Welcome to chapter 2 of Crimson Sands! Thanks to DarkAngelJudas, An-Uke-Named-Sasu, and to everyone else who reviewed! You're opinions are always welcome here! :) Also, if you guys have any ideas or suggestions for my story please feel free to share them!

By the time Gaara got back to his room, there was still one hour left of school for his new friends. What was a young demon to do to pass the time? Take a nap, of course! Now don't misunderstand, Gaara is not lazy. It was just the fact that at night, the raccoon demon doesn't sleep, so to make up for it he takes a few naps throughout the day. Before crawling onto his bed, the raccoon demon set the alarm on his phone so that he wouldn't oversleep.

A loud crashing sound could be heard as Gaara threw his phone into the wall. He had forgotten how irritating his phone was when it woke him up and now he was in a terrible mood. Forcing himself to stand, the sand demon went over to his destroyed phone and kneeled next to it. He let his hand hover over the broken pieces and with a few muttered words, they slowly began to reconnect, turning back into a phone. The fix wouldn't be permanent, the spell he used was only meant to last for 24 hours, and he would eventually have to get a new one.

Gaara quickly located his black messenger bag, decorated with red and gray patches, and packed a few things he might need while out with Naruto and the others. He grabbed his wallet, a pair of swimming trunks, his room card, headache pills, and just in case he got bored, his sketchbook. Leaving the room, mood not improved in the least, he headed towards the exit.

The minute he walked outside, he was nearly tackled to the ground by an overly excited Lee, who was now clinging to his shoulders.

"GAARA MY NEW FRIEND! It's so good to see you again!" The nymph declared loudly.

After waiting for his ears to stop ringing, Gaara muttered irritably, "It's only been an hour, Lee."

The energetic youth threw an arm around the young demon's shoulder, oblivious to his horrible mood.

"And yet it has felt like AGES!"

The raccoon demon glared at the offensive limb that was touching him and considered biting it off. Kiba, noticing the look the redhead had, quickly pulled Lee away to prevent him from being bodily harmed.

Naruto approached the grumpy sand demon with a large smile on his face. At least he wasn't as annoying as Lee.

"So, Gaara. Where do you want to go?"

Someplace quiet. "Anywhere is fine."

Not wanting to disappoint his friends, Gaara chose to suffer through whatever activities they deemed as 'fun'. Back in his old city, Sunagakure, the raccoon demon was never able to make a friend. Since his father was the mayor, any kid who wanted to be his friend just wanted to gain status and that caused Gaara to isolate himself. Here in Konoha, he was a nobody, and that's just how he wanted it.

Naruto and his friends began to lead Gaara towards the beach and, realizing he would once again be exposed to the sun, the raccoon demon activated the same spell as before which covered his pale skin in powerful sunscreen.

"Where are we going?" The red-headed demon asked, eyeing the teenager infested sands.

The blonde fox demon grinned and pointed down the beach to a location that couldn't be seen at the moment.

"We have our own little spot further on down the beach. It's really shady so not many people hang out there and the sand is really clean, unlike here where all of these jerks just toss their trash on the ground." Naruto explained as they continued to walk.

As they headed for their location, Gaara took in the students who had taken over the beach, identifying the different groups. Closest to the water were obviously the athletes. It was a combination of water beings, animal hybrids, and strong creatures who were racing in the water and tossing around frisbees and footballs. There, laying out in the sun, were the 'popular' students. Fairies, demons, elves, sirens, encantados, and even a few sun-resistant vampires were laying on expensive blankets while enjoying cool drinks, some of them probably alcoholic, and were chatting happily. Laying around them were what must have been the fans. Weaker creatures were sitting around the beautiful teenagers, giggling and blushing. Puke. Sitting out of the way, mostly in the shade, were the rebels. Gaara found himself liking this group. Imps, werewolves, banshees, mutants, shades, and wendigos were huddles in a group, sending occasional glares toward the brightly dressed teens soaking up the sun's rays.

Naruto brought the sand demon out of his observations by announcing that they were almost there and Gaara recognized the spot as soon as he saw it. A little ways away, the beach broke off into a patch of forest and beautiful, large trees casted shadows of the pale sand. There were still quite a few people around but it wasn't nearly as bad as when they were closer to the school.

As they all settled down, laying a few towels out in the sun, Gaara took up position in a nice patch of shade. Naruto joined him and asked, "Don't like the sun?" The raccoon demon shook his head.

"It's not hard to tell, seeing how pale he is!" Kiba teased, taking off his shirt. The blonde demon perked up at this and stood up.

"You getting in?" He asked, taking off his shirt as well.

The hellhound grinned and went behind a couple of trees to change into his swim gear. "Yep! The water looks really good today!" Kiba turned his attention to Gaara. "You should swim too! The water here in Konoha is really nice."

The sand demon stayed silent for a moment before replying, "Maybe in a little while."

When Kiba was finished changing, Naruto took his turn and emerged a few minutes later wearing bright orange trunks, nearly blinding the poor redhead. Gaara raised a curious eyebrow when the two friends crouched down beside each other and faced the water.

"Ready, dog-breath?"

"Oh, I'm ready, whisker-face."

"1..."

"2..."

"3!"

Kiba and Naruto raced towards the water, pushing each other and laughing the whole way. As those two continued their fun, Gaara sat there in the shade by himself. Well, he might as well have been by himself, what with Shikamaru asleep on a beach towel and Choji nowhere to be found. Wait, where'd Lee go?

A blur shot past the redhead and Gaara quickly identified what it was. Rock Lee was currently running toward his two friends and he was wearing...a hideous pair of green swim trunks. Dear God.

The raccoon demon watched in slight amusement as the tree nymph tackled his companions into the water. All three came up a few seconds later, sputtering and laugh, and Gaara found himself wanting to be a part of it, there was just one things stopping him. He had been feeling it for the past fifteen minutes. Someone was staring at him. The small demon turned slightly and let his piercing teal eyes scour the beach and it didn't take long for him to pinpoint the location of his annoyance. Sitting under an umbrella with a book in his lap, was none other than Neji Hyuga, who Gaara has appropriately labeled 'the asshole'. The two stared each other down, neither wanting to be the one who looked away first. White clashed with teal as the silent battle continued and it only got worse when the sorcery demon smirked.

"GAARA!"

The raccoon demon snapped his head towards the water when he heard his name called and saw Naruto waving at him with a grin, trying to get him to join the fun.

Screw Neji. Gaara was going to have fun, even if it killed him. Pulling out his black swim trunks, the sand demon went behind the trees and changed. Conjuring up a bit more sunscreen, Gaara headed towards the water, trying to ignore the eyes following him. He knew from experience that it wasn't just the asshole's eyes that watched him as he walked; it was most of the students observing him as well.

The raccoon demon knew why they were doing it, all of them wanting a glimpse to see if the new kid had a 'desirable body' or some crap like that. Gaara knew that while some people would find him repulsive, others would see him as exotic. Most of his past admirers were highly attracted to him for his strange appearance and style, but when it came to his body it was a different story. Scars littered his back and torso, the result of many past fights with schoolmates and beatings from his father.

As Gaara approached the water, he noticed that his friends were a lot further out than he'd originally thought. Knowing he wasn't the best swimmer, the raccoon demon waded out until the water was just below his chest. This earned a curious look from his blond friend.

"Hey." Naruto said as he swam up beside the redhead. "What are you doing? Aren't you going out any further?"

Gaara shook his head.

"Why not?"

"...I'm not really good at swimming."

The fox demon was silent for a moment before grinning widely. "No problem! Here." Naruto turned around bent over slightly. Gaara stared at him before finally understanding.

"Hell no." Was his reply. The blond laughed, not ready to give up.

"Come on, Gaara! It's just a piggyback ride!"

Realizing that Naruto wasn't going to let this go, the raccoon demon released a sigh and climbed onto the blonde's back. As the fox demon began to swim out into the water, Gaara clutched his shoulders, not wanting to fall.

Kiba, Lee, Naruto, and Gaara stayed in the water for about thirty minutes before deciding to head back to the sand for some games. The whole time they had been swimming, the redhead continued to feel eyes watching him and each time he looked back at the shore, he would see Neji staring at him.

As the water reached their hips, Naruto let Gaara down so that he could walk back to shore himself. The raccoon demon was just starting to head for his shady spot when he was suddenly being dragged in the opposite direction by Kiba.

"You can't sit down yet!" The hellhound laughed.

Gaara, just wanting to relax and dry off, asked, "Why not?"

"Because!" Naruto yelled, holding a volleyball in his hands. "Without you we won't have even teams!"

The raccoon demon allowed himself to be dragged across the sand but when Gaara realized where the volleyball court was set up, he cursed silently. Not too far from their playing spot was Neji and his group, still hanging out and chatting. The sand demon wasn't sure why he disliked the pale-eyed man so much but he did. Determined not to let the sorcery demon ruin his 'fun', Gaara took up position next to Naruto, ready to play.

"Which game are we playing?" Kiba asked, grinning at Naruto.

The blond considered this a minute before replying, "Death Match. First to score one point wins."

Naruto threw the ball to Lee and Kiba, deciding to let them serve first. Gaara watched intently as the tree nymph threw the ball into the air. When it was hit, it came soaring at Naruto who ran forward and, clasping his hands together, hit the ball back over the net, signaling the beginning of the game.

For twenty minutes the volleyball flew back and forth over the net, never hitting the ground. All members of the game were performing various tricks; flipping, kicking, and leaping in order to hit the ball. It wasn't long before a small crowd gathered around the court to see who would win.

As the game continued, Gaara began to feel tired and it was obvious that he wouldn't be able to hold out much longer. When the ball came towards him again, the raccoon demon used his forearm to hit it back over the net and it headed right for an opening between Kiba and Lee. For a second, everyone thought it would hit, until Lee threw himself forward and just barely managed to get it back in the air for Kiba to send it back over.

Naruto saw that his teammate was getting tired and tried to think of a way to end this. After a few more hits, he got an idea. The fox demon hit the ball with enough force to send it to the back of their opponent's side and right as Lee ran to hit it back, he put his idea into action.

"GAARA!"

Gaara quickly looked over at the blond. Naruto bent down and pointed at the ball, a determined look in his blue eyes. Understanding what the gesture meant, the raccoon demon sprinted forward. Just as the ball was coming across the net, Gaara leaped off of Naruto's back and, doing a small turn in the air, slammed his heel into the volleyball. The ball crashed into the ground of Lee and Kiba's side, causing a small explosion of sand to leap off the ground.

Naruto let out a shout of victory as everyone stared at the steaming volleyball and smacked his teammate on the back, causing the smaller demon to fall face-first into the sand. Laughter erupted from the crowd around them and the fox demon helped Gaara up, apologizing frantically. Gaara didn't really care, it was only sand, but he did care when another volleyball hit him in the back and sent him to the ground again.

The redhead slowly looked up, only to be met with the sight of a smug-looking Neji fucking Hyuga walking towards him. As Naruto once again helped up the seething raccoon demon, Kiba marched up to the pale-eyed man.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!"

Neji raised an elegant eyebrow at the hellhound. "I don't quite understand what you mean."

"Bullshit!" Kiba hissed. "Gaara was standing right there and you just so happened to not see him? That's a load of crap!" As the hellhound's temper flared, two pointy, furry brown ears popped out of his head and a furry tail grew out from above the waistline of his trunks. This happened to most creatures with animalistic attributes. When they get mad or have a drastic change in emotion, their animal like features come out.

Shino, who had been standing behind Neji to observe the commotion, took a step forward. Standing in front of the hellhound, the two began to stare each other down.

"Please don't blame Neji for something he didn't mean to do." The bug charmer said quietly, a hint of warning in his tone.

"Stay the hell out of this!" Kiba hissed, ears and tail bristling.

Naruto, noticing the oncoming fight, quickly walked over to calm the young demon hound down and as the blond spoke soothingly to his friend, trying to convince him not to bite Shino, Gaara approached 'the asshole'. Noticing the look on the sand demon's face, all the teenagers surrounding them turned deathly quiet.

Glaring up at the taller man, Gaara spoke in a not so friendly voice, "Watch where you throw things, bastard."

Neji grinned at the sinister look on the redhead's face. "My apologies...Gaara, was it? I didn't mean to-"

"Cut the crap. I'm not interested in your bullshit apologies, so leave." Gaara shoved the volleyball that had hit him into the pale man's hands. Frowning now, Neji accepted the ball and tucked it under his arm.

"I didn't mean to make you angry, Gaara. It was just an accident. I hit the ball wrong and you happened to be in the way of it's path. You understand, right?" The sorcery demon asked, using a soothing voice to try and calm down the seething redhead.

"I understand that you're an asshole, if that's what you mean." Gaara hissed.

As a look of insult and anger passed Neji's face, a group of girls shoved their way through the crowd of teenagers. One particular girl, her brown hair pulled up into two buns, shouted angrily, "You can't talk to Neji like that! You should apologize for being so rude!"

Gaara ignored her as if she didn't even exist and said to the pale-eyed demon, "You have your ball back so I can't see why you're still standing there. Get lost."

Neji glared at him. "I was only trying to apologize."

"I don't see why you're apologizing when you hit him on purpose!" Naruto shouted, taking up position beside his redheaded friend. Noticing the blond taking part in the argument, Sasuke appeared beside Neji.

"And how do you know he did it on purpose, dobe? You weren't there when it happened." The cursed demon argued as he stared at the fox demon, amusement in his black eyes.

"I didn't have to be there, teme! Neji did it on purpose because he's a jerk!"

"Excuse me?" Neji hissed, not exactly happy with being called a jerk.

Not wanting Naruto to get into any trouble, Gaara clamped a hand over his big mouth and said, "Naruto is just telling it how it is. You're a jerk who needs to get over himself."

Narrowing his eyes, Neji released a low growl and took a step closer to the raccoon demon. Gaara, not one to be intimidated easily, released Naruto's mouth and also stepped forward, bringing him and the sorcery demon chest to...neck. Even though he was shorter than the other man, the redhead refused to back down as he stared up into pale orbs. The two began a sort of glaring contest that continued even when they heard a loud "What did you call me, teme?!" followed by a "You heard me, dobe." and then the sound of rough fighting.

"You know," Neji began in that high-and-mighty voice of his. "you should really change your attitude towards me. You don't know the kind of influences I have at this school."

"And I don't give a shit. Now fuck off." Gaara hissed.

The sorcery demon made a small 'hm' sound and studied the redhead before him. As pale eyes roamed the small, lithe body, Gaara fought the urge to punch the man square in the face. What gave that asshole the right to look at him like a piece of meat? Then something made the raccoon demon freeze up. Did Neji just...lick his lips? What the hell? The small redhead took a quick glance around to see if anyone had noticed it, but it seemed that everyone's attention was on Naruto and Sasuke's fight.

Deciding that being around the Hyuga might be harmful to him in a completely different way, Gaara quickly turned to the fight to try and stop it. Before he could break it up, Lee beat him to it.

Pushing apart the brawling students, the tree nymph yelled, "PLEASE STOP FIGHTING MY FRIENDS! I do not wish to see you getting in trouble over a small spat! You should put your youthful energy to better use, like a friendly competition!"

Almost everyone, including Naruto and Sasuke, cringed when Lee mention a friendly competition and Gaara found himself wondering what was so bad about it.

"Um, I'm good." Naruto muttered, backing up slightly.

"Yeah, me too." Sasuke made his way back over to Neji.

Gaara, grateful for the distraction, scurried over to his belongings. As he packed up his things, Naruto approached him, an unhappy look on his face.

"Sorry your first day kind of sucked. I didn't plan on those bastards ruining our fun." The blonde apologized, rubbing the back of his neck.

The raccoon demon slung his bag over his shoulder and shrugged. "It wasn't that bad. It was actually kind of...fun."

Naruto stared at his redheaded friend in surprise. "Really?" Gaara nodded.

"Great! I was worried that you were going to hate it here after all that." The fox demon was grinning widely but a quizative look crossed his face a minute later. "Hey, where'd Kiba go?"

Looking around, it was easy to spot the young hellhound. With a bristled tail and ears, Kiba was currently in another argument with Shino. The smaller man was livid, screaming and throwing his arms into the air, and Shino just stood there taking it.

"Why isn't he doing anything?" Gaara asked, referring to the insect charmer.

Naruto crossed his arms. "I don't really know. Kiba and Shino get into a lot of arguments but they've never actually hit each other. If you ask me, they have a little bit of a thing for each other."

The redhead watched them for a few more minutes before agreeing. As Naruto and him gathered their things and woke up a grumpy Shikamaru, they went to collect Kiba. They had to practically drag the young hellhound away from his argument.

As they were leaving, someone bumped into Gaara, nearly causing him to fall. He turned around to give said person a piece of his mind but stopped and glared once he saw who it was.

"See you tomorrow, Gaara." Neji purred, a smirk gracing his lips.

Deciding that the sorcery demon wasn't worth his breath, Gaara flipped him off and walked away.

Lesson of the day: Neji Hyuga is a narcissistic asshole.

End of chapter 2!

PLEASE REVIEW!