Gaara slowly moped home, dragging his feet along beneath him. Naruto was supposed to be walking home with him, but he had gone over to Sasuke's house. He wasn't really expecting much to be different from what he had experienced before he had been locked up in the mental institute. Everything was still practically the same. People still avoided him and he still had difficulties making friends. It still felt as though a rain cloud were following him everywhere he went. Why did everything have to go against him?

He slowly passed a softly crying young girl that was sitting on the curb. She had short black hair that had a purple shine to it. He recognized her as being the Hyuuga female that he had met at church. Gaara tried to keep walking, knowing that nothing good ever came out when he got involved. The sound of the girl's crying stayed glued to his mind, making him feel even more depressed. He finally stopped and turned back around to where the girl was. Sighing to himself, he retraced his steps and stood beside her.

After a few moments, the girl realized that someone was standing next her and looked up with tear-filled eyes. She sniffled a bit and he looked down at her blankly.

"What's wrong?" he asked, sounding rather irritated. Hinata wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and shook her head.

"It's nothing," she told him. Gaara sighed and held a hand out to her.

"It's obvious that there is something bothering you, otherwise you wouldn't be sitting here crying." Hinata took his hand and was pulled to her feet. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, but you probably shouldn't stay here." The timid female nodded and looked at Gaara through pleading eyes. He sighed once again.

"I can walk you home if you want." Hinata nodded and the two of them slowly continued down the street.

"Thank you, Gaara-kun," she thanked nervously.

"Don't mention it," he grumbled.

After about five minutes, the pair reached the Hyuuga manor. Gaara was just about to turn to leave when Hinata stopped him. He looked blankly into her periwinkle eyes.

"I-I saw you eating a-alone," she stammered. Gaara winced, remembering the experience. He had thought that he would eat with Naruto, but he hadn't been able to find him. "W-would you l-l-like to eat lunch with my friends and me?" He gave her a confused look but saw that she was being sincere.

"I… I would like that." Hinata smiled and nodded, watching Gaara as he turned and left.

XooooooooX

Yumi looked up from the book she was reading as Gaara gently shut the apartment door behind him. Dropping his backpack on the floor, he slumped back into the chair and heaved a deep sigh.

"Is everything alright, hun?" she asked with slight concern. He looked up at her with sad eyes, not saying anything. Yumi sighed and tucked a loose piece of brown hair behind her ear. "You know, I can't make you feel better if I don't know why you're sad in the first place." Gaara looked down at the ground, twiddling his thumbs in his lap.

"Why is it so hard for me to make friends?" Yumi thought for a moment.

"While you were back at the institution, you didn't really socialize with other people. It might take you awhile…"

"It has always been this way," he added in, clutching onto the fabric of his jeans.

"You don't think of Naruto as a friend?" she asked, a little surprised.

"He has other friends… when he's around them, it's like I'm not even there." Yumi smiled gently and nodded.

"Well, Naruto isn't the best at multi-tasking. A friend is someone that you can trust, Gaara. It's someone that you hang out with sometimes, and when you do hang out, you feel comfortable around him or her. Naruto can't always just pay attention to you because he has other friends as well. Just because he has other friends doesn't mean that you're any less important to him."

"I know," Gaara sighed. He sank back in the chair and closed his eyes.

"One of my clients has a daughter your age," Yumi told him, looking thoughtful. "If you're up to it, I could bring you along with me tonight and you could meet her."

"I guess, since I have nothing else better to do anyway." Yumi rolled her eyes at him, skeptical of his negativity.

"You better not act so grumpy around Kerri," she told him with a smirk. Gaara looked at her rather uninterested.

"And why not?" he asked, sighing heavily.

"You'll end up making her sad. She's special and all your negativity will upset her."

"Are you saying that she's mentally slow or something?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow. Yumi sighed, closing her eyes and shaking her head.

"No, Gaara, not like that. You're just going to have to find out later." The teen sighed and got out of his chair. He opened his backpack, took out one of his folders and handed it to the brown-haired woman.

"I need you to sign those." He paused for a moment and looked down at the ground with sad eyes. "It says that I need a parent signature, and I guess you're the closest thing I have… they'll still accept it, right?" Gaara looked up at her and immediately noticed that same sparkle in her eyes that she always got when she was about to do something mushy. Slowly, he took several steps back, narrowing his eyes at her and earning a small chuckle from the woman.

"I have math homework to do," he told her, making an excuse to get out of the room and away from any contact. "I'll be in my room if you need me." He quickly grabbed his book bag and walked into his room, shutting and locking the door behind him. Yumi noticed that he had just gotten into the habit of locking his door not too long ago. She was slightly concerned about the matter, wondering if she was invading his space too much. Smiling slightly to herself, she quickly shook the thought away.

"I'll give him a little more room to breathe but contact like this is good for him," she thought to herself. "He needs to start getting used to stuff like that, since things of the sort are probably going to happen quite often."

XooooooooX

The door to a small ranch house was quickly opened and an auburn-haired woman with sad green eyes smiled at the two guests. Gaara just stared at her blankly while Yumi greeted the woman with a smile.

"I hope you don't mind, but I brought Gaara along to hang out with Kerri." The woman shook her head.

"That's fine," she answered sweetly, stepping aside and letting them enter. "Kerri will probably be happy to have a guest."

As they were led down the hallway, Gaara could hear the sound of someone playing the piano. He could feel his heart sinking with the sound of the sad melody. As they continued down the hall, the sound of the piano got louder. The woman knocked on the door and the song ended.

"It's open," replied a small voice. The girl's mother turned the handle and motioned for Gaara to enter the room.

"Miss Yumi brought her son with her," the woman told her daughter. Gaara shifted uneasily at being called Yumi's son, since he wasn't related to her in the slightest. "You two can stay in here while Miss Yumi and I talk out here." Kerri nodded, not turning around look at them.

The door was shut and the two pre-teens were left alone. Gaara stood in front of the door, staring at the back of the female's head, feeling rather uncomfortable. He knew nothing about this girl and yet Yumi just left him alone in a room with her.

"You know you don't have to just stand there," she told him, still not looking at him. "You can have a seat on the bed if you want, but if you prefer standing, that's fine too. My name is Kerri, by the way. I'm afraid that I haven't the slightest clue what your name is."

"It's Gaara," he mumbled, walking over to the girl's bed and taking a seat. There was something about this girl that made him feel awkward, which in turn caused him to want to leave as soon as possible.

Finally, the girl turned her body toward him and managed to smile, even though it was slight. That wasn't what caught his attention the most, however. It was the girl's cloudy cerulean eyes. He had a feeling that there was most likely something wrong with her eyesight. Gaara also noticed that she was the girl that had been clinging to Haku's arm during first period.

"I'm not really sure what we can do," Kerri confessed, staring blankly ahead. "As you may or may not know, I'm blind, so there isn't much I can do entertainment-wise. Unless you want to talk or something, I guess we can just sit here and enjoy each other's company." Gaara blinked at her, finding her most peculiar.

"I'm not really much of a talker," Gaara admitted softly, staring at the door. Even though she couldn't see, her eyes seemed to sadden slightly.

"That's okay. I kind of figured as much." Gaara thought for a moment, looking at the piano.

"You never finished playing the song."

"That's okay; I don't want to be a nuisance." Gaara shook his head, but remembered that she wouldn't be able to see it.

"I'd like to hear how it ends," he pressed on, looking down at the ground solemnly. Gaara closed his eyes as the soft melody began to pick up again. Memories that he had kept locked away for so long were slowly brought back into the light.

XooooooooX

Seven-year-old Gaara sat at the piano playing a simple song that he had taught himself. He smiled to himself as he plunked the keys, creating a rather harsh sound from the instrument. His only worry was getting the notes right.

"What are you playing, Gaara?" Yashamaru asked. The small child jumped slightly and turned around to see his uncle standing behind him.

"I don't know. I saw the music sitting out and wanted to try it." Yashamaru nodded and smiled sweetly.

"You're doing just fine. You have all the notes down pretty well, so maybe you should concentrate on making it sound a little better." Gaara looked at the older man with sad eyes.

"Does it sound bad?" Yashamaru's eyes widened and he quickly shook his head.

"I'm sorry, let me clarify." The boy gave his uncle a weird look, causing him to laugh. "I mean let me explain it to you better." Gaara nodded. "What I meant was it's supposed to sound a little differently."

"I thought I was playing the notes right," Gaara whimpered. Yashamaru sat down on the piano bench beside him and told his nephew to play the song again. The redhead began plunking the notes once more and Yashamaru chuckled softly. Gaara stopped and looked up at him with angry eyes.

"Here, listen to how I play it." He played the same notes as Gaara had, each pitch sounding softer and smoother.

"Remember when I had you play your scales over and over again?" The child made a sour face and nodded. "You want it to sound smooth, just like that. It's not like you're poking something to death." Gaara laughed and nodded. He placed his small hands on the keys and began playing the simple melody yet again. It was still a little rough, but it was much more fluent than before. When Gaara had finished, he looked up at his uncle with expecting eyes. Yashamaru smiled and nodded.

"That was much better," he praised. "If you keep practicing, you will become as good as I am." Gaara grinned.

"And someday I'll be as good as mother!" he exclaimed happily. Yashamaru smiled sadly and nodded.

"Yes, maybe someday, but you still need a lot of practice."

"I know," Gaara sighed.

XooooooooX

Kerri had finished playing the soft song and was sitting quietly at the piano. Gaara stared into space with blank eyes, not seeming to notice that the blonde had finished. Kerri felt bad about not being able to entertain her guest. Everything was so difficult because of her sight impairment.

The girl jumped slightly when she felt Gaara sit down on the piano bench beside her. She listened as Gaara started gently pressing the keys, playing a simple melody. Kerri smiled as he played through the tune once. As he repeated the song a second time, she slowly played it with him. Gaara looked at her and continued playing, knowing the notes by heart. Even after his uncle had died, he still continued playing piano. He did it for himself and no one else.

Gaara's eyes widened as Kerri's hand crossed over his. Their hands returned back to their own sides of the piano as the song ended. Gaara looked down at his hands. His finger gently stroked the keys as an uncomfortable silence surrounded them.

"How long have you been playing?" she asked softly.

"Since I was six," he answered, chewing on his bottom lip.

"I'm sorry… I'm making you uncomfortable, aren't I?" Gaara shook his head before realizing that she wouldn't have seen it.

"It's fine. I'm just not used to talking."

"I understand. There aren't a lot of people that come to visit me so I don't really get to talk with anyone very often. You kinda get used to the silence to a point where it doesn't even bother you anymore." Gaara nodded, once again realizing that there was no way she would've been able to see that. He knew that this was going to take some getting used to.

"I'm basically the same way," he replied softly. Kerri tilted her head to the side, a little surprised to hear this.

"Really? You seem like a nice enough person, so that's kind of strange."

"How would you know?" he asked, sounding upset. Why was he getting this way? All she was doing was giving him a compliment. There was no need for him to get all worked up over something like that. "How can you judge me so easily? You don't even know anything about me." The girl stared off into space, looking a little shaken up by his harsh sounding words. She finally sighed and smiled slightly.

"I'm not the only one who does it. In fact, you probably have some impressions about me even though you know as much about me as I know of you." Gaara sighed and looked down at the ground in frustration.

"Most assumptions that are made about me are negative."

"Well, mine wasn't, so you have nothing to be so bitter about. Besides, like you said, I don't really know anything about you so it would be wrong of me to accuse you of being mean or anything else negative."

Just then, Yumi entered the room. She smiled at Gaara and he slowly got to his feet.

"I'm leaving," he told Kerri. "I guess I'll see you around." The girl nodded and listened to his footsteps as he left the room, quietly shutting the door behind him.

"I've never seen anyone so sad before," she whispered to herself. "His energy is even darker than Sasuke's."