A/N: Alright, so I just wrapped up writing 'House of Glass', and I know I promised a mini-continuation, but this fic comes first.

I'm not a genderbend writer at ALL usually, but this has been an idea I've been playing with since about ¾ of the way through House of Glass.

As for the fic you're about to read, it's going to be a GaaNaru fic, though between a female Gaara and a still-male Naruto (not because I have any issue with yaoi, but because I don't really know how to write it). They'll both be their canon selves, with some minor differences.

Time for Chapter 1

Enjoy!

Sakura struggled to control the tremors wracking her body as she defensively hovered over her unconscious teammates. The situation was dire, and it was bound to become legitimately unenviable within the next five minutes. Team Seven, less a team than a sickbay by this point, was cornered in the Forest of Death by a group of Sound Genin. One had a face covered in bandages, was clearly male, and was quite short, and the other two were fairly standard in appearance.

'I can't stop them. Even one of them would be too much' Sakura lamented as she tightened her grip on the kunai in her left hand. The only female of the opposing team then stepped forward and grinned. Before Sakura could move to react, the Sound kunoichi's hands flashed out in front of her and sent a storm of senbon needles flying in the pink haired girl's direction. The senbon buried themselves in Sakura's arms, legs, and the sides of her abdomen. The pain elicited a shrill cry of pain from the Konoha genin.

"Oh, we've got a screamer. Cute" the cruel Kunoichi sneered as Sakura gingerly picked the needles out of her skin. A moment after the cold jeer had reached her ears, Sakura was peppered with more needles. While she screamed, one of the Sound Kunoichi's teammates sighed.

"You're taking this too slowly, Kin. Let's put her away now" the girl's teammate said. The kunoichi, apparently named Kin, sighed and stepped back to allow her comrade into the fray.

"Have fun, Zaku" she said. The sound Shinobi then charged forward and knocked Sakura to her rear end with a ruthless punch to the left side of her jaw. The Konoha genin hit the ground in a daze, her equilibrium gone and her vision scrambled. Zaku stood over her and drew a kunai.

"Game over, kid" he said coldly. He then raised the blade over his head and drove it straight downward. Sakura squeezed her eyes shut and embraced the seemingly inevitable. To her surprise and relief, the cold steel of the kunai never made contact with her body. Sakura's eyes slowly drew open, and what she saw was shocking. Wrapped around Zaku's wrist was a tendril of what appeared to be sand.

"W-what the hell?" Zaku grunted as he tried and failed to free his arm from the animated sediment. Before he could utter any more confused cursings, the sound ninja was brutally slammed into a nearby tree by the sandy limb. Kin and her bandaged teammate gasped in horror as their comrade staggered and fell back down again after struggling his way to his feet.

"Frankly, I'm impressed. An impact like that, and all you have is a concussion"

The group of Sound Genin and Sakura all snapped to attention and turned their heads towards the dry voice they had all heard. Standing at the edge of the clearing was another group of Ninja. Their forehead protectors bore the symbol of Sunagakure. The cell consisted of two girls and a boy. The tallest of the group was the leftmost girl, who had what appeared to be a fan strapped to her back. The middle was a boy with face paint and a strange object on his back.

The final member of the team appeared to be the wielder of the sand, and she was by far the shortest. She had unkempt red hair that reached a few inches below her chin, pale blue eyes with dark circles, and a pale complexion. Sakura tensed at the sight of her.

'I've heard about her. Gaara of Desert. She apparently has a B-Ranked mission on her record' she thought to herself nervously. The redhead then took a few slow steps into the clearing, resulting in several respective steps backwards from the ninja occupying it.

"What the hell do you want?" Zaku hissed as he attempted to hide his obvious fear. Gaara's blank facial expression remained unchanged as she advanced forward.

"I've been following your team for a bit now. Mostly out of curiosity. I'd never even heard of the Hidden Sound Village until recently. I wanted to see if you were worth the trouble" she said eerily, paying his question no heed. Zaku backed up a step, but bumped into the tree he had been launched into.

"Worth the trouble? What's that supposed to mean?" he demanded in a falsely defiant tone. Gaara stopped stalking forward and allowed her first defined expression to form. A dark smirk.

"The trouble of drawing and quartering" she said in a deadly calm tone. Before the unfortunate Sound genin could respond, his neck was seized by another tendril of earthen dust, which was spewing from a gourd on Gaara's back. As he slowly asphyxiated from the pressure being put on his windpipe, Zaku's body was entirely encased in a coating of sand.

"Sand Coffin" Gaara said anticipatorily. She then opened and closed her right hand. A split second later. The Sound genin was crushed to a pulp, his blood spraying omnidirectionally. The rest of the children in attendance of the brutal murder, save for the redhead's comrades, all cried out in disgusted shock and horror. Gaara, whose face was speckled with blood, licked her lips and turned to face the remaining sound ninja.

Before she could speak, the pair disappeared into a puff of smoke. They had seen their chance to retreat, and they had taken it. The redhead frowned and stared off into the woods for a moment. Eventually, she turned her attention to Sakura.

"Perhaps you could fill the void"

Naruto's eyes creaked open as his senses returned to him. His vision was fuzzy, his hearing was muffled, and he felt little sensation in his body. Despite his dulled sensory capabilities, he could still sense a commotion nearby.

'You'd do good to get on your feet. If you wish for your teammate's survival, that is' an ancient voice suggested from the back of his mind. Naruto growled at the fox's voice, but took his advice and slowly rose to his feet. He scanned his surrounding area momentarily, quickly identifying the source of the disturbance that had awakened him from his forced slumber.

'Sakura? And...who're they?' he wondered as he watched his comrade rapidly retreat backwards away from a menacing, red-haired girl. Before he could get the chance to wrack his brain for the answer, the redhead in question glanced in his direction. The moment they made eye contact, Naruto's blood ran cold. He recognized her, if barely. Despite the limited familiarity, the blonde couldn't pinpoint the source of his underlying fear.

'You can sense it, can't you?' the fox asked as his host forced himself to take a step forward. Naruto clenched his jaw.

'Feel what?' he asked. The demonic beast chuckled and began to retreat into the backmost corners of Naruto's mind.

'Just you wait and see' he said vaguely before disappearing completely. The Jinchuuriki pushed away his curiosity and focused on the potential task before him.

"Get away from her" he growled. Gaara remained silent and gave him an assessing stare. After a few moments of tense silence, the sand that had been creeping towards Sakura changed its trajectory and began to drift towards Naruto.

"Comradery. How touching" she said in a chilling tone. Her sediment then increased its speed and burst forward. Despite his consciousness, the blonde's body was still sluggish from the thrashing he had endured. He wasn't fit enough to evade. Instead of colliding with him, however, it merely glided past his face. The sand opened a small slit on his cheek that began to bleed. Gaara's sand then returned to her, much to Naruto's surprise. She glanced back at her teammates as the sand funneled into her gourd.

"I'm satisfied" she called back to them. The fan wielding girl and the boy with makeup both nodded and waited for Gaara to join them. They then disappeared into the forest, leaving a shaken Naruto and Sakura. After a few moments of tense silence, the blonde spoke.

"You alright?" he asked. The pink haired girl nodded rigidly and skittered away from the mutilated body of Zaku, which still laid on the ground. She made her way over to Sasuke and gazed at him.

"You should probably know; Sasuke-kun has an odd marking on his neck. I think he got it from Orochimaru" she revealed as she stood over their sleeping teammate. Naruto nodded and wiped blood from his face.

"What the hell was that all about?" he wondered aloud as the image of Gaara and her comrades flashed through his mind. Sakura pursed her lips and shook Sasuke a bit to see if she could stir him.

"From what I was able to gather, they came to kill the sound genin. Not sure why, but that's what Gaara suggested" she said in an uncertain tone. The blonde chewed his lip absently and sat down next to Sasuke.

"If that's the only reason, then that's really screwed up" he said. The teammates then lapsed into silence. For the next five minutes or so, nothing was said. The streak of soundlessness was broken by Sasuke, who sat up abruptly.

"Where am I?" he asked quickly while his eyes darted in all directions. After a brief explanation of his loss of consciousness, the Uchiha calmed down and took a moment to study the environment more carefully. He quickly caught sight of Zaku's body and scooted back several feet. He quickly calmed himself, but shot his teammates a questioning look.

"What on earth happened here?" he asked. Sakura chuckled uncomfortably and attempted to avert her eyes from the corpse.

"Where to start…"

Kakashi felt a massive weight lift from his shoulders as Team Seven hobbled through the entrance of the tower. They had barely made it, and they looked the part. Naruto's face was crusted with blood from a cut on his cheek, Sasuke looked to be straining against some sort of ailment, and Sakura simply looked exhausted. The Jonin quickly made his way to his team and looked them up and down. As he had previously observed, they were in rough shape.

"I already know what happened to you all out in the forest, so don't waste your breath. Get some rest" he ordered them. The children were then directed away by Ibiki, who had been standing nearby. Kakashi watched them walk away intently, catching sight of a strange mark on the back of Sasuke's neck.

"Don't waste your energy wondering about it. You definitely need to be worried" Anko, who had suddenly appeared by his side, said bluntly. The silver haired ninja frowned and eyed the woman, ignoring the fact that she had seemingly read his mind.

"You know something?" he asked. Anko nodded and pulled down her shirt to reveal her collarbone, where an identical marking to Sasuke's was. Kakashi's eyes widened.

"When and where?" he asked. The enigmatic kunoichi sighed and stretched her back out to relieve herself of stiffness.

"Orochimaru and I have some history that I'd rather not get into. Lets just say that the mark isn't a good thing. Not in the least. If you know anything about fuinjutsu, you should put it to use and seal that thing" she said. The copy ninja heeded her advice and made a mental note.

"What does the mark do?" he asked curiously. Anko took a few seconds to come up with an appropriate explanation.

"It acts as a superficial boost in power, a damn good one in the case of the one Sasuke and I have. Problem is, it kind of drives you insane" she explained. Kakashi furrowed his eyebrows and motioned for her to elaborate further.

"It becomes like a drug. The more you use it, the more dependent on it you become. Both mentally and physically. Beyond that, it seems to draw you to the creator of the seal, that being Orochimaru in this case" she said. The silver haired Jonin pondered the information.

"I think I'm going to go ahead and take your advice" he said, beginning to walk away after his team as he spoke. Anko nodded and produced a kunai to file her nails with.

"Good plan" she muttered. After a few moments of silent solitude, the proctor launched her kunai into the inner wall of the tower, splitting an unfortunate bug in half in the process.

'I know what you're doing, you wretched snake. I know why, too'

Naruto rubbed his eyes tiredly as he trudged around the silent tower. It was nearly one in the morning, and the vast majority of the other successful cells had opted to take advantage of the eight hours of resting time being allotted to them. The blonde, however, had found himself unable to sleep in any capacity. The stress of the day was overwhelming. From the encounter with the Snake Sannin to strange markings on Sasuke's neck, it all ate away at his composure.

'And then Kakashi-sensei comes around and snags Sasuke for some reason. So weird' he thought to himself as he rounded a corner. His thoughts then drifted to his sudden awakening during his time in the forest. Multiple things about the scenario had been odd, but none more than the unceremonious manner in which he had been quite clearly spared by Gaara of the Desert. Her reasoning for allowing himself and Sakura to live was beyond him, and the answers to those questions seemed utterly unfindable.

'It doesn't make a lick of sense. We were sitting ducks. Ripe for the picking. What was her deal?' he pondered, a bit of frustration creeping into his emotional matrix. Then, as if in direct response to his dumbfounded wonderings, a shifting sound caught his ear. The blonde whirled around to see Gaara, looking as blank-faced as she had while ruthlessly murdering Zaku, sitting on a bench by the wall.

"The hell is your problem? Don't sneak up on people" Naruto snapped as he regained his wits. The redhead's reaction was entirely nonexistent. She simply stared at him.

"I've been sitting here for nearly an hour. I did no such thing" she said matter-of-factly. The blonde clenched his jaw and stepped back, fear surging through him despite his best efforts to contain it.

"You could have at least said something when I walked by" he said defensively. Once again, Gaara gave him no discernable reaction.

"And why would I be obligated to inform you of my presence? If anything, you are the intruder in this case" she pointed out calmly. Naruto forced himself to calm down. He then took a deep breath and steadied himself.

"What are you doing awake? It's really late" he asked. Gaara shrugged and gestured to the black circles under her eyes.

"Sleep has never come easily to me" she explained in a monotone manner. When Naruto didn't immediately respond, the redhead countered his question in kind.

"What is your excuse?" she inquired. The Konoha genin, being quite tired in spite of his inability to sleep, sighed and gave her a hard look.

"I can't sleep. Thanks in part to you. Seeing a crushed corpse can screw with a guy, you know?" he said sarcastically. Gaara tilted her head to one side at the accusation.

"I thought that killing was relatively clean. I was quite proud of it, actually" she said, sounding almost disappointed by Naruto's description of the corpse.

" 'clean' my ass. That was brutal. Besides, how can you be proud of killing somebody?" Naruto demanded rigidly. The redhead brushed a strand of red hair behind one of her ears.

"Why wouldn't I be? I got what I came for, which was blood and satisfaction. I got those things without any trouble at all" she asked, seemingly unaware of the disturbing nature of her words. The blonde stared at her silently for a few moments.

"Satisfaction for what?" he asked, fearful of the potential answers he may receive. Gaara's composure, for the briefest of moments, gave way to something else.

"Mother" she said vaguely, a glint of life flashing in her pale blue eyes for a split second. Correctly deducing that pressing the issue any further was anything but wise, Naruto switched topics.

"Why did you let us go?" he asked abruptly. The redhead shrugged and scratched her cheek.

"A few reasons. Your female comrade was pathetic to the point of being unworthy of my time, and your awakening came at an opportune time from your perspective. The high was gone at that point. And as I said before, I had gotten what I had come to get. Mother had been appeased" she said. Naruto shuddered at the second appearance of the maternal terminology, but once again chose to ignore it.

"Thanks, I guess" he muttered, feeling the need to respond in non-antagonizing fashion for the sake of his own safety. Gaara shook her head and shifted her gaze to meet his.

"It was not a gesture of kindness. You were fortunate, and you would be wise to remember that" she clarified bluntly. Naruto scowled and turned to leave.

"Yeah, sure. Keep on telling yourself that" he said, his desire to be polite gone as quickly as it had come. As he walked away, Gaara studied him meticulously. When he rounded the corner and disappeared from sight, the girl from Suna shifted in her seat and crossed one leg over the top of the other.

'As I suspected. Another like me'

A/N: First chapter in the books, and I felt pretty good writing it. I hope you all enjoyed it, and if you did, please tell me what you thought in a review.

(also, yes, I know, I didn't have Sasuke wake up. The curse mark was already discovered, so I don't see the point of focusing on it when neither Sasuke nor the mark will be the focus of the story)

See you next chapter! Read and Review!