The little boy, no older than six years of age, walked alone down a quiet street. The people that happened to pass by stared down at him with hate filled eyes. The little boy – a mess of red hair on his head, dark rims around his innocent eyes – tightly clenched a stuffed teddy bear in his hand. He had no one except his teddy. No one cared.
The little boys walk led him towards the out skirts of Sunagakure. He was the only one around; the place was deserted at that time of day. The boy walked over and leant against a wall, sliding down until he was seated on the ground. He put his arms around his knees and looked at the ground. He sat there quietly; teddy in his lap.
Suddenly a strange sound disturbed the silence. The little boy's head jolted up as he looked around to see what had made the noise. He got to his feet, holding his teddy close.
"Who's there?" he called out, a tinge of fear in his voice.
He knew too well not to trust anyone. He didn't know what to expect.
What he didn't expect was to hear a high pitched whinny ring out through the buildings ahead of him.
The little boy frowned, confused. He didn't know whether to go towards the noise or stay where he was. He clutched his teddy tighter.
The noise came again, louder this time. Whatever was making the noise sounded as though it was in pain.
The little boy gulped before walking towards the strange sound. He was as concerned as he was scared.
As he got closer he could hear anxious breathing, and then another neigh. He peeped around the corner of a building to see a young horse with her back foot tangled in a stray rope. She was dun in colour with strange blue markings on all of her legs. Around her left eye was an odd red swirl. Despite her odd coat colour she seemed like a healthy, young horse. He could see that as she'd tried to free her leg, she'd caught the rope on the edge of a hook so she couldn't move. She was dancing on three legs becoming more frightened the longer she was stuck there. The little boy felt sorry for her and came out from his hiding spot. The horse stopped when she saw him, watching his every move. He slowly moved closer trying not to scare her.
"It's OK," he said. "I'll get you out of there."
The horse threw her head up and snorted. When the boy got closer she stretched out her neck to sniff him. She snorted again scaring the boy and knocking him backwards when she pulled up. The boy took his teddy back into his arms and got up again. The horse whickered softly, apologising for what she'd done.
"It's OK," the boy assured her again.
He put his teddy down before approaching cautiously. The horse let him get closer watching him carefully.
"I'll get your leg out," the boy said.
He placed a hand on her back. The horse made a squeaky noise and the boy quickly moved his hand. When the horse calmed down the boy put his hand back. The horse sniffed it and let it be.
"Good horsie," the boy praised as he slowly went towards the tangled leg.
The horse stayed still as the little boy gently removed the rope from her leg. Once the leg was free he quickly stepped back just in case the horse ran off. She walked around in a circle trying to look at her leg, making sure the rope was gone.
"I've got it," the little boy said holding up the rope.
The horse stepped over and sniffed the rope before picking it up in her mouth and tossing it away. She moved closer again and sniffed the boy all over.
"Stop it," the little boy giggled when she nuzzled his neck.
The horse let out a heavy sigh blowing warm breath into his face.
"Well, bye horsie," the boy said.
He went over and picked up his teddy before walking away, leaving the horse behind. Or so he thought.
"Huh?" the boy stopped and turned back to see the horse behind him.
Seeing him looking the horse stopped and looked away as though she wasn't following him.
The little boy turned back and kept walking with the horse continuing to follow him. After a while the boy started to get annoyed. He stopped and turned back again.
"Go away horsie," the boy complained.
The horse just tilted her head to the side.
The boy sighed and started to walk again. After a few steps he spun around to face the horse.
"Horsie I said go away!" the boy shouted.
The horse stepped back and whickered wondering what she'd done wrong.
"Stay here," the little boy commanded.
He took a few steps backwards to make sure the horse had listened. He put both arms around his teddy before running off, leaving the horse behind.
Back in the heart of Sunagakure the little boy slowly trudged along, keeping his head down. It was late afternoon by now; the sun was slowly sinking beyond the horizon.
Groups of other children were bringing their games to an end and getting ready to head indoors. The little boy watched them miserably, wondering what it was like to have a family that cared if you came home or not. As he passed by some of the other kids, they stopped what they were doing and stared at him.
"Freak," one commented.
"Get out of here weirdo," called another.
The little boy ignored them, hugging his teddy bear closer. It didn't hug him back, but it was all he had.
As night fell over the Village Hidden in the Sand the little boy was left alone in the darkness. He shivered slightly with the cool breeze that was blowing through the streets. He curled up and put his arms around his legs to stay warm, not letting his teddy out of his sight. Suddenly kunai zipped through the air in his direction. The little boy gasped with surprise when a shield of sand blocked the attack. He stood up hanging on to his teddy.
"Sorry kid, Kazekage's orders," came a voice through the blackness.
"Go away!" the little boy shouted, his eyes beginning to well with tears.
He could see his assassin approaching through the darkness. He cowered back against the wall, clinging to his teddy.
"Go away!" he cried again. "Leave me alone!"
The man threw more kunai at the little boy, but the attack was blocked again by a wall of sand.
"Cut it out kid. You're going to die right here, right now," the man hissed.
"No," the little boy trembled.
The man closed in when suddenly their came a loud, piercing neigh.
"What the hell?"
"Horsie," the little boy whispered.
From around the corner burst the horse that the little boy had helped before. She obviously hadn't listened to the little boy, and had followed him despite him telling her not to. She charged right at the assassin, aiming to knock him down.
"Whoa!" the man yelled and jumped out of the way.
The horse reared up and struck out with her front legs; she was repaying the favour to the little boy. He watched on as the horse chased the man in circles, bitting him and throwing kicks in his direction.
"Call it off!" the man yelled at the boy. "Call it off and I'll let you go!"
"Horsie stop," the little boy called.
The horse turned her head, looking at him. She backed up a few steps leaving a fair distance between her and the man, who was now trembling on the ground.
The little boy walked over, teddy in hand. He put his spare hand forward as sand began to creep up, over the man, encasing his body.
"No! Let me go!" The man cried.
"Die," the little boy said, clasping his hand into a tight fist.
The sand crushed the man, instantly killing him.
The little boy dropped his arm, staring down at another one of his fathers failed attempts to destroy him. He sighed heavily and was taken by surprise when the horse nuzzled him affectionately. He turned to her and smiled.
"Thank you Horsie," he said, unable to get the grin off his face.
She whickered softly and gently head butted him.
"What's your name?" the little boy asked, carefully putting his hand out.
The horse put her face into his palm.
"Well… I'll call you, um… Rose. Do you like Rose?" the little boy asked.
The horse snorted as though in approval.
The little boy giggled, putting his hand down, "Ok, you're Rose. I'm Gaara."
The horse playfully pulled at his clothes and whickered again.
"Come on, we better get out of here," Gaara said, walking ahead.
Rose followed close behind.
The pair walked along the dark street on their own. Gaara yawned deeply, rubbing his eyes. Rose nudged him gently, pushing him towards a small shelter where they could rest for the night. She went ahead, spun around in a few, tight circles before dropping to the ground. Gaara made his way over to her and got down, curling up next to her using his teddy as a pillow. Rose sighed over him covering him in warm breath. He yawned again and shut his eyes, falling into a peaceful sleep. Rose tucked her legs in a round him and put her head on the ground next to his, shutting her eyes and falling asleep.