This is an absolutely brilliant idea I had, I think. It was inspired by a picture of Gaara that I found where he's naked (insert nosebleed and/or drool) and sand is dripping off of him. Anyway, enjoy this as much as I do!

Naruto stuff isn't mine.

Dreams Of Sand

Chapter One

Standing on the windswept plain, a lone figure gazed out over the expanse of the desert, sighing. This was the first time in years that this person, Haruno Sakura, a medical kunoichi from Konoha, had been to this place, and she felt a little nostalgia for those times that had passed. Back then, she and her team mates, Uzumaki Naruto and Hatake Kakashi, had journeyed to the land of wind to assist in the rescue of the fifth Kazekage, Sabaku no Gaara, from the clutches of the Akatsuki. That organisation was gone now, defeated in a great battle outside of Konoha when they'd attempted to kidnap Naruto.

Naruto held within him the nine tailed fox, the Kyuubi demon spirit, and he was the last of the tailed demons that the Akatsuki had searched for. That last battle had been quite costly, and a lot of lives had been lost, but those people had gladly done so to defend their Hokage and keep the Akatsuki from their final goal.

They had been led by none other than the legendary Uchiha Madara, who had Naruto and Sakura's old team mate, Uchiha Sasuke by his side. This ultimate betrayal of his once best friend had been the last straw for Naruto, and the two had engaged in a deadly fight that had seen Naruto as the victor. And then they'd had to deal with Madara, who had not been easy to take out, but with the combined forces of Konoha and their ally Suna, they'd managed to win the day.

Sakura sighed at her thoughts. There was really no point in all of this reminiscing, she had a mission to accomplish. So she moved forward, heading for Suna, her destination. There was an important scroll to deliver to the Kazekage, though that role was now taken by two people. Not long after the war with the Akatsuki, the demon Shukaku had somehow been returned to Gaara, and he'd gone mad. Attempts to contain him had failed, and he'd fled out into the desert. Now Temari and Kankurou ruled jointly in his stead, but they still held out hope that their brother would someday return.

Making her way across the vast expanse of the desert, Sakura was unaware of a pair of eyes that were watching her.

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The one with no name watched the woman cross his desert. Quite often people would come into his domain, and the only reason he let them pass unmolested was because of a strange sensation he always felt whenever he saw another person. He couldn't explain it, but it made him feel good to know that there were other people, but he didn't want to go near them. Sometimes they saw him, but only from a distance, and only because he let them. Otherwise, he was determined to remain alone.

He'd lost track of how long he'd been out here by himself. He couldn't remember anything about his life before. Had he been one of those people who just went about their lives? Or perhaps he'd been someone of importance? In either case, he was no one now, he didn't even know his own name.

The only companion he had was a strange voice in his head that whispered things he couldn't understand. What he did know, though, was that this voice was responsible for his lack of memories. He'd been insane; that was his earliest memory. Now he'd managed to get a grip on his sanity, to push this... demon... to the back of his mind.

Spurred on by curiosity, he followed this woman as she made her way through the desert. Her pink hair had caught his attention. In all the time he'd watched people, not one of them had had hair like hers. He was fascinated. The longer he followed her, the closer he got until late in the afternoon, at which time she made a camp in a small oasis. Creeping along a hidden path, he watched as she set everything up, and followed her when she headed to the spring.

His eyes bugged out of his head and his nose bled when she stripped her clothes off, her naked form causing things to happen to him that he didn't understand. What was going on? What was this feeling? Creeping closer, he watched as she immersed herself in the water, his eyes roving over her as he stared at her, blood dripping freely from his nose.

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It was about half an hour before she reached the oasis that she felt someone following her. Sakura was about ready to turn and confront this person, when she realised that she knew who it was. Gaara. He was following her, but how could that be possible? Some people believed that he was dead, perhaps killing himself in the madness that had hit him when his demon had returned to him. Of course, the fact that he was currently following her disproved that theory.

Now, as she bathed in the spring of the oasis that was the last stop before Suna, Sakura could feel him watching her, and she didn't know what to make of it. Should she ignore him, or perhaps call out to him? A small part of her was quite embarrassed that he was peeking on her, but she felt that it was more important to act naturally, at least for the moment. But she didn't know how long it would all take.

What to do? Finally, Sakura decided that she would try to talk to him, and with that thought in mind, she got out of the spring and dressed. Once that was done, she performed a few hand seals and reappeared behind him. Her sudden disappearance had obviously confused him, but he whirled around to face her when she spoke his name.

"Gaara."

He stared at her wide eyed, backing away slightly when she held out her hand. "It's ok, Gaara," she told him. "I won't hurt you."

He stared at her hand like it would bite him at any moment, then spoke in a raspy voice, "Gaara. Is that my name?"

Sakura frowned. He had amnesia? It made sense, she supposed. Shukaku's return might have fried a few brain cells, and his mind might have blocked the memories to protect itself. Lowering her hand, she studied him. He was filthy, and only wore a rag that looked like it had once been pants, but the desert's harsh climate had all but ruined it. Yet despite that, he looked quite healthy. He was just filthy and nearly naked.

"Yes," she told him. "Sabaku no Gaara, that's your name. There are a lot of people that are worried about you, Gaara. They would be glad to know that you are ok."

He cocked his head at this. "Worried?"

Sakura nodded. "Your brother and sister, for starters," she told him. "Temari and Kankurou really miss you, as does the rest of your village."

"My village?" He looked confused.

"Yes, your people," Sakura said. "The village hidden in sand, Suna. You were their leader."

The look on his face nearly broke her heart. It was so lonely. Inner Sakura was alternating between crying her eyes out for him and drooling over the muscles of his bare chest. Sakura was a little distracted by it as well, but she was determined to maintain her focus. She was determined to help Gaara and ignore anything else at this moment.

"Would you like to go back to the village?" she asked.

Gaara looked uncertain, not to mention quite lost. "It's alright, they'll be glad to see you."

He shook his head. "No," he said firmly. "I can't go back. I can't!"

The panicked look in his eyes convinced Sakura that he was about to run, so she quickly attempted to soothe him. "It's ok, you don't have to if you don't want to," she assured him, and was relieved when he relaxed.

Bit by bit she coaxed him to the camp she had made, and even managed to get him to hold her hand on the way there. Really, he was like an innocent child the way he was acting, and if it hadn't been for the fact that he'd been watching her naked before, she'd be tempted to think that perhaps he'd regressed to his childhood. Eventually he calmed enough to accept food from her, and they ate together in silence.

All the while he was staring at her. He seemed to have a fascination with staring, and there was no way right now that she was going to stop him. His eyes roamed from top to bottom, as if memorising what she looked like. It was a little disconcerting, but Sakura forced her discomfort aside. She didn't want to do anything to scare him off. As far as she knew, this was the first time in the last three years that anyone had gotten this close to him.

Finally their meal was finished, then Gaara startled her by asking a question. "Why did you go in the water?"

Sakura looked into his eyes and carefully gauged her words. "I was making myself clean," she told him.

He frowned. "Clean?"

Carefully Sakura moved forward and took hold of his arm. He flinched slightly, but let her do it. Holding his up, she brought hers up next to it.

"You see the difference between our arms?" she asked him. "There is a lot of sand and dirt on yours, but none on mine. That means that my arm is clean, and yours is dirty. But you could fix that if you used water like I did before."

She released his arm and moved back. He stared at his arm, brows wrinkled with intense thought as if trying to determine the meaning of all this. Then he stood abruptly and took off in the direction of the spring. Swearing under her breath, Sakura got up and followed him.

Did you like it? Hope so. Please review, I wanna know what you think!