Sabaku no Momo

(1. Memories)

By Anke-chan

Pairing: Gaara x OC

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, only the plot and OC

Warning: There may be lots of OOCness~ If there are [ ] after a certain word or phrase, it is the definition or translation of the word or phrase :D

************Flashback************

A small girl was walking to the park, minding her own business. She had made a promise with some other children that she would go and play a game with them today. Just as she arrived though, she noticed that they were all debating about how to get the ball off the high wall where they had somehow kicked it on. All of a sudden, the ball came down in the grasp of a golden brown sand, coming to rest in the arms of a red-haired boy. He held the ball out to the other children.

Instead of being thankful, as the girl would have thought the other children would be, they all reared back in fright. "Y-You're-!" They all took a few steps back. "I... It's Gaara!" "Gaara of the Sand..." "R... RUN!" All of the children turned in the opposite direction and ran.

The small girl watched from where she had stopped as the scene unfolded before her eyes. She watched as the red-haired boy hurt the other children who had been playing just moments before as they attempted to run away in fear. Instead of fleeing though, the dark-haired girl ended up watching it happen, her body glued to the spot. Just as the boy was about to strike out at one of the other children with the sand that always protected him, a blond-haired man intervened, jumping in and shielding the child who lay on the ground.

That was when the girl heard the man call out to the red-haired child, "Lord Gaara, please calm yourself!"

"Ungh..." one of the children moaned in pain.

The red-haired boy stopped, then, dropped the ball.

The blond-haired man had a bleeding cut over his right eye as well as a gash running along his right arm. He said no more as he approached "Gaara" and led him away from the scene.

The dark-haired girl was quiet as she stood there, fixated on the spot where Gaara had been standing. There was something about him that had drawn her to him. Something she could not explain. It was strange. Weird. New. She finally turned to look the way they had gone, already having disappeared from view. Gaara... The name felt strange being said only in her head and the temptation to hear his name being uttered in her own voice overpowered her.

"Gaara..." she whispered to herself. She could not shake the strange, happy feeling that was suddenly brimming in her small chest as she smiled to herself. She wanted to know him...

************End of Flashback************

Momoko opened her dark brown eyes. That had been the first time ever that she had encountered Gaara. The memory of it all was still clear as crystal glass in her mind. It had not faded with the sands of time, as most memories would. She had replayed the scene over and over to herself for three years. It did not matter though... She could not even approach Gaara. The pain of not knowing him better hurt more deeply that Momoko had thought. She could only immerse herself in her ninja academy schoolwork and await the day she would receive her own hitai, her own headband. A headband that would say she was now an adult and a full-fledge shinobi. A kunoichi [a female ninja].

But the memory would not leave her be. It had continuously plagued her for the last three years. Three years since that incident... Three years since Sabaku no Gaara had changed drastically. Changed so much to the point where she could not approach him without being killed. Momoko was saddened by that fact. She only wanted to befriend this strangely lonesome boy, a boy who could understand her own loneliness. Momoko's mother had died giving birth to her and her father had died on a mission soon after she was born. She had been alone all her life.

"Momoko, what is the answer?"

Momoko looked up into the eyes of the teacher and answered straight away without batting an eyelash.

"Very good. Next..." The teacher turned his eyes away from Momoko and returned to giving his lesson.

Momoko propped her chin in her hand and glanced out of the window in the deep blue sky, watching the wispy white clouds drift on by. Some things never seemed to change to her. The sky was one of those things. Even though she was looking out of the window, she could still hear the teacher talking. She heard him say, "Tomorrow, we shall have another test to see whether you have all been practicing your shuriken and kunai throwing or not. I have high expectations of you all. Please make sure that you have practiced." All of the students except Momoko groaned in disappointment at that. "Now, now! Enough with that. You are dismissed."

All the students then ran out cheering as Momoko calmly stood up and gathered her things. She saw no point in rushing on home, since there was no one waiting there for her at home.

"Have you practiced, Momoko?"

The girl turned her dark eyes to those of her teacher and nodded. "Yes sir, I have."

The man nodded once in acknowledgement. "I can always count on you to have practiced, Momoko-san." [-san is an honorific to address people you do not know well, for those of you who do not know]

The girl managed half of a smile. "Yes sir. Well, I will see you tomorrow." She headed out of the classroom, taking her time as she wove a path down the crowded hallway. All the students made way for her. Momoko walked with her eyes straight ahead. Why did they always have to do that to her? She was just like everyone else... Wasn't she? She left through the main entrance and headed on to the practice area. The girl felt eyes piercing into the back of her head as she headed that way. The girl suppressed the fury she felt and kept walking, not even bothering to glance back once.

The dark-haired girl sat down in front of a shuriken throwing practice post and fell back into her thoughts. She was only nine, but more mature than most of the other children. She saw everything with an analytical eye and although she was always kind and out-going, no one spoke to her… It upset her, but she couldn't do anything much about it at the moment. The girl sighed.

What am I to those other kids…? Just another kid without parents? I wish someone would at least talk to me… Or… Her thoughts fell back on the red-haired boy. She was dying to talk to him! But how could she approach him? She had heard from several villagers that no one could approach Gaara safely… He was considered "unstable." The judgment that they put on Gaara was unfair… But Momoko had no say whatsoever in those matters. She was not even a recognized kunoichi yet!

The girl stood up again and unclipped the small, black pouch bound around her left thigh. "I might as well practice my throwing stars again… No point in thinking over things like change if I don't have a say." Her left hand swiftly flew to her pound where she snagged a shuriken and threw it at the practice post, where it was embedded deeply into the wooden material. "I must have thrown it too hard… Again," Momoko chided herself. If any other person had seen that though, they would not have seen the speed with which the youngster had grabbed her shuriken and flipped her wrist to throw it. She was a talented girl.

Momoko threw more shuriken, running and jumping swiftly around the practice post. Acing the test was no big thing for her; she wasn't concerned about that at all. There was only one thing that was continuously running through her mind: her memories. She was aiming to make her dreams come true… To become a full-fledged shinobi was only one part to the long journey that was waiting for her.

The sun was barely up as a young girl went about her morning exercises. The test was later that day and she wanted to be prepared, even though it wasn't entirely necessary in her case. She completed her set amount of push-ups, sit-ups, crunches, and pull-ups with ease. There was only one routine left that she had to complete and she was free to eat breakfast. Momoko pulled on her black sandals and left her small apartment, shutting the steel door behind her and locking it. The girl went to the wall that separated her from a fall onto the ground below, easily jumping over it and landing safely on the ground below. With a light pat of her clothes, she set off and eased into a light jog, the last part of her daily morning routine.

A kind-faced elderly spotted the dark-haired child and called out warmly with a wave, "Ohayou, Momoko-chan! Ogenki desuka?" ["ohayou" means good morning, "-chan" is an honorific used for children or as an endearment as well as used between girls who are close friends, ogenki desuka means "how are you?"]

Momoko paused momentarily and smiled at the elderly woman, who often regarded her as a granddaughter even though they weren't related. "Ohayou, obaa-san! I'm doing well! I'm just doing my daily jog. I do have a test at the ninja academy soon! Wouldn't want to strain myself." ["obaa-san" means "elderly woman" or "grandma"] She laughed lightly at that, with the elderly woman joining her.

"That's a very good idea! Good luck with that, little one," the old woman said, smiling kindly at Momoko.

"Yes, ma'am! I'll see you!" Momoko waved as she continued on her jog again.

By the time Momoko returned to her house, a light sheen of sweat dotted her brow and the sun was finally above the horizon. The girl went into her apartment and quickly washed up and changed out of her sweaty clothes, pulling on a dark red shirt and black knee-length tights. With that done, she set to eating breakfast, which consisted of two slices of toast and a scrambled egg.

When the youngster was done, she left and headed off to the ninja academy, brimming with confidence.

"All right! It's time to take the test and I hope you are all ready for it! Understood? Failure is not a option!" The dark look in the teacher's eyes said that he meant what he had just said. "Stand up and follow me outside." He watched the students stand up before he left the classroom with a clipboard in hand, the students following silently behind him.

When the class massed around the shuriken throwing post, the teacher looked at all of his pupils, regarding them with brooding eyes. Then, he looked at his clipboard and called out the first student who would begin the test that day.

Eventually, it came to Momoko. The others made space for her as she went up to the post and stared at it as she would an enemy, waiting for the teacher's command to start the test.

"GO!"

Three shuriken were already imbedded in the wooden post before anyone had realized it. All of the pupils let out a small gasp as they watched their fellow classmate complete her test. They said nothing as the teacher said, "Stop," in a loud voice. His smile was not kind, but it appraised the young girl's skills. "Very good. You'll be a find shinobi yet, Momoko."

The girl gave a small acknowledging nod and went to stand among her peers again. She let out a small breath as the words from her teacher rang in her head, "You'll be a fine shinobi yet, Momoko." She couldn't refrain herself from smiling as a few of her peers approached her.

"Mo-Momoko-san?" a timid, blond-haired girl whispered.

Momoko turned to look at her and smiled. "Yes?"

The girl gasped in surprise, taking a step back. "U-um… You throw your shuriken wonderfully… Did someone teach you…?"

A dark-green haired boy with shaded hazel eyes cut in, "No way! I bet that she did that all by herself!" He turned his enthusiastic eyes to Momoko. "Name's Hiashi!" He stuck out a hand to her.

"Ah… Yoroshiku, Hiashi-kun," Momoko greeted, taking Hiashi's hand. ["yoroshiku" literally means "please be kind to me"]

"A-ah, um… My name is Haru… I-it's a pleasure to finally talk to you, Momoko-san!" The blond-haired girl smiled happily at Momoko, also holding out her hand to Momoko.

Momoko turned to her and took her hand, grasping firmly but shaking gently. "It's nice to meet you, too, Haru-san." It looked like things were going to look bright from here on out.

…Even so, Momoko's memories were constantly on her mind, refusing to leave her alone. She knew that she needed to talk to that boy soon… The boy named Sabaku no Gaara.