K, so I like this side character… Hayate. Cough cough, as I called him, 'cause I couldn't pronounce his name when I first found him. He rox! Anyway. I make a comment on grammar here, and I hope that none of you take it too seriously. My math teacher called me the grammar police. I wasn't too fond of it, but it's true. I try to correct grammar whenever possible. Which is sad, because I don't tend to wait when I have a new chapter. I put it up, and worry about grammar later. So when I read it later, I see so many mistakes, and try to correct them. I also can't spell. Sucks to be me. I don't own Naruto; I like side characters, and almost all of my favorite characters die in almost every series. Ex; Hayate, Gaara (sorry, spoiler), Zaku , Yondime, Sirius Black (sorry, another spoiler), Father Abbot (Redwall), Ryan (Left Behind series), Mercucio (Romeo and Juliet)… need I say more? Anyway. sorry if i sepelled any of the names wrongNo flames, AU, have fun.

2

Pool

Gaara sat on the bench in the boy's locker room, facing his own small locker. He had already put his bag into the tall bag storage locker, and was just waiting for the reason to open his small one. While he was waiting to do so, another boy that was in his P.E. class sat down beside him, and opened his own locker. Sasuke pulled off his shirt, and tossed it into the holding pen for their stuff.

"Hey," Sasuke turned to Gaara, pushing him in the shoulder to get his attention. "You got any sun block?" Gaara glared with as much emotion as his emotionless eyes could muster. He hated bad grammar, though he himself would let one slip without thinking.

"No, I don't have any sun block. And why would you need sun block anyway?"

"We start swimming today."

Gaara's stomach disappeared. They were swimming? He didn't remember that being announced. He didn't have anything. Yes, he had his spare makeup in his locker. He wasn't stupid enough to forget that. But he didn't have any swim clothes. And P.E. uniforms weren't allowed in the pool… not with this teacher anyway. And Gaara really didn't feel like getting an F in class today.

"Do you have an extra pair of swim shorts?" Sasuke now had Gaara's full attention.

"Yeah, what will you give me for it?"

"I'll find you that sun block."

"Deal."

Gaara smirked inwardly. It was so easy how this class worked. You scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours. So Gaara stood, went over to the other side of the showers, and found the palest boy in the class. Neji was just tying his long hair into a tight bun so it wouldn't get mussed in the pool when Gaara tapped him on the shoulder.

"Do you have any tanning lotion that I may barrow?" Neji looked Gaara up and down with his white eyes, wondering how anyone could bare to wear long-sleeves and sweats in this heat.

"Yes, I do."

"How much?"

"A bag of chips at lunch."

"Sold."

They shook hands, and Gaara took his prize to his locker mate, who swapped the clothes for the bottle. Gaara then took the trunks into the stall not too far from them, and changed. Well aware of the many scars on his chest and back, he made his way back to his locker, hung up his sash, removed his fishnets, took the bottle from the stunned Sasuke, and returned it to Neji. Nodding his thanks, Gaara wandered off to stand in line to the pool deck, feeling the eyes on him.

He didn't care about the stares that he was getting; he'd felt them before. He tried not to show his scars, but he knew that it was inevitable. They'd see them at some point. The thin boy leaned against a wall, avoiding eye contact. Slouching to make himself as small as possible. Now people would know the truth… it didn't help him any. There would still be lies, and his life would still be fiction. Well, the outside life would be fiction. His home life though… that was a different tale altogether.

As the door opened, he knew that the students were avoiding him. None would sit anywhere near him for role-call, and the teacher himself, Professor Hayate, could barely stutter out his name. Then again, it might not have been the scars that made the teacher do such. This particular teacher had earned the name "Cough Cough" from the student body. He was constantly sick, and always seemed to be coughing. Hence the name. And he knew it. He would answer to the name if it were called out in the halls. He didn't really seem to mind.

Slipping into the water, the cold that seized Gaara's body was welcome without hesitation. It was hot, and to get away from the searching eyes… well, maybe the makeup running into his blue/green eyes hurt, but once that was over with it was all right. Everything had washed off, and he floated on his back, enjoying the cold water, and the free swim day that would allow him to do nothing. Too bad it didn't last long though.

"Hey! Cutter, what's you do that for? Is life that hard that a knife answers it or what?" Gaara sighed, and rolled over so that he was treading the water, rather than floating on it. He hated bad grammar.

"No, I don't cut myself. Do you really think that I would be able to create something like this without some assistance? If so, then you must be more asinine that I first thought." Without waiting for a reply, he dove as deep as he could, feeling the bottom of the pool against his hands, he let himself slowly pulled back up to the surface by the water itself. They left him alone for the time being. Mainly because he got out of the pool, and to the showers. Someone followed him.

"What do you want?" Gaara shouted behind him. His teacher came from the shadows.

"To help you. Who did this to you?" Professor Zaku. How interesting.

"And you would care how?"

"Let's just say that I know what's it's like to be on the receiving end." Gaara turned and looked at the teacher like he was mad.

"I highly doubt that. How the hell could you know anything about this?" he turned away, only to feel a hand on his shoulder.

"You've probably noticed that I can't move my wrists like most people can. Kind of hard to, when you have metal tubes in your forearms." Gaara really turned around at that, surprised.

"Wha-" Gaara started, as Zaku held up his arms until they were parallel with the floor. There, at the base of his palms, were small metal pipes. And his hands could only bend so far back, and only so far forward. He couldn't twist them very well either. Or move them side to side… at all. The metal in his arms prevented that. At some point in time, they were put there.

"I don't get into water very often, I try to keep you students from seeing them, though that's a little hard. At school, I, too, was given hell by my classmates. I'd rather that you didn't have to go through what they are going to give you, and this. Tell me who does this to you?"

Gaara looked at his teacher's hands, then at the dark eyes in the dark face. They told no lie. They did want to help him. There was no way to help him.

"You can't."

"I can try. And why not?"

"Because I can't leave my sister!"

"She doesn't do this though, does she?"

"No."

"Then why-"

"When Temari was five, and Kankurou was about three, I was born. Our mother died to do that. She asked Temari to never leave us, and she swore that she wouldn't. Our father didn't though. He left two days after I was born. It took him that long to pack. He left in the middle of the night she told me. They got a lot of help from the neighbors. After all, she was only five. She swore to stay with us, and I swore to protect her."

"So that means that your brother is doing this to you."

"…"

"Gaara?"

"It doesn't matter. I'm not leaving her, and she's not leaving him. No matter what it may look like, we are a family. That's all that matters. Just give us a little while, we'll fix it." And he turned away, and went to the locker to change. Zaku didn't pursue him.