Chapter One.

"Yeah! Good kick!" the voice of a happy young boy yelled out.

A girl with brown hair with blonde framing her face looked around the corner of the wall at the group of kids laying ball. Her gold and amber eyes showing her hesitance and longing to join.

The group laughed joyously as someone called out "No way! It's to me!"

"Nah, it's to me!" Another contradicted. They continued to yell and shout with happiness and excitement.

"Yes! Get it! … Come on, you can do it!" A girl cheered.

"That was awesome!" A boy exclaimed over the another boys; "Oh man!"

They played on to a continuous litany of "Come on!" and "Pass it! Pass it!"

Just as the hiding girl was about to head over, a boy yelled out "Power shot!" and the ball went flying over the goal and rolled away. The girl lost her nerve and stayed hidden.

The hiding girl then noticed a boy with red hair holding a teddy bear get of a swing "I don't know any wall climbing jutsus, do you?" and use sand to get the ball down from the wall it was stuck on.
"I-I-It's him."
"Wow." She whispered to herself in awe.

The boy looked away a moment before looking up and holding the ball out, saying softly but loudly; "Here."

The group gasped and backed away. The girl watched confused.

"That Gaara," A girl said, sounding terrified.

"Is really creepy." A boy with curly hair finished, shying away. There was a pause before the group started to run away whilst yelling "Run!"

The girl looked back to the boy , Gaara, to see him look so scared and confused and sad, all at once. His eyes were wide and he seemed near tears.

He reached forwards with one hand, the other clutching the ball. "No, wait!" He called out desperately.

The girl was about to go over to him, feeling her heart clench, when suddenly the sand wrapped around the legs of a couple of the kids. They were yelling for help and crying out as they were dragged backwards.

The girl startled as she heard a voice in her head, "Please." She looked round. It sounded like the Gaara boy. "I don't want to be alone anymore." The girl turned, wide-eyed back towards Gaara as his eyes got larger still, except they were slightly crazed.

The girl realised, he was craving contact and friendship. His loneliness was making him lose his sense. She felt her heart break as she watched him lose control. No one should feel that lonely. The girl thought. But she was frozen. She couldn't move from her spot.

The girl that was caught yelled out "Let me go!" and the sand around her ankle tightened.

"Never again."

"Stop it, please!" The girl cried desperately terrified as the sand went towards her.

Just before the sand hit her, a man jumped in between the sand and the girl. The hidden girl gasped at the blood and ran away. She couldn't stand the blood, it brought back bad memories. She ran all the way home.

Night had fallen outside, and the girl who lived there with her mother and step-father was looking out the window. She couldn't stop thinking about what she had seen earlier. That boy. She thought. So lonely. She raised her hands to her chest, feeling it throb. Gaara.

The girl sat up straighter, her hands falling to her lap as she noticed someone getting closer. It was a boy. He was running. The girl ducked down as she realised who it was. Gaara? She thought, confused. What's he doing down here?

She looked shocked to see he was smiling. Her face softened into a smile in response, her head tilted slightly. She noticed he was holding a paper bag in his arms. He was holding it as if it was precious.

She watched as he ran up to the house opposite hers and knocks on the door.

She was shocked once more to realise the girl from earlier, the one Gaara had grabbed with the sand, opened the door. Her face was hostile.

She watched as Gaara held the bag out after a pause. She assumed he was speaking. The girl at the door looked twice as hostile as she said something before closing the door.

The watching girl gasped and stood, pressing her hands to the window as she saw Gaara begin to shake and then drop the bag, his head down. As he backed up, the girl raced out the room and into the hall in order to grab her poncho, to shield her from the billowing sand and hurriedly put her shoes on.

She flung open the door, running to the middle of the street. She looked left and right, but couldn't see Gaara. She breathing calmed as she looked to the door across from her.

As she walked up to it, she knelt by the dropped bag and opened it. She clenched her fists when she found that it was medicine. Gaara probably came to apologise. She thought angrily. And the stupid girl turned him away.

She picked up the bag of medicine, and knocked on the door with it in hand.

She same girl opened the door, this time, the hostile look melted instantly as she saw it wasn't Gaara again.

"Hello. Can I help you?" She asked the girl at the door nicely with a smile.

"Hi." She paused. She hadn't thought this through so didn't know what to do. "I – I saw what happened." She paused and shuffled on her feet as the door opened wider to show the girl behind it. "You know. Earlier." She finished lamely. "I brought you medicine!" She rushed out pushing the bag forward, her head bowed.

Idiot! She thought.

The girl at the door looked surprised, and then smiled warmly. "Come in. I'm Yuuka. What's your name?"

"I'm Shira."

After they were both seated and the girl – Yuuka – had taken some medicine for her injury she spoke.

"Thank you. I feel much better." Shira looked a Yuuka. She was smiling. She seemed so friendly, yet was obviously cruel to Gaara.

"I hope so. Gaara went through a lot of trouble to get that." Shira said coldly before getting up and leaving, ignoring the shocked and fearful look on Yuuka's face.

"Shira!" Yuuka called. "I know you're new here, and don't know, but." She paused and pulled her hand back towards her. "You should stay away from Gaara. He's dangerous. A monster."

Shira glared at Yuuka, causing the girl to flinch at the eeriness of her eyes, having not noticed from the constant head bow and hair covering one eye.

"From what I see, you're just as bad." She paused in contemplation. "If not worse, that is."

With that, Shira left Yuuka's house and ran in a random direction in the hopes of tracking down Gaara.

You're not alone, Gaara. I won't let you be. Shira thought as she ran.