Mixing of Snow and Sand

Chapter 3: Demonic Sand

We got a little closer to the ninjas, there were three men. They all wore Hidden Leaf Village headbands. They were looking around for something, but their fate was sealed when they met me. I put my hands together.

"Blizzard Jutsu." I whispered along the wind. The forest filled with greenery shifted into a winter storm. I could hear the ninjas freaking out as the snow battered them. "Go Apollo." I moved my head and he jumped down into the storm. Screams of pain and terror rose as Apollo finished the job. Once the screams died down I lowered the blizzard, revealing the three mauled bodies of the ninjas. I jumped down with Artemis at my side. "Good work."

Apollo grabbed the Earth scroll the team had been guarding, bringing it over to me. I placed it with the Heaven scroll and looked down at the dead bodies.

"In death we are truly free, I'm sorry that this had to happen to you." I muttered as we started to walk away. My ears picked up on the sounds of fighting in the distance, the sound of sand felt unnatural here.

Do you hear it too? Artemis quickly asked.

"Yes. The sound, it's unsettling." After thinking about it for a minute we went to see who or what it was. We landed on another tree branch overlooking a clearing. Two squads were facing off. I located the sound of the sand. It was inside a gourd on the back of the youngest looking member of the Village Hidden in the Sand. When he looked up I froze. I knew that face. "It can't be..." I muttered as I watched him encase the members of the opposing squad in sand. I heard the cries of death, but they ended quickly.

Who is that, Mia? Apollo asked when he saw my face.

"Gaara..." I whispered. Immediately regretting my words, because he looked up in my direction. His sand charging me as if it had a mind of its own. We jumped away quickly and landed on the ground across from them.

"Who are you?" He questioned, his voice so different from when we last saw one another.

"Don't you remember me, Gaara?" I asked, forgetting my shell. Something flashed in his eyes, I couldn't see what though.

"Should I?" It was a knife to my chest.

"You were my best friend, Gaara. When you came to see my family with your father, we used to..." I trailed off as he gripped his head tightly, fighting the inner demon inside. "It still bothers you doesn't it?" I questioned, taking a step towards him.

"Leave him alone!" The blonde haired girl jumped in front of him. I looked from her to Gaara. He was looking at me but what I saw wasn't the Gaara I had known when I was a kid. I knew they wouldn't let me near him and the point of this exam was to survive. I would have time to talk to Gaara later. I backed away.

"I'm sorry." I whispered and vanished with Artemis and Apollo.

He was your friend when you were kids?

"Yes..."

He doesn't seem like he knows you anymore.

"Its what's inside of him that causes it."

Inside of him? Artemis whispered.

"Just like me..." They looked at me as I looked down at the ground as we went tree to tree. I could see the tower coming into view. It honestly wasn't a hard exam when you were used to surviving.

Eventually, I stopped right before the tower. I had sense him following me the whole time.

"How long do you plan on following me?" I asked as I turned, he appeared out of the ground, his sand surrounding his body.

There was something weird in his eyes.

"Mia..." He muttered. It was the first time I had felt happiness in years. To have him remember me after all these years of being apart.

"Gaara, what happened to you?" I asked before I could stop myself.

"After all this time...you still worry about me more than yourself..." I gave a half smile.

"I guess I'm just weird like that. I always worried more about you than me."

"You should forget about me...or you'll die..." He turned away from me and vanished into the shadows once more.

"Gaara...what happened to you?" I whispered as I walked into the tower with Artemis and Apollo.