Storybook Romance

By: Chibi Shi-Chan

Author's Comments: Once again I have to thank everyone for your positive feedback of the story. Now it's time for the story to start to make sense... um... maybe. Probably not. Um anyhow, some Sasuke and Naruto goodness in this chapter but not enough to not put any of this chapter up on , it's still R. In fact this might actually stay with the R rating... yeah I say that now but I never trust my muses.

Anyhow, enjoy the next part. Also, some Gaara and Naruto begins to show its face. And sorry this took so long, real life was taking over but I finally found some freedom from it for a short period of time!

storybook

Chapter Two

The janitor's closet.

Not a very exciting or comfortable place. The janitor certainly didn't think so. He'd just sit his ratty old mop that he swore the school purchased the hundreds of years ago it was built inside when he was finished using it. The matching crust covered bucket would join the mop, occasionally an equally old push broom would make its appearance inside the closet. Maybe a couple of paper towels, the icky kind that did more harm to your hands than good, the kind that only high schools possessed. All and all the janitor hated the closet and never visited it unless if he absolutely had to. Why would he want to? It was in such a lonely location, the area of the school you would just glance down but never actually walk down. That hallway that was built specifically for that one closet, no classroom or bathroom just that lone closet. No one paid attention to the janitor's closet, hell the janitor never paid attention to the closet named after him unless if it was a life or death situation.

"Sa-Sasuke..." Which was why it was the perfect place to make-out.

It had been after one particular day in class where for some strange reason Naruto looked really, really scrumptious. Maybe it had been the sunlight that played in his hair while he took notes, maybe the trace of shower water caressing his neck, maybe it had been because he was Uzumaki Naruto but whatever it was Sasuke had wanted to at least steal a kiss. Naruto's locker had that odd location that was relatively close to said closet but at first Sasuke toyed with the idea of sneaking into the boys bathroom. However on the way there they had passed that hallway with that closet.

And so Sasuke and Naruto's in-between class make-out spot was born.

"Naruto." The position they were in was rather uncomfortable. They were both standing, the closet gave you no other choice but to stand. Naruto was receiving an unwelcome massage with the push broom resting against his spine so every time he moved it would roughly scratch his back. Sasuke's foot had found a home inside of the bucket that was thankfully empty of the unattractive color of mop water. Still, the smell of Pine Sol wrapped around the both of them, mostly Sasuke since the mop decided to fall over and treat his hair like the mop bucket.

But why would they be complaining about the nonexistent comfort when their lips had plenty of room to get reacquainted with each other?

What an absolutely delicious thing to do while you waited for your math class, science class, history class, or English class to start. To have the hottest boy in school in the closet with you. To have the hottest boy in school rediscover the taste of the Fruit Loops you had for breakfast with his tongue while his hands smoothed out the wrinkles of your uniform in the softest whisper of a touch. It was a wonderful way to kill that annoying gap in time before you had to go through more hell called high school.

Naruto tilted his head back enough so Sasuke could get to a rather sensitive part of the skin and tease it with light flicks of his tongue. The tongue turned into playful lips that trailed a path down the slender column to the strap of the black tank top Naruto wore under his uniform jacket. The jacket had been unbuttoned long ago, before they even stumbled into the janitor's closet, and with a simple shrug of the shoulders Naruto had the jacket slide down his back enough for Sasuke to be able to touch said shoulders with his lips. For some reason Sasuke had an obsession with kissing every part of Naruto's body, an obsession Naruto didn't mind of course, but it always drove him nuts and it was just cruel to do something like that in the stuffy closet. Because Naruto was loud, loud in everything he did. He was loud when he talked, loud when he ate, and especially loud when Sasuke decided to trail his fingers underneath his shirt and over his skin.

"Sa-mmph!" But Sasuke knew that Naruto was loud and always had a solution to the noise problem whenever they were at risk of being heard. Granted this hallway was rarely walked down there was always the chance that once, just once, someone could walk down it besides the janitor who at the moment was somewhere in the school praying no one made a mess he had to clean up. Covering his mouth with one of his hands and making sure all noise could be muffled Sasuke went back to kissing the shoulder, the neck, while somehow managing to slip one of his legs in between Naruto's.

He could feel the cry of pleasure melt into his hand.

Naruto always, always became complete mush whenever Sasuke got this close to him. It was an interesting fact that was learned during that very first kiss they shared. Two years, two years ago had found them as freshman in high school together as friends with some rivalry still mixed in. That one night, that one night that had Sasuke come over to do homework with Naruto, some assignment that was long forgotten in the corridors of memory. Something in the air maybe had changed the conversation to girls, then kissing. A quiet admission of maybe being curious about boys, just maybe. A faint memory of being children together as friends, mostly rivals but deep down always friends, and that one day Sasuke had come to school upset over something at home. Naruto had cheered him up in his own unique Uzumaki Naruto way... and had actually kissed him. A cute childhood kiss on the cheek to, as a five-year-old Naruto had said, cheer you up if you're sad when you go back home. For some reason that memory had come up in the conversation and somehow, to this day neither knew how, Naruto ended up kissing Sasuke on his cheek just like he did when they were kids that day. And Naruto's face, his lips, were so close... too close...

It certainly wasn't like their kisses were now. After two years of learning how to press your lips together. How long to keep your lips pressed together. How you can ask for that deeper kiss named after the French without voicing it out and how good it could feel to massage your tongue with someone else's their kisses were much better. But that first one... that first one was full of nervous shakings and blushes. Full of warring feels of it feeling nice and wanting it to feel nicer but not knowing how to accomplish that. Of remembering what was said in school about kissing or seen on T.V. and wondering if that was how you did it or not, or if they were doing it right at all. Finally realizing that they didn't care and the best advice was to just go with it.

That advice still worked today.

Ninety nine point nine percent of the time they would just go with it. Sure they'd lie in bed together with a set destination of a pleasurable paradise but getting there was always improvised. Kissing though... kissing was the number one necessity of the trip. Be it in the bed, against the door, behind the school building while no one was looking, on the school roof during lunch or behind that tree near the front entrance. Or like now, in the janitor's closet, though now Sasuke was enjoying seeing Naruto gasp out his name behind his hand when he felt Sasuke's leg move between his.

It was an absolutely horrid thing to do. Sasuke knew damn well that in a few seconds they'd have to stop and leave for class and many, many times Naruto was telling himself to yell at Sasuke to stop. Yet he always ended up forgetting how to yell unless if it involved something along the lines of yes, Sasuke, touch me more! So he'd end up allowing that knee in between his legs to turn into a hand that rubbed against his pants, and he'd allow Sasuke to set his mouth free for only a moment before he captured it again in a deep kiss, blocking the sounds with lips.

And then, seconds later, they'd have to stop.

Naruto always lost track of time, always had to stare at his watch to make sure but Sasuke was one of those people with a clock in their head. And he was always right, it was always time to stop and go through class with their bodies humming for more. Oh well, Naruto always tortured Sasuke in the next class by licking at his finger very, very slowly before he turned the page of his textbook. Or by spreading his legs far apart underneath his desk. Just like Gai-sensei's class, Sasuke had that seat that allowed him to watch Naruto perfectly so there were a number of times he'd get scolded for not paying attention to the teacher.

Sasuke opened the door to the janitor's closet and stepped outside of it, straightening himself out while Naruto stepped out and did the same. A dark chuckle left Sasuke's lips when Naruto ended up stumbling out, a well deserved cocky grin on his face.

"Shove it." Naruto muttered, his voice choking in the waves of the lust he still felt. Damn how he wished it was lunchtime, the two of them would bring their food up to the roof and never really touch it as much as they touched each other. Sasuke only chuckled again and watched Naruto walk to his locker, still muttering about evil boyfriends and how could Sasuke treat him like that on his birthday for god's sakes! Glancing at his watch Naruto saw that indeed he did have just enough time to grab his books and go to class. Sasuke would meet him there as always since his locker had that nice location of being by the classroom.

What class was next anyway? Oh yeah, Kakashi-sensei. He always had this knowing look on his face when Naruto stepped through the door. Then again since Kakashi always made sure he had good-morning-I-have-to-go-to-work-and-sex-wakes-me-up-better-than-coffee sex with Iruka ten times out of ten he could feel that sexual radiation coming from Naruto. Grabbing the required books out of his locker Naruto slammed it shut and turned to leave.

Then stopped dead in his tracks when he almost plowed into pale, sand colored flesh engulfed in the dark school colors of the uniform he wore. Gaara was his name, right? The new kid they met in Gai-sensei's class. The one with... those eyes that... for some reason always made Naruto feel funny.

"Hello." Don't look into his eyes. Look at anything but the eyes. Do not, repeat, do not look into those eyes wrapped around in black mascara. Look at how messy and red that hair is, look at how he has the uniform jacket thrown over his shoulder with his books tucked under one of his arms. And most importantly... "We didn't get a chance to talk during class, because it was class, but I'm Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto. It's really nice to meet you." ... ramble on and on about random stuff. That way, time would fly by and then the required take off to get to class in time speech would begin.

"Gaara." Quick and to the point. Right. What else could he possibly ramble about?

"So... where are you from? Do you like the school so far? Are you finding everything o.k.?" Gaara was quiet the entire time, listening to Naruto but not finding a reason to respond to his questions. Honestly he hated the questions like this and most of the time imagined the person asking them suffering a horrible death filled with the most imaginative things, like crashing elevators or zoo animals running wild down the city streets. But... this time... he'd allow it.

For this boy he'd allow it.

"You know a lot of the classes around here are really hard to find. When I first came here I was really confused. I got lost many times and I think I might've sat in the wrong classroom my first day. And..."

"... Naruto." Rambling never really worked well when it was cut off, and cut off with a voice that demanded that you completely kill any other word you even thought about saying. The desired effect was met and Naruto had indeed stopped talking but he still wasn't looking at Gaara.

Look at me.

Their eyes met in that moment, Naruto couldn't really explain it. It was one of those situations that if you asked him ten years from now why he looked up into those eyes when he was trying his hardest not to he'd still reply with an I don't know. He didn't know why he looked. And now he didn't know why he couldn't move. And more importantly he didn't know... why he suddenly didn't want to move.

Kyubi stubbornly shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut. She couldn't look at him, not now. Not when he was going to point his finger at her and laugh in her face for letting her secret slip out.

That she loved him.

"But..."

"... how could she not love him?" Gaara finished the thought and took Naruto by surprise. He... knew the story too? And he knew the exact part he was thinking about? What was going on with this Gaara kid?

"H-he had been... her best friend..." ... for as far back as she could remember. Shukaku, the one everyone was terrified of for no real reason. All the rumors about him, silly tales of people's bodies being buried in the sand of his backyard. Rumors of him going out to the sandiest areas of the land and killing anyone who dared to step on it. Shukaku was dangerous, yes, but just like everyone else all he wanted was a friend. And just like everyone else he was dangerous when he wanted to be and nine times out of ten he had good reason.

Granted he thought of following those rumors many times but fortunately Kyubi came into his life to calm that part of him down.

Kyubi who shared an equal amount of rumors like having people sacrifice foxes to her since she was a fox herself. She still wondered where the hell that rumor came from, why would she want her own kind sacrificed? But now she had someone to laugh with about those rumors, someone she had fallen in love with quite sometime ago but never said anything. How could she tell him? He'd pull at her ear and call her a silly fox for harboring such feelings. As much as she dreamed about him saying the words back he never would, not to her.

"He could do so much better than me..." Naruto didn't notice that he had said me instead of her.

But Gaara noticed. He noticed and leaned closer, taking a chance. "Kyubi." And Naruto's eyes shown in recognition for that name as if he had been called that all his life.

Kyubi. As if Naruto didn't even exist. Who was Naruto? A boy... a boy who had some friends... a family... someone he loved.

Sasuke.

But with Gaara being so close and with Kyubi ringing through his head Sasuke... Sasuke seemed so far away. But Gaara was right here.

"Shu... kaku..." And Gaara's eyes shown in the same recognition. But Gaara understood why and Naruto didn't. Deep in those sky blue eyes Gaara could see a bit of confusion cloud over. Why do I know these names? I know they're in the story but... why am I letting myself be called Kyubi? And why did I just call him Shukaku? Why am I standing there and watching him lean closer to me?

Gaara would answer those questions later.

"Kyubi." Those eyes had pulled her in and held her hostage. But she didn't want to escape. This creature in front of her, her best friend for... gods however long it was. She remembered old swings and beautiful gardens, running around with him and playing, enjoying the only friend she had ever had. But now... "Naruto." How could this person make him think this way? Feel this way? His heartbeat became loud enough to make him deaf as Gaara leaned in closer. Was this really about to happen? Was he really...

"... about to... kiss..."

"... you?" Gaara's forehead rested comfortably against Naruto's, their lips so close that they were sharing the same air around them. "Yes. I'm about to kiss you. And when I do..."

"... I won't be able... to stop..." The books in Naruto's hands clattered down to the ground and his hands found a resting place on Gaara's shirt, gripping onto it and wrinkling it. Sliding his eyes shut he allowed his lips to move even closer, brushing against Gaara's. Why? Why was he doing this? Why was he about to kiss this boy? Why was he shivering when he felt Gaara's lips whisper back against his own? Sasuke should've been the only one to cause these kinds of reactions but... something inside of him was screaming for this kiss, this kiss that had been denied for so long, this much deserved moment between the two of them.

Between Gaara and Naruto... between Shukaku... and Kyubi...

"Naruto!" Blood colored eyes narrowed. Narrowed and watched as that... that... monster stole Kyubi's first kiss. Watched Kyubi's eyes slide shut, the most beautiful of blushes crossing her cheeks as she slowly went through the steps of returning Shukaku's kiss. Slow, inexperienced, hesitant, nervous, piercing sharingan turned eyes watched the entire event with clenched fists and low growls of breaths.

How dare he. How dare that filthy monster kiss someone as enchanting as Kyubi. How. Dare. He. Didn't he know that Kyubi belonged to her? From the moment their eyes first met Kyubi became hers. It didn't matter if Kyubi didn't know that, for she would learn in time, but what did matter was that Shukaku, that vile disgusting creature, had the nerve to suddenly wrap his arms around Kyubi's waist and coax her more and more into the kiss. Slow, gaining experience, no longer hesitant or nervous. Becoming more relaxed, beginning to fall harder into it, beginning to deepen it.

Uchiha-san saw it all. Saw Kyubi part her lips for Shukaku and tremble against him. Heard him moan lowly inside of her mouth. If possible Uchiha-san's eyes grew darker, redder, and her fists were clenched so hard that her knuckles were turning white.

"Filthy beast." Sasuke locked eyes with Gaara in a violent clash. Naruto stood off to the side watching the both of them, wanting to say a million things but not knowing how to use his voice. Apparently Sasuke and Gaara didn't know they had voices either because they just stood there, glaring at each other with enough force to break through the thickest of walls. Maybe it was because Naruto wasn't listening, but Sasuke and Gaara were saying plenty to each other. Their eyes spoke volumes, powerful words that would make the average man crumble to the ground. Possessiveness, anger, and a mix of any type of emotion of the sort radiated between the two boys which, when Naruto picked up on it finally, surprised him. Why was Sasuke just mad at Gaara? Naruto didn't exactly push the other boy away. Why was Gaara mad at Sasuke? Surely he understood why a boyfriend would be pissed to see another guy kissing his significant other.

But that was the problem right there, wasn't it? Gaara was mad for the same reason Sasuke was. Seeing a loved one with someone else... they were both pissed off over that. The question was... which one of them was right? Which one of them had the right to be angry while the other one didn't deserve the right at all?

"Sasuke..." Shukaku. Naruto shut his eyes and shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. "Sa-Sasuke..." Shukaku! Stop it! Why? Why! Why couldn't he get that damn name out of his head now? What the hell did Gaara do to him?

Did he do anything to him at all?

Naruto quickly picked up his books from the ground and took off for class, leaving Sasuke and Gaara behind. What the hell could he say to either of them? How could he tell Sasuke he was sorry when Shukaku, Gaara, was invading his thoughts? How could he tell Gaara to back off when he didn't want him to but wanted him to?

What in the world was going on?

"Sounds like you've got an admirer." Naruto looked up and watched Shikamaru take another bite out of the apple he was eating. For once the bored look was gone, replaced with an almost thoughtful expression. "How interesting."

"Interesting? Interesting! I'm with Sasuke, idiot, I can't have an admirer!" Even in the crowded mess of a lunchroom it was possible to hear Naruto screaming. It was as if the volume of the hungry teenage atmosphere had been turned down so Naruto could be heard. The boy had the ability to be that loud if he wanted to, or needed to be.

"Admirer?" Hinata took a seat next to Naruto and set her lunch tray down in front of her. After a moment she moved it so it was resting in between both her and Naruto and smiled when he began to eat the French fries on her plate. Hinata never ate everything the lunch lady plopped onto her plate so the logical solution was to make Naruto happy and share. "You have an admirer?"

"Shikamaru says I do."

"What? You do. You said this guy was about to kiss you, right?" Shikamaru took another bite from his apple, quickly losing interest in the conversation. It was so easy to see where it was going. Naruto would deny it some more, then even more, and then even more.

"What guy?" Ino took a seat on top of the table by Shikamaru, making a face at his lunch of just an apple and a bottle of orange juice. Shrugging her shoulders she grabbed the bottle and took a healthy gulp of the cold juice, smacking her lips once she was done. "Shika-chan, you gotta start eating more than this."

"It's too troublesome to bring or buy a huge lunch." He didn't seem to mind very much that the girl had just drank about a fourth of his juice. "And the guy is that new kid, Gaara."

"Gaara?" Naruto hated it when the group decided to come together around a conversation he didn't really want to talk about anymore. Now Lee was there with his own specially made lunch, Sakura sitting next to him and blushing when Lee began to offer her the food he had brought with him. Sakura thanked him quietly before going back to the question at hand. "Gaara likes you?"

"Um... yeah, I guess." Naruto looked around the lunchroom, waiting to see if anyone else would show up, specifically Sasuke. He really, really, didn't want to be talking about this when Sasuke showed up. The coast looked clear enough, Kiba would be outside eating with his puppy, Shino would be outside with him because he liked eating outside, and Chouji was still in line getting food. Neji rarely ate with them, if at all, and Ten-Ten had already popped up into the group after Sakura asked her question.

"You guess?" Ino had a curious look on her face. "Well what makes you guess he likes you?"

"Gaara told him he was going to kiss him, and then they kissed." Shikamaru waited for the denial to come in.

"We did NOT kiss!" There it was. "Our lips kinda just... brushed together..."

"Oooooh, wow! Was it good?"

"Ino!" Sakura gave her a firm frown. "What kind of question was that?"

"A question you wanted to ask because now you wanna know if Sasuke is available since this new boy has come in."

"Th-that's not true! Hey, you were thinking the same thing!" The two girls glared at each other, the makings of yet another Ino and Sakura argument brewing.

"Sasuke... saw us..." Everyone drew their attention towards Naruto and at that point even Shikamaru looked interested. Naruto hadn't told him that yet. "Sasuke... saw us and stopped us..." Naruto had the most heartbroken look on his face. A mix between guilt and sadness. Sakura frowned sadly along with Ino and everyone else. Everyone at the table knew that those "rumors" about the two of them were true. No one had a problem with it, of course, the whole Sakura and Ino fighting over Sasuke thing was more of a routine these days instead of serious. Sure both girls had liked Sasuke, every girl liked Sasuke, but there was a world of difference between liking a crush and loving the boy like Naruto did. They had both silently given up on Sasuke a while ago, but that didn't mean that would stop them from fighting over silly things like sitting next to him in class. Sasuke was taken, but he was still hot.

"What happened after that?" Hinata asked, not really wanting to know the answer if it would upset Naruto more but it seemed like he needed to talk about it. Surprisingly the sad look on Naruto's face melted away into a confused one.

"That's the strange part. You see... Sasuke didn't get mad at me. He got mad at Gaara. And Gaara got mad at him."

"That's not strange." Lee decided to participate in the conversation now. "Of course he'd get mad at Gaara, Gaara kissed you."

"Gaara... wasn't the only one. I... I kinda... I mean... I was part of it too..." Naruto lowered his head so he wouldn't have to look at anyone at the table. He had been part of it too. He didn't know why he wanted to be all the sudden but he was. It had all happened so fast, and Shukaku and Kyubi had come up into the situation out of thin air. It didn't make sense while at the same time it made perfect sense. And Sasuke had disappeared. Everything else disappeared but Gaara.

"So you wanted him to kiss you?" Ten-Ten asked.

"Yes. No. I don't know! I... I don't know. It was weird, it just... it just felt like... I had to do it, you know? Like... it made sense at the moment to just kiss him, like I was suppose to." Naruto buried his head into his hands, trying to clear his thoughts but not able to. What was he supposed to tell them? By the way, the story I read all the time, I have the feeling that I'm a part of it with Gaara? It didn't make sense to him so how would it make sense to them?

"What about Sasuke?" Sakura spoke up now, a concerned look on her face but not just for Sasuke, but for Naruto too. That was the key question wasn't it? What about Sasuke? Naruto certainly wouldn't leave him for this new guy he barely even knew, would he? Sakura and everyone else knew that Sasuke and Naruto were attached to the hip so why would Naruto leave? Sakura wasn't asking because she hoped Naruto would leave, she was asking because she prayed that he didn't. She was silently reminding him that Sasuke was the important part in his life and he was never, ever supposed to forget that.

"I mean, Gaara is cute and all..."

"It's not that, Ino." Naruto removed his hands from his face and just closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. "I don't know why but..." They were gonna give him hell for this but, "I feel like... I know him. And it's not like some kind of love at first sight destiny type crap, but I really really feel like I know him. Like I've met him before."

"Maybe you have." Naruto looked up at Shikamaru in surprise. What did he just say? "I mean, maybe you did meet him before, before you knew all of us, knew Sasuke." Shikamaru sounded deadly serious when he spoke. It was time to take him seriously, because when Shikamaru got like this he left no room for arguments. "I mean, you had a life before us right? Before Iruka-sensei adopted you? Before you met us in school and before you met Sasuke? You had a life before that, right?"

"Yeah, but... don't you think I would've remembered him?"

"Do you remember your parents?" Naruto winced as if he had been slapped hard across the face. Ino wanted to stop Shikamaru from saying anymore but he was in that mode of don't you dare stop me from talking because I'm making a point. "Do you remember your family? Do you remember anything before Iruka-sensei, anything at all that isn't fuzzy? That isn't anything that someone else told you about?" Naruto shook his head and looked away. He really didn't want to talk about this anymore. He always hated talking about that time before Iruka, before a new family. However, it was justifying that maybe, just maybe he did know Gaara. But Shikamaru wasn't going far back enough. He felt like he knew Gaara from that story, as Shukaku, not as Gaara. No one knew that of course but... Naruto could apply Shikamaru's point to the real one.

Maybe he did know Gaara. Maybe Shukaku was real and more than just a story. But why didn't he remember? Was it because he couldn't remember anything before Iruka adopted him, or was it simply because he just couldn't remember at all. It was certainly an idea that sounded on the level of unbelievable but at the same time... what other explanation was there?

"So are you saying that Gaara is some kid Naruto use to know before us? Before Sasuke?" It was an intriguing idea, Lee had to admit.

"Maybe." Shikamaru shrugged a bit. "He's the one who said that he felt like he knew him. That's just one solution I came up with. I came up with about seven more but that one made the most sense. He just knows him from somewhere else and doesn't remember it that's all."

"You came up with seven more?" Ino rolled her eyes. "You're such a dork sometimes." Shikamaru just sighed and muttered something along the lines of oi, women. Everyone just laughed while Ino tugged on Shikamaru's ear, yelling at him to take that statement back. After a moment Sakura joined her friend and thwapped Shikamaru's head, trying to get him to take back his comment as well. Naruto just smiled and watched the group, watched the students at the other lunch tables give them funny looks but none of them gave a damn since they were having fun together and that's all that really mattered. He was about to make a comment to join in on the growing conversation from Shikamaru's one comment but stopped, his breath catching in his throat when he saw Gaara leaning against the lunch room door, watching him.

"Naruto-kun? What is it?" Hinata whispered to him when she noticed that the blond seemed to be completely frozen now.

"Gaa... ra..." Hinata looked over and her eyes widened a bit when she saw the boy watching them, watching Naruto, watching him interact with his friends. But there was something weird this time. For some reason there was a small look of pain on his face, as if he had a headache that didn't want to go away but he was trying to hide it, which only made it hurt more. Naruto's look of surprised melted away to a hint of concern.

"Do you think something is wrong with him?" It was obvious that Hinata noticed the look in Gaara's eyes. One by one the others started to turn to look at Gaara, but as each one did another stab of pain hit him to the point of him clutching onto his head tightly, tugging on his hair.

It was as if seeing Naruto with friends was causing him pain. They never had anyone, no one but each other. The concept of friends was a foreign thing, like a forest animal trying to get use to men tearing down the trees and grass.

"Hey. Kid, are you o.k.?" One of the students near Gaara got up to check on him, his friends behind him whispering and murmuring about the new boy and this random attack he suddenly had. Nervousness about a new school perhaps? Gaara didn't look up at the boy, still clutching onto his hair, his body shaking. "It's new to you because you have no friends." Gaara's eyes widened. "A monster like you could never have a friend, and most importantly, you could never have anyone love you." Uchiha's words were poison to Shukaku's ears but at the same time... "Hey, I asked if you were o.k." ... they were all true.

"Get away from me!" And everyone watched in surprise and a bit of fear as Gaara shoved the boy back so hard that he flew back against the table he had been sitting at. Right into a plate of mashed potatoes covered in the gravy only a high school cafeteria could have, and crispy fried chicken that tasted like the microwave kind that a kid would eat for a T.V. dinner. The boy didn't look back up at Gaara, much too scared to, and instead he let his friends come to his side and check on him. Gaara ignored them all and looked over at Naruto who was staring back at him, his eyes looking like they were debating on running away or going up to Gaara to see why he had done what he did.

Naruto never got the chance to do either, because Gaara simply turned and left the lunchroom.

"You have Kyubi but for how long? She'll end up leaving to find better than you." Gaara managed to get to the boy's bathroom and into one of the stalls before he finally collapsed down to the ground, holding his head again and sweating, his skin turning pale. She'll end up leaving... Naruto had Sasuke... Naruto had friends... Naruto had... "... found better than you."

Gaara's eyes snapped open but they were no longer green, instead they were the color of the waves of sand you'd find on a beach. And all around him sand rose higher and higher, up to the ceiling, completely enclosing over the bathroom stall and drowning the tissue and toilet water.

And then he screamed.

It took about a minute for a crowd to appear. Sasuke was the first to get to the door since he was closest to the bathroom when Gaara screamed, Kakashi, Iruka, and a whole list of teachers and even the principal in the hallway to try and see what had happened. Students were whispering to each other when they finally got to the scene, just in time to see Sasuke open the door.

And just in time to see mountains of sand pour out of the bathroom.

Sasuke jumped back in surprise and watched the sand leak out until the bathroom was visible, or rather, what was left of it. Every mirror was cracked, every stall wall was shattered, the sinks and toilets were full of sand and not water. There was no sign of anyone being left in the bathroom or ever being in the bathroom, just sand.

"How the..." Sasuke reached forward to touch the sand but blinked in surprise when Kakashi grabbed his hand.

"Don't touch it." Kakashi's voice left no room for argument. Sasuke simply nodded and watched the sand, his eyes widening when he watched it enclose around a piece of glass from the broken mirrors... and completely destroy it.

Would it have done the same... to his hand? And how did Kakashi know?

"What the hell is going on?" Sasuke whispered, watching the sand wrap around another piece of glass and break it apart. Him and the students were so shocked at the sight of the sand that seemed to be alive that they failed to see...

... the knowing looks on all the teacher's faces.

TBC

Author's Comments: Yay! It's all beginning to come together! Um... sort of. Gaara snapped, yay that was fun. Um... next chapter um... actually I have no idea. It's been so long since I've worked on this fic thanks to midterms and stuff that I forgot how exactly I was going to have things happen. Oh well, um, the next chapter something will happen! Yay!