickly pulled it over my arms. I took a deep breath and went out into the hallway once more. The lights on the walls, reflections from the street, made me feel self-conscious as I hurried along the landing.

"Hello?" He called, and I gulped,

"Gaara?"

"Yeah."

I smiled shyly and went up to the mirror, where he was standing a little anxiously,

"What's wrong?" I asked, as I settled myself on the floor. He considered me for a second, then did the same,

"I just didn't know if you would come or not. I looked out for you in this mirror for a year." He said reproachfully,

"Hey! I did too!" I argued, "Maybe this… thing… only works once a year. When I have a birthday."

His face twitched a little and it took me a bit to remember that that meant he found something funny,

"That's an odd view. That the world revolves around you."

I pouted,

"Well, why not?"

He raised his eyebrows,

"You can think that if you want."

We sat in silence for a moment, and then we both laughed nervously,

"How have you been?" I blurted out,

"I… I've been good." He murmured, "I… like being Kazekage."

I grinned,

"Damn straight you should, Mister all-powerful ninja-man!"

He blushed,

"It's not… like that!" He muttered and I sighed,

"Yeah right. Whatever!"

"So… how have you been?"

"The usual. Exams, friends, that sort of thing." He frowned, "Oh, right, you don't know about those sorta things." His eyes darkened, and I hastily backtracked, "That's not what I meant! I mean, you don't do exams, do you?"

He looked at me thankfully, for understanding, and shook his head,

"Actually, you have to pass exams to be ninjas. Like the chuunin exams I told you about last year. Where I met that guy Naruto." He took one look at my confused expression and sighed, "I'll explain it to you again."

We talked for a couple of hours and then I noticed the light starting to trickle in on his side of the glass,

"I have to go." He said abruptly, and stood up. I followed him, standing awkwardly in front of him,

"Well… it was nice to see you again." That shocked a laugh out of him,

"You too," His eyes crinkled, "You're… interesting."

I stuck my tongue out at him,

"No, I'm just normal in this world, I guess."

"No. You're different. People can't be that different to one another, even if they're ninjas or not." I blushed at his compliment,

"Same time next year?" I offered. He nodded,

"I'll be waiting." I bit my lip and gave him a little wave, tearing myself away from my spot in the hallway and making my way back to my room, "Alexa?" He called, and I spun around, "Thank you!"

"For what?" I asked, but he didn't reply. I ran back to the mirror but I could only see myself. I grimaced at the reflection, complete with red, tired eyes and unbrushed hair, and thanked the lordy for the darkness that must have hidden my appearance from him. Why could he look so perfect in the middle of the night?

A year later, I was ready to meet him. I stayed up secretly while I heard my parents get ready to go to bed. Then, when everything was quiet at last, I changed into jeans and a proper top, not a shabby pyjama monstrosity, and ran a comb through my hair. Laughing at my own fussiness, I stole along the corridor an hour earlier than normal, and settled myself in front of the mirror to wait.

His voice woke me up. I realised I must have dozed off sitting in that position, because my back ached and he was smirking at me,

"Alexa? Wake up!" I rubbed my eyes and tried not to gasp at his appearance. He'd shot up in the last year, gaining a muscled chest that he had assured me every ninja would have, but I couldn't believe that they all looked as, well, hot as him. His usually distant aqua eyes had gained a slight spark and his tousled hair was a bit longer and all over the place.

"Uh- Gaara! Hi!" He laughed as I struggled back into a sitting position and slumped down on the wall opposite me, "How are you?"

"Good. And you?"

"Yeah, yeah. Good. How's life in ninja land?"

"Complicated." I waited for him to expand, but he didn't.

"Yeah, well, it's pretty complicated here too. In that, I had to learn to cook. Seriously, I wouldn't trust me cooking. But the parents are out a lot, and I couldn't live my life out of tins anymore."

"My sister can't cook either." He said, and I noted that he'd volunteered that information, something I don't think he would have done two years ago.

"Don't tell me! Wait… Temari?"
"Yeah."

"And your brother is…-"

"Kankuro."

"I was getting there! Jeez! How are they, anyway?"

"Mmm, they're ok. Temari has become our ambassador to the Village Hidden in the Leaves. And… I'm getting on better with them, now."

"No way! Really? But that's great! See, that Naruto guy was good for you!"

He smiled and nodded,

"How are your parents?" He asked and my face fell, "We don't have to talk about them, if you don't want to." He said when he noticed my expression,

"No, it's ok, if you don't mind me moaning for a bit." I shrugged, "They're never home. It gets a bit… lonely, to be honest."

"I know how you feel." He said shortly and I smiled thankfully at him,

"How are your villagers?"

"They're coming round to the idea… that I might actually be a human being with feelings." I heard the bitterness in his voice, and compensated over-brightly,

"Well, isn't that great? You know, you should get a student or something. I bet the younger generation won't act like that half as much if they're not following stupid old people."

If he noticed my quick response, he said nothing,

"People respect their elders here. They have a lot of pull."

"Well, maybe they shouldn't!" I scowled, "That's what makes me angry! I mean, if an old person's treated with respect because they've learned a lot from their life and they'll help you, well that's fine. But what I don't like is when old people who are no wiser than me act like I should kiss their feet just because they've managed to survive for a few more decades than I've had a chance to yet."

He smiled wryly at my rant,

"But that's different to my country. As a ninja, if you have survived that long, you definitely know something worth learning."

I shrugged,

"Well if they still hate you then they haven't learnt the important stuff." I muttered and he grinned,

"Thank you."

"Hey, that reminds me." I started, and he raised an eyebrow, "Why'd you say that last year?"

He ducked and I thought I saw a little blush creep across his cheeks,

"Um… well… it's… you're the first friend I've ever had. Apart from Naruto, and I haven't actually seen him since the exams. So it's not the same thing. You… are nice."

"Jeez. Nice. Thanks." I said sarcastically and his glared at me, "I mean, that's really sweet, actually." I conceded and he smiled a little again. Then he looked up, to somewhere out of my line of sight,

"Alexa, I have to go." He stated, and rose.

"What? Why?" I whined.

"I have business to attend to." He replied and started to disappear,

"Oh, Kazekage stuff, right? Hey, next year, ok? I'll be here!" I called and the last thing I saw of him was a crinkling in his eyes as he laughed, before the mirror went blank and I got up. Blushing, I hurried back to my room.

A year later, I felt the shivers of nervousness rush down my spine as I prepared myself to go and meet him again. At eighteen, a whole load of things had happened in my life outside of Gaara. But that didn't stop the enthusiasm I felt as I hurried down my hallway to greet him once more. I got to the darkened mirror and squinted, but I couldn't see him normally luminous eyes staring back. Confused, I sat down on the floor- I was later than normal. I'd slept past four, actually, and normally he was there way before that. That was when I saw it. The letter.

Biting my lip, I grabbed the envelope and tore at it. Scrabbling for the paper inside I felt sand trickle into my hand and clutched it, my body beginning to tremble in anxiety. The script on the page was long and slanted, simple, just as I would have expected it to be.

Alexa,

If you get this, I'm gone. I told them to put this by the mirror on this day if something had happened to me. I hope it gets through the glass. Thank you for being there for me. I never told you, but talking to you gave me hope for winning over the villagers. I felt, if you weren't afraid of what I was, then they wouldn't be. I'm sorry if this sounds weird. It is not strange, for a Kazekage to die so young. Especially not one with a demon inside of him. But it must be strange in your world. I do not want you to be sad because of my death. You're normally so happy.

Gaara

That was it. Barely a paragraph. I stared into the mirror, into my own eyes I could see in the dark. I wondered desperately what could have happened to him. I just hoped his villagers had not turned against him. I didn't want to have died that way. But I could never tell for sure. Tears slid into my vision as I felt the sobs bubble up inside.

He didn't come back the year after that.

Or the one after that.

He was gone.

Ok this is my first fan fiction so don't be ashamed to speak your exact thoughts!!! Sorry it's so long. I need all the help I can get, by the way… so cyber hugs for anyone who reviews! Xx