Over the course of the next few months, Gaara and the wolf developed a system. When ever Gaara had a mission to go on, he would tell her the day before. It was only during those times that she would venture away from the cliffs to hunt. Otherwise she stayed within the area of the cliffs, living off of the lizards, mice and other rodents.

When they met up almost everyday, Gaara was welcomed with a small yip and tail wags as he pat her head. Gaara often would be skipping training with his team. After a while Baki stopped getting on his case.

The older shinobi had followed the red head one day to find out where he went, and had come across the wolf demon and Gaara. The red head had remedied the lack of skilled training partner by practicing with the wolf.

Baki had been so caught up in the unexpected display that he forgot to watch the wind. The wolf was prancing around Gaara, yipping and dodging the sand, its tail moving in a furious wagging movement. Baki had thought that Gaara was seriously trying to crush the wolf, but not once did he injure the animal.

It was like the two were playing, sparring affectionately. The wolf never nipped at him directly, only swatting at the sand and pretending to bite it. For Gaara's part, he watched his sand very carefully. Not once did it harm her. Gaara, widely known for killing anything and anyone just because, was playing gently with the demon wolf. The wolf known for taking out bands of bandits and skilled fighters.

A surprised yip brought him out his musing. The large wolf was stuck, sand wrapped around its legs and chest. Baki retraced his thoughts; maybe Gaara was going to kill it after all. But the wolf's tail was wagging as she sniffed the sand wrapped around her, before looking up at Gaara expectantly. Baki was stunned as the sand fell away from the large animal, which then pranced up to Gaara, nosing his hand. Baki went into disbelief as the redheads hand patted the wolf with affection.

Then the wind shifted. The wolf tensed before swinging around, placing herself between the redhead and Baki, snarling at the man. The older shinobi was already gone before Gaara could see who it was.

That night Baki returned to the cliff, looking for the wolf. It was hard, walking in the dark, trying to find a wolf he couldn't sense. At last he came to the area he had spied on Gaara and the wolf in. He walked to the center of it and looked around. The wolf was no place to be seen. He turned to return to the village and jumped in surprise.

There in his path was the demon wolf, sitting and staring at him. The tales he had heard about the monstrous wolf ran through his head. But outwardly he was calm.

"I found you." He raised and eye brow when the wolf snorted and rolled its eyes as if to say, no, I found you.

"Are you a nin-wolf?" she shook her head. So the beast did understand humans. "A demon?" the wolf snorted, shaking its massive head once again. "What are you? Just a wolf?" A low whine fell from the massive wolf before him. He stared at the beast.

"Will you allow me to talk with you for a while?"

It was early morning when Avaya stood; looking out over the village that that man, Baki, and Gaara dwelled in. Memories from last night played in her head.

"Gaara is a monster that his father created" Avaya snarled at the man. "Wait, let me finish. The villagers treat him as such, and live in fear and hatred of him. Because of this, he has come to trust none and hate everyone. The belief that he exists only to kill others has become so ingrained in him that he lives only to kill. The hate, anger, pain, and loneliness in his eyes, it's not there when he's with you, wolf. I think you can help him. Ease his pain and loneliness, and give him strength." Avaya perked her ears forward and tilted her head, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"How human you seem, demon wolf. Only you can train with Gaara, helping him to advance his abilities without coming to harm and without fearing him. Stay by his side, he needs you."

Now she stood, waiting for Gaara to appear in the flurry of sand he always arrived in.

When Gaara arrived she barked happily, tail beating the air, as she pranced over to him, nosing his hand. He knelt down and looked her in the eyes.

"Only you ever receive me with kindness." The wolf pawed his leg and he continued on. "Tomorrow I leave on a long mission, two weeks I'll be gone." The wolf nuzzled his chest. "It's the chunin exams. I'll return after them for a short while before going back for the last round."

The next morning saw the sand sibling's team leaving the gates of Suna. Temari and Kankuro gave Gaara a wide birth, shooting wary glances at the younger redhead. Who knew how he would behave on this trip. They both looked at Baki, who remained undisturbed. They all took off through the desert. It would take three days to get to the land of fire. The first exam started in five.

That night the four Suna nin sat around a meager fire in the desert. Baki was preparing supper while Temari and Kankuro worked on and took care of their weapons. Gaara sat in a brooding silence, staring out into the dark. Everything was calm and quiet.

A single long note flowed out into the sky, the haunting melody piercing the darkness. Temari shrieked. "What is that?", staring out into the darkness fearfully. Kankuro laughed nervously. "Scared of the wind much sister?" Temari hit him, which resulted in the two of them bickering loudly. Gaara twitched.

"Both of you shut up. It's a wolf." The two elder siblings looked at an irritated Baki.

"A wolf?" "What would a wolf be doing out here?" they questioned him.

Baki shrugged, "Maybe it's giving a blessing." The elder shinobi looked at Gaara after the other two had gone back to their weapons. The redheads face was completely blank as he stared out into the darkness.

In the distance a large black animal sat watching the camp. She would follow as she made her rounds partially.

A/N: yea i know, ooc-ness and really fast moving, dont worry, it'll slow down once it gets to the main story.

Read and Review

No Flames.