Temari slept sound in her dorm at Xaviors school with a breeze dancing lazily through her room. The young teen tried too many ways to try and keep the window closed, even got the help of some of the other students and teachers (duct tape, glue, metal screws, sealing the wood together via mutation) but it was her own mutation. The wind followed her and it granted her the privilege of many extra blankets for her to be able to sleep soundly at night. She had a specialized sort of telekinesis,where air, specifically wind, was her specialty. Each student had semi-regular meetings, or lessons with someone who would help them control their specific mutation as well as trainings with the Professor; who was technically more of a Headmaster but the term just didn't seem to fit. Either way, she was working on her abilities lately by using fans. The corpses of many paper fans of different thicknesses sat in her closet along with wooden ones. They were followed by tests with plastic and mixes, something she wasn't fond of so thankfully they all snapped. Now she was testing with different metal alloys. Hank was trying his best, testing in wind tunnels but Temari had so much pressure completely focused on the fan's middle that it was proving far more difficult.
Temari snuggled into her many blankets, pajama pants, long sleeves, comfortable socks, and average beanie cap. The window didn't seem to want to close enough for a light breeze tonight and it was the beginning of fall.
Suddenly she was woken up by something much worse than just cold wind. She was woken up with a sharp jolt that made her curl and grab her head immediately by a high pitched sound. It was like television static and it was slowly getting worse, she gritted her teeth but the sharp pain and sound started making it hard to concentrate. As soon as it began to feel somewhat familiar the girl's eyes snapped open wide and she jumped out of bed, blankets be damned and rushed out of her room, her mutation making the door snap in pieces as it hit the wall. She ran down the many stairs to get to the front door, nearly slipping on her wooly socks as she met the landing and sprinted outside.
Nearby the Professor was talking with Hank about some of the new students while doing rounds when they saw Temari running to the door. He tried to give a soft shout as to not wake the other children but this went completely ignored. He tapped shallowly into her mind, not wanting to be invasive and immediately heard the painful sound. He bolted fast as he could in his chair to follow the girl, his loyal assistant in tow and exited the school, using a powerful block to make sure no other students could somehow be interrupted by the painful sound.
The blond teen put her hands together and split the air in front of her to the gated entrance far faster than others could. She tripped again in her hurry but righted herself immediately the two teachers behind her just followed as a car nearly careened through the gates and came to a gravely halt halfway on the lawn. The gates flew about, barely missing the car before snapping shut.
Hank couldn't hear the static until in very close range so they would only be able to yell when it came to it. Thankfully they were also far enough not to cause a scene, though they didn't know that there was one small figure sitting by the lake that heard the car. The boy tiptoed behind a tree to look, head tilted and bright blue eyes wide with confusion and interest. Naruto usually had a hard time sleeping indoors, or at all at times. He had boundless energy and such a strong connection to nature that he could rarely sleep in his own room. He watched the small group around the car and felt an odd pull in his chest, he couldn't hear the sounds for whatever reason.
In the back seat of the car, a small red head about the age of eight was writhing in pain, holding his head and breathing heavy; every now and then he would give a muffled yell. He felt like he was being stabbed by blunt knives from the inside out and it couldn't be contained, leading to his siblings hearing first then the others. All parties held tight to their heads and or winced.
The driver leaned out the window and yelled "HE KILLED DAD." The teachers were shocked but Temari just nodded. He opened the door and fell to his knees on the ground giving a long "Uggggggh", having been enduring the increasing Telepathic torture while driving, and trying not to get lost. She gripped the side of the car, tightly and tried to divert Kankuro, the oldest sibling, to the side as he threw up.
The professor went to the back window and observed the poor boy, then looked at Temari, "YOUR BROTHERS?" he yelled.
A tear slid down her the teen looked up at him with a very fast nod before pointing at the back door, "GAARA."
The Professor nodded to the girl but started when the red head got up and banged his head on the door so hard the glass spider webbed and he let out a gut wrenching scream. In a split second decision, he opened the door and rolled back, already lifting out of his chair, "HANK?" said mutant ran to help him, despite his cordinatination being interrupted so intensely. He helped Charles slide over and lean on the car next to the boy. Gaara fell onto the ground and twitch wildly, as though he just could not understand what to do or where he was in each millisecond.
She watched the two on the ground while trying to lift Kankuro a bit as he watched as well, both were terrified for their little brother and also scared for the teacher, knowing Gaara's powers and what he'd been holding inside and been trying to go through without them there all the time. The Professor leaned on the car and put one hand on his temple, closed his eyes and gently put his other hand on Gaara's forehead. The boy stopped flailing but tensed his body so hard he was shaking, laying on his side in fetal position.
Gaara's mind was an extremely painful and terrifying acid trip. Xavior's surroundings were like an M.C. Escher painting but constantly changing shape while randomly flashing black and red streaks sent pain throughout his body, making him have to attempt to block them with his arm when they got close. The structures around him dissolved beneath him, sending him upside down, The stairs would turn knocking him sideways and sliding through a waterfall fall of dark sand. He almost forgot what he was doing in this place until he heard a quiet whimper. The Professor looked around and called out gently, "Gaara?"
There was a squeak and suddenly the static cleared enough for him to hear a man's voice, fast, overlapping, and carrying its own pressure within the chaos.
MONSTER
WHY
WHYAREYOUHERE
GETOUT
MISTAKE
KILLYOU
DIE
FREAK
ANIMAL
FUCKOFF
WRONG
NEVER
HATE
MONSTER!
Every word seemed to me melding into one another and he didn't the tear drop from his cheek. How anyone could a child so young think such things of himself? Unless someone else had cemented them into Gaara's mind. It was inhuman but now was the time to show the boy he was not deserving of this pain.
Charles looked around and put out his hands, quieting the voices a bit. He looked around the maze and stabilized it best he could then moved onto the greater task. He looked around the puzzle and finally saw a small boy, just young enough to still be a toddler. Tiny Gaara sat in a dark cave within a wall. He clutched a teddy bear tightly in his arms and was curled into himself, the small boy eyed the Professor carefully but with a strong fear.
Charles walked the walked over to him until he was close enough to kneel down to the boy's level and gave him a small smile "Gaara." The professor said lightly,
The boy looked up and the man's heart broke. The child was crying, his face, hands, clothing and even his teddy bear were covered in his tears but Gaara's tears were not water, it was blood that ran down his cheeks as he cried.
"Gaara, I am so sorry for what's happened to you." The adult said, once again not noticing the tears he himself was crying "Everything will be alright now."
"You are safe." The teacher gave a smile and let out a hand. It seemed as though the boy was considering it but the his turmoil was strong enough to fight back. The yelling from before, from the boy's father, the man now realized, was almost scarier as a whisper than a yell.
Suddenly he could no longer see the young boy in his dark cave, just a wide, angry pair of bloodshot yellow eyes. He heard a growling as the child glared from the dark.
"Lier." he heard in a deep voice.
The professor knew he was losing progress but kept trying, "Please believe me when I say, I would never do anything to hurt you."
"HEY, PROFESSOR" yelled a very familiar voice.
He looked around as the voice that grew closer, all he could do was clasp his eyes shut and whisper , "Naruto. NO."
He turned back to the cave where he saw the boy glare out in the open and clenching his teeth, "YOU'RE AFRAID TOO. THEY ALL ARE!" he screamed with a frightening straight into Charles' eyes. In his head the yelling came back, now in Gaara's screaming voice. Terrible things, horrible echos all around them and without warning, the Professor saw from his kneeling position, large drops of blood coming from the boy's forehead. Unbeknownst to him, blood slid down the side of Gaara's forehead as he cried and curled deeper in the physical world.
Temari gave a squeaking gape but acted quickly by squeezing his hand away from his head and putting pressure on the wound with her, now very ruined sleeping beanie. Hank heard the very familiar voice behind him calling out. He tried to stop the blond but he wasn't nearly as agile as the little ball of energy. Somehow the closer Naruto got to Gaara, the static in their heads quieted. All of them tried to stop the boy, still in fear of his safety but the blond slid on his knees through Hank's legs like a pro straight from the physical world, into Gaara's mindscape with a slight bump, making their arms touch just a bit and suddenly freezing in that kneeling position, his eyes gently closing.
"WHO'S THIS?" The boy's yell dampened the sounds greatly, his wide grin turned to wonder as he looked around and heard the voices. The other child and adult looked on, confused. The Professor was forced aside by Gaara's new intrusion. All Charles could do was watch.
"HEY," Naruto's yell overthrew the static with his excitement as he looked around. The voices became nearly inaudible a second later. Naruto confused Gaara; the blond seemed more excited once he heard the voices, felt the pressure, the pain, the sharp flashes, and the darkness surrounding them as he looked around. The small newcomer walked, not through the maze but on the air, as though it were solid. Charles watched with wide eyes as the two were nearly face to face. In slow motion, Naruto looked at a gaping Gaara as he took a single step and with each millisecond he aged backwards. Suddenly little Naruto was right in front of the cowering boy, wide eyes and smiling. Gaara was no longer covered in blood, just in awe of the boy who gave him so much comfort. The tiny blond took a fast and excited step then sat with his hands on his knees, practically bouncing. He gave Gaara a shining, wide grin. His bright blue eyes locked with the seafoam green opposite him.
Their surroundings froze and slowly faded. The red, stairs, confusion became a soothing white plane; the Professor observed and felt Gaara's fear shrink. He didn't yell this time, it was more like excitement, relief, and familiarity Gaara never felt before, even with his siblings. He didn't realize that Naruto felt the same. "Hey," Naruto's eyes relaxed and his own relief glowed in soft smile, "You're like me."
The words echoed with a distant giggle and all three woke from Gaara's mind.
He blinked in confusion and sat up slightly, observing his surroundings. He saw the Professor and jumped but calmed when he gave him a smile, "Hello Gaara," He took a deep breath, "Welcome to Xaviors school."
"Gaara," the boy looked around and pushed himself up at the sound of his sister's voice his eyes saddened at her teary smile.
"You're gonna be safe now, kid." Gaara turned towards his brother, then slowly looked to Hank, who just nodded with a small smile.
His slow confusion went away immediately, to the surprise of the others, when he said, "N-Naruto," He looked around, almost in panic. Naruto was behind him, having over measured his skid into the situation, he ended up hitting the car, then almost under it. With Gaara only looking around vaguely, he turned quickly when hearing little laugh. He was crawling away from the car, rubbing his head and eventually knelt in front of Gaara.
He looked at the other boy lightly, "We're the same…" he said, Gaara somehow felt what he meant and he knew it was, in every way, right; even though he didn't quite understand.
The blond returned to his usual eager tone. Loud though it was, it still wasn't yelling. Naruto bounced in his seat again with a huge grin "You and me!" he hugged Gaara, who immediately tensed. This was ignored and Naruto let go keeping a tight hold onto Gaara's shoulders. They locked eyes again, "We're gonna be best friends!"
Naruto hugged him again and he got a light touch to his ribs in return. Naruto giggled at that until he felt Gaara's head lightly hit his shoulder. Temari and Kankuro gawked. The sister Slowly got up and picked up her little, sleeping, brother. Hank helped the professor back to his chair then spoke with Temari, agreeing that Gaara would stay with her until he woke up, then they would see where things went. One thing was certain, Gaara was definitely enrolled.
Naruto saw the blood and scrunched his face. Worried about his new best friend turned and opened his mouth wide to say something but was cut off by a finger to the lips by the Professor. His mouth closed a little, "What's wrong with Gaara?" he whispered.
Kankuro turned to the kid, still leaning on the car, his eyes were closed now and he had a smile on his face, "Gaara has a thing called Insomnia," the man opened his eyes a crack and looked at the kid, "at this point, I don't think he's slept in three weeks."
Surprisingly, Naruto looked at the Professor and instead of shock was a little mad, "HE-"
"Ahem" he got an unamused, raised eyebrow from his tired teacher, who was now holding his head in his hand against the armrest of his chair.
Naruto pursed his lips then said in a normal volume, "He beat my record." Then pouted.
Kankuro swapped looks with the teacher, who brushed it off with a wave of his hand. "Come, Naruto, even you must be at least a bit knackered after tonight. Back to bed." he nodded back to the building.
The little blond got up and sighed "Fine."
Nonetheless, there was a sigh in return because Naruto ran back to his room, no tiredness seeming to weigh him down.
He turned to Kankuro, "Professor Charles Xavior, nice to meet you." Less enthused than usually, but he made sure not to be rude, even after all that happened.
The young man gave a chuckle, "Kankuro Sabaku," he took a breath and readjusted, looking at the school not far from them, "Ditto" he jerked his head and the back door closed.
"Telekinesis?"
"Yuuuup"
"Your father?" he asked with careful concern.
Kankuro shrugged, "He's been trying to kill Gaara for ages." He glared at the sky, "You get what you get."
Xavior shook his head, "About 7 ages, then?
"Just about," The brother pulled himself up with the drivers side door and leaned on it, "He's why Gaara developed Insomnia in the first place." He looked down at the Professor, "Mixed with telepathy, Temari and I figured that's why it's so hardwired now…"
"That seems plausible," He thought to himself, "Then your brother should be able to lessen the insomnia, though, unfortunately it will never go away completely," Kankuro nodded, eyes closed, " You're welcome to stay the night." The two began to make their way to the building, Kankuro shut the door and didn't even bothering to try physically move it, just made the vehicle float behind them.
He snorted tiredly, "I would have slept on your lawn anyway"
The professor gave a small laugh and they dropped the car, literally, off into the gurage.
The two went to the nearest entrance. As they got nearer to the door, Kankuro took an impressive deep breath and let it go. It was enough to sum up the night's stress. He then rubbed his eyes tight.
"What a life."
