Disclaimer: First chapter. You know, where this whole story began.
Kuroi-chan's Disclaimer: The nickname 'Sagi-chan is copyrighted to Kuroi. Any other who uses it will be mocked, laughed at, and will ultimately suffer at the hands of her vengeful and depressing wrath. That, and she'll nag me into yelling at you.
Saaski-chan's Disclaimer: The nickname Leeni-chan is copyrighted to Saaski. Use it and die.

AN Hello all, bet you didn't expect this chapter to update for a long while. To tell the truth, I didn't except this chapter to be done so quickly either. And BAH! To all of you who didn't send me a good plot idea! No cookies for anybody!!! [feeling mean] Anyway, I think this fic is just going to stumble around in the plotless-dark for a while until it hits something. So, except much randomness and stupidity in the near future.



Chapter 3

As wonderful as it is, to sit with your best friend in a sandbox, building "The Sandcastle of All Sandcastles", there always seems to be something missing. For Gaara and Naruto, who were building said sandcastle and doing their best not to feel lame; it was their sense of worth. For the crickets, who were watching the two attempt not to feel lame, it was the lack of uncomfortable silences that they could make even more uncomfortable by chirping annoyingly. And for the possessed and rabid raccoon that has yet to receive any type of name, it was the lack of recognition he was receiving as a "Classic Rabid Animal".

"Let's go prove our existence," Gaara finally said, abandoning the tower window he had been attempting to make.

Naruto shot him a weary look. "The last time you said that," he began, "Kakashi-sensei wouldn't stop chasing us for two hours. And he had dogs. Big dogs. With rabies." The blond shuddered at the memory.

The crickets perked up with a single "Chirp!" before realizing that the silence they had just interrupted hadn't been uncomfortable, just silent, thus making them feel really stupid.

Gaara smiled a smile that he classified as wistful, but everybody else saw as just plain frightening. "Ah... I love proving my existence..."

Naruto shivered at that smile. "Gaara, you're a great guy and all... but please don't ever smile again."

Fortunately, before a recap of what happened the last time the two boys had proved their existence could happen, somebody walked by. Actually, it was more like somebody limped by on crutches. This was no random passer-by, of course, this is somebody the author likes to call a Plot Device, for this character is easy to mock. This character, for at the present moment the gender will remain unannounced, has many distinguishing features. Black hair cut as though somebody had placed a bowl on this persons head and then attacked with a lawn-mower in need of a blade. Eyes that looked as though blinking would prove difficult because they were so round and wide. A green spandex body suit that bunched and stretched in the worst places - complete with orange leg warmers. But the most mockable feature of this character is the eyebrows. For they are thick. And scary. And probably visible from the moon.

The one and only: Rock Lee.

Or, as Naruto calls him: Fuzzy Eyebrows.

The reason that Lee is on crutches can be blamed on Gaara, who took something Lee said the wrong way and inflected much damage to his leg. The damage probably would have been worse if Lee's idol, Gai-sensai, hadn't arrived and pulled the enraged red-head from his look-alike student.

Hurrah for short tempers and easily misinterpreted statements. What did Lee say, you ask? Well... let's just say Lee will never again talk about buying eye-liner for his mother again. Especially not around Gaara.

At the sudden appearance of this plot device also known as Rock Lee, both Gaara and Naruto twitched slightly.

The crickets, knowing better than to chirp at this moment, remained quiet. And the raccoon that only the two boys could see ignored them all in favor of chuckling in its sadistic way while waddling in drunken circles.

The reason that the two sandcastle builders twitched was because if Rock Lee was around - that meant he was either following or being chased by a certain group of persons. Firstly, it would be a pink-haired Haruno Sakura, who would be following one Uchiha Sasuke. Sasuke would be walking side-by-side with his best friend, Hyuuga Neji, who would be followed by his cousin, Hyuuga Hinata.

And the crickets would rein supreme in the silence that would ensue when the two groups clashed.

Sure enough, the rest of the group that Lee was probably limping from approached the sandbox.

The crickets took their cue from the author and began chirping as loudly and as annoyingly as cricketly possible.

Chirp. Chirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrp.

Sasuke, in his "I'm angsting so therefore I'm extremely sexy" mode, stared moodily at the sandcastle in front of him and blinked. This was Sasuke for: "you two are the lamest teenagers ever."

Sakura swooned. As did Neji, though he wasn't quite as noticeable. At least he stayed on his feet.

Hinata, who had just entered her: "I'm around Naruto so therefore I must be shy and push my fingers together" mode nervously squeaked out an "Ohayou Naruto-kun" which involved much blushing and stammering.

Gaara's fingers began twitching in their "Uchiha Sasuke is my prep" mode.

Naruto sighed in the classic "why me" way and returned Hinata's greeting.

The crickets continued chirping.

The deranged raccoon on speed waddled over and examined Sasuke's ankles; most likely judging if they were worth the time to bite. Deciding that they weren't, the raccoon moved over to Sakura and said: "MUNCH!" Before biting down.

Gaara blinked.

Naruto snickered.

Sasuke kicked over the sandcastle and began walking away.

Neji began walking and, much to his secret delight, Sasuke paused a moment to allow him to catch up.

Sakura screamed and began flailing.

Hinata, after pausing for just a minute or five, stammered a "see you later, Naruto-kun," and hurried after her cousin.

Lee, through it all, hadn't blinked once.

And, as predicted, the crickets reigned supreme.

"Ne, Gaara, do you want to go to my house? I bet that Iruka-sensei has already made breakfast. He's probably also already done all of my chores and has begun getting frantic because I'm not there..." Naruto pondered that for a moment. "But I bet breakfast will be good."

The two began walking towards Naruto's house, leaving the still unblinking Lee and the still flailing Sakura behind them. The walk back to the house Iruka-sensei would later be throttling Naruto in for leaving the house at three in the morning was rather uneventful. This means that the author will be skipping over the incident of almost getting hit by a mail-truck, dodging some flaming clowns and Gaara stopping for a moment to prove his existence, hence, the flaming clowns.

And then they arrived.

Iruka-sensei, true to form, was standing on the door-step, holding the newspaper in one hand and slapping into the other in a strange warning fashion that nearly sent Gaara running. The man was frowning something awful, his brown eyes narrowed to little slits and one eyebrow twitching at a hazardous pace.

"Er... Ohayou Iruka-sensei!" Naruto called in an uncertain voice.

Gaara took that moment to slowly step away from his friend and attempt to make a run for it. Gaara was no idiot and self-survival was one of his strong instincts. Unfortunately for him, Naruto's reflexes had somehow sharpened and he latched onto Gaara's wrist, hence, stopping the redhead's hasty retreat.

Naruto send his only friend a pleading look.

"Ohayou sensei." Gaara muttered while averting his gaze.

That seemed to set off Iruka, who had apparently been holding in his anger up to that point. He screamed. Birds fled. Spittle erupted. Babies cried. Eardrums burst. Glass shattered. Throttling began. And the great thing called "fear" erupted in the hearts of both Gaara and Naruto.

It finally ended and the man sent them both warm smiles. "Well, breakfast is on the table. Hurry up before it gets cold.

With the promise of breakfast, Naruto ran into the house and zipped into the kitchen, leaving Gaara and Iruka-sensei to walk at a normal human pace. And there, on the table, was a breakfast spread suited for the Emperor of Japan - that is, if there was an emperor of Japan. But there isn't one anymore so we'll just say it was a really big breakfast. Hash browns, eggs, toast, bacon, sausage, French-toast, pancakes and everything else that could be associated with breakfast.

Okay, just kidding.

To tell the truth, there was some burned toast and soggy cold cereal sitting on the table. And that was it.

"You call this breakfast?!" Naruto screamed, pointing first at the pitifully empty table and then pointing said finger at his guardian. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"

Gaara sighed, looking longingly at the Door to Freedom.

Iruka chuckled maliciously. "Well, eat up boys!" He said, "I'm leaving for the day."

And then he ripped off his bathroom to reveal that he was fully dressed, before running out the door Gaara was staring so longingly at.

The car that had been sitting in the driveway coughed to life and with a "Bang! Groan! Vrrrmm...[cough cough]" exited onto the street in a cloud of exhaust fumes.

The redhead growled in envy.

And the crickets were too stunned to even chirp. Talk about OOC.

It was then that Gaara suddenly realized that he was in Naruto's house - alone with Naruto, none the less - and feeling less homicidal then usual. His heart skipped and a faint red hue erupted on his cheeks.

What was this feeling? The red head questioned himself frantically. This feeling that makes my heart thump and my cheeks hot and those other body parts tingle?

Okay, yeah, just kidding again.

"Want to play video games?" Naruto asked, giving up on breakfast and turning to his best friend.

Gaara nodded and followed his friend into the living room, where he spent the rest of the day winning every video game that Naruto owned - which consisted of "Frogger" and "Pac Man" and "Pong" - and then watching as Naruto attempted to win but failed miserably.

"We should name your raccoon." Naruto finally decided after losing the seventieth time in a row. He ignored the fact that one of Gaara's non-existent eyebrows had just lifted in a "You've got to be kidding me" way and continued talking. "I mean, look at it!" He pointed at the maniacally chuckling raccoon that was waddling around the living room. "It looks so dejected without a name!"

Chirp. Chirrrrrp.

"Let's name it Shukaku."

Gaara twitched.

And then the blond turned back to Frogger and once again attempted to get his frog across the street without being run over by a truck.

He failed, miserably.

AN Yes, it is Shukaku, the rabid homicidal demon-raccoon. There might even be a part in this story when he possesses Gaara [which would be kind of funny...] and Kyuubi actually is mentioned. I guess you'll just have to wait until then.

Review plea: if nobody reviews, I'll never update. Get the picture?