SandStorms 6

A/N: Well, this took forever. All the updates should be released in their due time. I just thought of this as a belated Christmas present. I apologize for the wait. I had recently reformatted my computer and thus, I lost all my files.

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and Naruto are not mine. They are owned by their respective authors.

The citizens of Sunagakure were in a flurry. Rumors spread like wildfire about the much revered Kazekage's sudden disappearance. The rumors ranged from elopement to a secret treaty of other nations to assassinate the Sand's Kage. Such rumors continued to spread due to the Council members' avoidance of the question and the Kage's family's hesitancy to provide an answer. If it were up to the Kage's siblings, Kankuro and Temari, they would have told the citizens the current status of their Kage. However, the pair was as clueless-and hysterical- as the rest of the village. The Kazekage had simply disappeared without a trace. Such a thing struck fear into the hearts of the people. Not only because their Kage had disappeared, but because their Kage's mysterious disappearance could only point to a lethal enemy. An enemy that could take down the Sand's most feared warrior and the host for the bloodthirsty demon, Shukaku.

"Send out all of our ninjas!" an individual with tousled brown hair and a tan complexion smeared with purple paint yelled. He slammed a large hand upon the worn round table, causing a multitude of heavily-robed old men to jump.
"Send out the troops!" He yelled brashly. The woman next to him, a lady standing at around 5'11 with pursed red lips and hair that looked like a four-leafed clover, clicked her tongue.

"Kankuro, I also want to find Gaara but we have no leads." She replied in exasperation to the brunette. Kankuro turned and stared at her, hurt clouding his deep brown eyes.
"Temari, this is Gaara we're talking about. Kami, he's been gone for nearly a month... This isn't normal." He replied, his voice breaking. Temari's stern expression softened. She didn't blame her brother's urgency to act but it was much too rash to be declaring war or sending troops to other villages at the moment. There were still no leads in regards to her brother's current whereabouts. This dilemma was the only thing keeping the Elders of the Village from deploying the necessary ninjas. Had it not been for the Elders, Baki, head of the war council, would have sent all the ninjas needed. Placing a hand on Kankuro's shoulder, she squeezed it and added in a soft voice, "We'll find him, though, Kankuro. We'll find him."

Harry was so close to choking. Choking with fear as he approached the tent's opening with trepidation. The crowd's roars and cheers as Krum fought the dragon were too much for him to handle. He rubbed his hands together and swallowed.

"Stay calm, Harry. Just. Breathe." He whispered to himself. In his mind, Harry repeated the spell he had practiced with Hermione over and over again. Opening his emerald eyes, he gulped as his name was called. As soon as Harry stepped into the clearing, he was met with a mix of jeers and cheers. He saw the students of Hogwarts-a large majority of them- jeering and grasping banners with Cedric's name on them. Though, on the other hand, he saw Hermione and a few of his supporters cheering for him. However, he found it odd that the elusive redhead, Gaara, was nowhere to be found. After their little fight, he had not been able to speak with the redhead. The redhead managed to disappear whenever Harry tried to apologize. Occasionally, Harry would spot him in the company of Fleur Delacour or in the company of Victor Krum (something that Harry found very odd) but other than those few times, the redhead was nowhere to be found. Gaara's absence was also noted by Hermione who did not hesitate to ask Harry-in a slightly upset voice- why Gaara was no longer in their company. Harry could only shrug his shoulders as a response. He could not bring himself to tell her that the reason their newfound friend had disappeared was due to Harry's stupid comments. For some reason, talk about hate and being ostracized had really offended the redhead. Harry shook his head. This was not the time to think about the enigma. It was time for Harry to face the dragon.

It had taken forever but Harry had succeeded. Succeeded in taking the golden egg from beneath the dragon's flanks. As he touched down on the ground, he saw the trainers rush immediately into the arena to subdue the dragon. Grinning Harry thrust the egg into the air, however, instead of the expected cheers, screams came. Harry whipped around, and in horror, saw the trainers flung backwards as the Horntail broke free of its entrapments. She turned to face Harry, her tail poised to strike. Harry blanched as the dragon charged towards him, its tail cutting through the air to land a blow on him. However, the fatal blow never came. The screaming audience had been hushed and so Harry opened one eye. The spikes of the dragon hung about a foot away from him. Looking around, he found the squirming dragon trapped in tiny bits of what looked like... Sand. Sand in England? Sand in Hogwarts that came not from the beach could only mean one thing. Gaara. Sure enough, Harry soon found him standing atop one of the rocks that littered the arena, his brow slightly furrowed as he stretched his hands out towards the dragon. Making a few unknown hand signs, the crowd gasped as the sand snaked around the dragon's form, creating a sort of sandy straitjacket.

"Subdue him." Gaara commanded in a voice that brimmed with power and authority. The trainers complied and immediately rushed forward to subdue the dragon. Once the dragon was subdued, Gaara closed his fist and allowed the sand to retract back into the flask he always carried with him. The crowd was hushed, as was Ludo Bagman. Then, out of nowhere, the crowd burst into applause. Applause not at Harry, but at the mysterious individual called Sabaku No Gaara.

Harry glanced at the redhead but found to his dismay, the redhead having disappeared already. He looked around with the hope of being able to find the redhead but to no avail.

"Potter, right then, to the first aid tent." Professor McGonagall reminded him. Harry complied and strode into the tent. Madam Pomfrey met him by the tent, her face full of worry and disappointment. He smiled weakly at her which earned a disapproving shake of the head from her.

"My goodness!" she exclaimed in exasperation. "Of all the things to put as the first task! It had to be dragons. Next thing you know, they'll be sending you to slay dementors or something."

Harry could only grin weakly as Madam Pomfrey fussed over the dangers of the tournament ot the well-being of the students. She dabbed at his wounds as he fidgeted slightly, trying to speed up the process so that he could get his score. This only earned him another disapproving comment.

"Sit, Potter! In a moment, you can get your score." She chided him. Harry sighed and nodded. It was best to agree to what Madame Pomfrey ordered. As he sat there quietly, two people darted into the tent. Hermione—whom Harry was very glad to see—and Ron. Now, Ron was a different matter. Harry found the grin on his face slipping away as he regarded the Weasley.

"Harry, you did fantastic!" Hermione exclaimed squeakily, her face bearing the tracks of fingernails from having clutched it tightly due to fear. However, Harry paid her no heed. His eyes were focused at Ron who shifted uneasily.

"Harry." Harry raised an eyebrow as he continued to make eye contact with Ron. Ron shifted uneasily before looking straight at Harry.

"I reckon whoever put your name in the goblet was out to get you, mate." Ron stated. And with that statement, Harry knew their friendship had been restored.

"Took you bloody long enough." He replied gruffly before letting out a laugh. Though, he had not restored his friendship with Gaara, Harry was happier than ever now that his best friend was back at his side. He could care less about his scores at the current moment. Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger were a trio once more.

The Gryffindor Common Room was in a jovial mood that night. Not only had Harry been the fastest Champion to retrieve the egg, their other housemate, Gaara, had demonstrated a quality that all Gryffindors were known for. Loyalty and bravery. Loyalty as a friend to Harry to protect him and bravery in subduing the dragon. So, in celebration, the Weasley twins had snuck some snacks up to the Common Room with the intent of throwing a party for the two. The party proved to be wonderful, though, Harry could not find Gaara. He frowned slightly but noted, with a hint of amusement, that Hermione was occasionally taking a look around the room, her eyes searching for a mysterious redhead. Sighing as she gave up, Harry watched as she packed her stuff and headed up to her dormitory to study. Harry shrugged and decided to search for Gaara another time, choosing instead to celebrate with his housemates.

A month had passed. Or was it two? Gaara had finally lost track of the days. He had no clue as to how long he had been stuck in that damnable place they referred to as 'Hogwarts'. Standing atop the Gryffindor Tower's roof, he did what he did best. Sabaku No Gaara sat down and brooded. He had no need for sleep and even if he did, the loud commotion of the Gryffindor party for Potter was too much for anyone to sleep. So, he instead spent his time brooding at the most discreet and unreachable places of Gaara. Sighing deeply, Gaara stood up and stared at the stars twinkling amidst the inky blackness of the sky. Though this new world held many changes for Gaara, the only thing that stayed the same was the sky. The sky that he looked longingly at was the same as the sky that he so lovingly stared at in Sunagakure. A depressing reminder of how much he missed his home. However, such thoughts were of no help to him at the moment. Gaara had promised Dumbledore that he would protect Harry throughout the duration of his stay and as a Kage, he would do well to abide by his word. And avoiding the Potter boy was no way for him to fulfill his promise. This thought, thus, prompted the stoic redhead to reenter the boy's dormitory. Jumping down from the steeple to the ledge by one of the tower windows, Gaara opened the window and stepped inside. If he had calculated properly, he would have ended up right in the dormitory and next to Thomas Dean's bed. If he had not, he would end up smack in the middle of the girl's dormitory. And judging from the large brown button eyes that stared in shock right back at him, Sabaku no Gaara had miscalculated. Miscalculated and ended up smack in the middle of the girl's dormitory staring at Hermione Granger.

"Erm, G-Gaara..." Hermione stammered as she clutched her plain robe around her thin frame. "W-what are you doing here?"

Her deep eyes looked nervously at him, her hand coming up to tuck a stray curl behind her ear. Gaara, if it was possible, reddened and deadpanned the wall next to her head.

"I was on the roof and I thought this window led into the boy's dormitory." He explained. Though calm-sounding, Gaara's voice hid the feelings of awkwardness and embarrassment that raged inside of him. He swallowed. Not willing to prolong the awkwardness of the moment, Gaara bowed slightly and exited the dormitory as he speedily as he could, leaving the surprised girl to stand in the dormitory alone and contemplate on what just happened.

A/N: Please read and review. Constructive criticism is accepted. If you like it, please inform me. Like yeah...