I wasn't sleeping very well. For starters, the bed was very uncomfortable. Somewhere in my head registered that it had an odd shape to it, was at an angle, and was very hard. But I decided not to think about it, after all, I could just go back to sleep. For a second I thought I was falling and I hit the ground. It was also very hard, and it seemed like I had fallen a long way. I barely opened my eyes and it was bright, so I shut them immediately.

I groaned, and feeling much, much more desperately in need of sleep than I ever had been before in my life, I went back to sleep anyways.

-Line break no jutsu!-

There was an air of intense anger and hatred in my mindscape. At first it was barely noticeable, but it gradually became louder and louder and continuously loud then so loud my head started throbbing- and then it quieted. It was odd, the complete silence. But it was kind of nice.

Until something started crawling around my body, that is. Within seconds it had expanded from it's starting point around my shoulders and had almost engulfed my entire right half and part of my left. It was creeping up my face, slipping into my ears, covering my eyelids like I had fallen into a swimming pool full of ants...

I jerked awake and screamed my head off for ten seconds until whatever it was started receding. I clenched my eyes shut and held my breath until it completely went away.

Whatever it was was gone in half a minute. I waited another and took several deep breaths until I slowly opened my eyes. It was so bright, I squinted. What a nightmare.

As soon as my eyes adjusted, I fully took in my surroundings. I was sitting on one side of a sand and dirt road. There were buildings on either side of the road, made of sand or clay or something, not wood. There were some stores and stands down the road. The sun beat down mercilessly.

And there were thirty or so Naruto ninja and Anbu from Sunagakure surrounding me. They were all over, on the street, on roofs, everywhere. Three. Moons. What. Was. Going. On?

I was absolutely sure now that I wasn't dreaming, it was much too vivid and real. But what the heck.

I caught one of them signaling the others something, and two different ones left. Another was holding back a group of civilians who were watching. But everyone was watching me with suspicion, distrust, resent, hatred, and most of all, fear. Many muttered and mumbled to each other and glanced at me as I looked around, as if I was going to kill them or something. One child who was clearly off his rocker pulled a kitchen knife and ran at me. Instinctively I held my arms up in defense, and a wall of the surrounding sand shot up from the ground and blocked the attack before a ninja grabbed the boy and retreated.

What in the world had I just done?

Suddenly I wasn't thinking anymore. I ran into the building next to me and searched desperately for the bathroom, not noticing the nine year old Temari and eight year old Kankuro watching as I ran past. When I found it, I ran in and slammed the door.

Then I looked in the mirror and saw the face of a six year old Gaara.

-Line break no jutsu!-

I sat on the desk in Gaara's (my?) room, not thinking and just staring at the wall across from me. There was no thinking to be done here for at least three hours, as I must recover from my sense of logic being utterly shattered.

But after that three hours, I still couldn't break out of my daze until Kankuro walked in and waved his hand in front of my face for about a minute. I turned my head toward him and he shrieked and ran out the door, yet again slamming a door. "I'm sorry Gaara!" he whined through the window in the door as I jumped off the desk. "Please don't kill me! Temari dared me to do it!"

I opened the door again to the sight of Kankuro sobbing on the ground in a small ball. I had no Idea what to do. I obviously wasn't going to kill him, although I could hear Shukaku insisting I should, but I had no clue what to do or say. Instead I walked past him and into the bathroom.

To my surprise, Temari was sitting on the floor of the bathroom, also crying. She looked up as I entered and scooted back against the wall, grabbing a bottle of shampoo from next to the shower and holding it like she was going to throw it at me. I looked in the mirror at the reflection, then back at Temari.

"Temari, I- I'm…" I said in Gaara's voice, then trailed off. I grabbed the mirror off the wall and ran back to Gaara's room, jumping over Kankuro who was still on the floor. I set the mirror down so it was standing against the wall, and sat down in front of it.

I got back up and went back to the door and knelt down. "Kankuro."

He looked up at me. "Wh- what is it Gaara," he stuttered.

"Can you get me a pair of scissors? And a piece of paper with something to write with?" I asked.

"Y-yeah." He then ran farther down the hall and into a room, coming back soon after with what I asked for. "Here."

"Thanks." I said and took them. I walked back and sat in front of the mirror.

I took a breath, grabbed the scissors, and reached up, snipping a small clump of hair off. I dropped the scissors next to me, and held the hair in front of me.

It was bright red.

My hair was supposed to be brown.

No, no, no… I curled up in my own ball on the floor and wept.

-Line break no Jutsu!-

(changed POV, it is now Kankuro's)

I stared at Gaara from the door, confused. They started crying on the floor after cutting off their hair and seeing it. I don't think I had ever seen Gaara cry before.

I ran into the living room to find a woeful Temari sitting on the couch. "You have to come see his," I said while grabbing her arm and pulling her up.

I dashed back to Gaara's room with my sister in hand.

"What's wrong with him?" Temari whispered into my ear.

"I don't know, he just asked me to get scissors and paper and a pencil for him and then I did. He cut off part of his hair and looked at it then started bawling like this."

"He's been acting so strange today," Temari said. "First he actually sleeps, then half transforms into the demon, and then stares at the wall so long, and now this?"

I nodded. "Yeah. When I bothered him I seriously thought he was going to kill me. But then he just walked right past."

"I'm sorry. For daring you to do that and almost getting you killed." I pushed her into the room after she said that.

"Apology accepted. Your turn."

Sis gave me an angry stare before turning to Gaara.

"Gaara-" She was interrupted by another round of wailing.

"Maybe we should leave him alone for now." I suggested.

"Yeah," Temari agreed.

-Line break no Jutsu!-

(normal POV)

It took another little while before my tantrum calmed to some stray tears. I decided to try and write down everything wrong on the paper Kankuro had gotten me. I thought it might help.

I woke up in Gaara's body from Naruto.

Shukaku is still in this body

I think Shukaku tried to take over while I was sleeping.

Everyone is afraid of me.

He has not killed Yashamaru yet, judging by the fact that he does not have the kanji on his forehead, but Gaara has already started killing.

I caused Kankuro and Temari to cry because they thought I was going to kill them.

It's kind of disturbing that I am in a male body.

I sound really weird with child Gaara's voice.

I don't know how I got here.

I don't know where the real Gaara is.

I don't know how to get back to my world.

Gaara's body is very sleep deprived.

I can't sleep.

Then I noticed Kankuro standing in the doorway. I glanced at him with a sad expression, and he flinched. I averted my eyes back down to the carpet in front of me.

He came in, surprising me. He stared at what I had written, and soon Temari walked in and did so too. I was conflicted. Should I hide it? It didn't look like they understood any of it though. I should kill them, they might reveal my secrets, part of my mind whispered. "No," I muttered out loud. Temari and Kankuro backed up. "Sorry," I added, after taking a moment to notice.

Oh, crap. I had realized something.

English probably didn't exist in this world. And I had subconsciously written it instead of their language that I somehow understood.

I quickly grabbed it, tore it to tiny pieces, and threw it in the trash by the desk. The rest of the sand siblings just watched.

"It was nothing," I muttered. Everyone proceeded to sit against the wall and stare at each other. Mostly at me. I was sitting opposite the window next to the door and they were sitting under the window.

"What happened to you?" Temari finally asked after a while.

"I don't know," I replied, and it was the truth. I had no clue at all how this could have happened.

Flashback

It was a normal weekend. I played Minecraft, watched some anime with my family, read fanfiction, injured myself (a papercut), and worked on an introduction of myself for school, which I loathed, so I did not think much about it. Something along the lines of 'My name Is Lilly Hunter. I was born in California. I am 11 years old. I like reading and drawing. I write like an old person.' and all that. I went to bed at 11, but couldn't sleep for a few, the norm.

But then I woke up in Suna.

-Line break no jutsu!-

(Rasa's POV)

"Lord Kazekage," an Anbu said shortly after appearing in front of me. "Something happened regarding Gaara."

I looked up from my desk. "What is it?"

"He- slept. For two and a half hours before being possessed by the demon."

He hasn't done that before, I thought. He had not slept since I could remember. He now claimed it was because the demon would hurt people if he did. But I got kind of confused at this, Gaara had been killing sometimes anyways."Explain. Must I help with the beast?"

"No sir- the boy woke up at the beginning of the transformation, and the beast withdrew."

"Interesting. Keep an additional three guards watching my son, and alert me of any other strange behaviour."

"Understood," the Anbu said, and disappeared.

I sighed. my son had started murdering people occasionally a few months ago, and though I would never admit it, I was worried about him. But my duties were to the village first, family next.

It took six hours to get my next report about Gaara. I sat down at my desk and began to read.

The report relayed some interesting details about my son's actions. Apparently, he had seemed to have less bloodlust today, but he'd been very different than just that. He hadn't said any death threats, and he had been somewhat polite to his siblings, giving thanks to Kankuro when he had made a quick trip to grab some things for the young jinchuriki, and saying sorry when he muttered something to himself. Aside from that, he had apparently written some sort of list in an unknown language then ripped it into tiny pieces, stolen the mirror from the bathroom, and had cried for a while after he cut a few strands of his hair off and looked at them. And even before that, he had been surprised by his appearance in the mirror.

What was going on with him?

I intended to find out.

-Line break no jutsu!-

(normal POV)

That night Rasa came home earlier than I expected for the Kazekage. He was just as creepy as he looked in the anime or manga, I thought to myself. But it wasn't just anime creepy anymore, this was the real deal.

He brought food from a few of the restaurants nearby. I had an inkling to what he was playing at, so I contemplated my response, then decided to go half and half. I grabbed a piece of chicken and some rice immediately after I deemed it appropriate to serve myself, then searched the table for Gaara's favorite foods- something about tongue and gizzard. I scooped some of that onto my plate and slowly tried them. They were okay, not quite my favorite, but I'd eat it.

After I finished eating that, Rasa began his interrogation.

"So, Gaara," He started. It took me a second to realize that he was talking about me.

"Yes, Father?" I replied. It felt so wrong to call this man my father, but it couldn't be helped until I decided what I was going to do about this situation. Especially since it appeared I was staying for a while, because I didn't go back when I slept earlier.

"You've been acting strangely today, and I need you to tell me why." Straight to the point. Seemed like Rasa.

"I don't know," I replied. That was a lie. Well, not for me, I think I would act like that if this happened, and it did. But it would be a lie if I was really Gaara. "I just fell asleep this morning, and woke up to Shukaku trying to take control of my body." Part of that was true. I did wake up to Shukaku. But I actually fell asleep last night.

Kankuro spoke up. "He also stole the mirror from the bathroom and didn't threaten me and sis when we bothered him."

"Thank you, Kankuro. Gaara, I can tell you are keeping something from me. I expect a better explanation tomorrow."

And with that everyone finished their dinner, cleared their plates and left to do whatever they did at night.

Rasa just watched me as I left to Gaara's room.

As I entered, I sighed. It was so empty, Just the small wooden desk in the corner, and a bench on the other side with cushions. With all that had happened today, I really wanted to get a good night's rest, but I remembered that I couldn't, especially if I wanted to avoid reliving this morning.

I decided to draw for a while, but realized there was no paper. Better go ask for more.

Looking for Kankuro(I assumed he had more paper), I opened the door to Temari's room instead. She was sitting on her bed taking her socks off. It was actually pretty clean compared to my idea. Bookshelves and another desk this time under the window instead of in the corner lined half the walls, and the bed was next to a door to a closet. There were only a few pieces of trash and… a cat toy? On the floor. Temari looked up.

"Uhm, hi," She said.

"Ah, I was looking for some blank paper. Do you happen to have like a stack of fifty or something?" I asked. Worth a shot.

"Oh. I actually have a lot." She got up and walked over to her desk and picked up a stack of around a two hundred and thirty if I had to guess. "Here, take these."

"Thanks."

"Okay… yeah." She tapped her foot against the ground subconsciously and looked away.

I sensed the awkwardness and turned around and went back to Gaara's room.

I sat down at the desk and drew for a couple of hours. First I drew Gaara- It was helpful to have the mirror, however awkward it was to see a different appearance as me- in the narutoish anime style. I had practiced drawing since before I could remember, and had gotten relatively decent for my age(my original age). Then I moved on to drawing Temari, then Kankuro, then Rasa. But I was still incredibly bored, not to mention tired as hell.

I needed some fresh air. I went to my window and opened it then climbed on to the sill. I peeked my head out and looked up. Maybe it's a good idea to go sit on the roof, doesn't Gaara usually do that? I thought to myself. I saw four Anbu watching me, woohoo what a surprise but it only sort of was because I had never been in this situation before, but no footholds or handholds for me to get up on. And I hadn't a clue how to walk on walls or use the sand yet.

I ducked back into the room and closed the window. So much for that idea. Since I had nothing better to do I decided to draw again. This time around I drew my original family and friends and even people I'd hated. I shed a few (understatement of the century) tears as I did so, but continued until the clock on the desk read 3:00 AM. I'd finished drawing everyone I remembered at the moment, so I started on important events in my life. Like getting my first pet (a bearded dragon), when I had my eighth birthday party with my friends and it was a whole lot of fun, when my little brother was born, when I broke my arm jumping off a very large slide. Stuff like that.

It was a realistic morning time now. I yawned and went downstairs to find Temari making breakfast, and the second oldest trying to help but getting shoed away because he wanted to put outrageous things in the eggs.

"I can help," I said and walked into the kitchen.

Temari visibly hesitated.

"If I wanted you dead you would be already. Besides, poison is Kankuro's thing," I said.

"Hey!" Kankuro complained.

Temari quietly chuckled. "Yeah, okay. You can crack the eggs."

A few minutes later someone opened the door. "Gaara, your father would like to meet with you at his office."

Of course. Right when I might have had the chance to mend my relationship with my new siblings.

I turned toward the door to find Yashamaru there. I was so glad he's still alive in this world. Maybe when it comes to that point in the timeline I could save him. I perked up a little bit.

"Are you coming too?" I asked.

"I am." He said.

We headed outside and I immediately got a few of those dirty glares. I hid behind Yashamaru, partly because it felt awful to see people looking at me like that, but also partly because I had no clue which way to go.

After all, I'm Gaara now, and I'd better know the routes.

A/N: so, how'd you like it? I would greatly appreciate feedback! This is my first actual fanfic that I'm gonna put at least some effort into. Updates at least every other week. And sorry about the bad cover art, I don't really want to put effort into that until later.