A darkened void where nothing is what it seems, and everything is out to get you. Where thoughts are facts and where people are nothing more than figments of your imagination. Where your best friend is most likely your worst nightmare, and where all of your hopes and dreams are shattered to dust.

For years, Gaara lived there, in a world that was nothing more than a dark and empty void. For years he knew that nothing was what it seems and that everyone was out to get him. For years he knew his thoughts were real and that people were expandable. For years he never had a best friend and he dared not hope or dream for fear of it crumbling.

He was but an experiment to his father, a monster to his village. It was because of him that his mother had died, and because of HIM that nobody would play with him. He was alone in the world, different from everyone else, a total outcast. No one else could feel the pain that he did; no one else could know the suffering. His elder siblings feared him as much, perhaps more, as they did love him. He wasn't welcome anywhere, only tolerated.

When his uncle, the one man that he trusted and thought for sure loved him, betrayed him, Gaara had had enough. He had "tattooed" the kanji, "ai" onto his forehead, and he swore that he would only love himself from then on. He became the monster that everyone thought he was. He became a killer, he was the ultimate weapon, untouchable because of the barrier of sand that protected his body at all times.

Can you imagine the surprise he must have felt when he arrived in the village of Konoha? The assortment of shinobi there were astounding, and there were a fair few konouchi's as well. Hyuuga's, Aburame's, an Uchiha, a Hatake, and two peculiarly dressed bowl-haired males, a mentor and a student. But these people didn't draw as much of his attention as a simple boy did. A completely stereotype blonde-haired, blue-eyed, loudmouth kid; to those who didn't take a deep look. Gaara, at first, didn't.

When he did, he was perplexed. It couldn't be right. He must have missed a factor. It didn't add up. Nobody who was rejected so much, so hated, could be so carefree and obnoxious. Nobody with a demon inside of them could be so happy. It wasn't possible.

But there he was, Uzumaki Naruto, Konoha's loud and passionate demon child. The outcast who had a ring of some of the more popular genin as his friends.

Gaara didn't understand, and that made him angry. Why did this boy act the way he did, why was he so happy, how could he have been accepted by anybody, how could he trust them so much? What drove him through the day with that big smile on his face?

And then he found out about the other boy's dream. To be acknowledged for his skills, to show the village that had rejected him so that he was not just a demon, that he was just as human as the rest of them. He was going to earn their respect. He was going to surpass all of the previous Hokages.

Gaara thought him a fool, but the more he watched the other boy, the more he came to understand. Uzumaki Naruto wasn't just doing it to prove to the idiots of his village that he should be valued; he was proving to himself that their insults didn't hurt him. He was trying to prove to himself and everyone else, that no matter how many times he got knocked down, he would get back up and keep fighting. He may not have the best skills, but he had more spirit and determination than anyone else could.

Here was the funny part; the naive blond haired child was oblivious. He never noticed Gaara watching him, he never saw the dark haired girl as she watched him with a blush, and he never noticed the Uchiha(s) as they watched him. But he would usually notice they were there. He would ask Gaara what he was doing here, the dark haired girl if she wanted to see his new move, and the Uchiha if he wanted to fight (also, he would tell the other Uchiha to get away from him).

Well, maybe he did notice them watching. But he never changed face. He never stopped acting like the prankster that his image was; he never took off that mask.

Gaara wanted him to. He wanted to see Uzumaki Naruto, the real one. He wanted to KNOW Uzumaki Naruto, the demon holder with the bright smile. He wanted to know the boy who would still defend those morons, even after all they've done to him, all the pain they made him feel.

There's an old saying that opposites attract. Gaara and Naruto are opposites. Even if they are the same.

-Owari-

VDG: my homeroom teacher is kick-ass, and he made me have a really good day. When I have good days, I write! Come to think of it, I write when I have bad days too...oh well! So you can all thank my homeroom teacher for this one, that you can.

CEM: they don't know your homeroom teacher, aibou...

Disclaimer: -is seen staring in awe at a picture of a Gaara key-chain, a Konoha hitae, and a Rock Lee plushy- I wish I had those V.V (...enough said...)

-VDG-