A/N

So, this is my new story, Jinchuuriki Love: Shukaku Style!

Note: This collection actually has two parts: this story, which is the pairing GaaSaku and Jinchuuriki Love: Kitsune Style, which will be NaruHina. I will probably release Kitsune Style after I finish this story. Which could take a while. But don't worry; it'll be done.

This story was partly inspired by the song, Under A Godless Sky, by Rose Funeral. For some reason, it reminded me of Gaara at the beginning of the series and it made me want to go back and capture that side of him, while writing a good romance story at the same time. You can thank my friend Ben. He's the one who made me listen to the durn thing. ;D

Word Count: 3,334
Genre: Romance/Drama (Genre subject to change. Gaara gets a bit angsty.)
Pairing: GaaSaku
Prompt: Under A Godless Sky, A want to write a GaaSaku story that doesn't have the word "mine" every paragraph.

So, I hope you enjoy the first chapter. :D

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I couldn't draw to save my life, let alone a whole manga series.

Baki was talking.

Gaara observed this quietly and cocked his head slightly. He supposed he should listen, but he already knew what his brother and sister had yet to discover.

He'd overheard two guards talking about the invasion when he was prowling the village on one of his nightly walks. It was a relatively simple plan: use the demon sealed inside him to wipe out the village itself and keep all the higher-ups occupied fighting Shukaku while the Sand and Sound annihilated the lesser ninja who were left over. After that were the civilians, who would be more than easy to kill. Gaara could almost taste the blood now.

Still, he had a nagging feeling that things would not go as planned. However, Gaara was not born to evaluate tactics on the battlefield. He was born to be a weapon; a killing machine.

He would fulfill his purpose soon enough.

"This is the most important mission you will ever receive. Failure is not an option. Do you understand?" Baki growled.

"Hai!" said Temari and Kankuro in unison.

Baki turned to Gaara, "Your cooperation will determine the success of the mission. Will you accept?"

Gaara only stared at him coldly, "I will confirm my existence."

Baki nodded. He was satisfied with Gaara's answer.

"In that case, move out! I expect you all to be ready by dawn tomorrow. Meet me at the gates. We will be departing from Suna at 5 AM sharp. Dismissed!"

At his words, the Sand Siblings jumped out the window and headed for home. The Chuunin exams were right around the corner, and they would be ready.

Shukaku wouldn't stop pestering Gaara even as they approached the Kazekage's mansion. He seemed to be interested in the invasion, specifically.

Ch, you aren't even excited about all the blood we get to spill? I'm disappointed. I thought I taught you better than that, squirt.

Be quiet, you.

I can't believe you'd rather stay at home and train rather than going and slaughtering a couple hundred people. What could be more fun?

We'll be there soon enough. Stupid tanukis should learn to be patient.

And stupid little jinchuurikis should learn to respect their demon.

Shukaku gave Gaara a massive headache. He clawed and bit at Gaara's mind until his eyes began to smart. Gaara made a strangled noise and stumbled into his room.

Shukaku laughed, Had enough yet, squirt?

Gaara simply growled and clutched at his head. He had endured worse pain than this, even if it was emotional pain rather than physical. At this thought, the damn raccoon dog sent mental images of his uncle, images that made Gaara's heart hurt along with his head.

When Shukaku finally ceased his mental barrage, Gaara collapsed on his futon, gasping for air.

Well, squirt, are you gonna go run around outside or not? If we're not going to get there soon, I'm gonna be bored and stuff.

Yes, I'm going to leave soon.

Good. I hate being stuck inside all the time. I know that you do too.

Of course. Why else do you think I take walks at night?

I dunno. There's not really anything else to do, though, so it's not like you have a lot of options, squirt.

Gaara simply sighed and put his ninja sandals back on. He wrapped cloth around his left shoe quietly and was soon hopping out the window into the darkness below. He kept thinking about the Chunin exams. Not that he was opposed to the chance to confirm his existence, but the bad feeling he had was still lurking. Something told him that the exams were bad news just waiting to happen. Shukaku agreed.

As he hopped along, Gaara supposed that he would miss the familiar sand dunes of his home. There was some sort of ethereal beauty about them, whether it was the way they glowed in the sunset, or simply how smooth they looked. Gaara had a strong affinity to the desert, even though he despised his village.

He reached the top of a particularly high dune and ran his fingers along it, forming trails in the sand. it felt different from the sand he carried in his gourd. That sand had a certain feel to it; the feel of something that had an undertone of evil. This sand, however, was smooth and held a sense of purity. Gaara, for some reason, preferred the sand that lay in dunes. It was calm and peaceful, while his sand was rough and full of rage. As the evening wore on, the golden glow of the sun grew all the brighter, burner ferociously. It blazed low in the desert sky.

The sun was beautiful as well. It was a golden ball in the sky, brightening the entire world. It was so beautiful, Gaara supposed, that human eyes hurt to look at it. He wondered if there was anything in his world could hold that amount of beauty. He didn't think so.

Lifting himself up with a sigh, Gaara raced across the desert again. This time, he was headed for the highest cliff as far as the eye could see. It was, after all, the best place to watch the sunset. Gaara scrambled up the hill, fearing he would miss the best part of the sunset.

As the sun sank below the horizon, for a mere second Gaara could see a flash of brilliant emerald green. He breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn't missed it.

Then, as the moon began to raise itself in the sky, Gaara got up and climbed down the cliff. He looked up at the sky with just an ounce of hate because of Shukaku's glee at the sight of the wretched thing.

Because if the sun is a golden ball turning in the sky, the moon is a silver ring that enchants all who see it, turning them into little more than beasts. And Gaara was no exception.

It was going to be a long night.

Soon enough, it was early afternoon and the Sand Siblings were well on their way to the Hidden Village of Konohagakure. They however, were unaccostomed to the rather humid climate. Gaara was affected as well, although his siblings were lost on that fact. He seemed as unemotional as ever. Unless intrigue is an emotion.

Gaara stared at the foliage with growing interest. He turned to his sister, "This is called ivy, correct?"

Temari sighed and gulped down some more water, "Yes, that's ivy. It's a type of vine."

Kankuro groaned and let his head loll back of the log he was leaning on, "Come on, let's get out of here. I want to get to Konoha as soon as possible. This damn humidity is really getting to me."

Gaara glared at his brother. Temari simply sighed again and started hopping from tree to tree in response. Baki followed quickly after her.

Gaara thought that Konoha Forest had many strange plants. In Suna, they simply had cacti, albeit, many varieties of said plant. However, in this strange place, they had such things as ivy and daffodils.

Gaara had been on many missions, but none in the Country of Fire. He didn't think that "Fire" suited the place at all; at least, not as far as foliage goes. As far as the climate, who ever named the place had gotten it exactly right. The Country of Fire was sweltering. While he may have lived his whole life in a desert, this was completely different. Konoha Forest was not simply hot, it was humid. The air was so heavy with moisture, all three Sand Siblings could hardly breathe.

"Hey, there's the gate!" Kankuro sighed in relief, "Thank Kami!"

Gaara himself was quite glad to see the gates of the village of Konoha. Traveling all day wore one out.

Once they landed at the gates, a Jounin came out to greet them.

"Greetings! Welcome to Konohagakure. We are delighted to host such important guests. My name is Kasumi and I will be your guide for the remainder of your stay," the cheerful young kunoichi chirped.

Baki frowned, "That will not be necessary. We can surely find our way around adequately by ourselves."

Kasumi kept on smiling, "Alright then. I will inform the Hokage of your request." She jumped off onto the distance, hopping on top of rooftops.

The gates opened slowly with a loud creak. All the sand nin smiled. Konoha had just made the worst mistake of its existence.

There were snakes in the bird's nest, and they weren't going down without a fight.

After they had checked into their hotel room, Gaara slipped away quietly. He wanted to explore the city himself without Baki or his siblings.

Gaara operated best alone.

As he was walking, Gaara came upon two ninja who appeared to be about his age with three smaller children. They were not unlike the small children of Suna. They certainly acted like them. The older girl had pink hair. Gaara thought that this was quite interesting. He wondered if it was naturally that way. The older boy, who was blond, was blushing. Gaara quietly sat down on the tree branch he had been standing on and observed the five. The pinkette girl seemed to be staring at the boy in a infuriated manner. The boy and the children didn't seem to comprehend this.

One of the small boys, who seemed to be the leader of his little group said, "Hey, nii-chan, who's this big girl?" He then turned to look at her and suddenly, he showed all of his teeth in a wide grin.

"Nii-chan, you're better than I thought. She's your girlfriend ...right?"

The blond boy laughed, "You kids are pretty sharp!"

The pink haired girl did not seemed pleased by this.

She drew back her fist and yelled, "No!"

The blond boy left a rather large hole in the fence from where he collided with it.

This girl is rather spirited, don't you think?

Yeah, she's just how I like 'em! Strong and feisty!

For once, Gaara agreed with the tanuki. There was something about this girl that he liked. However, the action was only getting started down below.

The small boy yelled at the pink-haired girl, "What did you do?" The other two small children ran towards the blond boy and fretted over him. Meanwhile, the small boy continued yelling.

"You ugly girl! Ugly!"

Shukaku growled at these words. Gaara had no idea why. This girl was none of his concern. Why was Shukaku reacting so irrationally? He usually had a plausible reason for acting up.

But the pinkette only cracked her fists and knocked him on the head. Gaara sighed and stood up. He supposed he should go find his siblings.

Still, I would have liked to stay a little bit longer to see more of her reactions. They are amusing.

Ch, more like sexy!

Gaara paused. Shukaku, admittedly, was more than a little perverted, but he'd never reacted so quickly or strongly before.

... You find her sexually attractive?

Of course I do! Man, I haven't been this excited since that one mission in the Rain. Of course, she isn't that pretty face wise, but eh. She makes up for it with her personality.

She is lively.

That's one way to put it, old man.

Gaara sighed. he really had to go find his siblings. With one last look of regret, he jumped through the trees towards his sibling's chakra.

When Gaara arrived at the place where his siblings were standing, he was greeted with the sight of the people he had been observing earlier. They seemed to be in some sort of spat. Kankuro was holding one of the smaller children by his muffler. Gaara sighed. His elder brother always found trouble wherever he went, be it at home in Suna or on a mission.

Gaara decided to watch again, and use what he saw to his advantage during the exams.

"That hurt, brat," Kankuro ground out.

Temari looked away broodily, "Stop it. We're going to get scolded later."

The pink-haired girl spoke up, "Gomenasai. I was joking around, so..." she seemed too frightened to continue.

How would she react when she met him, Subaku no Gaara, the monster of the desert? He hoped she would cower before him, like all the ohers, so he could dismiss her as one of them. The weaklings who dared to defy his existence.

"Hey, let go of that kid!" The blond boy shouted.

"But I want to play around before some noisy people come," countered Kankuro.

The small boy squeaked out, "Let go!" and attempted to kick Kankuro in the stomach.

His brother just laughed, "You're very energetic, kid."

The blond boy shook with anger until he burst out, "Bastard!" and began to run towards the two siblings. Kankuro used one of his many puppet strings to trip the boy. He fell for it easily.

Kankuro scoffed, "Konoha's genin are weak."

Gaara cocked his head. Genin? Something gleamed in the sunlight and he looked down to see Konoha hitai-ai on both of the older ones. How had he missed that?

"Hey! If you don't let him go, I'll kick your ass, baka!" The blond boy yelled.

He didn't seem to notice the obvious difference in abilities between him and Kankuro. A fatal mistake. The pinkette jumped up and put her hand over the blond boy's mouth. She, at least, had the intelligence to know the gravity of the situation.

Kankuro frowned, "You piss me off. I hate little brats anyway. And you're so impertinent for someone younger than me." He grinned, "It makes me want to break you."

The faces of all the others grew even more frightened. Gaara could smell the fear in the air. He knew that the ebony-haired new arrival beside him on the other tree branch could too.

Temari sighed, "I'm not going to be responsible for what you do."

Kankuro looked at the boy he was slowly strangling, "After this brat, the one over there is next."

He lifted his fist up and the blond boy ran after him, yelling something. Suddenly, a rock hit Kankuro's hand. Gaara knew where it came from.

The ebony-haired genin started to speak, "What do you think you're doing in another village?"

The pinkette exclaimed, "Sasuke-kun~!"

Gaara frowned. She changed completely around this annoying, sullen boy. He wondered if she had one of those silly 'crushes' on him that Temari got occasionally. He looked at his sister and saw an uncharacteristic blush on her face. His frowned deepened. Was she catching one of those infernal things again?

Kankuro growled, "Another kid that pisses me off..."

The ebony-haired haired boy, who was possibly named Sasuke, grumbled, "Get lost," as he crushed another rock he'd been holding in his hand.

"Oy! Come down here, kid!" Kankuro called, "I hate brats like you, who think they're so clever."

Quickly, Kankuro ripped Karasu off his back. Gaara wondered if he was going to bring out his favorite puppet so early. It seemed like a foolish move. Temari agreed.

"Hey! You're going to use Karasu?"

Gaara supposed that he should intervene. He didn't want Kankuro to do anything foolish and embarrass himself and their village, after all. He'd forgotton that Kankuro was so rash. He should have stepped in earlier. Gaara swung down and used chakra to attach his feet to the limb he was sitting on.

"Kankuro. Stop," he called.

The kid called Sasuke gasped. He obviously hadn't sensed Gaara earlier.

Gaara frowned, "You're a disgrace to our village."

Everyone below him gasped as well. They hadn't sensed him either. Fools.

"G-Gaara-" Kankuro stuttered.

He interrupted him, "Why do you think we came all the way here to Konoha?"

Kankuro gulped, "Listen, these guys started it!"

He was really starting to irritate Gaara with his excuses, "Be quiet. I'll kill you."

Kankuro raised his hands in defeat, "I was at fault. G-gomen. Gomena."

Gaara turned to the Konoha ninjas, "Excuse them."

He hit Kankuro's hand with a rock so easily. He's good.

Gaara shushined down to his siblings in a swirl of sand. He told them, "Let's go. We didn't come here to fool around."

Kankuro groaned, "I know..."

They turned around to walk away, but the pinkette stopped them.

"Wait," she said.

They paused. Temari replied, "What is it?"

The pinkette plowed on, "Judging from your hitai-ai, you are ninjas from the Hidden Village of Suna,"

She's intelligent.

Ch, did you expect anything less?

Hai.

She continued, "The Country of Fire and the Country of Wind have an alliance, but a treaty prevents ninja from entering each other's country's without permission. State your purpose. According to your reasons, I will-"

Temari snorted, "What you are looking for is closer to you than you think. You don't know anything? This is a traffic pass," she held hers up, "As you guessed we're genin from the Hidden Village of Suna from the Country of Wind. We came to this village to take the Chuunin Selection Exam."

Well, partially, at least.

Gaara tuned out the rest. Whatever was said was not important to him, anyway. That is, until that brat Sasuke called out to him.

"Hey, you there, What's your name?"

Temari turned around with her face stained pink, "Me?"

"No, the one with the gourd next to you," he stated. Gaara turned around at his description. He looked at Sasuke with mild interest.

"Subaku no Gaara. I also find you interesting. What is your name?" He wanted the this kid's full name, of course.

He smirked, "Uchiha Sasuke."

The blond kid piped up, "Hey, hey, what about me, what about me?"

Gaara eyed him and deadpanned, "I have no interest in you."

With that the Sand Siblings jumped away in the direction of their hotel room. The Chuunin exams hadn't even begun and they were already getting interesting.

Thanks for reading. I hope you liked it. :D

Reviews make me happy,
Arctic Ice