Disguised Beauty

Chapter One: Gaara's POV

Have you ever had to pretend you're something you're not? Deceive everyone around you even though it hurts you? I do this every day. My name is Gaara Sabuku and I'm a girl but my father makes me pretend to be a boy. Everyone in school sees me as a boy and treats me as such. My older brother and sister are the only people who acknowledge I'm a girl but they can only do it in private for fear my father will beat me. Let me put in context for you. My father hates me for being born because not only am I a girl when he wanted a boy, but my mother died giving birth to me. My older brother helps me out in school and my older sister helps me when it comes to female problems. I go to a school called Konoha High School. I hate every day there and the only way I survive is by acting emo. I'm not really that way, in fact I like to talk but it's the only way I can get people to not notice. My voice is kind of deep for a girl so it's easy to assume I'm a guy if I don't talk much. Well, I'm going to lead through a day in my life right now so you get to see the lovely hell I go through every day. It'll be fun! *Can't you hear the sarcasm?*

~*~*~Meet you, Hold you, Kiss you, Love you~*~*~

Gaara woke up at 6 in the morning and quickly made her bed. Her dad wanted everything immaculate, especially with her. She grabbed some clothes and took a 5 minute shower. Fortunately, she doesn't have her period for another week so she doesn't need to carry tampons right now. She puts on a sports bra and then wraps saran wrap around it a couple dozen times to make it look like she has no breasts. Then, she puts on a baggy t-shirt that says Kill Hannah on it. It's a concert shirt her brother gave her. She throws on some black jeans that are a little loose since they were Kankuro's but she solves that problem by putting on a black studded belt. She puts a baggy black sweater on top of it all and then leaves. It's now 6:30 and she runs to the bus stop that comes at 6:45 that is one block over. Temari is 2 years older than Gaara while Kankuro is 3 years older. Since she's a freshman, that means Temari is a sophomore and Kankuro is a junior. They have a car though so they usually wait for her at the school bus stop at the school. Gaara got on the bus as soon as it got there sat in the very front where few people sat. Everyone usually sat in the back because it was 'cool' but Gaara didn't care about that and it was easier to get off by being in the front.

Gaara pulled out her mp3 player (yes, mp3 because iPods suck and old fashion is cool) and started by listening to Evanescence playing 'Bring Me To Life' while waiting for the bus to arrive at the school. When they finally arrived, she was listening to Kill Hannah playing 'Lips Like Morphine'. She was the first to get off and looked around for her siblings. When she saw them sitting on a bench waving at her, she let the first small smile of the day pass her lips before it quickly disappeared. Unfortunately, it didn't go unnoticed by the resident loudmouth, Naruto Uzumaki.

"Gaara Sabuku smiled! The world is coming to an end! What are we going to do?" All the while, he's shaking Sasuke Uchiha, his best friend and pointing at Gaara. Gaara shows no emotion on her face but she panics inside and walks a little quicker (unnoticeably) to her siblings. Then, Kankuro and Temari glared at Naruto who immediately hid behind his other friend, Neji Hyuuga. Neji just watches Gaara as 'he' walks away with Temari and Kankuro on either side of 'him'.

~*~*~Meet you, Hold you, Kiss you, Love you~*~*~

Neji's POV

"Man, can you believe Gaara actually smiled? I swear the world is doomed! That guy is just creepy, anyways." Naruto still hadn't let that go, even when the older Sabuku siblings threatened him.

"Shut up, Dobe. He is human you know. Maybe he just doesn't want anyone to get into his business." Sasuke was the only one, other than Hinata, who could control Naruto. The only reason for this is because they grew up together and Sasuke has adapted to Naruto's weirdness and figured the way to control him.

"Yeah! Did you know everyone thinks that he's gay? I saw him once at that café on No. 6 Street and he was talking up a storm! You'd never think that he talks so much. He even laughed! I thought the sky was falling. But you know, when you really get a look at him, he's got a girly look and stuff. He's also really pretty! Prettier than some girls I've seen." Sakura loves gossip so when she gets started, only Lee can get her to stop. Of course, he's also hard to stop when he starts ranting about the joys of youth. God, was that annoying.

"Anyway, change of subject. We should head in. The bell is going to ring soon and if you guys want to talk about him so much, Gaara is in Naruto, Sasuke and my homeroom and first period. I'm sure Naruto will fill the rest of you in on whatever Gaara is doing. See you guys at lunch." Neji quickly grabbed Naruto and Sasuke's hand after they kissed their girlfriends. Hinata blushed big time and Ino just tried to hold onto Sasuke as he was being pulled away. Lee and Sakura just watched with amused expressions. Neji pulled on Sasuke harder and then dragged them into the Homeroom classroom. Their teacher was Iruka Umino and preferred to be called Iruka-san instead of sensei. He was Naruto's adoptive along with his boyfriend Kakashi-sensei. How someone so kind and caring could end up with that pervert, I'll never know. When we got to the classroom, Gaara is sitting in the far back corner reading a book. It was a manga called The One Day of Revolution. I know that book; it only has about 2 volumes out right now. Anyway, he seems to be oblivious to the rest of the class and vice versa. Naruto is already heading to sit next to Gaara. I turn to look at Sasuke with a raised eyebrow but he's just shaking his head and following after Naruto. Naruto sits directly in front of Gaara. He looks at Sasuke and then the seat next to him. He looks at me and looks at the seat next to Gaara. We both get the hint, although neither of us are happy about it. Naruto turns around in his seat to look at Gaara.

"Did you know that that book only has three in its series? They're all pretty good. Have you read them all?" Gaara just looks at Naruto with a blank stare and then looks back to his book. I notice the dark circles around his eyes are very nicely done, like he's an expert at doing it or maybe his sister does it for him. Then, I notice the tattoo on his forehead. I never noticed it before because his hair always covered it and considering his tattoo and his hair are the same shade of red, it's understandable.

"Nice tattoo. Is that Ai in kanji?" This time, Gaara looks at me and I notice how beautiful his eyes are. I also notice a glimpse of something pass through his eyes before it disappears. Was that surprise and… happiness? Well, it's gone now and he's just staring at me with a black stare.

"I noticed because I have Ai written on my left hip only the color is black. It looks pretty cool with your hair as the same color." This time, I know I see happiness and surprise but it seems he can't dismiss it so easily this time.

"… Yeah. My brother has some friends at a tattoo parlor and they did it for free." Naruto and Sasuke looked surprised that he actually answered while I just couldn't get over how gorgeous his voice was. It had the allure of a woman but sounded a little deep for a woman. But that could also be explained that he was male. The real problem, though, was that I knew I was straight. Then why was I being turned on by a guy!

"That's cool. Sasuke here has a tattoo of three comma-like dots on the back of his neck while Naruto has this whole tribal looking thing on his stomach. It looks pretty awesome, actually. We all got ours done at a place called 'Bleeding Razors' by a guy named Sakon. Actually, I could never tell if I was speaking to Sakon or his twin Ukon." Gaara chuckled. He CHUCKLED. Houston, I have made progress!

"Yeah, I know the place because that's where my brother's friend works. Actually, they're pretty much all his friends because he used to work there in the summer. You can only tell the apart by their hands. Ukon favors his left hand and writes with it. He still uses his right, though, for the tattoos and stuff. Sakon favors his right hand which he uses for pretty much everything. And Ukon usually has his hair parted a little more to the left while Sakon does the opposite." I almost burst out laughing with the shear look of shock on Naruto's and Sasuke's faces. I don't think I've ever heard Gaara talk so much. Actually, I've never seen him talk. Even the teachers don't call on him.

"Well, in P.E., we'll show you ours. Sasuke's the only one who can show it without getting uncomfortable and Naruto is just a sissy."

"Hey! I resent that! I am not a sissy! I just don't want everyone staring at my hot bod."

Gaara and I both chuckled this time while Sasuke did the whole 'shaking head' thing. Then, a mysterious thing happened. Gaara did two things I've never seen him do. He made a joke and said someone's name.

"Naruto, looking at how baggy your clothes are, I doubt anyone will think you've got or ever had a gorgeous bod." I couldn't help but bust up laughing and Sasuke was too. He was actually trying to stop himself from falling out of his chair while Naruto's jaw had dropped so low, I didn't think it was actually possible. I watched Gaara and I noticed he had a small quirk of the lips like he wanted to smile but was holding himself back.

"Hey Gaara, why don't you and your siblings eat lunch with us," Gaara looked shocked and for some reason, apprehensive, "I bet everyone would like to meet you and you're actually a pretty cool guy. Besides, everyone would want to hear what you said to Naruto. It's a lot of fun to ridicule him. So, what do you say?" Gaara seemed like he wasn't sure. He wanted to but was uncertain. Finally, he said he'd ask his siblings. Iruka-san came in and class started right after that. It was only homeroom so it only lasted 30 minutes. The next class was English and we had to write 3 poems about our life. They didn't necessarily have to rhyme since they were freestyle. Naruto wrote poems were about Hinata, ramen, and friendship and they were haikus so they were short and simple. Sasuke's were weird. One was about Sakura. You could tell because it mentioned cherry blossoms several dozen times. His other 2 were haikus about honor and pride. The Uchiha pride, to be exact. My poems were not that good. I'm terrible at writing poetry so I did some simple stuff. One was about a missing my dad. Another was a haiku about having the courage to cry and say why. The last one was a haiku and my favorite. I'll never admit it but I've liked Gaara a long time and it's about him. Here it is:

'Sometimes I feel like crying,

Laying down and dying,

That's when I need you.'

Gaara's poems, though, were so far about our level it wasn't even funny. His were deep and emotional.

'Salvation

Will salvation ever come?

Have I been so wrong to be forgotten?

Will salvation every com?

Or will I remain forever lost?

Will I lose until there's nothing left?

Will salvation ever come?'

'Candles flicker

The light wavers

People say, "Don't go into the light"

What if you world is dark?

What if you need the light?

Stay, Light

Please I need you

Kami-sama, grant me this light

In my life of darkness

Don't let the candles flicker

Don't let the light fade…

Please.'

That's just two of them but the last one was kind of a haiku. It's kind of sad and angry. It goes, "I hope you CHOKE on every word you SPOKE when you were SCREAMING at me." Weird, huh? After Gaara finished, everyone was stunned. No one spoke or ever moved. Iruka-san recovered first and thanked Gaara. Gaara nodded and walked to the back of the class with a blank stare. I swear, though, that I could see fear and hurt in his eyes. Why would he be afraid and why is he hurt?

"Gaara," I talk to him when his sits down, "your poems were awesome. Better than anyone's in the class. Do you have more? May I read them?" Gaara looks at me in surprise but lets a small smile touch her lips and nods shyly. I smile beamingly and go back to my work. When class ends, I tell Gaara we'll meet him at the cafeteria doors. He just nods and walks toward his siblings who are by his locker down the hall. Naruto and Sasuke head to their next class with Hinata and Ino. Since my next class in with Sakura, Lee and Shikamaru, I go in the opposite direction. I tell the others that we're having Gaara sit with us and Sakura and Lee just stare at me while Shikamaru mutters 'troublesome' and lays his head on his desk to sleep.

~*~*~Meet you, Hold you, Kiss you, Love you~*~*~

Gaara's POV

I can't believe I actually talked to Neji and his friends. Okay, truth is I'm in love with Neji but I've never told ANYONE that. Not even Temari or Kankuro. Since I can't have long hair, I've always thought his was pretty and wanted to touch it. Not to mention he's nice to just about everyone and considerate. He gets straight A's but he never acts stuck-up or brags about it. And he has the prettiest eyes I've ever seen. Naruto and Sasuke are cute too but not as cute as him. He was even sweet enough to tell me he liked my poems when I thought no one liked them. I'm so excited he asked me to sit by them but I really hope none of them figure me out. That would be disastrous. As I open my locker, Temari and Kankuro share a concerned glance when they think I'm not looking.

"Would you guys mind sitting with Neji and his friends at lunch? They asked me if we wanted to sit by them." I looked at both of them uncertainly as I closed my locker after having gotten the books I needed out. They share another concerned glance and I'm afraid they are going to say no when Temari asks, "Are you sure, Gaara? You don't think it's dangerous?" I think for a minute before shaking my head no.

"I talked to them in first period a bit and they're very nice. If they noticed something, they didn't show any signs of it. Besides, they all treated me like a boy so it should be fine." Temari smiles and Kankuro puts his arm around my shoulders as they lead me to the classes we have together. We just have 2 more classes before lunch. I can't wait.

Author's Note: Hey guys, I hope you all liked it! This is my new story and I think it's better than any of my past works. As you can see, it's a Neji and Gaara story. I just love Gaara as a female, don't you? Now remember, I don't mind criticism but any flames will be eaten by my cute pet dragon, Wufei! Oh, and please read and review! Arigato! Ja ne!