Here's the second chapter to Piano, I'm uploading the first three today just to give this fic a nice booster start (did that make any sense at all??? o.O) Please R&R, hope everyone enjoys it!

Disclaimer: Nope, don't ownNaruto this chapter either.

Piano

Three days after the previous chapter

Hyuuga Neji was a nervous wreck, which was really very unlike him, because he was always so calm and collected. Today was the day that his new roommate was arriving, and the whole school was buzzing with talk about him. As excited as they were now about his arrival, when he did come, Neji knew that they wouldn't talk to him or acknowledge his presence. They would look upon him as an inferior being because he wasn't as rich as them.

It was already fourth period, half an hour to go until lunch, and he still hadn't arrived. Each passing hour made Neji more and more nervous. No one had told him what time his roommate would arrive, and he didn't know if he was expected to go meet him or not.

After Math, Neji had lunch. He bought his lunch every day, and today he was eating penne pasta with pesto and a diet coke. He sat at his usual table, a small two person one under the great willow tree in one of the gardens where students were allowed to eat. He always sat alone.

Fifth period was music, his favorite class of the day, and it was also the longest. It was one and a half hours long, and his class was currently working on an ensemble piece in which the piano had the main part. He, being the best pianist, was playing the lead part, and they were going to perform it at the Fire Country Music Festival in one month.

He entered the class room, and took his seat at the large black grand piano in the back of the room. It stood right across from an identical white and gold one. Several students were sitting at smaller standing pianos and some were with violins, cellos, and all sorts of other instruments. The teacher, Yuuhi Kurenai, was waiting at the front of the classroom impatiently watching the clock. There were no bells to signal the periods at Konoha Music Academy, teachers and students went by the time on the numerous clocks in the buildings, and according to the clock, students had thirty seconds to show up before they were late.

When it was time for class to begin, Kurenai wasted no time in getting the students to start. She immediately told them to open their sheet music and start the piece from the beginning. She was ruthless. If you wanted to warm up, you had to arrive early. If you didn't want to make mistakes, you had to warm up. Usually Neji left lunch ten or fifteen minutes early to get in some practice time, but he had spent longer than usual eating lunch today because his thoughts had been wandering.

Neji listened as the violinists began their part, sweet melodies filling the room, then came clarinets, cellos, and the other pianists. He waited for the familiar measure before his part began, and when it came, his hands moved on their own, expert fingers making the motions they knew so well, the part he had practiced for so long. And when the other instruments died down for his solo, he hardly noticed he was that engulfed in the music. It swelled around him and ran through him, pulsating through every bone in his body. His extra practice had paid off.

The sounds faded, and the song came to a gentle close, and Neji stuck the final note before becoming aware of his surroundings again. He loved the thrill of playing. Yuuhi-sensei then pointed out to a few embarrassed students their small mistakes. Neji was not one of them. They ran through the piece five more times and also worked on smaller sections where timing and pitch needed to be improved.

Then came last period, a study hall. Neji sat at a desk in the back of the room with his French book, English book, sheet music for several different pieces, a notebook full of blank paper and his laptop. Several other students were also typing or using the school's wireless internet connection for research. He turned on his laptop and opened a new Word document. He had to type a French paper, seven hundred words about playing the piano. It wouldn't be a problem though, because Neji was especially good at French.

By the time the half hour long period was over, he had more than five hundred words done, and the paper was due on Monday. It was Friday, meaning that he had the whole weekend to work on it.

After school, he went to the music room where Yuuhi-sensei allowed him up to an extra hour to work on the piece. He often recorded himself playing it and then listened to it back in his room pointing out to himself his minuscule flaws.

Neji practiced for half an hour only today though, because he was too anxious to get back to his, soon to be his and Sabaku no Gaara's, room just incase the other boy arrived He wanted to show his new roommate his side of the room and Neji's. He certainly didn't want anyone touching his stuff.

So at four o'clock, Hyuuga Neji was back in his room studying and finishing his French paper. By dinner at seven, he was still alone, but his French paper and his math homework were finished.

He took off his school uniform, folded it and set it on the bed, and went into his dresser to pull out some clothes for dinner. The students weren't required to wear their uniforms for meals other than lunch, so he found some faded grey jeans and a black T-shirt with a black sweatshirt and sneakers. He wore almost all black, because even the school uniform was black and white.

He went down the stairs at a steady pace until he got to the dining room. Students and teachers were required to attend dinner together and sit with their homerooms. Neji was in Yuuhi-sensei's homeroom. He sat two seats down from her at their dinner table, because they had assigned seats. Normally he would have sat at the end of the table.

Today she came up to him with a question. She wanted to know if he could help get Gaara up to speed on the past two months of music class that he hadn't been here for, since Neji was one of her best students. He agreed, but only because he really had no other choice. In all honesty, he hadn't even met the boy yet, and he already wanted to spend as little time with him as possible.

It would be difficult of course, because they were going to be in the same music class and Neji would be helping him in music, and they were in the same French class he already knew, because Asuma-sensei, Yuuhi-sensei's husband, and also the French teacher had told him so. And like is wife, he had asked Neji to help the new boy get up to speed in class. Also, they were rooming together, and may have more classes together that Neji didn't yet know about. Chances were that they had been given the same schedules so that the new boy could follow Neji around.

He finished his dinner and went back up to his room to continue studying. He had to type a History paper by Monday too.

Neji sat at his desk, still in his clothes from dinner, and took his hair out of his ponytail. It was always cold in the dorm rooms, and having the hair draped over his ears and his arms all the way down to his elbows helped to keep him a bit warmer. He wasn't sure how much time had passed, but he was almost done with all the research he needed, he was a very fast worker, when someone knocked on the door. He got up and opened it, and saw standing there a rather short pale boy with bright red hair, dark sunglasses and a large suitcase with a black backpack slung over his right shoulder.

"Yo." He said, flashing a "V" sign with his right index and middle fingers. Neji was speechless. 'Is this my new… roommate?' He wondered incredulously.

"You're…" The other boy seemed to pause and think for a moment. "Hyuuga Neji, right? I'm Sabaku no Gaara, nice to meet ya." He stuck out a pale hand. Neji stood in silence for a moment more before grasping the hand firmly and shaking it. He then stepped out of the way to allow the boy into his… their room.

"Um… this is your bed, and that over there is your desk, we've got wireless, there's your dresser… uh, make yourself at home?" Neji was rather uncomfortable to say the least.

He looked over the boy again. He was short. Very short. Neji figured he had at least five inches on him, and he wasn't that tall! He was extremely pale, and his bright red hair made his skin look almost translucent. He wore dark sunglasses so you couldn't really see his eyes, and he had a red tattoo on his forehead. It was the kanji 'ai', meaning 'Love'. He was certainly strange.

He watched as Gaara attempted to haul his suitcase onto the bed, but couldn't lift it high enough. Instead of asking for help though, he put it on the floor and started unzipping it.

"Do you need any help?" Neji tried to ask politely. Gaara glared at him over the rim of his dark sunglasses, kohl covered aquamarine eyes glaring so harshly that Neji almost squirmed. He could practically feel the temperature of the room rising from the heat of his glare.

"Sure," He said nonchalantly. "Could ya help me get this thing onta the tha bed?" Neji nodded, a bit confused by the boy's strange behavior, and lifted the heavy luggage onto the bed in one fluid movement. It bounced slightly when he dropped it on the mattress.

"Thanks." Gaara said before opening his suitcase and pulling his things out. Neji inspected his outfit for the first time. He was wearing baggy black pants with silver chains hanging off of them and a tight, very tight, black T-shirt. He had on big black skateboarding sneakers with odd neon green shoelaces. Neji had to admit though, he looked good. He could pull it off.

Neji watched silently as Gaara unpacked a few more black, red and grey shirts, most plain, but a few with text or pictures on them. Then came the pants. All black, and almost all with chains or studs. In fact, when he was done putting his pants in the drawers, he brought out another handful of individual chains. Neji wasn't sure what one person needed so many chains for, but he continued to stare incredulously as Gaara sorted them out.

Suddenly he stopped and looked up at Neji.

"Are ya just going ta stand there and gawk at me all night?"

Neji was sure he blushed a little before turning away and going back to his desk. He clicked on the internet icon on his computer and decided that he might as well send his weekly e-mail to his uncle. It was one of the things that all members of the Hyuuga family were required to do. Also, Hiashi didn't yet know about Gaara.

Uncle Hiashi-sama,

Preparations for the music festival are going well, as are my studies. I wish also to inform you of a major development.

I have been assigned a roommate, Sabaku no Gaara. He is a scholarship student from the country of Wind, the first ever. He is also a pianist, but I have yet to hear him play. He has just arrived today, but I will be sure to tell you more as soon as I am able.

Sincerely,

Your Nephew Hyuuga Neji

Neji jumped when he heard a snicker from behind him.

"Wow, formal." Was all that he said as he read the e-mail over Neji's shoulder. 'I didn't even notice him sneak up on me! How?' He turned to face his roommate. A stern, reprimanding look in his eyes.

"Sabaku-san, it is rather impolite to read a person's letters over their shoulder without permission." He sounded like a parent chastising a child, and a thin, playful smirk spread itself across Gaara's pale face.

"Sabaku-san? Rather impolite?" He said with a mock British accent even though Neji didn't have one. "You make me feel old! Jeez, call me Gaara, please." Neji frowned slightly. This boy had only just arrived, and already he was working on Neji's last nerve. He decided that maybe it would be best to just change the subject.

"Are you hungry Sabaku-san? You missed dinner." Gaara sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Always with the polite formalities… you rich wierdos. Nope, I'm not hungry. I had an apple for lunch. I'm good." Neji looked at him questioningly.

"Just an apple? And for lunch? Are you sure you aren't hungry?" Normally he wouldn't press the subject, but looking at the boy's thin frame, he couldn't help but be somewhat alarmed.

"Look, I may not be rich, but I'm not stupid. I know when I'm not hungry." Gaara snapped. "By the way, where can a guy find a piano 'round here?" He said a bit more calmly. That was when Neji remembered that he had to give Gaara a copy of the French textbook and the sheet music for the pieces they were playing in music. He reached over to get them out of his bag, and realized that he had forgotten them in the music room during his after school practice.

"Well, you can't exactly play at this time, but I have to go to the music room to get some books that I have to give to you that I seem to have forgotten there, so I can bring you if you would like." Now it was Gaara's turn to look skeptical.

"And you can get inta the school at almost nine at night on a Friday… exactly how?" He asked sarcastically. Neji smirked a bit as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a single silver key.

"I have the key. A privilege of being the soloist. I have to practice more, so Yuuhi-sensei lets me come after and on weekends." He said just a bit more smugly than he had intended. Gaara frowned. "We should get going then. Oh, but you'll probably want to put on a jacket, because you'll going to freeze in only a short sleeved shirt." Gaara looked down at his feet a bit nervously, very out of character.

"Well, ya see, the thing of it is that I only had one jacket, and it got stolen by some rat on the train on my way here. I was gonna go out an' get anotha' one this weekend or somethin'…" Neji sighed, but he felt bad for the boy. He stood up and shrugged the black jacket off his shoulders, handing it to Gaara.

"Here, take it." He went over to his dresser and pulled out a red one. The only red thing he owned, but it was the first one that he could find. Gaara looked like he was going to protest, but Neji walked out of the room before he could. Gaara followed silently, still a bit embarrassed.

They went down the hallways and down the stairs, and into the cold of the night. Gaara shivered, and was glad that Neji had lent him the jacket. He had forgotten that it was already early November, and that it was cold in the Fire Country.

The walked down a brick path covered on either side by perfect green grass and neatly trimmed hedges, and entered a large red brick building. Gaara followed Neji up another two flights of stairs and into a classroom labeled 'Music- Yuuhi'. He inserted the key and pushed to door open.

Gaara was stunned by the sheer number of pianos. There were at least ten expensive looking black standing pianos, and at the back of the room, two magnificent grand pianos. One was white, and the other black. The black one had some papers and a book resting on the bench. Neji walked over to it briskly, and Gaara continued to follow, but instead he went and sat at the white grand piano. Neji looked up and saw him sitting there.

"Do you have a piece ready? You'll need to play something tomorrow for Yuuhi-sensei." Neji's question got no answer though, because Gaara was staring longingly at the instrument before he started to play. It took Neji no more than one measure to recognize the piece. It was the lead that he had been practicing for the past two months of school, and most of his summer.

He played with expert skill, closed eyes following the movement of his hands and bobbing in time with the music. The keys were like an extension of his fingers, the music filling the room like a living being he controlled with his will. Never had Neji heard someone play so beautifully. He was sure that he didn't sound nearly as good when he played. Halfway through the piece, he sat at the black piano and joined in, but he played an octave higher.

Gaara snapped his head up and stopped playing immediately, blushing pink.

"I…I'm sorry. I should've asked…" Neji looked up but continues playing.

"It's okay. You are incredibly talented though." Neji said, still playing. "This is the piece we're working on in class. We're going to perform it at the country music festival, I'm the lead, but I'm afraid you're far better than I am." Although he hated admitting to the other boy that he was superior, he had been raised to give credit where credit was due and to appreciate good playing." Gaara looked down at the floor.

"I'm really not that good. It's just something my uncle taught me when I was ten… before he… died." The last part was said so silently though that Neji didn't hear it. He was just amazed that Gaara had learned something so complicated at such a young age.

"You learned that when you were ten? Incredible, I'm only just learning it now, and I've spent most of my summer and all of this academic year working on it. You should tell Yuuhi-sensei, or maybe play it for your audition piece." He stood up and moved to leave, Gaara following close behind. When they got back to their room, Neji gave him the book and papers.

"This is the sheet music for the piece as well as a few others, although, I'm not sure that you really need it, and this is our French textbook. I was asked by Yuuhi-sensei and Asuma-sensei to help you get up to speed with this year, so just tell me if you've got any questions. Also, how much French do you know?"

"Fluent." Gaara said passively. "My uncle lived in France for a few years." Neji was astounded. This boy was turning out to be quite a surprise.

"Well, looks like we've got nothing to work on for tonight at least. Chances are that you have the same schedule as me, so I'll hopefully there will be time for me to show you around the campus tomorrow." Gaara nodded and took off the jacket, handing it back to Neji.

"Thanks. Maybe you're not as much of an ass as I thought you would be." Neji was taken aback by the comment, but judging from the tone of the boy's voice, he was convinced that it was as close to a compliment as he was going to receive for the time being. He took the jacket back and told Gaara that it was no problem. He checked his watch and realized that even though it was only ten o'clock, he was horribly tired.

"I'm going to go to sleep, feel free to stay up as long as you like, just know that class starts tomorrow at eight. We have a music rehearsal, and you have to audition." Neji went into his dresser and pulled out his pajamas, black pants and black shirt. He changed in the bathroom and crawled into bed.

When he fell asleep, Gaara was sitting at his desk writing something in a notebook while tapping a beat on his knee with the end of a mechanical pencil.

Voila! Please R&R, I love to know what you're thinking! I'll love you forever if you do!!! I accept shameless praise, questions, suggestions, and even flames(although they aren't appreciated...)