1 Arrival

I lay in bed, loving the total comfort I felt from being covered in blankets. There was no better feeling than what I was feeling, that I was sure of. I was certain that if someone asked me what laying in a cloud felt like, this would be my answer. There was nothing better than comfort after a stressful and tiring day. Suddenly, I felt a spot on my chest get hot as if someone had put a heat pack on it. I frowned and opened my eyes to find a light glowing from underneath the blankets. I panicked, thinking something was on fire, and threw the blankets off me. I looked for flames everywhere but couldn't find any, yet my chest was still getting hotter and the sensation was spreading across my body. I looked down at my chest and found light glowing from it, a sight that nearly made my heart stop in shock. I tried to comprehend what was happening but I couldn't, the heat was overwhelming my senses. I fell to the ground in pain with bright light surging out of my body and through my eyelids. I lay there in absolute agony for what felt like forever until the heat and light vanished from my senses. Replacing the heat and light was a cool air accompanied by pitch-black darkness. I warily opened my eyes to find myself looking up at a ceiling that was not mine. I frowned as I tried to remember what my actual ceiling looked like but it evaded me. As I thought deeper into it, I quickly realized I couldn't find a single memory about myself, just general memories and information.

I lay there in a panic about what was going on with me. How could I have lost all memories about who I was? Had I been in some strange accident or contracted a disease? Pushing that aside I looked around the odd room I had woken up in. It was very strange, all of the walls were made of some kind of sandstone and I could hear the howling of wind outside. The room was dimly lit by three circular windows that reminded me of portholes on a ship. I walked over and peered out the window, hoping this would give me a clue of my location.

What I saw made my heart stop, I was sure I was in a dream or hallucinating. Outside there were several sandstone buildings, with small round windows in them with light pouring out of some of them. That wasn't what had shocked me though. It was the main building straight in front of me that I could faintly see through the sandstorm outside. It was a large spherical building with a large symbol on the front. It was the kanji for wind, a symbol I remembered well. I could perfectly remember this building from the anime series, but that was impossible, right?

"Am I actually in the world of Naruto?"

Hearing myself speak was another shocking feeling because I quickly recognized the voice that had just spoken. Rushing around the room, I quickly found a mirror and held it up to my face. What looked back at me was pale skin, green eyes, red hair that was much more under control than it was in the show, and finally the black lines around the eyes.

I was looking at Gaara of the Desert.

Memories flooded my head as the realization came, memories of Gaara's that made it feel as if I'd lived them in his place. I felt absolute euphoria that I was here, one of the few places that I had wanted with all my heart to live. Not only that, I was in the body of my favorite character who was undeniably powerful from the beginning. I quickly observed myself and looked through my new memories to see if there was anything wrong with them. The first thing I noticed was that I was Gaara right before he went to the chunin exams in the Hidden Leaf. To be exact, it was about a month before we would travel there, my team had already been told we were to attend for the Hidden Sand. I dove deeper into the memories and let them wash over me. I found many similarities to the original series, like the death of Yashamaru, Gaara's uncle. Unlike the original Gaara though, there were some minor differences with who he was. This Gaara was still the One Tails Jinchruriki but this Rasa seemed to not be as cruel and manipulative as the one in the original series. He had still followed through with several assassination plots as I had already seen, so not too big of a change. There was still a lot of serious trauma from those numerous events throughout Gaara's childhood. I shook them off quickly before the pain and loneliness of these memories overwhelmed me. I would have to look at them another time, I didn't want to become like the old Gaara and go crazy from the abuse.

I looked myself over again, head to toe. It was a little unfortunate I couldn't be a little older, being put back into the body of a thirteen-year-old from almost being an adult was a bit of a downside. I noticed that this Gaara had still given himself the red love mark on his forehead from killing Yashamaru. I found it so hard to comprehend just how messed up Gaara's life was, especially at such a young age. I glanced around the room and my eyes landed on the large gourd that Gaara always carried on his back with him. It was quite big and looking at it gave me a new respect for Gaara. Lugging this around all the time must not be easy. I hadn't liked that Gaara never really moved during fights and that he simply stood there, but I now realized that it was a wonder he could move at all with this on his back. I also found smaller gourds next to the large one, holding much less sand but allowing for greater mobility. There was a knock on the door that made me jump. I quickly prepared myself for whoever might be there. I couldn't lose my composer and come under suspicion.

I opened the door and found yet another familiar face. He definitely looked much better in person than from the anime series, his face paint looking very intimidating. He wore his signature black outfit that covered everything but his face. It seemed he was trying to pull off an uncaring look but was definitely nervous to be talking to me.

"Hey Gaara, it's almost time for training, only if you want to go," said Kankuro the puppet master and brother of Gaara's, or of mine I now should say. I assume that old Gaara was just as moody as he was in the original series, probably why Kankuro was implying that he didn't have to come due to a long record of not attending. I realized this was a risky yet perfect opportunity to use my new powers in battle to grow accustomed to them. Sure, I had memories of using Jutsu and the sand before, but these were just memories of the old Gaara and not me. It was time I stretched my wings in this new world and felt what I could do for myself. It was possible that I wouldn't be able to use these powers to the fullest ability as the old Gaara had before me.

"I will Kankuro, go on ahead without me while I get ready," I told him with confidence. I could see his face show a glint of surprise and then nervousness. I understood his emotions due to how unhinged Gaara could be at any given moment. I intended to change that, though hopefully, it wouldn't be such a drastic change that someone might get suspicious of me. Kankuro nodded and walked away from me down the long hallway. I put on the clothes that Gaara always wore when he was this young in the anime. I put on a crimson coat so I wouldn't be in just a shirt and pants and to add a little flare to the outfit. I managed to look around and find a middle of the field gourd that was lighter than the one he normally used but bigger than his small waist gourds. I had a huge gourd that was bigger than three large men. It was full of chakra-infused sand that previous Gaara had slowly filled over time. Anything that was chakra-infused gained powerful properties that made them a force to be reckoned with. They made the objects tougher, faster, more responsive, and extremely connected to the one who infused them. This made the sand in the gourd around three times as good as regular sand. I slung the gourd I had picked over my back and exited my room to go to the indoor training grounds.

The hallways were very wide and expansive with many doors on each side. Memories surfaced of what each room, from storerooms, meeting rooms, living space for different aides to my father, and finally shinobi who guarded my family. I of course didn't really need much guarding with my sand shield, they were more for my father and my siblings. Although with the Kazekage's golden sand Jutsu, he was no weakling that needed extensive guarding and which of course was why he was Kazekage. Continuing on my way, I passed both Kankuro's room and Temari's, with memories of their rooms popping into my head. Kankuro's was flooded with puppet parts and poisons for their weapons with each one more terrifying than the last. Temari's was actually very textbook for a kunoichi but had several iron fans of varying sizes for practicing and battle. I had only been in there a few times and never for longer than a minute. Temari was very territorial and her fits of rage were almost as bad as the previous Gaara's. Not like the previous Gaara had much desire to go in there anyhow.

I had finally reached the end of the long hallway to find a domed room. It was a huge training room in the shape of a half-sphere, with a sand arena in the middle. Weapon racks with a huge assortment stood off to the side waiting to be used. There were also training dummies stacked against the wall, used to perfect Jutsu and try out new methods. The old Gaara had destroyed enough of these for a lifetime with his sand attacks. Glancing away from there I turned my eyes to the two people fighting in the center of the arena where a girl with blonde spiky braids fought against an unfamiliar Hidden Sand shinobi. She sent wave after wave of powerful wind attacks against the man only for them to be dodged or blocked by various wind-style Jutsu. I now recognized the man as Baki, the shinobi in charge of the Three Sand Siblings' training and protection. He was a member of the council of Sunagakure and a high-ranking jonin of the Hidden Sand. In the original series, he would go on to brutally defeat Hayate Gekko, a young yet very promising Leaf shinobi who was the proctor for the elimination phase of the one-on-one chunin battles.

Baki had taught my siblings and I since we had been little kids, being totally focused and ruthless in his teachings. Baki's duty had been more protecting than teaching when we were younger, but now it was fully dedicated to teaching and supervising. I removed myself from these thoughts to find that Temari had been defeated as usual by the jonin. As talented as Temari was, she was no match for a jonin at her current level of genin. I had never fought Baki in an actual bout before which was surprising to me as I glanced through the memories. I quickly realized it was due to Gaara's bloodlust that Rasa had forbidden Gaara from fighting any Sand shinobi that didn't have the intention of killing him. This was to prevent a large amount of shinobi from being slaughtered to quench old Gaara's bloodlust.

I did find it strange that I wasn't feeling what the old Gaara normally felt. Usually, he was completely exhausted from Shukaku's constant efforts to take him over and slaughter everyone. Simply just thinking of him sent chills down my body. The old Gaara had more than one rampage where he had fallen asleep and Shukaku had taken him over. Those memories were warped, feeling as if I had been stuck in thick molasses. I hadn't been able to do anything in the past and all of my memories were plagued with exhaustion. Almost every memory felt as if an enormous weight was on my back. Ths feeling was noticeably absent even though it shouldn't be. I pushed it aside and decided to investigate when I was alone.

"Gaara it is an honor for you to join us today," said Baki from down on the arena floor. I glanced down to find both Baki and Temari looking at me. Baki showed no emotion in his words or facial expression, as a true shinobi would. Temari on the other hand had visible discomfort on her face from seeing me look down on her. I sighed internally and felt discomfort from both their gazes. I didn't want this to continue, I wanted my sister and brother to trust me. Looking at me in fear wasn't what I wanted at all. I decided I should probably tell them why I was here. The response I had in mind made me smile on the inside, I couldn't wait to see their reactions.

"I've come to train alongside my comrades," I told him.