A/N:: I don't own Naruto, and if you happen to be looking for more of this story and don't want to wait then it's also on under the same user-name. Enjoy.

::A Lion Among the Lambs::

When you move to a new town it's always difficult, even when it's just the next city over. Leaving old friends behind, friends that even if weren't your friends could still be friends and stand up to you. Having to make new ones was a scary and threatening prospect, but to make matters worse having to deal with your final year of high-school as well, is just the icing on the metaphorical cake. The cherry which tops all of this shit off is the fact that I have to repeat all of fucking year twelve in the same grade as my little brother (well the fact it's with my little bro doesn't totally suck but repeating year twelve totally does) while being almost a full year and a half older than the whole year level - almost two for some of the unlucky ones (my course language must be excused, being of the age such vulgar words are a commonality in most speech).

Finally after all of that we can reach the chocolate sauce that makes this a dish, you see we (my family... alright my sister (twenty-one going twenty-two sooner or later - though she hates to admit it), brother (just turned seventeen on January 19th) and me (eighteen turning nineteen in May) (dad and mum are both dead so my sister takes care of us - sort of)) moved from Suna (a dry, hot place - really it's in the middle of the desert) to Konoha were we don't know anyone and the temperature changes with the fucking seasons - this includes SNOW, I HATE the COLD.

'We're looking at a top of forty-three degrees today, but we're sitting at a be~a~utiful thirty-one right now at quarter to seven and you are listening to Suna Station Two. Niggling Insecurity has reached top Ten on the download chart with Endless Heartbeat..Blah...Blah...Blah...' Flailing uselessly I finally managed to turn the annoying static of the radio off, leaving my room once again in silence - oh beautiful silence.

"KANKURO! GAARA! UP! NOW!" I rolled over, attempting to ignore Temari's cry, throwing my arms in random directions - one landing on a steadily moving lump on the opposite side of the bed. I lifted the covers and stared at the still sleeping form of my younger brother, his red hair a mess and his already dark racoon-like eyes looking even darker this fine freezing morning. Ignoring the urge to poke him insistently in the side, I nudged him into bare consciousness to question him on his being in my bed, the same reason it had been for many years.

"Nightmares again Gaara?" A mumbled agreement came from the still half-sleeping boy, he rolled round - sea-foam eyes blinking open to stare at me. "Come on little bro Tem wants us up and ready." I shoved against the almost immovable lump and listened as it made a rather satisfying thump upon hitting the ground.

"Nice Kankuro." Rasped a reply from the floor, pale hands appeared at the edge of the bed, before tightening round the purple fabric of the sheets and wrenching the quilt off. A violent shiver running down my spine as the cold air of the spring morning hit my chest full force; did I say how much I HATED the cold.

"Bastard, it's fucking freezing!" I barked at him, grabbing the rejected black muscle shirt from the floor and throwing it on, it eased the bite of the air but didn't restrict my freedom of movement.

"Oh really, come join me on the floor then and you can test how bloody cold it is down here." He stated smirking sardonically up at me from the edge of my bed. Giving me the evil eye as he sunk behind the edge and then reappeared again smirking like a maniac at another point, his red hair like a shark fin at the point where the edge of the black sheet sloped off to wooden flooring. Both of us laughed hysterically at his little display of insanity.

"Jackass."

"Tool."

"Bitch."

"BLOODY HELL THE BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP AND GET A MOVE ON! SCHOOL STARTS IN AN HOUR!" Temari screeched from the doorway, hands on hips and pouty face going full force. "And I got you up nice and early so you two girls could put your makeup on and everything!" She cackled maniacally striding out of the room and down the stairs.

"Damn, I think our sister just got us."

"Yep, she got us good." I stated making us both laugh as we leapt up and began getting ready. Gaara scampering off to his own room to get ready, while I strode casually into my adjoining bathroom - you see each one of our bedrooms had an en-suite because, well Temari needed one because she was just weird like that, and a girl, while us boys needed separate ones because waiting round for your brother to finish doing his hair just wasted your morning, so having our own made life so much easier.

Smiling softly I stripped down and turned the shower on, stepping under the onslaught of water only after it had reached a reasonable temperature - scolding hot! I stood under the tap for about ten minutes, just long enough to rinse the sleep from my body and wash my face. Reaching blindly out of the cubicle I swirled my hand around in empty air in search of my towel, finally I snagged the corner of it and dried off, wrapping it around my waist - for modesties sake - before striding back into my bedroom to get ready for... Dun~dun~duun~ the first day of school. I laughed at myself for being so worried the day before about how today would turn out, I'd be fine, there where probably some really insane people for Gaara to hang out with and plenty of nice books for me to check out. Stuff all my worries in the trash can and come and collect it, today would be fine... I hoped.

Shaking out my umber hair and throwing the towel back into the bathroom I paused to look at myself in the mirror, not that I was vain or anything but I didn't want to walk in there looking like a total disgrace. Big virescent eyes stared back at me, trailing down to the black t-shirt with iridescent purple lightening flashing across it, black hoodie with - because my sister was a total bitch and bought it for me years ago, and alright so now I'm kinda attached to the thing - black cat ears (not stupid ones, these ones look really good on me), black baggy jeans and of course my signature 'graffitied' - they're covered in drawings I did during art class one year with permanent, it looks pretty cool - purple converse. Smirking at myself I leapt over the bed, got my toe caught, and stumbled stupidly out the door; leaping down the flight of stairs I stole what was left of Temari's breakfast and twirled casually to a stop on the door frame.

"Kankuro think you forgot something." She stated rising from the table and heading to her hand bag, going over a mental checklist I couldn't think of anything I could've possibly forgotten. I was positive I'd put underwear on that morning, purple silky boxers with 'K~S~' sown (because embroidered just sounds way to girly) on the left leg - I did it myself, reason - because I didn't want people nicking off with my nickers. I was dressed, had brushed my teeth in the shower (time saver, and great water management), and had finished Tem's breakfast; I was stumped to what she could possible mean.

"What?"

"Bro where's your paintwork." Gaara asked walking by me and straight to the fridge, digging out a... I don't even know what it is, it's like a drink and it looks like puke, but he says it tastes good, and oh - bleh - there are these seeds in it, I think they're chia and they make the whole thing all chunky and oh God he's drinking it (but I digress)... I face-palmed, jumping over the couch and skidded to a halt in the down stairs bathroom - and just because I'm weird I'll tell you now that yes there are five bathrooms in this house, three upstairs and two down (although one of them is just a toilet and sink it still counts in my books) - throwing the light switch I unscrewed the tub of purple paint and carefully applied a new design to my face.

Feeling satisfied that it looked completely different to yesterdays I stepped back into the lounge/hall finally ready for school. Gaara stepped out of the kitchen looking satisfied and gave me the once over as I did the same to him.

He looked pale - but hell he always did - and his red hair stuck out in lazy spikes, the 'ai' symbol painted carefully on his forehead in bright red - it was actually a scar that Dad'd given him before he died, he'd used a piece of burning steel and carved it into his head, so now he painted over it so as not to freak people out to much - black eyeliner stuck several inches thick around his eyes - hiding all evidence he had trouble sleeping, tight fitting black jeans clung to his legs, a loose black shirt with fish net sleeves was half hidden under his blood red jacket that was high collared, long sleeved and stopped just above his ankles. A white silken sash was draped from his right shoulder, tied off at the hip with golden tassels hanging at his mid thigh. It probably wouldn't work on any normal person, but man could he rock that look, the jacket only did up to just below his waist and flowed out behind him like a cloak, which I had to admit was fucking awesome - and I was only slightly envious of his get up because red just looked wrong on me, plus I preferred purple and black.

"So you ready little bro?"

"You betcha, you driving us there?" He asked nonchalantly throwing his school bag - which anyone would admit to looking cool, it was shaped like a gourd and was big enough to chill happily on Gaara's back peking over his shoulder and sticking out slightly from the side of his hip, which looked so fucking awesome - over his shoulder and grinning at me as I grabbed my own - a black single shoulder thing I picked up on holiday, it was covered in 'bandages' on the outside and just sort of -went- with what I was wearing - and marched the two of us out the front to where my car was waiting patiently. It was a beautiful black automatic Ferrari F430, with black and red interior which was all sleek and totally something you wanted to pick your date up in just so they'd go 'OMG my boyfriend is a total stud.' because this car was a total sports machine and worth every penny on my eighteenth birthday. She was the best gift I ever bought myself, and my darling just drove like an angel all purrs and great suspension; first time I ever drove her I just sat there for half an hour listening to the growl as I revved the engine, it is the most beautiful sound in the world... Well that I've heard yet and I've only had roughly nineteen years on this earth.

"Remember to come home eventually!" Temari called from the door, waving us off as we glided down the driveway and out of the street. Birds of Tokyo playing 'The Gap' as we pulled down some side streets, heading -hopefully- to our new school. I didn't know exactly where it was because I hadn't been paying attention to where we were going the first time Temari drove us there, but instincts told me this was roughly the right way. Just follow the aura of impending doom and the screams of torture, as well as the scent of the teachers coffee - that stuff was toxic and probably strong enough to bring a dinosaur back from extinction.

"Kankuro?"

"Yeah Gaara." Turning the music down I waited patiently for him to finish his query, the gentle rumble of the engine all the noise left in the car.

"Do you think they'll accept us? I mean, not because we're bi or anything. But because of how different we are. And they'll all have their social groups already and we'll just be the new kids." Deadpanning I stared out past the road as the school gates came into view; it was true we where really strange, and we where bisexual which usually got us beat up or teased. I just didn't want to think about what this school would think about us, we where weird and quirky but that's just who we where and I'd never let any stupid school change that. Besides I was too big to get stuffed in a locker, and Gaara was like a ninja - he could appear and disappear into thin air.

"If they don't then they're a bunch of jocks trying to compensate for the package downstairs." Gaara chuckled at this, breathing a sigh of relief as we pulled into a park under a tree - successfully hiding my baby from anyone who might want to hurt her. Slapping him once on the back and sharing an encouraging smile we slipped from the car, making sure to lock her before we left, and walked casually down the footpath towards the main building.

With one glance round the courtyard out the front you could already see everyone had separated into little social groups, you had your jocks out the front near the gates, your cheerleaders sitting on a table just by them, your social outcasts (e.g. emo, lazy, just plain weirdos - I guessed that would be where we'd end up sitting eventually) at a table a fair distance away from everyone else and then me and Gaara, the new kids heading for the office because we had no idea where anything was in this school and having a class list helps anyone use this educational facility to its greatest capacity...

TBC...