Decided to finally finish this story after three years. I think I know what direction I want it to go. Any way, I've updated each chapter, so for those of you who have been waiting patiently, hope you enjoy!

I do not own Naruto or any of the characters. I only own my OC.

Chapter One

The streets of Sunagakure were quiet and desolate. Not a soul could be found wandering about the village at such a late hour of the night. The only movement that could be detected was the slight rustle of sand being kicked up by quick, strong winds.

The Kazekage looked down at this scene from the balcony just outside his office. He loved Suna nights because everything was so peaceful and serene. No loud noises, no one to bother him, just quiet. He often found himself out and about on nights like these. Even though the one tailed beast Shukaku had been extracted from him several years ago, he found that it was much more difficult to pick up a consistent sleeping schedule after fifteen years of insomnia.

As he continued to stare down at the streets below, his mind began to roam. He thought of his life; how when he was younger he would kill anyone who looked at him the wrong way and now here he was, Kazekage of Suna. It was by far no easy task to accomplish such a distinguished title, but somehow he had managed to achieve his dream. No one called him Sabaku no Gaara, the monster of Suna anymore. No one ran away from him in fear. No one treated him with disrespect. He was very much loved by his villagers and because of that he found peace in his life.

Figuring that he had spent enough time reflecting, Gaara returned to his office to finish up some last minute paperwork, hoping that tonight would be one of the rare occasions that he would be able to fall asleep.

Gaara took his time returning to his house. It wasn't very far from his office, but he enjoyed stalling as long as he could, for calm nights like these only came around once every so often. Not that he had to worry about hooligans' bantering about at such an hour, but the weather in Suna was always unpredictable. Suna was after all, found in the Land of the Wind.

As he continued walking towards his home he couldn't help but feel as though something was nearby. As if on cue, he caught something out of the corner of his eye. He stopped walking and stared straight at where he had seen movement. Nothing was moving now, but he knew something was there. He approached a small alley way where he had seen the thing that had diverged his attention from his original course.

Nothing.

"I could have sworn I saw something," he thought to himself. "Perhaps the years of sleepless nights are finally catching up with my better judgment." With that thought, he continued home to where his bed awaited him.

No matter how he situated himself in his bed Gaara could not fall asleep. He even attempted menial rituals such as counting sheep but nothing worked.

Finally becoming fed up, he got up from his bed and made his way towards the bathroom, thinking that maybe a hot shower could relax him enough to put him into a slumber.

The warm water rained down from the showerhead relaxing Gaara's muscles as well as his irritation. His eyes were closed against the downpour and his bright red hair was darker than usual due to the wetness. He leaned his body against one of the walls surrounding him, taking his body weights pressure off his feet.

As he continued to lean against the wall, he could feel his body giving into the demands of sleep. He turned off the water, dried, and dressed for bed.

Once again he found himself in bed attempting to fall asleep, this time with a little more success. He could feel his mind slowly shutting down; his body limp and motionless. A few more seconds and he would have had the opportunity to visit the land of dreams that he wished he could acquaint himself with more often. Unfortunately for him, he would have no such luck tonight, for right as he was about to leave the world of reality, he was awakened by a weight burrowing into his bare chest.

His upper body shot up, his eyes wide from the sudden occurrence. His abrupt movement caused the weight on his chest to shift into his lap. It wasn't until he rubbed his dark rimmed eyes that he could properly see what had caused his sleep disturbance.

Sitting in his lap, staring straight into his shocked eyes, was a white cat. He continued to stare at the animal as question after question raced through his mind. "How did this cat get in here? Where did it come from? How did it get in my bed? Did it fall from somewhere?" As this thought crossed his mind, he managed to peel his eyes away from the cat's stare to search his ceiling. There was no way it could have just dropped in from above, even if that's what it felt like when it landed on Gaara's chest.

As Gaara continued observing his ceiling, he failed to realize that the cat had moved higher up his lap in order to nuzzle his lower abdomen. It wasn't until he felt the cat's soft fur against his bare skin that he looked down once more at the feline.

Unaware of what to do, Gaara decided that nothing could be done at this particular moment. He grabbed an extra pillow from his bed and placed it on the ground next to him. Next, he picked the cat up from his lap and placed it on top of the pillow. He lay back down and brought the covers up to shield his stomach. He then closed his eyes and tried to relive the events that had just occurred before the cat had appeared.

As he waited for sleep he couldn't hear any noise coming from the cat below. "Good, it's resting," he thought, and with that passing through his mind he finally drifted off into a deep sleep that he had been hoping for all day.

Gaara was awakened early next morning by a warm breath in his face and a soft purring. He opened his eyes seeing that he was face to face with the white cat from the night before. "It must have jumped up into my bed after I fell asleep," he thought. He frowned slightly before sitting up and stretching his arms above his head. His shift in weight on the bed had caused the feline to awaken. It yawned, showing off its sharp, white teeth before walking over to Gaara's position on the bed and nuzzling its head affectionately against his side.

Gaara tensed slightly at this action. He wasn't used to affection, even if it was from an animal. The whole subject of relationships and charismatic gestures was still a foreign subject to him considering he spent most of his time alone in his office. He had never received affection as a child, and it wasn't until the past few years that he had even been accepted by other people.

The cat finished its rubbing and sat back in order to stare up at Gaara.

Gaara stared back at the cat blankly before asking, "What do you want?"

"Meow," was its only response.

He sighed, not believing that he had just asked a cat a question, and what was even more disbelieving was that he half expected it to answer him. Shaking his head at his own stupidity, Gaara tossed aside his covers, burying the cat under a heap of cloth, and began dressing for the day.

As he pulled on the clothes he usually wore under his Kazekage robes, he could hear the sounds of the cat trying to escape from the blankets.

Once he was fully dressed, Gaara turned around to see that the cat had successfully freed itself and was now, once again, staring at him. He crossed his arms over his chest and glared back at the cat.

"All I have to do is get this thing out of my house and it'll find its way back home." He uncrossed his arms and walked over to where the cat was sitting. He reached out to grab it, but the cat had jumped down from the bed and began walking towards the bedroom door. Gaara followed the cat out of his room and towards the front door. He opened the door and stepped outside into the hot Suna sun. The cat was sitting by his feet, almost as if it were waiting to see what Gaara was going to do next.

Gaara closed and locked his front door before making his way towards the Kazekage building. As he made his way there, he passed a few of his villagers who greeted him politely, to which he responded with a slight nod. It really was astonishing how much things had changed in the past few years. Even to this day sometimes Gaara still couldn't believe that the people of Suna accepted him to the point where they were proud to call him their Kazekage.

Gaara had finally reached the front door that lead into the Kazekage building, but before he could enter a hand on his shoulder had stopped him. He glanced to his side to see who had touched him and was not at all surprised to see his older brother Kankuro.

"Hey little brother, how's it going?"

Gaara responded simply in his usual quiet, raspy voice, "Everything is fine."

"Glad to hear it," Kankuro said patting Gaara on the shoulder slightly. "I actually came here to tell you that Temari will be returning home from Konoha today. I received a message from her a few days ago stating that her mission went smoothly and to be expecting her home with her report in a few days."

Gaara nodded at this. Kankuro always knew everything about who was in the village and who wasn't. He had been appointed to the head of the Ninja Messaging core within the village, so he always was up to date on which ninja were available when Gaara needed to hand out missions. Gaara was very thankful for this, having Kankuro as his right hand man seemed to take a little pressure off of Gaara's plate.

"Hey Gaara?"

"Hmn?"

"Did you get a pet or something?"

Gaara gazed at Kankuro slightly confused before he followed Kankuro's finger that was pointing at Gaara's feet. Sure enough, the white cat followed him all the way to the building and was now sitting patiently at Gaara's feet, waiting for him to move.

Feeling slightly frustrated, Gaara nudged the cat to its feet with his foot, attempting to make it go away. He had little success because the cat simply made its way back towards him.

Kankuro snickered slightly. "Looks like you found a friend, huh Gaara?"

"It's not like I wanted this thing. It just kind of appeared in my room last night, and now it won't leave me alone."

"What do you mean 'it appeared in your room'?"

"Just that. Last night I was trying to fall asleep, and out of nowhere this cat landed on my chest."

Kankuro looked slightly concerned at this information. "You don't think it's tracking you, do you? This animal could be a part of some plot to find out information on Suna's Kazekage."

At this sentence both Gaara and Kankuro looked back down at the cat who was staring at the two.

"I don't know," Gaara said. "I think if it was a tracking animal it would be trained to keep its distance from its target. Not only that, but cats aren't exactly the animal of choice for those kinds of things. Honestly, I think this is just a normal cat that won't leave me alone."

"I guess you're right," Kankuro remarked. "Still, it is very odd that it appeared out of nowhere. There wasn't a collar on it or anything indicating who might own it?"

"Nothing."

"Well I guess you got yourself a new pet then."

Gaara stiffened at Kankuro's remark. "Don't be ridiculous, like I'd keep this thing. I don't know the first thing about cats. I'm sure that it'll just go away after a while."

Kankuro shrugged. "Beats me. It is kind of cute though." He bent down and scratched behind the cat's ear. It purred happily pushing its head further into Kankuro's hand. "Aw, look how loving it is."

Gaara just sighed and walked into his building, closing the entrance door behind him, leaving his brother and the cat outside.

The day seemed to go by aggravatingly slow for Gaara. Each day he spent hours signing paperwork, dealing with the council members, and handing out ninja assignments. The paperwork always seemed to outweigh the council meetings and the missions.

He sighed as he turned his chair to look out the window. The sun was already beginning to set and he had not seen or heard from Temari at all. He wondered if she had made it home alright, when he was shaken from his thoughts by a sharp knock on his door.

"Enter," he said softly.

He watched the door swing open to reveal none other than his older sister. She looked just the same as always; four spikey blonde pony tails, her giant fan attached to her back, and the long black outfit she usually wore. Nothing seemed abnormal, except what she was holding in her arms.

"Hi Gaara!" she said happily. "Look what I found outside the building." She held out the small, white cat that had burdened Gaara the night before.

"We've met before," Gaara said irritably.

"Have you now?" Temari asked, cocking her eyebrow slightly. As she was asking this, the cat had jumped down from her arms and swiftly made its way over to where Gaara was sitting. It began rubbing its head against Gaara's legs, purring contently. "Aw, look she likes you."

"She?"

"Well yea, it's pretty easy to tell the difference."

Gaara grunted and turned his attention to the animal. "Move. Go on, go see Temari." The cat had its full attention on Gaara as he spoke. Instead of doing what he asked though, it jumped up in his lap and made itself comfortable. "Uh…"

Temari giggled more at Gaara's frustration than anything. It was true that her younger brother wasn't very social, but he had definite leadership that always made people want to follow his orders exactly. It was especially amusing now to see that Gaara could command a village full of ninjas, but couldn't control a mere cat. "I guess it likes you Gaara. Looks like you're stuck with her."

"Why can't you just keep her?"

At this remark Temari simply pointed at his lap where the cat had dozed off. "I think that's all the answer you need."

"How do we even know this is a stray? What if someone's looking for it?"

"If it's really that big of a deal to you then look for any 'Lost Cat' posters that might be up. Maybe even look through your ninja missions and see if someone put in one for a lost white cat. Until then, you're stuck with her."

"But I don't even know how to take care of a cat."

Temari sighed. "You're the Kazekage, I'm sure you'll figure it out. Just go buy her some food and a litter box. Cats are pretty independent animals, I'm sure she won't be too much trouble. Trust me, you'll be fine. Who knows, maybe this will be a good experience for you."

Gaara grunted in response.

"Well anyway, here," she handed Gaara a small scroll. This is the reason I came here in the first place. My mission went well, everything you need to know is in that scroll. If that's all you need, I'll be seeing you." With that said Temari headed towards the door. Right before she left though she glanced over her shoulder to look at her brother. "I really think that this cat might do you some good Gaara. You've changed a lot in these past few years, but you still seclude yourself often from others. Even if she's just a cat she might help." Then, Temari was gone.

Gaara looked down at the white ball of fur sleeping in his lap. He reached out and scratched behind its ear, earning him a soft purr. He gave the creature a small smile. "Maybe she's right. Maybe you can teach me something; after all, you are kind of cute."