Saturday, Mid-Day, Noon

Gaaras memory was at its peak as he guided his vehicle along Highway Seventeen. But for once, they were memories of joy and good health. The smiles of his brother and sister flashed as he reminisced on important events. Being best man at both his siblings weddings, celebrating his sixteenth birthday with the whole family, the births of his nieces and nephew. He was about nine or ten when they were born, so it was surprising that a memory like that would be so clear in his mind.

Out of nowhere, more memories came. Bit these ones were a bit out of place. He re-imagined his meeting with Sasuke, and how he almost beat the boy senseless. Then he remembered how a bowl of ramen turned the person he hated the most at the time, into a person he was able to call a friend. Although, some of the hate Gaara held for that person still exists. Then came a reminiscent of his attempted suicide jumped out of the darkness. That memory scared him, not that it happened, but that he could remember it so vividly. He could remember felt the pain felt, and how easy it was for him to , his eyes glanced to Sasuke, and he smiled. Sasuke was sleeping, a white pair of over-ear headphones with a 'b' on them on his head. Gaara knew of the blessing that he was given. A second chance at happiness. A second chance at a family.

" *yawn*... Are we there yet?" Sasuke asked, rubbing the back of his stiffened neck.

"In about two hours we'll be" Gaara replied as his eyes scanned the heavy traffic around him.

"Two hours? Uuuuuuuugh" He groaned in displeasure, resting his head once again against the window.

"Suna isn't exactly close to Konoha. But when we get there, it'll be worth it" Gaara groaned as well, loosening his grip on he wheel as traffic once again came to a stop. The crimson haired boy looked out his window, to the sight of a car with two girls trying to get his attention. Feeling spry, Gaara seductively flicked his tongue like a snake, making the girls turn a shade of red. Turning his attention back to the road, Gaara was overcome with relief when traffic had begun to pick up.

Continuing down the highway, Sasuke noticed a severe change in weather and scenery. The highway overpass shadowed mound after mound of sand dunes, while the cruel sun was beaming overhead. He also noticed more and more vehicles with surfboards strapped to the ceiling. A beach? Did Suna have a beach? Maybe he shouldve brought Sakura afterall.

"Suna has a beach?" Sasuke asked doubtingly.

"Mhm. That's why it's called 'Sand City'. The people track sand on their feet all over the sidewalks of downtown Suna" Gaara laughed just thinking about it. "You often see people lugging around surfboards as they walk around bare-footed."

"Anything else I should know about?" Sasuke asked.

"Street fights. Lots of them. If you see one, stay out of the way, or get dragged in" these fights were often organized, usually held at the edge of downtown closest to the beach.

As the car continued down the road, time started to move faster. Soon enough, they reached downtown Suna. As Gaara said, the sidewalks were littered with sand. People lugged dripping surfboards down the street, and the weather was very warm, even though it was late in December. Cruising down the open streets, beach-going girls hailed the stepbrothers as they passed. After just a little more driving, the car finally stopped in front of a white two-story house.

Approaching the large white door, the joyful laughter of children could be heard from inside. Reaching inside his pocket, Gaara pulls out a silver key, inserting it into the lock. As the lock opened, the laughter inside ceased. Gaara opened the door slowly, peeking inside. The main room was empty. It seemed like nobody was home, but he knew the opposite to be true. He lead Sasuke inside, and stepped into the center of the room. Sasuke leaned against the door, watching Gaara.

"Hey! Why did it get so quiet!? Did you break something!?" a voice echoed from another room.

"I didn't break anything!" Gaara yelled sarcastically.

After that, a quick and loud screeching noise was heard, along with a loud bang. Then came a loud repetition of footsteps. Through the threshold of the livingroom, a brunette woman emerged, her hair soaking wet as she wrung it out with a towel. Her eyes glowed as she looked at Gaara, whom she hadn't seen in ages. In a heartbeat she coiled around him with childlike joy, squeezing tightly.

"What are you doing here?" she asks as she pulls away.

"Just... visiting" he spoke slowly as his lungs slowly started to expand. From the corner of her eye the woman spotted Sasuke, and she looked at him suspiciously. Catching it, Gaara takes the chance to introduce him. He described that he was taken in and adopted by a close friend of his mothers, and that she had two sons of her own. Hearing that her opinion of this unknown person changed instantly.

"Where are the kids?" Gaara asked, swiveling his head as he tried to spot them. The mother chuckled lightly, then walked to a closet door in the room. Grunting, she banged on the door five times with her fist. The door quickly flung open, and two children tumbled down along with a sea of toys. After a certain look from their mother, the children speedily started flinging their playthings back into the closet, shutting the door afterwards.

"Well? Kira? Kankuro?" the mother urged the two to speak. The girl, Kira, swiftly flew to her uncle, almost knocking him over when she collided with him. Kira was seven, and had brown eyes and her mothers long brunette hair. The boy, Kankuro Jr, oddly enough had hair like Gaaras, with blue eyes. if you didn't know otherwise you'd think he was Gaaras son or little brother. Kankuro stood aside as he greeted his uncle from a distance. It's not that he wasn't excited to see his uncle, but that he wasn't as energetic as his sister. He merely greeted Gaara with a simple 'hi'.

"Hey, now that youre here, I have some news" the woman started to say slowly, with much anticipation. "Were moving to Konoha!"

"Really?" Gaara said doubtingly.

"Yea, look here's the address" she handed him a her lease for the new house. The address read, '2516 N Leaf Dr'. Gaara raised an eyebrow at the address.

"Sasuke, isn't this address on our street?" Gaara handed him the form, and he slowly looked it over.

"That's the house next door" he answered in his tired voice, handing the woman the form.

"That's great, Kiriko!" Gaara exclaimed, wich was a rare occurrence for him.

"I already hired a moving company. They're starting tomorrow morning" she explained.

Later that night...

"Are you sure you can't stay? It's getting late..." Kiriko offered one more time, but Gaara politely refused. As the Uchihas pulled out of the driveway she waved goodbye until they were out of sight.

"We could've stayed" Sasuke said, thinking Gaara refused because of him.

"It's fine. Shut up" Gaara said.

"Well lets do something. Sakura called and found out where we are. She's furious." he sighed with his usual melancholy tone.

As the car made its way back towards downtown, traffic was more dense than earlier today. Locals and tourists were overflowing towards the beach parking lots. On the sidewalks, surfers and loungers carried their supplies towards the shoreline. It was seven o'clock, and the sun was at its peak, about two hours of sunlight left in the day. Sasuke spotted a diner, and offered Gaara something to eat. Felling the hunger inside of him he accepted Sasukes proposal.

Walking inside, all eyes shifted towards the two. Most of the people there were at least seventeen to twenty years old. A few feminine giggles came from within the establishment, along with flirty whistling noises aimed towards the brothers. Taking their seats and placing their orders, Gaara and Sasuke moaned in despair as two girls took seats with them.

"No."

"What?"

"Just, no. I'm not interested, and neither is my brother"

"At least give my sister and I a chance to persuade you"

"Persuade me to do what? Punch you in the face? If that's what you want just say so and I'll do it"

"Sasuke that's a little much."

"Yea, listen to your brother"

"I still think you're disgusting"

"Hey! But you just said,"

"To tone done the insults, yes, I did. That doesn't mean that I don't agree with them."

The girls departed back to their table, defeated and humiliated. They returned shortly with a friend, a muscular boy with black hair and dark skin. As Gaara and Sasuke finished their meals, the boy approached their table.

"Do we have some sort of problem?" he asked briefly. Gaara rested his head on the table, hiding his face as Sasuke laughed at the pitiful excuse of a man in front of them.

"What's so funny?" he was puzzled that his intimidation tactic didnt work.

"That you think you actually have a chance" Sasuke answered amused.

"Let's take this outside then" the brute led the two outside, and they stopped at the sidewalk.

Back in Konoha

"That Sasuke! He ran of to Suna with Gaara! Do you know how much I would've wanted to go to the beach!?" Sakura shook Naruto by the shoulders as she unleashed her anger on the poor boy.

"And the problem is?" Naruto asked.

"Well! Who knows what he's doing out there!" her paranoia was eating her quickly.

"Well call him then!? Jeez just stop shaking me!" Naruto laughed, looking at Sakuras face as she realized what she was doing. Letting go of the boy she decides to take his advice, dialing Sasukes number. It rings, he doesn't pick up. She tries again, same result. Like most teenage girls, she overreacts, becoming more paranoid. She dials one more time, and he finally picks up, his face appearing on her screen.

"Yeah?" he said. "What is it!"

"Don't talk to me like that, Uchiha!" Sakura scolded, making him sigh. "What're you doing anyway?"

"Watching a fight. Gaaras beating the crap out of this guy. Just think about it, that could've been me a few months ago" Sakura got lost in his explanation, did he just say Gaara was in the middle of a fight?

"Seriously?" she thought he was lying. Sasuke nodded, turning his phone screen towards what he was seeing. Sakura gasped when she saw it all. Gaara had the poor soul mounted on the ground as he wailed away at his victims face. Gaara had a line of blood running down the corner of his mouth, but the other kid was much worse.

"Crazy, huh?" Sasuke turned the phone back around, laughing. As he kept talking to Sakura, he stayed bye and hung up the phone when Gaara walked past.

Back in Suna...

"Are we done here?" Gaara offered a hand to his opponent, who was tattered, defeated, and ultimately humiliated. He takes Gaaras gesture, grabbing his hand and letting him lift him up. The two then shake hands, and go their separate ways. Gaara then walks to his brother, still cackling in enjoyment, when someone grabs him by the arm.

"What, you think you can just come back here without talking to me?"

"Son of a bi-"

To be Continued...