A/N I've decided that the characters will have POVs after Gaara's training starts…meaning now. Thanks for reading!

Gaara's POV

"You have to move more, Gaara. You rely too much on your sand." Kakashi was giving me pointers on taijutsu again, which was a basic safety measure, and was much less painful than if you incorrectly performed a ninjutsu ("Gaara, I once stayed in a hospital for a month because I focused on the wrong point of chakra and blew myself up. Doesn't that sound fun?").

I gritted my teeth as I stared at the doppelganger that I was unsuccessfully trying to pin down. It was reading the same stupid pervy romance novel that Jiraiya made up. I halfheartedly threw a punch at it, which it deflected with ease, but I then forcefully kicked the doppelganger's foot and stomped downwards on it. The doppelganger disappeared after it had made an ugly face at me.

"My, my, that wasn't very nice. But I do suppose you can't be expected to in a battle. Just don't allow yourself to be angered so easily. Also…I guess you'd rather start on kunai throwing?" I nodded quickly. Anything to avoid the anger that burned all the time.

Three minutes later, I asked,

"Why am I…supposed to look at…birds?" Kakashi and I were watching…birds. He replied calmly.

"Because you aren't concentrating on a certain point. Just do what I asked, Gaara…keep both your eyes on a bird." I sighed resignedly and focused on the bird, which was flying very fast. I noticed the brownish gold that settled over it, and Kakashi realized that I was asking a silent question.

"Those are golden hawks. I presume they're more interesting?" He received a nod. "Then onto the next stage. Cover it with your sand. Gently!" I was surprised, but I did it. The steady stream missed the hawk by a whole yard. I groaned.

"Tell me." I kept my voice neutral. Kakashi winked at me.

"Focus!" I gave up on him and pinpointed my range of concentration on the hawk's plumage. This time, the sand promptly splattered the hawk all over. As it screeched with anger, I muttered a quick 'Sorry' and extracted the sand that was tipping its balance. My adopted father smiled under his mask, saying,

"Now…we try that with kunai." He took out a few of the ninja tools out of his bag. They were blunted, but that was all right. "See, you have to focus to strike a certain area. You also have to hold it a certain way." He showed me how to properly hold a kunai knife, and I took it by the handle.

In one motion, I brought the kunai down and released it. It struck the tree dead-center. I grinned mentally, and turned my (in reality) expressionless face to him. He clapped mockingly, and I raised an eyebrow.

"That was pretty good. Seems like you handle sharp objects quite well. All you have to do…is practice."

And I did indeed practice, over the course of the next five and a half years. During those years, I realized that more and more people tended to either avoid or tried to mess with me (e.g throwing apples). I didn't know exactly why they did that, but I ignored it as usual and carried on. I also improved my throwing skills and accuracy, namely with sand, but I never really showed it to Kakashi. When I finally did it in front of my (sort of) sensei, all ten of my target's bull's eyes were destroyed by kunai. Kakashi nodded in approval.

"There's something you need to know, Gaara." I glanced up curiously.

"I want you to attend the Ninja Academy." Huh? I thought, shocked.

"There, you will learn more about the ways of the ninja. But I could care less about that. It really is time for you to form a team, so in the next one and a half years, you'll be staying at the Academy." Seeing as I really didn't care that much, it did not matter in the slightest.

After the little talk about Ninja Academy, I began walking toward the school. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted an orange and yellow blur lugging a gray paint bucket charging toward the school. Shrugging the strange feeling of uneasiness, I kept on walking until I was face-to-face with the classroom I was assigned to. I knew I was here quite early, so without hesitation, I pulled open the door to receive a shock. The orange and yellow blur was sitting on the classroom floor, sloppily splattering the wall with thick dye. Although he wasn't a blur…not anymore.

The boy sitting on the floor had on an orange jumpsuit on, with a white collar around its neck. He had blond hair, and bright, mischievous blue eyes. There were goggles on his head and three whisker-like scars on each side of his cheek. I had observed all this in the meager time of one second and decided what to do in the next.

Since I wasn't going to stop him doing anything by layering the wall with sand (I'd just get my sand covered with paint) I quietly backed away instead of disturbing the strange student. Like I would ever do that. I began to pace around the academy until I spotted a pink-haired girl racing to school along with another girl, whom had her long hair tied in a ponytail. They looked furious at each other, and had angry veins bulging out of their foreheads. They barreled right over another girl whom I had seen studying the water on the ground earlier, trampling her. They didn't pay any attention at all, and kicking the school door aside, continued their race. The girl they had ran over stood up, scowling, and went back to staring at the water. But it wasn't water anymore. It was…ice?

A/N Hope you liked this chapter! R&R, please!