AN: Would you guys believe me when I say that I have NEVER watched Naruto…properly? And all their personality and such are based on the fanfiction that I read and it might appear so OOC that it'll make you go 'WHY THE HELL IS SHE WRITING NARUTO FANFIC WHEN SHE HASN'T EVEN SEEN THE SHOW…PROPERLY?'

So I'll apologize now and beg for your forgiveness but this plot bunny was just too darn persistent and Gaara was the only suitable candidate at that time.

Also please remember that at one point of his life Gaara still had some sense of emotion in him…you know? Before the betrayal of his uncle and such

Enjoy and review~ this isn't the last though cuz' this is a trilogy after all ",

[1] How I met Gaara of the Sand

She runs down the stairs. Her blonde hair slowly swaying in the wind and her blue eyes sparkling like water shimmering under the moonlight, she always loved running around in fact her favorite game is tag and she never gets tired of it.

She looks around, heavily panting, when she sees a figure sleeping on the couch. Snoring like an elephant. She walks slowly towards the figure trying her best not to wake the sleeping figure as she smiles tiredly, noticing that it was her Onii-san.

It almost seemed that it was everyday that her Onii-san was out on a mission but she didn't mind it though. She loved her brother to death and if being a ninja is making him happy. Then let it be. She tenderly kisses him on the forehead and places a blanket on his body as she smiles. Knowing, that he wouldn't be waking up until night time then at night time he'd complain, and sometimes boast, about how 'difficult' his mission was. Then goes back to finish his 'difficult' mission.

She runs her hands in her hair and quickly puts it up in a ponytail as she walks towards the fridge and quickly grabs a chocolate bar and runs out of the door. Other than her love for running she loved eating chocolate. You could say it was her cup of coffee in the morning. Although it was hard to get chocolate in the middle of the desert…and trust me it was hard. Her brother, being the ninja that he is, would always bring souvenirs for her. One of which is chocolate. Mizuki was never considered as a kid, not by her brother at least, after both of their parents died on a mission. Her brother cried on their grave, but her? She stood their trying to hold back her tears whilst hiding the sadness behind her smile.

Comforting her crying brother, sadden by the fact that a teenage rebel like him would be brought to tears, while she the one who was always happy and emotional was not even fazed by the sight of the names of her parent engraved on the stone. Someone had to be strong. She had to be strong. For the both of them

She runs around the village. Kicking sand around not aware that everyone looked at her irritably. She looks at all them and sticks her tongue out like the little kid that she is. Gaining grunts and snorts but she ignores it and runs towards the park pushing through crowds that had gathered to watch the Kazekage making his usual rounds of visiting the citizens. Although he was somewhat the king of Suna she never really liked him. Considering the fact that he ignores his own child, treating him like everybody else…a monster.

But she never saw him as such, Gaara that is. All she could see was a kid who had no friends. Defined only by the name people gave him but she didn't approach him too since his brother warned her about him but she still didn't believe that a kid like him could ever be considered a monster even though she knows the result of her actions when she did not heed her brothers warning. She was still compelled to go near him once the kids ran away when he handed the fallen ball to them. He drops it and starts walking away but her legs, having a mind on their own, runs up to him and she stares.

Her blue eyes so striking it was unbelievable that a Suna citizen could have such eyes. Considering that normally they'd be gray or black. She cocks her to the side as she continues to stare. Her blonde hair was in a high ponytail only making a few strands of her hair fall in front of her face. She continues to stare making the young red head in front of her uncomfortable. She smelt faint of…chocolate? 'That was very strange.' The red head thought but what bothered him the most was her courage. No one has ever been this close to him. No one even dared to be this close.

"Ne, are you Gaara?" She speaks. Her voice was monotonous. No fear. No anger. The boy lowers his head as if to hide the fact that he was indeed Gaara but knowing that if he did. It would cause trouble for both of them. He hesitantly nods. Waiting for a scream, panic, or any of the sorts but none came. He raises his head to look at the girl in front of him. Still staring as though his name was merely nothing

"I don't see it." She crosses her hands in front of her chest. Forming a confident posture intimidating the young boy a bit, no one has ever dared to walk up to him let alone talk to him. This was truly a surprise.

"They say you're a monster…"He looks down, losing all hope once she admitted it. He knew it. She thought of him as a monster. Just like everybody else. He lowers his head, ready to attack the girl with his sand out of pure anger but before he could attack the girl opened her mouth to say, "But I just don't see it…" He looks up again a smile plastered on the girls face. "A monster is supposed to look like this…" She reaches up towards her face pulling on the side of the cheeks as she sticks her tongue. Making the funniest face she could come up, well to her, because she started laughing but the boy didn't. But something did compel him to laugh along with her. But he doesn't.

She stops laughing and smiles at the young boy. "You look nothing like that! Unless you do what I did back then of course!" She puts out her hand. The smile still plastered on her angelic face. "My name is Mizuki Darkrai." He doesn't respond still letting the events sink in. A girl…a real human girl was in front of him and she wasn't afraid of him. The girl noticing that he was still awe struck grabs his hand and places his hand on hers and shakes it formally. "Well Gaara. I hope we'll be great friends!" She drops his hand and walks towards the ball and picks it up and dusting the sand off of it.

"Well I really don't know how to play," She pauses and turns to him and places the ball in his hand. The young boy's eyes focused on the girl, not the ball. "Maybe you can show me?" She smiles lightheartedly. Something deep inside the young boy's stomach jumped in excitement. Someone was not scared of him and someone wanted to be friends with him.

"Gaara-kun!" She runs towards him. Her hair not in its usual ponytail but only a small flower clip on the side to keep her bangs from covering her eyes. He had to admit she was definitely what adults would say as 'cute'. She smiles at him even though she was out of breath from running around town. Her favorite sport "Gomen Gaara-kun…" She exhales heavily as she stops her panting "But Onii-san is going out on a mission today and I had to cook his breakfast, lunch, and dinner in one morning. I hope you're not mad." He shakes his head. No matter what the blonde girl did. It never made him mad. Even if she was to be late for ten hours he would've waited patiently. Being in her presence was more than enough.

Her smile would light up his whole world. Her laugh would send him in a daze. And for a moment he feels just like everybody else. Like he is human "So what do you want to play today, Gaara-kun?" She says, snapping him out of his thoughts as she skips lightly almost as if she's dancing. The wind gently playing with her hair as the air fills with the scent of, as he guessed, chocolate. "How about tag?" He says monotonously, she looks back at him as she pouted her lips and she places her hands on her hips.

"Never am I going to play tag, hide and seek, and sand castle making with you again. I always lose!" His eyes widen by her sudden outburst. But quickly softens when a smile comes back to her face. "It's really depressing when I lose. You always catch me when we play tag. You always find me when we play hide and seek. And you always build a bigger castle than me and it makes mine look like a poor excuse of a sand castle." She bites her inner cheek showing her displeasure in spite the smile on her face.

"I think your sand castle is beautiful." She looks at him. The displeasure disappears on her face as she runs towards him and hugs him tightly. Not wanting to let go but had to since she was basically suffocating him. "Arigato, Gaara-kun but I really want to win. So why don't we play a game. That I'll win. You know a game that's definitely my element." She grins and stares at Gaara for a reaction of displeasure but found none. She grabs his hand and runs towards the nearest tree and points at the tree. "So what's the game?" He says monotonously but she still could hear the excitement in his voice.

"It's simple. All we have to do is climb the tree. The first one to reach the first branch, wins." She smiles as she continues. "Since it doesn't involve running, hiding, and making stuff using sand…I'll definitely win!" She shouts in joy as she holds up her fist in the air. He looks at her worriedly but she just shrugs it off.

"Don't worry. I'm a climbing machine. I'll go first to check if it's sturdy." Before he could retort back. She was already climbing up the tree as the young boy stares at her worriedly. Looking observantly as she almost fall from taking a misstep but she continues to climb as she smiles happily after she's perched on the branch. She waves back to the young boy to stop him from worrying. "See? It's not as bad as you thought I'm fine and there are some awesome views you can see up here."

She grins from ear to ear. Something was tugging on the young boys lips but quickly disappears when she stands up and walks towards the edge of the branch. "Mizuki!" He shouts worriedly but she continues smile. Then, like time stopped, she took a misstep but she doesn't regain her balance as she falls. Gaara's heart panicked, feeling like he was going to lose something important. Someone very precious, he raises his hand as sand started to gather below the tree. As the sand engulfs her, catching her frail body as she lands with an 'Umfp'. He runs towards her. His heart so heavy he felt like it would fall out of his chest. But the sight of her laughing was a relief as it lights up his world again. "Mizuki, are you all right?" He asks panic was still evident in his voice.

"I guess I was right..." She stands up straight as she brushes off the sand on her clothes. "You're always going to catch me when I'm in trouble! So you better catch me. K?" She smiles. Never knowing that her smile. Lights up his whole world, making him feel like, like he was loved

Little did he know that this would be his last time to see her or her comforting smile