Gaara of the Sand, a naruto fanfic

:;:; I do not own Naruto or any of the characters. This is merely an adaptation of one event during the Chunin exam. Please read and review. :;:;

The Forest of Death is one of Konoha's greatest defenses. Each step is a battle for survival, each breath may be your last, and everything is out to get you.

Poisonous insects, vicious predators, cunningly laid traps, and even the plants are all waiting for you to make that one, critical mistake.

Then they'll tear you apart.

That's not even the worst of it.

The Forest of Death is where the second part of the chunin exam is always held. Every year, a number of genin hopefuls from every hidden village around the world gather here, making their way to the tower located at the center of the forest and disposing of anything that crosses their path. Or being disposed of themselves. Every moment in the forest could be your last, because you are being hunted by your peers and they will use every jutsu at their disposal to end your miserable life.

As of now the forest is still. The insects have ceased their relentless buzzing, predators freeze in their tracks, and the leaves no longer rustle among the trees. Two teams, one from the Village Hidden in the Sand and another from the Village Hidden in the Rain are at a standoff.

Both teams waited in a wooded clearing, waiting to make their move.

The rain ninja were cocky, sneering and taunting the sand genin. They were dressed more for a summer shower than a trek through a forest waiting to kill them. Each team member wore a slick blue and white jumpsuit, a large domed hat, and a number of umbrellas strapped to his back.

"Do you believe the nerve of these sand ninja Shibure?" The middle man, Midare, drawled, "challenging us head on like this."

"Yeah, they're a bunch of fools," his shorter companion, Baiu, crowed.

The sand ninja said nothing, made no move other than to coldly observe the rain ninja.

One of them, Shigure, stepped forward. Two vertical scars ran along the right side of his face, bisecting his eyes and, at the same time, rendering it useless. His left eye glittered brightly, shining with enough cruelty for both. He had the look of a predator about him. Or someone who very much wanted to look like a predator. The remaining eye glared at each sand ninja in turn.

"Too bad kids, you should've picked your opponents better. Now you're all gonna die!"

Finally, Gaara of the Sand spoke. In a soft, rasping voice filled with rage and pain and venom.

"I've heard enough out of you. Let's make this quick. I don't want to waste my time."

Gaara was at least two feet shorter than the rain ninja, but something just wasn't right about the boy. A great overwhelming darkness seemed to flow off him in waves. He was dressed all in black, save for the white sash across his chest and the large gourd tied to his back. Wild, red hair framed his features. His eyes, lined with the dark rings of sleep deprivation, burned with a hungry malice.

His brother, Kankuro, winced.

"Hey Gaara." he cautiously began, "Wouldn't it make more sense to follow these punks and gather information first? I mean, if they have the same type of scroll as we do then we're just fighting an unnecessary battle."

Shigure's face darkened. He didn't like these pucks treating him like he was nothing right to his face. They were blatantly disrespecting him and his squad. Slowly his hands reached for the seven umbrellas at is back.

Gaara didn't even turn around.

"I don't care. They looked at me the wrong way and now they have to die," he said softly.

It was then that Shibure snapped.

"If you think you can kill us then try it!" he snarled.

Shigure's hands found the umbrella handles at his back, tore them free with a vicious snap, and throwing them high into the air.

All eyes turned to the sky.

They floated some twenty feet above the sand ninja's heads, poised like dandelion seeds. Then they stopped, held aloft by the power of Shigure's chakra. He manipulated his hands in the proper signs as massive amounts of chakra began to pour into the umbrellas.

The umbrellas began to spin and hundreds of needles began to fill the sky.

"And now! Ninja art, Senbon Rainstorm!" He cried.

Each and every needle flew straight and true toward one target.

Gaara of the Sand.

They circled him from all sides. One move in any direction would fill him with hundreds of tiny points of death. Needles buzzed through the air like flies, awaiting the command of their maser and creating a rainstorm of death around Gaara that cut him off from his companions, who could only watch on. Shigure marveled for a moment, at how the boy's squad could watch on smugly while their leader was about to be torn apart.

"Up, down, left, right. There's no blind spot for this jutsu and it's deadly accurate!"

Shigure waves his hand casually, causing a few needles to pierce the ground at Gaara's feet.

The boy never flinched, he almost looked hopeful.

A vein throbbed in the rain ninja's head. This had gone on for far too long. He waved his hands and hundreds of needles came crashing back down to the earth with enough force to crack the ground beneath Gaara and kick up a large cloud of dust.

Gaara never moved. His fate was lost amongst the dust.

Shigure laughed, looking triumphant. He took an eager step forward to survey the damage and to collect the scroll needed to enter the tower.

The dust settled and Shigure froze in mid-step.

Gaara of the Sand stood unharmed, not a single mark upon his skin. Every needle had embedded itself within the cocoon-like wall of sand. Tiny motes of sand silently flitted around, almost mockingly. A small space near the front remained open, revealing Gaara's eyes, glittering malevolently.

"Is that the best you can do?" he asked darkly.

Shigure was horrified, "It can't be, not one wound. That's impossible!"

He clapped his hands together, going for the sand ninja's exposed throat.

Without any signal from Gaara the sand moves to intercept every needle. Not one touched him.

Gaara's expression darkened another notch.

"A senbon rainstorm huh? I have an idea. Let's make it rain blood instead.

The rain ninja froze. Never, in the history of his village, had the senbon failed to neutralize a target. For this boy to have avoided every needle, he just wasn't human. Shigure's teammates took a step back. He shot them a disgusted look. Even though he was just a terrified as they were.

"How!" he snarled.

Kankuro, stepped forward.

"It's a defense that nothing can penetrate. He carries that sand in the gourd on his back and when he's attacked, he uses the power of his chakra to harden the sand, so that it's stronger than steel. It's a jutsu that only Gaara can do. Somehow it happens reflexively, independent of his will. So any attacks against him are doomed to failure."

The wall of sand began to dissolve, melting back into the ground and leaving no trace of it's presence behind. Except for all the needles it had collected and deposited in the dirt around Gaara and a few tiny motes of sand in the air.

"Oh yeah? Well we'll see!" Shigure charged across the clearing toward the sand ninja, pulling two kunai fighting knives from his belt.

Kankuro gave the rain ninja one last almost pitying look.

"Just face it. You guys can't hope to defeat Gaara."

Gaara grimaced, the closest expression he had to a smile. Slowly he clasped his hands together, making each sign precisely and pumping his chakra into the dirt beneath Shigure's feet.

"Sand coffin!" Gaara cried.

In mid step the ground reached out to devour him. From head to toe he was covered in a cocoon of sand. Not like Gaara's which was meant to protect, this cocoon was made to kill. Only a bare patch left his face visible, twisted by agony and fear and even that was rapidly dwindling. In less than five seconds the hunter became the hunted. Tiny motes of sand flew around his face, occasionally entering his eye.

One by one the umbrellas fell from the sky.

Shigure's voice strained as the sand tightened it's grip on him, "Wh-what is this? Let. Let me go!"

Gaara ignored him, "all I have to do is cover your big mouth and you'll be dead," in response the sands gathered around Shigure's nose and mouth, but backed off after a moment, "but that would be too easy and too boring."

Gaara picked up one of the fallen umbrellas and unlocked it, holding it over his head, as if it were about to rain.

Shigure tried, without luck, to blink away the sand from his eyes. Gaara raised his free hand and the sands holding Shigure rose high into the air. The rain ninja struggled, valiantly, but he couldn't break free. Gaara looked up at him one final time. He showed no emotion, save for a gnawing hunger tempered by malice.

Gaara clenched his fist.

"Sand burial!" he cried.

With one last, tormented scream Shigure left this world. Crushed into oblivion by the merciless sand.

Blood rained from the sky, splattering the umbrella and the rain ninja's horrified comrades.

Gaara turned to them, "There wasn't any pain. I crushed him with more force than was necessary, so it was over quickly. The scream you heard was from fear."

He closed the dripping umbrella and surveyed the sodden landscape.

"The corpse's bitter crimson tears mingle with the endless sand and feed the chaos within me, making me stronger," he whispered.

Midare stepped forward, each step an effort to master his fear, to lay the scroll upon the ground.

"Just t-take the scroll. Go on, here."

Baiu spoke in a high pitched voice, "Yes! Take it! Please spare us!"

Gaara tossed the umbrella away and reached out to the remaining rain ninja.

Once more, the earth reached up to hungrily consume the rest of the squad. They screamed frantically as the sand engulfed them as it did their leader, their sanity shattering along with their bodies.