Hi! This is my very first story on FanFiction! And yes. My OC is named Emiko, which is also the alias (ha! I have an alias!) I use here on FanFiction and deviantART. So I hope you guys like it!

DISCLAIMER - I do not own Naruto or the chracters other than my OC, Emiko

~~Gaara's New Friend~~

The sun was high in the sky as Gaara swung back and forth on his swing. He watched as all the other kids played on the playground. What he would give to play with them. To feel accepted and not called 'monster' or have people run away from him whenever he came near. Why did his father have to seal the Shukaku within him? Why did his sister and brother hate him so much? He looked at the sun and sighed.

Emiko looked towards where Gaara sat on his lonely swing. "Hey, Mari. Why don't we ever talk to Gaara?" she asked her Mari. They were sitting with two other girls in a circle under the shade of a tree.

Coloring in her picture she had drawn, Mari answered, "Because he's a freak. My daddy said that his father sealed the spirit of the Shukaku in him. My daddy also said that we should stay away from him because he could kill us at any minute."

Emiko looked at her with confused eyes. "But he didn't ask to have the Shukaku sealed in him. My father said that we should make friends with him because he might be lonely. I never like to be alone. He must feel sad." she said while turning her head to look at him again.

"Well, then. Your daddy is stupid." she said still coloring her picture.

Emiko whipped her head around to face Mari. "How dare you insult my father! My father is a very wise shinobi!"

Mari laughed and looked at Emiko. "Ha! Wise shinobi? Yeah right. Your father is a stupid, reckless idiot."

Her face couldn't look any scarier than it did then. She couldn't keep her anger bottled up. Emiko's fist flew towards Mari's nose. She fell over crying and bleeding. "Ahh! My nose! You broke my nose!" she screamed. Everyone turned and stared at the scene. Some gasped and pointed.

"Don't you ever insult my father again!" Emiko yelled at Mari. She then walked away, her face full of disgust.

When she was walking away she saw Gaara staring at her. She smiled and headed over towards him. Gaara saw this and instantly looked away, blushing. He squeezed his teddy tightly.

"Hi. I'm Emiko." she said, smiling at him. "What's your name?" she asked even though she knew it. Her mother had told her that it was polite to ask anyway.

"Ga...Ga...Gaara." he stuttered.

She smiled and held her hand out towards him. He looked at him and then her. She chuckled at his confused expression. "You're suppose to shake it. Its a gesture for saying hello."

He looked at her. He liked how smart she was. She was polite and had excellent grammar. He had over heard her conversation with the other girl and he loved how she called her dad 'father' and not 'my daddy' like the other girl.

Slowly he shook her hand.

Emiko looked at the empty swings. "Do you mind if I swing with you?" she asked Gaara, her hazel eyes shining in the bright sunlight.

Gaara was blown out of his mind by this question. Never was he asked to be accompanied by someone else. Never! Everyone was to terrified to be near him. He looked at this girl and thought she was a angel. The wind blew across her face causing her long, wavy, chocolate brown hair to blow away. Her perfect white smile seemed to glow with the sun.

He then looked away, realizing that he was staring. "Um. S...Sure." he stammered.

She sat down on the swing next to Gaara. She began to swing back and forth, lifting her legs and then letting them drop. But soon she stopped and looked at Gaara. She saw his teddy, that he was holding onto tightly. "You have a teddy bear too!" she squealed.

Gaara looked down at teddy then at her and blushed. "What do you mean by 'too'?" he asked her.

"I have one at home. But its white and well not a teddy bear. Its a unicorn. And its horn is a sparkly pink!" she told him.

"Do you like building blocks?" Gaara randomly asked.

She looked at him and smiled, happy that he had started to talk. "Yeah, I do! I have a really big bin of building blocks at home," she said and then she nudged him, "You should come over to play one day!"

Gaara couldn't believe his ears. This girl, Emiko, wanted him to go over to her house. The boy everyone calls 'monster', 'freak', and other horrible names. The boy everyone runs away from. "That would be nice." he whispered but it was caught in the wind.

"Hmm. Did you say something, Gaara?" she asked, looking at him.

He shook his head, "No."

"Time to come in!" the teacher yelled at the entrance of the school.

Emiko got off of her swing and started towards the doors but stopped when she realized Gaara wasn't following. She looked behind her. There he was, still on the swing, looking at the ground. She waved towards him, "Come on Gaara! Time to go in!"

He looked up and saw Emiko waiting for him. He got up and started to walk towards her but was soon running to catch up.

When they were inside the teacher had announced that they were going to take a walk around the village and that they were going to need a buddy to walk with.

Gaara closed his eyes and waited for everyone to quickly grab their best friend as a buddy like they always did, leaving him to walk with the teacher. But something warm wrapped around his hand and he opened his eyes instantly looking towards his hand. A small hand had intertwined itself into his hand. He looked up to find that this hand had belonged to Emiko. "Here's my buddy!" she proudly announced, squeezing Gaara's hand tightly.

But then a boy came up to them and said to Emiko, "Hey, Emiko could you be my buddy? Everyone else is taken."

Gaara sighed. His first time to time to have a buddy and then someone sweeps her right away. But what he heard surprised him.

"Sorry, Akio. But I already have a partner." She held up her hand that was intertwined with Gaara's.

Akio looked at Gaara as if he hadn't known he was standing there, which probably he didn't. "What? You're buddies with this freak?" he chuckled.

Gaara looked at Emiko who looked mad. "Gaara is not a freak." she said in a stern voice.

Oh My God! Gaara thought to himself. She stood up for me! He looked up at this beautiful girl and just knew that she was sent from heaven to liberate him from his loneliness.

Right then the teacher came over and noticed that Akio didn't have a partner. "Alright. Akio, you'll be my buddy." The teacher took his hand and led him to the front. "Alright! Everyone! Stay close to your buddies. Lets go!" the teacher said while pushing the doors open.

Emiko looked forward, a smile, that seemed to never go away, on her lips. She hadn't noticed that Gaara was staring at her with awe.

Emiko? Smiling child. That seem right. Gaara smiled at her and squeezed her hand.