A/N: Yayz, finally, a chapter with Gaara in it! XD

-o-

Gaara never slept, so Gaara always watched; I knew that for a fact. I also knew that sometimes, when he was feeling particularly bloodthirsty, one of the others silently stayed awake with him, just to make sure that he didn't kill them in their sleep.

I had to pray that tonight wasn't one of those nights'. The moon wasn't full—and it was also setting—so I was hopeful.

Slowly, I crept forward to the edge of the Sand Sibs' camp. Gaara sat alone, away from the embers of the fire and the warmth of sleeping bodies.

I counted three lumpy bedrolls and considered myself safely alone with Gaara. (Well, maybe 'safe' wasn't the right word…)

I didn't approach, though. I just settled down across the camp and gazed thoughtfully at his back, wishing I could hear him speak.

It was about two minutes later that sand wrapped around me in a deadly blanket and began crushing the life from my body.

I almost couldn't bite down on the scream that tried to escape, and I emitted a muffled squeak. Fighting all the instincts that told me to struggle, I stilled.

A moment later, a voice snapped, "Gaara."

I opened one eye and saw that Baki stood, glaring firmly at Gaara. The red-haired shinobi narrowed his eyes and the sand kept constricting.

"She's an intruder," the boy said slowly, coldly. "Perhaps a spy."

"No, she's our genin cannon fodder," Baki snapped as if I weren't there. Irritated as I was at the remark, I had to admire his courage in contradicting Gaara. "The council sent Chie-san's team along as… distractions."

For a moment, the sand squeezed tighter; I felt a rib or three crack and cried out, and then it released me, slithering back to its master.

Tears of pain streaming silently down my face, I stumbled backwards, wrapping my arms around my abdomen and trying to blink back the water in my eyes. Gaara, who had no turned to look the whole time, finally shifted around.

And even though his cold, murderous eyes were pointed toward me, I had the feeling they passed right over me without seeing.

As I struggled away, no longer the silent, stealthy ninja but a broken and bleeding child, I heard Baki say, "If she's still alive when we've completed the mission, you can have your fun."

-o-

I don't know how I made it all the way back to camp, but I did, only to find a kunai at my throat. I stilled, eyes wide, and looked to see that the rest of my squad was in the same position. Since Chie-sensei could have been free in an instant, I figured she must be complying for a reason, so I didn't fight. Then, of course, I saw the symbols on their hitai-ate; they were Konoha nin.

When I coughed up blood onto the hand holding the kunai to my skin, the shinobi from Konoha lurched into action. There was a blur of motion; Chie-sensei was suddenly in the care of a different shinobi, and I was on the ground with someone's glowing hands on my stomach.

"What happened?" asked a female voice from above me. I tried to shift my eyes to see her face, but my vision was out of focus; I remained wide-eyed and silent.

I thought I could feel my team glaring at me, and I realized I had let them down. It had been my job to keep them from being snuck up on or attacked.

The pain from my ribs was lessening, fading, as healing chakra suffused my torso. I took as deep a breath as I could currently manage and whispered, "Sand."

Chie-sensei, at least, would know what I was talking about, and I didn't think the Konoha nin needed to know.

"Why, exactly," asked a man from the general direction of Eiri and Abura, "are four shinobi from Suna camping out in the middle of Konoha's forest?"

"Chūnin Exams," Chie-sensei replied promptly. "We have papers." Then she added, "And that's why we're not fighting back."

My vision was clearing; I saw the blade lowered from Abura's throat. I couldn't help but sigh in relief when they chose him; Abura was smart, and while Eiri wasn't exactly stupid, Abura would be more likely to comply without trouble.

"Get them," ordered the shinobi, and I presumed he meant the papers. Slowly, Abura retrieved them and hand them over. After a slight nod from the man who read them, the Konoha nin all relaxed.

"Welcome to Konoha, then," said one of the shinobi, "and good luck in the Exams."

As they backed into the trees, Chie-sensei caught the arm of the nin who had held her.

"I don't know what you people know of Sabaku no Gaara," she said, "but he's up ahead. Don't attack his group like you did ours—he will kill you."

The shinobi nodded and disappeared.

-o-

"Alright," said Chie-sensei, turning her disapproving blue eyes on me. "Want to elaborate on what happened?"

"Not really?" I tried hopefully.

"Let me rephrase that. Elaborate on what happened."

"I, uh—" My mind was racing, and I remembered that Chie-sensei had said I was calmer when I lied. I didn't really think that was how she knew, but it might have entered into it.

So I wondered if I should lie like I was telling the truth.

"Well, I… I heard a sound," I said sheepishly. "It—it was probably just an animal, but I was worried, so I—I followed. I went farther than I'd thought, and I guess Gaara-san had wandered away from his camp. I… got in his way."

"She's lying," Eiri announced, probably just to look smart.

Abura replied, "Cheh, no she's not. Chie-sensei said she lies smoothly; listen to her stutter."

All three of us turned our eyes to the jōnin, but she just said, "What if those had been enemies?"

I hung my head and told the truth. "I don't know."

-o-

We arrived in Konoha only a little later than planned and found ourselves with a good deal of free time. Eiri and abura went off to train; Chie-sensei pointed out that I should join them, because we would need to be able to work well as a team. Reluctantly, I agreed with her, but I didn't follow my teammates, deciding that I could train far better by actually using my… talents.

I slid into the shadows of a building, masking my chakra as usual, and wondered how well I could mask my chakra in broad daylight. Just to see if I could completely vanish, I poured more and more chakra into the shadows around me as I inched along the wall. Fewer and fewer people were throwing glances my direction as they hurried down the streets of Konoha, and I was experiencing an odd sensation of… falling.

A moment later, I blinked, and suddenly, I couldn't see.

More accurately, I could see, but my vision was in pieces, life reflections off shards of glass, and a thousand different images twitched and shuddered before my eyes. I was seeing… everything.

My head whirled as if my brain was spinning in circles and I promptly passed out.

-o-

A/N: DUN DUN DUN… OK, not really, but that's alright.

So… I wondered if she's related to the Naras… -snickers- Um… yeah… she finally hears Gaara's voice for the first time!! I was proud of myself, because I could hear his voice in my head, saying those few things I had him say. XD Yayz… he didn't say much… there wasn't much to say… he wanted to kill her… OK… I need to stop rambling… I don't feel good…

Yeah… So, tell me, is my wonderful Takara-chan the Stalker a good, well-rounded character? Is she… -gasp- Mary Sue?? I need to know. –pleads-