AN: This is a GaaraxOc fic. I know it starts with a cliché first chapter, but the story doesn't stay like this. I'm hoping this will be a new twist on an old idea. This chapter has been rewritten. 10-15-2012

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto I wouldn't be doing this for free.

~Wild One~

"What's done to children, they will do to society."

-Dr. Karl Menninger

Chapter 1: First Meeting

The dry wind howled in powerful gusts like a raging beast, filling the world below with awful moans and shrieks like the cries of a dying animal. Relentless, it blew sand in heavy waves over a little girl standing alone in the middle of the deserted street. Wringing her short hair she shifted her weight nervously from foot to foot. The sand below her feet crunched sharply, like the brittle cracking of eggshells that could only be heard between gusts. The soft scrapping of tiny grains gave little comfort to the timid child. Hours had passed since the sun had sunk beyond the lip of the horizon, and since that time the little girl had become hopelessly lost.

As she searched the empty road desperately for an exit back to the open desert another powerful gust of wind flung yet more sand into her already tender eyes. The fine grains slapped at her raw, exposed, face. Squealing in protest the tiny girl swung her head up and down, her short red-hair thrashing with every bob.

"I hate this place!" she whined stamping a tiny foot in protest and curling her fingers into fists. Giving the street a final glare she turned back the way she'd come, grumbling under her breath as she went.

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Almost an hour had passed when the young redhead once more found herself staring forlornly at another dead-end. Slumping her shoulders she sighed, "I'm never going to find my way outta here." Tears of frustration gathered in her eyes as she stared up at the unfeeling stone wall. Wiping roughly at her tears she once again turned around and started heading back the way she'd came.

She had spent the better part of the night wandering the maze like twists and turns of the streets, and in that time had only managed to get herself even more hopelessly lost than she was before. Self doubt clouded her young mind, letting the cold, stiff, fingers of fear dig its way into her heart. Paranoia had began to take root, turning each shadow into a shapeless monster, each dry breath of wind into a howling beast coming to gobble her up. Those silent leviathans played at the edge of her vision, darting menacingly about, basking in the darkness that was their home. Wringing her hands she continued on, fighting back the urge to start running blindly through the dark alleyway. Headless of the debris that would almost certainty trip her and put her at the mercies of the imaginary creatures of the night.

"Are you lost?" a disembodied voice called from the shadows to her right.

With a strangled yelp the little girl jumped and nearly fell over. Staring into the darkness she stood her ground; clutching at the fabric of her shirt over her frantically pounding heart. "Whose t-there!? What do you w-want?" despite her stuttering she threw her shoulders back, hoping to make herself look bigger and tougher than she actually felt.

"My name's Gaara, and I've watched you pass by here. Three times."

She could feel her heart sinking to her feet upon learning just how lost she had been this whole time. "Three times?" chewing on her lip she paused, "I really already went this way three times?"

"Yeah, if you're lost…maybe…maybe I can help you," the shy voice sounded oddly hopeful.

The girl cocked her head to the side in thought. Realizing this could be her best chance for finding her way back. "Okay, Gaara, come out where I can see you."

A boy about her size and age stepped slowly from the shadows of the alley with his eyes downcast. His skin was so pale he seemed to be almost luminescent in the dim moonlight. With a mess of reddish-brown hair and no eyebrows on his broad forehead he made for an unusual sight. But it was his eyes that stood out and drew her gaze as he brought his head up, timidly, to return her stare.

It was like looking up at the moon. His bright, sky blue, irises seemed to shine out from the deep obsidian rings that surrounded them. Like brilliant twin orbs that could only have been spun from the stars themselves. They drew her in, enchanting her with their ethereal glow.

Breaking our eye contact the boy turned his gaze to his feet. "Are you going to tell me your name?"

The red-head blinked owlishly, the trance she'd been in broken. "Huh…?"

"Your name…" Looking over his shoulder he leaned away from her. Obviously uncomfortable with the girls blatant staring, "You haven't said your name..." his voice trailed off quietly.

"Oh-sorry!" she eyed him cautiously one more time. Carefully considering what harm could possibly come from telling this strange-looking boy her name. Finding none she laughed to herself at her own silly fears, causing the boys eyes to widen, which in turn only made her giggle harder. "Sorry, I'm not laughing at you I promise," she smiled reassuringly when she noticed that her mirth was causing him to glare at the ground. "My name's Kida." She stuck her pudgy hand out to him.

Blinking in surprise his brow furled as he stared at her offered hand as though he'd never seen one like it before.

Huffing she blew a stray curl away from her face. "You're supposed to shake it, Silly."

Glancing back at her he slowly took her hand into his own gently, "Hello, Kida!" he said as his face split into an adorable, toothy smile.

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19 days later

"Gaara!" Kida called out as she skipped to catch up to her friend. "Hey, Gaara, wait up!" she yelled to him as he continued to stalk down the empty streets. Picking up her pace she quickly caught up to him and walked at his side in silence for a few moments. Choosing to simply enjoy his company quietly rather than try to broach the subject of the days earlier incident. She'd seen from afar the events that had taken place at the playground earlier, and she knew how badly it hurt him when the other kids ran away.

She frowned at the ground as she tried to think of ways to console her new best friend. Her young mind working furiously for any small scrap of comfort she could offer. Kida sighed into the night, briefly wondering if her ears would start to smoke from the strain. Shaking her head to clear her wandering thoughts Kida looked back up to her companion; having decided to just start talking and hope for the best.

"Hey, Gaara I'm…I'm sorry about what happened at the playground today, I saw most of it. I was gonna see if you were okay but you left with your uncle," Kida paused as Gaara's shoulders twitched at the mention of Yashamaru. "I looked for you after that, but I couldn't find you anywhere. It was like you just disappeared or something. Where'd you go anyway? I went all over Suna looking for you, ya know. I was starting to think you were avoiding me," she said with a playful laugh, but Gaara just kept on walking in silence.

"Hey, Gaara, are you even listening to me?" When he still didn't answer her she glared at the side of his head, "Hey, Gaara!" Kida reached out to grab his arm, but she was instead thrown to the ground by a wall of sand. "G-Gaara?" she gasped, confused as she watched him walk away from her without so much as a backward glance.

Jumping back to her feet Kida jogged to catch up. "Hey! What the heck's your problem, Gaara!? Why did you push me?" she snapped at him, but he just ignored her and kept walking as though she wasn't there. Kida's face flushed red with anger. "Gaara! I'm talking to you!" She jumped in front of him huffing.

He stopped and just stood there, the only movement an occasional quivering of his shoulders.

"Well, just what do you have to say for yourself? Huh? I know you did that on pur…pose?" Her voice trailed off as Gaara raised his head and looked at her for the first time that night. She stared in shock, for cut over his left eye in angry, still bleeding slashes was carved the kanji for love. The lacerations ran so deep that little glints of ivory bone could be seen past the flowing rivers of blood. Small, gory, bits of severed flesh still stuck to the puckered edges of the fresh wound. The whole right side of his face was bathed in blood, matting the shaggy hair that touched his cheek and forehead to his skin. The crimson liquid ran down his pale neck and soaked into the high collar of his shirt, staining the light fabric black in the weak light of the moon.

But that wasn't what made her breath catch in her throat. It was his eyes… Everything ceased to exist in the cold depths of his gaze. Time, space, warmth, nothing went untouched by his frigid blue orbs. Not even light, the full moon that had just been hanging overhead like a fat silver dollar in the sky was gone. Only darkness existed in this timeless wasteland. Like a black-hole Kida felt herself being pulled into the void. She drifted, cold, and weightless in the power of the hate in those demonic eyes.

It felt like he was sucking the marrow from her bones, the hope and happiness from her very heart. Kida wanted to take a gasp of air, she wanted to run…run before it was too late. Before she was trapped forever in this dissolute island of unfathomable rage. She tried to scream but she couldn't find her lungs, she couldn't breathe, frozen as she was. Kida could feel herself being lost in the evil eyes of the demon before her…

No, not a demon…Gaara's eyes…his…my friend's eyes…With that thought Kida felt reality slide back into focus. The moon once again hung overhead in the star filled sky, and the wind blew dryly at her face. Time moved back onto its unending march across eternity, and the ground was once more firm and gritty beneath her sandaled feet.

Where once his eyes were so soft and shy, Gaara's sad little moons, were now as cold and sharp as splinters of ice, and empty. So very, very, empty. Like the warm heart and soul of the sweet boy who used to reside there had been ripped out, kicking and screaming…

Lip curled back in disgust he sneered at her. "What do you want?"

She flinched away from his harsh tone, it clawed at her ears like brittle, wooden fingers. The darkness in his voice seemed to grab at her, oily caressing her skin and sending a shiver of fear down her spine. "Gaara…what…what happened to you?" she asked, biting back her instinctual fear, she reached up to touch his face but was stopped by a shackle of sand around her small wrist. "Wha-what?" she stammered confused and tried to take a step back from him.

"Don't…don't ever touch me again," he hissed leaning close to her face.

Wide-eyed she pulled back, away from him and his sands crushing grip, whimpering as it tightened its hold on her frail wrist. "Gaara, why…why are you doing this?"

Demented eyes glared daggers into her soul before he brought his face next to hers, growling into her ear, "Because, I hate you. I hate everything about you, your voice, your face, your eyes, your smell. I hate all of you. You disgust me to my very core. I hate you and everyone else."

His hot breath sent a cold chill down her trembling spine, and she could feel a drop of blood fall from his chin and land on her shoulder.

"Now…" he paused, pulling back to stare into her wide, hurt, eyes. Giving her a good, close, look at the ruptured veins in his own. "Get lost," he snapped as the sand shoved her to the ground knocking the air from her lungs.

She sat there on the sandy road in stunned silence, watching the boy she thought she knew walk slowly down the street, and disappear around a deserted corner. "Fine!" she snapped at the empty air as she stood. "If that's how you really feel…then I won't come back!" she screamed at the empty road before she turned and ran back to the village gates. Hot tears streamed down her round cheeks and fell silently to the sand below.

AN: Well, what do you think? The pov changes to first person after this chapter, so it will be better then I promise you (I fail at third person). Also, the reason she was in Suna shall be explained much later, and no, she isn't alone. It just seems like it here.