A/N: -runs around in circles- This chapter is quite possibly the worst thing I've ever written XD None of it fits together and I'm just not happy with it, BUT WHATEVER! I SHALL DEAL AND SO SHALL YOU! Right?

If you were wondering why the last chapters html was all dodgy, it's ffnet's fault. It was being a bitch so I had to use Notepad ¬¬

Disclaimer: Stiiiiiiill don't own.

Welcome to Life Chapter 9 – The Problems of Family and Friends GAARA POV

Dad is really, really angry. I'm talking cyclone angry, TORNADO angry!

Yeah, that made more sense in my head.

Anyway, I don't think he realised I'm gay.

"My son, a fucking batty boy! Defiling the goddamn Sabaku name." He slaps me across the face for extra effect. Temari looks away and Kankuro growls.

The whole family is in the living room. Kankuro, Temari and I are sitting, but dad is pacing backwards and forwards like some sort of demented hamster. He'd so kill me if he could read my thoughts right now. He has one hand to his forehead, the other is by his side. He really, truly sounds distraught. Surely he's not THAT homophobic?

"And out of all the guys in Konoha, it had to be Uchiha didn't it?" he hisses, "You're doing this just to piss me off. You little bitch!" He punches me in the face, knocking me backwards into the sofa. I scramble to my feet after catching the seriously pissed off look in his eye and dash upstairs to my room.

"YEAH! RUN LIKE THE LITTLE FUCKING POOF YOU ARE!"

We really should get him some anger management, like the guy from the film.

A tear slides down my cheek.

Heh, yeah.

TIMECHAAAAAAAAAAAANGE

It's 8 o' clock in the morning now. I didn't sleep at all and I look like crap. There's a purple bruise on my left cheekbone that's going to be pretty hard to cover up. I'm going to have to wear more eyeliner than usual to cover the bags under my eyes as well.

Hot damn, being an insomniac sucks!

Dad's already left the house. I heard his car leaving earlier. We have two cars, one of them is Kankuro's old, beaten up Rover.

I swing my legs off the side of my bed and make my way slowly to the bathroom, hoping it's free. Luckily, it is. There's no time for a shower so I just brush my teeth and throw some water on my face.

Temari's making breakfast in the kitchen when I get downstairs. When I say 'breakfast' I mean 'toast'. Kankuro is actually the best cook in the family, but it's toast for breakfast every day because he's too damn lazy to get up in time.

I sit at the table almost silently, trying to look inconspicuous.

Temari isn't fooled.

"You're eating breakfast today whether you like it or not."

I'm not even going to try and argue. Instead, I attempt to catch the piece of slightly burned toast she flings at my head. I, of course, miss completely, abuse the privilege of the five-second-rule and nibble on the toast after it's been on the floor. Temari sits down opposite and looks at me thoughtfully.

"What's the story about the face?" she muses.

"I haven't thought of one yet."

"You could tell them that you got caught up in a gang fight and totally annihilated them all, gaining only one bruise."

Ah, another one of Kankuro's oh-so-genius suggestions. He's standing in the doorway, scratching his head, yawning and blinking blearily.

"I'll just say I fell over or something." I tell my toast, because I can't be bothered to look up. I'm worried that Sasuke may suspect something, he saw how angry my Dad was… Even if he does guess, he probably won't have the guts to say anything. I don't think he'll spread it, it's not like he'll gain anything.

"Right, get in the car now or I'm leaving you behind." Kankuro interrupts my thoughts. K immediately drop my half-eaten toast in the bin, ignoring Temari's scowl and follow my older brother outside.

Off to school we go!

ANOTHERTIMECHANGE

I have to resist the urge to throw myself out of Kankuro's car and hug the ground. He blasts music out, sings along badly and drives like a lunatic on crack.

I look around to see if there's anyone I know. Sure enough, I spy Neji, Sakura and Haku talking over byt eh benches. I jog over to them, eager to get away from the siblings, who are two seconds away from starting a civil war. The gang turn the watch me as I come towards them.

I stop.

Haku is grinning deviously. I am officially scared.

Without further warning, he launches himself at me. I shriek rather loudly and run to hide behind Neji. Neji and Sakura look pointedly at the bruise on my cheek, but don't say anything. They know what happened.

"Give me details or die."

Oh noes. I think Haku's found out about the date. I glare at Neji.

"Hey! Don't look at me, I said nothing." He defends, holding his hands up. If he didn't find out from Neji, then who-

"I found out from zabuza, who heard from Shikamaru, who found out from Ino, who found out from Kimimaro, who found out from Tayuya, who was told by Lee, who talked to Kiba, who found out from Naruto, who was told by Chouji, who was in the café you and Sasuke were in!" Haku beams.

Aaah, that's where he got it from! I really should congratulate him, he said that all in one breath.

"You…Sasuke, WHAT?" I can see Sakura's eyebrow twitching.

"Sakura! Please, I-"

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?" She yells.

"Because I…you…" What do I say!

"Because he knew you'd react like this." Comes a cool, deep voice from behind me.

I can feel Sasuke's breath on my neck. It makes me shiver.

"Sa-Sasuke!" Sakura stutters.

"Hey Sasu'!" Haku grins cheekily.

"Haku, I told you not to call me that!" Sasuke whines, sounding a lot like a little boy.

"Aww, but it's cute!" Haku whines back, with equal little boy power!

I ignore those two and look at Sakura, who still seems slightly stunned by Sasuke's sudden appearance ((A/N: Try and say that sentence with a sweet in your mouth with no spit going everywhere D)) and is blushing to the extreme. I wait until she looks away from Sasuke and catch her eye. I offer a small, sheepish smile, but she looks away.

"You shouldn't feel guilty." Sasuke whispers in my ear. I bow my head and watch people's feet.

I highly recommend trying this sometime. It's really very amusing to see what people do with their feet when they're not thinking about it.

Neji's black sneakers are staying absolutely still. Sakura's left pink shoe is tapping the ground repeatedly. Haku's black (probably designer) shoe-covered feet are hopping around like crazy and I can't see Sasuke's feet, he's still slightly behind me.

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Whoops, everyone's yelling at me. I must've zoned out for longer than I thought.

"Sorry."

Sasuke wraps his arms around my waist ands kisses my neck as the bell rings. Sakura looks disgusted and walks away. Haku waves his goodbye and waltzes towards Zabuza, who's just come through the school gate.

Neji begins to walk away, but then turns back and looks at me.

"Gaara. I need to talk to you later mmkay?"

"Alright,"

"Meet me at the tree, dinner again."

"Yeah."

Sasuke grabs my hand and drags me off the my first class.

I don't quite know what yet, but something about this day is slightly off.

A/N: KEEEEEYAAAAW! There you go :D Here's a hint, next chapter you find out WHO NEJI'S GOING TO BE PAIRED WITH!

Dranzy, I bet you can guess. Who's my second favourite character in Naruto, beaten only by Gaara?

Please review!