Heart of Sand

Two years later, and I'm still here... Surviving.

Jokes aside though, I never thought the day would come where I'd rejoice at the idea of becoming five.

My body has developed a bit more, and I look like a normal child... Albeit smaller. It's not my fault that I was born prematurely, ok?

During this time, I've become very proficient with sand. Of course, Shukaku probably has some degree of responsibility.

To train my control, I devised two simple methods... One is to use sand for everything I need to do, such as clothing myself or tidying up my room.

And the other one is to mold my sand into a gourd, then place it on my back... like the original Gaara used to. Although I struggled at first, it became easier over time.

During the time that I kept it on my back, the sand in the gourd underwent an interesting phenomenon. In response to me constantly feeding it chakra, it slowly grew easier to use...And thus becoming lighter over time.

Of course, when Yashamaru or my father came over, I would hide the sand away.

At some point, the sand got so light that the amount of chakra required to keep the gourd's shape was negligible. It basically became like an extension of my body.

I thus named it Heart Sand... (Kokoro Suna) As a reference to it becoming a part of me.

Inadvertently, the sand shield started to use my heart sand to protect me. I guess it's more effective than its normal counterpart.

The system then gave me three-hundred EXP as a reward for achieving a perfect connection.

Although I am able to use this sand with ease, That doesn't mean that It has reached its peak strength. The amount of chakra that I can infuse into it is limited to my child-like reserves after all.

Here's my status, to give you an idea.

[ //Status//

--Basic--

Name: Gaara

Age: 5

--Store--

Level: 1

EXP: 600/1000

Points: 10

--Attributes--

Strength: 3->5 (Normal)

Agility: 1->3 (Subpar)

Vitality: 4->6 (Good)

Chakra: 27->32 (Genin)

Control: 5->10 (Great)

--Affinities--

Wind (Primary)

Earth (Secondary)

--Kekkei Genkai--

Magnet Release

--Ninjutsu--

Shield of Sand(Passive), Sand Control, Third Eye ]

(AN: I'll explain what those terms, Normal, Good, ext. Mean. Keep on reading to find out!)

As you can see in the Ninjutsu section... I haven't been slacking with the third eye. In fact, only a few weeks after trying it for the first time, I was able to make the eye.

Fast-forward, and five months later, I finally entered my father's library. Once inside, I caught a glimpse of all the neatly organized books... I was taken aback by the sheer quantity of them.

The content available included many topics... From history to anatomy, mathematics, and chakra among others. You name it, it's there.

Not letting myself be scared by the mountain of information available to me, I separated every book by topic and chose only the ones that interested me first. Namely, chakra-related books.

Thanks to the system's memory function, which was apparently linked directly to my brain... I was able to assimilate all of the information quite easily.

I thus gathered a lot of knowledge on affinities, hand seals, and a bunch of other things. Not to mention that I learned a lot about the village's history in these two years.

Thanks to all of this information, the system is now able to rate my stats. This finally allows me to know exactly how I compare to others my age.

Basically, the way it works is that every stat is given a value from (Poor) to (Superb), depending on how it compares to the average for my age. For example, the average strength stat of a five-year-old would be five.

As soon as the stat reaches thirty, it changes though. The system then uses the ninja-ranking system to classify it. An example of this would be my chakra reserves... With a value of thirty-two, they're classified as being Genin-level.

(A/N: If you don't understand, here's a more in-depth explanation: The 'perfect average' for a Genin-level ninja would be thirty across all stats. But of course, nothing is so simple, and some Genin's might not even have a single stat at thirty or have them all higher than thirty. It's just that on average, thirty is the universal Genin value.)

Since I have now mastered the third eye, I have also started practicing the sand-armor technique. Even by using my Heart Sand, the chakra required to maintain this technique is ridiculous.

Even with all the training that I went through and my Genin-level reserves, I can only hold it for ten seconds maximum... For now, I classified it as a last-resort defense in case I'm in a pinch.

Also... Thanks to the system, I know that my agility is sub-par. This highlights the fact that I haven't done any physical training ever since... I was born.

I'm willing to admit that I'm succumbing to my old habits...

Don't worry though, for today is the day when I start my exercise routine! I need to train my physical body in order to increase my chakra levels and to cover my weaknesses in battle afterall. It's a win-win situation no matter how you look at it.

Now, to the important stuff. There's something that has been bothering me a lot for the past few months or so.

I think that Shukaku is getting more and more comfortable in my body... Lately, I've been suffering from severe mood swings.

It might also have something to do with my lack of sleep.

Things get even scarier when there's a full moon. Suddenly, I feel the urge to kill someone. It's so strong, that I almost made my way to Yashamaru's sleeping quarters once... To murder him.

The only way that I have been able to control myself is thanks to my strong willpower. After so much meditation, my will has become harder than steel.

If I had to describe my urges, I'd say that they're akin to lust... Albeit amplified by at least ten times. Thankfully though, I do not lose my sense of self... Yet.

I have to put these urges under control, for if I lose myself in them... I am afraid that my plan of getting on Rasa's good side would fail.

Also, I don't want to turn into a monster that kills for no reason. I'm still human, after all.

I wonder if I'll be able to hold back in a fight? I mean, the urges are not really strong during the day. They're more like passing thoughts.

Things like, 'wouldn't it be nice to kill him/her?' or 'I really want to draw blood...' Just pass by my subconscious every now and then.

As I mentioned earlier, it only escalates when there's a full moon.

Well... Good news is that in a few days, I'll enroll in the Sand's ninja academy. Yashamaru and my father have given their approval after judging my temperament.

They concluded that I wasn't a threat, and decided to allow me the privilege of getting an education and socializing.

I learned form Yashamaru that Temari had entered two years prior, and Kankuro a year after her. So I'm last.

I can't wait to see how the Sand's academy looks like and operates. Is it similar to Konoha's? or different? This is my first time outside.

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Author here. This marks the end of the introductory volume.

I'll write a guide that will explain everything from the system to Gaara's status and place it in the auxiliary volume.

I know this may have been hard to read for some but bear with me here. Do you see the setting of this novel? There's just too much to lay out so that I have a strong foundation to build my story on.

I am thankful If you read the introduction. Now, people will have the option to skip it entirely by reading the guide chapter alone.

Until next chapter, T0XIN.