Disclaimer can be found in Chapter 1.

A/N: Hey minna :-) I'm sorry that it took me so long to get this next chapter out, but I was finishing up a Tenchi Muyo story of mine. It's complete now, so I can fully concentrate on this Naruto story about one of my all-time favourite characters…Gaara-kun :-) I hope that you enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoy writing it :-)

A/N 2: I would also like to say a special Thanks to these awesome people who took the time to leave me a review. You guys ROCK!

So-kun

ShadowFrights

Saikiyoumi

grilledjellyfish

Denisetheanimelover

Winter's Gal

Marysmary

Shukaka-chan

encyser

Gaara's Hope

Chapter 2:

Gaara sat and watched the spot in the forest that the girl had disappeared into for another minute or two before a sudden thought occurred to him.

What am I doing!…Am I crazy!…I can't just sit around here waiting for that girl to bring back others from her village…I'm on the run!…I can't have any adults finding me…they'll be sure to send me back to the Kazekage…to my Tousan…I've got to leave now before she gets back!

With these thoughts swirling through his mind, Gaara slowly raised himself to his feet.

His body felt very stiff, and it barely cooperated with him as he took one step forward in the direction that the little girl had went.

However, before Gaara could take another step, another troubling thought occurred to him.

Where am I actually going to go? I don't have a home anymore…or a family…so what should I do? I can't keep running forever, because eventually those Sand nin that my Tousan sent are going to catch up with me…and then what's going to happen? I don't want to hurt anyone anymore…I don't ever want to see another's blood on my hands ever again…but I will probably have to fight back…I can't let them take me back to that place…that awful place full of death and lies that I used to call my home…and if it comes down to it…I will defend myself…or rather…this murderous sand that I have been cursed with will defend me…but this sand that protects me…no!…traps me!…scares me…it scares me so much…I never know what it might do next…who might be its next target…I have to find a way to control this sand…oh Kaasan…if only you were still here with me…if only you could help me right now…but I am truly on my own now, and I will just have to find a way to survive…Shimatta!…What should I do? Wait!…That girl!…Sakura…Haruno Sakura. She said that her village was just a little further up ahead through those trees. Well...I needed a place to hide. What better place to hide than a village full of people? I'm so small that I can probably blend right into the crowds without anyone noticing me. Hmm...I'll probably have to keep my head covered. My hair and this Kanji sign on my forehead will probably bring me too much unwanted attention…

At the thought of the Kanji sign, Gaara raised a slightly trembling hand, and gently touched the spot where the sign was.

Squeezing his sea-green eyes tightly closed for a second or two, Gaara quickly shook his head, dropped his hand back down to his side, and reopened his eyes.

Argghhh!…I don't have time for this!…I have to get going…I no longer have time to just sit around feeling sorry for myself…I have to be strong…I have to prove to myself that I can survive in this world that has completely turned against me!

With this final thought Gaara straightened his back, held his head up high to the sky, feeling the sun's welcome rays warming up his face, and resolutely stepped forward as he headed in the direction that Sakura had gone.

About half an hour later, Gaara stepped out from behind the trunk of a tree, and was presented with a sight that left him speechless with awe.

For there before him lay the absolutely biggest ninja village he had ever seen in his life!

The walls seemed to him like gigantic mountains, and the entire village was so huge that Gaara was unable to see where one end of the village started, and the other end finished.

His sandy, windy, and much smaller village didn't look anything like this.

In fact this hidden ninja village of Sakura's seemed like an overindulgent and extravagant waste of space.

Heh…I bet that all the ninja's in this village are fat and slow…it looks like they have life too good here…they have probably never had to deal with sand blowing so hard into their faces that it was actually slicing into their skin..…and they have probably never gone a day without food and water like I have for the last few days…speaking of which…I need to get through those gates and into that village as soon as I can…I'm sure that they have lots of food and water in there.

Having made up his mind, Gaara stepped back into the cover of trees, and carefully looked out as he tried to come up with a good plan for getting into the hidden ninja village.

The main gates were guarded by two burly, and well-muscled ninjas, their forehead protectors, the strong sunlight glinting off of the metal, displayed proudly on their heads.

In fact, now that Gaara had noticed it, everyone who was going either in or out of the gate had one of those protectors attached to some part of their body…unless they were little kids like himself being chaperoned by some adult.

Hmm…it seems that the only way that I'm going to get a chance to get into that village is with a group of those kids…they don't have protectors on so they can come and go as they please, but only if someone with a protector is with them. Now…how am I going to do this…I need some kind of distraction so that I can sneak up to some kids and their chaperone and pretend that I'm with them…I'll just have to be patient and wait for a good opportunity...

So Gaara stepped even further back into the trees, and waited for an opportunity to present itself.

The universe must have decided to give him a break from all of the trouble he had had to deal with over the last few days, because an answer to his dilemma came almost at once.

A semi large group of kids around his age were being led back up the path to the village by a young female nin.

The group of children all had various items in their hands. Some, like the little girls, had flowers, ribbons, and butterflies caught in small jars. Others, like the boys, had dirty hands, a couple of small kites, and one even had a strange looking puppy that sat perfectly balanced on its owner's head letting out happy little yips every couple of feet.

Gaara couldn't have asked for a better group to try to blend into. The female nin was busy talking to a young girl with bright, blue eyes, and long, blond hair, who was excitedly showing her sensei a string of flowers she had made into a crown.

As the group neared the section of trees that Gaara had hidden himself in, he quickly pulled up the little hood that was attached to his outfit, and waited tensely for the group to pass him by.

When they had, while keeping his head down, Gaara stealthily made his way out of the trees, and easily joined the back of the group of kids.

A couple of the kids looked back at him, but they quickly lost interest in him as they turned back to each other, laughing and joking about the great day that they had just had.

Gaara released a deep sigh of relief, and continued to follow the large group of kids and their sensei up the path towards the guards at the gate.

As they got closer and closer to those imposing village walls, and their stern-faced guards, Gaara began to sweat a little.

I hope that I can get away with this…I really don't want to get caught…

However, he needn't have worried, for the only thing that the guards did when the group finally got to the gate was to wave merrily at the kids, and give a pleasant hello to the female nin as they allowed the entire group to enter the gates of the village.

Gaara's heart had begun to pound fiercely, and his palms were covered in sweat as he realized with belated joy that he had made it past the gates, and he was now safely inside the ninja village.

Breathing another sigh of relief, and wiping his still damp palms against the sides of his clothes, Gaara quickly looked around for a hiding place.

Spotting what looked like a quiet and deserted alleyway, Gaara quickly broke off from the group of children, and hurriedly ducked into the alleyway.

He quickly darted behind a large, discarded box, and tried to calm his speeding heart by taking deep, cleansing breaths.

When he had managed to calm himself down enough, Gaara carefully stuck his head around the side of the box, and looked down the alleyway.

He didn't see anyone coming, but he could smell a variety of things in the air. Some made his mouth water with their delectable smells, while others made him wrinkle his nose in disgust.

Now that he was sure that he was relatively safe, Gaara pulled his head back around the side of the box, and deciding that it was big enough, crawled inside of it.

Once he was fully inside the box, and as comfortable as he could make himself on its coarse, hard surface, Gaara immediately began to think about his current situation.

I've finally found somewhere to hide from my Tousan's sand nin, but I'm still hungry, tired…and…so alone…oh Kaasan…what should I do now?

Gaara raised a small fist and wiped away a traitorous tear that had slid down his face.

By now half of the day had gone by, and even though he was still hungry, Gaara didn't have the energy to go out to look for food.

So he just lay down on the bottom of the box, closed his eyes, and just allowed his mind to drift. He wasn't asleep…no…he knew that he could never get away with that again…but he was in a kind of restive trance…one that he had developed over the years to try to replace his lost sleep. His body would relax completely and he would go into a kind of meditative state.

So Gaara closed his eyes…relaxed his mind and body…and just floated. He had no thoughts…he had no feelings…the thirst and intense hunger that he had been feeling before went completely away, and he went fully into his trance.

Gaara stayed in this meditative state for the rest of the day, and all through the night, and only stirred when the first light of the new day glanced off of a window pane near his box, and hit him right in the face.

Snapping his eyes open immediately, and feeling much better for the meditative rest that he had gotten, Gaara rose into a sitting position, and stretched his body out.

A sudden whiff of something good cooking floated by his nose, and made Gaara's mouth begin to water.

Gaara then clutched his stomach tightly as it suddenly cramped, and the hunger that he had ignored the day before caught up to him with a vengeance.

Shimatta! If I don't go out and find something to eat right now I swear that I'm going to pass out…I'd better hurry up and go get some food.

With this final thought Gaara weakly crawled out of the box that was quickly becoming his new home, and got slowly to his feet.

When he was fully on his feet, Gaara moved to the side of the box, and looked around it to the alleyway, and then to the street beyond it.

He could see some activity happening up on the street before him. There were people walking and talking with each other. A couple of people rode past on their bicycles. One man was even enjoying what looked like a hot and delicious bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich. This caused Gaara's stomach to cramp even more in hunger pain.

So with a quick surge of desperate energy, Gaara pushed himself away from the box, and made his way to the entrance of the alley.

There wasn't anyone passing by when he got there, so Gaara was able to slip out unnoticed from the alleyway.

Gaara now stood in the middle of a cobblestone-lined street, with windows to what must have been apartments, covering the sides of the two buildings he now stood between.

Gaara looked up and around himself with the same kind of awe tinged with resentment that he had felt when he had seen the hidden ninja village for the first time.

He continued to check out the place that he had stepped out into until he heard someone shouting something behind him.

Whirling around quickly, Gaara had just enough time to jump to the side, and flatten his body against one of the buildings, before he was almost run over by some crazy guy on a bicycle.

The man turned his head and yelled back a quick apology, before turning back around, and continuing to pedal at a break-neck speed to whatever destination he was obviously late for.

Gaara peeled his body away from the wall, scowled at the man's quickly disappearing back, and then stuck his middle finger up in a rude gesture that he had seen Kankurou use many times before.

Then Gaara's stomach cramped again, and he was unpleasantly reminded about his desperate search for food.

Quickly looking around for anymore homicidal bike riders and finding none, Gaara carefully pulled his hood up and over his head, and made his way to the entrance of the street.

When he got there, Gaara was surprised to find the streets were alive with people. There were men, women, children, pets, food stalls, and restaurants all over the place.

Kuso! How am I going to get any food with so many people walking around? I don't have any money on me, so I'm going to have to try to take something from one of those food stalls without anyone seeing me…I know that Temari wouldn't approve of my stealing from someone else…but this is an emergency! I've got to get something to eat right now!

Gaara's stomach cramped uncomfortably again, and he desperately looked up and down the street for a food stall that was relatively empty.

He spotted one, and it was a fresh fruit stall filled with ripe apples, oranges, grapes, and other assorted, mouth-watering fruit.

Quickly looking around to make sure that no one was watching him, Gaara stealthily left his hiding spot, and made his way over to the fruit stall.

When he got there, Gaara saw that the stall was practically overflowing with ripe and delicious-looking fruit.

In fact, the stall was so big, that the only fruit that Gaara could reach were the bright red, juicy-looking apples.

Gaara's mouth began to water, and before his food-depraved mind could stop him, his hand had shot out and grabbed one of the juicy apples. He then proceeded to devour the apple, enjoying it one scrumptious bite at a time.

Gaara didn't even realize what he had done until the entire apple was gone. He then wiped the juice that had gotten all over his face off with his sleeve and patted his stomach in pure pleasure.

Ahhh…that apple was so delicious…I didn't even realize that I had taken it until it was almost all gone…ahhh…I've got to get another one right n…oh kuso!…I forgot all about the stall owner!

Gaara had seen a big shadow covering him, so he had looked up, and he was now facing the fruit stall's very unhappy owner.

"Son, do you have any money to pay for that apple that you just ate," the man asked as he continued to stare down disapprovingly at Gaara.

Gaara looked up at the man and felt a bead of sweat trickle down the side of his face.

Kuso, kuso, kuso! How do I get myself out of this mess? Gaara asked himself as he continued to look up at the man whose face was moving swiftly away from disapproval into anger.

"Listen kid! If you don't have the money to pay for my apple perhaps your Tousan or Kaasan do…and I'm sure that they would just love to hear what their little boy has been up to…so spill it kid…where are they?"

Gaara didn't answer the man as he was too busy scanning the street for a quick escape route.

"Hey kid! Are you listening to me! I'm asking you a question here!" The man went to grab Gaara so that he could shake some answers out of him, but Gaara was much too fast for him.

Just as the stall owner's fingers were about to grab onto the collar of Gaara's outfit, Gaara quickly twisted to the side, and made good his escape.

Then as Gaara was running down the street as fast as his little legs could carry him, he heard the stall owner yelling after him.

"Hey you! Stop! You had better stop right now before I call the security nins on you! Do you hear me! I said to stop NOW!"

Gaara didn't stop…nor did he look back to see if the man had really called the security nins on him. He was too busy concentrating on escaping. In fact he was so busy concentrating that when he rounded the next street corner he didn't see the other person coming from the other side and ran right into them.

There was a loud (SMACK!) and Gaara and the other person both went flying back into the street.

Then getting up very slowly, trying to get the world around him to stand still, Gaara looked over at the person that he had run into.

The person was a kid around his age, with bright, spiky blond hair, and brilliantly blue eyes that were now narrowed at him in annoyance.

"Hey, hey! Why don't you look where your going, huh!" the kid exclaimed as he slowly got to his feet. "Oh well…it doesn't matter. My head is pretty tough anyway. It can take a little knocking around. Here…let me give you a hand up," the blond-haired kid said, a bright smile lighting up his face as he held out his hand to Gaara.

Gaara looked at the kid's hand, then he looked back down at the ground. He wasn't sure whether or not he should take the hand that was probably being offered to him in friendship.

Gaara looked down at his own hand, and then he suddenly remembered the little pink-haired girl, and the gift of the little white rabbit that she had given him.

Then looking back up at the still-smiling face of the young boy before him, Gaara made his decision.

Gaara hesitantly reached for the other kid's hand, grabbed it, and then held on to it tightly.

The other boy grinned happily as he pulled Gaara to his feet.

When they were both standing up straight, and fully facing each other, the other boy slapped Gaara on his back and introduced himself.

"The name's Naruto! Uzumaki Naruto! What's your name?" the boy named Naruto asked excitedly.

Gaara looked at the boy for a couple of seconds before replying softly, "Gaara…my name is Gaara."

"Well Gaara…you and I are going to be great friends!" Naruto exclaimed as he slung an arm around Gaara's neck.

"Yeah…great friends," Gaara replied dolefully, as he was bodily dragged down the street by Naruto.

Gaara then reached into the pocket of his pants and brushed his fingers against the soft, furry surface of the toy rabbit that Sakura had given him.

Yeah…great friends, Gaara thought to himself, as the beginnings of one of his rare smiles slowly began to spread across his face.

To be continued…
Translation Key:

Kuso - means about the same as (Chikuso) but not as strong

Chikuso - shit (a rather high level!)

Shimatta - damn it:-)

A/N: I really hope that you all enjoyed this chapter. Please leave a review. I would love to know what you all thought. Thanks everyone…Domo arigato minna :-)