Maya dreamed…..

She was five years old again. Her father's most recent trip had taken them to Sunagakure, in the hopes of better trading with a ninja village. As he set up shop, noticed how bored she appeared. He told her to go find some other kids her age. "Have some fun while we're here." He said with a smile.

"Thanks, daddy!" Maya hugged him, and ran off down the road.

….

Maya was happy. She hadn't found any other kids her age yet, but she had found a vendor that sold some kind of amazing, sweet yellow fruit. It had been delicious. As she rounded a corner, she saw a group of older kids playing with a ball. As she watched, one of the boys kicked the ball to hard, and it sailed up onto a ledge. Almost by magic, the ball lifted and slowly made it's way to a young boy's hands. The boy looked at the ball for a moment, the offered it to the older kids. Instead of taking it, the yelled insults and ran off. The boy seemed very upset.

'What a bad thing to do.' Maya thought, as the boy turned away. "Wait!" She ran towards the boy. As he turned toward her, she smiled at him. "You dropped your bear." As he took it, she said, "Wanna swing with me? Its no fun by yourself."

The boy looked at her warily.

Maya tried to give him a "grown-up" look. "You know, it's impolite to ignore people."

The boy looked down at the ground.

'Geez, this kid needs friends' Maya thought. So she did what she always did when she was unsure. She went with her instincts.

The boy gasped as threw her arms around him. He sat stiffly, holding onto his bear, until she let go.

"Come on, you gotta push me. Lets go!" As Maya ran off towards the swings, she turned her head and yelled back, "So, what's your name, anyways?"

The boy stood there a moment, obviously in shock. Then, astonishingly, he smiled at her. "My name's Gaara." He said, as he started forward.

She woke up slowly, feeling the pain seep through her body. As her eyes focused, she recognized the white walls and sterile settings. 'I'm in a hospital….' As her body started to wind up, the door opened. She sprang from her bed and into the far corner of the room, assuming a defensive stance.

As Sakura walked in, she immediately noticed the strange behavior of her patient. 'Fantastic' she thought. 'They dump this girl on me without a word about who she is or where she's from, and it looks like she's a complete psycho.' As Sakura slowly walked into the room, she tried to be reassuring. "Listen, Maya, I'm not here to hurt you. I was just coming in to check on your progress. Would you mind having a seat on the bed?"

Maya bared her teeth at the strange pink-haired girl. "You will not touch me."

Sakura sighed. "I've already touched you. A lot. I'm most of the reason you're alive. The rest of that reason is standing impatiently in the hallway. Now would you sit down so I can examine you?" Sakura continued looking at the girl, and sighed again. "Gaara, would you help me here?"

Maya stared as Gaara walked into the room. "So it was real…."

Gaara looked at her intensely. "Yes"

Maya, still looking at Gaara, spoke. "So I am in Sunagakure, and you are a medical-nin of this village."

"Not from this village, but I happened to be here on a mission at the time you were brought in." Sakura smiled, lightly. "It's a good thing, too. You might not have made it through without my villages knowledge of medicine. How long were you traveling with that wound in your side?"

Maya never even glanced her way. "Three days. I killed the squad they sent after me, but I was clumsy." She finally dropped her gaze from Gaara's. "They caught me off guard, while I was sleeping. I managed to kill three of them, but the fourth escaped. My injury prevented me from pursuing him. My only thought after that was to make it here." She looked up again, almost apologetically.

Sakura stared at her. "Three days! You should have been dead in twenty-four hours with a wound like that. It's amazing you got half the way you did." Sakura looked over at Gaara. "I need to examine her."

Gaara, still staring at Maya, nodded.

As Sakura approached, Maya stiffened, but made no noise as Sakura poked and prodded at her injuries. "Amazing…"Sakura said quietly. "The level of healing is rapid. I've never seen anything like it, except with Naruto." She looked up swiftly.

Maya chuckled softly. "I have no Tailed-Beast in me. The men at the hospital where I came from are…..very willing to try 'extreme' enhancement procedures."

Sakura looked quickly up at her. "You mean they experimented on you?"

Maya laughed coldly. "Our world is not as nice a place as it seems here."

Sakura shuddered, then looked over at Gaara. "Her wounds are healing rapidly. I would say she could be released tonight, as long as she takes it easy for a day or two." 'Amazing, considering she nearly died two days ago.'

Maya suddenly seemed embarrassed. "…I have no money for a room."

"You will stay with me." As Maya looked up again, Gaara's eyes were still burning into hers.

She looked down to the floor, her eyes shadowed. "I don't want to be a burden."

"I will pick you up here in two hours." As Gaara strode from the room, Maya walked to the window and stared out, a troubled expression on her face.

'Holy Hell,' Sakura thought, as she watched their last interaction. 'Just what exactly is going on here?' She looked over at Maya. The girl looked so lost and sad that she just wanted to go over and hug her. Except according to Temari this sad little girl could take her head off. Wonderful. As she closed the door, Sakura decided it was time to pay Temari another visit. 'She knows more than she's telling.'