Hey, thanks for checking this story out. This is the first time I've posted fan fiction and the first time I've shown anyone I write it. I hope you like it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

A little boy dreamt of a world he didn't know. There was so much green everywhere and a blur of pale pink not far off on a hill. He saw himself as a grown man, walking towards the unfamiliar tree as pink petals flew around in the breeze. He had never before seen such a thing.

The branches of the tree stretched out far and wide in all directions. Small pink and white flowers adorned the many limbs. There were easily thousands of them, it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

Walking through the fluttering masses of airborne petals, he felt an inner calm. It couldn't be heard or felt in any part of his mind or body.

He reached out and touched the bark when he was near enough. Overcome by the absence of darkness and presence of serenity within himself, he began to cry. He felt no pain, no hate. He felt welcome, accepted. Peace.

When he woke, he was disappointed. It was the first dream he had ever had. Plagued by nightmares when he slept briefly, he had forced himself to stay awake most nights. If he didn't, it would come out.

The boy slid off the bed and found a piece of paper and some colored paints. For the rest of the night, he drew the tree until he was satisfied with how it came out. His tree. Someday he would go and find one. Maybe he could be happy if he found this tree.

A little girl dreamt of a boy, crying all alone. He sat in a dusty place, the only color surrounding him was tan. He was in a strange town, all the buildings were made from the ground, the same color that whirled around the boy.

Tears streamed down his face and snot leaked down from his nose and into his mouth. He was too far to care. His eyelids were black like they were painted over. His hair stood out from all the tan, bold and red, short and messy.

No one was around him to help him. No Mommy, no Daddy. No nice stranger to pick him up. So he stayed there, weeping quietly as it became darker out. Eventually, he wiped his eyes and picked himself up. His clothes were unusual and he patted the dirt away. Sniffling, he walked away and was gone.

The girl woke up and touched her eyes. She was sad, her own eyes felt a little wet.

She shuffled off her bed, dragging her blanket with her. She crept to her parents room and over to her mother. The girl poked her until her eyes peeked open slightly. "Mommy?"

"What is it, honey?" Her mother asked her sweetly, tired and a little worried.

The girl played with her pink hair and shifted uncomfortably. "I saw a boy crying. He was really unhappy."

The woman sat up a bit. "Where did you see him? Outside?" Her maternal instincts kicked in.

"When I was sleeping... Can you help him?" The little girl whimpered.

Her mother settled down again, patting her daughter on the head. "Sakura, that was only a dream. There is no boy."

Sakura sniffled as her mother took her hand. "Let's go back to bed."

As she was lead back to her room, she whined pitifully. "But I saw him."

Her mother left, leaving the door ajar so some light could shine in. Sakura sat up in her bed, looking out the window. She looked far in the distance, out into the night. Was he out there somewhere? She felt he must be.

His uncle passed him, walking by the doorway. Thinking fast, he grabbed the painting he had done the night before. The boy caught up and tugged on his clothes. "Yashamaru."

The tall man turned to look down at it. "Gaara, what is it?"

Gaara held the picture up for him to take. "What kind of tree is this?"

His uncle took it from him and looked at it. A confused look passed over him. "This doesn't grow around here. It's a sakura tree. How did you learn about it?" He asked.

The boy smiled uneasily. "I had a dream. It's beautiful."

Yashamaru looked at him with a frown. "You shouldn't let yourself sleep too much, you know."

Gaara frowned in return, turning his large sea foam green eyes downward. "I know."

"Well, I left you food in the fridge. I'm going out for the day. I'll be back later."

The boy only nodded. After his uncle left, Gaara skipped his meal. He sat staring at his picture.

It didn't bring him peace like the real one did.

She sat in the swing, watching other kids running around. A boy her age stopped running around to stare at her. "Pink hair? Haha! Who has pink hair?"

The other boy who played with him ran over and pointed at her. "Look at that forehead! Hey girl! You're ugly and your hair is stupid!"

Sakura scuffed the ground with her heels, kicking up dust as she stopped the swing. She puffed up her cheeks with a pout, but as they laughed and ran away, she felt the tears run down her face. She looked at the clouds of dirt and thought of her dream.

Was that boy crying now too?

Gaara sat on a rooftop, his day had been a bad one. Kids at the park he visited made him feel angry. Their looks, the way they ran screaming. Monster! Freak!

His uncle had to stop him as the demon inside him stirred, encouraging him to lash out at those who rejected him. He ended up hurting those kids and his uncle as well when he jumped in to stop him.

Later that night, Yashamaru spoke to him about pain, love, and his mother. When he tried to make amends with a neighborhood kid, he was shunned again. And just now before coming to the roof, he had killed a man out of hate. Hate for the way he was seen. Why? Why him? Why was it only him?

Sakura bolted up out of bed, immediately tears erupted from her eyes. She stumbled down the hall as fast as her little legs could carry her. "Mama! Mama!" She shouted upon entering the room. The pink haired girl wasted no time, shaking her mother as hard as her tiny hands could.

"Mama!" She called again urgently as she cried hysterically

Waking with a start at the sight of her daughter in tears, she grabbed her shoulders. "Sakura, what happened!"

"The boy, Mama! He's in so much pain! He's crying, Mama! We have to help him!" The little girls body shook and the desperation in her young eyes were astounding.

She sighed in mild relief, but the torn girl before her was acting totally abnormally for her personality. Usually she was a happy girl. "Sakura, it was just a dream. Sometimes the same dream happens a few times. It's-" She was interrupted by her daughter's wailing.

"No! It's real! This was different. Dirt got in his head and he started bleeding! He was screaming in pain! He's hurt! Please, we have to do something! Please!" She dropped to the floor, going into tantrum limp mode, unable to handle the strong emotions that shook her.

"Baby girl, he's not real. It's okay." The woman tried to sooth her, kneeling down and sitting her upright. Sakura slapped her mother's hand away.

"He's real! He has red hair and lives in a tan village! I can feel him, Mama! It hurts!"

Shocked by her daughter's outburst, her behavior totally bizarre, she chalked it up to her being half awake. If she couldn't talk sense into her, she would have to go along with it.

"Okay then, hun. Tell me about him. Maybe I can ask some grown-ups about it."

Sakura swiped at her face furiously, fighting her tears off her face. "He's my age, he has greenish eyes and black circles around them. His skin is pale and he wears funny clothes. He lives in a place with round buildings made out of dirt and everything is tan. There's a bunch of sand everywhere."

As she listened to her child, her description of the village from her dream struck her as weird. She got up and walked over to a bookcase and pulled a book out. She flipped through it. "He has blood on his forehead now, too." The little girl added.

Finding the right page, she looked at the picture. It matched what Sakura described. "Is this it?" She asked, lowering the page for her daughter to see.

The girl practically jumped, taking the book and looking at it with a real look of recognition. "That's it! We have to go there!"

"I'll talk to some grown-ups tomorrow about it. We have to go to bed now. I'll walk you to your room."

Sakura's shoulders slumped as she was guided back to her room. "What if it's too late?"

Her mother didn't know what to make of her daughter's words, tucking her in and kissing her good night. "Sleep tight." She whispered, and left for her room.

Sakura had a bad feeling as she closed her eyes and went to sleep.