Yes, time for another chapter. I can't guarantee when I'll update, but I'll try to do it at least once a week, and if things start to get hectic (like with finals) or if I have writer's block, I'll let you know. Since it's winter break though, I think I'll be updating a lot more often (seriously, twice in two days?) Okay, so enjoy! Oh, and btw, is it just me, or is my style really different between the two chapters.

Chapter 2: Shikamaru

My older sister always used to tell me how I needed more human friends. As a child, I thought she was nuts. I thought that it was just her ignorance of the sand. She couldn't talk to my friends, like I could, so she didn't understand. My friends protected me and talked to me. They gave me company when I was alone. They gave me good advice. They loved me. I didn't need other people; I had my sand. But as I grew, I started to realize the truth behind her words.

It was during my freshman year when I realized that my sand was well…sand. When I needed to talk about human issues, my friends could never answer. We were from two different worlds. There were so many things I wanted to talk about but couldn't. After the feeling of being alienated from my friends reached its peak, I knew I had to try to make some human friends, and my sand agreed. But it was far too late. No one my age wanted to talk to "that freak who talks to the desert." For the first time since I had spoken to the sand, I was alone. And then we moved. It was true; I had a fresh start.

That day, when I made my first friend in Konoha, I knew that things were turning out just like they did in Suna. I took a seat on one of the swings, enjoying the company of the sand there. Neither of us said anything after I told her my name, but I knew that she too was glad to have someone with her. I sat there lost in thought, my eye cast downwards, swinging back and forth just slightly. By this point I had given up all hope of getting to school on time. I knew my sister would be angry with me, but I just sat there.

"Hey," called a voice. A male voice, slightly nasally. This voice echoed in my ears, not my head; it had to be another human. I looked up, only to find a boy staring at me curiously from a few feet away. I had no idea how he could have snuck up on me like that. It was almost as if he emerged from the nearby shadows. Maybe he was a shadow. He had a bored, tired look in his eye, and a similar air around him.

He came closer, taking a seat on the swing next to me. That was something that I wasn't used to. No one wanted to approach me, ever. I think he could tell I was nervous. He seemed to think for awhile before he continued on to say, "You're in my spot." I gave him a slightly surprised look. His spot? "I come here everyday to look at the clouds. But then again, it would be kinda pointless right now." He gestured to the completely overcast sky. I nodded but said nothing. My only real conversations had been with "inanimate" objects. What was I supposed to say to a human? "I usually sit in the swing you're sitting in." His attempt at a conversation wasn't working to say the least. I was looking down, but out of the corner of my eye I saw him staring at me, smiling slightly. "Not much of a talker, are you?" I shrugged keeping my gaze down. "Fair enough." He sighed, "conversations are troublesome anyway."

For awhile, a silence took hold of the area. The only sounds being the wind as it blew through the trees. I sighed. There were too many trees in this place; I just wasn't used to it. Even though you couldn't tell where one cloud began and another ended, the boy next me continued to stare at the sky, obviously, finding something worth looking at up there in that big white mass. He seemed very mundane with a black track jacket, grey shirt, and jeans, but something about him just seemed odd.

Maybe it was the way he wore his hair up in a ridiculously high ponytail, or maybe it was the fact that he seemed to have a piercing fetish, with several piercings on each ear, and even one on his bottom lip. To this day, I'm not quite sure what made him so strange to me, but I do know that it was a good kind of strange. He caught my eye.

"You're new around here." It wasn't a question. Konoha High was big, so I was surprised that he automatically knew that I was a transfer student.

"Yeah," I confirmed softly. He didn't make a big deal out of the fact that it was the first word I had ever said to him. He just nodded.

"You miss your old town." Once again, not a question.

"How did you know?" He pointed to his cheek.

"Tear tracks. And your eyes are red. I knew that you've crying, and I knew you were new in town, so I made a clever assumption." At that, I quickly wiped the evidence from my face.

"Isn't that dangerous?" I retorted.

"Only when I'm wrong, and I'm usually right, but I suppose everyone has their off days." I gave it a try myself.

"You like piercings." The question-mark was absent. He grinned.

"Okay, first of all that was too easy, and second of all, I only do this because of peer pressure." It was strange, but I found myself chuckling. "I swear, Choji thinks they look cool, so he makes me get them. So troublesome."

"Is there anything in it for you?" He shrugged.

"It's just a piercing. It's not as though having it or not having it makes a significant difference in my life. So I thought, why not?" It was an interesting way of thinking.

"I think you should get a chain that connects the piercing in your right earlobe to the one in your lip," I suggested blatantly. He chuckled.

"That sounds…interesting. Why not? Actually, I'm getting an industrial this weekend. You should come." My eyes widened slightly. He seemed to notice this, but said nothing. Was this for real? Had someone just asked me to "hang out"?

"You…really want me too?" I asked stunned. He seemed wary of my reaction, but replied with a simple, "Sure." This had to be some sort of trick. No one ever wanted to be around me. Sometimes, I even wondered if my siblings wanted to be around me. What if someone was playing a sick, cruel joke on me? As these thoughts reeled through my brain, suddenly, his philosophy came to mind.

"Why not," I said. He blinked.

"I just converted someone. Fantastic." I smiled playfully. This was the first time I'd even come close to smiling around humans. Well aside from my siblings, I guess. "By the way, this is probably important: I'm Shikamaru." I stared at him quizzically before realizing that I just agreed to go out on a weekend and watch a guy whose name I didn't even know get an industrial done. I sighed. This was the most unorthodox relationship ever.

"Gaara," I said simply. He nodded. "Um…Shikamaru…aren't we really late?" He shrugged.

"Well, I am, but unless you're taking a class before school, like me, you're not."

"Before school?"

"Yeah, there are a couple of classes that you can take in the morning, before school starts so that you have more time to do other stuff during the day. You must have read the schedule wrong. You still have forty-five minutes." I gaped at him. "Yeah, I hate that feeling of knowing I can be asleep right now too."

"Wait, why aren't you in class then?"

"I take gym, Gaara. Before school gym. I'm never in class. I don't think I've ever even met my teacher." I smiled softly, shaking my head at him. It happened again; I smiled because of another human.

"Don't they get pissed?" Shikamaru chuckled.

"Oh, they used to, but after three years of this, they gave up. The only reason I'm taking it before school is because the troublesome administration is making me take an art class this year."

"Oh. So you're a junior." He nodded. It was strange. For some reason, I had this feeling that he was my age, but I guess I was wrong.

"If you're wondering why I seem younger than that, it's because I moved up a year. I only recently turned sixteen." He made it seem like it wasn't a big deal, so I didn't pry.

"Shikamaru? Would you mind showing me around the school a little?" I had never heard myself sound this shy before. It was so unlike me. In fact, nothing I had done this morning was like me. This place was changing me and not even slowly either. He sighed.

"Sounds troublesome. But I'll do it because I like you." We each got off of our respective swings, and he led me away from the park towards the school. Behind me I could feel my friend the sand watching us. I knew that she was smiling. Turning around briefly, I smiled back. Shikamaru saw this but said nothing.

Okay, so there you go. I hope you had fun with it. I know it was an interesting place to leave off, but I have a tendency to do that. Expect cliffhangers eventually though.