A/N: I am amazed at how easily I write this fic (well, excluding the research and the reviewing of the episodes). Thanks for the reviews! And the author alerts and favourites (from both this story and others)! And thanks for reading this fic!
I'm trying to make Gaara's part longer, but it's hard to do that and make it lead up to his past. I have a deadline to fit things in on his part and they come sooner than the deadlines for Naruto's part. Sorry, I'm rambling, but I had to get that out.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, 'cause if I did, Matsuri would defintely be dead by now (sorry Gaara/Matsuri fans).

Two Sides of the Same Kunai

Chapter 3

1 Year after the last chapter

For Naruto, the fourth year of his life was pivotal. He almost encountered a few kids his own age! But let's start at the beginning.

This year, Naruto had a dream. The dream to become a ninja, and he pursued it with the same stubborn determination both his mother and father were renowned for. "Old Man Hokage" also had a hand in helping young Naruto, by lending him plastic weighted kunai to practise throwing with and giving him tips on taijutsu. So Naruto threw, sparred (with a dummy, also lent by the Hokage) and improved. In 4 years (in which time he could enroll in the ninja academy), he would be excellent at the physical component of being a ninja. Yes, it was too bad that the boy couldn't read, but perhaps that could be dealt with later.

On one particular day when Naruto had tried practising out of his apartment and in the forest surrounding the village, a certain Hyuuga Heiress spotted him carrying all this ninja equipment into the forest.

Freeze the picture for a second and try to look at this from Hinata's view. You see a dirty little boy about the same age as you lugging heavy things into a forest. That's suspicious enough, but Hinata was always very caring and kind, so she thought maybe she could help this boy.

As she got closer, she recognized the boy. Yeah, it was that lonely boy that her father had told her to stay away from. Poor little Hinata was so scared of her father, that instead she hid behind a tree and watched Naruto continue his business. She watched Naruto practise sparring, the dummy swinging and almost hitting Naruto. She observed one particular practise kunai bounce off three different trees and come back in Naruto's direction, actually bashed Naruto in the head.

"Owwww!" He groaned, but after rubbing the spot where the kunai struck, he continued throwing.

For 4 continuous hours, Hinata witnessed Naruto swing his arms and legs, sweating, but he hardly took a break for more than a minute. Then she realized that people would start looking for her by now. This boy, she thought, is special. I will remember him next time I see him., and she went away.

After Naruto had finally decided that he had trained enough, he packed his stuff up and made his way through the village. Perhaps it was just coincidence, or maybe it was fate, but one way or another, Naruto proved to be too exhausted and collapsed right infront of Ichiraku Ramen.

~Later~

Naruto woke up inside a kitchen. He rose, and smelled something. He was so hungry after all the training, that the already good scent became something closer to insanely delicious to Naruto's nose.

"So you've finally woke up, have you?" A cheerful voice came from his left.

Naruto looked, and saw where the wonderful smell came from. It was ramen!

Teuchi, the owner of Ichiraku Ramen and one of the few who didn't scorn Naruto, held out a big bowl of ramen. "Have something to eat boy, build up your muscles and get stronger."

Naruto snatched... er, accepted the bowl from Teuchi. "Thanks Old Man!"

Teuchi laughed and waited while Naruto wolfed it down. The smell was not deceiving, and Naruto swore he never had such a heavenly meal.

When Naruto had finished slurping the soup he looked at Teuchi with a strange expression. "I don't have my money with me." He said sheepishly.

Teuchi roared again with laughter. "No problem, kid! Free, on the house!"

"I don't know what 'on the house' means, but thanks again, Old Man!" Naruto spotted his equipment in a corner and gathered it up. He left the Ramen Bar and waved. "I'll come back, with money!"

And come back he did. Teuchi never turned him away when he came, unlike those kids who were dragged away by their parents every time he came near.

Some one else other than the Hokage accepted him.

By the age of 4, Gaara had shown huge promise in his abilities as a shinobi. For this year, the Fourth Kazekage decided to stop the attempted murders to preserve his son and mold him into the "ultimate weapon" he wanted. But he would have to make Gaara emotionally stable somehow... Hmm.

So, by order of the Kazekage, Uncle Yashamaru was given the duty to look after Gaara and care for him. To protect him and comfort him and... well, you know. Though Yashamaru didn't really like Gaara due to the death of his sister, Gaara's mother, he tried to follow his brother-in-law's orders and pretended to care about Gaara very convincingly.

Gaara was delighted, because Uncle Yashamaru was the first person to appear to appreciate his existence and respect him. But that didn't stop Gaara from not sleeping at nights in fear that if he slept Shukaku would overtake him and cause the village to hate him more. Uncle Yashamaru couldn't protect him from the demon inside him. Big black lines started to ring around Gaara's eyes. Temari and Kankuro matured slightly and saw from the black rings that Gaara was suffering too. They gradually got over their grudge (it was a bit harder for Kankuro) and tried to treat Gaara nicely. It was the first year when Gaara felt happy. Or atleast, partly happy.

In those long, sleepless nights, Gaara's mind was left free to wander, and he couldn't distract himself because the Kazekage locked him in his room at night. He asked himself again, "What did 'hurt' feel like?". Maybe he could find out himself. So during the time that the sun was not in the sky, Gaara experimented with the different ways to harm oneself. He threw himself at the floor, he (tried to) hit himself, he stepped on a sharp stone, and he even asked Kankuro once to smack his wrists. It became an obssession, trying to find an answer to that question.

Another obssession of Gaara's was to find the meaning of his existence. Like so many people before him, Gaara pondered the meaning of life. He preferred the word existence. That gz sound. Gaara would have giggled, but laughing wasn't something he was used to. But Gaara was still a little child. Who says he can't play with words once in a while?

Unfortunately, the Kazekage caught Gaara smiling and saying "Desert. Desert. Dessert (*insert silent giggle)." As a strict man, he punished Gaara for this (why this is deserving of punishment is unknown) by not allowing him to be in the family picture. It was doesn't matter, the Kazekage thought, because any villager who happened to see the picture would probably cut him out anyways.

As it was, Gaara managed to get a copy of the picture, and guess what he did? He got scissors and cut out his dad.

"Words. Are. Fun." He growled, emphasizing each word with a snip.