"Shadow and Sand"

(A/N): Konichiwa, minna-san! How's all of you? I don't have much to say, but enjoy! This fanfic is dedicated to my besty friendy Naveah. She really likes Gaara so I tried my best to do a fanfic with her in it. Of course, as OOC. YOU BETTER LIKE THIS WORK OF ART!!!! -looks around- WHEREVER YOU ARE!!!! . Me hyper! I don't expect many to read this fanfic since I'm putting all the chapters at once, no updating since I finished this in like 2 days or so… NYAAAA!!!! I think It's worth reading though. Gaara IS in it, and you should all know how hard it is to put the dude in romance… KYAAAAA!!!!

Anyways, thanks for everything Nav! Hope you like this fanfic! Now to do the one for liu-san!!! WHOOOHOOOO!!!! -runs around in circles-… See ya in school then!! Ja ne!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor do I own cookies 0.o… I don't even own the OOC here. She's my friend! Why in the name of hidden leaf would I own her???????

Genre: Romance and a slight of something I don't know… Drama? Angst? You tell me.

Rating: T, for slight use of language.

Summary: Read the introduction for Kami's sake! What are you? Blind? Kyuu .… I'm innocent.

...Enjoy…

Chapter 1

"A female shadow user"

"Love does nothing but bring shit to the lives of people"

If you have already heard this saying before reading it now, then you might have an idea to who I am. That sentence in itself explains my demeanor, how I think, and especially, what I think about emotions.

I have been tricked so many times by that… "love." It pulls me over and over again, leading me to one person then the next. And all I am able to do is to respond to each and every tug, following, as they say… "What your heart desires." But now, I can not take it any longer. Every time I feel something for a person, either I run away or try to change the feeling into the exact opposite… "Hatred." This as a matter of fact, works.

Oh, you might be wondering who I really am right? Well then, gomen for not introducing myself.

My name is Nara Natsume. A 14 year old girl who has gone through a lot that you do not want to bother me nor have anything to do with me.

Oh, don't get me wrong… I don't HATE having company or the fact that people are beside me, it's just… I never feel secure when I am the center of attention. But let's just get back to the point…

As you may have noticed, I have the same clan name as that shadow user, Shikamaru. He's my cousin. He is also one of the closest people to me… always there when I need help or assistance.

A lot has happened to me for the past 14 years of my life. But just to make a long story short, I am not really an inhabitant of Konoha. As you might have guessed, I ran away from my village, but I only did so to explore the world more. I hate feeling like I am being held in a cage, so the moment I became genin, I ran far away. I am now a missing-nin. Or so I am in the files of the leaf village. But if you were to announce my rank, I think I would be in Chuunin, soon to be Jounin. I did take exams though, from different villages of course. And most were quite amusing, none really a waste of my time.

Since I am from Nara, I have the bloodline to use shadow techniques, I have also learned various jutsus from more than just Konoha, some of which the Hokage herself will be unable to master. I am not proud of such a minor thing though, since I have no use for such strong attacks. I do not care about how strong I am. All I want is to… Is to… what do I want?

"Ugh… what are you doing here again, Natsume?"

There he goes again, complaining about God knows what.

"I don't know really. Figured I'd visit you…"

I replied honestly, looking at my lazy cousin with my brown eyes.

"You do know that you're a missing-nin right? I could report you to Tsunade-sama."

"We both know that you wouldn't."

Really, I don't know why boys have to do this all the time. Acting all tough instead of shutting up.

"Smart kunoichi… Too troublesome huh?"

"Shikamaru's famous words."

I stand up, brushing away the few specs of dust that managed to reach my outfit. This is how it's been for 2 years. I come visit my cousin every week, and then run off to any village I happen to stumble by.

One of the few which have come to be frequently visited by me would be Mist, Sand, and sometimes Snow country, which is currently being called Spring country. Ask Naruto and his team mates why.

I quickly handed my cousin a letter, a thing we were both used to doing every time I visited. It was to be given to Hinata and Ino, my two best friends. It is impossible for me to talk to them face to face, so this is how I keep in contact with them, writing a letter every week and giving it to my cousin to hand it over to them.

"Ja, Shikamaru… I'll see you in a week's time then."

"Yeah."

Little did I know that I would not be seeing him next week.

It is almost midnight by the time I reach Suna. It is closer to Konoha than mist, so I decided to see what I could do there for a few weeks.

I've known Suna for almost a year and a half now, able to walk through its streets without fear of being found out by the people.

You should already know by now, but I am also quite close to the three, well, to be honest, only two of the famous siblings who come from here.

The first would be Temari, she is a lot like me so it is nice to hang around with her, and the second would be Kankouro, one of my other best friends, although all he likes to do is annoy me and ask me about my love life.

As for Gaara, I am sorry to say this but I despise him… I utterly hate him… WORD for WORD. Do not ask for the reason, you shall know why soon.

"Well, well, well… look at what the circus brought in… what brings you here all of a sudden, Natsume?"

Yes, these people do NOT use suffixes.

I turn around to face that same purple painted puppeteer and roll my eyes annoyingly,

"You know what, Kankouro? That's the oldest statement in the book. As for your question, I missed you. Happy?"

The 15 year old boy just stared at me with those cat eyes and blinked a number of times, his mouth agape.

"Uh-huuuuh… Temari! The delivery boy's here!"

I roll my eyes once again, trying so very hard to keep in my laugh. It really amazes me. How Kankouro can keep such a good act on. For awhile there, I thought he was embarrassed to hear that I missed him. But he was just acting it, once again. In reality, he was just trying to find the right words to respond me. And he succeeded yet another time. He was able to make a fool out of me, not the opposite. And for a whole year and a half, I have been trying to do the same thing to him. Trying some way to beat the purple painted face's words. But he's just too cunning… but don't get me wrong, so am I.

May: Why, how fascinating! You finished one chapter already!! I'm proud!!!

Anyways, there really is no use to do these author notes since I will not be updating. I am quite sure that by the time you read this, all 7 chapters will already be there, waiting to be selected for your beautiful eyes to read .

Review if you like. They are appreciated, though not needed at all. This was done for a friend not for your nor my satisfaction! So take a hint and… eat pepper mint!! It rhymes!!! YATTA!!!!

Sorry if I seem rude. I just feel like being a pest now. Heehee…

Hope you all enjoyed the beginning. Now click that thingie that selects chapters and go to number 2… .

Take care