0.

He'd always felt...out of place. No, something more than that...something deeper. A hand flittered across his mouth absently wiping drops of sweat that had accumulated on his upper lip. It related back to childhood which at the moment seemed a far off dream.

A dream that remind him of the fairy tales he had read when he was young. One had been about a beautiful prince destined to be saved by his future bride. He had been a beast. Perhaps, Gaara thought himself that way. He was a prince who had yet to be saved from his current beastly, demonic form. A sigh rose from his lips and into the hot desert air.

Well, he supposed that he would have to be the one to look. Some people just didn't leave the house these days. Another breath left his lips as he stood up. Well, if he didn't want to scare his princess, it would be best to start at the worst place he'd yet to correct. Glancing down at himself, he groaned and headed back towards the Sand village.