Dawn Carnival

April 4, 10:00 a.m.

They arrive at the carnival, known as Dawn Carnival. Everyone inside the bus either cries out in surprise or mumbles how much this is going to suck. Hiiro, on the other hand, is reading her manga of romance and adventure. She flips to the last page, which has been torn out. Hiiro makes a face of horror, NO! I GOT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO PRINCESS KIA AND PRINCE TAMASHĪ! She thinks, then shoves her manga in her book bag. She then sees where they are, making her sigh with relief and sadness. Her teacher is standing where the only entrance and available exit is, and standing beside him is the bus driver.

"Alright students, when we get out there… I want all of you to report to the food court by 12:25 p.m., and at 3:00 p.m.… report to the bus immediately!"

Everyone nods and says the cliché boring, "Yes sir." Jiraiya makes a smile and says, "Enjoy." Everyone goes to their sensei, gathering six tickets for each student. Hiiro waits for every student to go first, then goes up to her sensei to gather her tickets. She looks up at Jiraiya and says her thank you, then leaves the bus. But before she entered the gates, Jiraiya grabs her shoulder. He goes close to her ear and whispers, "Hey, tell me if you see anything unusual. Alright?" Hiiro makes a face, and nods. She is then released and is on her way toward the entrance of the carnival. She looks at see the man with green hair, having what seems to be blood dripping off his face at the ticket booth. Of course, he claims it's make-up to the other people. Hiiro doesn't want to find out, instead she gasps at all the things inside the carnival. The rides are lavishing of roller coasters, little tents here and there, rides of being lift high in the air and twirled around, air jumps, and then… the ride everyone passes and makes scared glares at. Hiiro makes a worried face, and decides not to be the first one to step up upon it. She goes toward a tent, bigger than the other tents. Suddenly, something taps her shoulder. Hiiro turns around, to see no one besides her classmates and other visitors for the thrill and chill of the carnival. Hiiro makes a sigh, but then jumps in fright! She turns around to see a young man waving at her.

"Hi there! I'm Tobi, the good boy! I'm sorry if I scared you, Tobi was just trying to ask you if you would want a tour of Dawn Carnival!"

Hiiro makes a sigh of relief, but then looks at Tobi. He lends out his hand, making Hiiro look away. "Sorry "Tobi", but I probably shouldn't." Tobi draws his hand back and slumps, "B-B-B-But… Tobi… really wants to… show… pretty lady around!" He says, crying. Hiiro makes a face, feeling horrible yet a bit annoyed with herself a the same. Tobi slumps away, wailing at the whole world. Hiiro sees some people looking at her, making her rush over to Tobi and say, "I'm sorry! Um… I wouldn't mind having a tour…" Tobi turns around and jumps in joy! He grabs Hiiro's hand and shows her to the food stand first. Tobi brings Hiiro there in front of it, making her see a blue man who sort of looks like a shark. He's wearing a white chief's outfit with a white, tall cap. He smiles upon Tobi, then at Hiiro.

"Hey Tobi, who's your friend?"

"She wanted a tour from good Tobi! So I said yes for she is a good girl!"

Hiiro's left eye twitches, then looks at the man. "I'm sorry, I made him feel bad and now… here we are." She says, making the man nod and smiles. He then asks for her name, which she simply replies, "Kala Keys." Hiiro doesn't want to give out her real name to people she doesn't know yet. Plus, there's something fishy about the carnival that makes Hiiro swallow with uneasiness. She looks at him, and asks for his name.

"Hoshigaki Kisame, you're chief this morning."

"Oh, I'm not hungry. But thank you!"

Hiiro and Kisame bow, then Hiiro turns to see Tobi talking to a random stranger… who is laughing and having fun with the immature young adult. She blinks, then decides to look around the carnival herself. Hiiro walks, then turns to see this big ride called: Thriller of Doom. Shivers run up her spine, the wind blows a chilly chuckle, and everything seems to come to a stop. Time, people, animals, everything. Hiiro looks up at the gothic ride, not even seeing the peak of the high rail for the rollercoaster. She breathes uncontrollably, cold sweat drips from her face, and her body shivers. She can hear millions of screams of bloody murder, Hiiro dares to swallow, for the cold and pure silence scares her. Hiiro doesn't know why she's feeling all this, why everything seems to be so deadly at this particular ride. Suddenly, she turns around to see a person wearing a thick black cloak. The person also has a blonde woman walking with him, who has long hair and grayish blue eyes. Hiiro makes a face, the blonde looks kind of manly. Everything went back into motion, and Hiiro can no longer feel the coldness of a million ghouls. Hiiro then sees the cloaked figure turn to her, making her say, "No, un! You should be glad that I have you out here, yeah?!" Hiiro makes a face, She's a he?! She thinks in dreadfulness. She sees them go toward her, but Hiiro knows better… they're going to ride Thriller of Doom. Hiiro backs up, letting them through. He blonde looks at her and says, "Thanks, un." The cloaked figure turns to her, and nods his head in thanks. Hiiro, turns to walk away from them… until something makes her stop. Three girls in front of her, their smirks involve a deadly intention.

"Going somewhere, Hiiro?"

"To a different ride."

"I dare you to go on that one, bitch. Let's see if you can be bad ass enough to do so!"

Hiiro makes a sigh, "Why don't you three stodges do that? I'm sure you three, Dumb, Dumber, and Dumbest… can do that?" They give her glares, then the one with black hair says, "Oh yeah, Hiiro? Maybe I should have you beat up somewhere?" Before Hiiro could say anything, one of the girls went behind her! Hiiro turns around, but before anything happened… the blonde comes and says, "How about have you three thrown out, un? You three are not supposed to fight here, this place to have fun, yeah?! Get out of my sight before I get my boss, un!" The girls give Hiiro the Death Stare, before running away quickly. Hiiro turns to the blonde, "Thanks." She says, making him look down at her.

"You're welcome I guess, un."

"Alright, I'm leaving now…"

"Alright, un."

Hiiro starts to turn the other way, not going to bother anymore. She then sees the three girls in the background, making her turn the other way and goes inside the ride! Hiiro can see them coming too, so she jumps and lands a seat next to the cloaked figure. The blonde man makes a face and says, "That's my seat-HEY, UN!" The ride starts, and the blonde stands there… looking at them with fearful eyes! Hiiro quickly buckles her seat and makes a sigh, then swallows. She turns to the cloaked person, who is looking at her back. Hiiro looks in front of her, but then jumps when the cloaked figure asks, "Why did you get on this ride?" Hiiro looks at him, blinking. "I had to get away from these bitches, that's all. Is that guy your brother or something?" The cloaked man shakes his head, "He's my guard." He says, but in a more sad and angry tone. Hiiro makes a face, but then thinks he's some movie star.

"I'm sure he doesn't want you to get kidnapped or tackled by fans."

The cloaked shakes his head violently and says, "No, I'm a prisoner here… I work here because they force me to. I'm their "Shukaku". The famous "actor" that gets hurt by real arrows!" His voice lowers dangerously, making Hiiro's heart beat fast due to fear. They then come to a curve, making Hiiro hold on to the bars for dear life! She then turns to him, who has now taken off his hood. She blinks, he has red hair, a light shade of green eyes, pale skin, insomniac eyes, no eyebrows, and a Kanji on his forehead that means "Love". Hiiro makes a face of sadness, looking into "Shukaku's" eyes… he's been is everlasting pain with no escape but rides with his "guards". She looks away from him, and says, "I'm sorry Shukaku, I really-"

"NO! That's… that's not my real name."

Hiiro looks at him, who is looking up at the sky. "My name… is Sabaku no Gaara." He says, making Hiiro feel bad. He turns to her and says, "You should be lucky… to be free…" He stares deep in her dark brown eyes, wanting to feel a bit of freedom from them. Hiiro stares deep into his, seeing the pain and sadness… too much to bare. She then got the courage to ask, "How did you get here in the first place?" Gaara turns away from her, and says in a low voice, "I was sold, I was six at the time. My father… didn't want me. I looked different than my other two siblings, and so I was brought here. I also can control sand. Me and the other people here have some sort of power too. You probably don't believe me, and I don't blame you." He puts on his hood again, making Hiiro swallow. I can't really believe he can control sand, but I'll just agree just in case. You never know, right? "I believe you, Gaara." She says, making him turn to her slowly. He takes off his hood and says, "Do you really?"

"Yes."

"How do I know?"

"Because… because… I want to be your friend."

Gaara just looks at her, then asks slowly, "You, want to be my friend?" Hiiro nods, making Gaara look down. Suddenly, they go up. The ride takes them high in the air, and the people who are there are yelling in cheer (they have been for a long time)! Hiiro holds on to the bar, scared of when they go down. Gaara sees this, then looks forward. "Just enjoy the ride. What is your name?"

"Kala."

""Kala"?"

"Yes."

"I don't believe you, you are from Suna Kaze University. Meaning, it's a hard school to get into and it's expensive as hell. I know this because I heard Deidara and Itachi talking. Your family wouldn't call you "Kala" solely because that's too plain for a rich family." He says, making Hiiro look away. "Am I right?" He asks, making Hiiro nod just a little.

"Then I deserve to know your name, if you are to become my friend."

Hiiro looks at him, then says, "Hiiro." Gaara makes a little smile, then looks at her bow. "I see." He says, then holds on to her left hand with his right. He then leans in and whispers, "Hiiro, take this then… and please enjoy the ride." Hiiro wonders what he means, then looks down to see them going down in a straight line! Hiiro makes a yell, but Gaara's hand grips her own. She looks at him in fear, but he remains rather calm. He makes a little smile, and Hiiro blushes at this. They finally get down at the bottom, and the carts are going back to the entrance. Gaara puts on his hood quickly and says, "Please Hiiro, don't return. If you do, I don't know what will happen… but… I don't want to lose my first friend…" Hiiro blinks at him, then sees the blonde looking quite pissed. Hiiro gets out of the cart, along with Gaara. He turns to the blonde man and shakes his head fearfully, making him sigh and turn to Hiiro with angry eyes.

"Did he… reveal himself, un?"

Hiiro swallows, then turns to him. I can do this, even though we just met… I can do my rare and eatable lie. She thinks, then answers, "No sir, he was quiet. Plus, I was too busy screaming my head off." At the last part, she mumbles and looks away… making the blonde nod slowly. Hiiro then looks up, to see the blonde have a bit of a smirk.

"Where you begging for mommy, un?"

Hiiro makes a face, then huffs away. But she only acted this way for three minutes, trying not to raise suspicion. Hiiro then looks at the time, it's been a couple of hours. She makes a sigh and turns around to see Gaara following the blonde toward a corner. She decides to follow them, but a hand is put upon her shoulder! She turns around to see…

"Gaa-!"

The cloaked person covers her mouth and it takes her inside the Thriller of Doom again. Hiiro sees it push the button, and they get on as it moves up without any more passengers. As it moves, Hiiro makes a scream of terror! But it shushes her and he takes off his hood. Hiiro takes his appearance in, then her eyes go wide.

"N… N… Naruto?"

His blue eyes are filled with pain and sadness, he as marks all over his face, and his hair has grown long. He makes a baby smile and says, "I saw you, and Gaara talking. I have good eye sight you see, but I felt happy for him to know someone. We have only a small matter of time, and I need you to listen closely." Hiiro nods, and waits for him to speak…

A/N: I'm sorry if this came all too quickly... TT_TT