AN: My first EVER fanfic! Just a little thing I wrote one sleepless night. (Probably too much caffine ^_^) And it's a songfic, of all things! Well, sort of a songfic. I left out most of the lyrics and some in "subtly." So it's based loosely on the song "I'm With You" by Avril Lavigne. If you haven't heard it, it's amazing. I just love it!

So, anyway, please don't flame me on my first try! Some constructive critism would be nice though.

Disclaimer: I DO NOT and NEVER WILL own Naruto or the song "I'm With You." Outside my dreams, anyway. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto and Avril Lavigne.

Temari was alone.

She was alone in all senses of the word. Nine-year-olds, even ones as independent and self-suficient as Temari, shouldn't be left alone.

And yet here she was, sitting on a bridge she didn't reconize in a strange place with far too many trees.

She rubbed the mark on her cheek gingerly. He'd hit her. She'd taken the insults. She'd taken the threats. He was her father, after all. She'd stayed strong for the sake of her brothers. With the absence of a mother, they needed her.

But this time he'd hit her. Slapped her clear across the face in a drunken stupor.

So she ran. She was always good at running. She ran for a day straight, across deserts and forests without even noticing. She wasn't sure where she was going, but didn't so much care anymore.

But it changed when she had to stop. Her nine-year-old legs couldn't carry her much longer. Not without food or water. The worn and ragged sand princess stopped and sat on this bridge in the middle of some pine forest. For the first time since she left, she would have to think.

Would she ever go back? Could she? It's not as if her father would welcome her back with open arms. Would he even welcome her back at all?

How would she get back? She hadn't bothered taking any roads, just ran in whatever direction suited her.

She sighed in frustration. Well, they would come looking for her, right? Her father would come looking for her eventually.

No. No he wouldn't. He would forget about her ever existing. That sounded like him. It's what he did when her mother died.

But Kankuro would never forget her! He would find her! Maybe even get Gaara to help. Sure, neither of them were allowed to leave the house by themselves yet, but that would change in a few years.

A few years. She would't last a few more years on her own like this.

Temari sucked in a breath and looked to the sky. Oh GOD. She was not goin to cry. She hadn't even cried when he hit her. Why the hell would she cry now?

Something small and wet landed on her cheek, but it wasn't a tear. She wiped away just as another touched her forhead.

Suddenly the rain was coming down in buckets. It was as if some one was throwing handfuls of water directed at her. It thundered too; loud and intemadating.

Crying came easily in the rain. She began to sob like she never had before.

She was going to die here.

Temari suddenly sensed something near her. She looked up to see a boy figure about her height, made blurry by her own tears.

Kankuro.

Her energy somehow returned, she leaped up and ran to him, diving into his shirt. He had come! He must of snuck out to go find her, risking his own beating just for her. She could go home!

Kankuro must of grown since she left. He was at least three inches taller since the last time she saw him.

Why wasn't he hugging her back? She looked to his face and didn't see the warm, loving face she was used to. This boy was about Kankuro's age, but had dark brown hair pulled back into a ponytail. His dark eyes starred down at her in confusion.

She was alone. No one was coming. The sand princess would stay alone.

She dove back into the strange boy's T-shirt and began to sob again. The boy stood there awkwardly, unsure of what to do as she clung to him to keep from falling over.

She had to leave here. "It's a...damn...cold...night." she coughed between sobs. He twitched at the curse word but didn't back away from her. "Please...take me somewhere...away...anywhere."

She felt him hesitantly put his arm around her shoulders, saying some words of comfort she couldn't hear. He was leading her away, but to where, she really didn't care. She didn't bother looking up again until she felt him stop.

They were standing in front of a small house, in the middle of an unfamiliar town with tall buildings.

"This is my place," came a voice beside her. Temari looked up, suprised to hear him speak. The boy was smiling at her, though his eyes seemed a little worried. "I don't know what my mom will say, but you can come in if you want. It'd be troublesome, but we have an extra bedroom if you need a place to stay."

Temari looked at the house, and back to the pony-tailed boy. She was appalled by his kindness. Was everyone in this town so kind to strangers like her? She kind of liked the idea of such a place.

"I...I don't know who you are, but I'm with you."

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