Hi people! This is my first fan fiction and I hope you like it! Constructive criticism welcome! It's a little confusing at first, but as the story progresses more things will begin to make more sense. Some of the Naruto world suff is wrong, (I haven't watched the Naruto series for a while) so I'm sorry if there are any mistakes. Before I forget (thanks to mrslordfluffy for reminding me about this), I do not own Gaara, the Naruto world, or any other characters, I only created Saylin. Warning (thanks again to mrslordfluffy) Gaara is a little out of character, but that is only to get the story going.
Ch. 1 Saylin, Friend of Gaara
Saylin stumbled down the street, the wild sand storm made her bright green eyes burn. She closed them to protective slits while hugging her cloak tightly around her. Another blast of sandy wind almost knocked her off her feet as she struggled to, and finally grasped the shiny gold doorknob on her house. She quickly unlocked the door, opened it, and pulled herself inside, grabbed the key, and slammed the door shut behind her. Saylin panted softly as she took off her shoes and laid her maroon cloak like jacket on a hanger. She sat down at her table, waiting for her breath to come back to normal. Saylin took off her sand village headband and wiped the sweat from her forehead.
Someone knocked lightly on the door. Saylin stood up and walked unsteadily over to it. Cautiously, she pulled the door open and peered around it to find a boy with bright red hair staring at her.
"Hi Gaara! Come on in." She welcomed, instantly recognizing her friend.
The boy walked in and Saylin closed the door behind him.
"What brings you here?" she asked, sitting down in her chair at the kitchen table. Gaara slid into the chair opposite hers and placed his sand gourd on the floor.
"The sandstorm and the paper." He replied dully, placing the paper on the table in front of her. "Read this." He ordered as he traced a thin, spidery finger over the headline of a bolded article in the paper. Saylin wordlessly reached out and took the newspaper from him, reading the article to herself.
The Three Fighters Strike Again!
Yesterday, another sand village ninja has been kidnapped by the mysterious Three Fighters. It was said by an eyewitnesses that they "Appeared out of nowhere, and took the ninja before we could do so much as blink! First, they asked for our best fighter, and challenged him to a dual. When he came forward, the three attacked him, and somehow knocking him out before he could move! They took him away, leaving without a trace!"
The kazekage says, "We should try to befriend these deadly strangers. They could be powerful allies."
"Wow." Saylin grimaced, "Gaara, everyone knows about this; why are you showing it to me?" she inquired, her eyes clouded with curiosity.
"For your well being." He replied in an aggressive tone. He stared at the headline to conceal his anger. Gaara's fingers pressed hard against the table, so hard, they turned white like the first snow of winter.
"What do you mean?" she asked timidly, sliding back the paper back to him.
"You have the best grades and skills, of all of the sand village ninja, and everyone knows it. On top of that, you also know the village's secret jutsus. You never know if you could be in this situation with anyone that might tell them that about you." He replied coldly, having no trust for the people around him, many years of betrayal and depict taking its toll on him.
Saylin blushed a pale pink "Thanks. I'll remember that." She said. Saylin turned away from him, embarrassed.
"Just be on the lookout. As long as those ninja are around, everyone is in danger, especially the shinobi with unique abilities." He reminded her.
"That includes you." Stated Saylin sharply, turning back to face him, frowning. "You have abilities that they might want too. Just because you are looking out for me doesn't mean I can't worry about you too. You are my friend, Gaara. Don't forget that."
Gaara sighed, and took back the paper. The two sat in silence for a while, listening to the storm overhead, both refusing to look at each other.
"Can I get you anything? The sandstorm will be here for awhile." She asked, trying to break the uncomfortable silence.
"Not at the moment." Gaara muttered, waving away her offer with a flick of his hand.
"You look sad, is something bothering you?" She asked, noticing how gloomy he seemed to be. Saylin walked back to the table, but remained standing up.
After a couple long, suspenseful seconds, he whispered softly, "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure, anything." Saylin responded sincerely.
"Why do you care?" He asked, his hard hazel eyes penetrating her soft emerald ones.
"I don't understand." She replied, sitting back down, facing Gaara, a baffled expression on her face.
"Why do you care about me? I have a demon inside of me! I'm dangerous! I'm a monster! How can you stand to call me your friend?" He demanded, pain and sorrow forming in his voice. "No one else does! Why do you… how can you… care so much about me?" As if in an attempt to frighten her, Gaara started playing with the sand in his gourd, making it swirl venomously around him like a snake ready to attack. Saylin stared, frightened momentarily at the sand. Then she smiled and answered, "Because even if you don't consider yourself human, I do. I care about you because you cared about me when I needed a friend- that's humanity, among other things. When I was sad, you comforted me, and helped me get through all the tough times. You have stood by me better than any other 'human' has. As for being a demon, I couldn't care less about that, so what if you could hurt me, I know you wouldn't." Saylin responded, sad about remembering the tear jerking memories of her childhood, her hands turning to fists to stop herself from crying. With her response, Gaara released his hold on the sand, letting it fall in a motionless pile on the ground.
Gaara acknowledged her anguish and muttered, "So, you still miss them?"
"Yeah, of course I do. They were my parents." She whispered softly, then a small smiled played on her face and she grumbled, "It's quite ironic, actually."
"What is?" he asked, his eyes softening; trying to understand her.
"The day I lost my parents is the same day I found my best friend." She replied dryly.
"That was eight years ago." Noted Gaara.
"I was eight when they passed away." Saylin mumbled, a hard and sore lump forming in her throat.
The wind stopped howling above them, returning to its normal whisper. The windows no longer rattled, and Saylin could now see outside her windows again. Saylin stood up and edged her way over to her window to open the curtain. "It's over." She informed Gaara, as a few rays of moonlight fell on her face.
Gaara nodded. "Good bye." He ended, picking up his sand gourd and slinging it around his back.
"See you around." Saylin shouted as Gaara stood up and walked out the door, closing it behind him.
"I hope he was wrong about the ninja. Let them leave the sand village, and go away. They've already taken two men. What do they want anyway?"She thought as she walked to her room, and grabbed her black and blue pajamas. Then she walked into her tiny bathroom, and closed its door behind her. Carelessly, she tossed the pajamas into an unoccupied corner to sit until her shower was finished. After that, she turned on the water and slipped out of her daywear. Slowly, she stepped into the shower.
She closed her eyes, and embraced the cool water with relief. Saylin stood there for a few minutes, feeling the refreshing crisp water against her burned skin. It was refreshing for her to feel it trickle down her neck and back, like a massage after a hard day of work. Swiftly, she washed herself with her green tea scented soap. She smiled in delight as she worked the soap into a lather on her hands, creating numerous bubbles. Saylin also shampooed and conditioned her hair with her ocean-scented products.
Once she felt clean, she regretfully turned the water off. She then dried herself with a new soft towel. Her short black hair dried fast as she shook it out, spraying water in every direction like a rain cloud heavy with rain.
Saylin's eyes scanned the bathroom hurriedly as she searched for her pajamas. Soon, she found them hiding in the corner she had thrown them in to previous to her shower. She pulled on her pajamas and tossed the towel and into her laundry bin. Saylin then brushed her teeth and hair. The only joy she found in those were that the toothpaste tasted good, making the job of brushing her teeth easier. On the other hand, nothing seemed to make brushing her hair simple; the brush was always hiding from her, and her hair collected many knots despite its measly seven inches in length. After all of her activates were done, Saylin collapsed on her bed, curled up into a ball, and fell asleep.
Saylin normally tossed and turned in her sleep, as if in a nightmare. Strangely though, she couldn't dream. It was bizarre. Her parents used to tell her that she did it, even as a little girl. Saylin would talk, roll around, and sometimes scream, in her sleep. Her parents would rush into the room and wake her up, asking what she was doing. Saylin would have no memory of what she dreamed of. "All I saw was back. There was nothing until you woke me up." She would say, frightened of herself. Tonight, she didn't move, but stayed still as she slept. The only sound that escaped her lips was the faint sound of her heavy breathing throughout the darkness.