Hello! Most of you already know me and/or are members of my growing fanbase! Hi. For those who don't I'm the spectacular magnifico RyterHarpie! I'm here to bring you two first for me. One, my very first OC in a Naruto fic, and my very first full length M rated fic! (bows) Anyway. I hope you like it! Oh, and for all of you who will probably make a fuss. This first chapter is set BEFORE his uncle tried to kill him. Just thought you should know.

Disclaimer: I only do this once, so pay attention. Me no owny Naruto!

The saddened little red head held his teddy bear closer. It made no sense to him. Everywhere he went, every person he met, they all had the same look of undisguised disgust when they looked at him. He nuzzled his face further into the fur of the worn teddy bear, wondering why it was they could hate him so much. Tears started to flow down his face as a small amount of sand started to sluggishly move around him. He reached up and wiped away some of the moisture from his eyes.

"You know crying never solves a problem."

He looked up startled. A girl with long blue hair stood over him. She was about four or five, close to his age. He frowned at her. She didn't look at him like the other villagers did, but he wasn't sure that he could trust her. She crossed her arms and frowned at him in return. She threw her head back in irritation.

"That's very rude."

He just continued to frown at her. Deciding to be safe and not speak. She squated down beside him, and stared off in the same direction that he was.

"It's rude to not introduce yourself to a visitor of your village."

His frown slipped slightly, but returned full force as he answered her.

"I am Gaara."

She smiled but continued to look out into the distance.

"Hello Gaara-chan. I am Shi."

He turned to her with wide eyes. More from being called 'chan' than from her name.

"Four?"

She smiled and looked away from him. She picked up a near by stick and wrote the Kanji for her name. He looked down at it with a slight frown on his face.

"Death?"

Shi looked up at him. She was grinning wildly at him, not a bit ashamed of her name.

"Yes death. It follows me, so that was the name given to me, or at least that's what they told me."

He couldn't tell if she was only trying to mess with his mind. He didn't blink as he looked at her.

"Why are you here?

Her grin faltered a bit. She didn't turn away, but she did refuse to meet his eyes.

"Because this is where we stopped. I'm travaling with a caravan. We've seen a whole lot of things, even a few more ninja villages like this one."

She returned to her happy ways when she thought about her travels. She threw back her head in pride.

"I got to see a few of them perform their techniques."

He didn't reply to that. He simply looked away. There was a brief moment of silence. Then with out really noticing it he was wrapped in a pair of arms. The contact didn't pose a threat to him, if it had his sand would have already killed the small girl, but it was a shock to be hugged.

"I've finally decided. I want you to be my new friend."

He pulled away from the contact, not liking her closeness. To say the least this girl was strange. He thought about her request, well more like statement, and wasn't sure if he knew what the word friend really meant. From a distance they heard someone call out Shi's name. She cocked her head like a dog before standing up to leave. She ran for a moment before turning around and going back to him.

"We're camping out near the oasis at the edge of the village. That mean Kazakage guy wouldn't let us come too far into sand borders. Come by tommorrow just before sunrise. I expect to see you."

Once more she set off waving and smiling. She stumbled slightly, but kept running leaving Gaara to wonder what had just happened.

Gaara looked on at the large colorful camp grounds.The sun had yet to come up, but it was not unusual for the red head to be up at this time of day. He looked around not seeing her at all. At first he thought that she wasn't going to be there, but as the first rays of the sun begun to rise he saw her sitting near the edge of the greenish pond. He walked up to her silently and saw that her feet were in the water. He stood behind her not making a sound. She didn't realize he was there, and unconciously started to sing as the sun began to rise over the horizion.

"Grain and rice.

Sugar and Rye.

No little children should ever cry.

My mother said dry your eyes.

No more tears and no more sighs.

Grain and rice.

Wheat and hay.

Hopes and dreams meet the day."

Her voice was pretty. For a moment he felt possesive and wanted to keep her as his. The feeling quickly passed and he put a hand on her shoulder. She turned, startled slightly and looking a little frightened. When she saw that it was him her expression changed radically.

"Hello Gaara-chan! I wasn't sure that you would come."

He nodded his head and gave her face a quick look. Her eye was bruised a bit. He bit his bottom lip as he saw it.

"Does it hurt?"

She blinked as if she didn't know what he was talking about. Then she put her hand up against her eye, and only gave him another smile.

"No. It never does."

It didn't take a genius to tell she was lying. She grabbed hold of his arm and pulled him forward slightly.

"Sit next to me Gaara-chan."

He nodded again and sat down next to her. She didn't let go of his hand, and he didn't ask her to. The two little children sat and watched as the sun slowly started to rise.

"GAARA-CHAN!"

Gaara gave Shi one of his rare smiles as she came running to him. waving one hand in the air madly. She had only been in the village a week and they were already becoming fast friends. She stopped infront of him, hiding something behind her back. She grinned at him and he knew that something was up, but didn't let on about it.

"Good morning Shi."

She frowned slightly when he didn't look surprised or curious about what was behind her back. She huffed slightly.

"Gaara-chan, I was looking for you all morning. I have a present for you!"

He pretended like he didn't care, which made her frown even more.

"What did you find?"

Shi was a bit put out, but then she smirked at him. She leaned in close before speaking.

"I'm not going to tell you."

She stuck out her tounge and ran off laughing. He shimmer of a smile crossed his face. He knew what she was doing, and when he caught her she would finally show it to him. He waited a few moments and then took off to find her at his own slow pace.

He searched for her for most of the day. He was starting to get annoyed. He had even checked by the caravan, but everyone there had either not seen her, or not cared enough to look for her. The red head was now looking from the roof tops. When he was about to return to her camp, he heard it. He heard her scream. He turned around and headed towards the noise.

Shi had been hiding from him most of the day. She never stayed in one spot, and always moved from one place to another. Finally, as the day was ending she had choosen to wait in the alley where she had first met Gaara. She squated down and sat against the wall totally exhausted. Lay back and looked up at the clouds, knowing that sooner or later Gaara-chan would find her. He smile slipped though when a large shadow fell over her. She sat up and looked at them. They were just three of the men from the village. She had seen them around Suna before. One of them, the leader of the villagers was a repeat costumor of the caravan. Shi gave them her normal smile, not even thinking of why they were there.

"Hello, can I heAGH!"

She cried out in pain as he grabbed hold of his hair and lifted her into the air. He was leering over her, and she the strong scent of saki envaded her senses.

"You. You're the little demon brat's new toy, aren't you!'

She winced, but refused to cry out again as he shook her by her hair. Another of them leaned over the first's shoulder and grinned at her.

"Little girl you should know better than to play with monsters."

"Yeah. I can show ya something better to play with."

She forced her eyes to open so that she could look at them. They were all grinning at her like jackals. This was not good. She began to thrash wildly, and kick at the man holding her. He growled in frustration and smacked her hard.

"Be still!"

Her cheek burned, but she was used to that. She grabbed hold of his arm and pulled herself up enough so that she could bite him. She bit down hard enough to draw blood. He yelled and threw her against the wall. Against her will she let out a scream as pain shot up her back. Shi's vision began to spin and drift from the present to swirling darkness. They all took turns kicking at her and yelling insults. She wasn't able to cover herself from their attacks, and soon she was barely able to move at all. The man who had made the first vulgar remark bent over her chuckling to himself.

"Oh. I'm sorry girlie, but I'm sure that I can make it better."

Shi closed her eyes tightly. A mental picture of Gaara-chan came to her mind, along with an absurd thought.

'I'm sorry Gaara-chan. I think I lost your present.'

Before the sick man could make a move on her, they heard a scream of terror. He turned around to see one of his campanions slowly being covered in sand. Shi lay on the ground. She could barely make out anything going on around her, but her two remaining attackers could. One of them screamed, the leader, screamed and tried to run passed the figure that was controlling the sands. There was a snap and then he too was engulfed in the yellow grains. As the figure came closer she finally recognized his red hair. Without her realizing it she was picked up and held to someones chest. She felt cold steel pressed firmly against her face, but the cold was replaced by the warmth of her blood as it ran down her cheek. The warmth brought everything back into a shocking instance of clarity. She heard her capture screaming, and found herself being dropped to the ground. From her position on the ground she watched as golden sand slowly worked it's way up his leg. He screamed in pain and tried to get away, but that was useless. She couldn't look away as his face contorted in horror before finally being totally covered. Blood splattered from his body, and a few crimson drops landed on her. When it was all over she turned and looked at Gaara. He was crying uncontrollably. As strange as it was though. Her own eyes were dry. She stood up shakily and walked over to him. Her hair hid the bruises and dried blood that was on her face. She was barely concious, but she had to do this for him. She had lost his present, this was the least she could do.. She took him in her arms, and he cried on her shoulder. She began to sing to him through a series of dry sobs.

"Grain and rice.

Sugar and Rye.

No little children should ever cry.

My mother said dry your eyes.

No more tears and no more sighs.

Grain and rice.

Wheat and hay.

Hopes and dreams meet the day."

They stayed like that for most of the night, until Shi finally fell asleep, and Gaara sat watch next to her.

Shi looked through the alley. It was tough, but she somehow managed to ignore the brown stains on the bricks around her. She was finally able to find the thing she had looked for all day. She ran out of the alley and went off to reach the get to his uncle's home. She saw him waiting for her, just like he did everyday. She smiled at him and waved, but didn't yell out like she usually did. Instead she was strangely quiet.

"Good morning Gaara-kun."

His brow furrowed a little at that. She hadn't even called him 'kun' when they had met. She saw his look and turned away from him. She pulled out the box that she had spent most of the morning looking for. She shoved it into his hands. He looked down at it, and then back to her. She blushed and didn't meet his eyes.

"Ple..Please. Just open it Gaara-kun."

He nodded his head and opened the small box. Inside there was a strange chain. It was black, and glinted in the sunlight. Attached to the end of it was a golden coin. Scratched into the coin was the kanji for Shi's name. He stared at it, and she quickly took it out of his hands, only to put it on him. He wondered if this was the gift that she had wanted to give him the day that she had...had almost been attacked.

"Why?"

She smiled even bigger and brought her thumb to her mouth. She bit down hard enough to break the skin and make herself bleed. She held the metal in her hands and pressed her finger to it. His eyes widened and he looked at her.

"Wh.."

"So you can always have a little bit of me with you Gaara-kun"

She took his hand into hers and pulled him away to play.

The next morning Shi didn't show up. Gaara went down to the oasis to see her, but there was nothing left. She was gone. His hand automatically went to the chain around his neck. She had known that she was leaving, and had left him something. For a few weeks he had found a friend. He didn't know it then, nor would he even remember her years later, but he had had a few moments of happiness.

Yeah. That's it for now. Review if you liked it, review if you didn't. This chapter was just to show you how they met. The next chapter will be a lot better. I hope.