Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, the cover image, or any of the references that may be mentioned throughout this fic. I do own the idea, though.

It is a dark and stormy day.

The clouds hang in front of the moon like a curtain and rain pours down from the sky. Lightning flashes in the distance, illuminating the silhouette of trees like twisted monstrosities of hands, grasping for the sky. The ground is wet, slippery and dyed red like blood by the flashing lights of an ambulance.

The Sirens of many police cars scream, rending the air with their cries.

So did many people.

Soon, blood actually pollutes the water, spreading like a plague through the clear liquid. It is a beautiful sight, like when you drop red food coloring into a glass, the dye exploding in a vicious cloud of red. But this time, it's on the hard asphalt of a road, the black stones glittering with rain and blood mixed together. It also occasionally flashes purple when the blue lights shine instead of the red ones.

I know,

It sounds seriously cliche and boring. It isn't as if we all haven't heard some sort of story like this before. And guess what?

This happens on Halloween.

Honestly, there must be some higher being that's finding enjoyment in this.

Things like this don't just happen to people.

Here I lie on the ground, on the grass of some poor person's lawn, no doubt they are one of the many people screaming right now. My eyes are half open, I have already lost control of my limbs due to blood loss, so giving the finger to the sky is out of question. Not to mention that it would bring my sanity into serious questioning, though the excuse of being delirious due to blood loss might work.

Every breath I take comes with sharp stabbing pain from my left chest area. Sharp stabbing pain, well that's rich, I literally got stabbed and I'm experiencing stabbing pain. Yes, puns, they make the world go 'round these days. I hear someone talking to me, trying to reassure me that I am perfectly alright as hands grasp my body checking my vitals.

I am not alright

It's honestly too late people.

One doesn't simply survive being stabbed through the heart.

Oh lord, the memes, the memes.

Ok, I've gotten that out of my system now, along with the puns.

I have already accepted my fate, it had been decided as soon as the knife pierced me. I'm not in a panic, I'm fine as I am. Really, I am absolutely fine, well, as fine as a person can be after being stabbed in a very important organ that is vital for functioning. Which isn't very fine at all when all things are considered.

Honestly.

I'm sorry?

Mom? Dad?

Anyone?

Goodbye…?

Yet I'm still here, my mind crystal clear and working overtime trying to deny what is happening to me at the moment. I had been just walking across the street with my group of friends. The excitement was high, my blue eyes probably were sparkling with unholy glee. We all had pillowcases full of candy and we're going to our homes. My hair was dyed blood red, and my costume immaculate. All in all, it had been a perfect night of trick or treating.

It was also pretty late.

But this is my first time celebrating Halloween and I wanted to stay out as long as possible.

My friends and I all dressed up as some random anime characters from this new popular anime that just came out. We'd planned all of our costumes accordingly and spent weeks on them. Mine is composed of a long white kimono and blood red hair. Since my hair is actually a light brown, I had to dye it the shade of red I wanted, and it came out a pretty well. Our parents drove us to one of the neighborhoods and dropped us off there, telling us to be careful.

Be careful...

Funny how that turned out with me being stabbed through the heart by some random person in front of my horrified friends. One of them screamed, and people started running away into houses yelling. Someone called the police and ambulance, they had sounded hysterical, I don't blame them for it though. If I were in their place I'd be hysterical too.

Luckily for me, whoever did the deed wasn't a professional, only a small part of my heart was damaged. My lung, however, was another story. I could live with one lung though, a heart is kinda necessary for my continued survival. One thing I can't live with, however, is that they ruined my costume! I had put so much work into it too? Now it's stained with blood and I probably wouldn't ever get it out. Good thing I won't have to live with it much longer, I'll probably die in the next few minutes. But hey, no matter how cliche my death is, it still is pretty cool, right?

Too bad the bleeding couldn't be stopped.

Oh people tried, they really did.

But nothing worked.

The ambulances can't arrive fast enough, the police are there to ensure that the panic that ensues wouldn't hurt anyone else.

But I'm still dying.

From blood loss if nothing else.

And it hurt like hell.

It's funny how in the last moments if your life that you start thinking clearly and contemplating your last few precious moments of remaining life.

I, for one, am annoyed with my predicament.

Like really, I go and try to have fun with my friends this one night of the entire year only to get stabbed by some crazy person. And now I'm dying?! Someone tell me that this is just a horrible cliche horror movie with the "strong" female protagonist nearly dying and then surviving. But no, some entity from on high has it for me, I'm not cheating death today or anytime soon.

So yes, I am just going to lie here with my lifeblood flowing out of me while I reflect upon my thoroughly messed up life.

Cheerful thoughts indeed.

Why am I still alive?

This hurts goddamnit!

Oh, here we go…

"..."

"This must be a joke."

"..."

"A joke I tell you!

"..."

"Oh, come ON!"

"..."

"Fine, be that way all-encompassing-darkness-that-apparently-is-supposed-to-be-the afterlife!"

"..."

"And now I am talking to myself, a sure sign of insanity and I've been here for like how long? Less than a minute?"

"..."

"If this is the afterlife I demand a refund, after dying like that surely I deserve something better than whatever this is."

"..."

"[And no one answered]-am I going to be stuck here narrating everything that is happening to me? Because the narration would compose of absolutely nothing."

And then, from somewhere far, far away I suddenly hear…

"Please...let me see my child's face…?"

"Errr...sure mystery lady?"

"He's...so...tiny"

"Ummm...I am living under the assumption that all children are tiny. So unless he belongs to a race of giants or something, he's obviously tiny."

"Please, whatever god may be listening, protect my son…"

" I'm no god, but O.K. lady, whoever this child is anyway...So can I see now? Because I can hear you and I don't like being ignored. I just had a traumatic experience of being stabbed to death."

"..."

"I take that as a no. No points for dying a gruesome death, would giving you all my Halloween candy count?"

"..."

" I guess not that either, really who doesn't want candy?"

"Lady Karura's heart rate is dropping!"

"Are they talking about me? 'Cuz I'm pretty sure my heart has stopped a while ago, and who is this Lady Karura anyway?"

"Do something, quick!"

" Hello people? Am I officially dead or alive? Doing anything, quick or otherwise won't work, unless I'm in a coma and this is one of those moments that coma patients can hear what is going on around them."

"No..no..nononoNO!"

" De Nile isn't just a river in Egypt you know…"

"Why?!"

"Hmmm? Well, there is also this thing called denial. It would seem that you've built a hut firmly on the other side of it. Not a mansion, you haven't gotten there yet, so it is just a hut. You should be proud."

"Why did it have to be her?"

"Equivalent exchange mortals! Fullmetal Alchemist is making a comeback! Wait what do you mean about 'why did it have to be her'? Although Fullmetal Alchemist is good too, just not so much when you've tried to bring someone back via Alchemy."

"Lady Chiyo, please leave us, and take that child with you too."

"Chiyo? Karura? What? Why is this familiar? Eyes! I command you to open!"

Oh, it actually worked. I should have done this earlier…

Meh, it doesn't matter too much, I can SEE now.

I looked at my surroundings for a bit, this was not where I died. Sand is everywhere, sand over there, and oh, sand over that way too! Basically, it's very sandy and boring with a bunch of hospital equipment. Did I survive? Why am I in a sandy hospital building, it really isn't a good place for injured people. Standards obviously need to be upped, and this place is also really cramped.

Then I looked at myself.

Oh. My. Lord. What. Has. Happened. To. Me.

I am still in a long white kimono, and my dyed hair is in the hairstyle I put it up in. My chest had a red patch over it, upon further inspection, I find that the stab wound is still there and still very fresh looking. Surprisingly, even with what seems to be blood continuously dipping out of the wound, it's dry. The scarf I am wearing is free of blood, so I rearrange it a bit to cover the spot. I don't need people to start asking what the heck happened to me at inopportune moments, maybe later to freak them out though.

I come to the conclusion that I am still very much dead.

Though having translucent limbs may have convinced me of that fact.

So the undead is out, no zombies, vampires, or inferi.

I'm a ghost?

Ooh, can I float things? Can I, can I?

On a more serious note, I believe I know where I have ended up, the Narutoverse.

In. Suna.

It doesn't really take a genius to figure it out, the copious amounts of sand, the Yondaime Kazekage Rasa, Sasori's grandmother, and the hitai ate along with people decked out in full shinobi gear. Either this is really good cosplay, or it is a reality. And I can't see any of these super serious people even considering cosplay. Maybe I should get them to loosen up a bit, just not at Karura's deathbed. That would be extremely disrespectful, and I did like Karura as a character when I was still alive.

Normal people would be at emotional extremes right now.

They'd have died, woken up in an unfamiliar place, and figured out that they are very much dead.

Lucky for me, I'm not a normal person.

I've also watched the entirety of the anime version of Naruto, read too many fanfictions, and surfed the internet for interesting Naruto facts. So, it really isn't surprising that I have a sense of deja vu as I watch Rasa weep over his dead wife's body with Chiyo trying to comfort him. I find some satisfaction in his pain, never liked that guy, even with the excuse that it was all for the village, he did some pretty terrible things. Karura probably wants to strangle him for all that he's done.

Karura's dead.

She died when Gaara was born.

Conclusion, Gaara has just been born.

I look around the room a bit more, my eyes finally rests upon the small child that is being held in some random medic-nin's arms. I move closer to inspect the newborn Gaara…

Oh dear…

It would seem that I have made a new discovery.

No baby should be that adorable.

Or that tiny.

But he was premature...so I suppose there is a reason for his small size. Still, babies are supposed to be little demons, not adorable-

Oh,

Demons.

Haha.

Moving on...

I sigh and reach a single ghostly finger to poke the sleeping baby's face.

I had expected it to go through him, so imagine my surprise when it connected with a solid, and very much alive, cheek. My eyes widen while my brain went through all the different possibilities and ways to exploit them. Gaara then proceeds to open his eyes and give out a small cry.

It's all very adorable really.

Oh wait I said that already, whoops?

Though I doubt he has the energy to manage something louder, if I recall correctly, he'd always been one of few words in the anime.

Well, he did happen to be a sacrificial demon container, also known as a jinchuuriki. And people tend to disassociate themselves with jinchuuriki, causing them to be emotionally stunted. I'm not entirely sure on whether Shukaku is insane or not, he acts pretty crazy most of the time with surprising moments of seriousness. My theory is that Shukaku isn't insane, his personality is just like that, and when shit hits the fan, he becomes serious. So a note to self:

If Shukaku's serious then go in self-preservation mode level max.

The one time he seems sane is when all the bijuu are saved somewhere when Madara is trying to take over the world via the Tsukuyomi.

Bad times indeed.

After finding out that Gaara is an extremely adorable baby I move on to find out what else I could do. I try floating objects, all to no avail. I even try to hug Rasa, I did not succeed, much to my relief. My dislike for him stems from his inability to be a proper parent to the sand siblings. He didn't even bat an eyelash so I try punching him in the face. It doesn't work. Trying to mess with other people proceeded to yield the same results.

So people are out, objects?

It turns out that I can't affect objects either, I just phase through them. I spent several minutes trying to lift a syringe, it didn't even budge a millimeter. I could definitely stab someone right now.

I've been a ghost for a few minutes and I'm already bored. Like is Gaara the only person I can interact with?

Only person…

No one else can see me.

I can't touch anyone without phasing through them.

But I can with Gaara.

Oh my, the possibilities of a floating baby, how hazardous~!

On second thought, that isn't really safe because Gaara is a major and very important character, killing him accidentally isn't a good idea. He is the future Kazekage and the only person that is capable of staving off my boredom at the moment. He is also the character that likes squishing people with sand. Thank god I'm a ghost, though I'm not too keen that the only person I can talk to is a mentally traumatized child.

Like when he starts off talking about his "Mother" during the chunin exams.

Mother…

They never did specify who the identity of "Mother" was, did they? People just assumed that it was Shukaku. It never was explicitly stated...this requires further thought. And he was a sweet child in the beginning right? Before Yashamaru traumatizes him and makes him mentally unstable? Also, didn't Shukaku start affecting him after Yashamaru dies? So the emotional upheaval Gaara went through caused the seal to weaken? Yashamaru, everything is your fault, along with Rasa because it was all his idea.

As I am pondering, the medic-nin finally regained his wits and left the room with Gaara. I suddenly feel a sudden force dragging me to the door, it's like someone tied ropes to my entire body and yanked. My feet float off the ground and I have no choice but to follow wherever the medic is going.

'What are you doing to me?'

There was no reply, it's not as if he can hear me, so it probably isn't him that the force is coming from. I look at Gaara reproachfully.

He had his eyes wide open, following my movements,

'I really wanted to explore Suna, you know? Now I can't and it's all your fault~!'

Gaara gives me a small happy gurgle and I completely melted.

Why me?

I hate children

But he's adorable…

Resist the urge to coo-resisttheurgetocooRESISTTHEURGETOCOO…

Resist. The. Urge.

I cooed at him,

'I hope that you're happy you little demonic child.'

He happily waved his arms back at me. The medic nin seems confused as to what made him so happy and so they walk faster towards a door down the hall. It's like they're trying to get rid of Gaara as quickly as possible.

Really.

They're all monsters for not seeing him as the adorable child he is, it's like they're blind or something…

…

Ok, I'll stop.

When they reach the door they opened it and went inside. I had to float in through the door because they shut it in my face, that rude bastard.

Inside is an incubation room containing quite a few other babies. I went around observing them while the medic-nin is talking to some of the nurses about what they are supposed to do with Gaara. It's all very boring so I ignore him in favor of trying to elicit a response from the babies. I had no such luck, instead, they start crying and wailing when my hands phase through them. I suppose that babies are more sensitive to the supernatural than adults. They still can't see me like Gaara though…

The medic left soon after giving the Kazekage's instructions to the nurses and one of them came over to settle Gaara in one of the incubators. He went to sleep soon after that, I suppose that being born is exhausting. They left, only to come in after he woke up and started crying for food. After feeding him and then leaving him again I try to entertain myself with making faces at people

It really isn't fun at all.

I've never been this bored in my entire life and death combined.

Just grow up already dammit, it's not fair that I can't go off to explore!

'Man, I feel for all the tailed beasts, this is so boring and I can actually see plus sort of do things when they are confined to simply seeing whatever their jinchuuriki can,' I yawn, 'I wish I could fall asleep...who knew that boredom can be so tiring?'

Gaara's Mindscape

'Huh, so this is what happens when I close my eyes for an extended period of time, good to know.'

'Why are you here human?'

I turn around, already knowing full and well who it is. I didn't forget about him, no, I've been waiting for him to announce his presence all along.

'Hello, it is a pleasure to meet you Shukaku~'

HA, cliffhanger...sorry people, but it was just a great place to stop. Don't worry, the next chapter shall be out in a few days.

Also, to the people that have read my other fic, it hasn't been abandoned, just put on hold for a while because of this one.

Reviews, constructive criticism, and ideas are welcome~!

Thanks all,

Mizudoriko~