In an event like the Chunnin Exams, the young shinobi who stand out thanks to their talent soon gain some fame among the other participants

That was how you’ve heard of him for the first time

His name? Gaara. His village? The Sand – a distant place, both from the Leaf and from your own village, and about which you didn’t know much

You’ve never heard of him or his story before, but once you found out about him, you decided t was better for you and your team not to meet him or his partners if you wanted to stay alive until the end of the Exams

Then it happened when you least expected

You were at the Forest of Death, and for some reason you saw yourself separated from your team mates

Being the Forest exactly the way the proctor described it, you knew you would have to find a place to hide if you want to think of a plan to get back to your team and not be found by your adversaries

After a walk, you found a specially dark spot under dead trees. No one seemed to have reached that point of the forest yet, so it was perfect as a hideout

Among your friends, you were the one with the greatest talent to stay unnoticed when you wanted, so it wasn’t going to be a problem just stay out of sight form whoever appeared there

Your convictions were only shaken when the person you least expected approached and faced the shadows of the forest as if it was nothing

It was a boy, probably about your age, and two other people, a young man and a girl, older than him. However these two were just silhouettes compared to him

He was pale, but the paleness of his skin seemed to scream “cold” as he walked under the shadow of the trees. You felt something cold inside your heart alongside with that perception

His hair was red, a dark shade of red that reminded you of… blood. A vivid, unsettling color that you’ve never seen in anyone’s hair before

But nothing caught your attentions as his eyes: with black, thick lines setting off their sharp shape, they were of a blue that reminded you of the transparency of ice

It was hard to tell what you saw in those eyes: saying you saw nothing would be rude, and as much as saying you saw everything would be too much

Those eyes would seem empty for some, but empty was not the word you’d use for them. They were more like a winter lake, which running waters were hidden under the frozen surface, however you’d never dare walk above it without imagining of kind of water monsters could be there, waiting for the ice to crack and the lake swallow you

You didn’t even notice you were staring at him until his eyes move a little bit and he seemed to look at your direction

You immediately looked away, making all the effort in this world to not make a sound or an imprudent move

You held your breath for what felt like an eternity, until you heard the sound of steps moving away with hesitation

You heard someone’s voice, if it belonged to the other boy or the girl, you couldn’t tell. The words you heard were simple, but all the answers you didn’t know you needed you found in them

“I don’t think there’s anyone, Gaara. Let’s search in another place”

So… that was him. The young ninja everyone was talking about and praying not to find inside that cursed forest – Gaara of the Sand, half human, half monster, an unpredictable hunter that you’d better not face

He didn’t reply to the person talking, but soon you saw the three turning their back to the dark spot you were hiding and disappearing among the trees

When the place turned back to the previous silence, you dared move a muscle

You never knew if he indeed saw you there or not, and you didn’t know if you’d rather believe he did, but one thing you knew for sure

Whether it was fear, thrill, admiration or anything else you haven’t had a name for, you liked what you felt when you looked into those eyes

Life and death seemed to live inside those eyes – and you looked directly at them