Author's note (2019/06/11): Hello everyone, thank you all for reading my story! I appreciate every view, favourite, follow, and review as originally posting this story with its many errors and shortcomings helped me write better as a fan of Naruto who enjoys creative-writing and fanfiction. This story has been nearly completely rewritten from the original posting I made in 2014, and has been edited many times to fix many Mary Sue-isms and plot-holes I created by mistake (I am not a professional writer by any means, but I would like to get better at it). As stated above, this story you are about to read is a redacted version of the original version of the story I posted in 2014 called "Wolf and the Tanuki" (which itself is a rewritten/reposted version of the story I first posted on Quizilla in 2007 with a cringey OC and zero-to-no-plot). This is the last version of this story (I promise), and my other stories I was working on (that were since deleted because of editing this one) will be posted once this story is near completion.
Thank you for your patience; I hope you enjoy my story! xx
Sand and Snow
A Kazekage's Tale
~Part I~
Chapter 1
One morning within the vast barren desert of the Land of Wind...
The desert winds howled violently without end that day.
As the young girl in the ragged white kimono weakly tried to keep her pace through the sand, her fanged teeth clenched.
She had fair skin burnt by the savage sun, and exhausted lilac eyes that held little hope of surviving the desert's journey.
This was a strange land to her.
Instead of snow, there was sand.
Instead of the cold, there was the strong heat and blinding sunlight.
She wasn't used to it at all.
Her body quivered in the heat.
But she had to get away.
She had to escape.
If she stayed in her village in the far snowy mountains, she would've been killed.
Just like most of the villagers.
With a faint thud, she collapsed onto the desert sand at her feet.
Her faded eyes barely open.
-…Am I… dying…?-
As the desert winds swept past her golden hair, her vision began to darken.
Was this truly the end to her short life?
Having lost hope, she gave in to the darkness.
And welcomed it with open arms…
Within only a few hours, his mission was completed.
Without a single flicker of emotion on his pale face, he crossed the desert.
Expressionlessly.
Although Gaara was now part of the regular Sand ninja troops, he often did missions on his own.
Independently and without question.
His life had changed trajectory since the failed Invasion of Konoha.
Especially since his battle with Uzumaki Naruto only months ago.
He was a changed person after the Chunin Exams.
By being in the regular troops, he was closer to redeeming himself to his village.
Desperately, he wanted to put his cold-blooded killer past behind.
He was no longer the feared weapon of Suna, but a young prodigy who was also Shukaku's jinchuriki.
As he was making his way through the desert, he saw a faint figure in the distance.
Near buried by the sand.
"What's that?"
It was hard to make out because of the forceful desert winds.
Curiously, he walked towards it.
As he walked closer, his eyes widened.
It was a girl.
From his view, she appeared to be dead.
But as he knelt down beside her partially sand-covered body, it was clear she was still alive and breathing.
He narrowed his eyes at her.
Suspiciously.
As he gazed down at her, he thought he seen a faint glimmer of her eyes in the blinding desert sun.
They were a light purple shade, but held little to no consciousness as her eyelids were partially closed.
She was close to death, and her lifeless eyes conveyed her current state with ease and fair warning.
After a moment, her eyes again closed as she lay injured and helpless on the dunes.
Swiftly, the desert winds began to grow more violent, tossing more grains of sand onto her body.
There was no way the girl would survive if he just left her there.
Should he spare her?
"Gaara!"
As he turned, he seen his fellow Sand ninja approaching.
When they seen the girl, they froze.
"A girl! W-Who is she?" A Sand ninja stammered, shocked.
"Could she be a spy?" One suspiciously added. "She doesn't look like she's one of ours. A foreigner?"
One of the ninja knelt down, placing their hand on her neck.
"She has a pulse! She's alive, but just barely."
For a moment, he gazed at the unconscious girl.
Eyes narrowed.
Her breathing was faint, just holding on to life.
"Gaara, what should we do?"
As he thought more of what to do, his conscience got the better of him.
After a long pause, he made his decision.
The sand around her grasped her body, lifting her up from the desert beneath.
Surprising his comrades.
"We return to Suna." He spoke, turning towards them.
Carrying the unconscious girl with his sand, he walked past his comrades towards the direction of the village.
With his comrades soon following…
